#draboon

Listen, Mandalorian Space contains several habitable moons and planets, and I just want some minor cultural differences between them.

Draboon:

I’m gonna say Draboon is a mountainous planet with several large swamps because a) the lapis deposits point to some form of igneous intrusion and from what I’ve gleaned from my friend’s geology study guide mountains are a sign of that and b) venom-mites just kinda sound like a swamp creature to me.

Food in Draboon’s mountains is wildly different compared to food in the swamp regions.

The mountains have a higher number of meat and grain dishes, due to the higher altitudes their main sources of food are a species of Star Wars goat and a high altitude grain like space barley. In communities where there’s an active mine stuffed bread pockets with a little handhold (like empanadas) are popular.

The swamps tend to make use of native plants, fish, types of water bird, and even venom-mites in their cooking. Venom-mites have to be prepared a certain way so they won’t kill you, but they’re really spicy in the way all Mando’ade seem to love. Capturing and killing venom-mites in a way that won’t get you torn apart by the swarm is something kids learn from their parents along with how to hand fish, though far more secretive. Every family has their own method and they’ll be damned if they share it with outsiders.

A traditional marriage proposal on Draboon includes a hand carved lapis charm being given, much like a ring. If the proposal is accepted at the wedding the charm is tied to the end of the marriage cord.

The different landmasses have different traditions for what the charm is carved with. In the southern mountain ranges the charm is typically carved with the Mando’a word that the carver feels most represents their beloved. In the northern and eastern ranges, the charm is carved in the shape of two interlocked beskar hearts. In the swamps to the west the carving often features some form of venom-mite, normally in the form of an adversary the couple is fighting off.

Harswee:

On Harswee a couple has to work together to hand weave their own marriage cord. It’s a sort of ritual, the hard work and cooperation they put into creating the cord is meant to represent the work that goes into a successful marriage.

Divorce on Harswee involves unraveling the cord.

Whenever a child is due to be born or a foundling is adopted by a Mando’ad from Harswee their parent(s) start a “rug of life” for them. The kid will work on it throughout their life, most notably after battles and important life events. You’ll gradually begin to see the weaving in the rug get better, more sure of itself as time goes on. When they die the rug is kept by their descendants as a reminder of their life.

The three most popular professions on Harswee (besides being a warrior) are: weaving, ranching wool bearing animals, and farming fiber bearing plants. Textiles are the lifeblood of their economy.

Warriors from Harswee tend to wear woven sash belts in their clan or house colors, instead of the usual girth belts.

Harswee’s environment luckily wasn’t as damaged by war as the central planets in the Mandalore sector, so there are more open air cities and sprawling farms compared to the densely packed dome cities on Mandalore and Kalevala.

In each of Harswee’s three major cities there are monuments to Mandalore the Binder, who’s basically their hometown hero.

Ahhhh ... the venomites. The iconic story never told!

I don’t have a ton of headcanons surrounding the context of this story, but I do have some. I think Draboon is a jungle-life planet, hot and humid, with lots of trees and vines.

We don’t know anything about the incident beyond what is said in “Voyage of Temptation,” but there is one funny thing that is added by the Battlefront game. At 5:08, Obi-Wan says, “Ugh, liking bathing in a lake of venomites . . .”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVqozRR6ND0&t=313s

This of course raises the question . . . is that what Obi-Wan and Satine were doing when they were attacked??

I think that Obi-Wan and Satine were in the water. The venomites swarmed and both were probably bitten, but maybe Satine was bitten multiple times or had an allergic reaction, because she passes out. Obi-Wan picks her up and runs, trying to escape and return to where they’ve made camp (which is why I’m going to assume they were bathing with their clothes on. The image of both of sans clothes while this happens is too ridiculous to be taken seriously!).

The event happens as recounted in the episode. Obi-Wan trips and falls, and Satine is further injured when she falls on a rock, though Obi-Wan doesn’t really notice at first because she’s unconscious and he’s desperately trying to get back to camp (that’s how I account for the fact that Obi-Wan doesn’t even remember that Satine has a scar from the incident).

They finally outrun the swarm of bugs, find Qui-Gon and get the hell outta Dodge Draboon, and long after her Jedi protectors leave, Satine remembers the experience every time she sees the scar on her upper leg.

The whole process of finding and bonding with a crystal is unique. I also find it interesting that technically a non-force sensitive can bond with it as the force flows through all living things.