Athloopa

‘’’Athloopa’’’ was a planet of average size and gravity which was on the border between the Kashyyyk Sector and the Eagle Sector. It supported a relatively dense atmosphere, and was three billion years old at the time of the Battle of Yavin. Life had not evolved to a very complex state on Athloopa, so when the Condorians first colonized the planet, they introduced species native to Condoria.

History
The Condorians at about 4000BBY discovered Athloopa and colonized its South Pole. At that time they introduced species native to their homeworld to set up an ecosystem. Approximately 2000 years later, Human colonists arrived and set up cities around the most temperate parts of the planet, such as the equator. The Condorians did not become aware of these newcomers for hundreds of years.

When a human explorer journeyed to the planet’s South Pole, which was kept at a moderate temperature by volcanoes and ion storms, she discovered the Condorian civilization that existed there, and escaped back to the settlements. The Condorians thought that this was a new inferior species to destroy, and started attacking the human situations. The two colonist species were at war with each other for decades to come, and even after a treaty declaring truce was signed, minor eruptions of battle and bitter cold war existed between them.

Athloopa’s South Pole, which was rich in mineral resources, was a technological haven for the Condorians. During the reign of the Empire, the Condorians were attacked and enslaved on many planets they controlled, including Athloopa. The Condorians rebelled against the Empire and stole many fleets of TIE fighters, and invented the Terrorplane on Athloopa. The planet itself, however, did not see much action in the Galactic Civil War.

When the Triannual Games commenced on Athloopa decades later, the Condorians planned an attack on the human colony by killing many people in a stadium to ignite a war with the New Republic. When the Condorians heard of Jedi, they kidnapped the Force-sensitives, which brought the 5th fleet and an army of almost the complete Jedi Order upon them. The Battle of Athloopa was short, however, and its importance was mostly the trigger of the Second Clone War.

Several months later, the Condorian forces withdrew from the planet to reinforce strongholds elsewhere in Condorian space.

Geography
The planet Athloopa had a captured moon orbiting perpendicular to the planet’s 85 degree axis. The moon’s gravity caused volcanic eruptions to occur consistently throughout the planet, forces which weakened over the eons. When the Condorians arrived, they discovered a planet of fertile soil and no competitive species against the plants and animals they brought. According to tradition, and migrational instinct, the Condorians settled near the planet’s South Pole. The flora and fauna spread across the surface of the planet, and it was virtually terraformed from a seeming desert to a tropical paradise. Some places on the Northern hemisphere of the planet did not receive many incoming animals and plants by the time of the Second Clone War.

Despite the gravitational forces the planet’s moon induced, Athloopa supported an atmosphere of 1.27 atmospheric densities. Seventy percent of this was nitrogen and twenty-four percent was oxygen. The oxygen was produced by clouds of algae in the lakes, which were scattered evenly across the planet’s surface. The algae developed a unique ability to grow on land or water, so by the time the Condorians arrived; the scum was the dominant species of the planet.

Cities
Around the South Pole, where the Condorians resided, the buildings were mostly made to look like the traditional hexagonal domes that resembled the Condorian primitive nests. Streets were not paved, but were lined with strips of Condorian grass, which resisted the Condorians’ ion repulsorlifts and were comfortable for pedestrians. Athloopa’s gravity was approximately 1.19 G, so Condorian flight was not common.

The human residents were very athletic, so cities were built around stadiums. Buildings were tall, sometimes exceeding half a kilometer, and were built inside a city wall that was tallest and thickest towards the south.

Behind the Scenes

 * The planet Athloopa was created by C3PO the Dragon Slayer
 * Original drafts of Athloopa had the planet’s axis be parallel to the solar plane, similar to Uranus.
 * Early drafts depicted Athloopa as the homeworld of the Condorians.