INFO: Columi are seldom found "out in the open." They are special beings who operate behind the scenes, regardless of what they are doing. Actually meeting a Columi is an unusual event.
Columi will almost invariably be leaders or lieutenants of some type (military, criminal, political, or corporate) or scholars. In any case, they will be dependent on their assistants to perform the actual work for them (and they greatly prefer to have droids and other mechanicals as their assistants.)
Columi are extremely fearful of all organic life except other Columi, and will rarely be encountered by accident, preferring to remain in their offices and homes and forceing interested parties to come to them.
RACE: Columi
HEIGHT: 1.0 to 1.75 Meters Tall
SKIN: Purple to brown
DISTINCTION: Very large cranium, atrophied limbs
LANGUAGE: Colum
HOMEWORLD:Columus was the homeworld of the ancient Columi species, which lived in tree-spanning cities and developed interstellar travel in 100,000 BBY. Around 24,500 BBY it was the site of a battle during the First Great Schism. By the latter days of the Galactic Republic, Columus was something of a backwater, with Columi civilization having been overtaken in influence by younger species.
Though their technology was up to galactic standard, it was too specialized to attract significant trade. The Columi tried to attract trade by marketing their homeworld as a tourist destination, though the health benefits of Columus' low gravity were disputed.
During the Clone Wars, its therapeutic cloning technology was restricted as was all nonmilitary cloning. When the Galactic Empire turned its attentions towards Columus, the Columi reacted with uncharacteristic swiftness and joined the Imperial cause. Though the Columi feared and despised other, more "primitive" sentients, they were willing to lend assistance to the Empire in exchange for being left alone.
A minority of Columi went renegade, and lent their intellectual assistance to criminal organizations or even the Rebel Alliance. The Imperial sentientologist Obo Rin also claimed in his Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy that the Empire made first contact with the Columi, much as he did with the Mon Calamari.
BIOLOGY AND APPEARANCE:The Columi originally evolved from herbivorous reptiles who roamed the marshes of the low-gravity planet Columus. Over time, the Columi began to develop their minds and their society to the exclusion of their bodies. While their limbs and torsos shrank and atrophied, their brains expanded. They eventually developed highly sophisticated brains, with four cerebrums and over one hundred lobes. Their eyes became highly acute, able to detect most of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, they lost their senses of smell and taste, and became essentially immobile. Eventually, they became utterly dependent on machines, repulsorlift chairs, and droids for mobility and all other physical tasks. These devices were controlled by radio signals generated by the Columi's brain waves. One such device was the Columi mental hoverpod, a vehicle controlled by mental projection. Eventually, the Columi gained sufficient understanding of non-Columi minds to allow the device to be modified to work with other sentients.
CULTURE AND HISTORY:The Columi quickly developed a technological civilization and, by 100,000 BBY, interstellar spacecraft. However, their early explorations in search of other civilizations led to disappointing results. Every life-bearing planet they discovered, including Coruscant and Duro, was inhabited by people they considered no better than subsentients and barbarians. To make matters worse, the gravity on other planets was much too high for the Columi’s comfort. The disillusioned Columi abandoned space travel, and retreated to Columus to develop in isolation.
By the latter days of the Galactic Republic, Columus was something of a backwater, with Columi civilization having been overtaken in influence by younger species. Though their technology was up to galactic standard, it was too specialized to attract significant trade. The Columi tried to attract trade by marketing their homeworld as a tourist destination, though the health benefits of Columus' low gravity were disputed. The Columi also had cloning facilities on their homeworld—facilities which were their only means of reproduction—but civilian use of these facilities was restricted during the Clone Wars.
The Columi government was a democracy, where every Columi had an equal share in decision making. This resulted in policy discussions which dragged on for years. However, when the Galactic Empire turned its attentions towards Columus, the Columi reacted with uncharacteristic swiftness and joined the Imperial cause. Though the Columi feared and despised other, more "primitive" sentients, they were willing to lend assistance to the Empire in exchange for being left alone. Many Columi thinkers held positions within the Imperial administration. A minority of Columi went renegade, and lent their intellectual assistance to criminal organizations or even the Rebel Alliance. Boss Tosk, a crime lord operating in the Tapani sector, was perhaps the best known Columi renegade.
Despite admitting that they had an ancient civilization, the Imperial sentientologist Obo Rin claimed in his Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy that the Empire was the first galactic civilization to make contact with the Columi. These claims, revealed to merely be Imperial propaganda, were similar to those he made about the Mon Calamari.
APPEARANCES:Healthy Vacation Claims Disputed—HoloNet News Vol. 531 56
Star Wars Missions 15: Voyage to the Underworld
Scoundrel's Luck
The Courtship of Princess Leia
Zorba the Hutt's Revenge (Possible appearance)
SOURCES:Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races
Star Wars Gamemaster Screen
Galladinium's Fantastic Technology
Lords of the Expanse
The New Essential Chronology
The New Essential Guide to Droids
The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
The Essential Atlas
The History of Xim and the Tion Cluster on Hyperspace (article)
I would like to thank Wookieepedia for this info.
