The Fyrokkian Clans: Info thread

[Arajah Ramanuja]

As introduced in Behind the Veil (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34460).

The Fyrokkians are a feral, catlike race that inhabits the Veil, a dense nebula in the Unknown Regions. Fyrokkian spacefaring technology developed to suit nebular space; for quite some time, their scientists believed life couldn't survive in the "void." It was a shock to Fyrokkian society when independent traders and speculators arrived from surrounding space, but they reluctantly opened their borders to the sparse trade that laced the Unknown Regions at the time.

Then the Empire came. An expeditionary force of eight Star Destroyers entered the Veil and quickly subjugated the outlying Fyrokkian colonies. Enraged, the Fyrokkians banded together as they never had before. Though technologically inferior to the invaders, they had a significant homefield advantage. The nebula disrupted the Imperial electronic systems, especially their sensors and communications, and the bulky Star Destroyers had great difficulty maneuvering in the nebular currents. The Fyrokkians, on the other hand, had small, highly maneuverable ships that could easily evade Imperial sensors and mount hit-and-run attacks. They hulled three Star Destroyers; two more were lost in treacherous parts of the nebula. The remaining three, including Admiral Karlof's command ship, limped away, but, as they left, they launched a ballistic strike against the Fyrokkian homeworld.

The bombardment ravaged the Fyrokkian infrastructure, and the resulting fallout rendered Fyrokkir uninhabitable. It destroyed what semblance of a unified government they had, and Fyrokkian society quickly divided along clan lines into feudal territories spread among the colonies. The Fyrokkian way of life became a struggle for rapidly disappearing resources within the confines of the Veil. Alien ships that blundered into the nebula were captured and cannibalized for parts; eventually, the Veil became taboo for spacefarers, and the Fyrokkians were forgotten.

At the present, the five ruling clans in the Veil are Ramanuja, Padmakar, Samudra, Kusagra, and Narayana. Ramanuja and Padmakar are allies against Samudra and Kusagra; Narayana is separate from the others and does its best to stay neutral. The Order of Kimatra, founded as a school for training and commissioning Force Users, is now a religious power of its own. It harvests Force Users from the other clans at an early age, indoctrinates them, and sends them back out among the clans as court magicians and seers.

Fyrokkian technology is still behind that of the NR and the Imperial Groups. So far, they possess no capital ships longer than six hundred meters--Samudra has one 580-m and another 560-m; Ramanuja has one 550-m ship, and Narayana's forces are unknown. Most Fyrokkian warships are under 200 meters with crews of fewer than a hundred.

In the dark recesses of the nebula, small fighters with skilled pilots can be deadly even to capital ships; therefore a large part of the clan navies revolve around Spearheads, fighters between five and ten meters long that lack fuel tanks and conventional engines. Instead, they convert nebular gas into fuel on the fly. They are unarmored, unshielded, and they carry few weapons, but they are virtually impossible to detect at long-range, making them ideal for reconnaissance and hit-and-run strikes. The Fyrokkians also operate more conventional fighters with heavier payloads, but small craft are usually easy pickings for a Spearhead squadron.

The Veil itself has a certain religious status with the Fyrokkians--the currents that wind their way through the nebular are especially important. These currents are caused by a cluster of small pulsars in the north-west quadrant of the Veil--a region known as the Tides. These pulsars flood the Veil with a peculiar sort of radiation which stimulates midichlorians within a being's bloodstream. It's not enough to turn a non-Forcer into an adept, but it has had its effects over the years.

Spacefaring Fyrokkians have always been slightly more alert than planet-bound specimens. Those who spend significant stretches of time in space can develop heightened senses and accute three-dimensional awareness. The effects are most strongly represented in Spearhead pilots, who have very little shielding from the radiation. They exhibit near-Jedi-like reflexes and sensitivity. Some even develop limited precognition, allowing them to take their craft to the limits of their considerable performance specs. However, due to the radiation's harmful effects, most Spearhead pilots who survive their tours of combat age prematurely and die under the age of forty.

