|
| Harakoan Tribal Alliance Preserve
|
|
41 ABY
|
|
Kiast
|
|
Clan Odan-Urr
|
- 39,406 individuals
- 5000 visitors and supporting personnel
|
|
780KM²
|
|
|
|
|
|
ID 88316
|
Constructed and established in the years following Clan Odan-Urr's exodus from New Tython, the Harakoan Tribal Alliance Preserve serves as the primary site for what remains of the Harakoan species. A large city-like settlement, it covers a vast flattened area across one of Kiast's mountainous peaks, far above the toxic clouds. With limited access and basic fortifications, the complex houses multiple biological domes to help preserve and cultivate small replica ecosystems of New Tython. This serves as a place of memory and education and a primary governing site, granting the Harakoans some limited degree of freedom and unification, even with smaller nomadic groups dotted across the Kiast system.
History
Evacuation of New Tython
The story of what would become the Harakoan Tribal Alliance Preserve began with the death of New Tython at the hands of the Brotherhood. Facing first the full might of the Brotherhood seeking to subdue if not annihilate Clan Odan-Urr and its allies, and then an outright attempt to massacre all those associated with the Jedi, the risk had been known for many years. Yet the insanity of Darth Pravus and his hunger for power led to extremes none save his Council would have predicted. New Tython was bombed from orbit, a torrent of turbolaser blasts burning away whole continents as the Brotherhood sought to kill all who called the planet home. Cities died within minutes, while vast regions were steadily crippled burned to nothing. The seas boiled away, until the very crust of New Tython was rent asunder, and the planet reduced to a burning sphere in the void.
Only a relative few thousand would walk away from the betrayal by the Brotherhood, thanks largely to the very Jedi that the Sith had sought to kill. Drastic evacuation efforts worked to perform a mass exodus from the planet, even as the Clan's warships fought a rearguard action against the oncoming enemy fleet. Although many shuttles and even atmospheric capable freighters performed repeated runs to the planet, large numbers were destroyed under the Brotherhood's assault, and the few who succeeded in landing then returning focused upon the better defended territories of the planet. Cities and even townships were able to provide some basic assistance, but little could be found in the outermost wastes. Combined with the nomadic nature of New Tython's native people, it meant that a scant few of the Harakoans could be successfully evacuated or even found. The majority of those who were fortunate enough to find a ship were either visitors to the colonies, representative groups dispatched to the Jedi, or simply those fortunate enough to by close by. Of those who escaped in the scattered fleet of warships, civilian vessels, tramp freighters, and anything flightworthy enough to flee the planet, only a fragmentary number consisted of the Harakoans. Struggling to comprehend what had taken place, the tribes were left in mute shock at the total destruction of all they had known and valued in the universe at the hands of an enemy that they had never met.
The years following the massacre of New Tython remained difficult for the resident tribes. Many tribes had been annihilated outright in the Dark Brotherhood's act of genocide, while many others who had once numbered in the thousands had been reduced to dozens of members or even just individuals. Relatively few major cultural figures and spiritual leaders had survived, and almost no possessions or records of all that had once been. In a single act, centuries of unique histories, dialects, and traditions had been removed from the universe. Divided among the transports and warships which had borne them away from their murdered planet, even efforts to form unity among the survivors struggled thanks to the monumental loss inflicted upon them by the Brotherhood. Although this had been equally true of many colonists, to the point where some argued that they should just move on and adjust to the change, rather than attempt to rebuild. Part of this was borne of similar outbursts of grief at so many deaths, along with frustrations at trying to adapt to a new environment, but a single truth remained true: While the colonists at least retained other worlds where their people were dominant, almost nine tenths of the Harakoan species had been executed. Over the coming decades, those numbers would continue to dwindle.
Wilderness Years
By the time that Clan Odan-Urr's leaders had parlayed an agreement with the Vatali Empire had and found a place for most of their people, the Harakoans had at least formed a relative new structure which still recognised both the surviving and extinct tribes in equal measure. Though loose linked and attempting to blur past tribal lines, much of it had been centered about the preservation of what remained. A significant effort was placed upon the protection and support of the four hundred remaining members who had been born with revocance. Yet even with this new hierarchy, there were difficulties. Relatively few among them were adept at life on ships or operating complex machinery, and their skills were almost entirely useless within any vessel. Although some were able to adapt, others found their efforts limited to manual labour or even tasks which would otherwise have been limited to droids.
