An Observational Report on Swampas

[Sarias]

An Observational Report on Swamp Wampas - By Acolyte [REDACTED]

The Swamp Wampa, from here on referred to as Swampa, are a large humanoid Reptomammalian species classified as Semi-Sentient. A direct adaptation from the Wampa’s of Hoth, the Swampa is so far only known to exist on Dromund Kaas. Most likely the result of escaped captive Wampas brought to the Dromund system intentionally for experimentation or as exotic pets.
I will start with the appearance. The Swampa has an estimated average height of three meters, an estimated average weight of one hundred and fifty kilograms, yellow and black sunken eyes, with scaly skin covered with a light coat of fur. The fur colors can be white, grey, brown, green, or a mix. Even if born with white or grey fur, it will most likely appear brown and or green due to mud and mold attaching itself to the fur and discoloring it. The Swampa has horns that increase in size proportional to the creature’s age. Because it’s so closely related to the Wampa, the creature has not had a lot of time to adapt to the warmer climate of Dromund Kaas. The key differences are the lighter coat of fur, not as thick and bushy as Wampas, and a thinner layer of fat to insulate it. Without this extra layer the Swampa is slightly, emphasis on slightly, easier to subdue, capture, and kill. However, the tradeoff is increased agility compared to their Cold World cousins. The scaly skin helps protect it from other predators as well as rival Swampa. Swampas have razor sharp claws and fangs coupled with their large muscular bodies making them even deadlier opponents. One swing is usually enough to kill most prey. When charging the beasts will drop down on all four limbs and switch to standing on two legs when in combat. It is worth noting that the Swampa has exceptional aural and olfactory senses as well. Better to track prey and communicate with one another. The Swampa is not to be underestimated, it has had to adapt to the other deadly fauna of Dromund Kaas.
The Behavior and Psychology of the Swampa are quite different from Wampas. The two things they still share is the ability to effectively communicate with each other, and a strong family unit. As stated before Swampas are considered semi-sentient meaning they display intelligence and problem solving skills. As well they have exceptional aural capability paired with the ability to communicate with each other, to a limited degree. When capturing Swampas for Sith Sarias, the female, and preadolescents appeared to cry out for help. Calling the Male of the family unit to come to their aid. As well when using a net to capture the Female, she attempted to avoid and escape, finally being put down with tranquilizers and stun bolts for transport. Further study and observation will be required to determine how the loss of the male, killed during our hunt, will affect the development of the two preadolescent specimens we acquired. Something to note as well was the state of the cave habitat the Swampas were found in. It is known that Wampas will capture more prey than needed, but often store them in their caves, alive, to eat later due to the scarcity of prey in their natural environment. The Swampa den was filled with piles and piles of meat. Perhaps this is a similar behavior of storing food? However the climate of Dromund Kaas’ swamps doesn’t allow for meat to be properly stored as it would be in a frozen world, left instead to decay in the warm humid environment we found them in. It is also possible the extra food was simply there to compensate for the developing Swampas and their healthy appetites. From here on the behaviors of Swampas diverge from Wampas greatly. Dromund Kaas is a vastly different environment, with warmer temperatures, higher humidity, and more fauna. Swampas are not the only predators, and they do not have to venture as far to find food, effectively making their territory smaller. In fact it was the evidence of hunting that allowed us to track the Swampas so easily to their den, evidence of fresh kills leading bloody trails back to their cave. Other predators would not leave such a trail. My guess, having no experience using Animal Bond, semi-sentient life forms, for non-force users, would obviously either be easier to raise in captivity or more difficult. On the one hand they may be smart enough to see you as a companion and caretaker, the reverse being smart enough to see you as a captor and fight back accordingly.
One would assume that due to the creature’s large size a large paddock would be required, however I would argue that, if properly fed and taken care of, the size of the paddock does not matter. Due to semi-sentience, extra security should be a priority as problem solving skills to escape are a possibility. Appropriately sturdy fences and cages required to accommodate for the creature’s strength. Still unsure of how much time the Swampa’s physiology has had to adapt from the original Wampa and since they were captured in the swamps of Dromund Kaas, climate controls to compensate for humidity and temperature levels might be required as well. These will make fine specimens for experimentation due to their borderline humanoid physiology and excellent for frontline battle deployment, if they can be properly controlled.
This concludes my initial report.
Force Serve,
-Acolyte [REDACTED]

[Sarias]

Addendum to “An Observational Report on Swamp Wampa (Swampas)” - Apprentice Naile, Acolytes Nyash, Charsette, and [REDACTED]

We were summoned by Sith Sarias to her private Bestiary as a task to further observe the family of Swampas. Specifically to feed them and observe their reactions to various samples of food as well as their reactions to us. We were instructed to make sure the Swampas ate the food in front of us, if they took the food and ran, that would be considered task failure.

