Charon

Charon were a bloodthirsty sentient species with both humanoid and arachnoid features. They had four arms, two of which were extremely powerful, and four legs, which made them very stable on their feet. Native to a cold, bleak planet located in "otherspace", a pocket dimension made up of black holes beyond the known confines of the Galaxy, Charon were known for their violent, emotionless nature.

Prior to the rise of the New Jedi Order, Charon were confined to otherspace, where most Charon followed a death cult which held the existence of all life, even their own species, to be an abomination. Their contact with the civilizations of the galaxy was limited, but it was enough to make them objects of horror.

Shortly after the destruction of the Second Death Star in 4 ABY, a splinter group of Charon devoted to maintaining peace and setting up new communities successfully constructed the species’ first hyperdrive and departed otherspace, with many Charon taking up positions as bioscientists, developing bioorganic technology similar to that of the Yuuzhan Vong.

Biology and appearance
Averaging between two to two and a quarter meters tall, Charon resembled a biological cross between humanoids and arachnids. They had thin bodies, encased by a thick mottled carapace, with distinctly arachnoid features, such as spinnerets in the abdomen, as well as multiple limbs. They had four thin arms with triple-clawed hands, and four hairy, insectoid legs, with large clawed feet. Their uppermost pair of arms was slightly larger than the other pair, and was used for holding weapons, and although Charon could hold objects in any of their four clawed hands, they only had one primary hand. Their multiple limbs had several advantages; Charon were exceptional climbers, were extremely stable on their feet, and the claws on both their hands and feet made deadly weapons capable of damaging almost any material. An extremely powerful species, they were also able to lift objects which were far too heavy for most other species.

Charon had mandibular chelicerae at the sides of their small mouths and bulging, slit-pupilled eyes. They often wore clothing from the waist up, though not always. Because of their large size, Charon found it difficult to hide, although they could move slightly more quickly than most other species.

Charon had a large trailing abdomen, capable of spinning strands of sticky webbing, which could be organized into latticework structures that allowed Charon to climb from place to place. They could shoot webs several times a day; the stronger the individual Charon the more times it could spin. They were able to attack an enemy over ten meters away with a strand of webbing, entangling them, or spin a web about two meters around them in all directions. Although it could be broken by blunt objects, blasters and lightsabers were the most effective weapons against a Charon’s webbing.

Charon had shorter lifespans than most sentient species in the known Galaxy, growing rapidly in the first half dozen standard years of their lives. Considered younglings until they were four standard years old, Charon became adults at six standard years. When they reached thirty four years, they were regarded as middle-aged, while those between fifty six and sixty four were thought to be old. A Charon who lived for more than sixty five years old was considered venerable, and would have been well respected by other Charon.

Society and culture
After the Cult of the Void gained complete power over the Charon people, their leader, the Prophet of the Void, became the supreme dictator of all of otherspace, and his orders were followed without question. Charon who served the Prophet of the Void believed in entropy, and strived to destroy all life without mercy. During the reign of the Cult, Charon were thought to be emotionless beings with a lust for death, and they believed the free will exhibited by other species was blasphemy.

Those Charon who defected to the Cult of Light followed the Illuminated One devotedly, and sought to leave their galaxy and create a new, thriving colony of Charon on a more hospitable planet. All Charon, regardless of affiliation and allegiance, were ruthless and extremely determined, pursuing their desires with single-minded determination.

Those who had encountered the Charon simply thought they were intelligent killing machines. Considered evil by the few spacers in the Outer Rim with any knowledge of them, Charon terrified all sentients they came into contact with, and were extremely powerful and aggressive.

All Charon technology was based on biological constructs, and although they did not shun or despise mechanical technology, they preferred bioorganics. The process by which these bioorganic materials were created was unknown, however one theory put forward by Imperial sentientologists was that Charon bioscientists surgically modified living beings to create an organic machine that fitted their wants and needs. An alternative theory was that their constructs were genetically engineered, or else a combination of the two possible methods. Although the constructs were essentially living beings, they were said to have no personality or free will. The amount of bioorganics produced by the Charon dropped significantly when the Charon began to slaughter the other beings of their galaxy.

Charon spoke a bizarre language of the same name, comprised of clicks, squeals and various scratching sounds made by rubbing their mandibles together. The language could only be copied by other insectoid species. Written Charon was basically a series of intricate web patterns indistinguishable from decorative shapes.

Charon serving the Prophet of the Void were never given personal names. Charon belonging to the Cult of Light often took on names while exploring the Galaxy; the names they took were usually influenced by the other species which they had met on their travels. Common Charon names included Fa’chak, H’zish, Ry’shyrr, Sya’kalla and Tin’soth.

Charon were biologically divided into different castes. In the case of the Charon, the two main castes were:


 * Warriors; this caste looked like eight legged spiders with dark exo-skeletons, allowing them stealthy movement in dark locations. It was this caste that served the cause of the Charon by killing millions in their native dimension. Warriors were typically males.
 * Bioscientists; smaller than their counterparts with brightly colored cilia on their forelegs, this caste was slower but far more agile than the warriors. This caste was populated by scientists who had mastered the creation of biological constructs which lacked the free will and vitality of other lifeforms. Bioscientists were typically females.

In addition to these two castes, Charon produced biotechnological constructs which incorporated Charon and alien biological components. They may also have had additional, rarer castes.

History
Though most commonly associated with otherspace, the Charon actually originated in realspace. Their precursors were the Charr Ontee of Kathol, sentient arachnoids genetically engineered by the Precursors of Kathol as agricultural workers. After the Rift Disaster, many Charr Ontee ships were "flipped" into otherspace. The Charr Ontee stranded in otherspace found a new home, and eventually gave rise to the Charon.

Their new home system was close to a black hole, which threatened to drag their homeworld into its gravitational clutches. In the face of imminent destruction, a death-worshipping religion arose. The Charon Death Cult, or Cult of Death, held that as all life must eventually return to the Void of Death, it was the holy duty of the Charon to speed all life towards this end. All life, including the Charon themselves, was viewed as blasphemy. After eradicating all of the unbelievers on their homeworld, the Prophet of the Void became leader of the Charon civilization.

Ironically, it was only then that the Charon developed the capacity for interstellar travel, which they could have used to move to a safe system. Instead, they destroyed all remaining life on their homeworld and dispersed throughout Otherspace, exterminating any lifeform they came across.

Charon technology was based on specially grown organisms rather than machines or computers (much like the Yuuzhan Vong). Despite this, the Charon had no objection to using mechanical or electronic devices when available. Standard Charon technology did not include hyperdrives, however, thus confining the species for the most part to Otherspace.

Charon in the Galaxy
Though the lack of hyperdrive technology restricted them for the most part to Otherspace, Charon were not unknown in realspace. Incidents of contact were rare enough that as late as the Galactic Civil War, Charon were considered little more than legends. Most of the information on them was gathered from spacer's tales and rumors in cantinas by Imperial sentientologist Obo Rin on behalf of Darth Vader.



However, a group of Rebel operatives, as well as a group of Imperial prisoners of war led by Grand Moff Ravik, encountered the Charon and their Prophet, Ber'asco. This encounter eventually led to the Battle of Stronghold.

Another small colony of Charon, consisting of less than three dozen warriors and bioscientists stranded in the galaxy after an unexplained accident was found on Kayri III around the same time. This colony had a Force-dampening sacred artifact called the Void Stone.

Shortly after the Battle of Endor, a new leader calling himself the "Illuminated One" appeared among the Charon. His faction, calling itself the Cult of Light, rejected the traditional worship of death. They also began to take personal names for themselves, something which was not practiced by the adherents of Cult of Death. Constructing hyperdrives, they escaped into realspace, intending to peacefully trade technology with other civilizations and find uninhabited planets to settle on. By 27 ABY, Ber'asco's successor as Prophet of the Void learned about the Cult of Light, and began to hunt down its members. The Illuminated One's followers continued to build hyperdrives, taking care to keep this technology out of the Death Cult's hands. Though this struggle took place during the Yuuzhan Vong War, no contact between the Yuuzhan Vong and the Charon was ever recorded.

Behind the scenes
The name "Charon" is probably a reference to Charon, who ferried souls to the land of the dead in classical Greek and Roman mythology. Charon is also the name of a real-life celestial body orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto, which, depending on the terminology used, can be classified as either Pluto's moon or part of a double dwarf planet system.

Appearances

 * Otherspace
 * Otherspace II: Invasion
 * Endgame