#Xim the Despot

[sw5w]

I'm in the Boonta Race Tomorrow

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:48:06

#Star Wars #Episode I #The Phantom Menace #Tatooine #Xelric Draw #Mos Espa #Slave Quarters Row #courtyard #Anakin Skywalker #Amee #Melee #Boonta Eve Classic #podrace #Mos Espa Grand Arena #Boonta Eve #Hutt #Boonta Hestilic Shad'ruu #Xim the Despot #Third Battle of Vontor #25100 BBY

[cantsayidont]

April 1979, October 1979, and August 1980. These novels by Brian Daley were not the first STAR WARS tie-ins, but they were the best of the early phase, and a strong influence on later SW media. The creative success of these exciting, frequently very funny books, which chronicle three adventures of Han Solo and Chewbacca prior to the first movie, had a lot to do with Daley himself. According to Daley's friends and his partner, novelist Lucia St. Clair Robson, Daley was Han Solo, or close to it: a brash military veteran with no love of authority, a fondness for sports cars and motorcycles, and a notoriously sarcastic sense of humor that concealed a heart of gold. Ironically, Daley, who genuinely loved STAR WARS, would have preferred to explore the history of the Jedi, but Lucas declared that off-limits, and imposed many restrictions on what Daley could and couldn't use from the films. For that reason, the novels take place on the fringes of the Empire: The first two books are set in the Corporate Sector, a region administered semi-autonomously by corporate interests with their own ruthless Security Police (an idea that clearly inspired some of the plot of ANDOR), while the third is set in the Tion Hegemony, a remote principality.

HAN SOLO AT STARS' END has Han and Chewie roped into aiding a group of people whose relatives have been "disappeared" by the Corporate Sector Authority, which is quietly rounding up dissidents and sending them to a secret facility called Stars' End. After Chewbacca is captured by the Security Police, Han concocts an elaborate, harebrained scheme to rescue his friend and the other "lost ones" from the galaxy's most closely guarded high-tech prison. Naturally, things don't go quite as planned, leading to a spectacularly ludicrous finale. (Spoiler: Han accidentally launches the prison complex into space.) This novel was subsequent adapted for the STAR WARS newspaper strip by Archie Goodwin and Alfredo Alcala, although the adaptation unfortunately isn't a patch on the original.

HAN SOLO'S REVENGE finds Han and Chewbacca, desperate for cash, taking a job that turns out to involve transporting slaves. This is a line our heroes will not cross, so after dealing harshly with the slavers, Han agrees to help a Corporate Sector Authority auditor named Fiolla of Lorrd track down the ringleaders of the operation, one of whom is her once-trusted assistant, Magg. Meanwhile, Chewbacca is forced to contend with a stubborn skip-tracer called Spray, who is determined to repossess the Millennium Falcon over Han and Chewie's unpaid bills!

HAN SOLO AND THE LOST LEGACY has Han and Chewbacca agreeing to help Han's old buddy Badure, Badure's friend Hasti, and an academic named Skynx locate a legendary lost starship, the Queen of Ranroon, the fabled treasure ship of an ancient tyrant called Xim the Despot. (The skull on the cover is Xim's emblem.) Although this sounds like it was influenced by RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the book was actually published almost a year before the premiere of RAIDERS.

Although the novels make clear that Han is not overly fond of droids, the books give Han and Chewbacca a pair of droid companions: a laconic old labor droid called Bollux, and a small, extremely sophisticated, disconcertingly enthusiastic computer probe called Blue Max, who "lives" within a compartment in Bollux's chest. Here's how Alfredo Alcala depicted them in the comic strip:

Daley also includes some delightful aliens, including the skip-tracer Spray, who's a Tynnan — basically a sentient beaver with the dexterity of a raccoon — and the Ruurian academic Skynx, a sentient caterpillar who's determined to complete as much of his research as he can before entering the next phase of his life cycle and becoming a chroma-wing who'll have little memory of his former identity.

A useful companion for the first two books is Michael Allen Horne's HAN SOLO AND THE CORPORATE SECTOR SOURCEBOOK for the West End STAR WARS RPG, published in 1993:

Aside from the inevitable game statistics and some quite decent illustrations of the novels' characters, the sourcebook fleshes out Daley's conception of the Corporate Sector Authority, explaining how the Corporate Sector functions and its relationship to the Empire. This is narrated in part by Han Solo himself, which is presented as excerpts of later interviews with an Alliance historian named Voren Na'al (a common conceit in the WEG game books that works especially well here). The sourcebook is best read after the novels, since it explains their plots in detail, but it's a worthwhile supplement. Unfortunately, a planned followup describing the Tion Hegemony was never published before West End Games lost the SW license.

Brian Daley's other major contribution to STAR WARS lore was scripting the NPR radio adaptations of the first three movies. STAR WARS originally aired in the spring of 1981, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK two years later. Daley also wrote the later adaptation of RETURN OF THE JEDI, but he died of cancer in early 1996, at the age of 49, so the final drafts were completed by John Whitman.

