Ysanna/Legends
- "Every one of these people could be a potential Jedi!"
- ―Luke Skywalker
The Ysanna were a race of Force-sensitives who lived on Ossus. Descended from the survivors of the cataclysmic supernova caused by the destruction of the Cron Cluster during the Great Sith War, many of the Ysanna's ancestors were members of the Jedi Order studying at the Great Jedi Library. Because of their ancestors' heritage and genetic make-up, the Ysanna as a people were Forceful and held many Jedi philosophies as their own. While primitive by galactic standards, the tribal people were fiercely loyal and protected the ruins of the Great Library, despite never venturing inside.
History
Origins
Born from the survivors of the Cron Supernova's effect on Ossus - a devastated planet with a caustic atmosphere full of electrical storms and the danger of fierce predators, the Ysanna survived through sheer mettle and the luck bestowed to them by their Jedi bloodline. They eked out a simple existence as hunters and gatherers, while remaining aware of the ancient task bestowed upon them by their ancestors - to protect the secrets of the Jedi.
Following the Eternal Empire's conquest, Jedi and other war refugees were led by Jedi Master Gnost-Dural to establish a colony on Ossus. During their stay, they uncovered evidence suggesting the presence of survivors of the Cron supernova. Colonists reported missing items, strange sounds, and mysterious footprints, in areas deep within the surviving ruins. The Ysanna however, decided to remain unseen and undiscovered even as the Sith Empire discovered the colony and invaded the planet.[1]
Rejoining the galaxy
Shortly after the return of Emperor Palpatine in 10 ABY, Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar arrived on Ossus in search of ancient Jedi artifacts. They soon came upon the Ysanna, who attempted to kill the two intruders. The fighting between the two groups came to a halt with the arrival of Imperial forces led by Executor Sedriss QL. The Ysanna fought back, defeating most of the Dark troopers and stormtroopers, leaving Skywalker and Solusar to deal with only Sedriss and another member of the Dark Side Elite.
The battle had turned in favor of Skywalker and Solusar, when Sedriss took the young Ysanna Jem hostage and backed against the inert Ood Bnar, a tree-like Neti Jedi Master who had been dormant since the Battle of Ossus. Suddenly coming to life, Bnar attacked Sedriss and killed the Dark Jedi along with himself.
Okko, the tribe's chief and greatest shaman, allowed Skywalker to take Jem and her brother Rayf to train as Jedi, but was reluctant to introduce the rest of his people to the new Jedi teachings. However, the Ysanna would not remain isolated for much longer, as the Empire now knew of their whereabouts, and confrontation was brewing. Jem died on New Alderaan, Rayf was killed on Onderon, and Okko and two others were later trapped in carbonite by the forces of Palpatine, who was seeking to use the tribe as a means to halt the genetic decay of his last clone body.
At the same time Skywalker and Solusar explored Ossus, the Dark Jedi Travgen was hiding on the world. He had been present on Ossus since 9 BBY, after escaping the Great Jedi Purge. Travgen hid from the intruders, and thus escaped their notice. He had already enslaved several Ysanna tribes by this time. The fate of Travgen and his subjects is as yet unknown.
After the planet was opened to the general public, the world once again teemed with life. The Ysanna were now the hosts of a great number of archaeologists, historians, and all forms of academicians from all over the galaxy who studied, scrutinized, analyzed and discovered new things about Jedi and Sith history.
Society and culture
Their Jedi heritage of knowledge and wisdom lost through generations of hardship and ignorance, the Ysanna degenerated into superstition. Their use of the Force diminished to nothing but simple tricks performed by unintelligible wizards, known to them as Ysanna magic. Their superstition built upon the remaining Jedi and Sith artifacts left on the world from its speedy evacuation. The Ysanna wizards used various Sith masks in battle to intimidate their enemies, and when protecting the Jedi ruins from trespassers, graverobbers, tomb raiders, or anybody that would walk on their sacred ground. They had a polytheistic religion.
Despite their drastically lessened knowledge of the Force, the Ysanna managed to preserve some Force techniques that were lost to the Jedi Order over the millennia, including the ability to form Force ghosts. They also perfected the Projectile guidance technique.
Armed with unique Concussion bow slugthrowers, the Ysanna tribespeople perfected a technique of guiding a bullet's trajectory in midair. This made the Ysanna incredible marksmen, capable of firing at a target, then "guiding" the bullet to hit the target as it moved. While not a particularly taxing ability, as Ysanna were seen plenty of times firing whole magazines of ammunition out of their rifles while guiding the bullets through the Force, it did however require concentration. A Ysanna that was not imminently being attacked, for instance, could direct and control a multitude of bullets in quick succession, or even multiple bullets at once. The closer the Ysanna was to an enemy however, and the more he had to divert his attention from the bullet, to the attacks of his enemy, the fewer bullets he would be able to control.
Behind the scenes
The Ysanna first appeared in the comic book series Star Wars: Dark Empire II, released between 1994 and 1995.
They were set to appear in the 2018 update "Jedi Under Siege" for Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne, gaining a codex entry, but were eventually left out.[2] However, they are indirectly mentioned during gameplay.[1]
Appearances
- Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne (Indirect mention only) (Codex entry)
- Galaxy of Fear: Planet Plague (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Dark Empire II (First appearance)
- Star Wars: Empire's End
- Crimson Empire 0 (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: Crimson Empire (In flashback(s))
Sources
- Dark Empire endnotes (First mentioned)
- Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
"From the Files of Corellia Antilles" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 14- The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons
"ComicScan: Luke-ing For Love In All The Wrong Places" – Star Wars Galaxy Collector 7- Star Wars Handbook 3: Dark Empire
- Power of the Jedi Sourcebook
- Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
- Jedi Academy Training Manual
Ysanna, Jem in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)- Vjun in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Nexus of Power
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 File:SWTOR mini.png Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne—Codex: "Survivors of the Cron Supernova"
- ↑ Unfinished codex entry within the game files.
