Thelan VII

Thelan VII, or P'unchay in the local language, is home to several member-states of the Federation. These member-states are noticeably divided between the immigrant cities which were founded during the great influx of Minmatar post-Rebellion and the native Wasipa who live almost exclusively on great ships that sail the vast deserts of the planet.

## History

### Pre-Federation

P'unchay shows signs of a failed terraforming effort during its earliest history, however archaeologists from the University of Caille are divided on the exact date of the evidence recovered for this. Regardless the population on P'unchay took millennia to emerge from its Stone Age due to a lack of surface water and insufficient animal life to sustain a large population which would have given the impetus for cultural and technological development.

Early Wasipa societies existed almost exclusively in the caves of the planet reliant upon underground rivers and fungi for survival. Warfare was frequent as when one tribe discovered another it triggered an immediate conflict over the limited resources. A geological event however caused natural gas, saturated with helium, to flood all the caves of the planet. This catastrophe almost lead to the extinction of the Wasipa, however those tribes whose cave systems were closest to the surface managed to flee to the surface in time.

However, the situation was no less dire for those who survived as the water, shelter, and plants of the caves were now beyond their reach. According to Wasipa legend, Cyr a chieftain, discovered a mountain range whose caves were untouched and the massive system contained a forest that was of a scale that bewildered the Wasipa. The Chi' or Mouth, the ceremonial meeting place of the Wasipa is located to this day in the great hollow that once contained the forest.

Cyr informed his people that forest was sacred and that they couldn't touch the ground where it grew, but that the gods had instructed him that they must use the trees for their homes. Faced with quandary Cyr had discovered a solution, the gas that had driven them from their homes could be used to float objects above the ground. So the landships, or the Wasita literally 'house', were born.

The Wasita consumed the entirety of the forest in their construction, and the Wasipa tribes sailed away into a new era. These great ships sailed between the little bodies of surface water that existed and the mountains where the Wasipa would disembark to hunt and gather food.

### Upliftment

By the time the Federation discovered them the Wasipa had discovered bronze and were locked in war over the dwindling resources of their planet. The Federation eagerly invested in resolving the food crisis, employing Jin-Mei nuyin to engineer hardier and more frequently reproducing versions of the local plant and animal life. While Intaki diplomats worked tirelessly to resolve the centuries of tribal feuds, Mannar eagerly enforced the treaties that the Intaki helped draw up. Meanwhile Gallente provided the infrastructure, education programs, and more to bring the Wasipa up to parity. Unlike other attempts elsewhere the uplifting of the Wasipa was a model of the Federation's abilities, indeed it became something of a political victory for the Federal government of the day.

The Wasipa would eventually declare that each Wasita was an independent nation, and thus each Wasita signed the Federal charter separately. The planet meanwhile was declared the property of the combined Wasita with all decisions regarding it requiring the consensus of all.

### Rise of the cities

P'unchay would enjoy a new golden era after the upliftment, while they rarely traveled off-world for the first time they were able to enjoy comfort and prosperity at home. With little need to compete the Wasitas sailed peacefully across the world and traded freely with each other and at the Federal space port erected outside Chi'. Chi' became the center of the Federal bureacracy on the planet, though of course the sacred caves were still untouched, and a small town emerged there. P'unchay traded mainly helium, it produced enough to supply an entire district's industrial needs for a year in 3 months.

Unaware of the Minmatar Rebellion, or indeed most matters beyond their world, the Wasipa were surprised but not troubled when the first Minmatar immigrants arrived at the Federal city (it was known simply as the Federal City). However, as more Minmatar immigrants arrived - entire clans and sub-tribes at times - these groups moved out across the planet founding settlements at the various oases.

The Wasipa initially tried to ask the Minmatar to move, however they were refused bluntly, and the Federation refused to interfere in what it saw as a domestic matter for the member-states. As such several Wasitas attempted to forcibly remove the Minmatar, however they were unsuccessful indeed one Wasita was completely destroyed. This act of sacrilege and destruction resulted in the Wasitas declaring the cities taboo and refusing any trade, aid, or diplomacy.

### Current Federal Era

The current era for P'unchay is marked by the continued 'tepid' war between the Wasitas and the Cities, with several cities attempting to be recognised as member-states preventing any meaningful reconciliation between the two. While violence is rare, beyond the occasional assault of an individual transport running between the cities by a Wasita, neither side has lost any enthusiasm for conflict.

## Society

Society on P'unchay is best seen as divided between that of the immigrant Cities and the native Wasipa culture found on the Wasitas.

### City culture

Most cities are made up entirely of Minmatar, often of one clan or sub-tribe, consequently there is little uniformity across the cities though within this is not so. Some cities have clung to their Minmatar heritage, it having served as a strength in both the Rebellion and now the struggle for a new home on P'unchay; others meanwhile have embraced a more Federal identity, and even the Voluval is rare, these cities are often those closest to the Federal City.

The Federal City is the only city wherein one will find a mixing of cultures, native Wasipa and immigrants live and flourish here in what serves as a tragic reminder of what may have been.

### Wasita culture

The Wasitas are diverse, the traditions, laws, and culture on one is unlike that found on another. While one will emphasize a familiar gender binary another eschews any concept of gender; meanwhile one will retain concepts of privacy and property while another will enjoy a culture of complete publicity and communal ownership.

All Wasitas however share a religious faith, Wasipaq or literally 'for the house', which is fundamentally concerned with the nature of the soul and the role the Wasita has in preserve and transferring the soul. To the Wasipa no soul is ever lost nor are new ones made, rather upon death a soul will pass into the wood of Wasita. Where it will mingle with the history of the Wasita and the other souls, both losing features and gaining them, before eventually returning to the body of a new Wasipa.

The Wasitas are to the Wasipa more than a mere ship or home, they are quite literally them, who they were and who they will be, the loss of one is tantamount to erasing both the present, past, and future.

## Politics

The Wasitas adopted a random ballot system for electing the K'uhul, literally Divine Guide, who serves a three year term and appoints the Ajaws ('captains') who are effectively there cabinet. Every member of a Wasitas casts a ballot and then one is selected and whomever was chosen on that ballot becomes the new K'uhul.

The Cities employ a diverse number of methods, though most in attempt to gain Federal recognition have adopted a Mayoral system with an elected Mayor, Council, and appointed Judges.