Olarian Freehold

"The Holy Tribunal of the great Olarian Freehold bids thee welcome, master Jedi. A word of warning from our grand master, the Lord of the Tribunal: If you are here to cause harm to our carefully built Freehold, we will be legally required to place you under arrest."

- An Olarian representative greets

The Olarian Freehold, sometimes termed Olarian Space or the Olarian Empire by outsiders, was a galactic government established in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy by the secretive and highly elusive Olarians.

Based on the capital planet of Olara Prime, the Freehold was ruled by the aristocratic "Triarchs", heads of noble families who hold great power and vast wealth. The Triarchs answered to the Tribunal, the de jure rulers of the Freehold.

In truth, the Freehold of Olara and its conquered planets at the zenith of its power was neither an empire nor a republic, or at least it had neither an emperor nor a chancellor or prime minister. Instead, all freeholders, or freeborn landowners, had a say in its governance.

In practice, however, the Freehold was ruled by the lords freeholder, powerful noble families, from which the head of each family was called a "Triarch". They were forty families of great wealth, high birth, and strong "sorcerous" ability, those families in turn answered to the Tribunal, who possessed the greater power over the entire Freehold.