Drahgor III

"Is the weather always this bad on Drahgor Three, Flix?"
"No, it's getting worse. I barely recognize my planet anymore."

―Kazuda Xiono asks Flix about Draghor III's weather — 20?cb=20250116042720

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Drahgor III, or Drahgor Three, was a terrestrial planet in the Outer Rim Territories' Drahgor system. It was the homeworld of the sentient Gozzo species, which mined into their planet's ground for fuel resources. Stories passed down between generations of miners warned not to dig too deep and disturb the Karnex Dragon, which existed largely in ancient legends. One Gozzo flock owned the Drahgor III station refinery. Flix, a relative of the flock, worked with them before he left the planet to pursue other careers.

In 34 ABY, Flix returned to Drahgor III to acquire fuel for the supertanker fuel depot Colossus, joined by a crew from the depot. Flix found his cousins, who were deep core drilling for more fuel resources. The refinery boss Flanx laughed at and taunted Flix but agreed to provide fuel in exchange for the crew's help fixing a drill. As they made their way to the drill, though, a Karnex Dragon, who had been disturbed by the recent drilling, caused the lift to break, splitting up the group.

While Flanx did not believe the dragons existed, a portion of the group fixed the drill, only for a Karnex Dragon to attack them and take Flanx into its tunnels. Flix and two of his allies went and saved his cousin, being able to repel the dragon and others of its kind using lights. Flanx and the Colossus crew made it back to the refinery, where the refinery boss put a halt to all deep core mining and granted the crew the fuel they needed. The creature cartographer and artist Ardis San Tekka later visited Drahgor III and learned about the stories of the Karnex Dragon, writing about it in her journal.

Description

"That roar! You know what that means, Flanx. The dragon."
"Wait, did he just say dragon?"

―Flix mentions the Karnex dragon, much to Kazuda Xiono's dismay — 20?cb=20250116042720

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Drahgor III lay at the edge of the Outer Rim Territories

Drahgor III,^[5] also known as Drahgor Three, was a terrestrial planet in the third orbital position^[2] of the Drahgor system. Situated in the Colundra sector at the coordinates S-4 of the Standard Galactic Grid, it lay within the Outer Rim Territories^[1] near the reaches of Wild Space and the end of the Perlemian Trade Route^[6] super-hyperroute.^[7]

The planet was rocky and appeared yellow from space due to a blanket of yellow fog over its surface. Draghor III had a dense^[8] Type I atmosphere^[3] that was breathable to various species such as Gozzos and humans and filled with near-constant lightning. The planet's barren^[2] mercurial surface^[5] was covered in mountainous spires with large cave networks beneath the surface.^[2] Under the ground were rich ores^[5] that could be refined into fuel. Although it was believed only Gozzos lived on Drahgor III,^[2] subterranean tunnels underground were home to the Karnex Dragons, fifty-meter-long carnivores that fed off of rodents and other smaller mammals that also dwelled in the tunnels.^[4]

History

Society of miners

"There's a legend that tells of a race of majestic dragons that live deep underground. The old Gozzo flock warned against getting greedy, drilling too deep, and unleashing the beast from below."

―Flix explains the Karnex Dragons^[2]

The Karnex Dragon was warned about in Gozzo legends.

Over some time, the native Gozzos worked in flocks to mine Draghor III^[9] for its fuel resources. The Karnex Dragons remained in ancient legends,^[2] which told of a group of miners digging too deep and aggravating the beasts.^[4] Subsequently, the old Gozzo flock warned not to get greedy and drill too deep into the ground, as it could unleash the creatures,^[2] and deep core mining was traditionally prohibited.^[8] The stories of the dragons were passed down between generations of miners on Drahgor III,^[4] always told to the youngest hatchlings of Gozzo flocks, and some that did venture into deep pockets of the ground came back with their stories of beasts down there, transforming the legend from just a children's tale.^[10] Despite this, the beasts were generally considered a myth by many on the planet.^[8]

