Shrine of Kooroo (Gelgelar)

"The Shrine of Kooroo is certainly a mystery on Gelgelar."

―Personal addendum by Platt Okeefe

The Shrine of Kooroo located on the Outer Rim Territories planet Gelgelar was one of a series of similar structures found on several worlds throughout known space. An ancient building made out of the same type of stone as the other Shrines of Kooroo, the shrine on Gelgelar was considered especially unusual due to the extreme scarcity of naturally available stone on that world. The Shrine of Kooroo was a three-level structure overgrown by plants and fungi, and was flanked by at least two stone obelisks.

When a group of settlers arrived on Gelgelar 250 years before the Galactic Civil War, the arrivals camped near the Shrine of Kooroo, which was the only existing structure on the planet at the time and was located on the only hill for kilometers around. Eventually, the spaceport settlement known as the Gelgelar Free Port formed around the shrine, and at some point the Force-sensitive hermit known as the Wise Man of Kooroo came to reside inside the structure.

By the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Wise Man of Kooroo was occasionally visited at the shrine by spacers as well as members of the cult known as the Fellowship of Kooroo. The latter engaged on a pilgrimage to the various Shrines of Kooroo, which they believed were connected to the Fellowship's spiritual leader, Kooroo. Such visitors provided the Wise Man, who was never seen leaving the shrine, with offerings of food, and the pilgrims would meditate and converse with the hermit during their visits to the sanctuary. On one occasion, Professor Reina Solov hired a group of individuals to visit the Wise Man of Kooroo at the shrine and determine facts about the structure's origin. By 11 ABY, it was believed by scholars that the Shrines of Kooroo had been built by an advanced alien species known as the Kooroo, and it was thought the structures may have served to facilitate interstellar telepathic communication or even teleportation.

Description

"Shrines of Kooroo have been uncovered on several Outer Rim worlds, including Haffrin, Gelgelar, Branteez, Sufezz, and Boztrok."

―TriNebulon News report by Andor Javin

The Shrine of Kooroo on the Outer Rim Territories planet Gelgelar was a round three-level building, with the two lower levels enclosed and the uppermost level consisting of a roof raised on four pillars over a round solid structure. The form of the building was similar to that of other Shrines of Kooroo, located on several worlds throughout known space, and it was entirely made out of brown stone—the same type of stone used in the construction of the other shrines. In addition, similarly to the other Shrines of Kooroo, which were usually surrounded by a series of stone obelisks, the shrine on Gelgelar also had in its vicinity two such structures.

The Shrine of Kooroo lay at the highest point in the Gelgelar Free Port.

By the time of the Galactic Civil War, the exterior of the Shrine of Kooroo was covered in moss, fungi, and molds, which all flourished in the cool, damp climate of Gelgelar. The vegetation had reached the roof at the very top of the central shrine and had entirely blanketed one of its satellite obelisks. As a result, through the planet's fog, the structure frequently resembled a giant hill of fungus with an opening and a few right angles. Rainwater dripped between the stones of the shrine, reaching its interior.

The Shrine of Kooroo was situated at the top of the only hill for kilometers around. When the settlement known as the Gelgelar Free Port formed around the shrine, the shrine came to be located at the highest point in the town and was the only building in the spaceport made out of stone. The shrine was generally considered an oddity due to the material used in its construction, since stone was extremely rare on Gelgelar and only occurred as part of the bedrock several meters or even tens of meters underground.

History

An ancient structure

"One theory is that the shrines served the Kooroo civilization as a kind of communication network, boosting their telepathic powers enough to overcome vast interstellar distances. This is an intriguing theory, but evidence is lacking."

―Lecture by Dr. Corellia Antilles

Although the identity and fate of the builders of the Gelgelar Shrine of Kooroo were unknown, general consensus among scholars by 11 ABY was that the Shrines of Kooroo—many of whom were estimated to have been built more than twenty thousand years prior—were constructed by an advanced alien species known as the Kooroo. The purpose of the structures was still unclear by that time, however, with various theories claiming that the shrines were used by the aliens for interstellar telepathic communication or even teleportation.

A group of criminals, escaped political prisoners, and vagabonds arrived on Gelgelar 250 years before the Galactic Civil War, which pitted the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance against each other between 2 BBY and 4 ABY. The refugees discovered the only existing structure on the planet—the mysterious, abandoned Shrine of Kooroo—and camped nearby.

The center of a town

Eventually, the settlers established the town of Gelgelar Free Port around the shrine, with Red Threxa's Boarding House and the bar known as the Slippery Gelgelar Eel located in the adjacent buildings on the opposing sides of the structure. The locals of the Gelgelar Free Port generally avoided the shrine, but visiting spacers often sought out the Wise Man of Kooroo, an eccentric hermit who had come to reside in the sanctuary.

By the time of the Galactic Civil War, members of the Fellowship of Kooroo, a cult dedicated to the worship of the Shrines of Kooroo, occasionally visited the shrine on Gelgelar as part of a pilgrimage to various sites throughout the galaxy supposedly connected to the group's spiritual leader, Kooroo. During their visits, the pilgrims meditated in the shrine and conversed with the Wise Man of Kooroo. Whenever the pilgrims were in the Gelgelar Free Port, strange chanting and scented smoke emanated from the entrance of the shrine.

