R A ' K A T H A
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To create a planet that offers rich and exotic locations, as well as several narratives to push characters arcs and stories.
Image Credit: x x x x x x x x
Canon: N/A
Links: x x
GENERAL INFORMATION
Planet Name: Ra’Katha
Demonym: Ra’Kathan (Native Demonyms will vary on Ra’Katha itself, with people either being classified as Wan’anteen or Dejoka’ar. However, both when offworld and -- although it is usually taken as an offensive remark -- by non-natives is it usually permissible to refer to a native as Ra’Kathan).
Region: Outer Rim
System Name: Generally called the Katha system, occasionally spacers will refer to it as the Kathan system after the demonym of Ra’Katha natives.
System Features: Not an entirely extraordinary system, the Katha system contains of one star: a red giant referred to as Katha and the namesake of the system. Around it orbit several planetoids in order of their proximity to Katha:
Jer’Katha: A dwarf planet devoid of life and an atmosphere, Jer’Katha was a subject of mystery and often idolism for the Wan’anteen culture on Ra’katha, and is represented with a god in the Wan’anteen religion. With a crust of primarily iron and nickel, the planetoid is exceptionally bright in Ra’Kathan skies, and is off-limits in terms of mining due to the important part that Jer’Katha plays in Ra’Katha’s religious system.
Ra’Katha: The only populated planet in the Katha system, Ra’Katha is covered in primarily desert, the only exception being the vast mud flats of the north and small sea of the south. Outside of the Geraku mud flat and the Shimmering Sea, there no bodies of water except for rare oases and Oes, a mystical place at the north pole of the planet. Inhabited by a race of primarily dark-skinned humans, the planet is somewhat archaic in terms of technology but still maintains somewhat of an intergalactic trade. Ra’Katha is also rich in ores
Katha Belt: A large ring of irregularly-shaped asteroids, varying from just meters to kilometers in diameter, it is acknowledged to separate the three inner planets of the system from the two ‘outer planets.’ It’s also an abundant source of ice and ore harvested by Te’mansoa Industrial Works.
Re’Katha: A gas planet, it's uninhabited but has been proven to contain large amounts of rare and valuable Tibanna gas. However, the Katha system’s relative isolation has meant that it has not garnered the attention of any major gas-extracting mega conglomerates and is still untouched.
Major Imports:
Water
Fuel
Foodstuff
Unrefined Ore (Limited)
Refined Ore (Limited)
Sophisticated Electronics (Droids, etc.)
Major Exports:
Dooniumhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Doonium/Legends (Ore)
Lommitehttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lommite/Legends (Ore)
Quadrilliumhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Quadrillium (Ore)
Refined Ore
Mercenary Services (Limited)
Starships (Minimal)
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Gravity: Standard.
Climate: The climate is generally arid throughout Ra’Katha. A thirty-rotation period known as the Jemaan’enmonsuul induces heavy rains and torrential downpours on the northern and southern fringes of the planet’s equator, which scientists believe to be melted ice from northern and southern mountain ranges, little though there be. The reason that rain is occuring in the equator itself is that the extremely hot equator does not allow precipitation to occur.
Primary Terrain: Ra’Katha is primarily a desert, although it’s punctuated by semi-arid mountain ranges, oases and small seas, and sandy plateaus.
Atmosphere: Type I.
Major Locations:
Saltühn’unshatwatne in long-form, the Wan’anteen name is translated into “The City of Kings.” Indeed, the name rings true as Saltühn is the largest, most powerful and most wealthy city in Ra’Katha. Formerly the capital of the Rommer Empire, which stretched across the entire planet, it’s fall from glory was not as hard as other parts of the former Empire. Although no longer a capital, Saltühn is still powerful and exotic, with the Great Bazaar of Saltühn only rivaled by the Kunvun’te Trading Post in terms of commerce. The Kemotat Rommer, the ruling family of the city, still names themselves Prince of Ra’Katha among their titles, and although the Rommer Empire may be extinct, the power of Saltühn may make it just so.
Somewhere between a town and a marketplace, the Kunvun’te Trading Post is populated by both the traveling merchants and buyers who come seeking after them. Situated around a cluster of Rock Spires, market stalls both permanent and temporary are erected around the base of the rock, while in older sections of the market stalls and shops are carved into the sandstone. Very few merchants sell at the Trading Post temporarily; different caravans will travel in and out of the Trading Post and occupy vacant stalls, buying and selling as they move through.
