Kessel

Kessel

Astronavigation Data: Dessa system, Outer Rim region
Orbital Metrics: 322 days per year / 26 hours per day
Government: military prison
Population: 700-1,000 (military and administrative), prisoner number varies in the thousands
Languages: Basic
Terrain: alkali flats, mountains, caves
Major Cities: Kessendra (a small military town)
Areas of Interest: Imperial prison facilities, spice mines
Major Exports: glitterstim spice
Major Imports: consumables, technology
Trade Routes: Pabol Sleheyron, Kessel Trade Corridor
Special Conditions: Type III atmosphere (breath mask required), radiation suit for prolonged surface excursions.
Background: Twenty-five thousand years before the brutal conquests of Emperor Palpatine, the planet known as "Xo's Eye" bore witness to battles between Xim the Despot and the Hutt empire. Though the name never stuck, the misshapen planet later known as Kessel became known across the galaxy for the treasure buried beneath it's rocky surface: glitterstim spice, which would soon become one of the most sough-after stimulants in the galaxy.

For countless years, freighter captains with delusions of grandeur hazarded expeditions into this remote pocket of space. However, the route to Kessel was treacherous, plagued by nebulas, asteroids, and a cluster of black holes of immense size: the Maw. Few ever returned from these runs, and the ones who did and also managed to get below the surface told of hideous multi-eyed monsters, ghostly bogeys and shells of humans roaming the caves in a lifeless stupor.

The Old Republic ended millennia of speculators' dreams when they devised a semi-safe route past the Maw using hyperspace beacons. The Senate created KesCorp, a public enterprise formed to supervise the mining and medical research of glitterstim. Only highly trusted and idealistic volunteers were sent to Kessel on paltry government salaries so as to ward of ne'er-do-wells. Initial pharmaceutical usage proved promising, and demand increased accordingly.

Nevertheless, the Republic waned, less attention was paid to Kessel. Criminal elements gradually took the reins of KesCorp and "glitteryll," a cut of cheap Rylothian ryll with Kesselian spice, became the drug of choice among the rich and powerful.

When the Empire rose to power, social workers breathed a sigh of relief when the Empire militarized Kessel, believing the numbers of "glit-biters" would diminish. At first, that looked to be the case. The Imperials garrisoned Kessel's moon and transformed the planetoid into a maximum security prison for political rebels, pirates, Black Sun vigos, and criminal psychopaths.

That sense of relief has now sourced. Although the Empire controls the trade of glitterstim , they have boosted mining efforts by utilizing prisoners as a disposable labor force. Now, more spice is mined than ever, even as the market remains tightly controlled. This situation make glitterstim smuggling highly profitable, giving rise to the infamous "Kessel Run" a smuggling route from Kessel that runs perilously close to the Maw before reaching civilized space.

Kessel Run