SANDEMANS: A genetically engineered race considered human-variant due to the number and extent of changes made. In dealings with Sandemans, especially the warrior caste, it is essential to keep those changes, and the fact of a culture designed in large part to enhance them, in mind. Sandemans are motivated primarily by honor, are intensely proud and ethnocentric, and have an extreme privacy drive. Courtesy is deeply ingrained and they do not expect non-Sandemans to live up to Sandeman standards even when visiting Sandeman worlds. In most cases, that means they will ignore even deliberate insults from non-Sandemans--but not in all cases. Touching one without permission will get at least a verbal rebuke; attacking one will in all probability result in the attacker's death. In Subsector Sandeman, the offender is at fault; elsewhere in the Empire, that is less automatic but still the presumption. To paraphrase then-Baron Klaes of Mjolnir, the first Imperial world to have Sandemans as guests and protectors instead of conquerors: These people are used to protecting themselves, rather than relying on police. Their reflexes are exceptionally fast and strong, particularly if they are under attack; anyone assaulting a Sandeman may expect to have @'s cause of death listed as suicide.
Sandemans are short and slender, the men averaging 160-165 cm and 62-67 kilos, the women 2-3 cm and kilos less. Skin tones range from dark tan to dark olive, hair from almost white to not quite light brown, mostly straight though a few have wavy hair, even fewer curly. Eyes are pale-to-medium blue, green, or hazel. Children are born covered in fur resembling a kitten's; it is usually gone by three months of age.
Despite their small stature, Sandemans are stronger and faster than their creators, with greater endurance and higher average intelligence. Between twenty and fifty percent (up from about ten percent under the Shapers) of the males, depending on the clan, are further modified warriors, whose speed, strength and endurance are increased still further. (See also Warriors, Sandeman, and Need, Sandeman Warriors'.)
The basic Sandeman social structure is a two-caste clan, with the upper warrior caste composed of the warriors and warriors'-women, the Other caste being everyone else. Caste may be determined by the clan-prefix (warriors are Dar, w'women Dru, Others Den) and often by clothing; the warrior caste usually wears subdued coveralls, the Others brighter clothing.
As a rule, Others marry; warriors and w'women do not, fostering their children with Other families to provide a stable home life. Children mingle freely regardless of caste, until at puberty the young student warriors and w'women move into their rooms in the main clanhome, while Other children remain with their parents until they marry or establish their own homes. Warriors and w'women maintain ties, often close ones, with the families who raised them and will, in many cases, raise their children.
Most traditional Sandeman names are Gaelic, Gaelic-flavored, or Norse-Germanic. There is no naming distinction between the castes other than the clan-prefixes, or between the sexes except that names ending in -a are female; anything else can be either. Nicknames may be proper names shortened to first or last syllable, or an occasional positive-attributive descriptive nickname. Full first names are always proper usage, with 'the warrior' or 'the lady' added when speaking about a warrior or w'woman, and 'warrior' or 'lady' may be used instead of one's name when addressing @.
SATYR PLAGUE: (Kingdom Systems) A mutant plague strain that appeared on St. Thomas in 2542. Its "victims" (few of whom consider themselves as such) develop an increased sexual drive and capacity, as well as other minor enhancements. Once its effects became known, it spread rapidly throughout the Systems, and has caused a number of societal changes, including the Families. It is not contagious in normal contact; the risk (or chance) of contagion otherwise depends on intimacy of contact.
SCANLON, David Mark: (2541- ) Captured during the Nemran Rebellion (2555) shortly after his fourteenth birthday, he was helped to escape by one of his captors who did not wish to be involved further when Ranger Esteban Tarlac was taken prisoner. He then rescued the Ranger, who had been seriously injured, from the rebel camp, nursing and guarding him until Imperial Marines landed with medical help. For his actions, he was created a Life Duke.
SCORPIO, Sector 6:
Ruled by: No. systems: 710
Subsectors: 7 Inhabited planets: 365
A. Shiva E. Selket
B. Odin F. Kore
C. Osiris G. Tarlac
D. Mithra