Eocin Chiyat
Peacock
- Intent: A setting for future RP and something to add some flavour to an otherwise empty hex.
- Image Credit: Endless Journey by Vadim Sadowsky
- ArtStation Links: Sea of Pillars, Observatory by Alexander Sköld; Sulfurous Isles, Paradise by Lorenzo Lanfranconi; Freehold Herenon, Cold Blue Nights by Efflam Mercier; Fortress Merrigan, Frozen Fortress by Ward Lindhout; Erkhin's Cauldron, Remnant by Frank Wade.
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Luminex System (Hub for System Locations)
- Planet Name: Erakhis
- Demonym: Erakhian
- Region: Unknown Regions
- System Name: Luminex System
- System Features: The fifth of eight planets orbiting Luminex, a white-hot Type A star, Erakhis is a greyish-blue world, most of its surface covered in water. It has no moons but numerous artificial satellites, particularly defence platforms and Orbital Habitats.
- Location: The hex bordering both Yoggoy & Oristrom's hexes - exact location.
- Major Imports: Raw & Refined Materials, Industrial Biomass, Droids, and Luxury Goods (Foodstuffs, Gadgets, Jewellery, etc.).
- Major Exports: High Technology, Medicine, Droids, Clones, and Maritime Products (Seafood, Exotic Sealife, etc.).
- Unexploited Resources: A middling Phrikite deposit is located in the region known as the Abyss; various other mineral deposits have remained unexploited for ecological reasons, though these are all derived from naturally occurring chemical elements whose supply is more often than not limited by transportation costs and capacity, not access to deposits.
- Gravity: 1.03 Standard
- Rotational Period: 25 Galactic Standard Hours
- Orbital Period: 684 Galactic Standard Days | ~1.87 Administrative Years
- Climate: Temperate, Humid, Stormy; Habitats possess carefully tailored environments.
- Primary Terrain: Oceans (Kelp Forests, Coral Reefs, Underwater Caverns, Shallows, Unexplored Depths, etc.), Islands, Archipelagos, Ice Caps.
- Atmosphere: Type I (Planet) | Synthetic Type I (Habitats)
- Capital City: N/A; formerly Freehold Arctrius, sterilised by order of Chancellor Stahrvos and the Federal Security Council in 426 ABY.
- Planetary Features: Floating Cities, Orbital & Underwater Habitats, Arcologies; outside these densely populated centres of population, the planet is largely untamed, at least to a cursory glance - only the deepest, most dangerous locations are truly undiscovered, however, and its seas and skies alike are regularly patrolled by surveillance droids.
- Major Locations, Natural:
- The Great Shallows: A large region south of the equator, the so-called Great Shallows are, as the name would suggest, much shallower than the rest of the worldsea and islands are, as a result, relatively abundant. Plentiful kelp forests are home to a wealth of flora and fauna and the local climate is tropical and mostly pleasant - except when a storm hits, of course.
- The Sea of Pillars: One of Erakhis' stranger biomes, the Sea of Pillars is a region in the western reaches of the Great Shallows and quite a way into deeper waters marked by numerous stone pillars rising from the worldsea; in parts they stand close together and in parts they are far apart, but they are always visible. This region is home to several unique types of fauna and flora, most prominently birds and other flying creatures. Banks of fog are common and storms comparatively uncommon.
- The Sulfurous Isles: Occupying a significant portion of the equatorial region, the Sulfurous Isles are warm, beautiful, and plagued by constant volcanic activity and some of the planet's most violent storms - as a result, the diverse lifeforms that make it their home have largely adapted to a cyclical life cycle (flora) or evolved ways to survive in such an environment (fauna), such as hiding underwater.
- The Frozen Poles: Arguably the least vibrant part of Erakhis, its frozen poles are still home to great biodiversity - mostly in the seas under the thick layer of ice. In addition to a number of largely ice-covered islands, a few mountain peaks can be seen poking through the ice sheets, especially on the more rocky northern pole.
- The Coral Sea: One of the great natural wonders of Erakhis, the Coral Sea is located fairly close to the Great Shallows - most vibrant of all of Erakhis' environments, it is absolutely bursting with biodiversity, from vast schools of fish gleaming in all the colours of the rainbow to vicious predators able to damage even durasteel! Most visible, however, are the gargantuan coral reefs for which it is named; Such reefs are found all over the planet, but in the Coral Sea they are all but omnipresent. Curiously, some of the reefs have an almost symbiotic relationship with the kelp forests common across Erakhis, but most of all in the Coral Sea and the Great Shallows.
