Vaal (0624 Daibei D497779-8): Though listed as an agricultural planet, Vaal also has some of the richest lanthanum deposits in the sector. So rich in heavy metals is this small planet that its volcanoes exhale lead oxides regularly, tainting the dense atmosphere. A few plants have adapted themselves to remove this taint and make metabolic use of it. These few are, of course, not edible by the human populace.

The lanthanum deposits make this planet an attractive target for Solomani expansion. The Naval base at Sotto has kept a close eye on the system and its near neighbors. -dai TD 15

Vaenggvae, The: Originally a band of Taarskoerzn corsairs, this group wrested control of the Corridor Depot from Imperial hands. Under the control of the Vargr Nougzoel, the Vaenggvae now dictate policy to the majority of Vargr in Corridor. -sidebar MTJ 2

Vakada (0112 Lishun B100000-D): Vakada is a training planet for the Imperial Scout Service, where vacuum and low-gravity conditions are thoroughly learned. Supplies for the base in far orbit are brought from nearby Zemud (0212 Lishun), which can also provide rest and relaxation for instructors assigned to bleak Vakada. -lis TD 7

Valkyr (1709 Gateway BA598FE-C): A high-gravity world noted chiefly for its warrior class, the Valkyrs. Drawn exclusively from the world's ruling elite, the Valkyrs are extensively trained from childhood in combat and raiding techniques, sabotage, and special operations. The hot, thin air and high gravity has produced a strain of humans adapted to the harsh environment, stronger and with greater endurance than normal people. The Hochiken People's Assembly has been castigated in the past few years for conducting deliberate human genetic experiments on Valkyr in an attempt to produce a race of super warriors. Granth has consistently denied all such rumors, while at the same time refusing to allow outsiders to visit this world.

Visas and special passes to visit Valkyr are available only on Granth -gat MTJ 4

Valminosh: Common fast food meal consisting of two crisp pieces of thin bread with various fillings in between. -cam MS

Vard (0714 Old Expanses X9BA997-7): Red Zone. Vards people are packed into shallow-water arcologies. Their government is a veritable maze of agencies in charge of this and that, often overlapping, never simple to cope with. Because of their sympathies and active cooperation with the Solomani rebels since the last war, Vard has been interdicted by the Imperial Navy.

The planetary tech level has been falling steadily since contact was cut off, and the Scout Service predicts that soon the populace will not be able to repair or maintain the arcologies. The IISS has thus petitioned the Emperor for a lifting of the restrictions, lest they lead to genocide. The Navy takes a dim view of this idea. If anything, the interdiction has made the anti-Imperial attitudes worse over the years, but Vard would be hard put to menace the Imperium in its present condition. -oe TD 12

Vargr: Intelligent major race derived from Ancient genetic manipulations of Terran carnivore/chaser stock, which apparently dates from approximately the same time that humaniti was scattered to the stars.

Inhabiting a region rimward of the Imperium, the Vargr were a puzzle to xenologists. The biochemistry and genetic makeup are almost identical with a number of terrestrial animals, but they differ radically from most of the flora and fauna indigenous to Lair, which is the purported Vargr home world.

Researches during the early years of the Third Imperium concluded them to be the result of genetic manipulation of transplanted Terran animals of the family Canidae, which is almost certainly of genus Canis. The obvious conclusion, supported by archeological evidence, is that the race known as the Ancients was responsible.

The typical Vargr is about 1.6 meters in height and weighs approximately 60 kilograms. They are upright, bipedal carnivores, with rear limbs digitigrade and hands very similar in size and appearance to those of a human, although there are significant internal differences. They have approximately the same physical parameters as humans and are able to use the same equipment without modification or additional instruction.

