The Rystan system was a star system situated within the Outer Rim Territories. The system included Rystan's star, the Rystan Badlands asteroid field, and the tidally locked planet called Rystan. At a time before 379 BBY, the Evereni individual Velya Faer informed the Evereni pirate chief Marda Ro that the system served as a rendezvous point for Evereni, a detail included in a message intended for her descendants. By the year 252 BBY, her great-great-grandson, known as Marchion Ro, had listened to Ro's journal.
In 231 BBY, Marchion Ro—who had by this time risen to become the Eye of the Nihil—along with the navigator Udi Dis, journeyed to Rystan in order to recover a Force-consuming monster referred to as the Great Leveler. Ro's cousin, Kufa, aided him in this endeavor. After securing the Leveler, Ro proceeded to kill both Dis and Kufa. Subsequently, in 230 BBY, the Nihil pirates erected the [Stormwall](/article/stormwall] barrier, which effectively cut off hyperspace access to and from a specific area of the galaxy that encompassed the Rystan system.
The Rystan system was situated in grid square M-20 according to the Standard Galactic Grid, within both the Outer Rim Territories and the Western Reaches. This system was characterized by a faint star which was circled by the tidally locked wasteland planet named Rystan. It also held the treacherous Rystan Badlands ice asteroid field, containing numerous asteroids each possessing a mass of millions of tons. A comet was also present within the system.
The system evolved into a designated gathering place for individuals of the Evereni species at a time no earlier than 379 BBY. It was during this period that Velya Faer, an Evereni, mentioned to Marda Ro—the Evereni founder of a pirate group that would eventually become known as the Nihil—that she had been informed that Evereni only met in death by another member of the species. Ro later referenced the system in a recording created for her descendants.
By 252 BBY, during his younger years, Marchion Ro, Ro's great-great-grandson, had listened to her journal, including the section where the system was discussed. Sometime between 379 BBY and 241 BBY, the Great Leveler—a creature that consumed Force-sensitives—made its way from Marda's possession to a Shrine located beneath Rystan's Golamaran ice flats. During the Leveler's stay there, devout followers such as the Evereni Kufa undertook pilgrimages to the Shrine, but over time their faith waned and they ceased their visits.
By the year 231 BBY, the Rystan Badlands had become scattered with the wreckage of cruisers that had failed to navigate the asteroid field. In that year, the Force-attuned Talortai navigator Udi Dis navigated a starship known as the Squall Spider through the field, carrying Marchion Ro—who had by then achieved the title of Eye of the Nihil—onboard for his mission to Rystan. During their voyage, a comet traversed the Rystan Badlands, causing a series of collisions.
Shortly thereafter, Ro entered the cockpit to inquire about the remaining time required to reach the end of the badlands. The Talortai responded that they would arrive in a few minutes and noted that using a Path hyperlane would have been faster, but Ro explained his desire to observe Dis' impressive piloting abilities.
After exiting the badlands, Dis maneuvered the Spider around the system's star and entered Rystan's atmosphere. The ship landed within the planet's habitable zone, where the pair encountered Kufa, Ro's cousin. Kufa guided Ro and Dis across the Golamaran ice flats and through subterranean tunnels leading to the Shrine. Inside the Shrine, Dis began experiencing visions of his homeworld and his father due to the Leveler's influence on Force-sensitives. Satisfied that the legends surrounding its power were accurate, Ro killed both Kufa and the Talortai, and transported the Leveler back to the planetoid Grizal where Ro's Nihil pirates maintained a base. There, the Twi'lek Tempest Runner Lourna Dee questioned him about his mission, and Ro confirmed its success. Shortly after, the Dowutin Tempest Runner Pan Eyta shared his suspicion with his fellow Tempest Runners that Ro had used the Rystan system expedition to silence Dis and conceal the origin of the Paths.
At some point, the system was considered part of the Galactic Frontier by the Galactic Republic. In 230 BBY, the Nihil erected the [Stormwall](/article/stormwall] barrier around a specific area on the Frontier, thereby preventing hyperspace travel across the Stormwall. The Rystan system was located within this region, becoming one of the systems that lost contact with the broader galaxy. Several weeks later in 229 BBY, the Vurk Jedi Master Harli Cogra included Rystan on a map depicting the affected area in the initial chapter of their book, Chronicles of the Jedi.
The Rystan system made its debut in Cavan Scott's The High Republic: The Rising Storm, a 2021 novel that was released as part of Phase I of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project. The system was subsequently identified in the short story "A Closed Fist Has No Claws," penned by Tessa Gratton and featured in the 2023 young-adult anthology The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life as part of the multimedia project.