Long-Time Traders
Vennans traders have been visiting Tradepoint for many sectora, and recently reached an enviable and honorable milestone: 300 consecutive sectora of visiting Tradepoint. A ceremony, known as a Trisectoriana, will soon be given by the Prett to acknowledge this accomplishment. A Trisectoriana is a rare event on the trading station, and this one will be made even more special by the attendance of Cirin te K’lar, the original visitor to Tradepoint from Venna.
Vennan Trade Teams
Venna sends many different trade teams to Tradepoint throughout a sectora. According to the Vennans, each team is formed from members of one of the 33 distinct social groups on their home world, known as Houses. Although a specific House’s trade team varies both in the number and identity of those comprising the trade team, the trader in charge of the trading group, known as the Head, remains constant.
Trade Goods
Unlike many of the races at Tradepoint with goods to barter, the Vennans offer a wide range of items in their maartza. Their fresh and preserved foods are very popular. (See Unusual Characteristics, below.) The gems, jewelry, and pure metals the Vennans bring are also highly prized. A wide range of works of art abound. But the pinnacle of their trade goods are geddel crystals, which the Prett utilize extensively on their home world. Indeed, it is the import of geddel crystals which resulted in the Vennans receiving Favored Trader status.
Appearance and Gender
Vennans are tall and slender, and are universally fair in skin and hair coloring. Both the men and the women wear their hair long, often arranged in intricate braids. They all wear a golden band around their heads which is tied at their left temple in a complicated knot. Careful study has revealed that each member of a House’s trade team ties their band in an identical knot which differs from the knot of other Houses, and it is conjectured this is a Vennan cultural identification.
Male and female Vennan traders wear identical clothing. Head traders can be either men and women. There appear to be no gender-specific roles on the trade teams.
Unusual Characteristics
Of all the races that frequent Tradepoint, the Vennans are arguably the most unusual, for they do not arrive in FTL ships. Instead, they appear and disappear from their enclave, apparently able to shift between their home world and the Trade station at will. The ‘journey’ appears to take anywhere from a minimum of a few hours to a maximum of only a few days, as the Vennans frequently bring perishables for trade.
Their ability to travel in this manner has been most perplexing to the Prett, who can offer no scientific explanation for it. Prettian physicists conjectured that the Vennans innately access some wormhole-like action but, in truth, that is only a hypothesis. This Vennan ability remains shrouded in mystery. As to the Vennans themselves, they seem little interested in scientific principles, and purchase no technical or mechanical goods.
