INFO: Svivreni were furry, short equinoid sentients native of the planet Svivren. The rocky environment of their homeworld turned them into a stout species. They created a civilization of hard-working people with a natural talent for geology.
Svivreni were particularly known for their skill in mineralogy and for their hard stubborness. They also liked to have long ponytails from their manes for cultural reasons. The Svivreni had elaborate greetings and farewells, never using the word "goodbye."
Initially members of the Old Republic, the Svivreni forbade weapons on their planet and exacted strict punishment for outlaws, including execution, which reduced crime and helped them turn Svivren into an important trade world. The species avoided involvement in the Clone Wars and tried to remain neutral during the Galactic Civil War. In the days of the New Republic, the Galactic Empire attempted to conquer Svivren, but the Svivreni resisted Grand Admiral Thrawn's attacks through sheer obstinacy. The species later associated with the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and with the Galactic Alliance Remnant.
RACE: Svivreni
HEIGHT: .5 to .8 Meters Tall
SKIN: Pink (HAIR: Orange)
DISTINCTION: Anthropomorphic equinoids, long manes
LANGUAGE: Svivreni
HOMEWORLD:Svivren was the Svivreni homeworld, an Outer Rim Territories world not too far from the planet Andasala. Despite the harsh nature of the mountainous world and its severe seasonal variation, Svivren became an important trading port[3], and its population of more than eight billion included large colonies of Humans, Sullustans and, by 9 ABY, Ewoks. The source of Svivren's Ewok population is unknown. The importance of trade was reflected in the planet's Festival of Great Trade.
The planet was directly represented in the Galactic Senate, and it remained completely neutral during the Galactic Civil War. Svivreni law forbid the presence of any personal weapons, and any violent acts resulted in immediate execution; its well-armed security forces (apparently exempt from the law) carried out these harsh codes efficiently.
The planet was divided into a northern and a southern district. The northern district was experiencing an anti-Imperial rebellion as of 4 ABY. The southern district as a result had fewer troops and of less quality. The southern garrison was commanded by High General Touno, who resided in the southern district's capital of Wrils.
During the Thrawn campaign, Imperial forces attempted to subjugate the planet, but the notoriously stubborn Svivreni resisted occupation and siege efforts, and doggedly refused to submit to Imperial rule.
The planet was home to the Svivren Xenomineralogy Institute, which graduated fine mining foremen and metallurgists.
BIOLOGY AND APPEARANCE:The Svivreni were an equinoid sentient species whose bodies were mostly humanoid in layout. Adult Svivreni ranged in height from .5 to .8 Meters tall, very rarely surpassing a Meter. However, due to their stout complexion and resilience, they were as strong as any Human-sized species. Unlike many other beings their size, the Svivreni had long arms, which allowed them to handle full-sized technological items, such as blaster rifles, with ease. While their shorter legs prevented Svivreni from achieving the racing speed of a Human, they could still outpace some taller species, such as Noghris. This was partially due to the cloven hooves that served the Svivreni as feet.
Each Svivreni had a large, stout head with big eyes and a wide, projecting snout which they could use to snort. They also had upright, equine ears that convulsed in moments of stress.Each Svivreni hand had four triple-jointed fingers that gradually narrowed from the hand to the nail.
The body of a Svivreni was almost completely covered by short, coarse fur, except for the snout, the eyes, the hooves and the ears. The Svivreni also had a mane of longer hair at the top of their heads and further growths on their arms. Svivreni customarily let this hair grow uncut, tying it into a ponytail instead. The hairstyle reached from the head to below the waist in older Svivreni, who could easily reach 125 years of age. However, this was not a trait exclusive to the elders: Younger Svivreni including Tyro Caladian, by then a young adult, achieved a mane of that length, and his cousin Curran Caladian, who was considered young at this point, had a braid reaching his knees.
Svivreni could easily outlive Humans, as the equinoids only considered retirement at ninety standard years of age. They only began to suffer ill effects of age at fifty-five, to a level comparable to a forty-one-year Human. However, the Svivreni matured to adulthood at sixteen, exactly the same as Humans, and they reached adolescency at eleven, while Humans took one more year to do so.
