Schalli

Schalli
Base Information
Classification	Carnivore/chaser
Status	Minor Race
Locomotion	Swimmer
Terrain	Ocean
Body Form
Confluence	Non-humanoid
Bio-Identenoid	Amphibianoid
Size	3.1 meters
Weight	120 kilograms
Culture
Languages	Native Language
Social Structure	Technocracy
Technological Epoch	TL:0-3
Psionic potential	Standard
Origin World
Homeworld location	Vras (Old Expanses 0738)
UWP	A78A773-E Starport A Excellent: Starship Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel Size 7 Medium (11,200 km, 0.70g - 0.94g) Atmosphere 8 Dense Hydrographics A Water World 100% Population 7 Moderate (70 million) Government 7 Balkanization Law 3 Low Law (no automatic weapons) Tech Level E High Stellar (anti-grav cities)
Primary Star	M2 V
Atmosphere	Dense
Off-world presence	Yes
Zoetic individuals	Yes
Source
Reference	Path of Tears 25-27.
Canon	Yes
Also see	Amphibianoid

The Schalli of Vras (Old Expanses 0738) are a technologically primitive Minor Non-Human Race with a non-humanoid appearance. They have also been known as Kiiroka.

The Schalli are named for the planet Schall, on which their sapience was discovered, but they're actually from the planet Vras. Some people insist that they should be the "Vrax", but "Schalli" had quickly stuck.

Description (Specifications)

They are amphibious piscinoids (fish-like beings) specialized to take advantage of maritime and littoral environments. They are highly intelligent puzzle solvers and have an advanced language, culture, literature, and civilization. They keep a primarily carnivorous diet, but also eat small amounts of plant-like foods. The dexterity possessed by Schalli is adequate for sophisticated tool use.

The Schalli have a unique lung/gill system that allows them to breath both air and water. They are believed to have evolved from amphibians when the prehistoric polar ice caps of Vras melted and inundated most of the land surfaces.

Culture

Linguistics

Central to Schalli culture is choral singing, both as artistic expression and as a medium of planetary communication. These songs developed from simple warnings and declarations of territory and evolved into a global communication net. It is these songs that explain the continued homogeneity of culture and language over the 500 million Schalli on their homeworld of Vras. They maintain the Schalli sense of belonging, both in creating the choruses and in the comfort of their constant presence.

Naming

Schalli use personal and clan names, personal name placed first. The personal names are completely arbitrary, as Schalli find deeply alien the idea that a name might represent anything other than the person to whom it applies. Tribal Schalli sometimes name a child after the recently deceased, but the child is then brought up to “be” that person.

History & Background (Dossier)

In 1098, the first of several thousand "wild kiiroka" were captured (using chemical agents) and relocated to a research station on the nearly uninhabited and relatively worthless world Schall (Old Expanses 0638) as part of a research project by Dr. Darch von Changli. The sapience of the kiiroka was recognized immediately.

These findings were suppressed, out of concern for complication of property and mineral rights on Vras. (There were large and very lucrative private mining operations on Vras owned by several powerful noble families.)

Dr. Sarah Covington, who had been instrumental in proving Schalli sentience, managed to have her findings published anyway in 1113 by adopting the fiction that the Schalli were native to the planet Schall (hence the name she used), thus sneaking the book past Imperial censors. Once that fiction was pierced (in a matter of months), the book was suppressed and Covington was imprisoned for violating Imperial security statutes.

Astrography

This race is primarily located in the following areas:
Charted Space:

• Old Expanses Sector
  • Nicosia Subsector

Homeworld

The homeworld of this race is:

• Vras (Old Expanses 0738)

World Listing: 1105

Significant communities of this race are known to dwell within the following systems and worlds:

2 of 2 World articles in Schalli

Schall  •  Vras  •  

startbacknext(2 listed)

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen, Loren Wiseman. Path of Tears (Game Designers Workshop, 1994), 25-27.
• Steve Jackson, Loren Wiseman. Alien Races 4 (Steve Jackson Games, 2001), 101-106.
• Daniel Hammersley. The Freedom League (Avenger Enterprises, 2008), 146.