Illïab

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Object Name: ILLÏAB (ILL-eee-ABB)

Celestial Classification: Class E Planet, Canyonlands, High Plateaus, Volcanic Plains*

Planetary Size: ~78044.63436 kmd, or 6.125 times the size of LE

Number of Moons: 0

Rotational Period: 35 ESH (35 hours per day)

Orbital Period: 478 PRY (planetary rotations per year)

Atmospheric Conditions: Category III

Population Size and Diversity: ≤1,100,000 (Kreshari)

Technology Level: Level III (Kreshari)

With arid plateaus, deep canyons, and frothing lava rivers, Illïab is ill-suited for sedentary settlement. Along the planet’s equator, there are stone hills, sharp ridges, and sheer cliffs that occasionally interrupt plateaus of hardened granite, sandstone, and other sediments. Despite this aridity, these areas are not devoid of life. Interspersed between rocky buttes and jagged ledges, sparce patches of coarse vegetation persist. Growing long roots between bulbous boulders and towering outcroppings, these thin shrubs and pale grasses survive amidst Illïab’s otherwise dehydrated terrain. In turn, this allows some fierce fauna to survive their treks across the planet’s surface, carefully carving a life out of an otherwise unwelcoming area.

Across Illïab’s higher latitudes, vegetation—and by extension, other life forms—are far rarer. Along its northern and southern shelfs, colossal canyons are scattered everywhere. Here, long, tempestuous rivers of fiery lava, molten slag, and liquified magmatic rocks lie deep inside each abyss, scorching everything that comes in their path*. Why Illïab’s cavernous tributaries are magmatic is unclear, but most intra-galactic geologists speculate that this is not the result of outside intervention. Popular theories state that, unlike most terrestrial planets, Illïab’s tectonic plates are mostly made of liquid magma. This ejects spurts of lava and molten rock from the planet’s core at a regular rate, frequently forming channels of heated rock and slag in the process. Thus, Illïab’s geology defies conventional astro-geology: though its fiery core incrementally seeps onto its outer surface, the planet resists laws of entropy and thermodynamics. 

A volcanic world in the Middle Rim, Illïab holds the vestiges of the intra-galactic mining and processing trade. Once the central hub for mineral extraction, processing businesses, and bureaucratic colonies, Illïab’s scattered settlements have long been abandoned. Located above fermenting lava rivers deep with the arid canyonlands, these mining operation now face perpetual disrepair. Though they once hovered over ravenous ravines and perilous plunges, these remote mining towers and refining platforms no longer function. Instead of collecting, processing and synthesizing valuable metals, minerals, and gemstones from Illïab’s molten rivers, these enormous machines lie silent and still. Moreover, no-one dares reactivate these dormant devices, especially after the FlameChildren ousted the last of their competent operators during the Night of Burning Blood. 

The Kreshari (kreh-SHA-reee)

Nomadic mammalian hexapods, the rugged Kreshari are master rock-climbers and survivalists. With tough, hardened skin, four muscle-bound arms ending in bulging fingers, and dense, sharp crests atop their heads, the Kreshari are a force to be reckoned with. Organized into several clans within larger tribes, the Kreshari spend their lives wandering Illïab’s plateaus and ridges together. Typically traversing through their tribe’s territories during each season, Kreshari clan members rarely form permanent dwellings. Instead, the Kreshari turn to extensive hunting and gathering for their continual sustenance, shifting their settlements as they travel. 

Likewise, though most tribal members periodically rotate throughout their tribal lands, each tribe has a central location where each clan can convene in relative safety. There, a few clans are charged with maintaining and guarding these assembly halls, typically engaging in various agricultural and horticultural techniques in the process. Nonetheless, regardless of subsistence pattern, the Kreshari uphold semi-universal ideas regarding the sacredness of nature and the appropriateness of outside intervention.

Kreshari Laws:

Though their criminal justice systems vary per clan and tribe, there are a few values that are ubiquitous across different Kreshari cultures. A rough list of the Kreshari Truths is as follows:

—All that comes from the natural world is sentient and is thus sacred. Every rock, every river, every plant, every animal, every canyon and every Kreshari is conscious of the world around them, and must be treated with respect. If a life must be taken, what is left behind should not be wasted. 

