Takaria (3104 Lishun B768200-C): The settlers here are refugees from Akitilon (3101 Lishun), a client state that was taken over in 1023 by Zakishe (3004 Lishun) in a bloody war that decimated the populations of both worlds. As of yet, the Zakeshean invaders have not been able to track down all of the refugees in the forests of Takaria. Of course, the remaining populations of Zakishe and Akitilon, under technocratic rule, are not enough to field troops of sufficient number to capture the refugees.
Unfortunately, the only way that the Takarians will ensure their continued safety is if the technocratic government of Zakishe is overthrown. The Zakisheans covet the pleasant, liveable worlds so nearby, but their power depends on controlling access to technology and all but forbidding it to the conquered Akitilonians. -lis TD 7

Takine: Hermetically closed pibe for smoking of tobacco. With a takine, those few who indulge in tobacco-smoking can do so without annoying their surroundings. -cam MS

Talca (1407 Diaspora A100798-F): This world's booming starship production industry is led by subsidiaries of Ling Standard Products and Sternmetal Horizons.
Located on the Libert Main, Talca handles a high volume of interstellar traffic. The planet is rich in metals useful in ship production, so most hulls are laid down in planetside ways near the mines that supply them. Most of the ways are located deep under Talca's brown, cratered surface, where automated factories churn out hulls and components according to computerized data packages. -AGD

Tapazmal: Minor human race native to Dlaekan (3134 Reft A383657-D). Dlaekan is a hot world, its mean surface temperature exceeding 70 degrees Celsius. Dlaekan has an unusually dense core and a surprising amount of tectonic activity. The early Tapazmal lived on the slopes of Dlaekan's high peaks, where the atmosphere was thinner and temperatures lower.
Physically, the Tapazmal are little dffferent from the rest of humaniti. One notable feature is their low birthrate, a result of geneering by the Ancients. This modification likely served to limit Dlaekan's population in Ancient times, thereby conserving the mountains' scant resources.
Interstellar contact in more recent times first came around -4700, when the Loeskalth - another minor human race, native to neighboring Gushemege Sector - intermittently raided the Tapazmal for artwork and other valuable objects. (The Loeskalth had long since received jump drive from another Vilani client, but were not absorbed into Vilani culture until later.)
These raids continued until the Vilani themselves came to Dlaekan several centuries later. The Tapazmal eagerly accepted Vilani offers of technological aid and protection, at the cost of submerging their native culture in the Vilani Way. Tapazmal civilization grew under Vilani custody, but it never reached beyond Dlaekan.
This situation changed after the First Imperium's fall. Old cultural records were unearthed and studied, and the Tapazmal tried diligently to return to the ways of their distant ancestors. The expanding Solomani, eager to have a base in the area, granted the Tapazmal several colony worlds in return for their cooperation.
Today, the Tapazmal occupy six worlds in Reft - Dlaekan, G'haenbaz (2733 Reft), Bokilbom (2834 Reft), Pamraeltan (2932 Reft), P'hakar (2934 Reft), and Hoilhapuli (3229 Reft) - as well as one world in Gushemege: Choltonrul (0136 Gushemege). Despite their reach, the low numbers of the Tapazmal have kept them from being a major force in Imperial politics.
The Tapazmal are known for their great artistic and architectural skill, combining modern technology with traditional styles and motifs. A conservative, unaggressive, and mystical people, their roles in society are strictly defined. Individualists defy the old standards at substantial risk. Nonetheless, Dlaekan and its daughters are pleasant worlds, their inhabitants hard-working and at peace. -ref TD 20

Taravesh (1527 Gateway B799955-C): Recently occupied by a Galian battlefleet under the command of Rear Admiral Jaime Marcus, this world is under martial law. It is one of the Confederacy's most important centers of industry and manufacturing. The occupation, carried out to prevent Viyard Concourse occupation, has brought relations between Gateway and Trindel to a new low.
Taravesh is an important source of fibron, an electrochemically grown material spun into superconducting filaments for use in computers and microelectronics. -gat MTJ 4

