NT-6922
Dark Siren
Malaran
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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To create a planet which hosts a setting players can use to create unique medieval force users.
Image Credit: Stock Ice Planet 3 with clouds by by Rich35211 (Scott Richard) on Deviantart.
Canon: N/A
Links: N/A, will be updated.
Planet Name: Malaran
Demonym: Malarani
Region: Unknown
System Name: Altria
System Features: The Altria system is extremely hard to naviguate. Several asteroid belts (most of them formed of the remains of the system's other planets who were destroyed in a war a long, long time ago) make it hard to land on Malaran, and the only remaining planet in this system apart from it is Kalan, a death world that is clearly not hospitable for any sentient life apart from its fauna. The system's sun is called Pelor by the inhabitants of Malaran and worshipped by some, whereas the moon is simply called Darkmoon due to its unnatural dark lighting. The rotational period is standard.
Coordinates: AL-6
Major Imports: N/A
Major Exports: N/A
Gravity: Standard
Climate: Temperate, although certain areas reach absolute extremes.
Primary Terrain: Forests end up as the planet's primary terrain, although by a close margin: most terrains are evenly present there.
Major Locations:
Their color was blue and gold. The remnants of the Way of Light have established themselves there and attempt to rebuild the kingdom.
Kingdom of Nerathel: A grim and sinister land, Nerathel is mostly renowned for its enormous walls, thick and impenetrable: added to the fact that said walls were put onto mountains, it made the kingdom virtually impenetrable. Little was known about their society, although a few clerics were sent out to spread the word of a growing cult known as the Umbraged, whom advocated the use of the ancient and forbidden arts of the Dark Side of the Force. The knights from this land consider shields a coward's tool, preferring to dual-wield weapons or carry two-handed tools of destruction. Each knight has to serve one lady of their choice for their entire lives, and one lady alone: should they fail in their duty, they are to shed their armor and take up a cyclopean hammer crafted by the Apostle's own blacksmith and search for atonement, never to return home.
Nerathel managed to survive the onslaught of the Light Side-aligned kingdoms, but was eventually defeated because of the Cataclysm. It is now a silent tomb that few dare to venture in.
Nerathel's colors were of black and grey.
Kingdom of Calden: Fanatical and overzealous, Calden was loathed by all other kingdoms, even their allies. Those born without the Force were shamed for it and forced to constantly endure pain through various means, indoctrinated into the single-minded creed of the Light Side. These slave knights were made unfeeling, detached from emotions: a precise force that did not flinch in the face of insurmountable odds and carved a path straight to victory. Curved swords and small shields are the only legacy of this land, as it was the first to fall to the Umbraged: it is, in fact, the fall of Calden that made the rest of the planet's royalty commit their sacrifice. Wherever the crimson banner went, ferocious battles would follow: an over-aggressive fighting style led to the survival of very few individuals. Half of Calden was wiped off the map when an earthquake sent the remnants of the kingdom into the depths of the world.
Kingdom of Fiann: Secretive and mysterious, Fiann's knights were almost non-existent, as the kingdom dedicated most of its resources in studies. In fact, its schools were so well renowned in the teachings of the ways of the Force that many nobles paid handsomely to have their children learn among the planet's best. However, such a thirst for knowledge and discovery led a group of scholars to re-discover the Dark Side, and, realizing the lies of the Way of Light, they created the Umbraged. Assassins and knights were sent to end this group of dissidents, but none returned. Fiann's swordsmen used long, thin blades who excelled at slicing flesh, but had troubles getting past thick armor: and so its warriors were given peculiar daggers whose blade proved to easily slip between the cracks of plate armors.
Purple and gold were the kingdom's colors.
Kingdom of Aecan: Aecan was the first of all the six kingdoms to be formed, and created the religion of the Way of Light, which spread planet-wide with little opposition. Although their army was not the strongest and their scholars were not the greatest, its cities were magnificent and its people were satisfied, making the rule of the aristocracy that much easier. The finest armors were made in Aecan, and the blacksmiths there often found themselves rich thanks to the custom requests they received from the nobility, able to make any type of armor. Artisans in general found Aecan to be an agreeable land, and so it was seen as the main commercial hub of the planet.
Aecan's colors were of white and gold.
It is said that there remains a blacksmith in the ruined kingdom, still toiling away in his forge.
Kingdom of Valden: The first kingdom to adopt the cult of the Umbraged, Valden was always a harsh, remote land. The frozen lands they inhabited forced them into a lifestyle of pillaging and murdering, making them a fearsome people. They lacked a proper nobility, as each clan of Valden saw its greatest warrior ascend to the status of Jarl. If one was to become a king, he would need to kill all the Jarls and have a crown made of their bones, declaring him as the rightful king of the lands. The history of this kingdom is bloody and brutal: all invasions against it never managed to truly succeed, as the fierce people of the tundra always found a way to keep on living as a people. Axes were used by the common warriors, and swords by the most skilled.