#books #star wars expanded universe #han solo adventures #brian daley #wayne douglas barlowe #dean ellis #william schmidt #han solo #chewbacca #corporate sector authority #archie goodwin #alfredo alcala #star wars andor #star wars

[mordicaifeed]

#xim #xim the despot #masthead of xim the despot #crystal skull #star wars #mytag crystal

[iskelan]

Xim the Despot and his organic warriors, uhlans and yanychars. Sketchy Commission for Abz Lore youtube channel,

#Star Wars #Star Wars EU #Xim the Despot #Daritha Xim #art #sketch #art commissions #commissions open

[mimasimp]

Empire and Conquests of Xim The Despot

( 25,130 BBY to 25,096 BBY)

#star wars #Xim The Despot #Tionese #Hutt #Tion Cluster #SW #Map #star wars legends #expanded universe

[archeo-starwars]

New Xim Exhibit to Tour

LOLA CURICH, LIANNA - "Cradle of the Galaxy," a display of pre-Republic era artifacts will begin a Core World museum tour next month, announced the Allied Tion Historical Society. The artifacts, culled from worlds in the Tion Hegemony, date back over 25,000 years to a time pre-dating galactic civilization, when small pocket societies developed unconnected by modern hyperspace transportation or communications.

The largest of these fiefdoms was commanded by the notorious Xim the Despot. Ximology has enjoyed a steady, if small, following, particularly among treasure-seekers who long to find a fabled horde of plunder allegedly hidden by Xim before his death.

The tour, funded by a donations from Republic Sienar Systems, the House of Tion and the House of Cron, includes priceless samples of ancient technology, such as war-robots, beam tubes, and fragments of a jump-gate accelerator. Interpretive holography provides a full-immersion experience, recreating pre-historic vistas such as the epic Third Battle of Vontor.

"I think it's very important now to look back at our pre-Republic roots, and see what a unified civilization has saved us from," said ATHS Director Alreeda Tion-Hyme. The tour begins at Ralltiir on the 1st, and continues up the Perlemian Trade Route, eventually arriving on Coruscant by next year.

Cradle of the Galaxy -- An Exploration of Pre-Republic History Tour Dates: 13:4:1 - Raltiir: The Cambriele Exploration Auditorium 13:9:1 - Rhinnal: Rhire Concourse of Humanity and History 14:2:3 - Esseles: The Darpa Center of History at Calamar 14:3:1 - Brentaal: The Cormond Museum of Arts 14:5:2 - Chandrila: The Hanna Institute of Antiquities

*Dates are tentative. Contact the museums for pricing and schedules.

#star wars #in universe history #xim the despot #holonews

[totallynotagentphilcoulson]

Go figure, all it took for me to really start writing Star Wars OC content again was to temporarily abandon the idea I’ve been trying to make happen for over a year focused on my core group of OCs and start a new idea with my newest OC at the forefront instead.

And to type in Comic Sans instead of Times New Roman.

#text #I’m not even a quarter of the way thru so don’t expect it super soon #but I wrote as much of this newest idea in ten minutes as I have of my previous one #which I’m not abandoning cuz I’m setting up the implication that some of the core tech for the tendrando arms YVH droids #came directly from some of xim the despot’s war droids #but I’m putting that on the back burner for one translating my original sword and sorcery character into a mandalorian in the sw universe

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Chironian

The Chironian species was native to the planet Chiron. Chiron was located in the galactic east of the Outer Rim Territories, and fell within the borders of the Kiirium Reaches, a portion of the space that was incorporated into Xim the Despot's empire as early as 25,127 BBY. Legends related that, at the order of Kossak the Hutt, many worlds in the region surrounding the Chironians' homeworld were bombarded and poisoned several hundred years later so as to create a desolate buffer between the remains of Xim's empire and Hutt Space to the galactic south. From this destruction, the Chironians' home sector, which they shared with the Abyssins and the Nyny natives, came to be known as the Ash Worlds.

It was not until 5000 BBY that Chiron fell within territory widely explored by the Galactic Republic, the next major galactic power, although during the Jedi Civil War of 3959 BBY to 3956 BBY, the Chironians' planet fell within Darth Revan's Sith Empire. Chiron was in unaligned territory during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems; however, after the Republic transitioned into the Galactic Empire, many of the Ash Worlds were interdicted and used for weapons testing and other shadowy activities.

Following the rise of the New Republic in 4 ABY, Chiron fell under its polity. During this time, at least one Chironian was kidnapped as a slave by the Empire Reborn, a secretive movement that sought to recreate the Empire following its defeat by the New Republic. Many years later, during the Yuuzhan Vong War, a conflict between the New Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong, a species of extra-galactic invaders, Chiron was thought to be beyond the reach of the aggressors. However, the Yuuzhan Vong succeeded in sending to their world a pack of voxyn—creatures shaped by the Yuuzhan Vong to be naturally inclined to hunt and kill Jedi. The voxyn beset the Chironian Jedi Knight Lusa while she was running through a meadow and killed the woman.