Tarin Sink (1432 Corridor DAE3301-6): Tarin Sink is an Imperial client state and site of Corridor Research Station Epsilon. The planet was colonized by nine extended families during the wave of spinward expansion in the late 300s. Most of Tarin Sink's modern inhabitants are their descendants.
Later, the Imperium constructed a separate facility staffed by its own personnel. This station grew until it was officially designated Research Station Epsilon. Epsilon serves as a clearinghouse for unexplained phenomena. Within it are records of bizzare happenings and mysterious relics dating back tens or hundreds of millenia. Untranslated nonhuman accounts and strange engines predating the First Imperium await the person able to read or operate them.
Many items in the station's collection are so odd that they are freely displayed to the public, although Tarin Sink's position within the Great Rift limits the number of visitors. Imperial researchers, completely baffled by these objects, hope that someday, someone will pass through the station who can shed some light on these mysteries. -cor TD 18

Tarnis: The primary star of the Darrian (0627 Spinward Marches) system. -ld D

Tauri (1817 Vland A130998-E): Tauri was the first planet to be visited by Vilani starfarers, before the First Imperium was formed. Although originally colonized as a scientific research station, its population has grown to extremes over the millennia. Because of Tauri's strategic position as a first world on the Vilani main, its economy is supported mainly by banking and commerce flowing through its port, rather than by onworld industries. -vla V&V

Teahleikhoi: Allied to the Iyhlua clan of the Uhtaa subsector, this Aslan mercenary company has served on tickets throughout the Reavers' Deep. -rd TD 16

Technology, Massilia Sector: Massilia is an old and well-established sector with a heavy Terran influence in its cultures. Technological progress has been rapid on most planets and regression to preindustrial levels is nonexistent. Twenty-four worlds scattered evenly throughout the sector are at TL16. Thus, virtually any world can trade for highly advanced items such as the first artificially intelligent robots, global terraforming equipment, pocket holovideo recorders, or neural stun weapons. These last are becoming favorite police weapons on hightech worlds, since they allow capture without injury and can be safely used even in hostage situations.
Some of these items are terribly expensive, but this is no deterrent to large shipping corporations cutting deals. Buyers else where will pay even higher prices for the best merchandise. -mas TD 11
The high-tech nature of the worlds in Massilia make them prized worlds by the factions of Lucan, Dulinor and Margaret. Some of the most bitter fighting between these three factions is being waged in Massilia sector. -mas K

Tehleikhoi: Loosely translated as "Soldiers of the Falling Night" or "Knights of the Setting Sun", the Tehleikhoi is a highly regarded Aslan mercenary company based in the Uhtaa subsector of Reaver's Deep. It is owned by Iyhli; an unmarried female belonging to the Iyhlua clan. its structure is a fairly typical of mercenary companies found within the Hierate. Their sphere of operations extends into both Dark Nebula and Reaver's Deep sectors. The company has been employed by other interstellar governments besides the Aslan, but has often chosen sides in a war by the preferences of Iyhlua diplomats. In this way they extend the clan's influence without direct clan interference. -dn TD 17

Terant 340 (0622 Spinward Marches D1405A7-9): A desert world, Terant 340 was colonized under domes using strict water recycling. Teran's primaries have many interesting anomalies which intrigued the Darrian astrophysicists. The planetoid belts harbor enough resources to make self-sufficiency possible. Terant 340 is the largest chunk of circling debris prevented from coalescing into a planet by the disturbing influence of the white dwarf companion and the three gas giants. The system has no other worlds between gas giant and planetoid size. -ld D

Terra (1827 Solomani Rim A867A69-F): Earth. Origin world of the genetic stock from which all races of Humaniti descended, former capital of the Terran Confederation, former capital of the Old Earth Union, and former capital of the Solomani Autonomous Region. The word Terran (used in the past to refer to an inhabitant of this world or to a citizen of the Terran Confederation) is derived from the name of this world. -ld IE -ld SotA

