The Third Imperium

Founded One Thousand One Hundred and Five years ago by the Emperor Cleon I, the Third Imperium has expanded to encompass over 11,000 worlds. The Emperor Strephon currently rules the Third Imperium. The Emperor has appointed nobles to aid his rule of the Imperium. Dukes, Counts, Barons, and Knight go forth among the worlds of the Imperium to bring the Emperor's words and enforce the Emperor's law.

The Imperium is not an oppressive empire crushing all dissent before it. It is a grand confederation to provide for the common defense of its member worlds; to ensure that commerce and trade flows freely among the stars. Other than regulating trade and providing military forces the Imperium does little to interfere with the internal affairs of its members.

The Spinward Marches

The Imperium's farthest frontier sector, containing 437 star systems divided along a coreward to rimward line by the Imperial border. The region is dominated by two major powers: the Imperial Spinward Marches sector and the frontier provinces of the Zhodani Consulate. In the independent territory between the two powers lie three small states: the Federation of Arden, the Sword Worlds Confederation, and the Darrian Confederation. Each follows its own diplomatic line designed to maintain independence from both the Zhodani and the Imperium.

The Spinward Marches has been settled since the 400s and is still a frontier sector. High-tech worlds are scattered among empty, fallow worlds; there is potential for exploration, exploitation, and development for centuries to come.

Aramis Subsector

Aramis subsector is a major agricultural area with substantial markets for its produce among the neighbouring Vargr. The Vargr find the wide variety of locally produced food stuffs to be highly desirable luxury goods. The Imperial government has established several trading stations along the border to encourage this commerce, with the ultimate aim of economically tying the nearby Vargr to the Imperium. This will lessen the chance of them joining the Zhodani in a new war. Produce comes to these stations from all over the subsector. Vargr trading delegations converge and trade raw materials, metals, and manufactured goods for desirable meats, spices, and other delicacies. Major trading stations are maintained at Lablon, Jesedipere, and Junidy. Smaller stations are maintained at Zila and Focaline for trade in the local products of these worlds.

Focaline's major industry is groat-raising; both cloth and unprocessed groat hair are exported, and groat meat is considered a delicacy by the Vargr.

The wine of Zila has an excellent reputation; recent vintages have been critically acclaimed throughout the Marches.

Pysadi on the other hand, is under a religious dictatorship which forbids the production of alcohol in any form; although Pysadian fruits, especially its skymelons and trakes, are of superb quality, very little wine is made from them, and all of that offworld.

The Aramis subsector is generally divided into three astrographical areas: the Towers Cluster (including all world reachable by Jump-1 from Towers), the Aramis Trace (Aramis, L'oeul d'Dieu, Reacher, Natoko, and worlds in the Rhylandor subsector, and Deneb Sector). The area is the Scatters (the remaining worlds).

The Aramis subsector contains 26 worlds with a total population of 31.3 billion. The highest population is 28 billion at Junidy; the highest tech level is D at Lewis. All worlds in the Aramis subsector are members of the Imperium