Gamitor

Gamitor was a planet in the, coorbital to its twin planet, Gamus. It was a colony world of the Xhal and a member of the Golden Empire.

Geography
Much of Gamitor's surface was swamps and marshes, which were conducive to growing most of the native fungi from Gamus. The purely land portions of the surface were fertile grasslands and plains. Gamitor had several native predators which were very dangerous to Xhal-sized creatures, but by the time it was colonized, the Xhal themselves had sufficiently developed weaponry to slay them without difficulty. The jungles and rainforests on Gamitor were generally avoided by the Xhal, as the trees interfered with sensors and made the Xhal easy prey for the equally predators lurking there.

Large oceans encircled the continents and reached kilometers in depth. Many swamps bordered these bodies of water, or were fed by rivers when they existed inland.

Gamitor's single moon had a thin atmosphere; most Xhal considered colonization efforts to be more effort than they were worth. As of 150 ABY, no efforts had been made to establish any outpost on the surface.

Society and culture
Like its parent world, Gamitor was dominated by the Xhal, although in fewer numbers than on Gamus. The Lesser Xhal made up an overwhelming majority of the population; after Gamitor and Gamus joined the Golden Empire, a number of Greater Xhal struck out for Gamitor, where they initially coexisted uneasily with the Lesser. Lesser Xhal on Gamitor began to develop different traditions from those who remained on Gamus, such as raising their children individually rather than communally. Most Gamitorish Lesser Xhal considered the communal raising of offspring to be a hallmark of slave days.

Fungus farming was Gamitor's primary source of income; the fungus helped to sustain Gamus's overlarge population and was considered a delicacy on many other Royal worlds as well. In addition, Gamitor did a smaller trade in minerals and ores. A small niche market for tourists evolved as well, as the planet catered to hunters seeking exotic game in Gamitor's untamed jungles and mostly-unexplored oceans.

Gamitor's cities were built in the traditional Xhal style, with tightly-backed buildings and numerous interconnected walkways. Since it had been colonized, these cities incorporated more technology than Gamus's.

History
Gamitor was colonized in 256 BBY by the joint efforts of several Xhal nations on Gamus. Thousands of Lesser Xhal and a smaller number of controlling Greater Xhal arrived on the habitable world and built a functional colony. Robot probes from Gamus had already confirmed that Gamitor's swamps and low-lying grasslands were ideal for growing the fungi which were the primary food source of the Xhal. The colonists fended off the wild predators of Gamitor and created vast fungus farms in the dank swamps, often spanning several kilometers.

Though under the control of Gamus, Gamitor had a single governor appointed by the joint agreement of the Xhal nations which had contributed to its colonization. The planet's initial successes were heralded as an end to hunger on Gamus, and indeed the population there grew beyond what Gamus alone could ever sustain within a century. However, some Greater Xhal began advocating for abolition on Gamus and Gamitor. This generated intense debate on the mother planet and some concern on Gamitor.

In 67 ABY that concern was realized. The Lesser Xhal had grown to vastly greater numbers than there Greater Xhal handlers. In three outlying mining colonies, the ratio was so disparate that the Greater Xhal mind control pheremones were insufficient to keep the workers submissive. The Lesser Xhal rose up, killed their managers, and united into an army. They marched on the Greater Xhal capital, freeing more slaves from farms along the way. The Greater Xhal were able to use their slaves and weaponry to hold on to the major cities, but the free Lesser Xhal had arisen as a major force.

Gamitor was declared to be in a state of rebellion, and more Greater Xhal were shipped there from Gamus to reassert control over their slaves. The Lesser Xhal retaliated by sabotaging fungus farms and preventing food shipments to Gamus, intending to starve their oppressors out. The Greater Xhal retaliated with force, though the rebels later seized several key cities and the weapons there.

The civil war carried on until 106 ABY, when explorers from the Golden Empire found Gamitor. Given the vastly different responses from the Greater and Lesser Xhal on the planet, Rin Sakaros was personally called in to settle the question. Having spoken with representatives from both subspecies, she sided with the Lesser Xhal and declared Gamitor a possession of the Golden Empire. She ordered the Greater Xhal to relinquish their control on their slaves; those who refused were executed immediately. Leaving a Massassi Cohort to maintain order and prevent violence between the sides, she took the Prime Fleet to Gamus to "invite" them to join the Empire too. With the Lesser Xhal and a major source of their food in the Empire's hands, Gamus's leadership opted to be on equal footing with Gamitor and joined the Empire too.

Rin appointed a Royal Consul to govern each planet. Gamitor's food shipments to Gamus were reinstated, but the planet was now equally a member world of the Empire and no longer a colony. Some corporations from Gamus began a cautious reinvestment in Gamitor, although there were frequent disputes about labor laws and employment practices. The Consuls of the two planets worked together to keep these under control, but one got so bad that Centurions Chindal, Tesshen Manytrek, and Kyzk (herself a Greater Xhal) were assigned to arbitrate it. Kyzk's fairness and ultimate vote in favor of Gamitor won her equal measures of contempt from her fellow Greater Xhal and surprised respect from Lesser Xhal workers.