Analysis: cultural diaspora

Analysis article - considerations of the Coriolis background

Checking on the Coriolis Discord, I read that the publishers are OK with players recreating tables, figures and data from the RPG source material where the only purpose is the facilitation of playing their game and I hereby promise this is my only intent with this article. The cultures, planets and languages are from the Coriolis RPG; everything else is my own content - Doctor Weather

Author's note January 2023: this analysis pre-dated me gaining access to the atlas and campaign books, which shows considerably how much more I now know about Sadaal.

The Coriolis Core Rules are written with a certain mystery element, something that brings alive the idea that even the poeple of the Third Horizon don't know the full history and truth of their homeworlds and that gives the GM free rein to create. However, I crave a certain order, so I'm going to try and establish how the different First-come cultures - may have - spread out through the Third Horizon, and so too where each of the main languages are spoken.

Assumptions and changes

Focus on core languages with other planets mostly just having dialects
The Core Rules state that every planet effectively has its own language but I'm going to tweak this slightly to say that they have their own dialects - some perhaps quite 'strong' - but all recognisably derived from the main language group. I don't want to create games where characters regularly can't speak to each other if there's no translator available. To this end I'm going to encourage a Star Wars approach to language: people generally speak all the langauges, to at least a survival level, that they are exposed to from childhood. Where a character can't be understood it's going to be a specific plot point.
Adding in a core language for Sadaal - January 2023 note: no longer needed after release of Community Atlas
Also, after discussion with the community on Reddit, I'm going to add another language for Sadaal, suggesting that it's not mentioned on the main list in the Core Rules because the Sadaali have only just reopened their planet to outsiders, so it's never really spread before now.
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Diaspora of First-come

Algolans and Kuans
Algol is settled first by Algolans, who spread through Algolan Route and the Quandrant of the Pillar. The smaller Kuan families and clans follow in their wake, mostly settling in Algolan colonies but occasionally found small settlements of their own in, such as Kua. The Algolans came to create cities but the Kuans by and large wanted free settlements, forcing the Algolans into particular areas whilst the Kuans could go further into the wilderness.
Mirans and Zalosi
The Mirans found cities throughout the Miran chain and on Aiwaz. The Zalosi come only to Zalos, eventually outnumbering Miran settlers there and taking control of the planet. The feared separation between Mira and Aiwaz doesn't materialize for a long time and peaceful coexistence allows the Mirans free hand enough not to interfere.
Dabarans
Settling mainly on Dabaran and Melik, they also seed smaller colonies thtoughout the Dabaran Circle.
Sadaali
The Sadaali come specifically to find a place of their own, much like the Zalosi. They claim Sadaal and lock the planet and system from other influence. As this doesn't block other powers' expansion plans Sadaali are left to their own devices.

Addendum - 18/06/23 - diaspora

Taken from the Core Rules that I'd obviously not read properly at the time
First Horizon settlers spread throughout the Third
They come to Algol first but to Mira a lot, giving the Algol the honour of being the first colony but Mira the prime colony - both foremost in their own right. They are rebels, dissidents and fortune seekers. The Dabaran Circle and Algol Route retain their First Horizon influences to this day.
Religion dissidents and further rebels come from the Second Horizon
Colonists and settlers spread throughout the Sadaal Route and Miran Chain. Strands of the peoples go further but it is here that Second Horizon influences are seen more strongly in the Third Horizon's development. The peoples bring groups that would become the Nomad Federation and the Order of the Pariah.
Influences on the First-come Factions
The Nomad Federation and Order of the Pariah show strong Second Horizon influences. Ahlams Temple and the Draconites have primarily First Horizon influences - the Temple being particularly offended by the corruption the Nazereem Sacrifice brought to previously worthy practices. The Legion and Church of the Icons have mixed influences, though could trace somewhat stronger connections to the First and Second respectively if they desired to look hard enough. These origins please none of the Factions in any way, and many have put a lot of effort into breaking these old connections but history cannot be denied and everyone's language, story, clothing and architecture had to begin somewhere.
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Language and influences by planet

