Keshiri

The Keshiri were a near-Human sentient species native to the planet of Kesh. Powerfully-built, they had pale purple skin and silver hair. They were typically found to be very attractive by Human standards, although the two species were different enough biologically to be incapable of reproduction. The Keshiri were a very religious species; they worshiped gods known as the Skyborn, whom they believed had formed all of the land on Kesh, from which the Keshiri were born. The Keshiri religion and government was led by the Neshtovar, who believed in the importance of tradition and religion above science and technological progress.

In 5,000 BBY, a group of Sith crashed onto the planet in their starship, the Omen, after being knocked off course during a hyperspace jump. The Keshiri believed them to be the Skyborn and gave themselves over to lives of service to the Sith. Although the Keshiri eventually found that the Sith were not their gods, they continued serving them for thousands of years. By 41 ABY, the Keshiri had come to be seen almost as equals to the Sith, and several were accepted into the Sith Tribe, with at least one serving on the Circle of Lords, the Tribe's ruling council. Around the time of the Second Galactic Civil War, members of the Keshiri species were able to travel off-world for the first time in the newly-formed Sith armada. Several Keshiri served as leaders in the fleet, such as High Lord Sarasu Taalon.

Biology and appearance
The Keshiri were a race of near-Humans from the remote Wild Space world of Kesh. They were powerfully built, with rather large red eyes and hair ranging in color from silver to white. Their skin was typically a pale purple, although it could fluctuate from darker to lighter shades as their emotions shifted. Keshiri were extremely similar to Humans in their appearance and were found by members of the Human species to be particularly attractive. As such, they often intermarried with the Human population on Kesh, despite the fact that the two species were fundamentally different enough on a biological level to preclude reproduction.

Society and culture
"But you know that all that is Kesh came from the Skyborn. Nothing can be born of Kesh anew!"

- Izri Dazh

Keshiri life was centered around their religion. They worshiped a group of gods called the Skyborn, also known as the Protectors, a sandy-blooded race who were believed to have lived in the stars. According to Keshiri legend, the Skyborn's enemies were the Otherside&mdash;beings of fire, rebellion, sickness, and death, about whom very little was known other than that they had "come from below." The Keshiri believed that the Skyborn, riding gigantic crystal uvak&mdash;membranous-winged reptilian creatures native to Kesh&mdash;fought with the Otherside among the stars in what the Keshiri religious leaders called the Great Battle. According to the legend, the battle lasted for eons, until the Otherside were finally defeated. The Skyborn, however, had been injured, and their blood fell into the oceans, forming the land that gave birth to the Keshiri. As such, it was commonly believed that the land of Kesh was a part of the Skyborn and that the Skyborn had the power to control such phenomena as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and storms.

Another important point of Keshiri religion was the Destructors, a mysterious species that was said to return to the galaxy every few eons to destroy all civilization, returning all beings to their primitive origins. The Destructors' enemies, the Skyborn, were said to be destined to defend Kesh from the Destructors. Research conducted in the time leading up to 41 ABY seemed to indicate that a catastrophe much like that which the Destructors were believed to cause had indeed occurred on Kesh at least once previously.

The leaders of Keshiri government and religion were a group of males known as the Neshtovar, the self-proclaimed "Sons of the Skyborn." They were known for breeding and riding uvak. Traditionally, when a member of the Neshtovar died, the rest of his family was killed by the Keshiri community; however, this practice was discontinued by 5,000 BBY. The Neshtovar were expected to be experts at riding uvak&mdash;to fall off one of the creatures was equivalent to being "claimed by the Otherside." The Neshtovar governed the Keshiri from the Circle Eternal, a plaza located in their capital city of Tahv.

