Lorsanan'sondora (meaning Royal Kingdom in Shikkri) was the homeworld of the polymorphic Lorsanan Shapeshifters. Originally dwelling near the edge of the Chiss Ascendancy, it was fitted with a gigantic Shannet (hyperdrive) so as to move it to a safe location at will for security reasons. It was surrounded by Lorsanan Tetres, a massive shipyard that formed an entire ring about the planet. The planet's location is unknown. The planet was of a fairly temperate variety, and spawned many intriguing creatures, all with very wide gene pools. This, perhaps, was caused by the sulfur-based ecosystem of the planet, a rarity among most planets, but this was unconfirmed. For the Shapeshifters, Lorsanan'sondora was the picture of home, and most would usually settle on planets like it - heavily forested and temperate. It is little wonder, as the planet was perfectly suited to the race and was very conducive to longer life in them.
The planet's history consisted of a long line of Shapeshifti kings, called Shaviantarths, who led the Shapeshifters in various directions. When the planet was introduced to technology, Lorsanan'sondora flourished with the wealth of new information. This sudden economical boom allowed for a war. After that, the planet's people were led into a realm of expansion, which lasted for many long years. When the expansion slowed, Lorsanan'sondora's people began to split and cause schisms within the mainline Shapeshifters. After the most well-known of these splinter groups was almost completely wiped out, it drove the people of Lorsanan'sondora to move their planet and to further isolate themselves in some unknown corner of the galaxy.
Geography and characteristics[]
Lorsanan'sondora was a planet in the Far Outer Rim, and thus its only contact with technology was the Chiss Ascendancy and, later, the 'Oozzinvon.' It was populated rather sparsely compared to most planets of its kind; the cities were primarily rural with several suburban towns. It had a relatively even temperature on the surface, meaning that it probably had a vertical rotation, a near-circular orbit, and an active jet stream. Before they were introduced to technology, and for leisure even afterwards, Shapeshifters used this powerful jet stream to quickly fly to their destination, riding these 'wind waves,' as they frequently referred to them. These high winds caused any mountains reaching the height of the jet stream to be extremely weathered and smooth, almost polished. Also because of this, their technology had to be more sophisticated to make up for the high winds in the upper atmosphere that caused vehicles to stray off course. To counter this, all repulsorlift vehicles and vehicles with atmospheric transportation capability were built with precise gyroscopic technology that kept the vehicle on course, compensating for the wind. Consequently, this made all Lorsanan vehicles very balanced and difficult to 'bump' out of trajectory.
Lorsanan'sondora had three seasons, the hot season, the rainy season, and the good season. The hot season was when the humid, water-saturated layer of their atmosphere was mostly evaporated and 'huddled' over the north and south poles, allowing more of the sun's thermal energy to come through. This caused Lorsanan's seas to start to evaporate somewhat, making Lorsanan a hot, humid place, though not intolerably so. This dried up the soil and drew out many underground dwellers, so that the hot season was also called the hunting season. The humidity eventually evened out again after several months, beginning the first good season. The good season was where the temperature and humidity was perfect for Shapeshifters. The good season that came after the hot season was used for planting. After a few more months the water layer was overly saturated, causing it to rain much more often, thus hailing in the wet season. This season was especially good for fishing, though the drop in temperature caused the Shapeshifters to tend to sleep a lot more; some of the older ones to the point of it being called a mild form of hibernation. Once the water layer had once more balanced itself, which took about the same length of time as the hot season did, the second good season began. This season was typically when the Shapeshifters harvest. The cycle of seasons then began again.
Because Lorsanan'sondora had no moon, it would naturally be assumed that the beaches of Lorsanan'sondora would be full of dirt, salt, and filth due to the absence of tides. However, that was not the case, leading to several assumptions as to why. First of all, the first conclusion would be that Lorsanan's seas and oceans contained no salt. This would explain why Shapeshifters require no iodine to survive, and also why the thyroid of all creatures on Lorsanan were activated and rejuvenated by something else: sulfur. This sulfur was located in the water of Lorsanan, as well as in most water sold in the galaxy. Due to the relatively small amount in the water, Shapeshifters typically drank around five liters a day minimum. Because of this, Shapeshifters normally drank only water. Also because of this no-salt issue, the water of Lorsanan evaporated more quickly than do most bodies of water. This meant that there was a good amount of clouds formed during the course of the day, leading to pouring nightly rains. Thus, a Shapeshifter's fur was coated in a special oil that let water roll off of it and was made to keep it warm. Also, because of the coolness caused by the nightly rain, Shapeshifters slept better due to their reptilian nature. This gave rise to the near inability of Shapeshifters to sleep without some sort of background noise. In place of salt, gigantic ziian sharks cleaned the water with their massive, baleen-filled mouths.
History[]
Early history[]
A monarchy/oligarchy was set up on Lorsanan'sondora around 45,000-55,000 BBY. Records were not kept until that time so there is no knowledge of what Shapeshifti culture or life was like prior to that, or how far they date back. The ruler of this half-monarchy, half-oligarchy was known as the Shaviantarth, usually a male, who would live in Savilta, a city made full of exquisite palaces and buildings. Residents could live there only under allowance of the Shaviantarth himself. The Consulate, a group of Shapeshifters similar to a miniature Senate, was made up of seven members, two from each of the three political parties and one High Consular to keep the other six from killing each other.