An outpost created by Te’mansoa Industrial Works to act as a provisional mine and a scientific research center, the Ravana Outpost is more of a laboratory than a true mine, and more secretive as well. Much of Te’mansoa’s alloy formulas are made here, as well as prototype mining and refining equipment.
The headquarters of Te’mansoa Industrial Works, the Helios Mining Complex is around forty square kilometers in total, boasting a fully-functional spaceport, warehouse, communication, depot, and factory. The entire command of the company is located in the complex, with administrative buildings, communication quadrants, and docking bays taking up the primary area of the IOC; the rest of the complex is dedicated to depots storing ore brought in from underground facilities underneath and around the mining complex. Although much smaller than Saltühn or any other city on Ra’Katha, the Helios Mining Complex shares more than half of the entire planet’s electrical use.
A low-lying valley in the northern hemisphere of the planet, various springs create natural oases, muddy lakes, and general mud that covers most of the terrain. The mud flats give life to much of the creatures and peoples who inhabit the northern hemisphere of Ra’Katha, as the only body of water -- the Shimmering Sea -- is in the southern hemisphere, too far for most to travel for just water.
Literally ‘Gates to Heaven’ in Wan’ante, Oes is the holy place of the Wan’anteen and literally the only permanent structure built by the Wan’anteen. Nearly six millennia old, Oes was built by the first settlers of Ra’Katha that would eventually evolve into the Wan’anteen culture. Located at the northern pole of Ra’Katha, Oes is the only place on Ra’Katha part from the southern pole that naturally supports large vegetation; temples and ruins dot the landscape. Believed by the Wan’anteen to be the place where tribal leaders can communicate with the gods, Wan’anteen tribes will travel to Oes to receive spiritual guidance in times of need, and it is regarded as taboo to fight or perform any sin inside the borders of Oes.
Called the Ey’numene Vatte in Wan’ante, the Shimmering Sea is Ra’Katha’s only true body of water, located in the southern hemisphere. The sea is ringed by multiple small fishing villages and trading posts, but only one true city; Saltühn, the largest and most powerful of all the city-states of Ra’Katha. Named the Shimmering Sea due to it’s sapphire-colored waters and the sparkling reflections it gives when the sun shines on it, many scholars speculate that it is due to the Shimmering Sea that Saltühn was able to grow so powerful and massive.
Force Nexus: Although unproven, mystics have theorized that Oes is a force nexus, along with its theorized sister location. These speculation sare largely due to the fact that even Dejoka’ar and non-natives feel an unnatural spiritual presence at Oes, and legends that Oes sponsored caverns of valuable Kyber crystals. However, this is unproven and many skeptics argue that the lack of a presence of any major galactic force-using organization, such as the Jedi or Sith Order, takes away from Oes’s credibility.
POPULATION
NATIVE SPECIES:
Seknufu
Standing at just under three meters high in full stature, the omnivorous Seknufu over the years has been domesticated by both the Wan’anteen and Dejoka’ar as a means of equestrian transportation and use. Extremely strong, Seknufu are often utilized in pulling carts or sand-sleds or for carrying one or two riders. They are often compared with one another for their speed, strength, and the size as well as length of their scythe-like cranial horns. Only found on males, Seknufu horns are used for mating and dominance in the wild, while in domesticated settings their horns are either for showmanship or for war; Seknufu are used by both the Wan’anteen and Dejoka’ar for combat and war, their horns valuable and deadly weapons in the midst of battle. Similar to many animals native to Ra’Katha, Seknufu have specialized glands which can store water for long periods of time.
Bvuot
Around the same height as a Seknufu, these lumbering quadruped beasts are large and slow, traveling in herds that traverse kilometers day after day in a mindless march. An extremely low metabolism and specialized liquid glands allow Bvuots to survive months without sustenance in the wild for up to several months. Bvuot meat is a staple in both Dejoka’ar and Wan’anteen cultures, and many herds can be found between them.
