Guide to the World of Janos

The planet of Janos is a small high-revolving world with 57% water coverage and small, mineral rich poles. Its high concentration of carbon deposits in the atmosphere has turned it into a hot, arid world with an unforgiving ecosystem that consists mainly of insectoid life. The major landmasses are north of the equator, with equatorial life being almost non-existent due to the incredible heat. The continents, of which there are three and a smattering of islands, are rich in shrub vegetation and mineral deposits and are relatively flat.

The standard day of Janos is just under 18 hours, an average year being 234 of these days.

Each continent has a separate ruler, a Priest King, all giving tribute to an Emperor Priest on the largest island in the centre of the continents.

The first continent, Urular, contains Janos’ religious fundamentalists, their scribes, teachers and religious leaders. The second, Oronori, contains the industrial and technological faction, including scientists and engineers. The third, Woron, is the military arm of the planet. The island where the Emperor Priest resides is called Heart, and is closely guarded by the best warriors Woron can supply.

PHYSIOLOGY

Janites look like normal humans, with the slight exception that their eyes are almost all white and there is a strange skin colouring which runs down the back of their necks, like a scaly texture. Their hair is of different colours, primarily red, but is always thin and wiry. Nearly all citizens wear their hair long, except for the priests and religious teachers who are always bald.

SOCIOLOGICAL CLIMATE

The inner workings of the average Janos citizen have always been a mystery to most interstellar scholars. They all exist on a diet of religious fervour and misplaced faith, letting all decisions and paths of thought be controlled by their belief in the system. The religion is not one based around a deity, for all Janites, as the citizens are called, are great believers in the communal spirit, the kind of ‘hive mind’ psychology which they appear to have inherited from some of the more intelligent insectoid species of the planet. The people of Janos believe that their strength is in their numbers and faith, which they see as a solid base they can build from. Any influence from outside their sphere of thinking results in Crusades and Defilement Quests to root out the evil they believe is stagnating their culture and destroy it. They warily welcome visitors, but they treat them as a man would treat insects in his home; he would tolerate them for a while but shoo them off if they became an annoyance.

It was believed that the people of Janos are brainwashed from birth with these beliefs, as with any religion, but it appears that this is not so. Children of Janos blood born away from the planet and bought up in a different climate start to show a need to return to Janos during puberty, and also demonstrate the arrogant overbearing attitude attributed to their people. It appears the psychology is genetic, almost instinctive.

The architecture of Janos is a wonder, with huge ornately carved palaces dominating the major cities. These palaces can be over two miles wide, with huge halls of marble-coloured pillars and arches, statues dating back millennia, and a crystalline sheen to everything that makes visitors think they are walking on glass. Everything on Janos is done on a grand scale.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE

The people of Janos operate a religion-based culture, with priests and philosophers filling in the places taken up by governors and senators in other cultures. Even their military structure is based upon religion, with sergeants and captains having priest-based titles, such as squad-priest and platoon-guide.

All members bow down to the Emperor Priest, Culdanatia the Third, whose life is elongated by machine and prayer and who decides the fate of all the inhabitants of Janos. He is protected by the best warriors in the system, and no outsider can gain audience. He has little to do with his followers, preferring them to handle their own affairs and just get involved with the more important decisions. This has made him lazy and thoughtless, and he is in danger of becoming too far detached from his people to save them should a crisis occur. His people know all this, but it has only served to increase their belief and blind faith to save themselves from almost certain annihilation.

THE JEWELS OF JANOS

Janos has one secret, the fact that it has a strange energy-producing mineral under its crusts. This mineral is one of the main sources of power for the people of Janos, and they see it as their lifesource, using the symbol of the jewel as their holy relic. Any defilement of the jewel is considered the highest form of sacrilege.

The jewel is itself very strange. The crystal has a very loose molecular structure, which is continually vibrating and shifting like a living thing. The energy built up inside the crystal is trapped in small pockets, like air bubbles, and the energy pressure builds and builds until it reaches an optimum level. In this state the jewel is very volatile, but it can be harnessed if treated with the proper amount of respect. The Janos citizens rely on the energy the jewels give as their source of power and their symbol of faith.

In general terms, Janos jewels can range in size from three centimetres to 30 centimetres, depending on the amount of energy required. It has been surmised that if the energy burst from the jewel through violent action, being smashed, shot etc, the resulting shockwave of released particles would do incredible damage. A 1-inch length jewel would have a blast radius of nearly one hundred meters. Not only is it a great source of power, it is a dangerous weapon.

