Mandalore

Mandalore is the home to the multi-species culture known as the Mandalorians. It is the fifth planet in the Mandalore system in the Outer Rim territories, just off the Hydian Way trade route. Mandalore was a lush, tranquil planet when Mandalore the First and his group of Taung warriors came and conquered the world. The planet would become the power base for all of Mandalorian space for millennia to come. The warlike nature of the Mandalorian culture eventually took it’s toll on the world, leaving it’s ecosystem devastated.

Mandalore would become the fallback point for many Neo-Crusaders after their defeat after the end of the Mandalorian Wars. The world would find its self the enemy and ally to various galactic governments and groups throughout the centuries. The rise of the pacifist New Mandalorian faction changed the warlike culture to that of a more peaceful regime. Mandalore was then accepted into the Galactic Republic as New Mandalore, the name that was given throughout the isolationist society that the New Mandalorians had created. The rise of Mandalore the Resurrector saw the world break away from the Republic and side with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, against the oppressive Coruscant regime. After the Clone Wars ended, Mandalore found its self under the heel of the Galactic Empire. The fall of the Empire saw the world begin to recover, up until the time of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy. While the Vong visited devastation on Mandalore, the planet did not fall to the invaders and by the time of the Second Galactic Civil war, the planet experienced a resurgence due to new deposits of Beskar iron ore that was uncovered during the Yuuzhan Vong attacks.

Description
Mandalore is located in the Outer Rim regions of the galaxy, in the system by the same name. It is adjacent to the Hydian Way trade route. The system sits at the end of the hyperspace route known as the Mandalorian Road, which connects it with the planet Corsin in the Inner Rim territories. Mandalore is a terrestrial planet with two moons, one being the terrestrial moon of Concordia.

Unique to Mandalore and Concordia is the iron ore known as Beskar. Extremely hard and nearly indestructible, Beskar is used by Mandalorian metalsmiths to create weapons, armor, and starships. Beskar is known to be able to deflect or absorb strikes from Lightsabers.

Prior to the conquest of the world by Mandalore the First and his Taung warriors, the planet had vast, untouched flora and very unique fauna. Mandalore was dominated by the gigantic mythosaurs. The enormous beasts were said to rival cities with their size, but when the Taung warriors arrived on Mandalore, they set to slaughtering the creatures as part of their conquest of the new world, leaving only their massive skeletons behind to bleach in the light of Mandalore's sun. Native veshok trees covered much of Mandalore's northern hemisphere, including the Olankur region of its northern continent, forming a dense forest that stretched nearly as far as the polar ice caps. Winters in the north of Mandalore often saw significant snowfall, and bitter cold temperatures. The herbivorous animals called shatuals could be found living within the veshok forests, as could the intelligent, six-legged strills that preyed upon them for food. The tall, long-lived galek trees with their silver-colored leaves were also a common sight on Mandalore, as were the golden amber ferns that grew around galek groves. Wild mushrooms were known to grow on and around Mandalore's trees, as well.

History
Mandalore was once a savage, wild world untouched by any civilization. The mighty mythosaurs were the dominant lifeform on Mandalore until the arrival of the Taung warriors. Around 7,000 BBY, the Taung warriors arrived on the planet and quickly went to work conquering the world. The Taungs named the world Manda'yaim, or "home of the Mand'alor, which was later transliterated as Mandalore in the language of Basic. Similarly, the Taungs renamed themselves as the Mandalorians, or Mando'ade: "sons and daughters of Mandalore".

A single new planet was not enough for the Taung tribes, which began a period of conquest across other worlds in order to bring new territories under Mandalorian control. This left the original Mandalorian space and the planet of Mandalore largely abandoned. The new Mand'alor, Mandalore the Ultimate, believing the fabled "Great Last Battle" to be at hand, turned back to the planet Mandalore at the behest of his advisor, Cassus Fett, for his new army. There on the Mandalorian homeworld he found the unorthodox warrior sect known as the Neo-Crusaders. These warriors deviated from the Crusader norm by wearing identical suits of armor and implementing a more rigid chain of command. Following Fett's advice, Mandalore the Ultimate made the Neo-Crusaders the backbone of his new army, and by the time he had instigated the Mandalorian Wars with the Republic, Neo-Crusaders comprised most of the Mandalor’s warriors. As the Neo-Crusader army conquered more and more worlds, the planet Mandalore became the center of a Mandalore sector that stretched across the majority of the galaxy's northern quadrant. Mandalore the Ultimate's endeavors were doomed to failure, however, and when the Jedi Knight Revan slew the Mand'alor in single combat at Malachor V, the Mandalorian Wars were brought to a swift end. With no purpose, many defeated Mandalorians turned to lives as mercenaries, bounty hunters, and even bandits, while others returned home to Mandalore.

Reformation
Following the end of the war and the Galactic Republic’s reformation, the culture of the Mandalorian people began to reform as well. The people of Mandalore began to make themselves a more technologically adept culture along with a more rigid, militant society. Alarmed by their quick reformation after the terrible New Sith War, the Republic and the Jedi led a quick, devastating strike into mandalorian space which rendered part of the planet inhospitable. Out of this disaster rose the New Mandalorians, a pacifist faction that reformed the culture from its militaristic ways to a more peaceable society, in an effort to save the Mandalorian people. Using their knowledge of building and construction, the New Mandalorians built immense cube cities which isolated the population from the warring clans which opposed them.

