Pulonis Independence

[Wgskeletor]

So Pulonis has won their independence. Good for them. It's about time, but it seems like something that would've been a result of diplomatic, cultural, and economic efforts by the Pact Worlds and other interstellar powers as part of the Veskarium "maturing" into a more enlightened culture... And less of a massive regime based on conquest and slave labor... As opposed to independence won in a successful martial planet wide revolt followed by immediate recognition by the Pact Worlds government, all off camera.

I'm glad that the usually slow Pact Worlds petition system made the ethically responsible choice, but it was an astonishingly risky decision. Officially recognizing not just a Veskarium world, but one smack dab in the middle of the Vesk home system, as a pact world could very easily end the PW/Vesk alliance for good and resulted in full scale Veskarium retaliatory invasion.
But fortunately that didn't happen. Also, I'm hoping that eventual "Long and Noodle-y Pathra" Ancestry trait will be available at some point, representing the weird low gravity world proportions of the SF1 Pathra illustrations. Especially the one with the microphone in Interstellar Species. Lol

[Master Han Del of the Web]

Nah man, the 'foreign saviors' trope kind of sucks and, frankly, the Veskarium does not deserve that kind of grace. I get that it's a 'devil we know' situation with their sort of imperialist evil but they still conquer planets and then have the utmost gall to rename them 'Vesk-n'. I get that they haven't been as overtly genocidal as real world imperialists (at least on screen as far as I know) but they still deserve to have their noses bloodied by rebellion and lose the majority of their holdings. Return all their stolen land and then we can talk about diplomatically pressured reforms.

[Justnobodyfqwl]

Yeah, I don't really follow the logic of this post.

It may seem like it happened "off-screen", but a lot of 1e adventures and lore about Pahtras were very focused on this ongoing conflict. (Now granted, a lot of these adventures are about STOPPING Pahtra Liberation for some reason..)

And as for "gaining independence by the colonial power becoming more cultured and enlightened"....huh? That feels way more like the hand-wavey answer, honestly. The brutal colonial power that is only able to sustain its empire through constant expansion just ...decides to give up a colony?

It makes a lot more sense to me to say "after centuries of attrition and warfare on a hostile and technologically isolated planet, holding onto Pulonis becomes unpopular and unsustainable for the Vesk".
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Honestly, I think the Vesk/Skittermander/Pahtra dynamic is my favorite part of Starfinder lore. I'm new to the system with 2e, so I was surprised to read about them and fall in love so instantly. However, the more I read 1e content, the more I can tell the lore has been suffering because Vesk were a core ancestry and the Skittermander and Pahtra werent.

I DO agree that the Vesk wouldn't give up Pulonis so quickly. I've been playing the dynamic as less "Pulonis is now in the Pact Worlds!", and more as "Pulonis has declared independence, but has to deal with the blowback while it tries the unprecedented move of trying to join the Pact Worlds from another system".

This has had a variety of blowback effects throughout the Veskarium. It's emboldened the Skittermanders that are secretly guerilla resistance. Veskarium ego has been hurt by losing control of a planet, so there's a big backlash against Pahtra art in Vesk pop culture- especially because Vesk pop culture is basically just entirely worse version of Pahtra art. Pahtra pop stars like Miiyu have exploded in popularity, as their previous subtle anti-Veskarium messaging makes for angry and righteous dance beats.

[Driftbourne]

The way I see it is the original Pact Worlds Veskarium alliance was to fight the swarm. Now with the drift lanes connecting the Veskarium with the Azlanti Star Empire. Veskarium didn't want to give up Pulonis, but Pulonis joining the Pact Worlds, makes sure the Pact Worlds have a more direct reason to help defend the Veskarium. I'm sure not all in the Veskarium agree with this, but for now, it's the justification for Veskarium not having to fight 2 wars at the same time.

[Justnobodyfqwl]

Driftbourne wrote:

The way I see it is the original Pact Worlds Veskarium alliance was to fight the swarm. Now with the drift lanes connecting the Veskarium with the Azlanti Star Empire. Veskarium didn't want to give up Pulonis, but Pulonis joining the Pact Worlds, makes sure the Pact Worlds have a more direct reason to help defend the Veskarium. I'm sure not all in the Veskarium agree with this, but for now, it's the justification for Veskarium not having to fight 2 wars at the same time.

I think that's a really interesting and sensible explanation! The Azlanti and Swarm make for convenient "perpetually off-screen" antagonists, who are taking up the attention and firepower of the Vesk. They're a good thing to point fingers at for why they'd let Pulonis slip through their grasp.

I didn't think of the idea that Pulonis kind of becomes a child of divorce for the Veskarium and Pact Worlds, a connective tissue that keeps two people who otherwise hate each other acting civil with each other. That's a really interesting dynamic!