Ossus/Legends

"It's so peaceful here&hellip; the Force permeates everything."

- Nomi Sunrider

Ossus, originally called Idux, was the third planet in the Adega system in the Auril sector. Originally a rich, lush world, Ossus was ravaged into an arid and toxic planet with the destruction of the Cron Cluster. Life returned to Ossus, however, and the planet was eventually restored by Yuuzhan Vong terraformers through the Ossus Project.

Ossus was an important Jedi site for over twenty-five millennia, serving as a repository of knowledge and a center for learning for the Old and New Jedi Orders alike. In the latter years of the Old Republic and beyond, it was home to the tribal Ysanna, descendants of Jedi who had survived the Cron supernova. The planet came under attack by the Sith twice, once in 3,996 BBY and once in 130 ABY, and was invaded by the forces of the Galactic Alliance Guard in 40 ABY.

Description


Ossus orbited the two stars of the Adega system, Adega Prime and Adega Besh. Unlike the other five planets in the system, which circled the center of mass of the two binaries, Ossus orbited both its suns in a figure-eight trajectory. Two moons in turn orbited it: Mim, a rocky, low-gravity satellite with no atmosphere, and Nerit, a temperate terrestrial world with high gravity and a population of Neti expatriates.

Ossus was originally a rugged, lush world with two-thirds of its surface covered in water and an abundance of flora and fauna. In 3,996 BBY it was transformed with the destruction of the Cron Cluster into a desolate, irradiated desert world. Chemical and electrical storms swept the land, and little life remained on the surface. Over 4,000 years later, the damage done to the planet seemed to have been reversed. In the time of the Galactic Alliance, some portions of the planet were once again lush with vegetation and inhabited by wildlife. Within a century after this, the destruction done to Ossus was fully reversed with the terraforming technology of Yuuzhan Vong Shapers, who caused the planet to once again teem with life.

Before the Cron supernova, Ossus had a population in the hundreds of millions, inhabiting cities across the globe. The principle city was that of Knossa, whose spaceport was the main thoroughfare for arriving and leaving Ossus. The Cron incident destroyed most of the buildings in these cities.

Though a world of peace, Ossus was not a defenseless planet. Scattered ground emplacements protected it from aerial attack. During the various wars with the Sith, Ossus was used as a staging ground for Jedi and Republic forces. The planet also maintained a well-equipped military fleet for defense. Law enforcement consisted of Jedi Guardians who maintained security in the cities.

Flora and fauna
Ossus had been lush with life before the Cron disaster, but after those events little of it remained. One of the surviving animals was a hardy quadruped species that the locals used as mounts. By 40 ABY, however, plant and animal life burgeoned again. The region around the Jedi Academy was verdant, with small plots of foliage interspersed among stretches of turf making up the Academy's campus, and kingwood trees covering the lower slopes of the nearby mountains. Bambwood was also found on this world.

The forests were also abundant with animal life. Gokobs, a species of friendly hairless rodents that sprayed a stinking cloud when frightened, spent much of their time scavenging off food scraps from the Jedi academy kitchens. Large brightly-colored tree frogs with sticky tongues also inhabited the treetops, and low-flying academy X-wings could find themselves with several frogs stuck to their undersides, a hazard to flight.

Early history
The unusual orbit of Ossus caused some to speculate that, like the Corellian system, the Adega system was artificially designed. However, despite the diligent efforts of archaeologists, no such evidence was ever uncovered.

Originally known as Idux, it was absorbed into Xim's empire as he expanded his borders from the Kingdom of Cron. The planet was home to intelligent life for countless generations. At some time before 25,000 BBY, a group of Jedi Knights from Tython established a school of philosophy there where the concepts of the light and dark sides of the Force were laid down. Here, too, the philosophies of the Living and Unifying Force were established.

Around 25,000 BBY, Galactic Republic scouts exploring the newly-discovered Perlemian Trade Route arrived on Ossus, in what was then known as Wild Space. The Jedi appointed themselves defenders of the nascent Republic. Ossus was poised to defend the Core Worlds against the forces of the Tion Cluster and Hutt Space, and so the planet became a fortress world protecting the Perlemian. With the Jedi holding back its enemies, the Republic grew apace.

Jedi stronghold


Ossus quickly became a leading center of knowledge and learning for the Jedi Order. Odan-Urr trained there under the tutelage of Ooroo, and in 4,996 BBY constructed the Great Jedi Library as a grand repository of Jedi knowledge, containing tens of thousands of texts. Pilgrimages to the world from thousands of planets were common, many of them by Jedi seeking enlightenment. Most Jedi traveled to Ossus at some point in their lives. Academics, too, were drawn to the world, seeking knowledge and research contained nowhere else. Due to its importance to the Jedi, many scholars incorrectly concluded that it had been the birthplace of the Order. Notable students of Ossus included Freedon Nadd, Nomi Sunrider, Dace Diath, Shoaneb Culu, Derrica Praji, and Shaela Nuur.

