Drovian

The Drovian species, possessing sentience, exhibited a bipedal form characterized by substantial, bottom-heavy physiques. Typically, they weighed twice as much as a standard Human and stood comparatively tall, averaging around two meters in height. Their robust bodies were supported by two thick, trunk-like legs, resembling remarkably powerful tentacles. Each limb culminated in three sharp, articulated pincers, which could either match the color of the limbs or exhibit a distinct hue.

Drovians respired through membrane-lined breathing tubes situated on their necks, often coated in mucus. Through these tubes, they commonly ingested fist-sized portions of raw zwil. Zwil, a yellow cake flavoring agent originating from Algarine cuisine and possessing a scent reminiscent of cinnamon and vanilla, exerted a mild narcotic effect on Drovians. Introduced by off-world traders, zwil became so ubiquitous that virtually all Drovians developed an addiction to the substance. This led to the creation of a more potent variant known as Drovian zwil, which exhibited narcotic effects on other species, such as the Shistavanens, and soon became available on major worlds like Coruscant.

Drovians possessed numerous sensory organs throughout their bodies, granting them exceptional accuracy and depth perception. Skin pigmentation among Drovians ranged from gray to orange. Tufts of dark hair adorned their heads, styled in accordance with their cultural affiliations.

Prior to contact with the Galactic Republic, the species had evolved into a network of agrarian tribes. The two primary tribes were the Drovians, from whom the species derived its name, and the Gopso'o. These tribes were distinguished by cultural differences, such as their hairstyles. The Drovian tribe favored short haircuts, while the Gopso'o tribe cultivated long topknots, into which they braided randomly shaped pieces of colored plastic and rubber to serve as animal totems. Both tribes communicated in Drovian, albeit with slight variations in the meanings of certain words. For instance, the term for truth held singular connotations for one tribe and plural connotations for the other.

This semantic divergence has been theorized as a potential catalyst for a civil war that erupted between the two tribes. However, the precise origins were lost to time as the conflict raged unabated for centuries, with atrocities accumulating on both sides. The Drovian tribe gained a considerable advantage over the Gopso'o by establishing initial contact with the wider galaxy. Consequently, they emerged as the dominant tribe, possessing superior technology, enhanced access to quality education, and higher-paying employment opportunities. The Drovians also adopted Galactic Basic Standard as their lingua franca, leaving the more primitive Gopso'o to converse in Drovian. Regardless of the language spoken, Drovian voices exhibited a nasal quality and, emanating from esophaguses filled with zwil plugs, produced a bubbly sound.

The civil war occupied a central and sensitive position in Drovian psychology, with every inhabitant of Nim Drovis, around 14 ABY, personally acquainted with casualties of the conflict. When questioned about the origins of the war, otherwise amiable Drovians were known to react violently, reciting lengthy lists of grievances attributed to the opposing side. Alleged atrocities committed by the Gopso'o tribe included the use of molds to torture and kill captives, resulting in such severe burns that the corpses were rendered unrecognizable. Some Drovians even believed that the Gopso'o derived pleasure from killing innocent family members of their enemies. During skirmishes, Gopso'o warriors often invoked the names of their deceased ancestors, recited selections from the Twenty-Five Personifications of Virtue, such as Truth and Beauty, or uttered other choice oaths such as "chunder."

Those members of the species not directly involved in the civil war occupied a diverse range of positions. Gopso'o tribespeople were employed on slugranches, which produced bulk protein purchased by interplanetary corporations. Some Drovians worked as professional mold-and-fungus removers, while others operated as small-time providers of goods and services. Members of the Drovian military were granted three-hour rest breaks, often spent alongside other Drovians consuming alcohol, spice, and other chemicals in local cantinas such as the Wookiee's Codpiece.

By the time of the New Republic, the prevalent architectural style on Nim Drovis featured heavy stone walls supported by thick wooden beams. Buildings also boasted numerous balconies, plank gardens, and bird traps. The city of Bagsho, divided into a new and old town, contained numerous canals spanned by wooden bridges and included a slum known as the Thousand Stinking Ditches, primarily inhabited by Gopso'o due to their lower levels of education and lower-paying employment, which confined them to such dilapidated areas.

The Drovian species originated on Nim Drovis, a planet located within the Meridian sector of the Outer Rim Territories, a sector situated on the Perlemian Trade Route and one sector rimward of the border with the Mid Rim. Nim Drovis possessed a hot and humid climate, prone to monsoons and flooding. Other species that evolved on the planet included slugs, marsh-gunnies, gulpers, green-eyed wadie-platts, reeds, fungi, and various forms of carnivorous mold. The Drovians developed an agrarian society, cultivating slugs on ranches. To combat the mobile carnivorous mold, many Drovians employed acid and flame-throwers to exterminate the fungi.

