INFO: The Lyunesi were a frail species of sentients.
RACE: Lyunesi
HEIGHT: 1.4 Meters Tall
SKIN: Grey to dark grey
DISTINCTION: Linguists, sensitivity to body language
LANGUAGE: Lyunesi
HOMEWORLD:Ryoone was a dismal planet in the Outer Rim characterized by a "seemingly permanent suspension of ash in the upper atmosphere."
BIOLOGY AND APPEARANCE:The Lyunesi were a fragile species, one of six that were native to the planet Ryoone. Their faculty in translating languages and capturing every nuance of body language ensured their survival on their homeworld, which was consumed in intense competition among its indigenous species. The Lyunesi also made use of their linguistic ability offworld, serving as comm handlers at communications nexuses across the galaxy. However, in their encounters with other species, their sensitivity to body language could lead individual Lyunesi to develop an all-consuming passion for another being, which compromised their rationality. The Lyunesi comm handler Oph Nar Dinnid was forced to flee his employment in the Narrant system after this condition led him to have an affair with the alpha concubine of his liege-lord. Dinnid fled to the Shell Hutts for protection but was eventually killed.
CULTURE AND HISTORY:The historic survival of the Lyunesi was dependent on their proficiency in inter-species translation. Their skill extended beyond translating words and meaning, and came to include every nuance of body language, despite dealing with species that functioned on differing metabolic bases. So great was their ability that they were more effective than protocol droids. However, their hyper-sensitivity to communication occasionally manifested in a hyper-eros, or all consuming passion, for another sentient. Frequently reciprocated by the object of their desire, this condition could leave both individuals without a shred of self-preserving intelligence, leading to a variety of unfortunate outcomes.
The Lyunesi evolved on the backwater planet Ryoone, located near the end of the Koda Spur in the Wazta sector of the Outer Rim Territories. For millennia, the upper atmosphere of their homeworld was permeated with volcanic ash, resulting in fierce competition for survival among the world's six indigenous species. These other, stronger, species would have wiped out the Lyunesi, had they not mastered inter-species communications. This skill made the Lyunesi irreplaceable in managing the fluid and rapidly shifting alliances, declarations of war, and swiftly terminated peace treaties that characterized relations between the planet's other species.
IN THE GALAXY:Lyunesi were found throughout the galaxy, working at every communications nexus between differing sectors of the Galactic Empire, fine-tuning the messages and negotiations that passed between the regions. Lyunesi involved in these high-level diplomatic positions occasionally created major scandals when seized by an all-consuming passion for another sentient. One such crisis was created by Oph Nar Dinnid. The Lyunesi worked as a comm handler and protocol intermediary for one of the major liege-holder clans out in the Narrant system—the clans were loose confederations of genetically linked species, with complex layers of ritual obeisance and blood oaths maintaining their unity. Dinnid fell for his supreme liege-lord's alpha concubine and was caught—publicly—in a compromising position with her.
Dinnid fled the Narrant system, seeking refuge with the Shell Hutts, but not without a large bounty being placed on his head. Dinnid offered the Hutts confidential information on the leige-lord's activities, which he had stored in memory augmentors surgically implanted in his cortical areas. Dinnid was eventually killed by the Shell Hutt Gheeta on Circumtore, the home planet of the Shell Hutts.
APPEARANCES:The Mandalorian Armor (First appearance)(Appears in flashback(s))
SOURCES:The New Essential Guide to Characters (Indirect mention only)
The Official Star Wars Fact File 27 (FET13, Boba Fett)
The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (Under Dinnid, Oph Nar)
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