Abni-S'zaelyn Sector

The Abni-S'zaelyn Sector of STF space is a large sector previously known as the original "frontier" by early spacefaring Skelow, and it is still commonly inhabited and traversed along heritage pathways of well-traveled hyperspace by their caravans. Much of the map was extended, expanded, and made safe by those same Skelow, and as a result, the sector is enormous, easy to traverse, and full of hyperspace pathways, including more dangerous paths to interesting but uninhabitable systems and other space-based phenomena--also due to the explorations of spacefaring Skelow peoples over many generations. The sector is just one sector rimward of the Karabari Sector, and the border star between the two, at its most coreward point, is host to the Abni-S'zaelyn homeworld Zehyr. The entire sector is one sector galactic west of the Verrantin Sector and one sector coreward of the Skelow Sector. It is the furthest STF sector from the Machine Sector, placing Zehyr at the furthest point away from the Earth Republic at about 230 LY from Sol.

Because of its extensive exploration and hyperspace development, this sector is home to many Compact worlds of the STF, many of which were discovered as life-sustaining planets by spacefaring Skelow during their travels. That includes Compact Prime, the first such world, which was originally developed as a neutral planet where Skelow, Abni-S'zaelyn, and the first hybrids between the two species could live and develop their own culture. The spacefaring Skelow who engaged in imeng with the Abni-S'zaelyn, left space, and became planetary once again are known to the ongoing spacefaring Skelow people as a sort of fallen brotherhood: people who gave up the stars for a boring, "grounded" life in a gravity well, many of them partnered with strange, destructive warrior aliens who would rather fight than explore.

The sector directly galactic west of the Abni-S'zaelyn Sector is known as the Skelow Frontier (or the Traveler Frontier among many Skelow themselves), and it is the main locus of current Skelow spacefarer activity and exploration. Full of stars, fascinating phenomena, interesting worlds, dangerous nebulae, and asteroid fields, the Traveler Frontier is replete with opportunity and peril. As such, many caravans spend much of their time out here extending and expanding hyperspace pathways between stars, finding new caches of precious resources and acting as traveling merchants.

The Abni-S'zaelyn Sector is also "home" to the nomadic Conservators and the Conserved, as well as the sparse Changer people, though the original planet or planets where these peoples originated are not in the sector. In addition to Zehyr, the Abni-S'zaelyn Sector is the base sector for the AMG, and their compact worlds can be found here, closer to the edges of the map where they can easily access the rest of the STF and do business.

The stars in the Abni-S'zaelyn Sector have Skelow, Abni, or Flotilla-dialect names. Where Abni names are standardized upon, apostrophes here represent symbols added by the Skelow to signify breaks between concepts, as they do when rendering certain alien languages.

## Constituent Stars

Fa'rujan: The home star to Zehyr, original planet of the Abni-S'zaelyn people. This star is the furthest coreward in the entire sector, right at the edge of the Karabari Sector. Fa'rujan (and its companion, Fa'rijen) is an ancient name for Zehyr's sun, meaning "father of the cosmos" and "brother of the cosmos" respectively in an ancient language.

Idraj: Meaning "beauty" in the old Flotilla dialect, a corruption of the word "edram," this star is important to the history of the Flotilla Skelow, who strived long and hard to get to it and commonly used it as a waypoint on their way into deeper space.

Vormenghos: Meaning "compact star" in Federation Skelow, Vormenghos is the star where Vormeng Ahsang (Compact Prime), the very first compact world, can be found.

Se'hat: An Abni word from Zehyr, referring to a feliform land predator somewhat like a panther. Skelow love the word for this star, and there was a time when the name "Sehatya" was common among Skelow babies.

Teni Shavek: Roughly meaning "coreward lighthouse," this star has acted as a stable point of comparison and parallax for Flotilla Skelow during sight navigation of the Abni-S'zaelyn Sector for generations.

Khi-Shem'at: Pronounced with the harsh Abni "kh," Khi-Shem'at is among the brightest stars in Zehyr's sky and the color of blood. Its name means "blood of the avengers" and it was named by the victors of a centuries' long war on Zehyr, in remembrance of their fallen brethren.

Ku'vrem: An Abni word from Zehyr, referring to a caniform land predator similar to a hyena, after which this star is named.

Oshet Zei: Meaning something like "Oshet Z," this is one of many smaller stars found in the Kalurian constellation Oshet, which looks something like an orca or a dolphin. Zei is a letter in a Kalurian alphabet that was once used in the region around the planet's traditional capital, Kavarahet.

Var'kael: An Abni word from Zehyr, meaning "prosecutor of war." This red star is visible from Zehyr's sky, and it is known as the war star; when it is in the sky, war is seen to be auspicious.

Ezorha: Named for an ancient Kalurian princess of an extinct kingdom and found in old tales, this star has been visible from Kalur since time immemorial.

Vani Kamtesh: Roughly meaning "On top of the starset" in old Flotilla dialect, this portal star was a handy viewing point for taking observations of a supernova for many years, nearly a century ago.

Terhas-il: An ancient Abni word for a warrior's paradise, after which this star was named.

Oshet Nel: The ninth star in the Kalurian constellation Oshet, shaped like a Kalurian sea-dwelling animal somewhat similar to an orca or a dolphin.

S'zae-khot: Modern Zehyrian word for a soldier's temple, this star is the one of the brightest in an Abni constellation that looks like the structure of a famous such temple in an ancient city on Zehyr.

Ghanat-shev: "Ghanat's Star," founded and named by a warrior priest--a sort of gentleman--during Zehyr's enlightenment period. Ghanat S'zegal was considered a great astronomer, though he was most respected for his Book of Minutes, a sort of ritual manifesto of a warrior's stillness and introspection.

Shan Devosh: Flotilla dialect for "High Mystery," this star's hyperspace pathway had collapsed and was painstakingly reestablished by the Flotilla Skelow over nearly a decade. It is an enormous variable star, similar in size to CK Carinae, and known to be temperamental, sending out flares that cause strange disturbances in hyperspace.

Javidan: An early Flotilla explorer, Javidan led the expedition that found the pathway to this star. Once known as "Javidanhos," or Javidan's Star, it has been since simplified to just the name.

Tan'ghat: An Abni name for an enormous, falcon-like bird known for picking up and eating unreasonably large land animals, after which this star was proudly named.

Renya Darten: "Renya's Rest," affectionately named by the Flotilla Skelow after a merchant (Rentanget, lovingly nicknamed Renya) who once made a hospitable traveler's establishment here and died defending it from pirates, is a mostly featureless waypoint white dwarf, where Flotilla Skelow tend to rest and gather before moving on.