- The Abyss: The deepest, darkest, and most dangerous part of Erakhis, the so-called Abyss is located between the equator and the north pole and his home to bioluminescent lifeforms and stealthy predators alike. Some such predators have been known to grow to immense proportions - it is said that the great Krakens of myth reside here still, kept at bay by sonic beacons.
- Major Locations, Artificial:
- Ruins of Freehold Arctrius: The once-capital of Erakhis, the ruins of Freehold Arctrius stands near the centre of the Great Shallows, its once-glittering spires tarnished by age and marked by the brutally of its culling. The name of each and every Erakhian that perished, or was assumed to have perished, in the Great Purge is engraved upon massive marble walls erected decades after the act itself, with a statue of the man who gave the order - and perished along with the rest of the city - standing above all others.
- University of Merhsk: Considered by most Erakhians to be the greatest and most prestigious university in the Unknown Regions, the University of Merhsk is a massive institution with nearly a hundred million students scattered across several campuses, with the Central Campus also serving as the capital of Freehold Merhsk, for which it is named. As a testament to its reputation, millions of non-Erakhian students study at Merhsk, despite the distance between Erakhis and most other "civilised worlds".
- Freehold Herenon: The largest and oldest of the extant Freeholds, Herenon is a place of glittering arcologies and interconnected towers spread across several large islands, among them the Judicial District, home to the highest court in the Erakhian Federation. With a population of over eight hundred billion sentients, it is the second-most populous city in the system. Its position in the southern part of the Great Shallows is a comfortable one, though measures are still taken to ward off the planet's famous storms.
- Fortress Merrigan: Built into a mountain thrusting forth from the northern pole, Fortress Merrigan houses the planetary shield generator and is to this end protected by gigantic planetary defence weapons and vast legions of battle droids.
- Erkhin's Cauldron: The site of the planet's first settlement, before even the founding of Arctrius, Erkhin's Cauldron is a large valley held up by a quartet of snowy mountain peaks rising up from the oceans below. At the moment, it houses the Bannoc Institute, a gathering of archaeologists, archaeotechnicians, and occultists dedicated to studying the galaxy's greatest mysteries.
- Freehold Oriliz: The glittering habitats of Freehold Oriliz cling to the outer edges of the Abyss and is famous for its vast recreational facilities, being my many considered to be the party capital of Erakhis. Of all the Freeholds, only Oriliz is able to organise expeditions into the Abyss without federal approval, which it uses to organise recreational trips into the least explored corner of Erakhis.
- Freehold Storlinn: The second oldest of the extant Freeholds, Storlinn located where the Great Shallows and the Sea of Pillars converges, its elegant towers rising forth from the stone pillars into which its various habitats are built. Out of all the Freeholds, the citizens of Storlinn interact the most with nature and sealed environmental control systems are unusual outside bunkers.
- Force Nexus:
- Intent: Flesh out Erakhis' history and provide an interesting location for future RP.
- Nexus Name: Ruins of Freehold Arctrius
- Nexus Alignment: Dark Side of the Force
- Size: Large - the Nexus covers the ruins of a megalopolis that once housed over 700 million sentients.
- Stability: Moderate - it would be difficult, but not impossible, to wipe away the stain of past atrocities.
- Accessibility: A large memorial complex is located near the Nexus features a massive statue of Chancellor Stahrvos the Preserver. Access to the ruins themselves is largely restricted to archaeologists and surveillance drones are often seen flying over them, on the lookout for trespassers - it is rumoured that the site has seen use by Dark Side cultists, but no such thing has ever been proven.
- Effects: The site of a vast culling in which over seven hundred million sentients were atomized, gassed to death, and poisoned after a major outbreak of the Gulag Plague, the once-capital of Erakhis is now a distinctly eerie place, haunted by the horrors of the past. The Dark Side of the Force, especially the practice of Necromancy, is strengthened within the ruins, and the Light feels somewhat distant. Visitors, Force Sensitive and not, often feel a mounting sense of dread or a peculiar numbness and hallucinations are not uncommon.
- Native Species: Scions of Luminex, Free Droids, and various bioengineered creatures. | Various nonsentient native species.
- Immigrated Species: Humans, Arkanians, Chiss, Sluissi, Zabraks, Anomid, Devaronians, Verpine, Bith, Drall, Priapulin, Duros, Twi'leks, Givin, Zeltrons, Bothans, Sephi, Rodians, Kaminoans, Thyrsians, Echani, Hapans, and many more.
