Orca

Starport	A	Excellent: Starship Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel
Size	8	Large (12,800 km, 0.80g - 1.08g)
Atmosphere	6	Standard
Hydrographics	7	Wet World 70%
Population	A	High (10 billion)
Government	6	Captive Government/Colony
Law	9	High Law (no weapons out of home)
Tech Level	F	High Stellar (anagathics)

Primary Star

G2 V

Atmosphere

Standard

Off-world presence

Yes

Zoetic individuals

Yes

Source

Reference

Gateway to Destiny 36.

Canon

Yes

Also see

The Orca of Terra (Solomani Rim 1827) are a technologically sophisticated Uplift with a Non-humanoid appearance.

Description (Specifications)[edit]

The Orca or "Killer Whale" (Orcinus orca), less commonly, Blackfish or Seawolf, is the largest species of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae), a mammal native to Terra and related to Dolphins.

Physiology & Environment (Ecology)[edit]

Orcas are distinctively marked, with a black back, white chest and sides, and a white patch above and behind the eye. Calves are born with a yellowish or orange tint, which fades to white. Orcas have a heavy and stocky body and a large dorsal fin with a dark grey "saddle patch" at the fin's rear. Males normally grow from 6.5-8 m long and weigh in excess of 6.0 tonnes; it has been reported that especially large males have reached nearer 8.0 tonnes. Females are smaller, growing from 5.7-7m and a weight of about 5 tonnes. Calves at birth weigh about 180 kg and are about 2.4 m long. The Orca's large size and strength make them the fastest marine mammals, often reaching speeds in excess of 56 km/h.

Scarring[edit]

Ritual scarification among Orca has become part of their cultural identity. To bear a scar, an Orca must prove themselves a valuable member of the family group, pod and clan (see social structure, below). Scarring is often performed by Spirit Singers, or else by those who have undergone years of training and study for the task. Scar designs are traditionally geometric, incorporating swirls, curves and waves, with in-fill designs consisting of solid blocks or lines of varying thickness. Scar placement also has significant meaning.

History & Background (Dossier)[edit]

Solomani genetic engineers uplifted a large number of Orca (Orcinus orca sapiens) for much the same reasons as Dolphins. Orca are generally less friendly than Dolphins, and tend to live apart from Humans.

GenAssist, a Solomani corporation responsible for the uplifting of many Terran species, was responsible for the modern Orca, an offshoot of the same project that eventually resulted in the sophont Dolphin. The Orca project was begun on Terra but was officially cancelled only eight years later, supposedly due to the cost of the programme and the size of Orcas presenting problems when transporting them off planet. However, the lead scientist involved, Rene Hodge, successfully convinced a number of dedicated followers on Sufren to fund the relocation of the project to that planet's unusually Terran-like biosphere. There, the uplift process proved highly successful. Sufren is generally now considered "the Orca homeworld".

Society[edit]

Orca are highly social and have a very strong concept of family. Orca trace heritage through the matrilineal line, with the oldest female in any group taking up the role of Matriarch, considered the final authority for the group. She imparts punishments when necessary and make rulings in areas of dispute among those under her care. When groups come together, Matriarchs themselves defer to the oldest female in the larger group who they judge as related to them.

Social Structure[edit]

Family group
Pod
Clan
Community
Great Pod

The smallest social structure among Orca is the family group, consisting of the Matriarch, her sons and daughters, and the descendants of her daughters. Family groups can have many generations living together and number up to 40 individuals, although they average 5-10. When the Matriarch dies, her eldest daughter assumes her position. Any other daughters split away and become Matriarchs of their own family groups (the sons of a deceased Matriarch form a bachelor group with their brothers).

The next largest social structure is the pod, consisting of two to five family groups closely related along the maternal line. When family groups come together in their pod, the eldest Matriarch is recognised as Pod Matriarch. By tradition, male Orca will not mate with any female from their own pod.

Clans are composed of pods which speak the same dialect of the Delphinic language and have common but older maternal heritage. Clan territories overlap, mingling pods from different clans.

The next largest social structure is the community, a group of clans which regularly co-mingle but do not necessarily share the same dialect. A community is led by the eldest Matriarch from among its clans, referred to as the Philosopher-elder of her community. Philosopher-elders have great responsibilities, being required to know the familial relationships held among the clans and expected to attend to matters that effect the entire community, not just their own family interests.

The Great Pod is the last and largest Orca social structure, though is really just shorthand for "all the Orca on a planet". The Great Pod is led by a council of the Philosopher-elders of each community. They ideally work together for the benefit of every Orca, but just like any political structure, rivalries can grow and factions develop.

Astrography[edit]

This race is primarily located in the following areas:

Homeworld[edit]

The homeworlds of this race are:

Terra (Solomani Rim 1827)
Sufren (Diaspora 2004)

World Listing[edit]

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

6 of 6 World articles in Orca

578-420 • Aegir • Jammu (CM 0113) • New Challenge • Sufren • Udipeni •

startbacknext(6 listed)

References[edit]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Orca. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of Wikipedia is available under the Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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.

Charles E. Gannon. Astrogators' Guide to the Diaspora Sector (Game Designers Workshop, 1992), 6.
Kevin Knight. "Astrogator's Update to Diaspora Sector." Traveller Chronicle 02 (1993): 43.
Martin Dougherty, Hunter Gordon. Gateway to Destiny (QuikLink Interactive, 2004), 36.
Darren Bulmer. Aliens of Charted Space: Volume 3 (Mongoose Publishing, 2022), 196.