Khoros

Khoros is an arid desert planet, home to the four-armed Khorosi species. It is a harsh world, with only about 12% of its surface covered in water, which forms two oceans that provide vital resources to both its people and its ecosystems. Historically, Khoros was under the rule of House Scorpio-Imperii until a rebellion led by the Khorosi freed them from subjugation. Today, the planet is ruled by a fiercely isolationist Hegemony, which maintains tense relations with the Dominion due to conflicting claims of sovereignty.

System Info

The Khoros system orbits a stable main-sequence star and consists of seven planets. The two innermost planets, Khoros I and Khoros II, are small and inhospitable, receiving intense solar radiation that makes them unsuitable for life. Khoros III is a large desert world with a thin, tainted atmosphere. A research outpost has been established here, housing a population in the low thousands. The planet has three uninhabited moons. Khoros IV is a small, cold desert world with no significant population or development. Khoros V, the system's primary inhabited world, is a large desert planet with a standard atmosphere and sparse water resources. It is home to the native Khorosi species and supports a large population concentrated in fertile regions around its few bodies of water. Further out, Khoros VI is a cold desert planet with surface ice. Though uninhabited, it shows promise for future colonization due to its resource-rich environment, The planet is orbited by three moons. The outermost planet, Khoros VII, is a small gas giant with a single moon.

Geography

Homeworld to the Khorosi species, Khoros is an arid desert planet with about 12% of the surface made up of water, forming 2 oceans. It is along the coasts of these oceans that the majority of flora and fauna is found due to availability of water. Due to this fertility it is also around these areas that houses most of the civilization in the world. about 10% of the planet's surface is made of ice with the only permanent ice on the planet located at the polar ice caps. These Polar ice caps have tall mountain chains surrounding them, restricting how much water is able to flow from the edges of the polar region during the annual thawing of the polar ice cap. The mountain chain surrounding the northern polar cap has offshoots that lead all the way down to the northern coast of the largest world ocean. with the mountains being tall enough to form their own snow capped peaks, they help to carry water into low lying areas of the planet. making the mountains a viable secondary option for water dependent lifeforms.
From the mountain chain surrounding the southern polar region and flowing northwards towards the largest world ocean, runs the longest river on Khoros. This river brings with it a long stretch of fertile land, suitable for the sustainment of life. The river originates from a large lake that is formed from the thaw-water of the mountains and southern ice cap that flows down the mountains and pools in the lake. This flow has over millennia cut a canyon into the rocky subsurface of the southern hemisphere forming a canyon, known as "The Scar". This canyon is several hundreds of kilometres long, and at its widest point is over 30 kilometres wide at the floor of which runs the river.

Climate

Khoros is blessed with a whole lot of sunshine and very little rain. Generally, the hottest months are during the summer half year, and the coolest month is found in the winter half year. Rainfall is almost non-existent, except in the coastal regions when it does happen it's almost always during the winter months. with the tilt of the rotational axis the summer and winter half years are opposite between the northern and southern hemisphere.

Fauna & Flora

by S. Mikkelsen

The water bearing regions of the planet are capable of sustaining several types of native ferns and grasses, and even some trees. in the mountainous regions these are predominantly small coniferous trees. while in the river and coastal regions its predominantly native palms. Some of the grasses have been cultivated to the point of being able to provide gain for agricultural use. It is also in these regions the majority of all fauna can be found. such as various insects and the river toads and lizards that eat them. smaller mammals such as Khorosi Gerbils, Khorosi Gazelles and the Khorosi Foxes and Hyena that hunt them. Among avians there are several smaller insect catching birds, the ground dwelling sandgrouse and several birds of prey with the most notable being the White Vulture.

while the waters of the world contain some sea life it self the most memorable type of "fish" encounter to any off-worlder would be the "Sand rippers"

Sand Rippers are sand-dwelling predators that reside in the Khoros desert. They can "swim" through the sand and jump outside it for hunting. They are bulky olive green creatures with a distinctive row of spines reaching from their heads to the bases of their necks. There is a single large spike on the tops of the heads and an even larger one on their backs, somewhat like a dorsal fin. They have wide gills along the bottoms of their necks, as well as narrow red eyes and prominent teeth that are visible even when their mouths are closed. Sand Rippers can swim through the sands, and have protective membranes to shield their eyes so that they can "see" in the sand. They also detect loud movements above them and can launch themselves out of the sand to ambush their prey. They have jaws powerful enough to break metal. They can't swim through rocky land.

