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| Haven
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Unknown Regions
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1
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16 Hours
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188 Days
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Terrestrial
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2,200 km
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Type 1 (Breathable)
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Temperate
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1.08 Standard
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- Jungle
- Mountains
- Valleys
- Rivers
- Beaches
- Small Sea
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35% Water
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None
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- Humans
- Harakoans
- Minority Species
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Approx. 80,000
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Town Council
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New Menat
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House Odan-Urr
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Haven is the codename given to an undesignated planet in the Unknown Regions. Located near the edges of the Galaxy in an unspecified portion of space, it is nearly impossible to reach, having been located by House Odan-Urr after the Fall of New Tython and used as a staging site. In addition, many evacuated survivors of New Tython, and others who have signed on to help the Jedi, have established a small and primitive town called New Menat. Full of life, it is too small for any modern civilization but can sustain the survivors until the return to their homeworld.
History
Haven was discovered primarily through the meditations of Liam Torun, who, through the will of the Force, was able to locate the system following his House's escape from New Tython. Making an intricate and impossible-to-duplicate series of hyperspace jumps, the Jedi aboard the Arthos were able to locate a tiny world near the edge of the Galaxy. Surrounded by obstacles and huge expanses of void, but ideally positioned in relation to its sun, the world seemed a good destination for life to flourish. Indeed, when the Jedi landed, they discovered that the planet was brimming with life, being nutrient-rich and bearing a healthy atmosphere. Though it lacked any serious stores of useful resources, the presence of basic elements like plentiful wood, stone, and iron allowed the survivors to establish a ramshackle outpost.
During the Dark Crusade, the Kotahitanga-Unity Defense Force would use the isolated world as a staging post, following the directions of Torun as he used the saved, but encrypted, navicomputer codes to reach the planet. There, they would stash stores of weaponry, bacta, and materials stolen from the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, the Sith, and other miscreants and tyrants they had faced, preparing for their war with Cy Thuron. Meanwhile, the survivors turned the outpost into a small town, uniting alongside an influx of new followers to build houses, stores, and even a stable for domesticated wildlife. Though Haven was full of hostile and dangerous life, the colonists were able to produce simple slugthrowers and melee weapons using the local resources, and together with the Defense Force and the Jedi were gradually able to fortify the settlement. It was christened New Menat by the locals.
Geography
Jungles and Valleys
Covered in life, Haven hosts flora of every size, from large, thick trees to scattered shrubs, moss, and ever-prevalent vines. These jungles grow into one another, forming a sort of mega-jungle only broken up by the occasional valley or coulee. Rivers criss-cross the floor of these jungles, and feed the flora and fauna around them a steady stream of fresh water, leading many of the denser areas to be quite humid. Easily visible from space, these jungles lend all but the mountain range of the planet and its singular sea a vividly green appearance.
The Spine
Jutting out of the forests and barely covered by more than sparse vegetation, this mountain range is believed to have been caused by an asteroid impact eons ago that hollowed out the sea and forced a good portion of crust upward into the sky. This lends it a jagged, barren, and rocky appearance, making it either mottled green or stark-gray to the eyes. Though the climate of Haven does not allow snow to form on the tops of these mountains, nor anywhere else on-world, the peaks can become quite a bit colder than the jungles below and are generally inhospitable to life. Only hardy, cave-dwelling avians are known to live on these peaks, which see vicious storms form from time to time. Visible from space as a jagged, bony-looking expanse of gray, the range has been nicknamed the Spine by the survivors on-world.
Sea of Hope
Haven holds only one body of significant water - a salty sea known by locals as the Sea of Hope. Full of strange fish and reptilian life, as well as aquatic vegetation, its tidal activity and flow is caused not by the presence of a moon, but simply by the speed with which Haven spins and its distance from its sun. This perfect rotation gives the Sea of Hope predictable, reliable tidal patterns, while maintaining the flow of water throughout the rivers. New Menat is located near its banks, and though the survivors have built a wooden dock and often launch fishing boats, it is not without peril; large, dangerous predators often lurk beneath the surface of the waters, and must be avoided with great care.
Climate
Haven has a temperate climate, near the ideal of many species, and as a result has interesting weather patterns. Though the temperatures of the Spine can dip near to freezing, overall the planet stays well within the range of liquid water, but seldom becomes uncomfortably hot. This ideal mixture generates a lot of evaporation of the local water, meaning that the weather patterns of the planet generally either favor clear skies or rainstorms, ranging from persistent to severe. These conditions are a challenge for the survivors on the planet, who have to contend with things like flooding and the odd lightning strike alongside the wildlife of the world. Haven does not experience summer or winter; three quarters of its short yearly cycle see the same temperate weather, while one quarter becomes a cooler, dryer season, in which avian activity increases, storms taper off, and the rivers generally reduce in swell.
Indigenous Life
Flora
Haven is a world with a very rich atmosphere; thus, while the survivors must adapt to the increase in levels of hydrogen and oxygen, the plants of the world have been able to grow thick and intertwine with one another. Due to the presence of large or otherwise dangerous animals threatening them, many of these have evolved defense mechanisms such as poisoned barbs, thorns, or other traps, while a few plants are even carnivorous against the planet's smaller creatures. Even so, little of the life on Haven is of the sort found on New Tython, and thus its evolutionary defenses can easily be circumnavigated by wary survivors with hand tools. Even so, the predatory wildlife combined with the small population on the planet makes any real deforestation impossible, and so only small amounts of flora are harvested.
