Work In Progress The Articles for Interstellar Mercantile Rules, Regulations, and Customs

[Sidra Velair]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To add some more flavor to the Rimward Merchant-Marine and lean further into the details of interstellar commerce
• Image Credit: N/A
• Canon: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: N/A

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Media Name: The Articles for Interstellar Mercantile Rules, Regulations, and Customs (Abbreviated either as The Articles or the IMRRC)
• Format: Data book
• Distribution: Common
• Length: Long,
• Description: An official document, its history lost in the mists of time, updated and revised for the modern day. Contains navigation, maintenance, uniform regulations, courtesies, customs, standard procedures, and all other information necessary for life as an interstellar merchant-mariner. Usually distributed as a databook, either available cheaply for sale or issued to new students at merchant-marine academies and unrateds aboard mercantile vessels.

SOCIAL INFORMATION

• Author: Numerous committees and editors
• Publisher: Rimward Merchant-Marine & Interstellar Merchant-Captain's Guild
• Reception: Lauded for being comprehensive, well-indexed, and excellently organized by professional spacers, and having all information a new spacer could possibly desire for their career. Not typically read by non-professionals outside the most devoted hobbyists.

FORMAT INFORMATION
While officially a data book, there are other versions specially designed for other species whose learning methods and styles do not necessarily conform to the human, humanoid, or near-human reading methods. The databook chip itself is the most common, and its size is bigger even than many of the encyclopedias in the galaxy, but academy students and unrated crew members typically receive it as a datapad with the IMRRC hardcoded into the device, as well as any local additions or errata.


CONTENT INFORMATION
[ Outline the contents of this publication as it would be read by a character in its possession. You should include a summary of the publication at the least, but you may also include a table of contents, verbatim excerpts, and anything else that can accurately describe the submission's contents. This should be the bulk of the submission. ]

1. Introduction to the Articles
   
   1. The history of the interstellar commerce
   2. The history of the Articles
   3. What to Expect From a Spacer's Life
2. Table of Contents
3. Signing Up
   
   1. Methods of Entry
      1. Signing on Unrated
      2. Merchant-Marine Academy
      3. Transferring From Military Service
      4. Non-Academy Higher Education
      5. Applying Previous Experience
   2. Required Documentation
   3. Health Standards
4. Pre-Departure
   
   1. Making Arrangements
      1. Shoreside Services
         1. Insurance
         2. Storage
         3. Guild Memberships
         4. Funeral Coverage
         5. Wage Distribution
      2. Essential Gear
         1. Mass Allotment
         2. Issued Ship's Gear
         3. Personal Gear to Purchase
         4. Zero-G Packing
      3. Essential Knowledge
         1. Uniform Requirements
            1. Shipsuit Working Uniform
            2. Off-Duty Uniform
            3. Formal Uniform
         2. Shipboard Courtesies
            1. Emergency Signals
            2. Safety Regulations
            3. Professional Courtesies
            4. Etiquette
         3. Typical Shipboard Organisational Roles
            1. Officers
            2. Rated Spacers
            3. Unrated Spacers
         4. Payment Scales
            1. Shares
               1. History and Origin
               2. How Shares Are Determined
               3. Share-Ratings
                  1. Quarter Share
                  2. Half Share
                  3. Full Share
                  4. Double Share
                  5. Captain's Share
                  6. Owner's Share
            2. Contracted
               1. Contract Durations
               2. Contract Stipulations
               3. Contract Payments
            3. Wages
               1. Hourly
               2. Per Voyage
               3. Per Annum
               4. Per Diem
            4. Common Combinations
5. Unrated Berths
   1. Culinary
   2. Cleaning
   3. Hospitality
   4. Miscellaneous
6. Rating Advancement
   1. Advancement Requirements
      1. Courses of Study
         1. Hours of Training Per Rating Level
         2. Conditions for Course Acceptability
      2. Study Guides
      3. Practice Tests
7. Rated Berths
   1. Navigation
   2. Deck
   3. Engineering
   4. Trade
   5. Command
   6. Security
8. Officer Berth Minimum Requirements
   1. Navigation
   2. Deck
   3. Engineering
   4. Command
   5. Security
   6. Trade
9. Watch Roles
   1. Watch Rotations
   2. Changing of the Watch
   3. Watch Contingencies
10. Theories of Hyperspace
11. Hyperspace Navigation
12. Cargo Stowage
    1. Weight
    2. Trim
    3. Methods of Stowage
13. Maintenance Schedules
14. Universal Codes and Messages
15. Distress Protocol
16. Laws of Salvage and Recovery
17. Cargo Regulations
18. Custom and Protocol, Indexed By Galactic Region
19. Appendix
    1. Errata
    2. Local Exceptions
    3. Galactic Hyperspace Map

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Interstellar commerce is ancient. Its history goes back nearly as far back as interstellar travel. As a result, it has gone through numerous permutations and reforms, even within planets, let alone throughout the changing tides of galactic politics.

However, as time passed, things slowly became more standardized, driven by the needs of capitalism and compatible systems. Various handbooks and training manuals developed over time, with entire careers developing on transferring between the two, and libraries dedicated to cataloging, indexing, and organizing the information.

General standards for technology developed early in the history of the Galactic Republic, but with the rise of Palpatine's Empire and the subsequent disruptions, not least of which being the Gulag Plague, much of that information was lost.

With the post-Gulag era resurrecting significant interstellar commerce, the process began anew.

After several decades, with the establishment of the Rimward Trade League, the Rimward Rescue Service went about establishing standardized safety, training, navigation, and protocol regulations for their, and their allied merchant-marine fleets, as well as pushing for the creation and adoption of a galactic standard.

It is a hefty document, being larger than many galactic encyclopedias and often updated, with numerous revisions and updates. Still, they do strive to maintain the legitimacy of their claim to publishing and enforcing the first comprehensive handbook of interstellar regulations. It is known to make the lives of merchant-marine academy students and Rimward Rescue Service enforcement officers very challenging in the learning stages of their careers.