Alanciar

During prehistoric times, the Keshiri inhabiting Alanciar and the adjacent continent of Keshtah shared similar beliefs concerning the Protectors and Destructors, a race of powerful deities who engaged in a "great battle." Adari Vaal, a Keshiri geologist who had migrated from Keshtah to Alanciar, proposed that an "Ancient Cataclysm" had severed the connection between Alanciar and Keshtah. In actuality, the legends of the Protectors and Destructors were rooted in a conflict between two groups of offworlders: the Jedi and their Dark Jedi adversaries. Following the conclusion of the Hundred-Year Darkness in 6900 BBY, the victorious Jedi and the Galactic Republic banished the surviving Dark Jedi to the Stygian Caldera. There, these exiles, led by Karness Muur, Remulus Dreypa, and XoXaan, subjugated the Sith species and established the first Sith Empire. However, some of these Dark Jedi exiles were not content with ruling their new empire and sought revenge against the Jedi and the Republic.

Under Remulus Dreypa's leadership, these dissenting Dark Jedi acquired a starship and attempted to escape the Stygian Caldera. However, they were swiftly intercepted by a Jedi patrol, which pursued them across the galaxy. Many of these Jedi had fought in the Battle of Corbos. Ultimately, these Dark Jedi and their Jedi pursuers crash-landed on Kesh. Both factions were stranded, and the planet's unusual magnetic fields prevented the Jedi from summoning assistance. The Dark Jedi and Jedi clashed on Kesh, unleashing leviathans, "great weapons," which devastated the planet's surface and terrorized the Keshiri. While the precise details of this conflict remain unclear, it is suggested that the "Great Calamity" decimated Keshiri civilization and somehow resulted in the separation of Alanciar and Keshtah. It's known that the westward peninsulas known as the Six Claws were related in geological terms to the series of reefs which lined the southwestern coast of Alanciar.

Eventually, the Dark Jedi recognized their errors and reconciled with their Jedi counterparts. To solidify this peace agreement, the Dark Jedi imprisoned their fanatical leader, Dreypa, within an oubliette. Meanwhile, the Jedi concealed their last remaining starship within the Keshiri catacombs beneath the Circle Eternal, a plaza in the town of Tahv. These Jedi and Dark Jedi journeyed to Kesh's south pole, Eshkrene, where they founded a new community known as the Doomed, dedicated to achieving true neutrality in the Force. The Doomed maintained a watchful eye over events in the rest of Keshtah through ice mirrors.

In 5000 BBY, a group of Human Sith arrived on Keshtah Minor. Employing their Force powers and assisted by the Keshiri geologist Adari Vaal, these Sith established themselves as the new ruling elite on Keshtah, becoming known as the Lost Tribe of Sith. To legitimize their rule, the Lost Tribe claimed to be the Protectors and were regarded by the Keshiri on Keshtah as gods. Opposition to Sith rule led to the formation of an underground Keshiri resistance movement under Vaal's leadership. She realized that the Sith were not gods and viewed them as a "plague" on Keshiri society. In 4975 BBY, she led an unsuccessful uprising against the Tribe but was defeated and forced into exile. Adari and a thousand Keshiri rebels flew on their uvak into the jet stream above the volcano Sessal Spire which swept them across the planet Kesh's atmosphere. Adari and three hundred rebels survived this journey and landed on a remote island off the south-western coast of Alanciar.

Eventually, Keshiri fishermen from Alanciar rescued Adari and her followers. These Keshiri identified as the Alanciari, and their homeland was known as Alanciar. She successfully warned them about the threat posed by the Sith residing on Keshtah. Consequently, over the next two thousand years, the Alanciari transformed from a primitive society into a highly militarized and patriotic one. Furthermore, the Alanciari adopted Galactic Basic Standard, the language of the Sith offworlders. For centuries, successive generations of Alanciari were taught to despise the Sith and to dedicate their lives to the "Great Cause" of resisting any Sith invasion. Adari's legacy was preserved in the Keshtah Chronicles, a popular history book detailing everything she knew about the Tribe, and Observance Day, a holiday celebrated every ten years to commemorate Adari's secret ten year resistance against the Sith.

The Alanciari developed a large military, supported by a complex network of semaphore stations and thoughtcriers, individuals trained to project thoughts through the Force. The Alanciari also constructed an extensive network of well-paved roads and canals, facilitating the transportation of goods and people between settlements. By 2975 BBY, six signal towers had been erected on the Six Claws, the rugged southwestern frontier of Alanciar, to provide an early warning system against Sith invasions. The Alanciari also established a highly centralized system of government based in the capital, Sus'mintri. This government, known as the War Cabinet, controlled every aspect of Alanciari society, including education, training, and industry. In 2985 BBY, the various directorates of the War Cabinet relocated their operations to Vaal Hall, a highly centralized command center equipped with its own signal tower and thought-crying facilities, used to manage all communications across the continent.

