Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/Week 19, 2012/0

The Iyra were a species of sentient cephalopods from the watery planet F'tral. Each Iyra had four or more limbs that spread from the radially symmetrical body, an arrangement that made each member of the species one to two meters in diameter. The mouth opened from the ventral side of the body, and one eyestalk grew for each tentacle. As an Iyra became older, he or she grew more tentacles and eyes. The species' leathery skin was elastic and capable of changing color for camouflage or for courtship rituals. Although they were aquatic and resided in large undersea cities, Iyra were able to survive on land. They were clumsy out of water, however, and preferred to travel on small repulsor sleds known as floating ponds.

Iyra society was governed by a rigid caste system that placed Iyra with more tentacles&mdash;the older and larger members of the group&mdash;at a higher position. Iyra careless enough to lose a tentacle through accident or in combat suffered a reduction in caste and had to destroy an eye to correspond to the lost limb. Disputes between Iyra of equal caste were sometimes settled via duels. The first to lose a tentacle was immediately reduced to a lower caste and forced to yield to the superior combatant. The lowest caste, composed of four-armed Iyra, was responsible for raising the young. Iyra tended to view members of other species through the lens of the caste system; Iyra with five or more tentacles thus looked down upon humanoids and other two-armed bipeds. The Iyra's attitude lent them a reputation as arrogant among other species.

Since Iyra could absorb oxygen through their skin, Iyra starships were filled with gaseous atmosphere heavy in water vapor. The strategy contrasted that of many purely aquatic species whose attempts to design craft filled with liquid water made them both heavier and more expensive to operate. Iyra were leaders in the manufacture of corrosion-resistant metal alloys and the design of gravity-manipulation equipment and inertial devices for starships. Famous Iyra included Tem Eliss, the eminent sentientologist who wrote The University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life.