Khauj
Extremely venomous, the Khauj are scorpion-like insects that have a body half-a-meter long, with a tail twice as long. With six swarming legs, the small Khauj can traverse tricky and unstable terrain fairly easily, and a spike on its tail is filled with poison, for both predators and prey alike. There are antidotes for Khauj venom, but they are rare and expensive, making Khuaj poison a choice weapon for hunters and assasins alike.
Rajek
The apex predator of Ra’Katha, these fearsome cat-like animals are fast and powerful, hunting pretty much any animal, domesticated or not. Depending on regional differences, food supply, and competition Rajek can be found in packs of up to twenty or on their lonesome. They are incredibly dangerous and agile, and even blaster-wielding mercenaries find it tough to take out a single Rajek, and much less a pack of them. A few warlords throughout Ra’Kathan history have domesticated Rajek’s as beasts of war or captured them to display, but domesticating a Rajek is extremely dangerous and difficult, and pet Rajeks are far and few in between.
IMMIGRATED SPECIES:
Humanhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Human/Legends (84%)
Twi’lekhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Twi'lek/Legends (5%)
Weequayhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Weequay/Legends (2%)
Other (7%)
POPULATION: Sparsely-to-moderately populated.
DEMOGRAPHICS:
Wan’anteen: The ‘First People’ in Wan’ante, the Wan’anteen are genetically descended from the first humans to inhabit the planet, colonizers on their massive ark ships who crashed in Ra’Katha’s deserts. Regressing into a primitive culture, most Wan’anteen have black hair and dark skin, and are tall and lean of build. The Wan’anteen are nomadic and stick to themselves, generally only visiting the cities of the Dejoka’ar to trade for necessities. The Wan’anteen created the native language of Ra’Katha, Wan’ante, as well as the religious system, both of which have been adopted by the Dejoka’ar.
Dejoka’ar: The ‘Dominating Ones’ in Wa’ante, the Dejoka’ar is a loose demonym for all the other cultures and species besides the essentially native Wa’anteen. The name is usually only used by the Wan’anteen themselves, as the Dejoka’ar are often fluent in Galactic Basic as well as Wan’ante. The Dejoka’ar have a very exotic, but generally more advanced and less ‘barbaric’ culture compared to the Wan’anteen. Most are genetically descended from settlers on the planet from waning days of the Old Republic, who slowly evolved to be almost native to the planet. With olive-colored skin, lighter than that of the Wan’anteen, and slightly more flourished pronunciation of Wan’ante phrases.
PRIMARY LANGUAGES:
Wan’ante (Native Language)
Huttesehttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Huttese/Legends (Uncommon)
Sy Bistihttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sy_Bisti (Uncommon)
Galactic Basichttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galactic_Basic_Standard (Common)
CULTURE:
Wan’anteen: The Wan’anteen are a primitive subrace of humans, descended from colonists in the days of early space exploration whose ark ships crashed on Ra’Katha’s sandy dunes. Cut off from the galaxy and any means of modern civilization, the early settlers regressed into the Wan’anteen, creating their own language, culture and religious system. Their religious system centers around the orbital bodies in the Ra’Katha system, describing the three planets of the system as three brothers, Jur’Katha, Re’Katha and Ra’Katha. According to the Wan’anteen, the eldest and youngest -- Jur’Katha and Re’Katha, respectively -- are eternal enemies, while Ra’Katha is the middle and peacemaker. The religion of the Wan’anteen also name technology as a curse, most likely deriving from the fact that is was advanced technology that stranded the Wan’anteen on Ra’Katha in the first place. Trying to contain his brother’s fights made the planet dry and arid, but Oes was created as a place of peace where the three could meet in harmony. Living in a patriarchal system where the longest-living males are deemed tribal elders and sit on the elder council, the tribal chief is often a descendant of the first leaders of the Ra’Kathan settlers, and leadership is passed down to the chief’s most worthy heir, a term proven by prowess in combat, spirituality, and leadership. The concept of singular marriage, or marriage at all, is unknown to the Wan’anteen; most tribes simply do not have the population to support traditional concepts of marriage.
Dejoka’ar: The Dejoka’ar are much more culturally and biologically diverse than the Wan’anteen. Most of them heralding from families that have only been on the planet for a couple of generations or so, the influx of immigrants to Dejoka’ar shatwatnes has caused an ever-turbulent change of Dejoka’ar culture, with other aspects borrowed from the native Wan’anteen. Although originally much more democratic, the Dejoka’ar have slowly devolved into various city-states, or shatwatnes, ruled typically by a Kemotat or ruling house. The name, Dejoka’ar, is typically only used by the Wan’anteen while the Dejoka’ar refer to themselves as simply Ra’Kathans, or the Sons of Ra’Katha.
GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY:
GOVERNMENT:
The Wan’anteen live in a tribal patriarchy, where the leader of each tribe is a son of the previous tribal chief. Given that a chief may have multiple wives and a multitude of sons, potential heirs to tribal chiefs may prove themselves in various ways, primarily leadership and combat, to be made tribal chief by the council of elders, and most tribes are essentially one huge family; going back long enough, everyone in a tribe is related, and marriages to second-cousins or even cousins by blood occurs normally throughout Wan’anteen tribes. This practice is viewed barbaric by the Dejoka’ar, although the lower populations of Wan’anteen tribes sometimes utilize this method to prevent a tribe and family line from going extinct.
Most Dejoka’ar live in a system of a monarchy, with Kemotats, or ruling houses, controlling their own city-state. This system was the direct result of the fallout after the collapse of the Rommer Empire, as Kemotars used to be subservient to the ruling family of Ra’Katha. However, after the collapse, each Kemotar seized power over their city and created a system of multiple city-states with a strenuous peace between them, at best.
AFFLICTION: Most arable and valuable land is controlled by different city-states situated throughout Ra’Katha, remnants of the now-fractured Rommer Empire. The Wan’anteen are nomadic, and although loose hunting and tribal boundaries exist, the Wan’anteen hold no real land dominions. The above-ground holdings of Te’mansoa Industrial Works are also small, and the company does not have much control over Ra’Kathans that are unemployed by the mining company.
WEALTH: Especially on a galactic scale, Ra’Katha is a relatively poor planet, with most denizens of the desert planet not even having access to modern technology. The Wan’anteen have virtually no credits or value on the galactic market, but their primitive lifestyle and nature making it so they hardly ever have to purchase off-world goods. The Dejoka’ar, on the other hand, are more modern and less experienced in the ways of the Wan’anteen and surviving on Ra’Katha pre-modern technology. Common off-world tech found on Ra’Katha, while often archaic and almost worthless in a galactic economy, are things such as agricultural field dusters, biodomes, and moisture vaporators. Although Ra’Katha shares a hefty load of the galaxy’s poor, a few natives can claim to be wealthy as well, namely the ruling Kemotats that hold dominion over various city-states.
STABILITY: MEDIUM: Each city-state fends for itself, with their own goals and ambitions, which means that often a war can be started between two or more shatwatnes over land, resources or a slight or insult. While alliances and enemies are ever-changing, rarely has one shatwatne actually destroyed another. There is also animosity between the Wan’anteen and Dejoka’ar, with several great Wan’anteen chieftains proclaiming holy war against the Dejoka’ar, banding together multiple tribes to raid some poor city, spilling blood on either side. As for Te’mansoa Industrial Works, it largely is removed from the politics of Ra’Katha and minds its own business, only acting in self-defense or in protection of its assets.
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION: Generally, more liberal freedoms are virtually nonexistent. Although liberties vary between different shatwatnes and Wan’anteens tribes, most of the former are ruled with an iron fist while the latter are associated with cult-like religions that come with harsh and often primitive-minded boundaries within the different tribes. Although it employs many native Ra’Kathans, and is controlled by a native Ra’Kathan, Te’mansoa Industrial Works has very little civil power over its employees outside of their wages and benefits, which are exorbitant compared to most other trades on Ra’Katha.
MILITARY AND ECONOMY
Military: Militarily, Ra’Katha is rather defenseless. The weapons of the Wan’anteen haven’t evolved for thousands of years, given that their religion sees most advanced technology as blasphemous. While the Rommer Empire had a military formed and able to combat offworld threats, that quickly dissolved when the Rommer Empire was fractured into a dozen pieces. Now, most Shatwatnes only deploy militaries when in war with a neighboring city, armies that use mounted beasts, archaic longrifles and slugthrowers, and with no artillery or armor to speak of. Saltühn is the only city to boast vibroblades, a technology that is extremely advanced compared to anything else on the planet.
