Xu'el Zuolis

Biology: Endoparasitoid organisms with exotic, bizarre biology and a skeletal, biomechanical appearance, these creatures are armored predators designed to hunt and stalk sentient prey. They are vaguely humanoid, though their body plan also evokes predatory felines and hunting reptilians as well. Their heads are elongated, with skull-like faces that feature rows of beady little eyes recessed into the backs of their slitted sockets, able to see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums as well as the normal light, albeit with limited resolution (they are better-adapted to seeing movement than to seeing color or stationary objects), as well as an organic sort of radar emitting from their domed foreheads and elongated skulls. Their fanged mouths drool a corrosive saliva, and they have a secondary mouth located behind their primary set of jaws that extends forward to spit their acidic venom at prey with a range of about ten meters or deposit larvae in Force-sensitive targets that it pins down. The zu'el xuolises have glossy black exoskeletons covered in ridges and spines, with a row of spikes running down their vertebrae from the base of the neck all the way to the stinger-tipped tail. Their carapaces are as tough as armorplast, and covered with tiny energy-generating cysts that produce an electromagnetic barrier all over their body. This force-field is resistant to energy weapons, including lightsabers, and is curiously repellant to Force powers not drawing from the Dark Side. Their bodies average about one and a half to two meters long, with the tail providing another two to three meters of length. The monster's tail is flexible, strong, and prehensile, covered in segmented chitin-like armor with bladed spikes along the dorsal and ventral surfaces culminating in a half-meter-long stinger at the end. They have two arms and two legs (though other phenotypes might have more or less depending on the host), all four limbs strong and quick with razor-sharp talons and fingertips padded with a surface like that of certain small lizards, enabling it to climb nearly any wall or ceiling with ease. The stinger and claws alike secrete a potent hemotoxin that destroys the victim's organs and blood and a neurotoxin that induces paralysis, lethal even in small doses. The zu'el xuolis's exoskeleton and tough, leathery skin coupled with the transparent calcite lenses over its tiny black eyes allow it to survive brief exposure to vacuum and prolonged exposure to other harsh environmental hazards such as radiation and corrosive atmospheres.

They proliferate by infecting Force-sensitives with their larvae, depositing the worm-like creatures into the hapless victim's stomach by forcing its ovipositor into the victim's mouth. The larvae burrows through its victim's body to find the spinal column, which it wraps around and merges into through a set of tendrils in order to steal control of the host's body. Once merged, it begins modifying the host by releasing alchemical poisons that slowly transform the unfortunate into a new zu'el xuolis, starting with painful alterations of the muscles with rybcoarse fibers and transmuting the skin into a black, leathery hide. The transformation can take anywhere from hours to weeks, and the agony of the flesh's rebellion can only be alleviated by embracing the dark side. Unfortunately, embracing the dark side also speeds up the transformation. The last part of the body to transform is the host's brain, which the zu'el xuolis finally consumes and replaces only once the host has fallen to the dark side completely. Until then, the larvae delights in pulling from the unfortunate host's mind his most knowledge and details of his loved ones, stalking them and murdering them horribly in order to feed and torment its host.

Because of their origins as Force-sensitive hosts corrupted to the dark side and mutated into monstrous predators, zu'el xuolises retain the ability to channel the Force. They have a presence that is all but impossible to detect through the Force, similar to the Taozin in being best described as trying to grasp a perfectly frictionless surface. They telepathically exude an aura of mind-splintering fear while stalking their prey, and can use the Force to trick and confuse their prey as well through mind tricks and telekinesis. Zu'el xuolises can augment their physical prowess through the Force, and can call on it in an instinctive technique similar to the Jedi battlemind ability.

Subspecies: The zu'el xuolises present different genotypes based largely on the host due to horizontal gene transfer, as well as different morphs adapted to climates and terrains while presenting frequent mutations seemingly at random. The 'standard' morph is best-adapted to stalking prey in urban environments and aboard spacecraft, and is thus most commonly found in zu'el xuolises who matured in those environments.

• Aquatic zu'el xuolises are similar to the baseline, except they have webbed fore- and hind-claws, and the spines on the tail are longer and broader, the better to enable it to swim like a crocodilian. They have retractable snorkel-like breathing tubes on their backs, enabling them to remain hidden beneath the surface for prolonged periods while they wait for prey. They are extremely swift in the water, and their radar sense is instead adapted into an echolocation ability. Their carapaces are blue and green instead of black. They are most common in water environments, whether they be marine or freshwater, wetlands, stationary or flowing, and from aquatic or amphibious hosts.
  
