houses were without hope of succession except by the death of the lord by
natural causes. To attack an Immune male was a capital offense, bringing all the
area clans to enforce the law.
This form of regional government proved successful in bringing Enafy province,
where the Llun Immune had its seat, to preeminence in the great plains of the
Llunuurn River. Enafy province spread its influence through trade into other
regions and other amphictionies sprang up, some less benevolent. The concept of
amphictiony spread to other continents and races and, while other cultures
survived, generally they were small, or so divided that they managed little
growth: the Enafy and Enaury of Anuurn’s largest continent spread their culture
by trade and occasionally by intrigue and by marriage and alliance.
Into this situation came the mahendo’sat, who chose for their landing site the
Llunuurn basin, as the most extensive river system on the planet and the area
with the most developed roads and habitations. Because of this selection,
initial contact happened to be with the largest and oldest amphictiony, in the
lordship of na Ijono Llun.
Na Ijono’s sister ker Gifhon Llun went out to meet the intruders, since they
were neither hani nor (as Gifhon assumed incorrectly in several cases) male. By
the time she understood what she was dealing with, dealing had begun, trade had
been offered, and the world, without Gifhon’s clearly realizing it for some
years, had forever changed.
Other amphictionies felt threatened by this relationship of Enafy province to
the mahendo’sat and the elevation of the Llun clan from supervisors of the dams
of the lower Llunuurn tributaries, to supervisors of a starfaring shuttle-port
and station. The mahendo’sat played one against the other and snared all the
hani leaders into trade.
The hani amphictionies, however, whether or not it accorded with mahen
intentions (and perhaps it was the intent of the mahendo’sat from the start)
began to deal with each other in the concept of a much larger amphictiony, one
with Anuurn itself as the Resource which had to be protected.
So the hem was created, the council of councils, the heart and center of hani
government, microcosm of the world in which alliance, province, clan and
Immunity still played their role — as, indeed, han has another meaning as a
collective meaning All Hani. Theoretically every hani lord was ceremonially part
of the body: some actually attended and addressed the assembly. The seats, one
to each clan, belonged to the female heads of household, or, in practice, to any
senior female in the vicinity of the several meeting halls, one of which existed
and exists in every province. The han is thus composite, and only infrequently
holds a true general meeting, the location of which is subject to intense
negotiation.
Hani relations with other starfaring folk were not generally positive. The stsho
(qv) were not in accord with the mahendo’sat intervention on Anuurn: their
motives might be judged to be several — unwillingness to see the mahen sphere
of influence increase; the fact that they and the hani shared a territorial
border; their distrust of all virtually exclusive carnivores based on their
experience with the kif (qv); their fears of instability in the Compact; or
other reasons which like minds might comprehend. The kif understood the arrival
of the hani on the scene as opportunity, in the exercise of which they were
driven back by mahendo’sat and hani combined. The opinion of the compact’s other
species was never solicited nor received.
Hani territory included originally Anuurn system. The name of their home star is
Ahr. The planets of Ahr system are, in order: Gohin, a hot and barren world
without atmosphere; Anuurn itself; Tyo, a cold, barren world partially
terraformed for a hani colony; the gas giants Tyar and Tyri; and frozen Anfas.
Gaohn station was built by mahendo’sat in orbit about Anuurn and turned over to
Llun, whose males were the only hani males ever to leave the surface. Kilan
station was built in orbit about Tyo, never particularly prosperous; and Harn
station was built as a shipyard facility.
The Chanur Family
A very old clan of Enafy province, occasionally obscure but more often involved