Fauna
Haven's fauna is split between four groups; these are avian predators, aquatic life, amphibians, and warm-blooded reptiles. Mammalian life, alongside insectile or arachnid life, never evolved here; instead, these niches were occupied by specialized forms of the other four groups. The reptiles are by far the most prevalent group, coming in thousands of shapes, sizes, and colors and occupying nearly every link in the Haven food chain. Amphibian life is almost entirely predatory, but generally goes after smaller creatures or scavenges, using its ability to live below or above water to eat whatever prey is most readily available.
Below the planet's waters, the wildlife diversifies extensively, producing many fish of divergent colors; in an odd reversal from most worlds, the fish of Haven generally seem to have descended from reptiles rather than vice-versa, and many still bear sharp teeth, scales, and ridges from such an experience. Though nearly all of the smaller fish are edible and can be caught in schools, larger predators, namely the Windshark - named for its tendency to leap from the water over long distances, toward fishermen on rafts or creatures near the shore - dominate both the deeper reaches and the shallows. Luckily, near the coast at least, the survivors are often able to spot these beasts on approach.
The avian life on the planet is often feathered, but is nevertheless reptilian in origin; comprising only about a hundred and fifty species, these range in size from flocks of small, aggressive creatures to larger, solitary avians. Roughly eighty-four percent of the avians on-world are jungle-dwellers, flying with similar motions to bats and other leather-winged creatures and using trees as homes, hunting grounds, and a means of transportation in-between flights. The remaining sixteen percent of species are mountain dwellers, and hunt almost exclusively over the Sea of Hope by diving down and snatching or scooping up fish and other aquatic fauna. Even so, these will at times choose to go after fishermen, preferring a slower-moving, easy prey.
The locals have been able to use a local reptilian hexapod, named Sprinters by the Basic-speaking survivors of the world, as mounts or beasts of burden; efforts are being made to find animals that can be domesticated, but the vast majority of meat for the survivors comes from hunting the local wildlife. This is often done in parties, as even slugthrowers and weapons are rarely any help to a lone hunter on Haven. To the animals, the survivors are just new prey.
Settlements
Harakoan exiles make up the second largest portion of survivors on Haven.
New Menat
Originally founded in a clearing suitable for the Arthos to dock within, alongside the starfighters of the Jedi, New Menat is located only one kilometer from the Sea of Hope. Once surrounded by trees and plantlife, and cut in half by a large river, the settlement has seen much of the forest cleared and the river crossed by a wooden bridge. Trees have been used to form defensive walls around the bulk of the town; while the original structures were largely barracks and shelters, these have given way to flattened dirt roads, simple houses and shops, and even a rudimentary steel forge. A Town Hall has been erected in the center, where the elected Town Council - temporarily aided by Jedi - keeps peace and order among the survivors. Using sprinters to haul them, some of the locals have built wooden wagons to carry groups of hunters or supplies about, while the survivors generally settle into the role of colonists.
Though the town continues to improve, it has seen nothing in the way of a spaceport or any other support for the greater Galaxy constructed. This was originally due to a lack of resources, but over time, the survivors have become fond of their simpler existence after so much atrocity on New Tython. With the digging of a well and the establishment of a town charter, it seems likely that many will choose simply to never leave Haven, and never have to deal with another Jedi or Sith. As time carries on and newcomers join the settlement from Jedi forces, doctors and other experts have arrived, making life ever more sustainable in the small town. Even so, it faces the constant threats of weather and predators as it struggles to maintain itself.
Jedi Staging Area
The Jedi and their forces use ramshackle barracks located just outside of the town, utilizing lean-to sheds to hide their cargo and supplies from wildlife and the elements. In cleared patches of forest, their forces can be seen training to utilize stolen Brotherhood armors, weapons, and resources in makeshift practice ranges; these camps, complete with fabric tents and portable machines, are a stark contrast to the simpler town. Even so, it has been made clear by the Jedi that Haven is only a temporary base; in time, this area will be cleared away, and nature will be allowed to retake it.
Government and Affiliation
Though the vast majority of the world remains wild, the colonists of New Menat have erected a simple government to help organize things. Originally overseen by Jedi, the survivors eventually grew organized and capable enough to want to govern themselves. Thus, elections were held, allowing a council of three beings to be elected by simple ballot voting; one human, one Harakoan, and one of a minority race. These three would form the Town Council, who would govern the simple logistics of the town and settle disputes. To aid them, a small group of local fighters simply called the Militia was formed, who would act as peacekeepers and police should survivors become violent with one another. Though aided by the Jedi for a time, this government soon became self-sufficient, and holds no allegiance to Odan-Urr or any external force.
The Jedi of Odan-Urr fled to Haven originally to protect the survivors they had evacuated from New Tython; however, seeing many of these choose instead to adapt to a rustic lifestyle, they decided to keep their distance and allow the community to grow into something functional. Though support was given, it was made clear from the beginning - no lasting Tythonian presence would be left on the planet, nor would travel to and from it become the norm. The Jedi would spread no teachings, erect no Praxeum or Temple, and leave no lasting mark on those who wished to be left alone - their destiny was to be their own.