Dathomir

Dathomir is an obscure planet in the Outer Rim Territories, located in the Quelii sector. Somewhat smaller in size than Coruscant, slightly-below-standard gravity but with the same standard hours and more local days in a year.

It is considered temperate and beautiful with varied terrain that included coastal lakes and tarpits, thick forests and snow-caped mountain peaks, powerful rivers and broad savannas, small icecaps and dramatic rift valley.

The very beginnings of the Witches of Dathomir begin on this planet with the arrival of the rogue Jedi Knight Allya where they remain to this single day.

Kwa
The native species of Dathomir are Kwa and Kwi. The first were an ancient species whose height reached up to three meters, had blue skin and count communicate telepathically. Most notably, they developed the Infinity Gates which enabled near-instant travel between various interstellar locations, modeled on a Celestial concept and housed within vast pyramidal structures known as Star Temples.

100,000 BBY, they encounted the Gree Empire which led to border disputes between the two species and with the advent of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, Kwa began to lose their influence in galactic politics. Infinity Gates and Star Temples were sealed and guard were set to protect them. Though the Infinite Empire wiped out the rest of the Kwa around the galaxy, the original inhabitants of Dathomir eventually evolved (or rather degenerated) into Kwi.



Kwi
The Kwi are the degenerated descendants of the saurian Kwa. They resembled bipedal, cobalt-blue-skins saurians and were four meters long and could race at incredible speed. They lost ability to talk though they possessed a collective memory of their former glory and the importance of protection of the ancient Star Temples.

In 31 BBY, many Kwi were slaughtered by the Nightsisters during their attempt to access the secrets of the Infinity Gate. The remains of the specie disappeared into the deserts and would form tribes including the Blue Desert People and the Blue Mountain People, as well as the Rhoa Kwi. The Kwi also migrated every dawn and every dusk.

During the Galactic Civil War, Geonosian bio-engineers at the Geonosian Bio-Lab on Yavin 4 experimented with mutated Kwis.

By some claims, lightside Witches respect the Kwi. The offer of a Kwi to let someone ride them was an opportunity the Witches consider a rare honor.

Humans
Today's Dathomiri population consists of 97% humans, making them the largest specie of the planet today. Othersiders tend to refer to them as Dathomiri Human as they differ from other humans of the planet. Firstly, it is due to the amount of days their orbital period takes, second is their slightly slowed down aging process. The oldest Witch on record has lived up to 300 years of age.

Most Witches to day use spells in their use of magic and some even believe that after so many generations of chanting, they have lost the ability to use force powers the way the rest of the galaxy does. Witches like Petra Cavataio and Satara Hawk prove them wrong, with their use of both methods which is passed down to their children as well.



Rancors
Rancors are semi-sentient species, large carnivorious reptomammals. They are usually brown but in special circumstances, such as the mutant rancor, jungle rancor and the bull rancor, their color may differ. They can be found on other worlds as well such as Ottethan, Carida, Corulag, Felucia and Lehon but the Dathimiri natives are said to be stronger and more intelligent than others. Average height of an adult is five to ten meters, average mass is 1,650 kilograms (5-meter specimen) with distinctions such as long arms and claws.

They have many uses, ranging from companions to the Witches of Dathomir, pets for crime lords, source of food and means of entertainment by dropping someone into its pit. Other examples include a Nightsister using a stuffed rancor head as a chair and a Hapan Queen Mother using two trophy rancor teeth for handles to create both her first and second lightsaber. Rancors are also sorce of a delicacy (or at least edible meal) known as raw rancor beast liver.

To learn more, see the wookiepedia.

Pre-Republic History
Find out about the pre-Allya history here.

Daughters of Allya
The history of the Witches of Dathomir begins with the banishment of the rogue Jedi Knight Allya to Dathomir by the Jedi Council. To the people today, she is remembered as single-handedly transforming Dathomiri socienty, credited for enslaving the entire male population under her leadership, turning rancors from predators to friends, pets and war mounts, and codifying her teachings in the Book of Law. Her leadership undoubtebly laid the foundations of a unique culture, dominated by Force-using women who regarded themselves collectively as her descendants.

Over the centuries, the human population of Dathomir grew, based on the relatively narrow costal area of one of the planet's continents. Even under the New Republic, more than 90% of the planet remained unexplored. The Dathomiri came to be divided into a number of reasonably permanent local clan communities which took their names from significant geographical features such as Singing Mountain, Frenzied River and Misty Falls which is a system they live in to this very day.

The strength of the Dathomiri was discovered by the Jedi Order in around 340 BBY, when the Jedi Academy ship Chu'unthor crashed into a tar pit on the planet. All attempts to retrieve the wreck were blocked by the natives although it seemed that some contacts were forged across the battle lines. Other than being part of the Republic in its past, when it was classed as part of the Quelii sector, they fell into rule of the Drackmarians (another matriarchal warrior race)

Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War
When in 54 BBY, Darth Sidous visited Dathomir, he was approached by a Nightsister who begged him to take her infant son from the life he would be forced to live if he remained. The Sith accepted, taking the Zabrak who would later become his apprentice and known to the galaxy as Darth Maul.