By 137 ABY, following the ascendency of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire against the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances—the New Republic's successor state—the Chironians' homeworld fell within one of only a few areas of the galaxy still under the influence of the Galactic Alliance.

Chironians expressed emotions through the mannerisms of their hooves: when impatient, they stamped them; when excited, they tapped them in a quick dance, or cantered in a spot. The centauriforms frequently shook their heads and manes, and when angry, their faces flushed a deeper shade. Young Chironians, when frightened, were known to rub or press their velvet-covered horns against the foreheads of other beings to whom they were emotionally close. Chironians could swim, and shook themselves dry after such an exertion.

At least some young Chironians, such as Lusa, a Force-sensitive member of the species, wore no clothing on their bodies, shoulders, torsos or midriffs. In her adulthood, however, Lusa wore a robe on her torso.

The Chironians were a warm-blooded, sentient species with centauriform anatomy; that is, they had the head and torso of a humanoid and the lower body of an equine animal. The Chironian lower body had four legs, similar to that of a horse, and each ended in a dainty, cloven hoof. A Chironian could sit down by folding his or her horse-like legs underneath the body. Chironians were tall, and even while sitting in this manner, they could reach the height of a Human adult. A Chironian could also kick backward with both hind legs; this strong kick was sufficient to knock over other beings. A Chironian's pace could vary between a walk, a canter, and a gallop.

At least some young Chironian had red-gold colored bodies, with white spots on the flanks and back. As Chironians aged, the body color darkened to a rich reddish-brown, like polished cinnamon, and the dappled markings on the flanks faded away. Chironians grew long tails, which they often flicked. The Chironian torso had two arms, which ended in dexterous hands capable of skipping stones across water, administering field medicine, and wielding weapons such as stun sticks.

The Chironian head had two wide, round eyes, which could be red-gold in color, and could weep. The eyes were lidded and had eyebrows. The Chironian head had a nose with two nostrils, and a mouth with full lips. Chironians grew long, curly manes on their heads, hair which was sometimes grown to nearly waist-length and flowed down their backs. Chironian manes darkened with age to a rich reddish-brown color.

Each year, the Chironian head grew two horns above the temples. These horns started as small knobs covered by red-furred velvet; a vascular tissue. Once the knobs had grown sufficiently, they broke through the velvet naturally, emerging as transparent horns, as bright as diamond, cool to the touch and with smooth ridges. However, if the velvet was cut artificially, Chironians could die from the injury. Over time, the horns grew long and sharp enough that adolescent Chironians could use them to gore opponents.

Chironians were strong enough to carry a Human on their backs. Chironians produced a scent that, to Humans at least, smelled of woods and spices.

Chironian age at the following stages:

1 - 10 Child

11 - 16 Young Adult

17 - 39 Adult

40 - 54 Middle Age

55 - 69 Old

Examples of Names: Luna, Sinall, Jefin, Slaturn, Cinall.

Languages: Chironians posses expressive, husky voices, and can speak Galactic Basic Standard, although some speak the language with a heavy accent.

#star wars #star wars species #star wars aliens #Chironian #star wars Chironian

[oh-no-eu-didnt]

Boonta Hestilic Shad’ruu was a Hutt warlord who predated the Republic. Leader of the Hutt colony on Ko Vari (which was later renamed in his honor), Boonta became a powerful military commander, and was responsible for defeating the Empire of Xim the Despot. Boonta Eve was named a holiday to honor his victory.

Source: The Essential Guide to Warfare (Art: Bruno Werneck; 2012)

#boonta hestilic shad'ruu #boonta the hutt #hutt #boonta #xim #boonta eve #star wars books #the essential guide to warfare #bruno werneck #star wars #expanded universe #star wars canon #star wars legends

[legendaryexgamer]

A Sourcebook detailing the exploits of Xim the Despot, the overall history of the region.  Planets, locales, ships, vehicles, droids, personalities and more of the Tionese Sector.

#starwars rpg #starwars #d6 rpg #opend6 #weg #west end games

[therapardalis]

Headcanons for Thera’s Star Wars verse:

(The basic backstory for the verse is on the ‘About’ or ‘Verses and AUs’ links.)

(Middle Earth headcanons here.)

1. Her ship is named the Nocturne Wing, after the callsign of the marine squad she used to lead. It’s a YT-1930 freighter, with a bunch of modifications that I’m sure I made a post about but I can’t find just now (more on this later when I do) Found it!.

2. She’s a smuggler - or rather she’s a cargo hauler who leans very easily toward running contraband as well. She will not transport Spice or non-sentient life forms, and if anyone even suggests carrying slaves she will end them on the spot.

