Emberlene's Daughter, The Jedi Generalist
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- Name: Durga'Vesh
- Designation: Sentient
- Origins: Peridea
- Average Lifespan: 350–450 standard years (full adulthood reached at 33–35 with the final arm-molt; elder status begins around 300 when silver threading and golden runes manifest).
- Estimated Population: Rare (Planetary) – approximately 380,000–410,000
- Description: The Durga'Vesh are a majestic, multi-limbed humanoid species hailing from the mist-shrouded highlands of the Eternal Spires, where ancient volcanic forges and sacred flame-temples shape their enduring bond with fire and guardianship. Standing between 6.5 and 8 feet tall, they possess a robust yet elegantly proportioned build, with broad shoulders tapering to a defined waist and powerful legs that evoke the unyielding strength of mountain roots. Their overall form radiates an aura of poised ferocity, as if every muscle and sinew is honed for both ritual dance and unyielding defense, allowing them to move with a hypnotic sway that belies their formidable presence.
Their skin gleams with a warm, terracotta hue, smooth and resilient like polished bronze tempered in sacred fires, subtly shifting in tone from deep amber at the extremities to a richer saffron along the torso under the play of light. This natural luster is accented by faint, natural henna-like patterns of deeper crimson that swirl across the shoulders, upper arms, and thighs, resembling flickering flames or protective wards etched by ancestral artisans. These markings, which intensify in color during exertion or spiritual communion, serve as both cultural talismans and physiological indicators of vitality, pulsing faintly like embers in a dying forge.
The most defining feature of the Durga'Vesh is their ten powerful arms, emerging in symmetrical pairs from the shoulders and upper torso in a cascade of graceful multiplicity. The uppermost two arms are the broadest and most dominant, extending with a slight upward curve to wield tools or weapons with commanding precision; below them, the next pair angles forward for intricate crafting or ritual gestures; the middle set drapes elegantly across the chest for balance and expression; while the lowest pair, emerging just above the hips, provides subtle support for stability or delicate manipulation. Each arm is adorned with multiple layers of golden bangles and armlets that chime softly with movement, their joints flexible yet reinforced with subtle ridges of denser tissue for enhanced grip strength. The hands are five-fingered with elongated, dexterous phalanges tipped in neatly manicured nails that can harden to a chitinous edge in moments of need, allowing for everything from weaving intricate tapestries to brandishing ceremonial blades.
Crowning their form is a cascade of thick, raven-black hair, often gathered into a high, ornate bun secured by jeweled pins that evoke cascading waterfalls of ebony silk. Stray tendrils frame the face and shoulders, moving with a life of their own in the slightest breeze, as if infused with the winds of forgotten battles. The face itself is a study in regal intensity: almond-shaped eyes of molten amber flecked with gold, framed by thick lashes and bold, arched brows that convey both serene wisdom and unblinking resolve; a straight, noble nose leading to full lips often curved in a knowing half-smile; and high, sculpted cheekbones dusted with subtle golden powder in ceremonial contexts. A central forehead mark, or bindi, of crimson ochre adorns the third eye position, symbolizing inner sight and ancestral guidance.
Their attire honors their heritage of flame and forge, favoring flowing saffron drapes of lightweight silk that wrap around the lower body like a warrior's sarong, secured at the waist by a broad belt of interlocking golden discs inlaid with emeralds that catch the light like captured fireflies. Across the upper torso, elaborate necklaces and pectoral harnesses of hammered gold, strung with multifaceted gems and tiny bells, provide both adornment and symbolic armor, layering in intricate filigree patterns that depict mythic guardians and blooming lotuses. Barefoot or clad in simple leather straps reinforced with metal clasps, their feet are calloused yet graceful, toes splayed for sure footing on uneven terrain.
In repose, a Durga'Vesh exudes an almost meditative calm, their multiple arms folded in harmonious layers like the petals of a sacred bloom. Yet in action, they unfold into a symphony of coordinated motion, each limb contributing to a fluid ballet of creation or combat that has inspired countless epics. Their voice carries a resonant timbre, layered with subtle harmonics as if echoing from multiple throats in unison, speaking in a melodic dialect rich with proverbs of endurance and unity.
