Beyond - Legends The Secret World of Twi'lek Culture (AU & OCs)

Title: The Secret World of Twi'lek Culture
Author(s): Twilek_Aide
Characters: All original characters
Timeframe: Beyond Legends (pretend the new canon doesn't exist)
Genre: Mystery, Family, Drama, Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Keywords: secrets, twi'lek, consequences, ryloth, traditions, lies, honesty, imprisonment
Summary: A tight knit but troubled family of Twi'lek are randomly selected to appear on a holo-documentary show exposing the hidden secret culture of their society on Ryloth. It interests them. But what happens when they also use the platform to cleanse the demons of the household?
Notes: I've used several words from the Twi'lek Lexicon. But I've also made some up using the same source as a guideline. Here's the dictionary: http://twileklore.nimanet.org/?page_id=34 I have permission to use fanon twi'lek culture aspects and a twi'lek name by diva pilot and casper_knightshade.

Twi’lek Culture: Prologue​

Before the camera stood a beautiful white twi'lek female with brown eyes. She was slim and tall. She wore an elegant periwinkle blue form-fitting dress that went down to her feet. The long skirt had a side-split to make it easier for her to walk in. It left her back exposed and two strips of dress fabric at the top were tied around her neck. Held in place by a silver metal brooch. She wore a matching lekkuwrap across her head and tied with ribbons around her lekku. Her husband had chosen the dress. Her sister suggested the side-split for balance. She herself chose the wrap. Lastly before she went out to meet the documentary crew, her mother had put a cloak over her shoulders in case she got cold. The cloak was made of shimmer silk perfect for the filming location.


The location was in the City of Anima (translation: Desired Gifts). A city dedicated cultural pursuits and making young hopeful dreams come true with the chance to study at one of five schools there. The schools maintained tradition and a few, especially ones that were outside the city – were selective to new students. It was also a tourist hotspot. It had wonderful viewpoints to admire the beautiful seasonal and time of day changes of sunsets that the Twilightlands had to offer.


The filming location was on one of those viewpoints, on a balcony overlooking the city. It was part of a very important building. A council building for the city head clan, Clan Sivron to have discussions and create new laws.


It was only twenty minutes away from their family home mansion, which was on the outskirts of the city in a small tranquil village close to the Temple. That being said, depending on traffic and looking for place to park the speeder or swoop bike – it could take thirty minutes.


Now standing on the solid painted stone balcony. She gracefully posed, flashed a dazzling smile at the camera and said


"Welcome to the Twilight side of Ryloth! My name is Sienn’kairn. It is my duty to guide you through aspects of twi'lek culture, social rules, traditions and little look at the religious practices behind the sacred walls of the local Kika’lekki Temple. My sisters, my cousin and Mother will present commentaries as well. We represent Clan Kairn. Much like the topics we’ll be covering, Clan Kairn has many controversial depths and hidden secrets deemed acceptable in our society and unforgivable in the face of our law. I believe it is time to cleanse. To unlock those secrets, discover the deeper meanings behind them and hopefully learn to heal from past and present mistakes. Maybe bring some justice and love soaked happiness into our family unit again. I hope you enjoy it!”


As she finished the sky changed its colours. It reflected upon Sienn’s shimmer silk cloak and bathed her in a kaleidoscope of rainbows.


“And CUT!” yelled the Holo Director.


“That was perfect! Now the documentary will go live in a month or so. Time to pack up people.” said the Director.


Sienn politely wished everyone goodbye and waited for them to leave first before she made her leave. She didn’t want them to see her gracefully try to step over the wires to ungracefully trip up instead.


She followed after them and as promised they made sure she got home safe and sound.

 

@Twilek_Aide

I am absolutely hooked, since I love reading stories about the Twi'leks. I think this film crew must have been quite taken aback when Sienn said that this documentary would be used to cleanse the family's secrets. Plus, I am also interested in finding out what the secrets are

 

Thank you! I'm excited too.

