R A ' K A T H A
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/daKRX
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To create a planet to both provide resources and a place for trade and adventure for OCs everywhere, as well as an interesting and unique (while not disrupting) addition to the continuity of the Star Wars galaxy.
Canon: N/A
Links: Te'mansoa Industrial Works
GENERAL INFORMATION
Planet Name: Ra’Katha
Demonym: Ra’Kathan (Native Demonyms will vary on Ra’Katha itself, with people either being classified as Wan’anteen or Dejoka’ar. However, both when offworld and -- although it is usually taken as an offensive remark -- by non-natives is it usually permissible to refer to a native as Ra’Kathan).
Region: Wild Space
System Name: Generally called the Katha system, pronunciation can differ between Katha and Kaytha, with the occasional spacer using the demonym Kathan instead.
System Features: Not an entirely extraordinary system, the Katha system contains of one star: a red giant referred to as Katha and the namesake of the system. Around it orbit several planetoids in order of their proximity to Katha:
Jer’Katha: A dwarf planet devoid of life and an atmosphere, Jer’Katha was a subject of mystery and often idolism for the Wan’anteen culture on Ra’katha, and is represented with a god in the Wan’anteen religion. Several attempts have been made to mine the abundant metals on the dwarf planet but none had adequate funding, so failed.
Jur’Katha: Slightly larger than its ‘sister planet,’ Jur’Katha is barely habitable and sustains only a few unique lifeforms not found anywhere else in the galaxy. Covered in a sea of liquid toxic to most lifeforms, it’s almost covered in a dense and stormy atmosphere with a pressure that can wreck havoc to most starships. It’s indigenous life forms consist mostly of either single-cell organisms or large, slow and heavily armored aquatic ‘slugs’ that evolved to deal with the planet’s hostile environment. However, the lack of a breathable atmosphere has not scared off those who wish to exploit the planet, and hanging over Jur’Katha are several small orbital dockyards built by Te’mansoa Industrial Works.
Ra’Katha: The most populated planet in the Katha system, although it has little competition, Ra’Katha is covered in desert plateaus and arid mountain ranges. It boasts little water, although enough that temperate regions boast natural springs, lakes, and oases that have allowed for semi-advanced civilization to thrive.
Katha Belt: A large ring of irregularly-shaped asteroids, varying from just meters to kilometers in diameter, it is acknowledged to separate the three inner planets of the system from the two ‘outer planets.’ It’s also an abundant source of ice and ore harvested by Te’mansoa Industrial Works.
Re’Katha: A gas planet, it's uninhabited but has been proven to contain large amounts of rare and valuable Tibanna gas. However, the Katha system’s relative isolation has meant that it has not garnered the attention of any major gas-extracting mega conglomerates and is still untouched.
Vu’Katha: Barely a planet itself, Vu’Katha is only around two hundred kilometers in diameter and far from Re’Katha and even further from Katha itself; its brightest days, which are far and few in between, barely distinguish itself from midnight on Ra’Katha. Yet its isolation and semi-abundance of natural resources has led to a small yet teeming shadowport of criminals and underlings who escape to the dwarf planet, usually in hiding from those they owe but can’t pay debts or go into exile in light of being pursued by galactic superpowers.
Major Imports:
Water
Fuel
Foodstuff
Unrefined Ore (Limited)
Refined Ore (Limited)
Sophisticated Electronics (Droids, etc.)
Major Exports:
Dooniumhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Doonium/Legends (Ore)
Lommitehttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lommite/Legends (Ore)
Quadrilliumhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Quadrillium (Ore)
Refined Ore
Mercenary Services (Limited)
Slave Labor (Limited)
Starships (Minimal)
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Gravity: Standard
Climate: The climate is generally arid throughout Ra’Katha. A thirty-rotation period known as the Jemaan’enmonsuul induces heavy rains and torrential downpours on the northern and southern hemispheres (with the exception of the planet's equator), which scientists believe to be melted ice from northern and southern mountain ranges, little though there be. In the extremely hot and dry equator, an area where the year-round temperature is too high for liquid water to exist, instead the Jemaan'enmonsuul manifests itself as a heavy fog/mist that refuses to condense on the soil and rocks. Although it limits visibility and does not manifest itself as liquid water, the mist makes the equator bearable for travellers and it is most often during that time that the Wan'anteen will travel between hemispheres.
