The Periphery is the catch-all term for all the minor nations that exist on the edges of known space, outside the borders and dominion of the Successor States. Frequently targets of Inner Sphere disdain and sometimes outright aggression, the Periphery realms are frequently stereotyped as backwater do-nothings or vicious Space Pirates, even though several Periphery realms are as old and as stable as the larger Successor States.

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Taurian Concordat (House Calderon)

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/taurian_concordat_1.jpg

Emblem of the Taurian Concordat

Founded as a constitutional monarchy under the leadership of House Calderon, the Taurian Concordat is one of the oldest surviving realms since the collapse of the Terran Alliance. The Taurian Concordat has had an antagonistic relationship with the Inner Sphere, particularly against the Federated Suns, and is driven by a desire to expand its borders through colonization and protect its hard-won freedoms from outside aggression.

Became Their Own Antithesis: They were neglected and mistreated by the Star League and became fiercely independent as a result. They later neglected and mistreated the New Colony Region, who declared independence from them and became the Fronc Reaches.
Boring, but Practical: The most common design philosophy for most Taurian-made weapons, from their Warships to their Battlemechs. Their equipment isn't fancy, but it is invariably effective.
Combat Pragmatist: As shown in the Reunification War, the New Vandenberg Uprising, and the Jihad, the Concordat fights dirty. They were one of two nations who refused to sign the Ares Conventions in the first place, because they were being invaded by the Capellans (who had called for the Ares Conference) while the negotiations were taking place. This has worked both for and against them. Being well-versed in dirty fighting let them stand off a vastly numerically superior SLDF during the Reunification Wars, and defend their territory viciously against anyone who would try to take it after Star League fell and took any semblance of "restricted" or "reasonable" conduct in warfare with it. However, if someone is fighting the Taurians, they're usually fighting just as dirty, which means both sides are going to suffer utterly horrific casualties and cause an immense amount of damage in the course of the war (which, unfortunately, tends to take place on Taurian soil).
Tex Talks Battletech: This is a population of people that has consistently throughout history said, with one unified voice, time and again: "Hippity hoppity get off my property" and then backed it up with fucking nuclear weapons.
Conscription: Two years of national service is mandatory for every Concordat citizen. Similarly to the Capellans, this service to the state is a point of national pride for Taurians.
Determinator: The Concordat was the first Periphery state to be invaded during the Reunification Wars, and the last to surrender twenty years later, and only did so after SLDF forces under Amos Forlough made it clear that they were able and willing to utterly raze any and all planets that continued to resist to extinguish the Taurians as a people. Even after the conquest, resentment and secessionist attitudes continued to simmer below the surface for a century and a half before boiling over once again in the New Vandenberg Uprising.
Eagle Land: Much like the FedSuns the Concordat see themselves as Beautiful defenders of freedom and liberty. The truth is they are probably closer to a Boorish (or at least Mixed) society; Taurians are proud to live in not only one of the oldest but what they see as the freest society in known space, and with that pride comes certain implications about said society. The ugly part happens when they started nuking worlds in Federated Suns during the Jihad.
Enemy Mine: The Concordat had started to work closer with their neighbors in the Magistracy of Canopus in the name of preserving Periphery independence, but after Protector Jeffrey Calderon was assassinated in 3061 and replaced by Grover Shraplen, the Concordat joined the Trinity Alliance with the Magistracy and the Capellan Confederation in order to strengthen the realm against Davion aggression. The Periphery mostly wound up being used to pad out Capellan forces during their conquests in the Inner Sphere. It ended in 3067, not long after the Taurians began accepting Blakist help against the Federated Suns.
The Federation: While headed by a 'Protector of the Realm', the Concordat is a constitutional monarchy where the monarch's powers are heavily limited and its member planets have a high degree of autonomy. Most of the Concordat's worlds are democracies.
Feudal Future: Defied; the Concordat takes it as a point of national pride not to have a feudal system. Noble titles in the Concordat are awarded for services to the state (usually by buying them) and are non-inheritable.
Hidden Elf Village: The Concordat began in the Hyades Cluster, a group of star systems shrouded by dense gas and dust clouds and immense asteroid fields. Thanks to the this navigational nightmare, the early Concordat enjoyed a long period of isolation from the rest of human-controlled space, until it expanded outside the cluster and encountered the Inner Sphere.
Hope Spot: After almost forty years of Thomas Calderon's increasingly-paranoid rulership, his youngest son Jeffrey deposed him and seemed to be putting the Concordat on a more stable track, scaling back and streamlining military spending and easing up on the civilian population, as well as extending diplomatic ties to the Canopians and even the Capellans. This would come to an end when he was killed in a terrorist attack after only six years and replaced by an anti-Davion paranoiac.
Let No Crisis Go to Waste: The TDF took advantage of the Fed-Com Civil War and then the Jihad to take worlds along their border with the Federated Suns.
National Animal Stereotypes: Taurians are considered to be brave, stubborn and fairly unflexible, i.e. bull-headed, by outsiders.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: At its height the Concordat was without a doubt the greatest military power in all the Periphery. Of course, compared to even the smallest of the Successor States, that's a bit like saying a Xenophyophore is really big for an amoeba.
- In fairness, the Taurian Concordat at its height before the Reunification War had a navy rivalled only by that of the united Star League, including the Terran Hegemony (the foremost power of the Inner Sphere). This included defeating the Federated Suns in a stand-up fight, necessitating a twenty year long Star League invasion that had to resort to nuclear genocide on Taurian worlds to win.
