Ithorian (Jedi Renaissance)

Anx were a race of sentient reptiles from the terrestrial world of in the  of the galaxy. Evolving from grazing ornithopods, the Anx formed society in the wake of the Infinite Empire's collapse. Discovered by scouts from the Galactic Republic in the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War, the Anx joined the Republic and quickly assimilated with galactic society and culture. As the Jedi Order established outposts on nearby Dantooine, the Anx began to send their Forceful children to the Jedi. Anx Space continued to thrive despite being located outside of the civilized galaxy, with most of the surrounding systems remaining untamed and unexplored until after the Clone Wars.

Biology and appearance
Ithorians were a sentient species of developed gastropods that evolved in the forests of Ithor. Having evolved sentience, Ithorian 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 long fingers each; Ithorian fingers had multiple points of articulation with suction-like tips, and one of them was an opposable thumb that allowed for fine manipulation. The lower limbs, called legs, ended in feet with five digits, that curved down for grip and balance. Atop their hunched torso, Ithorians had a forward-extending neck which blended in with the head, curving upward to form the eyestalk of the species' face. In males, a single hump in the neck's curvature distinguished them from their female counterparts, who had two humps. Ithorians possessed a large throat sac on the bottom of their heads which contained four throats; on either side of their heads was a long toothless mouth, which lacked a jaw and filtered oxygen and sustenance through thin, baleen. Because of the arrangement of their mouths and throats, Ithorians developed a unique sterophonic language and could violently expel air in a form of a deafening bello. Their eyestalk, which curved upward at the end of their head, possessed one eye on either side, capable of binocular vision. Like most other gastropods, the Ithorians had no body hair, as they were cold-blooded animals. Instead, they sometimes grew beard-like whiskers that were nothing more than sensory bristles. Otherwise, their skin was glossy and moist when healthy, and ranged in gradation from brown to deep red or green.

Ithorians had two sexes: male and female, with the latter being distinguished by their dual neck humps and overall shorter stature. Despite overall physiological uniformity, Ithorians varied greatly in appearance, and no two individuals looked exactly alike. Sexually-reproduced animals requiring the mating of an opposite sex couple to produce offspring, Ithorians could produced upwards of three thousand offspring in a lifetime. Ithorian sexual rituals were complex and the marvel of many xenobiologists because of its evolution. Producing a chemically-enhanced signal into the thin slime that coated their bodies, these pheromone-like signals allowed potential mates to seek out a willing partner. Engaging in hours of erotic preparation, the anatomical grandeur of male Ithorians was well-documented and necessary for the impregnation of a female. Once the mating ritual is complete, females can prevent immediate fertilization of her eggs until the conditions are right for her eggs to hatch and thrive. Laying up to a hundred eggs at a time, Ithorians abandon their young, allowing them to thrive or perish based on their natural skills in the heart of the Ithorian jungles as pupa. These pupa were pure gastropods, consisting of a single foot and a stomach. The aural cavity on their backs was covered by a flap, while locomotion tubes lined their sides and allowed them to move forward and backward. Their single mouth was constantly consuming plant matter, using thin tentacles to guide food into their mouths. Limber and boneless, these pupa ate and ate for two years in the heart of the jungle until ascending into the trees to molt. Excreting a thick slime which coated their bodies and hardened, the pupa metamorphosed into its bipedal form, growing limbs and emerging as a thriving child. Continuing to develop through adolescence, the Law of Life defined the transition from youth to adult as occurring in the individual's eighteenth year. Ithorians had an average lifespan of 75 standard years. Those who were keenly attuned to the Force could live up to 200. At any rate, individuals past the age of 85 were considered to have reached an age worthy of veneration. Natural signs of aging in Ithorians included the dulling of the color of skin, slowing of the production of secretions, weak knees, and the loss of vision.

Ottegans
A genetic offshoot of the baseline Ithorians evolved on Ottega, the second planet in the Ottega system. Developing after the first Ithorians colonized the world, the divergence resulted in Ottegans maintaining their single mouth from the pupa stage as opposed to developing two mouths. The two throats of the Ottegans faced forward, with a single mouth opening up on the front of the face below the eyestalk. A lipped mouth with a hinged jaw allowed the Ottegans to consume solid plant matter as adults, with wide grinding teeth for digesting leaves. Baseline Ithorians referred to their cousins as hrumgatha—"lone mouths"—and joked that Ottegans' physiology meant that they need to talk twice as much to be heard. Integrating into Ithorian culture, Ottegans were respected and welcomed to integrate with the wider Ithorian population aboard their herdships.