Primary Terrain: Ra’Katha is primarily a desert, although it’s punctuated by semi-arid mountain ranges, oases and small seas, and sandy plateaus.
Atmosphere: Type I.
LOCATION INFORMATION
Capital City: N/A: With no planetary-wide government, no city or shatwatne can be called the official capital of Ra'Katha.
Planetary Features: WILD
~ Geraku’mensvatte: A low-lying valley in the northern hemisphere of the planet, various springs create natural oases, muddy lakes, and general mud that covers most of the terrain. The largest of its terrain, the Geraku’mensvatte is inhabited by the Dejoka’ar city, Saltühn’unshatwatne, in the southernmost tip of the wetland where the Hröthkar Wan’anteen tribe inhabits large parts of the northern sections, as well as the low mountain ranges that border the fringes of the wetlands.
https://www.deviantart.com/andreasrocha/art/Desert-Winds-255628383?q=gallery:andreasrocha/2783916&qo=24
~ Kutscurka’menuhretsvu: The largest plateau on Ra’Katha, the Kutscurka’menuhretsvu is almost 700 square kilometers in size and extends across from the equator of Ra’Katha almost to the south pole, and is inhabited by five Wan’anteen tribes as well as two shatwatnes. Including that is the Ichwene bazaar, a play on words given that ichwene is the Wan'ante word for 'return.' Colorful and situated around the Ichwene oasis, the only major source of water on the plateau, it is the largest single-market source outside of the shatwatnes, as well as being the least political and the one most frequented by Wan'anteen merchants.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534131364821/
~ Jakas’menuntere: The largest mountain range on the planet with the literal translation of the wan’ante name being ‘earth spine,’ the Jakas’menuntere is nearly unpassable for Dejoka’ar except through the Kujuaja’kenunter. It is only populated by one Dejoka’ar city but hosts seven unique Wan’anteen tribes, the only ones who know secret and narrow passes through the mountains that lets them traverse the otherwise treacherous areas.
https://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3d-obj-desert-mountain/665346?referral=aicrovision
~ Oes: Literally ‘Gates to Heaven’ in Wan’ante, Oes is the holy place of the Wan’anteen and literally the only permanent structure built by the Wan’anteen. Nearly six millennia old, Oes was built by the first settlers of Ra’Katha that would eventually evolve into the Wan’anteen culture. Located at the northern pole of Ra’Katha, Oes is the only place on Ra’Katha part from the southern pole that naturally supports large vegetation; temples and ruins dot the landscape. Believed by the Wan’anteen to be the place where tribal leaders can communicate with the gods, Wan’anteen tribes will travel to Oes to recieve spiritual guidance in times of need, and it is regarded as taboo to fight or perform any sin inside the borders of Oes. Archeologists estimate that there was a sister location for Oes, in the southern pole, but was destroyed during a massive Wan’anteen war three millennia ago that is theorized to lead to the anti-fighting taboo in the Wan’anteen spiritual land.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534129414825/
MAJOR LOCATIONS:
~Var’kath Mining Complex: A large array of mining facilities located in the northern Var’kath plateau, the complex features mines, premature foundry equipment, industrial speeder ports to transport materials, and housing for employees. Owned by Te’mansoa Industrial Works, it is around twenty square kilometers in total, including mining facilities and underground shafts.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/3c/d1/89/3cd18933652ec0b4f2fdf53de1d4ce36.jpg?b=t
~ Ku’ualt Mining Complex: Owned by TIW, just north of the equator, the Ku’ualt Mining Complex is around ten kilometers east of Kujua’unshatwatne, commonly referred to simply as Kujua by TIW employees. Similar in size and manner to the Var’kath and Hcostves Mining Complexes, the Ku’ualt Mining Complex is unique in that it is the only TIW operation that relies on a Shatwatne for commerce between different industrial complexes; with direct control of the Kujuaja’kenunter, a narrow mountain pass through the Jakas’menuntere mountain range in which Kujua is situated in. Alternative options -- carving out a seperate mountain pass, atmospheric travel, and going around the Jakas’mentuntere are all simply unprofitable for the TIW; instead, the corporation offers military support in return for allowance of passage through the mountains.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534128057378/
