Telbun

A telbun was a middle-class Human from the Kuat system chosen by one of the great merchant families to parent a child with a Kuati noble. Once selected, they became the property of the upper class.

The telbun was made to wear heavy red and purple robes that hid their bodies from the public eye, as well as tall, starched collars and high, cylindrical hats. Although there were both male and female telbun, males were much more common due to the matriarchal Kuati society.

A telbun was raised and trained by families to excel in academics, social manners and athletics. Once the appropriate age was reached, the telbun underwent a series of tests that produced a ranking by combining the scores for intelligence, grace, health and genetic makeup.

The telbun arrangement was seen as mutually beneficial, providing a child heir to the noble's house while greatly enriching the family of the telbun through the fees paid for his service. Although the telbun's family was well-compensated, they could not claim any of the nobles' riches.

The telbun became the guardian and tutor of the child, and because of the parental bond, the telbun was very devoted to the child. Although the child was aware that the telbun was one half of his or her biological makeup, only the aristocratic family was acknowledged as having a blood relationship.

The Kuati saw many advantages to the telbun arrangement, including as a way of avoiding inbreeding, and making merchants free to enter alliances and mergers without placing a child in jeopardy of being drawn into an enemy camp when whatever enterprise that brought the two people together collapsed.

Nevertheless, the process of divorcing reproduction from emotional commitments, as well as the slave-like status of the telbun, struck many outsiders as inhuman.

In 6.5 ABY, during a Rogue Squadron covert reconnaissance mission on Imperial City leading up to the liberation of Coruscant, Corran Horn posed as a telbun named Darsk Ristel. This allowed him to infiltrate the planet along with fellow pilot Erisi Dlarit, who was disguised as Ris Darsk, his Kuati noble master.

Viqi Shesh, the senator of Kuat sector in 25 ABY, had at least two telbuns living with her on Coruscant. At least one served as her senatorial aide.