Planet Log: Thatramoria

Thatramoria is currently being reclaimed after the Imperial destruction caused when the Emperor ordered the planet sterilized. The first set of statistics describe the planet before the Empire arrived; the second set describes the planet shortly afterwards. The planet is currently undergoing constant work, and changing yearly.



Thatramoria, the height of civilization:
Planet Name: Thatramoria
Type: Terrestrial
Atmosphere: 20% oxygen, 40% nitrogen, 40% neon
Hydrosphere: moderate
Gravity: 0.9 standard
Terrain: Hills, mountains, and plains.
Lenght of Day: 30 Standard Hours
Length of Year: 328 Standard Days
Sapient Species:Thatramorians
Starport: One Imperial
Population: 4.5 billion
Planet Function: Homeworld
Government: Republic variant
Tech Level: Advanced Space
Major Exports:
Major Imports:


Thatramoria, current state after Imperial sterilization:
Atmosphere: Type II: breath Masks recommended
Hydrosphere: Dry
Sapient Species: None
Starport: None
Population: under ten
Planet Function: regenerating world
Government: None
Tech Level: Stone age
Major Exports:
Major Imports:


History, Culture, & People:

Thatramoria: The Golden Age

Thatramoria is a class M planet located in the Hittol sector, in the East Quadrant. From space, it appears as a jewel- toned globe, a deep azure with hints of violet in the atmosphere. Oceans cover 60% of the surface; the land that makes up the remaining 40% is divided into four large landmasses, the polar ice caps, and an amazing number of smaller islands.

Because Thatramoria is part of a binary system, it is located further out than it would be with a single sun. While the planet is quite a decent size, the gravity is actually just a bit below one standard gravity. The core is composed of rock. Thatramoria's oceans are extensive; considering where they are in the solar system scientists agree that in the distant past Thatramoria was impacted at least twice by meteorites composed largely of water. This is in no small part the reason life evolved.

The solar system itself has five planets, including Thatramoria, and two asteroid belts. While one of these belts is quite sparse, the other is immense, and provides a rich resource of the metals that are not as abundant on Thatramoria itself.

The dominant lifeform on Thatramoria is a sentient, humanoid species. It seems obvious now that the Thatramorians could not have evolved on this planet originally. Instead, they must have been seeded there, and adapted to their new environment. These adaptations explain the appearance of a Thatramorian: light blue skin, eyes that range from red to red-violet and tend to glow, hair that is typically black, but includes the rare blond or dark brunette.

The ecology on Thatramoria is somewhat delicate. There are few extremely large lifeforms; most of the fauna seems to have evolved on a smaller scale. The plant ecology, however, is extensive and quite diverse. The most common tree on the planet shares a community root system, and can cover an amazing amount of acreage.

People:
The Thatramorian civilization is quite old - easily going back to the beginnings of the Galactic Republic and beyond. While there have been several turbulent periods in history, Thatramoria has enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity for the past thousand years, with very few interruptions.

Thatramorian culture revolves around the family. Any Thatramorian can tell you exactly which House or Houses he is descended from; give him a chance to check the references that all families keep, and he can recite the list of his ancestors through a large number of generations. This focus on family origins has been the cause of extensive bloodshed in the past. In response to the Blood Wars, the current code of laws and justice makes use of the family structures and traditions. To injure or offend another Thatramorian is to injure your own family. As a result, while there is violence, serious offenses are not common. Slander is almost unheard of, and would shock almost any Thatramorian into speechlessness.

Technology focuses on maintaining balance and harmony with the planet itself. Most of the current technology on Thatramoria is organic, or developing in that direction. The sciences are important, particularly the biosciences. Genetics have been explored to a degree unmatched anywhere else in the galaxy. Thatramoria is both more willing to explore the field, and more restrictive in the rules it has put in place to avoid catastrophes.

Architecture makes use of the environment it is a part of. Cities built in the mountains are built straight into the slopes. Cities in the forests do remove some trees, but build around and with them as far as is possible. Cities on plains and plateaus take advantage of the space and soar skywards. All settled areas have certain things in common - all have large tracts set aside as parks and reserves, a building devoted exclusively to a community meeting center for resolving questions and conflicts, and cities and towns of any size at all have large libraries.

History:
Thatramoria's history extends over thousands of years. The past thousand years have been an eon of peace, but the preceding eon was an amazingly bloody one. The family ties which are so valued today dominated earlier Thatramorian society. An insult to the wrong person could mean death, not only for the insulter, but his entire family. The extended family would, of course, respond, and the conflict would escalate from there.

