Epin Lanmaw

Epin Lanmaw
Biographical information
Homeworld	Alderaan
Born	19 BBY
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown
Chronological and political information
Era(s)	Rise of the Empire era

When the kriff are you gonna be a man and stand up for yourself, boy?
—Sadvo Lanmaw insulting his son, Epin Lanmaw

Epin Lanmaw was a nerf herder from the Lanmaw family on the planet Alderaan, as well as a friend of Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa. Lanmaw was able to cultivate this friendship with Princess Organa after telling her that he thought she was pretty, despite her being from a different economic and societal class than him. Lanmaw had a somewhat tense relationship with his father, Sadvo Lanmaw, who frequently beat his son physically for what he felt were his son’s failures and shortcomings. Eventually, Lanmaw began having dreams about an unidentified woman who would point him to the Ophuchi Mountains on Alderaan, although he did not know the significance of the visions.

Biography

Early life

Epin Lanmaw was born in 19 BBY to Sadvo Lanmaw and Lania Lanmaw, both of whom were former Jedi Padawans expelled from the Jedi Order for practicing the dark side of the Force. Lanmaw also had a twin sister, Rena Lanmaw. It was believed by some, such as Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, that Lanmaw was not taught the powers of the Force from his parents. His family’s occupation was herding nerfs and selling the animals' hide to the Aldera Palace and other buyers on his home planet of Alderaan. As a child, his father often beat him physically, as his father felt that Lanmaw was not living up to a certain standard of manliness and needed to grow up. His mother, on the other hand, served as more of a nurturer.

As Lanmaw grew older, he would sometimes bring nerf goods into the capital city of Aldera at his father’s request. While in the city, Lanmaw would be hassled by a gang of young upper class boys called the Sons of Alderaan, who would demean Lanmaw for being of a lower class. While being hassled, Lanmaw would sometimes be beat up by Arod Vekkar, the lead gang member and the son of the city’s chief of police, Darien Vekkar. These incidents would lead to more physical abuse from his father, who used it as an example as to why he felt Lanmaw needed to grow up and act like a man.

On occasion, Lanmaw would travel to the Aldera Palace with his mother while the latter was delivering nerf goods. When Lanmaw was there, he met Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa and the princess’s adoptive sister, Winter Celchu. Lanmaw would sometimes speak with Princess Organa, although not for long periods of time. Instead, they engaged in what Epin referred to as friendly banter. Despite the limited time they spent together, Lanmaw developed feelings for the princess, and he always wanted to tell her that he thought she was pretty. He did not, however, have the courage to do so.

New friendship

One evening in 7 BBY, Lanmaw was in Aldera delivering goods to local vendors when he was, once again, confronted by the Sons of Alderaan. Lanmaw attempted to leave, although Vekkar physically attacked, injured and insulted him over the Lanmaw family's nerf herding status. The gang was scared off, however, by Princess Organa, who had been returning from school at Madame Vesta's Select Academy, when she saw the commotion. Organa helped Lanmaw to his feet, and in response Lanmaw finally admitted to her that he thought she was pretty. After a brief conversation, Lanmaw offered to escort Organa back home to the Aldera Palace.

Lanmaw and Organa were greeted by the princess’s father, former Imperial Senator Bail Organa, who had been worried where his daughter was. The Senator offered Lanmaw medical assistance for the wounds the boy had received at the hands of the gang, although Lanmaw declined and returned home as he knew his mother would be worried about him. Once he returned home, his father briefly abused him, although Lanmaw made his way to his mother who had been waiting for him. Lanmaw told his mother about what happened with Princess Organa, and Lania seemed pleased by it.

That night, Lanmaw had a nightmare about being beat up by the Sons of Alderaan, although he was shaken away by his sister so he could work on the farm with his father. Lanmaw and his father collected a group of nerfs before heading into Aldera to deliver them to the palace, where they were personally greeted by Princess Organa’s mother, Queen Breha Organa. The queen thanked Lanmaw for walking her daughter home that day before, as the princess had been in somewhat of a depression and the queen believed Lanmaw’s perceived kindness helped the princess escape it. Although his father had faked pride while in the presence of the queen, he stopped their speeder on the side of a road after they left the palace and once again beat his son, this time harder than the previous one. Lanmaw was left on the road as his father left him, where Lanmaw began to have a vision of an unknown woman telling him to head for the Ophuchi Mountains outside the city. Lanmaw believed it to be a dream, so he thought nothing of it.

