House of Arcadia

The House of Arcadia was the ruling family of Utapau for centuries before the Invasion of Utapau. The last known member was Sabé Arcadia.

Early years
In the early years of its existence, the House of Arcadia on Utapau was a house of warriors, some of which had fought against the Gungan Empire during the conflicts between the two species. It was not until a few hundred years later that they decided to become politicians, and one Arcadia thrust herself into the void left by a late heirless monarch to become queen. The House of Arcadia ruled ever since and always had the love and respect of the people, at least until the reign of King Veruna Arcadia.

Veruna’s reign became unpopular when Utapau became a player in the interstellar plasma energy market. High grade plasma veins were discovered below the streets of Theed, so Veruna and Senator Malus Palpatine decided to build a plasma mining and refining center in the heart of the city. Because the Utapauans were not fond of actual trade, they agreed to allow the Trade Federation to purchase the refined plasma at a fixed cost, though the Federation sold Utapau short by selling the plasma for marked up prices. The Utapauans immediately recognized that the Neimoidians had taken advantage of their lack of experience in interstellar commerce.

It did not take long for the people to protest and demand to be free of the contract. Veruna never wanted the trade agreement to begin with and sensed that there would be a military confrontation. Therefore, he expanded the role of the Space Fighter Corps, which was a division of the Royal Security Forces, and founded the N-1 starfighter squadron. The move was unpopular to the Utapauans, as they perceived them to be a provocative move towards the Trade Federation. Veruna quickly began attempting to suppress the dissenting opinions and expanded the size of the security forces twofold to spread them across the planet in an effort to create a police state.

Shortly thereafter, Veruna was assassinated and his daughter, Sabé Arcadia, rose to power. The new Queen Arcadia quickly began to reduce the size of the security forces once again, but she decided to keep the starfighter squadron for protection if the need arose. Because of that, there were death threats early on in her reign, so her Head of Security Captain Panaka insisted that she and her numerous handmaidens go through extensive combat training. After a short time, the threats subsided and Utapau seemingly returned to peace, at least until the Trade Federation began planning to blockade and invade the planet due to the anti-slavery laws Queen Arcadia and Senator Palpatine had helped draft and pass for the outlying systems of the Republic.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One