Technology: At its peak, which would be the factories and depots of the Te’mansoa, Ra’Katha is fairly technologically advanced. But go down the line -- the Dejoka’ar, then the Wan’anteen -- and Ra’Katha gets progressively uncivilized. The Wan’anteen tribes use almost no technology at all, except for a few rare cases where Wan’anteen have admitted their own into Dejoka’ar hospitals in the cases of rare and virtually incurable disease without the help of modern medicine. The Dejoka’ar are fairly advanced in terms of technology, but the average poverty and destitution of the Dejoka’ar mean that they rarely have access to it. Only the high-level workers in Te’mansoa Industrial Works and rich Kemotats are able to afford modern technology, and even that comes at a steep price.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Ra’Katha was first discovered by the distant ancestors of the Wan’anteen, ancient human travellers in the early days of exploration, when sleeper or ‘ark’ ships were used in tandem with hypercannons to create colonies throughout the galaxy. The original, intended destination of the fateful sleeper ship is unknown, but a flaw in the technology caused the massive ship to crash in the harsh sandy dunes of Ra’Katha, stranding the human settlers on the unforgiving world.
Harsh conditions and a complete loss of contact with the rest of the galaxy caused those settlers to regress in terms of technology, and it was only a few generations before the ancient Wan’anteen were being taught to hate technology and anything modern, destroying most (but not all) traces of the sleeper ship that had brought them there. For millennia upon millennia, this primitive culture foundered and flourished, although there is little historians know about what truly happened during this time period. The Wan’anteen do not keep records or written archives, meaning that anything known about this time is told through the threads of stories woven over the millennia, giving them the potential to be highly inaccurate.
The first documented history of Ra’Katha began in 34 BBY, when colonizers from the Mid Rim traveled to and settled on the planet to try and make their life there. THey instantly found it much rougher than they expected; the Wan’anteen were hostile to the invaders from the sky, and Ra’Katha itself was not a welcoming host. Yet one man, Juuk Rommer, decided to fight back against the planet and the native savages.
And so the Rommer Empire was slowly carved out on Ra’Katha, consuming territory like wildfire, easily defeating Wan’anteen tribes with their advanced technology and weapons. Great cities were raised up on Ra’Katha, and none more great than Saltühn, who’s splendor was unlimited, wrote one traveller to visit the great city. For more than four hundred years, the Rommer Empire flourished with trade and wealth, drawing companies and visitors from all across the galaxy to Ra’Katha’s sandy shores.
Yet when the Gulag Plague struck the galaxy, its repercussions were felt heavily on the sandy planet. Fear was rank among the people of Ra’Katha, for fear that the virus would strike and kill millions as they sat suffering in their hovels. For that reason, the last Emperor of Ra’Katha completely closed the ports of Ra’Katha, expelled all outsiders, and instituted a policy of complete and total isolation. But what the Emperor could not have foreseen was the massive fallout that isolation would cause; the Rommer Empire’s wealth relied on intergalactic trade, and without that, the Rommer Empire collapsed. Indivdual lords, or Kemotars in Wan’ante, took power for themselves, and the Rommer Empire fractured into dozens of small city states.
And thus, the dark ages of Ra’Katha began. Feuds between cities often meant war, and it seemed Ra’katha itself was out for blood, swallowing up entire cities in blood and sand. Suspicion, fear, and divisiveness grew, leaving what had formerly been a powerful Empire merely a handful of city states in the sands.
However, when the rest of the galaxy ended their four-hundred-year darkness, so did Ra’Katha by the way of Te’mansoa Industrial Works. Originally a mining company from Eriadu striking their luck in the Outer Rim, the company was taken over by none other than [member=”Bastille Rommer”], who was by blood the direct descendent of Juuk Rommer and thereby heir to the Rommer Empire. Unlike his predecessors, Bastille was ambitious and longed to reignite the fire that had once been Ra’Katha. And thus, Bastille began consolidating his power through the wealth of Te’mansoa, drawing on the wealth and trade the company was bringing in to reinvigorate the Ra’Kathan economy, starting first with Saltühn as buildings and bazaars were restored to their former glory.
The history of Ra’Katha hangs on a precipice, one step away from disaster but also one step away from eternal glory. The actions of the few will affect the many, and no one can truly say what lies in store for this small desert planet in the Outer Rim.
