by Ann Wilson
C
CADET INCOGNITO: The provision made for Imperial nobles who wish toattend the Military or Administrative Academies without receivingspecial attention (either leniency or strictness). The cadet's trueidentity is known only to the Commandant of Cadets, and revealed atgraduation or if an emergency requires the cadet to drop out earlier.
CARLE: One of the Traiti Circle of Lords, female.
CARLE, Subsector 21-E: No. systems: 155 Sector: Traiti with 3 inhabited planets: 4 Ruled by: with 2 inhabited planets: 10 with 1 inhabited planet: 12
CASSELL, Sandoval (Sandy): (2092-2189) Leader of the geneticengineers later known as the Shapers.
CASSELL System: Sector: 5, Pegasus No. planets: 12 Subsector: D, Sandeman Habitable: 1 Ruled by: General: Sandeman's system, named for the leader of the Shapers. The Sandemans elected to keep the name; in spite of their opinion of the Shapers' attempt to control them, they are convinced the Shapers also deserve credit for creating them.
CATEGORY F ("Foreign Legion") ENLISTMENT: The provision made foranonymous enlistment in the Imperial military. A person wanting tomake use of this provision must meet the normal enlistment criteria,and tell the recruiting officer the reason (which may not be revealedto any third party) for wanting Category F. If the recruiting officeris satisfied that the reason has no bearing on the individual's fitnessfor service, @ will be enlisted under a new name, with a Category Fident code (prefix FFF); only the Imperial computer net has data onboth identities. The Cat F enlistee's career will not be restrictedexcept in one way: @ may not become an officer without resuming @'soriginal name and ident code.
CE: Common Era, the Imperial term for what was called AD before theEmpire's formation. BC, in those terms, is BCE--Before the Common Era.This change was made to avoid any implication that the Empire mightfavor or promote any particular religion.
CENTAURUS, Sector 8: Ruled by: No. systems: 356 Subsectors: 4 Inhabited planets: 217 A. Chiron C. Bast B. Pholus D. Pan
CERBERUS, Subsector 2-E: No. systems: 54 Sector: Hydra with 3 inhabited planets: 2 Ruled by: with 2 inhabited planets: 11 with 1 inhabited planet: 20
CHAMELEON, Sector 20: Ruled by: No. systems: 397 Subsectors: 4 Inhabited planets: 226 A. Oghma C. Dagda B. Thoth D. Ukko
CHANG, Cheong: (2050-2149) First Sovereign of the Terran Empire.Retired from the USMC as a Major General in 2097. Became acquaintedwith Reinhard Nannstein, an acquaintanceship that became a closefriendship. At Nannstein's urging, Chang entered Solar Federationpolitics, rapidly earning a reputation for outstanding statesmanshipand unyielding integrity. Elected President of the Federation in 2124,he was aware that his friend's work on gravitics (and the highprobability that faster-than-light travel would soon follow) wouldrequire some drastic changes, and he began laying the groundwork forthem. In 2125, Nannstein invented hyperdrive; as humanity explodedaway from Terra, Chang and Nannstein acted. Democratic government,even as loose as the Federation's, had become so obviouslyimpractical--and Chang was so highly regarded--that they were able topersuade the Federation Congress to pass a constitutional amendmentdissolving the Federation and establishing the Terran Empire--on thecondition that Chang agree to be Emperor. One of his first acts onassuming the Throne was to create the Rangers and nobility; another wasto direct the regularization of English. His alphabet and some of hisother linguistic changes caught on; some did not. He died secondsafter midnight, 1 January 2149.
CHIEF'S BENCH: (Sandeman) A judicial-style bench in the clanhome'smain hall, used by the clan-chief on formal occasions.
CHIEF'S RIGHT: (Sandeman) A clan-chief's right to impose punishment onone who has committed a serious offense against a member of his clan.
