Sample Planets
Sample Planets
Here are some sample worlds to get you started. These planets represent a variety of world types.
Alderaan
The peaceful, idyllic world of Alderaan was destroyed in an instant by the planet-shattering laser of the Death Star, the greatest atrocity of a Galactic Civil War that offered no shortage. The demonstration was meant to cow the Empire’s restive worlds and keep them in line, but the Death Star was destroyed just days later, and Alderaan became a rallying cry for individuals, systems, and species now determined to resist the New Order.
Human colonists came to Alderaan before the founding of the Republic and discovered a verdant world abandoned by an insect species, the Killiks. A founding member of the Republic, Alderaan became a symbol of human culture at its best, with cities built to coexist with nature, and renowned universities. People across the galaxy enjoyed Alderaanian cuisine, spiced wines, and exhibitions of Alderaanian dance, theater, music, and poetry. Three useful Alderaanian animal species—thrantas, grazers, and nerfs—also spread throughout the galaxy.
Alderaan formally adopted pacifism after the horrors of the Clone Wars, ridding itself of all major weaponry. Cynics noted that this seemingly idealistic move made it easier for the planet and its respected leader, Bail Organa, to actively oppose the New Order in the Senate—all in the name of the finest traditions of the Republic, of course. Alderaan finally crossed the line between opposition and treason when Bail’s successor, his adopted daughter Leia Organa, was caught receiving secret transmissions from Rebels above the planet Toprawa. Leia was interrogated and her homeworld destroyed by the Death Star before her eyes.
The Death Star’s superlaser left behind an asteroid field called the Graveyard, orbited by the remains of Alderaan’s moon. Many Alderaanian exiles now visit the Graveyard to pay their respects to those murdered by the Empire, a ritual known as the Returning.
The planet’s sister world, Delaya, survived the destruction and is the system’s sole inhabited world. Delaya is an agricultural planet with light industry and no particular claim on galactic importance.
◊ ALDERAAN • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Temperate • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: Moderate • Gravity: Standard • Terrain: Forests, plains, grasslands • Length of Day: 24 standard hours • Length of Year: 364 local days • Sapient Species: Human, others • Starport: Imperial/Republic class • Population: 2 billion • Planet Function: Homeworld, academic • Government: Democracy • Tech Level: Space • Major Exports: Wine, art, luxury goods • Major Imports: Manufactured goods, electronics
Bespin
Gas giants are rarely worth the expense of colonization, but Bespin is an exception: its rose-colored clouds contain a fortune in valuable Tibanna gas. That’s led to the creation of many floating communities in the “Life Zone,” a band of breathable atmosphere thirty kilometers deep. Bizarre floating, flying, and drifting creatures native to the planet now share this area with repulsorlift cities that are home to humans, Lutrillians, and Ugnaughts, as well as numerous tourists. The most famous such settlement is Cloud City, a floating pleasure palace and Tibanna mine.
Cloud City was built by Ecclessis Figg, the eccentric “Master Trader of the Outer Javin,” purportedly as a facility to collect Tibanna for hyperdrive coolant. In reality, Figg was spin-sealing this gas for use in blasters—an operation that would attract the attention of the powerful Mining Guild and imperil Figg’s profits. To deflect the guild’s attention, Figg turned his mining colony into a graceful, cosmopolitan resort, with the Tibanna operations hidden away. Soon the lie became the truth: tourism alone made Cloud City profitable.
The city’s gambit failed when Boba Fett followed the Millennium Falcon there, leading to a visit from Darth Vader. Vader left behind a garrison, and stability wasn’t restored until after the Battle of Endor. Under the New Republic, control of the city was given to local Ugnaught leaders, fulfilling a deal made by Lando Calrissian during his days as administrator.
Bespin’s Life Zone is home to clouds of phosphorescent algae and colossal invertebrates known as beldons, which some scientists think produce Tibanna gas. The beldons are preyed upon by sharp-toothed predators called velkers. Rawwks are bat-like scavengers that have claimed abandoned prospecting stations for their roosts. Finally, a herd of Alderaanian thrantas calls Bespin home; their riders perform vertiginous “sky rodeos” for tourists.