Terra Far (0416 Diaspora A4448BF-F): Terra Far is the primary source of maintenance for ships travelling the small jump-1 route that snakes through Shadigi subsector. It is a regular stop on almost every captain's itinerary.
A locally-grown plant, the maratmor, is a powerful stimulant that local underworld kingpins refine into a drug known as morandmor. Terra Far Downport is a major distribution point for this dangerous substance,even though local authorities are attempting to put an end to the trade. -AGD

Terran Confederation (-2398 to -2204): Interstellar government consisting of Terra and its colony worlds. The Terran Confederation has its roots in the formation of the United Nations Space Coordination Agency (UNSCA) in -2499. In addition to handling mundane responsibilities that helped avoid conflict, UNSCA soon became a clearing house for space operations.
One of UNSCA's natural directions was research. In 2087, UNSCA researchers in the system's asteroid belt who were looking for better drives to transport ores discovered jump drive. The first jump drives were used only in the solar system - they were too weak to be used for interstellar travel. In 2096, for various reasons, the first interstellar jump expedition travelled to Barnard's Star rather than Alpha Centauri.
Upon their return in 2097, the expedition members were hurried into a hushed meeting with UNSCA. The expedition had encountered alien intelligent life - humans no less! The expedition members had encountered a Vilani prospecting outpost, an outpost on the very fringe of a vast, advanced empire controlled by alien humans. It came as quite a shock to the Terrans that many of the worlds only a few parsecs away were already claimed. Politicians echoed the popular sentiment that it was unfair for alien humans from several hundred light-years away to claim worlds near Terra. Individual nations began expanding their armed forces and building starships.
Over the course of the next three decades, UNSCA and the United Nations transformed itself into a true world government, which administered the defense of Terra against the Vilani Empire. Terran colonies formed on other worlds were granted membership into the United Nations. In -2400, the UN officially changed its name to the United Worlds. Two years later, the name was changed again to the Terran Confederation. Modern historians, for simplicity, use this term exclusively.
The Terran Confederation fought a series of interstellar wars with the Vilani Imperium over the period -2408 to -2219. These wars ultimately resulted in the fall of the Vilani Grand Imperium. The Confederation was dissolved in -2204 upon the proclamation of the Rule of Man to replace the Vilani Imperium.
See also Nth Interstellar War, and Solomani. -ld IE

Tharver (0528 Gateway B775985-9):Capital of the old Galian league, Tharver is one of the oldest of the sector's human-settled worlds. It was once the center of much of the corporate activity throughout the sector and is still the administrative center for many of the Federation's banks and major corporations. -gat MTJ 4

Thicket (2424 Diaspora D45199C-C): Thicket is attempting to attract more planetfalls from merchants making the Remington-to-Promise journey which is now being called the Thicket Run. However, ongoing strife between Thicket's wealthiest families of the ruling "techno-elite" makes off-worlders wary. -AGD

