Earle, Kimson: Legendary human homesteader from Solomani space who settled in the Earle system (0307 Dark Nebula) circa 350 (-1776 Imperial), in the early days of Aslan star travel. According to the story, when the Aslan discovered the human Earle had settled on a world "in their space" they told him to "get out or else." Earle stood up to the Aslan, refusing to give up his land. In the end, he gained great respect from Aslan and they let him keep his homestead. Earle became an expert on the Aslan ways, and is remembered with honor among the Aslan. Most human citizens of Aslan space place Kimson Earle at the top of the list when remembering great and honorable human heroes of the past. -dn S&A

Eauale (1933 Ealiyasiyw D9D52J8-6): The last remnant of the dying Starla'e clan live on the highest mountaintop of Eauale. The Starla'e have long held claim to Eauale. Recently, however, a combination of natural disasters and poor living conditions have convinced many of the clan's young people to leave, finding service with other clans. Eauale's economy cannot support a colonization effort elsewhere, and the 500 older citizens who remain expect the Starla'e to die out within a few generations. -eal TD 18

Ebokin: An alien minor race native to Yebab (3002 Spinward Marches). Ebokin are eight-legged four-armed beings with low-slung bodies. They average 0.8 meters tall and 1.5 meters long, with the female of the species coming in slightly smaller. Ebokin society is a very conservative matriarchy, bound by strict, unchanging laws. They seldom leave their homeworld. -dod MTJ 1
Sophont race native to Yebab (3002 Spinward Marches). Ebokin (singular: Eibokin) are bilaterally symmetrical and are built low to the ground, with eight legs and four small manipulative arms set close to the head. Adult female Ebokin average .8 meters tall, 1.5 meters long, and 130 kg in weight; males are somewhat smaller. Ebokin society is a very conservative matriarchy, bound by strict, unchanging laws. Ebokin seldom leave their homeworld. -ld TA

Eery (1208 Magyar A7BA543-E): Eery's thick atmosphere is a chemical soup, yellow-green and murky, very unhealthy but quite profitable. Many useful chemicals can be made simply by exposing certain of their ingredients to the outside atmosphere.
Even masers have trouble getting through the constant fog, and satellites are worthless for most purposes because not only can they not collect data from the surface, but if they collect data from orbit, they can't relay it to the surface easily. All surface-to-surface communications are fiber optic.
Eeryans spend much of their lives indoors. Eery is famous for all manner of indoor sports and entertainments as well as gourmet food, and supports a thriving tourist trade despite its low population. -mag TD 14

Egaar: One among many main courses in the Vilani haute cuisine. An egaar is maritime animal native to Vland. It is normally served raw with a salad of fruits. This dish is very different from the old shugili-prepared foods of old Vland, and only through high-tech chemical processing is the egaar edible. Although not at all poisonous, the egaar is almost without nutritional value. -cam MS

Ekal (2040 Core A240745-A): Ekal is a nice place to live if your doctor has recommended a dry climate. Its cities are founded where wells can be drilled successfully, but there are oases in the desert for those who choose to stay away from other people. Strict water conservation and recycling are the most sternly enforced laws.
Other than that, Ekal is rather free-wheeling. Many people carry weapons openly but rarely need them except to defend against desert animals. Violent crime is low. The culture is strictly, even militantly, egalitarian. Anyone is considered as good as anyone else, even if he isn't. This rather unrealistic approach to ability may have something to do with Ekal being lower in technology than its neighbors.
Even high government officials can be approached by any voter who wants to speak to them. When Imperial nobles visit here they do not fare too well if they stand on their dignity. Nobility is a null word to Ekalans, so a few dukes and barons have come away very offended. On the other hand, it's a great place to vacation incognito.
Ekal's years are short (180 standard days); elections are held every year. Government policy is thus a bit chaotic, but if it's bad now, it will change. Young people can vote when they reach puberty; no other voter qualifications need be met except world residency. There have been no cases of political violence since this system came into use. Why use a gun when it's so easy to "throw the bums out" legally?
There is little in the way of material trade from a world this poor in resources, but some off-world capital comes from safaris, which have become a popular high-class pastime in the subsector. Chief target of these safaris is the dunvic or "sandlion", a 100 kilogram predator that is nearly invisible against the sand if viewed from more than 50 meters. Just finding one to shoot is much of the challenge, and by then the hunters are often within range of the animal's charge. -core TD 10

Ekhiysus (2223 Dark Nebula E8594H6-A): This world is the home of the University of Khaolus, one of the largest Aslan institution of higher education. The starport has earned an E class rating, not because it is a true frontier station, but because there is very little on planet industry which requires a large installation. Though there are no construction facilities at the port, and few repair facilities, refined fuel is available on a limited basis. -dn S&A

