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The Nuns of G'aav'aar'oon were originally a group of Force-sensitive female Gamorreans who decided to set up a convent in the ruins of an old Jedi fortress on the asteroid of G'aav'aar'oon shortly after the end of the Clone Wars. A surprising number of patients recover after a stay at the convent, which was most probably due to the fact that the asteroid was a natural focus for the Force. The Nuns used prayer and meditation to direct this power towards healing. Though the Nuns started purely as a group of Gamorreans, they have since accepted other alien species into their ranks, including some near-Humans. All members were quiet, pious, and calm. The way of the Nuns was one of calmness and passivity rather than violence, which they were encouraged never to use. At the start of the Galactic Civil War, Mother Grotrugga was the leader of the convent.
A nun faces off against the Imperial forces.
Shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star, when Imperial forces were forced to leave the Vodilux Star Cluster in which the asteroid was located, so as to replace units destroyed during the Battle of Yavin, a team of Imperial Scouts were sent to the asteroid in the guise of Rebel agents in the hope of creating mistrust and perhaps hate between the Nuns and the Rebel Alliance so that the Rebels could not use the asteroid as one of their bases. Though they were given full clearance to land and indeed meet with Mother Grotrugga, and were even allowed to present their fake Alliance ultimatum stating that the Nuns turn over full control of the asteroid to the Rebel Alliance and allow them to rearm it, the Nuns (or at least Mother Grotrugga herself) knew that they were in fact Imperial agents. And so, when they slew Grotrugga, she made no attempt to stop them, allowing her physical body to die, becoming a Force ghost.
This caused the other Nuns all over the base to become temporarily stunned, perhaps from sensing her death through the Force, which in turn allowed the Imperial Scouts to attempt an escape. Eventually, however, the Nuns gained their senses and attempted to stop the Imperials from leaving by simply blocking the corridors (as they were large enough to do so, being mostly Gamorreans). However, they soon heard the voice of the departed Mother Grotrugga telling them not to oppose the group and allow them simply to leave. The Nuns obeyed their former sister's order without question, allowing the group of Imperials to leave without any further problems.
After this incident Mother Grotrugga continued to appear to the convent in her new ghostly form, first informing them that it was the Galactic Empire rather than the Rebel Alliance who murdered her, and also giving her successor spiritual guidance. Because of this act, the Nuns invited the Rebel Alliance to make peaceful use of the asteroid as soon as Imperial forces left the area. They still did not allow the Rebels to arm the base, but the Alliance had never wanted to do so anyway. Many Rebels took short breaks on the asteroid to revitalize themselves both spiritually and psychologically and to recover from the trauma of war. Though the Imperials continued to send units to deal with the Nuns, they always ran into inexplicable problems; motivator breakdowns, white plastic armor fatigue, computer viruses, etc. No one was ever hurt in these attempts, but the ships were always forced to turn back.
Behind the scenes
The "Nuns of G'aav'aar'oon" are an obvious play on the movie, The Guns of Navarone.
In the chapter on adventure design in Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, conflict between the Empire and an order of monks drawn from an educated Gamorrean elite class is mentioned as a possible adventure scenario. However, these monks live in a castle on a planetary plateau rather than in an asteroid fortress, and the example gamemaster in the chapter ends up rejecting the idea of the monastery being near an old Jedi chapter house.
