Scientists currently speculate that Shola formed inside the gas giant Magatesso I, like a sort of storm pearl. According to the theory, certain gases pooled and were compressed into liquids, which froze and were ejected. Terrestrial matter then gradually formed and encased the ice ball, insulating it. However, without a magnetic field, Shola's surface is baked by Magatesso's rays, and a thick atmosphere that reeks of sulfur traps the heat. In the northern desert, dust storms can be a regular pest, and the vast barren steppes are tormented by storms of ash. It blankets the rocks and even rains down from the heavens.

Between the inhospitable surface and the frozen core, Shola's habitable zone is actually subterranean. Deep scans have identified and mapped the substantial ruins of an ancient civilization deep underground. The people were advanced and industrial but not spacefaring, and they appear to have bored themselves into a tectonic disaster which shattered the crust and destroyed the planet. Their networks honeycombed the entire globe as they prospered and continually sought grander accommodations and endlessly expanding levels of supply. While many of their connecting shafts are only comfortable for Jawas, some of their great halls are immense. Unfortunately, the most impressive have collapsed over the centuries, creating massive craters, and an entire continent has disappeared into the mantle. The fractured crust eternally grinds, sometimes producing powerful groundquakes, making the unstable ruins far too perilous to explore.