Augarians

**Lore Page**

## Name

Many non-Augarians, such as Shellians, call them Augarians. However, the name that they call themselves are Augrians.

## Pillars of Honorable Conduct

Much like Bushido the Three Pillars of Honorable Conduct, as written by the first Khanzadeh of the Augrians dictate three points upon which all Augrians judge themselves and others. In practice only the most exceptional of Augrians fulfill all of the pillars all the time but it is the drive to do so none the less that forms the backbone of the Augrian moral code.

### Respect

Considered the simplest form of honor respect, specifically the respect for the holdings of others constitutes the first pillar of the Augrian honor code.

An honorable Augrian does not trespass on the territory of another without permission or without intent to conquer.

Territory, in this case, covers all the possessions of another person – property holdings, money, family, everything. An Augrian does not step aboard a vessel owned by another unless the other allows him access or unless he intends to take it openly from the other Augrian. Conquest is honorable; theft is not. Augrian do not work in secret (even Wars of Assassins should first be declared openly).

An honorable Augrian takes everything he can hold and keep but does not overreach himself, nor does he fail to live up to his potential. An honorable Augrian, therefore, is boastful to colonial ears – his boasts show the limits of his strength and ambition and show his neighbors how far they can push him.

### Tradition

Obedience to the teachings of the speakers especially those relating to war and dueling forms the second of the three pillars of honorable conduct.

An honorable Augrian keeps to the traditions of his lord and his lord’s lords. He fights their feuds and helps their allies. He fights duels fairly and makes war according to the limitations agreed on by both sides in the presence of speakers. He keeps his word when he gives it and obeys the commands of his lords.

### Harmony of Action (Khoafteirleao)

The third pillar of honor and  the hardest of the pillars to master, Harmony of Action is perhaps the most difficult to even explain to non-Augrians.

For outsiders, perhaps the Buddhist concept zen comes closest. The Augrian believe that the universe is a thought in motion and that perfect actions can move in accord with that thought. An Augrian who attained khoafteirleao is expressing the will of the universe. Khoafteirleao can be reached in any context or deed but is most commonly reached in combat or in poetry and speech.

## Government

The Augrian's a form of governance considered archaic at best by the average colonial and alien at the worst for it is in the very nature of the Augrian people that the creation of a single government body or centralized authority is impossible.

In lieu of a body of overarching political power, Augrian space is made up of many separate clans, each one controlling a large region of space. This region serves has the clan's territory through the clan carries out its operations wandering from world to world conducting their trade and waging their raids. The details of which is dependent on the particular clan who is as varied in their interruptions of the Augrian Honor Code as their are stars in the void.

There are two main reasons why Augrian space has become so politically diverse and fragmented.

Firstly, Augrians do not well tolerate remote authority as a result clans become more unstable the larger their sphere of influence. Positions of office have little meaning to the Augrians; instead the importance is placed on the charisma of the person in the role and regardless of their charisma, distant leaders are unable to directly influence or inspire their subordinates and remote leaders are not there to give praise when it is due. Without direct involvement with the clan, a superior will rarely maintain the respect and loyalty of his subordinates.

The second reason is also related to the Augrian mentality. The lack of respect for remote authority also means that government boundaries have little meaning to Augrians. They expect their ruling body to provide charismatic leaders who walk among the people and they also require a great deal of personal freedom and liberty. When Augrians are not satisfied with their leadership and are not in a position to exert their own charisma, they will simply move elsewhere. If there are enough unsatisfied Augrians, the group might attempt to overthrow the leadership or start their own clan (in their current location or elsewhere).

## Emissaries

The number and variety of Augrian Fleets makes diplomacy very difficult. Disputes arise over a variety of matters and when two or more charismatic leaders are involved the situation can quickly resort to violence without the intervention of intermediaries.

A specialized group of mediators, known as emissaries, has arisen to meet the needs of disputing parties. Emissaries are highly skilled diplomats who are much sought after for their experience in negotiation and diplomacy. These individuals are greatly respected and well rewarded for their services. They are used as much in interpersonal dealings as they are for political negotiations. Other cultures on the borders of Augrian space are often subject to raids by independent corsair bands. This has led to many misunderstandings and political disputes since few outsiders understand the Augrian’s apparent lack of respect for authority. Of course this is a matter of perspective but one that still causes numerous interstellar incidents, which have on occasion been known to lead to hostilities and even war. In these situations emissaries are frequently called to mediate on behalf of the clans. Emissaries are usually successful in creating the peace or at least avoiding further hostilities. In the cases of raids and unprovoked attacks, reparations are usually given to the victim as a gesture of good will.

