Undercity

"I hope you like mutants, freaks, and disease, Intern, 'cause our way off Taris takes us to the Undercity!"

- Marn Hierogryph to Zayne Carrick

The Undercity was a mechanical wilderness on the ground level beneath the upper, middle and lower levels of Taris. In 3,956 BBY. It was a dark, wild area inhabited by the Outcasts&mdash;people whose predecessors were eternally banished from the surface as a form of criminal punishment.

History
"A century ago rising levels of toxic pollution poisoned the oceans and famine swept the planet. The rich hoarded food for their own use and the poor were left to starve and die."

- Rukil to Revan

Tarisian Civil War
Abandoned by the Galactic Republic in 4,156 BBY, the Tarisian industrialists began to use the power source of their wish, which produced some form of toxic waste. A century later the pollution poisoned and killed most of the oceanic fauna and flora, and so the planet was swept with famine. The Tarisian elite hoarded the remaining food and wealth for themselves, far more than they needed while the poor were left to starve and die.

The Tarisian poor, disgusted at what the rich had done, rebelled, beginning the Tarisian Civil War. Millions of innocents died and large sections of Taris were destroyed or abandoned. It was during this time that the self sufficient colony was lost to the Tarisians. The rebellion was crushed in the end and the thousands of remaining disarmed rebels were imprisoned. But the jails could not hold them all, so they were instead banished to the Undercity, unable to return to the surface under penalty of death.

Realm of the Outcast
Dirty, dark, and infested with rakghouls, the Outcasts had never left their prison during their unhappy existence, and there was little hope for their future, or that of their children amongst them. With the exception of Rukil. Rukil was an elderly Outcast who fervently studied and believed in the existence of the mythical Promised Land, a self-sufficient colony (built in an unspecified location) which had been filled with provisions and droid attendants but then forgotten by the rest of Taris long ago. If they could discover the location, said Rukil, they could escape their miserable existence and live in comfort for the rest of their days. Nobody believed in these stories, and most villagers only thought they served to give false hope.

The mechanical wilderness around the Undercity village was extremely dangerous because of rakghouls, semi-humanoid beasts that existed apparently only to attack nearby Humans and infect them with the rakghoul disease. The Outcasts had to keep infected people isolated from the rest of the society because they would inevitably mutate into rakghouls. Dangerous sewers located in the Underlevels were infested with rakghouls and Gamorrean slavers, who used the area for a base.

Arrival of Revan
"You are marked, up-worlder - even my dim old eyes can see the mantle of destiny that cloaks you. Perhaps old Rukil knows you better than you know yourself."

- Rukil to Revan on Taris.

When Revan first came to the Undercity, he was first greeted by Shaleena, a member of the outcasts who lived in that village. Shaleena told Revan to find and talk to the leader of the village Gendar and if he wanted to, to talk to Rukil. Shaleena told Revan of Rukil's stories of the promised land. Revan first visited Gandar, then immediately went to see Rukil.

At Rukil's behest, the amnesiac Revan sought out the journals of Rukil's apprentice Malya, Rukil's father, and Rukil's grandfather and brought them to the old man while he was trapped on Taris during the Jedi Civil War. Rukil had reached the century mark by then, having survived in the Undercity for a hundred years. Once presented with Revan's findings, he pieced together the journals' clues, finally discovering the location of the Promised Land. He shared the information with Gendar, the village leader, who stated that although the journey would be long and perilous, involving the crossing of rakghoul-infested territory, supplies were high. Faced with choosing to continue their dreary, hopeless lives or pursuing the light of hope that the journals presented, the outcasts departed for the Promised Land.

As a final act towards the outcasts, Revan was also able to save the Outcasts from the rakghouls by giving a rakghoul serum vial (which he found on the remains of a Sith trooper) to an Upper City doctor, Zelka Forn. Forn was able to reproduce it the serum, and used it cure the Outcasts of the disease. He also used it to cure another Republic soldier who was subsequently killed by rakghouls. Whether or not the trek proved successful was unknown; the orbital bombardment ordered by Darth Malak some time later left little evidence of the journey.

Reconstruction
During the Cold War that followed the Great Galactic War, the Republic made reconstruction efforts to rebuild Taris, in hopes of defeating the Old Sith Empire. By 3 ABY, much of the Undercity had been rebuilt by Human colonists, but never again was it a prison for banished criminals or overrun by rakghouls. Many Outcast had returned to the Undercity after the bombardment due to the Promised Land not being the haven they fought it would be and their cousins died of Rakgoul infection or starvation. A Jedi managed to recover the lost history to the local's history keeper.

Behind the scenes
If the player chooses to follow the dark side, Revan can sell the journals to Igear, a shopkeeper in the Undercity who destroys the journals out of a jealous desire to gain prestige and profit for himself through the settlers' reliance on his store. This condemns the Outcasts to remain in their village in the Undercity.

Furthermore, the player has the choice to follow Gurney's advice and give the rakghoul serum to Zax at the bounty office in Javyar's Cantina. Should the player do this, the infected Outcasts would be condemned to mutate into rakghouls, and the player will be unable to purchase rakghoul serum from Upper City doctor, Zelka Forn at an inexpensive price.

The possibility of the survival of the Undercity during the destruction of Taris by Darth Malak remains open to speculation, as it has not been mentioned in canon. According to the canonical light side ending of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the Outcasts had already escaped to the Promised Land by the time of the bombardment, so their future (if there was any) continued elsewhere.

It is unknown if it was the same Undercity in the Old Republic era or it was a rebuild in the last days of the Rise of the Empire era (in 1 BBY). However in Star Wars: Empire at War the land battle was on only one level and looked quite new. It is possible that what ever was left of it after the bombardment was demolished and rebuilt by the Human colonists.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: Commencement, Part 2
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 3: Commencement, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 25: Vector, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 26: Vector, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic