Chalactan (Jedi Renaissance)

"The Chalactan people and the Jedi Order have been on friendly terms for generations. It is truly wonderful to see our Chalactan Jedi blend their teaching with that of the Adepts on their homeworld and bring new insight to both orders."

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

Chalactans were a race of Humans from the terrestrial world of in the  of the galaxy. Colonized during the Rianitus Period by a group of spiritualists from the Core, the Chalactans sought enlightenment and founded a government based on morality and the natural laws of the universe, laws which they believed governed individuals innately. While friendly with the Galactic Republic, Chalactan government did not believe in long-standing treaties or permanent arrangements with any other group and often found their membership in the Republic as a conditional status. Often this led to the world being exploited by its neighbors and therefore absorbed into the Hutt Empire. While they wavered in their support for the Republic, the Chalactan government formed a long-standing relationship with the Jedi Order. Sending sixty percent of all Forceful children to the Order, the Chalactan Adepts requested that their planet be placed under the watchful eye of a Chalactan Jedi Watchmen and that a Chalactan Jedi be sent to their world to settle any disputes that might arise.

Biology and appearance
A race of Humanity, Chalactans were a sentient species that belonged to the simians, a subgroup of the primate order of mammals. Chalactans were bipedal beings with a bilateral symmetry, having a front and a back end, as well as an upside and downside. Their body comprised a head, neck, torso, and four limbs. The upper limbs, called arms, ended in hands which had five fingers each; the lower ones, called legs, ended in feet with also five digits. Chalactan fingers had multiple points of articulation, and one of them was an opposable thumb that allowed for fine manipulation. Finally, they had one head perched atop a torso. Unlike other mammalian species they had only a light covering of body hair, most of which was concentrated on the head and, in the case of adult males, face. Chalactans were warm-blooded animals, meaning they maintained a constant body temperature independent of the environment using the energy from their food. Chalactans were herbivorous, subsisting on plant-based foods. Chalactans had two sexes: male and female, with the latter being distinguished by their pronounced breasts, overall smaller stature and lesser quantity of body hair. Members of the Chalactan race could interbreed naturally with many other near-Human races. Despite overall physiological uniformity, Chalactans varied greatly in appearance, and no two Chalactans looked exactly alike. One of the diversity factors was height. Chalactans averaged 1.65 meters in height, although males were usually taller and heavier than females. Chalactan hair was grown, cut, and styled for aesthetic or ritualistic reasons&mdash; females generally braided their hair in intricate hoops while men kept theirs close cropped and covered. The facial hair grown by adult males was similarly grown over the course of a lifetime and never cut; instead it was braided into long, looping coils. Their hair color ranged from brown to black, sometimes with hues of red, changing to gray or white as years passed. Many would dye their hair a bright orange using a dye made from crushed plants native to Chalacta. In addition to those varied hair colors, their eyes came in shades of blue, green, orange, or brown. Gradiation of skin tone was also seen among Chalactans, ranging from dark brown to a light brown.

Chalactans were sexually-reproduced animals, requiring the mating of an opposite sex couple to produce offspring. While developing in their mother's womb, the child gave her a distinctive "baby bump" accompanied by a significant weight gain. Being mammals, the Chalactan females gave birth to live young, either one or several at a time. The delivery itself normally took place after nine months of pregnancy when a woman would take up residence within a local Temple of Life where professional healers would attend her every need. It was a painful process that could take as much as ten hours; in some circumstances, women could die during childbirth. During their first months of existence, Chalactan babies were usually fed with milk from their mother's breasts. The period during which a young Human developed from a child into an adult was known as adolescence. According to the High Laws of Chalacta, the legal transition from childhood to adulthood was only attained after eighteen standard years of life. Chalactans had an average lifespan of 100 standard years. Those who were keenly attuned to the Force could live up to 200. At any rate, individuals past the age of 81 were considered to have reached an age worthy of veneration. Natural signs of ageing in Chalactans included the whitening or fall of the hair, the loss of teeth, appearance of deep lines, wrinkles and dark blemishes on the skin. Old Chalactans would experience a decline in many cognitive processes, frequently losing track of time, misidentifying people or places and, in extreme cases, momentarily forgetting about their own identity or state.

Society and culture
Chalactan culture was developed by spiritualists searching for enlightenment far from the wealth and corruption that pervaded Human culture in the Galactic Core. Forming a spiritually-guided theocracy led by the Convocation of Adepts, Chalactan governance was based on the principles of the natural laws of the universe. Believing that these laws also exist within each individual, the goal of each Adept was to strive to understand them and be illuminated and there by guide others to illumination. Erecting the Temple of Illumination on the great island continent of Ashlan, the Adepts oversaw much of the Chalactan society including education, health, and productivity: the Three Tenants of Society. Aside from a right to education and health, the Adepts believed that all Chalactans had a right to be productive members of society and therefore created a meritocratic economic system that valued hard work and active participation in social forums and events. Chalactans often found work in a field which best expressed their natural skills, interests, and passion. Chalactan doctors, engineers, martial artists, were renowned throughout the Mid Rim, and many philosophical texts and literary and artistic masterpieces adorned libraries and museums the galaxy over.

Adepts within the government were semi-monastic in that they lived in spartan quarters and practiced chastity outside of ritualistic fertilization ceremonies. Chalactan Adepts were not monogamous and raised their children in group settings; civilians typically mated for life and raised their children within private homes. Chalactans who sought enlightenment with the Adepts fixed a gold bead between their eyes to symbolize their status as a Seeker. After attaining Enlightenment, the Adept would affix the Greater Mark of Illumination to their forehead.

History
Civilization on originated in 8,923 Brs when colonists from the Core Worlds sought spiritual liberation on the coastal plains of Chalacta. Establishing great cities along the coasts, the Chalactans ventured into the dense jungles and erected impressive stone temples at the base of the mountains ranges that dominated the inland regions. The Great Temple of Illumination was constructed at the heart of Chalactan governance on the island continent of Ashlan where the Adepts made their home. Located along the Pabol Sleheyron hyperspace lane, Chalacta always hovered on the edge of the Hutt Space, drifting in and out of Hutt control. During the Jedi Civil War, Chalacta was seized by members of Darth Revan's Sith Empire, though the Chalactans avoided Sith involvement on the planet. Similarly, the world was enveloped into the New Sith Empire for purely strategic and political reasons and saw no actual Sith presence on the world. Cut off from the Republic for several centuries, the Convocation of Adepts grew to see the Republic and the Empire as superficial and transitory constructs and refused to form any lasting or binding contracts with any greater galactic government. Instead, the Convocation formed a great relationship with the Jedi Order and agreed to have a great percentage of Forceful Chalactans sent to train with the Order.

Chalactan Jedi
Since forming a strong bond with the Jedi Order early in the culture's history many Chalactans had served as Jedi, with several rising to prestigious positions within the upper ranks of the Order's leadership. Their strong sense of clarity, inner peace, and calm made the Chalactans ideal for accepting the Jedi teachings. Many Chalactan Jedi took to the school of thought of the Consular, studying the Jedi Code and living by it in quiet contemplation. Chalactan diplomats, healers, scientists, and researchers were also commonplace, as Chalactans could both be sociable, political beings and studious, contemplative stoics. Those who chose to pursue the role of Guardian were calm and extroverted; expressive and quick to laugh jollily, Chalactan Guardians did not take themselves too seriously and sought to ease tensions with a more balanced view of life. Like all species which served in the Order, Chalactans 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 Chalactans who had and who would serve. The kneeling likeness of Sage Master Mikoon Kulaavoon served as a reminder to all that enlightenment came at a great personal cost. In the Sword of the Jedi tower, the lightsabers of all Jedi were placed in memory of fallen warriors and scholars alike. The Edifice of Heroes memorialized past Chalacatans while standing ready to adorn its halls with paintings, monuments, or holodepictions of all future Chalactans.

Chalactan Sith
While far more likely to fall in with the principles of the Jedi Order, an occasional Chagrian Sith would emerge in the galaxy. Their strong stoicism and adherence to policy made the strict nature of Empires appealing, and Chagrian Sith tended to be enforcers, policy makers, or sycophants. Chagrian's also had a fatal social flaw in that they could be particularly vain. While the Jedi stamped out this cultural norm, the Sith encouraged it; often times Chagrian Sith were highly ornamented and festooned their lethorns with baubles made from precious metals and gems. Rarely, a Chagrian beserker would step up in the Sith ranks, a butcher among Sith and defy on Chagrian social norms as a violent, ruthless Lord.