3. Bounty hunting is a sideline. Again she’s selective on which jobs she takes, and unless she has a personal stake in something it’s not an important enough sideline that she’ll kill or die to bring a bounty in.

4. She works for a Hutt. For the Prequel and Classic eras it’s Durga Besadii, in the Sequel era his descendant Braga Besadii, in both cases based on Nar Shaddaa rather than Nal Hutta. Her job description runs through smuggler, pilot, bodyguard, enforcer, spy and occasional assassin. She also sometimes wears the skimpy clothing and pretends to be a dancing girl, hostess or pretty-little-thing rather than be obvious security.

5. She has a greater-than-usual respect for Hutts in general, given that they’ve held their own turf for millennia, and more specifically they defeated Xim the Despot, who is an historical Big Badass Deal around her home system in the Tion Cluster.

6. Following from that, since she works for Durga and he and Jabba hate each other’s corpulent guts, she avoids Tattooine whenever possible.

7. Of her old Marine Squad, Roybe Malais (heavy weapons) now works in security (for senators in the Prequel era), Vezpin Yenks (tech specialist) is at Kuat Drive Yards, and Corrigan De Trooge (demolitions) is a freelance explosives expert for mining companies in the Outer Rim. Thera knows where they are but she’s not telling anybody.

8. Thera’s own specialities within the squad were leadership, piloting, strategy, ancient/exotic weapons and banthashitting chain of command.

#Headcanon #Star Wars AU #Headcanons

[iandsharman]

Some people seem to think the crystal skull in Dryden Vos’s collection is an Indiana Jones reference, but the Official Guide confirms that it’s actually a reference to Xim the Despot and Han Solo and the Lost Legacy from 1980. #soloastarwarsstory #solo #starwars #hansolo #hansoloandthelostlegacy #xim #ximthedespot

#ximthedespot #solo #starwars #hansolo #hansoloandthelostlegacy #xim #soloastarwarsstory

[ultralifehackerguru-blog]

New Post has been published on http://www.lifehacker.guru/star-wars-10-legends-solo-just-returned-to-canon/

Star Wars: 10 'Legends' SOLO Just Returned To Canon

The Star Wars Expanded Universe may have been rendered ‘Legends,’ but Han Solo’s movie just added a TON back into the franchise’s canon!

  WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Solo: A Star Wars Story

The expanded world of Star Wars may have been rendered non-canonical when Disney took ownership, but Solo just brought a new batch of fan-favorite stories back into canon. That may not seem like much of a development for casual fans of the films, or even the comics books and video games. But for the passionate fans who spent countless hours soaking up every Star Wars novel for more lore and history, it’s one step closer to seeing their favorite tales given new life.

We can’t promise that Lucasfilm has returned ancient histories of Sith, Jedi, and cosmic empires with the intention of exploring them further. But considering how beloved some of the storytelling being folded back into canon already is, that gesture alone might be enough. Whether you saw Solo or not, these updates shouldn’t be missed.

They may be blink-and-you-miss it additions, or details reveal in supplemental materials for the film, but make no mistake: these Star Wars “Legends” are now the franchise’s official canon.

10 THE LEGACY OF XIM THE DESPOT

Its fitting that of all the Star Wars novels and lore to be referenced in Han Solo’s origin movie, the book trilogy of Han Solo Adventures should get some of the best nods. In the case of the massive crystal skull displayed in Dryden’s trophy room, it isn’t just a jab at George Lucas and Harrison Ford’s famous Indiana Jones movie being made. According to the Official Guide to the film, the object in question is the “myrtag crystal masthead of Xim the Despot.”

The famous cosmic conqueror lived around 25,000 years before these movies, taking over the systems of the Tion Cluster (a major location in Star Wars: The Old Republic) with the first army of battle droids the galaxy had seen. And with each one bearing the symbol of his rule – a skull – this Easter Egg is more than fitting.

So it seems we can add those chapters of his history to the new Star Wars Canon… but it’s not the only part of Xim’s legacy Dryden is concerned with.

9 TAOZIN GRUB

Another one of Dryden Vos’s prized possessions that can actually be glimpsed in the movie is the Taozin Grub, a large cross between a beetle, a centipede, and… well, a grub. It’s preserved, or at least seems to be, and according to the Official Guide was a gift to Dryden from an Imperial Moff (a gesture that makes more sense after learning of the Empire’s connection to Crimson Dawn in the film’s final act). The Taozin shell is famous for resisting blastersaand lights Amber’s, but if the Grub were alive, then Dryden could’ve introduced the audience to the expanded universe of Force-Sensitive creatures.

In the case of the Taozin Grub (so named due to its size, since a full grown Taozin is at least a meter long) that attunement to The Force actually renders them invisible to Force Users, and are able to make anyone or anything connected to then similarly invisible. The creature was introduced in the 2001 novel Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, with the former Sith explaining how the negative space in The Force was a unique phenomenon. So unique, in fact, that Sith Inquistors operating under Darth Vader were apparently outfitted with amulets made from Taozin, so as to remain undetected by their Jedi Prey.

