Subj:	#1(2) TRAVELLER digest 373
Date:	95-08-09 17:03:17 EDT
From:	traveller@mpgn.com
To:	traveller@mpgn.com

From:	traveller@mpgn.com
Sender:	traveller@mpgn.com
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			    TRAVELLER Digest 373

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Re: 3D Near Space Viewer	by Bill Currie <BILLC@teleng1.tait.co.nz>
  2) Ship gravity	by erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu (Erich Schneider)
  3) RICE Paper#SM-1537:  Mertactor/Plankwell (attempt #2)	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
  4) The Traveller Adventure/Spinward Marches Campaign	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
  5) Re: Ok, a little help would . . .	by stedee@auto-trol.com (Steve Deemer)
  6) THE TRAVELLER ADVENTURE/SPINW	by john.bogan@asb.com
  7) re: Meson guns, yet again	by myhre@oslonett.no
  8) Re: The Traveller Adventure/Spinward Marches Campaign	by E.D.Quibell@bton.ac.uk (Ewan D Quibell)
  9) Followup on the Ine Givar...	by FKiesche3@aol.com
 10) Sorry...	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
 11) RICE Paper #SM-1537:  Mertactor/Plankwell	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 09 Aug 1995 08:51:17 +1100
From: Bill Currie <BILLC@teleng1.tait.co.nz>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: xboat@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: 3D Near Space Viewer
Message-ID: <23B75C416B8@teleng1.tait.co.nz>

>     It can be found on ftp.maths.tcd.ie somewhere in the
> pub/jaymin/ch directory structure (I'm not sure exactly where).

Its in pub/jaymin/cherryh.  The files needed are chv-data.zip, 
chview.doc and chview.exe.

Bill
+--------------+-----------------------------------+
|Bill Currie   | "Watch that first step..."        |
|Christchurch  | Jump trooper motto.               |
|New Zealand   |                                   |
+--------------+-----------------------------------+

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Aug 95 17:23:14 CDT
From: erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu (Erich Schneider)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Ship gravity
Message-ID: <9508082223.AA03883@bush.cs.tamu.edu>

Starship gravity is generated by "grav plates", the operation of which
is explained in Starship Operator's Manual by DGP. They're just plates
which, when switched on, create a gravity field pulling towards them.

Yes, you can use them to damage people/things - it's mentioned
somewhere that one thing Virus-infected ships did to kill their crews
was to rapidly cycle the grav plates on and off. This was known as
"grav ponging".

-- 
Erich Schneider  erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu  http://bush.cs.tamu.edu/~erich

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 15:36:10 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: RICE Paper#SM-1537:  Mertactor/Plankwell (attempt #2)
Message-ID: <027e7000@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     Sorry about all the garble in yesterday's attempt to send this piece.  
     This time I pretested it by internet mailing it to myself, so it 
     should come through alright.
     
     
     RICE Paper #SM-1537:  Mertactor/Plankwell
     
     Mertactor (Plankwell:  Spinward Marches/1537) B262732-B  S   Cp      
     610 RE G1 V
     G=0.26, Day=25:39:30.5, Year = 724d 20:36:54.14 Atmo=1.3, No Weather 
     Control
     Temp= +20.7 (4/lat +12 to -28) (season +12.42 to -43.0, 5.5 deg lat) 
     Daily temp range 18.2
     Agricultural; Agroproducts; Weapons; Artforms 
     Progressive/Enterprising, Competitive/Neutral, Discordant/Friendly 
     Legal:  2-20544     Tech  BA-BBBBB-BBBB-BB-D
     
     On the fringes of Regency space in the Spinward Marches lies 
     Mertactor, a nexus for mercantile activity.
     
     As a planet on the frontier, Mertactor is known for its free 
     spiritedness and lawlessness.  Felons fleeing the authority of the 
     Regency Navy, RQS and/or bounty hunters frequently stop off at 
     Mertactor on their way to the independent worlds and client states 
     spinward and rimward of the Regency.  Merchants carrying illegal goods 
     find Mertactor to be the ideal port to sell their wares.  For the 
     disenfranchised, disillusioned and disingenuous, Mertactor is the last 
     port on a journey to the outlands of unincorporated space.
     
