Witches of Dathomir

The Witches of Dathomir (also referred to as either Dathomirians or Dathomiri) were human Force-sensitives native to the planet Dathomir. Most Dathomiri were descended from the fallen Jedi Knight Allya, who was banished to the planet by the Jedi Council approx. 600 BBY. Many generations after her death, her descendents had divided into female-dominated clans that were named after regional landmarks. Each clan had a unique set of rules regarding Force usage, but all the clans held one rule above all others: "Never concede to evil".

History
Around 600 BBY, the Jedi Council had decided that instead of killing rogue Jedi Knight Allya for her transgressions, that they would instead banish her to the wilderness planet Dathomir. Once there, she encountered the descendents of some illegal arms manufacturers the Jedi Knights had exiled to Dathomir many years before.

Due to being hunted by the native fauna, the progeny of the arms manufacturers were barely surviving. Allya promised to help them survive if they followed her without question, but those who chose to disobey her were left to die. After all the rebels had been eliminated, she used the Force to tame the native rancors and learned to use them as mounts.

Over the years, Allya chose mates from her followers to father her children. She had specific terms outlined for potential mates, and the chosen men were always given a choice of whether or not to agree to marry her. The terms, should the man accept them, was that if he fathered daughters, he would be well rewarded with gifts and a position of power. If he fathered sons, he would be fed to the rancors. Any daughters she had were raised by her personally to learn the ways of the Force, but her sons were raised by other slaves to become slaves themselves. Shortly before her death, Allya wrote a book called the Book of Law, which held moral and ethical laws that she wished for her daughters to follow. The final entry of the Book of Law was the same as Allya's last words to her daughters: "Never concede to evil".

After Allya's death, there was a power struggle between her oldest daughters, with the end result that they split off and formed their own clans. These clans were named after regional landmarks, and each clan eventually developed their own set of laws about Force usage. As of 12 ABY, there were nine clans, including the Singing Mountain, Frenzied River, Misty Falls, Red Hills, and Dreaming River. Another clan, the Great Canyon, came into prominence around 19 ABY. As the clan was under the control of the Shadow Academy, it remains unclear if the Great Canyon Clan was one of the original nine or was created solely for the purpose of training Shadow Academy recruits.

In 340 BBY, the Jedi training vessel Chu'unthor crashed on the surface of Dathomir. The now-numerous descendents of Allya attacked the vessel, and three Jedi Masters, Gra'aton, Yoda and Vulatan, were dispatched to rescue the stranded passengers. The Jedi's attempts to rescue their comrades and recover the ship were repelled, but Yoda made a return visit to negotiate a settlement with a young Witch named Rell. In exchange for releasing the stranded passengers, Yoda gave Rell a box full of information on Jedi teaching methods, and told her to safeguard it until a Jedi Knight and his apprentice arrive to save Dathomir from the dark side using Witch clan calling themselves the Nightsisters.

The Witches went about their normal lives and weren't bothered again by outsiders until 0 BBY, when Palpatine ordered a penal colony to be constructed on Dathomir. When Palpatine discovered that Dathomir had a population of Force-sensitives (specifically the Nightsisters and their leader Gethzerion), he ordered all the prisons's starships destroyed, stranding all Imperials stationed there in the process. The Nightsisters then took the stranded Imperials as slaves and plotted ways to leave the planet.

The arrival of strangers in 8 ABY had a major impact on Dathomiri. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Leia Organa, and Prince Isolder of Hapes arrived on the planet and helped to liberate the clans of the tyranny of the Nightsisters and Warlord. Luke Skywalker then received from Rell the discs Yoda had left with her years earlier, and several Dathomiri later joined Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum to learn the ways of the Jedi.

Culture
Dathomiri clans lived in a simple village and adhered to a matriarichal society, where men were used only for breeding and slave labour. Women chose their men by capturing them, but if the man was unhappy, the woman had the right to sell him to another clan sister. The only way a man could go free was if he saved the life of a clan sister.

As a warrior-based society, the Dathomiri Witches trained daily in the art of war, and used both their muscles and the Force to aid them in combat. They wore their hair in elaborate braids (sometimes with a helmet decorated with mementos) and lizard skin armour.

Usage of the Force
The Force was used by the Witches in the form of "spells", where they chanted a specific set of words and the desired effect was produced. There were spells that are called the Night Spells, and excessive use of those could turn a Witch into a Nightsister, a Witch that had gone bad and was exiled from her clan. If a Nightsister wished to forsake her dark past and return to the clan, she had to have a period of exile for purification purposes before she would be allowed back.

Notable Dathomiri

 * Augwynne Djo (Leader of the Singing Mountain clan)
 * Charal (Nightsister)
 * Damaya (Jedi Knight)
 * Gethzerion (Leader of the original Nightsisters)
 * Kirana Ti (Jedi Knight)
 * Lomi Plo (Nightsister, Queen of the Gorog nest of Killiks)
 * Teneniel Djo (Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium)
 * Tenel Ka Chume Ta' Djo (Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium and Jedi Knight)
 * Tamith Kai (Leader of the resurrected Nightsisters)

Appearances

 * Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
 * The Courtship of Princess Leia
 * Jedi Academy Trilogy
 * Young Jedi Knights
 * New Jedi Order