Third Imperium (0 to present): Also called The Imperium. Founded in 0 by Cleon Zhunastu from the Sylean Federation in what is now Core sector. The Imperium grew swiftly during the pacification campaigns and more slowly thereafter until stability was reached in the 600's, by which time the Imperium had absorbed much of the territory of the First and Second Imperiums.
Government Structure: The Imperium can be best thought of as a form of feudal confederation. Member worlds of the Imperium agree to pay taxes and obey a few fundamental laws which the Imperium promulgates, known as the High Laws. In return, the Imperium agrees to patrol the space between the worlds, to protect interstellar trade, to encourage travel and commerce, and to arbitrate diplomatic relations between worlds. Beyond this, individual worlds are left to their own devices so long as they acknowledge the power of the Imperium to rule the space between the stars.
Imperial power is present on member worlds in the form of consulates, bureaucratic offices, and bases. Sometimes, larger enclaves of Imperial power are placed where they can enhance the emperor's strength.
The Imperium's territory is divided into sectors, which are in turn divided into subsectors and systems. Groups of sectors, called domains, have been created above the sector level.
During the Pacification Campaigns, Emperor Artemsus divided space into six regions, labeled them domains, and appointed an archduke over each of them. To each archduke, he assigned the continuing pacification of the domain's many systems and their integration into the Imperium. The domains were: Sylea (Core, Fornast, Massilia, Delphi), Vland (Corridor, Vland, Gushemege, Dagudashaag), Gateway (Ley, Glimmerdrift Reaches, Gateway, Crucis Margin), llelish (llelish, Zarushagar, Reaver's Deep, Daibei), Antares (Lishun, Antares, Mendan, Amdukan), and Sol (Diaspora, Old Expanses, Solomani Rim, Alpha Crucis). Most of the domains were never totally absorbed into the Imperium.
In 589, during the First Frontier War, a seventh domain was established: Deneb (Spinward Marches, Deneb, Trojan Reach, Reft). The intent was to appoint an archduke to be responsible for their supervision. However, the Civil War broke out before an archduke was appointed.
Following the civil war, the emperors expressed concern about individuals with powers equaling their own, so they moved to lessen the power of the archdukes in the Imperial government. Because of this, no archduke of Deneb was never appointed. As a result, the domains came to have little practical significance. Each archduke did retain the power to create knights and baronets.
In the years after the Fourth Frontier War, and after the problems it presented from lags in communication, Emperor Strephon felt a strengthened archduke position could enable the Imperium to more quickly respond in defending the realm. Against the protests and opposition of some prominent members of the Moot, Strephon reestablished the domain as a level in the bureaucracy of the Imperial Navy and returned to the Domain the ability to collect taxes. Still later, Strephon gave the archdukes the ability to legislate and enforce the desires of the emperor on the local level. One of Strephon's last acts before his murder was to finally appoint an archduke of the Domain of Deneb: Archduke Norris.
The Divided Imperium: With the assassination of emperor Strephon and all immediate heirs to the throne in 1116, the resulting turmoil has caused some confusion as to who will succeed Strephon to the throne. Thus, at the moment, factionalism in the Third Imperium is at an all-time high.
Even with the uncertainty of the current moment, the Third Imperium still stands. The archdukes are instituting local stopgap measures until such time as a strong central government can be reestablished.
See also Sylean Federation. -ld IE

Third Reformed French Confederate Republic: Member state of the Solomani Confederation. This large state is a union of three French memberstates and a number of independent worlds. Although powerful, the inefficiency of the Republic's government makes an eventual breakup a virtual certainty. If and when that happens, the region may well become a hotbed of internal strife.
That inefficiency stems not only from the region's size and diversity, but also from the collapse of the former administration. A recent coup deposed the old military governors, replacing them with a weak body of civilian ministers. Many rumors of SolSec involvement in this fiasco have surfaced. A common belief, supported by many analysts, holds that the Confederation saw the Republic's growing power as a threat. -sta S&A

Third Frontier War (979 to 986): The long period of uneasy peace between the Imperium and the Zhodani Consulate erupted into war in 979 with simultaneous blows by the Zhodani in the Querion and Jewell subsectors. Imperial reaction was deficient, and the hostilities continued for nearly six years with little to show for it. The armistice finally signed in 986 gave each side little, and it brought about the abdication of Emperor Styryx in 989. -ld IE -ld TP

Thoengling Empire: Large, centralized state in the Vargr Extents. The thoengling Empire is one of the most stable of the Vargr states and has existed in its current form since 792. The Emperor, who has great governmental authority, is chosen for life by vote of an elected assembly; by law, no member of his family may succeed him. Sons and daughters of the higher nobility are brought up at the Imperial court, where every effort is made to inculcate personal loyalty to the Emperor.
The Thoengling Empire has become a major trading partner of the Imperium and generally supports Imperial interests in the Vargr Extents. -ld IE

Thorell (0231 Old Expanses X510276-0): Red Zone. The native race of Thorell is well adapted to its near-vacuum world, although archaeologists and geologists maintain the atmosphere was thicker at one time. Thorellians are a burrowing race, built long and low, with six limbs. They can see an electromagnetic spectrum from green through microwaves.
Many interconnecting burrows make up a city, which is synonymous with a Thorellian nation. There are at least 300 such nations plus smaller groupings and loners on the planet. Territorial disputes are common but usually nonviolent.
Thorell is a Scout Service red zone, interdicted until the natives progress sufficiently to enter the interstellar community. -oe TD 12

