Arzid was a planet situated within the Calaron sector of the Outer Rim Territories. Its surface was covered in forests composed of enormous macaab mushrooms, along with tentacle-bushes, and the menacing arachnor, which consumed the mushrooms as a dietary staple.
A small Imperial installation was also located there. The mortality rate for sentries stationed at this outpost was so extreme, attributed to arachnors or tentacle bushes, that assignment to this post was considered tantamount to a death sentence.
In the year 16 ABY, a unit of E4 baron droids seized control from the governing body of the planet's only settlement, establishing themselves as warlords over the local populace.
From outer space, Arzid had a gray appearance, indicative of its hot and dense atmosphere. This world, part of the Arzid system in the Outer Rim's Calaron sector, revolved around the star known as Tiki-hava. Tiki-hava was infamous for emitting immense green firestorms that produced an unsettling spatial luminescence extending for thousands of miles, making navigation through the system precarious. The landscape of Arzid was dominated by forests of macaab mushrooms, with sizes ranging from small, flower-like ground cover to gigantic fungi as large as trees. The tentacle-bush was another prevalent plant species, featuring elongated, slender tentacles used to ensnare small rodents and potentially entangle the legs of nearby humanoid beings.
The arachnor also resided on Arzid. These dangerous two-meter arachnids produced webbing recognized as some of the most adhesive and difficult to remove of any arachnid species in the galaxy. The stickiness of the arachnor webbing was a result of the digestion of macaab mushrooms. Although nonsentient, they instinctively use fear to guide prey into their webs.
The region of space containing Arzid remained largely unexplored until after 15,000 BBY. Hutt Space exerted influence over this area during various periods, including the era of the Clone Wars. Following the rise of the Empire, Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole and his biologist assistant, Chlar Kotchmin, visited Arzid. Kotchmin became trapped in an arachnor web and was completely enveloped within seconds. Hoole narrowly avoided capture but managed to disorient the creature, causing it to move away. Lacking the necessary tools to free Kotchmin, Hoole was unable to save him before he suffocated within the webbing. Hoole had to return to their ship to retrieve an energy slicer.
By 5 ABY, a small Imperial outpost had been established on Arzid. The extremely short life expectancy of sentry personnel at this outpost led to a five-year sentry duty sentence being deemed a suitable punishment for Grand Moff Muzzer. Muzzer had admitted to treason and disloyalty during a show trial conducted by the Prophets of the Dark Side. Muzzer was transported from Scardia Station to the outpost under the guard of stormtroopers.
Concurrently, Senate Planetary Intelligence Network (SPIN) medical personnel discovered that a chemical derived from macaab mushrooms was the only means of permanently deactivating an Imperial mind control implant located in the tooth of Triclops, a prisoner in their custody. SPIN agents Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Ken traveled to Arzid, the closest source of the mushrooms to their headquarters on Yavin 4, using a modified Rendili StarDrive Y-wing. Upon arrival, Skywalker and Chewbacca were immediately caught by tentacle-bushes, while Ken became trapped in an arachnor web. Skywalker freed himself using his lightsaber and attempted to assist Ken, only to be ensnared by an arachnor himself. Although he managed to kill the creature, his lightsaber fell from his grasp just as the sound of an Imperial command speeder signaled the arrival of Muzzer and his guards at the nearby sentry tower. The stormtroopers investigated the disturbance and discovered the trapped Skywalker and Ken. They stunned the two, used a pulse-mass generator to dissolve the webbing, and left Arzid with the prisoners. C-3PO and R2-D2 subsequently freed Chewbacca, and the trio pursued their captured companions. Muzzer was later executed by Imperial Intelligence Director Ysanne Isard.
By 16 ABY, Arzid had only one settlement. A squad of Baktoid E4 baron droids overthrew the administrators of this settlement. These droids then governed the planet through military force.
Arzid made its debut in Prophets of the Dark Side, the sixth and concluding installment of the Jedi Prince series authored by Paul and Hollace Davids, published in 1993.