Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on the Kar'zun Diaspora and make use of a ship I subbed.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Links: Kar'zun, House Kerrigan-Alcori, Granite Guard, Apocalypse...Not Quite Yet, Eldorai, Kaeshana Exodus, Order of Fire.
SETTING INFORMATION
Starship Name: Arz’alor.
Starship Model: Sky Cavern.
Classification: Colony Ship.
Homeport: Arx Aeternae.
Travel Route: N/A. The ship journeys across the fringes of space without a fixed itinerary. The goal is to find new areas to explore, find a new world to settle on and establish trade relations with outsiders along the way.
Affiliation: Kar'zun, Firemane Industries & Technology.
Crew Complement: Heavily Manned.
Notable Crew Members:
- Nar'dvan: The closest thing the Kar'zun had to a leader back when they lived in abject poverty in reservations. His father fought in the great wars, but taught his son not to hate the Eldorai. The elves committed horrible crimes, but the Kar'zun were defeated and there was no purpose to continuing the fight. Survival was more important than pride. It was Nar'dvan who warned Firemane and the Eldorai about the Lost Kar'zun invasion because he realised that it would only bring suffering. Nar'dvan is a careful, prudent leader. Not inclined to rashness, he is a pragmatist.
- Isa’vark: A youngish Kar'zun and the chief scout of the ship. She served under Nar'dvan on Kaeshana. Siobhan met her while negotiating with the Kar'zun about evacuating them to save them from the planet's destruction. She helped Siobhan and Elayne Saedaris recover treasures that had been buried by the Kar'zun to stave them from the exile. The trio faced an ancient Kar'zun guardian who had been driven mad by centuries of isolation. Isa'vark was one of the Kar'zun who remained on the planet during the exodus and survived in the caves. She fought in the Battle of Kaeshana. She is dedicated to her people, but largely apolitical. She is well-educated and fiercely protective of her people's heritage.
- Aztra'varan: The captain of the ship and an enthusiastic adopter of foreign technology and other species. Aztra'varan spent a long time in exile away from Kaeshana and has worked with Firemane in the past. This made her well-suited to be the captain. Detractors see her as too close to the foreigners. By Kar'zun standards she is quite young and forward-thinking. She presents a professional, diplomatic face to the outside world, but can be impatient with fellow Kar'zun she regards as stodgy.
- Kralk'ashan: The commander of the garrison. Kralk'ashan is a strong traditionalist who wants to protect her people from invasive beliefs and trends as well as foreign aggressors. She has pragmatically accepted the deal with Firemane, but views the humans with a degree of suspicion. After all, they used to be close friends of the Eldorai and their support does not come without a price. She believes that the Kar'zun must become self-reliant as far as possible and remember the virtues of their ancestors. For this reason, she also supports government by the elders. She is an honourable warrior of high repute and from a long line of Kar'zun leaders, but some see her as rigid and unwilling to adapt.
- Nurn'azaki: The navigator of the ship. He is deeply resentful of the Eldorai and other outsiders. His clan suffered greatly during the Great War, being among the last defenders of the capital. He was raised on that story and does not forgive easily. Nurn'azaki is Force-Sensitive, but his affinity for the ethereal is not strong enough to manifest powers typically associated with space mages. However, it improves his navigational abilities. Unlike Kralk'ashan, Nurn'azaki is not a traditionalist. The elders led them and were defeated, so it is time for the young generation to lead their people to prosperity. The fact that he was born into one of the less prestigious clans probably plays a role in this regard.
- Zano'karuk: A somewhat crazy hermit and cleric. He's so old he's almost succumbed to the Curse of Stone. However, he's so old to have participated in the Great War, and after the defeat he buried himself deep beneath the mountains. A millennium of solitude has driven him mad, but he carefully excavated (and ate) his way through a whole little carved underground palace. Eventually unearthed when the cataclysm broke open the earth he was discovered by some of his kin almost fossilised and carried away. However, he's venerated and resented in equal measure for being a tie to the elder days. He causes all manners of trouble for Nar'dvan.
- Akunaro Washani: A male Atrisian who serves as Firemane's representative aboard the Arz’alor. He is a member of Firemane's Diplomatic Bureau. He is curious about the Kar'zun, but also ambitious since it is a job which will get him some kudos and potential advancement. He is a long term diplomat working with the Kar'zun and has even learned to understand their language. He can say a few words, but it is hard for a non-silicon being to speak.
