Tarisian Civil War

The planet [Taris](/article/taris-legends] began its decline into ruin and despair in 4056 BBY. This was triggered by the emergence of new, smaller trade routes that bypassed Taris, leaving it without the vital support of the Republic it once relied upon. The sprawling city of Taris, which blanketed over half of the planet's landmass, made farming an impossibility, leaving kelp harvests and the sea creatures as the sole food source.

During this period, a completely self-sustaining colony was discovered beneath the Undercity. This area was the only non-urbanized region of Taris, and it offered the potential for farming.

After being abandoned by the Republic, the Tarisian industrialists started exploiting their power source, which generated a hazardous form of toxic waste. Pollution levels escalated to the point where they poisoned and killed the majority of oceanic life, both plant and animal, leading to widespread famine on the planet. The Tarisian elite then began to hoard the remaining food and wealth for themselves, accumulating far more than they could ever need, while the poor were left to starve and perish.

The impoverished citizens of Taris, enraged by the actions of the wealthy, initiated a rebellion against them. The full scope of the war remains unknown, but it is estimated that millions of civilians perished during the fighting, and numerous large city sectors were either destroyed or abandoned.

Following the suppression of the uprising, thousands of rebels were taken into custody. However, the prisons quickly became overcrowded, leading to the decision to banish the remaining rebels to the Undercity, with a death penalty imposed on anyone attempting to return to the surface. These exiled prisoners went on to form a community in the Undercity known as the Outcasts.

The defeated rebels were left with only one glimmer of hope: the possibility of the self-sufficient colony where farming was possible, which they named the Promised Land. Gendar's ancestor guided the Outcasts in establishing the Outcast village, where they could strive to survive.

Based on what they perceived as the success of the banishment strategy, the authorities in the Upper City opted to decommission all of their prisons within the Upper City. Instead, they chose to permanently exile any and all criminals from the Upper and Middle City to the Undercity. Here, they were forced to endure a life of horror, marked by starvation, rakghoul attacks, and rakghoul infections, while walking on the original surface of the planet that was perpetually shadowed by Taris' enormous skyscrapers. Even their descendants were condemned to suffer the consequences of their parents' actions, despite having committed no crimes themselves.