THE ERIDANUS LEAGUE

The Eridanus League was one of mankind's first attempts at a unified interstellar civilization. Although the League ultimately did not last, it is remarkable in having brought together several billion humans from dozens of diverse colonies over a span of over 40 light-years. The League was started unilaterally by the broadcast of the River of Stars Charter from the moon Epsilon Eridani II-D, although the concept had been proposed and promoted among the colonies by Hoa-van-Huynh and his followers since ESY 670. About half of the colonies that recieved the broadcast eventually joined, although after varying levels of debate and often only in a nominal fashion. Despite this there was a surprising level of pride among colonies to belong to the League, especially in small communities which were used to being overshadowed by more powerful nations in the same solar system.



Although based mainly on voluntary agreements to standardize laws and values, the League was successful in its goals of promoting peaceful coexistence between religious and ethnic enclaves, organizing long-term trade relationships, and the development of new colonies. The ambassador-judges exchanged between colonies set a high standard for fair justice, and because of this the four-pointed star of a League court was the symbol of ultimate authority to most local rulers and corporate officers even when there was no System Control Ship or even a Remora-class escort vessel available to back up a judge's decision. The League's greatest cultural impact, however, may have been the exchange of ideas that led to the rise of several major religious including Etodism which in the crisis years had gained 800 million followers across the League. The League lasted for many centuries primarily because of the common interests of the member worlds, not because of its ability to use force to keep colonies in line; as soon as the population crisis peaked on several colonies the League began to split apart. To their credit, the military forces organized by the Epsilon Eridani council to defend other worlds never used their armaments to force defecting worlds to return to the fold, and even in the crisis years there were surprisingly few attempts by the SCS commanders to alter the local balance of power during inter-colony disputes.


ERIDANUS LEAGUE SYSTEM CONTROL SHIP "YI SUN SIN"

 Built at Great River Arsenal, Epsilon Eridani 0: 565-667 Gm-A. Length 600 meters; Mass (empty) 1.5 million tons; capable of interstellar travel (20 years endurance before minimal replenishing from organic-rich planetoid; 100+ year ship's lifespan); Armament includes ten squadrons of exospheric rocketfighters, two legions of mechanized droptroops, plus numerous defensive beam and missile weapons



The extreme distances involved were the obstacle that prevented the success of any of the early Human interstellar empires; in one oft-repeated example, the Umbandist 'Star Spirit 3' space station orbiting Epsilon Indi renounced membership in the League, then two years later broadcast its intention to re-join even before the original message had reached the other League star systems. As the League faded into the history files, partisan colonial self-rule would continue to be the trend for centuries to come. However, the spirit of the League was never forgotten, and it also has blood links to the great civilizations that followed it. The elite citizens from many League worlds were insturmental in organizing the 'second wave' of colonists to the new frontier worlds that would in time become the core of both the FSA and the Yoson Confederacy.



Member worlds and systems

 Note: Many systems contained multiple colonies, not all of which were League members. An attempt has been made to list the largest or culturally most influential colonies in each system during the reign of the Eridanus League, but it would be impossible to list every station or dome that at one time or another declared itself independent.



Epsilon Eridani system
Here the River of Stars Charter was first announced, after having been agreed upon by the three nations on E Eridani II: New Elysium (southern hemisphere, founded by Mars Interstellar Inc.); the Allied Domestates (west of Entente Ridge, founded by Kelkemesh Ventures); and Eridan Home (equatorial and northern Plains of Steam, founded by Eridani Vision Inc.). Also joining early on were the Jain 'Starclad' colony on E Eri IV-B; over two-thirds of the Independent Accretion-Belt Mining colonies; and the Ronin Net. Other colonies declined to join including the Eternal I-ho-Chuan and the fringe-Christian Watchtower Base. The first, and most controversial, military action by the League was the destruction of the spacedome 'Nome Crater City' on E Eri I with an antimatter torpedo after a blue-resistant nanoswarm outbreak there. Epsilon Eridani was the unquestioned core of the League for centuries.