Although they had very little tolerance for beings who went against their religion, the Keshiri were typically a peaceful species. More interested in tradition and religion than learning, they were less developed technologically than much of the outside galaxy and did not even have a number high enough to count their entire population. Rather isolated from the rest of the galaxy, the Keshiri made their first contact with other beings in 5,000 BBY, when a group of Sith crash-landed on the planet in their starship, the Omen. After witnessing the newcomers' powers, the Keshiri came to believe that the newcomers were their Protectors, the Skyborn, and committed themselves to lives of servitude to the Sith.

The Neshtovar were replaced by the Tribe's ruling council, the Circle of Lords, as the governing body of Kesh. Though the Keshiri finally came to realize that the Sith were not their gods, many aspects of the Keshiri religion were not lost, as, even thousands of years after their initial meeting, several members of the Tribe of Sith that formed from the survivors of the crash came to believe some aspects of Keshiri religion. Over time the social status differential between the Sith and the Keshiri narrowed significantly, although the Keshiri were still considered to be inferior to the Humans. By 37 ABY, however, several Force-sensitive Keshiri were training with the Sith, and a way for them to gain admission to the Tribe took place in a festival known as Presentation.

History
"We have come from above, as you say. We have come to visit the land that was a piece of us, and the people of that land. And Kesh has welcomed us."

- Yaru Korsin, claiming the Sith are indeed the Skyborn

The Keshiri evolved on the planet of Kesh thousands of years before the Battle of Yavin. By 5,000 BBY, the Keshiri had built several towns and cities, although they remained technologically inferior to much of the galaxy. That year, as much of the galaxy was immersed in the Great Hyperspace War between the Galactic Republic and the ancient Sith Empire, a Keshiri geologist, Adari Vaal, found evidence that the land on Kesh had been created by volcanoes rather than the Skyborn, as was commonly believed. She was branded a heretic for her teachings and forced to flee from Tahv. Meanwhile, the Omen, a Sith warship under the command of Yaru Korsin and tasked with delivering a shipment of Lignan crystals to the Sith's Dark Lord Naga Sadow, was ambushed and knocked off-course while attempting to flee into hyperspace, causing it to crash-land on Kesh.

The survivors of the accident first made contact with Vaal, who had fled to the Takara Mountains, where the Omen had crashed. At the request of the Sith, Vaal lured the Neshtovar to the crash-site of the Omen, where they were shocked by the appearance of the newcomers. After witnessing the Sith's great powers, the Neshtovar decided that the newcomers were actually their gods, the Skyborn, and that they had come down from the stars to visit their home. As such, the Keshiri willingly decided to submit themselves to lives of service to the Sith. They helped the newcomers to build a new Temple at the crash site of the Omen and assisted in the further construction and expansion of Tahv.

Fifteen years after the arrival of the Sith on the planet, the Sith Tribe began to accept that they may remain permanently stranded on Kesh. Around this time, however, Ravilan, one of the few members of the Sith species among the Omen survivors, discovered the deadly effects of cyanogen silicate. He used the silicate to poison and kill the Keshiri who lived in the city of Tetsubal, hoping to convince the Sith that it was a sign from the dark side of the Force that they should leave the world. Korsin's wife, Seelah, discovered his ploy and turned it against him, using the silicate to poison many of the other Keshiri villages&mdash;leaving hundreds of thousands of Keshiri dead&mdash;and blaming it on Ravilan and the other "Fifty-seven" surviving members of the Sith species. This initiated a purge of the "Red Sith," as they were known, causing the deaths of all of the members of the Sith species on Kesh. This move was met with secret joy by Vaal and several other members of the Keshiri, who wished to remove the Sith from their world. Ten years later, Vaal's resistence movement prepared to strike at the Sith in an attempt to weaken their hold of power over Kesh, but their plans were discovered by Yaru Korsin's daughter, Nida, and foiled.

