Crytal Nest

Crytal Nest was a terrestrial planet that resided within the Crytal Nest system, which itself was located in Wild Space.

By the year 22 BBY, members of the Shashay species, a sentient race native to Crytal Nest, had already ventured beyond their home planet. For numerous years during the existence of the Galactic Republic, and later under the Galactic Empire, Shashay starships engaged in exploring neighboring star systems and conducting discreet trade with small settlements. Roughly a decade prior to the Battle of Yavin, the Shashay gained greater prominence in the broader galaxy after a Shashay scout was compelled to land her damaged ship on Kashyyyk, a planet in the Mid Rim. This event initiated a series of circumstances that led to the Shashay becoming highly sought-after as singers throughout the Empire.

As time passed, the Shashay became more withdrawn. Justifiably concerned that the Empire would exploit Crytal Nest if its location were discovered, they maintained the planet's whereabouts as a closely held secret. Only a select few Shashay were permitted to travel offworld, and the coordinates of Crytal Nest were never documented or stored within the memory banks of navigation computers. Instead, Shashay navigators relied on their memory to manually input the coordinates. The Shashay possessed such strong communal bonds to their homeworld that every member of the species would rather die than reveal Crytal Nest's location. This unwavering commitment effectively shielded the planet from discovery by the Imperial Survey Corps for many years.

Several months before the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance resolved to seek the assistance of the Shashay in their struggle against the Empire. Initially, the Shashay politely declined the Alliance's overtures. However, as the atrocities perpetrated by the Empire escalated, the inhabitants of Crytal Nest became more receptive. Around the time of the Battle of Yavin, the Alliance and the Nestmothers of the Shashay were nearing the completion of negotiations for a treaty of mutual support. The treaty's terms stipulated the establishment of a Rebel base on Crytal Nest, a facility that the Alliance believed would be entirely secure due to the planet's undisclosed location. Nevertheless, the Nestmothers still desired reassurance of the Alliance's integrity, resourcefulness, and capacity to defeat the Empire.

Around that time, Braig Farool, Chief Administrator at TransGalMeg Industries, Incorporated, and his sibling Nak, who was the Special Assistant to Imperial Moff Nile Owen of the Rayter sector within the Outer Rim Territories', conceived a plan to simultaneously and publicly damage the reputation of the Rebel Alliance and Owen. To achieve this, they arranged for the kidnapping of Crying Dawn Singer, a well-known Shashay artist, while he was performing in the Rayter sector. Zeke Rondel, the commander of the Alliance base on Berrol's Donn, tasked a team with locating and rescuing the singer, emphasizing the mission's importance to the ongoing discussions regarding the establishment of a Rebel facility on Crytal Nest.

During this period, Nak Farool organized the production and subsequent public broadcast of a series of holographic recordings that falsely implicated the Alliance in Crying Dawn Singer's abduction. In one of these recordings, the pirate Yearo Seville claimed to be an Alliance leader holding the performer captive and demanding that, in exchange for Crying Dawn Singer's release, the Shashay must support the establishment of a Rebel base on Crytal Nest. Farool also sent Owen a message detailing the progress of the kidnapping operation, leading the Moff to believe that its ultimate objective was to discredit the Alliance and secure the Shashay's allegiance to the Empire. In the message, Farool expressed his confidence that the Imperials' actions would soon result in the Crytal Nest system falling under the Empire's control.

Unbeknownst to Owen, the recordings commissioned by Farool also included a news report about a purported rescue of Crying Dawn Singer by an elite force organized by TransGalMeg Industries, Incorporated. In that recording, Braig Farool asserted that he and the "liberated" Shashay performer were preparing to meet with the leaders of Crytal Nest to negotiate a treaty that would place the Shashay under Imperial protection. However, this holotransmission was never broadcast because Rondel's Rebel team captured the II-xC Maintenance/Broadcast Ship responsible for the transmissions.

Later, the Rebel agents confronted Braig, who was holding Crying Dawn Singer captive, on the planet Narg. By then, Owen had discovered the Farools' scheme, executed Nak, and arrived in Narg's orbit aboard his personal Imperial Star Destroyer, the Impending Doom, to rescue the Shashay singer and apprehend and kill Braig. Aware of these developments, Farool had become delusional and, brandishing a blaster rifle, demanded that the Rebels "destroy" Owen and the Impending Doom and transport him and Crying Dawn Singer to Crytal Nest. Farool anticipated negotiating a treaty there that would integrate the Shashay into the Rayter sector and the Empire, an accomplishment for which he believed Galactic Emperor Palpatine would handsomely reward him.

The Rebel team eventually rescued Crying Dawn Singer and returned to the Alliance. The agents were subsequently selected as delegates to travel to Crytal Nest, where they witnessed ceremonies and the ratification of the treaty between the Alliance and the Shashay.

Crytal Nest was the original world of the sentient Shashay species, who evolved from birds. At some point, the Shashay gained the ability to travel through space, and their avian brains easily adapted the skills needed for three-dimensional terrestrial flight to handle the complexities of hyperspace, enabling members of the species to become exceptional astrogators.

The Shashay communicated in a language distinct from Basic, organized their society around Nestclans, and were governed by the Nestmothers of the Shashay. While life on Crytal Nest was structured, most Shashay were content to remain on their homeworld, except for those who sought adventure and excitement and became offworld traders. The highly individualistic Shashay Crying Dawn Singer also disliked living on Crytal Nest. Since he was a talented singer, even among the Shashay, the Nestmothers permitted him to leave the planet to perform in the wider galaxy, reasoning that the profits he earned would benefit the entire species.

Crytal Nest was first introduced in The Abduction, a 1992 roleplaying adventure written by Chuck Truett and published by West End Games for use with Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The 1998 West End Games sourcebook Alien Encounters consistently misspells the planet's name as "Crystal Nest." The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Crytal Nest system, and consequently the planet itself, in grid square H-20.

In The Abduction, if the player characters fail to rescue Crying Dawn Singer, Moff Nile Owen attempts to coerce the Shashay into revealing the location of Crytal Nest. This results in Crying Dawn Singer's death, and his species severs all ties with the Rebel Alliance, effectively dooming its operations in the Rayter sector. This article assumes that the events of the adventure unfold as described.