The "Shadows" Race
- Thread starter Golan2072
- Start date
The one thing Shadows was meant to do was introduce the Droyne/Coyns/Ancients mystery. I never understood why Shadows/RSG/TP were described as a series - because I never really understood why the coyn was in the Shadows base. But a lack of understanding is a common feature of early GDW adventures
beowulf2044
SOC-12
Lizards and Coyns and Droyne? Oh, my!
I always thought the Shadows race were just scouts for the Big Problem coming from Deep Coreward (the Problem the Zhodani don't want you to know about)
I always thought the Shadows race were just scouts for the Big Problem coming from Deep Coreward (the Problem the Zhodani don't want you to know about)
jfetters
SOC-14 1K
Thanks, Beowulf for resurrecting this thread - there was something in here that I wanted to check out, but forgot when this was originally running. ANd welcome, BTW!
Not really considering the Deep Shadows adventure mentioned above, I did have to wonder what is the deal with the Coyn in the ruin of the non-Droyne civilization.
I went back and looked at the timelines:
Coyns were established at about -75000
The Shadows ruins are about -50000
So, the race could have built upon the site of a failed Droyne colony or, that the Shadows race was once a helper of Grandfather's (unlikely, IMO). Or, a Droyne (or Grandfather) was passing through and dropped it.
A similar unexplained anachronism exists with the Fulacin Octagon ruins. WHy are there Coyn carvings in the basement?
Not really considering the Deep Shadows adventure mentioned above, I did have to wonder what is the deal with the Coyn in the ruin of the non-Droyne civilization.
I went back and looked at the timelines:
Coyns were established at about -75000
The Shadows ruins are about -50000
So, the race could have built upon the site of a failed Droyne colony or, that the Shadows race was once a helper of Grandfather's (unlikely, IMO). Or, a Droyne (or Grandfather) was passing through and dropped it.
A similar unexplained anachronism exists with the Fulacin Octagon ruins. WHy are there Coyn carvings in the basement?
Hey folks.
I'm just about to get in to refereeing Traveller again, and for nostalgia purposes I'm going to kick off with the first traveller adventure I ever ran - shadows.
I know this is a very old topic, but I was wondering if anyone had any additional info regarding the race that built the Yorbund pyramids. I'm happy for the dead race to remain a total mystery, but if there is any other stuff out there I would love to grab hold of it.
I'm just about to get in to refereeing Traveller again, and for nostalgia purposes I'm going to kick off with the first traveller adventure I ever ran - shadows.
I know this is a very old topic, but I was wondering if anyone had any additional info regarding the race that built the Yorbund pyramids. I'm happy for the dead race to remain a total mystery, but if there is any other stuff out there I would love to grab hold of it.
Since there's no definitive answer, we're free to speculate in a number of directions as to how they got to Yorbund and what they're like in person.
There's only two ways to get to Yorbund, that we know of: STL or FTL.
They're a self-exiled colony, so they planned to stay. They may have even "planned" to die out. (Does their species as a whole work this way? Smallish colonies dotted about? How much industry did they put up with?)
There's only a couple of ways to build buildings that will last 50,000 years: build it to last (pyramids constructed thoughtfully and carefully), or build it with high technology. Or both.
I agree that they could be TL10 or so.
I call them "Aquilans" (of course that's not what they call themselves), and give them 3D for END and INT, 1D for SOC. I sort their life stages a bit differently from humans, and they start to take aging penalties sooner. Their color vision is entirely below the red band, with no overlap with ours. Their scales provide some natural armor, insulation, and sealing.
Not very exciting.
There's only two ways to get to Yorbund, that we know of: STL or FTL.
They're a self-exiled colony, so they planned to stay. They may have even "planned" to die out. (Does their species as a whole work this way? Smallish colonies dotted about? How much industry did they put up with?)
There's only a couple of ways to build buildings that will last 50,000 years: build it to last (pyramids constructed thoughtfully and carefully), or build it with high technology. Or both.
I agree that they could be TL10 or so.
I call them "Aquilans" (of course that's not what they call themselves), and give them 3D for END and INT, 1D for SOC. I sort their life stages a bit differently from humans, and they start to take aging penalties sooner. Their color vision is entirely below the red band, with no overlap with ours. Their scales provide some natural armor, insulation, and sealing.
Not very exciting.
A very minor update IMTU.
Descended from forest-walking carnivore killers.
