OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a planet for the Empire of Tsurannuani to develop and create threads, as well as to serve as a location for future widespread threads.
- Image Credit: Image Link
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: N/A
- Planet Name: Kelewan
- Demonym: Tsurani
- Region: Wild Space
- System Name: Midkimea
- System Features: Midkimea has a binary star cluster at its heart, one a red giant, and the other a blue giant. There are twelve planets in the system including Kelewan, most of which are gas giants. A large asteroid field surrounds the outermost region of the system, inside which is a graveyard of warships from various time periods. There are minimal natural metallic resources to be harvested from the system.
- Location: In the empty hex to the left of Smarteel and above V'Shar.
- Major Imports: Exotic foods and alloys; Durasteel and Alusteel.
- Major Exports: Large quantities of livestock.
- Unexploited Resources: Kyber Crystals
- Gravity: Standard
- Climate: Mixture of Arid and Temperate Biomes.
- Primary Terrain: Grasslands cover vast swathes of the planet, with mountain ranges to the north and deserts to the south of the planet.
- Atmosphere: Type 1
- Capital City: Kelawatari
- Planetary Features: Numerous vast temple cities dot the landscape of Kelewan, each one the work of generations of expansion and religious dedication. The smallest of these cities are several kilometers in size, with populations well into the millions. In between these cities are vast tracts of land, each one filled with natural resources and lush farmlands. From orbit, these cities and estates appear to have been constructed in a vast wheel, centered around Kelawatari, the largest city on the planet.
- Major Locations:
- Kelawatari: The capital city of the Empire of Tsuranuanni, the Imperial City is a vast complex of temples, barracks, and market districts that slowly expanded with the passing of each Emperor. The city is easily visible from orbit and boasts a population of nearly one hundred million individuals. White marble with gold lining almost every building denotes the city as the home of the Light of Heaven, the Emperor of the Empire, and holder of the Golden Throne.
- City of Magicians: The seat of the Assembly of Great Ones, the City of Magicians is built across several tightly packed mountains. Inaccessible from the ground, the black marble city stands as a seat of unquestioned authority and power across Kelewan. The City of Magicians has a large library built in its center, consuming an entire mountain with its vast stores of knowledge.
- The City of Lashima: The City of Lashima is the primary seat of authority for the priests of Lashima, the Goddess of Wisdom and Queen of the sky. Located on the highest natural point of Kelewan, those who desire the favor of Lashima must travel the ten thousand Steps of Contemplation before reaching the fortified city.
- The City of Chochocan: The City of Chochocan is the primary seat of authority for the priests of Chochocan, the Good God. He is prayed to by the Tsurani people to bring good fortune and favorable fortunes to their lives. The city is built on the side of a cliff, with many of its temples located deep underground.
- The City of Zamach: The City of Zamach is the primary seat of authority for the priests of Zamach, the God of Justice, and Knowledge. The primary deity of the Great Ones, the City of Zamach is located at the foot of the mountain range when the City of Magicians is built and serves as the only legal avenue of travel from the rest of Kelewan to the City of Magicians.
- The Wastes of Turakamu: The Wastes of Turakamu are the only location on Kelewan that does not boast a population of any considerable size. Only ruins dot the landscape of the Wastes, which serve as the temples of Turakamu, the Death God, and bringing of the End of Cycles. No one travels through the Wastes, and the priests of Turakamu only ever depart to serve as overseers of funerals across Kelewan or pronounce the ending of a Cycle.
- Force Nexus (Optional): N/A
Intent: N/A
Nexus Name: N/A - Nexus Alignment: N/A
- Size: N/A
- Strength: N/A
- Accessibility: N/A
- Effects: N/A
POPULATION
- Native Species: Tsurani-Subspecies of Humans
- Immigrated Species: Human
- Population: Crowded
- Demographics: Almost entirely Tsurani/Human population, with only a scarce few aliens, often held as slaves on the estates of various Houses.
