Joralla was home to a large variety of plants and animals. The tribal avians known as Tikiarri were sentients native to the jungle world, and their aggression and unruliness caused troubles in the neighboring star systems. The humanoid Wasilsi, theorized to have originated off-planet, also inhabited Joralla until their eventual extinction.

Around 3643 BBY, Joralla was quarantined and blockaded due to an outbreak of a plague. Later, during the reign of the Galactic Empire, in order to prevent the Tikiarri from causing problems in the nearby systems, Moff Debin Seylas assigned a patrol of Skipray Blastboats to the Joralla system. Around that time, an Imperial spy planned to acquire a Rebel Alliance data disk stolen by the freighter captain Adriav Kavos. As a result, Kavos, the spy, and a group of Rebel agents sent to retrieve the disk all encountered each other on Joralla.

Description[]

The Joralla system was located in the Mektrun sector,^[1] a part of the Western Reaches portion of^[2] the Mid Rim.^[1] It contained the red giant–type star Jaska, which was orbited by three planets: the hot, rocky Manalin; the temperate Grall, and the terrestrial world Joralla, which was named after the system. None of the planets in the Joralla system had any moons, and Manalin and Grall, which both had poisonous atmospheres, held no commercial value.^[3]

Joralla, which occupied the outermost orbit in the eponymous system and circled its sun once every 310 local days,^[3] was considered the primary planet of the system^[5] and had standard gravity and breathable air. A tropical paradise of a world, Joralla's surface was divided between vast oceans and three main continents, which featured high mountain ranges as well as forests and lush jungles. The latter was home to a remarkable variety of plants and animals, such as the arboreal herbivores known as oslets and the six-limbed, predatory wulkarsks. Joralla also had potentially vast deposits of minerals,^[3] and Jorallan opals were among the valuable gemstones in circulation in the wider galaxy.^[4]

History[]

The quarantine of Joralla[]

At some point around 3643 BBY,^[6] a plague had broken out on Joralla. As a result, the planet was subjected to an official quarantine and blockaded by the reconstituted Sith Empire. An individual affiliated with one of the sides in the struggle ongoing between the Galactic Republic and the Empire at the time sent a companion to run the blockade and deliver much-needed medicine to Joralla's inhabitants in order to win their support. The companion smuggled the medicine past the blockade and was rewarded by the highly grateful citizens of the planet.^[7]

During the reign of the Galactic Empire, the star systems neighboring the Joralla system experienced problems with containing the aggressive nature of the Tikiarri, the Joralla's native sentient species, and therefore pressured Moff Debin Seylas to act on the matter. Since Seylas was unable to officially quarantine the Joralla system without the support of his superiors, he opted for an easier solution by posting a regular patrol of the system by a pair of GAT-12 Skipray Blastboats. Each Blastboat was dispatched to the system once per week for a thirty six–hour rotation. Any starships entering the system were warned of the potential danger posed by vising Joralla. Departing vessels were frequently searched for any transported Tikiarri.^[3]

An encounter in the system[]

Captain Adriav Kavos arranged during the Galactic Civil War to sell a stolen Rebel Alliance data disk to an interested party—in reality, an Imperial spy planning to both acquire the disk and capture Kavos's freighter, the Isilia. To make the deal, the Isilia traveled to the Joralla system without incident, although^[3] it was forced to land on Joralla,^[8] near a ruined temple of the extinct Wasilsi.^[3]

A group of Rebel agents was subsequently dispatched to retrieve the data disk. When the Rebels arrived in Joralla's orbit, they performed a sensor sweep of the planet for several minutes in order to determine the Isilia's location. During the scan, the group's approach was detected by Kavos's freighter. Early in the morning of the following day, after the Rebels had encountered the Isilia's crew, the Imperial spy arrived on Joralla, calling both of the patrolling Skipray Blastboats into the system in order to capture Kavos's freighter.^[3]

Inhabitants[]

Joralla was home to an estimated ten million Tikiarri, a highly aggressive species of tribe-based sentient flying avians. They routinely attempted to kill any off-worlders in order to obtain blaster weaponry. The unruliness of the Tikiarri caused trouble in neighboring star systems, and as a result the latter sought ways to prevent the former from traveling outside the Joralla system. Occasional visits to Joralla by independent traders led to the presence of no more than twenty Humans on the planet.^[3]

Other than the Tikiarri, Joralla was once inhabited by the humanoid Wasilsi. The species built villages and temples on the planet and utilized a written language. The Wasilsi, who were thought by the sentientologist Beyorth Gommdora to have originated off-planet, often fought against the Tikiarri and eventually went extinct.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

The Joralla system was introduced in Planets of the Galaxy, Volume One, a 1991 sourcebook for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The book presents an idea for a roleplaying game adventure that is set on Joralla. This article assumes the suggested scenario plays out as described.^[9]

The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Joralla system in grid square L-17.^[2] Joralla was subsequently mentioned in an Underworld Trading Crew Skill mission of the 2011 BioWare video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, though the information regarding the mission's outcome was later removed from the game.^[7]

Sources[]

• Planets of the Galaxy, Volume One (First mentioned)
• The Star Wars Planets Collection
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (Mentioned in multiple entries, but without own entry)
• The Essential Atlas
• Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)

Notes and references[]