Svivreni

"You know I will do my best for you, my good friend. You go into danger, and I wish you safety and success. The Svivreni do not say good-bye. We consider it bad luck. We say, the journey begins, so go."

- Tyro Caladian

Svivreni were short, furry, equinoid sentients native to the planet Svivren. Due to the rocky environment of their homeworld, they developed into a stout species. They created a civilization of hard-working people with a natural talent for geology. Svivreni were particularly known for their skill in mineralogy and for their hard stubborness. They also liked to have long ponytails from their manes for cultural reasons. The Svivreni had elaborate greetings and farewells, never using the word "goodbye."

Initially members of the Galactic Republic, the Svivreni forbade weapons on their planet and exacted strict punishment for outlaws, including execution, which reduced crime and helped them turn Svivren into an important trade world. The species avoided involvement in the Clone Wars and tried to remain neutral during the Galactic Civil War. In the days of the New Republic, the Galactic Empire attempted to conquer Svivren, but the Svivreni resisted Grand Admiral Thrawn's attacks through sheer obstinacy. The species later associated with the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and the Galactic Alliance Remnant.

Many Svivreni achieved prestige as some of the best and hardest-working miners, including Saqc'or and Kitalic Nirasik&mdash;who made good use of his position to improve the harsh conditions of his employees. Another Svivreni, Mihalik, abandoned his job to illegally track the people who had injured his co-workers. Svivreni working in other areas included the crimelord Torsteen and two senatorial aides, Tyro Caladian, who helped Obi-Wan Kenobi during his work; and Tyro's cousin Curran Caladian, who became a political fugitive under the Empire.

Biology and appearance
The Svivreni were an equinoid sentient species whose bodies were mostly humanoid in structure. Adult Svivreni ranged in height from 60 to 90 centimeters, very rarely surpassing a meter. However, due to their stout complexion and resilience, they were as strong as any Human-sized species. Unlike many other beings their size, the Svivreni had long arms, which allowed them to handle full-sized technological items, such as blaster rifles, with ease. While their shorter legs prevented Svivreni from achieving the racing speed of a Human, they could still outpace some taller species, such as the Noghri. This was partially due to the cloven hooves that served the Svivreni as feet.

Each Svivreni had a large, stout head with big eyes and a wide, projecting snout which they could use to snort. They also had upright, equine ears that convulsed in moments of stress. Each Svivreni hand had four triple-jointed fingers that gradually narrowed from the hand to the nail.

The body of a Svivreni was almost completely covered by short, coarse fur, except for the snout, the eyes, the hooves and the ears. The Svivreni also had a mane of longer hair at the top of their heads &mdash;that could be orange or copper in color &mdash;and further growths on their arms. Svivreni customarily let this hair grow uncut, tying it into a ponytail instead. The mane reached from the head to below the waist in older Svivreni, who could easily reach 125 years of age. However, this was not a trait exclusive to the elders: younger Svivreni including Tyro Caladian, by then a young adult, achieved a mane of that length, and his cousin Curran Caladian, who was considered young at this point, had a braid reaching his knees. Other Svivreni, such as the miner Mihalik, tied their mane in several rear braids, to stop it from being a nuisance while performing manual activities.

Svivreni could easily outlive Humans, as the equinoids only considered retirement at ninety standard years of age. They only began to suffer ill effects of age at fifty-five, to a level comparable to a forty-one-year old Human. However, the Svivreni matured to adulthood at sixteen, exactly the same as Humans, and they reached adolescency at eleven, while Humans took one more year to do so.

Society and culture
"My ears are happy! It is the voice of my friend Obi-Wan!"

- Tyro Caladian

The Svivreni were known galaxywide for their obstinacy: once a Svivreni had reached a decision, he or she would very rarely reconsider, something that gave them a chance to resist shrewd sellers and even the mind-influencing powers of the Force. As a species, the Svivreni disliked and strongly opposed efforts to convince them to do something of which they did not approve; they were also opposed to the mere idea of external forces conquering their home. Although stubborness was not universal, most Svivreni did share this feature to a great extent: several Svivreni mineralogists working outside their native planet Svivren were headstrong enough to defend their ideas in a brawl if needed; when they grew older and more experienced, they fought less, but became even more adamant.