The Keshiri lived alongside the Sith for thousands of years, and over time they realized that the Sith were not truly their gods. Still, several Keshiri remained as servants or slaves of the Sith, and the race as a whole was generally seen as inferior to the Humans. By the time of the Second Galactic Civil War, however, the social status differential had narrowed somewhat between the two societies. Although interbreeding was impossible, many of the Human Sith took Keshiri as lovers, considering them to be very attractive. The two cultures intermingled and several Keshiri eventually rose to positions of power within the Tribe; by 37 ABY, several Keshiri had been allowed into the Sith Tribe, and by 41 ABY, at least one Keshiri was serving on the Circle of Lords, the ruling council of the Tribe and governing body of the planet. In that year, Ship, a Sith Meditation Sphere, arrived on Kesh to help train the Tribe's apprentices and form a Sith armada. Ship helped the Tribe capture starships, and after five thousand years of being stranded on the planet, the Sith and Keshiri finally had the means to travel offworld. Two years later, several Keshiri Sith were chosen to be on the select Sith strike team sent to kill Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker. Shortly after, Sarasu Taalon, a Keshiri High Lord on the Circle of Lords, led a fleet of eleven ChaseMaster frigates to Dathomir, where the Keshiri Sith Lord Viun Gaalan led a group of shuttles to the surface to retrieve Vestara Khai&mdash;the sole survivor of the Sith strike team&mdash;along with a group of Nightsisters who Khai helped to capture. In orbit over Dathomir, Taalon confronted Skywalker with his fleet of ChaseMasters, proposing and forming a false alliance with the Jedi Master to eliminate Abeloth, a powerful dark side being residing in the Maw. Several Keshiri in the fleet then took part in the ensuing mission. The Sith intended to betray the Jedi and force Abeloth to serve them, but they failed, and Skywalker killed Abeloth.

Keshiri in the galaxy
"Ben, who the black empty void is that?"

- Luke Skywalker

The Keshiri were technologically inferior to much of the galaxy, and thus never left Kesh of their own accord. Also, as Kesh was a remote planet, the species remained undiscovered by the outside galaxy until the arrival of the Sith in 5,000 BBY. Because the Sith's starship was damaged in the crash, however, the Keshiri remained stranded on Kesh until Ship, a Sith Meditation Sphere, arrived in 41 ABY and began to help the Sith form an armada. Members of the Keshiri species were finally able to travel offworld aboard starships in the armada, and a few Keshiri Sith, such as Baad Walusari and Ahri Raas, later traveled into the Maw aboard the warship Eternal Crusader as a part of the Sith strike team sent to track Ship and kill Skywalker. However, none of the Keshiri on the strike team survived the mission.

Soon after, the Keshiri High Lord Sarasu Taalon led a fleet of ships to Dathomir, where Sith Lord Gaalan took a convoy to the planet surface to retrieve the sole survivor of the strike team from Dathomir. During the mission, Gaalan led the capture of several Nightsisters and also survived a duel with Luke Skywalker himself. Shortly after, Taalon convinced Skywalker to join the Sith in an attempt to defeat the mysterious dark side being Abeloth, although the Sith actually intended to force Abeloth to serve them. During the ensuing mission, a Keshiri member of the fleet, Captain Leeha Faal, was killed while beyond shadows, and the Sith failed in their endeavor, as Skywalker killed Abeloth. Taalon then elected to stay on Abeloth's homeworld with the Skywalkers, Khai, and Khai's father, Gavar, to discover more about Abeloth.

Behind the scenes
The Keshiri first appeared briefly in John Jackson Miller's Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice, the first eBook in the Lost Tribe of the Sith series, which served as a tie-in to the Fate of the Jedi series. The species was first identified as Keshiri in the second novel of the Fate of the Jedi series, Omen, written by Christie Golden. The Keshiri have since appeared in each successive Fate of the Jedi novel, including Abyss, Backlash, and Allies.

Appearances

 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice
 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Skyborn
 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon
 * Lost Tribe of the Sith: Savior
 * Imprint
 * Omen
 * Abyss
 * Backlash
 * Allies