#kalee

[shaakti1138]

My fellow Kaleesh lovers, check out Anthony Petrie's concept arts for Grievous warlord skin in "Fortnite"! More here.

(Could that jungle be Kalee?...)

[sunsetren]

ah still thinking about Grievous‘ hands

[isei-silva]

time for some OC Worldbuilding (tm)! Featuring Sibura Teth's tribe: the Yeqilon! We see a lot of Kaleesh art being desert dwelling sorts, with the clothing to match, but I have a peeve with homogenizing an entire planet and their people. I always say if humans are allowed diversity, then so do any other species and the world(s) they live in.

The Yeqilon are more mountain dwellers, living in the higher peaks of Kalee. The tribe follows a pantheon of gods. Their belief system is similar to many others on Kalee in that great deeds are looked upon favorably by the gods. The difference lies in the bargaining power of the individual. Their gods suffer from hunger eternal. Souls, much like fruit, only the most ripe and nurtured are the most coveted. Tribe members can vow their soul to either a god of their choosing or all gods at once for favor, blessings, to answer prayers, etc. The greater the warring deeds of the individual in question, the more valuable and succulent their soul becomes, and the greater the chances that the god(s) will pay attention and grant their boons. But the gods are in competition and may sabotage each other, sometimes resulting in those prayers going unanswered and favors unfulfilled, or ending up with a result that was not expected and/or desired.

The Yeqilon like to be flashy. Not only to get the attention of their enemies, but of their gods as well.

Sibura has been off-world for years, and does not wear these traditonal attires anymore.

[b-lizi]

Qymaen and Ronderu ! I've drawn these months ago but never posted them. Got very involved in Grievous' backstory and also read the marvelous fic of @inonibird (which inspired these drawings, I will be honest)

To me, since Kaleesh people are sort of lizard aliens, no boobies for Ronderu. I like her a lot.

Close ups down below !

[inonibird]

HEY, remember how I chatted about making soaps and candles earlier this year?? And then barely posted about it? I've been actually doing it all along, I just never shared a whole lot about the journey. :'D But for anyone curious, here's what I came up with for the various Scents of Sahuldeem (not all pictured, but everything WAS crafted as some point and thusly sniffed and approved), accompanied by excerpts where the original source of said scents were mentioned throughout the series:

Kuninda :: Peony ~ Plumeria ~ Orchid The only touch of decor to suggest this chamber housed someone special was the ceramic pot of kuninda blossoms on the table. || The rest looped chains of fiery kuninda blossoms over the stone statue wherever they could reach.

(note: looks and smells like Starburst)

Kushlal :: Butterscotch ~ Marshmallow ~ Warm Vanilla Sugar “Ah,” said San Hill with a knowing smile when the droid translated. “So you do have a word for sweetness. Though I suspect it is an uncommon flavor?” || The kushlal taste of the blue food—so much more intense and delightful than the fruit on Kalee!—was almost worth the stomachache.

Nuurma :: Grapefruit ~ Verbena ~ Bergamot The fruit trees and bushes were not quite ready for harvest, but it would not be unheard of for someone to pluck a round, juicy nuurma from a branch prematurely to enjoy its tartness. That is precisely what Bentilais san Sk’ar did as he strolled into the courtyard, first nodding down at the posted attendant and then pausing to pick a rose-flushed nuurma that looked like it had been specially cultivated for children in his huge hand.

Sandanul :: Gardenia ~ Ylang Ylang ~ Lavender The largest and most preeminent zaagmade belonged to the San Clan, and all of the entrances from each neighboring district were appropriately festooned with night-blooming sandanul and rippling, silken banners embroidered with their clan sigil.

(note: this is definitely a nighttime soap smell)

Seshu :: Ginger ~ Bamboo ~ Lemongrass “You really need to remember to chew on seshu root before a flight.” || “I’m still not used to the feeling myself,” he went on, “and I’ve been flying for years. I find seshu root helps. We may still have some on hand, if you want it.”