     Mertactor was settled relatively late compared with the other worlds 
     of Plankwell Subsector.  It wasn't until 486 that the first colonist 
     set foot on the system mainworld's terra firma.  Formerly a possession 
     of Mora, Mertactor was designated as a place where the Morans could 
     stow their population overflow.  The Relocation Initiative of 486 was 
     not looked well upon by the unwilling colonists.  To villify the Moran 
     Matriarchs, the colonists named their world after the notorious 
     freebooter, Wilhelm Mertactor, who had raided, raped and pillaged the 
     Old and New Islands Subsectors of Reft in the twilight years of the 
     Ramshackle Empire.  An ambitious public relations campaign by the 
     Moran Matriarchs was demoralized and many a political career fell by 
     the wayside in the ensuing scandal.
     
     Surprisingly, the Mertactans refused the clemency of the Moran 
     government in 489, when they were offered repatriation as compensation 
     for their "unjust deportation."  The Mertactan colonists had become 
     accustomed to their small but verdant new home and the majority 
     decided to stay.  By appealing to the IISS Exploration department's 
     colonial bureau, Mertactor was granted independence.  Imperial 
     officials saw this as an opportunity to prevent the relocation scandal 
     from travelling all the way back to the Iridium Throne.  As part of 
     the deal, the IISS was allowed to establish a base on Mertactor.  It 
     wasn't until after the Fourth Frontier War that Mertactor finally 
     accepted overtures made by the Imperial Government to reapply for 
     membership.
     
     Descending from working-class deportees, Mertactans are proud of their 
     uncompromising heritage.  Mertactans tamed the wilds of their planet, 
     forging an advanced and forward-thinking society.  The Mertactan 
     Chamberlords reserved approximately 25 percent of the planet's 
     wilderness as preserves to avoid the ecological calamities that had 
     occurred elsewhere in the region due to reckless colonial bootstrap 
     programs.  The remaining portion of land was tendered to offworld 
     corporate interests with a mind to develop the planet's resources and 
     promote trade and industry.  In order to preserve their independence, 
     however, the Chamberlords carefully screened out any megacorporations, 
     megacorporate shadow companies and sectorwide corporations in order to 
     prevent a takeover attempt by any one corporate entity.
     
     Their conservative approach backfired and industry never really took 
     off on Mertactor.  Seeking to teach the upstart colonists a lesson, 
     the megacorporations had colluded with mid-sized corporations to 
     boycott the Mertactans.  Employing every type of coercion imaginable, 
     the megacorporations managed to squelch independent-minded investors 
     from circumventing the boycott.
     
     Undaunted, the Mertactan merchant fleet took the initiative and began 
     establishing trade agreements with the worlds of the Daryen 
     Confederation and the Sword Worlds.  Famous Mertactan free trader and 
     gambler Michaela Wallace took her business all the way to the fringes 
     of the Zhodani Consulate, and established trade ties with the Zhodani 
     that have survived numerous frontier wars and exist to this day.  
     While most of the early Spinward Marches colonies also traded with the 
     established interstellar governments of the region, few could dispute 
     that Mertactan mercantile savvy could open twice as many doors in half 
     the time.
     
     Modern Mertactan industry is essentially just subsistence for the 
     planet's lucrative mercantile sector.  Rather than a producer of 
     industrial or agricultural goods, Mertactans like to think of their 
     system as "the best damned conduit for trade in the Regency."
     
     Landing at Mertactor downport can be a harrowing experience.  The 
     unregulated close orbit and airspace of the planet are subject to more 
     accidents per capita than on any planet in the sector.  While there 
     are ample spaceports on the planet, only the B-quality facility in the 
     capital city of Seacheard and the C-quality installation in Kaydah 
     provide services for interstellar craft.
     
     While dodging free traders and air/rafts, visiting travellers will be 
     impressed by the lush earth and blue skies of Mertactor.  Thanks to an 
     absence of big industry and an abundance of scattered wilderness 
     preserves, the planet has been able to maintain its clean air and 
     natural landscape.  Due to the planet's rather small size and close 
     horizon, the clear azure skies seem to almost surround the reclining 
     viewer.
     
