Acralia

Acralia
Acralia was a core world, in the Azure Sector. It was the third planet from the sun, Illirium, and was not orbited by any moons. It was a long-time member of the Galactic Republic, but never the Galactic Empire (willingly), or New Republic or Galactic Alliance. Because of its location, it was one of the more influential planets in the Azure Sector, despite the fact that it was not located on any particularly important trade routes or hyperspace corridors.

Acralia was a very wealthy planet, due to its relationships with the InterGalactic Banking Clan, the Commerce Guild, and the Trade Federation. Due to this, when the three megacorporations suffered during the Clone Wars, so did Acralia, and many of its inhabitants moved off-world, or were simply subject to intense debt or bankruptcy.

History

Acralia was first colonized by the Coruscanti in 25,000 BBY, shortly after the declaration of the Galactic Republic. The only habitable planet in its system (save 8 moons)(both of the other planets were gas giants), it became the center of what was known as the Azure Colony. As time passed, and more Systems and planets were discovered, the entire area surrounding planets such as Anaxes and Axum became known as the Azure Sector.

Acralia, though devoid of natural resources or useful materials, was a planet of immense beauty, and, as such, was first advertised as a vacation planet for the wealthy. As the wealthy moved onto Acralian. Though it was not really a part of the Republic, it was a great source of income, so it was defended by the Republic Army. However, without a real government, Acralian inhabitants paid no taxes, making the fledgling planet even more popular among the social elite.

After 150 years, the population of Acralia had grown to 500 Million, in the one and only city, Archillian. It was decided by the richest and largest family on the planet that a government must be formed. As such, the Monocracy of the Royal Family of Acralia began. It was a dictatorship-monarchy, with one Head of State-for-life Tyrant, who, when dead, would pass the title onto the Next in line in the Family. There was no system in place to regulate or control the power of the King/Queen, so the elitist planet would often look out for its monetary interests, opposed to what was best for its people or its relationship with the rest of the Galaxy. As such, it was often considered snobby, and looked down upon by the Republic and neighboring systems. This system of government was in place for over 19,000 years, until, with corruption at its peak, the Republic stepped in, and violently took care of the corrupt government, all but ending the line of the Royal Family of Acralia – the same family that had ruled since the establishment of organized government, and that would continue to rule the planet until its collapse, during the Clone Wars.

During that time, though, Acralia’s population was ever-growing, along with its wealth, since it was a highly desirable place to live for the rich. Also, in 20,120 BBY, Acralia joined the Galactic Republic, and was given a seat in The Senate.

In 6,000 ABY, when the Republic stepped in to deal with Acralia’s Corrupt government, out of sheer frustration with the planet and it’s never-ending search for riches, the 5 remaining member of the Royal Acralian Family set up the New Acralian Democracy, beginning what was known as the Enlightened Age of Acralia. With this new-found freedom, the people of Acralia began to search for new ways of generating wealth, and eventually discovered the InterGalactic Banking Clan, the Commerce Guild, and the Trade Federation. By investing in these megacorporations, the wealth of the planet grew to astronomical proportions. This relationship between Acralia and the megacorporations led to a sudden immigration of masses of Muun (of the Banking Clan) and Neimoidian (of the Trade Federation) people, as Acralian was now considered a large asset to them. With a population now of 3 billion, Acralia essentially closed its borders to immigration, and heavily regulated incoming people, in an attempt to keep the elite planet that way.

Due to its dependence on megacorporations, when, during The Clone Wars, the Banking Clan, Commerce Guild, and Trade Federation joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and suffered major financial losses (largely due to the heads of the megacorporations being slaughtered by Darth Vader), Acralia, too, suffered. The planet’s once rich inhabitants lost much of their wealth, to the point of bankruptcy and immense debt. Many of the Muun and Neimodians moved back to their home planets of Muunilinst and Neimodia, after their business collapsed. People began to avoid Acralia now, even after it re-opened its borders. The government fell in on itself, and the planet erupted into chaos. In 19 BBY, when the Empire was established, The Royal Family of Acralian moved off to another planet, where it eventually died out in anonymity and unimportance.

2 years after the royal family left, and the planet was nearly uninhabited, the Hutts moved onto Acralia from Nal Hutta, and subsequently renamed the planet Neo Hutta, or New Hutt Land. With this, the planet fell into the depths of corruption it had not seen in nearly 20,000 years. The once-pristine world, noted for its incredible natural beauty (which, ironically, was the major reason for immigration to Acralia in the first place), was polluted, deforested, strip-mined, and became a slimy, sludgy, scummy, disgusting cesspool of the Galaxy, ridden in corruption and organized crime, black markets and pirates.

When the Hutts attempted to remove Neo Hutta from the Galactic Empire, the First War of Acralia broke out, and the Hutts were subsequently defeated by the Imperials. Acralia, now scarred by war, was officially labeled as a black rock - a planet devoid or nearly- of life, with no government in place, or economic/military/environmental/strategic etc. importance; no one wanted to live on Acralia anymore, anyway, because of its relationship to gangsters and the underworld, besides the tainted environment. It lived out the rest of its days as an insignificant fragment of a by-gone Utopia the universe had long since forgotten.