- Population: Crowded; populated by well over six billion sentients as well as innumerable unfree droids and Gene Thralls, Erakhis is very heavily populated by the standards of the Unknown Regions and feels more populous still, on account of the characteristically Erakhian preference for densely populated Habitats. Outside these pockets of extreme urbanisation, the planet appears largely untamed.
- Demographics: Following centuries of liberal bioengineering policies, a majority of Erakhis' population have been genetically or cybernetically altered - a significant portion of the population have even been altered to the point of being considered an entirely new species! Aside from these Scions, the most common species are Humans, Arkanians, Chiss, Sluissi, and Zabraks. Interestingly, the planet is home to an unusually high amount of Free Droids and AI, though they are still a very small portion of the population.
- Primary Languages: Galactic Basic Standard & Binary are both considered official languages; various lingua franca and trade languages are used in unofficial functions, especially Bocce and Sy Bisti. Erakhians often sprinkle their speech with words borrowed from Cheunh.
- Culture:
- Daily Life: A thoroughly technological society, Erakhians rarely perform manual labour and similarily simple tasks, which is typically handled by droids or Gene Thralls (unfree clones). A clear majority of the population is involved either in the service sector, especially education, entertainment, and medicine, or the planet/system's various high-tech industries. Workdays are short, often no more than five hours, due to a focus on creativity and innovation over simpler tasks. The rest of the day - some twenty hours, minus however long one sleeps - are typically spent specialising, doing hobbies, and working on a part-time education.
- Education: Having long placed significant cultural and social value on education, great weight is placed on academic accomplishment and a willingness to learn, with High Officials often being groomed for government positions through far-reaching headhunting programs. As manual labour is largely automated and education generally free, it should come as no surprise that Erakhis has one of the galaxy's most well-educated populaces - many even attend various part-time education programs throughout their lives.
- Arts: Given the significant freedom afforded to the Erakhain population and the shortness of the average workday, art as a hobby is fairly common, though dedicated artists in the narrow sense are much rarer than those working in the entertainment industry - Erakhis produces a vast catalogue of new novels and holodramas every single week but is less well-known for conventional art.
- Sports: Known for its general disregard for "merely" physical accomplishments, Erakhians tend to prefer games of wit, intellectual and social alike, to more common sports, though antigravity games are very popular. Podracing and similarily dangerous sports are generally outlawed, though analogues have been created using remote-controlled drones. Interestingly, their need for blood sports is more than sated, with frequent battles being staged between custom War Droids or vat-grown Warbeasts; the engineers and bioengineers behind such creations are lauded celebrities comparable to the star athletes of other worlds.
- Religion: Both the Federation and the Freeholds are largely secular, with religion and spirituality being considered a purely individual matter; organised spirituality is perhaps less common than elsewhere, with beliefs varying wildly from person to person and Freehold to Freehold. Generally, most Erakhians acknowledge the existence of the Force, though quite a few - especially the technocrats who control the state - quietly resent it for its "vague and unpredictable nature".
- Cultural Quirks: While certainly diverse, Erakhians are, in general, known for a few key traits: They are often meticulous and perfectionistic, but also aggressively germophobic or even frightened of unsealed environments - this has earned them the less than flattering nickname of "chembreathers", alluding to their tendency to build Habitats with life support even on habitable planets.
- Government: Technocratic Federation
- Affiliation: The Erakhian Federation
- Wealth: Wealthy; a stable and technologically advanced world, Erakhis is wealthy indeed, especially due to the vast legions of unfree droids and clones bolstering the economy without needing such pesky things as freedom and basic rights. Disregarding the (allegedly) nonsentient former groups, Erakhis is reasonably egalitarian and highly meritocratic - poverty has been officially absent for nearly three hundred years and every citizen is entitled to room and board, as well as medical care, even if they choose not to work; such individuals are unlikely to be awarded Reproductive Rights, however, and might have to make do with a sleep capsule in clean but cramped quarters and nutrient paste.
- Stability: High; a carefully regulated surveillance state, crime is virtually absent - with security droids being virtually omnipresent and cameras so common the locals barely notice them, it is probably one of the safest planets in the galaxy, at least inside the Habitats - the vast seas that surround them are still home to surveillance drones beyond number, but also dangerous predators. Its deepest depths are particularly dangerous, with unauthorised travel being strictly prohibited.