Occupiers Out of Our Country: The New Vandenburg uprising was this towards Star League, and severely blooded Kerensky before Amaris drew his attentions elsewhere. The Taurians are fiercely independent, and chafed under the rule of the Star League from when they were conquered until the Uprising. Both during the Age of War and the Succession Wars (and after), the Concordat was and is very protective of its independence and responds to invasion by making the invaders pay dearly for every kilometer they take.
- They've been on the receiving end of this since the Jihad, with the Pleiades Cluster they invaded not wanting to be "liberated" from the Federated Suns, and waging a (as of the current setting timeframe) nearly century-long insurgency to kick the Taurians out.
Patriotic Fervour: The Concordat has the closest thing to a national identity as can be found in the Battletech-verse, to the degree that Pleiades independence movements wanting to rejoin the Concordat (which were lost to the FedSuns in the Reunification War) were still active at the time of the Word of Blake Jihad 400 years later.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Despite being tiny compared to any of the Successor States, the Taurians bloodied the SLDF and anyone else who came knocking pretty well.
- Not long after the Ares Conventions were signed (the Taurians refused), the Capellan Confederation invaded and didn't obey any of the Conventions under the technically-legal justification that the Taurians weren't covered by them because they didn't sign them. After four years of brutal fighting that nearly bankrupted the Confederation and cost civilian lives in untold numbers, the Capellans conquered a whole three worlds. The Taurians take war seriously.
- When the Star League decided that "no thanks" wasn't an acceptable answer to their offer of joining the Star League, the Taurians alone found themselves facing down four SLDF Corps, something on the order of 250 regiments of troops when the Taurians didn't have half that many in their entire military. The Taurians fought the SLDF for twenty years, using every dirty tactic in the book, and a few that weren't.
Properly Paranoid: The Concordat's diplomatic relationship with the Inner Sphere (particularly their next door neighbors the Federated Suns) basically boils down to "Stay the hell away — or else." They run constant military exercises and civil defense drills in anticipation of the next invasion. Even a casual glance at their history shows that these measures are entirely justified.
Puppet State: Was forced into vassalage under Star League due to the Reunification War, and spent the next few centuries chafing at its bonds before declaring itself independent after the Amaris Civil War (being the first nation to do so in 2781) and the first of the Periphery realms to make a full economic recovery (though it took them the better part of a century to do so). Part of the Taurian national character is based on preventing this from ever happening to them again.
The Rival: To the Magistracy of Canopus, having fought multiple wars and border skirmishes over worlds in the Capellan Marches.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- The Concordat could trace its beginnings to a woman (Samantha Calderon) who gathered up what volunteers she could and went out to find a planet far from the Terran Alliance. She did this because her whole family was murdered by the Alliance and she found herself under dire straits when the Alliance eventually collapsed.
- The Concordat would fall victim to this trope itself during the early 32nd century, as repeated open war against House Davion led to the stripping of protection from the rimward frontier worlds. These worlds consequently left the Concordat in protest en masse, ultimately reducing the Concordat to less than a quarter of its original size.
Settling the Frontier: After losing a full third of its worlds to the FedSuns during the Reunification War, the Concordat began actively settling new worlds as a way of expanding their territory. This tendency ended after the Far Lookers movement ran afoul of Thomas Calderon in the mid-31st century.
Shocking Defeat Legacy: The loss of a third of their territory during the Reunification War and being subjected to Star League rule came to define much of the Taurian national character. Although previously suspicious of the Inner Sphere due to frequent aggression in the form of raids, being outright subjugated turned the Concordat into a nation based on Never Be Hurt Again.
Superweapon Surprise: Subverted. The Concordat has a single, nonfunctional Star League-era WarShip hidden in the nebula that encompasses their home systems, where it's been for several centuries. While it's only a corvette, it would have been a substantial force multiplier during the later Succession Wars. Unfortunately, even after the technology base recovered enough to start work on restoring the vessel, even after the Taurians devoted substantial amounts of capital to fixing it up, even after over twenty years of work, there's no indication it has been returned to service. And at this point, most other nation-states have WarShips of their own, most of which would out-mass and out-class the ship.
The Dog Bites Back: The Taurian Concordat invaded the Federated Suns with some success during the Jihad, re-conquering several worlds lost during the Reunification War. Ultimately, the gains wrought were far outweighed by the negative consequences of joining the Word of Blake and the Concordat collapsed not long after as numerous worlds left in protest.
Toros y Flamenco: The Concordat is lead by a Spanish-descended Great House whose symbol is a bull.
Unknown Rival: The whole Inner Sphere in general, but the Federated Suns in particular, have been this for the Taurians for around 300+ years if not longer. All in all it's a pretty one-sided rivalry, as the Taurians lack the strength and political will to project force into the Inner Sphere, and the Inner Sphere considers the Taurians Beneath Notice.
Vestigial Empire: While it was never a large nation, by 3145 the Concordat has become a shadow of its former self, its former worlds either joining Erik Martens-Calderon's Calderon Protectorate or declaring independence. What remains of the Concordat are those worlds that lie within the Hyades Cluster.

Nicoletta Calderon

Era(s): Star League

Lord Protector of the Taurian Concordat during the twilight years of Star League, Nicoletta Calderon was partially responsible for its destruction for her role in the New Vandenburg Uprising. A tenuous ally of Stefan Amaris, she quickly abandoned him to Kerensky's wrath and lived to see the nation that had oppressed the Concordat for three centuries fall to its own internal conflicts. She was also responsible for the foundation of ComStar, being the main sponsor of its creation during Star League's last days.

