Val Royaux

[Amelia von Sorenn]

Name: Val Royaux

Region: Wild Space
System: Val I System
Suns:

• Singular Star System
• Val I
• K class Star

Orbital Position: Habitable Zone
Moons:

• Crac des Chevaliers
• Vaux-le-Vicomte

System Features:

• Val Carre - 3rd Orbit / Habitable Zone
• Val Ayvelles - 5th Orbit / Habitable Zone

Coordinates:

• 13,27.5
• The Empty Hex to the Lower-Left of Melaniphe in Wild Space

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Rotational Period: 24 Standard Hours
Orbital Period: 401 Local Days

Class: Terrestrial
Atmosphere: Type I Breathable Atmosphere
Climate: Temperate
Gravity: Standard
Primary Terrain:

• Forest
• Marshes
• Fertile Valleys
• Foothills
• Minor Mountain Ranges
• Plateaus
• Fresh Water Seas

Native Species:

• Val Royans
  ​Base line Humans

Immigrated Species:

• Humans
• Twi'leks
• Ithorians
• Various other Species

Primary Languages:

• Galactic Basic Standard
• Bocce
• Huttese

Government: Theocracy
Population: 1.5 Million
Demonym: Royans

Major Imports:

• Technology
• Luxury Items
• Manufactured Goods

Major Exports:

• Wine
• Art
• Religion

Affiliation:

• The Order of the Righteous Flame
• The Holy Church of The Maker

Major Locations:

• Val Royaux
  ​Spires pierce the heavens, shimmering in the sunlight at all hours, appearing as crystalline structures grown more than constructed. A serenity falls upon the otherwise busy streets and avenues of plazas, fountains and parks. Theaters, churches, shops, and all manner of taverns and bars are lively at all times. The people dressed in their finery go about their otherwise simple lives as they maneuver between the various districts of the grand capital. This is the city of Val Royaux, the Capital of the world that it shares its name with.

• The Grand Cathedral
  ​A singular massive towering hall splits the sky, sitting above all other spires and structures that rise up from the horizon. The structure can be seen from miles away outside of the city, and from the hills and plateaus that ring the capital of Val Royaux. The Grand Cathedral earns and keeps its name; serving as the holiest of holy places on the world. It is the home to The Holy Church of the Maker. The native Val Royans fall upon this central place of worship, and those of the Church meet here with members of the Order of the Righteous Flame as they come together to serve the Maker.

• The Heartlands
  ​This title pertains to those fertile valleys and fields that surround and radiate out from Val Royaux. Split in a myriad of farms, plantations and chateaus that produce the vast amounts of food consumed by the world and shipped to their neighboring planets and systems. It is normal to see hundreds of workers in the various grain fields, vineyards and other such foodstuff producing fields toiling from sun up till the sun dips below the horizon.

Culture:

• Society
  ​Highly regulated and aristocratic, the Society of Val Royaux would better be suited for the Core Worlds of the Galaxy and appears greatly out of place in Wild Space. An individual known as 'The Divine' serves in capacity as both the Empress and the de facto head of the Church. Thus social movement is difficult to achieve, as many whom are born in the lower classes are incapable of advancing their place or station on Val Royaux. Many of those in the Aristocracy (specifically third or fourth heirs) often abandon their titles and join the Order of the Righteous Flame out of a sense of honor and pride; with some doing so just to bring prestige to their family line and to prove themselves to the Galaxy at large.

• Art
  ​Where many worlds export their art depicting serene settings and venues, with artist focused upon surrealism, cubism, expressionism, or a great deal of other styles; the art that flows out of Val Royaux is heavily influenced by the Church and the Order of the Righteous Flame. Religious paintings and sculptures are the most common items exported from the world. Another venues that the native Val Royans consider 'Art' is that of Wine making. They see their wines as rivaling those from the Core Worlds, or even being greater than those consumed in the more 'civilized' places of the Galaxy. Wine making is considered such an Art, that one must apprentice under a Master for upwards of twenty-five standard years before even being considered competent in just tending to the vines.

• Government / Politics
  ​Val Royaux is in the simplest of terms a Theocracy. Its Politics are shaped by the Church, with the Government and Religion seeming to meld and flow into one another. Much of the Policies enacted by the Church is done so in the name of their Religion and belief in the Maker. Laws, decrees and other such aspects of life are regulated and controlled by this form of reaching Government, though for the most part they often keep out of the personal affairs of citizens provided they adhere to the laws and religious practices of the Church. In this way, the Divine (the de facto head of the Church), also serves as the Empress of Val Royaux.

• Military
  ​Once the planet of Val Royaux had its own military force that amount to a simple defensive fleet and defensive ground forces. This changed however with the arrival of the Order of the Righteous Flame. Much of the standing forces of Val Royaux were folded into the Holy Order, bolstering their forces. Now, the Order of the Righteous Flame acts as the guardians of Val Royaux, as well as projecting the power of the world to their neighboring systems.