- Breathes: Type I and Type II atmospheres (oxygen-nitrogen mix). They can tolerate higher carbon-dioxide and sulfur traces than baseline humans due to Peridea's volcanic air, and can hold breath for up to 40 standard minutes.
- Average Height of Adults: Females 2.1–2.45 m; males 2.0–2.35 m (measured from sole to crown of head while standing erect).
- Average Length of Adults: N/A
- Skin color: Warm terracotta, saffron-bronze, bronze-amber, or deep umber depending on racial lineage; all shades possess a subtle metallic sheen under direct light.
- Hair color: Jet-black at birth, remaining raven-black throughout life. Elders gradually develop natural silver-white strands that never turn gray; the silver is considered a mark of wisdom and Force-attunement.
- Distinctions: The Durga'Vesh, ancient sentient guardians native to the extragalactic world of Peridea, are instantly identified by their ten fully functional arms arranged in five symmetrical pairs along a long, powerful torso. Their skin is dense, heat-resistant, and ranges in natural tone from warm terracotta to deep bronze-amber or rich umber, etched with living crimson runes that brighten dramatically when they draw upon the Force. These runes are not ink but organic midichlorian conduits unique to their species, flaring like molten lines when in combat or deep meditation.
Females stand 2.1–2.4 m with broader hips and a graceful forward sweep of the upper arms; males average 2–2.3 m with heavier shoulder mass and deeper vocal resonance. Juveniles are born with eight arms; the final, lowest pair erupts during a violent ritual molt between ages 25–35 amid the crimson ring-storms of Peridea, often triggering their first conscious vision of the Three. Elders (300–450 years) develop silver-white threads in their raven-black hair and watch their crimson runes slowly transmute to glowing gold that needs no light source.
Caste and devotion are worn openly on the lower four arms: warriors bear raised, keloid scar-runes earned in defense of the Three, while mystics and artisans display intricate gem-dusted henna that refracts Peridea's twin moonlight into shifting constellations of ancient glyphs. - Races: The Durga'Vesh of Peridea recognize four sacred racial lineages, each irrevocably tied to one of the Mortis Gods who once walked their world in the distant past. Three remain; the fourth was banished into the void with the Mother.
- Vahni-Ra ("Children of the Father"): Highland temple-keepers with rich saffron-bronze skin and bold, angular crimson runes that flare white-hot under perfect balance. They are the tallest, most numerous, and serve as the final arbiters of Peridea's great ring-forges.
- Nadi-Sari ("Children of the Daughter"): Lowland river and grassland dwellers with lighter bronze-amber skin and flowing, wave-form runes of serene crimson. Graceful healers and life-wardens, they maintain the planet's last green sanctuaries.
- Kshalara ("Children of the Son"): Deep umber night-stalkers of the basalt deserts; their markings appear charred black until rage or shadow ignites them into violent gold. Swift, solitary, and feared, they patrol the outer wastes yet swear ultimate loyalty to the Father's equilibrium.
- Abyssa-Vel ("Children of the Mother" – the Exiled Race): Once pale alabaster with runes of shifting void-purple, they turned to chaos and were cast out with the Mother when the Mortis Gods departed. Legend claims the few survivors still lurk in Peridea's under-ring or fled aboard the great whale-ships into the void, their forms now warped and their runes bleeding starless black.
- The three extant races interbreed freely, and mixed-heritage children display flickering, unstable runes until they formally choose allegiance to Light, Dark, or Balance beneath Peridea's crimson sky.
- Force Sensitivity: All
- Ten‑Limb Neuro‑Synchronization: Durga'Vesh possess a uniquely distributed neuromuscular architecture: ten fully articulated arms controlled by a tri-lobed motor cortex that processes parallel tasks without cognitive bottlenecking. Each limb operates semi‑independently while still contributing to unified whole‑body coordination. This allows a single individual to wield ten melee weapons with precise timing, operate multi‑station starship controls in confined cockpits, or perform simultaneous surgical procedures on multiple patients. Their reaction times remain stable even under high stress, making them exceptionally effective in environments where multitasking determines survival.
