Nylath

Nylath was a planet located in the Outer Rim, in the Ferra sector and discovered in 3,000 BBY. It was first colonized in 1,800 BBY by servants of Sith lord Nevath Jermin as he expanded his territory. The planet was conquered in 1,752 BBY by the Spri'lek Freedom Front following their rebellion against Nevath Jermin. Thereafter it became their adopted homeworld, which they expanded across and placed heavily into agriculture. Following the end of the New Sith Wars the planet was forced to submit a tribute of slaves each year to the Desilijic Hutt clan, but otherwise retained sovereignty. It joined the Galactic Republic but received neither protection or representation.

In 25 BBY the planet was visited by Jedi Knight Shakvail who came to study the Spri'Leks and retrieve Sith artifacts. She fought an Alchemical nematode monster there and obtained a clue to the origin of her own species from a Rakatan artifact before departing.

The planet orbited a red dwarf, and was only habitable due to opaque, heat-retaining cloud-cover. It had a uniform climate, and though habitable, had an ambient temperature only a few degrees above freezing. The environment was primarily grassy steppe, and large grain fields. Native creatures included a number of reptoids and insect, but the overall ecology was simplified compared to most terrestrial planets.

Discovery
Nylath was discovered in 3,000 BBY by Czerka Arms scouts searching the sector for potential mining sites. Considered marginally habitable by the surveyors and isolated from any nearby hyperlanes, the planet went ignored for a considerable period.

Colonization
In 1,800 BBY, the Nylath system became part of the growing dominion of Nevath Jermin, one of the many minor Sith Lords of the period. Though the system fell into his possession based on vague territorial lines drawn on stellar maps, Jermin's extraordinary paranoia demanded that it, like all other planets in his possession, have at least rudimentary defenses. He placed three hundred tiny outposts across the planet, and imported thirty-thousand soldiers. Another one hundred thousand settlers and a large number of agricultural droids were also imported in order to provide the soldiers with the necessary supplies. Though they stuck to the immediate environs of their outposts, this first group of colonists began the work of introducing agriculture to the planet.

Spri'Lek Conquest
In 1,754 BBY Nevath Jermin began to suffer severe military setbacks, and lost hold of many systems, including his capital of Siskeen. The many Spri'Lek slaves he had been breeding and stockpiling there joined in widespread rebellion, forming the Spri'Lek Freedom Front. Successfully escaping the Sith lord's clutches the Spri'Lek's, led by Teli'ral, sought out a world they could claim for their own, a place no one would hunt for them. After some deliberation, they chose Nylath.

Arriving in 1,752 BBY in stolen transports and appropriated capital ships, the Spri'Leks led a swift and thorough attack on the small outposts, bombarding them from high altitude before moving in on the ground. The tiny garrisons, by then isolated, low on supplies, and in exceedingly poor morale, quickly sued for peace. They were allowed to pack into the stripped-down stolen transports and leave. This agreement bound all residents, so no one but the Spri'Leks remained.

The remaining Sith outposts, most half-ruined, were quickly plundered and abandoned, considered taboo by the populace thereafter.

New Sith Wars
Teli'ral was able to convince his people to establish a loose, representative democracy, convincing them to break with the clan institutions on their Twi'Lek forebears. This resulted in an elected Council of Elders to rule the people, but it would come to have little power as the Spri'Leks dispersed across the wide steppes of Nylath and came to dwell in small, isolated local communities.

Nevath Jermin swore vengeance on his escaped slaves, but was dead within in a year, crushed by one of many rivals, and nothing came of his plans. While war waged across much of the Spice Triangle for centuries, Nylath remained isolated and ignored, and the Spri'Leks largely forgotten by the galaxy. The population grew slowly, limited by a lack of advanced technology, as only local smugglers could be found to bring in needed supplies, but it gradually expanded across the face of the planet.

The Council of Elders chose to allow refugees to immigrate to Nylath, primarily as a means of acquiring technological resources. It barred only Twi'leks, allowing any other species. While the number of arrivals was small, it had important impacts. In 1,230 BBY a human refugee named Farns Palk introduced a simple piece of machinery and efficient chemical process for the development of ration bars from locally sourced grains. This provided the planet with an economically viable method of foodstuff exports for the first time, and greatly increased development.

The Hutts
Following the end of the New Sith Wars, Nylath began to enjoy regular contact with the greater galaxy. While initially beneficial, this soon proved problematic. Following a pirate raid in 980 BBY the presence of Spri'Leks became widely known, and they quickly rose high in the ranks of most desirable slave species in the galaxy. Massive slaver depredations plagued the planet for the next decade. Though the locals tried to resist, they lacked the weapons to fight effectively, and the resources to purchase mercenary aid. A plea to the Republic for assistance fell on deaf ears, they were simply too remote to be deemed of importance. In the end, over three million Spri'Leks would be taken forcibly into bondage in ten years, and twice that many slain trying to resist.

