View source for Xi'Dec/Legends

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{{Species
|image=[[File:Xidecgg4.jpg]]
|name=Xi'Dec
|designation=[[Sentience/Legends|Sentient]]<ref name="GG4, 1st">''[[Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races]]''</ref>
|class=[[Insectoid/Legends|Insectoid]]<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd">[[Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races (Second Edition)|''Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races'', Second Edition]]</ref><ref name="AE">''[[Alien Encounters]]''</ref>
|subspecies=
|races=
|height=0.5&ndash;10 [[Imperial standard meter|meters]]<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" />
|length=0.5&ndash;10 meters<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" />
|wingspan=
|mass=
|skincolor=
|haircolor=
|feathers=
|eyecolor=
|distinctions=Over 180 different [[Gender/Legends|sexes]]<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" />
|lifespan=
|planet=[[Stic]]<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" />
|habitat=
|diet=
|language=}}
{{Quote|&hellip;when the great sentientologist Randamar Parl contacted the Xi'Dec, he thought he had discovered a world teeming with a multitude of intelligent species.|Obo Rin, in ''Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy''|Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races}}
The '''Xi'Dec''' were a highly variable [[Insectoid/Legends|insectoid]] [[Species/Legends|species]] from the [[Planet/Legends|planet]] [[Stic]]. As a direct result of the variable conditions of their [[Homeworld/Legends|homeworld]], the Xi'Dec evolved into a variety of specialized forms. Though these appeared to many outsiders to be different species, each Xi'Dec form was actually a different [[Gender/Legends|sex]] of a single species. Xi'Dec social organization was based on extended family units, with the most influential and prosperous families being those containing the largest variety of sexes. The Xi'Dec preoccupation with their family's diversity and prosperity affected their interactions with the rest of [[The galaxy/Legends|the galaxy]], either by ignoring off-world [[Politics/Legends|politics]] unless it affected their families, or by proposing [[Marriage/Legends|marriage]] to non-Xi'Dec, which they mistook for members of rare Xi'Dec sexes.

==Biology and appearance==
[[File:Diskio_Khzrry.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Diskio Khzrry, a Xi'Dec of the five-eyed, armored type.]]
The Xi'Dec [[Homeworld/Legends|homeworld]] of [[Stic]] was a [[Planet/Legends|world]] of constant climatic, biological, and geological change. The Xi'Dec responded to that pressure by evolving a wide variety of different [[Gender/Legends|sexes]], none of which had the same physical form. Over 180 different sexes of Xi'Dec were known, each form so different from the next that they could easily have been mistaken for completely different [[Species/Legends|species]]. Each sex was adapted to particular environmental conditions or to a different role in society.<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" /> Despite their variability, all Xi'Dec could be classified as [[Insect/Legends|insectoid]] overall.<ref name="AE" />

The most common and least specialized form of Xi'Dec, the Xi'Alpha or Stictex, had eight [[Limb/Legends|limbs]] (any of which could be used as hands) and twelve [[Eye/Legends|eyes]] on short prehensile stalks. Their [[Mouth/Legends|mouths]] were flanked with two articulated mandibles, with six four-[[Centimeter/Legends|centimeter]] long slits above their mouths serving as olfactory openings. The back of their cylindrical bodies was covered with a shiny [[Exoskeleton|carapace]], with two lacy wings protruding from slots in the carapace. Xi'Alpha made up about six percent of the Xi'Dec population.<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

More specialized Xi'Dec forms included several "warrior" sexes with natural [[Spear/Legends|spears]] and [[Sword/Legends|sabers]] formed from their forelimbs, "constructors" with many three-[[Imperial standard meter|meter]] long limbs, and small fast flying "messengers."<ref name="GG4, 2nd" /> Other sexes included a roughly [[Humanoid/Legends|humanoid]] form with six arms, two compound eyes, two feathery antennae, and a hypnotic voice (typified by [[K'lial Khzrry]]); and a more [[Insectoid/Legends|insectoid]] form with an armored carapace, five flexible eyestalks, and six dexterous clawed limbs which could be used as legs or arms (typified by [[Diskio Khzrry]].)<ref name="Cracken's Rebel Operatives">''[[Cracken's Rebel Operatives]]''</ref>