They may be less famous as the Force-nullifying Ysalamir featured in the Thrawn Trilogy… but it’s a start.

8 MANDALORIAN RALLY MASTER ARMOR

Now, the item most likely to get people’s attention: the large, red, Mandalorian armor on full display in the background of every scene in Vos’s prized trophy room. Some fans assumed that its presence in early photographs was a hint towards Dryden’s Mandalorian heritage, but the armor is far from the standard suit worn by Boba Fett, Jango, or any other modern Mabdalorian. In fact, this armor is a callback to the Knights of the Old Republic fiction previously assumed to be non-canon after Disney purchased Lucasfilm.

Fans will remember it as one variation of Mandalorian Neo-Crusader armor, adopted by the warrior race by the Great Sith War (thousands of years before the Star Wars movies). The standard troops wore blue armor into battle, Field Marshals wore gold, and frontline veterans wore silver. However, the crimson was reserved for Rally Masters, meant to stand out in battle and untie the infantry surrounding them. This history is confirmed in Solo: The Official Guide, referring to the suit as the movie version of “Rally Master Armor.”

7 RWOOKRRORRO, THE WOOKIEE CAPITAL

The shot of Chewbacca and another Wookiee in trailers for Solo sparked instant debate, with fans wondering if Lucasfilm was finally going to bring Chewie’s wife Malla into movie canon (previously seen only in the Star Wars Christmas Special). But alas, the smaller Wookiee is just one of a handful of slaves Chewie rescues when the heroes head to the spice mines of Kessel.

If you’re paying attention, the Wookiee’s fellow slaves actually refer to him by name, “Sagwa,” multiple times during the breakout. But the real addition to the Star Wars movie lore comes in Solo: The Official Guide, when Sagwa is singled out as hailing from the city of Rwookrrorro on the planet Kashyyyk.

Another settlement on the Wookiee homeworld isn’t a shock in itself, but most casual fans won’t know anything beyond the actual name of the planet (and the diehards will know how to actually spell it). But before the planet was officially given its name, Heir to the Empire author Timothy Zahn pitched “Rwookrrorro” as an option. The idea was turned down, so Zahn made it the capital of the planet, instead.

6 THE TEMPLE OF EXAR KUN

When the Star Wars movies revealed that Luke Skywalker had taken only a small handful of students before exiling himself to Ahch-To, fans were crushed. Well, fans of the Jedi Academy novels by Kevin J. Anderson, which had followed Luke’s efforts to found a new Jedi Temple on Yavin 4… and the dark forces that sought to taint his new apprentices.

That sinister influence turned out to be the spirit of Exar Kun, eventually revealed to be a Jedi who had fallen, pursued the ways of the Sith, and declared himself a Sith Lord. When the forces of ‘good’ eventually converged on his immaculate temple – built from obsidian by the enslaved inhabitants of Yavin 4 – Exar Kun channeled the lives of his slaves to preserve his spirit within it. there it sat for four millennia, until his crypt was opened, and Luke’s young Jedi showed him a way out.

RELATED: Star Wars Characters You Didn’t Know Are Joining The Canon

Apparently, the minds at Lucasfilm have decided the story of Exar Kun is too good to erase from canono, as well. Luke may not have founded a temple on Yavin 4, but pay attention to the small table in Dryden Vos’s office built on top of a slab of black stone. The inscriptions visible in heiroglyphics and incantations are confirmed in the film’s official art book to be Sith markings, since the slab of ebony itself is pulled from the Temple of Exar Kun.

5 THE ADVENTURES OF LANDO CALRISSIAN

Typically, the writers of modern Star Wars fiction try to keep their nods to lore or stories now rendered ‘Legends’ somewhat subtle (most of the time, anyway). But then there’s Lando Calrissian. Since subtlety isn’t his style, the owner of the Millennium Falcon brings his expanded universe back into canon through an actual novelization, recorded via hologram as “The Calrissian Chronicles.”

Most of the references made are to L. Neil Smith’s trilogy of Lando adventures, including the hero referencing the Sharu in his holo-recording, right up to the point that he almost utters “mindharp.” But in Dryden Vos’s collection, fans can also catch a glimpse of several Life Crystals, native to the planet Rafa. The precious gems first appeared in The Mindharp of Sharu, later returning in The Flamewind of Oseon (where Lando claims to have taken ownership of “a real money pit”).

Even though the Life Crystals were revealed to drain intelligence of sentient beings around them, Dryden has a handful of the priceless objects near at hand.

4 THE DROCH

Officially referred to in the Solo guide as a “cerulean droch from Felucia,” the large beetle can also be spotted thanks to its silhouette, marked by its many legs. At first glance, it may seem a scarab or rare insect like the many others in Dryden Vos’s trophy room. But believe it or not, this bug’s species is responsible for more deaths in the galaxy than almost any other ruler. It proves Dryden’s nerve, as well. Because centuries ago in the Star Wars universe, these tiny Drochs wiped out billions when their spread was misunderstood as a new ailment: the Death Seed Plague.