 

Character Introductions​

Clan Kairn lived within the outskirts of the city. In a tranquil village known as Passikal’ema (translation: Golden Protection). It was surrounded by mountainous hills making it seem like a gated community. The temple was the heart and soul of the village. It was located in the centre and was considered to be the biggest building in the village. The village had a market selling food mostly but also weapons of the sharp pointy kind, clothes and DIY materials for second hand headwear.


There were a group of five small but cosy houses made of stone, a very short walk from the market. Down a private road on the east side of the temple was three gorgeous mansions.


The Prestigious Political Clan Sivron lived in the newest one. It remained a classic old mansion on the outside. On the inside it had a modern feel to it. Traditional households decorated their homes with beautiful colours. Clan Sivron were untraditional. They had white as their main colour scheme throughout the house. Black curtains. Splashes of teal and lime green here and there. They also threw out the original pieces and sold them to the highest bidder in the city. The mansion had three floors and they had a group of servants to wait on them hand and foot. They also had an elevator.


The second mansion had one floor but unlike the other two, which were full of life from being lived in. This mansion was an empty shell. No one had lived there for years.


Clan Kairn lived in the third mansion. The mansion had two floors. Unlike the first mansion, it still held on to the original pieces. They had stairs instead of a modern elevator.


The documentary crew knocked on the one of double doors.
A young good-looking male twi’lek with light blue skin answered the door.


“Oh good, you came! We were starting to get worried. Let’s go in shall we?” He said cheerfully with a smile.


He turned around to find an angry slightly older looking man blocking his way.

Nat felt a warm sensation on the back of his neck. His eyes widened in shock and worry his brother was going to find out what they were doing and report back to their elders.
His body temperature was slowly rising. He had to come up with a lie quickly and hope that his lekku wouldn’t betray his true feelings.


He nodded his bowed his head in respect.


“Hey brother! How are you today?” he said, plastering on a big fake smile showing his flat teeth.


His brother was not amused. He glared at the crew causing them to back up a bit. Nat put a reassuring hand on the director’s shoulder.


“I am the Head of this house whilst father is away…”

“Yes and you’re doing a great job!”

“Flattery will get you no where…but it’s good to hear that you are realising the truth. I’m better than you! As head of the house, I demand to know who they are and what they are doing here?!”


The film crew had promised to turn up in the morning but due to city traffic, then getting lost and accidentally knocking at the wrong Kairn house. They had arrived four hours later.

After a speechless minute or two, one of them opened their mouth to speak.

“You know what I don’t care. Get out of our house now!” snapped the older brother fiercely.


The director ushered the crew out of the mansion. They didn’t want any trouble.


“Good riddance.” said the older brother as he trailed behind the director to the wooden double doors.


“No! Wait! Please I can fix this!” said Nat anxiously. His brother had just shoved the director outside and was now proceeding to double lock each door. Nat ran to the doors, shoved his brother out the way and grabbed the keys out of his hand. He unlocked the doors and called out to the crew, who were at a safe distance.


“I’m so sorry about this! Allow me about ten minutes to talk to my brother and sort things out.” sighed Nat.


The crew nodded. Nat bowed his head and shut the doors again.


After a long twenty-five minutes of shouting, snapping, hissing and an echoing physical attack of a slap across the face, things calmed down.


Nat proudly opened the doors again. His older brother had given him a final scowl and had made his leave to another part of the house. With his body temperature under control again, he felt better. He had talon finger markings on his face but it had all been worth it. He opened the doors and brightly smiled at the crew.


“If you would like to follow me gentleman?” Nat said.


The house was just as beautiful inside as it was outside. Each room had a different theme. They were very fond of a particular wall decoration; tapestry-like drapes of silk or satin in blues, purples and magenta, sunset orange, light pink, brown, white and mint green.


He led them through to the sunroom. It had a creamy white smooth stone floor. There were light stonewalls dusted with thick golden sand. On the walls were a few mirrors reflecting light around the room. There was a skylight on the ceiling. There were two white and gold exotic designed sofas facing each other.


In the room were three female twi’lek of different ages sitting on pink and purple cushions on the floor, laughing and eating snacks.

