Elom

The Eloms evolved for life underground. They are short and have a solid, stocky build, with large hands and feet that end in large curved claws. They are adept at digging underground, using their clawed hands and prehensile clawed toes. They have wide heads with short, stubby eye stalks on either side. Their dependence on centuries of phosphorescent light underground enables them to see very well in dim light, but this makes them very sensitive to the bright light of the surface world. The Eloms have a pair of closely set tusks low on their face, with nasal features set high between their eyes. The Eloms regulate their body temperature and moisture retention through a combination of rough, oily fur and layers of fat. They are herbivores and are particularly adapted to eating the unusual plants and fungi that can be found or cultivated underground on their home planet, also named Elom.

Despite their laid-back manner, Eloms are intelligent and can be very ambitious. They are also highly isolated from other species, so Eloms unleashed on the wider galaxy tend to be a bit naive, at least initially. This makes them susceptible to suggestions, manipulation, and deception to convince them to do things against their own interests. Those Eloms who do travel the galaxy usually adapt gradually to a more cosmopolitan lifestyle.

The Eloms reside almost exclusively underground on their homeworld. Prior to discovery by the Elomin during the days of the former Republic, they were not technologically advanced. In fact, their mannerisms and unique societal structures prompted the Elomin to regard them initially as non-sentient, and so they once frequently enslaved Eloms in their mines. The Republic’s representatives found otherwise and forced the Elomin to formally recognize the Eloms as a species with rights that they must respect.

The Eloms are largely pacifists and usually easy to get along with. Despite the difficulties during the many years after the Elomin discovered them, the Eloms were willing to put aside past Elomin behavior and move forward in peaceful coexistence. The Elomin were initially wary, and reluctant to accept responsibility for the oppression of the Eloms. However, after the Republic’s intervention, the Eloms never sought retribution against the Elomin, and eventually tensions eased between the two societies, though they largely ignored each other. Most Eloms preferred their underground society to what waited beyond the surface or among the stars. Years of Imperial rule have altered that position, especially among the younger Eloms.

Elom is a frigidly cold desert world. Elomin settlements and cities dot the surface. Their cities are as technologically advanced as those found on most Imperial worlds. The planet is best known as a source of lommite, which is used in the manufacture of transparisteel windows for starships and other craft. Originally an industry contracted out to offworld mining operators, it is now controlled by the Empire. Whereas the original agreements tried to preserve and respect the planet’s environment, the Imperials place efficiency and production well above local concerns. The steady, continued destruction of vast areas of their world trouble and anger both the Elomin and Eloms. Both have been powerless to slow it down, let alone bring it to a halt.

Elomin cities and towns are clustered in the more hospitable environments around the harsher deserts. Mining operations are farther afield, given that mines close to the oldest cities were depleted long ago. Imperial interests and operations focus on the mines. Imperials in the cities have no qualms about forcing Elomin into service as miners. Banishment to the mines is a common and cruel form of punishment for anyone who opposes the Empire or offends the wrong Imperial official. However, reasons for hauling someone away are just a formality, and the Elomin understand that anyone could be next.

The Empire has largely ignored the Eloms’ deep cities, located far below the planet’s surface. The cities have varying levels of technology, depending on the location and even the neighborhood within a settlement. Most advanced technology is imported from the Elomin and sometimes beyond. Many cities, remote caverns, and dwellings are connected by natural and Elom-constructed tunnels. The tunnels range in size from those requiring single file passage, to more sophisticated varieties with paved floors and reinforced roofs. Some are large enough to allow for speeder traffic. Many of the cities and tunnels are so far underground that the Imperials have difficulty detecting them, let alone setting up surveillance. The cities are largely home to just the Eloms. However, some t Elomin rescued from Imperial mining efforts have been allowed to live among the Eloms indefinitly.

The Eloms and Elomin have separate languages. The Eloms speak and read Elom, which non-Eloms can understand but typically have great difficulty speaking. Likewise, the Eloms can learn to speak Basic, but it isn’t easy given their physiology. It is rare to find much in the way of Basic spoken or displayed in the isolated Elom underground cities. Most Eloms who speak Basic live offworld, or have some connection to those who do.

Imperial abuses of their world (or others) drive both the Eloms and Elomin to join the Rebel Alliance. Most Eloms that link up with the Alliance are already off their homeworld. Whether previously taken by force from Elom by some underworld operation, or among the few who seek their own way in the galaxy, these Eloms are motivated to fight, due to having seen or experienced Imperial crimes and transgressions. A few rebel Eloms have returned to their homeworld to spread resistance efforts where they can. Despite their pacifist tendencies, driven Eloms can make good soldiers, something galactic underworld bosses learned long ago.

When a world has a vitally important resource for the Imperial military industrial complex, the Empire takes a great and active interest in that resource’s unhindered acquisition and production. Elom is but one of many worlds that suffers under Imperial production edicts and quotas. The Empire took control of Elom’s important lommite mines and production sites years ago. They enslaved many of the Elomin to work in the mines. The never-ending, demanding quotas require a relentless pace of work. Imperial officials continually squeeze more efficiency out of the entire process. These brutal methods have cost innumerable Elomin lives.

The Elomin struggle hasn’t gone unnoticed. The Eloms quickly learned over the years that they were sometimes in a position to aid their neighbors. What likely started as a relief effort eventually turned into wholesale rescue operations to whisk Elomin away from the mines and into the Eloms’ tunnels. The Eloms must take great care in finding a balance between freeing as many Elomin as they can while avoiding being made an example of Imperial power. Wisely, the Eloms don’t want the Empire to seek out their enclaves and make an all-out assault against their underground civilization.

Since the Empire mostly ignores the Eloms until they prove to be a threat, losing a few workers on occasion usually only prompts a localized response. Imperial governors order expeditionary forces to attack Elom settlements that are near the surface when larger breakouts or highly public shows of resistance occur. In areas of recurring trouble, the Imperials deploy probe droids on a regular basis to discover and map the Elom’s underground warrens. There is an ongoing low-level war between the Eloms and the probe droids, which attack any life-form they encounter in the caves on sight. For their part, the Eloms draw the droids into uninhabited cavern complexes to trick or destroy them.

The Rebel Alliance supports the Eloms’ efforts largely in spirit. The Rebellion has agents and operatives among both the Eloms and Elomin, but little in the way of an organized or effective resistance operation. Individual agents recruit and resist, always seeking ways to maximize their effectiveness. Elom agents freely use the Elom underground cavern networks. However, winding underground travel is never as direct as overland or air travel. The difficulty of moving between cavern networks is a major weak link. It has the potential to expose secret entrances to each cavern, and forces agents into the open, however briefly.

Elomin agents have greater access to Imperial plans above ground, frequently witnessing the Empire’s efforts firsthand. Their movement on Elom is much more limited, but the information they learn is often more important to the wider Rebellion and other resistance efforts. Elomin agents also have an easier time of transmitting or transferring intelligence offworld.