CULTURE AND HISTORY:The Svivreni were known galaxywide for their obstinacy: Once a Svivreni had reached a decision, he or she would very rarely reconsider, something that gave them a chance to resist shrewd sellers and even the mind-influencing powers of the Force. As a collective, the Svivreni disliked and strongly opposed efforts to convince them to do something of which they did not approve; they were also opposed to the mere idea of external forces conquering their home. Although stubborness was not universali, most Svivreni did share this feature to a great extent: Several Svivreni mineralogists working outside their native planet Svivren were headstrong enough to defend their ideas in a brawl if needed; when they grew older and more experienced, they fought less, but became even more adamant.
Svivreni were skilled miners and mineralogists, and they had a well-deserved reputation for this work. This penchant led some of them to become scouts. Important extraplanetary businesses often hired Svivreni professionals to manage and supervise mining projects on either planets or asteroids. The exploits of Svivreni in mining and metallurgics, particularly for the private sector, were as renowned as their resolution. The species appeared to have a talent to appraise the value of any mined material, from gems to more mundane minerals. As Svivreni commonly had to use many tools, they favored working trousers with copious pockets and pouches; to improve the mobility of their arms, they preferred sleeveless robes. For the Svivreni mineralogist, the recognition of peers was important, even though the collective could hardly reach quorum about who was the best mineralogist in history. They nevertheless recognized Saqc'or as one of the toughest mineralogists ever.
Certain historians compared the Svivreni with the similarly stubborn Human settlers of Poderis but, although the Poderisans tried their best to improve the status of their marginal world, they never achieved the success of their counterparts: The Svivreni managed, through sheer effort and dedication, to transform their harsh planet into an important trade world with no less than seven spaceports, including one with the state-of-the-art technology, complete repair ports and storage areas, comparable to Coruscant's port facilities. They bought food and pharmaceuticals from other worlds while selling computers, droids and other high and middle technology. With this, Svivren achieved a population of 8.5 billion sentients, including native Svivreni, Humans, Sullustans and a surprisingly big population of Ewoks in the times of the New Republic. Having become an important trade world, the Svivreni developed traditional clothing for their traders, including robes and turbans.
The Svivreni came from the harsh, mountainous planet Svivren in the Seswenna sector of the Outer Rim. It was a world with extreme seasons ] in its various climatic zones. Several areas, including the mines of Nalvar, were relentless on their inhabitants. Due to the planet's severity, the Svivreni evolved into a muscular species, far stouter than many other sentients. The same conditions led to their natural suppleness.
They became resolute miners by fighting the harshness of Svivren; historians agreed that the Svivreni penchant for stubborness was developed because of significant natural hazards on the planet Svivren during the biological and cultural evolution of the species. The planet Svivren was scouted by the Galactic Republic during the last millennia before the battle of Yavin, and at some point during the Old Republic era, the species joined the galactic government. The planet achieved importance due to its rich mines. The Svivreni ability for geology became famous, and many of the equinoids left their world to work in that field. Others became Jedi seers and began roaming both the Outer Rim and the Unknown Regions.
The natives who remained on Svivren made it thrive as a trading post. As offworlders became common on the planet, Svivreni grew intolerant of outlaw offworlders: The species forbade all violent crime and the possession of weapons. Smugglers avoided Svivren, considering it too dangerous for their kind.
During the years leading to the Separatist crisis of 24 BBY, the Svivreni considered themselves a peaceful species, and some of them were worried about the growing disorder in the galaxy. Senator Sano Sauro of Eeropha attempted to obtain control over the mines of Svivren and use them in a project to develop weapons, but this operation was illegal as the native Svivreni were strongly and specifically opposed to the arms industry. The crime was avoided, but Sauro managed to avoid any responsability and, even though he was known to be the man behind the plan, and faced no legal or penal responsability.
