From Galactic Powerhouse to Industry Supplier
Unencumbered by the trauma of
The Fall, the colonization
of Karrakis was straightforward and the
society that came about developed at conventional
rates for millennia. By first contact, the Baronies
had grown to be an advanced interplanetary empire
laden with thousands of years of cultural history; by
the time of the Deimos Event, the Baronies had
already claimed stars under their own flag, built the
first of their ring worlds, and charted doctrines of
Interstellar war.
Despite their massive head start, the barons were
stunned when
Cradle and her bickering children – the
many peoples of post-Fall humanity – proved to be
capable and formidable rivals on the galactic scale.
Indeed, as Union grew in size and leapfrogged beyond
Karrakis in interstellar acumen and fantastic technologies,
the barons grew more and more frustrated with
the new – to them – polity. Throne Karrakis, not Cradle,
was the center of the galaxy in their minds. When
Cradle disagreed, war broke out, and the barons –
proud and assured of their place – were dealt a
stunning, sobering defeat. In the end, it was the
Deimos Event that called Union’s ships back from
Karrakis’ skies; if it weren’t for the Deimos Event and
Union’s meteoric rise to technological ascendancy,
Karrakis may have been the seat of humanity’s power.
A series of embarrassing defeats followed for the Baronies
as first Union, and Harrison Armory second, broke all
dictates of honorable warfare and interstellar doctrine. The
Baronies, cowed on a galactic scale, retreated and turned
inwards. Let the young Union try to manage the galaxy;
Throne Karrakis was the true prize anyways, and in ceding
hegemony to Union, the barons could enjoy privileged
positions as the galaxy’s major suppliers of industry – the
guarantors of Union’s utopian dream.
It is a grim truth – and a cause of tension between the
factions of the Third Committee – that whoever holds
Karrakis has at least one hand on the levers of
Union’s power. The Baronic embassy on Cradle is
constantly trafficked by Union diplomats and officials,
just as the Union campus on Karrakis is inundated
with nobles and magnates.
Throne Karraka and Karrakin Society: Isolation, Reconnection, and Growth
Karrakis is a palace world, and the capital of the
Karrakin Trade Baronies – an oligarchic, interstellar
federal monarchy near Cradle.
The planet of Karrakis is home to the Baronies’
original palace-city, Throne Karraka, a sprawling
estate that has grown to become a city-within-ametroswathe,
blanketing roughly 4 million square
kilometers. The original palace – the first settlement
on Karrakis – is the royal administrative heart of
Karrakis City, the metroswathe around Throne
Karraka. Karrakis City is home to billions, a municipality
unmatched in size, scale, and sheer planetary
impact on any world in the galaxy.
Karrakis is a temperate Gaia world settled prior to the
Fall by the Apollo – one of the Ten – and left isolated
during the dark age before Union’s creation. Like the
Aun, the Karrakin people developed divergent from
Union for thousands of years under the assumption
that they alone had survived the Fall. Recontact with
Karrakis occurred under the First Committee via
unmanned communications vessels sent to potential
sites of pre-Fall
Colonies. Having flourished for nearly
7,000 years, Karrakis responded rapidly; the two
cultures were gradually knit together through regular,
though slow, communication, though physical first
contact did not occur for centuries.
The Baronic Military: Adaptation, Progression, and Prestige
Following the introduction of mechanized chassis as
warfighting machines, the ancient Karrakin Cavalry
College quickly adapted the new technology. Today, it
is known for the quality of the officers and machines it
produces, as evidenced by the military performance
of the Baronic houses and the Free Companies. Similarly,
learning from its defeats, the Baronies has
established a well-respected naval college system,
the Royal Naval Academy. While attendance and
service in the cavalry are still viewed as the most
prestigious course for young scions, attendance and
service in the navy is a parallel honor – one more
mental than martial.
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