Chiss | ACCEPTED & WIP

[Roy]

The Chiss were a tall, blue-skinned Near-Human civilization from the planet Csilla in the Unknown Regions, best known to most Humans as the people to which Grand Admiral Thrawn belonged. Due to the remote position of their home territory in the Chiss Ascendancy they remained largely an enigma to the rest of the galaxy, and contact with outsiders was limited even in the days of the Galactic Alliance.



Biology and appearance

The Chiss were a near-Human species that were distinctive for their blue skin and glowing red eyes which grew darker depending on the oxygen content of their surroundings. The more oxygen present, the more intense was the color of their eyes and skin tone. Whilst their hair was typically jet black, it did on rare occasions go gray with age which was seen amongst their females and was a sign that they had borne children that would have a great impact on their society. Their physical form led to some speculation on whether they were an offshoot of humanity's ancient expansions into the galaxy or whether their physical form coincidentally matched that of Humans. However, genetic analysis indicated that they were an offshoot of humanity and it was believed that moving underground led to a divergence between them and base line Humans. Their unique skin tone was seen to be the result of glacial minerals. These features made them physically striking and instantly recognizable. Their blue skin, jet black hair and red eyes generally commanded attention once they were in a crowd of regular humanoids. It was believed that this trait was of chemical reactions they experienced when exposed to an oxygen atmosphere. Male and female Chiss tend to be more powerfully built when compared to Humans but exhibit the same variances as Humanoid sexes. A Chiss stood between either 1.6 to 2.1 meters in height though an average height of an adult was believed to be 1.7 meters.

The University of Sanbra concluded that the fact that all Chiss often appeared in very good physical shape was an indication that the species possessed an active metabolism which was responsible for their trim figure. Thus, this was believed to be responsible for preventing obesity that was commonly found within sedentary humanoids. Whilst their reported concluded that they were indeed near-Humans, they had not determined a specific point of evolutionary divergence. There was, in fact, a Human sleeper ship colony established on Csilla around 27,500 BBY, though records of this were virtually nonexistent and it remained unknown how a remote area of the galaxy could have been trailblazed so far back. They did display, physiologically, very few signs of evolutionary adaptations to their icy environment with even their skin pigmentation not providing any apparent benefit. Beyond the obvious physical features, physiologically, the Chiss were similar to Humans to the point that they possessed a comparable circulatory, neurological, digestive and reproductive systems. The Chiss vocal mechanism was noted for being similar to Humans but there were apparent differences which was evident in their capacity to speak their native language.

In addition, their growth rate was greatly accelerated to the point that they matured quickly and much faster when compared to Humans. Chiss of the age of 10-years of age held the physical maturity of a 20-year old Human. This in turn resulted in a culturally-imprinted emotional maturity that was many times above that of their Human counterparts. They were capable of living upto 80 years old where a Chiss was considered venerable; children were between 1-10 whilst they became adults between 11-13 and were considered full adults by 15-50. Middle-age was between the ages of 51-62 and those between the ages of 63-79 which was considered old.

Certain anthropologists believed that the Nagai were perhaps an offshoot of the Chiss but no legends or history records in either species indicated the validity of such a claim.

History

The origin of the Chiss were largely unknown, even to the Chiss themselves though some scientists thought that they were the result of a long forgotten Human colony that had been lost to time. This was the leading theory held by not only Chiss historians but scientists within the New Republic who held the view that this colony predated the formation of the Old Republic. A report by the University of Sanbra indicated that very little was known of Chiss history due to their own records being carefully guarded on their homeworld. However, scattered reports from many intrepid scholars also believed that the Chiss were a forgotten colonization attempt that was mostly based on their resemblance to Humanity. Genetic analysis in fact confirmed that the Chiss were indeed an offshoot of the Human race's earliest attempts at colonization. It was believed that sometime before 27,000 BBY, a lost colony of Humans settled in the Unknown Regions on the planet Csilla.

According to Chiss legend, their homeworld was once a warm and tropical planet. However, the planet was later locked in an ice age with profound glaciation encompassing the terrestrial world which forced the Chiss ancestors to travel along the ice front's leading age in order to survive at the temperate front as glaciers began spreading across the planet. It was believed that the glacialation process occured over an extended period of time and at an age when the Chiss were already technologically advanced which allowed them to overcome these challenges to their survival by way of technological adaptations. This led to many to conclude that the early Chiss existed on Csilla prior to it succumbing to an ice age. Thus, Csilla became later nearly became almost inhospitable by 5,000 BBY and it was only by living underground did this divergent species survive. It was this later act that furthered the genetic changes notably seen in their skin tone and eyes which marked the Chiss being very different from their ancestral race. As such, it was believed that by going underground, the race gradually began to diverge from the baseline Human species and the glacial mineral content began to alter their physiology into its more modern form.

Xenosociologists believed that this period had a profound impact on the developing Chiss and led to them evolving to their current mindset. However, little was known of these early Chiss as certain legends indicated that a decadent culture had formed in the tropics that were unprepared for this ice age. Related parables even stated that northern dwelling Chiss slaughtered their decadent southern cousins when resources became sparse and chilling temperatures befell the planet. Regardless, it was known that the Chiss adapted well to their planet during its climatic change and began tapping into geothermal energy as a power source. This led to them to build several populous cities amongst the glaciers and were quick to develop a global government. Thus, they avoided the adolscence period on developing worlds that saw nations compete with one another as well as adopted a planet-wide tongue. Eventually, their species mastered star travel independently with some speculation that they tapped into the ancient memories of the colonization effort that first brought them to Csilla.