Eventually, the Drovian species bifurcated into two tribes: the eponymous Drovians and the Gopso'o. Civil war erupted between the tribes, although the precise cause was soon forgotten. The Drovian tribe was the first to establish contact with the wider galaxy, sometime before 4000 BBY, by which time Nim Drovis was considered part of the "civilized" galaxy. This provided the Drovian tribe with access to technology far superior to their domestic capabilities, which they quickly leveraged to achieve dominance over the Gopso'o. Contact with the galaxy also had other ramifications: It spurred immigration to Nim Drovis, with colonists from the Core Worlds' planet Alderaan establishing a freeport on the world. It also led to the introduction of the narcotic zwil from Algar, to which nearly all Drovians eventually became addicted.

Between 3959 BBY and 3956 BBY, the Drovian homeworld was incorporated into a large swath of the northeastern Outer Rim Territories that was absorbed into the burgeoning territory of Sith Lord Darth Revan, who invaded the Galactic Republic with a massive fleet constructed from an ancient, hidden factory known as the Star Forge. The Republic defeated the Sith Empire in 3956 BBY, and five years later scattered the Sith Triumvirate that had arisen to replace it. Following these victories, the Republic slowly began reintegrating its lost territory. Approximately three-thousand years later, Nim Drovis again fell within Sith territory, this time during the conflict known as the New Sith Wars. This conflict culminated in a climactic battle on Ruusan, with the Republic emerging victorious and the organized Sith hegemony collapsing.

Under the Republic, numerous Drovians could be found offworld, such as the Force-sensitive Drovian, Silus, who competed as a gladiator in the Outer Rim in 33 BBY, and several Drovians in the employ of Jabba the Hutt. The next major galactic conflict facing the Republic, the Clone Wars, also impacted the Drovians' homeworld, which fell within one portion of the territory of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Confederacy sought to secede from what it perceived to be a corrupt Republic. The conflict lasted for three years, from 22 BBY until 19 BBY, before the Confederacy was defeated and a new form of galactic government was established: The Galactic Empire.

The Empire was a centralized, pro-Human administration. Its policies provoked opposition in the form of an Alliance to Restore the Republic, which succeeded in 4 ABY in assassinating Emperor Palpatine and proclaimed itself the New Republic. This defeat swiftly led to the once unified Empire fragmenting into several feuding factions. From 4 ABY until 8 ABY, Nim Drovis was claimed as part of the Greater Maldrood, under the control of Imperial Admiral Treuten Teradoc. Teradoc was decisively defeated by Admiral Ackbar at both Maridun and Thanos, after which he abandoned his holdings and fled to the Deep Core. Imperial control of Nim Drovis and its surrounding territories was soon asserted by a new Imperial commander, Grand Admiral Thrawn, who nearly brought the New Republic to its knees only to be assassined by his own bodyguard. Nim Drovis then joined the New Republic.

Under the New Republic, Nim Drovis' largest freeport, Bagsho, became a vital link with the neutral planets of the Meridian sector. However, the Drovian civil war continued unabated throughout these various galactic conflicts. It reached a critical point in 13 ABY, when the Loronar Corporation orchestrated planetary rebellions on several planets, including Nim Drovis. Loronar had aligned with Seti Ashgad, a former Imperial senator who had been made a political prisoner and sought power in the Meridian sector. Loronar sided with the Gopso'o tribe, equipping them with smuggled Loronar blaster rifles. After months of unrest, the Gopso'o launched a coordinated assault against the dominant Drovians, bombing public buildings and allegedly using bilal and rush gas on civilian neighborhoods. The Gopso'o achieved numerous successes, including capturing a minor spaceport. Hampered by the outbreak of the Death Seed plague and other conflicts in the Meridian sector, promised New Republic troops were unable to assist the beleaguered Drovians in Bagsho. Eventually, however, the Drovian government managed to repel and subdue the attackers without Republic assistance.

Subsequently, in recompense for the lack of aid and the damage caused by the Death Seed plague, the New Republic took a greater interest in Nim Drovis. They financed a weather station to control the incessant rain, enabling the prolific molds to be managed. This change facilitated the growth of slug ranching into a major industry on Nim Drovis. Jedi Knights from the revitalized New Jedi Order also visited Nim Drovis during this period and successfully brokered a historic peace accord between the Gopso'o and Drovian tribes. Nim Drovis also continued to host the Sector Medical Facility. In 25 ABY, the Yuuzhan Vong species invaded the galaxy. As part of an intricate plot to destroy the Jedi Order, the Yuuzhan Vong Elan and her familiar, Vergere, defected to the Republic. They were initially transferred to the Nim Drovis Sector Medical Facility, where Republic Major Showolter took custody of the pair before transferring them offworld. The pair's plot was thwarted, although Vergere later played a crucial role in the Yuuzhan Vong War. By 29 ABY, virtually all the territory in the vicinity of Nim Drovis was under Yuuzhan Vong control. By 137 ABY, Nim Drovis was located in territory controlled by Darth Krayt's Sith Empire. At some point during this period, the Shi'ido anthropologist Mammon Hoole included an entry on the Drovians in his publication The Essential Guide to Alien Species.

