Fornorae

"We shall ride the winds of the galaxy, as the whim takes us. Why demand more?"

- Lachis Colethen

The Fornorae (pronounced: four-nor-ray) were an extremely rare species of s from the remote planet of Fortoral in the outer reaches of the. Highly isolated, they were not properly known in the galaxy until the final decades of the. Even after they entered the galactic community, only a handful ever left Fortoral to participate in galactic affairs.

A Denon-born species, Fornorae were not truly native to Fortoral, but the species had no knowledge of their true origins and believed they had always existed there. A small number to traveled widely, seeking to discover the wonders of the galaxy, but the majority had no real desire to leave their homes, where they were largely content. Naturally gifted pilots, those Fornornae who chose to travel had little difficulty finding employment, though their gravitation toward danger resulted in considerable turnover.

Fortoral's complex and chaotic environment led to a highly religious society. They were loosely organized into small, semi-independent states, with variable governments ranging from democracy to monarchy to theocracy. The Fornorae belief in fate, and the acceptance of loss and tragedy with little if any resistance made their society rather passive overall, though it made them quick to reject tyranny.

The remote location of Fortoral preserved the Fornorae from Imperial conquest and later the invasion of the, but those Fornorae abroad in the galaxy often worked to fight against these abuses.

Biology and Appearance
Fornorae were Near-humans with slender, tightly-muscled bodies that rarely gained much weight. Their principle differences from the human baseline were in the face, which was covered in a fixed, keratinized layer. Effectively their faces appeared as porcelain masks, often two-toned, with a white and yellow band traversing the face horizontally. They had soft, featureless yellow eyes. Fornorae could not move any feature on their faces, and could only open their mouths to a maximum of five millimeters. As a consequence of this, they consumed only liquified foods.

Fornorae hair was different from human standard, being long, blond, and flaxen. Traditionally males cut it all off and wore wraps over their heads. Females were forbidden to cut their hair, but also to allow it below the shoulders. This resulted in the development of highly ornate buns and braids as a means of self-expression. Coloring of head-wraps or hair in bright shades was an extremely common practice.

Through a combination of genetic manipulation by the and natural evolution on Fortoral, the Fornorae developed highly advanced spatial perception capability. They had an innate understanding of the motion of objects in space around them in relation to their persons. Though this had no name among the Fornorae, outside scientists referred to it as 'Vector Acuity.' This ability made them naturally skilled pilots, as they understood the patterns of motions of other vessels intimately through simple observation. It also gave them an advantage at dodging thrown projectiles from other species, and some harnessed this talent to master certain sports.

Fornorae were not genetically compatible with baseline Humans, and could not produce offspring with them. The same held true for Twi'leks, Theelin, and most other species. Research indicated that Fornorae might be able to produce hybrid offspring with other Denon-born species, but it was not known if this had ever even been attempted.

Origin
The Fornorae were Denon-born, one of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Near-human species split from humanity by Rakata experimentation in the slave breeding pits of Denon. They were conceived of as 'living statuary' in the mind of Rakata Sage Tolas'cale. The project was only a modest success, as the facial modifications could not be spread to the entirety of the body without resulting in total immobility. A small number of Fornorae were maintained for use as luxury servitors by their masters, but they were not a populous species.

During the Taung Revolt the Fornorae fought the Rakata, with over ninety percent of the species falling in battle. The survivors were granted a Podship and took a one-way journey to the distant and unsettled Fortoral. They named the planet, descended, and began to rebuild their society.

The Long Storm
The harsh conditions of Fortoral, with its extreme elevations, wind shear, and suspended projectiles, made the planet difficult to settle. Fornorae society was initially confined to cavern systems and heavily reliant on fungal farming techniques. The planetary population remained at less than ten million for almost ten thousand years. During this period the Fornorae religion of acceptance of fate and the Enlightenment of Days took shape, driven heavily by the high likelihood of random death due to projectile strike. Spatial sensitivity evolved to mitigate this problem, and to enable advanced climbing and leaping motions in a highly vertical environment.

Around 15,000 BBY the Fornorae developed pumping technology that allowed access to underground aquifers for the first time. This water surplus enabled their society to utilize irrigation and smelting, and to build solid, metal-structures in the open for the first time. It set off a rapid expansion and within a millennium the population of the planet had reached four hundred million. Thereafter growth slowed, limited by restraints on agriculture, and it would not increase above five hundred million for thousands of years.

Over time aquifers became depleted, and this led to the first true warfare among the Fornorae. Known as the Liquid Fate Wars, they lasted from roughly 13,000 BBY to 8,000 BBY as civilization degraded, surged, and degraded again, depending on the discovery of new resources. Development throughout this period was at a late iron age level, fluctuating occasionally in one region or another. The Liquid Fate Wars came to an end with the rise of the Three Sisters Covenant, a religious faction that commanded carefully husbanding of resources to maintain a sustainable society. Emerging from seclusion in the far eastern mountains of Fortoral, they were able to gradually force the submission of all other groups over several centuries. While their particular variant of the faith was far from universally adopted, the environmental commandments they preached came into use in every Fornorae settlement.

