Morodin/Legends

The Morodin were enormous, sentient herbivores. They were mottled yellow with spoonbill snouts, stubby legs and wide teeth. They left a slime trail on the ground as they walked.

They colonized the planet Varonat after their homeworld became uninhabitable. They were exploited by the Galactic Empire and hunted in safaris. Eventually, the hunting of Morodin became outlawed under the New Republic.

Biology and appearance
Morodins were huge, herbivorous, mammalian, lizard-slugs that grew to an average length of 15 meters. Morodins possessed six stubby legs and two short forearms. A long neck ended in a head with a spoon-billed snout full of flat teeth, and an eye on either side of a ridged cranium. Yellow skin covered the Morodin, with darker colored mottling running down the back, and a small tail protruded from the rear of the body.

Society and culture
The Morodins practiced a form of maze-running, which was used to completely fertilize a selected area. The Morodin elders also used it as an intellectual exercise to teach the younger generations the art of biochemical agriculture. The Morodins would also keep track of the combinations used to fertilize an area by different patterns in the slime.

History
The Morodin civilization flourished on their homeworld before the formation of the Galactic Republic. 1,000 years before the formation of the Republic, the Morodin established an agricultural colony on the planet Varonat in an effort to produce enough food to support their homeworld's growing population. Varonat was covered in immense plains, and the Morodin transported stores of food to the world to allow them convert the grasslands to edible plantlife. The result produced the vast Great Jungle that Varonat would become famous for thousands of years later.

The colony on Varonat produced and harvested food, transporting it back to their homeworld aboard organic space vessels. Eventually, an ecological disaster on the Morodin homeworld stopped the Morodin from growing their organic ships. Cut off from their homeworld, the colony on Varonat was left to its own devices. Over the centuries, the Morodin's used their unique biochemical abilities to continually transform and modify Varonat's plantlife to suit their needs.

In 242 BBY, Human colonists from Salliche led by Adarian Tropis settled on Varonat after scouting reports indicated rich, fertile soil in the Great Jungle. Settling Tropis-on-Varonat, the colonists began planting crops. However, the fertility of the soil only lasted for a single season. The Morodins attempted to help the Humans by covering their crops with their nutrient slime. However, communication between the Morodins and the Humans proved to be impossible, and the Humans had no comprehension of what the Morodins were trying to do. They thought the Morodins were just animals trampling their crops. Eventually, Tropis theorized that the slime trails laid down by the Morodin was vital to the soil's fertility and gave the Morodin free run of several fields. The resulting crop was yellow and inedible; following this, the colonists began to actively chase the Morodins from their fields and hunt them.

Around 7 ABY, the Morodins encountered a group of Krish who ventured into the Great Jungle planting Yagaran aleudrupe plants. Believing the Krish were interested in agricultural cooperation, the Morodins added their plantings to their fertilization rounds. Unknown to the Morodins, their nutrient slime chemically changed the pips of the aleudrupe's berries which, when combined with rethan-K and promhassic triaxli, created a blaster formulation as powerful as spin-sealed Tibanna gas. The Krish were pleased with the resulting crop, and continued to plant and harvest the plant in the jungle. The Morodins continued to help the newcomers. Every few months, several Morodins were killed by hunters in the jungle; to cover their operations, the Krish had established a safari to hunt the Morodin. Despite the correlation, the Morodins never equated the two groups.

After the discovery of the Morodin's sentience by the New Republic, a team was dispatched to Varonat to make formal contact and learn the Morodins' biochemical agriculture. The team had to learn how to communicate with the Morodin, and to study the unique properties of the biochemical slime. The team was also forced to deal with hunters who believed the Morodins were worth more as trophies, and had to contend with an inquisitive Imperial governor.

Appearances

 * Tales from the Empire
 * Tales from the Empire
 * Tales from the Empire