A flock of Gozzo miners owned the Drahgor III station refinery, eventually ran by the individual Floog. Among the flock's next generation were the Gozzos Flanx, Fleck, Flobb, and Fleez. Their cousin Flix was also a relative of the flock^[2] and was close with Flanx.^[11] Flix mined with the flock,^[2] but lacked a sense of belonging in the mining family.^[8] He chose to leave Drahgor III to become a cantina singer, much to the dismay of the rest of the flock. Floog eventually retired, leaving Flanx in charge of the business.^[2]

Legends return

"Well, well, well. Look what the storm dragged in. My long-lost cousin, Flix. Oh, I have dreamed of the day you'd come crawling back on your soft feathery belly."
"Wonderful to see you too, Flanx."

―Flanx and Flix^[2]

In 34 ABY,^[12] Flix was running the Office of Acquisitions shop with his partner, the Chadra-Fan Orka, on the supertanker fuel depot Colossus, which was fleeing from occupation by the First Order.^[8] At the same time, Flanx had gone against prohibitions and ran deep core drilling efforts under Drahgor III's surface, finding a huge pocket that could be mined for fuel. However, this mining also revealed tunnels containing some Karnex Dragons, which Flanx believed were a myth. Running low on fuel, the Colossus found that Drahgor III was their only nearby option and arrived in the planet's orbit, sending a Star Commuter 2000 shuttle to the surface carrying Flix, Orka, the pilot mechanics Kazuda Xiono and Torra Doza, and the droid CB-23.^[2]

Flix greets his cousins at the Drahgor III station refinery.

Flix could barely recognize his homeworld anymore as the team flew through the planet's lightning ridden atmosphere in the shuttle. A lightning strike disabled one of the shuttle's vertical stabilizers, but Xiono managed to land it at the refinery regardless. After Flix's crew disembarked, they quickly found Flanx, Fleck, Flobb and Fleez. Flanx taunted his long-lost cousin and laughed at his request for fuel, further explaining the recent deep core drilling. As Flix protested digging so deep, sounds of a Karnex Dragon were heard. Flanx made excuses for the sound, but noticed that their drill was offline. Xiono struck a deal with the refinery boss to help fix the drill in exchange for fuel.^[2]

Mythological encounters

"The ancient dragons are real. […] We have to stop digging so deep or we will let out more of those beasts. We shall no longer disrupt their natural home. That creature was only trying to protect its kin."

―Flanx, to his cousins in the refinery^[2]

The lift failure left some of the crew divided in the caves.

Flanx took Flix and the other Colossus crew on a lift into the caves, during which they debated the existence of the Karnex Dragon further. One of the creatures indeed passed the lift, and Xiono and Doza noticed movement. After Flix stopped the lift, the dragon caused rocks to drop on the lift, making it fall. Flix stopped the lift briefly, allowing Doza and Orka to climb the lift track, but it fell again, and the rest of the crew could only slow it before they jumped off onto two divided cavern cliffs. While Doza and Orka climbed back to the top, the others made their way to the drill. Xiono, split from the rest, encountered a Karnex Dragon first hand, but was spared from being eaten when he kept still. When the cave group reunited at the drill, Xiono attempted to warn Flanx about the dragon, to no avail.^[2]

Flanx's group fixed and reactivated the drill again, but they were interrupted by a Karnex Dragon that attacked them. With the group failing to stop it, the creature took Flanx into its caves. Determining that the dragon did not like light, Xiono, Flix, and CB-23 went into the cave. Meanwhile, Orka and Doza got to the top and took the shuttle into the caves, much to the skepticism of Fleck, Flobb, and Fleez, who had questioned what had happened to Flanx. Xiono's group soon found the Karnex Dragon trying to eat Flanx and used lights to help their friend escape. The four of them fled the tunnels to find themselves surrounded by the dragon and two more of its kind.^[2]

With Flix and Flob creating a distraction, Xiono and CB-23 activated flood lights that stunned the three Karnex Dragons. Lights from Orka and Doza's incoming shuttle repelled the creatures into the tunnels, and Flanx used the drill to block the entrance. After Flanx and Flix reconciled, they returned to the refinery with the rest of the Colossus crew. The refinery boss admitted to the other Gozzos he was wrong about the Karnex Dragons and ordered the deep core mining to stop. Flanx also asked for the Colossus crew to be given the fuel they needed. Once fuel was loaded onto the shuttle, it departed for the Colossus, and Flix waved goodbye to his cousins as he left.^[2]

Stories spread

"There must be some truth to this legend because I did not find a karnex on my travels—although I did speak with many residents who warned me against venturing too far into the caverns!"

