User:Eyrezer/Sandpit 2

Bouncers were the native sentient species of Ruusan. Globe-like creatures, they received their name from their method of locomotion, propelled by the wind, they bounced themselves off obstacles to gain great heights.

Their homeworld for the location of a great battle between the forces of the Army of Light and the Brotherhood of the Sith during the New Sith Wars. The Bouncers were not involved in the conflict, but maintained a prophecy that "a Knight would come" to bring final resolution to the conflict. This was achieved during the period of the New Republic, when Kyle Katarn discovered the Valley of the Jedi. A Bouncer was also responsible for the survival of Rain, who went on to become the Sith Lord Darth Zannah.

Biology
"They love to roll in front of the wind. That's when they look for obstacles, steer for them, and bounce into the air."

- Grif Grawley

The Bouncers were shaped like medicine balls, and appeared rather fragile. Their internal physiology was balloon-like, resulting in negligible weight. Their skin was leathery and warm and dry to the touch. This suggested the creatures were warm blooded, although they only appeared as green blobs when viewed under infra-red. Their skin was covered in green hair, which fluttered in the Ruusan breezes. Dominating the Bouncers faces, were two enormous luminous eyes. The large pupils were especially good for gathering light due to their nocturnal nature.



From these globe shaped bodies, the Bouncers had numerous tentacles, half of which ended in delta shaped appendages. These functioned efficiently as small digging tools. The Bouncers were able to "walk" along the round with these tentacles and could stand on them when gathered together. These tentacles were very dexterous, and where used by the Bouncers to manipulate items, such as styluses. When bouncing, these tentacles often drifted behind, giving them a ghostly appearance. The Bouncers primary method of locomotion relied on the wind. Due to their balloon-like bodies and negligible weight, they were easily carried by the winds. They were able to control their momentum and direction via specialized skin flaps that functioned as wind vanes. By turning, raising, and lowering these flaps, the Bouncers were able to control their direction. They aimed themselves at oncoming obstacles such as stones or boulders, and in this manner "bounced", hence their name. Using this technique, they could achieve heights up to fifty or sixty meters. Through a combination of manipulation of their tentacles, and friction against the sand, the Bouncers were able to brake. They then used their tentacles to anchor themselves to the ground against the winds. In this manner, tribes of Bouncers traveled across the plains and wastelands of Ruusan, tacking and wheeling as a group.

Bouncers also enjoyed using their tentacles to climb large rock spurs, from which they flung themselves into the void, floating until gravity drew them to earth. Their motion was considered by some to be dance-like, and for Morgan Katarn, epitomized freedom.

While it is unclear whether the Bouncers were able to manipulate the Force, they were clearly able to feel it, and their presence did send out ripples through the Force. They also had the ability to see dreams and visions of the future.

Culture
The Bouncers' society maintained largely unchanged over the thousands of years of their existence. In 4 ABY, they still had a pre-industrial society, only numbering between 18,000 to 20,000 individuals. These were organized into tribes of around fifty to sixty, with an older Bouncer as leader.

While Ruusan was once a temperate world with vast forests, after the explosion of Lord Kaan's thought bomb, the planet was largely arid wastelands. As such, the Bouncers made some adaptations to their behavioral patters. Water became much scarcer as a consequence. To offset this, each morning, the Bouncers dug a series of shallow depressions into which they placed an inverted cone. These depressions were then covered with a thin, semitransparent tissue. These functions as water stills, condensing moisture in the air and gathering it in the cone. In this manner, a supply of water awaited the Bouncers when they emerged at night.



Temperament
"Floater goes where he must&mdash;though death it may bring."

- A reflection of the Bouncers' fatalism.

Because of the Bouncers dependence on wind for locomotion, they were patient beings, sometimes prone to a certain inherent fatalism in the way that they approached the world. An example of this was their defensive technique when attacked; the tribe reacted by turning inwards, clustering together. When an Imperial patrol led by Forley attacked them, this would have resulted in their slaughter if not for the intervention of Jan Ors and a number of the colonists of Fort Nowhere. On other occasions, the Bouncers did what they could to defend themselves; later in that same incident, a Bouncer grabbed Forley by the head and surrounded his head with it tentacles. In a panic, Leeno, one of Forley's stormtroopers shot at the creature, killing both it and his commanding officer. However, this brave action by the Bouncer was just another form of their fatalism.

