Umbar Sub-Sector History

See also Sub-Sector Overview, Cavirsa, Crorireson, Mavytor and Scotts World


Pre Man

Much of the early history of the sub-sector is very sketchy. Prior to the arrival of man, c. 2900 years ago, there were a number of other species active in the area. Most never achieved space flight, one or two (for example the Haradeth in The Cluster) did so in a limited way over one or two worlds.

Orna Ruins on Axad

Only one, the Orna, were widespread. These appear to be vaguely monkey-like beings, always retaining full body hair, and making much use of their prehensile tail throughout their existence. The Orna vanished in a rapid, and still mysterious extinction, disappearing within just a millennium. Curiously their vanishing is not accompanied by any conspicuous signs of war.

At some point other species entered a now almost vacant sub-sector. First may have been the Droyne, though they may have been in the Sub-Sector a lot longer and co-existed with the Orna. Real understanding (though still limited) begins with the Arrival of Man, deemed to be ‘Year Zero’ in Umbar dating conventions, though the exact date of the arrival is unknown.

The Arrival of Man (Year 0), and 'The Early Time'

Again, these are hazy events, and even the dating is contentious, some scholars believing that the arrival of Man actually occurred sometime after what our conventional dating would consider to be the year 300 - so three centuries after it is commonly believed to have happened. This sense of 'Arrival' is also complicated by the fact that humans may already have been present coreward, in the area now known as 'The New Star Commonwealth'. We do at least have some limited written sources. These are mostly collected together in ‘Leyland’s Saga’ not to be confused with the long running holovis popu-drama Leyland in Space which is an almost totally fictional and highly sensationalist retelling.

Imaginative reconstruction of one of Leyland's vessels.

We have echos of a historic empire of vast proportions which had sent some expeditions into the Umbar area. This empire appears to have been conquered by human expansion from Earth – a world which may or may not have actually existed – but the essence of events appears to be that this second empire, referred to as ‘The Rule of Man’ or ‘The Ramshackle Empire’ was a short lived successor built on the foundations of the first. Some centuries after this second empire collapsed, John Leyland assembled a fleet of five coloniser vessels, and headed coreward, following the travellers tales of earlier voyages, looking for a better life for his people.

According to the saga, Leyland, always known for his love of the most ancient history, named these five vessels after ‘classical’ references, now no longer understood. They were called Ajax, Argo, Achilles, Athena, and Atulilani. After realising that they were actually exploring a long, linked chain of worlds, Leyland named the local star grouping ‘Leyland’s Achipeligo’, a decision that set up some tensions in a fleet ill at ease with an apparently self agrandising and authoritarian streak apparent in their leader. This resulted in the rebellion of the Aslan faction in the crew, determined to hijack the Ajax, and settle in local space. What happened is unclear, but certainly the Aslan remained behind in the vicinity, founding what would become The Khalan, and only three ships, the Athena, Achilles and Atuliani proceeded coreward, reaching The Styx at Cavirza.

Tomb of Leyland on Scott's World

Leyland faced a second internal revolt here, with the Athena refusing to make the uncertain crossing. Leyland handled this challenge differently, allowing the Athena to stay in system, only two ships making it into The Cluster. A some point, on a world that is not recorded, Leyland was killed - though Scott's World have later claimed that it occurred in their system, even going so far as to construct the massive commemorative monument know as the Tomb of Leyland. Some versions of The Saga describe it as an accident, others as an assassination. However, what is clear is that the two surviving ships parted, one, the Achilles, proclaiming loyalty to Leyland and his memory, continued coreward. The other, the Atuliani, is thought to have headed to trailing. It is possible that the Achilles ultimately settled Crorireson, but the final fate of the Atuliani is utterly unknown.

They left behind scattered settlements, but the secret of the Jump drive was lost. Cavirza, the first, substantial and settled human world, managed to establish a small colony on a neighbouring world using sublight generation vessels. An Aslan colony on Mavytor also survived. Events in the cluster are obscure, but it seems likely that Scott's world was occupied early, and there is enough evidence of early settlement to demonstrate that survivors of the Leyland expedition thrived, and even spread across a handful of worlds. 


