Vernet

Vernet was an agriworld located within the Vernet system of the Expansion Region. It became the home of the Erphae that were forced to leave Thustra. They named the planet Vernet after the name of their deities' home, Vernetolla. They encountered an indigenous species that they named the Ergwaz, also after one of their gods. Vernet was eventually discovered by the Exploration Corps of the Jedi Order, bringing with them off-world ideas and commerce.

Geographic features
The planet is dominated by a single large, continuous, discrete masses of land which is covered with a variety of forests, with rolling hills. Some of the hill were formed by outcroppings of rock but never developed into actual mountain ranges. Between the forests and the hills lay fertile plains that were ideal for farming.

Even though the majority of the surface is vegetation, there are numerous inland bodies of water. There are three major rivers that have several tributaries that feed into them and the various inland lakes. There is one lake that counts for 55% of the planet's surface water and has been named the Zunaru Sea.

The Four Forests
The Rock Mountains were located in the northern polar region. They called them mountains, but they were nothing more than large solid boulders stacked on top of each other. The forest there consisted of large deciduous trees whose roots grew deep between the rocks.The mountains are an accumulation of boulders with no finer material between them. In the Duchy of Doryloh, they occur on slopes of between 1 and 10 degrees, and are the product of mass-movement and stone sorting during past periods of cold climate.

In the coastal regions of the Zunaru Sea, grew the dense Grass-tree forests. The grass-trees in these areas grew undisturbed and sometimes to the height of the tallest trees on the planet. In this grass, internodal regions of the stem are hollow and the vascular bundles in the cross section are scattered throughout the stem instead of in a cylindrical arrangement. The dicotyledonous woody xylem is also absent. The absence of secondary growth wood causes the stems of these monocots to be columnar rather than tapering. Interspersed with them were the shorter sugargrass which stout jointed fibrous stalks that were rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall. The viscous by-product of the refining of sugargrass was used in the making of Erphaean spiced rum.

The Marshlands are located where the three major rivers converaged and form a rather large wetland. During the rainy seasons these areas can double or even triple in there land mass. The trees here are deciduous, which commonly grew to > 30 m tall. The crown forms a high, spreading canopy with open air space beneath. The leaves are alternate with double-serrate margins and an oblique base. The waters from the rivers in this area are used in the making of Erphaean spiced rum and Erphaean ale.

In the southern polar region grew the monoecious sky-tree forests. These giant tree had a conical crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches. The bark is very thick, and quite soft, fibrous with a bright red-brown when freshly exposed, weathering darker. The leaves are variable, being 15–25 millimeters long and flat on young trees and shaded shoots in the lower crown of old trees, and scale-like, long on shoots in full sun in the upper crown of older trees; there is a full range of transition between the two extremes. They are dark green above, and with two blue-white stomatal bands below. Leaf arrangement is spiral, but the larger shade leaves are twisted at the base to lie in a flat plane for maximum light capture.

Pre-Erphaean period
Prior to the arrival of the exiled Erphae, the landscape of Vernet was lush and dominated by a variety of forests, with rolling hills and open grasslands. It was undiscovered by offworlders and had one indigenous population which lived primarily underground, the Ergwaz.

Maz-Verlin settlement (c.100,000 BBY)
When the Exiles landed in their colony ship they believed that their deities, the Verlins, built the in the image of their own world, Vernetolla. So to honor the gods they named their new world Vernet. They all agreed to eschew the use of advanced technology to enjoy a simpler, slower paced life then they had back on Thustra.

They unknowningly landed in the outskirts of the marshlands. The sheer weight of the ship caused it to sink into the sodden soil. Several outcroppings were left and the Erphae used them as the foundation of the first settlement. Over time a thriving city grew out from those meager beginnings and they named it Maz-Verlin, city of the gods in ancient Erphaean.

Formation of the Four Clans
When Maz-Verlin began to prosper, it was decided that the Erphae would expand out and explore the surrounding forests. Four groups, the future Four Clans of the Trees, left the city and eventually settled within the four different forests of the planet.

Rock-tree Clan
The Rock-tree Clan resided in the Rock Mountains. They were tough rugged Erphae who stood by their convictions firmly. They also specialized in the martial art of kringem.

Grass-tree Clan
The Grass-tree Clan lived in the grass-tree forests of the coastal regions of the Zunaru Sea. Unlike the other Clans, they were divided into two distinct tribes, Easterlings and Westies, named for their geographical locations on the continent.

Election of the first King
The city of Maz-Verlin had grown so much that the people no longer trusted their appointed leadership, who were the religious leaders. They felt a need to elect a king to rule over not only the people of Maz-Verlin but also the Four Clans and the Ergwaz. The Tribal leaders and the head of the Ergwaz would frequently travel to Maz-Verlin to pay homage to the King, in return the King did not allow the Kingdom to expand into the Forests. The throne was passed down from the king to his progeny through royal birthright.

Division of the Kingdom
There came a time when the reigning king had four children. In order to prevent the blood shed that had plagued past generations of the royal family, the king decided to grant his three younger children lands of their own. They created three of the four great realms: the Barony of Notrevlis, the Duchy of Doryloh, and the March of Nevanhew.

Around the same time there had been a division in the Rock-tree Clan of those who wanted to live in a city rather than the nomadic life that had become the Clan's tradition. They split off and created the fourth great realm: the County of Slue Bah. The Clans saw the four realms as a way for the aristocracy to replace them, so they stopped paying homage to the kings, becoming completely autonomous.

Several of the Erphae’s legends, epics, and folklores were spawned from this period of their history.

Republic Colonization (c.17,500 BBY)
Once the age of legends had past, Republic colonist arrived with the Exploration Corps of the Jedi Order and Vernet was added to the many agriworlds in the Expansion Region. They discovered that Vernet's cash crop, hete grain, was extremely versatile and could be used in various foods and drinks. The most popular of exports, in addition to the grain, is Erphaean spiced rum.

The arrival of the Republic not only brought new commerce, but new ideas as well. The people of the Kingdoms began intermarrying with the new colonist and slowly fell away from the more religious aspects of their lives. Meanwhile, the Clans held to a strict tradition of maintaining pure-Erphae bloodlines and worshiping the Verlin.

Everything was going fine for the Erphae. Vernet was added to the Republic. A limited number of individuals showed Force potential and joined the Jedi Order. There had not been a blood feud for the throne since joining the Republic.

Erphae
Outwardly, the Erphae were similar in appearance to Human stock, but had large, pointed ears. The Erphae were a long-lived species, with elder individuals living for more than 300 years, possibly up to 400. Their skin was natually tan. They were generally divided into two groups, tribesmen and realmsmen.

The Tribes of the Four Trees were the direct descendants of the original exiles that settled Vernet. They had not intermarried with the off-worlders that settled there during the agricultural development of Vernet, unlike the majority of the aristocracy. The last family to rule that was a pure-blood line turned the throne over to the Tribal leaders in 0 BBY to rule as Stewards. The Clans were very reluctant to work with aristocracy, feeling that the troubles of ruling class did not matter to them.

Ergwaz
The Ergwaz only live on Vernet, underground and are master craftsmen. In ancient times they were led by Balarich, who, according to mythology, held sway over them through the use of a ring forged from enchanted gold. In modern times the Ergwaz keep to themselves, interacting, on a limited basis, with only the Clansmen.