Alanciar's isolation ended in 2975 BBY, approximately two thousand years after Adari Vaal's arrival, when the Sith finally reached Alanciar's southwestern frontier. In 3000 BBY, the Sith Caretaker Varner Hilts discovered a map in the Kesh Sith Temple on Keshtah, confirming the existence of Alanciar, which the Sith referred to as "Keshtah Major." For the subsequent twenty-five years, the Lost Tribe of Sith dedicated their resources to developing technology that would enable safe travel between Keshtah and Alanciar. After extensive experimentation, the Sith engineer Edell Vrai invented airships, which were kept aloft by helium and hydrogen gasbags and propelled by uvak. The Sith plan involved Edell leading a reconnaissance mission to scout the new continent. Upon his return, High Lord Korsin Bentado would lead an invasion force of airships, known as the Ebon Fleet, to invade Alanciar.

However, the Alanciari had been preparing for the Sith invasion for two millennia. The Alanciari signal officer Jogan Halder and his thoughtcrier Quarra Thayn, stationed at Point Defiance, detected the Sith scouting ships and promptly alerted the Alanciari military. Upon arriving above the peninsula Garrow's Neck, Edell's airships were attacked and shot down by ballistae and the Alanciari air force. While most of the reconnaissance force was eliminated, Edell and five other Sith survived and regrouped. These Sith managed to capture two Alanciari—Jogan Halder and Quarra Thayn—and the harvesting trawler Mischance. The capture of the Mischance allowed the Sith to access the Alanciari's wooden sailing ship technology. Edell also coerced Quarra into guiding an inland reconnaissance mission into Alanciar's interior and capital, Sus'mintri, using her lover Halder as leverage. Meanwhile, Edell's second-in-command, Peppin, took the Mischance and Halder back to Keshtah by sailing through the Southern Passage, which led to the Sea of Flames. This marked the first transoceanic voyage between the two continents after two thousand years of isolation.

The Sith invasion significantly impacted Alanciari society. As a result, Alanciar was placed on high alert, with air raid sirens sounding across the continent for several days. The Alanciari military scoured the Six Claws for any sign of the invaders, while the War Cabinet ordered the deployment of anti-air forces on the western frontier. However, they found no trace of the Sith, as most of the scouting force had been wiped out, and the few survivors had already returned to Keshtah. Since the invasion coincided with Observance Day, Alanciari patriotic fervor reached a peak, and passion plays were staged in several Alanciari towns, including Kerebba, to remind the Alanciari masses of the danger posed by the Sith. During his reconnaissance mission, Edell learned that the Alanciari had achieved a high level of technological advancement due to Adari's flight to Alanciar. Despite losing contact with Edell's forces and possessing virtually no information about the Alanciari, Korsin Bentado still persuaded Grand Lord Hilts to authorize an invasion of Alanciar. The Grand Lord and his Grand Consort Iliana Hilts allowed Bentado to proceed with the invasion plans because they viewed it as an opportunity to eliminate a potential rival to the Grand Lordship.

Following Bentado's departure, Peppin and the Sith survivors returned with their captive, Halder. Despite their heavy losses in Alanciar, the Sith compensated by obtaining a copy of Adari's popular Keshtah Chronicles, which provided insight into the Alanciari's knowledge of them. Grand Lord Hilts saw an opportunity to recruit Halder as the Tribe's new ambassador to the Alanciari and orchestrated a grand deception to convince Halder that the Lost Tribe did not pose a threat to the Alanciari but were, in fact, the benign Protectors. Based on his reading of the Keshtah Chronicles, Hilts also deduced that the Alanciari would perceive Bentado and his Ebon Fleet as "evil invaders" and that they possessed the military capabilities to resist the Sith invaders. Since Bentado's Korsinite League supporters would be regarded by the Alanciari as the "face of evil," Hilts' Sith followers had to appear different and benign. Hilts also did not warn Bentado because he saw the invasion as an opportunity to eliminate Bentado and his supporters. With the cooperation of the Tribe's loyal Keshiri followers and the Circle of Lords, Hilts gained Halder's trust.