Svivreni were skilled miners and mineralogists, and they had a well-deserved reputation for this work. This penchant led some of them to become scouts. Important extraplanetary businesses often hired Svivreni professionals to manage and supervise mining projects on either planets or asteroids. The exploits of Svivreni in mining and metallurgics, particularly for the private sector, were as renowned as their resolution. The Svivreni had the Svivren Xenomineralogy Institute, one of the best considered academic institutions specialized in this area due to the skill of its graduated students. The species appeared to have a talent to appraise the value of any mined material, from gems to more mundane minerals. As Svivreni commonly had to use many tools, they favored working trousers with copious pockets and pouches; to improve the mobility of their arms, they preferred sleeveless robes. For the Svivreni mineralogist, the recognition of peers was important, even though the species could not agree on who was the best mineralogist in history. They nevertheless recognized Saqc'or as one of the toughest mineralogists ever.

Certain historians compared the Svivreni with the similarly stubborn Human settlers of Poderis but, although the Poderisans tried their best to improve the status of their marginal world, they never achieved the success of their counterparts: the Svivreni managed, through sheer effort and dedication, to transform their harsh planet into an important trade world with no less than seven spaceports, including one with state-of-the-art technology, complete with repair ports and storage areas comparable to Coruscant's port facilities. They imported food and pharmaceuticals from other worlds while exporting computers, droids and other high- and middle-level technology. With this, Svivren achieved a population of 8.5 billion sentients, including native Svivreni, Humans, Sullustans and a significant population of Ewoks in the times of the New Republic. Having become an important trade world, the Svivreni developed traditional clothing for their traders, including robes and turbans.

Social behavior
As their planet received constant traffic from offworlders, Svivreni enforced strict laws forbidding any personal weapon for citizens and visitors anywhere on the planet, except for the regulamentary gear carried by the well-armed Svivreni security force. However, circa 4 ABY, several smugglers managed to hide important cachés of blasters in the area of Wrils. Violent action on Svivren was punished with immediate and public execution, something that, combined with the aforementioned measure, helped to keep crime to a minimum, as well as deterring scoundrels from visiting the world due to the dangers it presented to them. Other galactic groups criticized the harsh laws of Svivren, notwithstanding their effectiveness.

Svivreni valued both the fur covering their bodies and the manes on their heads. Some Svivreni were known to smooth their facial pelage with their hands when nervous or focused. The hair from the head was more important and was customarily allowed to grow without cutting it: the Svivreni considered its thickness a reflection of the bearer's intelligence and fertility. The elders, who could be easily recognized by their manes reaching below their waists, were particularly respected in their culture; however, younger Svivreni sometimes also had very long hair. Many Svivreni tied their hair with leaves of Nalvar grass from Svivren as a sort of homage to their homeworld. Others used metal rings.

Linguistic traits
Svivreni had several traditional greetings and farewells, depending on the filial relationship between the Svivreni and the sentient the Svivreni was talking to. The most affectionate greeting included opening a hand, closing it again, and then placing it on the heart. Svivreni considered it bad luck to say "goodbye" in any language, so they preferred to part from a loved one with a phrase such as "The journey begins. So go." When parting from a close friend, a Svivreni raised a hand with spread fingers; the friend was supposed to mimic the gesture so that the Svivreni could press his palm with the friend's.

The species' native language could not be reproduced by Humans because it relied on the Svivreni vocal range. Not all the Svivreni learned Galactic Basic Standard, but some did. Naming conventions for Svivreni favored one-word names&mdash;such as Mihalik or Saqc'or, &mdash;and two part names, such as Casin Mak or Kitalic Nirasik. Relatives shared the second name, as exemplified by the cousins Curran Caladian and Tyro Caladian.

