Mawkran

Mawkran was the leader of a tribe of Mantellian Savrips on Ord Mantell, the last one left on the planet. For years, he and his kin had fought an uneven campaign against the land baron Taxer Sundown, who was exterminating them. Sundown had taken control of Ord Mantell through violence and ruled by fear, but also found it convenient to provide its oppressed Human moisture farmers with an external enemy to alleviate aggressions against. Thus he blamed the Savrips for the murders his own organization carried out, and the farmers, believing them to be murderous beasts and savages, hunted them like animals.

At the same time, Sundown had made a deal with the Baroness Omnino of Vena, who had provided him with the mind control device he used to rule the planet. She and the Venan nobility considered the Savrips to be delicacy meat, although they were fully sentient, and bought them from Sundown as cattle. His soldiers rounded up Savrips and delivered them to the Venans, selling them as cattle. The transports of Savrips to Vena were supervised by the Baroness' son, Baron Sando.

Mawkran had learned Basic from a trader in his youth and was perhaps the most intelligent of the remaining Savrips. He spoke out against the persecution and injustices they faced. Although their numbers had dwindled dramatically and their technology was paleolithic, they were still proud warriors and should fight as such, not surrender and face extinction. Speaking persuasively, he rallied the last of the Savrips in a single band to face Sundown in his headquarters at the Ten Mile Plateau and defeat him — or die trying.

Thus banded together, resigned to their fate but determined to go down fighting, the Savrips attacked one of Sundown's outposts. There they also captured Nella Bold, a farmer's daughter who had been held prisoner by Sundown's mercenaries for aiding the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi in investigating a disappeared freighter that eventually led them to Omnino's slaving ring. The younger Jedi, Obi-Wan, wanted to confront the Savrips, a species he had already had bad experiences with, but Master Qui-Gon heard them out, realizing what was really going on. Nella and the Jedi promptly allied with the Savrips to put an end to Sundown's atrocities.

Sundown was eventually killed, not by Savrips but by Obi-Wan Kenobi, but they still considered this revenge enough. Shortly thereafter, the Baroness herself arrived to put and end to this interference in her affairs. Using a mind control device similar to Sundown's, she took control of Mawkran, but was killed by Qui-Gon Jinn through trickery. With Sundown's criminal network destroyed and all of its organizers dead, the Savrips appeared victorious.

However, a hastily assembled militia of moisture farmers had observed the battle from afar, thinking that the savrips were attacking Sundown unprovoked and holding Nella Bold hostage. They arrived too late to participate in the battle, but sneaked up on the gathering in hover skiffs, shooting Mawkran in the back with a blaster and killing him. Thus Mawkran, last leader of the Savrips, died, tragically and unnecessarily.

Mawkran's death deeply moved all its witnesses, including the two Jedi. Nella Bold in particular was deeply affected, dedicating the remainder of her life to aiding the few remaining Savrips, who presumably treasured Mawkran's memory. But ultimately, it was all for naught. Over the years, Mawkran's tribe diminished and scattered until not even its memory remained.

• The Official Star Wars Fact File10