~ Hcostves Mining Complex: The third large mining complex owned by the TIW, the Hcostves is located in the relatively uninhabitable region of Ra’Katha’s equator, the Shidanabad -- or ‘bad place’ -- in Wan’ante. As a result, TIW has spent a fortune on providing life support and indoor systems for its workers; in return, however, the Hcostves Mining Complex is the most productive sector for Quadrillium in its region of Wild Space, and TIW has truly made it a priority to maximize that benefit.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/aaZJL
~ Bekga’aarm Provisional Mining Pursuit: The Bekga’aarm Provisional Mining Pursuit, commonly abbreviated to just PMP, is a mining complex around a quarter of the size as compared to other facilities such as Hcostves or Var’kath. Without significance evidence of an ore vein large enough to justify a complete mining and refinery complex, a PMP signifies that the station is temporary, and indeed it is; unless the ore vein is proven to be much larger, the PMP will be abandoned when natural resources run out.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534128521860/
~ Te’mansoa Industrial Oversight Center: Located around one-hundred kilometers west of the Ku’ualt Mining Complex, on the opposite side of the Jakas’mentuntere, the TIW Idustrial Oversight Center, often referred to as the Central Complex, TIW Command Center, or the IOC, the Te’mansoa Industrial Oversight Center is around forty square kilometers in total, boasting a fully-functional spaceport, warehouse, communication, depot, and factory. The entire command of TIW is located in the IOC, with administrative buildings, communication quadrants, and docking bays taking up the primary area of the IOC; the rest of the complex is dedicated to depots storing ore brought in from outlying mining complexes and factories dedicated to producing terrestrial TIW equipment.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534128521868/
~ Kujua’unshatwatne: A prominent Dejoka’ar city located in the middle of the Kujuaja’kenunter, the only wide enough pass through the Jakas’menuntere mountain range that can support large caravans of traders. Forcing those passing through to pay tribute to the shatwatne, Kujua’unshatwatne is as a result one of the more powerful and influential cities on Ra’Katha.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534128523265/
~ Methvara’kunshatwatne: Located on a northeastern edge of the Kutscurka’menuhretsvu plateau, in the southern hemisphere, Methvara’kunshatwatne draws its water from a spring in the center of the city which runs through the course of Methvara’kunshatwatne before toppling off the edge of the Kutscurka’menuhretsvu in the form of a waterfall.
https://www.deviantart.com/allisonchinart/art/Desert-City-Concept-379067920
~ Saltühn’unshatwatne: Founded in the middle of the Gherak wetlands, known in wan’ante as the geraku’mensvatte, natural springs around Saltühn’unshatwatne create natural oases that the city draws on for water. One of the oldest Dejoka’ar settlements on Ra’Katha, Saltühn’unshatwatne’s name literally means ‘King of Cities’ in wan’ante, and is regarded as the most powerful and influential Dejoka’ar shatwatne.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534128523247/
~ Atmoske’unshatwatne: The only major spaceport on Ra’katha outside of the TIW Industrial Oversight Center, Atmoske’unshatwatne is located in the southern edge of the Kutscurka’menuhretsvu plateau, in possibly one of the only ‘temperate’ regions of Ra’Katha. The most modern shatwatne, the spaceport was founded in the years leading up to the ancient Clone Wars, nearly six centuries earlier. Smallest of all of the Dejoka’ar domains, Atmoske’unshatwatne is ruled by a council of caliphates that decide the rules and tarifs of Atmoske’unshatwatne. Decidely the wealthiest kingdom by galactic standards, Atmoske’unshatwatne is the hub of intergalactic trade on Ra’Katha, as well as interplanetary trade throughout the planet itself; travelling caravans of Atmoske merchants sell intergalactic wares to the various outlying shatwatnes.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534128521872/
FORCE NEXUS
Force Nexus: Although unproven, mystics have theorized that Oes is a force nexus, along with its theorized sister location. These speculation are largely due to the fact that even Dejoka’ar and non-natives feel an unnatural spiritual presence at Oes, and legends that within Oes lies a pool filled with naturally-growing kyber crystals that connects the area, and the planet, to the living force. However, this is largely unproven and without any major force-centered organization having taken notice of the planet, Oes has largely gone unexplored.
Intent: To add a source of mystery, intrigue and importance to Ra'Katha, as well as to build on Ra'Katha's culture and history, and how it fits into the galaxy at large.
Strength: Moderate - Oes is a 'light-side' nexus to the force and has moderate effects on the planet.
