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_N A M E
NIMBAN_S A T E L L I T E S
1 MOON_C O O R D I N A T E S
S-10_S E C T O R
HUTT SPACE_R O T A T I O N
25 HOURS_I N H A B I T A N T S
NIMBANELS-
Nimban is one of two terrestrial planets occupying the Nimban system's habitable zone, with a further five planets in the system. Situated on the outskirts of Hutt Space, it is the home of the Nimbanels, a species of warm-blooded reptilian humanoids. Located on the Pabol Sleheyron hyperlane, it is the last major Hutt-influenced system on that hyperlane before you exit Hutt Space.
Nimban is also a known smuggler's hub, and its rugged terrain lends itself brilliantly as hideouts and other off-grid establishments. The focal point of the Nimbanese smuggling operations is the underground facility located in The Crevasse. Currently governed by a Hutt Cartel lieutenant known as the Pitlord, it is a port that most smugglers can call home.
Nimban is ruled by the Nimbanels, a species with an affinity for the gathering and processing of information. Much like the Bothans of Bothawui, Nimban has historically played a vital role for the various galactic factions and their intelligence agencies. Naturally, the Nimbanels' loyalty has been a fickle thing, never fully committing to any faction until the rise of the Galactic Empire. In recent years, Nimbanel has been a part of the Hutt Cartel's sphere of influence. However, recent developments in the power dynamic between the Five Syndicates have made the future of Nimbanese loyalty vague and undecided once again.
- C L I M A T E & T E R R A I N
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Because Nimban is a terrestrial planet, the climate varies drastically depending on one's latitudinal position. The polar caps are freezing, arid places; the equatorial region warm and tropical. In between them there are subtropical and temperate zones where forests and rainforests, open grasslands, steppes, deserts, mountain ranges, lakes, and rivers cover the areas that haven't turned urban.
What sets Nimban apart from other terrestrial planets, however, are the many former lakes and seas that have formed deserts, salt pans, and low basin-like valleys. The reasons for the evaporation of these former bodies of water are varried. Some disappeared due to the rapid increase in the systems sun's heat emission as it nears the end stages of its life. Others dried up due to changes in their hydrological conditions or changes caused by tectonic deformation. The Empire's mining operations on Nimban further destabilized the planet's crust, resulting in an increase in tectonic plate activity, which has left the areas of Nimban's surface that run along the tectonic fault lines scarred.
The continents on Nimban consist of a major continent starting at the north pole and reaching all the way down past the equator, and a minor continent in the southern hemisphere; the two continents are divided by a stretch of ocean. Smaller and larger islands dot the ocean in other areas of Nimban, but these two continents are the primary continents where most of the planet's inhabitants live.
Areas of Interest:
- The Crevasse: a former deep sea trench housing a smuggling facility operated by the Pitlord, a Hutt Cartel Lieutenant (NPC)
- Where the Travels End: the Qub'anu Er'ajan Mountains (Nimbanese: Where the Travels End), an enormous mountain range that acts as a natural divide between the northern and southern parts of the Northern Continent. The Qub'anu Er'ajan cast a very large, extensive rain shadow on the sourthern reaches beyond, turning much of the territory into a dry, arid plain.
- Kirill: the historical domain of the Bovark Clan. It is the global capital of Nimban and houses the Nimbanese parliament, the Brokering Table. It is also one of several cities housing the massive servers needed to store the data that is Nimban's bread and butter. The servers are hidden in underground facilities overseen by the Data Holders of the Major Clans.
- Aganis: the regional capital of the Northern Continent, the historical domain of the Krovalis Clan. Aganis also houses underground server facilities.
- H I S T O R Y
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Nimban's history is intimately connected to the history of the Nimbanels, the planet's dominating native species. In ancient times, the Nimbanels lived in nomadic tribes that would follow the migration routes of Nimban's traveling plants, many of whom were a food source to the Nimbanels or otherwise processed by the species to use for the production of clothing and other materials. At some point in their history, the Nimbanels stopped being nomadic and settled in different areas of Nimban. The ocean that divided the Northern Continent from the Southern Continent ensured that the Nimbanels developed differences in culture and society. However, the Northern and Southern tribes had their affinity for logical thought and rhetorical skills in common, and these traits defined much of Nimban's history.
By the time of the High Republic era, the Nimbanels had colonized other planets in the Nimban system, including Nimbanella - the system's only other habitable planet. The system was discovered by explorers of the Galactic Republic. Diplomacy between the Galactic Republic and Nimban ensued, with the former extending an invitation to join the Republic to the latter. The question of whether to join the Republic or not was debated in the Nimbanese parliament, with the eventual outcome that Head Broker Farn Bovark formally accepted the Republic's invitation in the year 943 BBY. The Galactic Republic was not the only major organisation to show interest in Nimban and the Nimbanels' skills as information brokers. The Hutt Cartel secretly bought some of the Nimbanese data holders' loyalty and kept sticking to Nimban like a parasite even during the years of Nimban's strongest involvement with the Republic.
During the Clone Wars, Nimban hosted many of the Republic's major information processing facilities, it bureaucratic infrastructure second to none in the Galaxy. As the war raged on, however, debate raged in the Nimbanese parliament about whether to secede to the Confederacy of Independent Systems or remain loyal to the Republic. Ultimately, Nimban remained a member of the Republic and therefore became a part of the Galactic Empire when Emperor Palpatine proclaimed its transformation at the end of the war.