Besides Cloud City, visitors sometimes tour Tibannopolis, a repulsorlift city abandoned during the Clone Wars, and the Ugnaught Surface, a floating platform designed to mimic conditions on the Ugnaughts’ homeworld of Gentes.
◊ BESPIN • Type: Gas giant • Temperature: Temperate (in the Life Zone) • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) (in the Life Zone) • Hydrosphere: Moist (in the Life Zone) • Gravity: Standard (in the Life Zone) • Terrain: Gas giant • Length of Day: 12 standard hours • Length of Year: 10,220 local days • Sapient Species: Human, Ugnaughts • Starport: Standard • Population: 6 billion • Planet Function: Tibanna gas mining, gambling resort • Government: Guild • Tech Level: Space • Major Exports: Tibanna gas, tourism, cloud cars • Major Imports: Foodstuffs, mid tech, high tech
Corellia
Corellia has given rise to a people famous for their sentimentality and notorious for their recklessness. “Corellia for Corellians” is their philosophy, and the system has a history of attempted secession.
The enigmatic Celestials are believed to have assembled the Corellian system from preexisting planets, using a combination of buried repulsors and the hyperspace engine Centerpoint Station. Around the star Corell, their arrangement took shape—first Corellia, then Drall, then the double worlds of Talus and Tralus (orbiting each other with Centerpoint Station suspended between them), and finally Selonia. Drall and Selonia appear to have had native species of their own, while Corellia’s Humans may have been transplanted by the Celestials.
By 30,000 BBY, the Corellian system had become part of the Rakatan Infinite Empire. The Corellians later built hyperspace cannons to link their system to Coruscant and Duro, and by 25,000 BBY they had perfected the modern hyperdrive.
Corellia kept its surface largely rural by moving starship construction facilities into space. The capital city of Coronet became an eclectic bazaar for off-duty spacers and bargain hunters, while other cities traded on the natural beauty of Corellia’s beaches, mountain peaks, and crystal swamps.
In 312 BBY, King Berethron e Solo abolished Corellia’s monarchy. In time, control of Corellia fell to a Diktat, whose duties included maximizing Corellia’s footprint in shipbuilding and interstellar trade. During the Emperor’s reign Corellia answered to an Imperial Moff, but local power remained concentrated in the Diktat. After the Battle of Endor, the rival Grand Admirals Pitta and Grunger each claimed the Corellian system and annihilated each other in their war.
Corellia eventually became a nominal member of the New Republic, though its (Coruscant-appointed) governor-general held little real power. By 16 ABY, anti–New Republic sentiment swelled sufficiently to trigger the Corellian Insurrection, an act of secession orchestrated by Thrackan Sal-Solo and the Triad government of Sacorria. Sal-Solo used Centerpoint Station as his pocket superweapon, destroying distant stars with its repulsor blasts.
The crisis ended with Sal-Solo in custody, but the shrewd leader climbed back to power by the time of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Discredited for collaborating with the invader-friendly Peace Brigade, Sal-Solo reinvented himself a third time. In 40 ABY he acted as Corellia’s Head of State during the second Corellian Insurrection, pushing the system into a civil war with the Galactic Alliance.
◊ CORELLIA • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Temperate • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: Moderate • Gravity: Standard • Terrain: Urban, oceans, plains, hills • Length of Day: 25 standard hours • Length of Year: 329 local days • Sapient Species: Human, Selonian, Drall, others • Starport: 1 Imperial Class, 3 Stellar Class, 4 Standard Class • Population: 3 billion • Planet Function: Trade & Administrative/Government • Government: Governor-General • Tech Level: Space • Major Exports: Foodstuffs, medicinal goods, starships • Major Imports: High technology
Coruscant
Although Coruscant is not the literal center of the galaxy, in terms of its political, economic, and cultural influence (not to mention its galactic coordinates of 0-0-0), it might as well be.
