History of the Spinward Marches

In the early centuries of its existence the Imperium used a link and branch system for exploring the stars, contacting worlds and societies, and establishing important bases along the ever-expanding frontier. Links connected the older bases with the newer ones, and became highways for trade and transport. Branches emanated from the various bases to touch the scattered worlds that promised resources and markets. It was only natural that the merchant and transport corporations should adopt these same links and branches in their activities. From the main links, these corporations (as well as the independent merchants and the settlers looking for challenge or for a hand in their own destiny) set out to the worlds farther off the mainstream. Fertile worlds were settled, enterprising merchants shipped goods to them and established markets, goods were shipped back in order to pay in that market. Everyone prospered, more or less. The Imperium was expanding.

As the scout service moved out from the former Imperial borders, it encountered obstacles. In some cases, they met already established interstellar societies (the Vargr to coreward; the Aslan to spinward), or expanses of low density space (the Greater and Lesser Rifts), or simply out-ran the desire of the merchants and settlers to follow.

One basic link (and a highly successful one), extended from Vland (seat of the First Imperium and still an important trade center) spinward. Beyond Vland was Corridor Sector, stretching between a spur of the Great Rift and the Vargr Extents. Beyond Corridor was Deneb, where the megacorporations established a sprawling industrial complex. While the branches opened up Corridor and Deneb, the scout service forged links to the Spinward Marches.

Scout service exploration from Deneb carried survey cruisers through a relatively unpopulated region, finally contacting an isolated confederation - the Sword Worlds - and their neighbors beyond - the Darrians. Naturally enough, with established societies at the end of the links, they became major trade routes. The territory on the very edge of the Imperium became known as the Spinward Marches. Originally, the base for commerce was Deneb, but as more and more settlement took place, the focus moved spinward, ultimately establishing itself at Mora.

The first major Imperial establishment in the Spinward Marches was at Mora, settled in 60, financed by Ling-Standard Products, and soon a thriving trade center, building new ships, overhauling old ones, and producing other manufactured goods on the side. Mora was the gateway to the Marches.
Mora proved an ideal and fortunate choice. The system lies astride a route linking hundreds of worlds with simple jump-1 connections. This Spinward Main allowed free traders to ply the space lanes in search of new markets, new worlds, and new customers. Often they carried settlers to the more promising worlds, and then supplied them with vital off-world goods In return for metals, minerals, ores, precious woods, and rare foods and spices, as well as artifacts of various cultures for collectors of such things.

Even as the Imperially sponsored links were prospering, the branches grew on their own. Two major branches grew in the Spinward Marches, each following the Spinward Main. One branch worked its way rimward through the Sword Worlds while the other crept coreward into unexplored space.
The rimward branch extended through a portion of the sword Worlds at their sufferance, and settlement was greatly inhibited until alternative routes into the area were opened from Deneb sector.
Early on, the coreward branch reached Regina, and that system was settled by 75 (only fifteen years after the first Imperial settlements in the Marches). Regina's dominion grew over several worlds, and it soon became a common destination for traders. By 250, Regina had been incorporated into the Imperium along with six neighboring worlds. By 300, the number of Imperial worlds in the cluster had grown to 17. Naturally, the branch leading to Regina became well-traveled; settlement soon followed.

Elsewhere, parts of the Spinward Marches off the Spinward Main remained backwaters. Their relative lack of accessibility restricted the number of ships that could call on them, which in turn kept them from developing at the same pace as the other worlds of the Marches. Even today, these worlds, settled by people intent on separation or privacy, are second-class worlds.

THE FRONTIER WARS

The settlement of the Spinward Marches proceeded inexorably, with a gradual establishment of Imperial boundaries further and further spinward. By 500, the newly settled areas were adjacent to territories being settled by the Zhodani Consulate in the Cronor subsector. By 550, the two empires had intermingled their settlements, in some cases sharing systems, in others holding neighboring worlds. The differences between the Imperium and the Zhodani heightened tensions, bringing the two sides into conflict, and eventually open warfare.

