O'reenian
O'reenian
The O'reenians were the inhabitants of the planet O'reen in the Unknown Region; although originally Humans, they eventually evolved into a distinct sentient species of Near-Human. The species appeared similar to Humans physically with the exception of orange-hued skin. Their society and culture, on the other hand, were unique in that the O'reenians were divided into several distinct castes based upon military service. O'reenians who served in the military for six or more years were granted the rights and privileges of citizenship, while those who did not were relegated to menial occupations of the sort generally carried out by droids on worlds more technologically advanced than O'reen. Only slaves occupied a social position below non-citizens. A military dictator known as the Magnus ruled the O'reenian government and commanded its military. The system made O'reenian society highly regimented and disciplined, with an emphasis on martial prowess. Indeed, even O'reenian scientists wore sidearms while at work.
Although they were descended from colonists sent to O'reen by the Galactic Republic in the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War, the location of their homeworld in the Unknown Regions kept the O'reenians isolated and self-sufficient for millennia. Through several chance encounters with offworlders, the O'reenians realized that their technology had fallen behind that of the rest of the galaxy, and the government implemented a policy of raiding nearby star systems to take weapons and devices that O'reenian researchers could then reverse-engineer. These missions, normally carried out by pilots in the O'reenian Star Corps, afforded the species a sense of protection against what they perceived as outside threats. Government policies of the Galactic Republic and the O'reenians alike regularly maintained that keeping the species isolated was the most beneficial course of action; nevertheless, during the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Magnus adopted a policy of potentially taking advantage of the conflict to expand O'reen's sphere of influence.
Biology & Appearance
Although originally mainline Humans, the O'reenians evolved into near-Humans, with an anatomy that mimicked that of mainline Humans in most ways. That is, each O'reenian had a humanoid body, with two arms with five-fingered hands, two legs, and a head; likewise, their face featured two eyes, two eyebrows, a nose, two ears, and a mouth. The major distinctions between the two species were the O'reenians' orange-tinted skin and black eyes. O'reenians tended to have dark-brown hair. At least some males of the species kept their hair close-cropped, while others sported short goatees.
Society & Culture
O'reenian society was highly militarized and stratified. At the top of the social structure was the Magnus, who ruled the species's homeworld, O'reen, as a military dictator and supreme military commander. Below the ruler were the soldiers in the planet's militia, a group who were afforded all rights and privileges of citizenship after a period of service of at least six years. Near the bottom of the social ladder were civilians, who had few rights; such individuals had little choice but to work for the planetary government as indentured laborers. Another non-martial class of O'reenians were those who were officially enslaved to social superiors. The only group regarded even more dimly than civilians and slaves were soldiers who were dishonorably discharged from the army for shirking duty. The punishment for such dereliction was the loss of all rights and mandatory exile from any settlement on O'reen. The organization of O'reenian society into such clearly demarcated castes encouraged disgruntlement among the lower classes, and rebellions were common over the species's history—though rarely successful.
Although non-O'reenians were exceedingly rare on O'reen, the species's society allowed offworlders to enjoy the privileges of citizenship through military service or by proving membership in the military of another group. Outsiders who had not done so were regarded as civilians, with rights equivalent to that class of O'reenians. Non-O'reenians who did not belong to a military organization suffered severely curtailed mobility on the world.
Within the military class, O'reenians were further stratified according to rank. As supreme commander of the armed forces, the Magnus was elected by a council of his or her peers. The leader received a personal detail of four elite guards for protection and had the ability to rally the O'reenian military to action when necessary. Another military faction was the O'reen Star Corps, a unit of pilots who patrolled the O'reen system and protected it from outside threats. Unless outsiders received proper clearance, the Star Corps refused them access to the planet. A defensive fleet of starships remained in orbit around O'reen at all times.
Life for the O'reenians was highly regulated and disciplined. O'reenians learned combat and military skills from an early age so that every O'reenian could act as a competent soldier when necessary. Even scientists were highly militarized; laboratory researchers carried small sidearms under their white lab coats. All O'reenians were more perceptive and fit than a comparable Human, but those O'reenians who were officially part of the planet's military had to show ideological commitment and keep themselves in peak physical condition. The soldier's life taught an O'reenian military protocol; indeed, lack of such knowledge brought contempt upon many civilian O'reenians. Criminals were exceedingly rare in O'reenian society and tended to remain within the fogs that marked the outskirts of civilization.
Overall, the O'reenians had access only to relatively primitive technology; they lagged behind much of the rest of the galaxy. For instance, most of the tasks performed by droids in the rest of the galaxy fell to O'reenian civilians instead. Still, the species did have access to items such as datapads and cargo lifters. The exception was weaponry. By raiding nearby star systems, the military gained access to advanced weapons and armaments, which it then analyzed and adopted. Such bellicose invasions of nearby areas allowed for a robust and advanced array of armaments, which included blaster weapons, sublight drives, shield generators for starships, turbolasers, and ion drives. Security satellites filled the planet's orbit and provided advanced warning of attack, and orbital defense mines presented invisible, target-seeking obstacles to any outsiders with aggressive intent or who lacked the proper transponder codes.
O'reenian settlements were situated atop towering, flat, natural mesas and plateaux. Their buildings were made of stone and often reached precipitous heights. Such cities tended to be relatively isolated from one another because thick fog that enshrouded O'reen made travel in the wilds dangerous. The planetary capital was Fort Maximus, the most heavily garrisoned city on the planet. The capital was designed to withstand a siege even for several years, and it housed arms factories protected in underground bunkers. The Magnus lived in an estate at the heart of the city, and most of the populace of Fort Maximus was made up of citizen-soldiers. Epsilon Garrison was similar in that it was more of a military base than a city, although it did support a large farming community that provided food for the nearby garrisons and for the soldiers stationed at Fort Maximus. The large number of civilians at Epsilon Garrison proved one of the more rebellious in O'reenian society, although the farmers tended to rebel through non-violent protest. Orbital Deployment Center was another city; its purpose was to operate and monitor the network of satellites that orbited O'reen to spot threats from afar and to spy on nearby areas of the galaxy to identify possible targets for raiding.
Although O'reen was located just beyond the borders of the Outer Rim Territories within the Unknown Region, the O'reenians were a tough and self-sufficient people with little concern for the broader galaxy. Their planet had no exports, although the people did import military weaponry. Indeed, the species was somewhat distrustful and even afraid of aliens. Still, O'reenian concept of military conduct included the notion that pre-emptive attacks on other groups were sometimes justified, so the species presented a threat to nearby systems; for instance, the Star Corps raided nearby systems from time to time.
The language spoken by the species was derived from an old dialect of Bocce. Even after the two languages had diverged, they remained largely intelligible with one another. Some O'reenians also learned to speak Galactic Basic Standard and Minnisiat.