Tershin

Tershin was a planet in the, the first and only colony world of the Iscali. Like the Iscali homeworld, Iscandar, it eventually became a member world of the Golden Empire.

Geography
In stark contrast to Iscandar, most of Tershin was fairly warm. Wide grass and crop plains spread over vast tracts of the world; well over sixty percent of the landmasses were such easily arable and inhabitable spaces. Mountain ranges around the world featured deposits of minerals not found elsewhere on the planet, as well as progressively lower temperature ranges as elevation increased. The far south pole was ice-covered; due to Tershin's permanent axial tilt, the south was colder than the north.

Tershin had moderately large oceans, but its continents were divided by several chains of lakes, some numerous but small, others only a few enormous lakes almost large enough to be considered inland seas. Rivers with numerous tributaries stretched from lake to lake, and the areas where several tributaries crossed could be marshy and swampy. However, in general tributaries were far enough part to provide potential for irrigation without descending into marsh.

Tershin had a flourishing ecosystem, though no native sentient species. Large herds of herbivores roamed the vast plains, preyed on by predominantly pack predators, though single and paired predatory species existed in areas closer to the cold south and around the marshes.

Society and culture
Iscali settlers from Iscandar staked out claims on all of Tershin's continents quickly, leading to the rapid growth of a network of cities. Unlike Iscandar itself, Tershin was led by a single government with authority over all its constituent areas, and several cities were sometimes lumped together to create a single representative area. Like Iscandar, however, each area was allowed one male and one female representative. The planetary legislature was a representative democracy, with a single member elected by the body itself to serve as chair of the assembly.

Many of the Iscali on Tershin were given to a more independent view of life, as they had descended from settlers who departed their homeworld for the quasi-unknown. The most extreme of these came to form the Tershin Separation Party, which advocated political and economic separation between Tershin and Iscandar. On Iscandar itself, Tershin's natives were sometimes viewed as less hardworking or weaker; since Tershin's climate was so much more temperate than Iscandar's, it took substantially less work and innovation to survive. A few Iscali, however, established cities in Iscandar's mountains, interested in the resources and freedom of Tershin but longing for the cold of home.

History
Iscali geologists believed Tershin's tectonic plates were relatively inactive long before the Iscali themselves arrived. The few mountain ranges were low, and there was no fossil evidence of any real change in the relatively peaceful climate for millennia back. The lack of any natural satellites and fixed axial tilt also contributed to the world's stability.

Having thoroughly explored their own system and developed technology, the Iscali discovered Tershin in 503 BBY. The colonization movement began quickly after initial exploration, with thousands and eventually millions of Iscali flocking to the newfound world, which seemed like a relaxing paradise compared to the harsh realities of life on Iscandar. Tershin was set up as a dependency of Iscandar; the homeworld's government had the power to legislate for the colony and overrule the colonial legislature. This restriction dampened some of the idealized view of autonomy and was the primary reason most Iscali remained on Iscandar, where city-states had far greater latitude.

In 94 ABY, the Prime Fleet of the Golden Empire encountered Iscali explorers and was invited to Iscandar for talks. After the homeworld joined the Empire, Iscandar's legislature agreed that Tershin would join as well. However, Queen Rin Sakaros allowed Tershin to vote on the issue separately, treating it as a co-equal member world.

Tershin was captured by the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob during the Great Liberation in 100 ABY, but was retaken the next year. Some time after the war, the Royal Diplomatic Academy was built on the planet. Rin Sakaros and the Ministry of Diplomacy felt the peaceful, relatively laid-back setting of Tershin would be conducive to diplomatic thoughts.