Xi'Dec could reproduce by laying [[Egg/Legends|eggs]], bearing live young, budding young from an adult's body, or growing their young in pods among other options, depending on the sex of the parent or parents. As a result, their [[DNA/Legends|gene pool]] was complex, and the species as a whole could adapt to changing conditions quickly.<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

==Society and culture==
Xi'Dec society was based on family units, containing at least two adult Xi'Dec of different genders. Each family unit lived on its own, taking care of its own young. Families went to great lengths to attract rare types of Xi'Dec to add diversity to their family. Rare Xi'Dec sexes could command considerable compensation when joining a family.<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

Political leadership among the Xi'Dec usually went to the largest and most diverse families, which were also generally the wealthiest and most technologically advanced. Otherwise, the political structure of Xi'Dec civilization was as changeable as the appearance of their species.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

Individual Xi'Dec were primarily concerned with the welfare of their families, caring little for external politics.<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" /> Because of the specialized nature of Xi'Dec sexes, Xi'Dec tended to have one-dimensional personalities. Otherwise, there was no such thing as a typical Xi'Dec temperament, since their personalities were as variable as their physical forms.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

==History==
[[File:K'lial_Khzrry.jpg|thumb|right|150px|K'lial Khzrry, a Xi'Dec of the six-armed humanoid type.]]
Xi'Dec history was marked by the evolution of new sexes to fill new niches in society. For example, during the [[K'rom wars]], warrior Xi'Dec evolved with natural weapons. After a series of storms wreaked havoc throughout Stic, constructor Xi'Dec appeared to reconstruct the [[City/Legends|cities]]. As the Xi'Dec civilization advanced and information transfer became more important, small, fast-flying Xi'Dec evolved as messengers.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

When the Xi'Dec were first contacted by [[Galactic Republic/Legends|Old Republic]] [[Scout/Legends|scouts]] and the renowned [[sentientologist]] [[Randamar Parl]], they had recently developed [[Nuclear fission|atomic fission]] and primitive [[Computer/Legends|computers]]. By the [[Time/Legends|time]] of the [[Galactic Empire/Legends|Galactic Empire]], they continued to lag behind the rest of [[The galaxy/Legends|the galaxy]], partly because the wide variety of Xi'Dec forms made mass production impossible.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

During the [[Galactic Civil War/Legends|Galactic Civil War]], most Xi'Dec remained neutral, concerned only with how events might affect their family units.<ref name="GG4, 1st" /> Diskio and K'lial Khzrry were two Xi'Dec who took sides in the war. After the rest of the [[Khzrry family unit]] were [[Death/Legends|killed]] when the Empire destroyed the [[Luxury liner/Legends|resort liner]] ''[[Savage Pleasure]]'' in order to [[Assassin/Legends|assassinate]] [[Senator/Legends|Senator]] [[Mael Sidras]], the pair joined the [[Alliance to Restore the Republic/Legends|Rebellion]]. They became agents of [[Alliance Intelligence]], operating primarily in the [[Grohl sector]], specializing in extracting captive Rebels. K'lial acted as a [[Con artist/Legends|con artist]] using its hypnotic voice, while Diskio used its natural dexterity to become an expert burglar.<ref name="Cracken's Rebel Operatives" />

==Xi'Dec in the galaxy==
Xi'Dec were uncommon away from Stic.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" /> Still, by [[9 ABY/Legends|9 ABY]], Xi'Dec were among the many [[Species/Legends|species]] found among the population of [[Coruscant/Legends|Coruscant's]] [[Galactic City|Imperial City]].<ref name="HTTESB">''[[Heir to the Empire Sourcebook]]''</ref> The few traveling Xi'Dec, thanks to the variability of their species, were rarely recognized as such.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

