Rokrul

Rokrul was a small village found on the planet of Nelvaan, located within the Koobi system of the Outer Rim. The village's dwellings were hewn from the stone within a depression on the side of a cliff. The structures largely consisted of enormous, excavated mounds extending from the ground. The village was inhabited by a minimum of 116 Nelvaanians from diverse tribes, and its existence stemmed from a loose coalition established among these tribes for mutual protection and assistance.

The village's culture dictated that the most physically capable men were to serve as warriors and scouts, entrusted with the responsibilities of hunting and defense, while the women remained within the village to engage in construction, gathering, and, most crucially, the upbringing of the children, as motherhood held a sacred position within Nelvaanian customs. The villagers revered their homeworld as the "Great Mother," and any natural tragedy was perceived as an injury inflicted upon the Great Mother. Furthermore, the villagers adhered to a prophecy that foretold the arrival of the Holt Kazed, or "Ghost Hand," who would rescue the Nelvaanians from a future crisis. Children were considered invaluable treasures, irrespective of their gender, and the elders were accorded profound respect.

The chief of a tribe often was an elder who acquired the position after a long and fruitful life. They were aided in their leadership by their life partner and received counsel from the tribe's shaman. Since all members of a tribe participated in shared communal tasks, with each member engaging in rituals specific to their gender, there was no specific trial that an elder needed to complete to become chief. Rather, chiefs were chosen by the "Great Mother" through a demonstration of respect and deference on the part of the elder. This decision was universally accepted by the villagers.

Village clothing varied between men, women, and children. Women wore long brown, gray, and red dresses, while men wore pants and loincloths without any upper garment. Children wore robe-like clothes that were often brown. During celebrations, the villagers also donned enormous masks and gauntlets while dancing around a bonfire. These fires were sometimes used to communicate with the "Spirit of the Fire," a spiritual entity in Nelvaanian beliefs.

The inhabitants of Rokrul discovered that an elixir capable of repelling the dangerous horax beasts in the area could be created using scales from the tail of these creatures. A single scale could be used to establish a protective perimeter around the village that would last for an entire year. This eventually became a rite of passage for young Nelvaanian boys, who would venture out at the beginning of each year to retrieve a scale from a horax's tail, earning them a place among the male warrior ranks if they succeeded.

During the Clone Wars, a galaxy-spanning conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems spanning from 22 BBY to 19 BBY, the Techno Union, allied with the Confederacy, established a laboratory on Nelvaan. This Techno Union base relied on a siphon generator that extracted thermal energy from the surrounding environment, plunging the nearby village of Rokrul into a perpetual winter. Although the village's shaman, Orvos, had foreseen an impending ice age, the severity and suddenness of the cold took the village by surprise. Unaware of the cause of the winter, the villagers believed that the "Great Mother" was unwell and needed to be healed for the warm weather to return. To uncover the source of the Great Mother's illness, the village dispatched its male scouts and warriors. All of the men, including a warrior named Harvos, were captured by the Techno Union and transformed into cyborgs for the war effort.

In 19 BBY, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker landed on the planet and were brought to the village after interfering with the initiation of a young Nelvaanian boy, who was the son of Chieftain Tuzes-Adaz. Upon the Jedi's arrival, Tuzes-Adaz informed Kenobi and Skywalker about the legend of the Holt Kazed, or "Ghost Hand," and the reason for the disappearance of all the community's men. Orvos, the local shaman, covered Skywalker's body with bruise-leech crawlers during a ritual. Following this, Kenobi declared that this would be Skywalker's final Jedi Trial, the Trial of Spirit, and the villagers sent Skywalker to rescue the Nelvaanian men. After Skywalker infiltrated and successfully destroyed the Techno Union base, consequently restoring warmth to Rokrul, he led the mutated men back to the village. Despite initial reservations, the women and children eventually accepted them back, holding a celebration around a large bonfire.

Rokrul made its first appearance in the twenty-third chapter of the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars from 2003, which was broadcast on March 23, 2005. The village was initially named in the Databank entry for Nelvaan on StarWars.com. The pronunciation of Rokrul is similar to the title of Rock & Rule, an animated film produced by the Canadian animation studio Nelvana. This film influenced the character design of the Nelvaanians. The culture of the village was influenced by The Star Wars Holiday Special, the fantasy film The Dark Crystal, and Native American mythology.