Hours later, after falling asleep, Lanmaw had a dream that he was climbing the Ophuchi Mountains like the unknown woman told him to, although he was once again woken up by his sister. Lanmaw went outside to work the fields where he eventually found Princess Organa, who had traveled to the farm with her father. The two talked about a matching event that the princess had to attend, and although Lanmaw thought it sounded like fun the princess believed she would be forced into a relationship with someone who was only interested in her name. Lanmaw came to agree, and Organa left the farm after kissing Lanmaw on the cheek, catching him off guard. He tried to tell his sister what happened, but she did not believe him. She also told him that they were invited to dinner at the Aldera Palace that night.

The Lanmaws arrived at the palace later that evening, and Lanmaw and Princess Organa attempted to formally greet one another. They ended up, however, knocking their heads together, prompting Leia to become embarrassed. Once inside, Lanmaw was given a tour of the palace by the princess, during which time he pointed out that a supposed nerf rug in the palace was actually a fake. After they inadvertently held hands, the two made their way to dinner.

Personality and traits

Considering his friendship with Princess Organa, Lanmaw was sometimes in situations that he felt did not seem likely for someone of his status, leading some to believe that he lied about the things he did and said. When Lanmaw told his sister, Rena, that Organa had kissed him while on the Lanmaw farm, Rena did not believe him. She wondered what Princess Organa would have done if the princess had known Lanmaw was lying about her, despite Lanmaw trying to convince Rena otherwise. His parents, on the other hand, did believe him about what he did with the princess, although his father felt that Lanmaw was not enough of a man if a princess had to help him against thugs like the Sons of Alderaan.

Lanmaw had become accustomed to the abuse given to him by his father. Sadvo Lanmaw beat his son on more than one occasion, saying that the boy was not enough of a man and that he needed to grow up. One of his more painful beatings came after Queen Organa had told Sadvo about how his son had walked the princess home, which only furthered Sadvo’s belief that Lanmaw was not enough of a man. Despite these beatings to Lanmaw, his sister did not receive the same treatment as him. Lanmaw believed that his father would give Rena anything she wanted.

Because of his status as a nerf farmer, Lanmaw felt he was constantly looked down upon. This belief was typically furthered when he had encountered with the Sons of Alderaan, who harassed him because of his class. The gang, particularly Arod Vekkar, took an authoritative position with Lanmaw, believing that Lanmaw should have submitted to their demands and orders because of his lower class. On at least one occasion, Lanmaw had a nightmare about his confrontations with the Sons of Alderaan, not able to get their criticisms out of his head. Other members of the noble class, such as the Organa family, however, did not look down upon Lanmaw.

Powers and abilities

Despite the fact that both of his parents were once Jedi Padawans, some who knew of Lanmaw, such as Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, did not believe that his parents had taught him the ways of the Force. Nevertheless, he was able to use the basic features of a lightsaber, which he and his family called a “shod”. The Lanmaws used lightsabers for nerf herding, particularly for severing limbs off of the animals.

Behind the scenes

Before writing the Alternative Star Wars Saga novel Star Wars: The Alderaan Affair, author Wayne Lipman III had already established Epin Lanmaw as a character. Lanmaw was, as in the novel, a nerf farmer with his father, and while in isolation he would secretly train himself in the Force using a holocron obtained from a shack in his family’s farm. This was the holocron of Darth Traya, the deceased Sith Lord who had been the master of Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith during the Jedi Civil War in 3,959 BBY and the main character of the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Traya was also a central character in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Lanmaw would also spend time in a fight club on Alderaan called the Black Manka, and he became friends with Leia Organa. In his late teens, he became part of a secret order called the Emperor’s Reach led by Emperor Palpatine, and after Palpatine’s death Lanmaw helped to carry on the Sith teachings as Darth Faust. The contents of this storyline have now been cut, although some have become part of The Alderaan Affair.

On September 10, 2008, Lipman requested permission from fellow Alternative Saga author Brandon Rhea to expand upon the story of Leia Organa in the article about her on the Star Wars Fanon Wiki. Rhea preferred only sourced information, so Lipman decided to write a short story in order to source information about Organa. This short story eventually became The Alderaan Affair, in which Lanmaw is the central character. Lipman is also planning another novel, titled Veil of Darkness, that features Lanmaw.

Appearances

• Star Wars: The Alderaan Affair (First appearance)
• Veil of Darkness (Announced)

See also

• Darth Faust on the Star Wars Fanon Wiki