En'kah

The En'kah were a bipedal, sentient race of shapeshifting humanoids. They inhabited a small tropical moon orbiting a dead planet, deep in the of space. The En'kah shared the dense jungles with a race of flesh-eating winged aliens, which were known to steal the young and attack the weak or old for an easy meal. The En'kah believe these creatures to be a manifestation of the anger of their deity, En'kah'Nahori.

Biology and appearance
The En'kah were humanoid, and resembled Humans very closely; they had hands and feet with five digits and grew hair, but due to the thick canopy of the jungles blocking out the distant light of their sun, the land- and subterran-dwelling En'kah were naturally very pale, and had excellent low-light vision. Their ears were placed higher on the head, and slightly pointed at the tips.

The En'kah evolved with a self-defense mechanism which allowed them to shift their forms to induce instinctive fear in other creatures. Their jaws elongated and reshaped into fanged snouts, their hands and feet became clawed, and their overall mass seemed to nearly double, granting them an extra measure of strength. Often the change ended at the head, hands, and feet, but once every few generations a child was born that is considered to be 'feral', that could change its form completely into a four-legged beast with shaggy fur. These were considered to be Yl'umen's blessed.

Traditionally, the En'kah tattooed or stained their flesh with pigments derived from jungle flowers and plants, marking the different milestones of life, but also camoflaguing them from the natural predators.

Society and culture
The En'kah were still a relatively new species, largely unexposed to technology and very primitive, by the birth of Kavasi in 138 ABY. The small moon on which they lived was split into three territories, with each tribe ascribing to slightly different variations of the same beliefs and government structure. The tribes worked together in an effort to survive against their harsh environment, though occasional fueds did occur in the temperamental En'kah.

En'kah religion held that their ability to shape shift is a gift, granted to them by their god En'kah'Nahori's first wife, Yl'umen Inarii, who felt compassion for the children as they faced her husband's wrath each day. In exchange, every few generations, when one of the Blessed was born, they were to be sacrificed to Yl'umen Inarii.

History
At some point before 137 ABY, the observed Korratoa and the En'kah and catalogued the moon's existence in the. The En'kah themselves had no further interactions with the outside galaxy until 156 ABY, when an Order of Keltrayu strike team led by Azalyn Kass`l saved the En'kah feral Kavasi from sacrifice and spirited her away to the Sith Star.

Behind the scenes
As is common, Ahrrie granted Sakaros permission to publish this article to Star Wars Fanon on her behalf. Atypically, however, she wrote everything but the History section and the infobox personally.