Horrible Judge of Character: Like Richard Cameron. Thought of Stefan Amaris as a good man who had her and the periphary nations' best interests in mind. She actually felt shocked and betrayed when Stefan Tried to have General Kerensky put down the uprising they planned together.
Karma Houdini: Depending on one's point of view. While she would never have succeeded without him, Nicoletta did probably more than anyone not named Stefan Amaris to kill Star League and ended up walking away from the affair scot-free. She died peacefully in her sleep decades later while the Inner Sphere was tearing itself apart. Her nation was not so lucky: with the Star League and its reconstruction aid gone it took the Taurian Concordat hundreds of years to recover to the point preceding the Reunification War. Many of the groups that rose from the Periphery Uprising refused to lay down their arms (which included nuclear weapons) and became a major thorn in the Concordat's side. Her unintelligent son started a completely useless and disastrous war with the Magistracy of Canopus. The Concordat was eventually reduced to a pale shadow of its former self when it picked a fight with the Federated Suns during the Jihad, and prior to the Dark Age almost completly fell apart with a very uncertain future ahead. While Nicoletta herself never suffered the consequences of her scheming, her nation certainly did.
Occupiers Out of Our Country: Made the Concordat's independence from Star League her main project from she ascended to the post, and spent decades laying down a ground game for rebellion. When the Amaris Crisis broke out, the Concordat was able to sever its connections neatly and avoid the Succession Crisis that followed.
Pragmatic Villainy: Though she despised Star League, Nicoletta saw the necessity of someone centralized maintaining galactic communications and thus helped in the creation of ComStar.
Xanatos Gambit: The New Vandenburg Uprising. Essentially an engineered secession of 18 worlds, Nicoletta responded to the 'Uprising' by proclaiming the whole thing an internal Concordat matter, meaning the outcome would either be an essentially independent enclave of Concordat worlds inside Star League, or Star League directly interfering in its members' internal politics (which would scare the Great Houses as any of them could be next).

Thomas Calderon

Era(s): Succession Wars, Clan Invasion

Lord Protector of the Taurian Concordat until his death halfway through the Clan Invasion. While mentally unstable due to rampant paranoia, his policy of non-interference in the latter Succession Wars and the Clan Invasion kept the Concordat stable for most of his tenure.

The Coup: Was eventually deposed by his youngest son for abusing Concordat conscription law and keeping the nation on permanent war-footing.
General Ripper: Against the Federated Suns (and later the Federated Commonwealth), seeing their hand in everything that was going wrong in the Concordat and believing they were always plotting to invade. As an example, he deemed the Clan Invasion a Davion plot meant to be a distraction for an invasion.
Outliving One's Offspring: Two of his children predeceased him, a third caught a virus that crippled her for life and the fourth disappeared in what was believed to be a JumpShip accident. The first death in particular, of his heir in a DropShip accident, permanently unbalanced Calderon.
The Paranoiac: A prominent part of his latter rule. Seeing the threat of imminent invasion and plots against the Concordat's stability everywhere, Thomas ended up breaking the Taurian constitution left and right.
Unknown Rival: He considered Hanse Davion his arch-enemy for most of his life. Hanse, on his end, probably never noticed his existence and would have probably thought of him as a minor nuisance at the most, what with truly devious and dangerous enemies like Theodore Kurita and Maximilian Liao.

Magistracy of Canopus (House Centrella)

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magistracy_of_canopus.png

Emblem of the Magistracy

One of the largest and richest Periphery states, The Magistracy of Canopus is a matriarchal society led by a Magestrix, an elected position open to any woman but largely controlled by House Centrella due to the family's popularity. Disparaged by some for promoting a hedonistic lifestyle, the Magistracy supports an open society and the personal freedom of all citizens and their right to live their lives as they see fit. As such, it is a popular destination for those fleeing persecution or looking to satisfy their discerning tastes.

