by Tom Verreault
Introduction
Dragon Magazine #103 published in November of 1985 introduced us to the Saurian species for Star Frontiers. A very brief paragraph in the beginning of the article provided the only information on their area of the galaxy.
“The Saurians hail from the planet Kischen, an oceanic world many light years from the Frontier. For a time they lived in peace, enjoying profitable trade with nearby races. Soon, however, the Sathar became aware of the Saurians and regarded them as a threat and challenge to overcome.”
From this we can establish a few details about their world: its name and that it’s an oceanic world. We also know they traded with multiple races.
I chose the Mhemne species of the module SFKH-4 War Machine as one of the species that the Saurian traded with. For the other I decided to not actually create a whole species but rather a name and a mystery. The Xxim were a species of secretive traders that visited Saurian systems but never shared their point of origin. The Xxim hinted at the existence of the Sathar with fear and disappeared completely once the Sathar invasion forces entered Sauria Sector. Who the Xxim are, where they came from, and their connection to the Sathar are all left as mysteries for game referees to explore.
The Dragon article presented the Saurians as refugees arriving in the Frontier which missed a great opportunity for exploration and discovery. For referees wishing to run an exploration type campaign, the following sector brief is presented as referee background to allow for a scout ship or a UPF Talnor class communication ship to discover the beleaguered Saurians on the brink of extinction.
History of the Sauria Sector
The Saurians discovered space flight and eventually interstellar travel. They began exploring and establishing colonies and outposts in their sector of space. Early on, this lead to contact with the mhemne species (Liberty system) and they shared space technology that jump started the Mhemne’s space age. Not long after that the enigmatic Xxim turned up in the system Tischen. Eventually, the Xxim consented to trade with the Saurians but always with trepidation. It seemed they were fearful of a menace and they repeatedly warned the Saurians that their radio signals would bring this menace to Sauria.
The Saurian Interstellar Age of Exploration lasted approximately 100 GST years before the Sathar arrived. The first assault wave overran the Dayzer system. No ships escaped Dayzer to warn of the attack and no one knows the fate of the colony there. Next the Sathar struck Kischen in the Sauria system but were beaten back at a terrible cost to Saurian space infrastructure.
As the Saurians were preparing for an expedition to Dayzer to retake the system, a new wave of Sathar attacks devastated the Tischen and Precipice systems as well as conquered the mhemne of Liberty system. Again the devastation to the Saurian space infrastructure was crippling.
The Saurians began to develop ship designs that could be built in shipyards on the planet’s surface and launched into space and abandoned any hope of a space based industry. The next wave of Sathar saw the loss of the mineral rich Sessar colony and wide spread orbital strikes of the planet Kischen.
The Saurian religious leadership saw the writing on the wall and moved to build space arks to save their species from extinction at the hands of the Sathar. They are desperately trying to finish these ships and have already sent some out in various directions. One has even braved the depths of the Great Expanse beyond the Precipice system. The Ark Program is the Saurian’s last hope for survival. Millions will not be saved and are prepared to die on Kischen. All Saurians look to the stars with trepidation, wondering what lies just over the void space horizon and will descend on their planet any day now.
Astographic Catalog
The table below provides basic astronomical data on the various systems in the Sauria Sector. Note that the catalog reflects outdated data from prior to the sathar invasions and some of the names reflect translations from the saurian tongue.
|
Star (class) & Planet |
Primary Race |
Population |
Trade |
Gravity |
Day (hrs) |
Satellites |
Moons |
Uses |
|
Dayzer (G4) New Kischen |
Saurian |
Lt |
A |
0.9 |
19 |
Zzessar |
||
|
Liberty (G1) Snowball |
Mhemne |
Mod |
R |
0.9 |
32 |
ASS/DS |
Akhala |
R |
|
Precipice (K4) Edge |
Saurian |
Out |
E |
0.8 |
16 |
Zzessan |
||
|
Sauria (G8) Kischen |
Saurian |
Hvy |
A/I |
1.0 |
18 |
Zzessi |
||
|
Sessar (F1) Rock |
Saurian |
Mod |
R/I |
1.1 |
52 |
ASS |
Sezzna |
R |
|
Tischen (G6) Kzz-ten |
Saurian |
Lt |
R |
35 |
None |
Planetary Footnotes
Edge (Precipice) was a science outpost and link to contact with the Mhemne. It had a small but thriving starport town for servicing ships bound for Liberty system. Wiped out during the second wave of Sathar attacks, it is believed to be a Sathar outpost now. If any of the Saurian residents and Mhemne visitors survived it is unknown. The Saurian Ark Mission that headed into the Great Expanse completely bypassed the planet fearing discovery by Sathar patrols.
Kischen (Sauria) is the home world of the Saurian species and its dominate animal forms are reptilian. An oceanic world, the planet is dotted with a few small continents and numerous archipelagos.
New Kischen (Dayzer) was an idyllic world from the Saurian perspective with larger land masses then Kischen. Its environment, gravity, and length of day were a close match to the home world. Its agricultural colony was overrun by the first Sathar wave and its fate is completely unknown.
Rock (Sessar) was colonized for its mineral riches and was the back bone of the Saurian space industry. The loss of its shipyard was the death knell of the Saurian civilization in the face of the Sathar attacks.