Despairing for the survival of their people, the Council of Elders accepted an ambassador from the Desilijic Hutts. The Hutts desired to control the markets, Spri'Leks were valuable as novelty exotics, not a mass slave populace, and made the desperate leaders an offer they hated but could not find the will to refuse. That offer was one hundred a year, seventy-five women and twenty-five men, age twenty. In an incident that was highly revelatory regarding Spri'Lek psychology, it was put to a popular vote, planet wide, and passed by a four-to-one margin.

The bargain, though almost all outside observers considered it horrific, remained in place for almost one thousand years, ending only with the death of Jabba Deilijic Tiure in 4 ABY. Hutt backroom deals succeeded in controlling the slave trade, however, and piracy on the planet dropped to almost nothing in less than a decade. Spri'Lek children grew up dreading their twentieth birthdays, knowing that a brutally random lottery could change their fate forever.

A Jedi Visitor
Despite their bargain with the Hutts, Nylath and its Spri'Lek inhabitants remained largely unknown to the greater galaxy. In fact, it was not common knowledge that the Spri'Leks were actually a true breeding species, rather than a group of Twi'Lek mutants. The species had gone without formal study since their origins during the New Sith Wars. In 25 BBY, a young Jedi Knight named Shakvail chanced upon a record of the species in the Jedi archives and set out to change that. Sponsored by the Jedi High Council to investigate Sith ruins on the planet and determine whether any dark side threat remained, she would spend over a year on the planet.

Shakvail traveled widely during this time, befriending a number of locals, both native and immigrant, and covering a great deal of ground. She collected over ten thousand Sith artifacts, though nothing of particular significance. She also completed a proper sentientological profile of the Spri'Leks for the first time, recording physical, mental, and cultural traits. Shakvail's mission came to an abrupt end when an accidental venture dumped a Rakatan artifact into Lake Vulon. This caused a massive dark side reaction that interacted with basic life in the sediment to produce a monstrous Alchemical Nematode. Shakvail would subsequently locate, combat, and destroy this creature with the assistance of Spri'Lek hunter Wol Ferinth. The Nylath Rakatan Artifact was stripped of its power, and Shakvail returned it to Coruscant for safekeeping.

Clone Wars
Nylath had always been too insignificant for the Trade Federation to bother with, but it was likewise too remote for the Republic to care about. At the outbreak of the Clone Wars the planet was well beyond Republic grasp, but it was not garrisoned or represented in the CIS either. Public sentiment was with the Separatists, in the hope that a new government might offer protection from slavery and a chance to break their ancient bargain with the Hutts.

Instead, Nylath was faced with an altogether different crisis, one of refugees. The planet was well known among Ryloth's elite, and when that world came under attack, many freeing Twi'Leks thought to take shelter with their 'lost cousins' on their isolated planet. However, the species generally held very poor opinions of each other, and had undergone significant cultural divergence since last living in close proximity under the Sith. The Council of Elders upheld ancient law and refused all Twi'Leks admission, leading to several violent spaceport incidents.

This difficulty was resolved when the Council of Elders contacted Jedi Knight Shakvail, who was able to bring the issue to the Senate and find the Twi'Leks and alternate resettlement location.

Galactic Empire
Isolated as Nylath was, the formation of the Galactic Empire initially had little effect on the planet. Eventually, however, Imperial expansion caught up with even this remote world. In 4 BBY a planetary governor was dispatched, taking office in Fra'ral with a small garrison. This official's principle task was to collect taxes, almost entirely in foodstuffs, from the locals. Jabba the Hutt paid the governor sufficient bribes to have his slaving operation ignored. The result was severe strain on the local economy, and growth flatlined for over a decade.

Nylath's garrison was actually strengthened following the Battle of Endor as its resources, limited though they were, proved needed field rations for local army units. It remained in Imperial hands through 9 ABY, when it was abandoned following the defeat of Grand Admiral Thrawn.

New Republic and Further
The elimination of slaving brought about by the death of Jabba was cemented by the New Republic, which during its early years was far more responsive to the concerns of the Outer Rim worlds than either of the previous governments had been. Neglect would return soon enough, however, but slave raids did not. In part, because the Spri'Leks had confiscated the departing Imperial garrison's arms and mobilized a militia for their own defense, but in grater part due to the development of breeding operations for Spri'Lek slaves on several other planets to fill the galaxy's desires.

The planet continued its steady, agricultural existence thereafter, playing little part in galactic affairs. The Council of Elders authorized massive donations of foodstuffs to the New Republic during the Yuuzhan Vong War, but was not touched directly by the fighting. Several million refugees from a number of species were settled on the planet in the years that followed.

