Caritas

**Caritas** was a temperate, terrestrial planet in the Cassiopeia Galaxy. Located in the Lanh Sector within the Central Expanse, Caritas was a colony of the United Cassiopeian Republic, colonized by House Lafayette of Borealis in the mid 60th century ASA.

The planet was the home of Rise Island, the headquarters for the Dawns.

## Description

A rocky world, Caritas was located in the eastern Central Expanse region of the galaxy, specifically near the eastern edge of the Lanh Sector. The planet had two suns, an orange subgiant star and a yellow dwarf star, along with fourteen rocky moons that all varied in size.

Caritas housed a temperate, forgiving climate that allowed for lush green forests and grasslands to thrive on the planet's surface. Bordering these green continents and islands were vast saltwater oceans, teeming with life. Many settlements on Caritas were built against the ocean or by freshwater rivers, often with prefabricated buildings to speed up the initial colonization process.

Interestingly, Caritas was innately rich in magic, which made the use of powerful spells more easily achievable while on the planet.

### Government

The **Caritan Parliament** served as the centralized planetary government for Caritas. This Parliament operated under the jurisdiction of the United Cassiopeian Republic. The first Prime Minister of Caritas was not a member of the noble House Lafayette.

## History

### Discovery and Road to Colonization

By the year 5957 ASA, Caritas as a planet had already been on the radar of the United Cassiopeian Republic for a few years after its discovery. Uninhabited and essentially untouched by the UCR, colonization efforts did not immediately take place as Paramount Julian Garrison did not see Caritas as a priority. This changed when a conspiracy involving his friend Alden Lafayette's noble house threatened their livelihoods.

Former Borealan Ambassador Alden Lafayette, along with his wife Marie Lafayette and the majority of House Lafayette, were wrongfully imprisoned on Hailstorm for ten years by House Sauler, who unofficially acted on the orders of the powerful House Stone, led by Sentinel Danton Stone of Borealis. After they were freed from jail by a small group of freedom fighters called the Dawns, House Lafayette needed a place of residence as the growing political instability on Borealis made it difficult for them to return to their homeworld.

In his first chat with Paramount Julian Garrison after ten years of imprisonment, Alden Lafayette proposed the idea of forming a colony where he and the rest of his family and noble house could live. Alden reasoned that having House Lafayette on territory supervised by the UCR would prevent Lord Danton Stone from trying to forcefully arrest the Lafayettes again. When asked why he couldn't simply settle on any of the pre-existing UCR colonies, Alden claimed how he did not want to burden others with his own problems. While both Garrison and Alden came to an understanding that such proposals and colonization efforts would require incredible amounts of work in all different sectors, Garrison did not shut down the idea in its entirety and gave Alden's proposal some consideration.

### Colonization

Temporarily, House Lafayette was given residency on the prairie world of Derbasi, a colony of the UCR in the Gran Axuda Sector. But in the years to come, more work was done for the proposed Lafayette colony. Teams of UCR officials singled out potential candidates for colonization and eventually decided on Caritas, due to the planet's desirable conditions for life.

Over the course of many years, UCR forces established their first colonial presence on Caritas, giving homes to tens of thousands of settlers who left their original homes—be it overpopulated city worlds or disaster-struck worlds riddled with conflict—in search of a fresh yet safe start in the galaxy. This first Caritan settlement became to be known as Lafayette City, named in honor of House Lafayette, who made a home for themselves Caritas with the rest of the settlers as originally planned.

In order to ensure the safety and success of the colony and its inhabitants, the Dawns decided to establish their new base on Caritas. Rise Island, located just off the coast from Lafayette City, was turned into the headquarters of the Dawns, replacing their old headquarters of their apartments on the space station Solitude Plaza.

## Inhabitants

The main inhabitants of Caritas came to call themselves Caritans. The Caritan population was comprised of Humans and various other sentient species found throughout the galaxy. The first inhabitants of Caritas were settlers who came from overpopulated city worlds and from worlds struck by disaster or mass conflict.

### Notable Figures

* **Alden Lafayette** - a Borealan human man who initially proposed the idea for the colony's existence.
* **Allin Lafayette** - the grandson of Alden and Marie Lafayette and a member of the Dawns.
* **Cari Lafayette** - the granddaughter of Alden and Marie Lafayette and a member of the Dawns.
* **Nanami O. L. Nishikiyama** - the daughter of Lilian Larimarias and Samayo Nishikiyama and a member of the Dawns.

## Locations

### Lafayette City

→ *Main article: Lafayette City*

**Lafayette City** was a major city that served as the capital of Caritas. The Caritan Parliament was based in Lafayette City and operated as the planet's government under the jurisdiction of the United Cassiopeian Republic. Several tens of thousands, recognized as the first true settlers of Caritas, made their first homes on the blue planet with the aid of the UCR.

### Rise Island

→ *Main article: Rise Island*

**Rise Island** was a small island off the coast of Lafayette City that served as the headquarters for the Dawns, a group of privateers and freedom fighters that served to protect the people of Caritas as well as to fight corrupt and tyranny all throughout the galaxy. The island was close enough to the mainland for easy travel between the two areas. On the island was a single temple that housed the Dawns, kept active by powerful magic.

## Trivia

* Caritas derives its name from one of the seven heavenly virtues of the Christian tradition, specifically charity, which is known as "caritas" in the Latin language.