Brainless Beauty: Are noted to have a declining literacy rate, ever since the fall of the Star League and never seemed to manage to crawl out of that particular hole.
Decadent Court: With more emphasis placed on the "decadent" part, for sure.
Foil: To the other major Rimward Periphery power, the Taurian Concordat. While both value freedom, the Taurians are a militaristic society obsessed with defending it whereas the Canopians, while willing to defend their borders by force if necessary are first and foremost a mercantilist culture that mainly relies on economics and soft power to advance its interests, even if it means occasionally making concessions to their neighbors. In a meta sense, they're also one to Arrakis, which is said to orbit Canopus, whose barren, harsh environment and consequently viciously disciplined society are about as far away from "Las Vegas IN SPACE!" as one can get. Not to mention it starts off being secretly run by women suffering from repressive, Middle Eastern-style internalized misogyny as opposed to openly run by women suffering from hypersexualized Western-style internalized misogyny.
Free-Love Future: This can be discerned from the Canopians' openness toward anything and everything. Indeed, the Magistracy boasts a thriving adult industry, for which tourists come wishing to partake in the many delights the realm has to offer, or catch a showing of the travelling "pleasure circuses."
Hereditary Republic/Elective Monarchy: Skirts between the two. The Magistracy is a democracy that elects an autocrat who serves until death or if they have been deemed unfit to hold office. The 'hereditary' part comes from the fact that while the position of Magistrix is open to any woman in the Magistracy, the position has largely been filled by members of House Centrella. Interestingly, it's because they keep getting voted in by their subjects, and doing so has largely become tradition by now. Not helping matters is that the two times in the nation's history a non-Centrella was elected, their administrations, if one were to be charitable, are not fondly remembered.
Leonine Contract: Downplayed. A lot of Canopians were unhappy that their nation's troops were being used to fight in the Capellan Confederation's wars far from home, and didn't see the high technology assets they got in exchange as worth it.
Martial Pacifist: The Magistracy doesn't display much if any interest in expanding their territory by conquest, but they are very protective of their own borders and territory. To that end, their military is relatively small but quite effective, and prior to the Trinity Alliance with the Taurians and the Capellans generally only fought to maintain their territorial holdings and suppress piracy.
Matriarchy: If the name of the nation wasn't an indicator, the Magistracy is a state that was essentially founded by feminists. Every high-ranking position (except for perhaps in the military) is held by women, and only a woman can serve as the Magistracy's head of state. It is only in recent decades that something resembling gender equality is rearing its head. But still, most in the Magistracy still naturally assume that women are better at certain jobs than men.
The Medic: While their entertainment industry is their most well known industry, they also have one of the more advanced medical industries, post Star League, and many of their tourists are wealthy individuals from other areas who travel there for specialist treatments they can't get as reliably locally.
Puppet State: Was forced into vassalage by Star League during the Reunification War. Unlike the Concordat and the Outworlds Alliance, the Canopians survived the war (relatively) unscathed and transitioned (relatively) well into life under Star League. Ultimately, the Canopians declared independence after the Amaris Civil War, after Star League had become increasingly oppressive and it became clear a Succession Crisis was inevitable. The ensuing Succession Wars would be devastating to the Canopian economy, though far less so than if they'd actively chosen to participate in it.
Reluctant Warrior: War is in opposition to the Magistracy's national character, as most of their industries are based around leisure and peacetime industries. Although they have a standing army, it is heavily mercenary-based and they prefer to settle matters diplomatically if possible. During the Reunification War, the Canopians all too eagerly agreed to Marion Marik's suggestion to mutually obey the Ares Conventions, despite Ian Cameron's decree.
The Rival: To the Taurian Concordat, having repeatedly clashed with the latter over worlds in the Capellan Marches.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Kossandra Centrella, the Magistracy's founder, was once an officer in the Free Worlds League Military whose unit was left behind enemy lines during a general withdrawal. While she managed to save her unit from destruction, she became disillusioned by the incompetence of the FLWM and the patriarchal systems that dominated the Inner Sphere so she gathered many like-minded people and fled the Free Worlds League.
State Sec: Zigzagged with the Magistracy Intelligence Ministry, the Canopian intelligence agency. It has all the hallmarks of it, operating independently of the government while only accountable to the Magestrix herself, and is used by a political tool. It also was used by the Magestrix in the past to try to assassinate her own daughter in a political power struggle. However so far they haven't been pointed at the Magistracy's own citizens and most Magestrixs try to keep it that way.
Vice City: A Vice Nation, more like. Much of their economy is tourism and entertainment-based, and the Canopians themselves have a reputation that leans toward the hedonistic. Hell, a case could even be made that a decent sized chunk of its money is made from porn.
- Then again, what else would you expect from a faction that has planets named "Hardcore" and "Westheimer"?
War Refugees: Has a nearly open door refugee policy, which means they always have a steady flow of various persecuted group from the Inner Sphere. This also means that for all of their decadence, they have a sizable population of various religious groups.

Ilsa Centrella

Era(s): Dark Age, ilClan

The current (as of 3151) Majestrix of the Magistracy of Canopus. Ilsa is the eldest child of Capellan Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao and Canopian Majestrix Naomi Centrella, and the elder sister of current Chancellor Daoshen Liao and Danai Liao-Centrella (at least publicly in the case of the latter).

Altar Diplomacy: Her marriage to Ari Humphreys of the Duchy of Andurien is seen as a strange one of these in-universe. The match makes little sense dynastically, as Ilsa is too old to provide her husband (who is fifteen years her junior) with children, and their respective realms are too far away from one another to effectively cooperate or unify with one another.
Brother–Sister Incest: Her relationship with her brother Daoshen is seen as a strange one, surrounded by rumors of inappropriate closeness between them. The rumors are true, in that they have a child together, who was raised publicly as their younger sister, but the truth is that Ilsa played on Daoshen's self-perceived "divinity" and desire for an heir of "divine blood" in order to secure the Magistracy.
Dead Guy Junior: Is named after Ilsa Liao, the first Capellan Chancellor to be killed in battle.
Heir Club for Men: Although she was born illegitimate and not formally part of the Capellan line of succession, that changed after Sun-Tzu officially adopted her following the announcement to his engagement to her mother. This lasted up until the birth of her brother, after which she was removed from the line of succession.
Manipulative Bitch: Ilsa has her father's cunning and her mother's incredible beauty and political acumen, and has used both with incredible skill to outmaneuver dignitaries from other realms. She has even used her...ahem...wiles to provide her brother with the heir of "divine blood" he wanted in order to secure her realm.
World's Most Beautiful Woman: By sixteen, Ilsa was considered just as stunningly beautiful as her mother, Naomi. Not so much by 3151, however, but in fairness she is a woman in her eighties, now.

Outworlds Alliance/Raven Alliance (House Avellar/Clan Snow Raven)

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/outworlds_alliance.jpg

The emblem of the Outworlds Alliance

^{Click here to see Clan Snow Raven emblem}

^{Click here to see the emblem of the Raven Alliance}

A loose association of worlds on the border of the Draconis Combine, the Outworlds Alliance banded together as a mutual defence pact to avoid being annexed by House Kurita and has more or less stayed that way ever since. After allying with Clan Snow Raven following the Great Refusal, the Outworlds Alliance changed its name to the Raven Alliance and remained in the same irrelevancy.

