Tatooine
__**Tatooine**__The Old Republic and the Empire that supplanted it paid very little attention to the remote planet Tatooine. Ironically, beings that called this dusty world home would be influential in bringing down both galactic governments.
Tatooine rests in the distant Outer Rim, beyond the reaches of Republic and Imperial law. Even the Trade Federation lacked a presence on the desert planet. Poor, with very little industry to boast, Tatooine is a mixture of hard-working locals attempting to extract a living from the unforgiving environment and transients visiting the world for illegal ventures. Tatooine is controlled by the Hutts, and their shady operations bring many spacers, bounty hunters, thieves and other malcontents to the planet's few port cities.
Tatooine has a seemingly endless desert environment cooked by the intense energy of twin yellow suns. Rocky mesas, canyons and arroyos break up the monotony of kilometers of shifting dunes. The days are hot and the nights are frigid. The air is dry and the soil is parched. Yet life persists on Tatooine, in varied, hardy forms. Indigenous sentient life includes the scavenging Jawas and the fearsome Tusken Raiders. Creatures found roaming the desert include banthas, rontos, dewbacks, scurriers, womp rats, krayt dragons and eopies.
Sporadic colonization attempts have resulted in scattered communities separated by vast gulfs of wilderness. On the edge of the Dune Sea is Mos Eisley, arguably Tatooine's busiest port during the time of the Empire. Not too far away are Mos Espa, Anchorhead, and Bestine township.
If not involved in Hutt business, most colonists on the planet eke out a meager existence as moisture farmers. Small homesteads employ devices called moisture vaporators to tug what little water vapor is suspended in Tatooine's air. This moisture is then used to irrigate underground crops or is sold directly to interested parties.
__Creatures of Tatooine:__
Banthas:
Banthas are large, shaggy-furred quadrupeds with bright, inquisitive eyes. A pair of long, spiraling horns grow from the skull of the male. On the desert world of Tatooine, banthas are used as beasts of burden by moisture farmers, and as loyal pack animals by the savage Tusken Raiders.
Dewbacks:
Found on the desert planet Tatooine, dewbacks are large lizards used by the locals as mounts and beasts of burden. These flat-toothed creatures can be found hauling goods for merchants or moisture farmers or pulling Podracer parts to starting grids. A dewback is able to withstand the heat and dust that often leads to mechanical breakdown in modern high-tech conveyances.
Eopies:
An eopie is a stubborn beast of burden found on the planet Tatooine. This desert quadruped is renowned for its endurance, and is often pushed to the limit by the denizens of the twin-sunned world. The sure-footed mammal has pale skin, a flexible snout, and a grumpy temperament.
Krayt Dragons:
Making the Jundland Wastes all the more dangerous are immense reptiles stalking the craggy canyons in search of prey. These huge predators are known as krayt dragons and their bone-chilling howl is enough to send even ferocious Sand People skittering for cover. The ferocious Krayt Dragon hide is strong enough to withstand the power of a lightsabre. The Krayt Dargons eat by using their teeth to grind their usually large food which often comes in the forms of Banthas. Eventually, the teeth become smooth and rounded and therefore useless to the dragon. These teeth are known as 'Krayt Dragon pearls' and are fetch a high price due to their rarity and the exquisity of their beauty.
Before the die, Krayt Dragons journey to 'The Valley of the Dead Krayts'. Although it has never been discovered, it is said that they simply sleep there, awaiting their death due to old age.
Rontos:
Found on the desert planet of Tatooine, the saurian ronto is a huge four-legged beast of burden. Locals, such as the native Jawas, use the ronto to haul cargo and passengers through the streets of port towns like Mos Espa and Mos Eisley. Though a towering 4.25 meters in height, rontos are nonetheless skittish and easily startled.
Sarlacc:
Out in Tatooine's Dune Sea, lying at the base of the Great Pit of Carkoon, rests a gruesome creature known as the Sarlacc. The omnivorous, immobile beast is almost entirely concealed beneath the desert sands. Only its foul mouth extends to the surface, ringed with grasping tentacles ready to pull any prey unfortunate to fall into the shifting sands.
Its maw is more than three meters in diameter, and is a mucous-lined hole brimming with inward pointing teeth. At the center of the mouth is a smooth, pointed beak containing a fat, muscular tongue, blindly flexing in hopes of capturing a savory morsel.
Because of its isolation, the Sarlacc rarely feeds, as it must rely on animals that stumble into the pit. As such, it has evolved an extremely efficient digestive process. According to lore, the stomach pit of the Sarlacc keeps its prey alive for a thousand years, slowly dissolving its meal into needed nutrients, while the hapless victim is kept alive in searing, endless agony.
The Sarlacc was a favorite creature of the loathsome Jabba the Hutt. The bloated gangster would amuse himself by eliminating his enemies by tossing them into the Sarlacc. He and his criminal coterie would delight to see the Sarlacc's victims struggle helplessly, as they tried to climb up the slippery shifting sands of the Carkoon pit. Such movement would only stir the beast, which would strike out with a sticky tentacle, and tug the meal into its waiting mouth.
Scurriers:
Rodent-like vermin that infests the streets of cities like Mos Eisley, the Tatooine scurrier is named for its swift gait and skittish temperament. They are small, two-legged runners that subsist on refuse and stolen food. The males are easily distinguished from the females by their crown of twisting antlers.
Womp-Rats:
The womp rat was a large, omnivorous rodent native to Tatooine. It was widely considered to be a pest. They were slightly larger than two meters in size. There were two races of womp rats: ones that lived in Beggar's Canyon and ones that lived in the Jundland Wastes.
Womp rats traveled in packs to overwhelm their prey. The Beggar's Canyon womp rat reproduced alarmingly quickly. Once it reproduced to such a point that the population could not be kept in check, and womp rats were hunting Jawas and raiding storehouses. The Imperial prefect of Tatooine then allowed people to hunt them at ten credits per rat
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