The truth of the disease was revealed in the novel Planet of Twilight, when the original trilogy heroes discovered the Droch – tiny beetles that burrow into a host, disguise themselves as natural tissue, and feed on their life force until their skin sheds, and the host dies. Reproducing and gaining sentience with more and more consumed hosts, the Droch plague was almost impossible to stop.

Does one Droch’s appearance here mean Dzym, the Droch who evolved to look almost human, and lead his species to take over the galaxy, is also canon? We’re going to say yes.

3 THE QUEEN OF RANROON

Finally we get to the entire reason that Xim, a cosmic, despotic ruler actually became a person if interest to Han Solo in the first place. After all, if a job doesn’t promise to win him either a ton of credits or a boatload of notoriety, the eodds are low that Han and Chewie are interested. Which is exactly where the Queen of Ranroon comes in: the legendary treasure ship of Xim the Despot, lost to all civilization on a distant world. The main goal of the novel Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, as well.

It’s a classic adventure premise if there ever was one – swap out the spaceship for a wooden one, and it’s a pirate story just as easy. In the book Hand and Chewie really did find the lost treasure ship of Xim the Despot. But they could have used some help from Dryden Vos, who has a dataplaque containing what is basically a stellar version of a treasure map. Why he has such a clue and has yet to cash in on the hunt is anyone’s guess.

That being said, Dryden IS obscenely wealthy… but is he as willing to believe in legend and myth as his Crimson Dawn master, the former Sith Maul? He does have Xim’s crystal skull already…

2 TERÄS KÄSI

Qi’ra shows that she really has done some terrible things in her past – and probably with her bare hands – when she disarms and defeats the head of the Kessel mining operation in a matter of seconds (completely stunning L3-37). As she soon explains, the martial art just put on display is Teräs Käsi which she has learned under the service of Dryden Vos.

The martial art was introduced to the Star Wars mythology with Steve Perry’s Shadows of the Empire novel in 1996. At the time, it was introduced as a fighting style created specifically to oppose the Jedi (or, in theory, and Force User). For all the action in the Star Wars world, there isn’t much actual hand-to-hand combat to speak of. Teräs Käsi changes all that, granting users the ability to overwhelm a Force-sensitive opponent, and take even them by surprise.

The martial art gained its highest level of notoriety thanks to a fighting video game released for the PlayStation, but even now, actually seeing the fighting in motion is hard to come by. Which is probably why Qi’ra practice takes place… off-screen.

1 DANCING GODDESS OF THE GODOAN

Fans of the original Star Wars Comic series are in luck as well, with the actors of Solo actually interacting with one prop pulled directly out of the comics. The comic in question is Star Wars #99, “Touch of the Goddess.” The prop is the prized statue dubbed the Dancing Goddess, sacred and lifesaving for the aliens of Godo.

The story reveals that the Godoans practice a faith that makes their worship of sacred statues necessary for the survival of their race. So when the statues go missing, they’re not surprised to see an illness ravage their entire people. Eventually, Han realizes that the statues and their temple are a type of machine designed to make their world habitable. And the statue of the Dancing Goddess, a green sculpture roughly in the shape of a dancing figure, is a prized artifact current in the collection of one Lando Calrissian.

The Dancing Goddess can be seen in Dryden Vos’s room, slightly different from the comics, but made of the same green glass. The best glimpse comes in the final fight, when it’s smashed in the commotion… the Godoans will be remembered fondly.

(C)

#film #Lifestyle #Solo #star wars

[willorcs]

Your Xim the Despot edit you made for me was so beyond beautiful thank you so much. I was wondering if you could do one for the Je'daii Order?

DONE :)

#cosmicjourney1995

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Vodran

The planet Vodran, full of steamy jungles and swamps, was also rich in scavengers and huge predators. Local species had to evolve quickly to avoid extinction in such a hostile environment. While the dianoga learned to change color and scavenge, a species of insect-eating reptiles that lived in the colossal trees instead developed intelligence as a survival tool; these primitive Vodrans learned to hunt and work together and to build settlements in the treetops. They managed to thrive in conditions that would have killed many other species. The Vodrans developed a society of fishers and dianoga hunters who used hanging trees to capture dianoga and spinefish from thatched huts over rivers.

Around 25,100 BBY, fire rained down from the skies of the planet Vodran, and entire huts were wiped out. Unable to counterattack, the Vodrans started rebuilding their settlements as they had been. Little did they know that their world had become a battleground in a war between the forces of the Hutts and those of a Human warlord named Xim the Despot, who were fighting over control of the Si'Klaata Cluster in which Vodran was located.