—There is always a time and place for gathering, processing, and utilizing a particular resource, regardless of purpose or material. Though these rules are subject to each tribe’s ruling, it is each clan’s responsibility to uphold and enforce these laws with extreme prejudice.

—Technological development and industry should not come at the cost of ecological health. While developing new technologies, exploring new methods of hunting, gathering, and survival, and even interstellar travel are not taboo, engaging in these activities at Illïab’s expense is strictly forbidden. The careful balance must be maintained. 

—No Kreshari clan should war with another clan if they are within the same tribe. If conflict is unavoidable, it should be reserved for the intra-tribal council during each Convening. 

—Intertribal warfare should be avoided at all costs. While strength and tenacity are prized commodities, survival is challenging enough. 

Though how these laws are upheld varies per clan or tribe, the traditional punishment for violating the Kreshari Truths is death. This philosophy only strengthened since the infamous Night of Burning Blood, when all Kreshari tribes united against their one true enemy: planetary outsiders. 

The Night of Burning Blood:

Galactically known as “The Great Upset” or “The Terror of all Commerce,” The Night of Burning Blood was the day of reckoning for all non-Indigenous powers on Illïab. A long time ago, after many planetary cycles of commercial dismissal and abuse at the hands of colonial mining superpowers, the Kreshari tribes united together with one goal: to oust the various commercial municipalities from their planet, and begin healing the “horrible wounds” that were “inflicted” on their planet. 

And early one morning, their vengeance came swiftly, as Kreshari warriors, bonded together as the Thressra (THRE-sss-RAH) “FlameChildren,” roused industrial and mining workers with sounds of blaster fire and bloodshed. Then, after surrounding all of the mining workers, industrial employers, and machine operators, the Kreshari gave their prisoners a choice: if they surrendered, they would be allowed to leave Illïab with their lives intact. If they resisted or refused to abandon their industrial ventures, they would be slaughtered, either through brutal torture or by being imprisoned and left to die. 

What came next conflicted with typical intragalactic history. Though they possessed inferior technology to the off-world workers, the Kreshari’s in-depth knowledge of the local terrain and diverse weapon types, combat styles, and battle tactics proved deadly when combined with the element of surprise. In an ultimate display of power, the FlameChildren ceremoniously killed all of the executive company members on the planet. The corralled workers had no choice but to listen to their captor’s commands, leaving Illïab in a massive industrial exodus. Despite multiple attempts to retake their settlements, none of the industrial companies were able to re-establish their enterprises on Illïab. Each time a self-important business official attempted to re-conquer their mining and processing operations across the canyonlands, their forces were repelled with extreme force. 

As a result, the Kreshari adopted an ever-more exclusive mindset with their cultural knowledge. Illïab ceased to be an open world, with all vessels being shot down upon entering the planet’s upper atmospheres unless they had explicit invitation(s). Moreover, with the exception of Project Stargazer’s research teams, all investigative projects were met with extreme resistance. What little information is known (and publicly shared) about the Kreshari was published with their explicit permission and supervision. 

Kreshari Tribal/Clan Structure:

Though they are extremely protective of their individual and collective histories, practices, ideas of territorial sovereignty, and ethical/judicial codes regarding resource management, the Kreshari peoples pride themselves on their enduring bonds with one another. Organized into several hundred clans, there are six (technically seven) Kreshari tribes that govern their individual and collective existences. However, outside of their names and planetary territories, most of their intercultural knowledge has been kept secret. Their names—and rough translations—are as follows:

Dev’lakk tevve (DEAF-eh-LAH-kk TEH-veh)—“The Western People”

Joyyhádd tevve (YOI-hahd TEH-veh)—“The Northern People”

Krechaagaa tevve (kray-CHAH-gah TEH-veh)—“The Southern People”

Röwgg tevve (RAWG TEH-veh)—“The Eastern People”

N’thesh tevve / V’tesh tevve (nuh-eh-THEH-SHH TEH-veh / veh-eh-TESH TEH-veh)—“The Spurned People” / “The Scorched People”

Zesh tevve (ZEH-shh TEH-veh)—“The Under People”