After a few days, Korsin Bentado's fleet arrived at the Western Shield, a countryside region in central Alanciar. As before, the Alanciari military responded rapidly, and anti-air force units were deployed to the battlefield within minutes of the enemy airships being sighted. Bentado's forces were largely destroyed, and all of his airships were shot down. The surviving Sith were either killed or captured by the Alanciari military. However, Bentado and the crew aboard his personal dirigible Yaru survived and reached Sus'mintri, the capital of Alanciar. There, they infiltrated Vaal Hall and killed the entire War Cabinet and many Alanciari bureaucrats and soldiers without alerting the garrison. Bentado then seized control of the building's "worldwatch" and its signal tower, enabling him to control all semaphore and telepathic communications in Alanciar. Once in control, Bentado ordered the Alanciari to round up the other Sith survivors from the Ebon Fleet and bring them to Sus'mintri. This subterfuge allowed Bentado to regroup his forces.

The disappearance of the War Cabinet, coupled with the Sith invasion, plunged the Alanciari population into fear and panic. Recognizing an opportunity to transform Alanciar's highly centralized civilization into a new empire, Bentado then mutinied against his liege Grand Lord Hilts and attempted to create a "Second Tribe" on Alanciar. Bentado also attempted to order the Alanciari to shoot down Hilts' airship Good Omen, which was traveling to Alanciar with his new ambassador, Jogan Halder. However, Bentado was stopped by Edell, Quarra, and his own servant Squab, who was actually an agent of the Hilts family. With the aid of Squab and the Keshiri servants who had accompanied Bentado's Ebon Fleet, Edell regained control over Bentado's men, ending Bentado's mutiny. Meanwhile, Hilts arrived safely in the Alanciari city of Port Melephos, where he and his Keshiri servants were warmly welcomed by the local Alanciari population. By this point, news of the killings of the War Cabinet had reached other parts of Alanciar. Professing to bring peace and reconciliation, Hilts and Halder traveled to Sus'mintri to convince the Alanciari of their good intentions.

As a result of the Sith invasion, Alanciar fell under Sith rule. However, this conquest did not involve a full-scale military invasion of the continent, which would have resulted in significant loss of life. Despite the strong antipathy towards the Sith, Grand Lord Hilts was able to diffuse this hostility through the diplomacy of his new ambassador, Jogan Halder, an Alanciari soldier. Halder recounted his initial contact with the Sith and his travels to Keshtah, where he was shown the "truth" about the Sith. Instead of being the evil "Destructors" that Adari had warned about, Halder claimed that most of the Sith were benign and revered by the Keshiri in Keshtah as the Protectors. With Hilts' support, Halder acknowledged that Adari had been correct about the presence of servants of the Destructors within the Lost Tribe but claimed that these individuals had been expelled. Halder and Hilts distorted the factual account of the Sith invasion by claiming that Bentado and his followers were the malevolent servants of the Destructors. Hilts' expressions of remorse and grief when recalling the deaths of the War Cabinet won him the trust and goodwill of the Alanciari. Consequently, the Alanciari welcomed Hilts and the Tribe.

Following Hilts' arrival, Jogan Halder's message was relayed throughout Alanciar via semaphore. Following Halder's testament, white-robed Human and Keshiri relief workers from Keshtah arrived in Alanciar to facilitate peace and reconciliation between the two continents. To win the hearts and minds of the locals, the Sith behaved impeccably and distributed gifts from across the Western Sea. Bentado's surviving Korsinite League followers were disarmed and enslaved by Hilts' forces, effectively ending the Korsinite League's existence as a faction. Meanwhile, Edell Vrai was appointed the de facto governor of Alanciar and tasked with evaluating every unknown Keshiri innovation for use by the Tribe. As a result of this new cross-cultural contact, the Lost Tribe of Sith gained access to Alanciari technology. While certain Alanciari technologies, such as fireglobes and sailing vessels, were adopted, other more offensive technologies, such as ballistae, were gradually phased out. There were also plans to elevate several reefs in the ocean to provide uvak with rest stops for oceanic crossings. This facilitated the re-establishment of connections between Alanciar and Keshtah, which had been severed by the Great Calamity.