Language
"Blowing wind steady. All right will be."

- A Bouncer leader writes to Kyle Katarn.

"Your father knew them, and they still talk about him, or write about him, since that's how they communicate."

- Grif Grawley on the Bouncers.

The Bouncers communicated to each other through a series of whistling and warbling. They were also mildly telepathic, with the ability to sense the emotions of those around them, both Bouncer and alien alike. This telepathy enabled them to communicate directly with some individuals, projecting thoughts into their minds, such as developed in the relationship between Laa and Rain.

However, they most frequently communicated with aliens through writing. This took the form of Basic, which they scribbled into the sand of Ruusan. By 4 ABY, their syntax was considered strange, and full of archaic language, yet it was still understandable. This form of Basic was likely that which they originally learned during the period of the New Sith Wars, which remained stable while normative galactic usage changed.

Galactic Republic
The Bouncers were native to the planet Ruusan, which was discovered by the Galactic Republic. However, the planets mineral deposits were not as large as those of neighboring planets such as Drogheda, Istic, Pesmenben IV and Tyne's Horky, and so it was only sparsely settled. It was not until the Brotherhood of the Sith retreated there in 3,994 BBY that the planet took on any great significance. Led by Lord Kaan, the Sith army had been driven back by the Galactic Republic's Army of Light in a number of battles, and prepared to make a last stand here. During the period of the Galactic Republic, the Bouncer Laa, had the most profound impact on civilization. It caught the Human child Rain when she fell out of Torr Snapit's starship after it was damaged by Sith Buzzards. While Rain was believed dead by her two cousins accompanying her, Laa protected her during the catastrophic campaign on Ruusan. Rain returned the favor by saving Laa from the destruction wrought on the Ruusan forests by Lord Bane's force firestorm. This created a strong bond between the two. When Laa was shot at by the Jedi Charney, this prompted Rain to retaliate using the dark side of the Force. This eased the way for her eventual apprenticeship under Darth Bane, and later assumption of the Sith title.

Many Bouncers were killed during this period, first by the indiscriminate Sith attacks, then the Jedi forces, and finally the though bomb, and the species was pushed to the edge of extinction. However, some did survive, and two of these Bouncers guided Rain's cousin Darovit in the aftermath of these battles. Darovit was eventually killed by his cousin, when Rainmdash;now Darth Zannah&mdash;returned to the planet and engaged him in a duel.

"An alien knight will arrive from the east. He will fly through the air, stay the night in the city of Olmondo, and request directions to the Valley&hellip;And a Knight shall come, a battle will be fought, and the prisoners go free."

- Excerpts from the poem of ages.

The Bouncers recorded these events in and much of their history, in what they called "the poem of ages." A number of prophecies were recorded towards the end of this poem, including one regarding the Valley. This prophecy foretold of a Jedi Knight who would come to the planet, fight a battle, and free the prisoners. They preserved this prophecy for many thousands of years in which time it was also recorded offworld.

Galactic Empire
"There's some low-profile indigs, pockets of ruins, and a lot of good-for-nothing real estate."

- Jerg on Ruusan.

The Bouncers slowly recovered their numbers on Ruusan, long after the Republic had forgotten its location. Shifting nebula within the Teraab Sector erased the former hyperspace routes there, ensuring its isolation, and the planet soon became a subject of myth. In 5 BBY, the smuggler Jerg rediscovered the planet an accident, when he took a random hyperspace jump while being pursued by an Imperial Star Destroyer. He and his team recognized the value in the planet's obscurity, and established a small fort there, known as Fort Nowhere, to store their contraband.

The Bouncers kept a low profile during this time, continuing their nomadic existence without any significant contact with the smugglers. Ruusan received another influx of foreigners, when Morgan Katarn led a group of three hundred and forty-seven refugees from Sulon to the planet. The inquisitive Katarn ventured out into the countryside to explore. The Bouncers sensed Katarn’s approach and believed him to be the one to fulfill the ancient prophecy regarding the Valley of the Jedi. They could detect his Force-sensitivity and so regarded him as a Knight. Furthermore, Morgan had inadvertently fulfilled part of their prophecy, by camping above the city of Olmondo, which was buried deep under the sand. The Bouncers gave Morgan instructions to the Valley in the hope he would fulfill the prophecy. However, while Morgan found the location, he realized he did not have the power to free the trapped spirits and left. Despite this failure, the Bouncers remembered their encounter with Morgan, referring to him as "the Knight who never was."