On the average their reactions are slightly faster than those of the typical human, but individuals vary widely. The Vargr senses of smell and sight are superior to those of humans. -ld SotA

Government: There is no central Vargr government; indeed, there is no governmental type that can be said to be "typically Vargr." Every conceivable form of governmental organization can be found somewhere in the Vargr Extents. The only cohesive force in the Extents is a fierce racial pride which causes a slight tendency towards racial cooperation.

The higher the level of the Vargr government, the more unstable it becomes because of the difficulty of obtaining consent of all Vargr involved.

Vargr in the Imperium: While only a few planets populated completely by Vargr exist within the Imperium, there are millions of Vargr citizens of loyal subject planets. Additionally, Vargr adventurers, criminals, mercenaries and traders can be found throughout the coreward reaches of the Imperium.

Society: The key elements shaping Vargr societies are a very strong centrifugal force resulting from an emphasis on consensus and informal lines of authority, and an equally strong centripetal force resulting from a deeply ingrained family-clantribe-nation loyalty.

Centralized authority is extremely limited at the upper levels of Vargr society, and action is based on broad coalitional concerns, with a constant splitting and rejoining of dissident factions. Traditionally, this has made it very difficult for more centralized and organized societies such as the Imperium to deal on a meaningful basis with what passes for Vargr states.

The Vargr have little respect for formal authority, and what respect they might have decreases as that authority becomes more remote. Vargr tend to respect informal authority figures more, and they obey superiors who are better known to them.

The Vargr have an intensive racial pride, and they are easily insulted. They are prone to enter into fights without regard to possible consequences. Vargr social organization is difficult to characterize in Terran terms, but it can be most closely compared to the Dakota Sioux of North America in the 1800s AD, if the analogy is not pressed too far.

Even among the most stable Vargr governments, a highly charismatic leader can attract followers for almost anything. The neighbors of the Vargr are constantly the subject of impromptu raids and scattered piracy by bands of Vargr (totally without government sanction, of course) who have been talked into a raid, a battle, or a war by a charismatic leader. -ld IE

Intelligent race derived from Ancient genetic manipulations of common carnivore/chaser stock. Vargr have long suffered from an inability to organize themselves (to any degree or for any length of time) beyond the star system level, and their empires rise and fall with unsurprising regularity. In addition, Vargr suffer from a racial inferiority complex based on the knowledge that they are not products of evolution; instead, they were manipulated into intelligence by someone else - the Ancients.

The Vargr are scattered across most of the coreward edge of the Imperium in many splinter empires collectively called the Extents. These states war with each other as much as with non-Vargr, and there is a constant strife as each tries to establish a position superior to the others. Some Vargr have been more-or-less allied with the Zhodani for several centuries, and have participated in the Frontier Wars. Others have maintained a strict neutrality, or even allied with the Imperium. -ld TP

Vargr Campaigns (220 to 348): The series of wars, encounters, conflicts, and disputes between the Imperium and the various Vargr states in Vland, Corridor, and Deneb sectors along the coreward edge of the Imperium.

As the Imperium expanded, it initially recruited worlds which were former members of the Second and First Imperium. As its borders reached still farther, the Imperial expansion met already established Vargr states of varying sizes. The Imperium struggled for over a century to secure its territory against the Vargr; the inevitable series of conflicts which resulted are collectively called the Vargr campaigns. -ld IE

Vargr Extents: The territory dominated by Vargr governments. The term Vargr Extents refers to those sectors with major Vargr populations. Extents are situated roughly coreward of the Imperium and especially coreward of the Spinward Marches, Deneb, Corridor, and Vland sectors. -ld IE

Vegan: An intelligent race originating on Muan Gwi (Solomani Rim/Vega 1717 A456A86-F) and inhabiting the Vegan Autonomous District; they are named by humans after the bright star near their homeworld.

General: Vegans are upright, bipedal, and bilaterally symmetrical, and they average 2.2 meters in height. They are bisexual, homeothermic oxygen breathers with an average lifespan of over 200 years. Because of their low-gravity origin, they are physically quite weak and are unable to live on high gravity worlds.

