Aslan (Traveller)

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The Aslan are an extraterrestrial intelligent "Major Race" (eg., a race which discovered jump drive) from the Traveller roleplaying game universe. Their homeworld is Kusyu, located in the Dark Nebula sector on the borders of the Third Imperium.

Contents

[edit] Physiology

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Aslan are four-limbed, upright, bipedal intelligent lifeforms descended from carnivore-pouncer stock. They originally evolved as solitary creatures in trees but gained intelligence as the forests of Kusyu became thinner and thinner. They have a vague resemblance to the Terran lion. They are nearly human-sized (average height: 2.0 meters and weight: 100 kg). Males are usually larger than females, but females outnumber males by approximately 3 to 1.

Aslan have three fingers and an opposed thumb. At the base of their thumb is a dewclaw, a 10cm claw that folds into the thumb like a jacknife. Dewclaws are the weapon of choice in a duel of honor.

[edit] Society and Culture

Aslan have rigidly defined roles for each gender. Males are concerned with military roles, acquisition of territory, and political leadership. Females are concerned with trade, industry, and the accumulation of abstract knowledge. Many of the higher-class males have no concept of financial matters or understanding of non-military technology, and rely on their wives or female clan members to survive in a modern interstellar society.

When they encounter other species an Aslan will assign gender to an individual based on their occupation rather than their physiology.

Aslan males have a deep-set territorial instinct that makes obtaining land a major goal. These instincts have led to armed conflict with other races in the past.

The Aslan number system is base 8, and their language is called Trokh.

[edit] Established Interstellar State

The Aslan Heirate is an interstellar region spinward and rimward of the Third Imperium which is dominated by the Aslan. The area is controlled loosely by a council containing members of the 29 most powerful Aslan clans, known as the Tlaukhu (literally "The 29"). There is no centralized government structure - each clan performs government functions for the worlds within its own territory. Other non-Aslan races are present in the Hierate, including humans, but Aslan culture and language predominate. Any race which adopts the language and customs of the Aslan is viewed as culturally Aslan, and are not distinguished from racial Aslan within the Heirate.

There is also a large minority population of Aslan within the Third Imperium, some of which have become culturally assimilated.

Aslan can also be found in limited numbers far beyond the borders of any interstellar state, driven by their territorial instinct.

[edit] History

The Aslan fought several world wars, some of them involving limited use of nuclear weapons, before the Tlaukhu were finally formed to end inter-clan warfare on Kusyu. Although it was kept secret for most of Aslan history, the crash of a human starship on Kusyu was the event which spurred the end of armed conflict on the homeworld and allowed the Aslan to develop their own version of the Jump drive. Since they reverse-engineered the drive from a Human starship, the Aslan technically do not meet the definition of "Major Race". However, as this fact was kept secret for several thousand years while the Aslan built an interstellar state they are for all practical purposes a Major Race.

Several border wars were fought between the Aslan and their human neighbors, and the Heirate expanded quickly, driven by the Aslan territorial instinct.

[edit] Name

Marc Miller, the creator of the Traveller universe, has stated that the character of the same name in The Chronicles of Narnia and the name for this race are both taken from the Turkish word for "lion", as the Aslan are a lion-like race of hunter-pouncer ancestry. Their culture is intentionally reminiscent of medieval Japan.

[edit] External articles, references, and further reading