Jungle Felucian

The Jungle Felucians, more commonly referred to as the Felucians, were an amphibious sentient species native to the planet Felucia. Viewed as strange and unusual by other species, the Felucians possessed two sets of arms—one ending in four webbed digits, and the other in three dexterous fingers—as well as a head consisting of a thick mass of tendrils. Members of the species usually stood 1.9 meters tall and weighed ninety kilograms. The Felucians were naturally sensitive to the Force and were in tune with their home planet's ever-changing balance of that energy field. The Felucians possessed no advanced technology and lived a somewhat primitive lifestyle. Unlike many other primitive species, the Felucians were not divided into multiple tribes; rather, they were all members of a single tribe spanning the entirety of Felucia. However, the species did have strict class stratification. Three of their most prominent classes were the warriors, the shamans, and the chieftains.
The Felucian warriors were responsible for hunting and protecting their people, using their burgeoning Force powers and their traditional weapon, the Felucian Skullblade. The Felucian shamans were the most exceptional Force-users in the species. They were the mentors, the spiritual guides, and the watchmen for their kin, ensuring that every Felucian who fell to the dark side of the Force was fed to the giant Sarlacc creature nested in the Ancient Abyss, a sacred Felucian sacrificial ground. Tall and commanding, the Felucian chieftains were the leaders of their people and wielded ceremonial staffs and shields hardened with the help of the Force. Thanks to their Force-sensitivity, the species was also able to domesticate their homeworld's vicious rancor predators, painting them with phosphorescent dyes and using them as war beasts. The Jungle Felucians lived in seclusion from the rest of the galaxy until 26,964 BrS when Gossam colonists settled on Felucia. As eons passed, the Gossam took over most of the planet, driving the Felucians deep into the planet's dangerous jungles.

Biology and Appearance

The Jungle Felucians, or simply the Felucians, were a tall, bipedal, sentient species, who were generally considered strange, mysterious, and unusual to outside observers. As an amphibious species, the Felucians were adapted to living both on land and in water; they were able to breathe in both environments and to easily traverse the fungi and swamps of their home planet, Felucia. Long, horizontal marks were visible on the species' torsos. The Felucians' arms and legs ended in four large, webbed digits, with suction-cup fingertips. Growing from the underside of each arm was a shorter, smaller arm that ended in three large agile fingers. A Felucian's head consisted of a thick mass of long, flexible tendrils with illuminated tips. The mouth and eyes, which glowed bright red in some individuals, appeared as black holes within that mass.
The Felucians were adapted to survive the harsh environment of Felucia. Their gray skin, with its blue, red, or yellow markings, allowed members of the species to easily blend into their surroundings and to instantly disappear into the jungle in order to evade an attack or to surprise prey. The species was extremely resilient and agile, although there were variations between various Felucian castes. For instance, the Felucian chieftains had denser flesh than the rest of their kin. The Felucians moved with great speed and

were able to see in low light. The species' average lifespan was eighty-five years. A Felucian reached adolescence at nine years and was considered an adult at twenty, middle-aged at fifty, and old at seventy-one. Members of the species stood 1.9 meters tall and weighed ninety kilograms, on average. The entire Felucian species were Force-sensitive and connected to the Living Force of their home planet. The connection was so deep that when a Felucian fell to the dark side of the Force, his entire appearance changed as well. His facial features became elongated and stretched, and his head tendrils dried and were now hanging limply from the skull.

Society and culture

A united people

The Felucians spoke a guttural, barking language called Felucianese or Felucian. Common Felucian names included Gokkuul, Kargrek, and Hagark. The Felucians were subject to wild mood swings, reacting in unpredictable ways to different situations. They were generally viewed as primitive and even barbaric by other species. Indeed, the Felucians did not possess advanced technology, wearing simple garments, such as loincloths, made of vegetable material and bone. The clothing was decorated with beads and tassels. Large ceremonial headdresses, worn by some Felucians, obscured their faces from the neck up. The species lived in small bulbous huts hollowed from the boles of giant fungi, with circular doors and windows, and they were proficient with a variety of primitive weapons. The Felucians also learned to extract venoms produced by Felucia's plant life and used them to make both poisons and medicine. The species formed a symbiotic relationship with the Yerdua Poison-Spitter, a semi-sentient plant capable of emitting thick venom. The Felucians trained the Yerdua to guard their villages and sacred sites from wild animals, and in exchange, they fed the Yerdua meat and removed parasites from the plants' stalks.