Effects: Although the strength of Oes is moderate, the effects of the nexus itself do not seem to extend out of the valley itself, although it is definitely apparent how the nexus has shaped the valley. Oes is the only known location on Ra'Katha to have enough life that it can support large vegetation such as trees and grass. Many who have entered Oes have described an unnatural feeling, both a feeling of piece and a feeling of connection to both Ra'Katha and something larger. The area is sacred to the Wan'anteen, and many rituals inside Oes involve communicating with the ancestors and meditating in the nexus.
POPULATION
NATIVE SPECIES:
Seknufu’dokat: As with other creatures that have found themselves with the misfortune of a long Wan’ante name, the large beast is commonly referred to simply the Seknufu. Standing at just under three meters high in full stature, the omnivorous Seknufu over the years has been domesticated by both the Wan’anteen and Dejoka’ar as a means of equestrian transportation and use. Extremely strong, Seknufu are often utilized in pulling carts or sand-sleds or for carrying one or two riders. They are often compared with one another for their speed, strength, and the size as well as length of their scythe-like cranial horns. Only found on males, Seknufu horns are used for mating and dominance in the wild, while in domesticated settings their horns are either for showmanship or for war; Seknufu are used by both the Wan’anteen and Dejoka’ar for combat and war, their horns valuable and deadly weapons in the midst of battle. Seknufu travel in packs, or Sek’lodats, in the wild and both hunt other animals as well as forage for minerals and rare vegetation. Similar to many animals native to Ra’Katha, Seknufu have specialized glands which can store water for long periods of time in case of a drought, which is not uncommon on Ra’Katha.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534129415330/
Ckeruchju: There are two subspecies of the Ckeruchju; the three-and-a-half meter tall Gimota and the four-meter-tall Atarox. Both evolved out of geographically-isolated herds of Ckeruchju, the former in the north and the southern in the south. Found almost selectively around oases and their respective poles, the two species are interchangeably referred to as Ckeruchju. Strict vegetarians, the Atarox are more aggressive and dominant than their Gimota counterparts, but the hunting of either specie of Ckeruchju is strict taboo in Wan’anteen as they are seen religiously important, even to the extreme of animal incarnations of gods or minor deities. Ckeruchjus live in territorial herds that number between five and twenty individuals, and have specialized glands that store liquids for long periods of time.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534129415336/
Bvuot’endshik: Around the same height as a Seknufu, the Bvuot’endshik follow the same verbal rule as the Seknufu and are most commonly referred to as simply Bvuot or Bvuots. The lumbering quadruped beasts are large and slow, traveling in herds that traverse kilometers day after day in a mindless march. An extremely low metabolism and specialized liquid glands allow Bvuots to survive months without sustenance in the wild for up to several months. Several herds have been domesticated by the Dejoka’ar, and Bvuot meat is a staple in both Dejoka’ar and Wan’anteen cultures, although more sparingly for the Wan’anteen and only through annual or biannual hunting trips.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534129415340/
Earkni: Slightly smaller than a Seknufu or Bvuot, the Earkni are a quadruped marine omnivores that live mostly alone. Feeding off of microscopic bacteria and brine found in most oases and mud flats, the Earkni have a specially developed mouths that can filter feed the through the liquids. They are occasionally hunted for their meat, but their habits of living alone except when mating or with offspring makes it hard to find enough to feed a shatwatne or Wan’anteen tribe.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534129415343/
Rajek: The apex predator of Ra’Katha, these fearsome cat-like animals are fast and powerful, hunting pretty much any animal, domesticated or not. Depending on regional differences, food supply, and competition Rajek can be found in packs of up to twenty or on their lonesome. They are incredibly dangerous and agile, and even blaster-wielding mercenaries find it tough to take out a single Rajek, and much less a pack of them. A few warlords throughout Ra’Kathan history have domesticated Rajek’s as beasts of war or captured them to display, but domesticating a Rajek is extremely dangerous and difficult, and pet Rajeks are far and few in between.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534129415342/
Avii’jyol: Theorized to be the former descendant of avian animals, the Avii’jyol are flightless bird-like animals that can reach speeds of up to forty kilometers per hour. Preying on small mammals and insect-like organisms, including the poisonous and deadly Kjaukj, the Avii’jyol stand slightly taller than an average human and boast a beak that can crack small rocks.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534129415403/
Khjaukj: Extremely venomous, the Khjaukj are scorpion-like insects that are around a half a meter long and thirty centimeters wide excluding their tail, which is around a meter long. With six swarming legs, the small Khjaukj can traverse tricky and unstable terrain fairly easily, and two large and two small mandibles allow them to deliver shots of toxic venom with enough potency that one mililiter can severely harm an adult human. Only the Avii’jyol are documented to have a natural resistance to Khjaukj venom and are one of the animal’s few natural predators. There are antidotes for Khjaukj venom, but they are rare and expensive on Ra’Katha.