- Freedom & Oppression: A lesson in dichotomies, Erakhians (the "truly sentient" ones, anyway) are generally free to do and say what they please, with a robust suggestion system and frequent polls earning it the designation "Semi-Democratic" - these rights generally apply irrespective of species or parenthood, and punishments are reasonable, with lethal force being exceedingly rare. This is only one side of the picture, however - Erakhis is a true surveillance state, with even the privacy of one's own quarters typically being bugged - if "only" by surveillance equipment that remains inactive unless you are suspected of a crime or violence erupts in your area. Reproduction, too, is heavily regulated, with Reproductive Rights being a major motivation for career advancements - a common worker would struggle to "earn" even a single child, while a High Official of the Federal Administration could likely have as many as they please.
- Cybernetics & Bioengineering: Sporting one of the galaxy's most liberal augmentation laws, Erakhis has for centuries been a haven of experimentation and augmentation, significantly extending the average lifespan (especially among the rich) while simultaneously irrevocably altering much of the population. Cybernetics is allowed and normalised to the point where a significant portion of the population chooses to willingly alter their bodies - including cosmetic implants!
- Mysticism & the Force: Generally unconcerned about the grand struggle between Light and Dark, Erakhis lacks any true Force Tradition of its own, with many Erakhians stubbornly referring to the Force as "psychoreactive energetics". As a general rule, Force Sensitives (when they are discovered, which is rather rare) are given the choice to join any Force Order of their choice upon reaching fifteen years of age (for a human). The Bannoc Institute has attempted to encourage these to return to Erakhis with the secrets of their respective orders, offering significant wealth and academic accreditation as a reward, with limited success.
- Slavery & Thralldom: Officially, slavery is strictly prohibited on Erakhis, with all "truly sentient" beings - humans, aliens, clones, and droids alike - having an inborn right to be free. This does not apply to "Thralls", however - by Erakhian law, free will is a requirement for sentience, with most droids failing to meet the strict criteria. More controversially, this also applies to organics, or rather Gene Thralls - bioengineered for obedience and often implanted with inhibitor chips, uncounted millions of these beings are vat-grown and sold as chattel; the Law awards them no rights and they have no future but to live and die for the furtherance of Erakhian prosperity.
- Reproduction: On Erakhis, reproduction is a right, yes, but a right that must be earned. Two separate systems are in place Reproductive Rights (or a License to Reproduce) and a License to Care, meant to represent the individual's genetic viability and whether or not they are qualified to care for a child respectively. The former is also a means of population control. These licenses mean different things, however, with the former being the right to bring offspring into existence and the latter the qualification to care for such offspring - violating either will result in the child being taken by the state, either for state-driven orphanages or someone with a License to Care.
- Commerce: While far from laissez-faire, Erakhian legislature is quite open to commerce and private enterprise - so long as laws are upheld, taxes paid, and prosperity furthered, the Federal Government and the Freeholds are willing to accept a great deal, from foreign investors to selling weapons on the open market, with one important exception...
- Piracy: Absolutely abhorred by Erakhian culture and legislation alike, Piracy is among the few crimes that provoke the death penalty on Erakhis, and willingly dealing with their ilk is punished with similar harshness, if not normally death. Foreign pirates are particularly hated - the Federal Navy has the authority to summarily execute any noncitizens caught committing piracy in or outside its jurisdiction, and will frequently target a pirate ship's life support systems, leaving them to die in the void.
- Military: Well-adapted to life in the mostly lawless Unknown Regions, the Erakhian Federation fields a powerful defence fleet - measured in systems, not in sectors, this fleet is obviously not capable of going head-to-head with the military of a galactic power, though neither has it had to, being mostly responsible for crushing piracy and taming the hazards of the region, usually with ruthless efficiency. Erakhis itself is protected by a planetary shield (see Fortress Merrigan) and vast legions of battle droids produced by the system's own factories.
- Technology: Highly Advanced; though its technology level was decidedly unimpressive before the outbreak of the Gulag Plague, much of what it had was preserved at great cost, and further developments have been made during the dark years of the Four Hundred Year Darkness and the decades that have followed. In particular, Erakhis is known for its innovative medical technology, excellent cybernetics, impressive droids, and complete disregard for the natural order - as shown by its bioengineered population and its legions of Gene Thralls.