The Bouncers had little other contact with the refugees after this encounter, remaining elusive. Many of the colonists regarded them with fear and loathing, but some, such as Grif Grawley, regarded them as both beautiful and fascinating, despite only fleeting encounters. It was while Grawley was looking out for Bouncers that he detected an Imperial probe droid launched by the dark Jedi, Jerec. The Imperial leader was seeking the famed Valley of the Jedi and had finally discovered Ruusan. Grawley destroyed the probe droid and returned to Fort Nowhere to warn the settlers of the Imperial discovery. He then hid out in nearby caves, thus avoiding the subsequent Imperial razing of the fort.

Morgan's son, Kyle Katarn visited the planet shortly after, in order to prevent Jerec taking control of the Valley. He met Grawley in the badlands, and the gruff man suggested consulting the Bouncers on the Valley. While Grif, Kyle and their group waited for the Bouncer tribe to approach, an Imperial patrol attacked the tribe as it crossed the desert. In the short time they had been on the planet, the Imperial forces had begun to amuse themselves by hunting the essentially defenseless native species. A number of the Bouncers had been killed and taken as trophies to hang on the troopers' walls. The Bouncers response to the attack was to cluster together, which would have resulted in their deaths if the rebel group had not intervened and attacked the Imperial patrol. In the resulting confusion, the Bouncers took a more assertive action. One in particular wrapped its tentacles around the head of the stormtrooper Forley, blinding him. His companion panicked, and shot the Bouncer, killing his commanding officer in the process. Other Bouncers dropped from the sky to knock this trooper to the ground, pinning him there until the Rebels arrived.

"Well, if actions speak louder than words, then we know what Floater thinks&hellip;Let's go."

- Kyle Katarn

After this clash, the Bouncers meet with Kyle Katarn. Aware of his mission, they were noncommittal in their response, holding that "if not now, then someday" a Knight would fulfill their prophecy. Nevertheless, one of them, called Floater, agreed to act as a guide to the Valley of the Jedi. Floater touched each one of his tribe members in farewell and then led Katarn and his companions into the desert. Guiding them by night, Floater navigated the rebels through a series of canyons, until they were half a click from the Valley. There, as dawn broke, an Imperial probe encountered Floater and the group. Grif Grawley lunged at the droid and activated its self-destruct, taking his own life in the process. Despite this setback, Floater was keen to continue and led Katarn and Ors through underground aqueduct systems right to the entrance of the Valley. There, Floater and Ors remained while Katarn continued alone into the Valley. When Imperials discovered the pair, Jan was captured, but Floater managed to escape through the aqueduct system. The Bouncer had done enough, however, as Katarn went on to free the spirits in the Valley, and fulfill the Bouncer prophecy. Katarn soon left Ruusan, keeping its location a secret.

New Republic
Ruusan saw further activity Imperial activity, when the planet was found by the Chistori, Desann in 12 ABY. A former Jedi now working for the Empire Reborn, Desann desired the Valley’s power to create a Force imbued army. He was partially successful before Jedi Master Luke Skywalker expelled him and his forces from the planet. It is unknown if the Bouncers were involved in or affected by this encounter.

Behind the scenes
There appear to be some inconsistencies between the depictions of the Bouncers in the Dark Forces novellas and the comic Jedi vs. Sith. In the novella, they are described as needing to bounce to gain height and being reliant on the wind for locomotion. However in the comics, they appear to be able to fly under their own power, seeming to hover in one place. This led some fans to consider Bouncers to be telekinetic, but this is at odds with the canonical description.

Equally, the novellas describe them as having retractable tentacles, whereas in the comics, the Bouncers appear to have long hair which streams behind them. A final difference is that the Bouncers are described as nocturnal in the novellas, explaining their large eyes. However in the comics, the Bouncers are frequently active during the day light hours. While none of these depictions are irreconcilable, they do exist in some tension with each other.

Appearances

 * Jedi vs. Sith
 * Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
 * Dark Forces: Rebel Agent
 * Dark Forces: Jedi Knight