D E A T H C U L T I S T
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: This post is intended overhaul the original planet of Ankhypt within current Codex standards, as well as to further flesh out local culture and government details.
- Image Credit: Markus Brackelmann, ArtStation
- Canon: No.
- Permissions: Overhaul permissions.
- Links: Anubians | The Bryn'adul | Chaos Timeline | Second Sith Empire |
- Planet Name: Ankhypt
- Demonym: Ankhyptian; Ankhyptic.
- Region: Wild Space, to the 'galactic south-east' of Altor 14.
- System Name: Tempun-Hra, named for the indigenous sun god
- System Features: One small, Type IV volcanic world named for the war god Khnut sits in the closest orbital position with an orbital period of six months. Ankhypt has a singular resource-poor natural satellite named Thoth-Set. Three more planets sit beyond Ankhypt's orbital position - a distant Type IV 'dead' rocky world named for the death god Onsaros in the third orbital position with as-yet untapped spice deposits, and a singular gas giant, a mostly blue one named Het-Khet-Mot for the rain goddess. Beyond that are various dwarf planets and planetoids not given names throughout the system's singular asteroid belt, rather rich in water-ice asteroids and cortisis-lined asteroids.
- Location: Wild Space, to the 'galactic south' of Dubrava.
- Major Imports: Advanced droids | Starship components
- Major Exports: Water-Ice | Cortosis | Advanced, Industrial Moisture Vaporators
- Unexploited Resources: Medicinal Spices
- Gravity: Slightly above standard
- Climate: Arid; Dune seas are prevalent closer to the equator, with temperatures cooling enough for Savannah regions to sprout closer to the poles.
- Primary Terrain: Sand, ranging from sparsely populated dune seas to flatter desert plains as well as relatively small savannah regions.
- Atmosphere: Type I
- Capital City: Gebuset, marginally; Planet divided among six 'oasis-states'
- Planetary Features: A number of key cities - including Gebuset - are centered around massive oases, each comparable to a small sea in their own right. A sprawling subterranean cave system also exists, with much of it unexplored save for areas around the few mountains. Evidence of old underground river systems as well as ancient off-worlder mining operations are both present, though many cave systems are also formed inexplicably and are thus the subject of theories and folklore alike.
- Major Locations: Gebuset Oasis-State, Kisru Oasis-State, Shetukhen Oasis-State, Nazum Oasis-State, Metona Oasis-State, Nafudhet Oasis-State, Great Northern Savannah, Great Southern Savannah, Ebsai Mountains, High Temple of Gebuset
- Force Nexus (Optional): Present.
Intent: To give a measure of what millennia of being the 'religious capital' of a species-wide death cult will do to a temple's grounds.
Nexus Name: High Temple of Gebuset - Nexus Alignment: Dark Side
- Size: Medium
- Strength: Strong
- Accessibility: It is heavily guard much like any other, more common Jedi or Sith temple by Dark Side-wielding religious warriors. Access is only granted to Anubians or specifically welcomed guests during religious ceremonies.
Or to those victims that will be sacrificed upon their altars. - Effects: For those steeped in the Dark Side, it is as invigorating as clean water or fresh air - while also strengthening those typical negative emotions of the Dark Side like a berserk-inducing stim. For those not of the Dark Side, it ranges... drastically. Fel whispers in one's mind, the paranoia of being watched, hallucinations, even the risk of insanity for those not of stiffer will.
POPULATION
- Native Species: Anubians, various native desert flora and fauna, as well as fish species within the oases, their branching rivers, and the subterranean river systems.
- Immigrated Species: A small smattering of other species - including humans - can be found on the planet, with their combined numbers making up a rather small percentage of the population.
- Population: Heavy, numbering in the low billions. Little under one hundred million humans live there, largely enslaved or living as second class citizens.
- Demographics: The Anubians allow very few aliens on their world or even within their home star system, with much of this mistrust stemming from repeat examples of alien invasion that has had a variety of effects on their society ranging from brief strife to outright destruction of a standing society.
- Primary Languages: Ankhyptian - Various local, generally mutually intelligible dialects exist within the few Oasis-Cities. Some minor, largely dying languages also exist for a few remote villages or subterranean settlements.
- Culture: In general, the cultural practices of this world will match up with that of it's native species, the Anubians. Theirs is a primitive seeming culture, lacking in many things the rest of the galaxy takes for credit, such as supermarkets or large portions of speeders and other means of personal transportation. Instead, clusters of markets and privately owned storefronts are where one finds commerce, sprawling across the various cities, trading posts, and villages. Sports typically involved combative activities to be streamed along various live services, ranging from fairly mundane wrestling competitions or more exotic sorts such as sportly melees - or more savage things indeed, such as blood sports within large and resplendent gladiator arenas. Many of the contestants of these blood sports will be wealthy or skilled Anubian volunteers, fighting imported slaves and dangerous fauna - or each other, with even those that lose finding glory as their souls are commemorated to paradise through glorious death. Clubs are also rather rare, at least in the traditional sense; hookah lounges, taverns, and public baths are the most common sorts of public commodities one will find when wishing to 'hang out.' More in depth cultural and historical accounts can be found in upcoming publications.
- Government: Theocratic Monarchy in theory, Mixed Theocratic Republic in practice
- Affiliation: Largely itself, in spite of whichever fledgling 'superpower' might come to claim their system.