Matters continued to deteriorate after the arrival on Kiast and the efforts to reorganise the refugees. With the immediate dangers gone and a lack of the unifying challenge which was survival among Odan-Urr's fleet, many individual groups wished to split off and return to living alone once more. Hungering to seek land and return to any vestige of familiarity, they hoped to find hunting grounds or biomes that they might recognise. Instead they were greeted with a stark surprise. Although efforts had been made to organise and facilitate the influx of tens of thousands of new arrivals, little could be done to make them comfortable at first. Many Harakoans found themselves being granted quarters in Kiast's flying cities, or offered places among the Quorahi settlements, while a relative few were dispatched to Solyiat and Daleem. Even those who were given the luxury of a less urbanized environment were not often given one familiar to their people or narrow locations which were already being infringed upon by local owners. It was only thanks to the direct intervention of Odan-Urr's members that the majority of those given right to settle on Solyiat and Daleem were granted locations suited to their past lands over somewhere completely alien.
Given the almost entirely alien nature of their new homes and difficulty in adapting, many of those who had been given accommodations on Kiast found their options to build a life limited. Hunters were not needed, their knowledge of Kiast was at best a passing amusement, and many locals found their presence to be both a concern and highly intrusive. Worse still, their prior nomadic lifestyles were all but completely impossible to sustain or even emulate in anything beyond the most superficial of ways. This left groups open to exploitation by the criminal underworld, as Harakoans were sought out by pirates, smugglers, and underworld figures alike, for every task from assisting in spice smuggling to acting as hired muscle. The use of warriors in particular became something of a status symbol among minor gangs, where their more exotic nature and skill with more primitive weaponry was seen as desirable. With little else to lose, and some being the sole members left of their people, some warriors actively sought out such groups, if only to find purpose in putting their skills to good use.
Clan Odan-Urr would work to stymie predation of the evacuees and try to improve their lot, even as more found themselves homeless or drifting into obscurity. While essential in halting the worst of situations from arising, the clan remained spread thin thanks to its losses, and further threats would only sap their attention, as the Brotherhood continued its campaign of genocide against all they hated, the Collective would begin its own war against all Force users, and the Children of Mortis launched their attack upon the Jedi Praxeum. Throughout this time, the Harakoans would continue to drift downward in society on Kiast. Some had found their place on the Vatali Empire's other worlds, with a large group thriving among the dense jungles surrounding Baime and others on the plains of Daleem even following the volcanic upheaval, the transfer of tribal members remained slow. Years of this treatment led to the Harakoans strengthening ties among the remaining tribes, as loose as they were, and hardening their sense of self-reliance against all others; resulting in both concerns among locals thanks to their association with criminal groups but also a fascination with elements of their culture. The Harakonans even came to encourage the latter mindset as, while it led to ill informed views forming among the nobility, it was seen as an improvement over their growing stereotype as thugs and criminals on Kiast. This would lead to some surprising support for their cause only a scant few years later.
Reformation
By 41 ABY, the Harakoans had become fully entrenched within the system's society, but many were still without homes or drifting between causes. Even so, when the opportunity arose to unify their scattered people, many came to support their cause. The attack by the Children of Mortis on Kiast had been largely focused upon the Jedi Praxeum, but there had been similar efforts on other mountain peaks. As with the main attack, these had attempted to terraform the local areas into a nightmare of crystal beings and fortifications, decimating a number of secondary sites. Yet one of these, a flattened mountainous peak, had been cleared of past rock formations and even served to better secure the foundations. Many bids and offers were made to make use of this new site, from new military spaceport to even an improved capital, the Harakoans asked that they be granted the right to settle on the site. While few believed that this would be even humoured, the support of several noble families came forward to vote in their favour, along with the Quorahi, and Clan Odan-Urr. While Odan-Urr's backing had always been ensured, the fascination by certain noble families had left them open to agreements with certain tribal leaders, with offers ranging from trade benefits to even with warriors serving on their personal guard. The Quorahi had been even easier to negotiate with, thanks primarily to a highly beneficial agreement in their favour. Few Quorahi ports sailed across the territories, and the Harakoans had offered them a port with substantially reduced charges for their airships, if support was given to sway Vatali politics. Within a year, the right to settle was granted to the group.