Visits planned

"Exposing the secrets of the Shrine of Kooroo can only shatter its peace."

―A group of pilgrims of Kooroo

Professor Reina Solov hired a group of individuals to talk to the Wise Man of Kooroo (pictured).

Around that time, Reina Solov, an archaeology professor from the prestigious University of Byblos on the Colonies planet Byblos, hired a group of individuals. The group was to travel to Gelgelar and obtain information on the Shrine of Kooroo, including its origins and the source of the stone from which it was built.

Tasked with visiting the Wise Man of Kooroo, the individuals encountered a group of pilgrims at the shrine. The pilgrims warned the other group to stay away from the Shrine of Kooroo lest they disturb the peace of the sanctuary by exposing its secrets. Another group of spacers, noticing the interest in the shrine displayed by Solov's group, believed the individuals to be treasure hunters. Hoping to steal any artifacts recovered by Solov's group, the spacers followed and later ambushed the group.

On another occasion, a group of six pilgrims of Kooroo contracted a free-trader light freighter to transport them to Gelgelar, where the pilgrims intended to visit the Shrine of Kooroo. In reality, however, one of the individuals posing as a pilgrim was the bounty hunter Dorius Drevin, intending to collect a bounty on Loro Ecls, the unofficial mayor of the Gelgelar Free Port. Drevin killed one of the pilgrims, Gudren Lagarian, while the freighter was still in transit to Gelgelar, hiding his body in a maintenance shaft of the starship. The ship soon landed at the Gelgelar Free Port and released its passengers, and the free-traders eventually became engaged in a firefight when Drevin attacked Ecis.

Scholars and spies

"Scattered on remote planets in certain areas of the Outer Rim, the mysterious Shrines of Kooroo, all constructed of the same natural stone (even on Gelgelar, where the only stone around is meters or decameters deep subterranean bedrock), are a source of scholarly and popular interest."

―Lecture by Dr. Corellia Antilles

Around 1 ABY, the Sullustan T'laerean Larn had learned from the Wise Man of Kooroo the ability to merge his consciousness and senses with an animal by using the Force. When using the ability for the first time, Larn mused that soon he would be able to merge his mind with any animal or plant on Gelgelar. Larn further speculated that such mastery over the Force ability would allow him to let his mind wander around the Shrine of Kooroo and spy on the pilgrims present at the sanctuary. A year later, the investigative reporter Andor Javin mentioned the Gelgelar Shrine of Kooroo in a TriNebulon News report. The smuggler Platt Okeefe also mentioned the shrine in a personal addendum to an entry on the Gelgelar Free Port in a document detailing various spaceports of the galaxy.

The xenoarchaeologist Dr. Corellia Antilles gave a lecture at the Galactic Museum on the Core Worlds planet Coruscant around 11 ABY. During the lecture, Antilles discussed the Shrines of Kooroo, including the fact that the structures had all been constructed of the same type of stone. She highlighted the unusual nature of this fact with regard to the Gelgelar shrine due to the highly limited accessibility of the material on that planet.

Inhabitants

"It was a good thing I came to the settlement earlier than I had planned."

―The Wise Man of Kooroo, visiting T'laerean Larn in the Krevk Settlement

The Wise Man of Kooroo resided at the Shrine of Kooroo.

By the time of its discovery, the Shrine of Kooroo on Gelgelar had been abandoned. That changed long before the Galactic Civil War, when the Force-sensitive Human Glovan Thule fled to Gelgelar for unknown reasons and settled there for life. Although some believed that Thule had been a Jedi apprentice, he was in fact not a Jedi or even particularly skilled in the use of the Force.

Thule came to reside in the Shrine of Kooroo, where he sat in the center of the sanctuary on a pile of tattered animal skins. In such position, the hermit leaned on a cane and smoked a pipe. Thule adopted the name "Wise Man of Kooroo" and eventually forgot his original name. The pilgrims of Kooroo visiting the shrine believed the Wise Man to be a shaman of a long-forgotten religion, and he dispensed philosophical sayings and advice to any visitors.

The Wise Man subsisted on rainwater penetrating the exterior of the shrine and offerings of food by any visitors to the structure. In times when there were not many pilgrims visiting Gelgelar, Thulls, the Ithorian proprietor of the nearby Slippery Gelgelar Eel bar, was observed bringing food to the Wise Man. Although the Wise Man himself was never seen leaving the shrine, he did in fact visit the Krevk Settlement outside the Gelgelar Free Port, where his student, T'laerean Larn, lived, on at least one occasion.

Behind the scenes

The Shrine of Kooroo was first introduced in the 1995 West End Games roleplaying game sourcebook Platt's Starport Guide, which was authored by Peter Schweighofer. In the book, the shrine was illustrated by Chris Gossett. Platt's Starport Guide includes several adventure seeds for use with Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. This article assumes the scenarios play out as described.

Appearances

• "The Breath of Gelgelar" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 14 (Mentioned only)
• "Galaxywide NewsNets" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 13 (Indirect mention only)

Sources

• Platt's Starport Guide (First mentioned)
• "From the Files of Corellia Antilles" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 14 (Indirect mention only)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I ("Gelgelar")
• The Essential Atlas