Society and culture
A peace-loving species, the defining factor of the Ithorian culture was the reverence for the Mother Jungle, the planet-wide forest which dominated Ithor. Venerating Mother Jungle as a deity, Ithorian culture demanded that the species protect the planet at all costs, sacrificing of themselves to ensure that it thrived and grew indefinitely. To this end, Ithorians refrained from living on the planet directly, establishing large herd ships that floated above the surface. Even beyond Ithor, Ithorians retained this reverence for their homeworld, allowing their colonies to be guided by priests and tending to their own forests.

Government
Developing around the same time as the Galactic Republic, the government of Ithor was devoted to the preservation of the Mother Jungle, regimenting the entirety of Ithorian progress to prevent development that would harm the planet. Because of this self-imposed handicap, Ithorian society remained undeveloped for millennia, coming upon technology slowly and cautiously. A highly populous species due to a high birth rate, Ithorians split into nomadic herds to prevent the ruination of a single tract of land. Led by a spiritual leader who was guided by the Force, the herds sought to maintain the planet's natural purity in all parts of society. When technology developed that allowed them to leave the surface, the Ithorians relocated to herships that floated in the atmosphere above the Mother Jungle.

The herd leaders were subject to the dictates of the Council of Elders, a planetary body of wizened Ithorians who advocated for peace and environmental soundness. Guided by the Law of Life, the Council is charged with the dispensation of punishments for those who act in ways that are contradictory to the guidelines provided by the Elders. Those who acted violently to polluted were given the harshest punishment: exile from the herd. Cast out from Ithorian society, exiles were banished indefinitely without consideration of past deeds or status.

Commerce aboard herd ships was allowed to work in ways it never could on the surface. Because pollutants could be expelled out of the atmosphere, industry took hold in commercial zones, where a Commerce Council was formed from the ship's merchantate, or business elites. Guided by trade guilds spread across the various colonies and herd ships abroad, the Ithorians used their own currency internally, using galactic credits only when abroad.

Represented directly in the Senate of the Galactic Republic, the Ithorians enjoyed the protections and status of being a populace species and long-term member of the galaxy-spanning democracy. Promoting a message of peace and environmental concern, the Ithorian government formed a large coalition in the Senate of other cultures that supported the protection of environmentally intact worlds.

Technology
Developing technology slowly and meticulously regulated, Ithorian technology underwent a battery of tests to ensure it was produced responsibly and would have a low impact on the environment. The invention of the repulsorlift was the greatest development in Ithorian history, as it allowed them to move industry beyond Ithor's surface and into the upper atmosphere where the environmental impact was severely mitigated. As development expanded exponentially, the Ithorians emerged as a spacefaring culture, sending her ships beyond their own world and out into the surround regions to spread their beliefs and the boundaries of the Mother Jungle.

The greatest export from Ithor was the terraforming techniques and technology developed in-system. Having seeded the six moons of Ithor and the other planets in their system, the Republic took notice of the tech and quickly sought to purchase contracts with the herdsmen. Developing a sophisticated vocoder that permitted the dual-mouthed Ithorians to communicate in Basic, the species quickly expanded beyond their borders and spread across the Republic. Each herdship contained the central Dome of the Mother Jungle, a dense greenhouse of exotic flora planted from saplings sourced from Ithor. Moving out from Ithor on a specific scheduled course, the herdship returned to Ithor for the grand Herd Meet. When abroad, herdships acted as cultural ambassadors to the worlds they visited, sharing unique customs and commerce with foreign worlds.

Customs
Kougathu-the shouting

Ithorian Jedi
The first Ithorian joined the Jedi Order soon after their discovery by the Republic in the midst of the Great Manifest Period. Because Ithorians were devoted to the preservation of life, they made a perfect fit for Jedi training. While Forceful Ithorian were common among the highly-populated herd ships, most elected to stay upon their own people. Those who did join the Jedi were highly regarded for their devotion to peace, and many became exceptionally skilled diplomats and healers.