     Mertactor's thriving tourist industry offers a plethora of activities 
     to visiting travellers.  In the city of Seacheard, visitors will be 
     astonished by the beauty of the Daryen flame sculpture exhibit at the 
     Seacheard Museum of Art.  Donated by First Frontier war hero, Admiral 
     Koenig, the exhibit features some of the finest Daryen artwork to be 
     produced in the last millenium.  At the Colonial History Museum, 
     visitors may view artifacts, holovids and antique equipment from the 
     Spinward Marches' colonial past.  Of particular note is an exhibition 
     featuring what the museum's curator claims are the original blueprints 
     for the Type-S scoutship prototype.  Children will enjoy visiting The 
     Wild Frontier, Seacheard's largest amusement park replete with an 
     imported Moran virtual reality entertainment center.
     
     Inghvernar, Mertactor's largest ocean, lies 280 km to the west of 
     Seacheard.  Mertactans on holiday flock to Inghvernar's golden 
     beaches.  Well-travelled offworlders will be less impressed by the 
     beachfront of this body of water which would only constitute a large 
     lake on most larger planets.  On Inghvernar's east coast is the 
     Lubvenar Fossil Museum, where travellers can discover the rich natural 
     history of Mertactor through an exhilariting series of exhibits and 
     holodynamic displays.
     
     Kaydah, the seat of government, features the impressive Mertactan 
     Legislature Building (MLB).  Constructed of reinforced synthetic 
     sandstone, this ivy-draped obelisk seems to thrust right out 
     Mertactor's terrestrial crust and through the planet's thick 
     equatorial jungle as if it had been there since time immemorial.  
     Standing atop Mount Aseldon, the MLB looks over the busy streets of 
     northern Kaydah like an alert sentry.
     
     On the southern end of the city, is the Plankwell Subsector Capital 
     Building.  Though the Capital's architecture is aesthetically pleasing 
     with its sharp edges and metallic industrial styling, political 
     representatives from throughout the subsector complain about the 
     dearth of office space in the building.  The building was intended to 
     be much larger when the subsector capital was set to be on neighboring 
     system, Collace.  However, when the Mertactan Chamberlords 
     successfully lobbied the Archduke to establish the capital on 
     Mertactor, they immediately contracted a local architecture firm to 
     design the building.  Due to the time constraints of the agreement, 
     the job was rushed, with the result being an attractive but largely 
     inadequate building.
     
     Despite the Mertactan historical animosity toward Mora, the native 
     government is rather obviously influenced by that of the domain 
     capital.  While not a matriarchy, women traditionally get preference 
     for most cabinet posts and tend to be elected to Chamberlord positions 
     at a rate of just over 60 percent on Mertactor.  The Chamberlords are 
     a select group of nine individuals, elected for lifelong terms by a 
     subordinate network of sheriffs, who are popularly elected by the 
     rather disproportionately sized counties of Mertactor.
     
     As befits any cosmopolitan world, the fashion and culture of Mertactor 
     are heavily influenced by visiting merchants and adventurers.  
     "Anything goes," is the motto on Mertactor.  One will find visiting 
     travellers sporting anything from traditional Vilani lagaash robes to 
     the virtual nudity of Glistenite tailored vaccsuits.  The jaded 
     Mertactans are nonchalant and accepting of such diversity.
     
     Perhaps the most outstanding educational establishment on the planet 
     is the Mertactor Mercantile Academy.  While the academy is on par with 
     most other Regency educational facilities for the most part, its 
     language department is outstanding.  Just about every language spoken 
     within 80 parsecs is taught at the academy, including each and every 
     vargr language in the extents.  The academy emphasizes cultural 
     behaviors and idiosynchrasies as well in order to train the ambitious 
     merchant cadet for any eventuality.
     
     As a result, Mertactan trading companies feature some of the most 
     finely trained personnel in the Regency.  Mertactan trading companies 
     are known to be quite bloodthirsty in their competition for business 
     insystem and will stop at nothing to obtain their goals.  The rather 
     ineffectual law enforcement administrations of Mertactor are unable to 
     prevent trading blocs and factions from colluding, bribing, embezzling 
     and on occasion shooting each other to death.  
     
     Within the last 80 years, the rimward encroachment of aslan ihatei has 
     had an interesting effect on the mercantile subculture.  Disputes 
     between trading companies are now frequently resolved by dueling.  
     Unfortunately, the aslan code of honor is absent in Mertactan dueling. 
     Shooting or stabbing one's opponent in the back or poisoning his food 
     the evening before the duel is not uncommon.
     