With the formation of this kingdom, they began to set up a military force - a very efficient one by the records - containing few vehicles since they could already easily maneuver manually on land and in the sea and air due to their shapeshifting abilities. It is unknown what the natural Shapeshifter looked like in his natural form at this point; many agree that it was similar to a modern-day 'pureblood' Shapeshifter's form, felinoid with saurian head and neck.
Chiss involvement[]
When a Chiss picket fleet[1] discovered them in about 39,000 BBY and proceeded to make the little world a part of their Ascendancy, a new world was opened up to the Shapeshifters. Because of their discovery, they gained access to high technology. Because of this, space travel became readily accessible to them. The Chiss did not overly occupy the planet, and considered it not really worth noticing, not thinking the little planet had anything to offer. It was also seen as primitive. Because the Shapeshifters were allowed to see and examine Chiss technology, their photographic memories allowed them to exactly copy the parts of the ships and soon gained power and prestige as shipbuilders. Their vast creativity allowed them to make several upgrades, and soon the company 'Lorsonan Shipyards,' or 'Lorsanan Tetres' was set up. The planet saw itself as independent, though they were still under the Ascendancy banner.
After gaining prominence in the shipyard industry, they also built numerous other technological devices. Lorsanan'sondora prospered, but were very secretive about how their products and technology were made, and made sure that none copied them. The Chiss greatly profited by the Shipyards, but then again, so did Lorsanan'sondora. The Shaviantarth now had the finances to pay for a war for their sovereignty's freedom, should the need arise.
After Lorsanan'sondora had been made part of the Ascendancy, and had been for a little over two centuries, the Shapeshifters grew restless. They wanted to separate from the Ascendancy to become a commonwealth of their own. The Chiss began to notice that none of the Shapeshifters applied to become anything in the Chiss Ascendancy outside Lorsanan'sondora. Inquiries were made, but no answers were given. All at once, the Shaviantarth, Shaviantarth Kirlakenthranay III, proposed to the Ascendancy that Lorsanan'sondora break off from the Ascendancy to become it's own monarchy/oligarchy. The Chiss refused; Lorsanan'sondora was too great an asset to be set free, unless Lorsanan Tetres remained Chiss property. Kirlakanthranay refused to give up the shipyards.
After several years of silence, the Shapeshifters declared war on the Ascendancy. Though Lorsanan'sondora was incredibly tiny compared to the Ascendancy and the proposal seemed ludicrous, little did the Chiss know how much the tiny world had planned this war. All Lorsanan Tetres ships and vehicles aligned with the Chiss exploded at inopportune times, and, due to the Shapeshifter's abilities, many commandos were sent across enemy lines completely unnoticed.
Due to the heavy losses, the Ruling Families decided that the damage Lorsanan'sondora had caused far exceeded Lorsanan Tetres's worth, especially if something like this were to happen again. As a result, Lorsanan'sondora was set free.
The beginning of expansion[]
The Lorsanan banner
After several generations of Shaviantarths worked to heal and restore Lorsanan'sondora and through several more the Navy and the new Expansionary fleet were built up. The technology was similar to that used by Chiss since their technology was what the Shapeshifters had to start from, so there were several similarities. At the end of about one hundred fifty years after the War of the Lorsanan Dissent, the Shapeshifters were ready to explore outside their borders.
Since Lorsanan'sondora was near the edge of the Ascendancy, they did not need to fight the Chiss during expansion as they used the Chiss version of Square 5 (Meaning the fifth dimension, the Shapeshifter term for hyperspace. The actual term was Shannet Lay, sometimes shortened to just Shannet) to start exploring outside the Ascendancy. The Era of Expansion, an approximately thousand year era covering years of expansion and growth, caused the Lorsanan banner to expand to accommodate forty-two inhabitable planets, twenty-eight uninhabitable but of value, and seventy-eight barren and worthless planets. They typically took over worlds peacefully, only using force when only extremely needed. Battles, however, weren't often, since there were not many sapient beings with which to battle or bargain. Lorsanan's wealth and power increased dramatically.
During Zenith II's reign, which occurred about halfway through the Era of Expansion, the Shaviantarth realized that Lorsanan wouldn't live in peace forever; with all of these planets owned by Lorsanan, there was bound to be a war, either among themselves or with someone outside their borders. In which case, Lorsanan'sondora might be attacked, and Lorsanan'sondora was in a vulnerable spot: it was on the very edge of Lorsanan (which they had began to call their empire). It was, in fact, and encircled by Chiss-owned planets. The most important assets of Lorsanan were Lorsanan'sondora and Lorsanan Tetres, both of which were terribly vulnerable. Zenith II decided to do something about it.