Tilligu: Aekhu word meaning "charisma-less". Today mostly used as a distress signal for spacecraft. The corresponding imperial phrase would be "Signal GK", "Mayday" or "SOS". -cam MS

Tinea-Fabre (0910 Core D567125-4): Tinea-Fabre is the semi-private "outback world" of the Duke of Alekvadin (0811 Core). The 70 or so constant residents are free to govern themselves as they please between the duke's visits. -core TD 8

Tlasayerlahel: The largest existing Aslan merchant company is Tlasayerlahel (the name means "Interstellar Merchants" in Trokh). Tlasayerlahel is clan-controlled: it is operated and managed by Aslan females from the Yerlyaruiwo clan. Aslan males from the clan hierarchy provide policy guidance to the company, but day-to-day management is provided by the more capable Aslan females.
Tlasayerlahel was originally established to provide transport service between worlds owned by, or subservient to, the Yerlyaruiwo clan. As the clan grew, the company grew as well, and today it provides cargo and passenger service between major worlds in all sectors of the Aslan Hierate. -sidebar S&A
An Aslan merchant corporation controlled by the Yehaso clan of Roaa (0237 Reavers' Deep). With many interests in the ripe markets at the sector's heart, Tlasaerlahel traders have been engaging in trade competition with human merchants from the Principality of Caledon. -rd TD 16

TNS: See Traveller News Service. -ld TA

Tomutov I: Oldest issue of Paulo I. Born in 712, proclaimed emperor by the Moot in 767, abdicated in 768, died in 801. Built Tomutov's Palace, a companion structure to the Imperial Palace, from his own funds after his abdication. This floating sphere is used as a residence for important visitors to the Imperial Palace. -emp IE

Tomutova II: Third issue of Paula II (preceding heirs died before ascending the throne). Born in 782, proclaimed empress by the Moot in 836, died in 908. -emp IE

Torment (0721 Spinward Marches X233231-4): Torment is a prison planet for the most incorrigible of criminals, those whom Darrian psychologists have judged impossible to cure of violent tendencies. It is miserably cold and barren, consisting only of the one central village of convicts. They are required to work in mining and industry to pay for the import of enough food to support them. The prison is run by a hierachy of criminals who demand obedience from their fellow convicts. This obedience has little to do with law and order, as might be expected. They select their own successors before dying. -ld D

Trade Routes: Routes which jump-capable starships travel between major worlds and which connect vital suppliers with essential markets, important government worlds with high population worlds, and strategic resources with exploiting industry. Trade routes are a natural outgrowth of economic and market pressures. When a market is no longer profitable, the trade routes bypass it.
The trade routes are typically the territory of the Imperium's largest trading companies. They maintain fleets of commercial transports and merchants who serve these tradeworlds, and they reap large profits in doing so.
But the trade routes directly serve fewer than a tenth of the worlds of the Imperium. The other 90 percent of the Imperium's worlds are served by feeder lines, tramp freighters, and free traders. These smaller companies and unscheduled ships carry passengers and cargo between worlds off the main trade routes. -ld IE

Trade Station: Establishment for the promotion of interstellar commerce. There is no single controlling agency for trade stations; some are established by private companies, on their own or under contract to the Imperium, some are run by the scout service, and others are operated by different branches of the Imperial government.
For example, there are five trade stations in the Aramis subsector of the Spinward Marches operated by the scout service to promote trade with the Vargr. The installations, at Lablon (2701 Spinward Marches), Jesedipere (3001 Spinward Marches), Junidy (3203 Spinward Marches), Focaline (2607 Spinward Marches), and Zila (2908 Spinward Marches), serve as clearing houses for merchant dealings. They provide numerous free services: language translation, temporary warehousing, brokerage, computer files of merchant information, a commodity exchange, and others. -ld TA

