The Fading Stars, Traveller rpg setting

The Libert Minor Human Race

The Libert are a minor Human race native to the planet Libert in the Libert Sub-Sector of the Diaspora Sector. Around 313,000 years go the Ancients abducted humans from the area of East Africa on Earth. They genetically altered them and transplanted them to the planet now known as Libert. These people, now also known as the Libert, remained on this world after the ancients left or were wiped out. They had to further adapt to the low gravity, desert world that they now inhabited. They Libert people survived as migrating clans based around the planetary polar regions. This remained for thousands of years till in -5,000 I.Y. (480 B.C.) the Vilani made first contact. Unfortunately for the Libert this was a catastrophic event and their whole society and culture collapsed. Only the continued intervention of the Vilani allowed the Libert to recover and then develop under their guidance.  Over the next two millennia the Libert adopted and absorbed Vilani language and beliefs, while their own ore-contact society was forgotten. They enjoyed the stability of the Ziru Sirka, Vilani Empire, till their eventual contact with the Terran Confederation.     

In –2230 I.Y. (2261 A.D.) the Vilani defeat by the Terran Confederation lead to an establishment of Solomani settlers on Libert. They were very different to the Vilani in the way they acted and in their beliefs. Unfortunately for the Libert people, the Solomani carried many of the disease that they had lost their immunity to. Contact with the ‘Dirty Terrans’ caused planetary wide plagues and pandemics with twenty percent of the population dying. The Libert hated the Terrans and wanted their old tutors, the Vilani, to return. During the Long Night, following the collapse of the Rule of Man, the Libert regressed and split in to warring factions. Clan warfare was frequent and bloody.

In -306 I.Y. (4215 A.D.) contact was made with the Third Imperium and in -330 I.Y. (4191 A.D.) the Diaspora Sector was incorporated in the Third Imperium. The Libert were enthusiastic recruits as Imperial rule give stability and order to the planetary factions. Over time they are thoroughly integrated in to Imperial society, though the Vilani language is still commonly used and Vilani family names have been kept. Libert was now a high tech, industrial world with extensive ship yards and manufacturing facilities. The population now exceeded a billion and prestigiously it was the Sector Capital and the seat of the Archduke of Sol. The Libert remained unflinchingly loyal to the Third Imperium throughout the early Rebellion period. Their historical antipathy towards the Solomani motivated them in supporting the war effort against them. As the Civil War dragged on the Imperium collapsed, so did the Libert government and the people’s sense of unity. Old clan hatred once again resurfaced with the Imperial presence no longer in a position to suppress it.

By 1130 I.Y. there is no longer a functioning government and the Libert clan structure is now dominant. The clans have structured themselves as corporate identities but really they are still the same clans that bickered as far back as pre-Vilani contact days. The largest clan, Museveni Holdings controls the majority, but not all, of the planetary infrastructure. They are followed by CommerStar Industries and then numerous other smaller clans. They routinely clash but have so far not caused any damage to the planet. Libert is a harsh desert world which needs functioning environmental systems for survival.  

Physiology and Appearance

The Libert were been genetically engineered by the Ancients and have evolved in a hostile environment. That said they are still able to interbreed with other branches of Humaniti and there is an element of Vilani stock within their genetic profile. The moderately low gravity of Libert has led to the Libert being of a tall and slender frame. They tend to be long limbed and agile but lack some of the strength of Terran humans. The hot climate and desert nature of their home planet has also affected the race giving a high degree of stamina. Given the Terran East African origin of the Limberts and their environment factors, skin tones are dark. The visible effects of genetic engineering are that eyes are normally blue, hair is wavy and both sexes lack any facial hair.

Language and Names

Before the arrival of the Vilani it is believed that the Libert had numerous languages and customs; the societal collapse that followed first contact swept these all away. The Vilani language was universally adopted as were Vilani naming practices. The arrival of the Third Imperium broadened language usage to include Anglic as the work and educational tongue. Today the Libert tend to have Vilani family names and a mix of Imperial and traditional Vilani first names. Anglic is commonly used but many also use a local dialect of Vilani in their home and family lives.

Society and Government

The Libert have their own code of conduct, the Xeerarka Sharafta, which embodies the principles of how they should act and interact with others. One should act with tolerance, kindness, dignity, self-respect and bravery. Unfortunately this has developed over millennia to stress the importance of personal and clan honour over patience and modesty. The only true way to resolve a slight is through duelling. The Xeerarka Sharafta allows for three sorts of offences that may provoke a duel; simple offence, personal insult and physical violence. There are elaborate rules of conduct for duels, often with champions representing families or clans. Duellists become celebrities in their own right and their fights are covered by the major entertainment organizations; being avidly followed by much of the population. Duels amongst the normal population are rare but not unknown.  In the last century a movement stressing the tolerance, kindness and dignity of the Xeerarka Sharafta has gained in popularity. This Nimcada, Grace, movement has sought to detract from the confrontational elements of the code and to abolish duelling.  It is still a minority cause.

The Libert were transplanted on to a hostile desert world and forced to adapt. Their society was developing in its own manner till contact with the Vilani led to a cultural collapse. Their assimilation in to the Ziru Sirkaa restored stability and order and they thrived till the rise of the Terrans and the eventual Long Night. The Libert again fell in to disorder and feuding. They had never been allowed to develop their own culture and forms of governance and when the exterior ruling force was gone fell back to factionalism. Then the Third Imperium absorbed Libert and restored order developing the planet as a major production facility.

Libert was part of the fiefdom of the Archduke of Sol and one of his family seats. Beneath him was an Imperial Count, Vontes Stromboli, who acted on behalf of the Archduke, with a ruling Consul appointed by him to effectively act as the planetary dictator. This arrangement, surprisingly, worked well with most of the populace just glad that Libert was stable and prosperous. The clans consented to this arrangement as they flourished as well and also had little choice. With the Rebellion things slowly and steadily collapsed. The Count had most of his Imperial support removed and the last Consul was assassinated by forces unknown. Only the ever present Imperium kept a lid on inter-clan rivalry and the planetary government collapsed.

Technology and Economy

Libert is not a rich world and the Libert peoples had to be adaptive and creative to survive.  Their whole society had collapsed from their contact with the Vilani but they recovered and developed further uses for the technology they gained.  Even during the long night they kept a semblance of their technological skill and once again flourished under the Third Imperium. Pre-Rebellion they were at the forefront of Imperial Technological developments with the famed Omicron University on the planet. The planet had well developed manufacturing and processing industries while the excellent shipyards continued to produce craft for the Imperium.

The collapse of the Imperium changed this with the outbreak of civil unrest further harming the planet’s industrial facilities. The construction of any craft is no longer possible though the maintenance faculties are still fully functioning. Libert was a very technologically advanced world at the upper end of Imperial standards; this is no longer the case.