- Wealth: Wealthy - Even with their interstellar colonial nation ruined and their world still in the process of rebuilding, quick and intelligent deals on selling cortosis gathered from space mining operations have quickly reinvigorated the economy in the years since the Bryn'Adul collapsed.
- Stability: Medium - The loss of the monarchy, coupled by the stresses of a rebuilding society, has lead to some noticeable civil unrest. The ruling government also has various disagreements among it's priesthood, military leaders, noble elite, and rich burghers, one of the most notable being on who shall be the next pharaoh - or if the monarchy should even be restored at all.
- Freedom & Oppression: Trade is rather free, and political idealism is allowed to a certain extent - only those ideals supported by a significant governmental or military faction will be welcomed, with upstart rivals likely being crushed violently. Religion is tightly controlled, with any belief not strictly in line with the traditional gods of Ankhypt being either tightly regulated and watched or outright suppressed. Anything that leans to the Light Side is considered paganism and adherence to such is punishable by death or exile, depending on circumstances.
- Military: The Anubians currently lack a standing 'federal' military, with ground, air, and space forces being provided by various nobles or militant orders.
- Technology: In general, Ankhypt's technological standing is comparable with the rest of the galaxy, albeit lacking in a few quality-of-life commodities who's absence might raise eyebrows among foreigners.
Officially, recorded history for the Anubians and Ankhypt as a whole begins some 15,000 years ago, when their first planetary civilizations were starting to enter their equivalent of the bronze age. This period, and the near mythical times before it, are referred to as a whole by the local moniker 'Age of Barbarians.' For many millennia, their society developed a number of warring an independent city-states. Many of these would rise and fall over time, with the ancient iron age state known as the Kingdom of Nesh founding the primitive beginnings of modern Anubian theocracy and their idea of the 'pharaoh,' at least according to legend. This kingdom would build an empire spanning a land area equal to a continent, and lasted in some shape or form, through a multitude of dynasties and religions until the Anubian's equivalent of the atomic age had come about.
The atomic age saw many changes. The great 'oasis seas' were constructed in massive engineering feats to provide abundant fresh water for a growing civilization. The majority of the planet had become industrialized, with the already hot climate only growing hotter still as atmosphere-thickening fumes from factories polluted the skies - thus necessitating these oasis seas all the more. Notably, however, there was never any great, global war to unify entire hemispheres along imperial and ideological lines; Anubians at this time, although venerating death much as modern Anubians do, simply were not so warlike as to unleash great wars or atomic fire. Not yet.
The Great Galactic War would eventually reach their world. By direction of one of the Sith sworn to Darth Vitiate, aggressive colonial efforts in this corner of the galaxy were to be made. The Anubians resisted well, and even had support from the Old Republic when the invading Sith had destroyed the ancient Kingdom of Nesh - which had been making strides towards true republic - with orbital bombardment. Thus unleashed an apparent tide; Sith ships in atmosphere across the planet were destroyed in a massed nuclear bombardment, bathing much of the planet in radiation for decades to come and plunging it into a years-long nuclear winter.
The conflict refused to end, even with nuclear weapons ultimately killing hundreds of millions - the vast majority being Anubians. It remained a low to medium intensity conflict throughout the ensuing Cold War, picking up in intensity during spikes in galactic warfare. It's debated on how long this period of constant warfare with True Sith lasted, with some saying merely decades and others saying it lasted many centuries. What's agreed upon, however, is that the warfare continued well after the Sith Empire collapsed and the Republic had largely abandoned that space. Sith colonialism continued well after the Empire's fall - but the natives had adapted.
Already teetering on the darker side of grey morality as a Force Sensitive species, the pain and rage they felt as alien invaders occupied their world for generations had shot them straight down to the Dark Side until they, within the Force, were indistinguishable from the ancient Sith they so hated.
It's certainly known that the last human territories upon Ankhypt were destroyed and conquered some two thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, but by this point all recollection and cultural ties to the Sith had been largely forgotten by these human states - and even by the Anubians, who only relearned the identity of those ancient invaders in recent times.
The next two thousand years were spent slowly rebuilding and exploring beyond their star system, with power becoming increasingly centralized within the monarchy and theocracy of Gebuset - often loosely connected to the Kingdom of Nesh as a sort of spiritual successor state. This period of time saw great trade (and the occasional border skirmish) with the families of Hutt space, as well as various other regional powers in that corner of the galaxy. It also saw the end; a devastating invasion some years after the Clone Wars, with Ankhypt once more having invaders occupy the planet - this time, under the star destroyers of the First Galactic Empire.
History repeated itself; years were spent fighting and freeing themselves from another imperialist rule, with various warlords being fought against after Palpatine's death until they were able to rise up and cast their shackles off again. There was to be no second glory for Ankhypt, however; mere centuries later, isolationism had left Ankhypt weakened to invasion once more.
Now, years after the Bryn'adul invasion, Ankhypt is a changed world. Great craters mark much of the surface, with ruins of old and ancient battlefields slowly being swallowed by the desert. Its great oasis-states - Gebuset, Kisru, Shetukhen, Nazum, Metona, and Nafudhet - have largely returned to an independent state. These six global powers are united in culture and religion - but all now compete in the shadows to see what their future unity shall be shaped as.
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