Notes On The Saarkanian Species

At some point during writing, I realized that I felt comfortable enough to assert the right to not just play with the Star Wars setting, but add to it. And for me, it seemed like the obvious place to start was to add a planet and a species, since Star Wars can always use more of those. When I developed the Saarkanian species, I wanted to create something that felt cute and low-impact, but unique and adaptable. Something that could come up in any story and give flavor to it, but not fundamentally change the story too much. I also wanted them to continue the theme I’ve had of ‘scary, but not evil’, or perhaps more appropriately, ‘dark, but not Dark.’

My main inspiration for the Saarkanians were old Soviet-era cartoons, which were often animated in this unique and stylish fashion with high contrast colors creating blocky silhouettes. That gave me the idea to give them perfectly black fur, ensuring they always appeared as a silhouette in any lighting conditions. I had also recently played the game Peripeteia, a game set in a post-apocalyptic post-Soviet megacity, which helped inspire the sense of foggyness of the city. The two of these combined, along with one of my favorite pieces of music, Na Dne by Molchat Doma, set the tone for the planet and the people.

That leaves the question of how to actually show you more about them. Hmm…Why not a wookieepedia article?

Saarkanian

Image of a Saarkanian woman late in the evening on Saarkane

Designation: Sentient
Classification: Feline
Average Height: 1.5 meters
Average lifespan: 120 Standard years

The Saarkanians were a species of small, mammalian humanoids notable for their unique fur, which was bioluminescent in response to their emotions, with a striking ultrablack color at rest. This ultrablack pigment, rarely found outside of Saarkanian space, absorbed all light that touched it, resulting in a remarkable silhouette-like appearance. Saarkanians were also known to be remarkably perceptive, with exceptional sight and hearing. Largely xenophobic and sedentary, they were rarely encountered outside of their home system.

Biology and appearance

Saarkanians were warm-blooded and gave birth to live young. Their large ears were capable of swiveling to track sounds, and could hear a larger range of sounds than Humans. Their eyes were also large to take in more light, and generally the only visible facial features of the Saarkanians, alongside their mouths when open. Their eyes usually came in either blue, yellow, or green coloration, but occasionally red or magenta were also seen.

Saarkanian fur is famous for its ultrablack coloration, which absorbed all light, usually resulting in issues with depth perception or even optical illusions in other species. It was usually short and noted to be particularly soft. Their fur was also capable of bioluminescence, and when not ultrablack could portray any color in the visible spectrum, corresponding to the emotions of the Saarkanians. While as complex as other species’ facial expressions, the broad strokes were known to be as follows;

• White: Surprise, shock
• Electric blue: Fear, or anxiety
• Red: Aggression, or anger
• Pink: Affection, excitement
• Lime green: Apology, or embarrassment
• Orange: Concentration
• Yellow/Gold: Happiness, joy, smugness

However, combinations could result in different emotions, such as mixtures of orange and green signalling great anxiety, or combinations of blue and pink signalling insecurity.

Saarkanians were largely unable to control their bioluminesence, similar to how Humans were unable to hide their facial expressions. Acting was considered a very difficult job by Saarkanians.

Saarkanians were not very strong compared to other similarly-sized species, however they had excellent reflexes. They were suited for cooler climates, and frequently suffered heat stroke on particularly hot worlds.

Society and culture

Saarkanians were an insular species that usually kept among themselves. Most Saarkanians were paranoid around outsiders, assuming aliens were dangerous or wanted to harm them, stemming from Saarkane’s long history of suffering invasions.

Saarkanians usually utilized low technology when possible. They had an aversion to repulsorlift technology in particular. While not a poor system by Galactic standards, Saarkanians preferred low technology for its ease of repair and simpler supply chains that did not require intergalactic trade. Saarkanians strived for autarky as much as possible in both statecraft and personal life. Trading made most Saarkanians anxious, and they developed bureaucratic and socialized economies in part just to avoid bargaining.

