Dedication
To the soldiers of the
Foreign Legion—past,
present, and future*
Prologue
[Morrison’s Star]: Distance from Sol 112 light years … Spectral class F7V; radius 1.252 Sol; mass 1.196 Sol; luminosity 2.548 Sol. Stellar Effective Temperature 6420°K … Eight planets, one planetoid belt. The sole habitable world is the fourth planet, known as Hanuman …
[IV Hanuman]: Orbital radius 1.25 AUs; eccentricity .0102; period 1.28 solar years (466.76 std. days) … No natural satellites …
Planetary mass 0.8 Terra; density 1.15 Terra (6.33 g/ cc); surface gravity 1.02 G. Radius 5658.14 kilometers; circumference 35,551.1 kilometers … Total surface area 402,306,340 square kilometers …
Hydrographic percentage 87% … Atmospheric pressure 1.10 atm; composition oxygen/nitrogen. Oxygen content 24% …
Planetary axial tilt 9°19'42.8". Rotation period 33 hours, 48 minutes, 7.8 seconds …
[Planetography]: Hanuman is somewhat less active geologically than Terra.… The planetary terrain, however, is fairly rugged. Just over half the land surface is hill or mountain, with broad, level tracts of ground-coastal or upland plains comprising the rest of the land area. There is one major continent dominating the northern hemisphere, plus five smaller continents and scattered islands.… Tidal effects are minimal.…
Equatorial temperatures average near 55°C, while polar temperatures rarely drop below freezing. Warm ocean currents keep coastal areas pleasant even above the Arctic Circle. Humans can live in regions north or south of the 55° latitude lines (particularly in the cooler uplands) … High mountain elevations are dangerous due to the high ultraviolet output of Morrison’s Star.…
Temperature and humidity produce wide jungles in the equatorial regions, extending as far as the 60° latitude lines. Beyond these the climate moderates, with temperate forests, upland steppes, deserts …
[Biology]: Intelligent life first arose in the mid-latitude jungles, evolving originally from brachiating omnivore/ gatherer stock in a niche closely paralleling Terrestrial mangrove swamps.… Intelligence arose as a defense mechanism to counter a variety of predators.… The sophonts of Hanuman (they call themselves kyendyp in the language of the primary human-contacted nations) are bilaterally symmetrical, upright bipeds, basically humanoid in gross appearance but differing significantly in detail. They are homeothermic, with leathery olive-green skin.… The average local stands roughly 1.25 meters in height. They are hairless but possess a ruff of short, quill-like spines around the neck. These normally lie flat against the skin but may stiffen in response to certain emotional stimuli (fear, anger, etc.). The movement of the ruff can be used as a gauge to their reactions.…
The kyendyp are full hermaphrodites, simultaneously possessing fully developed male and female sexual organs. Either partner in a sexual union can become pregnant, and any individual can bear and rear young. Children are born live and drink an analogue to milk secreted by the parent. Kyendyp languages have no terms or cases involving gender; the word adopted by humans to replace “he” or “she” is “ky.…”
[Civilization]: The kyendyp of the mid-latitude jungles never advanced out of the Stone Age. Those who left the jungles for the cooler uplands of the northern latitudes, however, found that their simple hunter-gatherer life-style was inappropriate.…
At the time of the Semti Conclave’s surrender to the Terran Commonwealth a hundred years ago, the civilized kyendyp were still roughly equivalent to nineteenth-century Europe in technological achievement, though once the Semti influence was gone their development accelerated dramatically.… There are still large numbers of Stone-Age savages in the jungles, however, who are often exploited by more civilized groups as cheap labor.…
[Commonwealth Contact]: The first Terran settlement was at Fwynzei, an island leased to the Terrans by Vyujiid, which remains the largest and most civilized of all kyendyp nations.… Penetration of Vyujiid was achieved with little difficulty, thanks to the relatively enlightened views of the local leaders.… The medicinal value of zyglyn vines spurred commercial development, strongly sponsored by StelPhar Industries, which uses processed zyglyn from Hanuman as a base for a line of full-spectrum antivirals.…
Excerpted from
Leclerc’s Guide to the Commonwealth Volume V:
The Devereaux/Neusachsen Region 34th Edition,
published 2848 AD