The Oyu'baat was a hotel and tapcaf, located on the Outer Rim world of Mandalore. Situated in Mandalore's capital city, Keldabe, the Oyu'baat was the oldest cantina on the planet, open for several thousand years by the start of the Clone Wars. Named for the Mando'a word oyu'baat, meaning "universe", the ancient tapcaf served as an unofficial center for the loose government formed by the chieftains of the various Mandalorian warrior clans, who were without formal palaces or designated government buildings. It was not uncommon to find clan leaders among the Oyu'baat's other patrons, meeting and brokering deals around the cantina's fire, or over drinks. The Oyu'baat brewed black net'ra gal ale on site, and offered bolo-ball match viewing on a large holovid screen, or table games of cu'bikad as entertainment.

In 19 BBY, Mandalorian soldier Fenn Shysa met with the clone deserter Fi Skirata at the Oyu'baat, seeking to convince the wounded commando to act as Mand'alor until one could legitimately be appointed. Skirata was unreceptive to the idea, and Shysa eventually accepted the position of Mand'alor, himself; celebrations were held at the Oyu'baat when word of the news spread. When the Galactic Empire was first establishing a garrison on land leased to them outside of Keldabe, Imperial stormtroopers were banned from coming into the Oyu'baat, due to the threat to commerce posed by Mandalorians unwilling to remove their concealing helmets in the presence of the troopers. The Oyu'baat survived the damage incurred to Mandalore by the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong, though its role as a meeting place of the clans was challenged by the construction of the communal building, MandalMotors Hall, in 40 ABY. During the galactic bolo-ball tournament of 41 ABY, numerous Mandalorians flocked to the Oyu'baat to watch the games on the bar's viewscreen, though one viewing session was interrupted by the arrival of Jaina Solo, and the revelation that she was a Jedi Knight.

DescriptionEdit

The Oyu'baat was located on the Outer Rim planet Mandalore, within the capital city of Keldabe. Situated at one end of an ancient paved square, across from Chortav Meshurkaane,^[4] the Oyu'baat was a hotel and tapcaf^[5] housed within a large structure that appeared to some as a gathering of smaller buildings that had merged over time. A pair of doors stood at the entrance, and the Oyu'baat possessed an eclectic assortment of windows with non-perpendicular angles and a disregard for being level. Inside the bar were a number of tables,^[2] booths, and seats at the bar's long counter where patrons could sit. A noisy, automated hot-air unit provided heat,^[4] in addition to a large, open, log fire; the fire was a particularly popular choice for patrons to gather around.^[3][2] The Oyu'baat's interior was clean, yet rustic,^[5] and smelled of the wood fire, yeast, and the scents of various foods cooking. The Oyu'baat was always open for business,^[2] and interested parties could rent rooms at the Oyu'baat, for overnight periods or longer.^[5]

The Oyu'baat took its name from the Mando'a word oyu'baat, meaning "universe" when translated to Galactic Basic Standard.^[6] The name in both languages was written on a sign outside of the tapcaf's entrance. The dual-language sign also warned that strills,^[5] six-legged hunting animals native to Mandalore,^[4] were not allowed inside, and notified potential customers that the cantina accepted barter as means of payment. The Oyu'baat kept a large stock of Mandallian Narcolethe, brewed its own ne'tra gal—a sweet black Mandalorian ale^[5] they served in glass mugs^[4]—and made a meat and vegetable stew, among other dishes. Mandalorian folk humor insisted that the same stew was left to simmer for centuries, with fresh meat and vegetables thrown in daily,^[2] and that the Oyu'baat's menu had remained the same since the time of the Mandalorian Wars.^[4] Behind the bar, the current bounty-hunting list was displayed for Mandalorian patrons who pursued bounty hunter work, as both a holodisplay^[2] and with flimsi posters.^[4] The cantina featured a large holovid viewscreen,^[5] and boards for playing the table game, cu'bikad.^[2][5]

HistoryEdit

Early history and Imperial occupationEdit

Constructed prior to the start of the Mandalorian Wars,^[4] a conflict between the Mandalorian warrior clans under Mandalore the Ultimate and the Galactic Republic,^[7] the Oyu'baat was the oldest cantina on the planet Mandalore.^[4] The Oyu'baat's prominence made it a convenient meeting place for Mandalorians in the Keldabe area, and the tapcaf became an unofficial center for the loose government formed by the Mandalorian warrior clans;^[2] in light of Mandalore's lack of formal government buildings, clan chieftains often would meet at the Oyu'baat to discuss matters and broker deals, usually over drinks.^[3][4]

In 19 BBY, the Oyu'baat was staffed by a male bartender. That year, the cantina was selected as a meeting place between chieftain Fenn Shysa and the Grand Army of the Republic deserter, Fi Skirata. There, Shysa attempted to persuade the clone soldier to act as former Mand'alor Jango Fett's heir until a new Mand'alor could be selected. However, Skirata was skill recovering from brain trauma suffered during a mission he had been apart of while still in service to the Republic, and with the support of girlfriend Parja Bralor, declined Shysa's request. Though Shysa was sympathetic to Skirata's plight, violence broke out when the former Jedi-turned-Mandalorian Bardan Jusik, arrived at the Oyu'baat. There to meet with Skirata and Bralor, Jusik was accosted by the former ARC trooper deserter, Sull, who recognized Jusik as his former Jedi General and confronted him with accusations. When it seemed as if Sull might have drawn his blaster on Jusik, Skirata punched the Alpha ARC reflexively, and Shysa was forced to break up the scuffle. Later that year, Fi Skirata's adopted father, Kal Skirata, met with Shysa at the Oyu'baat to discuss the future of Mandalore in the wake of the transformation of the Republic into the new Galactic Empire, and their leasing of land on Mandalore for a base. At this time, Skirata's was one of many names on the bounty list projected behind the Oyu'baat's bar. During the meeting, Skirata suggested Shysa take up the role of Mand'alor, which Shysa accepted a short time after, in the face of the arrival of the Imperial garrison; celebrations were held at the Oyu'baat once word of Shysa's ascension spread.^[2]