Str 2D
Dex 2D
End 3D
Int 3D
Edu 2D
Soc 1D
Dual gendered, bilateral symmetry, scaled, with a stinger (must be a barb on the tail, or on a nose horn or something). Life expectancy is non-surprising (80 years). Bigger than the average human. 67% female. The male is slightly weaker, slightly less intelligent, but more 'durable'.
Their vision range is just below the Red wavelength. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, but not good touch. They are strongly aware of magnetic fields.
Their equipment is built at an extremely high quality, so that it can operate for tens of thousands of years without regular maintenance.
Their technology is probably TL 11, but they do not (did not?) have the jump drive. They must have arrived at Yorbund via a colony ship travelling at maneuver speeds.
Descended from forest-walking carnivore killers.
Str 2D
Dex 2D
End 3D
Int 3D
Edu 2D
Soc 1D
Dual gendered, bilateral symmetry, scaled, with a stinger (must be a barb on the tail, or on a nose horn or something). Life expectancy is non-surprising (80 years). Bigger than the average human. 67% female. The male is slightly weaker, slightly less intelligent, but more 'durable'.
Their vision range is just below the Red wavelength. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, but not good touch. They are strongly aware of magnetic fields.
Their equipment is built at an extremely high quality, so that it can operate for tens of thousands of years without regular maintenance.
Their technology is probably TL 11, but they do not (did not?) have the jump drive. They must have arrived at Yorbund via a colony ship travelling at maneuver speeds.
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I always figured that Pyramids were covered by something...either some sort of organic growth or similar miracle of engineering that retarted the effects of the atmosphere whilst keeping it comfy for the Dragons inside. Then with time mother nature won. With the pyramids then constructed out of superdense material. This would account for the longevity of the structures.
Or it could be the Pyramids were there before the Dragons arrived...but then we get into that whole Ancients thing.
Or it could be the Pyramids were there before the Dragons arrived...but then we get into that whole Ancients thing.
Definitely built by them. I've recently re-read Mike Mikesh's Deep Shadows and Don helpfully showed me Mike's related Challenge article. Mike did a lot of work filling in the missing bits of the Hhkar/Ssrar/whatever they're called. I'm thinking about sifting the chaff from the quadro-triticale from Mike's material. There are a few things I don't like:
- the Ssrar/Hhkar are space hippies, smoking and dreaming away.
- the Droyne got involved in an extermination campaign way back when. Not sure how this fits our conception of Droyne, or indeed their cultural sphere...
- the Vargr were also pulled into this mess, sectors away from the Extents, thousands of years ago. I don't care for major races being pulled into this, it sets as bad a precedent as involving the Ancients in every funny business going on.
- the homeworld all but lies in the path of the Zhodani core expeditions. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and it gives a reason for their homeworld's discovery, and it lets the Imperium take a backseat for once, and yet at the same time it bothers me for some reason.
Assuming they're a nonjump race, it would take time to establish a colony anywhere. Even with continual acceleration, we're likely talking decades per parsec.
The lowerbound is based on your guesses as to distance traveled to Yorbund and the likely reasonable time to travel.
Blah, blah. On to my numbers.
My first thought is that Savria isn't far enough away -- it's only 160 parsecs. I'm doubling it, to 320 parsecs.
Next, I let the tail wag the dog, and claim the exodus from Ssrar to Yorbund took 1,000 years.
Finally, continuous acceleration "compresses" the longer distances enough to make long journeys almost reasonable. Call it an ion engine, call it a ramscoop, whatever.
320 pc in 1,000 years is about 0.004G continual acceleration. It seems reasonable to assume that they made their journey in a series of smaller hops with stronger drives (say, 0.02G).
It stands to reason that any worlds in the same subsector as Ssrar with nasty corrosive atmospheres friendly to the Hhkar would be colonized in (relatively) short order. 25 years to reach one parsec.
The lowerbound is based on your guesses as to distance traveled to Yorbund and the likely reasonable time to travel.
Blah, blah. On to my numbers.
My first thought is that Savria isn't far enough away -- it's only 160 parsecs. I'm doubling it, to 320 parsecs.
Next, I let the tail wag the dog, and claim the exodus from Ssrar to Yorbund took 1,000 years.
Finally, continuous acceleration "compresses" the longer distances enough to make long journeys almost reasonable. Call it an ion engine, call it a ramscoop, whatever.
320 pc in 1,000 years is about 0.004G continual acceleration. It seems reasonable to assume that they made their journey in a series of smaller hops with stronger drives (say, 0.02G).
It stands to reason that any worlds in the same subsector as Ssrar with nasty corrosive atmospheres friendly to the Hhkar would be colonized in (relatively) short order. 25 years to reach one parsec.
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