Ektron (0326 Spinward Marches C332652-9): Ektron is a world with one of the shortest years in the Darrian Confederation. It has a very thin atmosphere requiring respirator/filter mask combinations for residents. A family of fruit trees on Ektron retains carbon dioxide in its leaves, which locals use to brew a carbonated tea. The tea is exported to other worlds of the Darrian Confederation as a novelty drink. Ektron's mountain leapers provide an insulating wool used for much of local clothing. -ld D

Elmgim: Dry, sweet cake or bun normally eaten for breakfast or as a snack between meals. Very common in Deneb sector, where it is usually eaten with scuf. -cam MS

Eiyosa: Aslan name for a popular herd animal imported to many Aslan worlds from Heline (1005 Dark Nebula C665866-2), a non-aligned world in Alakh subsector. (Heline is currently owned by Pannusgario, two parsecs away.)
Eiyosa are warmblooded and thickly furred hexapods. They can reach 400 kg at maturity, at least 60% of which will be lean meat. If allowed to run wild, they care for themselves quite well, and can fight off most nonsentient predators with ease. Some Aslan prefer to raise them in this manner in order to have the thrill of hunting them. Eiyosa can, however, adapt to domestication. If kept in pasture, their branching horns and leg spurs are usually removed to make fights between the males less damaging.
While the eiyosa do feed their young with milk, they are rarely milked, and the strong-flavored cheese made from their milk is definitely an acquired taste. Their fur can be woven into sturdy textiles. -dn TD 17

Emdiri: Born in 571, self-proclaimed empress by supposed right of assassination without support of Moot in 618, murdered in 619. -emp IE

Emissary: Ex-lmperial Navy fleet intruder of the Azhanti High Lightning class (60,000 tons) currently in Oberlindes Lines service in the Vargr Extents. Somehow, Oberlindes managed to purchase the ship with its weaponry intact, which violates Imperial regulations. Thus, the ship is unable to return to the Imperium. However, the Emissary has operated successfully as an Oberlindes flagship in the Extents and has proven effective, by the implied threat of its presence, in protecting Oberlindes shipping from piracy. The Emissary is armed with a large spinal mount particle accelerator and considerable secondary weaponry. -ld TA

Emperors of the Flag: During the Civil War period (604 to 622), the Imperium was in the hands of a series of naval officers of flag (admiral) rank. These eighteen emperors achieved the throne through assassination, fleet action, political maneuvers, and general mayhem. The year 619 particularly saw six emperors serve on the throne, none of them for more than three months.
The succession of Emperors of the Flag began with the seizure of the throne by Olav hault-Plankwell in 604, which precipitated the Civil War. It ended with the naming of Arbellatra regent of the Imperium by the Moot in 622. -ld IE

Empire: Group of independent states, duchies, nations, tribes, worlds, or systems under supreme rule of an emperor. -ld IE

Empire Of Varroerth: The Varroerth emperor and some of his "yes-Vargr" claim that the Empire of Varroerth dates back to the original interstellar organization founded in the very first days of Vargr space exploration. There is, however, very little evidence and the more accepted date of the Empire's inception is closer to the year 26 Imperial. Nevertheless, this likely does make the Empire of Varroerth the oldest interstellar government in the Vargr Extents.
In the ensuing centuries, the Empire of Varroerth has changed drastically. Originally, it was a force that sucked independent worlds into itself and digested them like an infinitely huge amoeba. Today it is an empire in name only.
Stretched to its limits, the central empire authority has little influence among its member worlds. The Emperor Varroerth XLVII is no more than a figurehead. The actual power in the Empire of Varroerth lies with its twenty regional governors, who operate independently from the emperor and from each other, as well.
Several independent corsair groups are also in control of quite a bit of military, economic, and political power within the confines of the Empire. The common bond between these corsairs and the regional governors is the lip-service they pay to the emperor and Empire of Varroerth as a matter of political convenience. They all have found the idea of a charismatic emperor favorable among the general populace, and they seem to have no qualms with this status as figurehead, as long as the real power is in their hands.
Military skirmishes between any combination of regional governors, corsairs, and independently-minded member worlds oocur on a regular basis within the borders of the Empire. Loose confederations of individual worlds often secede from the phantom Empire to form their own interstellar governments. Many of these new governments are ignored by the central empire authority, left to their own devices by an empire without the energy to fight civil wars.
Just as there is little central government, there is little common culture in the Empire of Varroerth. Individual worlds and clusters of worlds form their own governments, societies, and customs, usually under some control from either the regional governors or corsair groups. -pro V&V