Each clan had a different flag, but the king's flag was of green and white. Animals represented the clans, such as the stag, the wolf or the boar.
Force Nexus of Light:
Size: Area: The Shrine of Light. This is the most elevated point in the planet, resting atop the tallest mountain. A plane area rests there, where peculiar flowers bloom all year and the sun illuminates the area in a warm light in all circumstances. The Force is strong here, as this is the location where the rulers following the Way of Light sacrificed themselves by uniting their powers with those of their force-using subjects, creating an extreme concentration in the Force in that exact location.
Intent: This Force Nexus is the key of the narratives that are to take place onto this planet. The Way of Light fiercely protects it and the Umbraged wish to despoil it, whereas regular force users simply want to harness its power to grow powerful enough to be invincible: it is the goal that keeps them going despite the desperate nature of their situation, a goal that manages to keep them focused.
POPULATION
Native Species: None
Immigrated Species: Humans
Population: Minimally inhabited
Demographics: Only humans inhabit this world.
Primary Languages: Galactic Standard Basic, although with heavy accents depending on where the person originates.
Culture: Described in the kingdom's paragraphs, although all of them (except for Valden and Fiann) adhered to a Feudal society.
Government: Monarchies used to rule across Malaran. No solid form of government remains.
Affiliation: Different groups fight across Malaran, although none can pretend to have dominion over it.
Wealth: Medium. Some of the ores and resources have been stripped bare, but most of the planet's integrity is still there, although heavily corrupted. Force crystals are plentiful.
Stability: Low. There is no law, no rules and no codes that apply planetwide: murder is a common, even necessary thing for its inhabitants, and the few who would see justice done take it in their own hands, doomed to fail as they are outnumbered and lack support to accomplish their task. Merchants are rare, as the only currency is something most people loathe to separate from - power.
Freedom & Oppression: Due to the lack of a government across the surface, there is no true sense of freedom or oppression, although some kingdoms' "gods" did enslave most of the population until their deaths.
Military: The armies of the kingdoms of Malaran are long gone, roaming husks who endanger those still alive. There is almost nobody onto this world that is not armed, due to the central place of violence and murder. The only defenses left are long-unmanned walls and castles, and steel blades are the most common form of weaponry here.
Technology: The planet is now stuck in the feudal age, with no means to progress past medieval technology.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Discovered in 428 ABY, Malaran was settled by a small group of human pilgrims who sought faith during the Four Hundred Years Darkness, disillusioned with the harsh nature of the galaxy. These humans agreed to destroy all technology they had and discarded them in the Valley of Whispers. They willingly forced themselves back into the ages, thinking that the path to enlightenment could only be found away from the vices of technology. When some tried to build a spaceship in secret to escape the planet, they were brutally murdered by their fellow pilgrims for their heresy.
Generations later, civilization had effectively regressed to a tribal state. Force Users accessed positions of power thanks to their powers, although only the Light Side was favored, and the Dark Side feared and forbidden. As the ages passed, six kingdoms formed through wars of unification: Icathia, Nerathel, Calden, Fiann, Aecan and Valden. Each of them had a different culture, the only thing they shared being their language - inherited from the pilgrims, their ancestors. Force Users were now treated like gods, enslaving those unable to use the Force and forming the nobility in the kingdoms of Icathia, Calden, Fiann and Aecan, although the kingdoms of Nerathel and Valden considered Force Users as protectors rather than rulers. Petty wars were waged, until the Great Cataclysm: the ruling class of Force Users realized that a cult devoted to the Dark Side was growing and threatened to overthrow their rule, which was secured by the religion of the Way of Light, and so they sacrificed themselves to create a Force Nexus in the Shrine of Light onto the planet's tallest mountain, which used to be the landing site of the pilgrims, ages ago.
The consequences were terrible, with the planet splitting in several places, the fauna affected by the energies and changed into hellish monstrosities, entire regions falling as all non-force users were killed by the shock wave. The dead non-force users were later reanimated into mindless husks by the heirs of the nobility who looked to restore order across the planet with this new found army.
This is where communities formed: those who thought the "gods" had betrayed them found comfort in the Dark Side where they were welcome no matter how dark they were, whereas those who thought their lords had sacrificed themselves to save the world followed their legacy, defending the ideals of the Light Side: hope and courage, although little more than a colossal lie.
And then, those who stand in the crossfire, simply looking to survive: and survival is a question of violence in this cruel world. Absorbing the power of those you kill makes you stronger, and thus more likely to survive - until you are inevitably slain, too. The cycle of life and death defines the poor souls who remain on the barren surface of Malaran, each fight bringing them closer to oblivion: for there is truly no salvation.
There is no progress, no new inventions, no rebuilding of civilization: there is only stagnation, small settlements, and an endless crusade between Light and Dark, all who struggle to survive on the surface unknowing of the fact that the victor will be doomed none the less, as the very planet they step on is slowly crumbling apart, the rifts and desolate regions growing larger with each century: already does the north-western part of the planet is entirely covered in ice.
