Host,Symbionts, & the Trill

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

Physiology: There are two distinct species on the trill Homeworld. One species is a huminod that devolped into two independent branches. The first branch, or alpha race, comprises approximately 10% of the Trill population; they are distinguishable by their pronounced foreheads, but in most respects their physiology is similar to that of the beta race who comprise the remaining 90% of the population. These are easily identifiable by a pattern of skin markings which extend from the forehead down the side of the face and all the way down the body. These spots move and change gradually over time, although they remain in the same region of the body. Both of these races are known as the Trill Hosts. Alphas tend to be less physically robust than betas; for example, many alphas are extremely sensitive to the energy processes involved in transporters, and using this technology would cause fatal damage to the Symbiont. For this reason betas are the preferred recipients in the joinings.

The second species is known as the Symbionts. These are relatively small, sluglike creatures who live underwater for most of their life. The Symbiots are extremely long lived and very intelligent, but lack any kind of limbs or tool-using ability. The symbionts reproduce in a series of interconnected underground breeding pools that span many kilometers beneath the surface of the Trill home world. The symbionts can merge with either of the Trill host species, and when merged are know collectivle as the Trill. The process of joining links the cerebral cortex of both host and symbiont, thus intermingling the previous experiences from other hosts with the new host to form a new unique identity


Alpha	Beta

Life Expectancy at Birth: Alphas & Betas - 80 - 110 years; Symbionts - 400 - 1,000 years.

Language: The Alpha's comunicate thru a form of empathy and telepathy with one another. The Beta's have evloved their own language, but it is seldom used. Joined Trill's speak Federation standard english almost universaly.

PLANET:

Trill Homworld
• Class M planet, very similer to earth
• Rotational period of 25 Earth hours, one year (sten) is 350 days. Each year has 12 months with 4 seasons.
• One moon.
• Nitgrogen/Oxogen atmosphere
• A large area of the planet is the water habitat of the Symbionts. This area is tended to by unjoined Trill Hosts known as the Guardians.

Trill SOCIETY :
OVERVIEW: Trill society regards a joining with a symbiont as a very high honor. The Trill Symbiosis Commission has been the only Trill government agency mentioned frequently, an indication of its powerful influence. The commission was set up to determine which Trill could receive the honor of joining, and tended to the medical needs of the symbionts. Trill hosts are selected only after rigorous training as an initiate under the close scrutiny of the Symbiosis trainers. The wide spread belife is that very few Trill Hosts are able to bond with a Symbiont. A doctor within the Committee admitted that while over half of the Trill population is eligible for joining, this truth could never be made public. If the truth got out, the symbionts would become a marketable item instead of the priceless preserver of experience it is.

Retrograde Link:
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 pledged from previous lifetimes. If such a disregard of Trill society occurs, both hosts will be banished from Trill for life, and the symbiont will die. Since nothing is as paramount to a Trill as the safety of the symbiont, the risks involved in reassociation make occurences few and far between.

Merging:
Trill hosts voluntarily join with a symbiont, but once joined, both Trill and symbiont become biologically interdependent. After some 83 hours, neither Trill nor symbiont can survive without the other. The preservation of the symbiont's health is of paramount importance to the Trill, and if one must be sacrificed to save another, the Trill will invariably give up his/her own to save the symbiont's life. The most important gauge of the health of the joined Trill is the isoboromine levels. If it falls below 50, the symbiont will be removed from the Trill. Certain death awaits the host, but this is the standard policy for the Commission and is followed without question by all joined Trills. When Alpha's are joined their personality is compleatly Subjegated by the personality of the Symbiont. Beta's 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.

Goverment
Trill is goverened by a group of joined trill known as the Commity. This group is elected by joined Trill and Symbionts only, unjoined Trill Host have no vote.

Religion
The majority of the Trill have taken on a form of seculer huminisum prectised by a majority of the Federation, altho a small portion of Trill Host still practice a form of Symbiont worship.