Evolution and the Old Republic
The Svivreni came from the harsh, mountainous planet Svivren in the Svivreni sector of the Outer Rim. It was a world with extreme seasons in its various climatic zones. Several areas, including the mines of Nalvar, were relentless on their inhabitants. Due to the planet's severity, the Svivreni evolved into a muscular species, far stouter than many other sentients. The same conditions led to their natural suppleness.

They became resolute miners by fighting the harshness of Svivren; historians agreed that the Svivreni penchant for stubborness was developed because of significant natural hazards on the planet Svivren during the biological and cultural evolution of the species. The planet Svivren was scouted by the Galactic Republic during the last millennia before the battle of Yavin, and at some point during the Old Republic era, the species joined the galactic government. The planet achieved importance due to its rich mines. The Svivreni ability for geology became famous and many of the equinoids left their world to work in that field. Others became Jedi seers and began roaming both the Outer Rim and the Unknown Regions.

The natives who remained on Svivren made it thrive as a trading post. As offworlders became common on the planet, Svivreni grew intolerant of outlaw offworlders: the species forbade all violent crime and the possession of weapons. Smugglers avoided Svivren, considering it too dangerous for their kind.

During the years leading up to the Separatist crisis of 24 BBY, the Svivreni considered themselves a peaceful species and some of them were worried about the growing disorder in the galaxy. Senator Sano Sauro of Eeropha&mdash;a Core Worlds planet&mdash;made secret dealings to take over control of the mines of Svivren and use them in a project to develop weapons; however, his deal was uncovered and the takeover prevented. Despite their best efforts, the local Svivreni was unable to prosecute Sauro due to insufficient evidence, and the Senator avoided any negative repurcussions from the scheme.

Svivren was not directly affected by the galaxy-wide conflict known as the Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY). After the hostilities ceased, the less fortunate planet Berchest tried to promove itself as a trading center, bringing itself into competition with Svivren. Although prosperous, Berchest never became as important as Svivren or other important trading centers such as Ketaris.

The Galactic Empire and the Civil War
During the time of the Galactic Empire, Svivren remained a galactically important commerce center, with Imperials present on the world, but the Svivreni Trade Alliance retained control over the government. The emergence of the Alliance to Restore the Republic in 2 BBY marked the beginning of the Galactic Civil War. The Svivreni people dismissed the conflict, calling it "political infighting" and refused to take sides. Nevertheless, many individual Svivreni helped the Alliance in their fight against the Empire, even if they would rather have been working for private interests.

In 4 ABY, a Jeodu crimelord named Dequc attempted to revive the crime sindicate Black Sun under the new name Black Nebula. He traveled to Svivren to deal with small criminal cartels and arm dealers who had slipped past the local security. Dequc went to the southern area of Wrils, where Imperial General Touno had proved himself unable to control the area&mdash;to the point of being unable to arrest Cevva Xuz, a Rodian with known links to the Alliance. Not wanting Black Sun to thrive again, the Emperor Palpatine sent Mara Jade, an Emperor's Hand, to Svivren to murder Dequc, taking advantage of him being outside his more protected headquarters.

Jade, who wanted to atone for a failed mission, contacted Touno and pretended to be after Xuz, mostly to stage a distraction. Touno assigned Captain Strok to help Jade; Strok, however, was a corrupt officer working undercover for Dequc. Strok and his stormtroopers tried to arrest Xuz publicly, but Xuz's Rebel forces began a shoot-out in the streets of Svivren, which resulted in the death of troops and of several innocent bystanders. Strok discovered that Jade was after Dequc and alerted the Jeodu; thus, Dequc escaped from Svivren and left behind a decoy who was killed by Jade. She then left the planet, stepping around the corpses left by the skirmish.

After the Battle of Endor
"I mean, we're not talking Svivren here, but even Ukio should have taken [the Galactic Empire] a little longer to overrun."