This oasis of knowledge and peace was doomed, however. During the Great Sith War, Exar Kun slew Odan-Urr, stole a Sith holocron, and recruited many Jedi students on Ossus to the dark side, taking them to Yavin 4. Ulic Qel-Droma later joined forces with Exar Kun, and using Sith weaponry from Naga Sadow's ancient battleship, the Corsair, they detonated the stars of the nearby Cron Cluster in 3,996 BBY, causing a deadly shockwave to spread out across space.



The Jedi were forced to hastily evacuate the planet, and it was during the ensuing chaos that Kun returned with Qel-Droma and a team of Massassi warriors, determined to loot the planet of its riches. Qel-Droma's Mandalorian Crusaders dived into the fray too, firing on the ships of the fleeing Jedi. Kun attempted to take a valuable collection of ancient lightsabers, but was stopped by the Neti Jedi Master Ood Bnar. Bnar transformed himself into a tree, trapping the lightsabers underneath his roots and preventing Kun from reaching them.

Ulic, meanwhile, engaged in battle with his brother Cay, who sought to turn him back from the dark side. When Ulic struck down his brother in a fit of rage, Nomi Sunrider, horrified at what he had done, stripped him of the Force, and the Jedi took him prisoner and fled the doomed planet. The shockwave hit soon afterward, searing Ossus and killing much of its life.

Post-Great Sith War


The planet was not completely scoured of life, however. Some Jedi had found protection in a cave system under the Eocho Mountains. Over time, their descendants forgot their origins, and came to see their Force abilities as a form of magic. They became the tribal Ysanna. Ood Bnar survived as well, protected from the full effect of the supernova in his new form.

Most of the knowledge of the Jedi stored on Ossus was lost forever in the cataclysm. However, much was moved as well, to locations as far spread as Exis Station, the Jedi Archives on Coruscant, and Derem City on Kamino. The Jedi learned from the disaster, and built storehouses in planets across the galaxy to hold their most valuable artifacts. Contingency plans for evacuation were established in case other important Jedi worlds such as Dantooine were attacked.

Ossus was a popular location for archaeological teams during the time of the Old Republic. The Hanna Institute of Antiquities, Academy of Jedi Archaeology, and University of Agamar all sponsored studies and excavations of the ancient ruins. In 800 BBY, a dig recovered a lightsaber that would eventually belong to Vima-Da-Boda.

Early in the Clone Wars, several Jedi were dispatched to defend Ossus. A Separatist offensive struck, and the planet fell within days of the Second Battle of Rhen Var. The CIS established a base on the planet, which was later the target of a Republic attack as one of the opening battles of the Outer Rim Sieges.

When the Galactic Empire came into power, its crackdown on Jedi-related activity brought research to a stop. Extremely few projects on Ossus were funded on the Empire's credit, and private organizations who wanted to do research had to avoid incurring its wrath.

Ossus' legacy as a forgotten repository of Jedi knowledge served to inspire Jin-Lo Rayce to name his fledgling group of Force Adepts the Agents of Ossus, keeping the history of the Jedi hidden, rather than lost.

Around 10 BBY, Travgen, a Dark Jedi, found Ossus and hid there from the Empire. Establishing himself in an old administrative center, he eventually rose to control several Ysanna tribes, and was still living on Ossus during the New Republic era.

Rediscovery


In 10 ABY, Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar arrived on Ossus in search of Jedi artifacts to aid in rebuilding the Order, guided there by an ancient holocron of Bodo Baas. Searching the ancient ruins, they encountered a pair of Ysanna, Jem and Rayf, who they sensed were Force-sensitive. The two Jedi were then ambushed by a band of Ysanna, whose primitive Force-enhanced attacks they easily blocked. Knowing from their strength in the Force that they could only be Jedi, the Ysanna welcomed the two men.

This new allegiance was immediately put to the test. The Galactic Empire had tracked Luke and Kam's approach to the planet, and Palpatine's Dark Side Elite Sedriss and Vill Goir were dispatched to capture or kill them. The Ysanna and Jedi fought off their soldiers, and Solusar killed Goir. Sedriss took Jem hostage, and backed up against a tree. However, this tree turned out to be the dormant Ood Bnar, who came to life and killed Sedriss, sacrificing himself in the process. Underneath him Luke discovered the ancient cache of lightsabers, which he took to be a sign of the Jedi's return. The Ysanna then revealed to the Jedi the secret location of the Great Jedi Library, which still held some undamaged texts. Before leaving, Kam and Luke asked the Ysanna if any wished to be Jedi candidates; only Jem and Rayf accepted.