Corporate Origins:
A world settled comparatively recently, in the grand scheme of things, Erakhis was surveyed by a ship captained by Aeqi Pevrex (for which the system's outermost planet is named) in the late 200s ABY and settled by miners employed by Arctrus Astronautical a few years later. Initially a corporate colony aimed at exploiting the mineral wealth of in-system asteroid belts and serve as a hub for mining operations in the subsector, the fate of Erakhis would be irrevocably changed by an influx of Arkanians in the 340s ABY.
Drawn in by Erakhis' biodiversity (for many among them were bioengineers) and kept around by the lax restrictions so common to frontier space, the expertise of the mechanists among them kickstarted the automation for which Erakhis would one day become famous and earned them the trust of the local populace, for the use of droid labourers lessened the risk of injury while maintaining financial growth.
In the decades that followed, settlements were expanded, immigrants accepted with open arms, and significant advances in social development and educational infrastructure achieved, spearheaded by the blossoming colony's Arkanian minority. Ever pragmatic, Arctrus largely accepted pushes for more local governance, retaining their vital part in the local economy in exchange for the direct control they once enjoyed - thus was various local administrations, known as Freeholds, formed, the greatest of them Freehold Arctrius.
Plague and Unification:
The growth of these Freeholds was in many ways characteristic of the golden age the galaxy was enjoying - though distant from the more central parts of the galaxy and the wondrous new technologies available there, this time of peace and trade was exactly what was needed to build a flourishing colony in a distant part of the Unknown Regions; unfortunately, no golden age can last forever.
With the Gulag Plague ravishing the space of their Chiss allies and spreading inexorably outwards, fear finally brought the unity that prosperity had not, the Freeholds coming together to sign the Articles of Federation in the heart of Freehold Arctrius, the first order of business being the formation of a Federal Security Council and the appointment of Erred Starhvos as the first Chancellor of the Federation.
Even as such arrangements were made, however, the Plague came to Erakhis - its true origins was never determined, but ground zero went down in history as Freehold Arctrius itself. Spreading like wildfire, people died in the hundreds of thousands and the military was commanded to enforce the harshest of quarantines, with any who sought to break it being summarily executed and their bodies vaporized. Trapped within the dying city, the newly-appointed Chancellor delivered his famous order, signing the death warrant of the capital city itself and himself with it.
The Long Silence:
Following this tragic, but effective, resolution, a great culling commenced, battle droids and cruisers wiping out every trace of infection on the ground and from space respectively - in the end, nearly half the population had perished, a catastrophic event that scars the collective consciousness of Erakhians to this day, fuelling generations of germophobia and a strong preference for hermetically sealed habitats.
It would take time, centuries even, but Erakhis would eventually return to its former glory and climb further still, though something had changed. No longer were strangers greeted with open arms, but with turbolasers and ultimatums - only the Chiss, long-time allies of the Freeholds, were allowed to seek refuge in the system in any quantity and even they were not permitted onto Erakhis itself until standard decades after they first arrived, even then being required to pass invasive medical tests and spend months in quarantine.
Cut off from the galaxy due to holes in local HoloNet infrastructure, Erakhian society continued to develop in isolation, more and more idiosyncracies popping up along the way until bioengineering had become a way of life and manual labour something performed solely by droids and nerve-stapled clones; at the same time, academics and bureaucrats amassed more and more power over the federal government, at the expense of career politicians and the military alike, eventually solidifying into the current system through revisions to the hastily written Articles of Federation.
A Galaxy Reborn:
Many centuries later, Erakhis would rejoin the galactic community, albeit reluctantly. Deeply concerned by the chaotic state of interstellar politics and the constant rise and fall of major powers, the Erakhian Federation has done its best to stay out of the spotlight, its diplomatic efforts having largely been restricted to research cooperatives and trade agreements.
With the Netherworld Crisis, this chaos finally came to Erakhis, even their isolation being incapable of protecting them from the supernatural. Confronted by their own ignorance, the Erakhian Federation's highest executive body - the Continuing Committee - significantly expanded the jurisdictions of the Bannoc Institute, formerly primarily concerned with matters of archaeology, providing them with the vast funding needed to study the Force and, it was hoped, "tame" it in some manner so that such a tragedy can never happen again.
Whether or not such attempts will pay off remains to be seen - more than that, it is an open question whether Erakhian society, so long isolated, is capable of withstanding the chaos plaguing the galaxy or whether it too will succumb to invasion and bloodshed; in the end, only time will tell.
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