Another Empress Wave theory

[robject]

Well, the warrant's meta-statement has room to wiggle:

"The instrument of power for such Imperial agents is the Imperial warrant, a document on Imperial stationary containing statements similar to the example..."

In particular,
1) "...containing statements similar to..."
2) "...the example..."

Thus, the text below can easily represent the structure of a warrant with patrial but incomplete wording, rather than being the text of that particular warrant, right?

 

[Erik Boielle]

>>"The bearer of this warrant, my good and trusted vassal, Norris III, 12th Duke of Regina, is acting for the good of the Imperium and the Emperor. Extend him every assistance.
"Strephon"<<

What if Norris dies of moldovian flu a year out from Capital?

Or, heck, died a year before the warrent reaches him.

Or has rebelled against the empire in the meantime.

Go back and get another, I guess. Protection against fast changing circumstances, so it is.

 

[robject]

Originally posted by Erik Boielle:
>>"The bearer of this warrant, my good and trusted vassal, Norris III, 12th Duke of Regina, is acting for the good of the Imperium and the Emperor. Extend him every assistance.
"Strephon"<<

What if Norris dies of moldovian flu a year out from Capital?

Or, heck, died a year before the warrent reaches him.

Or has rebelled against the empire in the meantime.

Go back and get another, I guess. Protection against fast changing circumstances, so it is.

Could a more general application still be reasonable? Instead of "whatever pirate bears this here scrap 'o paper", could it be scoped to Imperial nobility or subsector powers?

Also, could warrants be issued like scrip from a duke's desk? "Ah yes, be a good chap and get this delivered for me. Ummm, here, have a warrant."

No, I guess not. Warrants have to have limitations placed on them or else they're deadly.

Of course, all's the more reason for a desperate struggle between competing factions to recover a lost Imperial Warrant. How often does Strephon hand out a blank one? Never, except for that one time when...

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Here's a link to the history of the Warrant Officer:

http://leav-www.army.mil/wocc/History/

It's the pattern that I use when issuing most warrants. Especially the part about enlisted sailors with specialist skills, but not necessarily combat skills, becoming indispensable to commissioned officers of Royal blood.

The warrant that my first ref issued to yours truly went something like:

"To all and sundry who shall view these presentments, attend:

"That on this date, and by my willing hand, I Strephon do hereby give warrant and provisional authority to the actions of Keklas Rekobah during the events of _________ between the dates of ______ and ______; all of which took place in defense of the Imperium, and as such, have my full personal approval."

"It is under this warrant that Keklas Rekobah is promoted and commissioned to the rank of Captain, inducted into the Knights of the Bitter Watch, and accorded all rights, priviledges, duties, and resposibilities thereof."

This was in response to a field commission given to me by a dying ensign after certain questionable, yet 'heroic' acts I committed to assure victory for my ship during a corsair raid, Although I had to escape from the brig, first...

Hey, still not bad for a guy whose greatest claim to fame was that he could hot-wire any ground vehicle ever made!

(Just change the name, and fill in the blanks for dates and places.)

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by Erik Boielle:
>>"The bearer of this warrant, my good and trusted vassal, Norris III, 12th Duke of Regina, is acting for the good of the Imperium and the Emperor. Extend him every assistance.
"Strephon"<<

What if Norris dies of moldovian flu a year out from Capital?

Or, heck, died a year before the warrent reaches him.

If time is really critical, you make the warrant out to Norris "or his legitimate successor". So Seldrian takes over. Alternately you nominate several specific individuals as the 'heirs' to the warrant. Strephon will just have to weigh the risk of someone he doesn't trust to 'speak with his voice' getting an active warrant against the possibility of disaster due to delays.

Or has rebelled against the empire in the meantime.

Well, what would you say was the risk of Norris, a man Strephon knows about and trusts a lot, rebelling, compared to the risk that some random individual getting hold of a blank warrant and using it in a way Strephon wouldn't approve of?


Hans

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by thrash:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by rancke:
I know all that. I just don't believe it.

Were we discussing the OTU, or YTU? I'm afraid I don't have enough data to debate the latter with you. </font>[/QUOTE]The OTU, of course. I don't really feel the need to argue with you about the presence or absence of blank warrants in MTU. Just as I believe that you need more than four Kinunirs to put down any trouble anywhere in the Regina subsector, canonical evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, I believe that blank warrants are silly and has no place in the OTU.

I'd have the same objection to, say, an adventure where the PCs found an Irridium credit card made out to bearer which enabled them to buy their own planet.


Hans

 

[robject]

Originally posted by thrash:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by rancke:
Just as I believe that you need more than four Kinunirs to put down any trouble anywhere in the Regina subsector, canonical evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, I believe that blank warrants are silly and has no place in the OTU.