Xi'Dec sometimes traveled off-world in family groups of ten to twenty individuals, though it was unclear if they were simply acting as tourists or looking for new sexes to add to their family.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" /> While working for the Rebel Alliance, Diskio and K'lial Khzrry posed as family recruiters seeking new members for their family unit. In one case, while rescuing a Rebel agent named [[Basal Moor]] from [[TransGalMeg Industries, Incorporated]] headquarters on [[Pako Ramoon]], they claimed that they were proposing [[Marriage/Legends|marriage]] to the [[Human/Legends|Human]] Rebel.<ref name="Cracken's Rebel Operatives" />

Despite the lower technological standards of Stic, Xi'Dec experts in planetary and biological sciences were able to find work throughout the galaxy. Many Xi'Dec who lived away from Stic were [[Scientist/Legends|scientists]] who had secured appointments at a variety of galactic [[University/Legends|universities]]. The export of skilled mental labor was a mainstay of the economy of Stic.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

Additional income for the Xi'Dec economy came from tourists coming to Stic to observe the diversity of Xi'Dec sexes. Tourism continued even during the early Galactic Civil War, when Stic's climatic cycle made it unbearably hot by Human standards.<ref name="GG4, 2nd" /> Tourism led to a certain amount of confusion, however, due to the Xi'Dec preoccupation with increasing the diversity of their family unit. It was not unusual for off-world visitors to receive hundreds of marriage proposals within hours of landing.<ref name="GG4, 1st" /><ref name="GG4, 2nd" />

The [[Verpine/Legends|Verpine]] corporation [[Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines|Roche]] re-targeted the marketing of the [[J9 worker drone/Legends|J9 worker drones]] toward the Xi'Dec, along with other arthropods such as the [[Flakax]] and the [[Sic-Six/Legends|Sic-Six]], after the [[Droid/Legends|droids]] failed to catch on with the [[Mammal/Legends|mammalian]] sentients of the galaxy. The Xi'Dec were one of the few species who responded positively to Roche's marketing, with a slight uptick in sales.<ref name="TEGtD-J9">{{EGCite|D|J9 Worker Drone}}</ref> [[Industrial Automaton/Legends|Industrial Automaton's]] [[LOM-series protocol droid/Legends|LOM-series protocol droids]], which had insectoid heads designed to seem familiar to insectoid sentients, were also marketed toward the Xi'Dec.<ref name="TEGtD-LOM">{{EGCite|D|LOM Protocol Droid}}</ref>

==Behind the scenes==
The Xi'Dec species was first described in [[Troy Denning]]'s book ''[[Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races]]'', a supplement for ''[[Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game]]''. [[Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races (Second Edition)|''Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races'', Second Edition]], revised by [[Chuck Truett]], suggests that gamemasters use Xi'Dec characters whenever an [[Alien/Legends|alien]] non-player character with unusual abilities or appearance is needed for the game, but it is not desirable to work out the background for an entirely new species.

==Appearances==
*[[Star Wars: Rebellion (video game)|''Star Wars: Rebellion'']] {{Mo}}

==Sources==
{{Mediacat|imagecat=Images of Xi'Dec}}
*''[[Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races]]'' {{1stm}}
*''[[Heir to the Empire Sourcebook]]''
*[[Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races (Second Edition)|''Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races'', Second Edition]]
*''[[Cracken's Rebel Operatives]]''
*''[[The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook]]''
*''[[Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition]]''
*''[[Alien Encounters]]''
*{{EGCite|D|LOM Protocol Droid}}
*{{EGCite|D|J9 Worker Drone}}

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Insectoid sentient species]]
[[Category:Outer Rim Territories species]]
[[Category:Xi'Dec| ]]