-
LADY OF LOVE:
- The Arriani
deity, depicted as an attractive human female
but of no other set appearance. Although not specifically a sex deity,
her followers do consider sexual activity a form of worship particularly
pleasing to her (especially with a gynandra or, if off-planet and able,
with a woman).
-
LANDER:
- The smallest of the Imperial
spacegoing craft. It is shaped
rather like a streamlined bus, and is about that size. Its commonest use
is as a
shuttle between a spacecraft too large to land and a planet (from which
it gets its name), but it is also useful for suborbital flights. While
the configuration is usually for passenger transport, palletized construction
allows rapid reconfiguration when necessary.
-
LANGUAGE, Traiti:
- A tonal
language that gives their Imperial
English a
pleasant lilt. Like German, it combines small words to make larger ones
as a matter of course, and the grammatical structure is also similar to
German. Some of the terms that have made their way into Imperial
English, though primarily used only in the Traiti Sector, are found under
their individual entries.
-
LANGUAGES, Sandeman:
- Pre-Empire English, called Standard, and a
modified
version of Classical Russian, called High War Speech. Since the Shapers
left Terra before Imperial English was
widely accepted, they retained the
old alphabet and irregularities (mostly in plurals). Standard is the
Sandeman common speech used by both castes.
The purpose of High War Speech, as far as the Shapers were concerned,
was another way to set the warrior caste apart. By Annexation, it was
less exclusive; most Others had learned at
least a little, and as long as
they used formal mode to warriors
and w'women, no one objected. (Familiar
mode is
restricted to battle-companions,
lovers, and one's thakur or 'na.)
There
is a technical combat vocabulary, however, that remains mostly restricted
to warriors since they are the only ones with a real use for it.
-
LANSKY, Brandy P.:
- RBY-2193-1075. Born 2181 on Herbert's World,
became
Ranger in 2199, was elected Successor in
2280, and was Sovereign from
2315-2333.
-
LAST GIFT (Sandeman):
- The gift of a swift death, asked when a
person
(usually a Sandeman) has been too
seriously wounded, or is too ill, for
medical aid to do more than prolong death. Between Sandeman's overthrow
of the Shapers and its annexation by the
Empire, their medicine was
primitive enough that this was seen as an unpleasant necessity to prevent
further suffering. As Imperial medical personnel have said repeatedly,
Sandeman medicine then was little more than first aid; even something as
minor as an abdominal wound was normally fatal.
-
LAWS, IMPERIAL:
- The Empire has few laws, but the ones that do
exist are
strictly enforced, unless there is a very strong reason for not doing so
-- with the Sovereign the only one able to grant waivers.
And Imperial law is kept purposely simple. Pre-Empire lawyers would
be appalled, because if a law is obscure or easily misinterpreted, it is
rewritten until it is clear to anyone of average intelligence and subject
to only minimal interpretation by the officer judging a case. As with any
decision short of the Sovereign's, such a judgement may be appealed, but only
on substantial grounds.
The ones so far covered (there are others) include the following:
No noble shall attempt to exercise control over any fief other than the
one à is responsible for.
Attempted crimes are punished in the same way as one that was
successful.
The penalty for murder of or assault on an Imperial noble is death. No
mitigating circumstances.
The penalty for murder of or assault on an Imperial servicewen is death
or life imprisonment. The judging officer may consider
substantial mitigating circumstances.
A child born to parents of differing cultures will, as far as possible,
receive the benefits of each culture most favorable to the child.
Massive genetic engineering of humans is forbidden. (This is generally
interpreted as engineering not required to correct a medical
problem.
-
LENORE:
Sector: 8, Centaurus Year:
Subsector: D, Pan Day:
System: Poe Gravity:
Settled/established: Axial tilt:
By: Oxygen:
Satellites: % Water:
Ident code prefix: LEN Continents:
Ruled by:
Arms:
General: Most inhabitants are receptive empaths, and have difficulty coping
with non-empaths, so few leave Lenore. (Barbara Tennison & Sylvia
Stevens)
-
LEO, Sector 19:
Ruled by: No. systems: 953
Subsectors: 6 Inhabited planets: 348
A. Hundingsbana D. Hofud
B. Galatine E. Graywand
C. Gungnir F. Retaliator
-
LERAS, Nevan Dar-:
- SNDNS-6894-7693 (7 Jul 2547-24 Jun 2855)
Graduated IMA
2569, first in class; commissioned into SecuDiv and assigned to IBC Emperor
Chang. Awarded Sovereign's Medal,
merit promotion to 1Lt, and choice of
assignment for his actions in the Palace assault that ended the White Order
rebellion. Graduated IntelDiv Field Agent School, 2570, again first in
class,
for which he was given a merit promotion to Captain. He was then assigned to
investigate the Melgarie pirate
fleet, but went beyond a simple investigation;
in 2572 he was able, with the unwilling aid of Melgarie's lover Neyse
Greenfield, to arrange the fleet's destruction. For this he received a second
Sovereign's Medal and promotion to Major.