Svivren was not directly affected by the galaxy-wide conflict known as the Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY). After the hostilities ceased, the less fortunate planet Berchest tried to promove itself as a trading center, bringing itself into competition with Svivren. Although prosperous, Berchest never became as important as Svivren or other important trading centers such as Ketaris.
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:As their planet received constant traffic from offworlders, Svivreni enforced strict laws forbidding any personal weapon to citizens and visitors, anywhere in the planet, except for the regulamentary gear carried by the well-armed Svivreni security force. However, c. 4 ABY, several smugglers managed to hide important cachés of blasters in the area of Wrils. Violent action in Svivren was punished with immediate and public execution, something that, combined with the previous measure, helped to keep crime to a minimum, as well as deterring scoundrels from visiting the world due to the dangers it presented to them. Other galactic groups criticized the harsh laws of Svivren, notwithstanding their results.
Svivreni valued both the fur covering their bodies and the manes on their heads. Some Svivreni were known to smooth their facial pelage with their hands when nervous or focused. The hair from the head was more important, and was customarily allowed to grow, without cutting it: The Svivreni considered its thickness a reflection of the bearer's intelligence and fertility. The elders, who could be easily recognized by their manes reaching below their waists, were particularly respected in their culture—however, younger Svivreni sometimes also had very long hair. Many Svivreni tied their hair with leaves of Nalvar grass from Svivren as a sort of homage to their homeworld. Others used metal rings.
LINGUISTICS TRAITS:Svivreni had several protocolary traditional greetings and farewells, depending on the relationship of affection between the Svivreni and the sentient the Svivreni was talking to. The most affectionate greeting included opening a hand, closing it again, and then placing it in the heart. Svivreni considered it bad luck to say "goodbye" in any language, so they preferred to part from a loved one with "The journey begins. So go." When parting from a close friend, a Svivreni raised a hand with spread fingers; the friend was supposed to mimic the gesture so that the Svivreni could press his palm with the friend's.
The species' native language could not be reproduced by Humans because it relied on the Svivreni vocal range. Not all the Svivreni learned Galactic Basic Standard, but some did.
Naming conventions for Svivreni preferred one-word names, such as Mihalik or Saqc'or, and names including a first name and a surname, such as Casin Mak or Kitalic Nirasic. Relatives shared the surname, as exemplified in cousins Curran Caladian and Tyro Caladian.
THE GALACTIC EMPIRE AND THE CIVIL WAR:During the time of the Galactic Empire, Svivren remained a galactically important commerce center, with Imperials present on the world, but the Svivreni Trade Alliance retained control over the government. The appearance of the Alliance to Restore the Republic in 2 BBY marked the beginning of the Galactic Civil War. The Svivreni people dismissed the conflict, calling it "political infighting" and refused to take part. Nevertheless, many individual Svivreni helped the Alliance in their fight against the Empire, even if they would rather have been working for private interests.
In 4 ABY, a Jeodu crimelord named Dequc attempted to revive the crime sindicate Black Sun under the new name Black Nebula. He traveled to Svivren to deal with small criminal cartels and arm dealers who had slipped past the local security. Dequc went to the southern area of Wrils, where Imperial General Touno had proved himself unable to control the area—to the point of being unable to arrest Cevva Xuz, a Rodian with known links to the Alliance. Not wanting Black Sun to thrive again, the Emperor Palpatine sent Mara Jade, the Emperor's Hand, to Svivren to murder Dequc, taking advantage of him being outside his more protected headquarters.
Jade, who wanted to atone for a failed mission, contacted Touno and pretended to be after Xuz, mostly to stage a distraction. Touno assigned captain Strok to help Jade; but Strok was a corrupt officer working undercover for Dequc. Strok and his stormtroopers tried to arrest Xuz publically, but Xuz's Rebel forces began a shoot-out in the streets of Svivren, which resulted in the deaths of troops and of several innocent bystanders. Strok discovered that Jade was after Dequc and alerted the Jeodu; thus, Dequc escaped from Svivren and left behind a decoy who was killed by Jade. She then left the planet, stepping around the corpses left by the skirmish.
