The Kilmaulsi were a sapient race of avian descent, native to the world called Kilmaulsias. Lacking wings, they were distinguished by vibrant feather arrangements beneath their chins and along their upper limbs. These beings were known for their blend of inquisitiveness and deep faith, which shaped their tribal structure into a highly religious one. Initially a combative people, their incessant internal conflicts ceased when the Vorzydiak civilization facilitated their entry into interstellar travel. Once integrated into the broader galaxy, Kilmaulsi became prevalent as security personnel and fighters, particularly within the Vorzyd Cluster, where their native planet was situated. The one-time Jedi Knight Dass Jennir encountered a Kilmaulsi on Cato Neimoidia in 19 BBY, while Rebel Alliance operatives Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker crossed paths with a Kilmaulsi serving as a security detail on Vorzyd V during the Galactic Civil War.
The Kilmaulsi constituted a sentient species of digitigrade humanoids that evolved from avian ancestors. Although they had lost the capacity for flight and their forbears' wings, they still possessed feather tufts under their jaws and on their elbows. The plumage in some members of the species was violet, while in others it was black. The species' skin was typically green, with patches of orange around the eyesockets and the lower jaw. With an average height of 1.7 meters, Kilmaulsi were more robust and muscular than other humanoids, yet they shared fundamental humanoid features, including a bipedal stance with two lower extremities and two upper extremities, in addition to a torso and head. Their faces featured relatively large eyes, a beak-like oral cavity containing a lingual muscle, and two nares above the mouth. Their eyes included nictitating membranes, and could be either blue or red. Each upper extremity terminated in a four-fingered hand, each digit ending in a talon, while their lower extremities ended in a three-toed foot.
Kilmaulsi were considered juveniles until the age of eleven, transitioning to young adults until seventeen. Adulthood peaked between eighteen and fifty-five, with middle age beginning at fifty-six and old age at seventy-five. Their lifespan averaged ninety standard years.
Kilmaulsi society, shaped by a history of conflict, was segmented into numerous tribes, each holding distinct religious beliefs. These differences sparked conflicts between tribes, leading to prolonged warfare among Kilmaulsi subgroups. However, these conflicts eventually ceased with the arrival of extraterrestrial contact and the introduction of spacefaring technology. The Kilmaulsi were so captivated by the prospect of traveling the cosmos that they abandoned their long-standing rivalries to pursue interstellar voyages.
Following their integration into the broader galactic community, Kilmaulsi society shifted its focus towards technological advancement, relegating religion to a secondary cultural role. Despite this shift, the Kilmaulsi remained formidable warriors, highly valued as fighters by other sentient species within the Vorzyd Cluster, including the Hrakians, Paiguns, Selonians, and Vorzydiaks. In combat, Kilmaulsi warriors typically donned ornate green armor, functionally equivalent to standard battle armor, although some individuals sported purple variants. During battle, they could enter a frenzied state, appearing as colorful blurs due to their speed and skill. However, this frenzy impaired their ability to concentrate on precise tasks.
Individually, Kilmaulsi were devout, inquisitive, and determined—traits that fueled both their deeply religious past and their subsequent fascination with exploration. They enjoyed interacting with more peaceful species, though non-Kilmaulsi often found them lacking in humor. Kilmaulsi could communicate in Galactic Basic, facilitating interaction with other species, but among themselves, they used their own language, also called Kilmaulsi. This language had a writing system and could be learned by outsiders like Sanglui, a Squalris Rebel leader, and Hathox Greb, a Hrakian pro-Imperial civil officer. Some Kilmaulsi also emitted squawking sounds during combat. Examples of Kilmaulsi names included Aryllan, Dawre, Eshalak, Lykern, Kir, Prakk, Thilvera, and Zarlia.