Cold Threads
Fortoral experienced a modest ice age due to solar cycling from roughly 7,500 BBY to 3,000 BBY. This vastly slowed development and the population declined down to one hundred million, with much of the populace returning to caves. It was under this restricted context that the planet was visited by scout's from the in 3,568 BBY. Imperial scouts abducted several Fornorae and took them to  for training. This proved fruitless, as all concerned suicided rather than submit to Sith training methods. When the Sith Empire eventually fell, the records of this expedition were not recovered.

Bits and pieces left behind by the Sith had a considered impact on the Fornorae. In addition to opening their awareness to the galaxy at large, they were able to significantly advance their technology studying what had been left behind. By the time the climate moderated five hundred years later they had advanced fully into the industrial age, and expanded rapidly. By 2,500 BBY the population had surged to seven hundred and fifty million.

Prosperity brought warfare, with control of water resources the primary source of conflict, even though most claimed to be fighting over religious differences. This fighting was restrained, and most key resources were preserved, but the development of Fornorae society halted. The species settled into a fragmented existence long term, with geography, philosophy, and psychology all working against the development of any strong states. Religious institutions remained dominant, though they too remained fractured, split along knife-thin doctrinal lines that mattered a great deal to the Fornorae but would have mystified almost any outside observer.

Open to the Galaxy
In 1,574 BBY Fortoral was again visited by Sith scouts. These forces, a small mission consisting of surveyors and a handful of ground troops, discovered that the Fornorae had long memories. Caught in a terrible storm, they were attacked and overrun by a commando onslaught utilizing primitive gliders to great effect.

While all living members of the mission perished, as the Fornorae had no way to acknowledge, much less grant, a request to surrender, the majority of the mission's droids survived. Over time these machines were able to bridge the translation gap and allow the locals to reverse engineer the Sith vessels. Within a decade Fortoral was vaulted into the electronic age, and powered flight, long a dream, was a reality.

With their innate understanding of piloting, the Fornorae were able to move about their system with ease, but great gains proved more difficult. The Sith troopers had successfully purged the navicomputers prior to succumbing, and Fortoral proved deficient in trace minerals necessary to build hyperdrives. Ultimately, the Fornorae were left with only a handful of working hyperdrives, all of poor quality, and an inability to conduct modern navigation. Considering this to be fate, they abandoned exploration as a concept, and settled for thoroughly mapping their system, and a few nearby lifeless red dwarfs, before returning home and concentrating on improving their lives.

Fortoral developed in fits and starts subsequently, as the Fornorae improved upon the gains they had made, and occasionally rejected them. From 900 BBY to 800 BBY sever religious wars regarding the use of advanced technology were fought across the planet, with Fornorae society ultimately self-segregating according to the relevant choices. Those opposed to technology returned to the ancient cave habitats, and left the outer surface of the planet to the rest. Over the subsequent centuries this opposition softened, but even through the cave-dwelling communities were considered secluded, pastoral, and simplified.

Contact Once More
In 146 BBY Fortoral was visited by the, who were surprised to find the planet not only inhabited, but with a space-faring civilization. Speaking for the Fornorae, the Three Sisters Covenant traded the knowledge of modern hyperdrives for their mapping records of the Fortoral System and surrounding systems as well as a promise not to colonize any planets for two hundred years. As the were not members of the Republic, this discovery was not shared with the galaxy at large.

With this agreement in place, a very small number of Fornorae began to travel the galaxy. These voyagers were mostly self-exiles, believing their fate was to abandon their home as the result of some terrible misdeed, crime, or failure. The most common were widows and widowers whose spouses had perished young. Traditionally some Fornorae had suicided following such a tragedy, but exile soon became the doctrinally excepted choice. Regardless of the reason this number was tiny. Out of a total population of roughly one billion, less than thirty thousand resided off planet at any time.

Those Fornorae who did travel the galaxy usually served as pilots, reliant on their natural skills and a willingness to spend long hours in closed cockpits without difficulty. A few became locally notable, but even among the rarefied community of pilots, they were so rare as to be almost unknown.

In the Records
In 24 BBY Lachis Colethen, a freelance escort Fornorae pilot, was instrumental in solving the Freight-Shard Terrorist Bombing, preventing thousands of deaths on the planet Denon. She was aided by Shakvail. Lachis would subsequently assist in several missions for Shakvail, and was the principle subject for a position paper in sentientology the Jedi wrote regarding the Fornorae. Filed with the in the same year, it officially registered the Fornorae as a species in the eyes of the galaxy. The portrait pictured, based on one individual far from home, was necessarily incomplete, but the species was no longer an 'unknown.'

While Lachis and a number of other Fornorae pilots were aggressively recruited for service in the they almost universally avoided the conflict, feeling they had no side in that ideological dispute. Many returned home instead, or traveled to the worlds of their local allies, the Trianii, the, and the s. Lachis fought on behalf of the Denon Planetary Defense Fleet, having adopted the planet as her home, and perished during the 1st Battle of Denon. She was the only Fornornae death confirmed during the Clone Wars.

The Imperial Period
Fortoral was too remote for the Empire to bother with, but the Fornorae did not escape Imperial influence entirely. The, vastly expanded by Imperial mandate, pushed aggressive into the Tingel Arm, threatening several of the Fornorae's neighbors. To Fornorae opposed this, and a number volunteered to fight. Many flew in captured s, and by the time expansion efforts were halted thousands had fought and died in this conflict.

The New Republic Era
The Fornorae were visited by representatives of the in, after high command learned of them in scuttlebutt from pilots. With the Three Sisters Covenant again speaking for the species, this offer was politely refused. The Fornorae, it was decided had 'no interest interacting with worlds beyond our own save as individuals.'

In 13 ABY, processing Shakvail's research notes, undertook a mission to Fortoral, hoping to meet with the local religious figures, some of whom could use the Force. She was welcomed, but generally found Fornorae society rather impenetrable, and did not stay long. Following this mission a number of Fornorae traveled to Yavin 4 to seek out understanding of the Force, but none would join the until after the.

A number of Fornorae fought the, both off-worlders and residents of Fortoral, acting on religious warnings that this was a cataclysmic threat jeopardizing the fate of the galaxy. While Fornorae abroad generally joined whatever military or resistance was available, those from Fortoral went into battle alongside the Trianii and Kobok forces that volunteered. Both groups experienced significant casualties, though Fornorae pilots, sensitive to projectiles, were extremely effective against the Yuuzhan Vong.

The invasion did not reach the Tingel Arm and Fortoral was not harmed.

Legacy Era
Alongside the Trianii, the Fornorae joined the, and were considered a semi-independent group under the auspices of their felinoid neighbors. They would later withdraw, again alongside the Trianii, when seized power, but eventually rejoined at some point at 45 ABY.

During the the Fornorae fought with the Galactic Alliance, and they continued to support the  after the defeat. As there were two Fornorae Jedi Knights, the Fortoral was occupied by Sith forces and scoured for potential. However, occupation proved almost impossible, as the Fornorae resistance had such an immense advantage over outsiders. After only a few months of ground conflict occupation was abandoned in favor of naval blockade. Fornorae pilots, fighting with the galactic alliance or with Kobok and Trianii fifth column forces, opposed the Sith until the end of the war.

Government
The Fornorae did not possess a unified government or governance system. Their society was divided into hundreds or thousands, depending on period, of small states, all locally organized and lacking in any true idea of 'nationality.' The most common governments were constitutional monarchies, theocratic bishoprics, and administrative republics. None are truly democratic, as the Fornorae did not believe that all were inherently equal or should have equal voice.

The various governing entities of Fortoral maintained public order, social services, promoted economic development, and occasionally warred upon each other, though this was extremely uncommon in modern times. Due to the nature of Fortoral, society was concentrated in carefully managed fortress towns, almost always centered around underground water supplies, with the rest of the landscape being mostly open and given over to agriculture and pastoral endeavors.

Religious entities remained powerful in all Fornorae governments, though their visible footprint was often quite small. The various sects were extremely numerous, and often had local monopolies.

Religion
The Fornorae believed, universally, in a doctrine of Fate. They believde life was more or less preordained and grim endings were inescapable. This could be traced to the storms of Fortoral, which brought violent and random death with extremely high frequency.

As Fornorae believed death was likely to come suddenly and without ceremony, life was to be lived with this constantly in mind. One faced fate, rather than run from it. Every day something new was to experienced, gained, and internalized in full. In this way, one was certain to be gaining even in the face of certain doom. This concept was known as the Enlightenment of Days, and was central to all Fornorae religious practice.

Precisely how fate was to be faced beyond this generalized wise stoicism, and what the outcome of a life means in the next existence, were the subject of intricate theological constructs and deep doctrinal disputes. The precise differences were generally meaningful only to Fornorae.

The most popular faith was the Three Sisters Covenant, governed by a triumvirate of three women, one a child, one middle-aged, and the third elderly. The covenant stated that one who can comprehend the essentials of fate through loss of a loved one as a child, an adult, and an elder, had endured enough to move on to the next test in other life of a new kind.