As to your analogy, need I remind you that (1) when Adventure 1 was published (1979), there were no ships larger than 5,000 dtons in Traveller and 1,200 dton warships were considerably more formidable (equivalent to 35,000-dton cruisers, post-High Guard)... </font>[/QUOTE]And thus is canon reconciled: old implications are superseded by later, definitive statements.

Or perhaps the Kinunir ought to be recast as a 35kt cruiser.

 

[robject]

Originally posted by robject:
Or perhaps the Kinunir ought to be recast as a 35kt cruiser.

Or perhaps the size should just be 'scaled up' by one decimal place (we can pretend the original size was a typo, and this was meant to say "12,000t" in the Modern Traveller Universe)?

 

[Whipsnade]

thrash wrote:

"As to your analogy, need I remind you that (1) when Adventure 1 was published (1979), ..."


Mr. Thrash,

Therein lays the rub. Adventure 1 actually predates most of the OTU-Third Imperium setting. There are items in A:1 (and in other products of that vintage - Leviathan's jump torpedos anyone?) that simply cannot be reconciled with the OTU. They are incongruous and no amount of ret-con or handwaves can truly make them fit. The Kinunir Warrant, its description in A:1, and all the other 'boo-boos' of that ilk are the Traveller equivalent of the dead fly in the punch bowl; you grimace upon sighting them and try not to let them bother you too much.

The existence of these ur-factoids; evolutionary left-overs like vestigal tails and webbed toes, deeply offends Mr. Rancke-Madsen's tidy soul. He has moved heaven, Earth, and many other canoncial astronomical bodies in an attempt to shape the 25 years of Traveller's accreted canoncial data into an internally consistent whole. In the main, he has been successful in his efforts and Our Olde Game owes him a great debt. However, some pieces of the Traveller-OTU puzzle cannot be made to fit and the Kinunir Warrant is one of those left over bits.

The first canonical description of the Third Imperium's capital world stated that the system "controlled the only crossing of the Great Rift for thousands of parsecs". It is obvious that this statement cannot be reconciled with the OTU data that followed. So what do we do with it? We ignore it of course. Bits of that ur-factoid; like the name 'Capital', have been salvaged and carried forward but most of it is politely ignored. Mr. Rancke-Madsen is merely suggesting that the same be done to the Kinunir Warrant.

The information provided in A:1 about the Kinunir Warrant in specific and Imperial warrants in general needs to be ignored. There are such things as Imperial warrants but they are not worded as the A:1 example would have them and neither are they issued as A:1 describes.

The warrant Norris useed to relieve Santanocheev and reverse the course of the 5th FW was recovered from a downed IN cruiser on the indicted world of Algine. Why it was there, how it was issued, what physical form it took, and what it actually said are unknown to us. The warrant descriptions in A:1 are like that 'special' uncle certain families keep locked in the attic; It is best not to inquire too deeply into the details.


Sincerely,
Larsen

 

[MJD]

I have seen some writings (by Marc) that tell a little of the tale of how Norris got his warrant.

We were working towards doing them as a novel, and perhaps still will someday.

Norris' warrant was on Algine, not Shionthy.

I tend to ignore the A1 warrant question entirely, and dump that warrant out as a pre-canon glitch.

Similarly, I've got to reconcile jump torpedoes and sub-100t jump boats for Bearers of the Flame. That one was easier. The blank warrant should just be dropped, or converted to a limited one with a mystery attached.

For me, two lost ships with warrants aboard is one too many.

 

[mike wightman]

Did Mark ever run or play through any of these adventures? I only ask because if I was trying to resolve the Kinunir Warrant being recovered from Algine rather than Shionthy it would go something like this:

PC group discovers Kinunir in Shionthy belt and repairs/refuels her. The computer deliberately leaves the PCs alone having learnt that killing previous crew is a bad thing.

PCs decide to keep the ship and plan to jump to Yori (via Algine) to procure spare parts and then jump to Ruie which is outside of the Imperium.

It is during this first jump that the full horror awakens and the PCs have to abandon ship after being forced to destroy the computer and make a crash landing on Algine.

Somehow the PCs escape but they have left the warrant behind.

They are picked up by Sub-sector Naval forces and during interrogation the warrant is mentioned.

This infomation makes its way to Duke Norris and the rest is (future)history.

Yes I know this plot is full of holes but it is one way of reconciling Avery's answer with the SMC story.

 

[MJD]

I seem to recall that Norris asked Strephon for a warrant, and it was despatched direct to him from Capital, being lost on Algine along the way.

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by MJD:
I seem to recall that Norris asked Strephon for a warrant, and it was despatched direct to him from Capital, being lost on Algine along the way.

The problem is that we have two totally contradictory references.

In SMC, it specifically says the warrant was retrieved from a ship lost on Algine.

In the Rebellion Sourcebook, it specifically says the blank warrant was retrieved from the Kinuir in the Shionthy system.

While I don't have SMC, I have seen enough people stating the above that I believe it. I do have the RS; it specifically names Shionthy and the Kinuir.

