Yin

Yin was a planet in the Unknown Regions, a member world of the Golden Empire and the homeworld of the Vuuls.

Geography
Many terrains made up Yin. Over two thirds of the world was water, but most continents were at least connected by thin isthmuses, though island chains dotted the oceans as well. Much of the land was at high altitudes, leading to vast stretches of alpine tundra on either side of mountain ranges. Valleys cloven deep between major mountains were considered prime real estate, as they were the source of some of the purest water and only for hundreds of kilometers. The forests at lower altitudes were dense and covered more territory than the grassy plains where Vuuls who preferred lower altitudes built their cities.

Though trees could not grow at the tundra altitudes on Yin, the terrain was dominated by expansive shrub grasses and bushes which provided grazing food for herds of herbivores, which in turn made up the diet of Yin's high altitude predators. The forests in the lowlands featured a wider variety of both predators and prey. Neither set of fauna could comfortably exist in the other's home region, though exportation of both to other planets met with some success.

Society and culture
The Vuuls controlled Yin, living at all altitudes except the high mountains. As countries began to spread their influence over areas with both major altitudes, the Vuuls created complex lift systems to transport themselves from one level to the other, along with the much slower process of painstakingly crafting safe roads, many of which had to be forcibly dug into ground, as clear paths did not always exist to simply be paved.

After it encountered offworld cultures, Yin drew most of its income by exporting livestock. Many of its tundra herd animals were able to survive in the warmer areas of Iscandar, leading to a booming trade in their exportation. The Vuuls also had many vineyards at all altitudes, which produced wine enjoyed by many humanoids; the wine grown in the rare deep valleys between mountain ranges was usually the most expensive, with the oldest vintages retailing for over a thousand Royal credits a bottle.

History
The deliberative, calculating Vuuls evolved sentience tens of thousands of years before the Battle of Yavin. Biologic archaeologists were divided about whether the Vuuls originated in the lowlands or the highlands; fossil evidence showed the existence of distinct subspecies of Vuul ancestors in both regions. It was believed that, regardless of where the Vuuls originated, they spread to both altitudes, diverged into slightly different species, and then reformed a single species through interbeeding.

Progress toward forming nations was either painstakingly slow or lightning quick, with very few instances of a middle option. The Vuuls invested a great deal of time into important decisions, and the idea of extending society through diplomacy or conquest usually took years or even decades of planning. However, once executed, their well-conceived plans usually met with success unless countered by the superior planning of other Vuuls. In the last century before its first offworld conflict, one Vuul nation spent twenty-seven years planning the conquest of another, then proceeded to topple it in a week when it finally activated the plan.

In 387 BBY, Iscali explorers from Iscandar arrived at Yin and established contact with the Vuuls. Using primitive translator droids, each was able to slowly piece together the other's language, and trade began between the two species. The Iscali were eager to import Yin's highland livestock to their frigid homeworld, and in turn they traded spacefaring technology to the Vuuls. The Vuuls proceeded to explore each of their planet's three moons, and allowed numerous Iscali to settle on Yin, though nearly all preferred the cooler highlands, or even the mountains.

By 95 ABY, through diplomacy and war (both often motivated by the economics of trade with Iscandar and Tershin), the Vuuls had reduced themselves to two large nations controlling the entire planet. In that year, Iscandar joined the Golden Empire and shared its navigational information with its new parent government, leading the Empire to Yin. After consultation with Rin Sakaros, in which she used her telepathic powers to share individual thoughts in all minds and bypass what would have been weeks of basic discussion, the slightly intimidated Vuuls took a relatively short seven months to agree to join the Empire.

After the Great Liberation, Yin became one of the sites of the basic training sites of the Royal Army. Trade in Yin's wine also boomed, as it was considered a luxury good on many worlds and prices leapt accordingly.

Appearances

 * The Fall of Keltrayu