When the Empire discovered the power of the jewels they decided to try them out as a substitute power source, much to the disagreement of the Emperor Priest. When they couldn’t get them through negotiation, they tried by force, and were surprised at how much the citizens cared for their relics. When the Imperial fleet arrived to seize control, religious hysteria on Janos had reached suicidal levels, and the Emperor Priest threatened to crack open the planet itself and destroy the system rather than hand the jewel over. The Empire realised this was no simple threat, and withdrew. The state of war between Janos and the whole of the Empire is a ridiculous state of affairs. Janos, however, has the upper hand with the threatened destruction of their whole planet, and the energy source the Empire wants. The term stalemate has never been so aptly applied.

THE JANOS EXECUTIONERS

During the first pitched battles between the Empire and Janos, many Imperial commanders seized control of many temples and buildings, not only taking the location but also what lay their, including jewels of Janos. They took these jewels for testing, and in some cases as keepsakes of the Janos campaign.

In response to this defilement of defilement’s, the Emperor Priest send forth soldiers to retrieve the jewels and punish the thieves. These elite fighters are the Janos Executioners, highly trained religious assassins who have left the confines of their planet to seek out the stolen jewels and kill the officers who have taken them. They are hard fighters, and are so motivated they would gladly lay down their lives for their world.

JANOS TIMELINE

This timeline is based around events around Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope and therefore the years given represent the years before and after the Battle of Yavin, BBY and ABY.  For a more comprehensive version of events, refer to the Chronology.

 -50 BBY - Intercontinental disharmony begins as Janites start to lose faith in their culture, thinking that remaining on the planet will stunt their growth and ultimately lead to the collapse of the faith. Before it bubbles over into violence, Culdanatia the Second declares that communication to other worlds will be further expanded for trade and information, but the belief must not be given up.

 -40 BBY - Culdanatia the Second dies, leaving the throne to his son Acrupial, who takes his father’s name and becomes Culdanatia the Third.

 -35 BBY - Unrest between Janites and offworlders occurs, with violence breaking out over misunderstandings between traders who don’t understand the arrogant, impatient Janites.

 -33 BBY - The neighbouring systems declares Janos a no-go area unless visitors have an understanding of the religious workings of Janos. Already many have died.

 -30 BBY - A trader, Koroni Ugla, son of Kriders planetary governor, is killed after saying the wrong thing during a dinner with a Janite priest. His father, Juglono Ugla, declares war on Janos. The fighting is to last two years, whereupon Ugla’s forces are forced off Janos, and then chased back to Krider, where the Janites use a jewel to destroy their main population centre. Krider collapses economically, and the Janites are condemned, although no one takes any direct action.

 -20 BBY - A Janos Executioner, trailing a pirate thief who stole a jewel, tracks his target to Chancai where he kills a Ferrerrean Death Cultist who just happened to be in the way. The Ferrerrean Warrior is a Deth Cultist Leader, and the Janites disrespect for the Ferrerrean’s death starts a Holy War on Janos. Two dozen Ferrerrean Warriors arrive on Janos and over two thousand Janites die. The Emperor Priest, realising he may have made a big mistake, complies with the Ferrerrean wishes and makes a formal apology and makes up for the murder. A lasting hatred lasts between the Janites and Ferrerrean Death Cultists because of this. They would quite happily kill on sight, but sector law disallows this, so they do it in private.

 -15 BBY - Janos declares war on the rest of the sector when a trader’s vessel accidentally crashes on the planet, destroying a religious centre. The pilot, Anzai Karoo, manages to escape the planet with his life, but is now a hunted man, the most wanted person on Janos. The threat of war is lifted when the Janos is placated by sector chiefs, explaining the problem and promising to bring Anzai to them... if they could only find him.

 -5 BBY - The Empire starts to take an interest in Janos and it’s power source.

 -1 BBY - The Empire, in need of a diverse power source for a new war machine project, invades Janos. The Janites fight them off, threatening to destroy the planet. The Empire backs off without a power source, although they do take some jewels with them, which the Executioners are looking for even now.

 +1 ABY - The people of Janos decide to spread their religion throughout the stars, much to the dislike of the average being.

 +2 ABY - A Crusade is declared against the rest of the sector when the Janos religion is refused, and the Janites think the best way to open people’s eyes is to inflict violence. The crusade continues, although it is a low-key affair because most Janites are loath to leave the confines of their world.