In prehistory, Coruscant served as a battleground between the Taungs and the human tribes of the Battalions of Zhell. The withdrawal of the Taungs to Roon left humans in sole possession of the world, and urbanization soon followed. The megalopolis that would one day become Galactic City is said to have already stood layer upon layer as early as 90,000 BBY.
The Rakata of the Infinite Empire assumed ownership of Coruscant circa 30,000 BBY, providing technical clues that allowed the Coruscantis to build sleeper ships and colonize habitable worlds over the course of decades. Eventually the Infinite Empire crumbled. Due to Coruscant’s position at the head of several hyperspace routes, it became the capital of the emerging Galactic Republic.
Urbanization continued at a furious pace. Soon, no point on the surface remained free from construction, save for the peaks of the Manarai Mountains. High above, weather satellites and orbital mirrors simulated a springtime climate; deep below, the dark undercity became a haven for cannibalistic mutants.
Unique districts emerged, from the shops of Glitannai Esplanade to the smoky factories of The Works. The Legislative District housed senators from across the galaxy, with its nexus the mushroom dome of the Galactic Senate Chamber.
Coruscant’s high profile made it a target. Over the millennia, Coruscant became a focal point for the Tionese Wars, the Alsakan Conflicts, the Duinuogwuin Contention, the Great Droid Revolution, and the Great Sith War. The Jedi Order relocated to Coruscant following Ossus’s devastation in 3,996 BBY, while the Treaty of Coruscant in 3653 BBY forged a peace between the Republic and a revived Sith Empire.
By the time of the Clone Wars, Coruscant had become a symbol of excess and decay, and Dooku’s assault on the planet led to an all-out clash between the Separatist and Republic navies. Coruscant became the Imperial throneworld after the inauguration of Emperor Palpatine, even receiving an official name change to Imperial Center.
The New Republic captured Coruscant after the Battle of Endor, their reign interrupted by a brief seizure of the world by the reborn Palpatine in 10 ABY. When the Yuuzhan Vong took Coruscant in 27 ABY, they blanketed the cityscape in vines and moss in an attempt to terraform the planet into the image of their ancestral homeworld Yuuzhan’tar.
◊ CORUSCANT • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Temperate • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: Moderate • Gravity: Standard • Terrain: Urban • Length of Day: 24 standard hours • Length of Year: 368 local days • Sapient Species: Humans (N), various aliens • Starport: Imperial class • Population: 650 billion • Planet Function: Government, administrative • Government: Imperial bureaucracy • Tech Level: Space • Major Exports: None • Major Imports: Foodstuffs, medicinal goods
Dagobah
It has been described as a “slimy mudhole,” and indeed Dagobah’s most notable features—steamy humidity, stinging insects, and boot-sucking sogginess—are qualities that most humans hate. It is fortunate for humans that so few of them have ever been there.
Dagobah sits in the Sluis sector not far from the Rimma Trade Route, but the planet is reachable only via obscure hyperspace traces. In fact, for much of its history Dagobah didn’t appear on star charts at all. This curious lack of cartographic permanence caused Dagobah to be scouted on more than one occasion, often ending with unpleasant consequences for the explorers. One Alderaanian expedition saw all its members eaten by local wildlife; another failed mission prior to the Clone Wars found its stranded scouts forced to resort to cannibalism.
Permanent settlements have never taken root on Dagobah, but the planet is rich in living things. Its swampy surface is perpetually pitched in shadow beneath a dense tree canopy. Its eat-or-be-eaten ecosystem ranges between microscopic schools of silverfish and colossal, vacuum-feeding swamp slugs.
The planet’s more notable life-forms include sharp-clawed dragonsnakes, airborne bogwings, and gnarltrees—spider-like hunters that calcify into immobile root systems as they enter the second phase of their lives.