History

in aeons past, during imperial time the world of Khoros was one of the worlds under the realm of House Scorpio-Imperii. during this time the native Khorosi was, like all other alien species during imperial time, subjugated and used as servants, slaves and play things for the ill-famed decadent and promiscuous nobles of House Scorpio. with their four arms the Khorosi was often used by house Scorpio as servants, waiters and any other task where having multiple arms could be beneficial. the Khorosi not fortunate enough to live their lives as servants or entertainers to high ranking members of House Scorpio in their decadent mansions or pleasure palaces, would often be found slaving away to work the minimal farm lands or the few mines operated on the planet. though some might be "fortunate" enough, if showing physical traits, to be used as gladiators or other physical play things. some Khorosi over time built trust with their masters and came to serve in functions as Wardens, Butlers, Personal Maids or Bodyguards allowing them to raise themselves above the other Khorosi and freeing themselves from the majority of the most humiliating treatment. life on Khoros continued with Humans at the top and Khorosi as second grade inhabitants for a long time.

initially much didn't change on Khoros at the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War, though there had been some minor unrest inspired by the Duros rebellions, these where contained and handled by the native Khorosi wardens, and the forces of House Scorpio. though as the civil war progressed and the empire declined, the presences of Scorpio nobles on the world declined and their palaces fell into disuse. eventually as the violence of the civil war persisted, some Khorosi was forced into fighting in the Scorpio war machine. the combination of returning disillusioned Khorosi warriors and increasing unrest among the natives led to a full-fledged rebellion. historical archives suggests that House Scorpio didn't give much attention to the rebellion on "some backwater world", especially as they sensed that the final victory of a centuries-long civil war was within their grasp. they could easily return and impose their will once the war was won. This was not to be. With the Rebirth of the Phoenix, the rebellion went along uncontested. The Khorosi threw off the rains of human mastery, and during their rebellion removed the influence of humans on Khoros. this was done by violence to drive out any humans they could. while the ones they could not drive out was subjugated into a slave existence if not outright killed. as the Khorosi had established sovereignty over their own world a Khorosi Hegemony was formed. the Khorosi Hegemony was intend as a form of unified government where the various clans and warlords of the Khorosi solved internal disputes and found solutions to world challenges. though the Hegemony provided some base level of stability in Khorosi society, there was still inter-clan feuds and skirmishes, as well as various political machinations.

Through political machinations, successful skirmishes, inter-clan marriages, favours and pledges of loyalties Over time the Khorosi Hegemony transformed into a Kingdom ruled by the most powerful and influential warlord and his clan. the establishment of a world government in the form of the Khorosi Kingdom brought about a more peaceful time for the Khorosi. with the peace and unity more resources could be pooled together to allow for the Khorosi to improve the lives of the common people. during this period large infrastructure construction works was undertaken, building hydro dams to provide more readily available power. large water ducts and irrigation canals to allow for more efficient agriculture and expansion of population centers. another aspect the kingdom was vital for was the important increased research effort. Previously the Khorosi had been brought up to and was familiar with the imperial tech of their masters, but generally unable to develop new technologies. prior to the coming of the Kingdom, the Khorosi had been stuck trying to keep old imperial tech running or at best, replicating it. with the renewed research effort and the world government the different previous efforts could be combined. this allowed the Khorosi to start reverse-engineering old left behind imperial tech, and from that invent their own. This ultimately allowed the Khorosi to natively build Spaceships.

With the Khorosi now able to field a small navy capable of system-wide deterrence of off-worlders, pirates, raiders and slavers. A divide came in the reserved Khorosi society. on one hand you had the ones whom may still be skeptical of offworlds, especially humans, but generally were more willing to accept the occasional offworld travelers and independent merchants while on the other you had the ones whom sought isolationism if not outright retribution. This divide led to the king being accused of having gone soft and weak. Ultimately one of the leading Generals coup´ed the King, reforming a isolationist anti-human Hegemony.

In recent times there has been lots of sabre-rattling between the Khoros Hegemony and the Dominion. with the Khorosi claiming the Dominion has designs to subjugate Khoros under claims of being ancestral lands. While the Dominion is claiming the General´s Hegemony to be an illegitimate government threatening the balance of peace in the galaxy.

by S. Mikkelsen

UWP:D8618BB-B

Starport
Class D
Size
8 Large
Atmosphere
6 Standard
Hydro
1 6%–15% liquid surface
Population
8 X00,000,000s Hundreds of Millions
Government
B (11) Non-Charismatic Leader
Law level
B (11) Extreme - Rigid control of civilian movement
Tech Level
11 (B) High
Trade Code

Type

Planet

Inhabiting Species

• Khorosi

Khorosi