OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Expand on the lore of Taypho.
- Image Credit:
- Planet Image (above): Business Insider
- Seaweed Forest (fig 1): The Guardian
- City Image (fig 2): Igor Golyuk
- The Taï (fig 3 & 4): Luca (screenshot)
- Canon: Yes
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Taypho
- Planet Name: Taypho
- Demonym: Taï (pl. Taïs)
- Region: Mid Rim
- System Name: Tayï
- System Features: The Tayï System is organized as a collection of 3 terrestrial planets, 2 gas giants, 1 ice giant, and 3 dwarf planets orbiting the star Tayï. Taypho is the third planet of the Tayï System, and is orbited by 2 natural satellites, which are the moons Dune and Quay. An interior asteroid belt divides the terrestrial planets from the giants and outlying dwarf planets. The heliopause features a notable debris disk, though not dense enough to pose a significant risk to navigation.
- Location: Empty Hex, East of Adrathorpe and West of Wizar II
- Major Imports:
- Major Exports:
- Unexploited Resources: Mirkanite (lava flows)
fig 1. Taypho's seaweed forests
- Gravity: Standard
- Climate: Temperate (Wet).
- Primary Terrain: Taypho was almost entirely covered in water, being home to a massive ocean environment. Only a few islands dotted the surface of the planet, with most being coral atolls that may be submerged during tide shifts.
- Atmosphere: Type I
fig 2. the Royal Karibaan Hotel of Barge
- Capital City: Barge
- Planetary Features: Taypho is a water world, with only a few islands or structures above the ocean's surface. Its true ecosystem lies under the sea, with massive kelp forests, undersea mountains, and abyssal valleys forming a diverse biosphere that extends from just below the surface all the way to the ocean floor. Very few of its sparse landmass were true islands and were, instead, being formed from coral atolls that may be partially submerged during high tides. The Great Reef was a natural wonder of the planet and a major tourist attraction, alongside the massive seaweed forests.
- Major Locations:
- Barge. The planetary capital and major city, Barge is home to the Taïs central government and its economy. All exports ship through the port at Barge, and all imports or tourists pass through customs and immigration here. The main thoroughfare is known as the Central Canal and connects the city center to the planetary spaceport. Most structures are open to the ocean environment, with open doorways and windows designed to take advantage of current to keep water circulating to avoid stagnation. Those parts of the city designed for terrestrial visitors rely on a combination of hydrostatic fields and transparisteel to enclose pockets of air or a dry environment. The Royal Karibaan Hotel was a resort located in Barge that catered to tourists of varying environmental needs.
- Spaceport. A towering spire, the spaceport was the tallest man-made structure to extend above the ocean's surface. Rather than the standard ray shielding, the spaceport used the same hydrostatic technology to enclose its berths and docking bays. It used a series of underwater elevators to transfer goods, materials, and people from the ocean surface to the aquatic environment below, being connected to the city of Barge.
- Floating Markets. Taypho's floating market was composed of a multitude of floating shanties and merchant stalls that surrounded the upper docking bays on the ocean surface, catering to the terrestrial spacers and merchants trading at the spaceport who might not otherwise venture down to Barge. Due to being above the surface, this was a part of the local economy where Taï were a minority, with the shop owners here being composed of a majority of immigrant workers.
fig 3. the Taï, people of Taypho
- Native Species: Taï
- Immigrated Species: Gamorrean, Human, Ithorian, Mon Calamari, Quarren, Rodian
- Population: Moderate
- Demographics: An isolated world distant from the known hyperlanes, Taypho is populated by a majority indigenous Taï and a very slim minority of other races. Most immigrants to Taypho are aquatic or amphibian, as the planetary ecosystem and Taï society do not have significant support for the needs of terrestrial lifeforms.
- Primary Languages: Galactic Basic
- Culture: Isolation and population decline amid the Gulag Plague altered Taypho's culture, prompting economic and social reforms that transformed the planet into a self-sufficient agriworld with controlled population growth to balance community needs against the risk of outpacing food production. Its indigenous languages died off during the New Republic era, leaving Galactic Basic as the language of the planet. The major religion is the Church of the Force, though the Order of the Esoteric Pulsar has a significant following as well. The Tide of the Equinox is a major cultural holiday for the Taïs, while the Barge Big Race is a major sporting event.
fig 4. Taypho featured a mostly agricultural economy
- Government: Social Democracy
- Affiliation: New Republic (pre-Gulag Plague)
- Wealth: Medium. An agriworld, Taypho relies on trade for major manufacturing components, such as lommite. Its isolation from the galactic hyperlanes restricts its available trade volume. In terms of self-sufficiency, the social programs that control population growth have been successful in keep food production ahead of community needs. Poverty and starvation are virtually gone from Taï society, but its manufacturing capacity is significantly behind its potential due to the costs and difficulty in getting access to off-world materials.