     Visiting free traders should not fear, however.  Oddly enough, the 
     virulence shown by one fellow Mertactan trader to another is not 
     extended to offworlders.  It is thought that a general sense of pity 
     for the poorly trained foreign trader makes him unworthy of such 
     treatment.  The prevailing attitude is "if he's not Mertactan, he's no 
     good at trading anyway!"  Though you'll never hear a Mertactan say 
     this in public!
     
     The Mertactan Free Trade Administration operates the planet's sole 
     orbital starport and city.  Built in 1004, FTA Orbital was originally 
     intended as a place where offworlders could comfortably trade without 
     having to make planetfall.  The idea never took hold with visiting 
     merchants, however, who thought they were being duped into trading at 
     the orbital facility so that native Mertactan merchant companies could 
     reap all the rewards of downside trade.  Declining public funds 
     resulted in the government's inability to properly maintain the 
     facility.  FTA Orbital quickly deteriorated into a D-level facility.  
     Ironically, trade traffic has actually increased over 300 percent at 
     FTA Orbital since the decline.  FTA Orbital now features the most 
     active black-market trade in the subsector.
     
     To coin an ancient Terran metaphor, Mertactor has a Jekyll-and-Hyde 
     culture.  To offworlders and potential trading partners, Mertactans 
     are amiable and welcoming, while to one another they are the most 
     vicious of opponents, professionally speaking.  While the divisiveness 
     of Mertactan society may appear anarchic or perhaps downright hostile, 
     it is embraced by Mertactans as an integral part of their culture.  To 
     survive in a universe fraught with danger and deception, Mertactans 
     believe that "It is better to do unto others before they do unto you."
     
     Mertactor System Details
     
     Orbit      Name    UPP     Remarks
     Primary    Magnus  G1 V
     0  Bailiff Y200000-0       Va
     1       Ring System     YR00000-0       Va 25      Vaunt   YS00000-0   
         Va
     1  Wrankon YS00100-A       Va
     2  Gustavson       G770360-A       Sc
     40      Danner  Y300000-0       Va
     3  Tyros Belt      H000462-B       Re Sc
     4          Mertactor       B262732-B  S    Cp
     10      Hord    GS00235-A               Va 30      Skellor YS00000-0   
                 Va
     5  Pelloponeese    Y600233-B       Re Sc 6  Mauritius       Y330000-0  
          Va
     1       Ring System     YR00000-0
     6.9                Gwaynfjord      G957562-B       Re Sc 7          
     Calori Belt     F000563-B       Re Co Sc
     7.3                Eldron  G967363-A       Sc 8          Wyndermere    
       H667263-A       Sc
     8       Hoggoth H430160-A
     9          Portcullis      F303321-A       Sc

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 15:37:49 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: The Traveller Adventure/Spinward Marches Campaign
Message-ID: <027e7810@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     I've got a question for those of you who have extensive CT 
     collections:  Does boxed set called "The Traveller Adventure" include 
     "The Spinward Marches Campaign"?
     
     --Chris

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Aug 95 16:37:09 MDT
From: stedee@auto-trol.com (Steve Deemer)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Ok, a little help would . . .
Message-ID: <9508082237.AA01516@stedee.YP.attc>


> And, IMO, even a Scout/Courrier is pretty big for 3 people plus a few 
>passangers to live on. Keep in mind, the point where I was visulizing it 
>from was the 'keel' of the ship. So I got a full view of the things size 
>and just pictured it landing on top of me.

This takes me back . . . using stakes, kitestring, a handy tree and a LOT
of ground, I laid out the outline of a Type S Scout from _Traders and
Gunboats_
in 1-1 scale, down to the main interior living space partitions. It's big,
but not that big when you consider that you'd be living inside it for
weeks on end.

Steve Deemer
stedee@auto-trol.com

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 09 Aug 95 00:09:54 -0500
From: john.bogan@asb.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: THE TRAVELLER ADVENTURE/SPINW
Message-ID: <9508090009.008CG0A@asb.com>



 >      I've got a question for those of you who have extensive CT 
 >      collections:  Does boxed set called "The Traveller Adventure" 
 > include 
 >      "The Spinward Marches Campaign"?
 >      
 >      --Chris


Well, first off, The Traveller Adventure is NOT a boxed
set, "just" a 154 page softcover book.
The Spinward Marches Campaign is a smaller, separate
49-page sourcebook with with an adventure outline
stuck in.