Rather than the ramshackle housing that might have been expected, utilising wrecks of warships in how many grounded settlements had been established across the world, the buildings of the settlement were newly constructed to exact specifics. While the Harakoans kept the exact origin of these buildings to themselves, they made it clear that certain deals had been struck among offworld powers. The buildings matched a prefabricated and uniformed design that had been more commonly associated with high grade leisure centres and even zoos across wealthier planets, albeit with a number of significant alterations to suit long-term habitation of sentients. The area was established and then built within a year, with the Harakoans themselves and a large contingent of droids making up the bulk of the local labour. It would then take several more months to bring all local systems online and begin the work of seeding the biological domes. Seeds bartered from private collections and vaults had served to begin spreading among the local flora, while the fauna were either bought from local zoos or close substitutes given to gradually establish as close approximate to New Tython's life as possible. Even with accelerated processes, care was needed to adapt the animals and plants into their new environments, and the work would continue well into 42 ABY.
The Harakoans themselves would find surprising difficulty in moving many of their people to the new site. Some could not be tracked down at all, while others had even found some favour in their dealings among Kiast's floating cities, and felt that they would be abandoning the gains they had struggled to forge there. Furthermore, the other Harakoan tribes which had found success were able to offer little in the way of direct assistance; some even focusing primarily on their own matters out of fear the new Preserve would be seen as an excuse to remove them from their lands. Nevertheless, just over 39,000 would find their way to the Preserve and be situated within it. With a new cause that granted them a genuine opportunity to rebuild some of what had been lost, they found purpose in cementing their way of life and adapting it to Kiast. Concerns over how the new city-state might be utilised as a bargaining chip were eased somewhat by Clan Odan-Urr claiming it as part of their dominion, but then granting them near-total autonomy from their oversight. As a recognised noble house within the Vatali court, Odan-Urr's dominion protected them from the worst of local politics. At the same time they were technically a part of the Quorahi due to other agreements and their status as a free people. This grey area allowed them as close to the independence they desired, while also leaving the door open to form their own agreements and associations.
One of the first major decisions made following its establishment was to declare the Preserve a neutral ground between tribes, and to support any who lived within Kiast. This allowed it to serve as a de-facto place of governance among the survivors without declaring them directly under their rule, and efforts were still made to both enshrine and encourage the nomadic lifestyle which had been a core part of their culture. Even if this was merely moving from one biological dome to another and rotating between the kilometers wide emulations of their homes, it would be as close as they could accomplish to recreating New Tyhon. Yet even in this period of adjustment, there were still changes. Many Harakoans had been forced to undergo a far more intensive education about advanced technology to continue their way of life, and even those who had not done so now openly requested a far more detailed understanding of the sciences. This was seen as a necessity to both maintain what they had reclaimed and to adapt to life on Kiast, as they did not wish to be reliant upon outsiders to repair and maintain the life support systems essential to the Preserve. This would prove to be a well founded concern, when elements of the Brotherhood's Inquisition would attempt to sabotage and then destroy the Preserve with months of its activation, apparently out of a desire to finish what prior Grand Masters had begun. Although the Iron Throne urged that it had not condoned these actions, little help was offered to either find the culprits or make restitutions for their agents' actions.
Structure and Facilities
The Tribal Alliance Preserve is built as a structure and skeleton surrounding various biological domes. Every aspect of the facility is built to serve and support them, save for the few extensions built to support the Alliance's allies. Constructed across a territory which spans almost eight hundred kilometers squared, the area is surrounded by walled fortifications and an atmospheric shielding system to protect it against local storms. Yet even so, much of the area within this has either yet to be fully built upon or remains largely barren rock, crisscrossed by rapid transit facilities, support generators, or everything needed to maintain the current dome network. While the Harakoans desire to eventually expand upon the remaining area, their primary focus is fixed on claiming the areas needed to eventually expand upon the current domes or further recreate aspects of New Tython. The single-minded nature of this focus has led them to overlook choices which might be made in typically be found in a more heavily urbanized city, leading to some criticisms of their designs. The Harakoans have argued in turn that they have no desire to create a metal insect hive to call home, and that their approach has led to a rapid progress in development of the Preserve, constructing within a year what would typically take ten.
