P
PADRE: Proper title and form of address for a priest of the Arriani Lady of Love. It is also the common, though unofficial, way of referring to all military chaplains.
PAIVA, Subsector 1-H:
No. systems: 78 Sector: Orion
with 3 inhabited planets: 6 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 9
with 1 inhabited planet: 24
PALACE COMPLEX: Located at the foot of the Sentinel Mountains in Antarctica, this is a hundred-kilometer-diameter circle centered on the Imperial Palace, protected from the elements by a modified defense screen. The inner ten kilometers is parkland surrounding the Palace; the rest consists of air- and spaceports, residential and administrative areas, and some commercial activity, but no major industry. It also has entertainment of almost every conceivable type, a wide variety of eating places, the central offices of most news services, and so on. (For reference, it is approximately half again the size of the state of Delaware.)
PALACE, IMPERIAL: A building four kilometers square, situated in the center of the Palace Complex. It is roughly a quarter public areas, about a third (including the Empire's best medical facility) semi-public, and the remainder private for Palace residents and guests.
PALACE STANDARD TIME: Called Greenwich Mean Time prior to the Empire, this is the official time kept at the Imperial Palace and aboard all military (and most other) craft in space. It is also used throughout Xanadu, the only world known to have only one time zone.
PALLAS, Subsector 18-B:
No. systems: 149 Sector: Aries
with 3 inhabited planets: 3 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 10
with 1 inhabited planet: 25
PAN, Subsector 8-D:
No. systems: 80 Sector: Centaurus
with 3 inhabited planets: 1 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 10
with 1 inhabited planet: 26
PATTERN RAPPORT: An involuntary and extremely rare aspect of Talent in which two minds are completely merged for a brief time. Irschchan theory is that it happens when the parties' underminds decide it is necessary to resolve an impasse or conflict.
PEACELORD: Ranger Esteban Tarlac, once he has passed his Ordeal and died. The last member of the Traiti Circle of Lords, his first act as Lord Esteban was to make possible an immediate, honorable end to the Traiti War.
PEACELORD, Subsector 21-B:
No. systems: 57 Sector: Traiti
with 3 inhabited planets: 2 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 12
with 1 inhabited planet: 22
PEGASUS, Sector 5:
Ruled by: No. systems: 386
Subsectors: 4 Inhabited planets: 215
A. Bayard C. Traveler
B. Sleipnir D. Sandeman
PERIDOPICLES: Ducal family, Sector 14. Legend has it that this family was cursed when the first Duke, Orion, defeated the "witch" Lilith and destroyed the Blue Crystal from which she gained her powers. As she was dying, she pronounced the curse that death would visit Orion's heirs through their children. The line is, in fact, subject to a genetic defect which is fatal to seventy-five percent of the children and can, in a way that has not yet been determined, be passed on to the pregnant mother, with a twenty-five percent fatality rate.
Historians believe the Blue Crystal was a psionic amplifier, and that in destroying it, the Duke received a nonfatal dose of some unknown radiation which caused a genetic mutation passed in the male line; females who survive are invariably sterile. Children have an unusually high body radiation count, certain proof of parentage. (Linda Gerhart)
PERIDOT:
Sector: 20, Chameleon Year:
Subsector: C, Dagda Day:
System: Cuchulainn Gravity:
Settled/established: Axial tilt:
By: Oxygen:
Satellites: % Water:
Ident code prefix: PER Continents:
Ruled by:
General: Where Aleron Rourke and his daughter crashed after an
inter-universe transition, as a result meeting Kiyoshi Owajima and
Nevan DarLeras.
PHOENIX, Sector 14
Ruled by: Peridopicles family No. systems: 660
Subsectors: 6 Inhabited planets: 304
A. Fenris D. Excalibur
B. Unicorn E. Siren
C. Gryphon F. Shamu
Arms: On a black and red spiral field, a phoenix rising from flames,
platinum.
PHOLUS, Subsector 8-B:
No. systems: 44 Sector: Centaurus
with 3 inhabited planets: 7 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 10
with 1 inhabited planet: 27
PIPER'S WORLD:
Sector: 5, Pegasus Year:
Subsector: B, Sleipnir Day:
System: Valkyr Gravity:
Settled/established: Axial tilt:
By: Oxygen:
Satellites: % Water:
Ident code prefix: PIP Continents:
Ruled by:
General: Mostly-tropical world, among those conquered by Sandeman
during the Eruption.
PLANETS: The smallest Imperial subdivision, ruled by barons. Those with only temporary or limited-purpose settlements are classified as uninhabited and subject to the rule of the settling planet's baron.
POLARIS, Subsector 9-A:
No. systems: 146 Sector: Ursa
with 3 inhabited planets: 2 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 11
with 1 inhabited planet: 26
POSEIDON, Subsector 17-C:
No. systems: 183 Sector: Indus
with 3 inhabited planets: 4 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 10
with 1 inhabited planet: 17
POWER ARMOR: Full-metal armor with force-field shielding, used in initial assaults and intense firefights. The force-field is the armor's primary defense; the armor itself serves mostly as a weapons platform, though if the force-field fails, it will sometimes provide enough protection for the operator to reach safety. In most cases, however, force-field failure is due to overload by enemy fire, and the ensuing suit failure and powerpack disruption cause total destruction of armor and operator both.
The armor is so massive that the operator cannot move it without assistance. This is provided by internal sensors which amplify small operator motions and transmit them to fusion-powered servos; these move the armor itself. Since delicacy of control is more important than sheer strength, which the armor provides, most power-armor specialists are women.
PROMETHEUS, Subsector 18-E:
No. systems: 119 Sector: Aries
with 3 inhabited planets: 2 Ruled by:
with 2 inhabited planets: 10
with 1 inhabited planet: 23
PSIRYNE: The hormone responsible for psionic Talent in humans. It is present even if the Talent is latent; even though this specific connection was not discovered until 2572, the Narvonese used a specific type of it as a "marker" of susceptibility to the pseudo-virus as early as 2276.
PURGATORY:
Sector: 14, Phoenix Year:
Subsector: A, Fenris Day:
System: Origani Gravity:
Settled/established: N/A Axial tilt:
By: N/A Oxygen:
Satellites: % Water:
Ident code prefix: PUR Continents:
Ruled by: Baron of Origani
General: An average temperature of -40 F, almost constant snowfall, and
ferocious native fauna have made permanent settlements impractical.
Periodically, scientific and other teams make planetfall during the
short (seven standard day) summer, but must leave before fall, when
gale-force winds begin to blow.
Only known source of the keisha plant. (Linda Gerhart)