Trilat

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Sub-Sentient TriLat 'Drone'
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Brief

TriLats, or Kal-En-Venshos in their own tongue, are an ancient sentient species that has been essentially extinct until recently. After the accidental discovery of a TriLat ship on the planet Rime by a join Sunset-Scolopendran expedition and the subsequent recovery of biological samples cloning began in the Republic. An extensive program of genetic variation and cloning has been conducted using those samples and now the species has recovered and makes up a recognizable percentage of Sunset's non-human population.

History

From an interview with the ruler of the Gen'Moki Republic, Lord Dudo'kin:

"The Gen'Moki have been aware for over 20,000 rotations of our planet around it's star, according to our own records. When we first realized ourselves the Experimentors had been an empire for over 100,000 rotations. They were dying but their power was still undeniable; Masters of shaping their forms and the forms of others.

This mastery had created their empire and had also destroyed it. Somewhere in their history they had eliminated their breeding potential and instead had turned to direct manipulation of clones for reproduction. There was a side effect that was not immediately forseen - their desire to continue as a people was eliminated. They were long lived though and this was not seen as an immediate problem until the natural problems of a large empire with a large population to control and fewer and fewer to control it arose."

Lord Dudo'kin paused and took a drink. "I will have my aid continue for a bit - the Meensel dries out your throat."

"The Experimentors, or Kal-En-Venshos as they called themselves, had built a mighty empire. It was not an empire of their own hands however. Numerous subservient species manned their warships and filled their armies. Some were created by their own hand while others came to be over time. This relationship was not agreed on by their servants. The Kal-En-Venshos used their superior knowledge to control them and to force them to their will. Many of their servant species still carry the scars of this control in their forms...

Despite their undeniable power they still continued their acts of experiementation and modification. Species were torn down and re-built to fit a specific purpose while others were wiped out with engineered plagues to eliminate a perceived fatal flaw. They even commited the greatest crime of all - reducing worlds full of life to barren husks in frivolous experiments."

Lord Dudo'kin finished his glass and set it down. As his aid went to refill it he picked up the story again.

"The Kal-En-Venshos had many enemies, both in their own subservient species and the other species present in the galaxy. Both were afraid to act because of their power. It was one of their own that ultimately broke their empire - the Nameless One. Realizing the great evil that it had perpetrated on the galaxy the Nameless One turned on the Kal-En-Venshos. It betrayed their secrets and coordinated an attack on their duplication facilities and seats of power by their slave races and their enemies.

Wars are not won in a striding. They fought back savagely, turning their remaining slave species on their betrayers. Engineered plagues stripped hundreds of rebel worlds bare and destroyed at least one of their foes utterly. Some were not prone to their plagues, however, and pressed on. The betrayal of the Nameless One was complete when the Kal-En-Venshos homeworld was destroyed by an unknown weapon wielded by their enemies. Enemies remarkable similar to the being who was conversing with the Kal-En-Venshos in the hallway."

Governor Villanova considered all this and Captain Tagon spoke up while he was thinking. "The Eldar then?" Villanova nodded, "It is possible. They had something that could do it, and it fits their desription. Another piece of the puzzle."

Biology

Even as an entirely cloned species TriLats are relatively unique; Their biology makes them even moreso. TriLats are so named because of their tri-lateral symetry: They have four 'legs', three 'arms' and a bi-segmented 'head'. They are also a multi-organism species with each TriLat consisting of a sentient 'controller' and a number of sub-sentient 'drones'.

The biology of the TriLats is both engineered and evolved and the line between the two is very blurry. As masters of genetic engineering they have not left any genetic traces of their un-manipulated form to compare with their current biology. It is likely however that their current appearance is only slightly departed from their evolutionary form. Their body type is particularly suited for moving through tunnels and it is unlikely they would have chosen this specific environmental type as it is not a particular efficient structural layout.

Each TriLat can be considered two distinct parts of a whole with one controller having several drones that it can control at will. When not directly controlled the drones are instinctive, almost feral, creatures that stick to biological imperatives and trained tasks. This control is accomplished by a form of biological quantum entanglement. This is likely an engineered function, which also raises the question as to whether the drones were originally part of the TriLat biology or if they were an engineered addition. This also means that the controller and drones are completely linked - drones cannot be shared or transferred between controllers.

Notable TriLats

The Nameless One

As described the Nameless One was directly responsible for the destruction of the Kal-En-Venshos empire. Unknown to the current TriLat population and to the larger galaxy the Nameless One is still alive and well. While the biological samples recovered by Sunset and Scolopendran explorers were from a Kal-En-Venshos ship found on Rime this was actually the second ship discovered there. The first was that of the Nameless One which had been buried beneath the ice by it's owner in a self-inflicted hermitage. While contact with this Ancient is possible it is not encouraged and is certainly not advertized. Given the isolation of Rime and it's relatively common planet type (desolate iceball) it is unlikely that anyone will contact the Nameless One in the future. Even so a watch is maintained on the planet to ensure the privacy of the Nameless One.

Ambassador K'ym'ko

The Ambassador is the current Sunset representative to the Duma. A typical member of its species, K'ym'ko has three drones which assist it in its duties. Before its appointment to the position K'ym'ko was an academic teaching at a university out-system.