Toydarian seasonal wars

The recurring conflicts among the Toydarians hailing from the planet of Toydaria were known as the Toydarian seasonal wars. The planet's climate was the primary cause of these wars, with conditions like droughts and famines reducing the amount of food available roughly every thirty years. A variety of groups participated in these conflicts, including competing confederations and those subject to the Toydarian monarchy. The Ossiki Confederacy Army gained notoriety during one of these wars for poisoning and eliminating the food supplies of their rivals. These wars typically came to an end when Toydaria's climate improved.

Prelude

Toydaria's climate cycle led to repeated wars.

Toydaria, a planet located within Hutt Space, experienced recurring climate patterns that resulted in poor harvests and subsequent famines approximately every thirty standard years. The diet of the native Toydarians largely consisted of sugar-rich [food](/article/foodstuff-legends] with high energy content. Many Toydarians worked as fishers and farmers residing in villages atop the tree canopies. These citizens would gather food between the flood seasons for their local lords, and the majority of their crops were sent off-world as a tribute to the [Hutt](/article/hutt-legends] species. Food shortages were also brought on by devastating monsoons and crop-killing spores, which resulted in skirmishes that escalated into wars.

Toydarians became accustomed to disputes over resources and frequently considered stealing from their neighbors, or even poisoning their food, as the most effective strategy for survival during difficult times, which ultimately led to the creation of armies. The king of Toydaria was responsible for resolving these conflicts. Among the groups involved in the wars were competing confederacies, such as the Ossiki Confederacy, as well as individuals such as servants of fiefdoms and Toydarian vassals.

The wars

During these conflicts, the rival Toydarian confederacies engaged in fierce battles. Many Toydarians, including the leader of the Ossiki Confederacy, were of the opinion that groups should be denied food if they were unable to secure it for themselves. Consequently, the Ossiki Confederacy Army gained a reputation for employing chemical weapons to poison and destroy the food supplies of rival confederacies. Competing clans also took part in the conflict.

Watto (pictured) fought in the wars in his youth and received lifelong injuries.

During a drought within the Great Peace of the Republic, the young Toydarian Watto enlisted in the Ossiki Confederacy Army. He suffered permanent injuries during the war, including a broken left tusk and a crippled leg. Once the drought ended, the war concluded, and Watto departed the army to establish himself on the planet Tatooine around 38 BBY. King Maalva of Toydaria, who began his reign in 21 BBY and continued into the Imperial Period, permitted his vassals to resolve their disputes independently, and occasionally provoked conflicts to strengthen his own authority.

Some of the food supply wars were among the bloodiest in Toydarian history. As was typical of the seasonal wars, they ended once conditions improved or supply issues were resolved. Life for the Toydarians quickly returned to normal until the next resource scarcity. Outside of the wars, the Toydarians led peaceful lives during the Imperial Period, and by the time of the New Jedi Order, Toydaria was a quiet part of the galaxy. The culture of warfare among the Toydarians was recognized in the anthropological texts The Essential Guide to Alien Species and The New Essential Guide to Alien Species, both of which were published during the New Republic era and based on the research of Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole.

Behind the scenes

Ann Margaret Lewis first mentioned the Toydarian seasonal wars in The Essential Guide to Alien Species, which was released in 2001. The Ossiki Confederacy Army's entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, which was published in 2008, was the first time they were identified by name.

Sources

  • The Essential Guide to Alien Species (First mentioned)
  • The New Essential Guide to Characters (Indirect mention only)
  • "Toydarians" on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link) (Indirect mention only)
  • Ultimate Alien Anthology (Indirect mention only)
  • The New Essential Guide to Alien Species (Indirect mention only)
  • Scum and Villainy (Indirect mention only)
  • The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (Mentioned in multiple entries, but without own entry) (First identified as Toydarian seasonal wars)
  • The Essential Atlas (Indirect mention only)
  • Toydarian in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link) (Indirect mention only)
  • Watto in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link) (Indirect mention only)
  • Lords of Nal Hutta (Indirect mention only)

Notes and references

Appearances