Anzati

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Anzati
Homeworld	Anzat
Distinctions	Hidden proboscises, exceptional longevity , high regenerative capabilities [1]

Biology and Appearance

The Anzati race is a unique species in the galaxy as they do not exist in a similar fashion to other species. They are ancient, rumoured to be one of the first to ever roam the galaxy. With the average Anzati reaching 1.7m in height, they look almost exactly like humans, except they do not have a biological rhythm. They live off the life essence of other sentient beings; this is also referred to as Soup or Luck. It is believed that Anzati are one of the oldest species, one of the original, yet because of their reclusive mannerisms and desire of the essence much has contributed to the myth of the Anzati.

The Anzati (singular: Anzat) were a dangerous and mysterious Force-sensitive near-Human species with two tentacle-like proboscises that curled out and extended from their cheeks, with which the Anzati were able to feed upon the brains of their prey. With the tentacles retracted into seams along each side of their nose, Anzati were indistinguishable from any other humanoid species in the galaxy. [1]

They were an extremely long-lived race, also possessing regenerative capabilities beyond those of the average humanoid. The Anzati were also telepathic, growing more adept at the talent as they aged, allowing them to dominate someone's mind to give them a chance to feed. [1]

Scientists and xenobiologists had little opportunity to study the Anzati, but sketchy medical reports found on the species indicated that they had no natural biorhythm; that is to say, no pulse, and as a result, no body heat. Therefore, it was a total mystery as to how their circulatory system functioned.[1]

The youngest Anzati were ancient. The ages of the eldest could be measured in eons. They roamed the galaxy when the Galactic Republic was just a dream of the Core Worlds. The Anzati could live for millennia, sustained by the life essence they drew from others. An Anzat who did not feed at least once every few days merely grew hungry. Lack of sufficient meals had no more of a supernatural aging effect on an Anzat than it did on a Human.[1]

Because the Anzati preyed upon those whose life force was strong, they must be stronger. While Anzati tended to possess exceptional might and often startling reflexes, they were not supernaturally endowed. At best, they reflected the pinnacle of Human athletic ability; at worst, they merely had the attributes of an ordinary Human. However, physical strength was only a small part of the equation. To sense the presence of a strong life essence in others, they had highly developed sensory organs unknown in other sentient species. To physically drain this life essence's connection from living beings, they had to be physically adapted to do so. For the Anzati, these things were interconnected.[1]

The Anzati were natural predators, preferring to hunt sentient races of all shapes and sizes and kinds. To this end, they possessed two long, prehensile proboscises similar in appearance to tentacles. They kept these proboscises coiled in their twin cheek pockets for feeding on unsuspecting victims; when their proboscises were retracted, they were practically visually indistinguishable from Humans. They fed in a unique way that was described as grotesque.[1]

Using a kind of mind control, which Jedi who had encountered them claimed was akin to Force manipulation, they bewitched their victims in a manner similar to a Jedi mind trick. Using this telepathy, the Anzat lured in their unsuspecting targets by mesmerizing them with their telepathic control. This control strengthened at close range and was even further augmented and honed with age and use. [1]

Once a victim was within their power, the Anzati would uncoil their thin proboscises from their cheek pouches located on either side of its nose and usually inserted them into the subject's nostrils and into the cranium, where the brain was sucked out of the organism, though the Anzati fed by drawing soup out of wherever it resided in a victim, as it varied by species. In most humanoid races, it laid within the brain cavity. Almost of their own, the proboscises sought the victim's soup, and began draining it into the Anzat. The victim could struggle, though often the Anzat's attack was so sudden, so perfect, that it was too late. This action, however, required time and could not be rushed. This behavior led to the nickname of "snot vampires." They also had been known to grasp the victim's head to hold it in place close to them as they fed.[1]

They called this meal "soup," "luck," or the "Sea of Memory." The actual substance they drained out of living beings—the gelid, mucoid medium for the luck or life essence—they referred to as soup. In Anzati traditions, the term referred to the life essence, or spiritual power, of the victim. As well, the Anzati believed that this life essence governed a living being's personal presence. Thus, the more presence a victim had, the more potent the luck was likely to be. Particularly fortunate individuals were tasty meals for the Anzati. It was reputed that Anzati could keep their victims alive for several feedings, taking great pleasure in the fear and terror their prey felt throughout the ordeal.[1]

Though life essence and luck were manifestations of the Force, the luck upon which Anzati fed was only peripherally related. Certainly, beings who were particularly gifted in the Force were appetizing to an Anzat, but this was usually because their close connections with the life energy of the universe presented the appearance of a great personal presence. Of course, experienced Jedi usually had both powerful personal life essence and a close connection with the universe's through the Force. The Anzat who made a meal of such a Jedi was a rare and terrible creature indeed.[1]

The Anzati, of course, considered such discussions academic. "The Force" was a concept developed by younger species. It was a concept Anzati do not recognize as any more correct than any of a dozen theories before. They knew only that weak-willed beings were as unsatisfying as table scraps. To subsist on the average sentient, an Anzat would have to feed on a dozen beings every day; and since the meal rarely survived the feast, the Anzat would leave a trail of corpses. On a world without sentient beings, or in a place where soup is in short supply, an Anzat could easily starve to death. Most of the galaxy, however, was unfortunate in this regard: the Anzati were not liable to die off so easily—sentient beings were plentiful enough to feed a legion of them.[1]

Despite myths to the contrary, victims of the Anzati did not become Anzati themselves.

