Onderon Lore

As we evacuate from our ancient homeworld of Ossus, our ordeal has led mind to stray towards the sith lords of our past, fallen Jedi who were tempted by the dark side of the force. Ossus was not the only planet that was scarred by a dark lord’s lust for power. Although it did not meet the same destructive fate as Ossus, the dark side has left its mark on Onderon’s people and its traditions, even hundreds of years after Jedi Master Arca Jeth’s attempt to cleanse the planet of its malignant spirits.

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A world defined by its customs, Onderon was once a beautiful and peaceful planet of open plains, expansive jungles and foreboding mountain ranges. Four moons orbited the world, one of which, known as Dxun, spent thousands of years passing close enough so that some beasts were able to fly onto the Onderonian surface, providing the native humans the motivation and need to form a defence against their foreign predators. This lead to the construction of the great city of Iziz – a settlement that grew as large as sixteen hundred square kilometres in area, right in the heart of the Onderonian jungle. As the natives became increasingly civilised and their hunting skills more advanced, the beast attacks became less and less frequent – hence the human and animal populations were able to coexist, leaving the planet in a state of harmony for years to come.

The dark side of the force was not as greatly understood by the Jedi of the Old Republic, and many knights would embrace the dark to a greater extent than is wise – one of which being the powerful Freedon Nadd. His path to evil began when he was just a Jedi padawan – killing his master and following the force to the teachings of Naga Sadow on Yavin 4. Eventually his lust for power became too great and he killed his teacher – leaving the planet, on a quest to take the galaxy for himself.

Four hundred years before the mandalorian wars, Onderon’s peace was disrupted, forever. By using the holocron of Adas to depose the planet’s existing monarchs, Freedon Nadd was able to crown himself as king. A brutish and savage race of “beast riders” were bred from the tyranny of Freedon Nadd – as his followers instilled havoc on Onderon and Iziz, sending the innocent opposers of Nadd into the harsh jungles to their deaths. Greatly underestimated, however, were the native Onderonians, showing unexpected resilience to survive and ultimately using the savage fauna to their advantage. The Naddists prospered for years, widely unaffected by any uprisings – remaining this way until almost four hundred years ago, when the Republic made the decision to intervene and liberate the city of Iziz… Once the Naddist Queen was killed, and peace restored, Onderon was able to rebuild with little interference, despite several uprisings by the remaining Nadd loyalists.

The words of Darth Traya became increasingly true as time went on, that “Onderon shall remain in the Republic, and the world shall prosper, though its people shall, over time, lose their customs in the ocean of the Republic and become the people of Onderon no longer” as although the Royal family still stood strong, influences from off-world were taking their toll on the planet and its inhabitants. Like many worlds, Onderon was not lucky enough to escape the Mandalorian wars – and despite several unsuccessful invasion attempts managed to remain a threat, and the Mandalorians kept an encampment on the harsh moon of Dxun. The decorated and bold Onderonian General Vaklu was eventually able to lead resistance forces to many victories against the Mandalorian invaders – gaining him great respect with his people…

However, Vaklu, unlike the Onderonian Queen Talia, much preferred to use force and violence to deal with matters and therefore greatly disagreed with the queen’s methods and alliance with the Galactic Republic. These differences didn’t cause many issues until the famed “Ebon Hawk” republic ship was wrongly accused by Vaklu for attempting an attack on the planet, sparking a rebellion on the surface against the Queen, eventually leading to an all out civil war.

The great and feared Darth Nihilus became a powerful ally of the rebellion on Onderon, as the resourceful Vaklu struck a deal with the sith – allowing them to visit the tomb of Freedon Nadd on Dxun, while he gained troops and means for victory in what was a closely contended civil war. If it weren’t for the rebellious and heroic actions of the Jedi Exile Meetra Surik – Vaklu and the sith armies could have overthrown the queen. Queen Talia’s forces proved victorious – returning Onderon to its somewhat peaceful ways…

The repairs from the civil war were completed quickly with funding from the Republic, however the scars from the events ran deep in Onderonian hearts and minds. To this day, Onderon has remained largely unharmed by their enemies – however the galaxy is once again at war. At this time of uncertainty – will Onderon remain loyal to the Republic? Perhaps the royal family would rather cut all ties and remain neutral? The merits of siding with a strong empire may even result in disagreements in the ranks…

As I close this holocron, and place it amongst the others of its kind researched by Jedi Historian Azilori, I can only hope that we have learned much from the historic strife on Onderon, and that its peace can be maintained. Onderon plays a crucial role in growth of desolate and destroyed worlds much like Ossus, and its rich plant and animal life may one day catch the eye of the Empire. If the Empire is able to sway the royal house, and the descendants of the beast riders, the Republic may have already lost its foothold on the troubled planet of Onderon.

Thank you to Azilori for writing this lore entry!