Much of the new canon of Star Wars still remains unaddressed so I will be pulling a substantial
amount of information from the now Legends materials to help flesh out the blue skinned,
red eyed and enigmatic Chiss. What’s more the Chiss are notoriously withdrawn and a
reclusive people who reveal very little about their homeworld or culture and are seldom
seen in the wider galactic community. Basically first rule of Chiss club, is you
do not talk about Chiss club. Hi, Ric here, not talking about the Chiss Ascendency in
this Index. The Chiss hail from the unknown regions of
the Star Wars galaxy. This distant location sits apart from the majority of galactic civilization
due to its hazardous navigational anomalies, alien threats and lack of hyperspace lanes.
Effectively here be dragons. Amid the unexplored void lies the planet Csilla, a water-ice rock
where few except the Chiss have ever been. It is one of the few locations that are accessible
in the unknown regions, but even then, you have to know the way. It lies across two hyperspace
routes, the Path of the Houses and the Vaagrari Corridor.
Despite its freezing climate, Csilla is similar to Earth having a slightly longer 25 hour
day and a slightly smaller diameter of 11,080 kilometres. It had a network of underground
caves that connected cities and colonies. These tunnels featured interconnected transports.
The capital city was Csaplar which played host to the government of the Chiss Ascendancy,
making Csilla the captiol of the reclusive empire. Due to its frigid environment, it
had to import much of its food and resources. The Chiss Ascendancy were ruled by the Aristocra,
the individuals of the ruling families or houses. These houses set out the law for the
entire Ascendency and included the Csapla, Nuruodo, Inrokini, Sabosen and others. The
houses were not necessarily related by blood, but could Merit Adopt members into their fold,
giving them significant status (though the methods varied from family to family). The
house of Nuruodo for example would grant exemplary members of the military the status of Trial-Born
and potential for marriage into the House. This is because each House was responsible
for certain areas of society and had the final say in decisions within their purview though
the number of these houses has risen and fallen with time. This is likely due to internal
power plays from the Ruling Families as they sought to leverage control from each other
frequently, but not at the cost of undermining the entire Ascendency. A seldom used punishment
for a Chiss who broke the law, including endangering the Chiss people was exile.
There are rumoured to be 28 colony worlds in the Chiss Ascendancy, each with a democratically
elected official making up the Chiss Parliament. It was the Parliament who made the day to
day decisions and kept the worlds running, while large issues were brought before the
Ruling Houses. Alongside the Parliament was the Cabinet, the executive branch of politics
where 28 governors sat. Each colony world was protected by the colonial Phalanxes, military
forces that worked in tandem with the larger Chiss Expansionary Defence Force, the main
fleet of the Ascendancy. The head of a Phalanx was called a Syndic.
The main forces of the military operated at the behest of the Aristocra but was seldom
utilised for warfare, more often for, as the name suggests exploration, charting and defence.
Ideas of conquest and forceful expansion were largely ignored but they were not obstinate
pacifists either. They placed a great emphasis on maintaining the secrecy of their total
military strength, number of colonies, locations of hyperspace lanes and planets and so on
and therefore were a methodical race when it came to expansion and dealing with external
powers. In point of fact, no civilian body of Chiss have been encountered within their
own borders, a testament to their meticulous caution.
From a practical standpoint, an open war with the Chiss Ascendency would reveal a great
deal about the species capabilities to their enemy and draw greater attention to their
space. Better to avoid conflict where possible and rely on the discretion and the natural
barriers of the Unknown Regions. A Chiss serving in the military was expected
to abandon their familial ties and therefore any favouritism they may benefit from making
the CEDF a true meritocracy where skill was rewarded. Once their service was over however,
they were allowed to return to their prior family life, providing they weren’t adopted
into another house. The typical Chiss was a collected and rational
individual who understood the value of knowledge, placing intellectualism over violence. However
they had an reputation for being aloof geniuses, can’t imagine where people got that impression
from. Though it is true the place a great emphasis on being well educated, polite and
creative, an outsider would likely find them to be more reserved in person as they are
an isolated species. Their inhospitable homeworld and the dangerous nature of the Unknown Regions
forces them to be very self-reliant and independent, but loyal to each other. They appreciate and
commit to a community and their race, but are aware to not take that safety for granted.