The following observational notes of Apprentice Naile, Acolyte Nyash, Acolyte Charsette, and myself have been compiled and edited by me as well.

I will start with an excerpt from Apprentice Naile and Acolyte Charsette’s Reports:

“Presented with three Gizkas, cuts of a red fleshy muscular meat and cuts of a paler fish-smelling meat. Observed first was a juvenile Swamp Wampa that showed a keen sense of smell for as soon as the lids were off, it seemed to sniff it out and notice us from a distance. Upon spotting us, the Juvenile did not attack or show hostility but instead it let out distressing calls that seemed to draw out the parent.” - Apprentice Naile

It should be noted however that the Juvenile did not cry for help until after Acolyte Nyash chose to wade out into the swampy waters towards it. Indicating that our initial presence was not considered a threat until approached, and its territory violated.

“The juvenile wampas seemed to first be inspecting the meat it was given by licking it in a way of studying the meat. However they do not seem to be aggressive at their age towards other humanoid creatures at their age and instead choose to hide behind their mother.” - Acolyte Charsette

“They appear to have more an interest in red fresh muscular meat than the paler fish-smelling one. Why though? Remains to be answered, but perhaps the abundance of proteins in muscular flesh plays a role. They sniffed it first before they ate it so scent plays a role as well, and perhaps their vision is limited for they did not immediately spot the differences in colour? It appears that, for the most part, juveniles aren't quite capable of defending themselves yet are still capable of quickly dispatching gizkas and food given.” - Apprentice Naile

Excellent observations and questions from Apprentice Naile, it seems that red and, or, live meat is preferred although further testing is required to confirm this hypothesis. Their olfactory senses are indeed superior than I would expect from humanoid species. It is indeed worth noting, and I would argue, that the Juveniles are developed enough to be deadly, quite capable of defending themselves if necessary, however they displayed dependent and fearful behavior, almost passive, compared to their mother. Perhaps this is rather a lack of intellectual development?

More physiological observations from Apprentice Naile as well: “The waters were cold and muddy, hard for us to walk in yet the Swamp Mother and its juveniles seemed to be able to walk onto them without trouble. Their fur gave them sufficient insulation and it may be that their feet are properly adapted. The Swampa Mother showed sharp reflexes for it plucked a thrown gizka with meat right off the air and then rather than feed on itself, it gave it to its kin and gave them shelter behind her as it advanced on the would-be aggressors.”

As I previously hypothesised, due to their close relation to Wampas, I believe their ability to walk through the swamp is from sheer strength, perhaps even more difficult than snow. The insulation is of course an inherited trait from the original Wampa as well.

Naile’s observation that the mother would first feed the juveniles before herself is a perfect segway into the more interesting observations, in my opinion, behavioral and psychological.

Acolyte Nyash’s observations on these particular subject matters were surprisingly insightful, in spite of his reckless actions in the field.

“I first tried to sense the feelings of the smallest 'Wampa'. It actually felt really calm, and also a bit joyful. From this I gathered that it was not naturally aggressive, or that it atleast didn't have hunting on its mind. This gave me the idea to approach it. To do this I decided to remove my clothing so that my robe wouldn’t be in the way of me walking through the water. A second reason is because I didn’t want the Wampa to be able to grab hold of my clothes and pull me.”

Yes he stripped down to his undergarments, I could not make this up.

“When I approached the small Wampa, I tried to make myself small so as not to scare it. The larger something is, the scarier it can seem. I then decided that I shouldn't approach it too close either, because it didn't know me yet. So I decided to use what I had available: the Force. I made the meat go to the Wampa by itself instead. The little Wampa seemed to be scared at first, calling for the bigger Wampa but when it saw the meat, it quieted down; it seemed to really like it.”

Clearly Acolyte Nyash read neither the mission reports, or my observational report, because, unsurprisingly, as he approached the juvenile it called out for the protective mother. When capturing them in the wild, the mother immediately attacked us when she thought her children were in danger.