- Extreme Environmental Hardening: Their dermal layers consist of dense, heat‑resistant keratin composites interwoven with mineralized plates capable of dispersing thermal and kinetic energy. Combined with expanded lung capacity and redundant oxygen‑binding proteins, Durga'Vesh can operate comfortably in volcanic atmospheres, withstand hard vacuum for several minutes without cellular collapse, and survive immersion in lava‑equivalent temperatures for short durations. Their cardiovascular system automatically shifts into a low‑oxygen, high‑pressure mode, allowing them to function in conditions lethal to most species.
- Force‑Dependent Physiology: Durga'Vesh biology is inseparable from the Force. Their runic markings are not decorative but literal midichlorian conduits that regulate organ stability, immune response, and neural coherence. When exposed to ysalamiri fields, void‑stone, or any severe Force‑nullifying environment, these conduits collapse. The result is immediate systemic pain, subdermal rune hemorrhaging, and rapid organ destabilization. More than a few minutes of exposure leads to irreversible failure and death, making Force suppression one of the few absolute threats to their survival.
- Cultural Rigidity and Ideological Inertia: Their society is structured around the Path of the Three an inflexible tri‑doctrinal system that governs ethics, governance, and acceptable uses of the Force. Consensus within a clan is treated as sacred law, and deviation is culturally equated with existential betrayal. As a result, Durga'Vesh adapt poorly to rapidly shifting galactic politics and resist philosophical assimilation. Attempts to convert them into orthodox Jedi or Sith frameworks almost always provoke hostility, as both are viewed as incomplete or dangerously imbalanced interpretations of the Force.
- Demographic Fragility: Durga'Vesh lifespans extend across several centuries, but their reproductive cycle is extremely slow. A typical adult produces only one or two offspring per century, and infant mortality though low still impacts long‑term population stability. With fewer than 400,000 individuals across all clans, the loss of a single citadel represents a multi‑generational demographic wound. Their low numbers also limit military expansion, colonization efforts, and large‑scale cultural diffusion, forcing them to prioritize preservation over growth.
- Diet: Omnivore with strong carnivorous preference. They require high-protein intake (roasted bandersnatch-style megafauna, giant arachnids, and smoked purrgil meat when available). Stap staples include fire-root tubers and fermented kouhun-venom fruit for ritual feasts. Most plant matter is consumed only after being charred or spiced to near-charcoal. Raw off-world vegetables are mildly toxic to them; unprocessed green leaves cause severe cramping.
- Communication: Durga'Veshai (a flowing, multi-tonal language that uses all ten arms for simultaneous gestural grammar; outsiders hear only half the meaning without watching the hands). They possess limited projective empathy through the Force, allowing silent emotional communication across short distances, especially strong between blood-relatives and with Nightsister clans.
- Technology level: Pre-Republic stasis on Peridea: bronze-age aesthetics fused with sophisticated Force-alchemical forges. They craft ring-forged alusteel blades harder than durasteel, multi-grip lightsaber pikes, and living-metal armor, but have no hyperdrive, repulsorlifts, or blasters of their own. Since Thrawn's arrival and the Nightsisters' return, select clans cautiously adopt and modify galactic tech (e.g., refitting E-wing actuators onto traditional ten-armed war-chariots).
- Religion/Beliefs: The Durga'Vesh follow the Path of the Three, a living Force tradition that predates both Jedi and Sith and claims direct descent from the Mortis Celestials who once walked Peridea in physical form. They do not view the Force as Light and Dark in opposition, but as three eternal aspects of one indivisible whole, each embodied by a Celestial and guarded by one of their surviving racial lineages:
- The Father – Asha'Vahn (Balance): The supreme principle of equilibrium. Vahni-Ra high guardians serve as living arbiters; their runes burn purest white only when perfect harmony is achieved. They alone may bear the ten-bladed Ring of Judgment, a circular lightsaber pike that can split into ten separate plasma edges.
- The Daughter – Nadi'Asha (Compassion / Life): Embodiment of serenity, healing, and renewal. Nadi-Sari priestesses maintain the Verdant Sanctums (rare green oases kept alive by woven light-side ichor magick). Their highest adepts can slow aging in others and coax dead soil to bloom, a gift shared freely with Nightsister allies.
- The Son – Ksha'Vhel (Strength / Power): Raw, controlled ferocity and the will to protect through destruction when necessary. Kshalara shadow warriors walk the knife-edge of darkness without falling; their gold-flaring runes are said to drink the aggression of enemies and turn it back upon them. They are the only Durga'Vesh permitted to wield crimson blades without being declared Abyssa-Vel.
