Melodie

The Melodies are a race of intelligent, amphibious, mermaid-like humanoid inhabitants of the warmer climates of Yavin VIII's equatorial mountains. They hatch from eggs that are laid by elder Melodies and guarded by Melodie youths until they emerge, starting out life as air-breathing beings which resemble human children. At the age of twenty, all Melodies undergo a transformation - known as the Changing Ceremony - in which they metamorphose to become an amphibious creature. The metamorphosis can only take place in a ceremonial pool on Yavin VIII, and involve the Melodie changing into a mermaid-like creature that is destined to live out its life in the pools of Yavin VIII. Their legs merge to form a fish-like tail, and they grow gills on their rib-cages. As newborn children, and as newly transformed adults, the Melodies consume trico mush until they can digest the silver-backed fish.

As a people, the Melodies are unassuming unless provoked, which often happens when a traveler is stranded on Yavin VIII. The Melodies value their privacy, and choose to remain anonymous to the rest of the galaxy. If provoked, Melodies can prove to be skilled hunters, and use their natural ability to move about in the water to track and kill their enemies. Some eighteen years after the Battle of Endor, the Melodies decided to make their presence known, after Anakin Solo befriended the young female known as Lyric. However, during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy, Yavin VIII was devastated by the alien invaders, and the Melodie civilization was all but exterminated. Only a handful of Melodies were offworld during the attack.