It was a bold move, but Zenith II made a motion to relocate the capitol to another planet. It caused a rift in the Consulate, which was now much larger to encompass the inhabitants of Lorsanan's then thirteen populated planets. Many merchants, business owners and companies were housed on Lorsanan'sondora due to the fact it was the capitol and thus the center of economic activity. It was prosperous to be on Lorsanan'sondora, and such a move would eventually require them to move, as well, to base in the new economic hub. This move would cost them much more than they could afford. The merchants held a protest to the movement, and since they held a lot of influence with the Lorsanan purse strings, the motion was turned down by the Consulate. It didn't matter; Zenith II had a backup plan.
Not long before, a planet had been found that closely resembled Lorsanan'sondora, and was near the center of Lorsanan. Because of this, it was named Lorsanan'sondora II, sometimes called Vikan, which means 'sister.' At the time Zenith II was thirty-one, buildings and communities were set up, similar to those on Lorsanan'sondora. Once that was well on its way to completion, Zenith II made an extreme proposal, even more extreme than his earlier proposition, so wild as to even have a good fraction of Shapeshifters wonder about his sanity. He proposed to build a Shannet (hyperdrive) unit big enough to move Lorsanan'sondora.
The idea was considered ludicrous, but, despite its fantastic nature, it was actually considered; a miracle in itself. The basic problem was where Zenith II planned to get his funding for such a massive undertaking; he certainly couldn't tax the people to death to do it, and he didn't plan to.
Creating the Shannet[]
Zenith II began constructing facilities on the planets that were uninhabitable to harvest whatever was of value in or of the planet. It cost a lot to build the factories so they could stay intact with the planets' harsh environments and atmospheres, but it paid back in plenty. It took Zenith thirty years to gain the finances to build the Lorsanan Shannet (as it had been dubbed). Unfortunately, when at last all of the pre-construction work was done, Zenith II died of old age before the foundation could be laid. Zenith the Crazy, the Shapeshifter's opponent's title for the Shaviantarth, was seen as insane by most of the Shapeshifters. No one had really explained to them the reason behind making Lorsanan Shannet. It wouldn't be until around two hundred years later that the wisdom of his enterprise became widespread, when Zenith the Crazy's title was changed to Zenith the Visionary.
Zenith II's son, Shaviantarth Zenith III, agreed with his father on constructing the Lorsanan Shannet. In the instance there was a war, the planet could be moved to the most defended place. He went ahead on the construction, despite the grumbling of the people that all Zeniths must be crazy. In fact, Zenith III went a step further in starting construction on a hyperdrive for Lorsonan Tetres, which now was a full ring around Lorsanan'sondora. The Consulate saw no real harm in doing it, though it was seen as crazy, and only allowed Zenith III to build it under the rule that it must not cost over the budget from the treasury that the High Consular would set up. It was obvious the Consulate wanted to halt his venture in a fairly legal manner, as the budget was outrageously low for a task that gigantic. Despite the money put aside by his father for the project, it was not quite fully enough, and Zenith III was not allowed to tax the people to get the remaining amount. So, instead, Zenith III overturned the High Consular's decision. It was a bold act to do, and though not technically illegal, was an act looked down upon. He didn't care, he had obtained the finances he needed from the treasury and spent it in his father's and his dream, making a legacy for himself. He wanted this enterprise that he felt would one day be useful (which it was) to be commemorated as put into action by him, the self-proclaimed Zenith the Great. The inhabitable planet discovered under his rule was named after this moniker, Lorsanan'zenith, meaning Zenith the Great. He taxed the people for more money, since most of it was used in making Lorsanan Shannet and Tetres Shannet, in order to build himself a second summer vacation house. Ironically, the day before it was completed, 'Zenith the Great' died of heart failure. He was remembered only in infamy.
Zenith III's son, Shaviantarth Zenith IV, continued the fight for Lorsanan and Tetres Shannet. Much work was done during his short reign: a good portion of the framework was laid, and beginnings of the massive engine were underway. Lorsanan Shannet had to be extremely massive, but Zenith IV saw it as a challenge to Shapeshifti ingenuity, a challenge that he felt must be faced. If the Shapeshifters could complete this task, they knew that they could complete smaller ones, and, eventually, larger ones.
The Lorsanan Shannet
They were forced to build the massive Lorsanan Shannet in the desolate Tentek Tharres - meaning Dead Ocean. Nothing grew in that portion of Lorsanan'sondora, and barely anything lived because of the semi-toxic mineral deposits on the sea floor. Because of this location, the Shannet had to be waterproof and had to be concealed within the planet, as well as covered with a shield to protect it from harm. That meant they had to conceive a way to safely move the part of the ocean that covered the gigantic device out of the way to activate the machine. In the end, the way it worked was to have the Shannet raise itself out of the water. To make sure that the continents of Lorsanan Thel, Lorsanan Krase, and Lorsanan Shai and the islands of Lorsanan Vethain, Mey, Karas, and Jerrath did not flood, that portion of the water was surrounded with artificial mountains made to look like natural ones that would be able to contain the water within that one area. The power to drive the Shannet was gained from a huge power plant that harvested leftover energy from Lorsanan'sondora's core. The surrounding area of Tentek Tharres would be made to look natural and untouched for centuries so no one would suspect the technological wonder beneath it.
However, though that was the plan, Zenith IV would not live to oversee it. Only the framework was finished when the Shaviantarth died of poisoning only two years into his reign. It is unknown as to whether he died by an accident or by assassination.