Three weeks after the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Mandalorian friends Jarkyc and Hayar came to the Oyu'baat, celebrating a con they had pulled on the commander of the Imperial garrison on Mandalore. By this point in time, the Oyu'baat's bartender had secured a deal with the Imperials to keep them from entering the cantina, fearful of the business he stood to loose if prospective patrons were unwilling to remove their helmets in the presence of the Empire's troops. Jarkyc and Hayar's loud laughter drew the attention of fellow patrons, including Bardan Jusik and Ordo Skirata, who had stopped into the Oyu'baat for a drink. When Jusik inquired as to what had them laughing so hard, Jarkyc explained that Hayar's brother had built an adventure theme park to attract offworld tourists, though it had failed and never opened. When the Imperial commander took an interest in the park, shaped like an enormous mythosaur skeleton, Jarkyc and his comrades told the Imperials that the park was actually a Mandalorian temple with great cultural significance; wanting to make a statement to Mandalore's inhabitants, the commander bought the failed park from them, and installed the garrison and base on what he falsely believed to be sacred ground. By large, the Oyu'baat's patrons were brought to laughter and jeering at the story. Several weeks later, Kal Skirata and Walon Vau, stopped into the Oyu'baat for drinks while discussing the reappearance of their old Cuy'val Dar associates Dred Priest and Isabet Reau on Mandalore with ties to the Death Watch faction.^[4]

Mandalore's resurgenceEdit

The Oyu'baat survived the Yuuzhan Vong War, and the devastation Mandalore incurred at the hands of the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong. However, the Oyu'baat's longstanding role as meeting place for the clans' leaders was encroached upon by the construction of MandalMotors Hall, a granite communal building donated by the MandalMotors starship company in 40 ABY.^[3]

Following the discovery of a previously untapped lode of beskar iron ore north of the small Mandalore town of Enceri, numerous Mandalorians flocked to the Oyu'baat to celebrate the economic boost the iron find would provide Mandalore. Reigning Mand'alor Boba Fett attended the gathering, as it had become a habit to visit the ancient cantina at least once a weak, as a means of keeping morale high among the Mandalorian patrons. That night, Fett's friend Goran Beviin discussed news from the wider galaxy with a retinue of associates, while several Oyu'baat customers—including Baltan Carid, Beviin's husband and daughter, Medrit Vasur and Dinua Jeban, and Fett's granddaughter Mirta Gev—played cu'bikad at one of the bar's tables. Later, Fett and his granddaughter Gev met with Venku Skirata and an elderly Bardan Jusik, now going by the name "Gotab", at the Oyu'baat. Using his Force abilities, Gotab read a broken heart-of-fire pendant for Fett that used to belong to his ex-wife, Sintas Vel. Due to the painfully private nature of the reading, Fett used his authority as Mand'alor to order the bar evacuated of other patrons until their business was concluded.^[3]

By 41 ABY, Cham Detta had become the bartender of the Oyu'baat. Frequent customer Baltan Carid joked during this time that, despite the Oyu'baat's policy forbidding strills from entering the premises, the hotel and tapcaf's executive suite was occupied by a strill. Boba Fett's personal doctor, Beluine, was arranged to stay in a room at the Oyu'baat during his time on Mandalore. When Jedi Knight Jaina Solo traveled to Mandalore that year, seeking the aid of Fett in stopping her Sith Lord brother, Darth Caedus, she landed at the Keldabe spaceport and was promptly taken to the Oyu'baat to meet with Fett. Solo's arrival at the cantina came in the midst of a bolo-ball game that a number of Mandalorians had come to the Oyu'baat to watch on the bar's large viewscreen; when she was outed as a Jedi by passerby Gotab, the tapcaf's patrons drew their weapons on Solo, until she offered an explanation for her presence. Upon meeting with Solo at the Oyu'baat several minutes later, Fett agreed to teach her and instructed Solo to take a room at the Oyu'baat for the duration of her stay, though Goran Beviin instead offered her the hospitality of his family's farm. On the day of his granddaughter's marriage to Mandalorian soldier Ghes Orade, Fett met with Imperial Admiral Natasi Daala at the Oyu'baat: the two were alone, as most of the Mandalorians who would have otherwise been present were instead celebrating the nuptials at the home of Ghes Orade's father, including the bartender. Fett and Daala talked of their pasts, and discussed the future of the galaxy and how it would fare in the face of the threat Darth Caedus posed, before departing to attend Fett's granddaughter's marital celebration.^[5]

Behind the scenesEdit

The Oyu'baat first appeared in Star Wars canon in the 2007 Legacy of the Force novel, Sacrifice by author Karen Traviss. Traviss again made use of the Oyu'baat as a locale in her fourth and fifth entries to the Republic and Imperial Commando series, entitled Order 66 and Imperial Commando: 501st, in addition to her third Legacy of the Force novel, Revelation.

AppearancesEdit

• Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
• Imperial Commando: 501st
• The Last Jedi
• Sacrifice (First appearance)
• Revelation

Notes and referencesEdit