#stewjoni headcanons

[mneiai]

Everything So Far About My Stewjoni-as-actual-sithspawn verse

Below the cut is all of my “canon” so far, some of it may be changed as I get other ideas.

CW non-consensual body modification, dubiously consensual body modification, body horror, monsters, violence, cannibalism

History:

The Stewjoni were a sentient race of predatory non-humans who preyed on, among other beings/animals, the Sith race. They were particularly attracted to prey that used or was in some way connected to the Darkside of the Force. When the Dark Jedi who would become the modern Sith integrated with Sith culture, they were told of them as a warning. They, of course, took it upon themselves to study and change the Stewjoni to suit their needs.

Sith alchemists twisted the Stewjoni into more dangerous beings with a preference for preying on Force users in general. Previously solely pack hunters, they developed them into more solo hunters due to their rarity. The Sith would set them loose to hunt their rivals or Jedi knowing that those enemies would almost certainly die in terror and that there was no means of surviving once the Stewjoni had started to feed.

Centuries later, the Taungs took over Stewjon and were immediately fascinated with the natives. They saw them as demigods of battle and war and favored them above most other races, which continued to some extent among their Mandalorian descendants until near the fall of the Mandalorian Empire, when the Stewjoni made a deal with the Republic for neutrality in the war (where they were particularly devastating against the Jedi forces) in exchange for Republic-supported isolation.

The Republic placed the Stewjoni into a difficult legal classification–the system is sovereign and has all of the rights that any Republic system would, but the people had already been classified as biological weapons and that never changed. Many of the original Republic worlds still have laws making it illegal for Stewjoni to enter and that anyone who assists in such an endeavor are seen as trafficking bioweapons.

Appearance:

(some pictures as a basic reference can be found here)

Stewjoni are vaguely human looking. They have two arms, two legs, one head, and walk upright on those two legs. The Sith alchemists mixed them with a variety of other beings and humans were a part of that–their faces, with eyes and mouths closed, look like attractive human faces and their bodies, if other features were to be removed, like muscular human bodies.

Their eyes are a coppery-gold color, scaled, with multiple small pupils. They are capable of seeing a multitude more colors than humans, which assists them in hunting in many environments where the slightest change in appearance can be useful.

Their skin, which looks pale to human eyes but in fact is extremely colorful to eyes capable of seeing greater ranges, is smooth and elastic, having more give and far more resilience than human flesh. Natural bruising is unusual and they are unlikely to receive casual wounds like papercuts.

Their ears are long and pointed, the ridges and grooves of the pinna more complicated to allow for more details at more frequency ranges than human ears.

Their teeth are sharp, and more plentiful than human teeth. But the most notable aspect of their mouth are retractable barbs which can inject paralytic venom and detach easily in case it doesn’t act quickly enough to prevent the prey from pulling away.

They have long, pale-colored claws made for fighting and killing, but also with great utility for climbing and digging. They are incredibly sharp and sturdy. Their hands, for the most part, look otherwise human, though their feet are more dexterous, capable of gripping and holding things in limited ways.

Along their backs, from shoulder to hips, are a long crest of spines which are normally at least three colors. The spines are more defensive in purpose than offensive, though as the Stewjoni are intelligent they have been known to utilize them as such if necessary. The spines utilize the same venom as the barbs and are a paralytic, though introduce much larger amounts of venom and can be lethal very quickly. They are also designed to detach and stay within an attacker, doing more damage to them and needing to be cut out. The spines are also sensitive to changes in the air/water and vibrations, so that they have more warning if someone is attacking from behind.

Their organs are fewer and more streamlined, having been designed specifically to be significantly more efficient. While they can consume nearly any food source, they can also sustain themselves on pure Force (or life) energy taken from their prey.

Their blood utilizes copper, instead of iron, and is blue in color, though they do not experience many negative effects of imbalances.

Procreation etc

The Stewjoni need three members of their race to procreate–one lays eggs within the womb of another, which are then fertilized by a third. While their young are born live, they are still called “clutches” because of the egg laying process.

Stewjoni embryos cannibalize each other in the womb and generally only one or two survive to be birthed. All children with at least one shared parent are considered siblings.

Raising children is a communal effort and they are often kept closely with anyone in a similar age group. They are very sheltered for the first ten or so years of their lives, though they are trained to hunt in tightly controlled sessions as soon as they can walk and call to their prey in the Force.

Culturally, they do not have genders. Their language is genderless and it is not uncommon for individuals to be born capable of taking more than one role in the breeding process. They often choose pronouns at random when speaking languages that require gendered ones and may refer to having two mothers and a father or two fathers and a mother if pressed.

The Force/Feeding

The Sith race believed that the Stewjoni were direct children of the Force, shaped and brought into being to challenge and improve the Sith so that they might better serve.

They are largely not traditional Force users, though they all are capable of “singing” in the Force, a means of attracting their prey to them by mesmerizing them, that has led to myths throughout the galaxy of them being what the Alderaanians call ‘Sirens.’ The Sith described encountering a Stewjoni like hearing the sweetest songs, tasting the most delicious flavors, feeling the most extreme of pleasures. There were stories of suicide-by-Stewjoni in early Sith histories.

When the alchemists twisted them to look more attractive to humans and near-humans, they were working to increase their effectiveness as perceived sources of pleasure within their prey. (Other legends built up around them are comparable to real world legends of succubi and incubi, and, as was somewhat my inspiration for this, what’s known as the baobhan sith.)

The Stewjoni themselves are incapable of the depth of “Dark” emotions necessary to utilize the Darkside, though Stewjon is a Dark nexus in the Force and Darksiders in particular are attracted to the Stewjoni.

When a Stewjoni is also a traditional type of Force sensitive, they were previously given to the Sith, to be trained as they were, and then after were given over to the Mandalorian tribes that had strong Force training. After the fall of the Mandalorian Empire, such Force sensitive Stewjoni were largely kept untrained.

Lifespans

Stewjoni live, on average, 300 standard years, though arguably could live indefinitely if they can continue feeding regularly off of other sentient beings. They grow quickly, nearly human standard, but once fully grown their aging slows to a crawl and the cell damage that causes aging is often reversed by their feeding (and many injuries are also healed).

Obi-Wan

Obi-Wan Kenobi (a name an approximation of the written Stewjoni language translated into the Aurebesh and then pronounced in Basic) was born in a rare clutch of three. All three were Force sensitive and his two clutchmates died within the first few years of their lives from their own abilities. Obi-Wan lasted for nearly three years before he, too, nearly succumbed to the complications of being an untrained Force user.

In an unprecedented move, the Jedi were contacted and given Obi-Wan with promises that he would be able to visit as needed. It was agreed that he would go through a variety of medical procedures in order to look more human, both to protect him from slavers and to allow him more freedom of movement.

His ears and teeth were made to resemble human ones. His eyes had permanent lenses surgically placed inside of them. His spines were surgically removed so they wouldn’t grow back. His vocal chords were augmented to be able to better manage the range of human sounds. His nails chemically treated so they would be weaker and, if probably trimmed, appear virtually like human nails. He was given tattoos that resemble the visible parts of human circulatory systems and fake organs placed in his abdomen so general scans would make him appear near-human at first glance.