Manaan

Manaan is a watery planet located somewhere in the Galaxy. The local species was known as Selkath, though they were usually referred to as fishy people. Researchers are still contesting the actual history of both the planet and the species, but some facts have already been released to the public. Or someone might just have paid a lot of credits for this unimportant information. Fact is though, that these people once had the opportunity to turn Manaan into a goldmine when the effects of Kolto were discovered, but that was before the arrival of Revan.

History
The first time Manaan appeared in official history, was shortly after an unknown Sith crashed unto the planet’s surface, and found himself among many huge trees. The ground was layered with small stones and slightly overgrown with small plants. Nothing more of this first ecosystem has been recorded to history, because the beautiful sight of his surroundings drove the Sith Lord to close his eyes and to stagger blindly through the trees in search for a way to leave the planet. When he had finally reached a small town, he took the first flight off the planet and swore to himself he would never allow the horrible sighting of the surface to exist. He decided that the most evilest way to destroy this planet, was by means of global warming.

The Sith enjoyed watching the people being tortured by fear, as the CO2 he released into the atmosphere directed the rays of heat back to the planet’s surface. Long before the inhabitants could be evacuated, the melted ice from the polar regions had already risen the sea levels and flooded the spaceports, until there was no other option for the people but to submerge under water and disappear forever between the jaws of the giant sharks that were now exploring their new territory.

As soon as he saw how the water claimed the land, and how the heat rays created the tropical climate, the Sith decided this would be the perfect spot to use as his own personal place to water-ski. But the jaws of the sharks made him change his mind. He told some scientists he hired in a pub on the planet next door, to kill them. Meanwhile, the Sith Lord would leave the system to conquer other planets by other, faster means.

Afraid of the Sith Lord's wrath, the scientists set out to kill the sharks by shooting them, eating them, or bombing them, before they had to make the rather unfortunate conclusion that it wasn’t working. By now, not only bigger and meaner sharks had been seen, put some of the plants began looking real weird too. Not knowing that the Sith had died not soon after he had hired them, due to a crash on a planet made of solid rock, they feared what he would do with them as soon as he saw their failures. Therefore, they decided to take matters into their own hands, and sacrificed themselves to the giant sharks that were now roaming the seas of Manaan.

Jedi Civil War
Manaan faded away into myths when the pages of history were turned over and over again, until news came about some healing liquid, found by some space pirates who had crashed on a weird, watery planet, with a nice, tropical climate. This healing liquid caught the attention of both the Sith and the Republic. When they invaded Manaan, they did not only find the rumoured Kolto fields, but Ahto City, inhabited by some fishy people, as well. Neither of the two parties liked the idea of paying for the Kolto, but since the fishy people had declared themselves neutral (probably too scared to pick sides), they had no choice. While the Republic began to sell holiday trips to Manaan for tourists, the Sith used other ways to get to the healing (and in large amounts drugging) Kolto. Meanwhile, Revan arrived on Manaan in search of some ancient stones to add to his collection, got high by too much Kolto, rescued a few Selkath and picked a fight with the huge shark the Selkath believed to be their god. Just before he left, the fishy people found out he had destroyed the Kolto and their god, and tried to put him in jail. Which failed and left the inhabitants of Manaan with even less. Rumours quickly began to spread about a stinking body of a huge dead shark and dying Kolto. In order to keep the business running, the Selkath tried to sell water with bits of water plants, but the trick was soon discovered. The Sith left Manaan shortly after to deal in Bacta, but the Republic did make a fair business profit by selling the holiday trips.

Geography
Though these days the surface of the planet consists only of water, some sources state that it once had multiple islands, or maybe even a few continents. Somewhere around that time, according to myth, an ancient species found the locals before the Sith did, and left all kinds of artefacts and stones, that are nowadays still being discovered on the bottom of the sea. When in the trade, some of these ancient stones could make a lot of profit, as Revan knew when he went down to the ocean floor in search of them.

Biology
Records state that there were multiple life forms on the planet before it was flooded. What kind of species they were, remains a mystery. Some sources however, tell of ancient sharks that have always lived in the seas. When the Sith Lord hired some scientists to terminate them, they actually became bigger and more aggressive. After their rediscovery during the Jedi Civil War, they were classified as firaxan sharks. The local life form is the species Selkath. First official sightings were done during the first harvest of the Kolto, but rumour has it they were already living on the planet when the Sith destroyed it. The ancestors of the Selkath might once have been slaves to the legendary Rakata. But since this is being strongly contested by scientists, it is not accepted as official history fact from Manaan. Therefore it will not be dealt with here, since everything here is classified as fact. Though once believed to be related to the Mon Calamari, recently new evidence has surfaced that they may be related to the firaxan sharks. In what way is not yet known. They show an amphibian life cycle, with their young living under water all the time, but the adults being able to breath fresh air. Where the Kolto comes from, remains a mystery. Some say it may be created by the sharks, some others still say it never truly had any healing powers, but was just polluted Bacta sold under another name to make profit.