This independent streak combined with their societies secretive ways meant that general
prying into a Chiss’ private affairs would be considered rude and not a general topic
of conversation outside of close circles. And good luck trying to get a rise out of
a Chiss, as mentioned, most of their culture and climate has led to them being collected
and controlled on every level. They often dressed in bold colours associated
with the Ruling houses and sported capes and robes, likely to protect from the cold. As
mentioned, few, if any, civilian Chiss have been encountered and those who were, were
met outside of Chiss space and integrated with the cultures around them.
What we do see plenty of is the Chiss military. The CEDF was overseen by the Nuruodo House,
but instead of flying its colours, those who served wore black as it represented no colour
and all shades. Rank was displayed on the epaulettes and were styled to be very official
with high collars. Usually the only colour on the uniforms served to denote position,
squadron and specialisation. The uniforms did vary from division to division as expected
but all retained that, well, imperialistic look.
Chiss feature no additional aptitude for the force but can include force-sensitive individuals
as most other species. A genetic analysis of the Chiss shows their biology to be that
of near-human and may even suggest a common ancestor from at least 27,000 BBY.
Chiss names consisted of two family names and one given name. The full names were used
in formal occasions and for the meeting of strangers while an abbreviated form was reserved
for frequent usage. For example, Mitth’raw’nuruodo. The first name is a family name, likely of
blood relation as seen in sibling names. The last name is the hosue to which the individual
belongs, in this case Nuruodo and the middle section is the name given at birth, Raw. As
this is akin to a person introducing themselves with the full name, the short hand is a combination
of the childhood name and the family names, usually taken from the letters around the
given name. So Mitth’raw’nuruodo becomes Thrawn. This naming structure varies somewhat,
occasionally with the house name being first and the common name not always being forced
to use the exact same format to condense it. The Chiss, above all, knew the value of knowledge
and archived all information that was uncovered by their Defence Force in the Expeditionary
Library. Here the works were not only stored in traditional data format, but copied onto
archaic paper in case of data corruption or damage to their systems from the ice. This
level of detail of the dangerous Unknown Regions made Chiss knowledge a valuable resource for
any wishing to venture beyond the safety of galactic civilization and the Ascendency knew
it and would leverage it to protect their independence.
A common procedure for the Chiss was to send out their own Ambassador who would integrate
with a society or government, observe events and if possible protect Chiss interests from
inside these other institutions. One such emissary was Thrawn. Possessing the methodical
ingenuity and intellectual curiosity typical of his people, he was selected to infiltrate
the Galactic Empire to verify their potential and prepare them as allies of the Chiss, under
the pretence of exile. Thanks for watching this cultural index on
the Chiss Ascendancy; a species so good it was invented twice. I find it funny that in
some ways, Grand Admiral Thrawn was a typical representative of his species, but atypical
in others. The fact that they so protectively and efficiently guard their space and people
is a fairly unique trait in the Star Wars universe. Where many of the races have existed
and mingled with one another for millennia, this Chiss have remained loyal to themselves
and removed, but the expansion of civilizations will inevitably bring them into the fold.
Though on the plus side, they have successfully sat out most major galactic conflicts while
the rest of the galaxy succumbed to interstellar battles, Star Wars if you will… I’ll see
myself out. The next index will be a viewer voted one
again and this time the choices are either from another band of isolationists, the Fallout
universe’s Institute or perhaps we revisit Trek with another race that was seldom seen,
the Remans of the Romulan Empire. Vote below in the comments by liking the option and until
next time, thanks for watching. I’ve been Ric thanks and goodbye!