Arkanis

Immigrated

* Human
* Alderaanian

**Arkanis** was a rainy planet in the Arkanis sector of the Outer Rim Territories, and the throneworld of Leeya, the Empress of the Regency Worlds. The Galactic Empire's officers academy was located there. It was also the homeworld of Armitage Hux, and Carise Sindian, key players in the foundation and leadership of the First Order.

## Description

Arkanis was a rainy, oceanic planet, with eighty percent of its surface covered by a single ocean, which had violent surges from storms over the equator, and the other twenty percent was a single landmass that jutted from the oceans with towering cliffs on one coastline, mountains on the other. The cliffs and mountains transitioned into a taiga, which slowly transitioned to sprawling grassy moors. There were also temperate forests of varying types through each region: fungal forests near the taiga; coniferous boreal forests between the taiga and mountains, and deciduous forests scattered around the edges of the moorlands.

The aquatic regions on Arkanis supported the planet's fishing industry. The Scaparus Port was a hub for fisherfolk and had shops with supplies that were catered for their business. Downpours happened on Arkanis at least 2-3 days a week, with the standard otherwise being a near-continuous drizzle. The appearance of sunshine was considered a rare event, and humidity never dropped below eighty percent.

Arkanans were the native inhabitants of Arkanis, though the term "native," has been under question for centuries, as Arkanans were evolved from Atorans who colonized the planet in 4200 BBY.

During the Imperial Era, the *Venator*-class Star Destroyer *Vensenor* was operating in the planet's orbit as the Vensenor Flight Academy, which produced Imperial Navy officers and pilots, including a number of decorated soldiers. Arkanis was also host to Project Harvester, an Imperial project regarding Force-sensitives. Zare Leonis's sister, Dhara, was sent here after she was identified as one by the Grand Inquisitor.

Following the Galactic Empire's losses at the Battle of Endor, Arkanis remained under the Empire's control for a time, but the system was targeted by the New Republic due to the luxurious and expensive exports it boast. Once the Empire's remaining forces were eliminated, Arkanis was claimed for the New Republic's side. Extorted by Core Worlds for its riches, it eventually became a 'wealthy' planet of the New Republic, aligned with the Centrists, and represented in the Galactic Senate by Senator Carise Sindian, who worked secretly with the First Order, as part of an agreement to free Arkanis from the extortion and financial abuse of the Senate.

### The Depths

Called "Doimhneachta" in native Arkanan, the Depths was an all encompassing name for Arkanis' singular, nearly all-encompassing ocean. It's actual depth was unknown, with the deepest recordings being 17,560 meters deep, without actually reaching the ocean floor.

#### Raon Solas

Raon Solas was the first three thousand meters of the ocean. This depth range was home to the Maraí, the Oceanic sub-species of Arkanan.

#### A Gcuid

A Gcuid was the depth range of the ocean that was considered the territory of the massive deep-sea predators, the Anaithnid. There was no official name for this range. The Maraí simply called it *A Gcuid*, which translates to "Theirs." This range spanned from below three thousand meters, to 12,000 meters.

#### Ag Caitheamh

Ag Caitheamh was the dark abyss below 12,000 meters. Even the Anaithnid didn't delve into these depths, and any disturbance involving the Ag Caitheamh actually had the massive predators scattering in panic. Ag Caitheamh was where Maraí would disappear if they were Depth-Called.

### Fiacla Spéir

Fiacla Spéir were the towering mountains on the western coast of the single landmass of Arkanis. This mountain range was considered a boreal forest biome, and was home to the Sléibhte, the Boreal Arkanan sub-species of Arkanan.

### Na Portaigh

Na Portaigh was the Taiga- a cold, swampy wetland that extended from the mountains. It was a slow transition of boreal forests to a cold wetlands of bogs and swamps. It also contained small fungal forests in its depths, and was the home of the Luascadh, the Taiga sub-species of Arkanan.

### Móin Fiáin

Móin Fiáin, also known as The Wild Moors, was a rolling, sprawling grassy moorland heavy with peat, long grasses, wetlands at the edges where it met the Na Portaigh, and a spattering of sparse copses of trees. The capital, Athlion, is situated at the edge of the Móin Fiáin, straddling where it meets the Na Portaigh and the Aillte Dubha.

### Aillte Dubha

Also known as The Black Cliffs, Aillte Dubha was home to Arkanis' main site of trade, the Scaparus Port. It also was where the Tearmainn Pod, the mostly male-presenting Maraí group, took up residence, acting as liaison between the Maraí and the other groups of Arkanans. The cliffs, as they were aptly named, were made of black stone, and were glossy in the near-constant rain. The beaches at their base were made of black sand and stone, giving the coastline an imposing appearance.

## History

### Colonization

In 4200 BBY, Ator had become overly urbanized, to the point that it was an ecumenopolis. Seeking new places to expand, Ator dispatched several colonial expeditions to the Outer Rim, though many failed, as communication was lost. A number of colonies that survived in the rimward section of the Corellian Run formed the Arkanis Regency, which later became host to the more recent colony of New Ator in 80 BBY. The Regency world systems were Arkanis, Issor (containing the worlds Issor, Cadezia, and Trulalis), New Ator, Vasch, and Huldamun. Arkanis would eventually become the seat of power from which their leader would rule.

The colonists on Arkanis suffered for the first few centuries. The planet was cold and uninhabited, with constant rain over the lands, storms over the massive ocean, and storm surges ravaging the coasts. Eventually, a settlement on the plains named Mordreagh, would become a hub for the colonists, but it also became a center for the unknown plague that was making them all sick.

### The Infection

Each colonist came down with the same symptoms- shortness of breath and/or difficulty breathing (of gradual onset), fever, dry/non-productive cough, weight loss, night sweats, chills, and fatigue. The cough was persistent, dry, and unproductive, as the sputum was too viscous to cough up, resulting in a spiral of panicked coughing that would only exacerbate the feeling of the lungs being filled with thick fluid. In many, more serious cases, the illness would progress to involve other visceral organs (such as the liver, spleen, and kidney).

The disease attacked the interstitial, fibrous tissue of the lungs, with marked thickening of the alveolar septa and alveoli, leading to significant hypoxia, which would be fatal if not treated aggressively. In this situation, lactate dehydrogenase levels increased and gas exchange was compromised. Oxygen was less able to diffuse into the blood, leading to hypoxia, which along with high arterial carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, stimulates hyperventilatory effort, thereby causing dyspnea (breathlessness).

Due to the distress and panic that rose from the inability to clear the lungs of fluid, and the persistent shortness of breath, the disease was first named "Hysteria Pneumonia," as researchers struggled to find a cause.

### Symbiogenesis

In many trials and errors, they were able to determine the source of the infection was an endemic organism- a primitive prokaryotic form of yeast, possibly evolved from a cyanobacteria. Volunteers took fungicides in a attempt to be rid of the fungus, and all but one perished due to a chain reaction of systemic cell death. One survived due to a fluke- she'd received less fungicide than the others. Her tests showed signs of her cells having taken the spore into themselves as a new endosymbiont, similar to mitochondria and midi-chlorians. With the spore now an endosymbiont, she was no longer suffering from Hysteria Pneumonia.

Within months, all the colonists had been given the proper amount of fungicides, and had taken in their new endosymbiont. By 4100 BBY, nearly a century later, the colonists and new generations no longer considered themselves Atorese, but called themselves Arkanans.

### Evolution

By means still unknown and still researched by entire divisions of scientists of various fields, the spread of the new Arkanans into various regions, settling and acclimating to new regions of their hostile, rainy world, resulted in a unique evolution. As the world's obstacles and unique features had them depending less and less on technology, and more on each other and the Spore Bond they shared, they began adapting.

Four thousand years was considered a short amount of time- almost insignificant in the scheme of evolution. Yet, the populace of Arkanis was changing- rapidly.

Each settlement was starting to show a change in diet, and through methods never fully understood, found they were able to "force" parts of their body to change according to their needs, in correspondence with their environment. Eventually, they were able to change their entire forms to something more suited for the biome in which they resided. No Arkanan was ever able to explain how or why they took the shapes they did, only that they could, because it was a silent suggestion from their spores. This comment led scientists to believe that in the process of gaining an endosymbiont that communicated to them through midi-chlorians, their DNA was rewritten.

In 80 BBY, when another group of Atorese colonists were dispatched to cultivate an agriworld that would be dubbed "New Ator," they stopped by Arkanis, they were greeted by Arkanans, who no longer considered themselves human.

### The Plague

The Spores were not a perfect melding, and the process of melding with Arkanans was not easy. Having the Spores become part of their systems meant that for a time, Arkanans were susceptible to threats to the Spores.

In 1200 BBY, there was a year of unprecedented warmth in the spring and summer due to natural chain of events.

### The Arkanis Regency

Once Arkanans had taken to their world and began to live comfortably, an autocracy called The Regency was established. Over the decades, as Arkanans evolved, and their concept of gender and sex changed due to their evolution, the autocracy became Matriarchal.

As technology advanced, recovering from the point where the colonists had left off, Arkanis reached out to the other colony worlds from Ator, and found they were flourishing in their own ways. Huldamun and Cadezia were rich in metals and alloys, which had helped them thrive as industrial and tech worlds.

Many raw resources had been discovered on Arkanis. Many types of wood from the mountain forest ranges and the taiga proved to be as pleasantly fragrant as Fijisi wood- some even moreso, and easier to harvest, as well as fast-growing and plentiful. Bioluminescent fungus and flowers made excellent sources of lighting that created soothing, or exotic atmospheres. In addition, some of the native fauna had proven easy to tame, even domesticate in some cases, which provided meat, hides, eggs and milk. The seas, though violent, held a bounty of fish and mollusks that were nourishing and delicious- and a substance found floating on the surface of the water turned out to be an ambergris of some unidentified animal. The perfumes that were created from it were beyond anything made- even more exquisite than those created from Doreenian ambergris.

The colonists were able to network, and helped one another flourish with their natural resources, creating an amicable agreement between them. Eventually, Issor joined their network to trade, which benefited the colony worlds greatly, as Issor was a long established industrial world, run by the Issori, who had a strict caste system, and high opinions of nobility and genetics. They believed that their cousins, the Odenji, would benefit by visiting Arkanis and enjoying a new watery world to explore, and hoped that having Odenji ambassadors would get them more involved with planetary affairs.

Over time, the planets became part of the Regency, forming a small empire, and were allowed planetary autonomy, but followed Regency laws in Regency space, especially concerning trade, travel and currency. Issor was not technically part of the Regency, as it had a long-standing caste system of nobility with the Issori. However, they were allies and were given protection by Regency forces.

The ruler of the Regency was usually an Empress or Emprex. The Regency was Matriarchal according to Arkanis custom, based on group structures within the various settlements and cities of Arkanans. Only a feminine or neutrois Arkanan was allowed to hold the role- this was to avoid any diplomatic incidents, should a male-oriented ruler be Depth-Called.