Rugosa

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Rugosa, sometimes known as the coral moon, was a temperate moon in the Sanbra sector. It was one of the worlds that made up the Infinite Empire, a galactic power led by the Rakatans approximately 30,000 BBY. The planet was later discovered by Toydarian scouts working near the Balmorra Run, and because of its attractive climate and warm oceans, became a Toydarian vacation spot. The Hutt overlords of the Toydarians punished them by releasing a plague onto the moon, drying up all its oceans and exposing vast expanses of coral.

During the Clone Wars, it was selected as the site for negotiations between the King of Toydaria and representatives of the Galactic Republic. However, when Separatists intercepted communications arranging the meeting they ambushed the Republic forces. A small group of survivors, including Jedi Master Yoda, made it to the moon and further engaged the Separatists, eventually defeating their forces and gaining the allegiance of King Katuunko.

Contents 1 Description 2 History 3 Inhabitants 4 Behind the scenes 5 Appearances 6 Sources 7 Notes and references 8 External links

[edit] Description

Rugosa was a temperate moon orbiting a blue planet^[7] in the Rugosa system—a star system located in the Sanbra sector of the Outer Rim Territories^[2]—near to the Balmorra Run. The moon was once covered in warm swamps and shallow seas, however, a Hutt plague dried up its oceans,^[5] leaving its coral formations and reefs exposed, as well as fossil remains of native species.^[7] Many plants and coral survived the plague:^[5] the massive coral formations varied in color, from green to blue to purple, and included various forms, from large fan-shapes to antler shapes, to porous spheres. Some were large enough that starships such as the Thief's Eye could comfortably land on them.^[7]

Following the Hutt plague, rainfall slowly began to accumulate again in the ocean beds. Exotic fauna also arrived on the moon, with baby neebray manta living among the coral formations, as a stop along their migration through space.^[5]

[edit] History

Around the year 30,000 BBY, an alien species known as the Rakata became a significant galactic power. Using Force-based hyperdrives, they traveled to many worlds around the galaxy that possessed significant signatures in the Force, uniting them to form the Rakatan Infinite Empire. Among these worlds was Rugosa. After five thousand years of galactic dominance, plague caused the collapse of the Infinite Empire and eventually the end of their presence on the moon.^[6]

Following the Rakatan extinction,^[6] the moon was uninhabited for thousands of years until it was discovered by Toydarian scouting around the Balmorra Run some centuries before the Clone Wars. The Toydarians were native to the Hutt Space^[5] planet, Toydaria, which was covered in muck lakes filled with dangerous predators.^[8] To them, Rugosa's warm swamps and coral seas appeared a paradise. Their clan chief's turned the moon into a vacation spot, keeping its existence hidden from their Hutt overlords. When the Hutts discovered the deception, they released an ancient plague on the moon in order to punish the Toydarians. Within months, the plague had dried up Rugosa's seas, turning the verdant moon into a dry world.^[5]

During the Clone Wars, the moon was chosen by King Katuunko of Toydaria as a neutral meeting place to negotiate with an envoy from the Galactic Republic.^[4] This particular world reminded him of his homeworld,^[9] and so he requested a Jedi meet him there as the Republic envoy; Jedi Master Yoda was subsequently chosen to open the negotiations with the King. However, this plan was intercepted by a Confederacy of Independent Systems listening post on the Mid Rim world of Ruusan, and reported to the Confederacy leader Count Dooku. In order to disrupt the plan, Dooku dispatched his disciple Asajj Ventress to convince or coerce the Toydarian King to become a Separatist ally instead.^[4] Yoda was ambushed en route, but still managed to crash land on the moon with three clone troopers. Ventress made a bet with Katuunko that if Yoda could make it to the King alive, the Republic could gain allegiance of the moon; if not, Toydaria would become an ally of the Separatists.^[10]

Despite Ventress' best efforts, Yoda, together with the three clone troopers, survived to reach the King. Attempting to go back on her deal, Ventress was ordered, by Dooku, to kill the King. She swung her lightsabers in a killing strike but they were halted at the last instant by Yoda's Force grip. Ventress subsequently fled the moon, and King Katuunko, impressed with Yoda's deeds, signed a treaty with the Republic, allowing them to establish an outpost in his territory.^[10]

[edit] Inhabitants

Rugosa was once inhabited by the Rakata.^[6] These humanoids had large, cone-like heads with eyes on short stalks on the sides.^[11] Plague eventually caused the collapse of their civilization and the end of their presence on Rugosa.^[6] Thousands of years later, the moon was used as a vacation spot by Toydarians.^[5] Toydarians were a short species, with vaguely avian features and a stubby trunk. They had small wings with which they could fly, despite their tubby appearance.^[8] Once Rugosa was ruined by plague, the Toydarians stopped using it as a vacation spot;^[5] however, King Katuunko and his entourage still visited the world during the Clone Wars.^[10]

[edit] Behind the scenes

Rugosa featured in Ambush, the first episode of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, and was the primary location for the episode's action. Rugosa was later included in supporting The Clone Wars material, as well as The Essential Atlas.

Inspired by the Flash Gordon series, the moon was designed so as to offer a unique terrain; in previous Star Wars movies, desert, ice, jungle, and forest planets had already been presented, and so the design team settled on a coral design to offer a new environment.^[7] The word "rugosa" itself is an extinct order of coral.^[12] The moon was initially designed with a reddish color palette; however, when it was decided to release the episode first, rather than later in the series as originally planned, Supervising Director Dave Filoni realized the color would be too similar to that of "Rising Malevolence," the second episode to be released. Filoni then decided to modify its color scheme to blue and green hues to create a distinct look.^[4] The artist Russell Chong who worked on illustrating the moon was himself a scuba diver, so he drew on these experiences in his designs.^[13]

According to The Essential Atlas Appendix, and its online companion, Rugosa is located within grid P-17; however, all the maps within this book place Rugosa in O-17. This is also necessary for its placement in the Sanbra sector, as depicted on the Essential Atlas Extra: Outer Rim Sectors feature. Consequently, O-17 had been followed in this article.^[3]

[edit] Appearances

• The Clone Wars: Prelude (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Ambush" (First appearance)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Forces of Darkness

[edit] Sources

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide (First mentioned)
•  The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Ambush on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
•  Episode Commentary #1: Ambush on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
• The Art of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
• The Essential Atlas
• Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Official Episode Guide: Season 1
•  Jek in the Databank
•  King Katuunko in the Databank
•  Rugosa in the Databank
•  Rys in the Databank
•  Thire in the Databank
•  Yoda in the Databank

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

•  Rugosa in the Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia