The Atrisian Commonwealth existed as a sector of space. It was situated at the edge of both the Core Worlds and the Colonies. This sector, part of the Legends continuity, encompassed roughly 200 settled planets, including Atrisia, Frisal, and the Kiliea system. The Kiliea system is notable as the place where the Kiliean bolt guns originated. Furthermore, Frisal served as a reserve world for the Galactic Empire and was also the homeworld of the eight-legged loirbnigg reptilian species.
The Atrisian Commonwealth emerged as an independent civilization, separate from the Galactic Republic, by 3996 BBY. At that time, Atrisia, the home of the ancient Human race known as Atrisians, was part of the Commonwealth. During the Clone Wars, the Commonwealth was a member of the Republic. A few years later, Atrisia was within the Galactic Empire's territory. Rom Mohc and Villis Andal were among the Human inhabitants of the Commonwealth during that era.
Sometime after the death of the Galactic Emperor Palpatine, the Atrisian Commonwealth became an Allied Region of the New Republic. Around 11 ABY, Corellia Antilles, a xenoarchaeologist, suggested that locating the lost original manuscript of the Sayings, an old Atrisian document, could improve relations between the New Republic and the Commonwealth. Approximately three decades after that, the xenolinguist Milanda Vorgan described the Atrisian Commonwealth as a fairly ordinary place.
The Atrisian Commonwealth occupied a portion of the Southern Core within the regions of the Core Worlds and the Colonies. This relatively narrow stretch of space bordered these larger regions and contained around 200 settled worlds. The Atrisi system, the Frisal system, and the Kiliea system were all located in the Core portion of the Commonwealth. The Atrisi system was at the terminus of the hyperlane called the Giju Run, which linked it to the Dahrtag system in the Core Worlds.
The Atrisi system was home to the terrestrial planet Atrisia, also known as Kitel Phard. The Frisal system contained a terrestrial world with the same name. The latter was the homeworld of the loirbnigg, a species of eight-legged reptilian beings.
The inhabitants of Atrisia eventually developed interstellar travel, and the planet became part of the independent Atrisian Commonwealth. The Galactic Republic explored the space surrounding the Atrisi system sometime between 5000 BBY and 3996 BBY, incorporating it into the civilized galaxy. Contact with the Atrisian Commonwealth spurred the growth of the Southern Core region.
Although the space around Atrisia was either unaligned with or contested by the Republic or the Brotherhood of Darkness by 1000 BBY, the planet was within the Republic's borders during the Clone Wars from 22 to 19 BBY. During the early stages of the conflict, the Twentieth Army of the Republic Military defended the Atrisia area against the military forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. By 17 BBY, the Galactic Empire controlled Atrisia's space.
After Palpatine's death at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Atrisia declared its independence from the Empire. The Atrisian Commonwealth eventually became an Allied Region of the Empire's successor, the New Republic. Around 11 ABY, Doctor Corellia Antilles, a xenoarchaeologist, gave a lecture at the Galactic Museum on Coruscant about the original manuscript of the Sayings. These were a collection of instructional texts from when Atrisia was being unified, dating back millennia. The manuscript had been moved from Atrisia to Coruscant twelve years earlier. During the New Republic's advance on Coruscant, the manuscript disappeared during the evacuation of artifacts from the Imperial capital. Antilles stated that recovering the Sayings manuscript would significantly improve relations between the New Republic and the Atrisian Commonwealth.
In her 38 ABY publication, "The Written Word: A Brief Introduction to the Writing Systems of Galactic Basic," Doctor Milanda Vorgan, a xenolinguist, commented that the Atrisian Commonwealth was relatively unremarkable by that time, especially compared to the exotic danger many associated with the ancient Atrisian Empire. By 137 ABY, Atrisia had become part of the Core Worlds Security Zone, an administrative territory of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire.
Humans colonized Atrisia; they are generally believed to have evolved on Coruscant. Despite eventually achieving interstellar travel, the Atrisians remained culturally isolated. However, some, like Rom Mohc, who served in the Republic Military during the Clone Wars, left their homeworld for the wider galaxy.
By the Galactic Civil War, there were several noble Atrisian families, including the family of Villis Andal, who became a Moff in the Galactic Empire. Young Atrisian nobles, including Andal, enjoyed riding loirbniggs and studying the use of Kiliean bolt guns, weapons from the Kiliea system.
The Empire used Frisal as a preserve world for wealthy Imperial families. Imperial nobles vacationed there, and aristocrats bred and trained loirbniggs to use as mounts.
The Atrisian Commonwealth was initially mentioned in "From the Files of Corellia Antilles," an article by Timothy O'Brien in the fourteenth issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, published in August 1997. The Essential Atlas in 2009 provided the first visual representation of the sector on a map created by Modi.
The Atrisi system had previously been placed in the Harron sector in "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, How I Wonder Where We Are," a 1990 roleplaying game source article in the thirteenth issue of Voyages SF. However, as this article was not released through Lucas Licensing, its canonicity within Star Wars Legends was never confirmed. The Essential Atlas ultimately superseded the Voyages SF placement by establishing that the Atrisi system was outside the Expansion Region where the Harron sector was later located.
When writing The Essential Atlas, Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry intentionally placed Atrisia and part of the Atrisian Commonwealth in the Core Worlds due to prior sources noting the planet's age and cultural importance. However, they also positioned it on the region's frontier, near the edge of explored space, to make it seem more exotic and offer future Star Wars media authors interesting storytelling opportunities.
- " From the Files of Corellia Antilles " — Star Wars Adventure Journal 14 (First mentioned)
- The Essential Atlas (First pictured)
- Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
- The Written Word on Hyperspace (article) (content obsolete and backup link not available)
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