Dagobah is perhaps best known as the place of exile for Jedi Master Yoda following his failure to kill Emperor Palpatine in 19 BBY. Yoda chose the location after noting it was one of thirty-eight systems apparently dropped from the Jedi Archives. For over two decades the Jedi Master lived in a simple mud hut, shielded from the Emperor’s attention by a dark side cave—the residual energy left by a Dark Jedi from nearby Bpfassh—that counterbalanced Yoda’s light-side signature. Yoda trained Luke Skywalker in 3 ABY, but the Jedi Master died less than a year later at the age of nine hundred.
An effort to use Dagobah’s isolated yet strategic location to shelter a military intelligence outpost after the Battle of Endor met a swift end, and no attempts at settlement have been made since. Instead, Dagobah has become a place of pilgrimage for students of the new Jedi Order, who use the dark side cave to trigger Force-inspired vision quests.
◊ DAGOBAH • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Hot • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: Moist • Gravity: Standard • Terrain: Swamp, bogs, jungles • Length of Day: 23 standard hours • Length of Year: 341 local days • Sapient Species: None • Starport: None • Population: None • Planet Function: Unexplored • Government: None • Tech Level: None • Major Exports: None • Major Imports: None
Endor (Forest Moon)
The Forest Moon of Endor is a small green sphere, the second of nine moons orbiting a silver-banded gas giant known to its native Ewoks as Tana. (Reports that the gas giant vanished in a cataclysm are false, and have become known as the “Endor Moon Hoax.”) The Forest Moon has lighter-than-standard gravity and an ecosystem bursting with life, including three native sentient species.
The Forest Moon is also home to castaways: local space is plagued by hyperspace anomalies that have wrecked starships from nearby Sanyassa and Zorbia, as well as transports belonging to starhoppers hailing from far-off ports.
The Ewoks, the Forest Moon’s most famous residents, are meter-high, ursine omnivores who dwell in giant trees. Their technology is primitive, but the Ewoks are sound engineers and cunning warriors, as a legion of Imperial troops discovered during the Battle of Endor.
In the time of the New Republic, a few Ewoks have sought their fortunes elsewhere in the galaxy, serving as starship gunners and learning (somewhat squeaky) Basic.
The peaceable Yuzzum dwell on the plains and the forest floor, and are known for their long legs, highly developed vocal cords, and keen ears. They make superb singers, and some—including the Max Rebo Band’s Joh Yowza—have made careers for themselves with bands.
The Gorax are often considered legends, but they exist. Fortunately, these vicious, semi-sentient giants are quite rare.
Visited only by castaways, fugitives, and pilgrims before the Battle of Endor, the Forest Moon was home to Alliance forces for a time: after Emperor Palpatine died on the second Death Star overhead, Nagai invaders chased the Rebels off the moon, but they were followed by traders, intelligence agents, miners, souvenir hunters, and even tour groups.
Endor was so remote, however, that interest proved fleeting; fifteen years after the Alliance’s great victory, only one small trading post connected the Forest Moon with the rest of the galaxy.
◊ ENDOR’S MOON • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Temperate • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: Moderate • Gravity: 85% standard • Terrain: Forests, savannas, mountains • Length of Day: 18 standard hours • Length of Year: 402 local days • Sapient Species: Ewoks, Yuzzum, Dulok, and others • Starport: Limited services (landing port, seasonally staffed) • Population: 10 million • Planet Function: Homeworld, trade • Government: Tribal (New Republic allied, non-participating member) • Tech Level: Stone • Major Exports: Foodstuffs, medicinal goods • Major Imports: None
Geonosis
A hellish world scoured by radiation, Geonosis was first explored when its nearest neighbor, Tatooine, was settled by miners some four millennia before the Battle of Yavin. The Geonosians were fascinated by the outsiders’ technology, and the hives proved adept at solving problems and finding efficiencies in devices’ function and production. The Geonosians began making labor droids in their own image, and these droids became known as cheap, simple, and reliable models.