Both are top notch, though TSMC mostly dwells on
the Marches military organization and the 
Fifth Fronteir War.  If that isn't of interest,
give it a pass.

John Bogan


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 06:41:01 +0200
From: myhre@oslonett.no
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: re: Meson guns, yet again
Message-ID: <199508090441.GAA24595@hasle.oslonett.no>

In digest 372 Robert.Brennan@isocor.ie says

>(Just to play devil's advocate) I'd like to say that I think this argument 
is a little >forced, you guys seem to be trying to rationalise a way to 
limit the usefulness of lasers >in  GDW's new (broken) design sequences. 

Not to limit the usefulness of lasers, but improve the usefulness of MGs. 
with this train of thought the MGs will be a usefull weapon, not dead weight.


> Firstly, if the lasers could be made to move even slightly over the ships 
surface while >a hit is achieved the would continue to cause damage to 
multiple ship components (in >effect slicing the ship up, like a giant 
carving knife).  This is quite likely as >targetting of moving startships at 
BL/BR distances and speeds is likely to be a process >of continual 
correction, thus the exact "point of impact" will vary over time.

The danger with this is that you may only heat up parts of the hull and not 
damaging it.


>Secondly, for similar reasons of imperfect targeting a MG's beam will not 
necessarily all >decay within the target.  It is obvious to me that if even 
a fraction of the blast zone >was actually inside the ship, it would cause 
signifigant damage.  This sort of hit would, >however cause less damage than 
when the entire blast zone was contained within the ship.

If the DS is large enough, a near miss will be a hit. Maybe some sort of 
success level rule may fix this.
 Failure........miss
 Success........50% of DS volume
 Ex. Success....100% of DS volume


>Myself, I have no problem with the arbitary TL*50 rule to balance things out


Neither do I, but I doubt it will be official, and that it will be possible 
to enforce.


--------------+-------------------+-----------------------------------
Roger Myhre   | myhre@oslonett.no | http://www.oslonett.no/home/myhre/
HIWGmember 142| Some people have one of those days, I got one of 
              | those lifes.
--------------+-------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 08:35:36 +0100 (BST)
From: E.D.Quibell@bton.ac.uk (Ewan D Quibell)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: The Traveller Adventure/Spinward Marches Campaign
Message-ID: <9508090735.AA26576@diamond.bton.ac.uk>

>      I've got a question for those of you who have extensive CT 
>      collections:  Does boxed set called "The Traveller Adventure" include 

As far as I know the Traveller Adventure was not a boxed set but volume two
to
the Traveller Book, unless GDW Boxed the soft coppy of the Traveller book
with it.

>      "The Spinward Marches Campaign"?

This I purchased new when it first came out and can say that it was not a
part of any boxed set.

>      --Chris

Ewan


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- E.D.Quibell ------------------------------------ Thought is just about
----
-- Data Communications Technician ----------------- the hardest thing a
----
-- University of Brighton ------------------------- human can do - which
----
--------------------------------------------------- probably explains why
----
-- Email  e.d.quibell@bton.ac.uk ------------------ so few seem to do it.
----
--        quibez@essex.ac.uk -------------------------------- Henry Ford
-----

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Who me ? Na, I didn't say that. My Employers ? They don't say anything
---
----- My spelling is entirely due to dyslexia, typos, and poetic licence
-----

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 10:18:02 -0400
From: FKiesche3@aol.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Followup on the Ine Givar...
Message-ID: <950809101802_51181058@aol.com>

Greetings All:

Many thanks for the information helping me to narrow down the Ine Givar. I
was hoping that GDW had done something more with them. I remember either
speaking to Marc Miller or reading an interview with him in which he stated
that GDW had originally planned to make them into something like the Rebels
in Star Wars. Obviously this never came to pass, they sound more like a
student group from the '60's...

Question: One supplement that I missed during my personal Traveller dry
period was "Hard Times". Can somebody describe this? Is it worth hunting
down?

Thanks much!

Fred Kiesche
(FKiesche3@aol.com)


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 11:09:05 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Sorry...
Message-ID: <028fa120@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     I apologize for the virusspeak Mertactor RICE paper postings over the 
     past two days.  I think I have now eliminated the formatting that was 
     causing the problem.  I going to try one more time and hope that the 
     third time's a charm...
     