The head serves both as braincase and as sensory appendage. Auditory organs are located in the collar-like structure around the neck. Despite external appearances to the contrary, Vegans have two eyes located inside the hood-like fleshy structure which dominates the head.

The paired eyes are covered by a transparent eyelid-like structure, which acts as a polarized light filter. This structure protects the eyes from glare, like built-in sunglasses. and also serves to keep windblown dust out of the eyes. This filter can be retracted when not needed. The eyes themselves are large and pick up radiation well into the infrared portion of the spectrum, an adaptation to Muan Gwi's small red sun. Since the skull is fixed solidly in place, a Vegan cannot turn its head, but the fleshy hood containing the eyes can turn through a large arc.

The mouth is a vertical slit in the upper thoracic region with paired breathing/vocal slits on either side of it. Two mandibles are located inside the upper chest, and they grind food between their opposing sets of teeth.

Where the forearm and hand would be on a human, Vegans have three tentacles, which serve them as manipulative organs. Their legs end in broad, splayed feet, which prevent them from sinking into the soft sand.

The urogenital opening is a vertical slit located ventrally in the lower abdomen. There are no external differences between sexes.

Vegans have a number of adaptations to the arid dry region of Muan Gwi where they developed. Their tall, thin bodies are designed for maximum radiation of heat. The torso is covered with a thick integument, whose convoluted surface is richly supplied with blood vessels.

By increasing or decreasing the supply of blood to the integument, heat radiation from the torso can be regulated to optimum effect (more during the day, less at night). This arrangement obviates the necessity for sweating and its consequent water loss. All orifices of the body can be sealed to prevent unnecessary moisture loss.

History: The Vegans received the jump drive about -6000 from Vilani-influenced traders, and they colonized several nearby worlds before being absorbed by the First Imperium in -4404. They were severely restricted under Vilani rule, as were all races who resisted being integrated into the rigid Vilani culture. Because of this, they welcomed Terran victory in the Interstellar Wars and the advent of the Rule of Man.

The Vegan Polity prospered under the Rule of Man and survived the Long Night largely intact. However, with the advent of the Third Imperium, the Vegan area was broken into individual planetary states in accord with Imperial policy; nonhumans were treated as full citizens but, in order to cement Imperial authority, no multiworld governmental units were allowed.

Under the Solomani, the Vegans were again restricted. Human colonies were founded on many Vegan worlds to maintain Solomani influence there, and Solomani governors were installed on all Vegan worlds. After the Solomani Rim War, the present Vegan Autonomous District was formed as a counterweight to the Solomani.

Society: Vegan society is divided into hundreds of different tuhuir, which might be roughly translated as culture, philosophy, or tao. Each tuhuir has its own customs and traditions and its own interpretation of the proper way to live. The civil service which governs the Vegan District is a tuhuir which oversees and mediates among all the other tuhuir. Although rare, heretical and rebellious tuhuir do exist.

Archeology shows that the tuhuir were once separate societies and each were associated with a particular geographic location, like countries on ancient Earth. Now, however, they are mixed together in complex patterns.

Tuhuir are not hereditary; when a Vegan nears sexual maturity, he or she enters a period of search, which may last for many years. Eventually, the individual chooses a tuhuir; once made, the choice is for life. In practice, about 50 percent of all Vegans enter the tuhuir of their parents (the exact percentage varies with each tuhuir); about 0.5 percent find that they enjoy the search as a way of life and never join a tuhuir. -ld IE

Vegan Autonomous District: After the pyrrhic victory over the Solomani at Terra in 1002, the Imperium found that it could not completely conquer and absorb the rest of the Solomani Sphere. The Imperial high command decided to create the Vegan Autonomous District to act as a counterweight to the remnants of the Solomani Confederation. The Vegans have complete internal control over their district, but free passage is guaranteed for Imperial citizens and goods.

