T

T/CT:

Terrene/Contra-Terrene, a more accurate term for what is often called matter/anti-matter (since both are actually matter, simply in different forms). The reaction between the two forms liberates all the energy both contain, making it by far the most efficient and least polluting energy source available. For this reason, T/CT is used almost exclusively for planetary and large-craft energy needs.

TALENT:

Psionic ability strong enough to be trained into a reliable skill. Always includes a mind screen (sometimes powerful enough to be called a mind shield) and telepathy. It may also include telekinesis, darlas, clairvoyance, rarely precognition, and (so far only in humans) healing. On Irschcha, it has been searched for and trained by the White Order since circa 3000 BCE; the first human so trained was Ranger James Medart, in 2569.

Talent is uncommon among humans, only about half of one percent having mind shields, though perhaps twice as many have the weaker screens. Among Sandemans, Talent of shield level is fifty percent, ninety-five percent for warriors. Very few Sandemans, however, are willing to take Talent training, seeing it as a violation of privacy, so there is no way of telling what other aspects they might have.

Exception: In the Sierra and Land Prime universes, Talent training for Sandemans is almost universal.

TARLAC, Esteban:

(2533-2568) Imperial Ranger, 2553-2568. His first solo mission was stopping the Nemran revolt. He was almost killed when the rebels poisoned him with stingweed, but he was rescued and kept alive, until Imperial forces arrived with medical help, by 14-year old David M. Scanlon, who was made a Life Duke for the feat.

Tarlac's greatest accomplishment, though, was his almost single- handed ending of the Traiti War. He agreed to submit to the Traiti Ordeal of Honor and succeeded, returning to Terra with the Traiti leaders, who claimed their rightful place (thanks to their Terran origin) as Imperial citizens. Tarlac was assassinated during the ceremony, by a Humanity First fanatic. The Traiti maintain, however, that he actually died of his Scarring seconds after completing the Ordeal, and became the last member of the Circle of Lords, their gods; they revere him as the Peacelord.

TARLAC, Subsector 6-G:

No. systems: 44                          Sector: Scorpio
  with 3 inhabited planets:  0           Ruled by:
  with 2 inhabited planets: 10
  with 1 inhabited planet:  23

TEACHING TAPE:

A standard reading tape (despite the name, it is actually a data chip) "overprinted" with electronic impulses which can be played directly into a human brain to provide instant memorization of facts. The recipient must still learn to work with those facts (e.g., how to pronounce and otherwise use the words and grammatical rules of a language), but is saved the considerable time à would normally have wasted in rote memorization.

TEFNUT, Subsector 12-B:

No. systems: 82                          Sector: Eridanus
  with 3 inhabited planets:  4           Ruled by:
  with 2 inhabited planets:  8
  with 1 inhabited planet:  26

TERRA:

Sector: 1, Orion                             Year: Standard (365 1/4 days)
Subsector: A, Sol                            Day: Standard (24 hrs)
System: Sol                                  Gravity: Standard (980 cm/sec2)
Settled/established: N/A                     Axial tilt: 23.5o
By: N/A                                      Oxygen: 21%
Satellites: 1 (Luna)                         % Water: 73
Ident code prefix: TER                       Continents: Phys. 4, polit. 7
Ruled by:

General: The world where humanity, Traiti, and cetaceans evolved. It is the Imperial capital world, centered on the Antarctic Palace Complex; it is also the capital of Sector Orion and Subsector Sol.

It remains a world of many societies, though there is no longer much friction between them.

The Traiti call it Truehome.

THAKUR (Sandeman):

One who has accepted total voluntary service from another, usually a Sandeman warrior.

THAKUR-NA (Sandeman):

One whose offer of total voluntary service has been accepted.

THARK:

(ISCTK-2395-8016) High Adept of the White Order, 2540-2569. Corina Losinj's teacher until she discovered his planned revolt against the Empire. His intent was to replace the unTalented (and therefore unqualified, in his opinion) human rulers with the White Order. When he discovered that Losinj had become a Ranger, and was forced to realize that some humans did indeed have Talent, his reason for revolt was eliminated. The same honor that had motivated him to start the revolt then required that he halt it, surrender leadership of the White Order, and accept punishment. As part of that punishment, he destroyed his soul-blade, which sent him into a permanent state of psychic shock. Since he had ended the rebellion himself and imposed a part of the punishment on himself, he was not executed; instead, he was placed in the custody and care of Clan Ch'kara of the new Traiti Sector.

THEOS:

The Omnist term used to refer to or address one regarded as a god, since "Lord" already carries so many meanings and is subject to misinterpretation in an Empire where most male nobles are titled "Lord".

THOMPSON, Jase:

The first Bloodmate to be recognized as such, in 2277. He was in command of the Evaluation Team sent in response to Archbishop Klein's complaint about Narvonese turning into blood-drinking monsters. When blood tests taken on landing showed him to be extremely susceptible to the nosferatu pseudo-virus , Count Nilssun decided he would be an ideal Imperial Liaison for the System if he became a Kin. When he rejected the idea, she arranged for him to become infected, then be weakened enough for the Change. To her disappointment, he did not appear to Change -- but that night, it became obvious that he literally had to feed a Kin at daily intervals; in so feeding Narvon System's Chief of Detectives, Enna Kaufman, he Bonded to her. When he was questioned by Count Nilssun, he mentioned a dream of the Dragon Prince, which led to the further discovery that a number of others who had not appeared to Change had also had such a dream, and were also able, but did not have, to supply a Kin's daily needs.