In the wake of Palpatine's subsequent attacks on the Rebel Alliance with the Galaxy Gun, its leaders sought a new safe haven. Solusar suggested Ossus, believing that Palpatine would not risk destroying such a valuable repository of Jedi knowledge. The Jedi returned to the planet to ask the Ysanna, and encountered the forces of the Empire, sent by Palpatine to seize several Ysanna to clone and use as host bodies. The Jedi arrived too late to stop them from leaving Ossus, but rescued the captured Ysanna later on Vjun. With the destruction of the Galaxy Gun, the Alliance no longer needed a hidden base, and therefore never relocated to the world.

It was not forgotten, however. The New Republic and New Jedi Order began an extensive archaeological survey of the planet, unearthing its ancient ruins and learning more about the Jedi of old. The Obroan Institute for Archaeology, Hanna Institute of Antiquities, and New Republic Archaeological Corps, as well as groups from across the galaxy sponsored excavations on Ossus. Though they learned much of the planet, the scholars did not fully understand its history; for example, the idea that the Krath had been responsible for the original cataclysm was not taken seriously in academia. The Jedi took a particular interest, as Luke Skywalker believed it was necessary to understand the past of the Jedi before attempting to build a new future for them. The Ysanna grew more accepting of the Jedi, and it was expected that in time they would seek out their Jedi heritage again.

Ossus stood outside the invasion corridor of the Yuuzhan Vong, and so avoided the widespread destruction of the Yuuzhan Vong War. However, all official research was brought to a halt by the war. Vong occasionally visited the planet in search of ancient secrets that could help them exterminate the Jedi. The New Republic, too, used Ossus, taking advantage of its proximity to Vong territory to send strike teams into enemy-held sectors.

New Jedi Order


At the close of the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Jedi chose to distance themselves from the Galactic Alliance on Coruscant. With the praxeum at Yavin 4 destroyed, Luke Skywalker chose Ossus as the new home of the Jedi Order, on the suggestion of Kam Solusar. Not all Jedi moved there at first; Solusar, his wife Tionne, Luke, Mara Jade Skywalker, and their son Ben were amongst those who did. The Solusars became the administrators of the Ossus academy. A new Jedi Temple was built on Coruscant, but its use was chiefly formal, to facilitate communication and cooperation with the Galactic Alliance.

During the Dark Nest crisis and subsequent Swarm War, the Order used Ossus as their principle base of operations. In 36 ABY, Luke Skywalker called a meeting of the entire Jedi Order to resolve the crisis he saw facing it. He reconfirmed the Jedi's commitment to the Alliance and made an ultimatum to those present; they would put their commitment to the Jedi before all else, or they would resign from the Order. He also established himself as Grand Master of the Order in a bid to make the Masters put aside their differences in the face of his apparent power grab.

Galactic Alliance troubles
When Jacen Solo seized control of the Galactic Alliance government in 40 ABY, he knew that the Jedi would oppose his rule. When most of the Jedi Masters left Ossus to attend the funeral of Mara Jade Skywalker on Coruscant, leaving only Kam and Tionne Solusar and a handful of Knights, Jacen seized his chance and sent a Galactic Alliance Guard division to take control of the academy. Led by Major Salle Serpa, the GAG group claimed to be taking these actions for the protection of the Padawans still in the academy, though their true purpose was to hold the Padawans hostage and prevent Jedi opposition to Jacen.

Shortly thereafter, the Dark Jedi Alema Rar came to Ossus in search of records that would help her understand her new Sith Meditation Sphere. A task force consisting of Jaina Solo, Jagged Fel, and Zekk soon followed her there, only to find Serpa in control of the academy. They, like all the other Jedi there, were forced to play along while the Padawans were still under threat, as Serpa intimated that he would gladly destroy the academy if he felt it was a threat. Alema found the information she sought and left the planet, but her pursuers were forced to remain behind.

Events would change soon, though. Following the assassination of Cal Omas, the Jedi cut their ties to the Galactic Alliance. Jacen Solo, declaring that the Jedi had betrayed them, decided that he needed to take control of the Padawans, and ordered the execution of the Masters and Knights. Serpa rounded up the Padawans in an outdoor courtyard and positioned snipers to take out the Jedi who showed themselves. Several Knights were killed in the conflict, several Padawans were wounded or killed, and Kam and Tionne Solusar were grievously injured, the latter personally by Serpa. Jaina and Jagged were able to avoid the GAG patrols, however, and between them and Zekk the GAG troops were eliminated and Serpa was captured. The other GAG troopers surrendered, some because they had been opposed to Serpa's actions, others out of fear of the Jedi. After the attack, the Jedi abandoned Ossus and relocated for a time to Endor.