So it happened that Zenith IV's cousin Visarinthal Karinak took the Cloak upon Zenith's tragic death. Shaviantarth Visarinthal oversaw the completion of Lorsonan Shannet and Tetres Shannet, but only begrudgingly. He did not approve of the project; however, his father did, and Visarinthal obeyed his wishes because his father was well nigh in years, and the Shaviantarth's inheritance promised to be high. Before the construction was finished, Visarinthal had already obtained the inheritance. Fortunately, it seemed a shame to him to waste all of that work, so he let the two Shannets be completed. As a result, both Shannets were completed after almost fifty years' labor.
They were grand accomplishments for the Shapeshifti race, though the Shapeshifters as a whole didn't see the point in it and were, frankly, tired of it. Visarinthal, seeing the discontent of the Shapeshifters, lowered the taxes back to their previous amount and expressed more leniency, lightening the load of those under his rule.
Visarinthal, once it seemed everyone was at least slightly contented once more, started the second phase of Zenith II's grand plan for the Shannet. The first phase was building the Shannet and starting to move the people who did not trust the Shannet would work. If the Shapeshifters did not want to stay on the planet during the first test run of the Shannet, just in case Lorsanan'sondora blew up or was otherwise was damaged or harmed, they could be transported to Lorsanan'sondora II, the planet discovered during Zenith II's reign. They would be housed there, and any assets lost if the Shannet did cause harm to the world would be compensated in full by written Shapeshifti law. In fact, the Shaviantarths had put aside enough finances to pay the way for people to move to Lorsanan'sondora II.
Once the first phase was finished, Visarinthal started up the Shannet, after all of the preparations were in order. Visarinthal decided he would not leave Lorsanan'sondora to make sure of his safety, but, instead, ride out whatever happened. The first run of the Lorsanan Shannet was a success. It wasn't the fastest Shannet, but it worked, and only took four hours to activate, which was very good time for the machine's size. The planet made it to its planned destination, exactly according to the coordinates. As a celebration, when Lorsanan'sondora was moved back to its original position, and a holiday was set up in commemoration of the event, The Day of the Shannet.
The invaders[]
During the reign of Risa II, Visarinthal's daughter, they began to notice a navy being built up around the outskirts of their borders. It was a large navy, consisting of strange—and, in their opinion, ugly—vehicles and cruisers. Any and all picket forces sent to investigate disappeared. Finally, Risa herself and the Grand Admiral, Veykar, decided to look into this strange alien force. Though they arrived in a warship (In fact it was the Dove), they made it clear to whoever it was that their intentions were, at least for the moment, peaceful. The strange ships allowed them to stray closer the most massive of the ships, and then, when the Shapeshifti patrol was seemingly surrounded, the opposition started firing. Veykar, who had prepared for this sort of ambush, managed to get the patrol out safely, though with heavy losses. During their escape, they made sure to try to put a dent in the opposing army's ships as well. The battle was known as the Ambush of Tharvias, since Tharvias was the closest planet, albeit uninhabitable and worthless.
Occupation of the creatures started not long after, when they made an enemy landing at Tamishai. The aliens, who looked like tall, bulky, grey Chiss to the Shapeshifters, proved to be formidable. After a bloody battle, the intruders took over Tamishai. Lorsanan was in a crisis. The invaders fought with strange weapons, weapons that the Shapeshifters could feel had life in them; they weren't of metal. Biological weapons, such as poison and certain gases, were used, and melee weapons were frequent. The warriors would not surrender and fought to the death, against all odds, and were hard to kill.
The 'Oozzinvon'—a mispronunciation of the aliens' name, since Shapeshifters could not readily pronounce it any better; the real name of the invaders is never mentioned in the databanks—may have had just as much resolve as they, and more potent weapons, but the Shapeshifters had two things going for them: creativity and the ability to shift. Shapeshifti Intelligence (Shallar'ir'say Innaruth in Shikkri, or ShaIn, more commonly known as just 'Shain') discovered and deduced that somehow the 'Oozzinvon' would make whatever prisoners they took into animals that would fight for them. This was so feared that Grand General Veykar proposed that any who feared or were faced with the possibility of being captured could have an explosive device on them that would, at a signal from the wearer, cause the wearer to explode, thus leaving nothing for the 'Oozzinvon' to glean from the Shapeshifters. It was only a precaution, but every 'shifter spy disguised as an 'Oozzinvon' was equipped with one; it was mandatory.
As part of the Shapeshifter's normal way to win a war, plenty of spies were sent out to impersonate Oozzinvons and even some of the higher ranking among them. Because they could easily copy their biometrics, they could use their weapons, and copy them without inflicting pain to themselves. Through this, they could sabotage missions, and easily brought back sensitive information about the invaders. In this way, the tiny army was able to hold their own against the larger 'Oozzinvon' navy.
