The planet Ithor was a lush jungle world unscathed by the touch of civilization. The native sentient Ithorians revered nature in the most extreme religious sense. They abhorred the tainting of natural surroundings, and as a result built their civilization in the stars amidst massive orbiting herd-ships. The herd-ships could ranged from outer space to low atmospheric orbit of Ithor, and the Ithorians themselves went to the surface only as a matter of religious ceremony and gatherings or non-destructive scientific study.
These traits have gained the Ithorians renown horticultural knowledge. They are masters of genetically engineered agriculture, feeding and supporting their entire population with crops and foods grown on their massive space stations. The Empire took action against Ithor to gain access to their knowledge for the applications and development of bio weapons and later to root out Rebel supporters. The Ithorians then eagerly embraced the Return of the Republic and a return to their preferred state of dull and harmonious peaceful existence.