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/720294534129415414/
IMMIGRATED SPECIES:
Humanhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Human/Legends (84%)
Twi’lekhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Twi'lek/Legends (5%)
Weequayhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Weequay/Legends (2%)
Other (7%)
POPULATION: SPARSELY POPULATED
DEMOGRAPHICS:
Wan’anteen: The ‘First People’ in Wan’ante, the Wan’anteen are an assortment of different primitive Human tribes, as the ancestors of the Wan’anteen were the first to colonize the planet, theorized to have accidentally been stranded on the planet six to seven millennia ago. Developing a primitive culture, the Wan’anteen’s language and names of locations has carried on even through different, more sophisticated cultures and for the most part are able to coexist along with different species and cultures that are more technologically sophisticated. They are generally nomads and stick to themselves, far away from the Dejoka’ar shatwatnes. Although agriculture is nigh-impossible on Ra’Katha without significant amounts of technology, several Wan’anteen villages have sprung up around small plateau oases, where they are able to grow enough food to support a village. Their skin is often a papery brown and they generally only speak their language, Wan’ante, although a few translators who speak patched Galactic Basic have been found out throughout the different tribes.
Dejoka’ar: The ‘Dominating Ones’ in Wa’ante, the Dejoka’ar is a loose demonym for all the other cultures and species besides the essentially native Wa’anteen. Due to the fact that most other species outside of humans have not immigrated early enough to create their own subculture apart from the Galaxy, and their frequent contact with extraterrestrial starships and peoples, non-human Dejoka’ar mainly refer to themselves as Ra’Kathans or simply Kathans, their derivative name coming from the Wa’anteen themselves. While being extremely more sophisticated in modern technology compared to the Wan’anteen, they usually coexist peacefully with the more primitive culture and generally come into little conflict. Despite their technological advancement, most of the Dejoka’ar live in archaic walled cities built out of mud, clay, and sandstone, with only a few cities boasting spaceports or modern buildings. The general language of the Dejoka’ar consists of an assortment of Galactic Basic, Huttese, and Sy Bisti.
PRIMARY LANGUAGES:
Wan’ante (Native Language)
Huttesehttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Huttese/Legends (Uncommon)
Sy Bistihttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sy_Bisti (Uncommon)
Galactic Basichttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galactic_Basic_Standard (Rare)
CULTURE:
Wan’anteen: The Wan’anteen are a primitive subrace of humans, and while essentially identical in genetics and physical makeup have long since departed the customs and ideas of their ancestors. With low life-expectancy rates and the need to find food, water, and shelter an everyday chore, the original Ra’Kathan settlers devolved into the Wan’anteen while developing their own archaic religion and set of gods, as well as language and culture. The Wan’anteen religion is a common deviation of many primitive cults; the deities of the Wan’anteen mainly revolve around the celestial bodies of the Kathan system, and each name of the natural satellites surrounding Katha derives from Wan’ante -- including Ra’Katha itself. Wan’anteen society revolves around finding the basic necessities of life; food, water, and shelter. Living in a patriarchal system where the longest-living males are deemed tribal elders and sit on the elder council, the tribal chief is often a descendant of the first leaders of the Ra’Kathan settlers, and leadership is passed down to the chief’s most worthy heir, a term proven by prowess in combat, spirituality, and leadership. The concept of singular marriage, or marriage at all, is unknown to the Wan’anteen; most tribes simply do not have the population to support traditional concepts of marriage. Slavery is also prominent in Wan’anteen culture, although most slaves are either sold into an inter-tribe exchange as punishment or captured in tribal war. However, slaves are more indentured servants and are often bought back by their tribe of origin and freed. Wan’anteen slaves exist on the lowest rung in Wan’anteen society, although Wan’anteen slaves are almost never sold to the Dejoka’ar.