The oldest was a white tinted grey twi’lek with purple eyes. She wore a dark blue robe with floral patterns on it. Her lekku were hanging down her front over her shoulders and she wore a leather headdress with a large metal pendent in the middle. The second oldest looking one was a light purple twi’lek with silver eyes. She wore a long pink shimmer silk dress with black lace trimming. On her neck was silver beaded necklace with a gemstone in the middle. Her lekku was decorated with silver bands. One lekku was around her neck and the other was hanging down her back. The youngest was a bright blue with red eyes. She wore a light purple sweetheart top and matching cropped trousers that went over her knees but left her legs bare. She wore a silver chained locket around her neck and flat strapped sandals on her feet.


Nat cleared his throat to get their attention. They took the cue quite nicely and sat on the sofas waiting to get started. The crew set up everything. They decided each intro would be done in private. So each time the other family members would wait outside until the next one was told to come in.


The oldest was first. She hugged three hardback books close to her chest. She refused politely to let them go. They pointed the camera at her and began filming. She shyly blushed at first her eyes were downcast. She slowly looked at the camera and gave a smile.


“Warm greetings to our lovely home! My name is Sienn. I am 25 years old. I am most honoured to see you. Whilst it is a blessing to be chosen for this project, I wasn’t sure about it. Father would never approve of this. He’s a very private man. He’s also a kind and considerate man who has to make tough choices to keep the clan together or to rescue the clan’s honour. Which I am sure many other fathers would agree with. I am shocked that he agreed to this! But like I said he is considerate. It is exciting thinking about all of the subjects I could cover. I’m unsure what my mother would think. But perhaps the writing in these books will serve as an interesting perspective on each subject. These books belong to my mother. She wrote about her life, her past, her present, her memories and thoughts in detail. Throughout the project, I will read an entry related to the subject we touch upon. I like dreaming, cooking, reading and writing my own experiences down in a book. I’ve been writing since I was 12 years old. My peak age for honourable sacrifice.” She said in softly spoken voice.

The next one came in. She gracefully posed, flashed a dazzling smile and stumbled forward a few paces because she had stood on her dress unknowingly. She sat down, smoothed her dress down and became serious in front of the camera.

“My name is Hirani’kairn. Hirani means “exceedingly beautiful” and Kairn means “dark or black or night” for our clan. Grammar Imperials will eat me alive for that. But I’m sure other clans modify words if they need to. Joined it means “enchanting night.” Despite that being my name, people prefer to call me Supisy which means “mysterious female” or Koyi which means “serpent.” As a result only Nima calls me by my real name. It hurts. But I can’t do anything about it. I am 22 years old. Don’t judge a book by its cover. I am may look like a spoiled pampered princess and I do play up to it. But underneath I am an actress, it’s my passion. However I’m still working on body language. Because those who know me can tell when I’m lying. Nat is better than me in that sense. Speaking of acting, I have a confession to make. It was not Sienn who was filmed outside the council building. It was me in disguise. After the selection progress, Nat informed us that we needed a spokeswoman to introduce the show. It made sense that the oldest of us should have the responsibility. But dear Sienn doesn’t have the freedom to leave the house nor is she allowed to leave her chambers without permission or without a chaperone watching her. Sienn’s freedom was taken away in accordance to our societal rules for bringing dishonour on our Clan. Sienn is also very shy. She wouldn’t have been comfortable travelling to the city or making a speech. The dress and cloak that I wore belong to Sienn. She’s not only one who has dishonoured the clan. But I still have my freedom because I’m daddy’s little girl.”

The once cheerful Nat came in next with an annoyed look on his face. As he walked through the door something or rather someone struck his leg. He tripped up and flat on his face! He seemed to recover quickly though and batted helping hands away from him. He sat down and smirked at the camera.

