Coritan Star Sector

Coritan Star Sector

Major Star Systems

History

On Coritan, the Heart Under Guard
As recorded by Witch Lord Bertwin Gisking Bearspear for the Great Archive of the Stalwart Throne

The Coritan Star Sector lies near the heart of the Star Commonwealth of Drala, a quiet center in a star nation born of storms. Its stars were first settled by the Galan of the Twelfth Fleet of Mann, and like the rest of the Drala Star Cluster, it was brought under the banners of the Feyan Star Dominion. For thousands of years, its ports, markets, and garrisons served the Dominion’s needs, until the Feyan Withdrawal left it vulnerable to the tides of conquest that followed.

In the age of the Dralan Star Kingdoms, Coritan was far from tranquil. The Star Kingdoms of Catuvella, Umber, Iken, and Angul each claimed its worlds at different times, and more than one lesser kingdom rose and fell within its bounds. Its location, rich in routes and resources, made it a prize no king could afford to ignore.

Two ancient arteries of the Feyan Star-Gate Network run through it. The Old Great Way and Sarum’s Way. Together they made Coritan both a prize and a curse, ripe for trade, yet equally exposed to the swift strikes of fleets and raiders. After the Glessum Furse took the sector in the aftermath of the Feyan Withdrawal, piracy thrived here, and many a lord grew rich off plunder and tolls exacted at swordpoint.

But time, like the sea, can smooth the jagged shore. In recent centuries, Coritan has grown quieter, shielded as it is by surrounding sectors and secure borders. Like Vellaun, to which it is kin in both trade and defense, it has become a core of stability in the Star Commonwealth, a place where fleets are more likely to escort merchants than to burn worlds.

The sector is composed of five major systems and nearly six thousand minor star systems, each sworn to the high seat at its core:

Skneh Star System, the political and military anchor of the sector,
Hrota Star System, frontier bastion and gateway to outer corridors,
Snottenga Star System, seat of rich markets and ancient ring worlds,
Corieltau Star System, home to ancient holds and famed warriors,
Hunta Star System, a hub of the star-gate routes.

Sector-lord Baldur Molnar Blackborn is the unquestioned master of Coritan, his fleets and alliances unmatched. Close behind stands Fjolnir Alwin Skar Skyborn of Snottenga, wealthy, cunning, and ever mindful of the gates that make his realm strong. His daughter serves on the small council of the King, granted the Dodunn Star Sector for loyal service, and her children used to forge alliance across Drala.

Third in strength, but not in reach, is Valderadis Rethe Grimborn. Though her own domains are less vast, her blood ties to System-lord Ubbe Rethe Grimborn of Hrota and to the sprawling influence of House Rethe Grimborn throughout the Star Commonwealth make her power more dangerous than it appears. In Coritan, as in all Drala, the right marriage and the right bloodline can open more gates than any fleet.

I have seen Coritan in its many moods, warlike, wary, and now, at least for a time, content. But I know well that peace here is a delicate thing. The Old Great Way still runs through its heart, and such arteries do not forget the taste of war.