As Apprentice Naile noted: “This shows to me that there is a level of mindfulness, parental instincts and thought for there was not mindless aggression but it cared more for protecting its young and ensuring they were well fed. However, one should note that it's tamer was present and that could very well have skewed its intentions for as I have experienced in the wilds, the swamp mother is much more aggressive than the father and it attacked regardless.”

As he says, Sith Sarias was present, perhaps that is the real reason Nyash was not killed for his foolishness.

I shall continue with rest of Nyash’s report:

“I then tried to make it think that I was part of them by trying to do their sounds. It is here that the Chiss Acolyte started to be annoying and trying to stop me from doing what I wanted. I don't know why, because the big Wampa, when it came out, did not become angry, instead it tried to see how the small Wampa was feeling. This is when I tried to sense what the big Wampa was feeling. I sensed that it felt really sad, like it was missing something; but also very alert. It was protecting the smaller Wampa. I have seen this behaviour before, but not all of the beasts I have seen, first go to see how their small versions feel, some try to directly attack; I think that is called being ‘territorial’, which the Wampa was not.”

Nyash confirms traits associated with Semi-Sentience, emotional responses, problem solving, communication, and of course the Mother’s protective instincts. Notably the mother Swampa who was experiencing loss, due to us killing her mate no doubt. I can however with confidence rebuttal that the male Swampas are very territorial and aggressive, as we were forced to kill the father during our hunting mission. Again perhaps this forbearance, not immediately charging Nyash, is a result of Sith Sarias’ presence. It should be further noted that the mother, “The big Wampa,” was in fact approaching Nyash before it turned attention to Apprentice Naile and I, which is particularly noteworthy.

“The big Wampa then became angry, I saw it throw mud at the others and approach them; that is also when I saw that there was a second small Wampa.”

The Mother seemed to immediately recognize Naile and I. Further evidence of Swampa’s Semi-Sentience, the ability to recall long term memories and associate them with emotional responses. We helped capture her, helped kill her mate, and she began to move between her children and us to protect them.

“I asked the Miraluka for more meat, which she brought me, and I then thought to go around the big Wampa and try to make friends with the smaller Wampas. If they liked me then the big Wampa might've liked me too. I also did it to distract the big Wampa from attacking the others and them hurting it in return. I tried to bring them more meat, and act like I ate it too, that I belonged with them. This is when the Chiss Acolyte yelled out for me to get out of there, and in a panic I decided that I needed to show the big Wampa that I too didn't like how the others behaved; that is when I roared at the Chiss Acolyte. I don't know if the big Wampa would have accepted me, because that is when the Miraluka Acolyte pulled me away with the Force. I was not left to discover the extent of their acceptance.”

I wish I could say that this entry was comic relief, it is not, this is exactly what Nyash did. I will share my observations of this particular incident. The mother, having clearly recognized Naile and I, began to aggressively approach us. When Apprentice Naile and Acolyte Charsette backed away from the shoreline the mother appeared to lose interest. I however noticed that Nyash had once again foolishly waded out into the swamp, not only had his back to the mother swampa, but directly positioned himself between the mother and the juveniles. I yelled out towards Nyash to leave the juveniles alone and return to us, because he was lucky that I was still the focus of her attention. Had I backed away, she would have turned around to see him. His response to my warning was to roar at me and, unfortunately, this did indeed catch the mothers attention. She began to walk away from us and towards Nyash so I reached out and used Force Slow on her while Acolyte Charsette used telekinesis to pull Nyash away from the mother Swampa. It is unclear if we were successful in saving his life or if Sarias intervened with some sort of Animal Bond, the mother having turned to rejoin her children.

“The mother herself would seek to stay close to her youngling and engage in taking care of the threat once her young were secured.” - Acolyte Charsette

Apprentice Naile and Acolyte Charsette prepared the remaining food samples then Naile and I threw the food towards the juveniles. They seemed to enjoy the live prey very much, playfully fighting over the Gizka even though there was more than enough food for the both of them.

To reiterate, the Family Unit is evidently strong with Swampas. Due to their being in captivity, further observation will be required to determine how and when the juveniles will develop and mature.

More observations in the wild will also be necessary to compare the similarities and differences.

This concludes our report.

Force Serve,

-Acolyte [REDACTED]