Middle Times (1341 - 2622).

Jump test in the Cavirza system

In 1341 the secret of the jump drive was rediscovered on Cavirza. This allowed exploration of the Archipelago, and led to an encounter with the Aslan in 1366. Despite very different cultures, the two formed a relationship based on friendship and respect that still endures. Crossing The Styx in 1373, however, had very different consequences. The expedition from Cavirza unexpectedly encountered humans from Scott's World engaged in sub-light travel. Although there appears to have been no direct conflict, something about the encounter led Cavirza to retreat into what it considered its natural sphere, the Archipelago. Meanwhile, Scott's World tested it's first jump drive in 1402, rapidly exploring, colonising, and where it found scattered colonies of humans from the Early Times, traded. By the late 1400s jump technology (albeit of a primitive kind) was commonplace across much of the Cluster. the settlement of new worlds occurred at breakneck speed, colonies themselves sending out colonies, as world's competed to stake claim to territory and natural resources, driven by speculation and large investment combines. 

The result was a classic economic bubble, known as The Cluster Rush, and the consequences were inevitable. By c. 1550, the end was in sight, with depts spiralling, returns on investment non-existent, and tensions rising. In 1561 The Karasen incident, the emergency evacuation of the small colony on that world following the financial collapse of it's backers, triggered a spiralling crisis. The next decades were years of panic, disorder, financial collapse, and evacuation fleets. Almost half of the worlds settled during The Cluster Rush were abandoned by 1620. This whole period is referred to as 'The Karasen Crash'

From c. 1800 onward, a halting, more measured progress towards a core of stable worlds saw the emergence of a hardened, often industrial, culture in The Cluster, pragmatic colonisation of often unsuitable worlds where there was a clear rational, and the formation of clear, standard trade routes. By the year 2300 The Cluster Worlds were forming an increasingly expansionist culture, and there was rapid settlement of many unoccupied planets. 

Siege of Alrosa

This age of comparative peace and plenty was ended in 2512, and the start of The Wars of Trade, a series of intermittent conflicts that would last for some ninety years. Caused by growing rivalries amongst great industrial houses as new economic possibilities within The Cluster became more and more limited, they represented a significant crisis, a period of warlord-ism, banditry and growing lawlessness. They culminated in the Siege of Alrosa, which began in 2599, and the wide spread use of orbital atomics to bombard planetary surface targets. The siege continued until 2608, and The Cluster settled into a sullen peace. The eventual outcome, the formation of The Fairport Convention in 2622 changed the future of The Cluster. It also challenged Cavirzian isolationism, and as much of the founding of the Convention, the strong re-emergence of Cavirza (and the subsequent ever growing rivalry with Scott's World) marks the start of modern times.

Modern Times (2622 - The Present).
Modern history (roughly the last 250 years) in the sector has been one of the steady advance of The Convention, penetrating the outlying worlds of the Cluster and the Archipelago. Within the Convention Scott’s World became pre-emanate, taking full advantage of Optimal Freighting to corner large volumes of Sub-Sector trade, counterbalanced to a degree by the admission of Cavirza itself in 2732. 

Fairport Convention

Scott’s World is effectively run by Industrial Guilds, but these Guilds are now so large that they have transcended their own world. As other worlds have formed Guilds of their own to compete, and these have been welcomed into the Guild system, the Guilds are rapidly developing to become a trans Cluster, rather than planetary institution. This (along with the fact the chief amongst the none-Scott's World Guilds are those from Cavirza) creates tensions within Guild Councils, on Scott’s World itself, and across Convention Space, tensions that are seen in the increasing violence seen in the ten year valuation process that sets industrial power and influence for a decade. GV's have often been times of turbulence, but the last half century has seen unprecedented strife, little short of warfare in the last, eight years ago. Commentators believe the upcoming valuation, due in two years time, may be the worst yet, but for now The Convention Worlds are a source of stability and progress in the Umbar region.

The current year, as this is written, is 2874 (on a Saturday, just before lunchtime).