- Samuel Tomas Gillespee

In 8 ABY, smuggler Talon Karrde pretended to be Syndic Pandis Hart of the Sif-Uwana Council, en route to important business on Svivren. Karrde did not need any forged document related to those fictional deals, but instead relied on the reputation Svivreni had given to their planet, to impress an acquaintance.

In 9 ABY, during the Thrawn campaign, Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn placed Svivren on the list of planets he intended to conquer specifically. Thrawn sent the Imperial Navy from Farstine, arriving at the Svivren system on 44:7:24 to besiege the planet. The traditional Svivreni stubborness gave the natives strength to organize a strong resistance. The Empire was unprepared for this and the first strikes at Svivreni were unsuccessful. The Empire retreated but then sent more forces to occupy Svivren. The planet became an important problem for the surprised Imperials, as the invaders achieved little more than losing their own tempers. This inability to secure a victory was soon well-known; smuggler Samuel Tomas Gillespee mentioned the problems the Empire was having at Svivren and compared the situation with their easy victory at the Battle of Ukio.

That same year, even with the Imperial blockade, Svivreni traders visited the trading city of Calius saj Leeloo in Berchest, apparently for business reasons. They crossed paths with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, who was looking for clones working for Thrawn. Skywalker used the Force to scan the Svivreni, apparently without them noticing. Thrawn's death soon afterward in the battle of Bilbringi meant an important breakdown in the control of the Empire. The Navy retired from Svivren, never having been able to conquer it. The Svivreni considered that their resolution had helped them resist conquest and become even more determined to repel any would-be conquerors.

As the Svivreni were clearly opposed to Imperial occupation, pilots from the New Republic found the planet compelling: unlike other planets near Imperial Space such as Morishim, Svivren was a place they could comfortably visit, enjoying an amount of freedom rarely achievable on other planets.

Later, when the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances was created, several Svivreni helped this new government, although they still preferred jobs in the private sector. In 137 ABY, Svivren was among the few planets in its area under the influence of the Galactic Alliance Remnant, sharing this trait with Sluis Van and Skynara.

Svivreni in the galaxy
"No, Executive D'gaat, your mine will produce only Level-001 quality Vendusii Crystals, of that there is absolutely no doubt."

- A Svivreni mineralogist



Svivreni commonly left their native world to work in mineralogy, geology or related fields. They were often employed by large corporations to manage and supervise mining projects on asteroids and planets. Several Svivreni considered this to be "fieldwork" to improve their education, and, when they had gotten enough experience, they left these posts for self employment. Notable Svivreni in this situation included Saqc'or, a veteran miner who worked in the Moddell sector and was considered by other Svivreni as one of the toughest people in the business; during the years before 4 ABY, the Empire tried to forcefully recruit him to work on its Death Star project. Another important miner was Kitalic Nirasik, who had worked in mines from Af'El to Vactooine and then settled on Bandomeer to create Southern Bandomeer Consolidated. Nirasik's company threatened the planetary monopoly of the Offworld Corporation, partly because Nirasik offered his miners good working conditions and a greater hope of survival than Offworld did &mdash; however, even then, foreman Nirasik was sure to profit from these good deeds.

Several Svivreni mineralogists who were working for big companies severed their professional links during the first years of the New Republic to continue their career as freelancers. They considered themselves good enough to choose their employers and even their prices, and they wanted to be recognized by others. One such mineralogist worked for Executive D'gaat, analyzing D'gaat's mine of Vendusii Crystals.

From the moment Svivren became a trading post, Svivreni traders were a common sight around the galaxy, easily recognizable by their robes and turbans. Several Svivreni traders were seen in Berchest in 9 ABY, even with Svivren theoretically under an Imperial blockade. Svivreni who worked in shadier businesses sometimes became scoundrels: the crimelord Torsteen operated on the borders of the Corporate Sector during the Galactic Civil War, for example. Some other Svivreni found their vocation as Jedi, leaving Svivren in the line of duty.

