Zealots of Psusan

The Zealots of Psusan were a religious cult^[1] that dominated three colonies along the Talcene Transit hyperspace route. Aesthetes of the faith paid high prices for the root segments and mineral water harvested as specialized medicinal exports from the bubse trees native to the planet Saleucami.^[3]

In 22 BBY,^[4] when the cult was fast-growing, the tattooed human cultist Nyrat Agira attended the Outlander Club on the planet Coruscant and identified a weak-minded individual there to convert to the faith.^[1] By 1 BBY,^[5] the Zealots of Psusan were a long-standing faith and were one of many religious groups to consider the moon Jedha a holy site,^[6] with members of the group making pilgrimages to the moon.^[2]

Behind the scenes

A member of the Zealots of Psusan first appeared in the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones,^[7] which was released on May 16, 2002.^[8] In the current Star Wars canon, the cult was then identified for the first time in "Visiting Saleucami," an article published by De Agostini in the "Guide to the Galaxy" department of the magazine Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 44^[3] around November 4, 2015.^[9]

The Zealots originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where they were first indirectly mentioned in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary, which was written by David West Reynolds^[10] and released prior to the film on April 23, 2002.^[11] Releasing on the same day,^[12] the young readers book Jango Fett: Bounty Hunter, written by Eric Arnold and illustrated by Valerie Reckert, included the first appearance of the characters Nyrat Agira and Rosha Vess. The book did not identify either as cult members^[13] but later sources would do so.^[14]^[15] The cult was then first identified as the Zealots of Psusan in the 2003 reference book Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, which was written by Simon Beecroft and Curtis Saxton.^[15]