- Primary Languages: High Tsurani, Galactic Basic
- Culture:
- The culture of Kelewan is based heavily on traditions dating back thousands of years, and there have been minimal amounts of changes in the long history of the Empire. A rigid and strict caste system exists in the world, with every inhabitant knowing their place in life when they are born, and knowing where they will spend their life in service, and look only to an honorable death so as to increase their station in the next coming Cycle of the Wheel of Life. Highly religious and superstitious, the Tsurani culture revolves around the honor of an individual, the honor of their family, and the honor of their ancestors which they strive to uphold. This reverence of family leads to most Tsurani knowing by name vast numbers of extended family, and upon the first meeting of strangers, extensive family trees are exchanged until a clear superior in society is known.
- The lowest and most populous caste in Tsurani society are the slaves, men and women who were born into the position, taken as trophies in the Great Game of the Council by rival Houses, or foreign barbarians claimed in the Empire’s ever-expanding war. Slaves take care of all mundane tasks within the Empire, and their lives are regularly ignored and seen simply as living tools. There is little call for change from this, and even slaves themselves rarely seek freedom. The cause of this being that Tsurani culture sees those born into slavery as individuals reincarnated from a previous Cycle who brought dishonor or shame to themselves or their family. Only through unquestioning service and dedication to their masters can a slave hope to increase their station in the next Cycle. Above slaves are the common folk of the Empire, spread out across the numerous cities of the Empire. They live as merchants and potential recruits for the armies of the various Houses of the Empire. Above the common folk are the warriors, a caste in society below only the ruling lords and ladies of the various Houses. These warriors swear their life and honor to maintain the same of their new lords and masters, and will follow their orders without hesitation, and even sacrifice their lives in their service. The nobility is set above the warriors, and they rule the various Houses, the primary political and military forces across the planet. The Ruling Lord or Ladies and their families maintain the name and honor of their House and fight a constant struggle in the shadows of society against their political enemies in a conflict known as the Great Game of the Council.
- Above all of these castes is the Light of Heaven, the Emperor of the Empire of Tsuranuanni. Seen as a step below the Gods, and the Empire’s head religious figure, the Emperor rules as nothing but a figurehead. The Warlord, the leader of the Council, made up of all the ruling lords and ladies of the Empire, is the true leader of the Empire.
- Government: Oligarchy
- Affiliation: The Empire of Tsuranuanni
- Wealth: Medium
- Stability: Low
- Freedom & Oppression: Outside the ruling lords and ladies of the Houses, few members of Tsuranuanni society have any real freedoms, locked into a system that pushes them to serve without question in the name of a better life after their deaths.
- Military: The military of Kelewan is widely dispersed across the various Houses of the Empire, each sworn directly to their lords and ladies rather than the Empire itself. In times of war, the Warlord calls for the Houses to contribute their forces to the Light of Heaven’s defense, and he himself will then lead the combined armies of the various Houses. Melee combat is seen as the most honorable form of warfare, and ranged weaponry is rarely practiced by the warriors of the Tsurani. Blades and armor forged of Lamiasteel alloy allow Tsurani warriors to engage and fight more modernized armies on other planets, and such blades can even deflect lightsaber strikes for short periods of time. The Empire maintains a small fleet of space capable warships, though they are primarily used as transportation for the armies of the Empire, rather than direct combat themselves.
- Technology: Despite first appearances, Kelewan is near to galactic standards in terms of technology, but the traditions and ways of the Empire of Tsuranuanni, the only political body on the planet, dictate how it is expressed. Swords, spears, and energy bows are still the primary weapons of the warrior caste, and close combat is seen as the only true honorable form of combat. Combat vehicles and aircraft are rarely used by the Empire, and only ever by slaves sworn to their duties, allowing the warriors to fight the true battles. They possess the capability of space travel, though they rarely travel outside their own system, almost entirely focused on their near-constant internal conflict.
The original inhabitants of Kelewan were Dark Jedi, fleeing the deep core during the first Great Schism of the ancient Jedi. Separate from the rest of their kin who fled to Korriban and formed what would eventually become the Sith of the modern galaxy, the few who fled to Kelewan were consumed by hatred for one another, and almost the moment their ship landed on the planet, they began to fight among themselves. By the time the fighting came to an end, only three Dark Jedi remained alive. Between them, they agreed to establish peace on the planet they had landed on, and establish a new nation dedicated to the tenants that had driven them away from the Jedi. Together, the Dark Jedi began the work of creating a new civilization from the remnants of the crew on the ship they had stolen years before.