Society and Culture

According to most reports, because Anzati are loners, it has thus contributed to the false impressions that they are vampires. They access the essence through prehensile proboscises they keep coiled in pockets in each of their cheeks. They are predators who mesmerize victims through a telepathic mind control, which gets stronger the closer they are. Habitually the Anzati stalk their prey and corner them. The extraction of soup begins when they uncoil the proboscises, insert them through the victim's nostrils and then attach to the brain. Some Anzati are known to keep their prey alive for future feedings. The need for this is believed to be related to the fact Anzat cannot sustain life. This drive to fill the void for soup is something that consumes the Anzati way of life. Some Anzati regard other species as cattle and a meal, while others try to control their needs. They do not reproduce often and their parents do not name their offspring. Anzati often adapt human names to blend in with their surroundings. Youthful Anzati reach puberty at approximately one hundred years of age and leave Anzat to hunt for soup. This soup gives the Anzati race a perceived form of immortality, seemingly never succumbing to old age, able to sustain life for over a thousand years with little resemblance of aging. However, as the Anzat ages, the urge for soup grows, often resulting in isolation from their peers, self-destruction and increased feedings.

The drive to hunt for "soup" seemed to be the central factor of Anzati life; one could almost have considered them an addicted people. Once they began the hunt, they thought of nothing else but to satisfy this hunger, a hunger that grew stronger and more powerful with each passing year. Anzati were reported to view all other peoples as livestock to be harvested to fulfill their needs, although some were known to try and stave off the craving for as long as possible between feedings.[1] Anzati were known to be creatures of a single-minded purpose, they spent their long lives surviving from one meal to the next—in the process, depriving living beings of their own lives.[7]

Either way, because the hunger grew as they aged, and they lived for such a long time, they ended up becoming more and more isolated in their need. The older the Anzati, the more unstable and obsessive they became, often to the point of insanity. They would lose focus on the world around them and in many cases would make a crucial mistake, leading to their ultimate destruction.[1]

Some Anzati believed that feeding on live vessels gave them eternal youth and energy. This belief can be traced to the Silent Voices, luminescent bands of gases that glowed in the Anzat atmosphere at night. Ancient Anzati believed that these were the life essences of their ancestors. Although such a possibility was not scientifically viable, it illustrated the level of importance that "soup" played in Anzati culture, morals, and belief structures.[1]

Anzati reproduced infrequently, and usually lived for many centuries. Parents did not typically give their children names, instead allowing them to seek names that best blended in with their chosen prey. Youthful Anzati reached puberty at approximately one hundred standard years of age, and, when that time came, they left Anzat to hunt for "soup" and continue their so-called eternal existence.[1]

Though it was easy to picture the Anzati as heartless predators, that was no more true of them than it was of any species that ate another species to live. With their long lives, Anzati had plenty of time to develop and pursue all manner of interests; many were devoted patrons of the arts. A few had even produced works of art of their own: books, music, paintings, sculpture, films, and holos. Few had created more than one example in any given medium, however. For a being so long-lived as an Anzat, perfection at a craft was pointless; reaching the pinnacle of an art was no real accomplishment if its only other practitioners died off a thousand years ago. [1]

A common misconception among those who studied tales of the Anzati was that they were hyper-developed scholars, experts in fields of knowledge and craft long since forgotten by younger species. While Anzati could remember things that happened centuries earlier, they had little or no interest in pursuing mastery of any given area of expertise or knowledge—other than feeding. To the Anzati, the important skills to pass on to their offspring were the arts of stealth and the kill; everything else was just amusing diversion, hardly worth the effort of committing to memory.[1]

The Anzati were accomplished hunters, tracking their quarry silently, invisibly and efficiently. Their abilities served them in avoiding notice as well. Despite occasional noticeable individuals, all Anzati diligently maintained as low a profile as possible, disappearing into the galaxy's crowds as soon as anyone appeared to notice their activities, abilities, or longevity. An Anzat used his or her sense of personal presence to hunt—to detect prey's soup. The stronger the target's soup, the more the target stood out to the Anzat's senses.[1]

Anzati were also difficult to capture. Because of their secrecy, hunting skills, and training, Anzati were often employed by organized crime factions as assassins. The Anzati simply dwelled among the sentient species of the galaxy, blending into the dizzying myriad of cultures—invisible because, until one revealed its true nature to a victim, an Anzat was just another alien; and, of course, once the victim saw the Anzat, it was too late to warn anyone else.[1]

Their anonymity was frequently used to their advantage, so they rarely, if ever, worked in groups. It was only in the capacity of a bounty hunter that they would abandon their lonely tendencies and band together to form a corporation or guild. On these exceptionally rare occasions, they would sometimes share prey and the financial rewards of their hunts. These corporations were temporary, often existing for only one hunt, as they typically ended up killing each other to eliminate competition for a very "soupy" victim.[1]

Thousands of worlds across the galaxy had legends of the Anzati, yet no culture's myths included their origin. To some, this implied that the Anzati had been around longer than any other species, or that they survived, by thousands of centuries, the only other species to share their homeworld. Others believed that the Anzati evolved simultaneously with Humankind, somewhere beyond the knowledge of sentient races, only to enter galactic society at large when hyperspace exploration put the Anzati homeworld within reach of the Republic. When the planet was later found, it was usually avoided for the race's tendencies. [1]

References: [1] - http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anzati