Ace Pilot: The Outworlds Alliance is known for producing excellent aerospace pilots, even by Inner Sphere standards.
The Alliance: Says so in the name. The Raven Alliance is in itself an alliance between the Outworlds and Clan Snow Raven, though that Alliance is a little one-sided in favour of the Snow Ravens.
Butt-Monkey: Let's see...
- First, the Star League garrisons the Alliance "for mutual defence and protection" without the President's approval.
- Then there's the "Santiago Massacre," after a Kurita Mechwarrior tossed coolant in a child's face for throwing snowballs at him. That was an incident that went straight to hell from there.
- Then there was the sadistic SLDF General Amos "Baby-Killer" Furlough, who made the Alliance his personal chew toy during the Reunification War, proceeding to kill around 12 million of its civilians and burning most of its cities to the ground before he was redirected to the Taurian front.
- Constantly suffered from weak governments, and their Presidents often either died in office or went off the deep end.
- Has gradually deteriorated since the fall of the Star League in many ways, and a lot of its worlds are just one bad day away from armed rebellion.
- Then comes Clan Snow Raven. Yep, the Outworlds Alliance is cursed, alright.
Crapsack World: Worlds, plural. Since the beginning of the 31st Century, the Alliance has become a pretty grim place to live. Planetary populations have declined, as has literacy levels, and many of its planets are unable to feed its own people. Also, by 3145 it is suggested that it is only Clan Snow Raven that is keeping the Alliance together.
Democracy Is Flawed: It's one of the most openly democratic societies in the Periphery, and one of the most ineffectual.
Hufflepuff House: The least characterized of the major Periphery nations, with even the Rim Worlds Republic (which was effectively destroyed following the Star League's fall) having a more characterized backstory. The most notable thing to happen to them since the end of the Reunification War was their alliance with another Hufflepuff House from the Clans. Admittedly, Clan Snow Raven specializes in WarShips, which are nothing to sneeze at, but in Battletech terms they're far from a superpower.
Puppet State: Became one under Star League, after a bloody conquest courtesy of "Baby Killer" Amos planning their invasion. Lacking the strong unifying culture of the Taurian Concordat and the Magistracy of Canopus, the Alliance was never truly able to overcome the economic imperialism of becoming a Star League dependent and its economy never fully recovered.
Realpolitik: The Alliance has played whatever political games necessary to survive. Like most other (surviving) large Periphery realms, they share borders with two Successor State, in their case the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns. Lacking the diplomatic skills of the Canopians or the military strength of the Taurians, the Outworlds Alliance has mostly survived by being not worth the trouble of conquering. During the Reunification War, they secretly traded several breadbasket worlds to the Suns in exchange for three regiments of troops that proved vital in ensuring the realm's continued existence, even if they were eventually conquered. During the Succession Wars, the Alliance kept a deliberately low profile to keep the two very heavily militarized Successor States it has as neighbors from wiping them out. This kept them from forming an alliance with either state that might have helped support the Alliance, but also kept them from having to face invasion during the Succesion Wars. The Kuritans didn't see them as a worthy challenge, and the Davions couldn't afford to let the Combine conquer them (and have a brand-new staging area for attacks on the Federated Suns), so they were generally left to their own devices.
Space Amish: Downplayed. The Alliance has some resource-rich planets under their control, but most of their population rejects advanced technology, especially when used for war. This means that the they had little in the way of heavy industry or commercial enterprises that would help their economy until the mid-3050s, when their latest president tried to turn things around for the Outworlds Alliance. They had a particularly small and ineffective military as a result (at least until Clan Snow Raven showed up) and relied on ComStar assistance to keep money flowing into their economy.
Too Dumb to Fool: Beatrice Avellar died almost immediately after the beginning of the New Vandenberg Uprising which led into the Amaris Civil War. Her successor Allyce Avellar was known to be dull-minded and had no knowledge of the conspiracies behind the conflict, and so the Outworlds Alliance remained neutral throughout most of the conflict because she simply couldn't be manipulated into siding one way or the other.

Marian Hegemony (House O'Reilly)

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mh_8.png

Emblem of the Marian Hegemony

The Marian Hegemony is a small but highly aggressive Periphery state. Founded in the mid 2900s as little more than a mining colony and bandit kingdom, the original Hegemony was set onto its current path during the Fourth Succession War when Johann Sebastian O'Reilly, a fanboy of the Roman Republic, crowned himself Imperator and led his new state onto a path of conquest over neighbouring worlds.

The Empire: The Hegemony is quite small even by Periphery standards but the Hegemony is highly aggressive and expansionistic.
Fantastic Caste System: Similar to the Roman Republic, the Hegemony has three classes of people: patricians (nobles), plebians (commoners), and slaves.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: If the name didn't give it away the Marian Hegemony is one of these for the Roman Empire.
Foreign Culture Fetish: Founded by an Irishman fascinated by the Roman Republic. His descendant would declare himself "Caesar" and restructure the nation to be more like the Roman Empire.
Gratuitous Latin: Latin is one of the Hegemony's official languages, and on their banner are the words, "Pax Mortis," or "Peace of Death." Their head of state is even called a Caesar.
Internal Reformist: Julius O'Reilly gained the support of the military, rebelled against his tyrannical father Sean, killed him, and instituted several reforms that improved the lives of the plebians and the conquered territories.
Pirate Booty: Toyed with. The Hegemony was founded off of a find of a massive trove of germanium, which is essentially useless to most people but invaluable to those trying to build JumpShips. The Hegemony remained a bandit kingdom that essentially survived off "regular" piracy aimed at supplies, goods, and spare parts until after the Fourth Succession War.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: While the Draconis Combine has its Unproductives and the Capellan Confederation has its Servitors, the Marian Hegemony is the only Periphery State ^note that has a culture of outright chattel slavery.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: Sean O'Reilly, great-grandson of Johann, took control of the nation after his father died in what was officially a "climbing accident." He took the title of "Caesar" instead of Imperator, restructured the government to be more like the Roman Empire than the Republic, introduced mandatory military service, and began expansionist military campaigns.

