Amani

The **Amanin** (singular, **Amani**), sometimes called **Amanaman**, were a primitive race from the planet Maridun. Amanin stood two to three meters tall, and had bright yellow and green skin, arms long enough to reach the ground, and very short legs. They were found in the galaxy at large as mercenaries, heavy laborers and wilderness scouts. There were also Amani immigrants on Utapau.

## Characteristics

Amanin were a sentient planarianspecies. They were tall with wrinkled deep yellow skin at the front and a dark green rear hood that ran from the neck to their feet and tail. Their skin coloration helped them blend in with their forest and grassland environment as well as being a signal of the skin's poisonous nature. It secreted a poisonous slime that served to keep the skin moist as well as serving to deter predators on their homeworld. The only creature from Maridun that was not discouraged by the slime was the Charnoq, which was consequently the only predator that the Amanin feared. Due to the susceptibility of their skin to drying, the Amanin preferred to build their shelters in humid environments such as rain forests.

They had small red eyes that were adapted to see well in Maridun's dim light and a small mouth that widened to engulf raw game and contained numerous sharp teeth and a long tongue. Like other worm species, Amanin expelled their biological wastes through their mouth (although when off world they tended to do this in private after they learned how it disturbed other species). Amanin also had a small nose that provided them with a keen sense of smell, such that they were said to be able to detect strangers from ten kilometers away.

Their arms and fingers were long and thin, while their legs were comparatively short and thick with large feet. Males and females were virtually indistinguishable by other species. Although they appeared ungainly when walking, their large hands and feet were ideally suited for an arboreal lifestyle on their homeworld where they made their homes in the high treetops.

While their walking speed was painfully slow, the Amanin's flexible body allowed them to curl themselves into a ball and roll at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour across flat terrain. In this form they could not perceive the world around them but were able to use the technique to hurtle past a target and uncoil to deliver an effective attack.

Amanin had small vital organs spread throughout their body and employed a redundant organ systems that included multiple versions of major organs such as the heart, liver, and lungs. Their brain consisted of multiple nerve clusters spread throughout their body. These characteristics meant that an Amani could withstand devastating injuries and still survive—and, in theory, if one member was bisected, two identical Amanin would reform.

## History

During the High Republic Era, an Amani named Prot Xan worked as a scientist for the Galactic Agricultural Alliance.

The Galactic Republic made contact with Maridun long before the rise of the Galactic Empire, though it was under the Empire that colonies were first officially established on the world. Before that, however, in 22 BBY, a colony of Lurmen attempted to establish themselves on Maridun. They were met with hostility from the Amanin, who attacked their ship and ruined its engines. The Amanin seemed to both hate and venerate the vessel, and the Lurmen leader, Tee Watt Kaa, decided to give it to them, by ejecting an escape pod containing all his people.

By the time the Clone Wars was drawing to a close, the Amani had recently established settlements on Utapau, where they co-existed with the native Pau'ans and Utai, living as immigrant hunter-gatherers. They set up their encampments on the plains or underground, but rarely ventured into the cities. At that time, General Grievous used a rogue Amani as a bodyguard to facilitate a major arm deal with the Sugi. The Jedi Master Tu-Anh was killed while investigating the matter, which prompted Anakin Skywalker and his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to embark on a mission to Utapau. Once there, the two Jedi visited the Amani quarter in Pau City, where they learned from the local chief that an Amani outcast from the plains had been consorting with some Separatist IG-100 MagnaGuards.

Using this information, Kenobi and Skywalker traveled on winged dactillion mounts to the plains of Utapau. They sighted an Amani encampment that was home to several Amani outcasts, who attacked them with spears, arrows, and precision laser darts. The two Jedi overpowered their attackers, but the Amani fled into the wilderness. While tracking the Amani outcasts, the two Jedi were captured by a party of Sugi mercenaries, who had found a large kyber crystal that they were planning to sell to the Separatist leader Count Dooku. These Sugi were accompanied by at least one Amani outcast. Later, the two Jedi fought their Sugi captors and stole the crystal.

While looking for a beast of burden to help them transport the kyber crystal, Kenobi encountered a plains Amani villager but used a Jedi mind trick to convince him that he had not seen the Jedi. Meanwhile, the Sugi leader Endente tried to cover up the theft of the kyber crystal by claiming that they could no longer rely on the plains Amani to guard it. To cover up the theft, Endente instructed Grievous to meet them at Pau City. However, Grievous saw through the deception and executed Endente.

Around 10 BBY, the Empire began mining operations on Maridun. The Imperials, corporate slave traders, and criminal interests began taking Amani slaves offworld. During the Galactic Civil War, Maridun was occupied by Galactic Empire forces. When Imperial forces commanded by General Ziering unwittingly crossed a border to sacred Amani battlegrounds, the local Amani tribe declared them to be participants in a takital, a conflict that is known as the Battle of Maridun. A young officer called Lieutenant Janek Sunber distinguished himself during the conflict and eventually brokered an accord with the tribal lorekeeper.

In the deal, all captives taken from other tribes during takitals would be given to the Empire as slaves, and in return, Imperial forces would keep off the tribal lands. Similar agreements were subsequently struck with other tribal leaders, and as a result many Amani slaves were forced to work in the mines on Maridun or scattered throughout the galaxy as laborers for the Imperial machine.

Shortly before the Battle of Endor, an Amani bounty hunter known as Amanaman was present in the palace of Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine.

In 5 ABY, a group of Amanin who were allied with Sugis on Utapau encountered Indiana Jones and Boba Fett. They captured the pair, who were looking for the Crystal Skull at the time, and took them to the *Unlimited Projection*. When Fett and Jones fought back and eventually escaped, many Amanin were killed.