The wars dominated every facet of Thatramorian society. The three main continents were divided into several small territories, which were constantly battling back and forth, being absorbed, splitting into new territories - no map produced was ever accurate for more than six months.

As technology developed towards the first space age, a few of the strongest families made alliances of necessity, seeing nothing but bloodshed for their people. With the assurance that the strongest of their enemies would not take advantage of distraction, each of these families used their power and influence to force an end to the wars. There was no actual cease fire, and bloodshed continued, but the wholesale slaughter came to a halt.

The next period of history was dominated by those clans who were strong enough to seize power, usually through political or financial means. The hundreds of tiny territories gradually became absorbed by the larger ones, until there were less than fifty territories altogether. This continued for over a hundred years, with the occasional assassination and power struggle a matter of course.

Given the Thatramorian love of tradition, and a tendency to stay with even those traditions that did not necessarily work, this might have continued indefinitely if it hadn't come down to a single individual. Two of the most powerful families on the planet were involved in a feud that suddenly erupted, with one family left in ruins, and the other lacking its head. This was the sort of thing that had always led to major planetary bloodshed in the past; however, the heir to lead the victorious family had not been consulted on the tactics that had been used to wipe out his rivals, and was horrified. He secretly arranged to meet with the key surviving members of the other family. No one knows exactly what was said at that meeting, but when they emerged, they went straight to the Telaris family stronghold and announced that they had taken vows of mutual kinship. These vows were binding and permanent, and ended any possibility of bloodshed between them.

This started a cascade effect, and the Telaris family capitalized on it. The example of the two families provided a bright point of reason to move towards. Within two hundred years, war was virtually extinct as families allied, with vows that meant those alliances could not be broken. The final, large-scale war took place two hundred and ten years after the first vows, and when it was over, the leaders who had started the movement formed a series of councils, from the local level all the way to a planetary council, to govern the Thatramorian people. The resulting Golden Age lasted for the next thousand years.

As resources were freed from war, the research that had tended towards biological warfare was combined with technical research, and the result was a path that led to organic technology in most fields. Genetics also flourished, and most congenital diseases disappeared in a remarkably short time. While not all of Thatramoria was entirely peaceful, the violence was so reduced that it was a small matter to quell it, generally using a combination of diplomacy and the resources of the Planetary Council, who had a small portion of each major family's holdings at their disposal.

Space travel had already been discovered; now most of the mining for mineral resources took place in one of the asteroid belts, and with the discovery of hyperspace travel the Thatramorians began to spread beyond their solar system. They formed an alliance with the Republic, though they did not join it. Intent on spreading some of their newfound technological wealth to those who needed it, several hundred years passed in peace and prosperity.

The Melanians changed Thatramorian foreign relations forever three hundred years before the Emperor destroyed the civilization. The diplomat leading the Melanian mission misread the political situation on the planet, and released some of the technology before he should have; the Melanians quickly turned the knowledge into a plague that escaped, and destroyed the entire planet's population. The disaster prompted a drastic revision in foreign policy, and with the burden of a race's genocide on their consciences, the Thatramorians became extremely insular, staying within their home system almost exclusively.

Government:
Thatramoria is ruled by a series of councils. The local councils are elected by the area they represent. They in turn appoint the members for the regional councils. The regional council provides nominations for the planetary council, and the local councils elect new members for the planetary council by a two-thirds majority. While the system can sometimes be unwieldy, it is amazingly effective. Enforcement is provided by peacekeepers trained especially for planetary duty, without the usual family emphasis - the family is the planet for peacekeepers. In addition, the Thatramorian Jedi, trained by the D'arcalian Academy, step in when needed, though this is not often. For the most part, the Jedi serve as teachers, diplomats, and healers. They are often the ones who serve as ambassadors when off-planet negotiations become necessary, though they usually go as an attache rather than the ranking diplomat.

Current Situation:
One of the Emperor's first acts after his power had been consolidated was to order the conquest or sterilization of Thatramoria. The government had managed to keep amazingly private, especially in controlling the biogenetic and organic technology information. Strong enough to withstand threats of invasion, and all too aware of the possible consequences after the Melanian disaster, they refused to cooperate. Whether or not this might have succeeded will never be known. Somewhat disorganized from a recent attempted coup by some of the younger and wilder factions of Thatramorian politics, the Planetary Council was unable to formulate an offensive response. The Empire destroyed the civilization from orbit. Because few Thatramorians ever left the planet, this spelled the end of the Thatramorian people.

Contrary to appearances, this was not the end of the Thatramorian race . . .