The Kilmaulsi evolved on the forested planet of Kilmaulsias within the Kilmauls system of the Vorzyd Cluster. Their early history on their home planet was marked by frequent conflicts between rival tribes driven by religious differences. These wars came to an abrupt end with the arrival of scouting parties from the Vorzydiak species, who had recently acquired faster-than-light technology after being discovered by explorers from the Galactic Republic. The Vorzyd Cluster saw extensive exploration around 5000 BBY. The Vorzydiaks, like the Kilmaulsi, originated from within the Vorzyd Cluster and peacefully contacted each of the warring Kilmaulsi tribes, introducing them to the concept of interstellar travel. This alien contact profoundly impacted the Kilmaulsi, prompting them to end their bitter rivalries and encouraging many to seek their fortunes among the stars.
Within a single century of the region's discovery, the species of the Vorzyd Cluster—including the Kilmaulsi, Paiguns, Hrakians, Vorzydiaks, and a stranded colony of Selonians—formed a loose association of their individual territories, a government known as the Commonality. Hundreds of Kilmaulsi were employed as guards at the newly constructed Casino Royale, a house of chance located on Vorzyd V. These guards wore armored vests and were consistently courteous to guests, while preventing undesirables, including automatons, from entering—their intimidating presence was usually enough to deter unwanted visitors. During this period, a Kilmaulsi diplomatic mission was also established in Efavan, the primary metropolis of Vorzyd V, where the Casino was situated.
Following the decline of the Empire as a dominant interstellar power, many Kilmaulsi on Vorzyd V became disillusioned and were hired by Quaffug the Hutt crime lord, who sought to force the Casino Royale to share its profits. Concerned that conflict on Vorzyd V would harm tourism, the administrators of the Casino Royale hired a group of privateers to persuade or force Quaffug to leave using non-violent methods.
After being introduced to space travel, the Kilmaulsi species embraced it readily, with many leaving their home planet to explore the galaxy and seek opportunities elsewhere. A significant number of Kilmaulsi took passage on freight vessels from the nearby world of Hraki and found work as laborers and soldiers in other locations. Following the start of this migration, Kilmaulsi became a common sight throughout the cluster, typically serving in military or manual labor roles. Kilmaulsi could be found traveling away from their homeworld as early as 19 BBY when, four months after the implementation of Order 66, a Kilmaulsi was present on the Neimoidian money world of Cato Neimoidia. This Kilmaulsi was associated with a member of the scaled Chistori species, whom the avian had agreed to help fight off rivals seeking the same employment. Ember Chankeli, a Human female from the planet Telerath, was offering the job, which required those hired to remove a criminal organization of slavers from her hometown. When the Chistori and the Kilmaulsi—along with several Neimoidian associates—arrived to accept the job, a pair of other candidates was already present, one of whom was the Human former Jedi Dass Jennir, with whom the Chistori had previously competed for the job. The Chistori and his companions attacked Jennir, only to be swiftly defeated by Jennir's subtle use of the Force.
During the Galactic Civil War, when Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan—both Human agents of the Alliance to Restore the Republic—visited Vorzyd V to disrupt the Galactic Empire's gambling operations, they encountered a Kilmaulsi security officer at the Casino Royale. The guard informed them that their droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, could not enter with them due to the prohibition of mechanical assistance.
The first appearance of a Kilmaulsi was in the comic strip Gambler's World, authored and illustrated by Russ Manning. This strip was distributed between March 12 and September 8, 1979, by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate in newspapers across America and Canada. However, the strip provided no name or background information about the species. The story was later colorized and reprinted in 1994 by Dark Horse Comics as part of the comic book Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 1. The colors, applied by Ray Murtaugh, revealed the Kilmaulsi's skin to be green.
The species remained absent until 2004, when they were officially named and detailed as a species in the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game sourcebook Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds, authored by multiple individuals. This publication also featured an image of a Kilmaulsi by Mark Tedin. The book included tabletop roleplaying stats for a Kilmaulsi commoner, assigning them average scores for all attributes. Gamblers World was then re-released, again in color, as webstrips on Hyperspace, a premium section of the StarWars.com website. In 2009, another Kilmaulsi appeared in Dark Times: Blue Harvest, Part 2, the second of two mini-issues from Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars: Dark Times comic book series, designed as an introduction to the Blue Harvest story arc. This issue was written by Randy Stradley, under the pseudonym "Mike Harrison," and illustrated by Douglas Wheatley.