Yar Togna

"On Lasan they may have used T-7 rifles but in 18 BBY, on Yar Togna Imperial forces used clubs and rifle butts to attack civilians and destroy their property, because of a peculiar reaction within the atmosphere to the ionized disruption of the initial orbital bombardments."

―Beaumont Kin, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire^[6]

Yar Togna was an Outer Rim Territories planet that was home to the sentient Tognath species. A high-gravity world with a dense, oxygen-poor atmosphere, it featured a massive volcanic mountain range that ejected large quantities of sulfur and ash into the planet's air. The airborne particles were consumed by the large, floating creatures known as float-jellies, which thereby prevented Yar Togna's climate from becoming frigid.

The Tognath were an evolutionary ancient insecto-mammalian species that had subpar hearing and sense of balance, which the Tognath frequently augmented by cybernetic technology, especially when traveling off-world. On Yar Togna, most Tognath worked as miners, procuring and selling crystals that were important to the manufacture of sensor arrays. On the backs of the float-jellies, Tognath farmed mosses, molds, and mushrooms that served as valuable export goods to the wider galaxy.

In 18 BBY, the Galactic Empire subjected Yar Togna to a brutal conquest and occupation due to its strategic crystal deposits. The Empire enslaved the portion of the planet's populace that did not flee the world in a mass exodus that included the eggmates Benthic and Edrio. As a result, most Tognath subsequently became part of anti-Imperial resistance groups.

Description

"I was fascinated by the Tognath's breathing apparatus—a corrugated metal contraption, which processes oxygen on foreign planets."

―An entry of an artist's journal^[7]

Yar Togna was a planet^[3] located in the regions known as the Outer Rim Territories^[1] and the Trailing Sectors.^[2] It was situated in grid square P-18 of the Standard Galactic Grid and was linked via a hyperspace route to the celestial bodies Idaflor and Pastoria.^[1]

Yar Togna was a high-gravity world on which intense fault-line pressure created unique crystalline elements that were important to the manufacture of sensor arrays. At some point, continental subduction on the planet led to the creation of a very large volcanic mountain range with lava channels and mountain springs situated in its proximity. Yar Togna's surface also featured flatlands, and its flora included the nursery tree.^[3]

For millions of years, Yar Togna's principal chain of volcanoes ejected large quantities of sulfur and ash into the planet's unusually dense, high-pressured,^[3] and oxygen-poor^[4] atmosphere, leading to it becoming foul-smelling and saturated in toxic fumes. The density of the atmosphere caused particulates to remain airborne, which would have inevitably resulted in the planet entering a state of deep freeze if not for the existence of float-jellies—massive floating gasbag-like herd creatures that ate ash erupting from Yar Togna's volcanoes. Secretions on the float-jellies' backs constituted a rich soil in which farmers of the planet's native Tognath species grew mosses, molds, and mushrooms.^[3]

History

"So ferocious were the attacks on Yar Togna, that the population began a mass migration from the now ruined planet."

―Beaumont Kin, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire^[6]

The Tognath eggmates Benthic and Edrio were born on Yar Togna^[5] around 32 BBY.^[8] At some point, the industrial efficiency expert^[9] Count Denetrius Vidian convinced the authorities of the Galactic Empire that the nationalization of the planet's crystal-mining industry would increase its output.^[3] Subsequently, in 18 BBY,^[6] the Empire conquered Yar Togna,^[5] subjecting it to a series of ferocious attacks that led to the planet becoming ruined and its population beginning^[6] a mass exodus,^[10] which included Benthic and Edrio fleeing their homeworld as refugees.^[5] Due to an unusual reaction in Yar Togna's atmosphere to the ionized disruption of the Empire's initial series of orbital bombardments, the Imperial forces switched to using clubs and rifle butts in attacking the planet's civilians and destroying their property.^[6] The Empire subsequently occupied Yar Togna^[5] and enslaved the planet's remaining population.^[3]

Even the Tognath who escaped Yar Togna felt as if they had been imprisoned due to their separation from the planet's nursery trees that played an essential role in the species' reproductive cycle. Nearly all Tognath held a grudge against the Empire over its treatment of them and their homeworld, and most members of the species eventually became part of anti-Imperial resistance groups.^[3]

At some point, Yar Togna was mentioned in an entry of an artist's journal dedicated to the Tognath. The entry was included in a section of the work describing sentient species that originated in dry habitats. The journal was restored, expanded, and displayed at the Graf Archive^[7] at some point no earlier than 34 ABY.^[11] The historian Beaumont Kin also mentioned Yar Togna's fate in^[6] his^[12] book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire^[6] in 35 ABY.^[13]

Inhabitants

Main article: Tognath

Sentients of Yar Togna

"These striking-looking beings are an unusual species, thanks to their insectile and mammalian characteristics."

―An artist's journal entry on the Tognath^[7]

Yar Togna was the homeworld of the Tognath, an unusual bipedal insecto-mammalian species. Evolutionarily ancient, they had many genetic^[3] markers indicating a distant relationship to the Gand and the Kel Dor,^[5] a pair of sentient species native to^[7] the Outer Rim^[1] planet Gand and^[7] the Expansion Region^[1] world Dorin, respectively,^[7] although it was not known whether the genetic relationship was caused by evolution or experimentation.^[3]

Tognath had undeveloped nervous systems.^[3] Especially when having to adapt to life off Yar Togna,^[4] they frequently augmented their otherwise subpar hearing and sense of balance^[3] with cybernetic enhancers fitting into recesses on their scalps.^[5] Additionally, Tognath often^[3] used artificial lenses with their compound eyes in order to better process the spectrum.^[5]

Tognath traveling offworld required the use of pressure suits and respirators^[3] that processed oxygen^[7] in order to replicate the conditions of their homeworld's atmosphere. As Tognath vocal chords had evolved for Yar Togna's unusually dense air, most other species found their deep voices too faint to hear without technological aid.^[3] Tognath spoke the language of the same name.^[5]

Tognath way of life

"They have both an endo and exoskeleton, which gives them their unique appearance."

―An artist's journal entry on the Tognath^[7]

Tognath began life as larvae hatched from egg clutches. Six months after their birth, the young Tognaths' parents took them to one of Yar Togna's nursery trees. There, the young would spin a cocoon inside which they would undergo a metamorphosis. In order to resist the high gravity and atmospheric pressure of their homeworld, the Tognath offspring developed both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton. Finally, several months after spinning the cocoon, the youngling would emerge as a child-sized Tognath.^[3]

Tognath lived in stilted homes near Yar Togna's principal mountain range, where they had access to springwater. Most of the planet's residents worked as magma skimmers or miners, procuring crystals that, prior to Yar Togna's nationalization by the Galactic Empire, were being sold to corporations such as Fabritech and Idellian Arrays. Other Tognath farmed their homeworld's more rural flatlands or worked as float farmers, using the float-jelly creatures to produce mushrooms, molds, and mosses that were prized as delicacies across the galaxy. Under the reign of the Empire, the Tognath on Yar Togna were enslaved.^[3]

Behind the scenes

Yar Togna was introduced as part of the backstory for Edrio "Two Tubes," a character created and developed for the 2016 film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.^[14] It was mentioned in a description of Edrio that was featured in a Rogue One costume exhibit at San Diego Comic-Con in July of that year,^[15] which was also posted on the official Star Wars Facebook page on July 21, 2016.^[14] The planet was subsequently mentioned in the July 27, 2016 installment of The Star Wars Show YouTube video series, in which the host Andi Gutierrez mispronounced its name as "Yar Tonga."^[15]