• Brown zu'el xuolises are better-adapted to moving on all fours, with longer forelegs and digitigrade hind legs. They are much faster runners and sprinters than the baseline morphs, able to reach speeds in excess of 180 km/h on a sprint and 90 km/h on a run. They have large spiracles on their flanks for taking in and exhaling air, with bodies thoroughly well-adapted to moving at speeds impossible in natural creatures. Their carapaces are in browns and tans, with green or sandy yellow markings, but worse they are able to camouflage themselves by changing their pigmentation to match their surroundings. They are, however, more frail than standard black zu'el xuolises. Brown zu'el xuolises are most common in woodland, plains, and desert environments.
  
• Dwarf zu'el xuolises are miniature versions of the monster, proportionately weaker but somewhat faster and more adept at sneaking around. They arise from small-sized hosts such as Ewoks and Kushiban, and have roughly the same height as their host with a tail of 1.5 to two times the body length.
  
• Spitter zu'el xuolises have taken the normal zu'el xuolis ability to spit venom to an extreme. They have a pair of nozzles to either side of their upper mandible which propel spurts of acidic venom with deadly accuracy out to a range of twenty meters. They often have neon green markings that stand out in stark contrast to their black exoskeletons, but otherwise generally match other morphs in their environment.
  
• Hexamorphs are essentially identical to the baseline, save that they have four arms rather than only two. They are derived from six-limbed hosts like Codru-Ji, and can have other adaptations as well (so an aquatic hexamorph is possible, for example).
  
• Aeromorphs are zu'el xuolises with long, razor-edged wings like those of an enormous piranha beetle sprouting from its back. They are typically derived from winged hosts, and can present other morph types as well. For example, zu'el xuolises morphed from Toydarian hosts are dwarf aeromorphs.

Sentience: Semi-sentient to sentient.

Strengths: Zu'el xuolises are physically extremely dangerous, being both swift and strong as well as augmenting their physical prowess with the dark Force. They can sprint at speeds up to 80 km/h, have carapaces which resist lightsabers and blasters alike, and have potent venoms to incapacitate and kill their prey. They are all but impossible to sense through the Force, can use the Force to cloud organic and electronic perceptions alike, and are refined stalkers who can move near-silently even at top speed. Zu'el xuolises have keen senses, including a strong sense of smell, a radar sense, and even the ability to detect prey through the Force. They can survive for decades without food, days without air, and seem to have no need for fluids beyond those of their prey.

Weaknesses: For all their abilities, however, zu'el xuolises do have some weaknesses. They do not see very well, and it is possible to evade them by standing still and employing a technique of Force stealth. They also react poorly to flashes of bright light, especially if they are accompanied by pulses of intense radio waves, as those overload the zu'el xuolis's senses. They are also somewhat vulnerable to extreme cold, which puts them into a hibernation torpor. Most importantly, zu'el xuolises do not expect non-Force-sensitive creatures to be a threat, and they even tend to underestimate Force-sensitives. They appear to have difficulty comprehending complex technology, and may not realize the danger a powerful railgun could pose to them.

Diet: Exclusively carnivorous.

Behavior/Temperament: Sadistic predators, zu'el xuolises will patiently stalk their prey with uncanny cunning. Their only pleasure is in the torturous end of life, and the longer and more agonizing the death the better. They are good at observational learning and have problem-solving skills ranging between that of a clever primate all the way up to near-sentient levels.

Communication: Zu'el xuolises communicate with each other through natural radio. They can also use this sense to stalk their prey's use of comlinks, but prey can likewise detect their presence through sensors tuned to pick up radio waves.

Planet: Zu'el xuolises are believed to have originated on Thule.

Culture: Zu'el xuolises are solitary predators, hunting alone even though they tend to gather into colonies.

Technology: The zu'el xuolises lack technological advancement of their own. The smartest among them have the ability to utilize scavenged tools and weapons - though not necessarily the inclination.

History: Zu'el xuolises are Sithspawned monsters, their creation commissioned by Darth Krayt during the planning stages of his Jedi purge. They were intended to be predators of Force-wielders, monsters who not only killed Jedi but corrupted them in body and soul. Perhaps fortunately, they proved much too difficult to control and their development was abandoned in favor of other projects. They have since existed in small numbers, surviving despite nearly all sentients attempting to purge them whenever encountered.