Cafadans: Minor human race limited to Cafad/Sashrakusha (Corridor 3135).



      Calendar, Imperial: The Imperial calendar was established as a universal

calendar at the creation of the Third Imperium. Imperial dates count from the

founding of the Imperium, the year "zero." Dates before zero are negative,

after are positive. For example, Terrans discovered jump drive in -2431. The

Imperium was founded in 0. Emperor Strephon was assassinated in 1116.

      The year is divided into 365 standard days, which are grouped into 52

weeks of seven days each. The first day of the year is a holiday not part of

any week. Days are numbered consecutively beginning with 1. For example, the

first day (Holiday) of the year 1116 is 001-1116. The emperor was assassinated

on 132-1116. The last day of the year is 365-1116.



      Carried squadrons: see tenders and carriers. When the carried craft are

in the ten to thirty ton range, the ship is a fighter carrier. When the

carried ships are in the 10,000 ton range and the large ship is 200,000 tons

or more, the ship is called a tender or transport.



      Carriers: Ships designed to carry large numbers of small combat boats,

termed either fighters or system defense boats, to screen the battle fleet or

support a planetary invasion. Fighters and light boats are little more than an

annoying distraction in a major fleet action, but they can be extremely

effective against ships of cruiser class or less.



      Carybellum: tropical fruit.



      Catanian White Fever: Virulent disease. An undiagnosed case entered the

Hylazar arcology on Azun in 1088. 290,000 of the 1,500,000 inhabitants died

before it was contained and diagnosed.



      Charted Space: Humaniti calls its region by a variety of names, all of

which amount to the same thing: Charted Space. This is an area roughly 500

parsecs across within which are concentrated more than a thousand starfaring

races on, or regularly visiting, 80,000 worlds. Expeditions toward the

galactic core have explored (and settled parts of) a narrow corridor some 30

parsecs across and more than 7000 parsecs long. Expeditions toward the

galactic rim have reached nearly 3000 parsecs toward intergalactic space.

Lateral expeditions have reached kiloparsecs in each direction. The results

have always been the same.

      First, there is life everywhere. Worlds naturally spawn their own

lifeforms, and many produce intelligent races. Second, nowhere beyond Charted

Space has intelligence produced the jump drive that makes interstellar travel

possible. Worlds are full of life: space is empty.



      Chirpers: Common minor race, proved to be uncasted Droyne.



      Church of the Chosen Ones: (Ourrghfoengaeknokskugvorrgh.) Militant Vargr

group enjoying a resurgence during the Rebellion.

      Most evidence indicates the Ancients meddled with the proto-Vargr stock

only once. The Church of the Chosen Ones (a rather influential Vargr movement

of two centuries ago) postulated - and proceeded to prove, albeit not very

convincingly -- that the Vargr were carefully brought along a particular

course, as they were "intended" to take their place as the leaders of all

sophont societies in the Ancients' sphere of influence. The Church of the

Chosen Ones has enjoyed periodic revivals and declines, but is currently not a

particularly viable movement, and its findings are now usually discredited.

                  Church of the Divine Truth: The church holds that a Supreme Being runs

this universe, and that other universes revolve around it. Upon death, an

individual is reborn in another universe. His status there depends upon his

actions in this life.

      The Supreme Being has at least one semi-divine minion on each planet. He

is responsible for the rules of conduct which believers are to follow on that

world. His symbol of rank is a spherical crystal worn about his neck.

   This church has a huge following, with membership numbering well into the

billions. It has been growing since about 900, but it traces it roots back to

the First Imperium.

      Believers can be identified by the small, four-point star tattooed on

the back of the right hand. They tend to be solid, hard-working citizens. They

do little preaching to non-believers: they hold that a good example of right

conduct serves better without antagonizing anyone.



      Church of the Stellar Divinity: The basic belief is that all stars are

gods, conscious beings of transcendental power. If a person worships his sun,

lives a good life, and follows the teachings of the Church, his soul will

acquire spiritual mass, and be drawn into his sun upon death to join the

deity. The church is popular in the Imperium, where it makes few demands upon

worshippers, and does not compete with the government.



      Client state: An independent political unit which has elected (or had

forced on it) the patronage of a larger political unit. This relationship is

usually mutually beneficial, and is essentially commercial in nature. That is,

the political or military ties which may be part of any patron-client

relationship are ultimately intended to promote trade between the two.



      Clone: A full-body clone is an "offspring" created from a single cell in

the laboratory, rather than through the normal reproductive process. The real

oddity is the unnatural manner in which the offspring was conceived. Such an

offspring is a genetic duplicate of the single donor, and thus only has one

parent.