Epsilon Indi system
The various colonies in the E Indi Provisional Confederacy willingly joined the League except for several Christian-cultist and Ecopagan compounds located on planetoids in the outer belts. One member colony, the Ganesha Mission, attempted to use League laws to gain resources held by the Deep Red Corporate Settlement on E Indi IV resulting in an early rift, settled by an ambassador-judge from E Eridani. The internal power struggles within the 'Star Spirit 3' council have been mentioned. E Indi tended to closely follow the lead of the E Eridani colonies in the League councils. [The two somewhat obscure "first colonies" founded in the E Indi system, by the Noah Society in ESY 345 and by the Star Pilgrims in ESY 422, had both been long extinct by the time the League was formed.]

40 Eridani trinary star system
The initial nanoswarm-refugee colony died out long before the arrival of the 'Twilight' (more properly 'Dawn') colonists at 40 Eri A-I. The TakiCo. leaders became very pro-League after the initial reception of the Charter and only a few fringe threshold bases on the planet dissented from continued League membership. Etodist, Mondecumen, and FalunDafa missionaries were not as successful here as on other League worlds due to the prevalence of animist beliefs.

82-(G) Eridani system
An important system in the League era, 82 Eri was initially targeted by a long-range Marian-Catholic mission launched in ESY 398. Unfortunately the ambitious long-range journey proved beyond Earth's capabilities at that time and the 8,000 frozen colonists aboard the 'Intercessor' were accelerated right through the system into deep space with a dead crew at the helm. Much later, the Terranova Foundation and the Grue Brothers (a privately-funded society of empaths) were successful in establishing colonies on 82 Eri III. The Grue empaths were very pro-League but the larger Foundation had divided loyalties throughout the era of the Eridanus League. League contact did help bring prosperity to the system's many cities and stations; on the densely-populated second and third planets the once-influential Mondecumen religion gradually lost tens of millions of converts to Etodism and other groups such as Omegism and Venpredessi.

Kang 021 system
Founded by a splinter group of FalunDafa colonists (who stole one of the colony transports that had brought a federation of Chinese interests to Alpha Centauri B), Kang-021 was always on the edge of collapse due to the inability to manufacture vital heavy machinery. Their heretical zeal had mellowed with hardships by the time the broadcast of the Charter reached them, and their request for an ambassador-judge and supplies was answered by E Eridani. On the second planet, a volcanic sulfur world more treacherous than Io (Sola V-E), lived the genetically-modified colonists who found the greatest benefits in League trade relations and support. Resources from the mineral-stocked Kang-021 system enriched the nearby League worlds but led to conflicts with nonaligned Delta Pavonis and Eta Cassiopeia over League tariffs and trade.

Chaihuea-Eridani system
A colony founded by a combine from 82 Eridani-II for commercial reasons. A hidden Taoist space colony (the Greater Way) was found already in orbit around the ice moon Chai-Eridani II-F but these recluses did not attempt to make any claims to the system and were left alone. The origin of that colony and its date of establishment have never been pinned down. The corporate colony decided to go for League membership rather than remain tied to 82 Eridani, but was never able to generate enough trade to become truly prosperous.

Ross 128 system
The large colony ship 'Utnapishtim-6' that reached Ross-128 was a more speculative venture than usual for the Star Pilgrim Corporation, which sent colonizing missions to many systems. Ross-128 was an isolated latecomer to the Eridanus League, joining as an afterthought just as the League population crisis was becoming overwhelming. However, for a brief time Ross-128 became the greatest port in the Human realm as two waves of Eridan colony ships stopped there on their way past Earthspace to future FSA/Yoson Confederation worlds such as Beta Canes Venatici III (Chiri) and Xian Virginis II (Yosonia). Ross-128 did not itself become a Yoson Confederacy member due to a desire to avoid becoming a target of the Tahmetians.

P Eridani binary star system
P Eridanus was colonized by various corporations that had been started in the E Eridani and 82 Eridani systems. By the time the corporate colonies had grown and become networked to a point where a system-wide application for League membership was broadcast, the Eridanus League was already in terminal decline. The residents of the spacedome Hoa-van-Huynh City on P Eridanus B-III-G decided to declare themselves League members anyway out of a spirit of patriotism and a futile desire to revive the dream of Human unity. It was here at the last outpost of the League that the designation 'Eridan' was applied for a supposed new Human ethnicity. The P Eridani colony later became a member of the FSA, and after that alliance broke apart attempted to contact the distant Eridan-majority Yoson Confederacy but was instead conquered by Tahmetian Crusaders.



Historical research and solar system maps by Aaron Hamilton; EL Flag and logo researched by Anders Sandberg.

Glossary of planetary types used in small diagrams above