Yag'Dhul

Yag'Dhul was a small world located in the Inner Rim at the intersection of the Rimma Trade Route and the Corellian Trade Spine. The complex interaction of orbits and rotations between Yag'Dhul and its three moons meant that the planet was continually beset by massive tidal forces powerful enough to pull the atmosphere into different regions, exposing large areas of the surface to hard vacuum.

It was the homeworld of the Givin, who evolved a sealable exoskeleton that allowed them to survive in vacuum. The desire to maximize advantages had led the Givin to switch alliances as variables changed, such as when they had allied themselves with the Separatists during the Clone Wars era and later with the New Republic.

Description

Planetology

Orbiting a yellow star,^[13][4] Yag'Dhul was a small but dense planet.^[5][1] The grey cloud cover made the world look not colorful.^[13] Three large moons and a low-frequency retrograde rotation combined to produce some of the severest tidal effects known in the galaxy. Yag'Dhul's retrograde rotation was 175 standard hours, but it took Yag'Dhul and its moons only 53 standard hours to orbit one another. Thus, Yag'Dhul's month was 122 standard hours shorter than its day:^[5] the planet spun in the direction opposite to the moons' orbit. As a result, Yag'Dhul's oceans and even its atmosphere flowed from one side of the planet to the other in a pattern predictable only through the application of advanced mathematics.^[5][15] In the process of moving, the atmosphere boiled and swirled, with storms sowing lightning through the gray clouds and flashes of red stone that were visible even from orbit.^[20]

At certain times of the year, the same three moons that wreaked havoc on Yag'Dhul's surface created especially perilous tidal conditions that extended the time required for ships to revert from hyperspace and navigate to new coordinates before returning to lightspeed.^[21]

Inhabitants

Natural challenges

Yag'Dhul was the homeworld of the Givin people.^[5][1][15] Scientists marveled that a sentient species had even been able to develop on such a planet,^[15] but the warmblooded Givin^[5] somehow managed to overcome all ecological challenges.^[15] To understand the evolution of the Givin and their world, it was necessary to fully appreciate the effect of the planet's enormous, unpredictable tides. One moment a being might have been standing beside a serene pond, gazing contemplatively at floating flowers and frolicking water mammals, while an hour later the lake might have been rushing past under the tremendous pull of Yag'Dhul's three moons, carrying with it the flowers, the frolicking mammals and even the surrounding air. Within two hours, all that remained of the lake was a frozen plain exposed directly to the hard vacuum of space.^[5]

Life on Yag'Dhul adopted two basic survival strategies to deal with this unpredictable environment. The first method was to remain mobile, so that when the water and the air rushed to the other side of the planet, the organism was carried along. The advantages of this were obvious, because under these conditions the organism was never exposed to the harsh conditions of vacuum. As a result, the unpredictability of the tides made it difficult to establish regular cycles for breeding, feeding, photosynthetic activity, and other functions. In addition, the tides could carry the organism to the frigid polar regions one day and to the sultry equatorial areas the next, and surviving the rapid changes between such extremes presented its own challenges.^[5] Strategies of mobile survival, for example, were followed by some animal species that traveled along with the tides.^[14]

The other survival strategy was for the organism to gradually seal itself against the vacuum, as the evolutionary ancestors of the Givin had done.^[5] Their bizarre exoskeleton, composed of impermeable outer bone plates connected by flexible membranes, formed a type of organic vacuum suit that sealed off all orifices and openings. To make use of this evolutionary adaptation, the Givin had to enter a state of hibernation, which required them to gorge on large quantities of nutritious food beforehand. While sealed inside their exoskeletons, the Givin did not respire, instead producing all necessary energy from stored fats.^[5][15] In addition, the Givin had developed a physiological ability to sense barometric pressure, allowing them to accurately anticipate tidal changes that required them to enter hibernation.^[15] This solution, however, was imperfect. As the Givin became more physiologically complex, their energy requirements increased, making it impossible to simply remain inside the exoskeleton until the atmosphere returned.^[5]