## Mindset

Augrians are expected to seek out new trade opportunities and new goods to barter, the better to extract every possible ounce of value out of their mercantile routes.

An Augrian who takes on a cubic ton of dried raspberries may be perfectly confident of his ability to sell them on to the next world that lacks such delicacies, but the profit is likely to be correspondingly limited, as other Augrians will be thinking the same thing. It’s those who strike out on new trails and discover new profit opportunities that strike the biggest successes.

If the profit won by trading takes up more cargo share than an Augrian is allowed, he might barter it for a smaller amount of some more valuable resource. Alternatively, he might directly donate the excess to the fleet’s storage hulls, thereby earning significant social status and esteem not that the fleet would hesitate a moment in simply taking it if it needed it, but his obvious willingness to support the rest of the fleet earns public respect.

Social advancement takes place both by impressing fellow clanmates with personal skill and charisma and by acquiring supplies for the fleet. A merchant-adventurer who strikes a magnificent deal can rocket in fleet esteem over a dutiful but less talented rival. Such status lends more weight to their opinion with their lords.

The ultimate argument is always that of resource access, and the lord who brings supplies to the fleet can expect to be heeded by his peers.

## Trade Practices

The merchants of the Augrian people occupy a special social role as the primary point of contact between the outside universe and the closely knit clans.

These merchants serve to acquire goods for their clans that otherwise the clan would be very difficult or unable to obtain otherwise such as exotic furs from planetary animals, high technology components requiring advanced manufacturing techniques and the underappreciated but nevertheless the most valuable trade good of them all, Information.

On the notion of honor, merchants gain honor by the acquiring of profit through successful trade deals that bring wealth to the clan and the merchants line. These trade deals come in various forms from merchants attached to a station, selling fuel to outsiders that dock at the port to adventuring merchants that set out on their own for years at a time conducting speculative trade deals before returning to the main fleet their cargo holds bristling with newly discovered trade goods.

Within Augrian society itself, merchants often find themselves taking on the role of craftsmen producing products and gifting to other members of the society in exchange for raw materials and favor. The products themselves then being gifted onward up and down the lines of ownership. In such a way, the merchants serve as primary producers of Augrian society.

## Nobility

The nomadic nature of shipboard life and the challenges of surviving in the uncaring void has led to the Augrians to evolve into what could be called federal monarchy.

Each vessel or outpost is ruled by a Bey (chieftain) and his company of Baatar (Heroes) A collection of vessels are then ruled in turn by the local Khan, a collective equivalent to that of a province. In exchange for their service the Khan awards the Bey, who then awards the Baatar, with gifts of materials and accolades of honor.  A group of Khanates are then ruled by the regional Khanzadeh (Prince). Much like the relationship between the Khans and the Beys. Khanzadeh rewards the Khanates under their rule in a similar fashion though with a higher emphasis on accolades of honor. Lastly the Khanzadeh is ruled in turn by the highest power of the Augrian culture, the Kanasubigi (king) who holds final authority on all military, economic and religious matters.

## Battle Prowess

The realities of shipboard life has made the battlefield a brutal place where inaction and mercy cannot be afforded. Leaning heavily towards the use of close quarter weapons, namely blades and shields but including sub-machine guns and shotguns, Augrian raiders emphasize a hit hard and hit fast approach to war. The primary objective of any military engagement is to seize control of a vessel's strategic points, the bridge, atmospheric, and engines, thus forcing a surrender on the part of the defenders. Those under the imprisonment of Augrian raiders despite the connotation of name often find themselves well treated. Finding their wounds tended to, decent rations and once the raiders have seized any goods they value, the captured crew are often released with enough fuel and supplies in order to return to a safe port. It is a common practice for exceptional members of the enemy prisoners to be offered a chance to become adopted by the raiders whereby they are treated as a full trusted member of the society. A trust if broken is responded to with the highest level of punishment that the crew’s Bey can devise.

## Technology

Augrians lack large-scale gravitational technology, gravity on stations is produced using the principle of the Coriolis effect, spin gravity. Aboard large ships, thrust gravity is the preferred method of creating an artificial gravitational effect.