Simsu :: Frankincense & Myrrh ~ Sandalwood ~ Lilac Lanterns of priceless simsu resin—a gift from the mountain city of Sukundar—which blazed with blue spirit flame when burned. || He rummaged until he found his pouch of simsu and, moving from one pillar to the next, he took a small handful of the colorful resin and filled the depressions before taking a fire-striker to each and setting them ablaze.

(note: the flame is not blue :c)

Ulekni :: Lily ~ Lotus Blossom ~ Aloe The lush southeastern region lent itself well to the cultivation of greenery that was strewn like a form of art across the landscape of the city, an urban garden interspersed with decorative fountains, quiet pools that brimmed with blooming ulekni, and practical channels running to and from the Shumiv’za.

Zigmash :: Red Poppy ~ Green Tea ~ Agave Musk The scent of brittle grasses, brambles and flowering zigmash, mingled with the scorched sands of the desert lands that stretched beyond the northwest hill of the valley, meant he was home. || “Zigmash. ‘Breath of the twin’, or ‘breath of the moon’. A flowering plant indigenous to Kalee. It possesses analgesic, soporific, and mildly euphoric and hallucinogenic properties.”

(note: OG recipe was too grassy, 2.0 smells like candy and I want to bite it)

Zuulum :: Fig ~ Caramel ~ Pomegranate “It’s dried to represent life where you least expect it—this dry, withered husk, like the desert—but then you taste what’s hidden inside. So sweet and soft.” || “We don’t have zuulum most of the year. We only eat it during Sudab’a Ud-Imin.”

[ab-rinart]

[empress-violetlight]

Worlds of the Empire of the Hand - Kalee

Another in my Worlds series, along with Nirauan and Lysatra.

I LOVE the Kaleesh -- they're my second-favourite SW race after the Chiss -- and after learning of their history with everyone's favourite Grand Admiral, I had to have them join the Hand. I also think it's cool that a lot of their culture was inspired by the Epic of Gilgamesh, since I see a lot in common between Thrawn's story and The Odyssey -- it's a very nice parallel.

Mostly canon to SW Legends, though I did tweak one character's backstory a little.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Kalee – homeworld of the Kaleesh (and colonies Oben and Abbaji Minor)

Galactic Map location:  J4 – Wild Space, on the border with the Imperial Remnant

World type:  Terrestrial planet with varied ecosystems. 40 102 km equatorial circumference 1.05 standard gravity.  Standard oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere.  Rotation Peroid:  23 standard hours.  Orbital period:  378 standard days.     

Solar system:  Orbits Iminec, a G-yellow orange dwarf main sequence star, approx. 5.5 billion years old, 0.95 standard stellar masses, sole stellar body in the solar system. Fourth planet from its sun of six (in orbital order): Prelly, a superheated terrestrial in a semi-molten state, Norbon, an airless rock terrestrial, Abbaji Minor, terrestrial with a habitable, mostly forested surface, Kalee,  Remsh, a gas giant with 43 moons, and Elke, a frozen rock terrestrial, possibly a dwarf planet.  (Wookieepedia actually had all this info for once!)

Moons:  1 medium-sized, no atmosphere.   

Surface conditions:  varied ecosphere with a continent/ocean ratio in favour of landmasses, with arctic, desert, tropical and temperate zones in different areas, featuring rainforests, canyons and steppes.

Population:  approx. 4 billion, 99% Kaleesh (spread across Kalee and its colonies)

Capital City:  Kaleela

Other population centres:  Kuru, on the Eastern continent. Ifrit, on Oben.

