Located in the Brentaal system of the Bormea Sector, Brentaal sits at a pivotal point near the intersection of the Perlemian Trade Route and the Hydian Way. The planet has a fairly dry surface with eight continents seperated by small, salty oceans. Most of the available land was swallowed up by the settlers of the planet; covering it with starports, industrial facilities, and trade markets. Brentaal is immensely overpopulated with nearly 65 billion citizens packed tightly into the valleys and deltas of this relatively small planet. Rugged mountain chains, dormant volcanoes, and steep plateaus make up the remainder of the planet's surface.
The native species of Brentaal held little importance to the predominately human settlers that first colonized it; leading to the decimation of most indigenous life. As time passed most of the original ecosystem was replaced with non-natives by the settlers. One inhabitant that was able to avoid the displacement was the Kundril. The Kundril are a species of massive flying insects that grew to be at least twenty meters (65 feet) in length and can grow much larger. The Kundril's survival was largely based on their habitat. Living along the shores of the oceans and high in the mountains, much of the industrial life was far from their gaze.
By the year 22,000 BBY Brentaal joined the Galactic Republic and was a major stop for those traveling to and from the Colonies region. These frequent stops helped drive the economy on Brentaal, allowing the settlers to receive many of the more exotic goods from the travelers.
Commerce drives the Brentaalan way of life and it is controlled by the noble families that inhabit the planet. These houses are in control of the various guilds and aspects of commerce and they attempt to manage all trading. Representatives from each house meet in at the capitol city's Trade Hall daily to plan economic policy. Many of the citizens residing on Brentaal are in some way tied to the trade and shipping industry. The various sports on Brentaal are also quite popular as distractions from the normal hustle and bustle of everyday life.
A large part of Brentaal's industrialization comes from the many mega corporations residing on the planet. Travis Motors, one of the more prominent companies, is responsible for the manufacturing of the Starlifter. This cargo lifter played a key role in Brentaal's history as it was used by Alfex Cargo Stacks, a front for one of the most notorious crime syndicates in the galaxy: The Black Sun. The local Black Sun leaders made modifications to a few of Alfex's cargo containers, outfitting them as hidden rooms which were then used to coordinate their criminal agenda on the planet.
In addition to Satele Shan, Brentaal is the home world of Freia Kallea, a pioneer who helped to explore Brentaal space. Freia single handedly mapped out what later became the Hydian Way, opening the galaxy beyond The Slice. The Slice is a wedge-shaped portion of the galaxy beginning at the edge of the Core Worlds then extending through the Colonies, the Inner Rim, the Expansion Region, the Mid Rim, and even as far as the Outer Rim Territories.
'The Black Sun area of Coruscant, a gang controlled section of the planet's underbelly.'
The Black Sun maintains a strong hold on the importing and exporting of goods on Brentaal. This activity is ripe for exploitation and would be perfect fit for the Smuggler and Imperial Agent class stories. With the Black Sun's strong ties to smuggling and the fact that many of the more exotic goods from the trips along the trade route end up on Brentaal, it is possible that some may be earned through work for the Black Sun. If you are able to interact with the Black Sun in this fashion, they would also be a prime candidate for a reputation based faction.
Another potential faction on Brentaal are the noble houses. As stated above, they attempt to control all commerce on Brentaal, and if you are able to side with a specific house you could turn one against another. It may even be possible to intimidate an opposing house to increase the power of your own; the more power your house is economically, the more lucrative that could become for the player.
Sports also play a large role on Brentaal. One of the most popular sports during this time period is swoop bike racing, as we saw in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. With any sport there is an underworld of betting and cheating which would fit nicely with the Black Sun element already infused in Brentaalan culture. This would be a chance for the player to gamble, but could also present an opportunity for players to hop on the swoop bike track and compete themselves.
Brentaal is a less obvious candidate then others we covered, however it is a very intriguing planet. Adding Brentaal the the current lineup of playable planets would give LucasArts and BioWare a base of operations for the Black Sun and an exotic market place for players to enjoy. The trade focused way of life and criminal element it attracts supply a number of different story options for the developers to pursue.
Contributing Author: Dynoco
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Posted 5/22/2010 4:13:29 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 5/19/2010 10:27:12 AMSecond, as was pointed out, this is by no means a "lock" to be included, but I definitely agree that it would make for a great inclusion in the TOR lineup of planets. Just looking at it from a "tit for tat" perspective... provide Geonosis for the IAs and others on the Empire side (primarily) and then give Brentaal for the Smugglers and others on the Republic side. The pair of them would provide an excellent "balancing" for one another.
The storyline speculation in the article was truly great. Got me drifting off into past stories I've read, as well as daydreaming about future possibilites for gameplay.
Really got fingers crossed for this one along with Geonosis.
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Posted 5/19/2010 3:10:50 AMhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Swoop_racing