The First Frontier War (589 to 604) was the first of a series of wars between the Imperium and the Zhodani Consulate. The Zhodani had rallied to their side the Vargr of the neighboring Gvurrdoun Sector, and formed the Outworld Coalition. The initial attacks caught the Imperium less than fully prepared and quickly expelled Imperial settlements from Zhodani territories beyond the Spinward Marches Sector boundaries. Fighting continued for fifteen years and was characterized by raids against high population worlds deep within the sector. Ultimately, armistice lines were drawn, ceding portions of the Cronor subsector to the Zhodani. Grand Admiral Olav hault-Plankwell had defeated an expeditionary Zhodani/Vargr fleet at Zivije following its raid against Jae Tellona (both in the Rhylanor subsector). The result crippled the Zhodani capability to prosecute the war fully, but also inflicted enough losses on the Imperial squadrons to force a stalemate. The negotiated armistice allowed the Imperium to claim a large amount of previously unincorporated territory to replace the parts of Cronor subsector ceded to Zhodane. Admiral hault-Plankwell claimed victory for the Imperium, while simultaneously castigating the central Imperial authority for its lack of support during the war. Admiral hault-Plankwell's subsequent expedition to the Capital and assassination of the Empress Jacqueline began the Civil War (604 to 622).

The Second Frontier War (615 to 620) began in the later years of the Civil War, as the Zhodani and the Vargr saw that their stalemated First Frontier War had disrupted the fabric of the Imperium. The disbanded Outworld Coalition reformed, and struck again, this time deeper into the Jewell subsector. The fierce initial battles strengthened local resolve, and drew the war out for several years. Grand Admiral Arbellatra Alkhalikoi fought a holding action accompanied with behind-the-lines raids for nearly three years in Jewell subsector. Finally, the sector's shipyards finished construction of several large dreadnaughts, and they, coupled with reinforcements from trailing sectors, enabled a decisive engagement which stalemated both sides. Alkhalikoi accepted the dangerous responsibility of ceding more territory to the Zhodani and of releasing perhaps a dozen systems previously incorporated into the Imperium, rendering them independent.
Alkhalikoi then emulated her predecessor - hault-Plankwell - and moved to the Imperial Capital. The Civil War still raging, she met and defeated the remnants of the Central Fleet operating under the command of the barracks Emperor Gustus. Her actions ended the Civil War.

The Third Frontier War (979 to 986) marked the end of an uneasy peace that lasted nearly 350 years. In that time, the Zhodani territory in the Spinward Marches expanded to include four new systems (extending down into Querion subsector from Cronor). The Imperium retained Retinae/Querion as an Imperial territory and expanded its holdings in the Five Sisters subsector. In 979, Zhodani battle fleets struck at Jewell and Querion after several years of sabre-rattling. The Imperial reaction was deficient initially, although reinforcements were soon brought into the battle. The Third Frontier War was less characterized by the planetary sieges of previous wars, and more by commerce raiding, deep thrusts by cruiser squadrons to disrupt shipping, and by harassment of civilian shipping.

The damage done to the civil populace, and the lack of progress in the war turned public sentiment against the high command, and ultimately against the Emperor, who it was felt was prosecuting the war too slowly. Ultimately, an armistice was reached which ceded systems to the Zhodani in the Jewell subsector and allowed Zhodani occupation of several in the Querion subsector. Moreover, the Imperium withdrew several parsecs from their previous positions, creating a demilitarized region through much of Vilis subsector. With the Zhodani on their doorstep, Retinae applied for, and was granted, disunion from the Imperium. The outcry against the peace settlement when it was announced was enough to force the abdication of the Emperor Styryx. Nevertheless, the settlement created reasonably secure borders along the Zhodani frontier, and allowed the Marches to continue with their commerce and industry.

The Fourth Frontier War (1082 to 1084) is sometimes called the False War. The war began unintentionally, as a result of an incident near Quar/Cronor, where the Imperium maintains a naval base just beyond the Zhodani border. This triggered a series of naval battles throughout the Jewell and Cronor subsectors. An armistice was concluded after eighteen months of fighting, before the capital had a chance to issue instructions or send reinforcements. The Imperium lost another world (Narval/Cronor), and was forced to accept joint tenancy of Esalin/Jewell with the Zhodani, but it regained two worlds lost to the Sword Worlds a century before.

ASTROGRAPHY

The Spinward Marches are part of the Domain of Deneb. The table found on the Map of the Spinward Marches shows the subsectors of the Spinward Marches. The Spinward Marches contains 440 worlds. The total population of the sector is approximately 388 billion.
See the Map of the Spinward Marches.