Kiffar (Jedi Renaissance)

"While the Force might manifest itself in a wide-range of species, its method of manifestation is wildly unique. The Kiffar, for instance, have a proclivity towards psychometry and thus their culture is built around this sixth sense of being able to not just know the past but actually experience it through touch."

- Jedi Knight Horen Hote, writing about Kiffar in the Jedi Order.

Kiffar were a Near-Human species from the world of in the  region of the galaxy. Occupying a planet of arid plains and intense lightning storms, the Kiffar were descendant from a group of elite guardsmen trained by the Galactic Republic during the Pius Dea era. Maintaining a difficult relationship with the Jedi Order through most of its history, the government pledged support for the Confederacy of Independent Systems after the Clone Wars and along with other political and social reforms began participating in the Acquisition Division of the Order's Jedi recruitment program.

Biology and appearance
Baseline Humans, the Kiffar developed from a variety of Humans colonists from a number of different worlds. After generations spent their entire lives on Kiffu and the neighboring world of Kiffex, the Kiffar evolved to have a toughened, tanned skin to protect against the strong winds and brutal sun of which both planets orbited. A distinguishing feature of the Kiffar was their practice of applying permanent facial markings near birth called qukuuf. These tattoos were ritualistically applied when young, and were passed down through families on the mother's side and were used to identify the individual's clan.

Power and abilities
About one in a hundred Kiffar had the ability to read the memories of inanimate objects—including formerly animate objects like corpses—by touch, an ability known as psychometry. It was not typical for an untrained Kiffar to be able to read the living, a technique which required an intense amount of practice and mental discipline.

History and culture
During the, a series of conflicts which plagued the Republic from 11,965 BBY to 10,966 BBY, the Galactic Senate approved a piece of legislation in secret which allotted for the training of elite guardsmen to maintain the newly constructed prison facilities on the planet of Kiffex. The Kiffu Guardians, as this group was called, trained and lived on the planet Kiffu with their families while serving on rotation at the prison colonies on the sister planet of Kiffex. Holding dangerous enemies of the Pius Dea regime indefinitely and without trial, the secret facilities on Kiffex only came to light at the end of the conflict when newly installed Supreme Chancellor and Jedi Grand Master Biel Ductavis took control of the Republic and demanded a high-level of scrutiny be placed on the operation of several secret prisons. Agreeing to keep the Kiffex colony open, the Republic began to use the world as a home to some of the galaxy's most deranged criminals who had succumbed to insanity and moved beyond treatment. Except for the period marked by renewed struggle following the when the Sith Empire took control of the planets, the Kiffar and the Guardians had remained loyal to the Republic, despite a strong sense of independence and self-loyalty.

Because of its use as a penal colony, the Jedi Order made sure to assign a Watchman to the system at all times. Masters Avlis Tholme and T'ra Saa served respectively in this capacity and had a strained relationship with Sheyf Vos. During the Separatist Crisis which plagued the Senate in the years leading up to the Clone Wars Sheyf Vos, the anti-Jedi and anti-Republic leader of the Guardians and the sector government allied the planet with the Confederacy of Independent Systems and opened its prison facilities to Confederate prisoners-of-war. Kiffar Jedi Quinlan Vos would depose the Sheyf, his aunt, after it was revealed she had murdered her predecessor and Jedi Vos' parents. In the power vacuum, Clan Konshi regained control of the Guardians after centuries of rule by Clan Vos. Maintaining their ties with the Confederacy, Sheyf Konshi rebuilt ties with the Jedi Order, allowing Kiffar Force-sensitives that showed a high midi-chlorian count to be sent to Ossus for training while retaining those who only showed a psychometric ability to populate the Guardians.

Kiffar Jedi
Appearing on the galactic scene at a time when the Jedi Order had split from the Republic, it took some time for the Kiffar and the Jedi to establish an agreement on exchange of Forceful children. Following Chancellor Ductavis' intervention on the Order's behalf, the Sheyfs of the Kiffu sector agreed to have a Watchman installed in the sector and gave him permission to take what children he saw fit. No Kiffar of note existed until the Cold War era when Jedi Knight was an active member of the Order. Trained by Grand Master Satele Shan, Konshi was prized by the Order as a renowned Sith slayer having killed twelve ranking Sith by the end of the war. Over the next several generations and into the future, Kiffar Jedi typically took on the role of investigators or Shadows within the Order, using their psychometric skills to uncover clues other Jedi could not find.

One of the most controversial Masters serving the Order during the Clone Wars was Quinlan Vos. A strong psychometric and a Jedi Shadow, Vos went deep undercover on a mission to establish a near-untraceable spy network within the Confederacy on behalf of the Jedi Order. While undercover, Vos' ability to live as a Jedi and live as the fallen acolyte he had convinced others he was flickered as his dual identities blurred. Eventually redeeming himself in the eyes of the Order, Vos served with distinction throughout the rest of the war, though universally reviled by the clone troops alongside whom he fought. When the war concluded, Vos was appointed to the Jedi High Council because of his experience fighting to stay in Balance and with the Confederacy. His brashness and his reputation as a rogue followed other prominent Kiffar Jedi for decades. Perhaps the most curious case was of the young Keith Varté, a troubled Padawan through the Clone Wars and powerful Knight of great skill, if not an isolationist. Befriending Grand Master Tomac Moorcé, their closeness bewildered many members of the Order and angered a powerful minority. Following his appointment to the High Council and the Grand Master's continued suspension of his duties to spend long nights with the Kiffar, Jedi began wondering aloud if a secret affair had consumed the Grand Master and rendered him unfit to perform his duties on the High Council. It wasn't until a year after Varté disappearance that the Order learned the truth of the matter; Varté and the Grand Master were working in solitude to close an ancient Spirit World create by Sith magicks millennia prior. In the end, Varté gave his life to close the realm and free the Jedi spirits trapped within. The influx of new recruits after the Clone Wars saw an upswing in Kiffar among the Order's ranks. The well-respected investigator, Koren Moxla became a leading member of the Security Council, the administrative body of the Institute for Jedi Criminology on Coruscant.

Like all species which served in the Order, Kiffar were represented in the Grand Temple on Ossus. Within the main entrance of the Temple, known as the Hall of Meditating Masters, a larger-than-life bronzium statue was erected in dedication to all Devaronians to serve alongside the likenesses of hundred of other species. The kneeling Master, a female Kiffar, with her arms bent in front of her grasping at a spherical device, was not made to represent any particular Jedi but was an alter for reflection of members of the species who practiced the Jedi arts. In the Sword of the Jedi tower, the lightsabers of all Jedi were placed in memory of fallen warriors and scholars alike. A multitude of weapons once owned by Kiffar Jedi were housed here, including the hilt of Master Quinlan Vos' weapon. The Edifice of Heroes also commemorated past Kiffar Jedi with paintings, statues and other works of art presented as memorial and museum to each and every Jedi to have served the Order.