Aurigan Coalition (House Arano)

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/uixtxrlogo_auriganrestoration.png

Emblem of House Arano, and the Coalition

A young, small and fairly prosperous Periphery state, the Aurigan Coalition formed through an alliance of several mercantile houses in the Aurigan Reach after the Capellans, Taurians and Canopians all withdrew from the area during the Succession Wars. Due to overlapping claims to several of its worlds by the Capellans and Taurians, the Coalition remains an unrecognized state to the Inner Sphere at a whole.

Canon Immigrant: Originally made by Jordan Weissman for the 2018 BattleTech video game, the Coalition was canonically added in the House Arano handbook.
The Coup: House Arano was temporarily ousted by House Espinosa as leaders of the Coalition in 3022. Following a Civil War that lasted throughout 3025, House Arano has returned and House Espinosa has gone practically extinct, with its leader Santiago executed by the Taurians for his involvement in the Perdition Massacre, in which his daughter Victoria attacked the Taurian world of Perdition and killed 11,000 people as part of a False Flag Operation.
Elective Monarchy: Ruled by a High Lord or Lady, who is elected by a council made up of the seven founding houses of the Coalition and elected officials from each of its member worlds. The council maintains veto power and the ability to remove the High Lord, though due to its short history the latter has yet to occur.
The Federation: Originally founded a mercantile alliance between seven noble families: Arano, Madeira, Karosas, Decimis, Gallas, Parata and Espinosa.
The Good Kingdom: Small and generally inoffensive, the Coalition was formed through alliances and peaceful annexation and lacks the power to do much beyond internal matters.
Truce Zone: The Coalition is recognized and partially backed by the Magistracy of Canopus for this reason, who wish for it to serve as a buffer between them, the Capellans, and the Taurians. Likewise, the Aurigan Directorate that House Espinosa briefly created was partially backed by the Taurians for the same reason.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Having so far only been canonically introduced in the 3025 timepoint, the fate of the Coalition after the Fourth Succession War is unknown. Maps set later in the timeline highlight that region of space as under the control of the Taurian Concordat, but the ultimate fate of the Coalition remains unknown.

Kamea Arano

Era(s): Succession Wars

Current High Lady of the Aurigan Coalition after defeating her uncle in a Civil War for leadership.

See here for tropes specifically regarding her appearance in the Battletech video game.

Last of His Kind: She is both the last blood-heir of House Arano and the closest possible heir to the now-defunct House Espinosa, being the niece of its former head.
Rightful King Returns: A legal heir of the Coalition, Kamea was ousted by a military coup and re-took the kingdom (with some Canopian backing). She is currently the only thing keeping the Coalition together.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Fought as a Frontline General for much of the Aurigan civil war, personally liberating most of the major planets during the campaign.
Superweapon Surprise: Accounts of the re-taking of Coromodir claim Kamea was piloting an Atlas of unknown class and make during the battle. The 'mech's existence has not been confirmed by any subsequent reports but is presumed to still be present in the Coalition's arsenal ^note
Young Conqueror: She re-conquered her entire realm from an usurper at the age of 25.

The Hanseatic League

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hanseatic_league_image.png

Emblem of the Hanseatic League

The biggest (some would say only) power of note in the Deep Periphery (outside the Clans), located about 400 light years coreward of the Lyran Commonwealth, the Hanseatic League is made up of Lyran refugees escaping the nation in the wake of the Second Succession War. Named after an old league of mercantile city-states from Earth history, the League existed in an isolated but relatively peaceful state of independent traders, its main rivals being its smaller Nueva Castile and Umayyad Caliphate neighbours.

City of Spies: Following the Clan Invasion the Hanseatic League became a favoured staging ground for intelligence operatives from Clans and Inner Sphere alike, being located close enough to both of them and with a neutral atmosphere. Exiles from the Clans occasionally end up there as well.
Merchant City: A whole realm of them. The League exists to promote free trade and commerce in the Periphery, and is responsible for much of the commerce going on on the corewards side of the Inner Sphere.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: The Hanseatic League had a fairly large military and controlled almost thirty systems. By Deep Periphery standards where most nation-states control a few systems at most and have barely-functional military forces, that makes them one of the largest players on the board. Unfortunately for them, they were situated close to Clan space and when Clan Goliath Scorpion evacuated the Clan Homeworlds, they conquered neighboring nations and then the Hansa.
Playing Both Sides: Plays the Castilians and the Umayyads against each other, inevitably ending them up on both smaller states' bad side. Ironically the League, Nueva Castile, and the Umayyad Caliphate all wound up conquered by Clan Goliath Scorpion and incorporated into their new Scorpion Empire.
The Rival: Had a short but mostly one-sided rivalry with Clan Diamond Shark over Rimwards commerce, rendered somewhat moot by the Clan having WarShips and the League not.

Rim Worlds Republic (House Amaris)

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rimworldsrepublic1.jpg

Emblem of the Rim Worlds Republic

The Rim Worlds Republic was a major Periphery power until it was destroyed by the SLDF under Aleksandr Kerensky during the Amaris Civil War. The majority of its worlds were later claimed by the Lyran Commonwealth, and the remnants of the Rim Worlds Republic broke into smaller states, bandit kingdoms, became independent systems, or simply disappeared from star maps altogether.