The planet Kalee, and its proud, warrior/hunter people, the reptilian Kaleesh, were “discovered” sometime during the Old Republic era, but mostly ignored due to its people’s seemingly “primitive” tribal culture, except for a few individuals who wandered out to the wider Galaxy.  While individual Kaleesh served both sides of the ongoing conflict between the Old Republic and Sith Empire, Kalee itself remained mostly undisturbed, notwithstanding internal conflicts between clans.  This changed sometime in the century before the establishment of the Empire, when a neighbouring species, the expansionist, insectoid Yam’rii, or “Huks”, from the planet of the same name, invaded Kalee.  The Huks murdered, enslaved, sold and even ate the Kaleesh, with Kaleesh eggs being a particularly favourite delicacy of the “soulless bugs”.  After enduring generations of guerilla war against those who saw them as mere resources and livestock, two heroes said “enough!”

They were Qymaen jai Sheelal and Ronderu lij Kummar, seemingly invincible fighters who led their Kolpravis warriors in countless campaigns against the Huk and their allies.   It is unclear whether the two were lovers, relatives, or something more, but together, with Qymaen’s skill with his slugthrower and Ronderu with her lig swords, they seemed unstoppable.   Until Ronderu fell in battle.  A distraught Qymaen renamed himself “Greivous”, and massacred the Huk until the Kaleesh warriors finally drove them off their planet for good, and chased the murderous monsters out into the void from where they came.

Facing their own extinction, the Yam’rii cried out to their allies in the Trade Federation.  Through the manipulation of the corrupt Senate, the Huk convinced the Old Republic to send the Jedi to put down the Kaleesh uprising.  The Dogs of the Republic, fooled by the insectoids’ lies claiming they were the victims, put an embargo against Kalee that would lead to millions of Kaleesh dying of starvation. 

When the Intergalactic Banking Clan offered to alleviate Kalee’s suffering in return for Grevious’ services as mercenary and enforcer, he had little choice but to comply, until he learned of the Huk desecrating Kaleesh burial grounds on the colony worlds the Republic had forced them to abandon to the invaders.  The IGBC did not take well to their enforcer breaking his contract, and secretly planted a bomb on the Kaleesh warrior’s shuttle.  This lead to Grievous’ near-death, until the IBC rebuilt him as the cyborg warrior that the rest of the Galaxy would know him as best.  General Grievous became one of the most feared military leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, becoming especially notorious for slaughtering hated, self-righteous Jedi, until one of them finally succeeded in killing him at the closing of the Clone Wars, right before the establishment of the Galactic Empire.

Out of Grievous’ eight elite Izvoshra warriors, only one outlived their leader.  A towering warrior, almost 3 metres tall, Bentilais san Sk’ar, had fought alongside Qymaen jai Sheelal and Rondeur lij Kummar during the Huk War and had been instrumental in many campaigns, starting with the liberation of his home city and capital of the planet, Kaleea.  He survived the shuttle bombing that disfigured his leader, seemingly without either knowing of the other’s survival.  He rallied the Kolkpravis under his leadership, slaughtered all the Yam’rii on the colony world of Oben, and many Kaleesh relocated to the more hospitable world, giving Kalee itself time to heal from the Huks’ decades of exploitation.  Following the rise of the Galactic Empire, Sk’ar violently resisted Imperial rule for over a decade, until in 14 AAE (6 BBY) the Empire sent in their specialist in the “Unknown Regions”, then-Captain Thrawn.  Famous for his talent of predicting his enemies’ tactics by studying their art, Thrawn unfortunately was unable to find any Kaleesh art in the Imperial Archives to study.  Pressured by Emperor Palpatine to “get it over with”, and with his own concerns in the Unknown Regions, Thrawn simply leveled Oben with his fleet.  Though the Battle of Oben was an overwhelming victory for the Empire, Thrawn himself considered it a failure.

Sk’ar, however, was impressed by the Empire’s sheer power, technological superiority, and noted how his adversary had mostly razed legitimate military targets, missing civilian areas.  When Thrawn himself came down to assess the damage, Sk’ar waited for him in the ruins of his command centre. 

