Ossus during the Prequel era

We hear a lot about Ossus, the initial home of the Jedi Order, in the Sith wars era and in post-ROTJ but what was going on during the time of the prequels and the Clone Wars? I had the impression from DE that the Jedi pretty much abandoned it after Ruusan as when Luke and Kam get there the people haven't seen anyone for ages.
Wouldn't the Jedi have had SOME presence there at least to say "This is our turf now back off"? Or is this not really explored during the prequels? IIRC It's not in any of the novels I've read and this includes Jude Watson which is a shame as she goes to Korriban but not Ossus.

 

Most of the info on Ossus in the prequel era is from the WOTC sourcebooks, with a little from other sources. Archaeological groups sponsored digs there during the Old Republic, but whether they came into contact with the Ysanna is unsaid. The Jedi aren't said to have been involved until the Clone Wars, when they went to defend the planet (it's not clear what exactly they were defending, though...). The CIS took it early in the war. When the Empire came into power, most of the researchers pulled up camp and split, since the Empire wasn't too big on Jedi-oriented research. <shameless plug>See the Wookieepedia article for more info.</shameless plug>

 

The initial home of the Jedi Order was not Ossus, but Tython. Ossus was home to one of the earliest temples, but the order didn't begin there.

Nothing. The Ysanna were presumably scraping out a primitive existence there, but no one knew that at the time.

Ossus was abandoned 3,000 years before Ruusan, actually, when it was totally devastated by the destruction of the Cron Cluster during the Sith War of Exar Kun. Everything of value there was presumed to have been wiped out, and until they found the Ysanna living there it was generally considered to be totally uninhabitable.

No. The planet was a radioactive desert wasteland, thought to be incapable of supporting any form of life. Why would they send anyone there?

"We would like you to guard a blasted hellhole of no particular value to anyone, because it was very important to us a few thousand years ago. There's no food or water there, and you'll probably get radiation poisoning and die even if you should happen to find some, but we'd really like you to go there anyway."

 

I think that though Ossus was quite viable for quite some time before Dark Empire, it originally wasn't and the Jedi just thought it was dead and left it alone.

 

Which kind of makes sense. I think if you fled a planet which was being bombarded with the shockwave from seven concurrent supernovas, you'd pretty much assume you weren't going back.

 

Wait.... when was Tython approved to be the de facto origin of the Jedi?

 

New Essential Chronology.

 

My guess is that Ossus, though uninhabited, would still be strategically important because of it's location on the Perlemian Trade Route. A scouting post or satellite to monitor it perhaps.

No doubt the Jedi of the Prequel era had attachment to Ossus through history, and the desire to unlock treasures unknown in the wastes of the world. But they also probably assumed they had all the time in the universe and there would be no rush to the studies of the world.

 

Read through the article, just one question. The Jedi didn't know about the Yssana did they?

 

If they did, none of the sources mention it. Archaeological teams might have missed them entirely if they chose to hide, and the Jedi are only said to have gone there that one time during the Clone Wars. I imagine if the Jedi had found them, we'd see what happened with Luke a lot sooner (that is, trying to bring them back into galactic civilization), so odds are, no.

 

Not too sure about that, they did pretty much leave Windu's force sensitive tribe alone didnt they?

 

Yeah; they actually have a rather oddly spotty history of both active interference and, at other times, flat out ignoring, Force sensitive groups that could be recruited. There's the Dathomirian example as well, which, when combined with the Haruun Kal group, suggests that possibly Jedi only ignored their opportunities when it was more risk than it was worth. Which I don't think is the case with the Ysanna, at least from what I remember - meaning they probably just didn't know.

- Keralys

 

Well accounts say that the Ysanna were nomadic. Did they adapt to survive the radiation though?

 

Hmm... I don't know of anything that explicitly says either way, but I would assume they would have had to. That, or have hidden far underground for a good part of those years in between - probably at least a century, possibly more. Possibly a combination of both?

- Keralys

 

They survived, IIRC, because they were force sensitive... That means the non-forcer survivors died out... cant verify that at the moment.

Wooki agrees with me, although I think I was the one who wrote that article.: the Ysanna survived through sheer mettle and the luck bestowed to them by their Jedi bloodline, on a devastated planet with a caustic atmoshpere, full of electrical storms, and the danger of fierce predators.

Maybe LH can verify..

 

Wookiee days say they hid in the caves, but Force sensitivity giving immunity to radiation. Interesting.

Well that explains how the Jedi archeologists and those who came in the Clone Wars were not really affected. When did the Seppies occupy the planet?

Something else that occured to me, the Jeid probably didn't know about the Ysanna as Palpatine didn't make a point of eliminating them. But perhaps he didn't need to given the fact they couldn't get off planet. Did he try a Dathomir-esque "keep 'em in" plan?

 

Yeah, they did. I'll go with Keralys on this one; the Jedi are iffy. It's possible they knew there was a native race, but didn't think they were descendents of Jedi (Ossus had hundreds of millions of inhabitants in its heyday, and they couldn't all be Jedi).

The Ysanna (rather, the Jedi that would become them) initially survived by hiding in the caves under the Eocho Mountains. After the cataclysm, though, the Force may well have been able to shield them, since they obviously didn't stay underground. Some native species survived too; the ones we've seen are massive, so it's likely that was through sheer fortitude. No idea what they ate, though.

Most archaeologists there were actually civilian academics.

I haven't played Clone Wars, but apparently there's a line about how "Ossus will fall within days". So while it's not certain, it's likely it was taken around the time of the Second Battle of Rhen Var.

 

How about Onderon? I've always been curious how modern it now looks, "today."

 

Well, as of the Dark Empire storyline, Onderon doesn't appear very different from how it was during the time of the Beast Wars of Onderon and the Great Sith War. Iziz is still the only major city on the planet...and the Kira stronghold also remains in existence.

 

Ossus is a wasteland during the Prequel era, but strangely, the New Essential Chronology seems to imply that the Separatists formed some sort of fortress on the planet. Perhaps it was some sort of droid factory, away from scrutiny and civilization? The planet was under siege during the Outer Rim Sieges.

Obviously the CIS had a large enough presence to warrant a fully-fledged attack by the Republic.

 

Good catch; Ossus wasn't listed on that page in the index, so I didn't even see that. Updating the wiki now.

 

So it was fairly early in the Clone Wars I see though there's not much detail. Did it fall to the Republic or isn't there anymore information?

 

Ryloth is also a bit of a surprise considering Orn, but I guess we've seen Senators-in-exile before.

 

A droid factory might be right, I remember seeing a referenceot a battle on Ossus in the NEGtD but I can't remember where.

 

Ryloth was in cahoots with the Separatists in the buildup to the War and, presumably, the war's early days. See "Rites of Passage." My bigger issue with Orn is his four lekku. What's up with that?

I wouldn't rule out an effort by Dooku to recruit the Ysanna. The separatists knew about the Chiss before the rest of the universe did, after all...