Droch

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Drochs were parasitic insects that burrowed under beings' skin and drank their life energies and intelligence. Their feeding was the source of Death Seed plague.

Contents 1 Biology and appearance 2 History 3 Behind the scenes 4 Appearances 5 Sources 6 Notes and references

[edit] Biology and appearance

Though they began life as non-sentient creatures, a droch could gain true sentience after draining enough intelligence from a host. Drochs could mimic the host's electrochemical fields and tissue composition, allowing them to avoid detection by essentially becoming part of the host while drawing life from them. Drochs grew and became more intelligent with each host they killed and larger drochs could absorb life through smaller ones, without having to take a host directly. When exposed to light, they were sluggish and infertile. However, once in darkness, they moved quickly and reproduced at alarming rate.

[edit] History

In 702 BBY the Grissmath Dynasty founded a penal colony on Nam Chorios in Meridian sector and seeded the world with drochs in the hopes that a Death Seed outbreak would wipe out the prisoners. However, sunlight fragmented through the sentient Spook crystals found on Nam Chorios weakened the electrochemical bonds of the drochs. Smaller ones were killed outright by the light, larger ones proved unable to harm their hosts and were harmlessly absorbed by the body as nutrients. A plague never broke out and drochs were only able to grow in the dark.

In 1 ABY, research conducted by the Imperial Department for Epidemic Prevention revealed that vermin on Tatooine were possibly carrying droch eggs. These suspected creatures were all destroyed.^[2]

By 13 ABY, one droch, Dzym, grew to the size and shape of a Human and prepared the drochs for invasion. Dzym could control the other drochs allowing him to start and stop a plague at will. He conspired with Seti Ashgad to start a plague throughout Meridian Sector.

The life energy in drochs could be released by eating them, and if eaten in large quantities this could help prolong the eaters life. Hutts ate droch as appetizers. Zubindi Ebsuk was a notable provider of droch foods.

[edit] Behind the scenes

The drochs seem to be inspired by Vampires^[source?], as they share many traits with them. It should also be noted that author Barbara Hambly had written several vampire stories prior to Planet of Twilight.

[edit] Appearances

• Star Wars Galaxies (Mentioned only)
• Planet of Twilight (First appearance)
• Vision of the Future (Mentioned only)
• Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial (Mentioned only)

[edit] Sources

• The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons
• The Essential Guide to Alien Species
• Power of the Jedi Sourcebook
• The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Jedi Academy Training Manual

[edit] Notes and references