Trill (species)

• Appearance: Mammalian; spots running across forehead, down sides to ankles
  • Small subgroup lacks spots, has a prominent forehead ridge; formed as a result of cross-species migration of the Qu'vat virus, integrated rather than cured (TOS Novel: Forged in Fire; TNG: "The Host")
• Lifespan: ~100 years
• Homeworld: Trillius Prime
• Biological notes
  • Evolved from furred primates with ridged brows (DS9 Novel: Trill: Unjoined)
  • Biochemically compatible with symbionts also native to Trillius Prime
    • Joining forms a composite being, with memories of each host and composite carried over into the next host
    • Half of all Trill compatible with symbionts, but public belief is that the ratio is closer to one in a thousand, due to slim availability of symbionts to join (DS9: "Equilibrium")
      • Only three hundred symbionts are available per year on average, as compared to one thousand applicants to the Symbiosis Commission
    • Approved candidates usually in late-20s to early-30s, old enough to have formed a solid self-identity while still providing a significant portion of their life to share with a symbiont.
    • Joining permanent 93 hours after implantation; at that point, symbiont cannot be removed without killing the host within hours (DS9: "Dax")
    • Trill/symbiont connection facilitated by isoboramine neurotransmitter (DS9: "Equilibrium")
    • Joined Trill especially sensitive to insect venom (DS9: "The Siege")
    • Joining kept generally secret until public revelation in 2367 (TNG: "The Host")
    • Reassociation between symbionts in a past relationship in new hosts is illegal under Trill law, to prevent the solidification of a permanent aristocracy via symbionts carrying forth organizations and connections from host to host
  • Some Trill show psionic potential
    • Such Trill often become Guardians in the Caves of Mak'ala to watch over unjoined symbionts
  • Zhian'tara ritual allows a Guardian to transfer the memories of former hosts into individuals close to the current host, to better facilitate integration within the host
  • Trill tend to have cold hands relative to body temperature (DS9: "A Man Alone"; DS9 Short Story: "Old Souls"; DS9 Novel: Mission Gamma: Twilight)
  • Dissociative disorders among the most common psychological disorders for Trill (DS9 Short Story: "Reflections")
• Cultural notes
  • Trill games
  • Customary for all Trill to submit applications to Symbiosis Commission at age twelve to evaluate suitability for joining (DS9 Short Story: "Second Star to the Right...")
    • Not required, but few refrain (DS9 Short Story: "Second Star to the Right...")
  • Capital punishment abolished c.mid-20st century (DS9 Short Story: "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor")
  • Musical instruments
    • Syn lara (DS9 Short Story: "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor"; DS9 Novel: Mission Gamma: This Gray Spirit)
      • Similar to a piano (DS9 Short Story: "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor")
  • Weapons
    • Sh'uk (DS9 Short Story: "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor")
      • Execution tool as late as mid-20st century (DS9 Short Story: "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor")

History

• c.23000 BCE: First joining between a symbiont and the species that would later become Trill (DS9 Novel: Trill: Unjoined)
• 2040s: Development of warp drive. (DS9 Short Story: "First Steps")
• Mid-21st century: First contact with Vulcans (DS9 Short Story: "First Steps")
• By 2154: First contact with Humans
  • Tobin Dax present for launch of Columbia NX-02 (Destiny novel: Gods of Night)
• 2367: Status of Trill/symbiont relations becomes general public knowledge, as a result of injury incurred by Ambassador NFN Odan during Peliar Zel mediations (TNG: "The Host")