Following the conclusion of the Second Galactic Civil War and the demise of Lumiya's Sith in 41 ABY, the Jedi Order did not immediately return to Ossus, instead electing to remain in their temporary Academy on Shedu Maad.

Resurgent Sith
Sometime between 40 ABY and 130 ABY, the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi allowed the Shaper caste of the Yuuzhan Vong to terraform the barren planet and restore it to its original beauty. A desolate part of the planet was chosen to test the Vong technology. Championed by Kol Skywalker and run by Master Shaper Nei Rin, the Ossus Project was a major success and soon many planets turned to the Yuuzhan Vong to terraform their own planets.

However, sabotage by the One Sith eventually led to the Sith-Imperial War. In the wake of the war, the Galactic Alliance fell and the Empire ascended to power. The Jedi, refusing to follow the Empire and its Sith allies, retreated to Ossus. Nei Rin and several Yuuzhan Vong went to Ossus too, to study their work and find what had gone wrong on the project. The planet, however, had not been affected by any of the mutations that had occurred on other worlds.



The Sith, in league with Moff Rulf Yage, then attacked the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and two days later struck again at Ossus. Amongst the Ossus Academy's defenders were Kol Skywalker, his son Cade, Wolf Sazen, and Shado Vao. On Kol's urging, Cade escaped the planet on a shuttle full of padawans. Kol later fell to Darth Nihl, and most of the remaining Jedi on Ossus were slaughtered. Because the Sith attacked before all the Jedi could gather there, however, about half of them escaped and went into hiding throughout the galaxy. Cade, meanwhile, helped defend the shuttle from the Sith with his fighter, but when it was destroyed, he was forced to eject and was left behind. Cade was later rescued by the pirate Rav and his crew, and to spare his own life Cade offered to show the pirates where the Temple's treasures were kept, claiming he was a scavenger who knew his way around Ossus. With Cade's help, Rav's crew looted the Temple and departed Ossus. The Empire later set up a watch on Ossus and routinely scanned the temple for life. Rin and her warriors, who had been on Ossus but away from the Temple at the time of the attack, took refuge beneath the Temple, where they guarded a trove of Jedi artifacts.

Jedi in hiding


In 137 ABY, Cade Skywalker returned to Ossus. Imperial agent Morrigan Corde&mdash;secretly Cade's mother&mdash;and Sith agent Jor Torlin later arrived in search of him, but when Tol attempted to betray Corde, she killed him instead. Not wanting to see Cade again, Corde soon left the planet. Cade was later found by Jedi Master K'Kruhk, who had also been in hiding on the world. Along with fellow Jedi Wolf Sazen and Shado Vao, who had recently returned to Ossus expecting to find Cade, K'Kruhk helped Cade complete his Jedi training. During a sparring session, Cade and Shado discovered beneath the Temple Nei Rin and her Vong, and the lost vault of Jedi treasure they guarded.

Cade later left the world for Coruscant, while the other Jedi and the Vong stayed behind. However, they would not be left at peace. Someone in the Empire suspected that Jedi may have been hiding on Ossus, and Darth Stryfe was dispatched to the world. Joker Squad conducted a search of the surface, but found nothing, as the Jedi and Vong had gone into hiding. Nonetheless, Stryfe felt a stirring in the Force, and ordered the search to continue. The stormtrooper patrols at last left the planet, some having found no one, some having encountered the Jedi but been mind tricked to believe otherwise. Stryfe still sensed a Jedi presence, though, and ordered the destruction of the Temple. His vessel opened fire, leveling the building.

Inhabitants


Ossus was inhabited by intelligent life for unnumbered generations. In the days of the Old Republic before the Cron cataclysm, the planet's inhabitants were largely Jedi or other students of the Force. There was a large population of academics and scholars as well, taking advantage of the Order's tremendous wealth of knowledge. Members of nearly every species in the Republic could be found there. During times of war, the planet also played host to Republic soldiers, who used it as a staging ground to launch offensives into enemy space.

