Stay tuned for threads set in the Worlds of the Tusk, or feel free to create your own stories. By all means, use this setting for whatever little threads you were already planning on doing. This is not a permanent or staff-endorsed map expansion; think of it more as an extended Weekend Treasure Hunt or player-run event. No ship larger than a starfighter or personal transport can get here safely due to unspecified hyperspace nastiness; something corvette scale could get through with damage. Please do not attempt to launch Dominions of these worlds or, heaven forbid, try to get Tef or the Codex to formalize this map in any way. THIS IS JUST FOR FUN. Companion Esk was chosen because, though it exists in canon, it has never been fleshed out in any way, and there are many other companion galaxies.
INTRODUCTION
Companion Esk is one of the seven small galaxies that orbit our main galaxy. Routes to these small galaxies are rare and dangerous. Jorus has spent a significant portion of his life in Companion Aleph (the Rishi Maze) and Companion Grek, and voyaging outside the galaxy.
Sometimes he finds more than he wanted to find.
Companion Esk has been silent ever since the galaxy emerged from the Dark Age. Searching for a Rebel home base, Merrill discovered the reason for that silence. The Dark Age has driven the Worlds of the Tusk into pure isolation and technological primitivity. The Worlds of the Tusk range from the Stone Age to Renaissance equivalence.
A cult of navigators, the Priests of the Tusk, guide massive supertransports from world to world, providing Companion Esk's only space travel. The Priests of the Tusk have been in operation for the last hundred years, so far as anyone can determine. By now, the civilizations of Companion Esk are used to their visits. The Priests' supertransports are primitive by galactic standards, and their navicomputers and hyperdrives cannot go outside Companion Esk, much as no ship larger than a personal transport can enter Companion Esk at this point. The Priests of the Tusk do not transport armies or start wars, and have a monopoly on blaster technology and personal shielding.
WORLDS OF THE TUSK
SW-1, SE-1, and NE-1 are the endpoints of the three major hyperspace routes. Each world is uninhabited and occupied by thick, humid jungle.
SW-2 - Technology level: Early medieval. Common species: Human, Shistavenan, Barabel. Points of interest: A long, deep canyon with enemy castles and forts on either side, and ancient, heavily contested bridges. Force traditions: Sith-influenced. A world of deserts and grasslands.
SW-3 - Technology level: Late medieval. Common species: Human, Trandoshan, Twi'lek. Points of interest: A well-trapped maze used for executions, inhabited by tuk'ata and hssiss. A world of volcanic ash and grim, low-producing farmlands. The Force is persecuted and feared. The Greater Calama is a common warbeast/mount.
SW-4 - Technology level: Stone Age. Common species: Zeltrons (nobody knows why). Points of interest: A Duinuogwuin graveyard with rib cages a hundred metres tall, venerated by many tribes.
One of these three SW worlds contains at least one item of strange and situational power. Sufficient exploration of each world (a thread with 10 posts per participant) will earn you a shot at that item or items.
SE-2 - Technology level: Stone Age. Common species: Krevaaki, Columi, Twi'lek, Human. Points of interest: An unnaturally tall, strong tower (actually a derelict spaceship a hundred years old, stripped of anything useful. The ship is standing on end, meaning everything is sideways.) A planet of heavy snow. Shamanistic Force traditions.
SE-3 - Technology level: Bronze Age. Common species: Epicanthix. Points of interest: A capital city whose temple district honors one hundred gods in a variety of architectural styles (one is a massive, tusked figure). A planet of forests. Shamanistic Force traditions that revere knowledge above all else.
SE-4 - Technology level: Medieval. Common species: Various near-Humans, Rodians, Ithorians. Points of interest: An underground city haunted by Dark Side spirits. A desolate planet, scorched by some half-forgotten cataclysm. The Force is persecuted and feared.
One of these three SE worlds contains at least one item of incredible but subtle power. Sufficient exploration of each world (a thread with 10 posts per participant) will earn you a shot at that item or items.
NE-2 - Uninhabited by intelligent species. A death world -- a jungle capable of destroying virtually anything or anyone. Points of interest: A starship wreck several millennia old, Derriphan-class (heavily damaged while entering Companion Esk).
NE-3 - Uninhabited by intelligent species. Completely frozen; survival requires serious cold-weather equipment. Roamed by elephant-sized, heavily furred predators. Points of interest: A crystal cave located under a subterranean nest of said predators.
NE-4 - Largely uninhabited by intelligent species. Medieval towns (Human) mainly wiped out by Blackwing virus.
One of these three NE worlds contains a powerful suit of armour. Sufficient exploration of each world (a thread with 10 posts per participant) will earn you a shot at that armour.
N-1 - Mon Calamari knights. Enough said? Points of interest: A sunken city containing pockets of somehow-breathable air. The Force is isolated to upper classes.
N-2 - Technology level: Stone Age. Barabel tribes. Grassland, herds of wild nerf, plenty of Nexu. Points of interest: a nerf jump (a tall cliff over which tribes drive herds to their death). Shamanistic Force traditions.
N-3 - Technology level: Renaissance. Twi'lek, Whiphid, and Selonian noble houses. Very little land mass; massive naval battles common. Points of interest: Recent, devastating battle site involving a thousand ships' wreckage jumbled together. The Force is isolated to upper classes.
One of the N worlds contains a powerful weapon. Sufficient exploration of each world (a thread of 10 posts per participant) will earn you a shot at that weapon.
NW-1 - A massive hollow asteroid inhabited by a lost colony of Verpine who have lost space travel capability, and ritualized upkeep of ancient electronics. Points of interest: You're looking at it.
NW-2 - Technology level: Medieval. Species: Houk. Points of interest: Ever jousted against a Houk? The Force is persecuted and feared.
NW-3 - One of the most technologically advanced worlds, NW-3 is at Renaissance level, with gunpowder and early steam technology, all tightly controlled by feuding noble houses. Dominant species include Twi'lek and Epicanthix. The Force is venerated and studied 'scientifically.'
One of the NW worlds contains a powerful Dark Side relic. Sufficient exploration of each world (a thread with 10 posts per participant) will earn you a shot at that relic.
