Rystan system

The Rystan system was a star system in Wild Space and the Western Reaches. In addition to its star, it contained the Rystan Badlands asteroid field and the tidally locked planet Rystan. At some point no earlier than 379 BBY, the Evereni Velya Faer told the Evereni pirate leader Marda Ro about the system being a meeting spot for the Evereni species, which the pirate then mentioned in a message she recorded for her descendants.

By 252 BBY, Ro's great-great-grandson Marchion Ro had listened to Ro's journal. In 231 BBY, Marchion—having become the Eye of the Nihil—and the navigator Udi Dis visited Rystan to retrieve a Force-consuming monster called the Great Leveler, a task with which Ro's cousin Kufa assisted him. Ro killed both Dis and Kufa upon securing the Leveler.

Description

The Rystan system was located in grid square M-20 of the Standard Galactic Grid, in Wild Space^[1] and the Western Reaches.^[2] The system featured a weak star that was orbited by the tidally locked wasteland planet Rystan. It also contained the dangerous Rystan Badlands ice asteroid field, which had many asteroids with a mass of millions of tons. A comet could also be found in the system.^[3]

History

Significance to the Evereni

The system became a meeting spot for members of the Evereni species at some point^[4] between 500 BBY^[5] and a point no earlier than 379 BBY.^[6] At that time, the Evereni Velya Faer noted this fact to Marda Ro—the Evereni^[4] founder of a group of pirates who would eventually become the Nihil^[7]—after^[4] she^[8] mentioned having been told that Evereni only met in death by another member of the species. Ro later mentioned the system in a recording she made for her descendants.^[4]

By 252 BBY,^[9] during his youth, Ro's great-great-grandson Marchion Ro had listened to her journal, including the message where the system was mentioned.^[8] Between a point no earlier than 379 BBY and 241 BBY,^[10] the Great Leveler—a beast that fed on the Living Force—found its way from^[3] Marda's possession^[4] to a Shrine under Rystan's Golamaran ice flats. During the Leveler's time there, faithful believers such as the Evereni Kufa made pilgrimages to the Shrine, but over time, they lost faith and stopped visiting it.^[3]

Nihil conflict

By 231 BBY,^[11] the Rystan Badlands had become littered with wrecks of cruisers that had failed to pass through the asteroid field.^[3] That year,^[11] the Force-sensitive Talortai navigator Udi Dis piloted a starship called the Squall Spider through the field, carrying Marchion Ro—who had ascended to the rank of Eye of the Nihil—onboard for his mission to Rystan. During their journey, a comet plowed through the Rystan Badlands, triggering a chain reaction of collisions. Shortly after, Ro entered the cockpit to inquire how much longer it would take to reach the end of the badlands. The Talortai said that they would reach the end in a few minutes and noted it would have been quicker to use a Path hyperlane to reach Rystan, but Ro explained that he wished to observe Dis' impressive flying skills.^[3]

After exiting the badlands, Dis brought the Spider around the system's star and entered Rystan's atmosphere. The ship landed in the planet's habitable band, where the pair met Kufa, Ro's cousin. Kufa led Ro and Dis across the Golamaran ice flats and through underground tunnels into the Shrine. In the Shrine, Dis began to experience visions of his homeworld and his father due to the Leveler's influence on Force-sensitives. Satisfied that the legends about its power were true, Ro killed both Kufa and the Talortai and took the Leveler with him back to the planetoid Grizal, where Ro's Nihil pirates had a base. There, the Twi'lek Tempest Runner Lourna Dee asked him about his mission, and Ro told her it was successful. Soon after, the Dowutin Tempest Runner Pan Eyta told his fellow Tempest Runners about his suspicion that Ro had used the Rystan system expedition to silence Dis and keep the origin of the Paths a secret.^[3]

In 230 BBY, the Nihil raised the Stormwall barrier around an area on the Galactic Frontier, blocking hyperspace travel across the Stormwall.^[12] The Rystan system was initially thought to be a part of the region that lost contact with the rest of the galaxy,^[13] but in reality remained outside of the Stormwall.^[14] Weeks later, in 229 BBY,^[15] the Vurk Jedi Master Harli Cogra included Rystan on a map of the affected area in the first chapter of their book, Chronicles of the Jedi.^[13]

Behind the scenes

The Rystan system first appeared in Cavan Scott's The High Republic: The Rising Storm, a 2021 novel released as a part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project's^[3] Phase I.^[16] The system was later first identified by name in the short story "A Closed Fist Has No Claws," written by Tessa Gratton and published in the young-adult anthology The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life as a part of the multimedia project^[4] on September 5, 2023.^[17]

The reference book Star Wars: The High Republic: Chronicles of the Jedi, written by Cole Horton^[13] and published on March 21, 2023,^[18] includes an in-universe map depicting the Rystan system within the original borders of the Occlusion Zone, which would make the world a part of the Galactic Frontier.^[13] The reference book Star Wars: The Acolyte: The Visual Guide,^[14] published on June 17, 2025,^[19] written by Pablo Hidalgo with map contributions by Jason Fry and Christopher Ibbitt, establishes different borders for the Occlusion Zone that place the Rystan system outside of it.^[14]

Additionally, Ibbit's^[20] Star Wars Galaxy Map,^[21] created for the reference book Star Wars: Timelines and given out as a promotional poster at Celebration Anaheim^[22] on May 27, 2022,^[23] prior to the book's release during Celebration Europe^[24] of April 7 through 10, 2023,^[25] labels the Rystan system as belonging to the Outer Rim Territories.^[26] Meanwhile, the map from The Visual Guide labels it as being situated beyond the borders of the Outer Rim.^[14] The appendix "Star Systems of the Galaxy," published on the StarWars.com website^[1] as part of Star Wars Galaxy Map article^[27] on June 24, 2025—with both works being authored by Fry^[28]—further specifies that the Rystan system is in Wild Space.^[1] This article assumes that as more recent sources than either Chronicles of the Jedi or the Star Wars Galaxy Map, The Visual Guide and "Star Systems of the Galaxy" are correct.

Appearances

• "A Closed Fist Has No Claws" — The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life (and audiobook) (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s)) (First identified as Rystan system)
• The High Republic: The Rising Storm (and audiobook) (First appearance)

Sources

• Star Wars Galaxy Map poster (also published on StarWars.com)
• Star Wars: The High Republic: Chronicles of the Jedi
• Star Wars: The Acolyte: The Visual Guide
• Star Wars Galaxy Map on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
• Star Systems of the Galaxy on StarWars.com (current version) (backup link) (previous version)

Notes and references