As soon as Thrawn saw Sk'ar's battle mask and recognized the style - the same as that worn by the infamous Separatist General, he knew he had made the right decision in ending his bombardment prematurely. Sk'ar challenged Thrawn, wanting to end things like warriors, but the Chiss had another idea: if Sk'ar pledged his service to the Empire, then his warriors would be considered "Imperial personnel" by default, with Kalee and Oben being under "imperial occupation" without a single stormtrooper making planetfall. Impressed by his cunning, if unsure the ruse would work, Sk'ar agreed and "surrendered" to the Chiss captain.  Thrawn was equally impressed by the Kaleesh warrior’s ability to evade and fight back against the Empire for so long, and his willingness to put aside his personal pride for the Greater Good – something Thrawn was intimately familiar with.  With both knowing the xenophobic Empire would not accept a non-human recommending another “alien”, Thrawn had one of the other captains in his fleet take Sk’ar to introduce him to Emperor Palpatine.

Sk’ar quickly rose through the ranks of the Imperial Army, becoming the second-highest ranked alien in the Imperial forces after Thrawn, reaching the rank of Brigadier-General in only 5 short years by 19 AAE (1 BBY). At the same time, Sk'ar was offered a position directly by Thrawn himself -- commander of all of Thrawn's ground forces in his "shadow empire", the Empire of the Hand, like his commander, dividing his time between the Hand and the Empire proper.  Sometime after the Battle of Hoth, General Sk’ar was often sent to deal with particularly troublesome Rebel strongholds in the Outer Rim, until he seemingly killed in a mission (caused by a very annoying Rebel whom Sk’ar had not been allowed to outright kill, much to his displeasure) on the planet Shiva IV.  However, he was prevented from boarding a shuttle (destroyed by the rebels shortly afterwards) by Imperial forces loyal to Thrawn, who had been keeping a close eye on his “colleague’s” progress.  Considered dead by the Empire proper, Sk'ar was now free to completely dedicate his time to his duties in the Empire of the Hand.

As Army General of the Empire of the Hand, Bentilais san Sk’ar serves wherever the Empire of the Hand needs boots/claws on the ground with the ruthless efficiency, yet fair and intelligent decisions both he and his Grand Admiral have become known for.  The Empire of the Hand’s numerous special forces divisions – the Chiss Rogue Phalanx, the reborn 501st Stormtrooper Legion, the Paccosh Commandos, Draconian Aerial Infantry, the Lysatran Void Divers and, of course, the Kaleesh Kolkpravis, among others, all answer to him.  Sk’ar was also one of the most vocal supporters of Thrawn’s wife, Governor Xelarra of Nirauan’s, ascension to Empress of the Hand.   

Kalee, its habitable system-mate Abbaji Minor, and Oben were left to their own devices, to be ruled fully by the Kaleesh themselves for the first time in nearly a century.  Thrawn personally extended an invitation to the Kaleesh to join the Empire of the Hand in 26 AEE (7 ABY), 3 years after Emperor Palpatine’s death.  In Sk’ar’s absence, one of his clanmates, Ninsun san Ve'Tani, rose up to lead the Kaleesh.  A talented hunter, Ve’Tani is rumoured to be the reincarnation of Ronderu lij Kummar, and she does nothing to discourage the myth, even marrying 3 of Grievous’ children – two of his sons and a daughter.  Feeling it was her responsibility to maintain her people’s long-fought for independence, Ve’Tani declined Thrawn’s offer, yet Kalee did become an ally of the Hand, and the two civilisations valued each other’s friendship.

Over the next five years, the Kaleesh became a common sight on Nirauan and other Hand worlds, whether following Sk’ar’s example and serving in the military, lending their survival skills to the Explorer corps, or just enjoying a peaceful civilian life, often being seen in the company of other reptilian races of the Hand – the Paccosh, Draconians, and the sizable community of Trandoshan immigrants, among others.  Inspired by Nirauan’s socialist policies and programs, which had a lot in common with their own tribal traditions, Kalee and its colonies implemented their own, taking the steps needed to make sure no Kaleesh child ever starved to death again.  The Empire of the Hand, in turn, quietly ensured that nobody, especially the Huk, violated their ally’s borders.