Although many factors have contributed to the present peace and stability along the Solomani Rim, it cannot be denied that the creation of the Vegan Autonomous District has achieved its original purpose.

The worlds of the Vegan Autonomous District are under a single, centralized government. State power is contained in a civil service and is chosen and promoted by competitive examinations. -ld IE

Vheiin: Wine made from Lipman grapes, a plant native to Gabrael (2807 Deneb A473646-E). Lipman grapes has been exported from Gabrael to hundreds of other worlds in the Domain of Deneb and Corridor sector. Vheiin is available in a wide spectrum of different qualities and prices. -cam MS

Velpare (1623 Core A567634-9): Velpare is known throughout Core Sector for its fine cuisine. The chefs of the world cook up a variety of delicacies, all prepared from the native plant and animal life. One spice in particular, the varinte plant, is highly prized for its sweet, pungent flavor, and can be bought as far away as Vland.

Velpare is the subsector capital; the Count of Frethe, an influential noble in the Moot, holding thousand of proxy votes, hails from here.

The Scout base in the Velpare system is small, but is an important node in the X-boat network, overseeing operations in a five-parsec radius. -core TD 10

Vemene: The covert security agency of Tukera Lines. The agency's official mission is to thwart piracy, hijacking, theft, and sabotage directed against Tukera's ships and planetary installations. Critics charge that the real mission of the Vemene is to suppress Tukera's competition by any means necessary, legal or illegal. -ld TA

Vilani: Human major race (H. sapiens) which developed on Vland from human stock placed there by the Ancients.

History: The world of Vland, while possessed of a hospitable environment, boasted an alien ecology based on its own independently evolved biology, a biology that produced proteins, sugars, and amino acids that were difficult for humans to digest and metabolize. The humans just could not use local plant and animal life for food.

One of the oldest occupations in Vilani society is that of shugilii (which translates roughly as miller). The shugilii was a person who could transform raw food into edible food through special aging and chemical treatment. The shugilii task was more akin to shaman or witch doctor than of that cook. Since virtually no food on Vland was edible without some treatment, shugiliis were powerful members of society.

The alienness of Vland was reciprocal: humans were unsuitable as food for predators, parasites died because humans provided no nutrition, bacteria could not infect the human system, and even viruses were unable to invade and take over human cells. Consequently, the primitive human society found no need for medically oriented shaman. Vilani medical understanding was very slow to develop because of this.

Vilani legends are full of accounts of the wars of the gods, terrible destruction, and occasional intervention in human affairs by the gods. Legends exist of early explorers who found lands with great living stone-metal gods possessed of immense magical powers. Modern archeologists now believe these "gods" were actually great robot warriors and juggernauts used by the Ancients in the final war. Apparently, the last of these machines finally ran down around -20,000.

Society: Early Vilani society was dominated by three groups: the shugiliis, the aristocrats, and the merchants. Aristocrats were the natural leaders of society, the shugiliis were the all important food processors, and the merchants controlled trade.

With the flowering of Vilani society (circa -11,000) and its attendant industrial revolution, each of these three forces gained power rather than lost it; each participated in the creation of the industrialized wealth of Vland.

In -9235 the Vilani made their ultimate breakthrough - one that would assure their ascendance for the next 6000 years. A research team working on the fringes of the Vland system created the first working prototype jump drive and demonstrated its effects.

The Vilani found intelligent lifeforms on other worlds within 60 parsecs of Vland. None of the races had progressed enough to have begun interstellar travel. The Vilani found it easy to dominate these less technically advanced races. The Vilani were able to impose Vilani culture and law on these other races among the stars. However, the Vilani conquerings were not militaristic in nature, but rather were economic subjection.

As their sphere of influence was expanding, the Vilani found it difficult to maintain control across such great distances with jump-1 as their maximum rate of travel and communication. At the same time, each of the three power classes of Vilani society found itself threatened by the forces around it.