- Every child is born with flickering runes that shift unpredictably between white, green-silver, and violent gold until the Rite of Choosing at age 33 beneath Peridea's triple-ringed eclipse. There, standing naked in the crimson storm, the adult-to-be must declare allegiance to one aspect while swearing ultimate loyalty to Balance. The chosen aspect permanently fixes the color and pattern of their lower-arm runes; refusal or inability to choose results in permanent exile as "Ringless."
- Force Traditions & Practices
- Runes: Living calligraphy using their own blood and Nightsister ichor to etch temporary wards on weapons, purrgil hides, or temple walls. Permanent are etched when a warrior achieves true mastery of their chosen aspect.
- Ten-Form Kata: Combat meditation performed with all ten arms simultaneously; each form honors a different combination of the Three. The legendary Form Zero – Stillness of the One requires perfect synchronization of all ten limbs while levitating.
- Purrgil Riding: Training to ride and work with Purrgils that they have worrked with and learned/taught to the witches of Dathomir.
- The Abyssa-Vel Heresy: Forbidden fourth path. Ancient texts claim the lost race discovered how to siphon power directly from the Mother's chaotic energies.
- Mortis Pilgrimage: Once per century, the greatest masters of all three lineages undertake the Walk of the Monolith, a vision-quest into Peridea's deepest chasm where some claim a shattered fragment of the original Mortis gateway still lies. None have returned unchanged; most do not return at all.
- Despite millennia of isolation, the Path of the Three remains uncorrupted by Jedi or Sith dogma. When Baylan Skoll set foot on Peridea, the high guardians sensed in him the same "greater mythology" they have guarded since the dawn of their species, and they watch both him and the returning Nightsisters with equal measures of hope and dread.
- Funeral Rites & Reincarnation Beliefs: The Durga'Vesh do not fear death; they call it Ashantara ("Return to the Ring"). Upon death the body is carried by the clan's ten strongest warriors to the nearest active volcanic crater or ring-forge. There, in full ceremonial armor and with all weapons laid across the chest, the deceased is placed upon a bier of purrgil bone and fire-root. The ten bearers each grasp one of the corpse's ten hands in their own, forming an unbroken circle of sixty fingers. As the eldest present sings the Song of Returning, the bier is lowered into the lava. The intense heat instantly consumes flesh, but the skeleton glows white-hot and rises once on a pillar of flame (seen as proof the soul has been accepted by the Three).
The molten bones are then quenched in sacred water mixed with Nightsister ichor. From the cooled remains the clan forges a single Soul-Ring: a thin band of black alchemical steel veined with the deceased's now-golden runes. This ring is worn by the closest living kin (child, sibling, or mate) on the smallest finger of their lowest left hand. It is believed the ancestor's essence literally lives within the ring, guiding the wearer through subtle Force impulses and dreams. - General behavior: Durga'Vesh society revolves around three unbreakable concepts: Clan, Ring, and Balance.
Every individual belongs to an extended clan of 40–250 souls who share a single volcanic citadel, ring-caravan, or sky-temple. Clan identity is stronger than personal identity; insults to one are answered by all ten-armed warriors present. Decisions are reached through the Circle of Sixty Fingers: the ten eldest or most honored members lock hands in a literal ring, channeling collective emotion through the Force until consensus emerges as a shared pulse in their runes.
They are intensely diurnal, rising with Peridea's crimson dawn and entering communal trance at twilight. Nights are reserved for storytelling, purrgil-song practice, and the quiet maintenance of weapons. Kshalara (Children of the Son) are the exception: many adopt crepuscular habits, hunting the basalt wastes from dusk to moonrise, returning with kills slung across multiple shoulders.
Child-rearing is communal and martial from the first breath. Infants are passed hand-to-hand among the clan so every adult imprints protective instinct. By age five children drill basic ten-limb coordination with wooden blades; by ten they accompany hunting parties; by fifteen they ride juvenile purrgil through the rings. Education has no "schools"; knowledge is absorbed by doing: forge-work, runeworrking, Nightsister ichor rites, and star-whale song are all taught master-to-apprentice in the open air. Failure is punished by temporary exile to the wastes until the child returns bearing a trophy that proves growth.
