Tachrani

The Tachrani were an ancient species that evolved on the planet of Tachran. Adults averaged 1.65 meters tall, with males typically a decimeter taller than females. Although Tachrani tended to be very thin, they weighed even less than their visual appearance suggested, due to having light, hollow bones and porous muscles. A typical 1.6m adult female might appear to weigh 45 kilograms, but her actual mass would be closer to 30kg.

Physical Details
Tachrani had no "color" to their natural pigments, except occasionally in their irises, as they could not see in the upper wavelengths of color and the planet was too dim to see the lower wavelengths except in grayscale, unless there was artificial illumination. Hair color could range from stark white to dark gray, lightening with age; white to pale silver was common in the elderly, and younger members were more likely to have gunmetal gray hair. Skin color was more constant through life, and could vary from white to gray tones as well. Those with colored irises were usually from the equatorial regions, where the dim light was a little bit brighter, and this coloration brought with it a limited ability to see in color.

Because the temperatures on Tachran were even and cool without being bitterly cold, Tachrani had slow metabolic rates. Their low body masses allowed them to subsist for long periods of time on minimal nutrition, and they had strong ability to store vitamins and minerals for times when food was scarce. They were also agile and fast, from a combination of strong muscles, low body mass, and low planetary gravity.

Culture
Most Tachrani lived in small villages, and community interaction was important. Occupations varied, and most communities had only one or two individuals in any particular occupation, making it important to continue in one's family's line of work, lest the community not have anybody to fill that function.

The native language, Sifara, was notable for having no voiced consonants. The only "voiced" consonant in the language was "N" and it was pronounced without the voiced component; Sifara could be spoken completely in a whisper without any loss of sounds. Tachrani were usually unable to pronounce voiced consonants, making speaking foreign languages difficult, although they could understand them without special problems.

Isolated communities were self-sufficient, and civilizations that were georgraphically closer to each other relied more upon each other. The largest conglomerate of villages also had a small, primitive spaceport, with caretaking duties shared by all nearby villages. A few Tachrani did become spacers and even interacted with other species from other systems. Those who did were frequently employed as navigators, not pilots, because of their natural strength in determining directions in the absence of visual cues, and ability to memorize large amounts of information with little exposure.

There was no widespread educational system. Most people were taught by their parents, or apprenticed to others at a young age. Community schools were only operating in the largest villages.

One of the Tachrani adaptations to their environment, and their need to conserve body chemicals as much as possible, was the elimination of emotion. Neurotransmitters in their brains had minimal function beyond transmitting and linking information, and emotions like sadness, happiness, and anger were virtually unknown among the Tachrani. Fear was the only universal emotion and it was extremely mild, interpreted as a logical desire for enhanced vigilance for safety reasons. The only Tachrani who could feel emotions were those who were Force-sensitive, and they could still not feel their own, but pick up on the feelings of people far away on other systems. This was usually taken to be a mental disease, though, and several young Tachrani were exiled from their homes when more conservative measures to control their emotional displays were not successful. At least one of these exiles, Tiera Aranta, ultimately found her way to the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV.

Life Cycle
Tachrani had a gestation period of 6 standard months for singletons and 7.5 standard months for multiples. Most weighed approximately 1.3kg at birth, and were born blind. The ability to see developed in the first six months after birth, although they could hear from the beginning.

The average age at which adult height and development was reached was 15 years for females and 16 years for males. There was no difference between their growth rates; males simply grew for a slightly longer period of time.

Polygamous and polyandrous marriages were common, but the two were never mixed. Polygamy was more common than polyandry in small communities; in the largest communities, the two were about equal, and dependent more on the anchor individual's ability to support the family than other factors.

Although the average life span was 80 years, that number was deceptively low and skewed by high infant mortality. The sick rarely received medical care, and such medical care extended only to wound treatment and diet therapy. A Tachrani who reached adulthood could expect to live an average of 118 years, and a few individuals reached 150.