Fennesa was a mountainous, rocky planet located in the Inner Rim. Its fauna included avian and feline predators as well as mountain nerfs, a subspecies of the ungulate nerfs introduced by colonists millennia before the Battle of Yavin.

The nerfs on Fennesa were kept by local herders. The latter were a tough people who, as a part of their profession, had to deal with predation, the nerfs' own rambunctious nature, and the eventual loss of the sense of smell due to the herd creatures' foul odor. At some point, an individual hid in the hills on Fennesa. A group of individuals tracking the fugitive in the mountains then had to deal with the local nerfs interfering with their search.

Description[]

Fennesa was a rocky planet^[2] located in the Inner Rim's Fennesa system.^[1] Its terrain included mountains, hills,^[2] and rocky outcroppings.^[3] The Fennesa mountains often featured rocky overhangs and shallow caves.^[2] Grass and thistled scrubs grew between rocks, while the planet's fauna included both avian and feline predators as well as scavengers.^[2]

When Fennesa was settled by colonists, they brought along nerfs,^[5] a species of quadrupedal, herbivorous herd ungulates native to the^[3] Core Worlds planet Alderaan.^[6] Over the subsequent millennia,^[2] the creatures evolved into a distinct subspecies known as mountain nerfs.^[3]

History[]

At some point, a group of individuals were pursuing another individual. The latter hid himself in the hills of Fennesa and allowed the local mountain nerfs to mark him with their spittle, thus making him more difficult to track by scent. While the individual's pursuers were traversing the planet's mountainous terrain in search of their quarry, they had several encounters with nerfs. The creatures rushed and spat upon the group and caused a rockslide by fleeing.^[2]

The pursuers also had to deal with nerfs as they began to investigate the local caves. The nerfs hiding there interfered with the search efforts of the group, and its quarry was alerted to the pursuers' presence by the braying and spitting of the nerfs. The pursued individual then used the nerfs as a distraction and surprised his would-be captors.^[2]

At some point no earlier than 36 ABY, Fennesa was mentioned in a guide to various species of the galaxy that was based on the research notes of sentientologist Mammon Hoole.^[3]

Inhabitants[]

Fennesa was settled by colonists several thousand years before the Battle of Yavin.^[5] The inhabitants of Fennesa kept herds of mountain nerfs, which were valued across the galaxy for their meat, fur, and hides.^[3] Nerfs on Fennesa were kept out on the mountains nearly year-long, and the herding on the planet was overseen by the Fennesa Nerf Herding Council.^[2]

The nerf herders of Fennesa were a hardy people due to the challenges posed by their line of work. The herds had to be constantly protected from predators, and the unruly herbivores themselves kicked and spat upon their keepers. When the time came for shearing or slaughter, the herders often had to hunt down their nerfs one by one in the caves of the planet's mountains and drag them out of hiding. In addition,^[2] years of working with the foul-odored creatures often caused the herders to lose their sense of smell.^[3]

Despite the difficulties of their profession and the lack of respect by the wider galaxy, nerf herders had a sense of pride^[3] in their own professionalism,^[2] and their trade often ran across generations,^[3] as exemplified by the third-generation Human herder Vreet Harak.^[2]

Locations[]

The family ranch known as the Grand Horn Ranch Corporation was located on Fennesa,^[4] as were barns used by the nerf herders for shearing and health inspections.^[2]

Behind the scenes[]

Fennesa was created for the article "Mountain Nerf," written by Jeff Quick and published on Wizards.com on February 6, 2003. The article includes several adventure seeds for use with the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game, and this article assumes the scenarios play out as described.^[2] The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Fennesa system, and therefore Fennesa itself, in grid square K-14.^[6]

Sources[]

• "Mountain Nerf" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link) (First mentioned)
• The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Notes and references[]