THOR, Subsector 12-G:

No. systems: 74                          Sector: Eridanus
  with 3 inhabited planets:  1           Ruled by:
  with 2 inhabited planets: 12
  with 1 inhabited planet:  21

THOTH, Subsector 20-B:

No. systems: 158                         Sector: Chameleon
  with 3 inhabited planets:  4           Ruled by:
  with 2 inhabited planets:  8
  with 1 inhabited planet:  24

THUNDERBIRD, Subsector 10-A:

No. systems: 55                          Sector: Aquila
  with 3 inhabited planets:  6           Ruled by:
  with 2 inhabited planets: 16
  with 1 inhabited planet:  23

TIMELINES:

Alpha Prime
Alpha Nine
Land Prime
Sierra
Zeta Prime

TITANIA, Subsector 4-B:

No. systems: 72                          Sector: Fornax
  with 3 inhabited planets:  2           Ruled by:
  with 2 inhabited planets: 10
  with 1 inhabited planet:  24

TOLI (Traiti):

A Homeworld vine that often kills the trees it uses for support. It also yields orange berries that, to quote Ranger Tarlac, "look like jelly beans, smell like dirty socks, and taste fantastic."

TORRANCE, Clan (Sandeman):

Clanhome is located on Quivira Continent. Although its specialties are boating and seamanship, like most clans it raises most of its own food; because of Quivira's topography and relatively cold climate, it has more land than the average clan. That land includes most of the Cold Peak mountain range, which is popular with tourists who can get the clan's permission to visit; the clan hunts there, as well as harvesting ice-berries, most of which are exported as a luxury item.

TORVA BUSH (Traiti):

Actually a low-growing tree. Its tough inner bark can be used as a substitute for rope or twine.

TRAVELER, Subsector 5-C:

No. systems: 93                          Sector: Pegasus
  with 3 inhabited planets:  1           Ruled by:
  with 2 inhabited planets: 11
  with 1 inhabited planet:  28

TRAITI:

A cousin-race to humanity, having evolved on Terra from a common ancestor, and removed by the Others about 35,000 BCE to insure racial survival. Although traces have been found on Terra, they were not recognized as such until after contact was made; before that, such finds were denounced as mistakes at best, frauds at worst.

Traiti males average about two meters in height and 250 kilos in mass, with females somewhat smaller. They are heavily built but not fat, due to greater tissue density. Their bodies are human-looking, as are the hands (with the exception of semi-retractile claws instead of nails), although their skin is medium gray in color and as tough as leather armor despite its softness. Heads are their least human-looking feature, being ovoid and having the long axis approximately parallel to the ground, with bulges along the top and sides. The eyes are small; the nose is barely noticeable except for slit nostrils, and the lipless mouth has triangular, serrated teeth. There are no external ears.

Much of Traiti society is influenced by their sexual imbalance and (on human terms) severely limited fertility. Only approximately one-quarter of the Traiti race is female, leading to a custom (almost a compulsion) requiring that females and younglings be protected. (Note that because of this, all Traiti fighters are male.) Their "family" structure is by clans ranging from 10,000 members up, with all adult members of a clan acting as parents to all its younglings.

Custom restricts sexual activity to within a given clan, which is not, thanks to occasional adoptions and a very stable gene pool, genetically harmful to the race. The general attitude is that sharing bodies is a thing of goodness, between any two adult members of the clan. Heterosex is preferable when available, because of the possibility (however remote) of offspring, but because of the sexual imbalance, the great majority of Traiti males are bisexual in orientation.

During peacetime, clans are led by the Ka'ruchaya consulting with the senior fighter, always a Cor'naya; in combat, the senior Cor'naya takes charge, consulting with the Ka'ruchaya. Although she is not in any formal position of authority, both listen to the clan's Speaker for the Circle of Lords, who is their religious leader. The race as a whole is led by the male Supreme and the female First Speaker.

TRAITI, Sector 21:

Ruled by: Supreme & First Speaker, co-Dukes     No. systems: 568
Subsectors: 6                                   Inhabited planets: 308

    A. Homesun                    D. Kranath
    B. Peacelord                  E. Carle
    C. Davis                      F. Sepol

TREASURE-TUNNELS:

Role-playing game derived from the twentieth-century fantasy role-playing games. It has a steady following in most of the Empire, especially in Subsector Sandeman, where it is a tactical training aid as well as a game.

TRIBUNAL, IMPERIAL:

A formal hearing by an Imperial officer to determine the facts in a case, then order the appropriate punishment or reward.

TRIQUINIA:

Sector: 17, Indus                            Year:
Subsector: A, Alph                           Day:
System: Ganges                               Gravity:
Settled/established:                         Axial tilt:
By:                                          Oxygen:
Satellites:                                  % Water:
Ident code prefix: TRQ                       Continents:
Ruled by:

General: The first Imperial contact with this world was made by Ranger Caitlyn Macdonald, who discovered a planetary population of intelligent four-legged creatures apparently engineered from Terran colonists' pets and domestic animals. The humans had been subsequently wiped out by a disease that did not affect the animals, and all Terran connections were forgotten. (Cathy Whitehead)

TUONETAR, Subsector 15-C:

No. systems: 156                         Sector: Auriga
  with 3 inhabited planets:  3           Ruled by:
  with 2 inhabited planets:  9
  with 1 inhabited planet:  23

TYR, Subsector 18-G:

No. systems: 42                          Sector: Aries
  with 3 inhabited planets:  6           Ruled by: Lester family
  with 2 inhabited planets:  9
  with 1 inhabited planet:  19

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