Endup (0436 Deneb D6939EG-9): Heavily exploited for centuries for heavy metals, using convicted Imperial criminals as forced labor, Endup is now controlled by a religious autocracy. The "Ward of Vision" is seldom seen by the populace and is believed by them to be an all-seeing, all-knowing god. Local technology is limited to level 3 and the Ward uses his own superior technology to cow the populace. The lower elevations are polluted with unhealthful gases; the average lifespan is only 45 years. The higher elevations have pure air but are forbidden to the people on pain of death. The Ward encourages visits by offworlders, whom he hails to the population as visiting gods from the heavens. -den TD 19

Engrange (0425 Spinward Marches C554769-8): One of the worlds of the Darrian Confederation, Engrange was recolonized from Ilium (0426 Spinward Marches) in -40 and remains under Ilium's jurisdiction, though its population is fast approaching that of the mother planet. -ld D

Entrope (0720 Spinward Marches E336AAA-C): Entrope had a much better spaceport before the last takeover by the Sword Worlds. All facilities were destroyed to prevent Entrope from serving as a base for Darrian ships. The starport is still little more than a cleared space and customs shed. Fuel may be obtained from the ocean since there are no gas giants.
Entrope's current leader is Major Kerin yoldat, a war hero who was responsible for the coup that swayed Entrope's ground forces to the Darrian side at the time of the invasion that retook the planet. Major Yoldat is still investigating former collaborators and Sword Worlds immigrants, expelling or imprisoning some of them. Weapons are not actually outlawed, but it takes a timeconsuming background check to get a permit to carry one. -ld D

Entropic Worlds: A group of four worlds, including Entrope (0720 Spinward Marches) and its three neighbors. -ld D

Esui (2729 Riftspan Reaches B2004K6-E): Tiny and inhospitable, Esui orbits Ftalrie, a ringed gas giant. Two frozen seas bear witness to a warmer past, when tidal forces heated this moon's core. Now, Esui is little more than an unimpressive ball of rock and ice.
The Esui system is a mandatory stopping point on the jump-5 route across the Great Rift, but the world itself has never been commercially developed. Instead, the clans of the region have jointly constructed a memorial to the many Aslan who died while exploring the sector.
The Shrine of the Rift lies at the heart of the memorial complex. Tended by a small group of clan representatives, the Shrine houses relics and holographic recordings of past Aslan explorers. Travellers crossing the Rift often stop at the Shrine to meditate on the lives and actions of the heroic wanderers who preceded them. -rr TD 19

Ethueng: Anticipating the Kforuzeng would disband, Tukera Lines encouraged a major group to split off in 1115, and transferred its dealings for protection to them. The relationship between the Ethueng and Tukera is remarkably close. The Ethueng prey on other Imperial traders in Vargr space competing with Tukera, particularly Oberlindes Lines. -w&o V&V

Exex: Light alcoholic drink containing carbonic acid common to the Domain of Deneb. The color is vaguely golden but transparent, and the taste is a little bitter, although refreshing. Variants with a higher alcoholic percentage are often referred to as Exexex.
The name is said to stem back from the Rule of Man, where Solomani traders brought with them caskets marked only xx. Apparently, this name has stuck. -cam MS

Exile (1928 Deneb X799212-4): Red Zone. The worst criminals of the sector are dumped on this planet with the clothes on their backs and nothing else. The planet is hospitable to humaniti, but few of the malefactors have the strength, skill, and nerve to survive in this artificial pre-industrial age.
A stable population of eight or nine hundred has emerged through ruthless culling; newcomers are well advised to cooperate with whatever leader they fall in with. The system is heavily patrolled by the Navy to prevent would-be rescuers from freeing the dangerous criminals sentenced to live out their lives here. -den EA

Express Boats: Rapid communication ships which are designed to make optimum use of jump technology in communicating information within the Imperium. Because the Imperium is so large, ordinary communication must depend on ships travelling along established trade routes, making Regina nearly 4 years out from the Imperial Core.
The express boat (abbreviated Xboat) system, established originally in 624 and expanded to cover the entire Imperium by 718, cuts this communication time by nearly 75 percent. Selected locations along major trade routes are established as sites for express stations, which are orbital facilities which service and refuel the Xboats on their communications runs.
As an Xboat arrives in a system, it beams its recorded data to the express station, which then retransmits it to an Xboat standing by for a jump outsystem. Time between jumps is almost always less than four hours and has been recorded at under seven minutes, making the speed of communication nearly the speed of jump (since Xboats carry jump-4 drives, speeds near four parsecs per week). In practice, this speed is somewhat reduced by the fact that trade routes do not follow straight lines and that not all jumps are made at jump-4. Nonetheless, the system achieves approximately jump-2.6 per week. -ld IE
The primary means of interstellar communication within the Imperium is the express boat - a small, fast, information carrying ship. Outlying worlds of the Imperium stand nearly four years from the capital, and express boat links have been established to insure the rapid transmission of messages (governmental, commercial, and private) with a maximum of effeciency. ld TP