Topic: The Ithorians

[Cimter]

INFO: Ithorians were a species of intelligent mammalian herbivores from the planet Ithor. They were commonly called "Hammerheads" because of their long, curving neck and T-shaped head. They found this nickname offensive.


RACE: Ithorian
HEIGHT: 1.8 to 2.23 Meters Tall
SKIN: Brown, Dark-Red or Green
DISTINCTION: Curved neck, two mouths
LANGUAGE: Ithorese

HOMEWORLD:
Ithor was the fourth planet located in Ottega system of the Mid Rim. One of the oldest member of the Galactic Republic, it was a planet full of lush life, and the planet's surface had not a touch of civilization on it. The Ithorians themselves, otherwise known as "Hammerheads," built great floating cities that did not harm the surface, which they considered to be sacred. Entry upon the surface was forbidden, unless one stayed there permanently. Some Ithorians such as the Oracle were compelled to go down to the planet surface, however, as they "heard the call" of Mother Jungle, the Ithorian religion's personification of Ithor's world-spanning jungle. The surface of the planet of Ithor played host to numerous plants, including the bafforr tree, which possessed telepathic capabilities. The planet contained andurite stone, and every three Ithorian years was the center of the Time of Meeting. The planet had many moons in its night sky.



BIOLOGY AND APPEARANCE:
Ithorians had two mouths and four throats, allowing them to speak in stereo. Female Ithorians had two humps on the back of their head, while males had only one. They had glossy, usually brown flesh. They stood roughly between 1.8 to 2.3 meters (5ft 10in. to 7ft 6in.) from eyestalk to toe. Their reflexes and coordination were somewhat slower than that of average humanoids.



In addition to allowing them to speak their unique stereophonic language, the Ithorians' four throats had the ability to violently expel air, resulting in a deafening and concussive scream. Although even common Ithorians possessed this strange talent (which was possibly a leftover evolutionary defense mechanism), those with Force training (such as Jedi Master Roron Corobb) could push enough power into their sonic bellow to shatter iron and shred plasteel. Even so, many would go their entire lives without resorting to this physically taxing ability, and so its existence remained relatively ambiguous.

CULTURE AND HISTORY:
Ithorians were natives of the planet Ithor, a lush world with sprawling rain forests. The Ithorians worshiped Mother Jungle, and long ago vowed never to desecrate their planet. Once they discovered repulsorlift technology, the Ithorians built expansive "herdships" floating in the skies above their homeworld. The species migrated to these platforms, ensuring that Ithor would remain pristine forever. These herdships eventually were given the ability to travel across interstellar distances. The Ithorian people were led by their high priest. First contact with the Republic occurred in 12,000 BBY.

Abroad, Ithorians integrated well with the Galactic community. Their own language was incredibly beautiful, yet difficult to learn, as the Ithorians had twin mouths on opposite sides of their necks. Fortunately, they could speak Basic, albeit with a strange accent. Each Ithorian herd was presided over by a Force-sensitive individual who served as both a priest and healer.



The Ithorians were crucial to the efforts to restore planets that had been devastated by the Mandalorian and Jedi Civil Wars, such as Telos IV.

Ithorian society maintained its peaceful nature by exiling those who had a tendency towards violence and aggression. Two such exiles were the Moomo brothers, Dob and Del who worked for the Galactic Republic as hired muscle, although they were less than competent in their efforts. An exile named Momaw Nadon was present in the Mos Eisley cantina shortly before the Battle of Yavin.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Ithor was destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong as part of their invasion plan. They chose to destroy this planet, even though it was a lush jungle world, because one of the trees' pollen could cause their Vonduun Crab Armor to expand rapidly, killing the Warrior. Many years after the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Leia Organa Solo convinced Chief of State Cal Omas to allow the Ithorians to resettle on the planet Borao in the Inner Rim Territories over RePlanetHab, a large reconstruction conglomerate. Other Ithorians settled on Oetrago, Upell and Felucia.

Ithorians worship the "Mother Jungle," a spiritual entity embodying the lush, tropical ecology of their world, Ithor. They were generally devoted environmentalists, staunch herbivores, and complete pacifists, devoting much time to contemplating their ecology, studying plants and their uses and the overall respecting of all living things. Most Ithorians never set foot on their own planet, instead they lived in floating cities above their world called herdships. Only three of their continents had been explored and harvested, the other two never having been touched by Ithorian hands. This demonstrates their extreme belief in the protection and sustainment of their environment which is apparent through their 'Law of Life'.