But contacts between the Republic and Arkanis sector proved fleeting, Tatooine was abandoned and the Geonosians’ advances copied by corporations closer to the Core. And contact with outsiders caused a deep rift among the hives, a rift that soon exploded into savage warfare.
◊ GEONOSIS • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Hot • Hydrosphere: Arid • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Gravity: 90% standard • Terrain: Rocks, desert, mountains • Length of Day: 30 standard hours • Length of Year: 256 standard days • Sapient Species: Geonosian • Starport: Limited services • Population: 390 million • Tech Level: Space • Planet Function: Homeworld / Manufacturing • Government: Hive Council • Major Imports: Raw materials (metals, minerals) • Major Exports: Droids, high-tech weapons, starfighters
Kamino
Given Kamino’s role in starting the Clone Wars and aiding the rise of Emperor Palpatine, it’s safe to say that no planet with such a low profile has ever wielded such massive influence.
Technically, Kamino isn’t part of the galaxy. It circles a star high above the galactic disk, loosely grouped with other fringe stars at the lower periphery of the Ri-shi Maze.
Kamino was once largely landlocked, with eels and cetaceans choking its narrow oceans and sleek-skinned mammals inhabiting the marshes of the low-lying continents. From this stock arose the Kaminoans, long-necked humanoids exhibiting effortless grace on land and in water. The Kaminoans developed their planet’s coasts, their triumph being the parapet city of Derem.
Circa 19,000 BBY abrupt climatic change melted Kamino’s glacial reserves. Within two centuries every landmass sat beneath hundreds of meters of seawater, including Derem and architectural treasures such as the Clock Spires of Harai Nova. The Kaminoans lived on. Technology allowed them to move into water-shedding stilt cities, and the science of genetics permitted the preservation of many drowned species through controlled cloning.
Genetic engineering soon shaped the Kaminoans themselves, as their pursuit of perfection resulted in near uniformity of thought, appearance, and mannerism.
Ambitious parties from the Republic sought out Kamino as early as 4500 BBY. Kaminoan cloning proved far superior to the common Lurrian techniques, and the laboratories of Tipoca City soon filled orders both local (the shovel-handed miners of Subterrel) and distant (the blind berserkers of the Unknown Regions’ Leech Legion). The Kaminoans also stocked their own pond, modifying Naboo’s soaring aiwhas to withstand Kamino’s crashing surf.
In 32 BBY Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas hired the Kaminoans to build a clone army for the Republic, though Darth Sidious guided the project to completion. Sidious even arranged the planet’s deletion from stellar databases to ensure the project’s secrecy.
The vat-grown army lent its name to the Clone Wars from 22 to 19 BBY, during which time Kamino came under attack from both the Separatists and the Mandalorians.
The end of the war saw Kamino transformed into a fortified Imperial possession, dedicated to expanding the stormtrooper corps. In 12 BBY a clone uprising—orchestrated by disgruntled Kaminoan clonemasters—met a swift end at the hands of the 501st Legion.
The collapse of the Empire in 4 ABY triggered an economic collapse on Kamino, as more than two decades of clone production came to an end. The world continues to survive on smaller contracts, often for warlords and gangsters.
◊ KAMINO • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Temperate • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: 100% saturated • Gravity: Standard • Terrain: Aquatic (saturated hydrosphere) • Length of Day: 27 standard hours • Length of Year: 463 local days • Sapient Species: Kaminoan, Aiwha, Human & Sullustan • Starport: Imperial class • Population: 1 billion • Planet Function: Homeworld • Government: Ruling Council • Tech Level: Space • Major Exports: Clones, covert technology, military weapons and hardware, fish • Major Imports: Droids, foodstuffs
Naboo
Naboo, in the heart of the Mid Rim’s Chommell sector, was the site of a pivotal battle to shape galactic rule, as well as the homeworld of such diverse personages as Emperor Palpatine and Jar Jar Binks.