Description: The Arz’alor is a Sky Cavern Class Worldship. Named after the greatest King of the Kar'zun, it has been built by Firemane to enable the stone people to seek out a brighter future in the stars and rebuild their civilisation. In terms of design, it is quite similar to the Asur Class Worldship, which was built for the Eldorai and their cousins, but there are some significant differences since the Kar'zun are a silicon based species made of stone.
Kar'zun, being creatures of the soil and the stone, rarely look upon the sky in wonder. For the stone people, heaven lies beneath the earth. As a result, Firemane has made the vessel rather geometric in shape. This means visitors must do without the phenomenal view of space that is provided by the traditional Asur. However, as a tradeoff this also eliminates a notable weak spot. The ship has a long hexagonal shape, large in scale and able to combine with others to form a larger lattice.
The vessel is carefully designed to ensure it would be able to accommodate a large number of people over an extended period. Efficiency is key, and thus no space has been wasted. In effect, the ship is a closed city on the move. High buildings dot the streets, and monorails connect the different areas. Space has been set aside for parks and production areas. The interior of the vessel is logically laid out in a grid pattern. There are some observation areas, but nowhere near as many compared to an Asur. The interior has been designed to accommodate the larger frame of the Kar'zun, as they are a lot bigger and bulkier than humans.
It is essentially a tank of a ship. The Kar'zun eat minerals, so their food reserves are heavy but non-perishable. They only need to stop for water and fuel, and then only rarely. This can make accommodating humans and other non-Kar'zun difficult though, as the golems obviously do not keep a lot of food aboard for them. However, since there is a contingent of Firemane advisors on the ship, some space has been set aside so that they can store supplies.
Firemane has built the Sky Caverns for the Kar'zun and retains a controlling interest in them. Thus a contingent of advisors is aboard the ship. However, it is very small. Before the Fall, the Kar'zun were a lot more advanced than the Eldorai and had even sent their first ship into space. They are very tech-savvy and thus can run the ship on their own without squishy mammals telling them what to do. Indeed, they make great engineers.
The city-ship is governed by two councils; one is composed of the oldest (and theoretically wisest) Kar'zun, and the other of candidates put forward by each clan or group. The lower council can offer suggestions on what is needed, the upper discusses the motion and puts it into practice. Seniority and caste have always been important to the Kar'zun, while gender is a non-issue. The long period of subjugation has broken up many old patronage networks or simply resulted in the extinction of entire clans, but tradition still holds strong.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Broadly speaking, the ship consists of two areas: the facilities that pertain to running it, such as hangars, engine room, reactor, bridge, quarters and so on, and the city within the ship, where the general population lives. Sky Caverns are essentially mobile cities on the move. Aside from the usual facilities, the following areas are of interest:
Hall of the Shattered Stones: A museum dedicated to the memory of the genocidal crusade the Eldorai Queen Ariane the Great waged against the Kar'zun. The wars between the Eldorai and the Kar'zun, the stone people's near-extinction, their deportation from their ancestral homelands and their confinement to 'reservations' are depicted here. Its opening has led to protests from Eldorai reactionaries and revolutionaries alike, as they consider it 'disrespectful' to the Eldorai people. One exhibition contains the ashes of the last Kar'zun Queen, whose body was smashed with hammers and burnt to ash by Eldorai warriors. There is also a chamber containing a field broken stones, representing the Kar'zun who were lost in these dark times.
Visitors can memorialise the event by lighting candles, visiting an eternal flame, and reflecting in silence in an hexagonal hall. The exhibitions are accompanied by contemporary historical documents as well as digitalised, holographic testimonies of Kar'zun old enough to have experienced the fall. The information stored here can be accessed through an online database. There is also a section on the perpetrators. The depiction of Ariane as a genocidal butcher, whom the Kar'zun call Az’varik, the deadly flame, has sparked outrage among many Eldorai, even among those who purport to be progressives. The museum also tells the story of King Arz’alor.
Firemane Residency: Located close to the halls of government. Here the Firemane resident and their staff reside. The resident represents the interests of Firemane and provides advice where needed. They have a direct line to Firemane's headquarters. The area is guarded by Firemane soldiers, but the contingent is not large. The Kar'zun tend to be a logical, loyal people, so Firemane is less worried about them doing something untoward.
Hall of the Elders: The chamber where the two councils convene. This section also contains the offices involved in running the city-ship, as well as communications facilities. The two councils have their own chambers, but also one where they can convene together. There is an elevated chair in the general hall that remains unoccupied, representing the fact that a King or Queen would have sat on it in the days of yore.