The resource scarce existence of the Augrian peoples requires machines to be both robust and easily repaired. As a result most machines in the clans boast heavy duty internal armor, extra heat sinks and lacking the typical wireless power systems of more advanced cultures the clans instead prefer to hard link their machines directly to their power network.

## Culture

Cartography holds a special cultural and artistic place in the Augrian mind. Globes, artistically flourished maps and stellar navigational charts being the primary meme of the Augrian art scene.

A work of art in and of themselves, each Augrian void suit is uniquely crafted by the individual wearing it and serves as a reflection of their personality. A soft spoken person may place an emphasis on smooth curves while a warrior may boast thick angular plates of star mauled plasteel.

As an Augrian travels through the pathways of life, they continue to modify and adjust their suits. Adding and removing patches, bands of cloth, replacing whole sections of the armor.

Within the hosts of Augrians used to contact with Solomani, corporate patches, punk rock logos, and other morale patches are commonly worn in a manner akin to biker jackets of old earth. While more traditionally minded, Augrians focus on bands of colored cloth wrapped around the structural plates in complex patterns that each reflect a story about its wearer.

## Quotes

*"I can hardly remember the days before I can became a man of Honor. How distant those days seem now, how burdened by the apparent heaviness of everyday objects. I laugh at the Solomani who still operate in a world devoid of Honor, their shoulders thin and unempowered by the experience of baring Honor. Ha, what blissful fools, blissful in their ignorance, anesthetized by their lack of meaningful struggle."*

- Bartan of Clan Suku, formerly known as Chad Thundercock before his adoption into Clan Suku following the First Augrian War of Conquest for the world of Blackreach.

## Misc.

### Language

An Augrian expedition away from a clan's main body is called a Shoal. "A Shoal of Raiders were dispatched to enact a war of pillaging on the fuel station". An Augrian controlled permanent location is called a Reef. "Port Prosper is part of the Outreach Reef".

### Birthing Day

One of the most sacred holidays in Augrian society, this is the day that a new ship is born. Usually this is held on the day that the Ships life support systems have been completed. A member of the prospective crew will volunteer to Speak for the Ship having heard the call of the Spirit. If this doesn’t happen it is considered a very bad omen as the Ship has chosen to remain silent. Once the Speaker has completed their oath they will go into seclusion for a time while the rest of the crew feasts in the Ship’s honor. By mid-feast the Ship arrives wearing the body of the Speaker. The Ship accepts the gifts that it has been given on behalf of the crew (The Speaker and various cargo) and pledges to protect the crew from the dangers of the Void in return for their loyalty. As the end of the feast nears the Ship will say its goodbyes and the Speaker will emerge weary and drained from the spiritual exertion.

### Rites of Breath

Rite of the First Breath - Sharing of breathing mix between closely bonded individuals.

Rite of the Second Breath - Sharing of Breathing mix with the plants of the hydroponics deck. Used during the first planting of a newly build hydroponics bay.

Rite of the Third Breath - Sharing of Breathing mix with those in distress.

Rite of the Fourth Breath - Sharing of breathing mix between protected guests.

Rite of the Fifth Breath - Sharing of breathing mix with the vessel systems, using oxygen to begin a burn chamber reaction.

Rite of the Sixth Breath - Sharing of breathing mix between docked ships.

### Star Colors

Hottest Brightest to Coldest Dimmest: (Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me)

O - Blue

B - Blue White

A - White

F - Yellow White

K - Orange

M - Red

I - IV: Secondary Brightness Rating (Ex. AI < AIV)

Special Classification:

D (White Dwarf)

R (M class stars containing carbon molecules in its outer layers.)

S (Heavy metal oxides containing stars.)

Wolf-Rayet Stars (O stars that lost its outer layer, leaving an extremely hot exposed seller core.)

### Directions

Spinward: Port side, Left, with the direction of the galactic desk, clockwise, with the rotation of a spin habitat.

Anti-Spinward: Starboard, Right, counter to the direction of the galactic desk, anti-clockwise, counter to the rotation of a spin habitat.

Fore: Forward, towards the core of the galaxy, towards bridge of a vessel.

Aft: Back, away from the core of the galaxy, towards rear of a vessel.

Caudal: Up, towards the head, above the galactic disk, away from the rotational hub of a spin habitat.

Distal: Down, Away from the head, below the galactic disk, towards the rotational hub of a spin habitat.