Tol Turgul
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Official UFPDOCA Colony Entry: Tol Turgul
- Planet: ............... Tol Turgul ("Green isle", Elendil II)
- Star System: .......... Elendil ("Sky empress")
- Planet Class: ......... M
- Distance from Star: ... 130 M km
- Land Area: ............ 22%
- Gravity: .............. .812 G
- Year Length: .......... 350 days (local; 335 standard days)
- Day length: ........... 23 hours (standard)
- Prevalent sapient race: The Vultrim
- Population: ........... 270 million
- Government type: ...... 78 independent nations, 69 of which are loosely united and formed a democratic organ called Allied Nations.
- Main exports: ......... Dilithium, tantalium, art (intricate wood carvings)
The Vultrim
Physical appearance
The Vultrim are an upright-standing race of former avians which shares many humanoid characteristics. The head is very similar to that of the Terran griffon vulture. The feathered, vestigal wings have developed to arms with four long, nail-less fingers and an opposing thumb. The four toes in the foot and the big toe in the back of the ankle have curved, talon-like nails.
The Vultrim are generally shorter and slimmer than humans, averaging 170 cm (5'7") and 60 kg (132 lbs), and less strong physically, but quicker and more agile. Their bones are partially hollow, another reminder of their avian history. Males are generally bald-headed, females have manes (2 to 5 on average) of long feathers arching from forehead to neck.
The Vultrim are unable to fly with their wing-arms, but they can glide long distances in the light gravity of Tol Turgul. They have no tail, but the spreadable feathers in their lower legs provide balance while in air. The eyesight of the Vultrim is eight times better than humans', and they can see more to the ultraviolet end of the spectrum. Being adjusted to the dimmer daylight, their eyes are sensitive to light, and a bright flash can easily damage the retina. Their hearing is poorer due to their lack of auricles.
The avian heritage makes three-dimensional thinking quite natural, giving them an edge as space navigators and 3D chess players. In extreme situations The Vultrim can draw energy from their surroundings and release it in a burst from the tips of their wings, with destructive results. The Vultrim see the use of the energy burst as extremely shameful; they'd never use it for themselves, but only as a last-ditch maneuver to save a family member or a superior, and the latter only if the superior has proved him/herself worth it. Genitals are similar in shape and function to humans'.
Evolution
According to scientists, the Vultrim share common heritage with the Eetch "birds"[1]. Both species evolved from "Sor-Eetch," a giant vulture-like mammal whose wingspan could exceed 30 feet. 1.5 million standard years ago, however, a planet-wide disaster occurred. It is unclear whether it was a gigantic volcano eruption or an asteroid impact, but it threw tons of coal dust into the atmosphere on the planet's equator.
Some of the Sor-Eetches escaped the dust cloud by moving closer to the poles. Some of those unable to escape the area found salvation in the clear mountain lakes. With decades, the dust cloud disappeared from the skies. However, the Sor-Eetches that had moved to water didn't change back to their original habitat. They spent less and less time in flight. Evolution took care of the rest.
Lifestyle
The Vultrim are a race of warriors and hunters with strong sense of honor. By their code of honor, a warrior who manages to wound his opponent first has won the combat, and the other is allowed an honorable retreat. If the opponent keeps fighting, the battle continues to the end. The victor is always honored, no matter how the victory was gained. The Vultrim appreciate life. A murder is an extremely rare crime on Tol Turgul. Wars are always fought between warriors, and killing civilians on purpose was a travesty unheard of before interplanetary contact.
A Vultrim becomes mature at the age of twelve to sixteen, and either chooses or is given a name, usually according to his or her interests or choice of career. Until then a childhood name, given by the parents, is used. The proper way to address a Vultrim is by the first name, preceded by titles (if any). The clan name (preceded by "g'Az'" = "of the clan" or "Az-arah" = "for clan") is used only when introducing, or in very formal occasions. In any other situation, the use of the clan name is considered insulting, indicating that the person has lost his or her personal honor.
A Vultrim gets on heat once a local year. This condition lasts in general twenty local days, and the timing is individual to person. It is the only time a Vultrim is fertile. During the heat, a Vultrim's tactile sense becomes stronger and adrenaline level rise high. He or she is easily irritated or aggravated, especially if he or she has no mate. He or she also shuns all clothing. The Vultrim don't see nudity shameful, as the heat cycle is a natural part of life. Among outworlders they wear clothes out of courtesy, though. The Vultrim naturally choose their mates from those who have their heat at the same time.
When defending their habitats, they first soften the enemy using large- caliber firearms, then glide down to engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. In melee, they either fight unarmed or use the Hal'ad, which is a crescent- shaped sword with two curved blades, and the Gepack, which is quite similar to halbard.
The planet is divided into 78 independent nations, 69 of which are loosely united and formed a democratic organ called Allied Nations. The power of the official government on an individual Vultrim is second to the power of his or her clan and family. The Vultrim worship a pantheon of deities.
Spacefaring history
The planet's first contact with others was around stardate 5347[2], when the Romulans, while establishing a trade route to the Klingon Empire, discovered the planet and found the large dilithium reserves under the vast oceans. They tried first to take the dilithium by force, but the Vultrim defeated them despite their inferior weaponry, by relentless guerrilla warfare. The second time the Romulans came, they came as traders. In exchange of the dilithium they gave the Vultrim a flotilla of their Bird of Prey starships with cloaking devices removed, which were practically obsolete by that time. The ships are still in use in the Turgulean navy, though greatly updated and optimized so they are equal in firepower to the Excelsior class. The Romulans mined dilithium for six years. With the crumbling of their Klingon alliance and the invention of the artifical singularity drive, maintaining connection with Tol Turgul became unprofitable. By that time the Vultrim had surveyed their own star system, but had no interest in exploring others.
The first Federation vessel entering the system was the USS Geronimo (Cheyenne class NCC-2021, captained by Anton Wolfspaw), on stardate 40522, which unfortunately arrived shortly after a Ferengi-supplied pirate raid, and was perceived as one of the raiders. A squadron of four Birds of Prey opened fire on the Geronimo, which was forced to return fire. The Geronimo had to destroy two Birds before it could retreat. The Geronimo managed to open communications with the Vultrim two days later. The Allied Nations of Tol Turgul became officially a member of the Federation on stardate 41226.
Footnotes
[1] A misnomer; the Eetch are mammals. Curiously, the name means both "cousin" and "ancestor." They resemble Terran condors with wingspan from six to nine meters (20-30 feet). The Vultrim don't grow the Eetch, but the birds often voluntarily choose to accompany and hunt with a Vultrim freely, often for several years. The Eetch possess a dolphin-level intelligence. Killing an Eetch is an unthinkable crime.
[2] The stardates aren't in synch with the game. The Romulans discovered Tol Turgul in the movie series era; the Geronimo incident happened 20 years ago.