Intellectual society

As the Givin grew more intelligent,^[22] they realized that it was possible to predict the tidal patterns. Using advanced mathematics and complex formulas describing the orbits of the moons and the planet, they learned to determine the exact time, direction, and duration of tidal flows. Not surprisingly, the study of mathematics became a religion for the Givin, and mathematical law became the code by which they lived, with some priests even experimenting with «transcendental mathematics» and the development of formulas that could foretell the future.^[5]

All Givin language, culture, and religion centered on mathematics, which they credited with their ultimate salvation. The advanced study of equations was regarded as a highly devout pursuit – an attempt to reveal answers to the fundamental questions of life. With this central purpose, the Givin written languages were composed of thousands of specially defined mathematical symbols. Arithmetic even extended into Givin decorative arts and appeared in wall treatments and body adornments.^[15]

Mathematicians were the most powerful and revered members of Givin society, making it possibly the only example of a mathematocracy in the galaxy.^[5] As befitted a mathematical theocracy,^[15] the most intelligent of the young Givin competed in mathematical contests for the right to enter monasteries dedicated to the study of mathematics. There, through ardent investigation and the assiduous application of quadratic equations, quantum theory, and the computational complexities of non-linear systems, they hoped to be graced with solutions to life's most complex equations, such as the meaning of life expressed mathematically – or, at the very least, to become leaders of their communities.^[5]

The Givin planetary governor was selected through contests involving the calculation of multidimensional differentials. All political decisions were also made according to the guidelines of null-modal probability by ruling bodies known as the Body Calculus and the coalition of Factors, although the respective responsibilities of these bodies were not disclosed to outsiders. Givin religious practices were led by extraordinarily gifted mathematicians who served as priests and lorekeepers.^[15]

The Givin resided in cities-shelters composed of hermetically sealed buildings capable of withstanding even the severest ravages of the planet's tides, and their priests were able to predict the tides with such accuracy that, at low tide, the Givin routinely mined the deepest ocean floors.^[5][1][9]

History

Republican era

Early history

On the planet Yag'Dhul, the Givin were humanoid aliens with extremely durable exoskeletons and ghastly visages. They had evolved their exoskeletal structure in response to their homeworld's frequent environmental shifts, which regularly left vast portions of the planet without atmosphere.^[1] Givin priests, deeply engaged in the study of the mathematical mysteries of their planet's rotation, could predict these patterns with such accuracy that they were able to keep their homes stable and peaceful. This also enabled them to mine the world's natural resources, making them a generally wealthy species with a stable economy.^[15]

Guided by the absolute insights of mathematics, Givin society had developed extremely advanced technology.^[5] Givin monasteries devoted themselves to unraveling the meaning of life through complex equations, and every young Givin dreamed of being the one who solved the final formula. This devotion to numbers made the Givin particularly useful beyond their homeworld. Givin ships used computers only for data storage, as the Givin calculated hyperspace vectors in their heads more quickly than most navigation computers.^[1]

The Givin were far from the first civilization to master interstellar travel. Yag'Dhul became part of the Galactic community around 20,000 BBY during the so-called Great Manifest Period and alongside the settlement of the Trailing Sectors by the nascent Galactic Republic.^[6] During the early stages of the Alsakan Conflicts, Yag'Dhul joined the Corellian faction, which refused to take part in the disputes between Coruscant and Alsakan.^[7]

The development of the shipbuilding industry

The subsequent millennia of space exploration pushed back the borders of known space and improved Yag'Dhul's strategic position.^[6] By the 5500s BBY,^[6] the Herglic Trade Empire and the merchants of the Tapani sector spurred the expansion^[23] of an ancient Herglic route known as the Hidakai Pool,^[24] which extended from the Colonies into the southern regions, thus created the Rimma Trade Route. At the same time, this developing route, along with the less prosperous Corellian Trade Spine and the Hydian Way at the strategically important Eriadu,^[23] increased in length two thousand years later and furthered the long boom, knitting the region together for traders from across the galaxy.^[6] Situated at the intersection of the Rimma Trade Route and the Corellian Trade Spine,^[15][6][25] Yag'Dhul became a major reversion point and the site of skirmishes dating back millennia.^[21]

