Dathomir

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Dathomir



Translating roughly from the now defunct Old Dathomirian tongue as 'Datho's Rest', Dathomir was first settled millenia ago by the Sith Lord Kol Datho, one of many such practitioner of the Dark Side who had rebelled against the ancient Jedi Order and been cast into exile. With his four sisters, Datho colonized Dathomir in these ancients times, creating ancient monoliths and enormous fortresses as a testament to his power. Eventually, however, Datho was betrayed from within - slain by his four daughters, the Sith Lord was cast down in a bloody campaign that left the magnificent works of the Sith Lord in ruins. Without clear leadership and cut off from the galaxy, Dathomir's slaves revolted against the four sisters - Koratas, Malmourral, Frangawl and Yusa - and eventually won their freedom. Cut off from the galaxy, the society on Dathomir rapidly devolved into a primitive and warlike tribal culture. It was in this time that the Dathomiri began to first discover their mystical powers of magic, and over time these sorcerers came to become mystical leaders within their tribes, using their strange and arcane powers to protect their tribes.

Some five hundred years after the death of Kol Datho, explorers from the Galactic Republic happened to stumble upon Dathomir and, discovering that their history had been shaped by the Sith, the Senate chose to intervene in uplifting Dathomiri culture and bringing them into the galactic fold. As a result of this active intervention, Dathomiri culture underwent a massive shift, and in only a few generations they had been transformed from primitive tribes into the galactic age of exploration and trade. Many tribes refused the aid of the Republic however, and so over two thirds of the planet remained primitive tribes.

This transformation was not without its difficulties, however. Dathomir was an utterly harsh and cruel world, and the Dathomirians' entire history had been shaped by cruelty, oppression, war and death. Shortly after officially becoming a member-world of the Republic, Dathomir faced incredibly harsh sanctions for the use of slave labor. These tensions boiled to a head until, only some ten years after joining the Republic, Dathomir seceded, orchestrating an elaborate and oppressive slave empire through dozens of the Republic's most primitive and fledgling colonies on a scale that had not been seen since the Zygerrians. For centuries, both Dathomir and the Republic threatened and argued. Armies were raised, then disbanded. Military fleets were built and subsequently mothballed. Both sides postured and threatened, and all the while Dathomir flourished and prospered under the wealth of the slave empire they had built, creating grand cities and elaborate works of wonder and wealth. Great cities grew up out of the dusty red wastes, and the wild jungles were pushed back as the cities of Dathomir grew and prospered, built on the lives of the countless thousands of slaves who perished to create such wonders.

The Dathomirian Slave Empire was finally brought to ruin not from the Republic, but from the Sith. Recognizing the prosperity of the world, the Sith Empire struck out from their secret empire hidden in the far Outer Rim, seizing control of the world and its citizens. As the Sith Empire grew ever greater, the Dathomir found themselves increasingly oppressed under the rule of their dark masters. It would be centuries before they found freedom. Eventually, the Sith Empire, fatigued from war and crippled by internal conflict, shattered entirely, leaving entire worlds vulnerable and isolated. It was in this time that the mystical Sorcerers of Dathomir emerged from the shadows, using their arcane might and their shadowy Nightsister apprentices to lay waste to the occupying Sith remnant. Though liberated at last, the populace now were wary of their isolation and vulnerability, and skeptical of the democratically elected Congress of Dathomir's right to rule. Following the liberation, the sorcerers of Dathomir gained considerably more social, cultural and political influence than they had ever experienced before, and came to wield the true authority on the planet. This shift in authority also meant that many began to turn to the sorcerers for help - not only to influence the political landscape, but also to engage in spells, incantations and rituals in exchange for fees and tributes. As a result, the sorcerers began to accumulate tremendous wealth among themselves, often engaging in bloody coups against their peers to further gain more influence.

However, the infighting among the sorcerers did not prevent them from occasionally working towards the benefit of the people of Dathomir. Now led by a more cunning class of leadership, Dathomir publicly declared its opposition to slavery in all forms, but continued to maintain a quiet tradition of indentured servitude - for all intents and purposes, the slave trade continued, but the Dathomiri had grown clever enough to at least publicly denounce the existance of the trade. It appeared to be enough to convince the Republic, however, and trade routes with Dathomir were re-opened, ushering in a new age of prosperity for the world.

It was not to last. A particularly savage powerplay between Dathomir's greatest Sorceress of her time, Malmourral, and her Nightsister apprentice, resulted in a bloody conflict that utterly annihilated several smaller sorcery houses. Following the conflict, a series of diplomatic blunders from Dathomir's senator at the time left the planet economically crippled again, to a point that many of Dathomir's subject worlds - that is, planets that were still somewhat ruled by the hidden slave empire - finally freed themselves. Unsurprisingly, the senator of Dathomir was found dead shortly after, and Dathomir issues a new senator in her place.

***

Presently, Dathomir faces a troubled, but optimistic future. Despite the recent considerable losses, the world has somewhat stabilized since and become more a more cooperative member of the Republic. Rather grudgingly, Dathomir has also recently joined the Border Alliance as one of the last worlds to sign up to the military alliance.



Culture


Modern Dathomiri culture is something of a loosely defined magocracy - while a democratically elected Congress rule over the planet through totalitarian authority, the true power of the world lies in the hands of magic-wielding individuals. Known interchangeably as Witches, Mancers, Warlocks, or Magisters, off-worlders generally refer to these individuals as Sorcerers.

