Orryxia

Orryxia is a world of idyllically beautiful mountains that rise like islands above a permanent low-atmosphere cloud layer. The valleys below the clouds are filled with dense, swampy jungles plagued by fearsome storms, pestilence, and loathsome flesh-eating slimes. Unsurprisingly, the Orryxians all live in the mountains. To be banished to the valleys is a death sentence.

The mountains hold a rich variety of ecosystems - there are rain forests, highland prairies, lakes, wetlands, woodlands, and, at higher altitudes, taigas and tundras. The Orryxians themselves are just as varied. Some are built for the open plains, some (like Akasha) are agile forest hunters, some have thick coats for the frigid peaks. Their society is divided into feudal clans with separate hereditary rulers. Those without noble titles typically must give fealty to a clan in order to have a civilized life; the outcasts gather to form rough hunting tribes that usually prowl the foothills just above the mists.

Technologically, Orryxia is well behind the galactic standard. They are insular and do not care for the company of other species, but they've engaged in some limited trade with nearby spacers who are interested in the enormous gem deposits that vein the mountains. They've begun paying a small tribute to the Empire in return for some meager benefits, but their best defense is that they're too far out of the way to conquer.

Most of the Orryxians who have left the homeworld are those in the lower classes who have no real hope on the homeworld for a better life. A few have even started colonies or communities on other worlds, never under the any Orryxian flag (there is none), but under the name of a new clan.