And, if we go by the "last reference is used" rule, then Norris' warrant really is the one from the Kinuir as stated in "Ask Avery".

Regardless of how much sense that makes.

EDIT:
I reread the section. In the RS the warrant was not blank. It was the warrant that Norris requested from Strephon. Consequently, the RS not only conflicts with SMC, but also conflicts with the timing given in Adv1.

 

[kaladorn]

Remember, Norris was also in NI. It is quite possible he got the warrant from one place and let some sort of false trail be created to another. Misdirection, anyone? Just in case someone else was angling to get a hold of a blank (insane as that might have been to issue) warrant.

 

[kafka47]

Wasn't there a revision that gave Archdukes the ability to write Warrants, in exceptional circumstances.

Now, I realize that Norris was only a Duke but he was a Sector Duke with Regina being one of the most influencial systems in the Marches. I am sure that Norris would have had access to Imperial stationary.

Plus, in times of war or major turbulence, it would be naturally be expected that the whole nobility pull together.

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by kafka47:
Wasn't there a revision that gave Archdukes the ability to write Warrants, in exceptional circumstances.

Now, I realize that Norris was only a Duke but he was a Sector Duke with Regina being one of the most influencial systems in the Marches. I am sure that Norris would have had access to Imperial stationary.

Actually, if I read things right, that is exactly what Norris did to become Archduke. He found (or just made) a blank warrant, promoted himself, and forged Strephons seal/signature. (I wonder what roll he need against his Forgery skill to make that work!?)

As for the 5FW, you just have to decide whether you want to believe the story in SMC or the story in RS. Mr. Miller has apparently chosen the story in RS.

Plus, in times of war or major turbulence, it would be naturally be expected that the whole nobility pull together.

Heh. Yah, sure. That worked so well in 1116.

BTW, the writers of both MT and TNE didn't believe that either, as both flat out state that had Norris not promoted himself, the Domain of Deneb would have died stillborn as the various Dukes fought for position. In other words, there would have been a mini-rebellion Behind the Claw.

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by kafka47:
Wasn't there a revision that gave Archdukes the ability to write Warrants, in exceptional circumstances.

Archdukes can write more limited warrants (and although it's not mentioned anywhere, I've always assumed that sector dukes and subsector dukes could write ducal warrants for their own territories).

Now, I realize that Norris was only a Duke but he was a Sector Duke with Regina being one of the most influencial systems in the Marches. I am sure that Norris would have had access to Imperial stationary.

Norris was just a 'lowly' subsector duke before his elevation. Delphine of Mora was the sector duke. This fits neatly with the fact that Santanocheev, the sector admiral, could ignore Norris the way he did.

Norris did have access to Imperial stationary. All dukes did. Presumably Imperial warrants were not the only thing that is written on Imperial stationary.

Plus, in times of war or major turbulence, it would be naturally be expected that the whole nobility pull together.

Well, they did, in a way. Delphine and the sector dukes of Deneb, Trojan Reach, and (presumably) Reft must have known about Strephon's death in advance too, yet they accepted Norris' elevation without demur.

Hans

 

[Stei'awtliyrl]

So far I understnd that no one really knows what the Empress Wave is (except a couple of authors, and one isn't telling while the other is putting it in a book). But it seems that the thing is responsible for destabilizing the Zhodani Consulate due to it's effect on the Psionically Adept, and that it is a lightspeed phenomenon.

I know I'm walking on some well scortched earth by bringing this up, but I managed to miss most of the Rebellion, and New Era. My big question with regards to this is, how does it affect so many minds scattered over such a large volume when it would seem to take centuries to physically pass through the affected areas? Is there an FTL element that I haven't been made aware of yet?

I want to know because the campaign I'm developing will pass through the Consulate during the time the Empress Wave is affecting it (apparantly).

 

[daryen]

The mystery of the Empress Wave, and what it means, will be revealed in the TNE 1248 sourcebook currently in early playtest.

Just to be clear, the Empress Wave has NOT been covered yet in the playtest material, but it will be, and will be in the book.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Stei'awtliyrl:


<snip>My big question with regards to this is, how does it affect so many minds scattered over such a large volume when it would seem to take centuries to physically pass through the affected areas? Is there an FTL element that I haven't been made aware of yet?

As for this part there were some musings on it being a two part phenomenon. A 'herald' if you will and the actual wave behind. IIRC. The first part is the psionic portion and moves much FTL while the physical wave was slower.

There was also a part of the discussion (or another discussion altogether) that suggested it acted like a speed of light effect except through the Consulate where the mass of active psionics was such that it created a 'shallows' much like how a wave in the open ocean is slow and low (and not very destructive) but once it hits shallower water it builds in speed and height (and is much more destructive). Sorry, I can't recall where these points were made, or even who was making them. If I can remember or track them down I'll try to link them for you. Of course I think these ideas were simply theories so you might want to wait for some more official explanation or ignore the idea completely (or work up your own).