As the Vodrans rebuilt, emissaries approached them. Led by Dojundo the Hutt, the visitors used an old language convertor lexicon to communicate. They told of their master, a warrior called Kossak the Hutt. The strangers from afar tried to convince the Vodrans to join Kossak's armies. The superstitious Vodrans, in awe of the flaming, flying vehicles and advanced technology of the outsiders, viewed the Hutts as demi-gods, god-like demons, or even terrible deities. In fear, they bowed to the offworlders' will and swore to fight against the enemies of the Hutts in exchange for the secrets of the Hutts' "star-magic."

Kossak's other envoys recruited the Klatooinians from Klatooine and the Nikto from Kintan. Before the forces could join the war, the Hutts forged the Treaty of Vontor, a contract binding the three species of the Si'Klaata Cluster in eternal servitude, as permanently indentured servants, to the Hutts. The greatest Vodran warrior, Kl'ieutu Mutela, signed for his species. Xim, unaware of the Hutts' new allies, prepared his janissaries and his new legions of Guardian Corps of reportedly invincible laser-resistant war-robots. Xim intended to deploy all of his forces on Vontor for a last battle, hoping to overwhelm and defeat the Hutts once and for all.

Kossak gathered his fleet at Vontor and Xim sent his troops to the surface in massive landing barges. He did not expect to find one million Klatooinian, Nikto, and Vodran berserkers waiting for them on the surface, along with a number of Weequays, another species affiliated with the Hutts. While Xim was sending his warships against Kossak's forces, the Vodrans and their new companions destroyed most of Xim's war-robots and then wrecked Xim's orbital platforms by bombing them. Xim's fleet was destroyed in orbit except for a few ships that escaped with the last war-robots.

The Klatooinian skald Pupaku wrote a memorial of the battle. He provided an elegy for the warriors of the Si'Klaata Cluster, including those he characterized as Klatooinian, Nikto, Vodran, and Weequay brothers-in-arms. According to Pupaku, the warriors resorted to a spice-induced berserker rage to refrain from withdrawing when their robot nemeses approached. The warriors then took the robots to the underground of Vontor to dismantle them, one by one, even as the warriors themselves were killed. The soldiers' sacrifice turned the tide of the battle, the skald claimed: Xim's organic high-ranking officers understood that Xim could be defeated, and they mutinied. Nevertheless, in further generations, historians were unable to confirm Pupaku's claims.

The Third Battle of Vontor resulted in Xim's final defeat to the Hutts, and the Klatooinian, Nikto, and Vodran army proved themselves essential to that outcome. The Vodrans came to perceive the battle as a holy war that involved weird beings, new weapons, and magical items that were awarded to them.

Once Xim was defeated, the Hutts added the planet Vodran, along with the whole of the Si'Klaata Cluster, to their empire, which eventually came to be known as Hutt Space. The Vodrans started serving their new Hutt masters loyally, and the Hutts used the Vodrans, along with other indentured species, as enforcers, bodyguards, and lackeys to keep control over their domains. Eventually, Hutt Space came into contact with a wider power, the Galactic Republic; the Hutts then used the Vodrans and their other slaves to build a criminal empire for themselves within the borders of the Republic. As far as the Vodrans were concerned, they regarded their association with the Hutts highly, and they started revering their hero Mutela for signing the Treaty of Vontor.

Circa 671 BBY, the thirteen-act theatrical play Evocar, written by Direus'pei the Hutt, was posthumously published by his Nikto scribe, Ro Vacca. The work presented Xim as a sympathetic character who prompted slaves to rebel against their Hutt masters. In the third act, Xim was charged with the murders of people of several worlds, including the planet Vodran, but Xim replied then that he did not recall that world at all. While the Hutts tried to restrict access to Evocar, it inspired several species, including the Evocii, Klatooinians, and Nikto, to rebel against them. The Vodrans, however, spurned the play and staged no major insurrections.

Through the years, Hutt inter-clan rivalries exploded commonly as brush-fire wars among the species serving the Hutts, including the Vodrans. Around the first years of the Galactic Empire, a violent urban uprising known as the Thruncon Insurrection destroyed several of Vodran's cities soon before the start of the Galactic Civil War.

During the time of the Galactic Empire, Vodrans were officially recognized as sentient beings, and thus gained the legal right to own and manage corporations. Later, after the Alliance to Restore the Republic started military activities against the Empire, the renegade Iyra sentientologist Tem Eliss traveled to Hutt Space to study the species indentured to the Hutts, including the Vodrans, to prove his hypothesis about millennia of genetic and cultural eugenics.

The Galactic Empire made an attempt to seize the planet Vodran and rule its native species, but the Vodrans opposed the takeover. As a consequence, much of the Vodran population was slaughtered, with only a small percentage surviving. When the anti-Imperial New Republic was created in 4 ABY, most Vodrans offered their support to it, although they clearly stated that the Vodrans' first allegiance was to the Hutts.

