Karanan

The Karanans are a near-human, mammalian species that evolved 160,000 years ago, indigenous only to the Karana system. Their homeworld is the boreal planet Sahare, but their limited spacefaring technologies allowed them to colonize their sister planet Lears, and establish a mining colony on volcanic Deva. The entire system and Karanan civilization now lies under the control of the Emperor's Hammer.

The species is characterized by average stature, brown to black hair, red blood, four-digit hands, skin ranging from grey with blue undertones to pale blue, and generally lean, muscular bodies from millennia of breeding for war and manpower reliant production. Adorned by thick eyebrows, their brown, amber, or rarely violet eyes are set deep in the sockets, a feature accentuated by their slightly pronounced, two-lobed forehead. While largely unrenowned for acrobatic feats and hindered by their technological level, the typical Karanan possesses strength, toughness, aggression, and a keen mind. Interbreeding with other humanoids may be possible, but is extremely unlikely to have occurred due to the recentness of their introduction to the galaxy, and technological dependence on the traditionally pro-human EH.

Their average lifespan is 63 years, but due to the technological improvements brought by the Hammer this will extend upward.

Early History Overview

Examination of Karanan legend and archaeological evidence reveals that the system was home to a small band of Dark Jedi about 3400 years ago. It appears that a lone Jedi Master followed a vision far beyond the Republic’s known hyperspace routes of the time, stumbling upon the system. He was drawn to the fourth planet by the taint of an asteroid impact that had wiped out a once vibrant ecosystem centuries before, leaving only sparse vegetation in its wake. Though he returned to the Old Republic, the seeds of his downfall had been planted. His curiosity and arrogant belief that he could resist the Dark Side’s lure led him deeper into forbidden knowledge until, inevitably, he was enthralled. Fearing what his colleagues would do if they learned the truth, the Master resolved to convert a handful of followers and return to Karana. They proceeded to subjugate the natives, erecting several temples on Sahare, and exporting many to build a fortress city on their adopted capital planet, Kaiburr, for the better part of a decade.

Ultimately, they abandoned their nascent empire only a few years after these monuments were completed, disappearing from all historical record thereafter. The reasons for their departure are unclear, though most theories attribute it to a mix of infighting, plague, and seeking richer spoils back in the civilized galaxy.

Whatever the case, the lack of further outside interference allowed the people of Sahare to struggle free from the shadow of fear, but the process would be slow. None of those taken ever returned from the throne world of the gods, and their masters were long expected to return. Though belief in the Dark Jedi and the old ways eventually dwindled, their legacy remained, guiding the course of the people’s evolution.

Karanan culture became collectivist in nature, the people surrendering to the will of the state and rarely striving to develop more liberal social systems. Likewise, the extended family structure became firmly entrenched, based on the concepts of defense through numbers and centralized productivity. Their society also became highly paternalistic and monogamous, relegating the generally slighter females to the home, but providing them martial training enough to defend that home. Only with the rise of modern industry were females brought increasingly into the workforce and military.

Aggressive expansionism and the extolment of all things military also took root during the centuries following the Dark Jedi departure. No doubt introduced by their use of Karanans as sport gladiators on Sahare, with the best being whisked away to Kaiburr as sparring partners. The Karanans continued in this vein, their warfare originally motivated by the desire to placate the gods with blood, but moving increasingly into secular sources, often underlain by the rivalries established by the former. By 213 BBY this propensity toward conflict would result in global unification under the despot Krazzos Vodahr.

Civil War

The Exalted Unifier’s descendants, the Vodaha, continued his dream of sweeping away the old cultural boundaries to make their homeworld truly one nation. In 32 BBY they began the unpopular process of organizing the planetary landmasses into more specialized functions through a policy of disproportionate development. One continent was to focus increasingly on agriculture, another on scientific pursuits, and another on industrial manufacturing. In particular, the collectivization of small farms threatened to become a disaster. It robbed the farmers of the meager scraps of land they had owned, and the communities they lived in for countless generations. Harvests also suffered as the demands of the new system clashed with the farmers’ low education and training levels. Fortunately, the switchover was handled well enough for the latter problems to be overcome with comprehensive educational reforms. Though many in the government were quick to attribute the failed quotas to simple sabotage, cooler heads prevailed. Imprisonment and execution of managers and workers occurred, but was kept to a bare minimum, and preexisting stores were sufficient to prevent widespread starvation. Despite this benevolent approach the public still grew increasingly less tolerant, feeling unjustly commodified by the social experiment and put out by its often ridiculous demands.

In 4 BBY the people of the former Zurkasa, a quarter million being evicted to make way for a hydroelectric dam, burst with resentment of the government’s absolute power. They demanded the return of their cultural identity and a reduction of Vodaha power. Others soon followed their example, and The Movement for Democratic Reform, Kilad, was born. The Reformers’ message spread to the colonies as full out civil war erupted, taking firm root with the pioneers of Lears, but gaining little track with the traditional loyalists on Deva. The majority of Karanans (on the order of 70%) still supported the old regime, however marginally, and within three years Zurkasa and its allies had been reigned in, and the Kilad as a whole had effectively ceased to exist on the homeworld. The Central Government turned its attention to the Kilad on Lears, who had by then overthrown the colonial government and declared independence.

