The Beast Wars were the product of the unusual relationship between Onderon and its moon Dxun: the moon orbited in such a way that once a year the atmospheres of both bodies would connect. Over the centuries, the Drexls, flying predators native to Dxun, learned that they could use this "oxygen bridge" to migrate to Onderon and settle there.
In response to the vicious nature of the Drexls, the Humans of Onderon built a large, walled city that would come to be known as Iziz to protect themselves. Around this time, a Dark Jedi by the name of Freedon Nadd arrived on Onderon, becoming king and creating a long line of darkness within the Onderonian royalty. It was soon decreed that all criminals in Iziz would be sent out into the wildlands of Onderon, to be killed by the Dxun beasts—though, due to the strong dark-side nature of the royal house at the time, half of these "criminals" were simply those who disagreed with the monarchy. However, in time, many of these exiles learned to tame the beasts and became the Beast Riders. They used them to attack Iziz, thus beginning the Beast Wars of Onderon.
In 4000 BBY, the conflict reached new heights. The rulers of Onderon, Queen Amanoa and her apparently-senile husband King Ommin, sought Galactic Republic membership and, against the advice of the Force ghost of Freedon Nadd, appealed for Jedi aid to end the Beast Wars. Jedi Master Arca Jeth was assigned to the Onderon system as its watchman. He sent his Padawans, Tott Doneeta and Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma, to settle the problem on Onderon. As they arrived in Queen Amanoa's throne room, a group of Beast Riders staged a daring raid on the city and kidnapped Amanoa's daughter, the Princess Galia. The Jedi ventured into the wildlands to save the Princess, and Tott was able to tame a boma, which led them to the fortress of Beast-Lord Modon Kira. The Jedi entered the building, only to discover an ongoing wedding-feast between Galia and Modon's son, Oron Kira.
Arca Jeth upon arriving on Onderon to mediate the Beast Wars
Ulic attempted to rescue the Princess, but she claimed that she, in fact, wanted to be married. Modon set up a peaceful banquet to discuss things, where the Kiras revealed to the Jedi that the Onderonian royal family was influenced by the dark side of the Force and the spirit of Freedon Nadd. Galia, Oron, and the Jedi headed back to Iziz to speak with Queen Amanoa, having agreed with Modon that he would launch an attack should they fail.
When they arrived, Amanoa unleashed her dark side powers upon them, forcing them to retreat into a secret passageway. Oron informed his father on the comm that they had failed. And so, Modon's massive gathering of Beast Lords from all over Onderon marched towards Iziz, with the Jedi battling Amanoa's royal guard in the throne room—one of whom used a halberd to cut off Cay's arm, which was later replaced by an arm from an XT-6 droid.
Amanoa attempted to turn the tide of the battle using the dark side, but was thwarted by the newly-arrived Arca Jeth's Jedi battle meditation, allowing the beast-riders to take advantage, and soon Iziz had fallen. The Jedi, Oron, and Galia descended into the deepest levels of Amanoa's palace, to the tomb of Freedon Nadd. Amanoa was killed instantly by the sheer light side of the Force emanating from Jeth's body, ending the dark side's half-millennium hold of Iziz. Galia and Oron Kira were married, uniting the beast riders and Iziz.
The conflict ended late in the year 4000 BBY.
In the hopes of ending the dark side influence over Onderon, Arca Jeth had the coffins of Freedon Nadd and Amanoa removed from Iziz and re-interred on Dxun. However, though his body had been ravaged by his use of the dark side of the Force, King Ommin was in fact in full possession of his mental faculties, and fomented an uprising among the Naddists, those Onderonians who still followed Nadd's teachings. Though the revolt was eventually defeated, Ommin was able to pass on much of his dark side knowledge to two Empress Tetan nobles, Satal and Aleema Keto, who had traveled to Onderon in search of Sith artifacts.
Following Ommin's defeat, the spirit of Freedon Nadd appeared to the Ketos and introduced them to the dark side of the Force. The two would subsequently lead the Krath secret society in launching a coup in the Empress Teta system, leading to the Krath Holy Crusade.
- "Straight from the Horse's Mouth: A Guide to the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi Universe, Part 1" — Star Wars Insider 26
- "Straight from the Horse's Mouth: A Guide to the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi Universe, Part 3" — Star Wars Insider 28
- Tales of the Jedi Companion
- The Essential Chronology
- The Dark Side Sourcebook
- The Official Star Wars Fact File113
- The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- The New Essential Chronology
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Jedi Academy Training Manual
- "Authors of the Expanded Universe: Twenty Years of Tales of the Jedi" — Star Wars Insider 150