Zargonia and the Octants
An Octant is an administrative region within the Dominion, like a State or Province.
The Dominion Sphere
The Dominion is centred on the capital, Zargonia, and while the Overlord notionally claims dominion over the entire galaxy, in practice, The Dominion extends about 50 light years from Zargonia – an area known as The Dominion Sphere.
Demarking the Octants
If you imagine an infinite flat plane running through Zargonia dividing space into above and below, then another dividing space into left and right and a third dividing space into ahead and behind, then you would have eight cubes, each with their corners touching Zargonia; these are the Octants.
Figure: Octants, Capitals and Colonies
Each Octant is associated with a colour:
- Octant 1 – Red
- Octant 2 – Orange
- Octant 3 – Yellow
- Octant 4 – Green
- Octant 5 – Cyan
- Octant 6 – Blue
- Octant 7 – Magenta
- Octant 8 – White
- Zargonia itself is sometimes referred to as Octant Zero and is associated with Black.
In the image above (and in the standard image of the Dominion’s stars, which comprises its logo/flag, see figure below) Octant 7 is usually shown closest to the viewer and Octant 2 farthest away.
Figure: Overlord Zarg in Military Uniform with the Dominion Flag
Figure: The Dominion, Capitals and Colonies
Sub-Octant Regions
Systems
Within each Octant are Star Systems, which may comprise one or more stars that orbit each other (eg Binary Systems).
Systems are divided by use into:
- Octant Capitals (one per Octant)
- Class A (Advanced) colonies
- Class B (Beginning or Basic) colonies
- Way Stations
- Military Bases or Outposts (under the jurisdiction of the Legion)
- Enclave Worlds (self-governing and operate independently of the Octant structure)
- Uncolonised/Restricted Systems
Worlds (including Planets, Moons and Belts)
Within each system are one or more Worlds, which definitionally include planets of all types and sizes, moons and asteroid belts, comprising individual asteroids. Generally each World has a local government of some type. One of the Worlds will be designated as the Mainworld and will be the seat of government for the system.
Regions
At the below-world level, there may be any number of Regions, which are established for convenience based on population and geographic (or spatial) proximity. Regions usually have names but each also has a three-alphanumeric character designation, which is used in the Mer ID of anyone whose birth is registered in that region. Note that Region codes are unique at a System level, not just at World level.
Smaller Regions
Smaller regions may be defined for navigational or administrative convenience, for example a large city may have suburbs or districts, an asteroid belt individually named or numbered asteroids, etc. However, there is no formal layer of governance for these areas.