Cadomai Prime/Legends

"Spirits of Cadomai!"

- Marn Hierogryph

Cadomai Prime, also known as simply Cadomai, was a planet located in the Outer Rim Territories' Catarlo sector, along the northern end of the major hyperlane known as the Hydian Way. A frigid world with intolerably cold winters, Cadomai's tundra plains were home to the Snivvians, a species renowned for their art. Cadomai held a large system of subterranean caverns, where the Snivvians made their homes during the subfreezing winters. The world possessed a single moon and was part of the Cadomai system. Cadomai had a democratic government, with a leader chosen every year solely on the basis of artistic ability. Despite the artistic sensibilities of the native Snivvians, the history of Cadomai was an extremely bloody one, with the Snivvian genetic flaw known as the Blood Code of the Snivvian resulting in a number of brutal dictators. However, Cadomai eventually became well-known as a resort world, despite the freezing climate. Historically a Galactic Republic world, by the time of the Galactic Empire, Cadomai came to the attention of the Empire's Coalition for Progress, who wanted to ensure that Cadomai's famous transnovels would remain suitable according to the tenets of the New Order.

Description
"For a Snivvian, this is balmy."

- Marn Hierogryph, on the ice world Jebble

A frigid world of tundra plains, Cadomai Prime, also known as simply Cadomai, was the homeworld of the sentient Snivvian species. Cadomai was located in the Outer Rim Cadomai system, in the Catarlo sector, a subsector of the greater Aparo sector. Cadomai was situated on the northern end of Hydian Way hyperlane between the planets Ruuria and Bonadan, near the Corporate Sector. The subfreezing environments of Cadomai led the Snivvians to evolve unique, dense skin that allowed them to control the opening and closing of their pores, in order to trap or release body heat. Cadomai winters were very long and exceptionally cold, forcing Snivvians to stay underground in Cadomai Prime's extensive system of subterranean caverns for months at a time. Above ground, Cadomai also featured large mountains and canyons. Cadomai had a single moon, with a day of twenty-seven standard hours and a year consisting of 405 local days. Cadomai had a standard level of gravity. The planet's main export to the rest of the galaxy was art, while its major imports were foodstuffs and raw materials.

History
"The Sith who was exposed on Cadomai Prime was killed by Darth Wredd. Reports confirm it."

- Jedi Master K'Kruhk

The Snivvians descended from hunters on the frozen plains of Cadomai Prime, eventually gaining sentience and establishing a civilization on the world. Many Snivvians were known throughout the galaxy as excellent artists and authors, a product of Cadomai's winters&mdash;with the Snivvians forced into underground homes during these intensely cold periods, they often had little else to do but develop their artistic talents and sensibilities. For the Snivvians, the norm was for one birthing to yield one male and one female, but male-male twin births sometimes occurred, albeit very rarely. In these cases, one of the two children was born with a genetic flaw, known as the Blood Code of the Snivvian, which had a chance to mutate into a personality disorder and possible sociopathic behavior. The history of Cadomai tended to be a very violent one, and the Blood Code of the Snivvian led to the downfall of a number of civilizations on the world. Three times in the history of Cadomai, Snivvians with this genetic disorder grew to become charismatic, but evil dictators&mdash;two were defeated by civilian uprisings, while the last, Zereldspidar, required the intervention of the Galactic Republic to fell. Eventually, the Snivvians mastered genetic engineering and minimized the chance of these abnormal births. The Snivvians in time developed a participatory democracy on Cadomai, with representatives being elected to a ruling council known as a Chevram. From there, an executive officer was chosen purely on artistic skill. The Chevram was elected once every twelve years, and a new executive chosen every year of the Chevram's rule.

Eventually, the Snivvians developed space travel and were able to expand their civilization beyond Cadomai. The region of space containing Cadomai was considered widely explored by the Republic by the time of the Great Sith War in 4000 BBY. In the era of the Mandalorian Wars several decades later, Cadomai had established itself as a prime resort world despite its cold climate. The Snivvians built large vacation complexes within their cities, and used their artistic and creative culture as an attraction for tourists. In the next few centuries, the Hydian Way hyperlane was blazed&mdash;the older Morellian Trail route, which included Cadomai, fell upon the larger Hydian. Afterwards, during the Jedi Civil War, the area of space containing Cadomai fell under the control of Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Revan's Sith Empire. Cadomai eventually was returned to Republic control, however, and would remain as a Republic world until that government's fall in 19 BBY.