The planet is a world of peculiar geology. It lacks a molten core, instead possessing a honeycombed interior surging with luminous locap plasma. Wide, shallow seas (the domain of sando aqua monsters and other giants) and soggy swamps separate flat plains of nola grass and scattered points of elevation, including the Gallo Mountains.
The amphibious Gungans evolved on Naboo, creating a tribal, militaristic society to defend against bursa, a species of semi-sentient quadrupeds. The Gungans are also believed to have clashed with Naboo’s first colonists—mysterious visitors who vacated the world more than five millennia ago and left only stone statues to mark their passing.
Humans arrived next, aboard a trio of colony ships from Grizmallt. After some initial hostility, the humans and Gungans entered an uneasy truce, with the Gungans retreating to their underwater bubble cities and the newcomers (thereafter known as the Naboo) colonizing the green continental hearts.
Though separated by geography, the two societies had their own internal wars—a clash between Gungan bosses in 3000 BBY led to the establishment of the ruling city of Otoh Gunga, while Naboo’s “Time of Suffering” circa 1000–800 BBY ended with the inauguration of the planetary capital, Theed.
The planet governed its own affairs with an elected monarch, and spoke for the Chommell sector with a representative to the Galactic Senate. In 32 BBY Queen Padmé Amidala (who succeeded King Veruna) and Senator Palpatine held the respective positions. Palpatine, in his guise as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, arranged for a Trade Federation blockade and invasion of Naboo. The Jedi quelled the threat, but the incident vaulted Palpatine to the office of Supreme Chancellor, allowing him to orchestrate the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire.
Amidala became Naboo’s Senator in 24 BBY, with the throne filled by Queen Jamillia, then Queen Apailana. Suspected of harboring Jedi fugitives after the Clone Wars, Apailana became a martyr for the local resistance when the 501st Stormtrooper Legion assassinated her. Naboo also housed Emperor Palpatine’s private retreat, and Amidala’s former chief of security, Panaka, became Moff of the Chommell sector. But underground resistance to the Empire remained lively, and the planet erupted in celebration following the news of Palpatine’s death.
◊ NABOO • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Temperate • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: Moderate • Gravity: Standard • Terrain: Forest, plain, swamp • Length of Day: 26 standard hours • Length of Year: 312 local days • Sapient Species: Humans, Gungans • Starport: Stellar • Population: 1.2 billion humans; unknown number of Gungans • Planet Function: Cultural center, homeworld • Government: Democracy/Monarchy (humans); Tribal (Gungans) • Tech Level: Space • Major Exports: Art • Major Imports: High technology
Tatooine
A vast yellow globe baking in the heat of its twin suns, Tatooine was mistaken for a star by early explorers of the Outer Rim—and in the scorching heat of high noon, locals joke that those explorers weren’t so wrong.
Life on Tatooine is a study in perseverance, but despite the inhospitable conditions, there is life here. Jawas, hooded rodent-like scavengers, scour Tatooine’s wastes for scrap they can salvage. Primitive desert warriors called Tusken Raiders wander the desert, abiding by ancient tribal traditions. Herds of eopies root for buried lichen, rock warts hunt for prey, and an unlucky traveler may hear the booming cries of the semi-legendary krayt dragon. And there are more recent arrivals: humans, Hutts, and all manner of spacefaring species.
Despite what bored young moisture farmers might tell you, Tatooine is fairly well known in the galaxy. The system sits at a juncture of hyperspace routes: the Triellus Trade Route connects Hutt Space with a sizable chunk of the Outer Rim, while a loop of the Corellian Run sees traffic running to and from the Core Worlds. Space battles were common over Tatooine long before the planet’s settlement, and today Tatooine’s spaceports continue to thrive.
Settlers have tried to make Tatooine their home numerous times, with the first recorded settlements dating to 4200 BBY. That attempt and many others failed; current civilization on Tatooine dates back to 700 BBY, when the B’omarr monks made a home in the planet’s desolation. Around 100 BBY miners arrived. Their efforts failed; most of the few who remained became moisture farmers.