In 31 BBY, the remaining Kwi were decimated by a clan of Nightsisters in their attempt to access the secrets of the Infinity gaze. Their intent was to use the device to destroy Coruscant which failed thanks to Jedi Quinlan Vos who assumed the role of Temple Guardian.

Around 21 BBY, General Grievous led an attack on the Nightsisters which led to the extremination of almost every Dathomirian Nightsister and thus resulting in the original Human Nightsisters eventually returning to prominence within the clan.

After the Great Jedi Purge, the fable village of Aurilia was believed to house Force-sensitive individuals, perhaps even Jedi who lived there in exile during the reign of the Galactic Empire. Soon after, the Empire sent a fleet to the sector and claimed Dathomir. Around 2 BBY, the Emperor re-established a penal colony for important political prisoners while the Imperial garrison hunted the remaining kwi to near-extinction.

Shortly after the Imperial arrived, an exile of the Singing Mountain Clan began to form a new clan of Nightsisters with Imperial encouragement which was soon deemed as a threat as Palpatine and the planet was quickly placed under interdiction. Gathzerion and her new clan enslaved the stranded Imperial garrison and their prisoners.

Following the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY and the fall of the Galactic Empire, the stationed admiral Zsinj refused to acknowledge the Imperial Ruling Council and declared himself Warlord, wanting to use Dathomir as a key to his plans with the discovery of vast loads of the key shipbuilding metals of neutronium, lommite and zersium on the moon Koratas and he had a Rancor Base built in the orbit of Dathomir to exploit the world's resources.

New Republic
Han Solo won the deed to Dathomir from Drackmarian Warlord Omogg in a game of Sabacc in 8 ABY to where he kidnapped the Alderaan Princess Leia Organa, leading to a chain of events that changed the world forever. The action brought the Jedi and former Hapes heir Isolder to Dathomir as well, encountering the Kwi and then the Singing Mountain Clan.

The conflict that followed resulted in the destruction of the Nightsisters, Warlord Zsinj and his Orbital Nightcloak. Freeed from the tyranny of the Nightsisters, Dathomir entered an alliance with the New Republic and the deed to the planet was given to Augwynne Djo, clan mother of Singing Mountain Clan.

Peace did not last long as the forces of the Imperial Remnant returned and overpower the small New Republic enclave and struck an alliance with a group of Dathomiri who styled themselves as the reborn clan of the Nightsisters. Since the reason for their return was the search of the Infinity Gate, part of the leadership lost their interest in Dathomir when they learned the Gates could no longer be used. They did however recruite Force-sensitive warriors in service of the Empire. The old Imperial prison facility was once again put to use at the time as hostile Dathomiri were take captive and incarcerated. Salvation came in form of a renegade special forces officer and Jedi Praxeum trainee Dal Konur as well as Imperial Royal Guard Kir Kanos who worked with the Dathomiri resistance to return freedom to the planet.



In 19 ABY, a Force-sensitive Imperial Intelligence agent Brakiss arrived to Dathomir and began working on a faction known as the Second Imperium. He infiltrated the Great Canyon Clan and transformed them into a new group of Nightsisters, to serve as a recruiting pool for the Shadow Academy. A new social revolution was engineered at the time so that the new Nightsisters would come to treat males equals - adding escaped slaves from other clans to their ranks. By 22 ABY, some Great Canyon Clan warriors had alreay undergone through training n the academy and receieved commissions in the Imperial military. In the same year, Tenal Ka and Luke Skywalker infiltrated the territory and reached the Shadow Academy. The clan's strength was eventually slashed by their defeat in the Second Imperium's attack on Yavin 4.

Galactic Alliance
At the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Dathomir was once again under the protection of the New Republic and while they did fall under the Yuuzhan Vong rule during their initial attack in 27 ABY, the invaders soon realizes that the natives were going to harder to subdue.

With the war ended, the Dathomir underwent changes with the help of a Jedi Master and two Dathomiri Jedi Kirana Ti and Damaya. In 30 ABY a Jedi Praxeum was founded in order to train local Witches as Jedi. Outsiders even came to train under Witches in the period.

Before the Unification
Following 30 ABY, there is no recorded history of Dathomir. What is known is that the clans remained divided, keeping to their ways. Certain clans remained at war, such as the Singing Mountain Clan and the Nightsisters.

Unification
In about 158 ABY, the Witches of Dathomir finally are united under Petra Cavataio as their Superior Mother. Certain groups refused to join the pack and were dealt with by the united clans.

Read more about the Witches' history here.