The supernova, however, changed this. Many of those who did not evacuate in time were killed when the shockwave hit. Those who had taken shelter in mountain caverns managed to eke out an existence on the now-barren planet. In time, they became the nomadic Ysanna tribes. Nearly all Ysanna felt the Force, but they were untrained, and their use of it was weak. However, it was enough to give them an advantage in their harsh environment, particularly in guiding the projectiles from their weapons to strike more accurately. A species of massive, hardy quadrupeds had survived the disaster too, and the Ysanna trained them as mounts. They adorned themselves in ritual masks based on artifacts of the dark side they had uncovered from the ruins of the Great Library. Though they had forgotten the specifics of their Jedi ancestors, they still held the ruins of the Order in reverence.

Other inhabitants arrived on Ossus in the intervening years, including those stranded by shipwrecks and the occasional squatter. Travgen, one of those who had chosen to come to Ossus, believed visitors to Ossus to be a threat to him, and attempted to scare off expeditions to the world. He did not, however, interfere with Luke Skywalker when he came, and was relieved when Skywalker left the planet. With the rediscovery of Ossus in 10 ABY and the eventual establishment of a new Jedi academy there, the planet once more became populated with Jedi. The Ysanna continued their lifestyle much as it was, now hosts to visitors from across the galaxy. Some Ysanna chose to join the Jedi and learn the ways of the Force. Less than half the Jedi in the Order were living on Ossus at the time of the Empire's attack in 130 ABY. In the time of the Ossus Project, Yuuzhan Vong warriors and shapers lived on Ossus as well. Almost all of them were killed in the attack on the Temple.

Knossa


Knossa, located on a slope of the Eocho Mountains in the far south, was the primary city on Ossus and contained the planet's largest spaceport. It held the usual venues to be found in cities, including repair bays, restaurants, and lodging, and was also host to a number of research facilities for visiting academics.

Knossa's central plaza held two important obelisks topped with Adegan crystals. When the moons of Ossus aligned with the crystals, they produced a famous and magnificent display of light. The Jedi held this time to be sacred, and used it to remember those of their Order who had fallen in combat. It is from this that the term Ossus Day originated.

Great Jedi Library


Built by Odan-Urr in 4,996 BBY, the Library was a great storehouse of Jedi knowledge, containing over ten thousand works. Located on a hill in the Eocho Mountains, the Library was a large, unadorned stone building with many of its rooms located below ground. Its entrances were unbarred, as Odan-Urr did not believe in fettering any being's search for knowledge. Though it was built for Jedi purposes, the Library held information on all subjects, not simply Jedi affairs, and access was granted to any individual who wished to learn.

Most data were stored in the main building, in a labyrinthine system of shelves. Reading rooms and classrooms filled the lower levels, as well as holograms of some of the most treasured contents of the library. Four towers held relics from the four main eras of history, as per Odan-Urr's dating system: Pre-Hyperdrive, Pre-Republic, Early Republic, and Mature Republic. More dangerous artifacts were stored deep underground, in the Chamber of Antiquities. Only those with permission from the Jedi Council and Keeper of Antiquities were permitted down there.

The Library's dense construction was likely what allowed it to survive the Cron supernova. Its location was lost until Rayf Ysanna's great-grandfather rediscovered it. He kept it a secret, not wanting the sacred ruins to be disturbed. Rayf revealed the library's location to Luke Skywalker on the Jedi's first visit to Ossus. The ancient secrets of the Jedi it still held were invaluable to Luke and his cause of rebuilding the shattered Order.

Jedi Academy
Located in a lush benchland between a mountain and a rift valley, and covering a wide expanse of land, the Ossus academy was the new nerve center of the Jedi Order after the Yuuzhan Vong War, replacing the destroyed Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. It was designed with meditation in mind; difficult paths between the buildings forced Jedi to focus on their surroundings and rooms in the temple were arranged in a way that encouraged serenity.

Amongst the Academy's facilities were a massive lecture hall, a library, a hangar, training grounds, and laboratories. The grounds were staffed by Jedi, families of Jedi, and Ysanna. After it was attacked by the Sith and Empire, the Temple was left to the scavengers, who took many of its Jedi artifacts. Some Jedi and Vong hid within it in later years. It was destroyed by Darth Stryfe in 137 ABY.

Continuity
The Dark Empire endnotes, where Ossus is first mentioned, give a different (and since superseded) history of the planet. According to them, Ossus was mysteriously abandoned circa 7,000 BBY and decayed into ruins in the years after. The version of the endnotes included in the Dark Empire trade paperback gives the correct date of approximately 4,000 BBY.

Inspirations
There may be a connection between Ossus and the Minoan civilization. The supposed capital of the Minoans was Knossos, and it is speculated that the civilization collapsed after a huge natural cataclysm: the eruption of the volcano Thera on the island of Santorini and the subsequent tsunamis which the volcano caused.

Name
The name of Ossus may be derived from ossis, a form of the Latin word for "bone".