A gushaz served as a sacred place for the Aaris. These beings were the original sentient species inhabiting the planet of Aaris III. One such gushaz was situated in the City of Kastays thousands of years prior to the Galactic Civil War, and it briefly housed the Plaque of Victory. This Plaque—a thinking, non-living entity that incited conflict by amplifying paranoia and aggression—triggered the civil war that resulted in the Aaris civilization's collapse. To counter the Plaque's influence, one of the warring factions moved it from the gushaz to a tower overlooking the city. Their hope was that its power would be diluted by the altitude, but this strategy ultimately failed.
The Aaris, a sentient reptilian species native to the planet Aaris III within the Kathol sector of the Outer Rim Territories, utilized a gushaz as a place of worship. A gushaz was present in the City of Kastays. The Plaque of Victory was discovered by the Aaris on their world and placed within the city's gushaz, thousands of years before the Galactic Civil War. The Plaque, however, was a sentient, inanimate entity trapped within a metal ingot. It aimed to destroy those around it by manipulating their personalities, making them more prone to violence and paranoia. Eventually, the Plaque's influence spread throughout the city, leading to widespread violence. One of the factions engaged in the fighting removed the Plaque from the gushaz and transported it to the tower belonging to a local scholar named Kastays, hoping that the Plaque's power would be diminished at a great height above the city. This plan did not work, and the planet descended into a civil war, which ultimately caused the Aaris civilization to collapse.
In 8 ABY, an Imperial archaeological team exploring Aaris III unearthed Kastays' tower and the Plaque of Victory. Grigor Tansad, a scientist on the team, deciphered several pictographs on the chamber's walls, which had been left by Kastays and described the events surrounding the Plaque of Victory's arrival in the city. Tansad discovered a reference to the gushaz, but its precise meaning remained unclear. He understood it was a sacred place, but he couldn't determine whether it was a temple or a palace.
The gushaz was initially mentioned in the roleplaying game adventure called Artifact of Aaris, which was published in The DarkStryder Campaign by West End Games in 1995.