One of the species' most remarkable features was their innate Force-sensitivity and deep connection to the Living Force. Although not as powerful as trained Jedi, the Felucians were able to use the Force to control their environment, and their connection to the Force gave them a somewhat primal attitude. Faced with the ever-shifting balance of the Force on their homeworld, the Felucians struggled to resist the dark side throughout their history. Many individuals and even entire tribal pockets descended into violence and madness. The influence of the dark side also affected them physically, causing their bodies to mutate to reflect their tortured psyches. Outsiders viewed the Felucians as strange and alien beings because they operated on a different social level, much like the Tusken Raiders on the planet Tatooine. Unlike some other primitive species, the Felucians did not split into separate tribes but were instead all members of a single tribe, which spanned the entire planet and spread across their various villages. The social arrangement helped the species to maintain the same social hierarchy in every village. The Felucians were divided into a caste-based society, with each member fulfilling various roles. However, in the years leading up to the Clone Wars, there were records of multiple Felucian tribes, who were in conflict with each other.
The Felucian warriors and the Felucian scouts formed the core of Felucian society. They were trained to hunt and protect their kin against intruders, using their natural abilities to blend into nearly every environment and crawl nearly every surface to ambush prey. The Felucian warriors had blue markings on their skin and used their Force powers to imbue their crude jawbone weapons, called Felucian Skullblades, making them both more damaging and resistant to other weapons, including lightsabers. Such strength was possible due to the fact that the crude weapons were made from the bones of native Felucian creatures that contained trace amounts of Force-reactive crystals. The warriors wielded the skullblades with great proficiency and showed no mercy to their enemies. The Felucian skullblades were considered weapons of great honor and importance to the Felucians and were normally available only on the species' homeworld, but a few made their way to the black market at a cost of 1,500 credits. Warriors were able to project a small shield of Force energy that protected them against enemy attacks. They also used the Force to generate spheres of compressed air called Force blasts, which they hurled at enemies. The power was second nature to all Felucians.

Leaders spiritual and tribal

Felucian shaman

Those Felucians who demonstrated greater than average skill and interest in the Force were trained in the ways of the Felucian shamans—whether they actually wanted it or not—because the Felucians could not allow an exceptional Force-user among them to roam the planet without obtaining the skills necessary to resist the dark side. The Felucian shamans were distinguished by their red markings and acted as spiritual leaders and mentors in the ways of the Force for their brethren, performing ceremonial rituals with the skullblades. Considered some of the most powerful natural Force-users in the galaxy, the shamans focused on manipulating their natural Force abilities, and, as such, were able to wield Force powers with greater skill than the other castes and to telepathically link with other individuals. They were capable of defending themselves in battle; using shields that they wore on their hands; drawing upon the power of Felucia for strength; and using a much more powerful incarnation of the Force blast called the sickening blast, which could worsen the physical condition of an opponent. However, the shamans preferred to keep themselves out of harm's way, instead focusing on healing injured warriors, rallying them into battle by blowing a special horn, and projecting a Force aura that harmed an enemy that approached them.[ As such, the death of a shaman during a battle could have a negative impact on the performance of the rest of the warriors. Therefore, when pressed into combat, the shamans usually attempted to flee by using a combination of the Force and their natural blending abilities.
Most Felucian shamans studied healing arts to treat various infections and maladies common on their homeworld, and they used the Force to protect other Felucians from dangers native to the planet. The Felucian shamans were in tune with the flow of the Force on Felucia—which could be easily influenced by a presence of a powerful Force-user, light or dark—and served as watchmen for the entire species, constantly keeping an eye out for the Felucians who approached the dark side and training other shamans to stay away from it. Fearful that the presence of a strong dark side user would corrupt the entire planet and the Felucians themselves, the shamans ensured that any Darksiders were executed by being fed to a giant Sarlacc creature that lived in the Ancient Abyss, an ancient sacrificial ground for the Felucians. However, even the shamans themselves were not safe from the grasp of the dark side, and certain individuals succumbed to it, also becoming victims of the Sarlacc. The Felucians worshiped the Sarlacc and even built a village in the Ancient Abyss, erecting their homes to accommodate the creature's giant teeth that protruded from the ground and covered hundreds of kilometers of the planet's landscape. The teeth acted as fences defining gardens or lanes. The Felucian shamans were careful about who they shared their secrets with, and only a handful of non-Felucian Force-users were ever trained by the shamans.

Chieftains

The highest-ranking members of the species were the Felucian chieftains. Taller and more massive and commanding than the other Felucians, the chieftains displayed yellow markings on their skin. They were much hardier than the warriors and had a denser flesh that protected them from attacks but were slower than the Felucian warriors. The chieftains were the leaders of the Felucian species and inspired awe and fear in their followers. Trained from an early age to wield a ceremonial staff in battle, they were able to channel the Force through it and launch a powerful blast of energy. In addition to the ceremonial staff, the chieftains also made use of sturdy shields that had been fashioned with the help of the Force to increase their effectiveness. The title of the Felucian chieftain was not restricted only to members of the species. On some occasions, a non-Felucian could become a chieftain, as was the case with the Togruta Jedi Master Shaak Ti. Additionally, the Felucian society had a class of mushroom farmers.
The species' Force-sensitivity allowed them to have some success in domesticating the vicious rancors, carnivorous creatures that inhabited the planet's jungles. The Felucians used the rancors as mounts and war beasts, painting them with phosphorescent dyes in order to confuse and frighten prey. The rancor riders were predominantly of the chieftain caste. However, they were wary of the much larger bull rancor subspecies that acted as guardians of the legendary Rancor Graveyard and emerged from the deepest jungles only once every few years. The Felucians believed that the much more aggressive bull rancor could not be tamed or captured, although at least one chieftain rode one of the creatures. The species also domesticated a number of other beasts, including a hat-backed species, which they used to travel on water surfaces.