Since making contact with the Galactic Republic, Drovians dispersed throughout the galaxy and could be found on various Outer Rim planets such as Tatooine and Taris. The Drovians on Taris were affiliated with the Black Vulkars, a notorious swoop gang in the Lower City. In 3964 BBY, they managed to apprehend the rogue Padawan Zayne Carrick and his Snivvian partner, Marn Hierogryph, both of whom had large bounties placed on them for the murder of several Jedi Padawans. However, the pair successfully escaped from the gang members, tricking them into believing a stash of spice was nearby. Later, Wargo, one of the Drovian gang members, was conscripted into the Mandalorian forces on Jebble.

Through their long war against the Gopso'o, many Drovians developed into tough fighters. A fine example of this was the Force-sensitive, pit-fighter Silus. Fighting in a gladiatorial competition, he combined his natural fighting abilities with Force tricks, killing numerous competitors such as the Aleena Tabor and his brother. When his dark Force abilities threatened to alert the Jedi Order, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious dispatched his apprentice Darth Maul to deal with him. In order to test Maul, the Drovian was offered the opportunity to displace Darth Maul if he could kill him. However, he proved to be no match for the Sith's abilities.

Another Drovian of this time was Kurjj, who worked as a mercenary for Jabba the Hutt. It was during this period that Boba Fett first offered his services to the crime lord. When Fett stood his ground against Jabba, Kurjj tried to kill Fett using a litch-knife. Warned by Kurjj's hot breath on his neck, the young bounty hunter disarmed him, dropping him to the ground. After his defeat, Jabba condemned Kurjj to death by his pit beasts. Jabba was known to employ a number of other Drovians as guards and servants, although none dared challenge Fett after Kurjj's death. Drovians also operated on Cato Neimoidia as bounty hunters.

Drovian soldiers included Ethras, whose children had their flesh torn off by Gopso'o, and Garnu Hral Eschen, who was disemboweled during the wars with the Gopso'o. Their descendant, Sergeant Knezex Hral Piksoar, worked for the New Republic on Nim Drovis. Piksoar and his squad greeted Han Solo when he landed in Bagsho with wounded from the New Republic cruiser Corbantis. Piksoar continued his family's fight against the Gopso'o, resisting their uprising in 13 ABY. When Solo ventured into the city to discover what has happening across the sector, Piksoar and his squad, together with Ism Oolos, accompanied him. Encountering Gopso'o, and roving molds, they successfully escaped through the Thousand Stinking Ditches.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, many Drovians were employed at the Sector Medical Facility based in Nim Drovis' capital city of Bagsho, both as security guards and as secretaries. There, they aided Major Showolter and Doctor Saychel in interrogating Elan. Later, in 138 ABY, a Drovian was present on The Wheel, a Mid Rim space station.

The Drovian species was created by Barbara Hambly for her novel Planet of Twilight, published by Bantam Spectra in 1997. Following this, the species received mentions in The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons and the Star Wars Encyclopedia, both published in 1998, before Nim Drovis was again visited in 2000 in James Luceno's The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial. While the former Essential Guide had listed both Drovians and Gopso'o under Nim Drovis' species, the latter The Essential Guide to Alien Species, published in 2001, clarified that the two were separate tribes of the same species.

Drovians made appearances in Elizabeth Hand's Boba Fett: Hunted (2003) and Boba Fett: A New Threat (2004); the latter mistakenly spelled Drovian as "Drovion." A Drovian also featured in "Marked," a comic written by Rob Williams and pencilled by Cully Hamner. "Marked" was published in Star Wars Tales 24 in 2005, and was later referenced in Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 21. Drovians then appeared in several arcs of John Jackson Miller's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comic series. These were Commencement (2006), Knights of Suffering (2007) and Vector (2008).

In 2009, Randy Stradley, under the pseudonym Mick Harrison, included a Drovian in Dark Times: Blue Harvest, Part 1, while their homeworld was included in The Essential Atlas. This provided information on Nim Drovis' affiliation throughout a number of galactic conflicts.