A Sorcerer of Dathomir is a senior wielder of magic - often venerable in age, a Sorcerer represents the pinnacle of magical knowledge - a trait considered most desirable in Dathomiri society. Dathomiri magic is utilized to a considerable extent within society - Sorcerers are hired for an innumerable number of jobs. While a Sorcerer may be asked to reveal the future for a paltry fee on one day, on the next they may be asked to carve stone and metal to shape a great building or statue for a city. Due to this, the skills and powers of the Sorcerers are in high demand, and each Sorcerer commands an immeasurable fortune built on the tributes and payments of the people. For this reason, they also hold considerable political power, and often the delegates elected to Congress serve merely as a mouthpiece for the Sorcerer of their region.

For trivial, less glamorous tasks or more basic spells, each Sorcerer has at their command a cadre of apprentices, known as Nightsisters. Sworn to never reveal their face while in service to their master, Nightsisters adorn themselves with heavy cowls and hoods so as to obscure their faces, and are only allowed to remove them after dusk, and only while in the presence of her sisters and master.

Sorcerers are treated almost akin to deities, but Dathomiri still have religious beliefs of their own. The four daughters of Kol Datho - Koratas, Malmourral, Frangawl and Yusa - are revered as both saviors and harbingers of doom. Depicted as demons or dragons, the Four Sisters are considered both the bringers of Dathomir's salvation - as their destroyed the tyrannical ruler of Dathomir, Kol Datho, and brought about the freedom of the Dathomiri - and and harbingers of destruction - for in their wake Dathomir was utterly ruined and lost itself to savage tribalism. As deities, the Four Sisters are considered vain, unpredictable, and as savage as their are loving, and much of the faith revolving around the Four Sisters is based on the idea of placating their unpredictable, petty and vain natures. For this reason, belief in the Four Sisters is incredibly strong within servants of Dathomiri - as they see the spirits of the Four Sisters in practice every day at the hands of their masters.

Officially, Dathomir outlaws and publicly denounces slavery in all its forms. However, the practice of so-called 'indentured servitude' is a widespread practice on the world. While no sitting member of Congress can possess an indentured servant for any reason, almost all households - even those in the lower middle class - possess at least one indentured servant. A servant will work without pay, but with the benefit of a room, regular food, clean water and comfortable living conditions for up to 20 years as part of a contractual arrangement - upon the expiration of which, a contract can be renewed, or the servant be cast aside with a small wealth to their name, but a black mark preventing them from purchasing property or obtaining a new occupation - a fact often discovered only after the first contract of servitude has in fact been signed. Those who are especially troublesome are cast out into the wilderness, forces to join the uncivilized nomadic tribes that cover the rest of the planet. These tribes are collectively referred to as the Nightbrothers, and considered worse than slaves - they bow to no man, but instead are considered to have abandoned their civilized ways and become slaves to the destruction wrought by Kol Datho, serving his legacy of destruction beyond his death.





Infobox


Coordinates: O-6
Hyperlane: N/A
Climate: Temperate, cool.
Terrain: Forests, deserts, savannas, oceans, mountains, canyons, volcanoes.
Rotation: 24 standard hours with a year of 491 local days.
Inhabitants: Primarily Dathomirian Near-Humans and Humans, with minor populations of Zabraks and Bardottans.
Resources: Scant deposits of basic ores. Little to no resources of note or real value.
Government: A kratocratic group of sorcerous mystics hold the true influence over a totalitarian democracy.
Culture: Belief and culture revolve heavily around Dathomiri magics. For more information, see below.
Technology: Comparable to other Republic worlds, but no more superior. Large swaths of land still live in primitive and warlike tribal conditions with only the most rudimentary technology.
Satellites: 4 small rocky moons with no atmosphere: Koratas, Malmourral, Frangawl and Yusa

Intent: Basically, the point of this is to provide Dathomir with a richer and more interesting history than what we see in The Clone Wars, and actually set up and eventually tell the story of the downfall of Dathomir and what leads the planet into the primitive tribalism that we see in canon. Part of that more or less means I'll be counting on the planet being conquered by the Sith at some point and writing about the fallout and aftermath of that, as well as how it effects the planet socially and culturally, as well as my main character, who is the Senator of Dathomir. In short? I pretty much plan on telling the story of Dathomir this timeline - and to do so, I need more than what canon gives us. This is jsut an expansion on the existing materials - players can still easily play a more primitive/tribal Nightsister/Nightbrother if they want to.


 
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Green Ranger

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Still need to proofread this and maybe expand on a few bits I admittedly rushed through, but most of the core info's down for now until I at least can get some sleep and fix all the typos.
 

Tristyn

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Why did you post this? Did you edit the original one?
 

Andrewza

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Why did you post this? Did you edit the original one?
He expanded on Canon. Most canon planets on wookpedia have very limited info and don't cover this time period.
 

Green Ranger

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Added a culture section and updated the history.

EDIT: I just came up with a different idea for the culture, but it's 1AM and I'm beat, so I'll write it up tomorrow, so please hold off on reviewing this until I make those changes. Sorry!
 
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Oreus

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Maybe I missed it, but what of the separation between the male Zabrak population and the witches like we see in TCW?
 

Dmitri

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Possibly may not have started yet
 

Tribunal Power

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This is great work.

Can't wait to use some of this information in a rancor hunting thread. :)
 

Dravro ordo

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This interesting with what you done with Dathomir I can't wait to roleplay on this Dathomir you created Green ranger I really like the culture part lot as well
 

GABA

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