Trill Overview (1/3)

Hi gang.  I'm about to post three sizeable messages dealing with the Trill as
a possible character race.  If you're not interested, delete now.  Don't
worry, my feelings won't be hurt.  :)

I set this up as a possible addition for the upcoming net.book (Sean?
 Jeremy?  Are you listening?), but it can be used alone as a seperate
article.  I invite all comments, alterations, and (sigh) flames.  This race
has never been playtested, so some glitches are certain to be in there.

Richard

___________________________

Trill

(A character race for Spelljammer.)

[Some of the information below is derived from Reid Bluebaugh's "Guide to
Star Trek in AD&D."]


Race Overview

The Trill are basically a humanoid race in appearence.  They tend to be quite
thin, with a series of brown spots that start around the temples, go down the
neck and shoulders, and ultimately to the ancles.

The Trill are a symbiotic race.  Many Trills, especially those that
travel in space, have what is called a "symbiont."  The symbiont is an
invertebrate, androgynous creature that looks something like a short, fat
snake, roughly eight inches to a foot long, with a bulbous head and a
flexable carapace.  The symbiont can be implanted into a special cavety in
the abdomen of the humanoid trill (called a "host" in these cases).  When
this is done, the two beings function as one in all respects.  Humanoid
trills without a symbiont con be considered identical to humans in all
respects except physical characteristics.

Joined Trill (both host and symbiont) generally retain the basic
personality of the humanoid host, but the host gains all (or most) of
the skills and memories of any other host that the symbiont has had in the
past.  There are cases where the character of the symbiont, which tend to be
logical, calculating and extremely dull, dominates that of the host, but this
has proven to be the exception.  Generally the host brings the ability to
experience life, and the symbiont brings the experience of previous lives.

How this arrangement developed is a subject of constant debate.  Even the
Trill aren't entirely sure.  According to their mythology, however, the
symbionts lived underground while the humanoids were on the surface.  Due to
an environmental disaster, the two races were forced to 'join' to survive. As
time went on, this mutual support evolved into a biological interdependency.

Today, symbionts and Trill humanoids can and do live seperately, but members
of both races seem to "want" to be joined.  If for some reason a symbiont is
seperated from its host, the symbiont dies within twelve hours, unless a new
host can be provided, or the host is returned to the Trill homeworld.  A host
that has lost his or her symbiont dies within a few days.  It is possible to
prevent this using powerful healing magic, but typically the host will refuse
such help.  The emotional dependence derived from the union is so strong that
the host doesn't want to live without it.

On the Trill homeworld, unjoined symbionts live underground in silty,
subterranean pools.  They communicate with one another through some means of
telepathy.  This telepathy can not be transfered to a humanoid, however.
 Only a joined trill host can communicate with unjoined symbionts in this
matter, and even this is restricted to unclear images.

According to Trill history, joining between host and symbiont was
unmoderated and highly random.  This often resulted in unsiutable
matchings.  Wars, social injustice, and a variety of other equally uguly
things occured as a result.  Apparently the Trill learned the hard way that
symbosis isn't something to be taken lightly.

Today, the joining of a symbiont with a host is managed by a group of sages
called "The Symbiosis Commission," which is a branch of the Trill government.
 Several factors are considered when paring a host and a symbiont: character
of the host, previous experiences of the symbiont, family history, and so
forth.  Many trill never reveice a symbiont, and many symbionts spend their
lives in the silt pools underground.

Joining usually occurs during early adulthood, though it could occur at any
time after the host reaches physical maturity.  The lifespan of a symbiont
has been estimated at about 500 years, so a given symbiont can have as many
as ten hosts in it's life time.  The symbiont somehow "knows" when it's time
is reaching an end.  When this happens, the host will devote large amounts of
time to writing and recording all the knowledge of the symbiont.

Continued....