     --Chris

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 11:10:31 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: RICE Paper #SM-1537:  Mertactor/Plankwell
Message-ID: <028fb3e0@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     Mertactor (Plankwell:  Spinward Marches/1537)
     B262732-B  S   Cp      610 RE G1 V
     G=0.26, Day=25:39:30.5, Year = 724d 20:36:54.14
     Atmo=1.3, No Weather Control
     Temp= +20.7 (4/lat +12 to -28) (season +12.42 to -43.0, 5.5 deg lat)
     Daily temp range 18.2
     Agricultural; Agroproducts; Weapons; Artforms
     Progressive/Enterprising, Competitive/Neutral, Discordant/Friendly
     Legal:  2-20544     Tech  BA-BBBBB-BBBB-BB-D
     
     On the fringes of Regency space in the Spinward Marches lies 
     Mertactor, a nexus for mercantile activity.
     
     As a planet on the frontier, Mertactor is known for its free 
     spiritedness and lawlessness.  Felons fleeing the authority of the 
     Regency Navy, RQS and/or bounty hunters frequently stop off at 
     Mertactor on their way to the independent worlds and client states 
     spinward and rimward of the Regency.  Merchants carrying illegal goods 
     find Mertactor to be the ideal port to sell their wares.  For the 
     disenfranchised, disillusioned and disingenuous, Mertactor is the last 
     port on a journey to the outlands of unincorporated space.
     
     Mertactor was settled relatively late compared with the other worlds 
     of Plankwell Subsector.  It wasn't until 486 that the first colonist 
     set foot on the system mainworld's terra firma.  Formerly a possession 
     of Mora, Mertactor was designated as a place where the Morans could 
     stow their population overflow.  The Relocation Initiative of 486 was 
     not looked well upon by the unwilling colonists.  To vilify the Moran 
     Matriarchs, the colonists named their world after the notorious 
     freebooter, Wilhelm Mertactor, who had raided, raped and pillaged the 
     Old and New Islands Subsectors of Reft in the twilight years of the 
     Ramshackle Empire.  An ambitious public relations campaign by the 
     Moran Matriarchs was demoralized and many a political career fell by 
     the wayside in the ensuing scandal.
     
     Surprisingly, the Mertactans refused the clemency of the Moran 
     government in 489, when they were offered repatriation as compensation 
     for their "unjust deportation."  The Mertactan colonists had become 
     accustomed to their small but verdant new home and the majority 
     decided to stay.  By appealing to the IISS Exploration department's 
     colonial bureau, Mertactor was granted independence.  Imperial 
     officials saw this as an opportunity to prevent the relocation scandal 
     from travelling all the way back to the Iridium Throne.  As part of 
     the deal, the IISS was allowed to establish a base on Mertactor.  It 
     wasn't until after the Fourth Frontier War that Mertactor finally 
     accepted overtures made by the Imperial Government to reapply for 
     membership.
     
     Descending from working-class deportees, Mertactans are proud of their 
     uncompromising heritage.  Mertactans tamed the wilds of their planet, 
     forging an advanced and forward-thinking society.  The Mertactan 
     Chamberlords reserved approximately 25 percent of the planet's 
     wilderness as preserves to avoid the ecological calamities that had 
     occurred elsewhere in the region due to reckless colonial bootstrap 
     programs.  The remaining portion of land was tendered to offworld 
     corporate interests with a mind to develop the planet's resources and 
     promote trade and industry.  In order to preserve their independence, 
     however, the Chamberlords carefully screened out any megacorporations, 
     megacorporate shadow companies and sectorwide corporations in order to 
     prevent a takeover attempt by any one corporate entity.
     
     Their conservative approach backfired and industry never really took 
     off on Mertactor.  Seeking to teach the upstart colonists a lesson, 
     the megacorporations had colluded with mid-sized corporations to 
     boycott the Mertactans.  Employing every type of coercion imaginable, 
     the megacorporations managed to squelch independent-minded investors 
     from circumventing the boycott.
     