Society
Their society was highly structured and ordered with the rule of law being enforced by a group of affiliations known as the Ruling Families, also known as the Ruling Circle., that consisted of a number of clans or houses. These were not biological family groupings but instead different branches of their government. Among their ranks included the Csapla, Nuruodo, Inrokini and Sabosen families with some sources stating that they represented bloodlines that predated modern Chiss civilization. Every Chiss was known to had claimed affiliation to one of the four families which was determined by both tradition as well as place of birth. In reality, the family names were more of a cultural holdover as the bloodlines had grown so co-meddled that any Chiss could claim affiliation to any of the ruling families. As families themselves were not in competition, rivalries themselves were rare according to one report by the University of Sanbra as a Chiss' allegiance to one family did not normally affect their day-to-day living.[8] In spite of the outward impression of calm and order that the Chiss liked to project to outsiders, there were evidently tensions within the Families. This was evident by the fact that there was a tricky balance of power amongst the families. In 27 ABY, the Chaf were prepared to incite civil war if it would give them superiority over the other Families. In addition, political political assassinations were apparently a real part of Chiss political life for the Ruling Families and other allied kin-groups.

These ruling families were composed of clans that were headed by government officials known as Aristocras. Those chiss that belonged to the same house defended one another at every opportunity whilst those from competing houses searched for facts that could be used to snipe or undermine the other whilst attempting to secure any advantage for themselves. Though Thrawn was an exceptional member of his species, his rational approach to problem solving was shared by the ruling families that governed the Chiss Ascendancy. As a general rule, Chiss did not take part in any action that would bring shame on their house with entire family lines exiled due to the actions of a single member. A tradition of shadow children was also recorded, these were offspring who were kept safely anonymous to prevent a family bloodline being fully exterminated.As a general rule, a Chiss never did something that would knowingly bring shame to their family with entire lines being exiled due to the actions of a single family member.
he best-documented means of acquiring Family status through merit was that which operated in the military. For the duration of their service, every officer in the Chiss military was attached to one of the Ruling Families as a "merit adoptive," and while under normal circumstances, this Family status was lost when an individual left the service, those of particular ability were said to be "born to trial," and given the opportunity to make their Family status permanent. If these Trial-born of the Family were successful, they would be permanently "matched" to the lineage; conversely, members of a Ruling Family could apparently also be "released" and "rematched," although it is even less clear how this processes operated.[4] It is possible that marriage was involved in matching, although no mention is yet known that indicates an institution of marriage among the Chiss. There was a hierarchy of leadership within each Family, consisting of brothers and sisters (known collectively as siblings), plus cousins, and ranking distant relations—the last being the highest level that the most able Trial-born could reasonably hope to achieve. Individuals with the ranks of Aristocra and Syndic also served as high-level representatives of the Families, with seemingly plenipotentiary powers, though an Aristocra could hold only collateral rank within the internal hierarchy, and a Syndic at least could be Trial-born.

The families themselves were quite aware of any opportunity where they were able to exploit the weakness of a rival. As such, they were quick to take offense at any insult that was perceived against their position. Those Chiss caught in the middle of inter-house rivalries spent much of their time in intelligence gathering in order to get useful information that could be used for blackmail even if it was only capable of being used many years in the future. This trait mmade the Chiss excellent counterintelligence agents with a trained member of their kind able to see through disguises, evaluate body language, detect idiosyncrasies in speech pattern and even distinguish authentic items from forgeries.Chiss officers, as seen by Jagged Fel during the Yuuzhan Vong War, informed the New Republic that the highest structures of power and influence within the Family hierarchies were kept largely secret from those outside them.

The number of Ruling Families within Chiss society was not a fixed number and was in a state of flux. In 27 BBY when a group of Corellian spacers encountered the Chiss Ascendancy, there were Nine Ruling Families at the time. This was because their numbers fluctuated with events and political fortunes. As stated by Thrawn, over the various centuries, there had been as many as twelve and as few as three Ruling Families that led the Chiss. The Fifth Ruling Family were the Chaf, who wore yellow, and apparently held a specific portfolio for diplomacy and foreign affairs, while the Second and Eighth Ruling Families shared a military oversight role. It was to the second of these two Families that Thrawn and his brother Thrass belonged; they wore dark red, and naming patterns indicate that they were known as the Mitth family. By 22 ABY, the University of Sanbra indicated in their report that there were only four Ruling Families amongst the Chiss at that time.

According to the Sanbra report, House Csapla was responsible for relationship between Csilla and the colony worlds, and the associated distribution of foodstuffs and the allocation of economic resources. House Nuruodo was responsible for relations with outsiders, including control of the CEDF. Chiss that had dealt with both the Empire and the New Republic were almost universally operatives of the Nuruodo family. House Inrokini was responsible for technological research, manufacturing, and the information infrastructure. And House Sabosen was responsible for law and order, healthcare and education. The cloaks of the representatives encountered in 29 ABY, in bronze, rust-red, gray and copper-green, implicitly represented the colors of these families. In that year, a Jedi delegation met with the leaders of the Ruling Families whose identities were concealed by hooded cloaks in what appear to have been symbolic shades of color denoting their bloodlines.


http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Chiss

[Ragolution]

Best race besides humans.

+Support

[GeneralGold]

Damn, nice work putting this together. And I see above that Rag supported, so i'l do the same...?

+Support

[Das_Uberman]

This race has my support, whatever its worth (probably not a lot).

+Support

On a side note, that first picture looks like the Chiss version of Captin Kirk.

[Ragolution]

This race has my support, whatever its worth (probably not a lot).

+Support

On a side note, that first picture looks like the Chiss version of Captin Kirk.

That's basically what Grand Admiral Thrawn was.

[Roy]

this is what thawn was