Vesk Prime

Vesk Prime

(Cosmos)

Type

Planet

Diameter

2-1/4

Mass

×5

Gravity

×1

Atmosphere

Normal

Year length (PST)

3 years

Day length (PST)

28 hours

Orbits

Ghavaniska

System

Veskarium

Satellites

Yterakesh

Inhabitants

Vesk

Source: Near Space, pg(s). 20

Vesk Prime is the capital of the Veskarium, homeworld of the vesk and the planet located the closest to its sun Ghavaniska.

Geography

Vesk Prime is a large, hot, dry, resource-rich terrestrial planet with a single moon named Yterakesh. Most of its surface is dry land forming a supercontinent; the rest consists of two oceans and small seas. Vesk Prime is tectonically active, with volcanic belts stretching along the . The poles are covered in small ice caps.

Vesk Prime's supercontinent is divided into four regions by its bodies of water: the Central Veld, Eastern Wastes, Southern Coast and Northern Reach. The Central Veld borders the Veskesh Ocean in the east, the Sea of Gokolesh in the north, and the North Sokora Sea and South Sokora Sea in the west. Its eastern part, an arid plain between the Otorozan and Nakahili Deserts in the north and south, is the vesk heartland and separated from the savannahs of the Skerasken Plains in the west by the Doshkoraz Mountains and the Nazratali Mountains. North and west of the Skerasken Plains is the tropical Jumakala Forest.

The Eastern Wastes lies west of the Sokora Seas and east of the Veskesh Ocean. Its western boundary is marked by the Dmolangari Wall; the rest of it is the expansive Vaaranas Desert. Extensive tunnels lie under the entire Eastern Wastes. The Southern Coast, which lies to the south of both the Central Veld and the Eastern Wastes, overlooks the Dakarresh Ocean and the southern ice cap and consists of the Sodobok Swamp and Samakayo Marshes south of the Nakahili Desert, the Gojori Mire south of the Dmolangari Wall, and the Kakaranaz Mountains between them. North of the North Sokora Sea and the Sea of Gokolesh are the wild Northern Reach, which is mostly taiga and tundra, save for the Eshvad Mountains, a spur of the Dmolangari Wall which extends to the northern ice cap.

History

Long before the Gap, this planet, then simply called Vesk, was the home to three native species: the vesk, caiagaras and skeraskens. As vesk tribes began fighting each other for territory and resources, the warlord Eshovok saw the danger of endless civil war and united all tribes under an empire, the Veskarium, with himself as emperor. The Veskarium immediately set out to conquer the entire planet in the name of Damoritosh.

The vesk first clashed with the skeraskens, who lived in the Skerasken Plains west of their heartland. As the Veskarium's legions began pushing the skeraskens back, their enemies tried to surrender, but the emperor refused to allow them to live and seek revenge against the vesk in the future. Within a few generations, the skeraskens were exterminated, their lands annexed by the Veskarium.

The vesk then turned their attention to the caiagaras of the Eastern Wastes, who had witnessed the skerasken genocide and refused to suffer the same fate. While the caiagaras moved their cities underground with magic and sealed the entrances to the caverns, the vesk pressed on, conquering the caiagaras' surface holdings and razing their underground cities. After centuries of struggle, the caiagaras were defeated, and the Veskarium encompassed the entire planet.

In 3226 PG, when the Veskarium conquered their nearest neighbouring planet, they renamed their homeworld Vesk Prime.

Inhabitants

Since subjugating the skeraskens and caiagaras, the vesk have made up the vast majority of Vesk Prime's population. As the Veskarium expanded, Vesk Prime's population became more cosmopolitan. Among non-vesk residents of Vesk Prime, skittermanders and pahtras are the most numerous, the former working as bureaucrats and the latter serving in the military. Smaller populations of ijtikris and kothamas exist as well. Not all of them are happy with Veskarium rule, and several resistance groups are allegedly active on Vesk Prime, like the skittermander Hidden Hand or the pahtra Pulonis Independence Front, despite the Division of Disloyal Organizations's efforts to root them out.

Since the Veskarium signed an alliance with the Pact Worlds, many Pact Worlds citizens have came to Vesk Prime, although most are still wary of the vesk due to their long Silent War. Humans are the most numerous, followed by lashunta diplomats who seek to improve Pact Worlds-Veskarium relations and soldiers who wish to train with the military. Ysoki are another significant minority, integrating within Vesk Prime's society the same way they did on numerous other planets.

The Church of Damoritosh maintains its headquarters, the Great Hall of the Conqueror, on the Isle of Kesh on Vesk Prime.

Vast swathes of wilderness on Vesk Prime are designated as hunting reserves for vesk to test their mettle against nature. These reserves are stocked with numerous species of dangerous game like defrexes from Vesk-2, stridermanders from Vesk-3 and nyssholoras from Castrovel. Hunting safaris for non-vesk are relatively safe, but journeying alone into the wilds can be deadly.

Although officially declared extinct, the caiagaras are rumoured to still live in deep underground cities, undiscovered by the vesk. Millennia after their defeat, the caiagaras continue to be blamed for numerous murders and sabotages, and even today, they are still used as bogeymen by vesk parents admonishing their children.