Vandor
The Free Country
A rugged Far Reach moon whose charter holds govern themselves, assemble only through the Muster, and accept Rhovani protection without administration.
Overview
The Record
Vandor governs only when its holds agree that a matter cannot wait. Sheltered valleys and rare water-bearing basins support farms, towns, and prospecting camps beneath steep ranges; outside them, thin ridge air and dry flats make a failed well enough to empty a settlement.
Each charter hold keeps its own law and guards the right to be left off another authority’s register. Holds share tools, routes, and defense when needed but do not share judges. Shadowers are ordinary tradespeople here because concealment protects a settlement from taxation, conscription, or removal rather than serving as an abstract doctrine.
When defense, water, transport, or an offworld power requires one answer, a Caller summons the Muster at Ferren Basin. The gathering resolves that matter and then dissolves. It levies no standing tax, hears no ordinary case, and gives the Caller no office after the holds return home.
Rhovan provides military aid without administering the valleys. Edrane’s older claim remains formally unresolved, so an Edrani paper may secure a route while failing to command anyone after landing. Vandor’s narrow collective machinery preserves autonomy, but it also leaves the holds slow to answer any danger that has not yet become urgent enough for a Muster.
Political Relationships
Standing
Standing at a Glance
- Political Status
- Autonomous
- Civilization Status
- Inhabited
- Heraldic Standing
- Local Crest
- Principal Power
- Rhovan
Vandor’s charter holds are effectively autonomous. Each governs its own valley, fields, water, and local law. Collective answers are made only through the Muster at Ferren Basin, called for a specific matter by a Caller whose authority ends with the summons.
Rhovan acts as principal protector, providing military aid without administering the holds. Edrane’s older claim has not been formally withdrawn, but it does not presently amount to daily government or active war. An Edrani route warrant may reach the moon without commanding a valley.
No sovereign office speaks for Vandor between Musters. The frontier crest marks the associated holds and their collective acts; it is not a seal that permits one hold to bind another.
Locations
Locations on Vandor
Ferren Basin
Town
Vandor’s largest permanent settlement, surrounding a rare highland lake whose water, fields, repair yards, and landing ground let the charter holds gather when required.
View location →
Malketh Pass
Mine
Vandor’s highland claim registry and supply crossing, where permanent stone works serve prospecting camps scattered beyond the wind-scoured pass.
View location →
Physical Characteristics
Ground and Sky
- Diameter3,380 km
- Mass0.015 Earth masses
- Gravity0.21 g
Vandor has breathable but thin air whose pressure changes sharply with elevation. Valley bottoms support open work, while ridge travel requires acclimation and can require breathing support. Dust storms close roads and landing fields across the dry flats, and nights turn cold even in inhabited basins.
Orbit and Time
Path Around Oranth
- Orbital Order740
- Orbital Radius12,300,000 km
- Orbital Period160.915 days
- Rotation27.6 hours
- Inclination168.7 degrees
- Eccentricity0.024
Vandor rotates every 27.6 standard hours and is not tidally locked. Light and darkness therefore follow a near-familiar rhythm during its 160.915-standard-day orbit. Oranth appears smaller than it does from inner moons, and eclipses are occasional events rather than a working schedule.
Vandor travels on the retrograde Far Reach path. Incoming vessels must reverse their orbital sense after crossing the Shatter, and local calendars track both the short surface day and the longer intervals between reliable inner-system contact.
Culture
The Twofold
Shadowers are common across Vandor’s holds, where being difficult to find is a practical trade rather than a philosophy. Concealment protects settlements from taxation, conscription, or removal and is not treated as deception. Other Twofold customs remain local to individual valleys rather than forming a moon-wide doctrine.
Travel
Travel Notes
Cross the Shatter and complete the retrograde transfer before approaching a named hold. Edrane still coordinates many routes, but route clearance is not landing permission. Fields occupy valley floors and dry lakebeds and close for wind, dust, or a local refusal.
A Rhovani introduction may open a gate that an Edrani warrant cannot. Bring sufficient supplies to leave again: holds trade by agreement but have no duty to provision strangers. Permission from one valley grants no right to enter another.