Cavern of the Chosen: A place for warriors and members of the militia to muster, drill and train. This section also contains an armoury. Here the Kar'zun hone their martial abilities and uphold their warrior traditions. Kar'zun favour tough armour, polearms and heavy, hard-hitting weapons.
Shrine of the Blessed Earth: Religion is less of a factor for the Kar'zun than the Eldorai, and it has developed differently. To them, heaven is under the earth, while there is only madness in the sky. They have a Deist belief system, where a God named Zak'zakada - or father of all fathers - created the world, but then left it to his children, the Kar'zun. They regard the Force as an inspiration from the creator. It is believed that the creator sleeps at the core of the world, and will one day awaken.
This is also the place where the few Kar'zun Force-Users are inducted into the priesthood. The shrine is a long steeply sloping down room. In large braziers along the path is fire on one side, ice on the other. At the bottom of the decline is a circular area with a tablet or stele with the beliefs and laws as well as the deeds of the clan who live there inscribed. Since these are often made of gold, silver or other metal the Eldorai made a point of seizing and melting them down. This both destroyed the history of the Kar'zun and defiled their religion.
The Kindred Market: This place is of economic significance. It has workshops for machinists, smiths, artisans etc. Before the fall, the Kar'zun were ahead of the Eldorai in many ways. Now they strive to catch up. This is also a place of training for engineers etc. It also provides the stone people with devices to trade and barter with off-worlders they happen to encounter during their journey.
Cavern of Crafts: A cultural centre. The Hall of Shattered Stones tells the story of what the Kar'zun lost and endured, and the Cavern of Crafts showcases what they managed to preserve. It focuses strongly on Kar'zun art, which used to be pretty traditional. There is a collection of Kar'zun sculptures and mosaics, too. After the great war, the Kar'zun moved towards abstract art, using mosaics, frescos and sculptures and even some painting to convey mood.
This, as shown in the Cavern, was also a way to get around Eldorai censors, and meant they could put secret messages easier into it. There is a collection of Kar'zun cultural treasures that were seized by House Cadalthor during the sack of the capital. After Siobhan executed Tarissa Cadalthor for treason, the Cadalthors were forced to pay reparations, and had to give the artefacts back. One of them is a broken crown that used to belong to Kar'zun royalty. Vak’zahr, the old Kar'zun capital, has been recreated through holographic technology, allowing the visitor to witness the city before it was sacked by the Eldorai.
SECURITY
Maximum
- It is not a warship, so the external armaments are low. The vessel has some fast-mount turbolasers, few ion cannons and turbolasers. All these weapons are mounted on the edges and front/rear of the ship.
- However, the ship has heavy armour plating, an Eidolon-class Modulating Energy Shield (permission here), hundreds of quad lasers and point defence distributed evenly around the edges and front/rear, few flak cannons and heavy redundant shield generators.
- Internally, it has a large on board garrison and extensive defences, including ray shields, auto-turrets etc. The garrison has been equipped by Firemane and is supplemented by a militia composed of all adult civilians. Firemane has stationed a contingent of marines and Order of Fire warriors aboard the ship, but it is only a small one. A police force keeps order in the city.
- The ship is almost entirely populated by Kar'zun, who are essentially walking rocks. They are extremely strong, resilient and almost impossible to mentally dominate. This also makes infiltration difficult as non-Kar'zun will stick out.
The Kar'zuns are a silicon-based race of rock people who originated on Kaeshana along with the Eldorai. They are strong, tough and honourable, but also a wounded people. The rivalry between both races was fierce and they warred for centuries, before the Eldorai Queen Ariane the Great wrested victory from near-certain defeat and crushed the Kar'zun, after the Eldorai had been driven to the brink of defeat. Ariane was not content with simply defeating them. She wanted to ensure Eldorai dominance for all times and believed only complete eradication would ensure this.
Relations were poisoned for centuries when she enacted a near-genocidal campaign. While her successors halted the campaign, they forced the Kar'zun into reservations far away from their natural habitats. By then the damage had been done. It was a shocking near-genocide that decimated the Kar'zun, driving them to the brink of extinction. To the Eldorai, Ariane was a heroine who saved her people from destruction. The Kar'zun, on the other hand, regard her as a genocidal butcher and tyrant.
Under the new, liberal regime of Queen Tirathana VII, the Kar'zun were emancipated and given territory of their own. However, purists on both sides refuse to forget old grudges. When an army of Kar'zun zealots, who had fled Kaeshana a long time ago, invaded the planet and tried to wreck it with an asteroid, the Kar'zun community on the planet sided with the Eldorai, gaining greater rights in return. During the Exodus, Firemane lobbied for the Kar'zun to be saved and was able to ensure that many of their people were evacuated, though some elected to stay. Siobhan personally visited their settlements and negotiated with Narad'vn, the Kar'zun representative to the Eldorai Crown. Seeing the poverty the once proud species lived in had an effect on her, opening her to their perspective.