In 2574, he swore personal
fealty to Ranger Corina Losinj. On an
assignment for her in 2578 (checking the security protecting IntelDiv field
agents while attempting to deliver the personal weapons his father Kelly had
bequeathed to one who had saved his life), he met and rapidly became friends
with his "target", Kiyoshi Owajima.
("Ambush")
When Empress Losinj died in 2624, Nevan technically reverted to his
status as an IntelDiv Major, though one with a grace-and-favor apartment in
the Imperial Palace and a lifetime income independent of Corps salary.
However, the new Sovereign, Jasmine Wang, asked him to continue his special
services to the Sovereign without the oath of fealty. Since he was positive
his thakur would have wished that, even
though she had not asked it of him, he
agreed; as a result, until his death in 2855, the various Sovereigns had a
personal special
agent who, until his fealty oath, was the best field agent in
IntelDiv.
-
LERAS, Riordan Dar-:
- Warleader of the Sandeman fleet that
approached
Mjolnir in 2541. When he was defeated in a duel with Gaelan DarShona,
Baron Frederick Klaes' thakur-na,
he was honor-bound to provide
protection for Klaes' world, which he did by leaving part of his fleet on
guard there. Grandfather of Nevan, through Kelly.
-
LESSA, Subsector 7-E:
No. systems: 46 Sector: Cygnus
with 3 inhabited planets: 3 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 11
with 1 inhabited planet: 27
-
LIBIDINE:
- A persistent, but non-addictive, aphrodisiac with no
known
side effects. Effects vary from simple receptiveness with a trigger
dose, to release of all cultural sexual restraints with a stronger
one.
-
LIFE-DEBT (Sandeman):
- The debt a Sandeman clan owes one not of
that clan
who gives one of its members Last Gift. This always
means the person may
ask Last Gift of any clanmember, whether battle-companion or not, with
the certainty it will be given, and for a captured warrior, if captured
that he will not be tortured for information. (W'women and Others, by
custom, are always immune from torture.) A specific individual repayment
is between the giver and the receiver's clan-chief.
-
LIFEPOD:
- A cocoon-shaped field medical unit which is capable of
providing total life support.
-
LIGHTSABER:
- An energy weapon developed by Clan Vader of
Sandeman,
inspired by the ones in the Star Wars trilogy they call the Saga. As
in the Saga, it is a large hilt containing the powerpack and other
equipment needed to generate a controlled-length, high-intensity laser
beam "blade". It first came to Imperial attention in 2542, when Leigh
DarVader bequeathed his to Ranger James Medart as a death-gift. At that
time the powerpack would support less than five minutes' blade activa-
tion, making the saber impressive but of little or no practical use.
Within two years, however, Imperial scientists were able to develop a
powerpack that lasted over half an hour, making the saber a practical
hand-to-hand combat weapon. With distance weapons far more popular with
most Imperial citizens, however, they are still seldom seen outside
Subsector Sandeman.
The Vader clan's development of controlled-length laser beams, though
made specifically for the saber, has proven to be a significant one in
other fields as well, leading to numerous improvements in technologies
from medicine to heavy equipment manufacture. It has also, since Ranger
Medart assisted them in obtaining an Imperial patent on the process, made
the clan extremely wealthy.
-
LIMBURGER BERRIES:
- Another name for toli berries
.
-
LIU:
- Traiti unit of distance,
2.58 kilometers (1.59
miles).
-
LOSINJ, Corina:
- RCJ-2958-5865 (2548-19 Feb 2624) The first
non-human
(Irschchan) Ranger, she was recruited by Ranger James
Medart in 2569,
when she reported the White Order's
impending rebellion. In the course
of stopping that rebellion, she and pattern rapport,
which revealed that he possessed a strong Talent, including a healing
aspect she had not previously encountered. She helped him train it as
much as possible during the trip to Terra, completing it after the
rebellion was over. Testing then showed the Sovereign and other Rangers
also had strong Talent, and Losinj trained them as well. That degree of
Talent, regardless of its specific aspect, was immediately added to
Ranger qualifications.
She accepted Nevan DarLeras as thakur-na in 2574, was elected
Successor in 2577 on Emperor Forrest's death, and succeeded to the Throne
in 2603. She died in bed, with Nevan in attendance, in 2624.
-
LUNA:
- Terra's only natural satellite, site of the Imperial
Navy's Prime
Base and main shipyard.
-
LUPUS:
Sector: 17, Indus Year:
Subsector: C, Poseidon Day:
System: Hellespont Gravity:
Settled/established: Axial tilt:
By: Oxygen:
Satellites: % Water:
Ident code prefix: LUP Continents:
Ruled by: Capparucini family
General: Home of Jael warrior culture.
