Kaleesh Week Day 2 - Empire
Two Kaleesh Imperial characters (one canon, the other technically canon, but emotionally an oc)
Bentilais san Sk'ar: Him, again! When the Empire invades his planet (it's not like they'd just leave it alone after all, even after the whole Grievs-Palpatine thing), he strikes a deal with the emperor to take the position of planetary governor. In exchange? He employs the bioengineering acumen of San Pharmaceuticals (no relation to the San Banking clan) to some of the Emperor's more...clandestine projects.
(Yes, he is partially responsible for all the 'Emperor's back' bullshit in Episode IX, I apologize on his behalf) You can't just work for the Emperor though, and eventually he gets mired deeper and deeper into other projects...black ops...military campaigns...all in the name of saving Kalee, though, right? So, that's where that nine-foot tall vampire-looking guy comes in-- It's Sk'ar, but he's messed around with his own biology for the sake of combat optimization (And since some of this is chemical, it does fuck with his brain as well).
It also doesn't strike him as a bad thing that he appears to outsiders as less Kaleesh in this form, since he's acting on the Emperor's behalf, and, well, the planet's name has already been dragged through the mud enough. Yet it is fairly isolating in an environment where he already has to hide much of himself and his culture to survive (not so fun fact, the caps on his toes are there because Kaleesh claws tend to leave marks on most types of flooring; in most inter-species spaces, it's an act of courtesy for an individual Kaleesh to wear them (like humans and deodorant)...in the Empire, not so much a choice). ...But all in the name of saving Kalee, right? This, of course, is an entirely different perspective than the other character in this picture, his younger brother.... (this little shit (affectionate) vv)
Vanev san Esha: Born the youngest of the five San siblings, Esha was more or less destined to be the odd one out. Whereas the others had each taken on roles in their family, by child number five, there wasn't really much space left. If that wasn't enough to set him apart, he was also born Force Sensitive-- hardly a bad thing, but it did mean that he was born with an entirely different set of talents and senses than most in his clan had seen in generations. Or knew what to do with. Couple that the status, free time, and burgeoning resentment that goes along with being the fifth heir to Aschal-Kalee's ruling family, and his connection to the Force started to bring out his worst instincts. 'Started' though, is not 'did so unashamedly' and for a long time, the sense of restraint and general secretiveness that had been trained into him as a San, as well as the influence of his eldest brother-- Veshitar, heir to the San family khanship, and all-around decent guy-- kept him from...shall we say, doing his worst. Then an off-world diplomatic meeting goes terribly wrong, both Vesh and his father are killed, and the entire San family is left scrambling for a new heir. Esha is mourning, enraged, and most of all, believes it his right as his brother's protégé to become the next khan. The rest of the family chooses his brother, Bentilais, anyways. He almost raises a coup in response to this (mostly imagined) slight (an action that, given his raw power would have undoubtedly dealt a great blow to the San clan), but something makes him hesitate and he fucks off to the cliffside where they buried his brother's body instead. There he gains a new, even more troubling path, along with a new teacher-- Xivkha Lar Rainik (shoutout to all my SWTOR fans!). Rainik is a thousand-year-old Sith lord, distantly related to the current San clan, and also very, very dead. He needs a young, reasonably healthy host to get out of the San family crypt, and Esha needs a teacher (yeah, once I start bringing up Kylo quotes, you know this is headed in a bad direction) in the Sith arts, so the arrangement works well for them both. It does not, however, work out well for Sk'ar and the rest of the San family. You see, Esha wants power, recognition-- all the things that he was denied in the San family-- and Rainik...well, Rainik has his own agenda. This brings them to the throne of the Sith-iest Sith of the age, Emperor Palpatine, where Esha decides to swear fealty to the Emperor. Vanev san Esha he is no longer, but Sixth Brother. And unlike his brother, what he is doing is most certainly not to save Kalee.
(Also, probably more relevantly than all that, he's that guy with the cool-looking crow mask who fights Ahsoka in Tales of the Jedi)