Re: Ancient sites

Mike Metlay writes:

> Andor and Candory have [Ancient sites] -- one or the other
> was the Droyne home world.

Is this inside information? As far as I recall Andor is merely
the prime candidate for Droyne homeworld. Nobody knows for sure.
The pattern of Ancient sites indicate a center "somewhere in
The Spinward Marches or Trojan Reach", but for all we know it
may be Shionty. Note that Andor falls outside the ideal Droyne
planet profile of size 4, atmosphere 8, hydrographics 4 found
on the Tirem rosette worlds. (I can't remember Candory's UPP,
but it has a lower population than Andor and a type 6 government
(captive government), so I assume that Candory was colonized
from Andor).
I don't recall any explicit mentions of Ancient sites on Andor
either (though I wouldn't be surprised if there were some there).

As an aside, here is the my (very unofficial) library data entry
for Andor:

- -------------8X-----------------------------------------------------

ANDOR (Spinward Marches 0236 C695735-9): Medium-sized imperial
planet with dense tainted atmosphere, 46% sea, high population,
self-perpertuating oligarchial rule, moderate law and early
stellar technology.
   Andor is inhabited by DROYNE. It was contacted briefly by scouts
during the First Survey. The inhabitants proved to have had jump
technology for several thousand years and had at one time explored a
number of planets in the surrounding area, but had not established
any permanent colonies anywhere, except on the neighboring world of
CANDORY, presumably because of the astrographical isolation of the
two star-systems (the next closest system being three parsecs away)
which makes contact using only jump-1 ships difficult and costly.
   The planet was placed under interdict by the Scouts in 602 for
[restricted reasons]. A treaty signed in 658, admitting Andor and
Candory to the Imperium, makes the inhabitants full citizens,
however, giving them, among other things, the ordinary 'right to
travel' (see IMPERIAL CONSTITUTION), which means that in spite
of the interdict the inhabitants of the two planets can come and
go freely. [Last update 325-734].

- -------------8X-----------------------------------------------------

Notes: Words in capitals are references to other entries, some
of which, however, hasen't been written yet. I haven't worked
out the Imperial Constitution for example. I wanted to explain
the Free Trader from Andor, an interdicted planet, mentioned in
Book 8, _Merchants_. My explanation is that Imperial citizens
have the right to travel to any non-interdicted world. We know
from what we've been told about Shionty that the Imperium allows
inhabitants of an interdicted world to stay on it even after the
interdict. Propably that is because they have a constitutional
right to stay there ("The Imperium shall make no laws requiring
the residents of any planet to leave..."). Of course it dosen't
necessarily follow that someone from an interdicted world will
be let back in once he's left, but I decided from the existence
of the droyne Free Trader from Andor that such was the case.

Note that non-citizens from interdicted worlds propably _dosen't_
have the right to come and go (Algine). Furthermore some kinds
of interdictions (like quarantines) may suspend even a citizen's
right to travel.

I haven't decided on what that restricted reason for the
Interdict is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of
the presense of one or more Ancient sites. The Imperium cannot
explore them without permission from the droyne (not easily
obtained as anybody who've read about the droyne will know) and
they daren't risk anybody else (like the zhodani) getting in there
ahead of them.


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     [email removed]
- ------------
  "Free speech gives a man the right to talk about the
'psycology' of an amoeba, but I don't have to listen".
                  Elihu Nivens in 'The Puppet Masters'