Three bureaux were established, each independent of the other two, and each assigned a territory among the stars for which it was responsible. Each of the three bureaux was effectively identical, but they initially espoused different philosophies, which were based on their origins. The bureaux maintained their own governments within their territorities.

Sharurshid, originating with the merchant class, emphasized interstellar trade. Makhidkarun, originating with the aristocracy, emphasized interstellar government. Naasirka, originating with the shugiliis, floundered after it found that it could not control food supplies on most of the worlds it dealt with, but it ultimately became a broad-line organization which emphasized energy, transport, and luxury goods.

In -6430, the Vilani finally discovered jump-2. No other race had jump-2, and the Vilani maintained a sole monopoly on jump-2 by jealously guarding its secrets from all subject races. Beginning in -5400, a series of wars to subjugate the resisting fringe cultures was waged. This period of consolidation wars lasted until -4045.

Grand Empire of Stars: In 4046, the ruling Vilani council, the Igsiirdi, declared the Grand Empire of the Stars, or in the Vilani tongue, the Ziru Sirka. The Vilani calendar starts from this date.

At first, the Empire had no emperor. Within 10 years, the chairman of the Igsiirdi (elected for life by the council) was the Ishimkarun - the Shadow Emperor - ruled through published proclamations, but never appeared in public. In -3610, the Shadow Emperor became the Emperor of the Stars, who was the absolute monarch of the Empire. Successors were elected from the Igsiirdi upon the death of the old emperor.

For nearly 1,200 years the Grand Empire of the Stars kept the peace among its star-spanning population. However, the empire insisted on cultural rigidity. Exploration was stopped by -4000. Scientific research was controlled and then stopped altogether by -3800.

The beginning of the end of Vilani domination, however, was signalled by the contact with the Terrans in -2422. By -2408 the Terrans and the Vilani were at war; by -2219 the Terrans had surpassed the Vilani technologically and were marching through the cities of Vland as conquerors, and the Grand Empire of the Stars was at an end.

Currently, Vilani is a cultural rather than a racial or national labeling, and it is applied to those within the Imperium who retain some of the old ways. Dialects of the old High Vilani language survive in certain places, along with a few fragments of Vilani culture, such as musical forms and other fine arts. Certain of the old Vilani noble families have maintained more of the old culture, particularly the families who control the Vilani megacorporations.

Vilani Calendar: The Vilani calendar is based on the period of Vland (the Vilani homeworld) around Urakkalan, its star. The Vilani Gurkala (year) is 478.72 standard days in length.

See also First Imperium. -ld IE

Human major race (H. sapiens) which developed on Vland from human stock placed there by the Ancients.

The Vilani were the first of humanity to develop the jump drive (in -9235) and were the first humans to establish an interstellar empire.

The old Vilani culture which developed during the first Imperium was a rigid caste system based on the idea that each citizen had a specific and set place in the universe, and it was each citizen's duty to remain in that place. Society could not afford to let individuals do as they pleased. Not all of the subject races of the Vilani Imperium were able to be completely absorbed into this culture (the Vegans, for example) and those societies did not do well under the Vilani Imperium.

The stability which Vilani culture achieved was not obtained without cost. Cultural rigidity brought with it stagnation, and the Vilani Imperium collapsed soon after contact with the young, vigorous Terran Confederation.

Vilani Main: The Vilani Main, one of the largest chains of jump-1 worlds in the Imperial region, is the oldest, richest, and most cohesive section of the old empire. Few of its worlds gave up interstellar travel during the Long Night.

Almost two-thirds of the planets in the Vland sector can be reached from Vland by a series of one-parsec jumps. Maps produced before the Rule of Man call the Main by its original Vilani name, Arshukaa Sagalaa. -vla V&V

Vilani Settlement of Trojan Reach Sector: During its decline, a revolt led the First Imperium to abandon its scattered settlements in Corridor Sector. These isolated outposts proved unable to maintain trade in the face of Vargr piracy. Surviving records state that several groups took their old, failing starships and left to find safer worlds in Reft and Trojan Reach.