Trailing: See Directions, Galactic. -cam MS

Trake: Small berry common to many worlds of the Imperium. The trake has a meaty, sweet body enclosing a single large seed and grows on a low, thorny bush. Trakes have been grown in the Imperial core since the time of the First Imperium. Introduced late to the Spinward Marches, they have flourished on only a few worlds, notably Pysadi (3008 Spinward Marches) and Alell (1706 Spinward Marches), although they are cultivated on many others.
See also atrake. -ld TA

Tralyeaeawi: Aslan Tlaukhu clan. As a matter of course, the Tralyeaeawi strongly oppose the Yerlyaruiwo. This animosity dates back to a war fought between the two clans from 3077 to 3167 Aslan (614 to 693 Imperial). Although the Tralyeaeawi were soundly defeated, they have never come to temms with continued Yerlyanuiwo dominance.
More humans make up the population of Tralyeaeawi than any other Aslan clan, largely from the fealty of the human Zodia Colonies in Iwahfuah Sector. Aside from that, Tralyeaeawi has always been receptive to other races and even sponsors Aslan "missionanes" to raise aliens from barbarism. As a result, visitors among the Tralyeaeawi can exped to encounter a greater variety of races than among other clans.
Tralyeaeawi clan members generally show more tolerance. They also tend to observe fewer formalities and even engage in familiarities with inferiors, at least in private. While this has eased their relations with humans, obher major clans occasionally raise objections to their attitude as inappropriate for a major clan -tlau S&A

Transstar: The largest transportation line in the Solomani Sphere and the only Solomani megacorporation, Transstar was formed as a subsidiary of the Solomani Party. Its original purpose was to foster trade and commerce between the member-states of the Confederation and to serve as a source of income for the Party itself. More recently, Transstar has expanded its operations to include finance and capital investment, making it also the Confederation's largest banking and insurance firm. -solbiz S&A

Travel Zone: Standard form of classification for worlds in terms of relative danger. As a service to spacefarers, the Traveller's Aid Society [determines and] publishes travel zone classifications which indicate the degree of danger a world presents to visitors. Standard classifications are green (no danger), amber (caution advised), and red (severe danger). -ld IE (-ld TP)

Traveller News Service: The major news agency of the Imperium, owned by the Travellers' Aid Society. The Traveller News Service has bureaus on most major worlds throughout the Imperium and representatives at most starports. -ld TA

Tree Krakens: Small pouncers common to several worlds in the Regina subsector of the Spinward Marches. Also known as land squid, this 6 kg pouncer is tree dwelling, attacking its prey from above. -ld Kin

Trifuge (0723 Spinward Marches C446556-9): A member of the Darrian Group, Trifuge has the longest year of all the Darrian planets. Its giant primary keeps it warm even at 122 AU from the star. It was first colonized as a company planet with heads of corporations providing housing and services for their employees. It is still run by industrial executives and their scientific advisers. Some relatively advanced native species are studied on Trifuge. -ld D

Trin's Veil: Subsector P of the Spinward Marches. The shattered moon of Trin (3235 Spinward Marches A894A96-F) creates a veil of highly reflective particles around the world and gives a name to the entire subsector.
Thisbe (2539 Spinward Marches E4305AD-5) is a desert world being terraformed by the megacorporation Sharurshid under a contract from the Imperial Ministry of Conservation. Ice and frozen gas asteroids are maneuvered from the Thisben planetoid belts to Thisbe, where they improve water availability and atmosphere content.
The Imperial Way Station at Katarulu (3032 Spinward Marches B252665-B) is also the site of the Scout Service Xboat Pilot Training School for the Marches. -spin SMC

Trindel (1725 Gateway B565989-C): Capital world of the Trindel Confederacy. The largest city is an arcology called Rothton, a complex of towers overtwo kilometers high spanning the Arianus Straights between Malawar and Couloomb. -gat MTJ 4

