The world

The companies

Contracts come from companies as well as factions. A company leans toward a faction but works for whoever pays.

ore and ice; the big fleets

Tyne Deep Mining

Friendly, blunt, Geordie. Calls everyone "pet".

Leans: Union

shipbuilding and refit

Wearside Yards

Proud, sharp, Mackem. Builds 'em and takes 'em.

Leans: Union

ice cutting, small crews

Coldwater Cutting Co.

Few words, all of them practical.

Leans: Frontier

survey and charting

Halloran & Vey Survey

Precise and slightly pompous. Full sentences.

Leans: Frontier

the biggest shipping line in the Core

Lumen Freight Lines

Corporate, polite, obsessed with schedules.

Leans: Core

salvage, with the claim filed

Okafor & Daughters Salvage

Dry, law-abiding, quietly proud of it. Hates Hot Salvage.

Leans: Union

insurers; they write the odds on every hop

The Lantern Exchange

Courteous, cold, and always right about the odds.

Leans: Core

gas skimming and fuel

Kestrel Gas & Light

Chipper. Sounds like an advert because it is one.

Leans: Core

farming, greenhouses, feed

Fallow Ring Cooperative

Earnest, collective, signs off "in common".

Leans: Union

licensed gene-work and medicine

Halden Biologics

Clinical. The legal face of what Grey Genelines are the illegal face of.

Leans: Core

beacons and relays at the mouths and in the slack

The Lamplighters

Old-fashioned, superstitious, faintly religious about light.

Leans: none; paid by everyone

trips to see the Rift for rich Core passengers

Tallow & Quinn Expeditions

Breathless brochure prose, always understating the danger.

Leans: Frontier

heavy industry at Rigel

Ashgrove Refining

Hot, heavy and discreet, like Rigel. Never names the cargo.

Leans: Syndicate

"general goods"

Marlowe Import & Export

Velvet. Every sentence could be read out in court and sound fine.

Leans: Syndicate

what is left of the old Charter; owns old beacon rights

The Meridium Trust

Archaic, faded, and curiously well funded.

Leans: none

The Tyne and the Wear

The Tyne and the Wear. Tyne Deep and Wearside Yards have a rivalry older than the lanes. Neither remembers how it started and both swear the other did. They will not share a berth, and they undercut each other on principle.

How the board reads

Tyne Deep"Got word of a snowball in the slack at 12,19, pet. Big one, if the bar's right, and the bar's usually half right. Get eyes on it before we send the fleet. Don't touch it, don't tell Wearside."

Halloran & Vey"The firm requires a complete survey of the anomalous return logged at the given coordinates. Accuracy is valued above speed. Speculation is not valued at all."

Lumen"Scheduled consignment, Tau Ceti Orbital to Vega. Window closes on the hour. Lumen thanks you for your punctuality."

Okafor & Daughters"Hulk at the coordinates. Claim's filed, it's ours, all legal. Bring back what you can carry. If somebody's already stripping it, that's Hot Salvage, and we'd like their name."

Coldwater"Ice to Pollux. Usual."

Marlowe"Mixed goods, Saiph to Capella. No inspection is anticipated. Should one occur, our goods are mixed."

The Lamplighters"A light has gone out at the Mizar mouth. Carry the lamp and set it. We will remember who brought it."