Government

The most historically significant, and last, government of Acralia, besides its cooperation in the Galactic Republic, was a Democratic Monarchy, which lasted for 6000 years, since its establishment after several millennia of Monocracy. Essentially, the King/Queen of Acralia had Supreme Executive Powers over all governmental, military, economic etc. affairs of the planet, with the aid of an Executive Advisory Council. The Monarch was from a single, traceable family line, spanning thousands of years and hundreds of generations. The Head of State’s power was put to a vote every 4 years, at which time, should he be removed from office, elections for a new monarch would begin, with all immediate members of the Royal Family up for election. The Advisory Council was made up of 5 wise, worldly men/women. Anyone on the entire planet could run for this office, when elections were held, every 2 years. All decisions by the Head of State had to pass through the Royal Acralian Senate, comprised of elected officials from all major sentient species, cities, continents, corporations, and social classes. This ensured complete fairness in every decision. The Senators were elected by the people whom they represent. There was a mandatory election held every 5 years, in which a new Senator had to be chosen, to ensure the same fairness the Senate itself existed to uphold. The Senate held ultimate veto power over all decisions by the Head of State, by means of a 50% majority vote. Once a decision was passed by the senate, it was no longer debatable, though it could be reopened, if new evidence or circumstances called for it to do so. The Senate also held the power to call a Vote of No Confidence on the Head of State, and member of the Royal Advisory Council, of the Senate itself. The leader of the Senate was an elected Governor, who opened the floor to particular Senators, and ensured order in the Convocation Chamber. The position was, as well, elected, but only from the immediate Royal Family, like the King/Queen, and was put up to election every 6 years. Below is a layout of the governmental system:



In addition to the planetary government, each city on Acralia had an elected Lord Mayor – a member of the Royal Family, elected every 4 years, without position-duration limit – who ran affairs of the city. Also, there was the City Senator, who represented the city in the Royal Acralian Senate, and an Acralian City Diplomat, who dealt with matters between cities. Both these posts had 5 year rotational periods, and were elected positions.

Also, as a Republic world, Acralia had a Galactic Senator – a member of the royal family who was appointed by the Head of State. This position could be revoked by either the Head of State, with the approval of the Executive Advisory Council, or the Royal Acralian Senate, by a 50% majority vote.

Geography

The capital city of Acralia, Archillian, was home to the Royal Acralian Palace – The ancient home of the Royal family, along with offices for all Royal positions, including Head of State, Galactic Senator, Governor, and Lord Mayor of Archillian; it was said to house 200 members of the Royal family, as the actual size of the family was never determined, though wa theorized to be very large – along with the Senate House – A palatial Convocation Center, much like the Senate House on Coruscant – along with the government house of Acralia. As the capital, it was home to many wealthy and influential families, mostly from the Banking, Commerce, and Trade megacorporations, as the planet was barren of natural resources. Villas, estates, and luxurious apartment buildings fanned out from Archillian Square – center of the city – where the Senate House sat at one end, with the Royal Acralian Palace at the other. Archillian was the center of culture and art on Acralia, and was home to many famous museums, displaying art and artifacts from about the Galaxy; due to the wealthy nature of the inhabitants of Acralia, the museums had some of the most complete collections on display anywhere in the Galaxy. The Royal Acralian Opera House was located in Archillian, and was host to many shows year-round, including Squid Lake, of Mon Calamari. The Acralian Library and Records Building was also located in Archillian, and was one of the largest buildings in the city, as it contained some 25,000 years of history, and one of the most complete collections of literature in the Core Worlds.

There were 4 other major cities on Acralia: Persephone, Ivellian, Carillian, and Galanodel. These 5 cities made up 20% of the population of the planet, whose population was only 3 billion – relatively small for a core world.

Sociology

Arcalia was a very diverse planet, with only 60% human (the entire royal family being human as well), 20% Muun, 8% Neimodian, and 12% other. This high population of Muun and Neimodians was due to the influence their corporations had on Acralia. As the planet had little in the way natural resources of any value, its people invested in megacorporations, like the Intergalactic Banking Clan, the Commerce Guild, and the Trade Federation. As such, Acralia was a very valuable trade and commerce planet. Its people were wealthy and prosperous (85% upper class, 9% middle class, 6% lower class), and treated very fairly, due to their government, which ensured no one was overlooked, and all were treated equally. Essentially rid of corruption, Acralia was one of the more Utopian planets in the Galaxy, and was therefore one of the more respected and revered planets in the Republic, despite its snobbish and elitist attitudes. However, because of people’s great desire to live there, the Royal family had set up very strict rules for immigration, essentially cordoning-off the planet from immigrants.

After the planet's collapse into poverty and infamy, Acralia's population was next to nill, as all sentients began to avoid it. After the Hutts were defeated, during the First Battle of Acralia, and fled the planet, Acralia no longer had any means of support, and faded into anonimity.