Trojan Points: In a gravitational system composed of a small body orbiting a much larger one (such as a planet and star or a moon and planet), there are two stable points lying in the small body's orbit 60 degrees ahead and behind it, and thus equidistant from the small and large bodies. These are called Trojan points (also LaGrangian points, which are abbreviated as L4 and L5).
The Trojan points of a gas giant near an asteroid belt commonly collect a cluster of asteroids. The name comes from the first such cluster discovered by Terrans at Jupiter in the Sol system; the asteroids were named after mythical heros of the Trojan War. -ld IE

Trokusian (0505 Core B1306AE-A): Amber Zone. The Grand Marquis Trenz Rugar, the current ruler of Trokusian, is the most recent in a long line of dictators whose word is law on the world. The military police force sees to it that the populace obeys the current ruler's laws to the letter.
Offworlders may travel through the orbital starport, which Trokusian considers extraterritorial. However, Trokusian requires offworlders to purchase an array of permits in order to be allowed to travel to the downport on the world's surface.
Trokusian is a tiny desert world; its 7.5 million inhabitants live mainly in cast ironite dwellings, conditioned and sealed against the harsh conditions on the surface. The world's exports include ironite (a plaster with metal-like properties), and many varieties of natural crystals. -core TD 8

True-daughter/son: Euphemism for a daughter or son who is a clone. -nor MTJ 1

Tsinan (2503 Diaspora C472676-C): This planet is home to some of the most eager ornithopter enthusiasts in the sector. Tsinans have raised high-tech construction of 'thopters to an art form. An aerial endurance rally is held each year. The course of this rally carries contestants over Tsinan's largest desert. Checkpoints are located at the oases that are scattered across the length of the desert. Entrants from Sanborn (3001 Diaspora), another world where 'thoptering is a popular pastime and sport, win the event about once every three years. -AGD

Tukera Lines: Tukera Lines operates a vast fleet of passenger and freight vessels throughout the Imperium, following the xboat lines. In some areas (particularly the older, more established central regions of the Imperium), Tukera has a virtual monopoly on long-distance shipping and travel.
The oldest record of the firm is a charter from the government of the Sylean Federation, but family tradition holds the company to be several centuries older.
Stock ownership: Tukera family, 29 percent; Imperial family, 3 percent; Sternmetal Horizons, 2 percent; SuSAG, 5 percent; General Products, 2 percent; private ownership, 31 percent; investment trusts, 28 percent. -mc RC
The Imperium-spanning Tukera Lines actually predates the formation of the Imperium. The original corporation held a charter from the Sylean Federation; with the establishment of the Imperium in the holiday year zero, all such charters were automatically recognized by the Imperium.
Tukera Lines concentrates on the main communications links within the Imperium, and operates a vast fleet of jump-3 and jump-4 liners and transports which follow the established xboat routes. In some subsectors (especially the older, more established regions of the Imperium) Tukera has a virtual monopoly on long distance shipping and travel. -ld TP

Tulane (0731 Diaspora C381100-D): Many ornithopter racing enthusiasts in this part of the sector spend time on Tulane training for Tsinan's (2503 Diaspora) endurance races.
Tulaners have a long tradition of being among the most graceful of 'thopter pilots, but they are not among the strongest. Tulane's low gravity and dense atmosphere make 'thoptering almost too easy.
An interesting relationship has developed between Tulane's 'thopter enthusiasts and the local Chirpers, who have retained some capacities for flight in this environment. The chirpers, who dwell primarily in the sharp peaks of the southern hemisphere, love playing an aerial version of hide-and-go-seek with 'thopter regulars. -AGD

Tumblespider: The tumblespider is native to Amarsi (2121 Daibei). An adult measures about 0.5 m in diameter, and weighs perhaps 0.1 kg. It strongly resembles a small, twiggy bush, and blows across the plains of this relatively dry world. The tumblespider exudes a pleasing smell to attract insects, which it then grabs out of the air with its sticklike arms.
During Amarsi's equinoctial storms, the spider is blown about violently, dropping its eggs as it goes. The seasonal snows cover the eggs and insulate them until spring, when they hatch. The dead bodies of the adult tumblespiders litter the winter landscape, sometimes blowing into drifts several meters wide.
Tumblespiders have been imported to other worlds as a natural insect control mechanism. Tumblespiders are harmless and even make good pets. The natives of Amarsi regard tumblespiders as "good spirits." Among the locals, the saying "helpful as a tumblespider" is popular. -dai TD 15

