Nar Shaddaa
Planetary Background and History
"Ah, the beautiful stench and decay of desperate living." ―Atton Rand
Nar Shaddaa was the largest moon of Nal Hutta. More commonly known as the Vertical City, the Smuggler's Moon and Little Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa was similar to Coruscant in that its surface was entirely overgrown with city sprawl for millennia. But unlike Coruscant—which was only relatively rundown and dangerous on the lower and under levels of the world city—Nar Shaddaa was filthy, polluted, and infested with crime everywhere.
Ancient refueling spires and loading docks reached out from the native soil and some built in the upper atmosphere. In between these ports, massive vertical cities grew. The urban areas on Nar Shaddaa were known as vertical cities since new layers of housing and entertainment buildings were built on top of older layers, like Coruscant and Taris.
While much of Coruscant was filled with gleaming apartments and well-maintained skywalks, the entire moon that was Nar Shaddaa was dominated by decaying urban landscape and congested, polluted cities. The moon was protected by planetary shields. Anything illegal elsewhere could be bought and sold on Nar Shaddaa, and many young smugglers, pirates and criminals started their careers on the Smugglers' Moon. Various sections of Nar Shaddaa were controlled by the Hutts and other criminal organizations.
Despite the criminal activities on the Smuggler's Moon, it was known that many of the galaxy's most advanced technologies were actually developed on Nar Shaddaa. Corporations that wanted to avoid regulations that prohibited testing often developed such dangerous and even valuable technology within the lower levels of the city of the moon.
Current In-Game Districts:
Corellian District
The Corellian District was a high-rise zone located on the moon Nar Shaddaa. Casinos and trendy hotspots such as the Golden Orb and the Chance Castle attracted patrons from all walks of life.
This sector housed many public merchant areas and an ill-kept warehouse district located along the perimeter of an expansive thoroughfare. The most profitable enterprise found in this region was the gambling industry. The entire city reeked of refuse and debris as repulsorlift garbage scows floated from level to level collecting garbage.
Starport District
The Starport District was the greatest collection of spaceports on Nar Shaddaa. Dominated primarily by the largest of them, Parmac's Starport. The Parmac family were a Zabrak clan that rose to the of their power after the death of Emperor Palpatine. Many people fled the core worlds due to fear over the anarchy that soon ensued when the leader of the Galactic Empire fell and a large bulk of these immigrants landed on Nar Shaddaa due to its Coruscant-like enviroment which felt familar to them...
Mass expansion at Parmac's, as well as all the other starport facilities in the zone, soon made the Starpot District the single most active and profitable zone on all of the Smuggler's Moon. However, due to a complete lack of Government on Nar Shaddaa, each individual starport has been left to fend for itself and defend itself. This has lead to Security companies controlling each individual starport complex and vying for dominance.
Hutt District
The Hutt District was the oldest of all the districts across the Smuggler's Moon. It saw the most activity throughout the thousands of years that Nar Shaddaa prospered. Concealed beneath a orbital defense shield, no ship or transport enters or exits the Hutt District without explicit permission, leaving only controlled Taxi services being the sole way for civilians to enter the Hutt District.
Giant palace skyrises dot the district's large circumference, with shining neon signs advertising all the wild shows and forms of entertainment that litter the plazas and parkways between each palace.
Individual Hutt families are constantly vying for political control over the Smuggler's Moon and they meet for days on end within the zone's parimary Court Hall. These meetings often end with a new decree that inevitably leads to civilian unrest as the Hutt Lords attempt to take power from the people on Nar Shaddaa and add coin to their own coffers.
Gearhead District
The Gearhead District was for many generations a droid-controlled zone. Once ruled by a droid overlord that had seized control of a production facility where it labored day-and-night creating its own army of minion droids... it was eventually taken down in what became known as the Great Droid War.
The district there-after was settled primarily by scavengers and tech-savvy types who were solely interested in getting their hands on the wild technologies that these droid armies created when left unchecked by droid masters for so many years...
It then slowly shifted into being a hive of Starship Mechanics and Engineers who attempted to use these salvaged technologies to build new starcraft and provide services to all those on Nar Shaddaa who had a taste for the inter-galactic star hopping. The most famous of all these 'gearhead' shoppes was known as Shug Ninx's Spacebarn.
Ko Hentota District
Ko Hentota is a lawless, slum-ridden district that is largely controlled by whatever gang happens to be in power at the moment, making it both an extremely dangerous place to be, but also something of a haven for those looking to hide out from the security firms that patrol the nicer districts of Nar Shaddaa. Ko Hentota is built around the steam pipes, and ventilation ducts of other districts, leaving the whole place with a very industrial, and exceptionally grimy feel. The population trends toward aliens, partially due to the harsh environment, but even among their number it has an odd nature about it, and it's known around Nar Shaddaa as the 'home of the strange.'’
It is also home of the only known access to the Duros sector -- once home to a large number of immigrant Duros laborers, but now a decaying sub-level of Nar Shaddaa -- which can found by braving both Ko Hentota itself, and the questionably functional lifts, or crumbling stair cases that will take you down to this underground sector. The Duros sector is extremely dangerous, both because of the numerous environmental perils, but also for ne’re do wells that frequent the district because of just how hostile and inaccessible it is.
Shadowgate Prison District
This is a large district that is predominantly a prison controlled by Widow Securities, made to contain some of the numerous criminals found on Nar Shaddaa.
New Vertica **
Ner Vertica is not quite a full district, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in style. It's an upscale city in the uppermost reaches of the tallest buildings that Nar Shadda boasts. Long walkways stretch between both decadant homes, and businesses that cater to the upper crust on Nar Shaddaa, with a wide variety of high roller casinos, exclusive clubs, and the nicest restaurants. It's not without dangers though, accidents, and 'accidents' have been known to happen on those walkways, with deadly drops through lots of open space, and an abundance of air traffic beneath it to ensure the landing will be an unpleasant one.
- This district isn't built yet, but may be in the future.
The Red Sector **
The Red Sector is a mid-level district of Nar Shaddaa, so that even in full daylight, much of the sector is obscured by shadow, and illuminated by the often red lights of the signs outside businesses. The district is technically lawless, but it’s overseen by one or more crime bosses that form their own set of rules that people are expected to abide by, though those rules vary depending upon the crime boss in question. The district is supported almost exclusively by catering to vice, be it in the form of brothels of all varieties and costs, spice houses, gambling dens, loan sharks, and body modifications. If it’s bad for you, it can be found in the Red Sector, you just need to find the right person to ask.
- The district isn't built yet, but may be in the future.
