Preamble
To the legion of the lost ones, to the cohort of the damned.
—Rudyard Kipling Gentlemen Rankers, 1892
Prologue
Beau Soleil: Distance from Sol 94 light years … Spectral class G2V; radius 1.0 Sol; mass 1.0 Sol; luminosity 1.01 Sol. Stellar Effective Temperature 5800° K … Seven planets, including one habitable world, Beau Soleil III, designated Devereaux …
Ill Devereaux: Orbital radius 0.96 AUs; eccentricity .0068; period 0.94 solar years (343.6 std. days) … No natural satellites …
Planetary mass 0.9 Terra; density 0.95 Terra (5.225 g/cc); surface gravity 0.93 G. Radius 6265.2 kilometers; circumference 39,365.49 kilometers … Total surface area 493,263,949.23 square kilometers …
Hydrographic percentage 64 percent … Mean atmospheric pressure 0.85 arm; composition oxygen/nitrogen. Oxygen content 23 percent …
Planetary axial tilt 21 degrees 39 feet 17.6 inches. Rotation period 28 hours, 18 minutes, 14.2 seconds …
Planetography: Devereaux is a familiar Terra-type world, offering few surprises.… There are three major continents as well as a significant chain of islands which together roughly equal the smallest continent in land surface area.…
Temperatures and climatic zones are within Terrestrial norms, though overall conditions tend to be slightly warmer and more arid than in equivalent Terran zones. The most noteworthy terrain features are the Archipel d’Aurore, the massive island chain extending through the tropical band of the planet’s eastern hemisphere, and the Great Desert which dominates much of Devereaux’s largest continent.…
Although a diversity of native life forms is found on Devereaux, there is no native sapient life … of some interest to planetary ecologists is the impact of three successive waves of colonization over a five-thousand-year period on the planetary biosphere … the native biochemistry is basically compatible with Terran life forms, and transplanted Terran species have flourished.…
People: Population 378,000,000; Urbanization: 45 percent … Ethnic Groups: Gwyrran 96 percent, Human (primarily French) 3 percent, Other 1 percent … Languages: Terranglic, French, Gwyrran dialects … Religions: Universal Church of Gwyrr 93 percent, Catholic 5 percent, Other 2 percent … Capital: Villastre; Major Cities: Villastre (18,206,963), lie de Havre (12,658,419), Premier d’Atterissage (10,743,072) … Port Facilities: Haut Port geosynch orbital spaceport, 5 planetary spaceports …
Government: Type: Commonwealth Trust … Head of Government: Governor Guillaume Gerard … Local Divisions: 5 … Defense Budget as Percentage of GDP: 2.2 percent … Military Manpower: 6 percent …
Economy: Resources and Industries: Natural Agricultural Products, Ores, Radioactives, Petrochemicals, Processed Agroproducts, Alloys, Agro Byproducts, Light Manufacturing, High-Tech Systems … Exports: Processed Agricultural Products, Agro Byproducts, Light Manufactured Goods … Imports: Gems and Crystals, Heavy Manufactured Goods, Electronics … Arable Land: 15 percent (26,636,251 sq. kms.) … Labor Force: Agricultural 38 percent, Industrial 29 percent, Service 25 percent, Resource Extraction: 8 percent …
Finance: Currency: Commonwealth Sol … Gross Domestic Product: 737,100,000,000 sols … Per Capita Income: 1500 Sols …
History: Originally settled by Gwyrran colonists under the auspices of the Semti Conclave approximately 5,000 years ago, the planet now known as Devereaux formed an important center for trade, exploration, and military operations for the Conclave for many centuries. A series of devastating plagues and famines drastically reduced the Gwyrran colony during the period from roughly 1800-2200 AD and left no more than 15 percent of the predisaster population alive.… The survivors, known today as Wynsarrysa (from the Gwyrran phrase best translated as “The Lost”), suffered technological and sociological devolution, slipping back to a largely preindustrial level.… These changes were apparently viewed favorably by the Semti, who made no effort to relieve conditions during or after the plagues began.…
Around the middle of the 24th century humans arrived on Devereaux following the discovery of the planet by the survey ship CARTIER. The initial survey mistook the Gwyrran population for a native sophont race, and permission to colonize was granted by the Imperial Minister for Colonial Affairs in 2364.… As a prime colony world Devereaux was settled primarily by French and Western European stock, both from Terra proper and from the established colony worlds of Ys and Concorde.… Roughly two million human settlers arrived before the disintegration of the French Empire heralded the beginning of the Shadow Centuries and the loss of Terran interstellar travel.
It was during this period that the Semti Conclave renewed contact with Devereaux, establishing a new Gwyrran colony on the planet. The humans, cut off from Terra and not fully self-sufficient, welcomed Semti hegemony and became willing subjects of the Conclave.…
Devereaux was one of several flashpoint worlds along the Conclave frontier which helped trigger the Semti War. With the emergence of a Terran Commonwealth presence in the sector, human settlers on Devereaux appealed to their own species for assistance against what was perceived as the intolerable excesses of the Semti/Gwyrran government … Commonwealth forces intervened and established the Fourth Foreign Legion headquarters on Devereaux to furnish protection for human colonists against the Gwyrran locals and the possibility of Semti intervention. During the Semti War, this Legion garrison was destroyed during the Semti occupation of the planet, but bought valuable time for the Commonwealth by delaying the progress of the enemy attack through a determined resistance effort.…
Since the Semti War Devereaux has been a Trust, ruled by a local-born human Governor and sending Observers to the Commonwealth Assembly. A growing cadre of humans with Citizen status form the solid core of the urban population, supported by Gwyrrans of the last Semti colonization effort who have retained a high-tech, industrial orientation. Most of the Wynsarrysa prefer rural lives and serve as labor on farms and plantations. Some remain hostile to the human presence and roam the wilderness areas in war bands, making their livelihood through raiding settlements or operating overland caravan routes between remote settlements.
The planet is most notable for its continued connection with the Commonwealth’s Fifth Foreign Legion. The Legion’s primary headquarters and training facilities are located on the planet, and Legion garrisons continue to provide protection for the population against disaffected elements—primarily Wynsarrysa, who continue to pose a threat to the security of the colony.
—Excerpted from Leclerc’s Guide to the Commonwealth Volume V: The Cis-Conclave Frontier, 34th Edition, published 2848 AD