Ashin Varanin
Professional Enabler
[SIZE=9pt]Name[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: New Habat[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Image Source[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]“hw: city concept for video”[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] by Anton Chernoskutov, found here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/NoxBN[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Classification[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: Metropolis[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Location[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: New Habat is located on the ninth moon of the gas giant Varunda, in the Kaiulani System, at the edge of the Unknown Regions. [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Varunda IX[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] is a jungle moon, and New Habat and its surrounding towns are situated in dense forest in the northern hemisphere.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Affiliation[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: New Habat is the capital city of the Varunda system’s government, which currently answers to the First Order[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Population[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: Metropolis[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Demographics[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: 25% [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Revwien[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt], 35% Human, 30% Ithorian, 10% other[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Points of Interest[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: [/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]New Habat University - [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]NHU is a comprehensive academic and research institution, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide variety of programs. Its specialties include the sciences, politics, agriculture, and literature. NHU is one of the galactic region’s largest universities, apart from the massive military academies on nearby Val’hala. It maintains strong relationships with the First Order, aligning many of its research priorities with government grants. Though the university gives lip service to academic freedom, rocking the boat is quietly discouraged. NHU maintains its own small spaceport for visiting academics, intra-campus and interlunar shuttle services, and expeditionary ships. NHU operates a fleet of locally manufactured shuttles and a few larger starships, including a handful of Naboo-built [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Laureate-class science frigates[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]. NHU’s starships fly under the S.S. civilian designation.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Mill & Inkan[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] - This fine furniture shop, one among dozens in New Habat, is a front for a [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Marrow & Illskin’s[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] location. Marrow & Illskin’s, accessible by password, is located in the shop’s lower level. It also happens to be the unpublicized headquarters of [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Great Leap Forward Inc.[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt], insofar as GLF can be said to have a headquarters. For [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]those in the know[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt], Marrow & Illskin’s is an unparalleled source of curios and alchemical components.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]The Rave Merrill Estate[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] - Located several kilometres outside New Habat, deep in the jungle, is a small and secretive homestead like any other. Its fenced grounds are mainly wild forest laced with pathways. Various grades of [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Trees of Ankarres[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] grow in the woods and gardens: this is where they were first [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]created[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]. Though ‘nexus’ wouldn’t be the right term, one can certainly feel the estate’s significance in the Force. The small house and workshop at the centre of the estate are currently maintained by [member="Dissero"], Rave Merrill’s old friend. Almost nobody lives there full-time, apart from a handful of Ithorian gardeners.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]House of the Outside Path[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] - Among the hundreds of millions of Ithorians who call Varunda IX home, more than a few are Priests of the Mother Jungle. The House of the Outside Path is named for a subtle oxymoron which would be unamusing to anyone but an Ithorian. A low stone building on the outskirts of New Habat, the House holds Ithorian religious texts. A garden surrounds it, naturally. The House of the Outside Path contains only one benefit to an outsider: this is a place where a dedicated pilgrim could perhaps be healed after being severed from the Force. Like the ancient Ithorian priest Chodo Habat, after whom the city is named, the priests at the House of the Outside Path can partially restore a penitent’s connection to the Force. Like many traditions on Varunda IX, the House keeps a low profile. It was nearly discovered during a Sith attack some years ago, but Ashin protected it successfully while in disguise. [/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Manatesh Gardens - [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]A community park, the Manatesh Gardens are full of well-kept trees, samples of the rare luxury woods which are Varunda IX’s main export. Greel, veshok, and snow-wood trees, among others, grow in the Manatesh Gardens. This happens to be where an old Whiphid named Velok officiated over a wedding between Ashin Varanin and Spencer Jacobs, many years ago.