Ironically, Svivreni were less permissive with alien outlaws on their own planet: violent crime and possession of weapons were strictly forbidden. Senator Sano Sauro found strong opposition when attempting to use Svivren in his illegal plot to build weapons. Smugglers avoided Svivren, considering it too dangerous for them. However, members of the New Republic who had to avoid the Imperial Remnant commonly enjoyed an amount of freedom on Svivren rarely achievable on other planets.

During the later years of the Galactic Republic, cousins Tyro and Curran Caladian both had promising careers as aides in the Galactic Senate of Coruscant. Providing specialized counsel about bureaucracy and investigation, Tyro helped, and befriended, the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in several missions Kenobi undertook to topple enemies such as Granta Omega, Sano Sauro and Jenna Zan Arbor. Tyro's snooping eventually led him to undercover a conspiracy, and the Svivreni was murdered by a politician wanting to keep his secrets. His cousin Curran later became a political fugitive under the Galactic Empire, but he continued fighting for what he believed to be a good cause and joined a collective of outlaws called the Erased, working along others like him and the Jedi Fy-Tor-Ana and Ferus Olin.

As the Svivreni opposed warfare, they tried not to take part during the Galactic Civil War, but they did not restrict their activities to their native planet, not even when the Empire tried to blockade them. Some Svivreni were members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and, later, of the Galactic Alliance.

During the times of the New Republic, a Svivreni miner and constable by the name of Mihalik felt so outraged by the damages caused by some criminals during the meleenium heist on Qua'Tahc that he himself left his work and began an amateur chase of the wrongdoers through the galaxy onboard his personal starship. General Airen Cracken of the New Republic was forced to post a warrant on Mihalik on charges of unsanctioned military and police activity, but neither Mihalik or his intended prey were seen again.

Behind the scenes
Svivren and the Svivreni were first mentioned in The Last Command (1993), written by Timothy Zahn. The first named Svivreni to appear in a published story is Tyro Caladian in Jedi Quest: The School of Fear, by Jude Watson, a book published ten years after The Last Command.

However, before that, West End Games had already expanded the background of the species in The Last Command Sourcebook (1994), by Eric Trautmann. Both Svivren and the Svivreni have descriptive entries and statistics in that book, and the Svivreni are also mentioned in passing in the entry about the planet Poderis. This book also included the first published image of a Svivreni, drawn by David Plunkett. The species' description is repeated almost entirely in The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook (1996) and then again in Alien Encounters (1998); the latter source lacked a paragraph describing Thrawn's attempted invasion and a role-playing rule about their stubborness. That rule is also missing from the Svivreni stats in Heroes & Rogues (1995).

Wizards of the Coast's role-playing game provides different statistics for the Svivreni in Star Wars Gamer #9 (2002) and in Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds (2004), disagreeing about the size of the Svivreni for the purposes of the rules: both sources describe Svivreni as one-meter sentients, but Gamer specifies that their size as "Small," meaning that Svivreni characters suffer restrictions on the amount of weight they can carry and the length of the weapons they can use, while at the same time being a more difficult target for enemies. Geonosis, on the other hand, considers the Svivreni to be "Medium-sized", thus lacking these special rules. A player asked a question in Jedi Counseling #69, a section of the webpage of Wizards, about the possible typo in Geonosis. Wizards responded by creating a specific trait for the Svivreni, as the Svivreni are too heavily muscled to apply the rules used for the Jawas and other "Small" species. Instead, Svivreni are considered medium-sized characters for most purposes except for dodging and targeting, in which case they are considered small, and thus more difficult to hit.

Appearances

 * Jedi Quest: The School of Fear
 * Jedi Quest: The Changing of the Guard
 * Jedi Quest: The False Peace
 * The Last of the Jedi: Underworld
 * The Last of the Jedi: Death on Naboo
 * The Last of the Jedi: A Tangled Web
 * The Last of the Jedi: Return of the Dark Side
 * The Last of the Jedi: Secret Weapon
 * The Last of the Jedi: Against the Empire
 * The Last of the Jedi: Master of Deception
 * The Last of the Jedi: Reckoning
 * Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand
 * The Last Command
 * Specter of the Past
 * Specter of the Past