Alderaan

View of the Mountains from the Palace

The Petrified mounds of the Killiks in the Castle Lands

In the Castle Lands, the remains of Killik mounds stood as a silent testament to the indigenous species that had disappeared for unknown reasons. Philosophers, poets, and artists often visited the Castle Lands for inspiration and meditation.

Alderaan was home to more than eight thousand subspecies of grass and an even larger number of wildflowers. Its flora also included a massive variety of spices, herbs, and grains. The planet had no major oceans, but it had a single polar ice cap. The rest of Alderaan's surface water was composed of thousands of lakes and connecting waterways.

In the wild, they were common prey for predators such as manka cats and taoparis. Subspecies of nerfs included Grizmallt nerfs and wildernerfs. A number of nerf breeds were also found on the Tunroth Triumvirate worlds.

Other known species included the Grazer, Thranta, Stalking bird, Woolly moth, Oozle, and the Manka cat.

University of Alderaan

An average Alderaanian was very educated and cultured. Poets and artists thrived on Alderaan. The beauty moved the pens of poets, while the vast grasslands served as a canvas for grass paintings. Alderaan was also famous for its cuisine. The large variety of spices and herbs allowed chefs to experiment and create some of the finest dishes in the Galaxy. Steamed Alderaanian spiced wine was a favored beverage among many.

Some of Alderaan's major exports included wine, art, and luxury goods.

The University of Alderaan

The University of Alderaan was a center of learning on the planet Alderaan. It was also known as Alderaan University, Aldera University, and the University of Aldera.

Founded in Aldera by the great thinker Collus, it was designed to isolate its students from the outside world. Before Collus' death, he realized that you can't fully learn something until you've experience it. "How could a biology student learn by looking at diagrams and books without actually going out into the field?" he inquired. "How could a politics student learn without setting foot on Coruscant?"

Eventually it was developed so that the main building would stay on the capital, Aldera, but many different "pods" of the school were spread out across the galaxy. Botanists spent much of their time on Ithor and other tropical planets. Meteoroligists spent their time studying the gas planets and cloud storms on Bespin. Historians would visit the ruins of Ossus. Political students had jobs as government functionaries on Coruscant.

Aldera, the planet's capital

Alderaan's government deliberately halted itself from so much as questioning spacecraft leaving or arriving on the planet.

Several decades before the Clone Wars, a political conflict between the high houses of Alderaan arose. This conflict, known as the Alderaan Ascendancy Contention, was the result of the inability of the great families (among them the House of Organa and the House of Antilles) to choose the next Viceroy of Alderaan. Three separate votes yielded no winner, and so the Alderaanians asked for Jedi mediation to resolve the contention. The Jedi, including Jorus C'baoth, considered the intricacies of the situation, and decided that House Organa bore the rightful claim to the throne.

Bail Organa was the leader of Alderaan and was on the planet when it was destroyed, while his heir and (secretly-adopted) daughter Princess Leia served as Senator of Alderaan in the Imperial Senate.

A Killik

At some point, the Killiks colonized nearby Alsakan. They were taken away from Alderaan 30,000 BBY by the Celestials after consuming all of Alderaan's natural resources, and long believed extinct by Humanity until re-encountered in the Unknown Regions. Human colonists came to the planet from Coruscant in 27,500 BBY and built a peaceful civilization in harmony with nature. Alderaan was a Core Founder of the Galactic Republic in 25,000 BBY and one of the anchor points for early hyperspace exploration. Alderaan was headquarters of Alderaan Royal Engineers, an early Republic shipwright. Alderaanian colonists settled Nim Drovis. In 27 BBY, it was personally protected by Jedi Master Eeth Koth during the Ashaar Khorda crisis.

Rebellious elements seek shelter on Alderaan

As a whole, Alderaan strongly opposed the Military Creation Act, but remained loyal to the Republic during the Clone Wars. Alderaan allowed Refugee Relief Movement settlement by displaced exiles from Ando and other Separatist worlds whom wished to remain Republic citizens. During the Clone Wars, Alderaan was attacked personally by General Grievous and took heavy damage, nearly "being destroyed".

With the rise of the New Order, Queen Breha Organa and Senator Viceroy Bail Organa adopted Leia Amidala Skywalker. The Galactic Empire violently terminated the Jedi Praxeum on the planet, though a few students escaped. Shortly afterwards, Jedi Knight Ylenic It'kla led a remnant of the Caamasi people to settle on Alderaan after Palpatine desolated Caamas. Ylenic served as Trustant of the Caamasi Remnant and advisor to the Organas.

Galactic Civil War

Immediately after the formation of the Galactic Empire, Alderaan was wracked by anti-Imperial protests, mainly from alien refugees who were now forced to pay an exorbitant tax to return home. Alderaan eventually became a safe haven for rebellious elements who wished to fight the growing oppression of the Empire.

When Bail Organa, Garm Bel Iblis, and Mon Mothma formally created the Rebel Alliance, many Alderaanians volunteered their resources and lives, despite the still fresh memories of the Clone Wars. Many of the early warriors of the Alliance, and subsequently, many of its leaders and officers, were Alderaanian.

After the horrors of the Clone Wars, Alderaan's frigates and light cruisers were dismantled and the world's weapons were placed aboard the armory warship Another Chance. The ship was programmed to continually jump though hyperspace until called home by the High Council. They would not have the opportunity.

When Death Star gunner Tenn Graneet threw the switch to initiate primary ignition, power was channeled from the hypermatter reactor through the superlaser, coming out at super luminanal velocity. The beam pushed a large part of Alderann's mass into hyperspace, causing the planet to explode.

The Death Star's superlaser hits Alderaan

The deaths of the billions of sentient people caused a massive disturbance in the Force. Obi-Wan Kenobi felt the disturbance while en route to the Alderaan system, and told Luke Skywalker that it felt like a great many voices cried out in terror before being suddenly silenced. On the Death Star, stormtrooper and Force sensitive Nova Stihl passed out from the shock of sensing all the deaths on Alderaan, and although she was unaware at the time of her sensitivity, Princess Leia also felt the disturbance in the Force.

The plan drastically backfired, driving thousands of beings to the Alliance cause and sending many planets in the Mid Rim into open rebellion. A number of Alderaanians serving in the Imperial military defected to the Rebel Alliance after learning of their homeworld's destruction - among the defectors was the TIE fighter pilot Tycho Celchu. The Imperials attempted to pin the blame for Alderaan's destruction on the Rebels, keeping a small number of people loyal to the Empire; however, it convinced few.

The remains of Alderaan became known as the Graveyard, and many Alderaanians who were off-planet when Alderaan was destroyed returned each year to leave memorials among the rubble for their lost loved ones.