The Julian Protectorate is a confederation of confederations that formed in
response to Imperial aggressiveness during the Julian
War (175 to 191). Individual states range broadly in size, many being only
countries on balkanized worlds.
All conduct their own diplomacy and keep their own armed forces, giving little
power to the central authority on Asimikigir (Amdukan
0223).
The protectorate, however, does give structure to the community of states. It
mediates disputes, provides a set of interstellar laws, and promotes
communication and cooperation. It also has a standing armed service used for
patrols and in crisis situations.
The borders of the Julian Protectorate are not easy to define, since membership
in the protectorate varies by degrees. Until recently, Imperial cartographers
drew the protectorate as a state on the four corners of Mendan,
Amdukan, Empty Quarter, and Antares
Sectors. This is the Julian core, but some isolated "associate member"
worlds exist as far away as Windhorn Sector.
The spinward half of the Julian Protectorate
is by far more active commercially. Here lies the Mendan Main used by Vilani
traders for millennia. More importantly, this is where the protectorate
interfaces with the Imperium, Gashikan,
and Vargr trade routes leading all the way to Lair
(Provence 2402).
The protectorate's trailing half overlaps much of the region known as the Vargr
Enclaves, a less dynamic region of Vargr space. Worlds here tend to remain
independent of an interstellar community except for direct membership in the
Julian bloc. The inhabitants here lack significant neighbors other than the K'kree,
who regard Julians coldly, at best.
Like the Imperium, the protectorate uses Galanglic
as its official interstellar language, specifically a broad dialect called
Transform. This is the same dialect found in the Antares region of the Imperium.
The roots of Transform extend back to the Rule of Man and Transform's spread and
promotion by the Scorpion Company. During the Third Imperium, the dialect
evolved slightly to accommodate Vargr. Interface trading introduced these
linguistic variations into the Antares region as well.
While Vargr and humans populate the Julian sectors in almost equal proportion,
the distribution is not homogeneous. Individual world populations vary widely in
their human/Vargr ratios. As a rule, though, Vargr are less common closer to
Gashikan Sector.
Other races also exist in the protectorate, but humans and Vargr clearly predominate. Most others tend to remain on their respective homeworlds. Two additional races also play an interstellar role: a large, somewhat aggressive saurian race called the Hhkar and, to a lesser degree, the Bwaps.