Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/January 10, 2010

The Battle of Iziz, fought in the year 4,000 BBY, was the culmination of a centuries-long planetary conflict known as the Beast Wars of Onderon. The battle began after three Jedi Knights arrived on Onderon to oversee an attempt at a peaceful existence between the people of Onderon's lone city, Iziz, led by the Queen Amanoa, and the Beast Riders from the planet's wilderness. However, the Jedi's negotiations with Amanoa were suddenly halted when Beast Warrior Commandos raided the Iziz Royal Palace, during which time Princess Galia, Amanoa's daughter, was kidnapped. Upon orders from the queen to retrieve the princess, the Jedi successfully located Galia at the Beast Rider's jungle citadel, Fortress Kira, and discovered that she was in the process of marrying Oron Kira, son of Beast-Lord Modon Kira.

The Jedi learned during the reception that Amanoa ruled Iziz through the power of an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith named Freedon Nadd, and that the Beast Riders' refusal to submit to her will was what sparked the war. They convinced Galia and Kira to return with them to Iziz to present their marriage to Amanoa as an end to the conflict, but the queen rejected the proposal outright. In a gesture that shocked them all, Amanoa invoked the spirit of Nadd, while ordering her armies to engage the Beast Riders in war. Following Amanoa's refusal, Oron Kira contacted his army, which was the largest gathering of Beast Riders ever assembled, and commanded them to begin their attacks on Iziz.

Both sides suffered many casualties early on in the battle. The tide steadily turned in favor of the Beast Riders, who had managed to capture the city and surround the Royal Palace. However, Amanoa and the Naddists, city-dwelling worshipers of Freedon Nadd, employed the power of the dark side of the Force, for which the Beast Riders had no defense. Slowly, the direction of battle swayed, this time in favor of Amanoa and the city-dwellers. Not until the arrival of Jedi Master Arca Jeth, who exercised his mastery of Jedi battle meditation against the Naddists, was victory delivered into the hands of the Beast Riders. During the battle, Amanoa was killed, having been released from Nadd's influence and unable to withstand the potency of Jeth's light side power. With the death of her mother, Galia assumed the throne of Iziz, with Kira ruling at her side as king.