The Ithorians practice a communal form of government. Each herdship is autonomous and self-supporting. However once every Ithorian season (about five standard years), the herds gather for "the Meet." A grand gathering above the surface of their world, where the herd ships would join each other in a festival and regal ceremony.

Ithorian’s curious and gregarious nature meant that many found their way offplanet via their floating herdship’s space-worthy counterparts. Many became galactic traders, traveling the stars either independently or as part of their herdship. They would only resort to violence if threatened, and they were more likely to use their sonic bellow than a weapon. Because of their mild demeanor most Ithorians avoided war in general, although the Rebel Alliance did boast a few among its ranks. Their pacifistic nature meant that they refused to touch things that came as a result of bloodshed.

When dealing with others, Ithorians were always supremely polite. They were very conversational and had profound respect for the views of others. Though often described as likable and friendly, many sentients found them altogether dull. Even when they had disagreements, Ithorians were unlikely to discuss their grievances with anyone unless the offending party was present. To do otherwise was considered rude.

Despite their reputation, not all Ithorians were so peaceful. Rarely, violent and unruly Ithorians were born and subsequently banished from their homeworld or herdship. Such Ithorians often became drifters and bounty hunters, though none were ever believed to have attained much notoriety.

Within Ithorian society, there were a priestly group known as Nature priests who communed with the "Mother Jungle" and had a deeper connection to the Ithorian homeworld. Within the trading guilds themselves, Merchantates were present who dealt with business matters.

Ithorians were commonly named after creatures on their planet, such as the Flen and Gillom. Many females were named after the Cellwan, Haali, Ivuur, Oovei, Vonnuvi, and Wimmel. Many males being named after the Boolon, Murr, Neelig, and Waawat.

APPEARANCES:
Shadows and Light
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Commencement
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 9: Flashpoint Interlude: Homecoming
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Reunion
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 21: Daze of Hate, Part 3
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Knights of Suffering
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 25: Vector, Part 1 (Mentioned only)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 28: Vector, Part 4
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Exalted
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 31: Turnabout
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 47: Demon, Part 1
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
Incident at Horn Station
Star Wars Republic: Prelude to Rebellion
Star Wars: Darth Maul
Podracing Tales
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Republic: Outlander
Nomad
Deep Spoilers
Bad Business
Star Wars Republic: Emissaries to Malastare
Star Wars Republic: Infinity's End
Star Wars Republic: The Stark Hyperspace War (Appears in flashback(s))
Star Wars Republic: The Devaronian Version
Star Wars: Jango Fett
Outbound Flight
Priole Danna Festival Still a Go—HoloNet News Vol. 531 45 (Picture only)
Palpatine Sets Army Vote Date—HoloNet News Vol. 531 46
Chatrunis Crowned Miss Coruscant—HoloNet News Vol. 531 52 (Picture only)
SPECIAL FEATURE: Sightings by Twang—HoloNet News Vol. 531 53
Dooku Spotted in Gree Enclave—HoloNet News Vol. 531 54
Study Warns of Impending Parking Extinction—HoloNet News Vol. 531 54 (Mentioned only)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Republic 46: Honor and Duty, Part 1
Star Wars Republic 49: Sacrifice
"Twi'light Storm"
"Head in the Clouds"
"Clouded Paths"
Boba Fett: Maze of Deception
Hide in Plain Sight
Star Wars Republic 58: The Battle of Jabiim, Part 4 (Mentioned only)
Star Wars Republic 60: Hate and Fear
Star Wars Republic 61: Dead Ends
Star Wars Republic 63: Striking from the Shadows
Spy Girls
MedStar II: Jedi Healer (Mentioned only)
Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 21"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Mystery of a Thousand Moons"
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Hostage Crisis"
"Life Below" - Clone Wars Adventures: Volume 9
"Graduation Day" - Clone Wars Adventures: Volume 10
It Takes a Thief
Star Wars: Obsession
Reversal of Fortune (dead body only)
Labyrinth of Evil
Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 23"
Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 24"
Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 25"
Evasive Action: Recruitment
Star Wars Purge: Seconds to Die (Appears in flashback(s))
Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight (Mentioned only)
The Order of Outcasts
Star Wars Republic: Into the Unknown
Star Wars Republic 78: Loyalties
Star Wars Dark Times: The Path to Nowhere
Star Wars Dark Times: Blue Harvest, Part 1
Star Wars Dark Times: Blue Harvest, Part 2
Star Wars Droids: Rebellion
Star Wars Droids: Season of Revolt
The Princess Leia Diaries
Musings of an Ithorian
"When the Domino Falls" - Star Wars Adventure Journal 3
The Hovel on Terk Street
A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale webstrip
"Galaxywide NewsNets" - Star Wars Adventure Journal 3
Interlude at Darkknell (Mentioned only)
Number Two in the Galaxy
Being Boba Fett
Nerf Herder
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (First appearance)
Jedi's Honor
Rookies: Rendezvous
"The Great Herdship Heist" - Star Wars Adventure Journal 15
Star Wars: Rebellion (Mentioned only)
Rebel Force: Renegade
Star Wars 23: Flight Into Fury
Star Wars 31: Return to Tatooine
The Rebel Thief
Droid Trouble (Mentioned only)
The Star Wars Holiday Special
Han Solo's Rescue Mission (Mentioned only)
Star Wars Missions 7: Ithorian Invasion
Star Wars Missions 11: Bounty Hunters vs. Battle Droids (Mentioned only)
Star Wars Missions 10: Showdown in Mos Eisley
Star Wars Empire 19: Target: Vader
Galaxy of Fear: The Nightmare Machine
Star Wars Empire 35: A Model Officer (Mentioned only)
Galaxy of Fear: Spore
Galaxy of Fear: The Doomsday Ship
Galaxy of Fear: Clones (Mentioned only)
River of Chaos
Tatooine Sojourn
Lady Luck
Pearls in the Sand
Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine
Stop That Jawa!
Shadows of the Empire comic
Star Wars 85: The Hero
Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand
Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
X-wing Rogue Squadron: The Phantom Affair
X-wing Rogue Squadron: Battleground: Tatooine
X-wing Rogue Squadron: Apple Jacks Special Bonus Story
Kella Rand, Reporting... (Appears in hologram)
The Politics of Contraband
X-wing: The Krytos Trap
The Courtship of Princess Leia
X-wing: Isard's Revenge
Firestorm (Picture only)
Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith
Dark Apprentice
Children of the Jedi
The Crystal Star
Vision of the Future
Young Jedi Knights: Diversity Alliance (Mentioned only)
Star Wars: Union
Star Wars: Chewbacca (Appears in flashback(s))
Dark Tide I: Onslaught (Mentioned only)
Dark Tide II: Ruin
Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
Edge of Victory I: Conquest (Mentioned only)
Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
Star by Star
The Final Prophecy (Mentioned only)
"Hive of the Infidel" - Star Wars Gamer 8
Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
Omen
Star Wars Legacy 2: Broken, Part 2 (Appears in hologram)

SOURCES:
Star Wars toy line
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition
Heroes & Rogues
Platt's Starport Guide
Star Wars: The Power of the Force (1995)
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised
Star Wars: Behind the Magic
The Essential Guide to Alien Species
The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
Star Wars Encyclopedia
Roleplaying Game: Saga Edition Core Rulebook
"Who Is That Alien? Ithorians & Gamorreans" - Star Wars Kids 8
Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive
Star Wars Miniatures: Rebel Storm
"The Vaynai Archipelago" - Star Wars Gamer 8
"Rogues Gallery: Pilots for Hire" - Star Wars Gamer 9 (Picture only)
"Peril in the Ionosphere" - Star Wars Gamer 1
"A Cularin Presence"
"MidWorld"
"UnderWorld"
"A Mon Alone"
Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Jabba's Palace Limited (Card: Ithorian)
The Art of Revenge of the Sith
Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous
Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
Arkanian Chill on Wizards.com (article)
The Sand Tender: The Hammerhead's Tale
Rebellion Era Campaign Guide
Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game – Champions of the Force (Card: Calming Mind) (Picture only)
Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game – Squadrons Over Corellia (Card: Shields) (Picture only)
The Essential Atlas
C-3PO in the Databank
Roron Corobb in the Databank
Corran Horn in the Databank
Ithorian in the Databank
HK-47 in the Databank
Momaw Nadon in the Databank

I would like to thank Wookieepedia for this info.