CHIRON, Subsector 8-A: No. systems: 74 Sector: Centaurus with 3 inhabited planets: 2 Ruled by: with 2 inhabited planets: 9 with 1 inhabited planet: 23
CIRCLE OF LORDS: The Traiti deities, three females and nine males--oneof whom, Lord Esteban the Peacelord, is a human. All were planned forand then influenced, to a greater or lesser degree, by the psioniccomputer called Godhome--which had been left behind for that task whenthe Others departed to continue their development on another plane ofexistence. Once those who were to become Lords agreed to serve,Godhome forced them into full intellectual and emotional maturity;although they have powers generally thought of as godlike, they thinkof themselves as parents. Their aim, over millennia, is to bring allintelligence to their level; their philosophy is thatself-responsibility is essential to natural maturation, so theyintervene only when, and only as much as, absolutely unavoidable forracial survival.
CLAN NAMES, TRAITI: Naming convention is one or two letters, anapostrophe, and one or two syllables to form something pronounceable.Clan names probably had meaning when the clans were originallyestablished, but those meanings have become lost over the millennia.(Some clan-names established in the series so far: Ch'geasht, Ch'kara,D'gameh, K'horan, N'chark, St'nar.)
CLANS, SANDEMAN: The basic unit of Sandeman society, the extended"family". While the clan-chief is in charge and has the last word, heis not--cannot be--a dictator. Until Overthrow, clans were establishedby the Shapers and restricted in size to 200-500 members; since then,some have gotten larger, and a new clan is formed by agreement betweentwo or more "parent" clans who contribute members and resources.
Some established clans (those with asterisks formed by the Shapers),with their specialties and brief notes if applicable; there may be amore detailed entry as well, under the clan name, if availableinformation justifies it.
Alanna*: edged weapons; the First Clan. Cid Datha Elwyn* Faerb Glenn Havek: metal-working, electronics; daughter-clan to Krishnan and Leras. Klein Krishnan*: basic research, farming. Leras*: farming, piloting and pilot training; the entire warrior caste of this clan is accomplished pilots. Levya*: shipfitters Lewies* Lowrie* Miklos*: communications. Neill*: leather battlegear, horses. Raynor*: medicine, genetics. Seldon Shona*: war-dogs, farming. Torrance: boats, other aquatic craft, seamanship. Vader: energy weapons; the first clan formed after Overthrow.
CLOUDCATS: Inhabitants of Ondrian, moved there by the Others about8000 BCE because their original sun was about to go nova.
They resemble Terran mountain lions in size and shape, though becauseof their preference for cold climates, their fur is thick and white.They are highly intelligent, although the first colonists thought themwild animals; they communicate and manipulate objects with a pair oftentacular Y-shaped "tongues" that retract into cheek pouches when notin use.
Cloudcats are solitary hunters, living in mountain caves the Othersprovided with psionically-operated survival aids; although the closestworld to their native one, Ondrian is enough harsher that, without thesurvival aids, cloudcat art and philosophy would have suffered, perhapsdied. Most are involved with one or the other, many with both, and thetapestries they weave from their shed fur are in great demandthroughout the Empire. Although most cloudcats never leave their hometerritory, some do take advantage of their right (granted in return forthe colonists' free use of the equatorial zone) to travel at will onImperial ships.
CLOUD-SILK: A soft, light, tough luxury fabric made from a plant thatthrives only on Herbert's World.
CODES, COLOR: (Stories) Generally seen on military uniforms in theform of collar tabs, the color codes indicate the service's level.Imperial forces have no collar tabs; Sector-level have white,Subsector-level have yellow, System-level have orange, andPlanetary-level have red.
