Volume XXXVIII: Legacies of the League III—Tamarind-Abbey and Rim

Fact Sheet: Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey
Founding Year: 3078
Capital (City, World): Zanzibar, Tamarind
National Symbol: An abstract purple eagle, with five-pointed stars in each wing, being clutched at the tail by a human hand, set against a green field. The eagle’s claws are each holding cornstalks.
Location (Terra relative): Antispinward of Terra, exterior
Total (Inhabited) Systems: 26
Estimated Population (3130): 75,000,000,000
Government: Military Governorship
Ruler: Duke Fontaine Marik
Dominant Language(s): English (official), Spanish
Dominant Religion(s): Christianity (Catholicism), Judaism
Unit of Currency: Peso (1 peso = 0.48 C-Bills)

Zanzibar is an oasis of civilization that seems to rise abruptly out of a stretch of badlands that historical records once claim was a lush green forest. Straddling the Zanzibe River, the city looks from a distance almost like an inverted cyclone, with increasingly taller buildings rising the closer one gets to its center. The tallest of these structures, however, is actually a mere antenna, part of the central planetary communications hub, though it is as much a work of sculpture as it is a practical construct. On the streets below, traffic is modest, and the largest gatherings are often found in the open markets scattered throughout. At each marketplace, however, one can be sure to catch a glimpse of Tamarind’s militiamen, whose duties include policing this metropolis. Most residents don’t pay these men and women another thought, but visitors are often struck by such obvious signs of martial rule on Lesnovo.

The Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey is actually the fusion of the Duchy of Tamarind and the Abbey District, as well as several of the independent worlds that were scattered between them. Though many of its dominant members—including Tamarind itself—are representative democracies, the nation as a whole is a military alliance, rather than a political one, and is currently operating under martial law. This mix of politically free worlds under a military dictatorship has effectively remolded the Duchy into a miniature version of the Free Worlds League itself.

The goals of the Tamarind-Abbey alliance are nothing short of maintaining its own existence in the face of Periphery and, most especially, Lyran threats. In the wake of the League’s collapse, Lyran forces surged across the border to “stabilize” a host of former League planets, many of which once flew the Steiner banner, centuries ago. The alliance between Tamarind and Abbey became clearly necessary in response to this threat, lest these once-loyal members of the League be swallowed by the Lyran Commonwealth as well.

Ironically, the military leader of Tamarind-Abbey, Duke Fontaine Marik, may hold one of the strongest claims to the legacy of the Marik family. As a direct descendant of Therese Brett-Marik, second-oldest child of Janos (the oldest was the real Thomas Marik), Duke Fontaine has followed in the tradition of his predecessor, Proton Brett-Marik, in dropping the Brett surname in favor of Marik. The Duke has also repeated his father’s claim to the Captain-Generalcy for himself, though few outside this realm—especially those of House Marik—are willing to recognize it; Therese Brett-Marik had been disowned since before Janos Marik’s death.

Today, despite the aspirations of its leaders, the Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey remains aloof from the fighting between Regulus, Marik-Stewart, and Oriente. However, this realm has been known to form temporary defensive pacts with Marik-Stewart in an effort to counter Lyran aggressions. Along the Periphery front, the Duchy has also been actively expanding, hoping to counter a threat from the Marian Hegemony, the imperialist Periphery realm that seized three former League worlds in 3092.

The people of the Duchy are a hard-working and productive bunch, most eager to do their share in securing their freedom from invaders. However, a good many also pine for the days of the Free Worlds league as well, and political rallies in favor of the current Duke’s claim to restore order among the former League realms have gone from just the few random gatherings of a few years ago, to a full-scale political movement in the Duchy’s civilian democracy.

Fact Sheet: The Rim Commonality
Founding Year: 2681
Capital (City, World): Zletovo, Lesnovo
National Symbol: a yellow sunburst on a red field, at the heart of which is a silhouette of an eagle
Location (Terra relative): Rimward-antispinward of Terra, exterior.
Total (Inhabited) Systems: 15
Estimated Population (3130): 39,600,000,000
Government: Feudal Autocracy (with democratic leanings)
Ruler: Prime Minister Michael Cendar
Dominant Language(s): English, Greek, Macedonian, Arabic
Dominant Religion(s): Christianity (Orthodox), Islam
Unit of Currency: Dinar (1 dinar = 0.31 C-Bills)

Zletovo, capital city of Lesnovo, seat of the Rim Commonality government, is easily the largest population center on the planet, with over three million residents calling this sprawl of angular, plain-looking buildings and church steeples home. The DropShips at the southeast spaceport, however, are by far the most impressive structures here, towering over the skyline as the last rays of Lesnovo’s orange giant sun fade away for the night. Despite the influx of money drawn in by being a hub of local trade, however, much of the city consists of run-down slums, rarely patrolled even by the local police force. The legacy of centuries of economic hardships and constant raids from the periphery, after all, do not vanish overnight.

Long ago, Lesnovo and the rest of the Rim Commonality were part of the Principality of Regulus, until a referendum in 2681, advanced by House Marik, severed it from the League state as part of a political campaign to break down its opposition. Since that time, the Commonality and the Principality have enjoyed a fruitful trading relationship, although ever since its imposed breakaway, its economy has been only a fragile shell of its Regulan days.

Yet, despite a shared origin and history of defiance to the rule of the Marik family, the Rim Commonality grew into its own during the latter years of the Free Worlds League and the Jihad that brought it down. Suddenly faced with aggressive neighbors on all sides, the Commonality took a cautious approach to ensure its survival, rather than risk everything to military action. The Periphery world of Astrokaszy, long a haven for pirates, was absorbed by this nation not through force of arms, but by political means, along with a host of other realms threatened by the waves of internal strife that followed the collapse of the League government.

Regulus, meanwhile, lost some of its luster as a friend and ally. Once viewed as a lost parent by the Rim, the Regulan leaders’ insistence on military action, rather than diplomacy, allowed them to quickly secure the Regulan Free States and the former Principality of Gibson. By the time their eyes turned toward the Rim, however, they faced a people who suddenly saw Regulus as anything but a benevolent force.

In constant battles against Regulus, over the independent worlds between them, and defensive actions against Marian and Canopian raiders, the military might of the Rim has proven itself capable of holding its own, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, their policy of peaceful expansion has continued, providing not only an increase in trade and resources, but also demonstrating that might need not always make right.

The mix of cultures among the Free Worlds League’s peripheral regions, and the addition of Astrokaszy, have created a curious culture in the Rim Commonality. Most worlds here are democratic or nearly anarchistic, their economies a blend of barter and free enterprise, and so many subcultures flaunt their differences. They are a melting pot of political and social thought, brought together by a mutually accepted need for defense, and ruled by a feudal autocrat who embraces the trappings, if not the mechanisms, of true democracy. Most of the Rim’s citizens, however, are proud of their realm for its ability to survive and prosper without too much aid from bigger neighbors, and without the need for violence.

In our next Tour of the Stars, we return to the Dragon’s banner for a unique look at the Clan all but lost to the chaos of war and the struggle for survival. Next stop: the worlds of Clan Nova Cat. Won’t you come along? I’m Bertram Habeas.