Trillan

Trillans were a species of symbiotic lifeforms native to the Laku Sector world of Tranu. The hosts, as they were called, were a near-human species with either characteristic black or brown spots visible down the sides of their head, neck or an odd forehead. The spots continued down the host's chest and all of the way down their body. The symbionts, the other half of the Trillans, were helpless, worm-shaped lifeforms who contained the memories of their previous hosts, and who inhabited the abdomens of the humanoid Trillan hosts. When a host and a symbiont were joined, the resulting individual was considered a new being.

The Trillan society was a complex and elitist one. Only joined Trillans could be politicians and they made all the planet's decisions. When a host died, the symbiont was transplanted into a new host. A symbiont that was neither implanted into a new host nor returned to their habitat (pools of nutrient-rich liquid on the Trillan homeworld) would quickly die, as would a joined Trillan host from whom the symbiont was removed after the first or second day.

It was originally assumed that only a small fraction of the Trillan population was capable of being joined, a myth which the Trillan government continued to perpetuate well into the era of the Galatctic Empire. This was because the joining of the Shi’Dax symbiont with the host Joran (Curzon's predecessor), was a disaster - Joran was insane and a murderer. Joran's joining with the Shi’Dax symbiont was covered up and all records of it were erased. The Trillan government attempted to blame the failure on Joran's unsuitability as a host, but the truth was that Joran had passed the host screening tests and was technically a stable host - as was nearly half of the Trillan population. The government dares not let this information become public, lest the symbionts become a commodity to be bought, sold and fought over by the public - as long as it was widely believed that only a small fraction could become hosts, the government reasoned, and then such widespread hysteria could be avoided.

In rare cases, Trillan symbionts could be joined with non-Trillan humanoids, but the differences in biology meant the results were often unstable. A human Republic Command officer was briefly joined to the Odan symbiont so that Odan could complete peace negotiations, and to keep Odan alive until a new Trillan host could arrive. While this effort saved Odan's life, it nearly caused the human’s death. A joined Trillan was known by the given name of the host followed by the name of the symbiont; for example, when Ezri Tigan was joined with the symbiont Shi’Dax, her name became Ezri Shi’Dax. Trillan law forbids re-association between subsequent hosts of joined persons who were romantically involved. Trillans who were found guilty of re association were expelled from Trillan society, and their symbionts died with their current host.

Role-playing Notes
Non-joined Trillans act as normal characters, with only their attributes ranges applying to them. They possess no special abilities.

RPG D6 Stats
Homeworld: Tranu

Attribute Dice: 12D

DEXTERITY 2D/4D

KNOWLEDGE 2D/5D

MECHANICAL 2D/4D

PERCEPTION 2D/4D

STRENGTH 2D/4D

TECHNICAL 2D/5D

Special Abilities:

(Note: The Trillans have a number of special abilities that relate specifically to their Symbiont.)

Symbiont Bonus: Due to the rigorous training program that prepares them for the 'joining' Trillans receive an additional +2 pips to any one skill at the time of character creation. Once “Joined”, the Player Character rolls 3D to determine how many previous hosts the Symbiont has had before. For each previous host, the PC gets an additional +2 pips to distribute among Knowledge or Technical skills, up to a maximum of +2 pips in any skills areas. Also for each previous host the Trillan also gets an additional +1D at character creation in a skill of the players choice as background skills from the previous hosts. (Maximum of +1D in any one skill, at the GM’s discretion.)

Story Factors:

Reassociation: The memories and lifetime of a previous host should not interfere with the duties and obligations of the new host. This is known as reassociation, a retrograde link strictly forbidden by the Symbiosis Commission. For once every personal obligation is carried on to the next host, there'd be no end to the debts and pledges from previous lifetimes. If such a disregard of Trillan society occurs, both host ans symbiont will be banished from Trillan society for life, and the symbiont will die. Since nothing is as paramount to a Trillan as the safety of the symbiont, the risks involved in reassociation make occurrences few and far between.

Merging: Trillan hosts voluntarily join with a symbiont, but once joined, both Trillan and symbiont become biologically interdependent. After some 83 hours, neither Trillan nor symbiont can survive without the other. The preservation of the symbiont's health is of paramount importance to the Trillan, and if one must be sacrificed to save another, the Trillan will invariably give up his/her own to save the symbiont's life. The most important gauge of the health of the joined Trillan is the isoboromine levels. If it falls below 50, the symbiont will be removed from the Trillan. Certain death awaits the host, but this is the standard policy for the Commission and is followed without question by all joined Trillans. When Alphas are joined, their personality is completely subjugated by the personality of the Symbiont. A Betas personality is not submerged by the Host after joining; the two separate minds merge, forming a new personality who is a combination of both the Host and Symbiont. This can cause severe psychological problems if the two minds are incompatible, resulting in rejection of the Host after only a few days - a rejection which often causes the death of the Host.

Move: 10 / 12

Size: 1.5 to 1.9 meters

Lifespan: 120 standard years (Host); 1000+ Standard years (Symbiont)