Lears position was not particularly promising after the fall of the Saharean Kilad, but its people dug in, relying on the gulf between planets to prolong the conflict. Hopefully, public and Vodaha interest in a costly space campaign would ebb, and diplomacy could yield a peaceful resolution. As hoped, Lears nascent space forces managed to dissuade the first attempts at invasion, leading to a military stalemate and promising negotiations. Sahare had no intention of honouring the peace, however, and broke through the planet’s defenses in 7 ABY. Vodaha duplicity and the brutal nature of their opening offensive convinced the people of Lears to fight on, to, if nothing else, put up a fight worthy of the history books. Technologically unable to bring the full weight of its armies down upon Lears at once, the Saharean advance slowed tremendously.

Second Contact

In 10 ABY all eyes turned skyward in fear and awe as the Karanan view of the universe was shattered forever. The Emperor’s Hammer approached both sides of the conflict, quickly finding common ground with the Vodaha, which they also determined to be the dominant of the two parties. Within a week they had struck an agreement. In exchange for hastening the end of the war, the cost and unpopularity of which was creating more unrest on Sahare, the Vodaha would grant the aliens extensive trading rights. The Imperials broke Lears’ back in a matter of days with negligible losses, hardened divisions laying down their arms at the arrival of the first AT-STs, faceless stormtroopers, and TIE aircraft.

As the fullness of their technological disadvantage became apparent, disquiet swept the higher echelons of the Vodaha. It was clear from the “light” orbital bombardments utilized against Lears that the humans could take whatever they wanted with impunity. Fortunately, they were not dealing with mindless destroyers. The Hammer did what it promised and demanded no more, even exceeding its end of some bargains. As diplomatic ties strengthened, the Vodaha agreed to more and more proposals, knowing full well the game that was being played, but having no way out of it. The Hammer wanted control without the hassle of rebuilding infrastructure. With the public increasingly enamored with the newcomers, and its own efforts overshadowed at every turn, the government took the only step it could to secure its political survival. The system was formally annexed by the end of the year, opening the door for a wave of Imperial modernization.

Military facilities, COMPNOR centers, starports, and shining new cities, including a new capital, sprang up during the four-year Reconstruction. The Dark Jedi of Clan Taldryan were given a hand in the system, a move that rekindled a degree of belief in the old gods. The Hammer neither supported nor refuted this reaction, simply allowing the notion to worm its way as it would.

The majority of Karanans now serve their widely regarded saviours, though rumours abound of forced labour and even experimentation. Though most elected to stay with the Hammer during the Exodus, a number of Karanans came with the Dark Brotherhood as servants, soldiers, and even Jedi.

Religion

At the time of the first Dark Jedi arrival most Karanan civilizations had at least a basic, and relatively open, public belief system based on genderless gods living among the stars. It was widely held that the High Gods, those responsible for the creation and maintenance of the universe, were indifferent, perhaps even ignorant of mortal affairs. The Lesser Gods, however, were more sympathetic to the Karanans’ needs; offering council and good fortune to some, and taking the souls of those deemed worthy by their brother, Korfuus, as servants in the paradise of Lears. These souls were also permitted to watch over their living relatives. Unworthy spirits, in contrast, fell into the blackest of voids, decaying painfully until they winked out of existence completely.

Their practices became decidedly more violent following the rule of the outsiders, including the return for several centuries of a largely abandoned practice, sentient sacrifice. This five century Dark Age passed into history, and though the priests of the old ways still held considerable sway, their baseless millennialism had brought a dose of skepticism into the Karanan mindset.

By the modern age belief in the old gods had dwindled to the level of superstition, encouraged by The Enlightened Vodahr’s defacement or closing of the ancient temples with no supernatural reprisal. Cults to the old gods occasionally popped up during the reign of the Vodaha, but found their members executed, or at the very least, imprisoned. Still, many on Lears prefer to stay indoors at night for fear of spirits angry at the presence of the living on sacred ground, and their lack of faith.

Technology

The Karanans possess a relatively low level of technology by galactic standards, lacking hyperdrives, repulsorlifts, blasters, shields, and droids. However, they are firmly industrialized, though highly reliant on manpower, and have possessed basic spaceflight for over two centuries. In place of repulsorlifts they use turbofan-propelled aircraft. In place of blasters they use slugthrowers. The Karanans also possess nuclear technology, though the earlier unification of their homeworld greatly reduced weaponization in this area.

Their most advanced military spacecraft bear crude durasteel armour, an improvement over the conventional kiirium used by most of their forces, along with railguns and missiles. These are small, yet bulky affairs, their closest galactic analog being an armed freighter. Their first starfighter, designed to fit into an external rack and having only a few hours total operational time, was just entering the prototype phase when the Hammer arrived.

Notable Karanans in the Brotherhood

Vessicant