Mating and marriage are celebrated during the annual Flame-Waltz Festival beneath the triple rings. Suitors of any gender or lineage perform synchronized ten-armed dances while their runes flare in courtship colors. Partnerships are lifelong. Divorce is unknown; only death or exile severs a bond. Children belong to the entire clan, not the parents, ensuring no orphan ever exists.
Hospitality is sacred but conditional. A traveler who arrives on purrgil-back, speaks respectfully of the Three, and offers a gift (story, song, or blade) is welcomed with a ten-armed embrace and feasted for nine days. Those who mock the Path or harm a purrgil are judged instantly; the entire clan descends in coordinated silence, and the offender vanishes into a lava forge without ceremony.
The Durga'Vesh trace their lineage to the earliest intergalactic migrations associated with Peridea itself, carried across the void by purrgil matriarchs around 1,200,000 BBY under deliberate Force guidance. Their proto‑ancestors were an eight‑armed, semi‑sapient guardian caste shaped by the ambient energies of the planet. Between roughly 1,000,000 and 700,000 BBY, the Mortis gods manifested physically on Peridea, exerting direct influence on the species' development. Through a combination of Force‑driven mutation, selective breeding, and ritualized genetic imprinting, the proto‑population was transformed into the ten‑armed Durga'Vesh. Their crimson runes now a defining biological feature were originally seared into their genome as living midichlorian conduits, stabilizing their physiology and binding them to the Balance the Mortis triad sought to maintain. By the end of this era, the Durga'Vesh had become the planet's designated custodians, engineered to serve as both physical and metaphysical guardians of Peridea's unique Force ecology.
Around 612,000 BBY, the Abyssa‑Vel lineage attempted to awaken the dormant Mother and overturn the Balance established by the Mortis triad. This act triggered a planetary‑scale conflict remembered as the War of the Shattered Crust. The resulting Force shockwaves fractured Peridea's lithosphere, generating the debris rings that still encircle the world. The loyal three lineages those aligned with Balance ultimately prevailed, banishing the Abyssa‑Vel exiles and the awakened Mother into the void. In the aftermath, the Durga'Vesh adopted a doctrine of absolute isolation, interpreting the catastrophe as proof that external influence and ideological deviation posed existential threats. For the next six hundred millennia, they observed the galaxy's evolution from afar, tracking the rise and fall of the Rakata, Kwa, and early Republic without ever intervening. Their only sustained external contact began around 600 BBY, when fleeing Dathomirian Nightsisters arrived on purrgil‑back. The resulting Blood‑Ring Accord formalized mutual defense, shared magickal knowledge, and joint stewardship of Peridea's Force‑rich environments.
The Durga'Vesh remained unknown to the broader galaxy until 9 ABY, when Grand Admiral Thrawn and the last three surviving Nightmothers sought to get off Peridea.The encounters that followed forced the species to reassess their role in the galaxy, particularly as Nightsister vessels and purrgil migrations provided new avenues for controlled off‑world travel. Between 9 ABY and 150 ABY, small emissary groups began departing Peridea, each sanctioned by clan consensus and tasked with gathering intelligence, assessing galactic stability, and determining whether the Balance beyond Peridea required intervention. These emissaries operated quietly, often mistaken for myth or relic guardians, but their presence marked the first deliberate outward expansion in hundreds of thousands of years.
From the Gulag Plague and celestial encounter onward, increasing numbers of Ashantari individuals marked at birth by rare rune patterns undertook century‑long pilgrimages beyond Peridea. Many of these pilgrims gravitated toward the Silver Jedi Order who encountered them and were expanding to the companion galaxies under Matsu. Over time, Durga'Vesh guardians became integrated into the Order's infrastructure, serving as archivists, ritual specialists, and protectors of high‑value enclaves. By 902 ABY, ten‑armed statues and living guardians stood openly in Silver Jedi temples on Kashyyyk, Ossus, Ilum, Shri‑Tal, and several hidden outposts. Others chose solitary paths, maintaining secret forges in the Unknown Regions or patrolling Wild Space trade routes as silent wardens. Despite this growing diaspora, approximately 390,000 Durga'Vesh remain on Peridea, which continues to serve as the species' spiritual and demographic home. With the Long Vigil ended, the Guardians of the One now walk the galaxy.