In time the survivors slowly began to populate and expand their civilization across the surface of the world they had come to name Kelewan. From the three surviving Dark Jedi, the three major institutions that would eventually come to form the bedrock of the Empire of Tsuranuanni began to form. One Dark Jedi became the first Great One and dedicated his life to serving the fledgling Empire and teaching its people how to survive. Another became the first ruling lord of a House, using his knowledge of living creatures and planets to establish farms and villages for the people to live in. The final Dark Jedi, the strongest of the three, became the first Emperor, though he was not known as such then. In time more, Houses would be created as new villages and settlements were created, though any force users on the planet were taken by the Great Ones, to be trained for the war they still knew was to come with the Jedi. In time this knowledge passed from the collective knowledge of the Empire, and nearly one thousand years after their arrival on the planet, the finer knowledge of the force, the Jedi, and the rest of the galaxy was forgotten as the first Imperial War began.
During the one thousand years of growth, numerous Houses had emerged across Kelewan, each one ruling over vast tracts of land and armies of loyal warriors. Among them, there were five Great Houses. The five Great Houses each held direct blood ties to the first House ruled by the ancient Dark Jedi, and as such held an elevated position in society, and it was from their ranks that a new Warlord could be elected. The Warlord was the true leader of the Empire of Tsuranuanni, as the Emperor had long since become a ceremonial figure. The Warlord was considered part of the Imperial family upon his succession, and was one of the few individuals who could speak directly with the Emperor, and wear the mantle of White and Gold, the colors reserved for the Imperial family. Following the death of the sitting Emperor, the ruling Warlord at the time made a move to secure for him further power by wiping out the rest of the Imperial family and taking the Golden Throne for himself. Across the Empire, the various Houses were forced to swear loyalty to the Golden Throne, or face destruction. The ensuing civil war, led by the Warlord on one side and the remaining Great Houses devastated Kelewan. Many thousands of lives were lost, but before the fractured Empire could be irreversibly destroyed, the Great Ones stepped in. The Great Ones had long since separated themselves from society, focused on their efforts to study and perfecting the force, which they saw as magic. The Great Ones stormed Kelawatari and killed the Warlord, before going on to use their power to wipe out the Warlords entire House. In the vacuum of power, the Great Ones elevated a House with nominal ties to the Imperial family to the Golden Throne and declared that war such as Kelewan had just faced could never happen again. With open warfare outlawed on pain of destruction, the various Houses turned instead to subterfuge and trickery to settle blood feuds, many of which had been created in the bloody days of the Imperial War.
The next large conflict erupted on Kelewan not long after the end of the Clone Wars. Darth Sidious, having learned about the Dark Side origins of the Empire of Tsuranuanni, had dispatched a small fleet to subjugate the world so that he could study and investigate the secrets it might hold. Despite their primitive military capabilities compared to the Galactic Empire, the people of Kelewan rallied to the Warlord and fought the grueling war of attrition against the Imperials that saw widespread destruction and expansion of the deserts to the south when the Galactic Empire attempted to burn them out. When the Tsurani were able to gain control of a few Imperial warships, mostly small corvettes with the aid of the Great Ones, who maintained some of the ancient Dark Jedi’s understanding of advanced technology, the Galactic Empire decided to withdraw, as the growing rebel menace required more resources. The second Imperial War erupted not long after the Galactic Empire’s withdrawal, as the Warlord led a popular uprising against the Emperor, whom many said had tried to surrender to the Imperial invasion. Members of the Warlord’s own family were installed as the new Imperial family, and the next five hundred years would see the Empire of Tsuranuanni study and advance their own technology, reversing and expanding on the captured Galactic Empire vessels and weaponry.
The Empire of Tsuranuanni would launch several small invasions of nearby worlds, taking prisoners and spoils as proof of their people’s strength, though always retreating before any large response could be organized against them. This policy would be continued over the following centuries, with the Empire slowly expanding its understanding of the wider galaxy, while the Warlord prepared his people for the coming war he knew must be fought against the ancient enemies of their founders.
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