Saarkanians practiced to varying degrees a local animistic religion with several gods, although the gods were not considered important to day-to-day religious behaviors, with instead a greater focus on small spirits that inhabited objects or locations. They were aware of the Force, and considered Sith to be the archenemy of all life. Force Users who were suspected to be Sith were often subject to lynching. They held the Jedi in high regard, especially after the War of Light and Darkness, in which they were briefly governed by at-the-time Jedi Lord Fae Coven.

Saarkanians had a particular emnity with Wookiees and Trandoshans, along with anyone else in the Mytaranor Sector. General racial animus in the sector resulted in constant power struggles, and the Saarkanians usually went centuries without representation in the Senate due to their electoral district being shared with such numerous and inimical neighbors. While Saarkanians were never able to field large navies, they were known for their special forces, who utilized unique tactics and slugthrowers to punch above their weight.

Saarkanians considered wearing black to be sexual, due to reminding them of nudity, and sometimes became embarrassed around humanoids who wore it in inappropriate settings. They had standard family structures, although Saarkanians tended towards a low birth rate, and grew in population very slowly. There were no large populations of Saarkanians anywhere but Saarkane, and they generally were uninterested in colonizing other worlds, although individuals and families would occasionally travel the Galaxy.

Saarkanians usually found direct sunlight uncomfortable, being both too bright and too hot for them. When engaged in diplomatic meetings with other species, Saarkanians often requested lights to be dimmed, sometimes to levels uncomfortable for other species who couldn’t see in the dark as well.

History

Saarkanians evolved on the dark and dreary world of Saarkane. Throughout the early history of the Galaxy, they were frequently invaded by warlords and burgeoning empires. Saarkane refused to join the Republic until the Mandalorian Wars. During the Jedi Civil War, Saarkane carried out multiple assassinations on high ranking Sith, leading to drawing their ire. Darth Revan conquered the world briefly, until it rebelled following Revan’s presumed death. During the New Sith Wars, Saarkane spent much of its time as a killing field, especially during the War of Light and Darkness where its government was replaced by Jedi Lord Fae Coven, who commanded Saarkane as an extremely effective task force against the Sith.

Force Sensitivity

Saarkanian Force Sensitives were vanishingly rare, even in comparison to other species. Saarkanians also had an innate resistance to mind tricks, similar to Toydarians. Some Jedi scholars speculated that Saarkanians instinctively distanced themselves from the Force, and that even when Force Sensitives were born, they often naturally cut themselves off on their own. Saarkanians also did not commonly test for midi-chlorian counts at birth, and so most Saarkanians never became Jedi. Those who did almost invariably ended up in the Service Corps, few having the talent for Knighthood.

Saarkanian society was very distrustful of Force Sensitives, and those who made their powers public would usually be ostracized and treated with suspicion. They did not have a strong cultural understanding of the difference between the Light and the Dark side, but they hated the Sith and treated them as vermin.

Saarkane

The world of Saarkane.

Region: Mid Rim, The Slice, Kashyyyk Region
Sector: Mytaranor
System: Saarkane
Suns: 1
Moons: 1
Rotation Period: 30 Standard hours
Orbital Period: 290 local days

Climate: Cool and overcast almost always
Gravity: 0.79
Points of Interest: Srejo City, Old Jedi Palace

Description

Saarkane was the homeworld of the Saarkanian species, characterized by its perpetually foggy and overcast nature, as well as a stormfront that persisted indefinitely and traveled on the night side of the world. Saarkane’s plantlife was primarily blue. It possessed various ecological niches, with several oceans and vast uninhabited stretches of continents going through almost all the major climate zones, albeit lacking any deserts due to the omnipresence of rain. Usually any given spot on the planet would only see an unobstructed sky a handful of times a year.

Saarkane’s population was almost entirely condensed into one large megacity known as Srejo City, which covered roughly 45,000 square miles of the planet’s surface. The ‘draining’ of the entire populace into a single city took place over a long period of strife and economic development, in which Srejo became the most prosperous and safe place to live, while other settlements were often subject to raids from Wookiees, Trandoshans, and Sith.

