Ysanna

Ysanna

The Ysanna were a tribe of Force sensitive Humans who lived on Ossus.

History

Born from the survivors of the Cron Supernova's effect on Ossus, the Ysanna survived through sheer mettle and the luck bestowed to them by their Jedi bloodline, on a devastated planet with a caustic atmosphere, full of electrical storms, and the danger of fierce predators. They eked out a simple existence as hunters and gatherers, while remaining aware of the ancient task bestowed upon them by their ancestors - to protect the secrets of the Jedi.

Rejoining the galaxy

Shortly after the return of Emperor Palpatine in 10 ABY, Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar arrived on Ossus in search of ancient Jedi artifacts. They soon came upon the Ysanna, who attempted to kill the two intruders. The fighting between the two groups came to a halt with the arrival of Imperial forces led by Executor Sedriss QL. The Ysanna fought back, defeating most of the Dark Troopers and stormtroopers, leaving Skywalker and Solusar to deal with only Sedriss and another member of the Dark Side Elite.

The battle had turned in favor of Skywalker and Solusar, when Sedriss took the young Ysanna Jem hostage and backed against the inert Ood Bnar, a tree-like Neti Jedi Master who had been dormant since the Battle of Ossus. Suddenly coming to life, Bnar attacked Sedriss and killed the Dark Jedi along with himself.

Okko, the tribe's chief and greatest shaman, allowed Skywalker to take Jem and her brother Rayf to train as Jedi, but was reluctant to introduce the rest of his people to the new Jedi teachings. However, the Ysanna would not remain isolated for much longer, as the Empire now knew of their whereabouts, and confrontation was brewing. Jem died on New Alderaan, Rayf was killed on Onderon, and Okko and two others were later trapped in carbonite by the forces of Palpatine, who was seeking to use the tribe as a means to halt the genetic decay of his last clone.

At the same time Skywalker and Solusar explored Ossus, the Dark Jedi Travgen was hiding on the world. He had been present on Ossus since 9 BBY, after escaping the Jedi Purge. Travgen hid from the intruders, and thus escaped their notice. He had already enslaved several Ysanna tribes by this time. The fate of Travgen and his subjects is as yet unknown.

After the planet was opened to the general public, the world once again teemed with life. The Ysanna were now the hosts of a great number of archaeologists, historians, and all forms of academicians from all over the galaxy who studied, scrutinized, analyzed and discovered new things about Jedi and Sith history.

Society and culture

Their Jedi heritage of knowledge and wisdom lost through generations of hardship and ignorance, the Ysanna degenerated into superstition. Their use of the Force diminished to nothing but simple tricks performed by unintelligible wizards, known to them as Ysanna magic. Their superstition built upon the remaining Jedi and Sith artifacts left on the world from its speedy evacuation. The Ysanna wizards used various Sith masks in battle to intimidate their enemies, and when protecting the Jedi ruins from trespassers, graverobbers, tomb raiders, or anybody that would walk on their sacred ground. They had a polytheistic religion.

Despite their drastically lessened knowledge of the Force, the Ysanna managed to preserve some Force techniques that were lost to the Jedi Order over the millennia, including the ability to form Force Ghosts.

Unique use of weapons

Armed with slug throwers, the tribespeople perfected a technique of speeding up their perception of time, and using telekinesis to alter, or "bend" a bullet's trajectory in midair. This made the Ysanna incredible marksman, capable of firing at a target, then repositioning and "guiding" the bullet to hit the target as it moved. While not a particular taxing ability, as Ysanna were seen plenty of times firing whole clips out of Slugthrower machine guns then aiding the bullet's through the force, it did however require concentration. A Ysanna that was farther away from having to deal with being attacked for instance, could direct and control a multitude of bullets in quick succession, or even multiple bullets at once. The closer the Ysanna was to an enemy however, and the more he had to divert his attention from the bullet, to the attacks of his enemy, the fewer bullets he would be able to control. This is why Ysanna favored slugthrower pistols and spears in close quarters, as the Ysanna would be able to still direct the bullets of the pistol, though at a lessened rate, and a spear made a handy melee backup weapon in the case the Ysanna could not stop him with Slugs.