• Religion
  ​The belief in a greater entity has run deep in the beliefs of the Native Val Royans, and those beliefs were expanded upon and greatly influenced by the arrival of the Order of the Righteous Flame. While the structure of the Church didn't change, they finally had a name for their creator, 'The Maker'. The Religious beliefs of Val Royaux permeate every aspect of life, so much so that the Divine, the head of the Chuch also serves as the Empress. While the belief of the Maker is the primary and thus de facto religion of Val Royaux, some minor religious beliefs also exist on the world and are for the most part respected and accepted (albeit those who believe in these other religions are often taxed higher than those that follow the Church).

Technology:

• Galactic / Hyperdrive Capable

History:

Val Royaux has been inhabited since time immemorial; however there are numerous theories as to the origination of the native Val Royans. The general consensus and most widely accepted as fact is that the Val Royans are the product of convergent evolution, as they share many similarities to those Humans that are thought to have evolved on Corellia and Coruscant. Another theory, though less accepted by the academical community is that the Val Royans are the descendants of some long lost sleeper vessel shot off into the darkness from the Core Worlds. While there still remains many theories as to the Val Royan origins, its easy to say that they have developed a culture and history uniquely theirs that does not match any other culture in the galaxy.

Just as the history of the native Val Royans is a mystery, the history of the world itself has fallen into the realm of myth and legends; and for every fact that exists there appears to be just as many, if not more, myths and legends to accompany them. What history that hasnt been shrouded in myth focuses on a time before the Theocratic Government that rose on the world. During a dark point in the planet's past, it was apparent that the massive internal conflicts and power struggles between the various Empires, Kingdoms, and Duchies would lead to ruin.

From these stories and allegorical tales we find the true history of a lone individual that believed themselves touched by their creator Deity. This young woman spread a word of peace and mercy tempered with steel and flame to the various nations. While at first her words were meet with both skepticism and ultimately violence; as she was burned at the stake for her 'heretical' beliefs, it was her followers that continued her work and soon saw a church rise up on the very place which their religion's founder was burned.

Beyond this point the history of the world falls into myths and legends once more, and greater than life individuals spring up from every point of the globe. Many are said to be the holy descendants of the ancient prophet or the reincarnation of the woman. All these legends were recorded and preserved, thus muddling the actual history and the legends into a single coherent history that the Val Royans are very proud off.

These beliefs can be seen ingrained the most in the Galactic shaping events that came to follow. While Val Royaux was removed from the greater galaxy, nestled in the depths of Wild Space, it wasn't left untouched by the Gulag Plague. What history is recorded is once more studded with myth and legend. Many viewed the plague as being the sign that their creator deity was angry with them and was separating the evil from the good. Some viewed it as a punishment for the lack of faith that many Val Royans had, specifically those that had begun to drift away from the church. Even more stories tell of those few that survived having been afflicted with the plague because they were touched by the Maker and protected.

As the plague subsided though, and life began to return to a relative normal and calm, the world began to rebuild. Faith as it appeared became more deeply ingrained in their society and was more wide spread than ever in the following the 400 year darkness; which for Val Royaux appeared to have been relatively calm (though that could merely be an edit of their own history to hide the truth of those years). What is known, is that coming out of the 400 Year Darkness was a burning flame and marked the greatest advanced in both Religious Art and Technology, marking a truly 'Golden Age' for Val Royaux.

Thus we reach the end of their history or what would be claimed as history. With the Netherworld Event striking all corners of the Galaxy. For many they saw it as a terror, though the native Val Royans saw it as a vindication of their beliefs. Those that had found themselves in the Netherworld and returned relayed their deepest fear, that their creator deity had forsaken them. Those that did not return were thought lost, and pious enough to have been saved from the Hell of the Netherworld by the hand of their deity.

Val Royaux was still recovering from those effects felt by the Netherworld Event when another planetary event took place; the arrival of the Order of the Righteous Flame. Those that came gave the Val Royans a name for their deity, 'The Maker', the one that crafted the Galaxy; and who had forsaken that very Galaxy for the corruption known as the Force. To the Holy Church of the Maker, they have accepted the Order of the Righteous Flame and now the two work as one as they bide their time and build up their forces for an Exalted March upon the Galaxy to spread the word of the Maker.


Notable PCs:

• Amelia Sorenn-Syrush

Intent:

For much of its inception, The Order of the Righteous Flame, has in a sense, been 'homeless'. While its predecessor groups have had their own centralized locations; with the Knights of Kal'Shebbol having Kal'Shebbol and their predecessor Templar Order having the White Spire on Feenix; the Order itself has been without a home. Val Royaux is the answer to this problem, and is in its entirety, intended to provide that home to the Order and to those plans to expand upon and development of the Order as it continues its activity on the site.