Black Site: The RWR had numerous hidden holdings out in the Deep Periphery where they could practice their tactics, train their forces, and construct equipment away from prying eyes.
Category Traitor: The Amaris line kept dual citizenship with the Terran Hegemony, and their close ties to the Hegemony led the rest of the Periphery states (and many Rim Worlds Republic citizens) to regard them as traitors to the Periphery, especially after the Reunification Wars.
The Empire: As a part of the Amaris Empire, after Stefan Amaris took over the Star League.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Republic was one of these for Ancient Greece, at least in its earlier years. Interestingly, their head of state was known as a First Consul (later President), which is a reference to the Roman Republic.
Feuding Families: Subverted, then exaggerated. Gregory Amaris welcomed the Star League's rule, partly because he thought it could help his nation's standing and partly because the arrival of lots of friendly troops would really help with the civil unrest he was dealing with at the time. Unfortunately, his lack of diplomatic tact and the Star League seeing the Rim Worlds Republic as a low priority meant that he faced open revolt and when the Star League finally came to free him from house arrest, twenty years had passed. While the Star League and the Cameron family didn't particularly see it as significant, the Amaris family never forgot, and made every effort to appear perfectly loyal and earnest Star League citizens, while secretly spending the next several generations building the Republic into an industrial powerhouse and preparing to destroy the League by any means necessary.
Hereditary Republic: Officially it is a republic, though power had often traded hands through military coups until House Amaris came into power, and by then power stayed solely on House Amaris and its heirs. One Amaris ruler tried to initiate reforms that would establish democracy in the Republic, but they never really took.
Hidden Elf Village: For almost ninety years after its formation, none in the Inner Sphere knew the Rim Worlds Republic existed.
Hidden Supplies: The Republic was infamous for this. Numerous outposts scattered around the Periphery - even on the far side of the Inner Sphere from Rim Worlds Republic territory - have been found over the centuries. Being out in the "backwater" of colonized space, they had plenty of room to build secret bases and hidden factories. Some of them were about as far from the Inner Sphere as Clan space is.
Loophole Abuse: The RWR got around the military size limitations of the Council Edict of 2650 by concealing the existence of some units, labeling others as reserve units, and generally following the Inner Sphere's example to such a degree that the actual total mustered strength of the Rim Worlds Army was two to three times what they would admit to.
People's Republic of Tyranny: As mentioned above, it was officially the Rim Worlds Republic, but between the First Consul's absolute power and the Secret Police it definitely fell into this.
Posthumous Character: The entirety of House Amaris was exterminated for the Usurper's crimes. Some were hunted down and assassinated by Kerensky's troops, others were lynched, but almost all of them were killed not long after Stefan Amaris's death. With their extinction, the Rim Worlds Republic fell apart and its remnants were annexed by the Lyran Commonwealth.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: The Rim Worlds Republic relied on a 'Helot' slave class during its early years, and until the rise of the Marian Hegemony (centuries after the fall of the Republic) was the only Periphery state that practised slavery.
Superweapon Surprise: The Rim Worlds Republic maintained a military and industrial build-up for literal centuries after the Reunification Wars, managing to escape close scrutiny or intervention from the Star League. Some SLDF observers screamed about the absurd numbers of forces the RWR could feasibly field, but nobody listened until it was far too late. Their navy alone was around four times the size of any Great House's at it's height, which for a nation-state out in what was regarded as the boondocks of the known galaxy is absurd. When Stefan Amaris revealed his forces, staged his coup, and conquered the Terran Hegemony essentially overnight, he shocked the rest of the Inner Sphere so much that they refrained from openly challenging him because they wondered what else he might be hiding.
The Revolution Will Not Be Civilised: The founders of the Republic began as a student group gone militant against the Terran Alliance, and they went from piracy and slavery from there. Also, the first few of the Republic's leaders had a habit of being deposed in violent coup d'etats.
Threatening Shark: House Amaris and the Rim Worlds Republic's symbol was a shark, and the Amaris were infamous for their duplicity and after the Usurper, their malevolence.

Gregory Amaris

Era(s): Star League

First Consul of the Rim Worlds Republic during the formation of the Star League and an ancestor of Stefan Amaris.

Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: During the Reunification War and the Rim Worlds Republic civil war that coincided with it, the Star League's need to focus on more threatening Periphery nations, especially the Taurian Concordat, led Gregory Amaris to live under virtual house arrest (in a luxurious family island estate, mind you) for around 20 years until the SLDF managed to free him. Even worse to Gregory's mind, he was freed not by a fellow head of state, but by a "mere" provincial leader, Duke Narinder Selaj of the Principality of Regulus (a Free Worlds League member state). These factors led to subsequent generations of the Amaris family being raised on tales of the Star League's "betrayal" of their family. That's right - the seeds that would one day destroy the Star League were sown by what amounted to an ungrateful temper tantrum on Gregory Amaris' part.
Lack of Empathy: His pampered childhood led Gregory to grow up thinking only of his own needs and desires rather than anyone else's, and developed a lack of empathy that would colour his outlook on the world and his rule of the Republic.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Gregory's pro-Star League policies and reforms (see Professional Butt-Kisser) earned him the ire of many of his citizens, to the point where they rebelled and had him placed under house arrest. He hoped that his efforts had earned him enough goodwill with the Star League to bail him out, but the SLDF was too busy fighting the Taurians and Canopians at the time, and Gregory had to wait twenty years for his liberation. No one would come to regret this around a hundred and fifty years later.
Professional Butt-Kisser: As an attempt to improve his nation's standing, Gregory eagerly welcomed the formation of the Star League, unlike the majority of the Periphery leaders. Gregory also issued his Universal Act of Loyalty forcing Republic citizens to swear a binding oath to the Star League, and publicly endorsed the Pollux Proclamation that kicked off the Reunification War. None of this would come back to bite him or the Star League later.

Hector Worthington Rowe

Era(s): Age of War

The founder of the Rim Worlds Republic.