- Stability: High. The Four Hundred Years Darkness was a rebirth for Taï society. The social and economic reforms enacted for survival centuries ago have become the norm for the current generation. Universal health care, collective bargaining, and state-ownership of major industries provide for both stability and representation. Most Taï are employed in the agricultural sector. Outside agricultre, the public sector forms the second highest employer.
- Freedom & Oppression: While the Taï enjoy a number of freedoms, two areas of its society are restrictive.
- Amid a high mortality rate that signalled significant population decline, and the uncertainty of ever trading off-world again, the Taï enacted a program to restrict family growth, with the goal of balancing population growth against food production, health care capacity, and other key social factors to ensure both an adequate future workforce while not risking overpopulation. While the planet has since stabilized, the government has retained the practice, making adjustments as necessary following a census to either a one child or two child policy.
- The labor force is organized into unions by sector or industry, with 90% of all Taï workers represented in this fashion. Collective bargaining is the principal means of addressing labor disputes or transformative change, marginalizing those who fall short of the majority vote within their respective union.
- Military: Taypho features a system defense force, composed primarily of corvettes and frigates, designed for patrol and home space security.
- Technology: Galactic standard. Like Mon Calamari technology, Taï technology is designed for immersion and extended operation in aquatic environments. Materials resistant to salt water corrosion are preferred for manufacturing, particularly transparisteel and alantium. The Taï developed bioengineering as a source of clean energy, which was refined into the bioreactors used for both municipal power generation and starship drive cores -- which are enhanced through the use of agrocite (also imported from off-world). Their computer systems also use organoform circuitry, which has a coral structure to it. Because of this, Taï ships and technology require a biotech tool kit for repairs, making it difficult to manage when off-world where such biotechnology may be uncommon or not well understood.
Taypho was an isolated world in the Mid Rim, far from any of the known hyperlanes.
It became known to the Old Republic during the Pius Dea Crusades, where it was noted as an astrological object only. The lack of available landmass did not suit its use as an ORD and the Taï themselves went unnoticed, as the shipboard sensors of the period did not distinguish them from the non-sentient marine life. Thus, first contact with the galaxy did not occur until a century after the Crusades, when a Herglic mining consortium arrived to survey the seabed for possible resources. The initial introduction to the Republic went well, as the Herglics proved capable mediators and introduced the people of Taypho to aliens that they could relate to, such as Mon Calamari and Nautolans. Introduction to Duros and Humans was difficult, at best, as the Taï demonstrate an unwillingness to part from their ocean environments (not that they are incapable, merely unwilling).
During the decline of the Republic and Clone Wars, Taypho was a protectorate represented by the Herglics in the Galactic Senate. Following the Declaration of a New Order, an Imperial Governor was installed, who immediately enacted mining programs intended to benefit the Empire at the cost of the environment and its indigenous people. This led to many Taï supporting the Alliance to Restore the Republic. When the New Republic was founded, the Taï represented Taypho directly, though its isolation and distance from the major hyperlanes would continue to restrict access to many manufacturing components.
During the New Republic Era, the Church of the Force rose to prominence as the dominant philosophy for Taï faithful, alongside a minority following in the Order of the Esoteric Pulsar. The original languages of the Taï fell out of use as trade and exposure to the galactic economy put emphasis on education in Galactic Basic. As of 841 ABY, there were no known speakers of any native language.
The outbreak of the Gulag Plague was particularly devastating to the planet. High mortality and the loss of off-world trade threatened to collapse both the government and the economy. Strict protocols were enacted with the planet reorganized into a socialist government that bordered on communism while the economy was rebuilt around a renewed emphasis on agriculture. Without access to off-world imports, recycling became the only means of advancing manufacturing -- resulting in technological advancements virtually coming to a halt throughout the Four Hundred Years Darkness. After the first century, economic and social reforms started to take shape, coming to fruition across the following generations. By the end of the Four Hundred Years Darkness, Taypho was a social democratic society that favored community over individual interests.
As of 860 ABY, Taypho remained an independent world. Isolated from the hyperlanes, it did not even appear on some star charts. For those familiar with it, its biotechnology was highly valued by aquatic societies, but the organoform circuitry was difficult to repair with the proper biotech tool kits.
Beyond the city of Barge, Taypho is populated by diverse towns and villages -- some near the surface and others deep in the lightless reaches. Those engaged in the agricultural sector include fisheries herding schools of fish and farmers raising sea-based vegetables.
