Amarans – Backstory, traits and so on
Sunday, January 31st, 2010I’ve had some people express interest in the Amaran storyline and such. The following is a fairly hastily written description of the Amarans, their traits and their homeworld. This is NOT official (Except for some of the points referring to the relationship with the Naboo) and is not to be taken as canon. Seeing as there is canon lacking, please feel free to use these ideas in your roleplaying game sessions as jump starters and if you like this, please link back to this page. As a bonus, I have included an Amaran Gallery at the bottom of this post, with art – including the original concept art that was used to design the Amarans and Bursa as they are seen in the Wildlife of Star Wars book. (The gallery may not be visible in RSS feeds to LJ and Facebook)
The Amarans
Physical Appearance
Amarans are small, vulpine aliens, 3.5-4 feet tall. They are digitigrades with long, slender arms and legs and a lithe, sinewy body. Their tails are long and fluffy and serve as a counter balance as they move, making them very agile. An Amaran’s tail is a source of pride, and they are always well groomed. They have four digits on their hands and feet.
Their fur colour ranges from white, to orange to black, with the most common colours being a yellow-orange, grey and white. The usual eye colour for Amarans is black, but green, blue and red eyes are also seen. Their faces are long and slender, lending to their sleek appearances.
Gender dimorphism
Female Amarans are slightly smaller than males, and males have slightly broader shoulders. For the mostpart, they are very similar in size. Females do not have visible mammaries unless they are nursing young. Amarans generally give birth to one pup and they reach adulthood at about 18 standard years.
Characteristics of Amarans
Amarans are, in general, a fairly playful race and are sly and shrewd, making them excellent traders, pilots and con artists. Of course, as with all races, there are variations, but Amarans love nothing more than to trick or play their way through various situations and they enjoy fine food, fine wine and clothes made of the finest materials. Amarans have an uncanny knack for taming beasts, even ferocious ones that are much larger than they are. Some Amarans are force sensitive and have served as Jedi Knights, but an Amaran with the discipline to go through Jedi Training is a very rare beast indeed and Amaran Jedi Knights are seen as curious oddities by their fellow, more playful, bretheren.
Amarans in the galaxy
Amarans are usually found in the galaxy as traders. Their primary trade is on Naboo, where they tame and sell the local wildlife to Gungans, offworlders and the Naboo people. As Naboo is teeming with life, this is very lucrative of them and Naboo is a second home to the Amarans, where they have a settlement on the edges of the swamp. The Amarans are the reason the fierce Bursa of Naboo is not extinct. The Gungans nearly wiped out the species, which is now extinct in the wild, but the Amarans spearheaded a breeding program and have established a Bursa sanctuary well out of the way of any Gungan settlement.
Other than beast tamers, Amarans can be found as pilots, fast-talking con artists, gamblers or just as travelers. Amarans worship the stars and love nothing more than to be among them.
Amaran Homeworld and technology
The Amaran homeworld, Amar, is located in Mid rim, near the outer rim – between Naboo and Zhar. It is a world lush with forests, plains and vast bodies of water. It has a climate similar to Naboo, which explains the Amaran love for their sister planet. Like Naboo, Amar is teeming with life which the Amarans manage with great reverence, ensuring that their wildlife trade does not interfere with the balance of the planet. Laws are in place to prevent poaching and poachers, both Amaran or offworlders, are severely punished with fines and imprisonment. Even the Amaran cities, mines and resource collection are constructed and operated as non-invasively as possible. Amarans have tamed many of their local species, such as the Vrrryyyk, a flying reptilian bird like species which Amarans enjoy riding more than they like flying actual spacecraft.
Other than Wildlife and Amaran art, Amaran exports include food, ore, textiles and energy crystals.
Amarans are fairly technologically advanced and had developed limited, and primitive, hyperspace capabilities which lead to them discovering Naboo. After the language barrier was broken, the Naboo and Amarans established trade relations and the exchange of technology, which opened the galaxy up to the Amarans, who have been exploring since.
Amaran Religion
Amarans worship the stars and their moon. An Amaran creation myth is that the moon, Rurrri, was lonely and one day came to the land as a white fox-like creature. He was very lonely and wept through the night. When the sun came up, she took pity on Rurri and she, Surru, came down as a golden Amaran. It is said on Amar that the stars are the children of Rurri and Surru.