―Ardis San Tekka, on researching Karnex Dragons on Drahgor III^[4]

Ardis San Tekka drew the Karnex Dragon in her journal after visiting Drahgor III.

Some time after the Colossus's visit to the Drahgor system, the creature cartographer and artist Ardis San Tekka travelled to Drahgor III, learning about the legends of the Karnex Dragons and the more recent incident with Flanx's mining efforts. Tekka could not find any of the dragons herself and was warned by residents not to travel too deep into the caves. In writing about her travels to the planet in her journal, she echoed what she had learned about the Karnex Dragons and agreed there could be some truth to the legends, adding some sketches of what she knew about the beast's appearance.^[4] Her journal was published no earlier than 35 ABY.^[13]

Inhabitants

"You— you think some giant, non-existent beast broke our drill? You know there's no life left here. Besides Gozzos, this planet is completely barren."

―Flanx, to Flix^[2]

Drahgor III was the homeworld of the Gozzo, a sentient long-limbed, feathery, beaked species.^[8] They were a proud species and worked together in family flocks, where they were both loyal and territorial.^[9] Native Gozzos included the mining family with Floog and the cousins below him,^[2] as well as Raxlo,^[8] the head of the Raxlo Corporation.^[14]

Locations

"The only refueling station this far out and it has to be owned by my cousins."

―Flix, to Orka^[2]

Floog, and eventually Flanx, ran the Drahgor III station refinery on Drahgor III, which stood atop some mountain cliffs and was connected by a lift to caverns below where they ran mining operations. The refinery acted as a refueling station and was the only one of its kind in Drahgor III's end of the galaxy.^[2]

Behind the scenes

"We really wanted to do like a kind of like a creepy planet, and we were to have a dragon monster, you know like any monster, a part of it. […] And we were trying to figure out how can we, you know, we gotta like tie it in some of our characters into this world. So we thought 'oh it would be great to just, you know, have Flix.'"

―Brandon Auman explains the conception of Drahgor III^[15]

Concept of Drahgor III's landscape by Jason Pichon

Drahgor III was first mentioned in the reference book Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition^[16] released on October 4, 2019.^[17] It first appeared in "From Beneath,"^[2] the sixth episode of the second season of the animated television series Star Wars Resistance, which aired November 10 of that year.^[18] Footage of the world was teased beforehand in the official trailer for the season, released on the official Star Wars YouTube channel on August 14, 2019.^[19]

According to Brandon Auman,^[15] one of the executive producers for "From Beneath,"^[2] the ideas around the story for the episode started with the conception of Drahgor III. Ideas of a creepy planet with a dragon similar to the Krayt dragon stemmed into concepts of a barren mining planet. The need to tie it into the story of the Star Wars: Resistance characters led to Flix's backstory being brought in.^[15] Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt, the writers for "From Beneath,"^[2] had not expected the story of Flix to be fleshed out.^[20]

In an interview with Burke and Wyatt, the latter expressed his enjoyment creating the new setting around Drahgor III, feeding from classic Star Wars concepts of a distrusting planet with mysterious aspects. Burke added that it represented the ability for a show of that many episodes to look into characters in ways that the Star Wars films, and even Star Wars Disney+ series, could not.^[20] Concept art for Drahgor III was done by Lucasfilm Animation artists Aaron Pham,^[21] Jason Pichon,^[22]^[23]^[24] Jim Moore,^[25] and JP Balmet^[26] on January 24^[21] and February 6,^[22]^[23]^[24] 7,^[25] and 9 of 2018 respectively.^[26]