In the time after the Battle of Yavin, the transnovels of Cadomai &mdash;artistic combinations of words and images that told a story while being displayed, which the Snivvians usually created during their periods underground every winter &mdash;came under examination by the Galactic Empire's Coalition for Progress, a sub-agency of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order, which was in the process of reporting on the suitability of various art forms in the New Order. Along with thousands of other types of art from across the galaxy, Cadomai transnovels were judged on a series of austere and inflexible tenets that fit in line with the philosophy of the Galactic Empire. During the era of the Galactic Civil War, the Catarlo sector, and therefore Cadomai, fell under the Imperial governorship of Moff Harlow. In 2 ABY, the exclusive luxury starliner Calabar Queen exploded without warning on its final approach to Cadomai, taking the lives of several Moffs, governors, and officers in the Imperial Army and Navy. The terrorist organization known as the Justice Action League quickly claimed responsibility for the disaster, declaring that it was retribution for Imperial military actions in the Outer Rim and the Colonies region.

Around 7 ABY, three years after the death of the Emperor at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the area containing Cadomai fell under the control of Imperial Warlord Zsinj. In 137 ABY, Cadomai's region of space was under the hegemony of Sith Lord Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire. By 138 ABY, Cadomai Prime was in desperate need of a new reliable trade route, after the Sith devastation of the Calamari system, which in turn drew a sizable criminal element to the collapsed area. A committee of three Snivvian politicians subsequently entered negotiations with a team of Gran representatives to this end; unbeknownst to the others, one of the Snivvian envoys was a secret Sith operative, who had infiltrated Cadomai's government. After an unsuccessful conference with the Gran, the Snivvian Sith was attacked by the renegade Sith Lord Darth Wredd, who was hunting down other Sith. After a short duel, Wredd emerged victorious, impaling the Snivvian with his lightsaber and casting his foe's body at the feet of his fellow politicians. As Wredd had scraped the Snivvian's face to reveal his Sith tattoos, it was only then that the Snivvian politicians learned that there had been a traitor in their midst.

Inhabitants
The native Snivvians made up 99% of Cadomai Prime's population, with other species making up the remaining 1%, during the time of the Mandalorian Wars. The native Snivvians were a stocky, brown-furred humanoid species with large, short snouts and canine teeth protruding from their lower jaws&mdash;their thick skin provided them protection from Cadomai's intensely cold weather. The Snivvians greatly valued art in their society, and counted among their species some of the galaxy's greatest artists and authors, with their transnovels being famous across the galaxy by the time of the Galactic Empire. In fact, their Chevram ruling council chose its executive officer every year solely on artistic skill.

One notable Snivvian native of Cadomai was Marn Hierogryph, whose parents sent him off-world after Hierogryph's skill as a con artist angered many fellow Snivvians. Hierogryph went on to become a career criminal on the planet Taris, later joining the disgraced former Jedi Padawan Zayne Carrick in his quest for justice. Other notable Cadomai natives included Sinrich, a Clone Wars–era bounty hunter who invented the holographic disguise matrix; Tevlun, a member of the Hyperspace Navigator's Guild; and Zutton, a well-known Snivvian artist around 0 ABY. The Snivvian language was the tongue mainly employed on Cadomai, and Snivvians speaking Basic were sometimes said to have a "Cadomai accent." Additionally, some natives of Cadomai, Marn Hierogryph for example, used "Spirits of Cadomai" as an exclamation.

Locations
Brella was the capital city of Cadomai Prime, although it was by no means the only major city on the planet. By the time of the Mandalorian Wars, the Snivvians had begun to build resorts and vacation complexes in the other cities on the world, making Cadomai a tourist destination. The subterranean caverns of Cadomai held extensive systems of homes that the Snivvians made use of during Cadomai's intolerable winters. The world was home to the University of Cadomai.

Behind the scenes
The planet "Cadomai" was first mentioned in the Imperial Sourcebook, a 1989 West End Games sourcebook written by Greg Gorden. Much of the extant information on Cadomai was added by Pablo Hidalgo in the sourcebook Galaxy Guide 12: Aliens — Enemies and Allies, and in the Alien Anthology&mdash;where the name Cadomai Prime was first entered into Star Wars canon &mdash;and the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, along with the reference book The Essential Atlas. Aside from an entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Cadomai was mentioned in several issues of John Jackson Miller's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comic book series. The Alien Anthology originally placed Cadomai Prime in the Expansion Region, although several later sources, including The Essential Atlas, placed it in the Outer Rim Territories. Cadomai Prime makes its first direct appearance in the 2013 comic Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 6, where it was drawn by Brian Thies.

Appearances

 * The Taris Holofeed: Prime Edition
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 26: Vector, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 36: Prophet Motive, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 43: The Reaping, Part 1
 * The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy
 * Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 6
 * Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 6
 * Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 6