- "[The ibliton] seemingly took its time, savoring the devastation it caused and the terror it evoked."
- ―Meslinger of the Tyberious Institute recounts an ibliton attack on a Mizx village
The Mizx was a species of sentient humanoids that was indigenous to the swamp world of Randorn Two. Mizx were occasionally preyed upon by a native predator, the ibliton. Unable to defend themselves from the creature with their primitive weapons, the Mizx developed myths explaining the creature's origin: it was believed to be an avatar of Hershoon the Destroyer, fashioned from his demented soul through the operation of magick. The Mizx performed cleansing funeral rites on those individuals killed by ibliton attacks, believing that prevented souls reincarnating as ibliton. The Mizx had contact with the galaxy, in particular with researchers that visited Randorn Two to study the ibliton. Researchers from both the Galactic History Foundation and the Tyberious Institute of Xenobiology took an interest in the ibliton's origins.
Biology and appearance[]
The Mizx were a humanoid, sentient species.[1]
Society and culture[]
The ibliton occupied an important place in Mizx mythology.
The Mizx gathered together in villages composed of cottages. They domesticated layalls and hecxts, keeping them in stock pens near their villages. Mizx villagers planted harrowbane around these pens; the caustic weed was considered sacred by the Mizx and contact with the plant burned the tentacles of the native predator, the ibliton. They had a low level of technology, with which they fashioned primitive weapons.[1]
The Mizx had a developed mythology, which included elements such as magick, souls, and sacred plants. One figure in that mythology was Hershoon the Destroyer. According to the Mizx, as The Destroyer lay dying, he used powerful magicks to conjure aspects of his demented soul. The Mizx believed that manifested as the ibliton, which continued The Destroyer's legacy of corruption beyond his death. The ibliton was a cephalopod-crustacean hybrid; a large coiled shell, polished to a sheen by its own digestive chemicals, covered the soft inner body of the ibliton, while segmented legs were covered by a chitinous exoskeleton. That defensive armor, combined with four large tentacles used in attack, placed the iblition at the top of the Randorn food-chain. The ibliton attacked Mizx villages, earning its reputation by seeming to destroy solely for destruction's sake. Mizx younglings were taught very early on in their life not to venture out into the swamps and bayous of Randorn in case they encountered an ibliton.[1]
Mizx funeral services included banishing rites intended to cleanse the souls of Mizx killed by iblition. According to their mythology, any Mizx whose soul did not receive that consecration would reincarnate as another ibliton. The Mizx also considered the plant harrowbane to be sacred due to its offensive characteristics against the ibliton.[1]
History[]
The Mizx evolved on the remote planet Randorn Two,[1] located in the Belderone sector of the Outer Rim Territories.[2] They developed a primitive society, creating rudimentary weapons and domesticating local creatures. Their villages were occasionally attacked by ibliton, vindicating their mythology around the species' origins.[1]
The Mizx had contact with the wider galaxy,[1] and their planet was known of during the Clone Wars.[3] A number of researchers visited the planet to study the ibliton. Meslinger of the Tyberious Institute of Xenobiology dredged millennia-old ibliton fossils from the world's swamps,[1] dating the origin of the species to 600,000 BBY.[4] While on Randorn, Meslinger witnessed an ibliton attack on a Mizx village. The research party was able to kill the ibliton only after repeated blaster bolts. Their intervention saved the lives of all but one of the Mizx villagers, and the researchers were then able to witness Mizx funeral rites. Meslinger published an account of the attack—one of only three published attacks—along with a detailed account of the funeral rites. Another researcher that took an interest in Randorn Two was Harzoon Parr of the Galactic History Foundation who hypothesized that the ibliton were planted on Randorn by a lost starfaring race.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The Mizx were created by Phil Brucato for the West End Games sourcebook Creatures of the Galaxy, published in 1994. Creatures of the Galaxy was unique in that the text was built around artists' creature designs, rather than the other way around, as was typical for their sourcebooks. The Mizx were created as part of the backstory of the ibliton species, illustrated by David Plunkett.[1]
Sources[]
- Creatures of the Galaxy (First mentioned)
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. II ("ibliton")
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Creatures of the Galaxy
- ↑
Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars novelization, chapter 14
- ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 74 ("iblition")