Located in the Vorzyd sector's Auratera system of the Outer Rim Territories, Auratera was a low-gravity world situated in one of the oldest civilized areas of the galaxy, located in the same region as many worlds of historic importance to the Jedi Order, the Sith, and other Force users in the Outer Rim. Despite its proximity to these worlds and the equally ancient and busy Salin Corridor hyperspace route, Auratera became a near-forgotten world. However, the planet was a known destination for Jedi Masters and Sith Lords who were drawn to the powerful Acablas vergence in the Force.
Around the time of the Galactic Empire, Auratera had only a few widely scattered isolated towns and settlements, which included the settlements of Senoloro, Dewbright and Hriin. While closing themselves off from the rest of the galaxy, they cut ties with the few remaining trading partners they had when the last Sith Empire fell. Many settlements had reverted to more primitive technology, in order to make themselves self-sufficient, and while vehicles were common in the settlements, starships were rare. With no central world government, the different communities governed themselves as they wished. Despite trade being reduced, there was still some trade between groups, and each year, starships quietly visited nearby star systems to purchase and deliver medical supplies, parts, and vehicles, and to check in on galactic events.
Auratera was a world of bright skies and limited night, as a result of its uncommon star system. The system had two stars, like many others in the galaxy; however, its three planets orbited only the larger star, Aurell, passing between it and the smaller star, Ryern. As the planet had a faster-than-average rotational period of eighteen hours per day, the stars lit up Auratera's skies the majority of the time. Nighttime only occurred when Aurell and Ryern were in a total eclipse, and the rest of the time, the amount of light Auratera received from the smaller star depended on its proximity and their comparative orbits. At times, the two stars were adjacent in the sky, resulting in very bright days and warmer temperatures, but at other times, Aurell lit the day and Ryern brightened the night. When at its closest point to Auratera, Ryern provided about a third of the light that its accompanying larger star was capable of.
Most inhabitants of Auratera regarded the vergence as little more than a mysterious source of trouble, drawing aggressive Force users who sought to align the planet with their political interests. During the time of the Republic, most of the settlers and colonists had established farms, forestry operations, or ranches, exporting foodstuffs and other products to the neighboring star systems. Each successive war drove more residents away from the vergence, and eventually offworld altogether. By the time the last Sith War came to an end, Auratera became a war-torn wreck; only about 100,000 beings remained, scattered in small towns across the planet. The forest quickly reclaimed the destroyed and abandoned towns and structures.
Thousands of years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, Auratera shifted its allegiance between the Galactic Republic and various incarnations of the Sith Empire throughout millennia, aligning with whichever government controlled the surrounding star systems. After a thousand years of the fall of another Sith Empire, the Jedi sought to conceal Auratera and the Acablas vergence from possible future Sith or other dark-side Force users.
However, in a bid to protect the vergence and the world from yet another Sith resurgence and from other dark-side adherents, the Ithorian Jedi Master Nareen Cale altered official war reports to indicate that the planet was at a loss and would be environmentally dangerous for centuries. This reinforced efforts to secretly reclassify the system as uninhabited and undesirable in official astrogation charts. The remaining residents fully supported the measure, having had enough violence. The Jedi continued to periodically check in on the vergence, and secretly visited the disparate inhabited zones.
Most of the planet's population of 500,000 had fled after the Sith invaded the planet and had not returned. The number of inhabitants had plummeted, and those who remained had had enough of the Sith. Working with the Jedi, they secretly altered official Republic records and star maps to mislabel the system as uninhabitable during the war. Though the Jedi retained the accurate information, the false information had remained in place ever since, passing from the charts of the Galactic Republic to the Galactic Empire.
Auratera was first mentioned in Nexus of Power, a 2016 sourcebook for Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars: Force and Destiny roleplaying game.
- Nexus of Power