Under Sith rule, Adari Vaal's influence gradually diminished, and the Observance Day plays were replaced with newer plays emphasizing Jogan Halder's successful first contact with the Sith. As a result of the "Unification" of Keshtah and Alanciar, maritime trade flourished between the two continents. Keshiri ports, such as Eorm and the new docks west of Berav, were regularly visited by Alanciari sailing ships. Over the following years, Alanciari sailing ships were employed by the Tribe to explore the rest of Kesh, including the southern polar continent of Eshkrene and its unexplored northern hemisphere. One Alanciari captain, Chegg, and his ship Southern Star played a role in discovering the Doomed and their settlement in Eshkrene. In 2974 BBY, many people living in Keshtah, including Grand Lord Hilts' daughter Takara Hilts, regarded Alanciar as a new frontier full of wonders. Over time, many Alanciari, such as Quarra and Chegg, came to realize that the Sith were not gods but fellow sentient beings. Due to Grand Lord Hilts' policies of admitting Keshiri into the Lost Tribe of the Sith, many Force-sensitive Alanciari presumably joined the Tribe. By 44 ABY, Alanciar had been under Sith rule for approximately three thousand years.

Alanciar was a vast continent, approximately four times the size of Keshtah Minor. According to the Keshiri Wardmaster Quarra Thayn, Alanciar resembled the hind leg of a muntok, a reptilian beast of burden indigenous to the continent. It featured six peninsulas on its southwestern frontier, collectively known as the Six Claws. One of these peninsulas, Garrow's Neck, had a cove on its southern coast called Meori Cove, which was one of the few unguarded beachheads into Alanciar. These peninsulas faced the Western Sea and were connected to a series of reefs, remnants of formerly submerged land. The Six Claws were fortified with six forts—Point Readiness, Point Solidarity, Point Awareness, Point Foresight, Point Vigilance, and Point Defiance—which served to alert the Alanciari of any Sith invasion attempts until the "Unification" of 2975 BBY. The Shank was the southern region of Alanciar and was home to many canals and farms.

Alanciar contained at least one major mountain range, the Eskellon Mountains, situated on its southern coast and straddling the Southern Passage, a frigid sea characterized by rapid polar currents and icy conditions. The Northern Slope also housed several industrial cities and forests. The northwestern coast of Alanciar was dotted with at least four forts. Alanciar also featured a plateau in the center of its northern region. Eastern Alanciar was also home to several forests and settlements. To the east of Alanciar lay a vast eastern ocean known as the Sea of Flames. The Shank was primarily used for growing crops, while northern Alanciar was predominantly an industrial region. Meanwhile, the Six Claws were considered a coastal frontier region. Known settlements on Alanciar included the capital Sus'mintri and the cities of Kerebba, Minrath, Port Melephos, and Uhrar. Alanciar's closest neighbor was Keshtah Minor, the domain of the Lost Tribe of Sith.

Alanciar was inhabited by at least three species of large animals, including the uvak, the shumshur, and the muntok, which were used by the Alanciari as beasts of burden. Uvak were large winged reptiles also found on Keshtah. Shumshur were known for their strength and were presumably used to transport heavy goods. Muntoks were four-legged reptiles known for their speed and could seat at least one rider. Muntoks were also used to transport goods and people across Alanciar's network of roads and canals. Alanciar also had trees that produced wood strong and durable enough for shipbuilding. Due to centuries of urbanization and development, most of Alanciar's jungles had been cleared by 2975 BBY.

Due to the arrival of the Keshtah exile Adari Vaal, Alanciar evolved into a militaristic and urbanized society over the following two thousand years. Generations of Alanciari were raised from a young age to despise the Sith Tribe that ruled the neighboring continent of Keshtah and to prepare for any Sith invasion. Due to the Sith threat, the Alanciari developed an early warning system consisting of frontier signal towers, semaphore transmitters, and thoughtcriers. In addition, the Alanciari developed a well-trained and equipped military, consisting of ballistae, infantry units, an air force, and a coast guard known as the Shore Guard. All Alanciari were required to contribute to the Great Cause of resisting the Sith. All eligible citizens were required to report for military training at adolescence, while elderly Keshiri were still obliged to support the war effort by working at factories. Like their Keshtah counterparts, the Keshiri on Alanciar also developed theater troupes, which were used for both entertainment and to propagate messages both prior to and after the Sith conquest.

Alanciar also possessed several technological innovations unknown to neighboring Keshtah until the "Unification" of 2975 BBY. These included sailing ships, canals, waterwheels, fireglobes, ballistae, and concrete, which was used to build canals, roads, and buildings. Most Keshiri settlements and homes were built out of concrete. Alanciar also had a wide and efficient network of roads and canals used to transport people and goods throughout the continent. Muntok-drawn barges were an innovation unique to Alanciar. Following the Sith "Unification," several Alanciari technologies, such as sailing ships, fireglobes, and waterwheels, were adopted by the Sith. Conversely, some lethal technologies, such as ballistae, were gradually phased out. Like their Keshtah neighbors, the Alanciari also had the technology to produce books and scrolls.