Dejoka’ar: The Dejoka’ar are much more culturally and biologically diverse than the Wan’anteen. Most of them heralding from families that have only been on the planet for a couple of generations or so, the influx of immigrants to Dejoka’ar shatwatnes has caused an ever-turbulent change of Dejoka’ar culture, with other aspects borrowed from the native Wan’anteen. Although originally much more democratic, the Dejoka’ar have slowly devolved into various city-states, or shatwatnes, ruled typically in a semi-ogliarch monarchy. The Dejoka’ar speak a dialect combined of many different tongues, primarily Wan’ante with a slang of words from both Sy Bisti and Galactic Basic. Known for their famous bazaars, each Shatwatne is centered around a large underground well or spring, able to supply its population with fluids indefinitely.
GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY:
GOVERNMENT:
The Wan’anteen live in a tribal patriarchy, where the leader of each tribe is a son of the previous tribal chief. Given that a chief may have multiple wives and a multitude of sons, potential heirs to tribal chiefs may prove themselves in various ways, primarily leadership and combat, to be made tribal chief by the council of elders, and most tribes are essentially one huge family; going back long enough, everyone in a tribe is related, and marriages to second-cousins or even cousins by blood occurs normally throughout Wan’anteen tribes. This practice is viewed barbaric by the Dejoka’ar, although the lower populations of Wan’anteen tribes sometimes utilize this method to prevent a tribe and family line from going extinct.
Most Dejoka’ar live in a system of a semi-ogliarch monarchy, with different Kings, Santwans, and Kemotars ruling over their own city or province. Given the rural aspect of Ra’Katha in comparison to the rest of the galaxy, early development in the planets history led to many cities fending for themselves and developing, although similar, unique aristocratic governments governed mostly by nobles. Historians attribute this fact to the Dejoka’ar living in close proximity with the Wan’anteen; hardly no native-born Dejoka’ar owned spaceships or could afford the luxury of startravel or holonet-communication, which’s effect worsened in the ‘Dark Ages’ of the galaxy, and as such took social and political cues from the Wan’anteen, the only example available to them besides the martial law that most settlers originally were placed under traveling to Ra’Katha.
The rare exception to this model is the denizens working under Te’mansoa Industrial Works, Ra’Katha’s only source of galactic economy and influence. Although it's a stretch to say that employees of Te’mansoa live in their own city-state or government, few employees opt out of the housing complexes provided close to mining complexes and foundries and these areas are ruled by the Corporate Laws, a handbook developed and regulated by the Te’mansoa Board of Directorate. Much more fair and modern, based on galactic influence rather than primitive tribal affairs, the Corporate Laws are a much-sought after style of life on Ra’Katha compared to the primitive city-states and tribal chieftains.
AFFILIATION:
Ra’Katha is split between multiple dominions. The collective tribes of the Wan’anteen each preside over their respective tribal boundaries, mostly in the equatorial desert wastes that are largely unpopulated by any other ethnic majority or minority. The city-state kingdoms, or shatwatnes, of the Dejoka’ar surround oases and springs mostly along the more temperate regions of the desert planet. The various mining sites and foundries of Te’mansoa Industrial Works are situated along ore veins in the northern mountain ranges, as well as southern mesas and other ore deposits not marked with well-known landmarks. The mash of different ethnicities and political ideals means that while Ra’Katha is by no means a divided planet or one engulfed in civil war, there is no one faction that fully controls the planet or system.
WEALTH:
POOR -- Especially on a galactic scale, Ra’Katha is a relatively poor planet, with most denizens of the desert planet not even having access to modern technology. The Wan’anteen have virtually no credits or value on the galactic market, but their primitive lifestyle and nature making it so they hardly ever have to purchase off-world goods. The Dejoka’ar, on the other hand, are more modern and less experienced in the ways of the Wan’anteen and surviving on Ra’Katha pre-modern technology. Common off-world tech found on Ra’Katha, while often archaic and almost worthless in a galactic economy, are things such as agricultural field dusters, biodomes, and moisture vaporators. A few shatwatnes have managed to make a livable economy by promoting trade between different shatwatnes and commissioning spaceports as to attract spacers and other intergalactic companies. The employees and owners of Te’manzoa Industrial Works, however, are the wealthiest by far on the planet, with modern spaceports and cities filled with technology from offworld patrons and shipping companies, and employees are even able to get off-world passage.
STABILITY:
MEDIUM -- While the different ethnicities, corporations, tribes, and shatwatnes control their own portion of Ra’Katha, each are generally indifferent each other and only focus on ensuring the survival of their state or kind and have little time to make warfare on others. While the tribal Wan’anteens occasionally clash with each other, the tribal warfare rarely carries over to the Dejoka’ar and Te’mensoa. Orbital-wise, the Te’mensoa control the planet, although they mostly only pay attention to pirates and other threats to their business. All other incomings and outgoings are generally unregulated, and as such many shatwatnes can contain many off-world smugglers and other criminals seeking anonymity in the relatively obscure planet.