REGION	PLANET	LANGUAGES	CIV LEVEL	HISTORY AND FEATURES
Algol Route	Algol	Algolan, Kuan, Zeni	Civilised	Thought to be the first colony and so its influence would have spread the furthest Heavily damaged in the Portal Builder
-	Anaspora	Algolan, Kuan, Zeni	Border
-	Awadhi	Algolan, Kuan, Zeni	Border	Link to Quadrant of the Pillar
-	Eanu	Algolan, Kuan	Uncharted	Furthest out system by number of jumps
-	Erequ	Algolan, Kuan, Zeni	Border
-	Nharmada	Algolan, Kuan, Zeni	Border	Furthest out system out in the black
-	Yastapol	Algolan, Kuan, Zeni	Border	Unstable portal
-	Zamusa	Algolan, Kuan	Uncharted	Unstable portal
Dabaran Circle	Dabaran	Dabari, Zeni	Civilised	Largely unaffected by the Portal Wars, as the system had little space power
-	Algebar	Dabari, Zeni	Border
-	Amedo	Dabari, Zeni	Border
-	Caph	Kuan, Algol, Zeni, Dabari	Uncharted
-	Hamura	Dabari, Kuan	Border	In the 'dangerous area'
-	Marfik	Kuan, Dabari, Zeni, Algol	Uncharted
-	Melik	Dabari, Zeni	Civilised
-	Rigel	Dabari, Zeni	Uncharted
-	Taoan	Dabari, Zeni	Uncharted	In the 'dangerous area' 'uncharted' by plot events?
-	Uharu	Dabari, Kuan	Uncharted	In the 'dangerous area' 'uncharted' by plot events?
Dabaran Circle, Kua	Kua	Zeni, Kuan, Algol	Faction	Contains Coriolis upon which all languages and cultures are present Kua itself is otherwise still a backwater planet because of its jungles, though it receives some attention through the Portal Builder monolith
Miran Chain	Mira	Miri, Zeni, Zalosi	Faction, Civilised and Border	Though Algol was settled first, Mira and Aiwaz became the cradle of the new Horizon
-	Aiwaz	Miri, Zeni, Kua, Algol	Civilised	Though Algol was settled first, Mira and Aiwaz became the cradle of the new Horizon
-	Odacon	Miri, Zeni	Uncharted	Crippled by Portal Wars
-	Tarazug	Miri, Zeni	Uncharted
-	Zib	Miri, Zeni, Zalosi	Border
Miran Chain, Quadrant of the Pillar	Altai	Algolan-Kuan dialect, Zeni, Miri	Civilised (wrong on map)	Wealthy, populous and the main planet of the quadrant Symbol: flame (war)
-	Ordana	Algolan-Kuan dialect, Zeni, Miri	Civlised and Uncharted	Taken over by Zenithians Symbol: road (trade)
-	Sivas	Algolan-Kuan dialect, Zeni, Miri	Uncharted (wrong on map)	Lonely side route Symbol: Shooting star (meaning has been lost)
-	Zhau	Algolan-Kuan dialect, Zeni, Miri	Border	Part of the 'dangerous area' that contains Odacon and a new horizon for current colonists Symbol: temple (reflecting perhaps Portal Builder temples there)
Miran Chain, Zalos	Zalos	Zalosi, Miri, Zeni	Faction or Civilised or Uncharted based on your politics	The dedication to the martyr has caused the Zalosan culture to remain separate from those of the rest of the Horizon and their language remains proudly their own Counts as uncharted by the rest of the Horizon because of its xenophobic isolation
Sadaal Route	Sadaal	Sadi, Zeni	Civilised	The introverted nature of the Sadaali culture has prevented Sadi travelling off-world Zeni is slowly being introduced by the Consortium now the planet has opened up to the Horizon
-	Daybul	Colonies only	Border
-	Dziban	Colonies only	Border	Unstable portal
-	Errai	Miri, Zeni	Border
-	Ghodar	Miri, Zeni	Border	Colony from Aiwaz and Faction presence only
-	Menkar	Colonies only	Border	Portal Builder monolith
-	Nagar	Colonies only	Uncharted

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Early disapora and history

More information on the Third Horizon has recently become available to me through the release of the translated Community Atlas. It hints of a time before the Third Horizon was a single, connected location, logically as the star systems were just being colonised for the first time and the connections and route were yet to be fully established. Not sure how / if I'm going to use this yet, so I'm just playing with it a little for now.
Quadrants - a system no longer used
Before the third Horizon was completely mapped its star systems were gathered into quadrants:

• Quadrant of the Lotus - Dabaran, Uharu, Melik and others
• Quadrant of the Magistrate - Zalos and Aiwaz
• Quadrant of the Nightingale - Algol and sister systems
• Quadrant of the Pillar - the only quadrant still recognised

...These names linger in older texts but are largely no longer used.
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On languages

Algolan	Melodic and lilting In contrast to it's current status as a harsh, industrial centre, Algol's main dialect remembers a past that celebrated art and wonder by retaining its status as the most melodic of the Third Horizon's languages
Dabari	Decorated and complex Dabari comes in many forms, all for different ocassions, but all share purposeful complexity. It's shortest forms string together many syllables to convey as much meaning as possible in few words. It's longest forms use a thousand words to properly describe the simplest of objects and feelings.
Kuan	Simple but adaptive Sometimes referred to as a peasant tongue by the Horizon's privileged, the Kuan language is more limited in its vocabulary but happily borrows from all other languages and could have become a common tongue through pure, happy willingness if not through capability, but the prevalance of Zeni blocked this
Miri	Structured but poetic The sister languages of Miri and Zalos separated through usage: Miri wanted to retain an ability to revere the Icons the Icons through poetry and song
Zalosi	Structured and formal The sister languages of Miri and Zalos separated through usage: Zalosi maintained an importance in knowing one's place and respect
Zeni	Varied and unpredictable Zeni is a language that has borrowed from other languages over the years, revealing a people whose homelands have absorbed many other cutlures over the years.

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Note to reader: this purposefully long analysis article
CC61, segment of The Deckhand

Contents

• Assumptions and changes
• Diaspora of First-come
• Addendum - 18/06/23 - diaspora
• Language and influences by planet
• Early disapora and history
• On languages

Related articles:

• Analysis: Coriolis system
• Analysis: how history became lost
• Analysis: tech and wealth level