Mir Kaldu`uz

Mir Kaldu`uz was a planet in the Unknown Regions, the homeworld of the isolationist Leiks and the headquarters of Kaldu`uzian Shipyards.

Geography
The vast majority (over 80%) of the surface of Mir Kaldu`uz was covered in swamps of varying densities and depths. The majority, however, were heavily wooded, and in many places the surface water was not deeper than the waist height of a Leik. The swamps tended toward a balance between mossy ground and actual standing water, though some areas varied this ratio each way. Except near the poles, the swamps were dominated by the wide kava trees.

Mountains existed on Mir Kaldu`uz, but were rare, short relative to those on other worlds, and usually confined to chains of only a few peaks. Expansive mineral and natural deposits existed under many swamps, though mining them could be very difficult given the constant threat of flooding.

Society and culture
The Leiks evolved as the apex predators of Mir Kaldu`uz, using their barb-lashes to subdue prey and fight with one another. As hunting packs began to settle into communities, they used tools to hollow out kava trees to become homes and communal buildings. Cities evolved with rope bridges spanning the gaps between trees.

Eventually, the Leiks became aware of the minerals beneath their swamps and developed mining techniques to pump out water. They began to build metal cities in their swamps, creating enormous pylons to hold up structures, consciously mimicking and supplementing the natural use of the kava trees.

When the Leiks ventured into space, Mir Kaldu`uz acquired a number of orbital shipyards.

History
Leik societies warred regularly for thousands of years, though the factions themselves grew progressively larger as small, independent areas combined or were absorbed into larger states. By the time they encountered scouts of the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob, the Leiks had united into five major countries and a dozen smaller ones.

The Tetrarchy attempted to persuade the Leiks to join, and when that failed, launched three invasions, each of which was repulsed by temporarily-unified Leik armies. A space battle pitting the Tetrarchy's fleet against the combined navies of the Leiks met a similar fate, and Mir Kaldu`uz was left mostly to its own devices.

The gradual industrialization of Mir Kaldu`uz and increasing presence of technology in its cities allowed the Leiks to export more and more kava tree wood offworld, which became an important source of income to supplement their starship contracts. This at first led to widespread deforestation and had serious impacts on the ecosystems of several swamp ranges worldwide. Eventually, however, most Leik nations enacted laws to protect the swampland underlying their cities, arranging for replanting trees and protecting some areas entirely.

In 104 ABY, Rin Sakaros and the Golden Empire visited Mir Kaldu`uz and, through a combination of intimidation and economic incentive, persuaded the Leiks to join the Golden Empire without a fight. When the disparate nations' orbital facilities consolidated into Kaldu`uzian Shipyards in 107 ABY, Mir Kaldu`uz emerged as one of the leading starship producers of the Empire, filling numerous contracts for the Royal government as well as for private firms.