Harth Gool

Harth Gool was a planet in the Vaabaa system of the Unknown Regions, the homeworld of the peaceful Heshoos. It was first discovered by slavers of the Red Eclipse syndicate, but was later liberated by the Golden Empire and became a member world of the Empire.

Geography
Harth Gool was a world of rolling hills with vibrant purple and blue plant life. The climate was temperate, and the native Heshoos built dwellings both above ground and in some of the larger hills. Mud, clay, and other simply building materials abounded in the loamy soil, which was well-irrigated by the world's network of rivers and streams. Mountain ranges existed, with some active volcanoes; Harth Gool's star, Shiib, was a "B" star, and thus it and its surrounding planets were relatively young and still tectonically active.

Major oceans divided Harth Gool's continents, and rivers split them further. Hundreds of volcanic vents along the ocean floors reflected the world's tectonic activity, and new islands were forged occasionally due to magma emission.

The chemical content of Harth Gool's atmosphere and some species of its plants combined to secrete the chemical Pseudo-kavam, one of the two crucial ingredients in the production of bacta.

Society and culture
The Heshoos, the lone sentient natives of Harth Gool, existed in groups called "collect-families". Each collect-family (which was not necessarily composed of biological relatives) controlled territory ranging from a single village to what other sentients would consider countries; when collect-families combined, they would adopt a new name and become a single collect-family. Though they had some wars, by and large the Heshoos were a peaceful, empathic race not given over to violence or competition of any kind.

When Red Eclipse invaded Harth Gool, all the Heshoos were subjugated under the singular rule of Zhin-Vel. This made them into a massive workforce, but it had the unintended consequence of instilling in them the concept of a unified, worldwide government. When the Golden Empire wiped Red Eclipse out of existence, the Heshoos opted to keep the collect-families united under an overarching legislature of elected leaders and become a member world of the Empire.

History
A comparatively young world, Harth Gool had existed only some few million years by the time it joined the Golden Empire in 115 ABY. Royal scientists speculated that the presence of kavam and its unusual regenerative properties played a role in speeding the evolution of animal organisms, as well as the planet's diverse flora.

The Heshoos had begun to dominate their surrounding environments by 2000 BBY. An absence of natural predators and an abundance of food allowed them to flourish, and their numbers swelled accordingly. Some battles and wars occurred, but the most common source of unification of collect-families was a mutual agreement that unity would provide a better life for all concerned.

Circa 92 ABY, Red Eclipse forces under the command of the Zyked Zhin-Vel discovered and conquered Harth Gool; the native Heshoos were no match for the advanced weaponry the slavers possessed. The entire Heshoo species was enslaved and either organized into forced-labor camps on Harth Gool or exported offworld. Tens of millions of Heshoos died on-world due to poor conditions, and traditional Heshoo culture was largely eroded.

In 115 ABY, Rin Sakaros discovered the plight of Harth Gool in her Hunt for Red Eclipse, and her brother Tariun liberated the planet in a major battle. Many of the Heshoos, inspired by the Empire's efforts, rebelled against their slave captors, and this disorder contributed to the fall of Red Eclipse. After the planet was freed, Rin met with Heshoo leaders, who pledged the planet to the Empire.

Resource Council officers assigned to Harth Gool discovered the presence and function of pseudo-kavam purely by accident, but once Rin became aware of it, she immediately declared all supplies of it to be property of the Empire. However, mindful of the suffering the Heshoos had endured, she offered them the rights to harvest it on her behalf, or approve any off-world company which performed similar activities. The influx of technology from the Empire, combined with the enormous wealth its pseudo-kavam supplies drew, gave the Heshoos strong support for rebuilding and scientifically updating their culture.

Harth Gool was again attacked during the Nightmare War, with Skavik and Vyrak clones landing on the surface. After the Xoquon Sector Fleet succeeded in repelling the enemy ships, Tariun Sakaros ordered turbolaser bombardment of the city where the clones had landed, in order to prevent the from escaping to the planet at large. All the clones and thousands of Heshoos were killed in the bombardment. Though the Consul of Harth Gool and Queen Rin both understood the reasoning for Tariun's decision, the situation spurred Rin to created her Anzat hounds.