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION:
Generally, more liberal freedoms are virtually nonexistent. Although liberties vary between different shatwatnes and Wan’anteens tribes, most of the former are ruled with an iron fist while the later are associated with cult-like religions that come with harsh and often primitive-minded boundaries within the different tribes. The foundries and various towns sprung up around Te’mansoa foundries and mining location are governed with a much more modern code of ethics, but various citizen areas are still managed through the corporate chain, going up all the way to the Board of Directorate. Although the Board of Directorate by no means wants to keep any of its employees hostage, it knows that the living conditions for those employed by Te’mansoa are a dream for those on Ra’Katha, and thus have a more liberal amount of space to reconstruct laws and boundaries.
MILITARY:
Militarily, Ra’Katha is rather defenseless. The weapons of the Wan’anteen haven’t evolved for thousands of years, given that their religion sees most technology as blasphemous. While the Dejoka’ar are technically more advanced in their knowledge and capability of intergalactic warfare, the most that would qualify as a ‘navy’ for a Shantwatne are derelict freighters outrigged with centuries-old and unused black-market laser cannons. Each ruler has an army, size dependent on the size that of the Shatwatne, but they have almost zero modern weapons aside from an occasional mounted blaster turret and archaic blaster rifles and carbines.
However, in contrast, the presence of the Te’mansoa Industrial Asset Protection Fleet, commonly referred to as the IAPF, means that Ra’Katha is spared from roaming pirates and slavers. Dedicated to protecting shipments of Te’mansoa assets and the various depot stations used by Te’mansoa throughout the Katha system and beyond, the IAPF consists of mostly light cruisers, corvettes, frigates, and one or two larger bulk cruisers. The IAPF also fields a bulky crew of Security Officers, which patrol civilian areas, depots, and IAPF ships themselves.
TECHNOLOGY:
At its peak, which would be the factories and depots of the Te’mansoa, Ra’Katha is fairly technologically advanced. But go down the line -- the Dejoka’ar, then the Wan’anteen -- and Ra’Katha gets progressively uncivilized. The Wan’anteen tribes use almost no technology at all, except for a few rare cases where Wan’anteen have admitted their own into Dejoka’ar hospitals in the cases of rare and virtually incurable disease without the help of modern medicine. The Dejoka’ar are fairly advanced in terms of technology, but average poverty and destitution of the Dejoka’ar mean that they rarely have access to it. Only the high-level workers of the Te’mansoa are able to afford modern technology, and even that comes at a steep price.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION:
It was estimated that Ra’Katha was formed into a planet slightly less than five billion years ago from the current date. Its somewhat closer proximity to its star, Katha, on the spectrum of inhabitable planets resulted in the extremely arid climate of the planet. Largely uninhabited except for populations of unintelligent animals, historians record 6,450 BBY as the estimated date that the first humans arrived at Ra’Katha, the popular theory being that it was a result of a flawed hypercannon or hyperdrive. Genetics estimate that the first humans were from the deep core, most likely Worru’du, although the time of nearly six millennia make it hard to make exact guesses. Historians then reckon that due to the humans being stranded on the planet without any form of advanced communication or hyperspace-able ships, that feuds and tribalism broke out among the settlers.
By 5,825 BBY the settlers had evolved into the ancestors of the Wan’anteen, their genetic structure changing to favor darker skin tones and leaner bodies. It is estimated that in 5,000 BBY Oes and its sister location were founded as holy temples for the growing Wan’anteen religion, and the following centuries would see the Wan’anteen become increasingly tribal and antagonistic towards each other. By 4,560 BBY the first holy war, or Esdukat, of the Wan’anteen takes place, were the adherents of Oes and the adherents of its sister location, dubbed in legends as Aes, literally ‘Night Gate’ when translated in Galactic Basic, took place. The equator begins to be recognised as a buffer zone, and those south of the equator generally associate with Aes, vice versa with the Wan’anteen in the north.