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Varundana Timber Exchange - [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]This impressive marketplace and stock exchange is a major player in the planetary economy. Located at a river’s edge, the Timber Exchange is a sweeping white-walled building adorned with glasteel and gardens. A number of major corporations have office space inside, such as [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Iron Crown Enterprises[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Silk Holdings[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt], and [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Ithorian Mercantile[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]. Due to Silk’s immense investments in the nearby bacta world of Verkuyl, bacta in all grades is a relatively cheap and plentiful commodity at the Timber Exchange. Gravity within the Timber Exchange is set to 0.98G, rather than the 1.15G found outside.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]The Kitani Estate - [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]A sector-local monarch, Empress Halla Kitani Kaijus-Terrablade, once defended the region known as the Jade Worlds from this estate outside New Habat. It was a minor Force-training school, heavily influenced by the Shapers of Kro Var, but after Halla was severed from the Force, the location fell into disrepair. The Lords of the Fringe and later the First Order have picked over the run-down estate and removed virtually everything of interest - though a trinket or two might still be found by a dedicated searcher.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Nadon Memorial Spaceport - [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Convenient to the Varundana Timber Exchange, Nadon Memorial Spaceport is a sprawling and modern facility that offers a full range of services. In keeping with Varundana aesthetics, trees and other plant life cover the roofs of docking bays and surround open-air landing pads large enough for Ithorian herd ships. The spaceport has a standard suite of defenses, including rapid-response law enforcement in [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Vornskr APCs[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt], respectable anti-air emplacements, powerful [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]antimissile transmitters[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt], and an [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]area shield generator[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] capable of protecting the entire city.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]First Order Garrison - [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Like any respectable and well-populated planet within the First Order, Varunda IX has an impressive garrison. Located just outside New Habat, the garrison has its own standardized defenses and a landing facility suitable for shuttles. Frequent secure traffic passes between the garrison and the [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Galidraan-class defense station[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] in orbit, FIV Levinson. Levinson Station’s Commodore Drakul Velmuth, a young and ambitious command officer, is partially responsible for administrative oversight over the entire sector. Suffice it to say, the locals leave both the garrison and the station entirely undisturbed, apart from service provision and so forth.[/SIZE]
- [SIZE=9pt]Lifeswapper’s Den[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] - This extremely low-profile nightclub caters almost exclusively to clones. Clones have been part of the region’s story for many years, going back even before the Lords of the Fringe bred their clone army. Through word of mouth, the Lifeswapper’s Den has become a social hub for clones from all across the galaxy. A visitor to the Lifeswapper’s Den might see a few Cody Jorins, some Jango Fetts, plenty of Brembla Kols, maybe some Khommites, and perhaps the occasional Dreadguard or Jared Ovmar or Ashin Varanin. The Den’s cyborg proprietor offers a unique and extremely discreet service: he facilitates clones who wish to [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]step into each other’s lives[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] temporarily or permanently. The Lifeswapper, as he’s called, is named Farnabas Engel, formerly an infochant, a liberator of the sector in decades past, and captain of the Star Destroyer Chimaera until his catastrophic injuries at Dasid Anya. The Lifeswapper`s service is kept private among clones, and would have no impact on a non-clone visitor to the nightclub. It remains a good solid place to get a [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Vaapad Lesson[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt].[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Due to the planet`s long isolation, the city and its environs are largely self-sufficient, though the tech industry has taken a hit from offworld imports. This is especially true for local shipbuilding, which still churns out a few lines of shuttles and light freighters but can`t compete at greater tonnage.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]History[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: Varunda IX was first colonized in the wave of emigration and settlement, ca. 4000 BBY, which produced the world O'reen and other Republic outposts. Its first settlers were human, or the standard galactic melange. Somewhat isolated prior to the construction of the Sanctuary Pipeline, the world acquired closer contact with the galaxy in the time of the Empire. It was settled by the Revwien diaspora after the efforts of the Revwian rebel Wuwuhuul on nearby Goratek III. Later, after the destruction of Ithor, Varunda became a refuge for the Ithorian diaspora. Between these two species, the jungle moon became a refuge for rare plants from across the universe. New Habat has been central to the planet`s history.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Varunda IX joined the First Order peacefully, under the most polite implied coercion. The First Order`s arrival has proven beneficial for the city, to the surprise of many non-human residents. The high society markets of Dosuun and Bespin, among others, find numerous uses for the luxury furniture and rare timber which are Varunda IX`s specialties. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Intent[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: Because a sub for this city is somewhat overdue.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Links[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]: None apart from those above.[/SIZE]