The New Mandalorians' dedication to peace and their love of advanced technology allowed for them to claim ascendancy over the scattered, squabbling warrior clans on Mandalore for centuries, and for the first time in the planet's history Mandalore was welcomed by the Republic, and offered representation in the Galactic Senate. In spite of this, a significant number of Mandalorians continued to live much as they had for generations, continuing their warrior traditions in locations such as Keldabe.

In the year 60 BBY, the individual named Jaster Mereel came into the role of Mandalor. Mereel saw the dissatisfaction in many warriors of the Mandalorian warrior circles with savagery that had become prevalent. Mereel instituted the Supercommando Codex which stated that any individual who wished to fight would be a high-paid soldier and that those individuals should conduct themselves as honorable mercenaries. The Death Watch rose to oppose Mereel’s ideas and soon were in conflict with Mereel’s Supercommandos, calling themselves True Mandalorians. The New Mandalorians stayed out of the conflict, standing to their practices of pacifism and non-voilence. With the death of Mereel, the power of Mandalor was passed to his surrogate son, Jango Fett. However, due to avenging his father’s death and his wrongful imprisonment by the Jedi, the bitter Fett distanced himself from the Mandalorian people.

The Clone Wars
As the Clone Wars broke out in 22 BBY at Geonosis, between the Galactic Republic and the droid army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Jango Fett was killed in battle with Jedi Master Mace Windu, but not before he was chosen ten years earlier to be the template for the clone troopers of the Republic's Grand Army, secretly grown from his DNA on Kamino by Kaminoan cloners. Deprived of the Mandalor’s authority, Mandalore's role in the war was defined by the New Mandalorian government. By this time, Mandalore and its sector were represented in the Republic senate by Senator Tal Merrik of the neighboring world, Kalevala. Under the leadership of Duchess Satine Kryze, current ruler of the New Mandalorian people, Mandalore joined the Council of Neutral Systems, a political coalition comprised of nearly fifteen hundred star systems with desires to remain neutral in the Clone Wars. Despite the planetary neutrality established by the New Mandalorian government, several Mandalorian mercenaries took work individually for either side during the conflict.

The Republic feared that the resurgance of the Death Watch on Mandalore would topple the Republic-favoring government. Attempting aid the mandalorian people, the Republic dispatched Republic military forces to the planet for added defense. Count Dooku, however, used this move by the Republic to seed deciet on Mandalore, saying that the Republic was going to invade the world and sector. The Duchess pleaded in the senate that Mandalore could handle the threat of the Death Watch independently, which caused the Republic to rethink the neutrality of Mandalore.

Eventually, power shifted to the more militant thinking again as a new Mandalor came to power. Spar, a former ARC Clonetrooper who desserted the Republic Army rose to power and eventually ousted the New Mandalorians from power. Shifting their focus to that of Spar’s views, Mandalore seceeded from the Republic under anti-Jedi sentiment and joined the Separatists.

By the end of the Clone Wars, a new Mandalor came into power. Fenn Shysa aquiesced to populare opinion and took the position. The newly formed Galactic Empire granted Mandalore amnesty for their role in the Clone Wars and the world appeared to be in the good graces of the Empire.

Imperial Occupation
Although the Imperials appeared to be in favor of Mandalore, their grip on the world tightened and the mandalorians found themselves under the controlling heel of the Empire. This state of occupation would last throughout the Galactic Civil War until the Empire was defeated at the Battle of Endor. Once free of Imperial occupation, the Mandalorians began to rebuild their world and society.

Post Occupation
The Mandalorians would remain neutral and independent from the rest of the galaxy until the invasion by Yuushan Vong forces.

(As the events of the New Jedi Order era do not affect the campaign Of Blood and Honor, further content on Mandalore has not been included.)

Government
The ultimate authority on Mandalore, and in the greater Mandalorian culture, rested with the Mand'alor. A position that was non-hereditary, and considered a combination of general, king, and warlord, the word Mand'alor meant "sole ruler", and was the closest to an official head of state the Mandalorian clans had. Beneath the Mand'alor, were the numerous leaders of the many Mandalorian clans. These clan chieftains functioned as an unofficial senate, and would gather—often alongside the current Mand'alor—to make decisions affecting Mandalore. The New Mandalorians, however, rejected the authority of the Mand'alor had a different system of government. More centralized than the loose affiliation of Mandalore's warrior clans, the New Mandalorian government was comprised of a council of ministers, led by a Prime Minister. During the Clone Wars, the Prime Minister was also subservient to a monarch, the Duchess Satine Kryze of Kalevala, who was accepted as the leader of the New Mandalorian people and their society on Mandalore.

RPG D6 Stats
Type: Terrestrial

Temperature: Temperate

Atmosphere: Type I

Hydrosphere: Moderate

Gravity: Standard

Terrain: Forest, Jungle, Plains, Oceans

Length of Day: 19 standard hours

Length of Year: 366 local days

Sapient Species: Various

Starport: Stellar/Imperial Class (5 total)

Population: 4 Million

Planet Function: Sector Capital, Homeworld

Government: Monarchy

Tech Level: Space

Major Exports: Mercenaries, Starships, Beskar Iron

Major Imports: Raw Materials

System: Mandalore

Star: Mandalore