F'tral
F'tral, a waterworld situated in the Calaron sector of the Outer Rim Territories, was a notable locale. The planet was primarily characterized by expansive freshwater oceans that dominated its surface, with limited landmasses consisting of volcanic island chains. These islands were largely populated by predatory or parasitic plants. The cephalopod population flourished in F'tral's aquatic environments, with the sentient Iyra being the most prominent species.
The Iyra inhabited underwater cities and utilized the heat from undersea volcanoes to smelt ores. This allowed them to develop sophisticated technologies, encompassing corrosion-resistant alloys, hydraulic, magnetic, and fusion technologies, as well as starship construction. Their advanced shipbuilding capabilities eventually facilitated their widespread presence as traders throughout the galaxy. Tem Eliss, a sentientologist, hailed from F'tral, although his formative years were largely spent away from his world of origin.
Description
A Waterworld in the Outer Rim
F'tral, which translates to "Water" in the language of the Iyra species native to it, was a substantial planet found within the F'tral system. This system is part of the Calaron sector which lies in the Slice region of the Outer Rim Territories. It orbited the blue-white star known as F'la Ren. A significant ninety-three percent of the planetary surface was covered by oceans composed of pristine freshwater, reaching depths of eleven kilometers in certain areas while being a broad, shallow tidal area elsewhere.
The planet was tectonically dynamic, featuring both underwater and above-water volcanoes that released sulfurous gases into the planet's thin atmosphere which contained oxygen and carbon dioxide. Chains of volcanic islands emerged in areas where F'tral's tectonic plates converged, characterized by marshes, swamplands, and abundant flora.
Flora and Fauna
Due to the scarcity of organic enzymes in the island soil, the majority of F'tral's terrestrial plants evolved to be either predatory or parasitic in order to acquire the essential proteins and other nutrients. Examples of such flora include the fisher plant, which ensnared aquatic creatures using tendrils extending from the island shores; the seducer plant, which attracted prey with a sweet-smelling nectar before constricting them with its vines and stems; and various forms of cannibal plant, capable of moving to stationary plants and either consuming them or extracting nutrients from their root systems.
The intense competition for nutrients among F'tral's plants limited the complexity of animal life on land to insects and reptiles, including snakes. Fish also inhabited inland waters, and the planet's swampy regions were home to the small, five-limbed aquatic creature known as the sensor star. Unlike many worlds, mammals never evolved on F'tral. Instead, the ecological niche typically occupied by advanced vertebrates was filled by muscular, warm-blooded cephalopods, including a species that ultimately gave rise to the sentient Iyra. Cephalopods rapidly became the dominant life forms in F'tral's oceans, with the Iyra eventually becoming the most prominent among them.
History
Tem Eliss, the Iyra sentientologist, was born on F'tral sometime before 1 ABY by several decades at least. Although Eliss did spend a portion of his youth on his homeworld—later recounting some of his experiences from that time to his students at the University of Sanbra—the Iyra was primarily raised offworld, rather than on F'tral. Consequently, Eliss was not deeply ingrained in Iyra culture and developed friendships with members of various species, which led to him being disliked by much of Iyra society.
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Iyra were among the aquatic species that sought refuge from the Empire on the Mon Calamari Space asylum moon of Krinemonen III. The sentientologist Obo Rin at some point featured F'tral and the Iyra in the Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy. In this work, Rin detailed the sentient species he deemed most significant in the galaxy and of greatest interest to the Empire. F'tral also appeared in an entry of a holobrochure for the Tagge Holographic Museum of Chandrila dedicated to sensor stars.
Inhabitants
F'tral served as the homeworld for the sentient Iyra species. Boneless beings with at least five tentacles and a corresponding number of eyes, the Iyra were the dominant cephalopods on F'tral. They lived underwater, but also possessed the ability to breathe and move on land. Their society was structured into a strict caste system based on the number of tentacles an individual Iyra possessed.
The Iyra harnessed the heat from F'tral's undersea volcanoes to smelt ores, which ultimately enabled them to develop a range of advanced technologies, including those necessary for interstellar travel. To maintain a hydrosphere aboard their starships constructed—rather than simply filling them with water, which would render the vessels too heavy to escape planetary gravity wells—the Iyra filled the ships' cabins with a specialized mixture of gases rich in water vapor. This vapor allowed the gas mixture to freely transfer through the epidermal cells of the Iyra on board. Furthermore, to mitigate the dangers posed by extreme accelerations during spaceflight to the boneless bodies of the Iyra, they equipped their starships with sophisticated gravity manipulation systems that maintained a constant gravitational acceleration and compensated for any inertial disturbances.
The Iyra became widespread interstellar traders who preferred to visit planets with marine docking facilities. Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the wider galaxy highly valued the corrosion-resistant alloys and hydraulic, magnetic, and nuclear fusion technologies developed by the Iyra. However, their traditional disdain for beings with fewer than five limbs led to them being perceived as arrogant and pompous by other species.
Locations
The Iyra of F'tral inhabited vast cities on the ocean floor and operated facilities for starship construction. Twice a year, males and females of the same Iyra caste engaged in mating rituals at a location known as the breeding grounds.
Behind the Scenes
The first mention of F'tral occurred in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, a 1989 sourcebook by Troy Denning for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The 1990 roleplaying game source article "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, How I Wonder Where We Are," published in Voyages SF 13, incorrectly spelled the planet's name as "F'Tral" and placed it in the Tau Sekar sector. As this article was released outside of the Lucas Licensing approval process, its canonicity within the Star Wars Legends continuity was never confirmed.
David Plunkett provided the initial illustration of F'tral in the 1994 sourcebook Creatures of the Galaxy, while the planet made its first full appearance in the 1998 video game Star Wars: Rebellion. The image used to represent F'tral in the latter was also used to depict ten other worlds. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas subsequently placed the F'tral system, and thus the planet, in grid square T-9. The StarWars.com Online Companion to the book later superseded the Voyages SF placement by confirming that the system was located in the Calaron sector.