Around 65 BBY the Hutts—who’d long been a presence on the planet—took over Tatooine, seeing it as a useful point for transferring smuggled goods between the Corellian Run and the Triellus. The Hutts ruled the planet (in fact if not in name on those rare occasions when the Empire decided to assert itself) until the death of Jabba the Hutt shortly before the Battle of Endor.
Various crime lords squabbled over Tatooine for a generation after Jabba’s demise, but their ambitions were scuttled when the Hutts returned after the Yuuzhan Vong devastated parts of Hutt Space.
◊ TATOOINE • Type: Terrestrial • Temperature: Hot • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: Dry • Gravity: Standard • Terrain: Desert • Length of Day: 23 standard hours • Length of Year: 304 local days • Sapient Species: Humans, Jawas, Tusken Raiders • Starport: Standard class • Population: 80,000 (estimated) • Planet Function: Smuggling, trade, subsistence • Government: Imperial Governor • Tech Level: Space • Major Exports: Various smuggled cargoes (munitions, security devices, spice); minerals (salt, sand products) • Major Imports: Mid-technology, high-technology; metals, foodstuffs, chemicals
Yavin 4
Yavin 4 is a jungle moon in an unremarkable system far from busy space lanes. Yet if the Force has a will, Yavin 4 must be one of its favorite fulcrums. Several events on or near Yavin 4 have shaken the galaxy: a climactic battle between the Jedi and the Sith; the Rebel raid that destroyed the first Death Star; the birthplace of a new Jedi Order to support the reborn Republic; and the founding of a heresy that would one day help derail the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.
If not for its history, Yavin 4 would be of interest chiefly for its abundance of life. The moon is covered with Massassi trees, which feature huge crowns and upsweeping branches. These great trees support climbing ferns and nebula orchids, and their bark and leaves create thick mulch that nourishes blueleaf shrubs. Woolamanders, whisper birds, suntans, anglers, piranhabeetles, and runyips live here, along with strange creatures descended from ancient Sith experiments.
Yavin 4 was first settled by the Sith Lord Naga Sadow and his minions, among them the Sith warriors known as the Massassi. At the end of the Sith War, the Jedi chased the renegade Exar Kun to Yavin 4 and burned off much of its jungle cover in an orbital bombardment, later reversing some of the damage by establishing a subterranean terraforming station. The Jedi also expunged all record of the moon—then beyond the galactic frontier—in an effort to end its evil legacy.
Hyperspace scouts from the Hydian Way rediscovered the system, which was the site of a brief rush on Corusca stones found in the depths of the gas giant Yavin. During the Galactic Civil War, Rebels abandoning Dantooine established a new base in the abandoned Great Temple of the Massassi. They were tracked there by the Death Star, but Luke Skywalker destroyed the battle station with a well-placed shot from his X-wing starfighter.
Yavin 4 was soon abandoned. It remained little-visited for more than a decade, until Skywalker returned to establish a Jedi academy on the jungle moon. The academy endured for more than ten years. Then the Yuuzhan Vong established it as a colony for their Shaper caste. While trapped on Yavin 4, the Jedi Anakin Solo helped redeem a Yuuzhan Vong Shamed One, inadvertently giving rise to a Jeedai cult that would one day undermine the invaders’ beliefs.
◊ YAVIN 4 • Type: Terrestrial satellite (moon) • Temperature: Hot • Atmosphere: Type I (breathable) • Hydrosphere: Moist • Gravity: Standard • Terrain: Jungle, mountain, swamp • Length of Day: 24 standard hours • Length of Year: 13.2 standard years • Starport: Landing field • Planet Function: Abandoned hidden base (formerly headquarters of the Rebels, year 0 BBY) • Government: None • Sapient Species: Massassi (extinct millennia ago) • Population: No permanent population • Tech Level: None • Major Exports: None • Major Imports: None
Source: REUP:468