The Veil also heightens the senses of Force-users. For those from the Void, depending on their natural accuity, this may result in a sort of information overload until they can gain control of their faculties. The effects of short-term exposure wear off once the Force-user returns to normal space. Force-users born inside the Veil have an innate sense for its peculiarities and can navigate it by instinct. Some of the most dangerous regions, such as the Tides, are only safely navigable with the aid of a Fyrokkian Force-sensitive guide. For that reason, Kimatra has positioned its headquarters beyond the Tides.

Questions? Comments? Arcane prognostications? Please reply.

[Rhea Kaylen]

Okay. How about some in-depth info on the Order of Kimatra--its dogma, its methods, its means of existing as a self-contained separate cloister. How does it govern itself, with what kind of heirarchy (if any at all), does it officially answer to any Fyrokkian clan, who is in charge of the Order.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

[Arajah Ramanuja]

The Order of Kimatra

The Fyrokkian religion revolves heavily around the Veil, particularly the radiation currents, which they call "the Winds." The Fyrokkians believe the Winds are conduits of divine power, both for blessing and judgment, and that they are ultimately the source of life in the Veil. When Fyrokkir passes through these currents, the radiation interacts with the planet's magnetic field, resulting in spectacular atmospheric lightshows. During these phenomena, Force-users (shanakhi) would experience heightened abilities; some would even have visions, and a number of latent Force-users would be awakened.

Shanakhi have always been connected with the Will of the Veil, whether that Will was identified mono-, poly-, or pantheistically. During the early part of Fyrokkian history, shanakhi functioned as prophets and priests within kingdoms. Older shanakhi passed their teaching on to their apprentices; a few schools and monasteries were formed. However, other than a public sense of piety, there was no real way to govern the conduct of all the shanakhi.

As Fyrokkian society grew, the need arose to unify the growing number of shanakhi. Several orders, both Light Side and Dark Side, were formed all around Fyrokkir, and they tended to compete for supremacy and territory as much as the feudal kings and lords did. After the Council of Kings was established to arbitrate political disputes, several of the most prominent Light Side orders united to steady the balance of power between the secular and the sacred. The resulting Order of Kimatra toppled most of the Dark Side orders, and most of the remaining Lightsiders, sensing the will of the Veil had shifted in Kimatra's favor, joined them as well. As Kimatra grew, it developed a complex hierarchical structure under one F'yagor (the individual deemed the most powerful shanakh in the species--usually male, but sometimes female) and including a variety of priests, prophets, and mages, as well as its own army, which functioned much like the Jedi.

For a period of roughly a thousand years, the power balance shifted back and forth between Kimatra and the Council of Kings. Aside from a few periods of intense war, Fyrokkian society flourished under the double authority. When the Empire came, Kimatra united with the rest of Fyrokkir in the effort to drive the usurpers out. Following the devastation of Fyrokkir, Kimatra quickly regrouped and tried in vain to keep the Fyrokkians unified. As the Fyrokkian clans began warring on one another, the Kimatra hierarchy retreated beyond the Tides to the Chhaya system, but they sent mages and prophets among the Clans to keep searching for fledgling shanakhi.

However, now that the Council was dissolved, each of the clan lords was desperate to prove that his or her cause was the one supported by the Will of the Veil. As such, they were all very eager to please Kimatra however they could. Kimatra began taking advantage of this development and greatly increased its footholds in each of the ruling clans. As the Order gained power, its leaders became corrupt. They declared neutrality in all matters of clan conflict, but they began to use their religious clout as well as their Force-endowed warriors to further their interests throughout the Veil. In addition to a great many political concessions, the clans pay Kimatra considerable tribute. As Samudra is currently the wealthiest clan, it is the clan most favored by Kimatra--and perhaps the most controlled as well.

Sorry, that was a very lengthy answer that really only addressed part of your question. However, since the desolation of Fyrokkir, Kimatra's doctrine has become largely a means of reinforcing its power. However, tenets of piety, reward, and judgment are still deeply engrained within the collective psyche of the populace, as well as a smattering of more specific beliefs and rituals that remain from the days before Kimatra's rise to power. Also, while the leadership of Kimatra is now generally corrupt, not all of its members are so tainted. Some genuinely believe they are serving the Will of the Veil while others are clandestinely working against their superiors in hopes of reforming the Order. But these pockets of resistance are small and few.