Driven to Suicide: Hector took his own life within months of being ousted from his position as First Consul.
From Nobody to Nightmare: He was an undergrad classics and history student, and ended up as founder of the nation that would end the Star League.
Jerkass: Torturing soldiers to death, hijacking JumpShips and taking their crews and passengers as slaves... Yeah, Hector didn't take getting booted off his homeworld very well.
Kangaroo Court: Was very fond of these in the years before he founded the Rim Worlds Republic. Notably, he caught a 350-strong Terran Alliance regiment by surprise and executed the officers before organising kangaroo courts for the surviving soldiers...who were then promptly tortured to death.
The Revolution Will Not Be Civilised: Was deposed by his own son...who was then deposed by his own daughter...
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Had no trouble with taking slaves to help build his new Republic. He even established a whole social class of slaves.
Sociopathic Soldier: After the Terran Alliance conquered his planet in a bloody war and then withdrew after being unable to consolidate their hold, Rowe was left more than a little unhinged. This led to Rowe and his militia group hijacking a civilian JumpShip, attacking a Terran Alliance garrison, and executing the survivors.

Terens Amaris

Era(s): Age of War

An intelligence operative for the Terran Hegemony, sent to the Rim Worlds Republic to investigate an attempted poisoning of the Director-General. She later became the First Consul of the Republic, and is the founder of House Amaris.

Ambiguously Bi: She was married, and may or may not have had an affair with First Consul Heather Durant^Note. Evidence for this is that Durant named Terens her successor, since she had no heir of her own, thus putting House Amaris on the throne of the Rim Worlds' Republic. No one would ever come to regret this.
Going Native: She was tasked with tracking down the would-be assassins of Jacob Cameron, and followed a tenuous lead involving the Draconis Combine to the Rim Worlds Republic. The assassins were never located, but within eight years, Heather Durant had named Terens Amaris her successor before suddenly dying four years later of a previously undiagnosed heart condition.

Other

Other Periphery powers

Miscellaneous small powers in the Periphery including small nations, colonies, and pirate havens.

Church Militant: The Brotherhood of Randis, an order of Christian MechWarrior knights devoted to the protection of Randis IV. They also take occasional mercenary work, though they are less effective off-world than they are at home.
Domed Hometown: The Mica Majority has these.
Emperor Scientist: The Niops Association is a technocratic nation ruled by scientists.
The Exile: Several of these worlds are populated by refugees fleeing the various conflicts in the Inner Sphere.
Fighting for a Homeland: The Fronc Reaches built up its military with mercenaries and Dispossessed MechWarriors fleeing the Jihad. They paid these warriors in land rather than money, basically turning them into minor nobility.
Lost Colony: Many of these worlds started as colonies of the Inner Sphere nations but either lost or cut off contact.
Outcast Refuge: Many Periphery worlds are settled by the descendants of people who fled the Inner Sphere due to persecution or discrimination.
Pay Evil unto Evil: The Fronc Reaches are absolutely brutal towards pirates, even executing them after they surrender. However, this only drives the pirates to be equally brutal.
Penal Colony: The Mica Majority started as this for the Draconis Combine.
The Remnant: Some of these nations were founded by fleeing losers of various conflicts. The Barony of Strang was founded by former supporters of Stefan Amaris. The Ragnarok Union was founded by members of Clan Hell's Horses after their Abjuration. The Escorpión Imperio was founded by Clan Goliath Scorpion after they were Abjured and conquered the Umayyad Caliphate and Nueva Castile.
Shocking Defeat Legacy: The flag of the Fronc Reaches has nine stars to commemorate its nine founding worlds. One of those stars is black, representing the one world that was reconquered by the Canopians.
Throw-Away Country: Several of these worlds just exist to be destroyed by the Clans, the Word of Blake, pirates, or other neighboring states.
Undefeatable Little Village:
- The worlds of the Fronc Reaches were originally Taurian and Canopian colonies that declared independence. Attempts from both the Taurians and Canopians to retake their worlds mostly failed, even with Capellan support. The Fronc Reaches were also famously intolerant towards piracy. Their economy actually grew and prospered after the Jihad and Dark Age.
- The Niops Association has also survived both civil war and outside invasions from the Word of Blake and the Marian Hegemony.
- The Fiefdom of Randis has only a single system but has survived decades of pirate harassment.
Unreliable Expositor: The Deep Periphery is barely documented, and the known settlements that show up on star maps perhaps represent only a tiny fraction of what might be out there. The spacer rumor mill is replete with tall tales of lost colonies, abandoned lostech caches, conspiracy theories, and even honest-to-Blake ghost stories. Bodies like Interstellar Expeditions and the ComStar Explorer Corps work to document what they can and sift fact from fiction — most of it ends up being nothing but gossip and hearsay, but some rumors end up having just enough of a kernel of truth to promise tantalizing (or horrifying) discoveries...
Wretched Hive: Several bandit kingdoms in the Periphery such as the Tortuga Dominion and the Circinus Federation.

Characters / Battletech Periphery

Taurian Concordat (House Calderon)

Magistracy of Canopus (House Centrella)

Outworlds Alliance/Raven Alliance (House Avellar/Clan Snow Raven)

Marian Hegemony (House O'Reilly)

Aurigan Coalition (House Arano)

The Hanseatic League

Rim Worlds Republic (House Amaris)

Other

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Characters / Battletech Periphery

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Taurian Concordat (House Calderon)

Magistracy of Canopus (House Centrella)

Outworlds Alliance/Raven Alliance (House Avellar/Clan Snow Raven)

Marian Hegemony (House O'Reilly)

Aurigan Coalition (House Arano)

The Hanseatic League

Rim Worlds Republic (House Amaris)

Other

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