Skaro

Skaro is an alien world from the universe of Doctor Who. This planet was once inhabited by two humanoid civilisations known as the Thals and the Kaleds, but the planet suffered catastrophic ecological damage as a result of centuries of war between its two cultures. Skaro is presently inhabited by the Daleks -the mutant descendants of the Kaleds- as well as various other life-forms that have undergone horrific mutations due to high levels of radiation contaminating the environment.

Known History
Millennia ago, Skaro was a planet much like Earth, consisting of various ecosystems and a diverse biosphere. However, whatever natural beauty the planet had to offer would be destroyed over the course of the most violent period in Skaro's history: the Thousand-Year War.

Many details of the Thousand-Year War have been lost to time, such as the reason why it took place to begin with. During this millennium of strife, the Kaleds and the Thals fought bitterly in order to wipe each other out. Their reasons for fighting would be forgotten as whole generations on each side were lost to the conflict, and the environment of Skaro would suffer greatly as the war dragged on. Both Thals and Kaleds developed powerful new technologies and weapons of mass destruction in order to resolve the conflict quickly, but as determined as they were to destroy one another they were equally as determined to survive. Deployment of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons ravaged Skaro and turned most of the planet into an inhospitable wasteland, yet both the Kaleds and Thals endured and the war would continue even as both sides resorted to using less-advanced weapons and technology in place of what they had lost.

Near the end of the war, the high levels of radiation that had saturated Skaro's environment had caused horrific mutations in much of the planet's surviving life-forms. Even the Thals and Kaleds were not immune to these mutagenic effects and their numbers -which were already low by that point- dropped dramatically as many underwent horrifying transformations or simply died. The Kaleds, however, conducted various genetic experiments on their mutated subjects, seeking to use them against the Thals and bring an end to the war. The Kaled's greatest scientist, a brilliant yet sadistic man known as Davros, turned the mutant Kaleds into what he viewed as the ultimate life-form, a race unhindered by emotion and driven to survive at any cost. These new creatures, bonded to tank-like robotic shells, would become known as the Daleks.

Since their creation, the Daleks have ended the Thousand-Year War by exterminating both the Thals and the remaining Kaleds, becoming the dominant life-forms on Skaro. Having grown dependent on radiation for their survival, they had maintained pollution levels on Skaro. Their interference made it all but impossible for Skaro's ecosystem to recover naturally and the planet would pose a grave risk to any form of non-indigenous life that set foot on its tainted soil.

Since the Daleks established their interstellar empire, they have fought to exterminate all other forms of life in the universe. The greatest opposition to their conquest has been the renegade Time Lord known as the Doctor, who has fought the Daleks on many battlefronts throughout time and space and even succeeded in destroying Skaro using an ancient Time Lord weapon, the Hand of Omega. Following the Last Great Time War and the revival of the Dalek Empire, Skaro has been completely rebuilt. The full extent of the reconstruction is unknown, but the planet's environment is believed to have been repaired to a significant degree as both Time Lords and humans have managed to set foot on the planet without suffering from radiation sickness.

Landmarks and locations

 * Kaalann - The capital city of the Daleks. Formerly the dome city of the Kaleds during the final decades of the Thousand-Year War. For some time after their initial creation, the Daleks were confined to this city as they relied on static electricity for mobility. They eventually overcame this limitation and expanded across Skaro before achieving spaceflight and threatening other worlds.
 * Wastelands - A desolate region inhospitable to most forms of life. Irradiated creatures known as Mutos reside in this area.
 * Ocean of Ooze - A large body of fluid separating Skaro's two main continents Davius and Dalazar.
 * Petrified Jungle - An area of dead forest located near Kaalann. All vegetation in the area had been turned to stone following an exchange of neutron bombs during the Thousand-Year War.
 * Drammakin Lake - Also known as the Lake of Mutations. This body of water was contaminated by nuclear radiation during the Thousand-Year War, transforming the creatures that inhabited it into grotesque, unnatural monsters.

Native life-forms

 * Daleks - The mutant descendants of the Kaleds.
 * Varga plants - Carnivorous mutant plants.
 * Slythers - Grotesque, amorphous beasts.
 * Mutos - Mutant creatures from Skaro's wastelands.
 * Terrorkons - Two-headed swamp-dwelling creatures.
 * Magnedons - Reptilian beasts with metallic exoskeletons.