Even with the obvious activity of its residents, the Preserve is regarded with some curiosity due to the aesthetic choices used in its construction. Although reinforced durasteel makes up the bulk of its structure, an outer layer of stonework offers an archaic shell to its high tech interior. This has served to give the Preserve the appearance of a lost mountain city and, while seemingly pointless, designs which emulated of ruins once present on New Tython helps to ensure that even its outermost areas work to preserve the annihilated world's memory.
Environmental Domes
The core focus of the entire Preserve, a multitude of environmental dome structures had been forged into the very heart of the Preserve. Each dozens to hundreds of of kilometers wide. One of a number of typical New Republic era designs, these modular units were built to serve as an easy central structure for rapidly established colonies on mining settlements or planets undergoing terraforming. Constructed with military-grade armoured hulls capable of resisting the most extreme environments, each is designed to be lowered from a supporting ship from as high as low orbit, and arrive fully intact on their intended site. While capable of networking with broader power grids and local facilities, each dome was nevertheless built to be self-sufficient, with enough power from internal generators and life support systems to house a basic skeleton crew. More importantly still, these can be modified for use across a wide range of species, with fine-tuned control systems that can accurately emulate the basic terrestrial state of a planet down to a major region.
Although the essentials remain true of each dome, the directive of the Alliance saw each heavily modified and reworked for their plans. Hollowed out of all but the most basic of engineering and support levels until they were a vast internal shell, their structures were continually reinforced to make up for this alteration, while the interiors were altered to make room for sand, rocks, soils, and even a water structure. This allowed them to effectively house and then support entire stretches of savannahs, jungles, and even coastlines, while more advanced environment systems offer a cycling seasonal shift between rains, summers, and winters. Only a small portion of each are currently in use thanks to the limited flora and fauna the Harakoans were able to gain, with the hopes of gradually expanding each until they fully cover the interiors, albeit each is enough to offer a small if fragile ecosystem.
Even with multiple successes, the domes' presence has been a point of contention among the Alliance's members, with the more dominant surviving tribes being granted the right of choice in which territories to first emulate. This has led to accusations of hollow words and favouritism among the less populous groups, especially after the Alliance was founded on the promise of each surviving tribe being of equal value and standing. Some efforts to offer signs of equality have even been taken as insults, such as the common choice of using certain domes as meeting grounds between visiting members of other settlements or even Harakoans seeking refuge.
Visitors Quarter
Constructed on the fringes of the Preserve, against its outermost walls, the Visitors Quarter was among the first areas established once the domes and essential systems had been put in place. A stacked block of modular structures ranging from meeting rooms to basic living spaces, the area is a far cry from the Harakoan's usual habitat but ideal for those more familiar with urban dwelling. Comfortable if utilitarian in design, the buildings were a prefabricated structure used on mining colonies which easily suited the Alliance's needs. Initially intended to help house visiting diplomats and merchants while further structures were put into place and the harbour was established, it quickly became a site utilized for any trusted figures who could be allowed into the heart of the Preserve. More often than not, it has seen Jedi, Odanites, Vatali, and even more prominent offworld traders visiting, either as a stopping point between settlements or for private negotiations. Although most of the Quorahi have been welcomed there, offers have often been ignored in favour of inns long set into the Preserve's harbour walls.
Although intended to primarily support those would not be at ease within the artificial biomes, the Quarter was reinforced for reasons of security, following the attempted annihilation of the Preserve by allegedly rogue Inquisitors. Along with further security checks and scans for weapons, explosive chemicals or materials, and even indications of concealed items, the Quarter can easily be put into lockdown and fortified both within and without. This has led to some comparing it with less of a diplomatic visitors area than a glorified jail cell, albeit one which has been well decorated.
Airship Harbour
Constructed into a curve in the mountainside, partially carved away by the Children's crystals in some unknown act, the Airship Harbour is established a broad circular dip that was carved several hundred metres down into the rockface. Situated some distance from the Preserve, the harbour was easily established under the directive of Pau'an engineers, mimicking techniques used to support their sinkhole cities. Multiple internal ring networks and levels occupy the area, joined by walkways and access elevators, while berths allow for easy maintenance of the more common Kiast airships and even smaller jump capable vessels. Although by no means comparable to the vast docks found in the bigger settlements, a vast wealth of support and repair docks, warehouses, and even local taverns has given the harbour a life of its own.