The Givin made excellent shipwrights,^[1] and the shipyards that circled Yag'Dhul produced sturdy and elegant starships that competed on a level matched only by those of the Duros or the Verpine.^[9] The Givin were heavily involved in the transport of goods and could be found throughout the galaxy thanks to their sleek, fast starships. However, these ships were of little use to other species, as the Givin took full advantage of their peculiar physiology to save weight and increase cargo space, pressurizing only their sleeping quarters.^[5] With their voluminous cargo vessels, the Givin ran one of the galaxy's largest and most efficient shipping and transport businesses.^[15]

Separatists crisis

Yag'Dhul remained part of the Galactic Republic for millennia, except for a brief period during the Jedi Civil War when it was conquered by Darth Revan's forces. Nevertheless, the long-standing alliance between Yag'Dhul and the Republic came to an end with the onset of the massive Separatist Crisis, which engulfed the galaxy nearly a millennium after the Ruusan Reformations.^[6]

In the final months leading up to the Clone Wars,^[18] as the splintering of the Republic became increasingly common, the Body Calculus on the planet Yag'Dhul, together with the collective domain and range of the Givin people, decided to leave the larger Republic. Senator Daggibus Scoritoles transmitted Articles of Secession via the HoloNet to the Senate in the morning, making the separation official. In the process, he expressed regret that the decision had been made but emphasized that «the threats of remaining were greater than or equal to the threats of secession». The statement was also simulcast across the broadcast towers of Yag'Dhul's largest civic shelters. The transmission was accompanied by numerous charts and graphs explaining the action. According to the broadcast, the Body Calculus's most revered mathematicians had developed functional models of the Republic's political situation. By advancing the model along its time axis, the resulting projections indicated a bleak future for both the Republic and Yag'Dhul specifically.^[16]

The war that divided the galaxy

Consequently, the planet seceded, and the native Givin later served as mathematicians for the Confederacy of Independent Systems, discovering new hyperlanes for the war effort^[26] and contributing Wavecrest-class frigates^[27] from their well-regarded shipyards. The planet served as the base for the First Fleet of the Confederate Navy. Its shipbuilding capabilities were apparently destroyed during or after the Clone Wars, but the industrious Givin rebuilt them by the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Under the Empire and the rise of the New Republic

The planet's politics were complex, but certain factions in the government supported resistance against the Galactic Empire. An Empress-class space station named Yag-prime was built by the Rebel Alliance over Yag'Dhul during the Galactic Civil War.

After the Battle of Endor, the planet was under the control of Warlord Sander Delvardus. The New Republic freed the planet in 5 ABY.^[6]

However, Warlord Zsinj held the station Yag-prime in 6 ABY. The station was captured from his forces by the New Republic,^[13] and became, with the permission of the Givin government, the site of Rogue Squadron's orbiting base for training during the Bacta War. The New Republic maintained official possession of the station until the Givin demanded that it be ceded a few years after the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty.

The planet joined the New Republic sometime between 4 ABY and 9 ABY. It was a New Republic stronghold during the Thrawn campaign.^[6]

Yuuzhan Vong War and the years that followed

The planet was contested during the Yuuzhan Vong War at the Battle of Yag'Dhul, the Yuuzhan Vong's intention being to take Yag'Dhul to use it as a staging ground for an assault on Thyferra. With Thyferra, Yag'Dhul was said to have been secured by Galactic Alliance forces before the retaking of Coruscant.

Despite their xenophobic tendencies, the Givin were members of the Galactic Alliance, seeing such membership as a statistical advantage to their people's economy and political well-being. At that time, any ambassadors who worked with the Givin had to undergo extensive education in mathematics in order to negotiate with them, lest they found themselves at a considerable disadvantage. At some point no earlier than 36 ABY, Yag'Dhul was described in a guide to various species of the galaxy that was based on the research notes of sentientologist Mammon Hoole.^[15] By 137 ABY, the homeworld of the Givin lay within the boundaries of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire.^[6]

Behind the scenes

The PC game Star Wars: Rebellion mistakenly places Yag'Dhul in the Glythe sector of the Mid Rim. In addition, in the game, Yag'Dhul was depicted as a lifeless planet, pockmarked with craters and with a barely visible atmosphere.

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references