In 31 AAE (12 ABY), Ninsun san Ve'Tani would invite then-Govenor Xelarra for a diplomatic visit to her world.  The Chiss and the Kaleesh, both leaders of their people, and fiercely protective mothers to their children, got along quite well, and shortly after the visit, Kalee and all its colonies petitioned for membership to the Empire of the Hand.  A vote in Parliament on the issue was unanimous. 

Shortly after Kalee’s acceptance into the Hand, it became known that the Huk were plotting to cry to the New Republic (whom they were not even a member of), to try to launch another invasion of Kalee, to start the cycle all over again. By doing so, they declared war on the Empire of the Hand.  From his Nightstalker-class assault ship, Grievous, General Sk’ar, with support from Admiral Karyn Faro of Seeker Fleet, launched a pre-emptive strike on Huk.  As the fleet orbital bombarded all other Huk settlements – taking care to utterly destroy all spaceports and ways off-planet, Sk’ar commanded an invasion of the Huk capital, liberated all remaining Kaleesh slaves in the city and personally killed the Yam’rii Queen with his bare hands.  The Hand forces left the surviving Yam’rii in their capital, with no way off their planet and nobody coming to their rescue this time, to starve to death – just as their lies had condemned countless Kaleesh to starvation before the Clone Wars. Probe droids were left in orbit to ensure they don’t escape their well-earned fate.

As a gesture of friendship, then-Govenor Xelarra of Nirauan offered to return to the Kaleesh a sacred relic that Thrawn had managed to acquire for the Hand’s Imperial Museum before his death in 9 ABY – the Mask of General Grievous, which Thrawn had wanted as the ultimate artistic example of the Kaleesh’s unrelenting warrior spirit.  The Kaleesh declined.  Grievous has ascended to godhood to his people, and the Kaleesh prefer that his mask remain on Nirauan, so all Hand citizens could share in their culture, and pay homage to him. 

[zellkernchen]

I did an art trade with @alenchikova and drew her version of Ronderu :3

[accursedkaleeshi]

Taught myself to use SketchUp for no reason/ to try new art things. The Sheelal family temple as it was when Grievous exploded. They built it themselves & Grievous was still working on the back. The family expanded more quickly than the construction. It was not going to be big enough.

[alenchikova]

I think that masterpeace from @d3epfriedangels need to be shown to da world :3

[get-more-bald]

helmet colors for a kaleeshi mandalorian :)

please reblog so I get more opinions :P and tell me your thoughts in the tags!

[echoruby18]

Here's my half of the art trade with the wonderful @alenchikova !!! I loved drawing her snake lady Mikir <3

[sunsetren]

planet of Kalee is very beautiful, i’d love to live there (and swim and Jenuwaa sea)

[isei-silva]

So my brother in law and my husband started a Star Wars DnD campaign with their friends and wives so I jumped in! We're still early on, but I absolutely made a Kaleesh lady warrior looking for her abducted son for this, because they are the best if most obscure race. Also took artistic liberty for the face design cause heck if even canon sources are consistent.

Added face paint and jewelry variants as well.

[thedrown]

GOTS- Mask Shopping

Originally wanted this to be Sikha and Amato in a marketplace on Kalee but I cant do backgrounds.

I did attempt a bg but gave up pretty early when I realized it aint happenin lmao

[inonibird]

Me: Gosh, making my own candles would be a fun little project to try out sometime, maybe I should do it~ :3

Also me: Wouldn't it be neat if I made a bunch of unique scents that shared a theme or came from the same story? :3c

Also also me: Zigmash Simsu Kuninda Ulekni Seshu Zuulum Tukbrush Sandanul Nuurma Kushlal 83c