As a part of the Galactic Empire, the most influential of the Nimbanese clans became primary data holders for a lot of the Empire's bureaus, including the Bureau of Ships and Services, known as the BoSS. And the Empire, wanting a monopoly on the extraction of the planet's rich mineral and metal resources, paid certain Nimbanel contractors to undertake this in the name of the Empire, making a small number of already wealthy Nimbanels richer at the cost of many of their compatriots, especially the inhabitant of the Northern Continent. However, even during the Imperial era Nimban was never fully loyal to one faction; the Hutt Cartel, whose influence on Nimban had persisted through the centuries, bought sensitive Imperial data from corrupt Nimbanese data holders and planted seeds of strife within the Nimbanese society. It was during the waning years of the Galactic Empire that the Hutt Cartel was able to increase their influence on Nimban substantially. After the fall of the Empire, the Hutt Cartel would finally extend its sphere of influence to encompass Nimban entirely, turning the once proud Nimbanese society into a pit of corruption and debauchery.
Later, when the remnants of the Empire known as the First Order was battling the New Republic and the Resistance, there were voices in the Nimbanese parliament proposing that Nimban should rejoin the restored Republic. Those voices were quickly silenced by the Hutt Cartel. The Nimbanese clans became more divided than ever, with members of the clans loyal to the Cartel (like the Ilian and Tarja clans) taking over more and more of the powerful bureaucratic positions in the Nimbanese government.
The Hutt Cartel's influence on Nimban continued into the Force Eternal-era, when the Hutt Cartel was one of five members of an unholy alliance of underworld powers known as the Five Syndicates. Nimban itself was led by Head Broker Tebenil Ilian, the despotic Nimbanese president who's sixth term as Head Broker had just begun when developments in the galactic underworld shook Hutt Space. With Preef Callo at the helm, the Crymorah Syndicate dislodged the Hutt Cartel from its position as the primary power within the Five Syndicates. In the ensuing 'Hutticide', the Hutts' grasp on Nimban lessened, leaving opportunities open for the other Syndicates to wrestle Nimban from their grasp or factions opining for Nimban's return to the Republic to make their presence known.
- C U L T U R E & G O V E R N M E N T
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The Nimbanels - Nimban's dominating native sentient species - are said to trace their origins to grazing animals that evolved into tribal gatherer communities. Taking great pride in cultivating logical thought patterns and solving problems and puzzles, the societies of the Nimbanels were from an early time in their history less martial and marred by warfare than many other sentient species of the Galaxy.
More inclined towards discussion and problem-solving, Nimbanel society evolved in relative peace over the millennia. Feuds between the tribes spread out across the two continents were often solved with competitions of intelligence and rhetoric instead of invasion and war. That's not to say that Nimbanel society was in any way egalitarian; instead of stratifying the power structures according to military might and martial prowess, the tribes were place in a hierarchy according to intelligence, rhetoric, charisma, and personality. The Clans, as the various tribes eventually called themselves, were divided by region, with the Clans of the Southern Continent emerging on the top of the Nimbanese society. They immediately set about creating structures and systems to remain the 'center of Nimban'; in time, all the best educational facilities and the most modern cities were found in the South. The Northern Continent, for its part, was divided into two parts, separated by an enormous mountainous region in the small bottleneck at the continent's center. South of the mountains was a vast region rich in resources and less densely populated, with many smaller Clans still living according to old nomadic traditions, whereas the northern part was dotted with urban areas and farmlands, and inhabited by many Clans that would eventually rival the Clans of the Southern Continent's power and influence.
Like many other species in the galaxy, the Nimbanels went through eras with feudal-like structures to their society. However, instead of estate owners whose authority and social status was legitimized by military might, the 'nobility' of the Nimbanels was defined by its status as Data Holders, i.e. bankers who dealt in information and data. These Data Holders were part of the intricate network of Clans that had developed over many centuries of history on Nimban. Clans such as Bovark, Krovalis, Ilian, and Tarja were led by families of Data Holders. The Clans were locked in an endless struggle to gain the upper hand in the information and intelligence sector. Corruption, assassinations, espionage, and other seedy ventures were not uncommon tools in this struggle. Although the Nimbanels had learned to solve disputes without warfare, they were by no means strictly moral beings and were not above using other means to reach the ends they desired.
Unlike many other species, the Nimbanels developed a form of democracy fairly early on. The seats of their parliament were of course dominated by members of the leading Nimbanese clans, their level of influence usually defined by their Clan's assets in information brokering and their level of bureaucratic finesse. The leader of the government was known as the Head Broker. Nimban was a prime candidate for joining the Galactic Republic, which they did about in 943 BBY, when Head Broker Farn Bovark formally accepted the Supreme Chancellor's invitation.
- R E S O U R C E S & T E C H N O L O G Y
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Nimban is rich in natural resources, especially metals and minerals, as its high tectonic plate activity pushes these resources from the planet's core up into its crust. However, in the time of the Galactic Empire, many of these deposits were depleted.
Nimban's other rich resource is intricately linked with the Nimbanels themselves. Information - brokered, processed or stored for safekeeping - is Nimban's primary export.
- I N T E N T
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To expand on a canon/legends planet that is situated on the borders between Republic and Syndicate spheres of influence. The Nimbanel species also has an interesting culture which is under-explored in both canon and legends, and I intend to do a separate species write-up for them so we can all enjoy this beautiful species of computer nerds.