Evidence of the Vilani presence has been found on multiple worlds in these two sectors. Most finds are dated between -2300 and -1700. Experts generally attribute the occasional site with earlier or later estimated dates to starship crews stranded by misjumps or some other such mishap.

Most of the Vilani settlements in Reft died out long before the advent of the Third Imperium. The Trojan Reach colonies fared somewhat better, at least for a while. In -2074 they formed a small state known today as the Sindalian Empire. The Sindalian emperors ruled with iron fists prompting a 50-year period of civil dissent that culminated in a bout of bacteriological warfare. The civilization of old Sindal - now Noricum (2018 Trojan Reach D8867BB-1 ) collapsed, and the Empire itself fell in -1441. -tr TD 20

Vilis Subsector: Subsector F of the Spinward Marches. The coreward portion of the subsector is the demilitarized neutral zone established after the Third Frontier War. Along the Imperial border runs the xboat route which connects Regina with the subsector capital at Frenzie.

The subsector was originally explored by the Sword Worlds, with individual planets surveyed and claimed by individual Sword Worlds. Limited colonization was undertaken, but activity was more in the line of exploitation of readily available resources than settlement. When the Imperials reached the subsector, extensive Imperial colonization displaced Sword Worlders and led to the subsector's absorption by the Imperium.

Vilis (1119 Spinward Marches A593943-A) was the original subsector capital, settled in 240 by colonists from Gungnir (1221 Spinward Marches B444779-8). Garda-Vilis (1118 Spinward Marches B978868-A) was colonized from Vilis in 290; the name means New Vilis. In 470, much of the subsector was absorbed by the Imperium, and that absorption is one of the reasons cited by the Sword Worlds for its membership in the Outworld Coalition and participation in the First Frontier War.

Arden (1011 Spinward Marches C5549CB-8), capital of the Arden Federation (with two colonies in adjacent Jewell subsector) is a former Imperial world which has established its independence and neutrality. The world is a neutral meeting place for Imperial and Zhodani negotiators. -spin SMC

Vilnaf: Light alcoholic beverage common in Deneb and Spinward Marches. Containing carbonic acid, this milky drink is very refreshing when drunk in small quantities. -cam MS

Vilnafku: Meal common in Vland and Lishun. A thick porrage-like mixture of meat and vegetables is packaged in eatable leaves and cooked in a brine. -cam MS

Virushi: A massive minor race hailing from Virshash (2724 Reavers' Deep), they are often described as "centaurs with tank blood" or "intelligent bulldozers". Contrary to what their physical appearance seems to imply, Virushi are pacifistic and (when talking in 1 ATM pressure) soft-spoken. They feel obligated to serve the common good, but can not be ordered to undertake actions against their will. -rd TD 16

Vland (1717 Vland A967A9A-F): Homeworld of the Vilani, former capital of the Vilani Imperium, current capital of the Vland sector, and current capital of the so-called Restored Vilani Empire or Ziru Sirka. Vland has been a major trade and cultural center for the core/spinward regions of the Imperium. -ld IE -ld SotA

Vulmek: Thick porrage-like dish eaten in Lishun. Vulmek is usually sprinkled with a crispy mix of different berries and nuts. Two main variants exists - red vulmek, which is spicy and a little more liquid than green vulmek, which is more sticky and a little more difficult to make tasty. -cam MS

Vun Nez Onorka: School of law and political science on Torrrrerz (3137 Gvurrdon), renowned for its strict discipline and ritual. Graduates often adhere to the style of dress prescribed by the dress code, even into their professional careers. Students preparing to become emissaries are trained to serve in higher level and formalized settings. When serving in their roles, they usually don ornate stoles marked with the sigils of their teachers. -w&o V&V