Imperial Collage of Heralds, Information Division Document ZIT-3287/9 001-2370T Saladin Saladin is an independent Imperial world on the Diska Rift frontier. Until recently Saladin was a rather unremarkable world, ruled by competing local governments. Saladin was united under a single world government in 2327T. Since its unification, Saladin's influence and prestige has grown noticeably. Saladin Saladin A764757-9 Saladin is a medium sized world (11,200km diameter) orbiting Al Quir, a solitary F9 IV star at a distance of 420,000,000km, Saladin orbits Al Quir once every 1275.375 standard days and rotates on its axis once every 57 standard hours. Saladin has an axial tilt of 29ø and an orbital eccentricity of 0.09. It has an albedo of 0.27, giving an average surface temperature of 25ø Celsius. Saladin has no natural satellites. 35% of the surface is covered by water in the form of one large ocean. Surrounding this ocean is a ring of fertile crop land comprising 20% of the surface; 5% of the surface is covered by small ice caps and the remaining 40% is inhospitable desert. The desert has considerable wealth in the form of metallic ores, which comprise a large portion of Saladin's exports. History Saladin was first settled in the Middle Imperial Period by refugees displaced by the Third Akhrini War. As a world on the Imperial fringe, Saladin had an unremarkable history during the Terran Empire. It never formally declared it's independence from the Empire, rather as Imperial control collapsed, it found itself cast adrift. The last recorded Imperial Terran contact with Saladin was in 1212T. After that point Saladin slowly came to rely on it's own resources developing it's own culture independently. During the Second Dark Age Saladin developed into a tribal culture, ruled by a hereditary elite based on the old Terran noble structure. Technology declined as in most former Imperial worlds and habitation came to be confined to the fertile lands around the single ocean. Saladin was first recontacted by the IMSC in 1892T and had by that time stabilised at tech level 3 with an aggressive tribal culture. There was little to attract offworld traders and as a result very little contact. Saladin remained largely untouched by the growing interstellar civilisation until 2195T when the Phoenix Corporation established a local presence to exploit the considerable mineral wealth of the desert regions. These resources became a major source for the IMSC during the First Mwoah War. As a result Saladin's mines expanded considerably and pressure was brought to bear on the tribal chieftains to join the Empire. As a result, the tribes agreed to accede to the Babylon Accords in 2204T. The various tribal chieftains were awarded Imperial titles becoming the noble houses of Saladin. After the war production was scaled back, but the desert mines continue to be the major factor in the economy. With the mines came offworld contact, trade and investment. Slowly Saladin's tech level increased. However it remained a balkanised world dominated by the various tribal chieftains (now Imperial nobles). For much of it's recent history, Saladin was gripped by the increasingly intense struggles between the e nobles. In 2282T the Unification Wars erupted. By this stage Saladin had reached tech level 6 and an industrialised society had developed. The Unification Wars were a bitter struggle which sorely hurt Saladin. In 2324T the Phoenix Corporation was suffering heavy losses as a result of the wars and chose to back the Count Aran of Arajil, leader of one of the major factions. With the backing of the Phoenix Corporation, the Count of Arajil defeated the rival factions and unified the world in 2327T. Despite the destruction wrought by the wars, they had forced Saladin to tech level 8 and with the return of order Saladin was well placed to develop into a powerful state. Using the mineral wealth of the desert, Count Aran embarked on an ambitious development program. Major industries were established to exploit Saladin's resources and considerable investment was made into the local infrastructure. However the Count also invested heavily in education and by 2355T Saladin had achieved tech level 9. During this time, Count Aran took steps to reconcile the defeated noble houses; in 2328T all the surviving noble houses of Saladin swore fealty to Count Aran becoming local nobles. In return Count Aran guaranteed their holdings and privileges. This ensured that all the noble houses shared in the benefits of development and ensured the loyalty of the nobles. As a result, Saladin has prospered and grown to be a major power in the Mehrtz District. In 2359T the Imperial Collage of Heralds conferred the title of Duke of Saladin on Aran's son Rika. Government Saladin is governed by a council of nobles headed by the Duke of Saladin. Each of the various noble houses has a fair degree of autonomy within it's own holdings, controlling local services such as housing, roading, power, employment and the like. The central government reserves certain strategic interests for itself (such as communications, strategic industries, offworld contact etc.) and provides an overall set of guidelines to ensure that the noble houses act in a responsible fashion. In the rare case of an incompetent or corrupt local administration, the central government will act to remove it. One of the main reasons why Count Aran's post war reforms were successful was the large degree of local independence he allowed the defeated noble houses. Military Saladin has two military forces the Army and Navy. All of Saladin's military forces are under the control of the central government, with the noble houses being forbidden to raise any military units other than small ceremonial bodyguard units (none more than 30 strong). The Saladin Army evolved from the various tribal militias after it's incorporation into the Empire. During the Second Dark Age a strong warrior culture evolved in the various tribes with every adult man and woman being liable to serve the tribe during times of war. With the coming of the Empire and the increasing level of technology and civilisation, each tribe developed a militia system, retaining the universal liability to serve with a small permanent standing cadre of warriors (these could not be considered to have been professional soldiers yet). During the Unification Wars these cadres developed into proper professional soldiers and late in the Wars the first permanent military units were formed. After the Wars Count Aran gathered some of these units together to form the Saladin Army under the control of the central government. The remaining units were disbanded (though some went on to become mercenary units serving offworld) and the old militia system with its universal liability to serve abolished. The current Saladin Army is organised into 25 infantry brigades and 9 armoured brigades with various supporting arms. The Saladin Navy was formed after the Unification Wars in 2339T with the purchase of a number of ex-Diadochi ships for system patrol duties. In 2351T Count Aran decided to expand the Navy into a proper starfaring force and to this end five sloops, two corvettes and a frigate were purchased from various Diadochi and Imperial sources. In 2362T two 3rd rate ships of the line, two more frigates and four more corvettes were acquired. In 2366T Saladin's starport was upgraded to A class and in 2368T the first of a class of ten locally produced sloops (built to standard Imperial Naval designs) was laid down. Saladin's yards are currently working on two frigates and further expansion of the Navy is expected as Saladin's influence grows. Current planning calls for at least two further 3rd rates and several more sloops and corvettes, as well as a proper force of auxiliaries to service the fleet. It is intended that most of these ships will be built in Saladin's own yards. Language During the Second Dark Age Saladin developed it's own language Salaic. Salaic has evolved from the Imperial Terran Anglic spoken throughout the old Terran Empire and has much in common with Maganglic; speakers of either can learn the other with little difficulty. Maganglic itself is widely spoken on Saladin as a second language and Karadzician is also quite common. Calender Saladin uses the standard Imperial Terran calendar as used by the majority of the Magellanic Empire. The discordance between the standard and local day has lead to the development of two unique local temporal units. Three local days (171 hours) make up a 'treack' which is roughly equivalent to a standard week (168 hours) and eight 'treack' make up a 'fornunth', which is equal to 57 standard days.