However, the war ahead looked bleak. Despite their espionage tactics and impersonations, it was obvious the 'Oozzinvon' had the upper hand. In space battles, strange worm-like weapons would latch onto their vehicles and leech their personnel and equipment into space, and blackish spheres would 'swallow' their fighters and insect-like creatures would eat away at their ship's hulls. The enemy fought with seemingly primitive but highly effective weapons and starships, which the Shapeshifters were not prepared for. However, these advantages in space were nothing compared to the 'Oozzinvon' advantage on the ground. Their advancement in melee combat and their resistance to sarrith bolts overwhelmed the Shapeshifters. Even when Shapeshifti melee weapons were constructed to answer this threat, they still seemed to be of no good against the 'Oozzinvon.' However, just as the intruders, the Shapeshifters fought to the death, with surrender being the farthest thought from their minds. Because of this, a mass slaughter of Shapeshifters was not without a price.
During the duration of the war, it was found that these 'Oozzinvon' were somehow connected to the innate telepathic ability of Shapeshifters. Somehow, they could harness this power to do things unexplainable; things that only a few in the Shapeshifter population could achieve, and precious few in their history learned. They could also communicate telepathically, move things around without touching them, and influence the minds of nonsentients. This, besides confusing the Shapeshifters, also helped the 'Oozzinvons' in their campaign. However, because of the Shapeshifter's natural connection to this power via telepathy, they could be warned about the impending use of these powers.
The end of the Three Years' War[]
The war had dragged on for a little more than two years. Both sides were doing damage to each other, and as they both grew to understand their enemy, the war became all the more fierce. Shapeshifters managed to control fleets of the enemy warships by killing and disposing of the real commander, then change to look like him. However, the 'biologists' were able to create weapons that were more effective for killing the Shapeshifters, and late in the war, they were able to make an insectoid parasite—called a jzark; an approximately seven centimeter long locust-like insect—that attached itself to the back of a Shapeshifter's neck and prevented the Shapeshifters from 'shifting, as well as causing excruciating pain to the victims, and was nearly impossible to remove without killing the injured Shapeshifter. In some later ground battles, the difficult-to-produce symbiots were released in swarms upon the Shapeshifters, rendering them much easier to kill, since only the very strong-willed ones could stand being 'jzarked' without soon falling, writhing to the ground.
However, the Shapeshifters made use of the technology used by the 'Oozzinvons', carefully observing how it was made and done when they had penetrated the invader's military. They were able to replicate the 'Oozzinvon's' 'amvistav' by transplanting a strange 'construction pool' (As the Shapeshifters called it) into Lake Vilizarre. The Shapeshifters were also intrigued by the way the 'Oozzinvons' seemed to 'become' their vehicles, allowing them to better pilot them. It took a long time in replicating, but the Shapeshifters managed to create that technology. However, it usually caused extreme confusion afterwards, except to Shapeshifters that frequently flew, thus becoming used to the feeling. Also during this time, Shapeshifters were forced to create their own versions of swords, with a special metal weave[2] that was able to cut through almost anything, except for the invaders' strange armor. Each side gained information about the other, getting better weapons, finding better ways to destroy the other species. In short, they were practically in deadlock, with the 'Oozzinvon' slowly pounding and chipping away at the Shapeshifters' waning defenses.
The impending doom of the Shapeshifter's defeat was looming closer, but the Shapeshifters would not go down without a fight. At last, the new Grand General—Grand General Veykar had fallen in battle about a year into the war—who was named Akarian, came up with a daring idea. Two of the abandoned Martyr-class cruisers, the Honor and the Fist of the Fallen, which were abandoned because of extreme damage, would have their shannet repaired, and then were to be filled with explosives. Using a precision-based microjump, a tactic they'd learned from the Chiss, they were to ram into the sides of the most gargantuan of the ships, getting as far into it as they could before blowing up. In order for the plan to successfully work, however, the two cruisers needed a skeleton crew of Shapeshifters who were willing do die for the attack. Akarian was the first to sign up for the skeleton crew of Honor, and it wasn't long before two crews of brave Shapeshifters had signed up.
As a distraction, a good portion of the Shapeshifti fleet would start a dogfight in the heart of the enemy navy, thus drawing fire away from the two cruisers. Unfortunately, the plan had a few setbacks once it was begun. However, a slightly ruined plan is better than none at all. Sections of the two ramships ships were being turned to slag, blowing up parts of the vehicles, but the Honor and the Fist kept on calculating their microjump, and after a painful delay, they came at the 'Oozzinvon' flagship from opposite sides and drove into the ship, then exploding. The Martyr-class cruisers were about a fifth the size of the command ship, and because of the organic nature of the vessel, they caused severe damage to the massive vessel, as well as destroying nearby fighters.
Unfortunately, the plan backfired somewhat when some of the explosives and the unforeseen size of the blast caused damage to some of the Shapeshifti ships. It harmed mostly fighters, but one cruiser in particular, the Rodiron's Claw—led by Shaviantara Risa's son, Rodiron'enith (meaning Braveheart)—was critically damaged. Risa's only son died in the explosion.
The costly move greatly hurt the 'Oozzinvon', pushing them towards surrender. Although they would not surrender until almost a year later, the war had practically been won at the Battle of Kowak II, as it was named. Only a few minor skirmishes followed it until the 'Oozzinvon' agreed to come to terms. They were pushed to inhabit an outlying planet, which the aliens named Shuno'tar. In return for keeping out of Lorsanan affairs, they would be undisturbed and left to their own. Because of the length of time it took to fight off the invaders, the war with the 'Oozzinvon' was christened the Three Years' War.