By roughly 4000 BBY, over 90% of Saarkanians in the Galaxy lived within the bounds of Srejo City. The city was surrounded with massive defensive structures, and its interior was mostly highly urban with tall skyscrapers that pierce through the omnipresent clouds and fog fronts. The city was known for its peculiar but relatively effective forms of public transportation, given that the world did not generally use repulsorlift technology. While some speculated that Srejo City was the beginning of a transformation into a eucemenopolis, the low birthrate of Saarkanians made it unlikely to happen within foreseeable timescales.

Those parts of Saarkane that were not subsumed by Srejo City were mainly uninhabited as a rule, left as a gigantic planetwide nature reserve monitored by droids and the odd Saarkanian park ranger. Some Saarkanians chose to live outside of the city limits, but few do so for their entire lives.

Once the vast majority of the population lived in Srejo City, Saarkane’s government transformed into an anocratic system where a powerful Governor often determined the course of society. Though it maintained a semi-functional democracy, much of the populace failed to vote each election, largely from apathy.

Aliens were allowed on Saarkane to live and work, and even become citizens, but needed to provide a compelling economic reason for their residency beforehand, and the process often took decades. Due to Saarkane’s reputation, the tumultuous and poor region it existed in, and the inhabitants’ xenophobic views, few non-Saarkanians ever bothered.

The Saarkane system contained many asteroids rich in rare materials, including cortosis, which was often utilized to produce anti-Sith weaponry during the wars. Saarkanians developed a culture of knifefighting, as vibroswords or spears were seen as too expensive or cumbersome to wield. Many inhabitants of Saarkane carried cortosis knives throughout its entire history.

Though knife crime was relatively high compared to the Galactic average, Saarkane had low crime rates overall. Most crime originated from smuggling, as Saarkanians were fond of spice and other stimulants, especially hallucinogens. Despite this, the Hutts rarely if ever had a presence on Saarkane. Saarkane had a tumultuous history with slavery, as while Saarkanians themselves were rarely seen as enticing targets of slavery, they occasionally participated in the Wookiee slave trade, which would usually expand into the enslaving of Saarkanians as well. Saarkane went through periods of stamping out the practice and having it slowly return.

Even from the time of joining the Republic, Saarkane harbored secessionist sentiments. Saarkane was a hotspot of separatist sentiment in the leadup to the Clone Wars, and joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems at its founding, although they participated little in the war itself, due to their low population and primitive technology.

During the Imperial period, Saarkane was left relatively untouched, as they were not considered worth directly oppressing, and their autarkic economy was unshocked from the sudden disruptions to commerce, although the Saarkane government did entirely lose control of their space-based assets, including their cortosis mines. Saarkane subtly assisted the Rebellion when possible, and seized its space based assets in the aftermath of the first Death Star’s destruction. The Empire never managed to return to crush the uprising before the second Death Star was destroyed.

Behind The Scenes

If ever you want to play as a Saarkanian in a tabletop game, I actually wrote out a statline for the Star Wars d6 system (which I consider to be the best Star Wars roleplaying system, or at least the most tolerable.)

Attribute Dice: 12D
Dexterity: 2D/4D
Knowledge: 1D/3D
Mechanical: 2D/5D
Perception: 3D/5D
Strength: 1D/3D
Technical: 2D/4D
Move: 8/10
Size: 1.2 - 1.9 meters tall
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Ultra-black fur: +2D bonus when using Sneak in dark conditions
Enhanced Senses: +1D bonus when using Search rolls based on visual or auditory acuity.
Emotional Bioluminescence: +1D to Persuasion at character creation, -1D penalty when using Con to lie
Force Resistance: Saarkanians have an innate resistance to Force-based mind manipulation or mind reading techniques, and roll double their Perception dice to resist such attacks. Force Sensitive Saarkanians do not retain this benefit.