#I feel like echani are kinda frequently portrayed as like. 'the good guys' or something in comparison to mandalorians? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

smalllonelyegg · 6 months

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My Own Headcanon to Echani Society bc Why TF Not

Most of this was kinda drafted up by me for the sake of a half Echani OC who went from merely lashing out however she could vs the Empire to attempting to nationbuild, as well as grow as a person, and learn to find value in living, so a lot of it was considered with that in mind, and as such it will not be particularly applicable for your purposes. May this serve more as loose inspiration or an alternate take at best. Also warning Eshan here is meant to be *terrible.*

Echani Command was not merely subservient to the Empire, but enjoyed a position of privilege by them. In exchange for treating Imperial officials equivalent to high caste Echani, including access to training in the Echani martial arts, they enjoy relative freedom, being allowed to maintain their own law enforcement, prevent their businesses being nationalized, and generally enjoyed a lax, comparatively unsupervised, existence under imperial rule

Eshan itself is a colonialist planet, having taken the other of the "Six Sisters" in order to exploit their resources

Echani rule was dictated largely by eugenics. People were sorted into castes depending on supposed "genetic worth," a remnant of their time as an experiment of the Arkanians. Low caste echani face various socio-political hurdles, such as access to education and autonomy

Echani of any variety are not permitted to choose their own romantic or sexual partners. Marriage is based on computations over ideal genetic combinations, and are limited to within a caste. To break this is to drop to the lowest rung of the caste system, along with the offspring of such combinations, and those who openly sympathize and teach low caste people.

Battle, other than a means of communication, is seen as a test of "genetic value." To succeed in combat is to show you are of greater worth than your opponent.

While it becomes frequent for low caste people to enlist in Imperial Academy to escape from the burdens it provides, it carries some degree of social stigma, as while imperials are treated as high caste in a legal sense, in addition to xenophobia leading to a sense of superiority to imperials, low ranking officers and conscripts are often seen as "not worthy" of these privileges. These generally go unsaid, privileged as Command is, imperial rule still holds true.

In addition to the assigned Imperial Governor, leadership was held by High Council, with each member effectively serving as an autocrat over the system they represent- though they still would post their own governors to manage on a smaller scale

Position of Councilor may be won in ritual combat with the current holder of said position. While nothing legally prevented lower caste members doing this, combat education beyond the very basics was limited based on caste, such that in effect only the highest castes may possibly claim rulership. This all builds to a symbolic representation of "genetic purity"- where combat prowess is seen as a measure of genetic strength, to be councilor is to assert genetic superiority over all but the other councilors

Combat is primarily conceived of as dialectics materialized, where strength in combat is representative of the strength of a party's ideals. To win is to let your convictions be heard, and while all but the most traditionalist echani judges find victory in combat something that binds one to action legally, to not follow the victor is seen as incredibly cowardly

While High castes are given a theoretically large amount of freedom, they nonetheless face great social pressures, as deviance from social norm is highly associated with "poor genetics" pressure is thus applied to "perform genetic value"

More lighthearted

Eshan's surface is near uninhabitable due to its scorching sun, a white star named Esh. As a result, nearly all life there dwells in the vast cave system spanning the entire planet beneath its surface

Due to the nature of Eshan, much of Echani diet is centered on fungi. Mushroom stew is an incredibly common dish, with many households having their own unique takes on how it should be made

Most animals on Eshan are insects, though many have evolved to convergently resemble other creatures such as mammals at a glance. Traditional Echani armor, though almost never seen outside museums, are made of their exoskeletons, being flexible, though still durable

Echani diplomats and senators are very frequently taught they *can't* challenge people to a duel. This has to be heavily stressed

Echani funeral garb is white, while the garb of the deceased is to be black

Weapons of Echani firedancers are often derived from farming or foraging tools, such as sickle like tools that were designed to scrape lichens from rock- This is allegedly because of a legendary farmer who, upon finding his village razed by bandits, killed all of them with a scythe. It is said his rage burned hotter than the burning village homes

Echani alertness can be a double edged blade- horror stories can get an extreme reaction from even seasoned echani warriors. Offworlders who bring holovids have often been told to ensure any media like that is to be hidden or disposed of

Many Echani clothes are constructed out of silk created from the cocoons of a particular species of insect. These clothes are often designed to be quick to take off, should a fight start and they prove too restrictive. Most Echani do not see any possible symbolism from this, coincidental or otherwise

Post war, many echani writers ruminated on the nature of battle droids. In a culture where combat serves as a form of communication, what is to be said of constructs who don't have any larger point to communicate, who simply fight because it was what they were made and ordered to do. Many echani tend to be put off by these droids, who come across as uncanny.

Echani made products used to fetch high prices in galactic markets, often being handmade artisanal products of high quality. As automation developed more and more, however, these items became more and more novelty: armies could be armed with state of the art blasters for the price demanded for a set of echani vibroswords. Echani attempts to automize struggled, often being low quality, not only in comparison to their specialty items but also in comparison to other similar competitors. As a result, Eshans economy began to center more and more on raw materials. Ironically, some of the biggest consumers of echani materials is MadalMotors.

#cw: fascism #cw: ableism #cw: eugenics #my ocs #Star Wars #Echani #The general concept for the oc is she didn't get to know her parents- they were killed by the empire #so she turns to Echani culture as a way of trying to connect to them #but echani culture is so similar to the empire- and more importantly dehumanizes her to such a similar degree #that she can't merely turn to echani culture as a way of achieving a sense of self #at least not as it is #so she starts to attempt on eshan a sort of 'takeover'- a push for a more humane society #of course this falls apart when eshan is destroyed #so her new goal becomes to form a new civilization from its remnants #one that tries to borrow elements from echani culture but that represents the wills of *all* who are a part of it #so no caste system or nothing like that #I will say a lot of it was kinda because like #I feel like echani are kinda frequently portrayed as like. 'the good guys' or something in comparison to mandalorians?#A lot of this I thought of beforehand #Some #Like the 'they get scared ez' I kinda just made up on the spit

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