Rule of a tyrant[]
Several generations later, a manipulative Shapeshifter named Slondar took on the title of Shaviantarth. Using this method, he managed to get rid himself of any adversaries in the Consulate: one by manipulating him into doing something woefully dishonorable, two by tricking them into resigning, and one by ‘an unfortunate hunting accident.’ By paying his allies well enough, he dodged being impeached by his unlawful acts, and by controlling the judges, any Shapeshifter objecting to an immoral deed would be found guilty of ‘disturbing the peace,’ and, in some cases, treason.
However, Shapeshifters never did well when forced, especially those who were the relatives of the few who were executed for ‘treason.’ Riots broke out, and the terrorizing of unlawful judges began, with some ending up dead. To meet this new enemy, Slondar passed the Riot Act, which declared that any riots against the present Shaviantarth consisting of over twenty-one participants could be arrested and molested and any participants stripped of legal protection. It was outlandish, but Slondar’s tight control over the Consulate—a privilege gained by his father—caused the bill to be passed. Everywhere, Shapeshifters were persecuted for their discontent. As a result, Slondar tightened the noose around the commoner’s necks without realizing he was tightening his own. Murmurings and grumblings about their lost freedom were rampant, but there were no public displays of this, lest they be sentenced to servitude. However, it was well known that a revolution was fast mounting the horizon, and, fifty-three years into Slondar’s reign, it began. Two things ignited the declaration of rebellion: his opening up small trade with the ‘Oozzinvon,’ and his passing the Interrogation Act, in which an individual suspected of harboring malcontent with the Shaviantarth could be brought into a court of law and brutally interrogated to find if it were true. Though opening up small trade with the ‘Oozzinvon’ was not a bad thing, it actually helped the economy, Shapeshifters had a tendency to hold grudges, and so, the Jiinine Rebellion began. The Jiinine Rebellion, named after the fiery and eloquent Shapeshifter that started it, sought to overturn all of Slondar’s followers, starting an outright war. On faction of this Rebellion, called the Juur’lan’iin (meaning ‘purebloods only’), were extreme in their hatred and intent to drive out and annihilate the ‘Oozzinvon.’
Even then, Shaviantarth Slondar manipulated the events to his benefit, subtly planting evidence that enemies of his were actually his allies, and visa-versa, thus ridding him of even more enemies. The war went on for five years, losing speed as it went on, costing the Jiinine millions that it could not afford. Slondar knew that the revolution would eventually burn out and choke itself to death, so he’d just waited, letting the Rebellion continue as he depleted it of its funds, letting them do their work as they continued to fight. However, in the fifty-ninth year of his reign, something happened then that he did not count on: a small squad of Juur’lan’iin managed to get past security and into the palace. How they had managed to do so was by cheating the metal scanners by carrying concealed bows and arrows. In a swift strike, the squad made it to Slondar and shot him, killing him with just one arrow. The squad was soon after executed for treason and murder.
Further expansion[]
The extent of Lorsanan and the Chiss Ascendancy circa 33,000 BBY. Modern systems added to show context
When Slondar the Tyrant was thus removed from office, the Shapeshifters faced the problem of whom to replace him with. It was decided that it should be a peaceful Shapeshifter and yet someone who could put Lorsanan back together once more. After a yearlong debate on the subject, an unknown Shapeshifter named Therevir was chosen, becoming Shaviantarth Therevir II. He was a gentle ruler, but with a streak of curiosity. Patiently he worked to restore Lorsanan once more, and though not the most popular Shaviantarth, he was one of the best remembered. After working on restoring the economy for thirty-one years, he boldly decided to continue with expansion, but in a whole new direction. Instead of working their way away from the Chiss Ascendancy as they had been doing for a thousand years, Shaviantarth Therevir planned to go around the Ascendancy to the other side, thus gaining them more power and opening up opportunities to trade with them. The latter was much opposed, and so Therevir changed the reason instead to ‘hem the Chiss in,’ a popular idea.
Therevir worked his way around the Chiss, finding and discovering new worlds, carefully making sure that none they came across was Ascendancy-owned. They didn’t need another war. There were many profitable worlds – if not inhabitable – that were found during his reign. When looking ‘down’ at a map of the galaxy and placing the Unknown Regions to the left, Therevir’s route of exploration took him ‘up’ and ‘over’ the Chiss Ascendancy, and, unintentionally, into the Known Galaxy. Though he did not encounter any inhabitants, he traveled a good distance into the edge of Wild Space. In Wild Space, he discovered Kowak V and Therevir, named after himself. When Shaviantarth Therevir II died sixty-three years into his reign, he was known thereafter as Therevir the Navigator.
During his rule, Lorsanan expanded to where she not only took up a good portion of the Far Unknown Regions, but also extended about halfway to the Tingel Arm, and at the edge of this territory was Kowak V.
