Stroud Alliance
Members
| Stroud Alliance |
| Location | Twilight |
| Capital Planet | Ambiguous |
| Government | Confederacy |
| Tech Level | Moderate |
| Established | Modern |
| Composition | Human
Ptatl
Mixed Immigrants |
| Planets | Centin
Stroud
Ygnus |
The Stroud Alliance is a very young alliance only a handful of years old,
only semi-independent and still officially under the auspices of other governments. The
alliance is composed of three planets in the
Twilight sector: Centin, Stroud,
and Ygnus. Toqkwen is tentatively interested and currently in talks. The members of the Stroud alliance are currently lobbying to join
the UTP.
Stroud
Currently still an official member on the physical fringe of the
Core Commonwealth. Debate rages on the
planet whether to remain a member or to rescind and become singularly
involved in the Stroud Alliance. Much of the controversy rages, not around
loyalty to the Commonwealth, but around
the most efficient way to exploit the
Commonwealth.
Stroud is a dirty planet with an industrial
economy and working population, manufacturing a variety of industrial
products and processing local minerals. In spite of its heavy
manufacturing, it remains poor and somewhat isolated from the rest of the
Commonwealth, both physically and
politically. It is often denied the latest technological imports by the
Commonwealth based on its rumbles of independence, their being used as bait
and political incentive.
Stroud is the loud voice of the Alliance. Stroud is a practical place, a
physical place, and a harsh and dirty place. It is determined unashamed.
Centin
A recently withdrawn member of the Spinward
Confederacy, Centin is currently host to a large contingent of diplomats
from several neighbouring empires, notably the
Spinward Confederacy and the Core
Commonwealth. Small contingents of Spinward
Confederacy ships occasionally "evaluate" the system but are kept in
check from threats of action by the three Stroud Alliance planets and by the
Core Commonwealth, who are not interested
in seeing Centin rejoin the Confederacy.
Centin, as a remote colonial world, is still
close to its working roots. The economy is strong and diversified, centered
around coaxing food from the soil, minerals from the earth, and bringing
them all to local market. While Centin, by all accounts, is a bountiful world in
terms of producing large amounts of the necessities of life for its own sake, it is also
somewhat poor and suffering from being taken for granted by the
Confederacy, unable to create a strong
export economy without outside help. It lacks the most modern of
technologies, primarily because the major galactic players use them for
politics over trade. Centin has a strong sense of simple artisanship and
quality.
Ygnus
A predominantly Ptatl world that has
maintained its independence from the time it was settled. While Ygnus
maintains a diversified and independent economy, its independence has
somewhat hurt it in terms of technological development and it often lags the
major empires in terms of available technologies and conveniences. Ygnus
maintains Governmental Colleges like the Ptatl Shivery, constantly
evaluating and ranking its citizens and placing the most appropriate
candidates in the most appropriate positions. While this is seen as
absolutely natural to the Ptatl inhabitants of Ygnus, it tends to drive
other races nuts and, to a degree, is a limiting factor in immigration.
Through the Stroud Alliance, Ygnus hopes to
diversify its culture and draw in rich corporations and new technologies.
It relies on imports of food and technology from both Centin and Stroud. Ygnus also runs an aggressive tourist campaign, promoting both its exotic
Ptatl heritage and some of its severe
and breathtaking geography to bring in foreign money and trade.
While Ygnus is an independent and self-governed world, the Ptatl Shivery
looks upon it with a somewhat brotherly eye and would likely be willing to
help in a crisis if asked. While the Shivery would not be quick to help if
Ygnus showed a perceived "weakness", they would certainly assist if their
brethren were subject to "bullying", natural disaster, or general
misfortune.
Toqkwen
Toqkwen was originally settled by the Kayyan Empire and quickly broke away to form its own independent Empire.
It remained close to its parent Empire in terms of trade, mutual military
assistance, and purpose in being. In late antiquity, the Kayyan Empire
encountered the Core Commonwealth and began forming ties. The Toqkwens were
cynical that a small empire like the Kayyans could be viable and influential as
a member of such a large commonwealth and they with-held their support during
talks between the two. Eventually, they got wind of the Stroud Alliance quietly
forming on the fringes of the Commonwealth and sent diplomats and traders. They
are currently uncommitted but positive and maintain open talks and open minds.
Agenda
The members of the Stroud Alliance are essentially all isolated from
their purported allies, both in terms of local financial gain and political power.
By withdrawing from or exploiting their old "masters", the members of the
alliance hope to maximize their wealth and control their own destiny. The
member worlds of the Alliance tend to be somewhat hostile and defensive,
perhaps even a little paranoid, when it comes to their former empires.
The Stroud Alliance is building and
sponsoring large, aggressive trading centers on the surface and in the
system of its members in an attempt to facilitate trade between themselves
and with their former empires, though on a much more favourable stance for
themselves. The Alliance has rescinded and altered many of the trade laws of
their old empires and play host to many questionable traders and trade
practices in a blatantly free market. While this is an annoyance to the
empires, a number of major corporations see the Alliance worlds as
convenient places to trade.
Government
There is no official government for the Stroud Alliance. The leaders of the
3 Alliance worlds meet at their own whim and convenience, discussing and planning a co-ordinated strategy to
maximize their place in the universe.
Piracy
Rumor through the
Commonwealth has it that much of the
pirate activity around Stroud and its near neighbors are either
sponsored by or directly carried out by Stroud and the Alliance. The
pirate activity has been predominantly directed toward the
Commonwealth but includes activities
against the Spinward Confederacy and
Bjaki Federation as well. The ships of
major independent corporations are often left alone, though not always.
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