[Planet Log: Rapata]

[Sci's Datapad]
[Description: Ripata]
[Entry:

Planet: Rapata
Region: Aeris
Type: Desolate desert with Urban, arboreal poles
Climate: Moderate, minimal seasonal flux
Population: 9 billion
Inhabitants: Ripari, Tris [indigenous]

The Ripari are technical beings who thrive on research and thought. They excel at research and engineering. Their great distance from the mainstream lends itself to their natural reclusive tendencies. They are a thinking race, with long, thin limbs that are not conducive to combat. Regardless of their physical stature, however, the Ripari are not idigenous to Rapata, and are thus conquerors who took the planet by force over five thousand years ago during a great crisis on the original home world of the Ripari, whose name has been lost to time, though it may be concieved that Rapata was the name of their first planet, as well. This entry will refer to the original Riparan homeworld as Rapata Prime, as Rapatan historians have come to call it. This Rapata Prime was apparently a lush, arboral moon of Rapata, however out of Rapata's four moons, only one is arboreal, and none show signs of life-supporting systems nor of previous civilizations. The indigenous Tris were only a few hundred years behind the Ripari at the time of first contact. Early Riparan space-farer's actually believed the Tris to be an off-shoot species of their own race; the smaller, thicker-boned Tris were otherwise very similar in appearance to the Ripari, however, this fact was quickly put aside when a Tris combat party raided a peaceful Rapari exploratory vessel. The Tris were much faster learners the Rapari, who had an arduous, yet elegant processes for canonizing new knowledge, and quickly reproduced a space-worthy vessel. An intense conflict followed which lasted over one hundred years. The intra-orbital war, known as the Sorian War from the Riparan word for sun or solar, "Sor'i," saw the tactical genius of the Rapari's long-standing logical tradition wage war against the Tris' sturdier frames and ever increasing technical prowess. There is very little recorded history of this war as both sides conscripted every citizen fit for combat, and the fighting was so intense, given the close proximity of the Rapatan moons to Rapata, that almost no could record events, and many that did were killed or their work destroyed, before it could be copied. Most of what is known is via oral traditions, which over five-thousand years have yielded legends and myths that intertwine with the facts, making them nearly indistinguishable. I was not, in my short time being stranded on the planet, able to deduce all of the stories, however most agree that the Tris started strong, beating the Ripari back nearly to destruction, and then a drastic event occurred which turned the tides of the conflict, ending in the evacuation of Rapata Prime and the integration and blending of Riparan and Tris cultures and traditions on Rapata. Currently, the Rapatans have a long-established symbiosis with both species, though there is still some social reservations regarding inter-special marriages and mating, the two work nearly flawlessly as scientists - the Riparan logic keeping the Tris ingenuity in check and the Tris fueling quicker advancements. Ironically, to avoid another genocidal conflict like the Sorian War, Rapatan law forbids combat vessels from being created. This creates an interesting dynamic for their interaction with intragalactic civilizations, in tha... [data corrupt] ...nost Rapatans in modern times are energy farmers, harvesting solar and geo-thermal energy for use at the intelligence hubs on the arboreal poles for tax benefits. Due to the Rapatan's placement in the galaxy, trade is rare and more of a social event than a way of life. As such, the Rapatans have erected a socialistic republic as their form of government. Senators are elected for life, generally due to patents they have filed rather than political prowess. Crime rates are very low on Rapata. The Ripari ancient laws, which were adopted by the Rapatan senate two hundred years after the end of the Sorian War when the senate was almost exclusively made of Ripari, charge even the most basic criminals with either months of torture, usually resulting in death, ejection via rocket into the Rapatan sun, Sor'i, or becoming a dueling slave in the great arena. Most request the arena, however the most common punishment is the removal of the criminal's left hand to signify their fall from social grace. The judicial system is enacted, enforced, and epitomized by the distinguished order of Rapatan Prætorians called the Riporii. The Riporii were traditionally Ripari, however in recent years a handful of Triso-Riparan hybrids have been admitted into their ranks. [data corrupt]...iporii elders are judges with the youth being trainees. Age brings rank as does exceptional bravery and service. The Riporii serve as the security forces for Rapata and Rapatan space. They research, develop, and manufacture the only combat-ready vessels and maintain the only combat infrastructures on Rapata. Interestingly, the Rapatan government refuses t... [data corrupt] ]