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
• 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 following 93 hours, symbiont cannot be removed without killing both entities within hours
  • 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
  • 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 use gaming tiles rather than cards for sleight of hand (ENT Novel: Tower of Babel)

History

• c.23000 BCE: First joining between a symbiont and the species that would later become Trill (DS9 Novel: Trill: Unjoined)
• 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 public, as a result of injury incurred by Ambassador Odan during Peliar Zel mediations (TNG: "The Host")