Li-Toran

"Li-Toran ain't exactly a world that's known for bein' hospitable to outsiders."

―Strono Tuggs, The Ultimate Cookbook^[4]

Li-Toran was a volcanic Inner Rim planet that was the homeworld of the sentient, hive-based Melitto insectoids. The planet's atmosphere was noxious, dark, hot, and stormy, while underground, rivers of molten rock carved networks of tunnels and caverns filled with even more toxic steam.

The latter served as home to the Melitto hives, which were dominated by the species' females and were built around harvesting the Melitto's primary source of nutrition, the sap of the coral-like bleeding rock organism. Most Melitto males who survived the combat involved in the periodic establishment of new hives became hiveless ronin and left Li-Toran. By the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Galactic Empire maintained a garrison on the planet.

Description[]

"It's enveloped by a thick, noxious atmosphere and covered in flowin' rivers of molten rock."

―Strono Tuggs, on Li-Toran in The Ultimate Cookbook^[4]

LiToran-SWT — Li-Toran was situated in the Inner Rim Territories.

Li-Toran was a planet located in the regions known as the Inner Rim Territories^[1] and the Interior. It was situated in grid square M-13 of the Standard Galactic Grid.^[2] Li-Toran was a harsh, intensely volcanic world with^[1] a thick,^[4] dangerously toxic, and extremely hot atmosphere that was prone to violent storms. Dark, poisonous clouds blocked nearly all light from reaching the planet's surface. Overall, the physical conditions on Li-Toran made the world unpleasant for off-worlders to visit.^[1]

Molten rock rivers covered Li-Toran's surface^[4] and carved complex, constantly shifting tunnel networks in the planet's crust, with many tunnels expanding into large caverns that in some cases reached several kilometers in size. The tunnels were filled with thick steam, and the air there contained much higher concentrations of the toxic compounds present in the planet's atmosphere. Off-worlders visiting Li-Toran's underground—even for short durations—had to wear heavy environmental suits. Despite the harsh conditions of Li-Toran's crust, it was there that most of the planet's flora and fauna, which included the coral-like organism known as bleeding rock, evolved.^[1]

History[]

Brink of catastrophe[]

Long before the disbandment of the Galactic Republic^[1] in 19 BBY,^[5] overdevelopment of available resources by the hives of Li-Toran's native Melitto species ushered in a period of time known as the Unending Conflict. There were few viable locations left in the Melittos' natural habitat, the planet's underground caves, for the establishment of new hives, which caused the potential new Melitto queens, known as myrmitrices, to compete for the same sites. For entire centuries, before any of the conflicts could end, the arrival of new myrmitrices with fresh soldiers would reignite the violence.^[1]

Eventually, the underground warfare escalated to the level that entire networks of tunnels and caves began to collapse. In order to prevent a global catastrophe, the largest of the Melitto hives established a planetary council in order to end the conflicts and ensure that they would not occur again in the future. One of the council's initiatives saw the beginning of Melitto interstellar colonization,^[1] with settlements eventually being established on several worlds^[6] in the neighboring star systems.^[1]

Empire and later history[]

"But while the native Melitto species can survive without wearin' heavy duty environmental gear, most other species can't. Still, that didn't stop me from riskin' a quick pit stop on Li-Toran to pick up a special ingredient—a sweet, sticky sap harvested from an organic 'bleedin' rock' found on the planet's surface. […] I used the sap to sweeten these individual cornbreads, and the result left me breathless—almost like my trip to Li-Toran did."

―Strono Tuggs, The Ultimate Cookbook^[4]

Sarco Plank TFAVD — Sarco Plank hailed from Li-Toran.

After the rise of the Galactic Empire, it established a garrison on Li-Toran to monitor its population, although the planet itself had few valuable resources of interest. The Melittos of Li-Toran's isolationist hives found the politics of the Empire and its enemy in the Galactic Civil War, the Rebel Alliance, incomprehensible and therefore of little interest.^[1]

Li-Toran was the homeworld of the Melitto male Sarco Plank,^[7] who was born around 25 BBY,^[8] and also that of the Melitto Grelli Cryko.^[9] By the time of the First Order occupation of the planet Batuu^[7] in 34 ABY,^[8] the pirate Hondo Ohnaka had obtained a stolen identity profile of Plank that mentioned his homeworld.^[7] Li-Toran was also mentioned in an entry of an artist's journal dedicated to the Melitto. The journal was eventually restored, expanded, and displayed at the Graf Archive^[10] at some point no earlier than 34 ABY.^[11]

At some point by 35 ABY,^[12] the Artiodac chef Strono Tuggs, undeterred by Li-Toran's inhospitable conditions, made a brief visit on the planet, which rendered him breathless. Tuggs' goal was to acquire an amount of the sap produced by^[4] the bleeding rock organism.^[1] The chef subsequently used the sap in the Melitto Sap Cakes dish and noted his experience surrounding the Li-Toran visit in his cookbook, The Ultimate Cookbook,^[4] that was published in 35 ABY.^[12]

Inhabitants[]

Main article: Melitto

"Melittos are insectile humanoids with no eyes or mouths. They are able to sense their environment through the supersensitive hairs on their bodies. They also have a keen sense of smell, which helps them navigate and track. […] In Melitto society, individuals live in hives ruled by a queen, whose position is gained through combat."

―An entry of an artist's journal^[10]

Li-Toran was the homeworld of the Melitto, a species of sentient bipedal insectoids. Being eyeless, they sensed their surroundings via auditory organs as well as feathery cilia that covered their chitin-plated bodies and could detect vibrations, scents, and even electrical fields. The Melittos communicated primarily through the use of a pheromone-based scent-language.^[1]

CaM front character art — Li-Toran was the homeworld of the Melitto species.

The cold-blooded Melittos preferred hot climates whenever possible, having originally evolved in Li-Toran's underground tunnels. They mostly lived in caste-based hives consisting of a ruling queen, several younger myrmitrices, and pheromone-controlled males known as myrmites, who performed nearly all of the hives' activities, which included combat, maintenance tasks, and agriculture. Melitto diet consisted primarily of the bleeding rock sap, and hive society was therefore built around tending bleeding-rock farms and harvesting the liquid.^[1]

Periodically, population pressures led to migrations of myrmitrices and their myrmite followers and the establishment of new hives, with a new hive's queen being determined through deadly combat among the myrmitrices. Surviving myrmites of defeated Melitto myrmitrices became hiveless ronin, most of whom left Li-Toran to establish new lives elsewhere. It was rumored that Hive Ronin, a shadowy organization that defied traditional Melitto hive structure by being filled only with ronin, operated on Li-Toran. Due to the Melittos' survival being dependent on the toxic compounds present in their homeworld's atmosphere, more widespread types of galactic planetary air composition was corrosive to them and therefore any Melittos traveling off-world had to wear a special breathing apparatus.^[1]

Locations[]

"[…] the folks who dwell on Li-Toran tend to make their homes in underground caves."

―Strono Tuggs, The Ultimate Cookbook^[4]

On Li-Toran, most Melittos lived in densely packed hives situated in underground caverns. The Galactic Empire eventually established on the planet a garrison named Dometown that hosted a complement of^[1] human^[3] stormtroopers. Due to the hazardous conditions on Li-Toran, the posting became known as a punishment detail.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Li-Toran was introduced in the 2016 reference book Star Wars: Aliens of the Galaxy by Jason Fry.^[6] The planet's first full appearance and first visual depiction came with the Star Wars: Datapad app that was launched alongside the themed land Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge,^[7] which was opened to guests at Disneyland Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2019.^[13]