Spri'Lek
The Spri'Leks were by far the dominant species on Nylath, composing over 98% of the sentient population. Though not native to the planet, they had no homeworld of their own, and considered Nylath to be theirs. Spri'Lek culture centered on survival, and accepted hardship and loss. They avoided confrontation, preferring to negotiate and willing to take bad deals rather than risk violence. For the vast majority of their existence they labored under an agreement that offered an annual tribute of slaves to the Hutts in order to prevent violent raids.

Much of Spri'Lek culture was similar to that of the Twi'Leks from whence they sprang, but there were key differences. They were a far more egalitarian people, believing in democracy and equality among people, and having no use for clan structures, identifying by location instead. As their joined lekku limited expression compared to Twi'Leks, they came off as considerably more restrained.

The Spri'Leks preferred to avoid discussion of their Sith-touched origins, and all Sith sites on Nylath were taboo, and not to be visited under any circumstances.

The Spri'Leks were generally tolerant of immigrants, especially those who brought special skills with them, but they did not go out of their way to welcome newcomers, always suspicious that others were trying to take advantage of them.

Immigrants
Nylath hosted a small immigrant population of mixed species, living among the Spri'Lek majority. Rather than the steadfast, careful residents, this group fit closer to Outer Rim stereotypes, and tended to be more free-wheeling and adventurous. Few were involved in farming, with most fitting into societal niches left vacant by the Spri'Leks. Their numbers grew little, for few outsiders found Nylath's climate comfortable, and so only rarely had children.

Weather
Nylath's climate was extremely constant. The planet was continually cloaked in clay-colored clouds that retained and redistributed the modest quantity of solar radiation reaching the planet. Coupled with the lack of axial tilt, this meant the planet enjoyed a nearly constant temperature of 5 C in all regions. There was no seasonality.

Lacking geologic activity and with all dynamic surface features long since eroded, weather was a fairly constant series of intermittent rains, most coming on highly predictable cycles. Rarely cloud-cover variation could produce temperature differentials that resulted in powerful windstorms rushing across large areas of the planet's surface until reaching an ocean.

Terrain
Nylath consisted of low, rolling hills, shallow river valleys, coastal marshes, and wide, shallow seas. The planet was extremely flat overall, with less than one thousand meters of total elevation difference between the lowest ocean depths and highest hills. The planet was generally semi-arid, with water quickly draining off the uplands after rain and flowing through long, sluggish, winding rivers.

The overwhelming majority of Nylath was under agricultural production, with vast farms in massive squares apportioned across the landscape. These produced dryland cereal crops. Habitation was clustered near rivers and along the coasts.

Fauna and flora
Due to the static nature of Nylath's climate, and the extremely limited variation in environments, the planet had a simplified ecology compared to most terrestrial worlds. Most species lived relatively lethargic existences owing to the constant low temperatures. Vertebrate life was confined to anapsid reptoid forms. The Tortas, a diverse clade of tortoise-like animals were the primary herbivores. These were preyed upon by several species of Kasuchus, heavy-jawed predators with a resemblance to crocodiles. Amphibious versions of both groups were dominant in aquatic environments as well, as the planet possessed no fish. Kasuchus could grow to be quite large, and were both dangerous predators and a prized source of meet to the Spri'Leks, though they were elusive and difficult to bring down de to their tough hides.

Invertebrate lifeforms were more diverse than their back-boned counterparts, but still rather basic. Molluscs were prevalent in aquatic environments, while the drier, chill uplands were dominated by the vast colony-dwelling Mud Ants, actually a eusocial species of beetle. These are seed harvesters and are the planet's primary dispersal agent. Though not toxic, Mud Ants swarmed and bit if their tunnels, located within the roots of native grasses, were disturbed, and could be a hazard to the unwary.

Nylath's primary ecosystem was steppe, with trees found only along rivers. Slow-growing conifers, the Firals could live for twenty thousand years and grow to over fifty meters in height. However, the vast majority of these giants were harvested during the Sith occupation and Spri'Lek efforts to regrow them are only beginning.

The steppe accommodated a great many native grasses, most highly adjusted for the various microclimates and soil types that served as the only real difference between one region and the next. At present, however, these species have mostly been confined to marginal areas and severe slopes. The Spri'Leks converted almost the entire arable surface of Nylath to the production of cerale, rtace, and yei, non-native grains that grow extremely well in the climate. Riverside and wetland areas are used for vegetable plots.

Behind the scenes
Nylath was created on, by Mechalich, for use in the novella Shakvail: Beginnings as the setting for the final chapter. It was developed as the homeworld for the fanon species known as Spri'Leks.

Appearances

 * Shakvail: Beginnings