     Undaunted, the Mertactan merchant fleet took the initiative and began 
     establishing trade agreements with the worlds of the Daryen 
     Confederation and the Sword Worlds.  Famous Mertactan free trader and 
     gambler Michaela Wallace took her business all the way to the fringes 
     of the Zhodani Consulate, and established trade ties with the Zhodani 
     that have survived numerous frontier wars and exist to this day.  
     While most of the early Spinward Marches colonies also traded with the 
     established interstellar governments of the region, few could dispute 
     that Mertactan mercantile savvy could open twice as many doors in half 
     the time.
     
     Modern Mertactan industry is essentially just subsistence for the 
     planet's lucrative mercantile sector.  Rather than a producer of 
     industrial or agricultural goods, Mertactans like to think of their 
     system as "the best damned conduit for trade in the Regency."
     
     Landing at Mertactor downport can be a harrowing experience.  The 
     unregulated close orbit and airspace of the planet are subject to more 
     accidents per capita than on any planet in the sector.  While there 
     are ample spaceports on the planet, only the B-quality facility in the 
     capital city of Seacheard and the C-quality installation in Kaydah 
     provide services for interstellar craft.
     
     While dodging free traders and air/rafts, visiting travellers will be 
     impressed by the lush earth and blue skies of Mertactor.  Thanks to an 
     absence of big industry and an abundance of scattered wilderness 
     preserves, the planet has been able to maintain its clean air and 
     natural landscape.  Due to the planet's rather small size and close 
     horizon, the clear azure skies seem to almost surround the reclining 
     viewer.
     
     Mertactor's thriving tourist industry offers a plethora of activities 
     to visiting travellers.  In the city of Seacheard, visitors will be 
     astonished by the beauty of the Daryen flame sculpture exhibit at the 
     Seacheard Museum of Art.  Donated by First Frontier war hero, Admiral 
     Koenig, the exhibit features some of the finest Daryen artwork to be 
     produced in the last millennium.  At the Colonial History Museum, 
     visitors may view artifacts, holovids and antique equipment from the 
     Spinward Marches' colonial past.  Of particular note is an exhibition 
     featuring what the museum's curator claims are the original blueprints 
     for the Type-S scoutship prototype.  Children will enjoy visiting The 
     Wild Frontier, Seacheard's largest amusement park replete with an 
     imported Moran virtual reality entertainment center.
     
     Inghvernar, Mertactor's largest ocean, lies 280 km to the west of 
     Seacheard.  Mertactans on holiday flock to Inghvernar's golden 
     beaches.  Well-travelled offworlders will be less impressed by the 
     beachfront of this body of water which would only constitute a large 
     lake on most larger planets.  On Inghvernar's east coast is the 
     Lubvenar Fossil Museum, where travellers can discover the rich natural 
     history of Mertactor through an exhilarating series of exhibits and 
     holodynamic displays.
     
     Kaydah, the seat of government, features the impressive Mertactan 
     Legislature Building (MLB).  Constructed of reinforced synthetic 
     sandstone, this ivy-draped obelisk seems to thrust right out 
     Mertactor's terrestrial crust and through the planet's thick 
     equatorial jungle as if it had been there since time immemorial.  
     Standing atop Mount Aseldon, the MLB looks over the busy streets of 
     northern Kaydah like an alert sentry.
     
     On the southern end of the city, is the Plankwell Subsector Capital 
     Building.  Though the Capital's architecture is aesthetically pleasing 
     with its sharp edges and metallic industrial styling, political 
     representatives from throughout the subsector complain about the 
     dearth of office space in the building.  The building was intended to 
     be much larger when the subsector capital was set to be on neighboring 
     system, Collace.  However, when the Mertactan Chamberlords 
     successfully lobbied the Archduke to establish the capital on 
     Mertactor, they immediately contracted a local architecture firm to 
     design the building.  Due to the time constraints of the agreement, 
     the job was rushed, with the result being an attractive but largely 
     inadequate building.
     
     Despite the Mertactan historical animosity toward Mora, the native 
     government is rather obviously influenced by that of the domain 
     capital.  While not a matriarchy, women traditionally get preference 
     for most cabinet posts and tend to be elected to Chamberlord positions 
     at a rate of just over 60 percent on Mertactor.  The Chamberlords are 
     a select group of nine individuals, elected for lifelong terms by a 
     subordinate network of sheriffs, who are popularly elected by the 
     rather disproportionately sized counties of Mertactor.
     