Turin Consolidation: Member state of the Solomani Confederation. The Consolidation began with a group of religious emigres who fled Terra during the Interstellar Wars. Bearing many relics and cultural icons with them, the Turin settlers never wavered in their piety. The Consolidation has long been the home of the Brotherhood of SenWenclus, an ancient religious order, and the elite fighting force called the Knights of St. George.
The Brotherhood and the Knights work hand in hand in spreading their faith across human space. The Brotherhood's priests have often called on the Knights to help "convert" worlds unresponsive to the message. During the Solomani Rim War, the Knights stood among the Solomani's fiercest fighters. Absolutely committed to their cause, the Knights undergo at least five years of rigorous religious and military schooling. -sta S&A

Twilight (-1776 to -1526): The failure of the Rule of Man triggered the collapse of most interstellar civilization. While interstellar travel and commerce continued, it was at a greatly reduced rate, and the many worlds of the Imperium turned in on themselves. The period of collapse is termed Twilight, and it lasted for two and a half centuries.
Modern historians consider Twilight to have begun in -1776 when the treasury on Hub/Ershur refused to acknowledge a monetary issue of the branch treasury at Antares, which triggered a financial collapse and the destruction of large-scale trade within the Imperium.
The end of Twilight is commonly accepted as the year -1526, when the last governmental body claiming to be the Rule of Man ceased to exist. -ld IE

Twilight's Peak: Legendary or apocryphal story of lost starfarers on an unknown world who discovered fantastic structures and devices while surviving a terrifying winter. Phrased as an epic poem of execrable quality, the story is most notable only in that it is based on this fact: the Gyro Cadiz task force was lost in 984 (the time period specified), and it has not been recovered or accounted for. -ld IE -ld SotA -ld TP

Two Thousand Worlds: Most common name in the Imperium for the region of space ruled by the K'kree. "Two thousand worlds" is a literal translation of the K'kree T't'tkahk Xeng Kirr. The same words can also be rendered idiomatically as "universe." In times past, the words meant "night sky," for roughly two thousand stars can be seen from one hemisphere of Kirur, the K'kree homeworld. The name should not be taken to mean that there are exactly 2000 worlds in the K'kree empire.
The K'kree government is highly conservative. The current dynasty ruling the Two Thousand Worlds has been in power since prehistoric times, and the form of the government has remained unchanged except for a few minor modifications made necessary by the problems inherent in governing an interstellar empire.
K'kree expansion into space progressed very slowly after the discovery of the jump drive in 4142. The conservative nature of society and the technical limitations placed upon spaceflight by that society (K'Kree spaceships must be very large, for example) combined to inhibit early exploration and colonization.
The discovery of other sophonts caused a xenophobic reaction in K'kree society. The realization that intelligent carnivores might exist somewhere in space sparked the K'kree obsession to convert the universe to herbivorism. This obsession stimulated the growth of the Two Thousand Worlds to its present size and still dominates K'kree culture. Local cultures are tolerated and other aspects of K'kree society are not heavily enforced, but all races within the Two Thousand Worlds are herbivorous.
K'kree contact with the Hive Federation was soon followed by the Hiver-K'kree war of -2029 to -2013. The military technology of the K'kree proved superior in the first stages of the war. The war ended due to nonmilitary considerations, however, when the Hive Federation demonstrated a plan to radically alter the K'kree social order through the use of psychohistorical techniques and threatened to implement it. The K'kree withdrew to the antebellum borders, and the border between the two states has remained stable to this day.
The K'Kree Empire eventually stopped in its expansion. Increasing problems of administration over interstellar distances and contact with other starfaring races (such as Hivers and humaniti) have stabilized the Two Thousand Worlds at its present size. -ld IE
The K'kree Empire, situated (at its closest point) eighty parsecs trailing the Imperium. Its capital is Kirur, the K'kree homeworld. -ld TP