COYNITECOYNITE
Tall, heavily muscled bipeds. Their bodies are covered with a fine golden, white or black to brown fur, and their heads are crowned with a shaggy mane. The rigid social code, En'Tra'Sol, dictates that the length of mane is directly related to social status. The more respected and successful a warrior, the longer the mane and the more intricate the braids. The type of braid is also indicative of family and Ag'Tra (ruling noble) that the Coynite swears loyalty to. Coynites value long hair, since in their culture long hair is a sign of great combat ability and honour. Aliens with long hair or shaggy coats (such as Wookies) are treated with respect. Beings who are bald, or hairless, are shunned as deformed beings.
Coynites are natural-born warriors, with a highly disciplined code of warfare. These proud warriors are rarely seen without armour and are ready to die at any time, and indeed would rather die than be branded af'harl.
Nobles are called Ag'Tra, each Ag'Tra has at least 58 Kroyn, elite warriors of exceptional honour and status. Each Ag'Tra sends one Kroyn to serve as the En'Tra's bodyguard for one year. Thus, the En'Tra always has 30 Kroyn as a personal eliteguard (one from each noble's holdings and one from the en'Tra's own family or territory). the vast majority of noble families were so appointed thousands of years ago, although every few centuries, a new family will be added to the nobles bloodlines by the En'Tra's decree. It is possible that a family nay have noble status stripped by decree of the En'Tra, but this has never happened. this may be due to the likelyhood that the dishonoured family would attempt to unite disgruntled factions and lead a revolution, few En'Tras have felt secure enough in their power to risk a full-scale civil war. To help prevent this kind of war the Coynites follow a law called the En'Tra'Sol (King-Law), now a ridged code of conduct for all Coynites to adhere to.
There are 29 Ag'Tra who answer directly to the En'Tra. Of these 29, 9 are sympathetic to the Empire, 5 are sympathetic to the Rebellion and the remaining 15 are neutral. While subterfuges and behind the scene skulking are not a permissible part of Coyn life, nobles are permitted to indulge in a little political wrangling, and some of this involves setting up unfavourable circumstances for rival nobles, or even large battles with uneven odds. Even so, if any hard evidence of such behind the scenes planning came to light, the noble would be branded af'harl. In an extreme case, the entire noble family could be branded af'harl, in which case a new family from within that territory would be selected to be the new noble bloodline.
Coynites could conceivably live up to 250 standard years, but their warrior culture results in an average life span of a mere 53 years. Coynites reach physical maturity in their early twenties. Coynite children are born in var'sairk (birth-group or litter; capitalised when referring to noble families) of two to six children. All children of a litter are of the same sex.
Coynites value bravery, loyalty, honesty and duty. Coynites save displays of affection for their own families in private surroundings.
Coynites speak Coyn, but may learn to speak Basic or any other language. See Coynite Glossary.
Jedi Knights are a source of fascination to the Coynites. One one hand, there is little doubt that the Jedi are formidable warriors with a code. However, Jedi are not supposed to simply rush into fights or provoke them; peaceful methods of resolving a conflict are preferred, and violence is a last resort. This code mystifies the Coynites, but they greatly respect their abilities and their adherence to their own strict code.
Known Coynites: Zal'Tuag Th'Trar, Zal'Afreg Kt'Aya, Im'Lu Brag'nyl, Ska'Kerl Fren'Tren, Vul'Rok Az'Gral.