(TE Society) These are the ones on the badges, intended to simplifymutual identification, especially when not in uniform or regalia. Nocolor band means n
o Imperial rank (except for brown, which indicates alocal noble; technically, they have no Imperial standing, but aregenerally given the courtesy title of "Excellency"). Green indicatesthe Sovereign (wide) and Rangers (2 narrow); white is for Dukes, yellowfor Earls, orange for Counts, and red for Barons (in all of these awide band is for a Life Noble, two narrow for a Ruling Noble and @'sConsort and Heir, one narrow for a Life Noble's spouse and a RulingNoble's younger children). Black indicates Marines, blue Navy, withwide band for Imperial regulars, two narrows for Imperial reservists,and one narrow for local forces.
CODES, IDENT: (Stories) Only S and R indicate status in this group(Sovereign and Rangers, respectively); with the first and last lettersof the individual's name, these form a three-letter prefix. All othershave a five-letter prefix, with the first three being a home-planetidentifier (preferably the first three letters in the Imperial Englishalphabet, but modified where necessary to prevent duplication), againwith the first and last letters of the individual's name. The prefixis followed by an eight-digit number that precisely identifies theindividual.
(TE Society) These were set up to allow computer separation, if itever becomes necessary, by Imperial status; the first letter indicatesthat with S for Sovereign, R for Ranger, N for Imperial noble, C forcitizens derived (or derivable) from the original TE stories, and E forcitizens of extra-universal origin. TE is simply for Terran Empire,and the numbering is consecutive, assigned when enough information isavailable to do so--usually when the Admin Service has a persona formto work from.
COLD PEAK RANGE: A Sandeman mountain range, mostly on Clan Torranceterritory. It is supposed to be the most beautiful mountain scenery onthe planet, but is visited by few Sandemans other than Torrance huntingparties because of the general Sandeman dislike for low temperatures.
COMBAT DIVISION: The largest of the ITMC's major specialty divisions,it is responsible for all directly combat-related activity, includingsuch things as basic training.
COMM IMPLANT: A surgically implanted communications system consistingof a transmitter in the throat and a receiver at the mastoid bone.Imperial implants have an always-active receiver and touch-activatedtransmitter, which can also be computer-activated if the comp initiatesthe contact and expects an answer.
COMP: Computer, of any type and size from a hand-held personal modelto an Imperial Battle Cruiser's or other artificial intelligence.
CONCLAVE: The gathering of Rangers called by a new Sovereignimmediately after @'s accession, to name the new Successor.
CONSORT, -CONSORT: Unhyphenated, a Kin of the Dragon who has Bonded toa Bloodmate. Hyphenated, after a title of nobility, the spouse of aruling Imperial noble.
COR'NAYA: (Traiti) Honored One. Generally, a male who has taken andsurvived the Ordeal of Honor, and displays the Honor scars inflicted asa test of endurance to conclude the Ordeal. Rarely, a female who hasborne twins and has been given Honor scars under anesthesia in ahospital.
CORONET: The lesser crown used by Rangers (when using their civiltitle of Prince/Princess) and Imperial nobles, primarily on ceremonialoccasions.
CORPSWEN: Imperial Navy medical technician.
CRATER, Sector 13: Ruled by: No. systems: 395 Subsectors: 4 Inhabited planets: 220 A. Nike C. Ratri B. Inanna D. Idun
CROWN, IMPERIAL: The crown worn by the Sovereign during majorceremonies such as Investitures, Grand Audiences, etc. It is made ofplatinum in a wing-and-star motif, with the arches topped by the globeand sun segments of the Imperial Seal. The only gems used are pearlson the arches. For comfort, the crown is worn over a green velvet Capof Estate, turned up with ermine. For less formal occasions a lighterversion, without arches (and sometimes called the Diadem), is used.
CYCLOPS, Subsector 2-C: No. systems: 106 Sector: Hydra with 3 inhabited planets: 1 Ruled by: with 2 inhabited planets: 11 with 1 inhabited planet: 20
CYGNUS, Sector 7: Ruled by: No. systems: 803 Subsectors: 6 Inhabited planets: 297 A. Kinnison D. Jirel B. Skywalker E. Lessa C. DuQuesne F. Stildyne