Coynite

Coynites were Near-Humans from the planet Coyn. They spoke the language Coyn and were large and typically quite strong. They had fine gold, white, or black hair over their entire bodies, with their heads are crowned with a shaggy mane,and bony forehead ridges in place of eyebrows. They possessed clawed hands. As a society, they were known for being quite militaristic and feudal in outlook.

Coynites were natural-born warriors, with a highly disciplined code of warfare. These proud warriors were rarely seen without armor and were ready to die at any time, and indeed would rather die than be branded af'harl.

Nobles were called Ag'Tra, each Ag'Tra has at least 58 Kroyn, elite warriors of exceptional honor and status. Each Ag'Tra sent one Kroyn to serve as the En'Tra's bodyguard for one year. Thus, the En'Tra always had 30 Kroyn as a personal eliteguard (one from each noble's holdings and one from the En'Tra's own family or territory). The vast majority of noble families were so appointed thousands of years ago, although every few centuries, a new family would be added to the nobles bloodlines by the En'Tra's decree. It was possible that a family could have its noble status stripped by decree of the En'Tra, but this has never happened. This may be due to the likelihood that the dishonored family would attempt to unite disgruntled factions and lead a revolution; few En'Tras have felt secure enough in their power to risk a full-scale civil war. To help prevent this kind of war the Coynites followed a law called the En'Tra'Sol (King-Law), now a ridged code of conduct for all Coynites to adhere to.



There were 29 Ag'Tra who answered directly to the En'Tra. Of these 29, 9 were sympathetic to the Empire, 5 were sympathetic to the Rebellion and the remaining 15 were neutral. While subterfuges and behind the scene skulking were not a permissible part of Coyn life, nobles were permitted to indulge in a little political wrangling, and some of this involved setting up unfavourable circumstances for rival nobles, or even large battles with uneven odds. Even so, if any hard evidence of such behind the scenes planning came to light, the noble would be branded af'harl. In an extreme case, the entire noble family could be branded af'harl, in which case a new family from within that territory would be selected to be the new noble bloodline.

Coynites could conceivably live up to 250 standard years, but their warrior culture resulted in an average life span of a mere 53 years. Coynites reached physical maturity in their early twenties. Coynite children were born in var'sairk(birth-group or litter; capitalised when referring to noble families) of two to six children. All children of a litter were of the same sex.

Coynites valued bravery, loyalty, honesty and duty. Coynites saved displays of affection for their own families in private surroundings.

Coynites spoke Coyn, but could learn to speak Basic or any other language.

Jedi Knights were a source of fascination to the Coynites. On one hand, there is little doubt that the Jedi were formidable warriors with a code. However, Jedi were not supposed to simply rush into fights or provoke them; peaceful methods of resolving a conflict were preferred, and violence was a last resort. This code mystified the Coynites, but they greatly respected their abilities and their adherence to their own strict code.

En'Tra'Sol was an extraordinarily strict code, forbidding for example virtually any display of "weakness". Those who broke this code were known as af'harl, and lost all standing in Coynite society. They were able to be hunted down and killed or enslaved without repercussion. En'Tra'Sol also dictated that the length of mane was directly related to social status. The more respected and successful a warrior, the longer the mane and the more intricate the braids. The type of braid was also indicative of family and Ag'Tra that the Coynite swore loyalty to. Coynites valued long hair, since in their culture long hair was a sign of great combat ability and honor. Aliens with long hair or shaggy coats (such as Wookiees) were treated with respect. Beings who were bald, or hairless, were shunned as deformed beings.



Coynite names and words had an important social and status depending on the way they were written. Names were not just words, but stories. By literally translating the meaning of the phrases, it was often possible to know the history of an item, a person, or a location. The longer the name, the more honored a being was or more noble their family. However, Coynites seldomed use their full names except when first establishing who had higher standing, such as upon first meeting. As a concession to off-world customs, Coynites would allow aliens to use shortened versions of names, but only if the alien confered the appropriate level of respect upon the Coynite. To deride an object of great importance or be disrespectful was an unforgivable offense.

When syllables of a Coynite name are capitalised, it meant that the object, place or person was worthy of great respect. All things associated with the En'Tra are always capitalised. Likewise, proper names were capitalised. Some phrases or names were never capitilised; this indicated a relationship with af'harl.

Many Coynite warriors of noble birth had very long names, which an example might be translated as "Trel'tak, honorable warrior who defeated a noble of higher standing, of Clan Muls'rak, leaders of the War of Unification".