RODIANS
Rodians are born to hunt, coming from a hostile world
that breeds killer instincts. For those with a price on
their heads, a glimpse of a tapered green snout or
an unmistakably putrid odor means a Rodian bounty
hunter is on their tail.
Physiology: Rodians evolved from climbing lizards
and retain some of their ancestor's characteristics,
particularly the large eyes and climbing suction cups
on their fingers and toes. Nowadays, these physical
features cannot hold an adult Rodian of 1.6 meters to
a rock or tree for very long, but they have saved many
Rodians from falls that would kill most other species.
Society: The history of Rodia is a history of violence.
Long ago, the tropical world teemed with vicious preda-
tors, necessitating that the Rodians' defenseless ances-
tors either adapt or die. Adapt they did, hiding in the
boughs of trees or climbing high into mountain caves,
where they fashioned tools and formulated plans to hunt
down the predators. Their skills in the hunt grew quickly,
and soon became the central focus of their society.
Rodians became so proficient at hunting that they
gradually forced most of Rodia's other predators into
extinction. With nothing much left to hunt, they turned
on each other. Gladiatorial hunts between champions
morphed into skirmishes and eventually tribal wars.
Rodia was almost blockaded when first discovered by
Old Republic scouts due to the warlike Rodian culture.
However, Rodian leadership was able to suppress their
culture's violent tendencies long enough to make con-
tact with the rest of the galaxy. Now. millennia later, Ro-
dian culture has moved beyond the worst of its violent
impulses; although, hunting is still a venerated tradition.RDDIAN DRAMAfl
few centuries before the Republic scouts
landed on Rodia, Rodians had nearly hunted
themselves to extinction. In an effort to save his
people. Grand Protector Harido Kavila wrote the
first Rodian play, claiming he was inspired by the
gods. The play was a simple, violent, and bloody
dramatic re-enactment of a Rodian hunt. Never-
theless, this drama so amused the Rodians that
it channeled their focus from killing each other
into performing legendary hunts of the past.
Gradually, other writers began to tackle more
than the spectacle of violence. They examined
the cores of their characters, the fears and long-
ings of a hunter along with his melancholies and
passions. Rodian drama dealt with these themes
in such a visceral and emotional way that soon
after Rodians entered the galactic community,
their native drama took theaters by storm.