The Great Division[]
Therevir’s eldest son, Ventrissal, took the Cloak when his father died, and was met with uncounted issues that his father, who had been living in a dream world, had left undone. The loudest of these issues was the organization of the Juur’lan’iin, which still had not died down. The government still hadn’t addressed the issue of trade with the ‘Oozzinvon,’ and the Juur’lan’iin were tired of waiting.
Shaviantarth Ventrissal, seeing the folly of ridding Lorsanan of the profitable and peaceful trade with the ‘intruders,’ declared it perfectly legal for trade to continue and grow, and even for several ‘Oozzinvon’ to settle on Lorsanan-owned worlds. Enraged, the Juur’lan’iin cried for impeachment and to overrule the new law. The growing faction, led by the charismatic Shapeshifter Kwiilura, began to become fanatical in their hatred and prejudice of the ‘Oozzinvon,’ and started to wage their own private war against them. To get even more to follow her lead, Kwiilura staged an ‘incident’ in which a peaceful merchant ship Levia was attacked by ‘Oozzinvon’ warships. In reality, it was Kwiilura who had hijacked several of the ‘Oozzinvon’ fighters and coldbloodedly destroyed the peaceful ship with the help of several of her close followers.
The growing Juur’lan’iin became a handful for Shaviantarth Ventrissal, who was finally pushed to action in the wake of the Levia Incident. ShaIn operatives discovered the staged act, and though publicized, the Juur’lan’iin denied it. At last, Shaviantarth Ventrissal declared that if the Juur’lan’iin did not halt their violent acts, they would be exiled.
Believing that Ventrissal was no longer a patriotic Shapeshifter, he was ignored. The Juur’lan’iin now believed that Lorsanan was too far gone, and could not be saved, and thus, without being ordered to do so, in their pride the Juur’lan’iin left Lorsanan. Packing several large cruisers with her followers, Kwiilura and the Juur’lan’iin hurriedly left on a long journey far from the reaches of the Lorsanan Empire, far into what is now known as the Tingel Arm.
Back in Lorsanan, the division of so many Shapeshifters over the issue and the ‘succession’ of so many was something the Shapeshifters never thought they’d face. It was known in shame as the Great Division, and would later be known as the First Great Division.
Ironically, as a side note, because of the tensions caused by the Juur’lan’iin, the ‘Oozzinvon’ cut off all connections to Lorsanan and continued their hermitage on Shuno’tar.
The later division[]
When the indignant and rich upper-class Shapeshifters of the Lorsanan Empire left for political and personal reasons, they settled on Kowak V—named Kowak because of it's similarity to their homeplanet of Lorsanan'sondora circa 27000 BBY, they set up the beginnings of their small beginnings of an empire on Kowak V, setting it up as their capitol. They chose this planet because of its great distance from Lorsanan, as it was on the fringes of that empire. They called themselves the 'Purebloods,' since they had all taken an oath to remain pure Shapeshifter, and not breed with any other race, and because of the 'genetic tampering' that was occurring back on Lorsanan. The Purebloods did not make the same mistakes as the Juur'lan'iin, and made sure to keep and improve on their technology as they expanded their small region. Despite claiming to cut all ties to Lorsanan, they kept up a steady trade with their brother kingdom.
They were discovered by the newly formated Galactic Republic in 23000 BBY, and were invited to join it, to which they proudly refused. They did, however, trade with the Republic on a small scale, as it was profitable. The Purebloods' little empire only expanded five planets at that time, as they were very busy managing internal affairs. Shaviantarths, Shapeshifti monarchs, slowly but continually grew more dictatorial, and over thousands of years, discontent grew among the Shapeshifters. Around 5000 BBY, they overthrew the monarchy/oligarchy government in favor of democracy similar to that of the Republic's. However, its foundation was very shaky, and, due to the lack of Shapeshifters wanting to change and mob rule, that, too, was overthrown, and anarchy reigned. Slowly, morality collapsed and violence and bloodshed became popular sports, and honor was displaced with bloodline. As they had sworn an oath, everything hung on bloodline; they would do anything to keep their bloodline from ending, and incest and promiscuity ran rampant, causing genetic mutations in their gene pool, deleting their ability to switch to a different gender, an inanimate object, and, also as a result, shortening their lifespan by several years.
A fitting end[]
The Lorsanan Shapeshifters, appalled by their brothers, the Purebloods, reduced trade with them, much to the anger of the Pureblood Shapeshifters, who waged a blood war with them, and were quickly squelched. They were left alone after this tiny and fruitless blood war. Throughout this time, the Shapeshifters had managed to keep their race a secret, which they used to their advantage. As they had grown increasingly bloodthirsty, they gladly joined the Sith in the Great Sith War, aiding them tremendously; to the point that the 'invincible' troops of the Lorsanan Battalion—as they had dubbed themselves— were greatly feared during that time, and anyone managing to uncover their race was killed, no matter which side the informant was on. It soon became obvious, however, that as the long, long war progressed, that the Lorsanan Battalion was growing addicted to bloodshed killing, to the point that they were dangerous to both sides, and were quarantined on their planet for the duration of the war. However, shortly before the war ended, the enraged Pureblood Shapeshifters rebelled against the Sith, joining he Republic during the last years of that war, if only for revenge.