[Cimter]

HISTORY:
Ithor joined the Galactic Republic prior to 8,000 BBY. In 439 BBY, scientists attempted to bond the telepathic capabilities of the bafforr tree with another, more vicious tree on the planet surface. The result was a new parasitic life form named "Spore," but its parasitic hostility forced the Ithorians to lock it away in an asteroid 300 BBY. It was long afterwards discovered by miners. Sometime before the Battle of Yavin, Ithor became occupied by the Galactic Empire which demanded access to Ithorian agricultural techniques and technology in an attempt to locate biotech for military applications. Lead by Captain Alima he threatened the Ithorian's with the destruction of their sentient forests, the Cathor Hills. However The Empire was ousted from the planet through a deal formulated by Momaw Nadon, where he bargained with the Empire to reveal the secrets of the Ithorians' technology and agricultural ceremonies, in return for the protection of their 'mother jungle'.

Sometime after the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Empire planned to attack the planet. The Rebel Alliance heard of these plans prior to the attack and dispatched Han Solo to rescue a group of Ithorians wishing to evacuate. Just a few minutes before the attack, Han and his co-pilot Chewbacca were able to rescue the Ithorians. A small battle raged afterwards, with many TIE Fighters. Han and Chewbacca managed to dodge space slugs in a nearby asteroid field and place the Ithorians on Bimmisaari.

Umwaw Moolis represented the planet in the New Republic Senate.

DESTRUCTION:
However, by 25 ABY, Ithor's tranquil existence came to an end. The Yuuzhan Vong Invasion blazed a trail from the Outer Rim, and Ithor lay directly in their path. Retreating from Dantooine and Dubrillion, the New Republic made a stand at the planet, hoping to resist the invasion long enough to make use of the bafforr tree pollen, which had somehow reacted violently with the living armor of the Yuuzhan Vong. The battle entered into a state of stalemate, until Jedi Knight Corran Horn dueled Shedao Shai, the leader of the Yuuzhan Vong forces, with the planet Ithor at stake. Though Horn was victorious, Shai's subordinate, Deign Lian, was ordered by Warmaster Tsavong Lah to unleash a plague of toxins upon the planet, in order to eliminate any chance of a pollen-based bioweapon. The virulent biochemicals (a biological gray goo) rapidly turned Ithor's verdant forests and animal life into a black ooze which spread and destroyed everything it touched. In retaliation, the assembled Remnant and New Republic forces fired massive barrages of Concussion Missiles and proton torpedoes at the Yuuzhan Vong command ship, Legacy of Torment, which broke into three sections. The rear end of the massive warship tumbled into the now hydrogen-oxygen rich atmosphere and ignited it, turning Ithor into a firestorm ridden inferno of a planet.

ITHOR'S LEGACY:
As of 35 ABY (when the Dark Nest Crisis began and ended), the Ithorians were attempting to relocate to Borao. This attempt almost failed due to the presence of the RePlanetHab organization, who claimed the rights for the world. Chief of State Cal Omas was able to block RePlanetHab's attempts at the "suggestion" of Leia Organa Solo. By the end of the Swarm War in 36 ABY, some scientists were residing on the planet, studying it in hopes of rehabilitation, but most Ithorians settled on Borao.

However, considering the Ithorians' skills in ecology and their previous experience in re-terraforming worlds such as Telos IV, they hoped that Ithor could have been reinhabited one day. Abandoning the Ossus Project of Jedi Master Kol Skywalker, the Ithorians decided to rebuild their world using the same technology as during the Restoration of Telos IV. By 137 ABY much of the planet's surface remained rocky and dry, but genetically engineered dangerous plants and animals began to slowly transform the planet's soil and atmosphere into livable state. Visitors to the planet surface were still required to wear breath masks to avoid a large number of toxins in the air, but environment suits were no longer necessary.

BIOSPHERE:
The surface of the planet Ithor was formerly an immense jungle. Following the Ithorian belief in the Law of Life, most Ithorians never actually set foot on their own planet, instead they lived in floating cities above their world called herdships. Only three of their continents had been explored and harvested, the other two never having been touched by Ithorian hands, demonstrating their devout belief in the protection and sustainability of their environment.

Such protectionism toward their environment gave rise to numerous native plants and animals.

FLORA:
Toal
Indyup tree
Donar flower
Bull-fern
Bafforr tree

The bafforr tree was considered semi-sentient and possessed telepathic capabilities and acted as a sort of distributed intellect - the larger the forest was, the higher the collective intellect.

FAUNA:
Manollium bird
Shamarok flitter
Arrak snake
Ooglata
 Ursmal