   They have the minds of new-born children. In all other respects, a full-

body clone is identical to a normal offspring. The clone is its own person,

with its own mind just like any child of another.

      Humans and Hivers are the only major races to use clones to any degree.

The ability to create clones of higher life forms does not occur until tech

level 10. Using growth quickening techniques an "adult" full-body clone can be

grown in an artificial womb in about 2 years at that tech level. By tech level

13, growth time is down to 2 months.

      The ability to create clones of higher life forms does not occur until

tech level 10. Using growth quickening techniques an "adult" full-body clone

can be grown in an artificial womb in about 2 years at that tech level. By

tech level 13, growth time is down to 2 months.



      Colony: A group of sophonts living in a new territory, but retaining

ties with their parent state. A country or foundation sponsors most colonies.

Because colonies generally lose money, profit is rarely a motive for

sponsoring a colony. A colony must become self-supporting: sponsors cannot

supply goods indefinitely. Lingering problems will doom a colony.

      Some colonists raise food to feed themselves and to sell to other

colonists. Others produce commodities for export off-planet. There may be

hunter/explorers as well - people who live in the wild, occasionally visiting

civilization to sell their unusual finds. The last have limited use in any

colonization scheme.

      Farmers or miner/prospectors will settle first. Storekeepers and other

businessmen will follow. The arrival of medium and large businesses usually

signals long term success in producing saleable exports. Few colonies become

self-sufficient in manufacturing. Saleable commodities from under-developed

worlds are almost exclusively precious minerals. The economies of under-

developed worlds are dependent on resource prices.



      Combat Armor: Unpowered and fairly light-weight personal armor.

Inexpensive when compared to battle dress, but providing comparable

protection. Higher technology military forces routinely use combat armor.

Integral communications equipment is common.



      Commandos: Specially trained for raids. Raids are strikes to eliminate

assets one cannot control, identified by the element of surprise.



      Composite Laminates:  Early form of armor, relying on mixing different

materials to produce a very strong alloy.



      Confederation: Group of independent states, worlds, or systems united

for specific purposes, while generally retaining more independence than

members of a federation. (League, Alliance - especially of princes, nations,

or states.)



      Coyns: {From the Droyne koynis.} Coyns, small metal disks engraved with

various symbols, are the most common of the rare Ancient artifacts. Their

specific purpose is unknown.

      Original coyns have been found in various precious metals such as gold,

silver, platinum, iridium, and even uranium. Set size ranges from six to

thirty-eight pieces.

      Each gold coyn has a scrap value of cr400: a museum will pay closer to

cr4000. Copies of coyns made of aluminum, lead, or zinc are more frequently

encountered. Such fake coyns have a value of about cr20 each.



      Credit Card (Imperial Standard Credit Card): This card is a portable

bank teller. A micro-processor unit tracks the account, and contains

information for personal identification. Made of plas-steel, the card is

nearly indestructible. It is nearly tamper-proof: most attempts merely blank

the card. Residents of systems of TL 13+ accept the card.

      Identification information consists of a thumbprint activator and a

record of the owner's retina print. The later is checked for verification on

all transactions over cr100,000.

      Only millionaires can obtain the iridium edition of the card. It

contains the owner's DNA code, allowing for positive identification and

unlimited reliability. Starships have been purchased on these cards.



      Cruiser: ship capable of independent operations and of support of the

main line of battle. Size ranges from 20,000 to 100,000 tons: these are the

smallest ships able to carry the large spinal mounts needed to cause serious

damage to a large, armored ship. Cruisers are intended to fulfill diverse

missions.

      Heavy cruisers (CR) are the standard cruiser-type ship, and exhibit a

      homogenous beam-missile-screen armament.

      Attack cruisers (CA) feature an increased beam armament.

                  Strike cruisers (CS) are characterized by high missile factors, lending

      themselves to a variety of missions, especially planetary bombardment.

      Light cruisers (CL) are the smallest of the cruiser-type ships.



      Cryogenic Suspension: Developed at tech level 9, the units are referred

to as "low berths." They fulfill a basic medical need: buying time. Many

ambulances and starships carry them as standard medical equipment. They are

also used for passenger transport.



      Crystaliron: Iron grown with a perfect crystal structure and carefully

controlled quantities of impurities for maximum toughness and hardness.



      Cutter: 50-ton small craft standard in the Imperium and surrounding

regions.



      Cyborg: (from "cybernetic organism.") An individual with a high

percentage of computerized electro-mechanical body parts. Generally considered

a vulgar or slanderous term. Most individuals with a high percentage of

artificial body parts are current or ex-military personnel.