Today, the Kar'zun have been given autonomy, but a significant number have elected to travel the stars instead of living in areas inhabited by the Eldorai. These independent clans tend to be wandering nomads. Their superior strength and durability makes tough, albeit very slow-moving warriors, which is why several have become mercenaries or bounty-hunters. They are almost impossible to mentally dominate through the Force, skilled artisans and weapons smiths and very resistant to cold and heat. It was only natural that over time Kar'zun warriors found their way into Firemane.
Though initially very close to the Eldorai, Siobhan came to appreciate the competence of Kar'zun engineers and soldiers. Their loyalty and diligence contrasted strongly with the duplicity of many Eldorai nobles. In the aftermath of the Battle of Kaeshana, she created an elite Kar'zun heavy infantry unit called the Granite Guard. She also armed the Disciples of the Stone, a crack unit of Kar'zun combat engineers who had served with distinction during the great war between their people and the Eldorai and been forced to disarm after the collapse of the Kar'zun Empire. One of the members of the Guard, an old Kar'zun warrior called Kar'zakush, became a personal bodyguard of Siobhan.
A number of independent clans provided some of their most promising warriors, and were compensated by Firemane in return. Traditionally, the warriors sent some of their remuneration home to support their families. They are treated as Firemane soldiers, receiving the same rights, benefits and duties as any other warrior of House Kerrigan-Alcori. Moreover, Firemane helped the Kar'zun recover cultural artefacts and heirlooms that had been lost centuries ago after the Eldorai subjugated them.
The immediate impetus for the construction of the ship was a summit that had been convened aboard the Arx Aeternae in response to several galactic crises. There the leaders of the four elf races decided that their people would go off into space to discover and settle on other worlds. Firemane agreed to provide technical support and know-how. Thus arkships were built to facilitate mass migrations where needed. Firemane also sold Asur worldships to a variety of elf groups, even those that disliked it.
The Kar'zun clans were not represented at the conference. However, Siobhan met with several of their elders in a private meeting and agreed to a similar deal. The clans that agreed to it would receive ships and technical support so that they could build their own civilisation away from the Eldorai. They were poor, but could compensate Firemane through their services. Because the Asur Class Worldships were designed with Eldorai in mind, Firemane agreed to provide the Kar'zun with their own class of vessels. Kar'zun were heavily involved in the design and construction process.
The Arz’alor would be the first of its class. It was named after the greatest Kar'zun King, who brought his people to their height of their power and almost conquered the Eldorai. Unsurprisingly, a good number of Eldorai complained about this. The Kar'zun responded by pointing out how many things were named after Ariane the Butcher, including the Eldorai Crown Princess. There were unfortunate incidents of some Eldorai zealots trying to sabotage the vessel.
Fortunately, these could be contained. Star Queen Tirathana VII, being a sensible person who regretted the crimes of her predecessors and was happy that many of the extreme reactionaries had gone off to build their dystopias elsewhere, did not want pointless bloodshed. Likewise, the leadership of the Arz'alor did not want their own extremists to jeopardise their chances. As a result, some Kar'zun crew members had to be rejected due to being considered too extreme and unable to control their desire for revenge.
This was the cause of friction. However, construction of the Arz'alor was successfully completed. Nar'dvan was chosen as leader of the Kar'zun community aboard the ship. He had led his people through the dark days in the reservation and had a good relationship with Siobhan. Some Kar'zun radicals considered him to willing to move on from the past instead of pursue vengeance, but these qualities made him a trustworthy negotiation partner. Keeping both of its vassal groups on their side was a delicate balancing act for Firemane, after all. Siobhan was there when the ship was handed over to him and his people. She also appointed a member of Firemane's Diplomatic Bureau as her resident.
The ship was designed with protection and durability in mind, and so it could take a beating, though it would have to be accompanied by escorts. A large number of droids was used to assist the inhabitants and their crew. The Kar'zun have always been a very tech-savvy species and lack the anti-droid phobias of the Eldorai. The vessel has a permanent garrison of about ten thousand soldiers, but this is supported by a militia composed of all adult civilians. It helps that the Kar'zun are literally walking rocks. Regular drills are carried out to ensure that the inhabitants retain the necessary skills to defend itself.