While there are plenty of other locations; including previous planets that I've created, I do not feel that those are suited for the Order or the over all planning that is happening in regards to the Order and its future on Chaos. To this end, Val Royaux remains intended to provide a sense of welcoming and proper place for the Order.

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

Under Review

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

Good evening, [member="Amelia Sorenn-Syrush"]. Hope you're doing well!

This one's come up as a topic of discussion amongst we Codex Judges, and I'm afraid there's a small problem. Me, I loved the Dragon Age games, and enjoyed them thoroughly as one of the better post-NWN RPGs available on the market. However, having enjoyed them as much as I did, I noticed a few particular things which stand out in your submission, in particular:

• Val Royeux is the capital city of Orlais
• The Chantry (or Holy Church of the Maker) is the foremost religion of Orlais.
• Halamshiral is a city in Orlais

I trust you see the problem with this? Unfortunately, this submission is in direct contravention of the Codex Rules, the third of which states quite clearly:

3. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.

Now, we're happy to see you wanting to submit something to add flavour to your RP, but this is definitely plagiarism, and must be entirely removed or modified in keeping with that rule. I'm therefore going to give you a chance to do this. Should this not be pleasing to you, do let us know and we'll archive the submission and forget the whole thing. We prefer to do this rather than denying it outright, so I hope you're willing to work with us on this.

I should also note that the primary species of the planet in this submission are also not canonical, and would require a separate submission.

I fully appreciate what you're trying to go for here, but you'll need to do so without plagiarising Dragon Age.

Many thanks for your co-operation in this!

 

[Amelia von Sorenn]

While an argument could be made, I felt it simpler to just edit the submission and save everyone involved a massive headache.

• Val Royeaux has been changed to Val Royaux
  ​Royaux being the french word for 'Royal'.

• The Holy Church of the Maker remains so named; however references to 'The Chantry' have been removed and are now referred to as simply, 'The Church'.

• Halamshiral has been changed to Crac des Chevaliers
  ​Crac des Chevaliers is a preserved medieval fortress built by the Hospitallers during the Crusades

• Jader has been changed to Vaux-le-Vicomte
• Val Chevans has been changed to Val Carre
• Val Colline has been changed to Val Ayvelles

• The following note has been added beneath the native species 'Base Line Humans'. The Val Royans are essentially base humans and should not need a separate submission. While I personally feel that one is not needed, if pushed, I will acquiesce and provide one.

[member="Tirdarius"]

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

[member="Amelia Sorenn-Syrush"]

I'm afraid there's no argument that could be made to convince me that this submission was anything other than plagiarised, given that it copies names, organisational structure and, indeed, the story of Andraste's death in giving rise to your Theocracy. That's all very clearly taken from Dragon Age, and there's no two ways about that. I'm glad you did not make that argument, however, because we have said we're willing to give you a chance on this rather than outright denying the sub, and an argument would have wasted that opportunity! I did say I'm appreciative of your co-operation, and I'm glad to have received it here

I am honestly still a little bothered by the derivative nature of the work: particularly using the story of Andraste strikes me as unnecessary - could you not have come up with your own story, rather than lifted one directly from another gaming franchise? At any rate, as long as the names aren't used, we can let it slide.

You've done well in including references to the 400-Year Darkness and the incident involving Netherworld, as we ask in all planetary submissions. That's a very good thing, and I like that it's been used to strengthen the religious dogma of your planet.

As for the Val Royans being baseline Human, that's absolutely perfect: what they call themselves is ultimately irrelevant to their biology, so if that remains the same as a normal Human, there's no need for a separate submission.

I am also, btw, intrigued by this idea of a 'Crusade' to spread word of the Maker to other worlds in the Galaxy. I'd be very curious to see how you handle that - again, provided there are no Dragon Age references made. Let's keep that out of Star Wars, please!

With that, I'll hand you over to [member="Silencia"] for secondary review and potential approval. Thanks for your time!

 

[Quietus]

While an argument could be made, I felt it simpler to just edit the submission and save everyone involved a massive headache.

Wrong. There is no argument to be made where plagiarism is involved. The fact that this was not denied outright was a gift to a member who has been here long enough to know better, and a writer creative enough to come up with original names and ideas. I am disappointed it was an issue with you at all, considering your otherwise wonderful talent for writing. See that this issue does not come up again in future submissions.


All that aside, it's a nice submission. I echo Tirdarius' lamentations in that I wish it could have a more original base story to it and not one copied from a popular game setting. I digress, we are all guilty of drawing inspiration from the things we love, and I am also very fond of the Dragon Age setting. The edits are satisfactory.

Approved.

 

[Quietus]

This submission is being archived at the request of the Submitter to be reworked and re-submitted.