     As befits any cosmopolitan world, the fashion and culture of Mertactor 
     are heavily influenced by visiting merchants and adventurers.  
     "Anything goes," is the motto on Mertactor.  One will find visiting 
     travellers sporting anything from traditional Vilani lagaash robes to 
     the virtual nudity of Glistenite tailored vaccsuits.  The jaded 
     Mertactans are nonchalant and accepting of such diversity.
     
     Perhaps the most outstanding educational establishment on the planet 
     is the Mertactor Mercantile Academy.  While the academy is on par with 
     most other Regency educational facilities for the most part, its 
     language department is outstanding.  Just about every language spoken 
     within 80 parsecs is taught at the academy, including each and every 
     vargr language in the extents.  The academy emphasizes cultural 
     behaviors and idiosyncrasies as well in order to train the ambitious 
     merchant cadet for any eventuality.
     
     As a result, Mertactan trading companies feature some of the most 
     finely trained personnel in the Regency.  Mertactan trading companies 
     are known to be quite bloodthirsty in their competition for business 
     insystem and will stop at nothing to obtain their goals.  The rather 
     ineffectual law enforcement administrations of Mertactor are unable to 
     prevent trading blocs and factions from colluding, bribing, embezzling 
     and on occasion shooting each other to death.  
     
     Within the last 80 years, the rimward encroachment of aslan ihatei has 
     had an interesting effect on the mercantile subculture.  Disputes 
     between trading companies are now frequently resolved by dueling.  
     Unfortunately, the aslan code of honor is absent in Mertactan dueling. 
      Shooting or stabbing one's opponent in the back or poisoning his food 
     the evening before the duel is not uncommon.
     
     Visiting free traders should not fear, however.  Oddly enough, the 
     virulence shown by one fellow Mertactan trader to another is not 
     extended to offworlders.  It is thought that a general sense of pity 
     for the poorly trained foreign trader makes him unworthy of such 
     treatment.  The prevailing attitude is "if he's not Mertactan, he's no 
     good at trading anyway!"  Though you'll never hear a Mertactan say 
     this in public!
     
     The Mertactan Free Trade Administration operates the planet's sole 
     orbital starport and city.  Built in 1004, FTA Orbital was originally 
     intended as a place where offworlders could comfortably trade without 
     having to make planetfall.  The idea never took hold with visiting 
     merchants, however, who thought they were being duped into trading at 
     the orbital facility so that native Mertactan merchant companies could 
     reap all the rewards of downside trade.  Declining public funds 
     resulted in the government's inability to properly maintain the 
     facility.  FTA Orbital quickly deteriorated into a D-level facility.  
     Ironically, trade traffic has actually increased over 300 percent at 
     FTA Orbital since the decline.  FTA Orbital now features the most 
     active black-market trade in the subsector.
     
     To coin an ancient Terran metaphor, Mertactor has a Jekyll-and-Hyde 
     culture.  To offworlders and potential trading partners, Mertactans 
     are amiable and welcoming, while to one another they are the most 
     vicious of opponents, professionally speaking.  While the divisiveness 
     of Mertactan society may appear anarchic or perhaps downright hostile, 
     it is embraced by Mertactans as an integral part of their culture.  To 
     survive in a universe fraught with danger and deception, Mertactans 
     believe that "It is better to do unto others before they do unto you."
     
     Mertactor System Details
     
     Orbit      Name    UPP     Remarks
     Primary    Magnus  G1 V
     0  Bailiff Y200000-0       Va
        1       Ring System     YR00000-0       Va
        25      Vaunt   YS00000-0       Va
     1  Wrankon YS00100-A       Va
     2  Gustavson       G770360-A       Sc
        40      Danner  Y300000-0       Va
     3  Tyros Belt      H000462-B       Re Sc
     4          Mertactor       B262732-B  S    Cp
        10      Hord    GS00235-A               Va
        30      Skellor YS00000-0               Va
     5  Pelloponeese    Y600233-B       Re Sc
     6  Mauritius       Y330000-0       Va
        1       Ring System     YR00000-0
     6.9                Gwaynfjord      G957562-B       Re Sc
     7          Calori Belt     F000563-B       Re Co Sc
     7.3                Eldron  G967363-A       Sc
     8          Wyndermere      H667263-A       Sc
        8       Hoggoth H430160-A
     9          Portcullis      F303321-A       Sc

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End of TRAVELLER Digest 373
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