The Purebloods joined the Mandalorians in the Mandalorian Wars, planning to betray them and take over the galaxy themselves once the war had been won, still hiding what race they were of. However, they had not planned on the intervention of the great Jedi strategist, Revan, and, knowing a genius when they saw one, they withdrew, shaving down some of the Mandalorian army, at least the part that had not been really Mandalorians. They were maliciously overjoyed when Revan switched sides in the Jedi Civil War, and were only too pleased to join his side in it, and helped man the numerous ships that seemed to come from nowhere during that time. However, when Revan again switched sides, soon after which the Sith once more lost the war, the remaining Shapeshifters traveled back to their homeworld of Kowak V.
However, the thick gathering of semi-Force-sensitives garnered the attention of a certain Sith Lord by the name of Darth Nihilus. It wasn't long before the Ravager entered Kowak space, bearing the Lord of Hunger, who subsequently destroyed all life on Kowak V in one instant. It was an almost fitting end for the degraded race, though a few Shapeshifters off-planet at the time managed to survive. This incident, something automatically felt and feared in all of the Lorsanan Shapeshifters caused the Lorsanan Empire, located deep in the Unknown Regions, to cut all ties with the Galactic Republic, taking the lessons they learned with them into the Far Unknown Regions.
It is unknown what happened to the Lorsanan Shapeshifters after this.
Flora and fauna[]
Surface map of Lorsanan'sondora.
Due to the high upper atmospheric winds and relatively high amount of sulfur, several interesting plants and animals populated Lorsanan'sondora. The plants of Lorsanan were unique in the fact that they were rather sulfur-dependent compared to most plants. This gave many of them a yellowish tint, though the more populous fauna were a rich green. Most trees, such as the vekor dovan, were relatively low to the ground (averaging 30m), and were extremely thick with greenery and were usually bright yellow except in the hot season, where they turned a yellow-green. The leaves usually had toothed edges. The grasses and bushes were a rich green, but the edges turned yellow in the rainy season. Tall plants, like the bamboo-like thiyan, typically sported their leaves in a whorled manner. In the hot season, the flowers bloomed, splashing Lorsanan with vivid colors. This is the reasoning behind the Shapeshifters' color scheme; the black fur with yellow spines blended in well with the Lorsanan environment.
For some reason, several interesting races had developed on Lorsanan, not the least of which being the Shapeshifter. Besides them, however, the kyandra and the sher'navida, better known as the mirrorbird and the phantom dog, respectively, were also very intriguing, biologically. The mirrorbird was a small avian that had silvery feathers that reflected light. When using the Lorsanan jet stream to fly, as they normally did, their trim, sleek wings stretched out in such a way as to cause the wind to make it spin rapidly on a horizontal axis. This was a tactic used to fend off predators, as in the morning, afternoon, and night, it rendered them nearly invisible, and at noonday, it reflected enough light to temporarily blind predators.
The phantom dog was a canine predator whose color was pitch black. In fact, it possessed certain hormones that make its fur actually absorb light, causing it to disappear into shadows. As it looked exactly like its harmless and friendly cousin, the rarin, it commonly attacked victims who it tricked into thinking it harmless, usually pouncing at its prey from behind.
There was little or no C2H5 (dicarbon pentahydroxide, also known as ethyl radical) on Lorsanan outside of Lorsanan's Shapeshifters and animals. This was perhaps the reason that Shapeshifters (and all other Lorsanan natives) were highly allergic to concentrated forms of the substance, especially C2H5OH, better known as alcohol. C2H5 interrupted with the C2H5NO2 (glycine) neurotransmitter in the creatures' central nervous system, effectively causing spasms similar to strychnine poisoning in humans. However, unlike strychnine, alcohol effected the Sondoran (a term for a native of Lorsanan'sondora) within seconds, and death occurred via cardiac arrest—preceded by uncontrollable coughing followed by symptoms similar to a myocardial infarction (heart attack)—instead of asphyxiation.
Behind the scenes[]
- The idea of a planet having a hyperdrive unit was inspired by the planets in the Corellian system.
- Most Shaviantarths and what they did were based off entities in history and folklore, mostly the line of English kings and queens.
- The ideas for having the Shapeshifters be sulfur based and for them being highly allergic to high concentrations of ethyl radical stemmed from the same root. When RPing Zenethir Rodiron, he usually drank water and declined alcohol—claiming that it gave Shapeshifters heart attacks. The tendency for mostly drinking water was based off of Solus's own habits, but there was a want to put a reason behind it. After picking a fairly well-known mineral from the label off a bottle of water—sulfur—to have Shapeshifters need, all that was left to do was look up the chemical equation for alcohol and pick a molecular combination. Fortunately, the first combination of dicarbon pentahydroxide worked perfectly, as that same formula was also contained in glycine; something that would be perfect to aggravate in a somewhat dramatic allergy and fit in with the pre-made argument against alcohol.
Notes[]
- ↑ While hyperdrive capabilities were not available to most until 25,000 BBY, the Chiss, when they separated from baseline humans, learned the way the Columi had accessed hyperspace. This is one of the explanations why Chiss hyperdrives are so different from Republic-sanctioned hyperdrives.
- ↑ This metal is believed to be the forerunner of monofilament wire.