Nazzar

Nazzar were a sentient humanoid bipedal species native to the Mid Rim planet of Nazzri. With equine faces and powerfully built bodies, the species had a history of contemplation and philosophy. They were mildly xenophobic, and were rarely found off their temperate homeworld, and offworld Nazzar were likely to be outcasts. One of the most famous Nazzar was the Jedi Qrrrl Toq, who died around four thousand years before the Battle of Yavin.

Noble and spiritual creatures, the Nazzar joined the Galactic Republic early in its history. They followed the Ulizra, a strict Nazzar religion which stated that outsiders were likely to taint Nazzar culture, and that the group was always better than the individual.

Biology and appearance
Averaging at roughly two meters tall, Nazzar were a physically powerful and agile species. They were bipedal humanoids, with distinctly elongated equine heads. Nazzar had dark skin, which was covered with thin fur, ranging in color from light gray to dark navy. They had two long ears which lay limp at the side of their head, and strong, four-fingered hands. They often wore extravagant, colorful clothing, as well as a sorts of reins on their long faces.

Nazzar had an average lifespan slightly longer than those of most sentient species in the Galaxy. Considered younglings until they were eleven standard years old, Nazzar became adults when they reached eighteen. At around fifty-six years, Nazzar were regarded as middle-aged, while those who reached ninety were thought of as old. Anyone older than one hundred and twenty-five years was considered venerable, and demanded much respect from society.

Society and culture
Nazzar were deeply spiritual and distant, and extremely intolerant of other forms of religion and belief, especially those dissimilar to their own. The offworld Nazzar who eventually overcame their xenophobia and natural prejudice formed friendships with many other species in the Galaxy, and were said to make trusted and loyal companions.

Nazzar followed a state religion known as Ulizra. The Nazzar government expecting strict adherence to the tenets of the fourteen sects, each ruled by a praefect of Ulizra. These tenets included the concepts that outsiders would contaminate and taint Nazzar society and culture, that Nazzar should maintain in seclusion from the rest of the Galaxy that all philosophical systems in disagreement with Ulizra, and that the group was always more important than the individual. Because of these beliefs, it was very difficult for other species to set up trade relations with the Nazzar, or even for the Nazzar to have befriended other species. Although legally allowed, outsiders who stay on Nazzri usually received less than warm welcomes.

Spread over three systems, the Nazzar government had originally formed as a monarchy, but over many millennia it became an oligarchical theocracy led by a king and fourteen praefects, the heads of each of the sects of the Nazzar religion. The king presided over the council of fifteen lawgivers and commanded the Nazzri military forces and planetary security agencies. However, only the praefects could introduce and vote on new laws and amendments. A majority of the Nazzar could correctly predict almost any vote, as the praefacts could not break any of the tenets of Ulizra in their decisions.

Nazzar spoke a language of the same name, as well as Galactic Basic Standard.

Common Nazzar names included Brryg Tallak, Drrn Roqar, Srrn Kanas and Vrrk Jikat.

History
The Nazzri system joined the Galactic Republic early in galactic history, but had little contact with the Republic, apart from maintaining a senatorial presence on Coruscant. When Emperor Palpatine rose to power, most Nazzar returned to their system and ignored the going-ons in the Galaxy. That attitude continued into the time of the New Jedi Order, and despite several invitations, Nazzri did not join the New Republic. The Nazzar also ignored the events of the universe around them during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.

Nazzar in the Galaxy


Due to their somewhat xenophobic nature, Nazzar were rarely seen away from their home planet; a temperate and lushly vegetated planet known as Nazzri, which was located in the Mid Rim sector of the Galaxy. Offworld Nazzar were likely to be either outcasts who had denounced and rejected the teachings and ideas of Ulizra, or preachers who had left their planet to attempt to bring their philosophical truths to new people, however Nazzar preachers rarely found acceptance of Ulizra offworld, and many returned home. Nazzar outcasts managed to find new organizations to follow, and many became fanatical followers of a wide range of fringe groups.

Although extremely rare, Nazzar who had proved themselves as devout followers of Ulizra were permitted to leave the planet on a self-imposed exile known as a boqeri, on which Nazzar sought the spiritual truth. The length of a boqeri depended on how long it took the seeker to discover the truth they did not know at home. Many Nazzar on those journeys were fascinated by the wonders of the Galaxy, and never returned to Nazzri. Many of them were drawn to adventure; Nazzri soldiers, scouts and Jedi were not uncommon prior to the reign of the Empire.

Jedi Master Qrrrl Toq was a notable member of the Nazzar race, and one who had ventured away from his homeworld to prosper in the wider Galaxy. The son of the Nazzar emperor-king, he was trained in the ways of the Ulizra by fellow Nazzar Vrrk Jikat, Toq left his homeworld to perform his boqeri, and in Ulda Frav he encountered a Jedi Knight for the first time. The Jedi, realizing Toq was strong in the Force, took him to Ossus to be trained by Jedi Master Vodo Siosk-Baas. A Jedi Shadow, Toq fought in the Naddist Uprising and Great Sith War where he was killed when Aleema Keto triggered a supernova of almost a dozen stars.

Ikree was a Nazzar princess, who, after returning from her boqeri, discovered that her father, the emperor-king, was corrupted by dark magic. When her father refused to stop using the magic, she spoke out against the government. She was imprisoned, and later killed by one of her father's subordinates.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War