John Locke
V U L K A N
[SIZE=9pt]OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Intent:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] To submit a planet for use in Roleplay and as a central world to base Locke and Key's development of major facilities on in the future.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Image Credit: [/SIZE]ArtStation
[SIZE=9pt]Canon:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] No[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Links:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Locke and Key Mechanics[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Planet Name:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Fenris[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Demonym: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Fenrisian[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Region:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Mid[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]System Name:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Deominator[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]System Features: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Vánagandr:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] A large gas giant with 14 moons trapped in its orbit, several of which are the site of Corporation industrial facilities. The Gas Giant itself is being mined for Tibanna gas[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Aesyl-Sar Belt:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] An asteroid belt that splits the system in 2, several corporations have industrial facilities and mining works in the belt.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Iydris:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] A picturesque ice planet in the inner system. Several dome colonies exist on the world, some corporation, and some civilian.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Coordinates: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]X-29[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Major Imports:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Luxury goods, foodstuffs, [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Major Exports:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Manufactured goods, resources, some technology through trusted agents[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Gravity:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] 1.5 times standard[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Climate:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Tropical at the equator and temperate at the edge of the jungle band. The mountains are cooler given their greater height. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Primary Terrain:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Jungle, Mountain, Ocean, a few grassland islands[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Atmosphere: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Type I[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Major Locations: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]([/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]x[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt])[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Celise City[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]([/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]x[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt])[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Constine City[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]([/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]x[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt])[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Wulfsholme[/SIZE]
(x)
[SIZE=9pt]Caryn [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]POPULATION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Native Species:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] N/a[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Immigrated Species:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Various genetically modified humans[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Population:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Moderately Populated: The population is concentrated in several large cities and well-defended towns or in orbital stations throughout the system.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Demographics:[/SIZE]
Various Genetically Modified species (to be subbed): 53%
[SIZE=9pt]Fenrisian Humans: 32%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Immigrant populations (60% human 40% alien): 15%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]As a whole the inhabitants of Fenris aren’t xenophobic, not are they xenophiles, there is a certain element of cultural elitism at having survived and thrived on such a hostile world. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Primary Languages:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Galactic Basic, Fenrisian[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Culture:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [/SIZE]
A Post Modern Society Fenris is a planet deep in the thrall of the corporations that run its industry. Its major redeeming factor is that no one corporation has achieved dominance, but rather there are several which remain in competition with one another. Almost the entire planet is employed by the corporations or the government in one way or another, and the larger corporations engender an almost gang-like sentiment from some of their workers. There are families that have spent generations working for the same company slowly working their way up the corporate and social ladders.
