Post by Cain on Aug 21, 2010 21:21:53 GMT -5
Planet Name: Chinine (Chin - neen)
Planet Type: Mountainous/Deep Forests
Habitable: Yes
System: Chinine System (Unknown Regions)
Orbital Position: 4th
Moons: 1 (Kagelun)
Rotational Period: 57 Standard Hours
Orbital Period: 389 Local Days
Terrain Overview: The geography of Chinine is that of long rolling hills, high mountain tops, deep valleys and caverns. The planets surface is composed of many small tectonic plates which grind into each other. Though the process is incredibly slow, over billions of years these plates have carved out Chinine's uneven terrain. As another result of this, earthquakes and volcanic activity were common over much of the planet's surface early in its history. Today the planet's geologic activity has slowed considerably, but quakes and eruptions still occur. The tall mountain ranges tend to block the flow of air around the planet locking in moisture and creating large amounts of precipitation. In many areas of the planet there are near constant overcast skies during the day. At night, when the air freezes, the skies become crisp and clear soaking the planet in the light of its large nearby moon, Kagelun.
Due to Chinine's longer than usual period of rotation, the temperatures on the surface are known to drop off drastically during the night. At night temperatures routinely drop as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit. During the day temperatures can rise up to a mild 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Chinine has become known as the autumnal planet do to the unique adaptation of the planet's native flora. The trees that inhabit much of the planet's forests have developed an accelerated rate of seasonal change for deciduous plant life in order to cope with the planet's drastically changing climate. The trees bud and flower at dawn, rapidly grow leaves through midday which quickly change to shades of yellow, orange and red at sunset before shedding after dusk, leaving them bare during the long frozen nights. The constant shedding of leaves causes a great deal of accumulation of detritus. This tends to quickly bury anything left unattended in the forests.
Notable Geographic Features:
Mt. Kurokari - A mountain thought sacred by the native people of Chinine and among the tallest peaks on the planet's surface, Mt. Kurokari is in fact a Force nexus. The native humans of the planet would use the caverns within the mountain as a proving grounds for their warriors due to the "spiritual visions" said to occur within. These visions were a product of the strength of the Force around the mountain. Mt Kurokari is a long dormant volcano.
Capital City: Kumori Village (Ruins): Once, long ago, a tribe of Human sentient who called themselves the Kumori inhabited Chinine. During the peek of their civilization the Kumori Village was their captial. The village was a settlement consisting of hundreds of individual homes that surrounded the Kumori Tower, a spire that extended into the sky over the tree tops and thick cloud cover. The top of the tower was said to be the only point on Chinine to bathe continuously in the light of the sun and was considered sacred. Only the village shaman were allowed at the tower's summit.
Today all that remains of the village are the stone foundations of a few remaining homes to have not yet been claimed by the forest. The once proud Kumori Tower has crumbled, its base only reaching two stories into the air and its walls choked by vines.
Major cities: The Temple of the Gods: While not quite a city, it is a structure certainly worth noting. Built many miles away from the Kumori Village in the wilderness of Chinine, this ziggaurat once served as a place of sacrifice of prisoners of war. Countless thousands met their end within the temple and it still stands today overgrown and mostly buried, hidden from outsiders, as a source of great dark side power.
Sentient species: None
Non-Sentient species of note:
Isochro trees: The dominant form of plant life on Chinine, these are the trees for which Chinine has gained the moniker, the autumnal planet. They have developed an accelerated rate of seasonal change for deciduous plant life in order to cope with the planet's drastically changing climate. The trees bud and flower at dawn, rapidly grow leaves through midday which quickly change to shades of yellow, orange and red at sunset before shedding after dusk, leaving them bare during the long frozen nights. Isochro trees can grow to be anywhere from 30 feet to 80 feet tall.
Displacers: Displacers are almost panther like creatures, that run on four legs. Their skin is usually white or light gray and sleek, almost reflective giving them a distinctive sheen in the moonlight. They stand three feet tall, almost five feet in length. The main weapons of attacks from these creatures are their vicious sharp claws easily tearing through most prey to be found on Chinine.
Displacers hunt at night using the moonlight to camouflage themselves in with the snow and ice that coats the planet's surface. They are but one of many dangers found during the long cold nights on Chinine.
Lilith Flower: This small purple herb, though beautiful, was potentially very dangerous. The flower grew from a bulb, wilting during the frozen nights and blossoming during the long days. While in small doses the toxin emitted from the flowers was harmless, in high enough concentrations it could be used as a weapon. The effects of the flower often caused violent hallucinations. The effects could last for days and victims were known to have dug their own eyes from their skulls in an ill fated attempt to bore the images out. The Kumori figured out the potency of this flower and used it to their advantage, most notoriously during periods of civil war.
The flower's toxin was actually pollen that evolved to scare away creature intending to consume the plant. Some Kumori tribes based rituals off the flower, taking a flower and burning it with other plants into an incense to give to youths as a right of passage before entering adulthood. Diluting the toxin somewhat lessened its effects, but it could still be quite dangerous.
History: Humans first arrived on Chinine some tens of thousands of years ago, most of which being slaves displaced into the Unknown Regions by the Rakatan's Infinite Empire. Among these was a man notorious for his exploits in battle against the Rakatans. A man known simply as Tenkai. Tenkai was a Force sensitive and those who followed him attributed his powers as a form of divine providence. Considering Tenkai a living god, his disciples followed him after the fall of the Rakatans to Chinine where they founded the Kumori Village.
For generations afterwords the leader of the Kumori would take on the title "Tenkai" as a symbol of their relation to the divine. These rulers were always Force sensitives chosen from among the masses for their prowess in combat and unique powers. Kumori society was one of greed, war and bloodshed. Shortly following the death of the original Tenkai the tribes split and would exist in a state of civil war for thousands of years. Though their society was primitive the Kumori were fierce and brutal warlords. Their brutality no more evident then in one ruler named Anemos. As Tenkai, Anemos built the Temple of the Gods, a large ziggaurat structure deep in the Chinine wilderness. The Temple's purpose was to serve as a place to sacrifice enemies and prisoners of war to Anemos. The dark king would then drain the life from these sacrifices using the Force as a means to increase his power. Countless thousands died at Anemos' hands within this temple and to this day it stands as a wound in the Force and source of great dark side power.
Eventually the Kumori were destroyed, not from within but from the outside. Roughly three thousand years ago a Sith Lord came to Chinine and razed the civilization which had weakened itself with bloody infighting to the ground. He took for himself all their knowledge of the Force and killed most of the planet's human inhabitants. Much of that knowledge is lost now and the planet remains to this day a world mostly uninhabited by sentient beings.