A later conflict known as the Yuuzhan Vong War prompted the Hutts to attempt to outsmart the Yuuzhan Vong species and play both sides of the war. The discovery of the Hutts' double-dealings damaged their reputation. Once the war was over, species associated with them, such as the Vodrans, lost prestige and credibility in the greater galaxy.

Vodrans had little sense of self and thus showed little individual personality. They instead believed in "the value of many," seeing the whole species as a group. The physiological restrictions on their facial movements prompted them to convey wishes and emotions with only body language and vocal inflection. As they thought of the collective before themselves, they had trouble with advanced social conventions such as innuendo and etiquette.

Although the Vodrans established an independent culture based on settlements made up of huts and inhabited by dianoga hunters and spinefish fishers, after contact with an outside species, the Hutts, the Vodrans served the aliens as slaves for millennia with unswerving loyalty, a devotion that made them the most dedicated of the Hutts' servant species. While exceptions existed, the great majority of Vodrans were absolutely loyal to Hutt institutions, mostly represented as the kajidics—Hutt families that were in charge of criminal activities. Vodrans eschewed manifestations of individuality in their species, and they prioritized the well-being of their Hutt masters, no matter how many Vodrans had to die to protect their superiors' way of life. Hutts who settled on the planet Vodran exploited their hard-working reptilian servants to keep up opulent activities. Vodrans believed that their association with the Hutts had been fruitful for their people, and the individual who made it possible, the warrior Kl'ieutu Mutela, was revered by his species.

The Vodrans developed their own culture before making contact with the Hutts. However, as soon as the Hutts began to deal with Vodrans, the master species imposed their own culture and replaced indigenous folkways. A new mythology was created that suggested the Vodrans had only existed from the moment they began their service to the Hutts. While this was historically untrue, Vodrans who lived afterward believed it wholeheartedly, and the Vodrans' civilization, history, and art adapted to reflect that. The Hutts replaced the ancient language of the Vodrans with the Hutt tongue, Huttese, although from the time of the Galactic Republic onward, many Vodrans also learned to speak Galactic Basic Standard. The Hutts provided the Vodrans with advanced technology, including hyperdrives, but most Vodrans did not dare travel away from their homeworld without the blessing of their Hutt masters. Nevertheless, many Vodrans had a hard time mastering technology or scientific knowledge.

Like their Hutt overlords, Vodrans organized themselves into miniature kajidics, or Vodran clans. Each clan answered to a Hutt kajidic, and ultimately to the Hutt Clan of Ancients, which ruled over the Hutt species and its subordinates. However, one aspect of Hutt culture the Vodrans did not adopt was the Hutt fondness for lounging and leisure. Also unlike Hutts, Vodrans had two-part names.

Vodrans had a deep-rooted respect for authority figures, whether Hutt or otherwise. Individual Vodrans rarely tried to obtain personal power. They instead tried to serve Vodran social institutions and, through them, what they considered the greater good. Vodrans valued commitment and consensus, and they expected an individual to accept the ruling of the group, whether it be a Hutt kajidic, a state, a clan, or a union. A marginal minority of Vodrans showed enough individuality to reject their society and its principles, overcoming social conditioning and innate tendencies to obey authority. Such people tended to be loners and escaped from their Hutt masters. Other Vodrans considered such freethinkers to be pariahs, outcasts, and maniacs. While some Hutts cared little about losing the rogue servants, others turned to bounty hunters to track down such fugitives.

In general, Vodrans were naive, peaceful, and straightforward. However, they commonly served as enforcers after developing combat skills that drew upon their aggressive potential. Other commonly learned skills that aided survival in wild, hostile environments because most Vodrans grew up on Vodran, where they faced the threat of huge predators that roamed the steamy jungles and swamps. A mild psychosis affected some Vodrans and made them fearless daredevils.

The Vodrans were a sentient species who came from the planet Vodran. They were two-legged, warm-blooded reptiles, humanoid in shape, with five-fingered hands that featured thick nails. Their bodies were covered with leathery skin that varied in color from olive green to brown. The skin was hard enough to offer some protection from physical damage.

The Vodran face featured a flat nose and two black eyes. Hard skin combined with underdeveloped muscles to restrict the range of emotions a Vodran could transmit through facial expressions. The face was ringed by horny protuberances that created a ridge of horns about the temples and on the chin.

Vodrans were oviparous, with young born from egg clutches; a typical clutch produced two or three children.

The average height of an adult was 1.75 to 1.8 meters or 5.7 to 5.9 feet.

Vodrons age at the following stages:

1 - 11 Child

12 - 16 Young Adult

17 - 44 Adult

45 - 64 Middle Age

65 - 79 Old

Examples of Names: Kl'ietu Mutela, Lakren Plooru, Meido Lycri, Saran Yydek, Xenon Nnaksta.

Languages: The Hutts eradicated the Vodrans' ancient language millennia ago. Huttese is now the Vodrans' native language.

#star wars #star wars species #star wars aliens #Vodran #star wars Vodran