Running from the same basic power grid and with linking access tunnels dug through the rock, the harbour is fully supported but kept isolated due to the Harakoans' reluctance in giving full access to outsiders. Each tunnel and even access point is guarded and serves as a security point, which can easily be defended in the time of a siege. Although beneficial to the Preserve's security, it has led to the harbour becoming less an extension of the city than a conjoined settlement that has grown apart from its rulers. Even so, Harakoans are a common sight among the docks, particularly the younger generations or those who have gained an appreciation for technology. This has eased any sense of potential xenophobia that might fray relations with outsiders, and it has even eased negotiations by making the species a familiar sight to frequent traders.
Besides its benefit as the sole major harbour a region largely bereft of friendly ports to most ships, its nature serves as a natural fortification against both the elements and even pirate raids. The atmospheric shield and partially underground nature of the harbour allows it to easily weather even the most extreme storms, while the limited point of access and few easy targets makes pirate raids an extremely risky venture even when led by veteran raiders. Yet even for all of its benefits, the harbour has served as a flashpoint in several internal conflicts. Due to the grey area in which the Harakoans occupy, many visiting Quorahi attempt to treat it as they would any of their ports, to the point of expecting to follow their favoured laws. At the same time, a vocal minority of the more hard-bitten Harakoans have voiced some disapproval at how a role within the harbour is seen as desirable, and has further reduced the prominence of the very hunting skills they seek to preserve.
Maintenance Levels
Storage and Support Facilities
Dotted across the Preserve are various seemingly unused structures, the storage and support facilities are moderate to large warehouses intended to help guard the Preserve against any supply losses. With the risk of pirate raids on trade routes or even disruption thanks to planetary invasion, these each are intended to help ensure the constant operation of the Preserve for any period from months to years. Although their exact use changes depending on the location, each houses a mixture of foodstuffs, water, medical equipment, replacement soils, seeds, tools, electrical components, and even no shortage of droids to help with the repair of the Preserve. Remarkably given how close the Harakoans have come to annihilation, none are set aside for weaponry. Although it is unknown if these are simply hidden elsewhere or this is some cultural point to establish that they are focused more on preservation than warfare, the lack of stockpiled weapons is the only element missing for everything needed to endure a siege. Some locations are far more specialized than others, dedicated to a single task or role if they are close to a certain vital location.
Generators
Hidden in the lowest depths of the facility and heavily shielded, the Preserve's main generators are one of its engineering marvels. With designs originally taken from Secutor-class Star Destroyers, each one of the four main cores offers an output which can power a star cruiser. This not only grants the Preserve all the energy it needs to easily maintain multiple artificial biomes and a linked harbour, but also all the power needed to constantly expand and bolster further additional facilities as the Preserve rapidly builds outward. Although requiring minimal oversight, spending a standard month assisting with the generators' operations is seen as a rite of passage for most Harakoans following establishing their new home. The mark is one of their older lives being branched with the new, in being given a moment to oversee systems used to preserve their old lives and accept the necessity of technology toward that end.
Yet there is a dark reputation associated with the generators. A key part of why the Harakoans sought to better familiarize themselves with the technology needed for their survival stemmed from an attempt to wipe out the last of their kind. Initially relying upon employed engineers and a vast army of droids, elements of the Iron Throne's Inquisition were able to easily infiltrate the facility and almost trigged a full scale meltdown. Only the multitude of additional safeties added prevent the very sabotage they were attempting, and an early alarm raised thanks to a surprise encounter, allowed for disaster to be entirely averted. This led to many changes, from further secondary generators being dotted across the entire Preserve, to the very traditions that are now embraced, but the story remains as much a warning as it is a celebration of their survival.
Trade Agreements and Associations
Vatali
The Harakoan Tribal Alliance's relationship with the Vatali is strained, thanks in no small part to their apparent abandonment after arrival. While freely thankful for offering them any kind of home given their numbers, both the handling of how their members were scattered, and then seemingly forgotten, has led to strong distrust for the Sephi. Although their leaders fully accept and understand that the multitude of threats that rocked the Vatali Empire likely drew attention away from them, there nevertheless remains a sense of suspicion when dealing with its representatives.