“Hello, I am Nat’kairn. But please call me, Nat. I dislike formal joining of names. I am 21 years old. This project was originally my idea for my own egotistic needs. Until my stepsister, Nima found out and told Koyi! They hijacked my only way to gain attention from the Performing Arts Scouts! Still a little bit of vengeance sounds like a good idea. As far as I’m concerned they’re all going down! Every member of this family has committed a sin against society rules, customs and traditions. I feel like the poor relation of this family. Still I try to stay as positive as I can despite everything I’ve had to put up with over the years.”

Lastly the youngest sister was called in. She confidently walked into the room and sat down crossing her legs. She let a little smile slip on to her mouth. Her eyes were impish. She mischievously giggled at the the camera.

“Now before we get started. I need to go over something first. My name is Seela! Seela, SEELA, S-e-e-l-a, Seela! Can you say Seela? Say it with me! Seela. Very good! I’m 17 years old. Wow, this is awkward. Truth be told...my real name is Nima’kairn. But only my best friend and favourite sister can call me that. We’re very close, Hirani and I. Much closer than the others. Sienn is jealous of me. Nat tolerates me but I can’t tolerate him. It was me who tripped him up earlier. Karawn is a nasty piece of work. He hates me and believe me the feeling is mutual. My stepfather spoils me which makes a change from my previous life. But on the flip side, he’s as nasty as Karawn, my step uncle ignores me from time to time. He’s a strange case. My mother designed this room and decorated it. She would have loved to be here but she’s running an errand for us. She won’t be back for hours. Now more about me...”

Nat suddenly bursts into the room cutting her off.

“Nat?! You’ve had your turn already! Leave me be to finish.” whinged Seela.
”I’m so sorry! But we have to go now! We have to get Sienn out of here and the film crew have to leave! Karawn has betrayed us to father! He’s coming back!” explained Nat in a panicking tone.

Seela beckoned the film crew to follow her quickly after hurrying to pack up.
“We’ll have to go out the backdoor.” she said to the film crew. She managed to get them out of house safely and then went back to the sunroom to sunbathe.

Nat and Hirani managed to get Sienn back into her room on time and locked the door behind her. Hirani walked to her room and laid down on the bed watching a holo-music video recording. Nat walked to the comm room and watched the news.
Everything went back to normal.

 

@Twilek_Aide

I could not help but laugh when Koyi disguised herself as Sienn - she definitely has all the traits of an actress. And Seela reminds me of some of my cousins, who did stay out until the early hours of the morning when they were teenagers.

 

Very interesting look at the life of a Twi'lek family!

Sienn’kairnI wonder what trouble Sienn’kairn got into. And she is 19 but already married? Their brother said that Sienn and Koyi both "dishonored the clan" - that's a pretty significant violation of Twil'lek societal rules. I wonder if they got it worse trouble because they are girls. Twi'lek girls seem to get the most oppression when it comes to control.

 

Thank you! The ways of the Clan Kairn have are many twists and turns to these secrets and some might actually be lies. Sienn’kairn’s trouble stems from more than just being a girl. Koyi’s trouble was beyond her control.

 

I've unsure whether I'm going to continue this or not. In the meantime, here's a visual look of the main characters and the rest of the family. Warning there will be spoilers. I've included the story so far. The outfits and headdresses aren't exact matches to how I described them in the fanfic. But unless someone else wants to draw and colour them or digitally 3d render them, this is the best I can do. The colours are almost correct though. Sienn's robe is supposed resemble a kimono so that's an instant fail on the doll maker I used. For Nima's outfit, there's lack of sweetheart cut tops on the doll maker. The one I found isn't made of cloth so I couldn't change it to purple.The easiest one was Hirani's dress. She's just missing a little lace and silver lekku jewellery. But there you go. When you've got limited choices, you use what you've got.

Sienn'kairn: https://www.deviantart.com/midnight...-lek-Culture-Sienn-kairn-and-fanfic-846887728
Hirani'kairn: https://www.deviantart.com/midnight...lek-Culture-Hirani-kairn-and-fanfic-846899712
Nima'kairn: https://www.deviantart.com/midnight...i-lek-Culture-Nima-kairn-and-fanfic-846904965

 

The art is beautiful.

 

They look amazing!!