While religious philosophy and perspective was central to the life of Fornorae, it was not obviously so. Dedicated priests and monks engage in study and contemplation, in hopes of discovering the hand of fate regarding matters beyond the individual scale and what actions this shall entail, but most religious practice was deeply personal, a matter of facing each day one after another. Those who have dedicated their lives to these pursuits acted mostly as counselors, guiding their friends and neighbors along the path.

Ceremonial events were simple, marriages, births, and funerals. There were no holidays, no public religious events, and no obvious houses of worship or regular religious observance. The limited celebrations of the Fornorae were spontaneous, recognition that fate had smiled upon them for some reason, usually involving weather.

Culture
As befitted a people obsessed with such grim fatalism, the Fornorae were a deeply restrained species. In part this was biological, they were not capable of facial expressions, and so developed a life style where they were little required. Instead they expressed their passions in the moment, treasuring those experiences they found truly inspiring. These tended to be highly cerebral, a legacy of their long sojourn in darkened cave environments. Spoken poetry and verse was a common practice, and epic storytelling was an advanced art among the Fornorae, though they were inclined always to what others would consider tragedy.

The communities of the Fornorae were close knit, but generally cold. Though capable of extraordinary love and devotion, many feared such strong emotions, believing loss was inevitable. Outwardly lacking in expression, solidarity was shown via action. Communities were highly charitable and united in times of grief. Funerals were widely attended.

Suicide is explicitly accepted in Fornorae culture. If one's fate cannot improve, then why continue in its thrall? Such is the philosophy, though religious leaders advise extreme care regarding these choices. Regardless, Fornorae readily sacrifice themselves if they believe their death can accomplish a goal, or is the only reliable option. If they are enslaved or oppressed beyond any possibility of resistance, they will readily embrace this choice.

Language
Nora, the language of the Fornorae, was a composite language that combined the structure of proto-Basic with slurred, liquid sounds taken from a variety of alien tongues. This language served as a means to accommodate the limited mouth movements of their faces, and was likened by most humans as 'a whole lot of whispered mumbling.'

Fornorae could speak Basic, but had to effectively shout every word and still sounded muffled and slurred. Coupled with a lack of tonal variation and no expression, many humans and Near-humans found this unnerving. Most Fornorae simply found it tiring, and spoke little outside their own kind.

Clothing
Fornorae garb stressed mobility and durability. Traditional outfits consisted of tightly fitting cured animal-skin leather, while modern garb favored one-piece jumpsuits. Color variation was common and bright streaks, often contrasting with hair color or head-wraps, predominated. Fornorae often wore leather work gloves, but generally went barefoot, preferring the enhanced sensitivity and dexterity of bare feet for the purpose of climbing.

Religious figures often wore concealing cloaks or skirts, to symbolize their acceptance of fate.

Fornorae in the Galaxy
After acquiring the ability to travel beyond Fortoral, the Fornorae had a consistent presence in the greater galaxy. That presence was constrained by their exceedingly small number, and they remained extremely poorly known and unrecognized. Very few galactic citizens ever met a even single Fornorae, and only a handful have ever traveled to Fortoral. As the Fornorae lacked a unified government or approach to galactic affairs, those found beyond Fortal were independent individuals, nothing more. The had no agenda on behalf of their species.

Fornorae were friendly with species occupying territory near Fortoral, especially the Kobok and Trianii, who had behaved well as neighbors. Fornorae were inclined to give members of these species the benefit of the doubt, and perhaps a helping hand, though they were poorly known even among those groups. Insofar as they would act in a concerted fashion, it was to protect their neighbors' holdings, and thereby insure their own independence.

The frozen faces of the Fornorae had an exotic, ethereal appeal to many Humans, Near-humans, and a number of alien species. It was not uncommon for Fornorae to encounter members of other species interested in pursuing physical intimacy or emotional relationships. These sentiments were occasionally, though rarely, returned, though such relationships had a tendency to end badly.

Due to their biology, Fornorae were naturally talented pilots, and many became extremely skilled. Insofar as they were known, it was for this talent. Restrained and stoic, Fornorae made for poor sportsmen, or they might be relatively famous in the circles of competitive piloting. Instead, they were lauded among mercenary groups, where they had a reputation for extraordinary talent, but also eccentricity and lack of discipline.

In the Legacy Era, a small number of Fornorae became Jedi. These individuals gave up many of the ways of their people, but still believed that the Force was guiding the fate of all, and they were simply its instruments. None were known to fall to the dark side, but this passive view of the Force limited their overall ability, and none became masters.

Behind the Scenes
The Fornorae were developed by Mechalich as part of the project Shakvail: Tales of Denon. They first appear, in the form of Lachis Colethen, in the short story Blank Shard, published February 2012.

The Fornorae are based on artistry of the Moirae Sisters as drawn by Kazuma Kaneko for the Persona series of video games. This source was also the inspiration for their devotion to fate.

Appearances

 * Shakvail: Tales of Denon