Throughout the next millennia, countless more Esdukats of varying severity would take place, ranging from tribal disputes to whole-out planet-wide warfare. The cycle would take place until followers of Oes set out on a crusade to the southern hemisphere, committing genocide of the Aes-aligned tribes until a final battle took place in the location of Aes. The Aes tribes were destroyed, along with Aes itself. The next hundreds of years would see the quick decay of the Aes sect of religion and the repopulation of the Southern Hemisphere by the Oes Wan’anteen. Eventually, all but highly exaggerated myths would be what remained of the Aes Wan’anteen.
It is estimated that in around 3670 BBY that Ra’Katha was rediscovered by outsiders, these time likely refugees fleeing the onslaught of the expanding Sith Empire. With nowhere else to go, it is probable that the refugees made first contact with the Wan’anteen and after several difficult years of language barriers, an uneasy friendship was struck between the Wan’anteen and the people that would eventually come to be known as the Dejoka’ar. From the Wan’anteen the refugees learned how to harvest the moisture of of the quali rocks in the morning for water and to grow eytzvan plants in the mineral-rich mud. The first Dejoka’ar settlements were likely centered around mud flats and it is estimated that at around this time, circa 3480 BBY, the first dwellings of what would become Saltühn’unshatwatne were founded in the southern tip of the Geraku’mensvatte.
Unlike the ancestors to the Wan’anteen, the Dejoka’ar still retained a few of their ships along with rudimentary communication equipment, and from that point onwards Ra’Katha was intergalactically connected. At first, little came of this fact; even necessities such as medicine could be easily enough replicated (to some extent) by Wan’anteen musanteeks, witch-doctors who used minerals and pastes to heal their patients. Anything off-world was Tom expensive to matter, at least until the arrival of the moisture vaporator harvester unit, or emveeayus — a wan’ante word created after the pronunciation of the name’s abbreviation. The device allowed for settlements outside of oases and natural springs, so in around 2,000 BBY settlements that would eventually be come cities such as Methvara’kunshatwatne and Kujua’unshatwatne wborn.ere founded.
From 2,000 BBY to 50 BBY, Ra’Kathan population slowly increased with the offset of several wars and disease outbreaks among the Dejoka’ar populace. Ra’Katha was on the star charts of many surrounding planets in its sector of Wild Space, but the only information that the massive official star charts of the Galactic Republic had on Ra’Katha were its desert climate. That changed when entrepreneur and Ra’Kathan native Atmoske und’Ekiilan founded a spaceport on Ra’Katha in 48 BBY, buying commodities and ships to try and promote intergalactic markets on Ra’Katha, with the idea of a mining company that could extract and sell Ra’Katha’s significant ore deposits.. His business was cut short, however, with his ironic death at the hands of pirate mercenaries determined to seize his quickly gained wealth and the Ra’Kathan ore deposits. With an alliance between various shatwatnes, the mercenaries were defeated yet Atmoske’s full dream had not been realised. He did leave the new city of Atmoske’unshatwatne behind, which would become the only civilian spaceport on Ra’Katha.
Throughout the next two hundred years, the state of Ra’Katha once again remained stagnant. It was only at the start of intergalactic darkness that cut off most commerce between systems that Ra’Katha truly suffered, along with the rest of the galaxy. Infighting between Shatwatnes and various Wan’anteen tribes led to a century-long war dubbed the Was’vanan Nv’hari Khun, which led to the destruction of many shatwatnes and the ethnic cleansing of many Wan’anteen tribes. It had been the first major war between Dejoka’ar and Wan’anteen fractions, and left Ra’Katha scarred for the next four centuries with high tensions between the Dejoka’ar and Wan’anteen.
It was only until 610 ABY that the ‘dark age’ of Ra’Katha was lifted as a company founded on the beliefs of Atmoske und’Ekillian came into prominance; Te’mansoa Industrial Works. Formerly Temasoa’unshatwatne, the former city was transformed into Industrial Oversight Center as the new company began mining and extracting raw ore from the surface of Ra’Katha. The company began recruiting employees from Dejoka’ar natives and even changed the basic social structure of Ra’Katha as new and strange vehicles, such as landspeeders or cargo freighters, could be seen almost regularly among the main trade roads between various Shatwatnes. Te’mansoa claimed swaths of land for their operation and in several cases had altercations with Wan’anteen tribes who also claimed the land, but many poorer and middle class Dejoka’ar praised the company for the economic benefit it gave to the world. Now, entering the second half of the seventh century after the Battle of Yavin that Ra’Katha has once again entered into the intergalactic universe, and this time not just a spectator but a player.