[SIZE=9pt]Outside of work, Fenris is home to three distinct cultures that have evolved separately from one another, a history of war that has only recently started to be subsumed into a planetary community. There are still areas of the cities which are predominantly the domain of one species, where human or Pharakis culture and shops are on display, while in the building next door the cultural focus might be entirely different. Elsewhere many different species can share the same block without any problems. This has created a mixing pot of cultures, in some cities, this has led to a strong alloy being formed, while elsewhere distrust and fear reign supreme. There are areas it’s simply not safe to walk if you’re the wrong species. The one commonality is a healthy respect for the planet that has formed them, forcing people to live in cities that build high rather than wide, large blocks of towers the usual housingfare of the inhabitants. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Living in such cramped close conditions it’s not a surprise that people form a sense of community, gathering around their commonalities with their neighbours to help alleviate the sense of being packed too tightly. Sports and cultural shows play a significant role in this, block parties to watch major sporting events or celebrate holidays are not uncommon, nor are stories of people seeking to assist their neighbours if they need. In every city, you have those interested in seeing their own plays or those of the others performed and there is always a wide variety of shows put on. In the last few centuries, this has moved beyond strictly cultural plays, and have started to include a mixture of different species within the same play, stirring the elements of all the cultures into place as the Fenrisian culture started to settle. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Government:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] A Constitutional Monarchy[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Executive:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Given their dominant position at the end of the warring period the Pharakis emerged as the predominant species on the planet, the Emperor of the Pharakis assuming the position of ruler of the planet and the head of the Fenris Executive branch of government. He is aided in this role by the triumvirate, a human, a Dzarsia and a Pharakis chosen by their representative species to be their representatives. The triumvirate act as cabinet and security council to the king. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Legislative:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] The legislative branch of the government is made up of a parliament of 100 officials from all over the system. 90 of these officials are elected by the people while 10 officials are given to the 10 largest Corporations on the planet to act as their representatives as a measure of respect for the advances the corporations have made and as a recompense for ending the state of war that had existed previously. (The corporations in effect act as a house of lords, they don’t have the votes to create any legislation they want, but their swing vote can often be the balance between legislation passing and not. Local city governments maintain a significant role in carrying out the laws passed by the legislative branch. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Affiliation:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] None, although Locke and Key Mechanics is establishing a major presence on the planet. [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Wealth: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]High:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Fenris is a world of contradictory extremes, the harsh and destructive nature of the planet forcing the Fenrisians to evolve, both biologically and technologically. While much of their best technology is kept to themselves Fenrisian goods and technology are a major import for the corporations that have come to dominate industry on the planet resulting in an income significantly higher than the galactic average for the smaller population. Even within the population, the wealth is tiered, the owners of the larger corporations possess the majority of the planet's wealth, allowing them to live luxurious and in some cases hedonistic lives. But lives willed with the threat of falling from grace to end as one of the masses who, while better off than most planets citizens couldn’t hold a candle to their own elite.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Stability: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Fenris is a planet of two poles, the Corporate and the political. The two forces serve to keep one another in check. Both elements serve to police the population and prove a structure to live their lives, and while there is a present underworld, it is actually succoured and utilised by those in power as long as it remains within their bounds and refrains from notable actions. When radicals or criminals do kick up a large enough fuss to be noticed the heavily interconnected nature of the Fenrisian technology allows them to swiftly by tracked own and dealt with often by corporate security of PMCs. For the most part to population is satisfied, their jobs offering the dream of moving up the ladder and entire corporations and criminal gangs dedicated to providing entertainment and catering to their needs, for the right amount of money of course. Much of the society rotates around the Corporations and even the governments will fail to aggravate a sufficiently large corporation without good cause, and significant backup from other corporations.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=9pt]Freedom & Oppression:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] While a society that prides itself on its advanced ideas it is generally seen as a good idea not to insult a Corporation or government until you were sure of your financial safety. While speech is not censored, and indeed corporations and governments have fallen due to the press before, the CEOs and leaders of nations weren’t above striking back at those they felt had wronged them. While they might not blame a journalist, they might blame the owner of the company the journalist writes for, and displeasure flows downhill, for that reason those cutting edge pieces are very politically motivated, and often part of a large company-wide strategy. Yet this has very little impact on the average citizen who has little to fear as long as they obey the rules of the corporations they work for and the country in which they live. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]MILITARY & TECHNOLOGY[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Military:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Every citizen of Fenris is obliged to undertake 5 years of national service by the time they turn 30. This can mean training in the national guard of whichever national they live in, or with a corporation's private military. This is primarily to create a sense of connection with your fellow citizens. Actual military ops on the planet are carried out by PMCs or corporate security supported by the Fenrisian Military made up of trained professionals under the command of the central authority. If the world is threatened, or offensive operations are called for the professional military is supported by the militia or PMCs who operate under a charter requiring them to provide aid when requested. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Technology:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] The harsh planet forced the inhabitants to develop new technologies, to expand them across the planet to help protect themselves from the fauna and the elements. The entire planet was wrapped in a cybersphere making communication, entertainment and knowledge easily to anyone with the correct technology. The cybersphere also allowed anyone lost in the wilderness to signal for help and to be located, This technology is melded into every aspect of the lives of the citizens of Fenris, from rooms that can modulate lighting and temperature to meet your personal preferences, to targeted newsfeeds, personal force fields, advanced robotics, computing and droids combined with adaptive biotechnology which set the technological level of Fenris well above the galactic mean.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The Founding[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Discovered during a survey mission back during the early Old Republic the heavier than usual gravity combined with the inhospitable climes made it a less attractive world than many other options that were being discovered at the time. Interest because of a proliferation of resources on the planet and in the system, a mining corp thought that establishing a colony would let them claim the system and its resources. Putting out a call for potential colonists, cleared out a colony in the middle of the temperate zone and trumpeting it on the holonet as a great achievement. However, the initial disregard for the planet came back to bite them then. While it was indeed a resource-rich hub no-one had thought to examine the flora and fauna of the planet. Almost as soon as the new colonists landed they were assailed by the native life, plants and trees encroaching on their new colony, animal attacks picking off anyone who strayed outside, or even walked the streets alone at night. The new colony took on an air of a city under siege, abandoning the edges of the city, a proliferation of arms suddenly appearing as people began fearing for their lives. Faced with this, a colony that was supposed to stake their claim to the planet and its resources the company pulled up stakes, cutting their losses and backing out. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Faced with their link to the outside being so abruptly cut off, the colonists were forced to turn in on themselves, looking to their dwindling supplies of technology as a way to get out of this mess. It was here things started to go very wrong, the colonists splitting into two camps. One camp wanted to retreat up into the mountains, to establish cities and habitats on the peaks. Although the weather was harsher, and the climes less hospitable, the mountains took them away from the killer fauna of the temperate belt. The other faction felt that remaining in the temperate belt gave them the best shot at surviving, they just had to adapt to their circumstances. It was the first of many conflicts for the planet, both factions scrambling over the technology and resources available before backing out to lick their wounds.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Using the technology available to them the two factions approached the problem of their survival on the inhospitable world in different ways. The faction that had remained on the ground modified their genes, the genes of their children, adding honeycombed bones and a taller lighter frame, becoming the Pharakis. They built cities in the trees, on the islands finding locations where their habitats were protected from the monsters that lurked in the depths of the forest. They were the farmers and the scientist, the colonists who felt that living in harmony with the land, and adapting to it was the best bet for them. They created a culture based on respect and nurturing of the land they lived on, developing a deeper connection to the land, and an emphasis on their connection to it. The Pharakis developed an almost shamanistic connection to the force.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The colonists that retreated up to the mountains were primarily the engineers and those involved in the physical sciences, those who sought to control the world around them. They suffered a further schism in their planning to survive on the planet. The majority of these colonists didn't engage in any genetic modifications, believing they were capable of surviving without giving up on their humanity. They built up walled cities in the mountains, trusting in their walls to protect them from the terrors that assailed them. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The final faction thought that just creating walled cities wouldn’t be enough, though that while the animal-based modifications of the Pharakis were cute, it wasn’t what was needed. They decided to retreat underground, digging out a vast underground compound to separate themselves from the horrors of the surface, only to find the monsters that lurked under the ground were just as bad. They also used the remaining genetic technology to modify their own bodies, taking the modifications of the Pharakis a step further, developing thicker muscles and dense bodies to counter the gravity, a decreased height to allow for smaller tunnels. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The Dark Ages[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]As the three factions retreated the inevitable happened, without the schools or access to the outer galaxy much of their knowledge of technology was lost, what technology they did have falling into disuse and disrepair. Over the years they became artefacts and sources of religious veneration rather than the tools they were originally planned to be. The Humans in their walled cities fell back into an almost feudalistic city-state politics, each great city out for itself. The Dzarsia maintained a greater cultural homogeneity, most of them remaining in the one great compound they had built underground, satellite mines appearing as their population expanded. While the Pharakis did form several communities, they tended to no grow too much for fear of attracting predators. Instead, each nest would split when it grew too large, maintaining themselves at the size of a small city. They maintained political contacts with one another, meeting every few years in a grand conclave. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The one thing that was true for all three races was a near constant state of tension and war. Their parent's antipathy towards one another had been passed down to their children, even though, as time grew on they forgot why it was they were fighting one another at the start. The three linked races began a few centuries of conflict with both one another and the planet on which they lived, a war that the planet was winning more than anyone else. Short term treaties between cities and races sprang up only to find themselves discarded in lieu of the next treaty, the next war. A bevvy of heroes rose and fell during this time, individuals who turned the course of history around them, whose names were passed down in history for defending their people, or for slaughtering others. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]It was a state of affairs that continued for millennia as the three races expanded both their technology and populations. Although despite their improving technology, the planet remained hostile, all three ideas of dealing with it were successful, they all had their own failings. The Dzarsia were the least concerned about the surface world, isolating themselves in their tunnels, only emerging to trade or war with the other races. It was the Pharakis and the Humans that fought one another the most in conflicts ranging from small patrol groups to cities to entire alliances.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]An Age of War[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The problem with a conflict, any conflict that lasts generations, is that eventually, you forget why you’re fighting; the conflict itself becomes a means unto itself separated from any reason. Your fight because your parents fought, and their parents fought. That’s what the situation on Fenris had fallen into, a constant back and forth of war that raged without recourse or conversation. A war that stretched across the entire planet, from the depths of the mountains to the centre of the jungles. A war that forced isolated communities to band together, the political structures on the planet shifting under the pressure. The humans and Pharakis, in particular, had fallen into a series of isolated communities that slowly started to shift, banding together into political units to help to prosecute the war, help to defend themselves. The Pharakis, who had always been a loose confederation of communities formalised their community into a federation. Each nest ran their own internal politics, but the Emperor in Celise city acted as the head of state, responsible for setting overall policy to be enacted by each community's chosen representatives. The humans, on the other hand, developed into a series of nations, each one ruled by its own ruler, some of these were democracies, some were monarchies and some were theocracies. The one thing that was sure was all the fledgeling states spent as much time fighting one another as they did the Pharakis and the Dzarsiu. The Dzarsiu who, mostly due to their smaller numbers, remained more contained as a state, a hierarchical series of underground communities ruled by the Dzarsiu nobility topped by their royal family. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]All of these political changes were fueled by one thing, the unending war, but politics were the only changes this period saw. Technology progressed as well, all the better to prosecute their war. The biggest change in technology could be seen in the Pharakis whose shamans and mystics actually began taming the jungle around them, manipulating it to aid them both physically and genetically. The sight of packs of tamed animals running across the battlefield became common even as the Pharakis began developing their rudimentary knowledge of genetics, breeding and manipulating the creatures they commanded in their service. While this might have been a weapon that could turn the war, such creatures were solely the province of the imperial federal troops or the more affluent nests, only they had the resources to manipulate and develop these troops. This advantage of the Pharakis was only used in the most widespread or long-term of conflicts. The humans and the Dzarsiu were forced to answer this threat, developing forearms, new weapons and tactics blossoming on both sides of the conflict. At the time the humans and the Dzarsiu combined their forces to make incursions into Pharakis territory, but as often the humans turned on the Dzarsiu as the mine-dwellers ended up caught in the middle, becoming masters of siege warfare as they dug themselves into their mines [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The Game Changes[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The state of war might have continued forever, or until one side had finally found supremacy to subjugate the other two, but for sheer happenstance. A Dzarsiu trading caravan making its way to trade with the Pharakis ended up beset by a pack of lizards that lived in the jungle, retreating blindly through the trees till they found the ruins of a settlement where they could protect themselves. While the pack of lizards soon lost interest and left to find easier prey the Dzarsiu didn’t. They found that the ruins contained a wealth of artefacts, ancient devices that they could barely understand. While they might not have been able to wrap their heads around their discovery, the Dzarsiu scientists could, for in the midst of the artefacts was a storage device containing a diary, the records of the Mayor of the original colony. The story that unfolded, of a people who came from the stares, whose conflicting visions of survival had them separate and develop their own societies leaving onto a small enclave to try to fight off the encroaching forest and ultimately failing shook the Dzarsiu society, shook the social and political structures of the entire planet. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]They were cousins, related through common forebearers. The political pressure to finally end the war finally had found an argument they could grasp, and they went to it with a will. Yet not all members of the communities agreed, after generations of conflict how could they, the discovery of the city prompted a spate of civil wars within the nations as they struggled to determine a future path. While the governments started to hold peace talks, their societies almost shook apart from the tremors of the new calculus. What was left was a wary peace, most of the populace willing to at least try, while some radicals on all sides tried to weaken their will. Most vocal amongst these communities were those Pharakis who had turned their knowledge and capabilities for manipulation onto themselves, transforming their bodies into walking weapons, increasing the meld between their DNA and the DNA of the drakes the original Pharakis had mixed with the human genome. They had turned themselves into the Necht, lizardmen, and had for generations been the pre-eminent Pharakis troops, lauded by society. Yet now that very society was telling them they weren’t needed anymore. In anger, the Necht had withdrawn enmass to form their own community away from the other species. However no community could exist in total isolation and several Necht found themselves drawn into the mercenary life, working for criminals, corporations and governments on the planet.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The Rise of the Corporations [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]While the various political entities tried to sound out the new status quo, there were those who were happy to leap at the opportunity. Companies that were willing to trade across borders, delivering Dzarsiu tools and ornaments, Pharakis products and even human ones to those who had never really been able to develop it. Those companies willing to take a risk grew exponentially, many of the most powerful ones actually forming cities of their own, truly neutral cities outside of the control of any existing political entity aside from the corporations that created them. Trade though could only last so long before the market was glutted with other companies following along the path, so corporations saw themselves splintering off into the development of technology and industrial production. In order to maintain their advantage they were forced to innovate, and they rarely cared where those innovations came from, anyone who had an idea could make money off it. Some of these corporations aligned with political groups, some tried to control political entities while still others attempted to remain neutral. The one thing they all wanted though was a bigger piece of the pie. The warring states had been replaced by warring corporations as the companies became increasingly important to the planet’s economic and political structure. So much so that the first spaceships, the claims on space and the resources were by companies with countries following closely behind. The planet settled into a stable peace, the corporations which saw profit across nations made war rare, at least war between nations. Some conflicts did occur, but these were small skirmishes or conflict between the various companies. Both the political and the larger corporate actors regulated one another allowing the planet to establish a stable community somewhere between a series of nations and a corporate technocracy. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Of course, not everything was so rosy, as the companies fought, they sought criminal help to gain advantages, a seedy underbelly of society developing in all the cities as the planet's rulers became more concerned with their own profits, caring less about the citizens in the corporate cities beyond the fact that they were fed, there was minimal unemployment. This left a large hole in the cities, both corporate and national, that the criminal element was eager to fill, as they always did providing services to the citizens and corporations that had that air of deniability, procurement, sabotage, protection. As the space around the planet was conquered and tamed, space stations and mining colonies cropped up as the technology bloomed and grew as the species that made up the population of Fenris mixed, bringing the ingenuity of the humans into meeting with the engineering of the Dzarsiu and the mysticism of the Pharakis. The culmination of these element mixing was a burgeoning of technology and biology, and out of this mix came another new species. While both Dzarsiu and Pharakis could mate with humans, their differing genetic modifications made any chance of natural offspring very small. But, given the technology and labs now available to them, it was possible to manipulate the genetics of an embryo, to stabilise it, resulting in the creation of a new species that mixed the best of both their parents, true Fenrisians. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]With the technological windfall amongst them, the citizen of Fenris reached for the stars, starting with a total dominance of their solar system before they reached for the wider galaxy, trying to find their place in the dance of the stars. Yet, despite their technology, or perhaps because of it, the harsh world that shaped them remained unchanged. While mining did occur, the majority of the wilderness remained untamed, a testament to the cauldron that those first colonists had gone through to forge them into who they were now. It was their first contact with the outside galaxy that was responsible for the last major social change the planet underwent, their first contacts making them realise that if they didn’t band together the galaxy would easily pick them apart. It was from this realization that the first truly planetary government was forged, much to the disgust of the Necht who chose not to engage with the wider government, retreating to their city in the far north, and only venturing out as mercenaries for the government and corporations.[/SIZE]
