T'surr (species)

The T'surr were a sentient species indigenous to the planet of T'surr. T'surr were rarely seen in the galaxy. The species was among the galaxy's most dangerous predators, although their relative scarcity made them less threatening. Indeed, one of the most famous T'surr was the notorious pirate and slave trader, Krayn. Although their level of technology did not meet the galactic standard, T'surr capably used technology scavenged from the ships of their victims.

Biology and appearance
The T'surr were a sentient humanoid species of blue skinned and blue blooded predators. Their appearance followed that of most humanoids, with members of the species possessing a bipedal stance with two legs and four arms. Two of their arms ended in meaty hands with either five or three fingers, while the second pair was far smaller than the first and protruded from the upper part of them, ending in only three fingers. The species displayed sexual dimorphism between its two sexes, with males on average standing between 2.3 and 2.6 meters tall, while females stood at only around 2 meters. Males were also physically stronger than females, being solidly built, with some males being able to spin a vibro-ax in one hand like a toy.

A T'surr's head included a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, a nose, and two sets of gleaming red pupiless eyes, with one set situated above the other or all four eyes in a horizontal line above the nose. Around the eyes and mouth a T'surr's face was heavily ridged, with the creases slanting out toward the fan like sides of the head, which extended into a large number of horns in males. T'surr were capable of growing hair on their heads, including beards, which could be black in color. A T'surr's face was capable of producing expressions of nervousness, amusement, sadness and astonishment amongst others, and when a T'surr was enraged its neck would flush red.

Society and culture
T'surr originated from the desert planet of the same name in the T'surr system of the Nuon e Safyd sector, a sector in the Expansion Region of the galaxy. Their homeworld was cold and dark due to its distant star and constantly windblown, with other species finding the high gravity there daunting and oppressive. These conditions created a race of survivors who had little empathy for other beings, making practices like slavery common and accepted amongst the T'surr. Within T'surr society wealth was judged based upon how many slaves an individual owned as well as their quality, with a T'surr with no slaves was seen as worthless and was looked down upon by others.

Male T'surr were violent and cruel in nature, looking down upon weaker species and treating them as livestock to be controlled. A T'surr would use his strength and cunning to control other males of his own species as well as any member of other species, bullying them to get his way. This was not the case when it came to male treatment of T'surr females however, as the female T'surr controlled the species homeworld. Males would anxiously leave the female dominated T'surr, also allowing mothers to raise any children. Upon leaving their home, T'surr were often drawn to violent, predatory, professions, joining forces with powerful bands of pirates, privateers, or smugglers. They liked to keep trophies as reminders of their conquests, often wearing these stolen trinkets on their belts. Their species spoke a language called T'surrese. T'surr names included Datynask, Dyrago, Feyrr, Jeneyd, Reythan, Shyntak and Treykon.

History
Though they were long present in the galaxy, the T'surr were never represented in any galactic government. The Galactic Republic never allowed them representation in the Galactic Senate because they were widely regarded as nothing more than dangerous, marauding killers. However, some governments, like Sith Lord Daiman's Daimanate, happily used members of the species as Sith Troopers.

During the last years of the Republic, a notorious T'surr named Krayn worked as a pirate and slaver. His organization was infiltrated by a Jedi Knight named Siri Tachi, and during her undercover operation, Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, also fell into Krayn's custody. Though he was a successful criminal and a powerful fighter, Krayn was no match for Skywalker, who had once been a slave himself, and gave in to his anger when faced with Krayn's brutality. The young Jedi attacked and killed Krayn with his lightsaber.

The New Republic continued the policy of excluding the T'surr from galactic politics.

T'surr in the galaxy
Amongst the most infamous of the T'surr was Krayn, a pirate and slaver who operated during the final decades of the Republic. In the year 44 BBY he raided the city of Mos Eisley, capturing a number of slaves from the desert spaceport. Sixteen years later, Krayn was still active and had come to control much of the planet Nar Shaddaa, partly through its ruler Aga Culpa. Due to this power, he was able to make a deal with members of the Colicoid species who hoped to take over the galactic spice trade. Krayn would be the sole provider of slaves for the Colicoids and in return he agreed to stop attacking Colicoid ships, although in secret he arranged for an attack on a Consular-class cruiser being piloted by the Colicoid Anf Dec. Krayn was present for the attack, but it was foiled by two Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker, who boarded Karyn's ship and disabled its weapons systems, forcing the pirate to retreat. Krayn and his crew then traveled to Nar Shaddaa to meet with the Coliocoids to discuss their arrangement. While there he submitted to a review of his operations by a agent selected by the Colicoids, named Bakleeda, and discovered that one of his crew, Zora, was in fact a Jedi, truly named Siri Tachi. Tachi, who was in fact working undercover for the Jedi High Council, was imprisoned but managed to escape and with the help of Skywalker and Kenobi, who were disguised as a slave and Bakleeda respectively, turned Krayn's allies against him. After Culpa and the Colicoid's abandoned Krayn and his slaves revolted against him, Skywalker sought the slaver out and killed him.

Behind the scenes
The T'surr species first appeared in Jedi Quest: Path to Truth, a novel written by Jude Watson in the Jedi Quest series and the series of comic books based on the book and released at the same time. The comics, which were written by Ryder Windham and illustrated by Pop Mhan, had a number of significant differences in terms of the appearance of the T'surr character Krayn, whose species wasn't named in the book or comic. In the comics there is a notable difference between Krayn's appearance in the first issue compared to those that follow. In the first issue he lacks a nose and has a number of spines running down the back of his neck, however in the three later issues he has a clear nose and no spines. This article assumes the three later articles are correct as they match later illustrations of T'surr more closely.

The species next appeared in 2003 as part of a series of previews for the soon to be released sourcebook Ultimate Alien Anthology for the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game. The article was the first to identify Krayn's species as the T'surr and provided roleplaying rules for the species. It was written by XXX with an illustration by Kalman Andrasofszky. The sourcebook contained all of the same content concerning the T'surr and was released later that same year. In 2006 a T'surr appeared in Evasive Action: Prey, a comic strip written Paul Ens and illustrated by Thomas Hodges which was released on the Star Wars Hyperspace section of the StarWars.com website. The comic series Star Wars: Dark Times also included a number of T'surr characters in the The Path to Nowhere arc released in 2006 and the Parallels arc released in 2009.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knight Errant: Aflame 1
 * Jedi Quest: Path to Truth
 * Jedi Quest comic
 * Star Wars: Dark Times: The Path to Nowhere
 * Star Wars: Dark Times 13: Blue Harvest, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Dark Times 14: Blue Harvest, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Dark Times 15: Blue Harvest, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Dark Times 16: Blue Harvest, Part 4
 * Star Wars: Dark Times 17: Blue Harvest, Part 5
 * Evasive Action: Prey