Even with the bitterness brought on through hard years, the Vatali are still an essential part in helping the Preserve rebuild and fund its efforts. The exoticism a number of ranking nobles hold the Harakoans in did help in gaining the very territory the Preserve was founded on and has served as an essential source of coin. In return for cultural details, imagery, artwork, and even a limited supply of foodstuffs taken from the domes, the nobles have offered repeated backing and tried to broker further trade deals. Although the Harakoan's supply of such things is limited, as is their desire to offer it when cultural touchstones can be so easily misunderstood, pragmatism has constantly won out. Misconceptions and cultural mimicry can at least be corrected in time, but the Alliance requires a constant supply both coin and goodwill to sustain itself.
Quorahi
The Quorahi have a curious but long-standing history with the Harakoans, thanks largely to their own history of self-reliance and lurking on the relative outskirts of supposed civilized society. With some smaller groups being deposited in Quorahi settlements at the time of their arrival, they became a familiar sight among certain regions. Although initially viewed as dead weight due to their skills being ill sited to any static environment, some were able to find means to earn their keep, either through work on airships or adapting to their new lives. Even corsair groups met with the occasional one, thanks to their warriors' involvement with raiding groups. As the story became known of what they had lost, a combination of curiosity and even some degree of kinship fostered support from the Quorahi.
Some Harakoans openly supported the Quorahi in their uprising, thanks as much to their integration into their people and having a closer association to them than the Vatali. Although still arguing that they were a separate people, this loyalty would be later rewarded when the Quorahi Nation backed efforts by the Harakoans to claim the lands needed for their Preserve. Following its construction, the Quorahi gained a vital port and beneficial status when berthing their ships there. Relations have remained positive thanks to this beneficial agreement, and the several years of shared history much of the Preserve's population retains with their kind. Some minor disagreements have lain in how each has treated the other in regards to the use of the Preserve's harbour, with the Quorahi attempting to follow and even enforce payment and basic laws used among many of their settlements. The Alliance has rejected much of this due to a lack of prior agreements, while some Quorahi see their relative separation as ingratitude for all that was done to help them.
Clan Odan-Urr
Clan Odan-Urr's long-standing ties to the Quorahi have allowed it a position of trust within the Preserve. With their continued support, and technical status as a fiefdom of the Clan's status as a Vatali noble house, its members are allowed far more freedom within its walls than many other outsiders. Recognizing that the group is essential to their future, their alliance has remained strong since gaining their new home, even in the face of some animosity thanks to both their limited support after the Harakoans were granted refuge and that they bear at least some responsibility for New Tython's death. Even so, the Clan has constantly worked to ensure the Preserve is given all the resources and local support it needs, from materials to even gaining culturally essential items from private collectors. Even so, while the Clan has been largely forgiven for even the loss of their homeworld, their continued association with the people who butchered New Tython has remained a point of contention. They ultimately hold the Brotherhood responsible for the loss of their planet, and any reasoning offered has proven poor at best. With the Brotherhood's actions failing to indicate any sign of improvement or redemption, it is a common belief among the Harakoans that it should have been left to die at the hands of the threats they face.
Yet in spite of the deep-seated contempt held for Clan Odan-Urr's allies, the Preserve has sworn to remain allied with them until the end. This has seen them assisting in certain lessons on the Praxeum, helping in secondary facilities such as the Locus Vera Farm, and some warriors have even begun to appear among the O.U.S.C's various branches.
Secondary Groups
One of the more curious outer relations among the Harakoans lies in apparent off-worlder relations with an unnamed group. Although Clan Odan-Urr has given them substantial leeway and some freedom the concern that this poses a security threat has been raised multiple times. Efforts by the Sentinel Network to determine any exact negotiations or even the identity of the Alliance's associates has been met with marginal success, indicating that the Harakoans offered unknown resources and even individuals in exchange for the materials needed to build their Preserve. Suspicions lie in that some deal was brokered with the Severian Principate, thanks primarily to the remarkable amount of knowledge the Harakoans displayed in regards to that power, and how several of their members have appeared as members of the Tenixir Revenants. Whatever the exact reasoning of this, either out of a desire for independence or the nature of any deal, the Harakoan Tribal Alliance remains tight-lipped on the matter.