Tobai

Starport	C	Routine: No Construction, Major Repair, Unrefined fuel
Size	9	Large (14,400 km, 1.03g - 1.33g)
Atmosphere	6	Standard
Hydrographics	A	Water World 100%
Population	4	Moderate (90 thousand)
Government	1	Company/Corporation
Law	0	No Law
Tech Level	A	Early Stellar (jump drive)

Primary Star

M2 V M3 V

Atmosphere

Standard

Off-world presence

No

Zoetic individuals

Yes

Source

Reference

Planetary Survey 5: Tobibak 3-4,6,11-15,26.

Canon

Yes

Also see

The Tobai of Tobibak (Corridor 1011) are a technologically primitive Minor Non-Human Race with a Non-humanoid appearance.

Description (Specifications)[edit]

The Tobai are an aquatic Minor race native to Tobibak (Corridor 1011). They are similar to the Githiaskio, including some genetic similarities.

Physiology & Environment (Ecology)[edit]

Physically a Tobai consists of a central body, about half a metre long and 30 centimetres in diameter, with six half-metre tentacles projecting from the front. Tobai are strong swimmers and are capable of diving to depths of up to 650 meters. In addition to normal eyesight, the Toabi also possess a form of sonar.

Tobai have gills and breath underwater. Removing a Tobai from the water results in death (usually quite painfully) within a few minutes, from organ failure, dehydration, or asphyxiation.

Culture & Society (Ethnology)[edit]

The Tobai are a TL–0 society, consisting of tribes or clans of hunter/gatherers, organized from several family groups. They are transitioning to a TL–1 society. Tobai recognise the concept of ownership, as in possession of particular tools or jewellery, but not that of territory.

Linguistics[edit]

Tobai speak a language of clicks and whistles that sounds to the untrained ear like Githiaskian. Githiaskio can't understand it without training, but they at least have the vocal apparatus to produce the sounds. A few dedicated Humans have made some progress in understanding the Tobai language without translators, but they can't make the requisite noises to speak it. At first, these translators confused the Tobai; they believed the box was talking rather than the person holding it. This is still the case with Tobai who are unacquainted with offworlders, and has become something of a standing joke among Tobai who consider themselves cosmopolitan.

Lexicon[edit]

• Hani: "Tricksters"

• Hilkawi: The eternal darkness of the ocean depths.

• Kwithwoohe: The Tobai word normally used for "ocean", though it literally means "between", and refers to that layer of ocean where light penetrates (the top few hundred feet under normal conditions of daylight -- the Tobai can see in dimmer light than Humans).

• Liilakhwakii: "Faster than Thought". A term applied to Dolphins, whose rapid swim speed impresses the Tobai.

• Yaakwihi: The endless expanse of the sky, referring to both the land and the air beyond it.

• Yaakwihinahiaakwihi: "Sky Beyond the Sky"; the concept of space.

Technology & Trade (Economy)[edit]

The Tobai are a TL–0 society, consisting of tribes of hunter/gatherers, organized from several family groups.

Government Structure: 1105[edit]

Tobai mate for life, and children are reared by the entire tribe. Tribes are ruled by a group of elders, the old and wise drawn from both sexes, who are also religious leaders or healers as well. Elders select promising Tobai as "apprentices" and train them in the ways of leadership. Retired Elders still share in the general workload of the clan, and those too feeble to contribute will often choose to depart for the ocean depths or sacrifice themselves to predators for the sake of the group.

Folklore[edit]

Translations of Tobai oral folklore are highly speculative. Even the Githiaskio don't fully comprehend the nuances of Tobai language, although they have less trouble with it than Humans. Few Tobai are willing to perform their songs for outsiders, and some of those that do aren’t above fabricating an “ancient saga” to string the offworlders along.

The Day Khalik Red-Spot Wrestled the Gods relates the tale of a Tobai hunter who was accidentally scooped up by what was probably a free trader trawling for seafood. The Tobai only recently learned to distinguish maritime surface craft from spacecraft, but the tale seems to predate offworlder use of surface ships for fishing. The hero of the story briefly fought several processing workers and then escaped, falling back to the sea many miles from his original location. He returned to his people triumphant, with a swatch of waterproof cloth ripped from the clothing of one of the workers. The swatch is still a totem for the tribe in question, and was shown to the Githiaskio sophontological researcher Laloowilli Hoataallila. He was unable to inspect it in detail, but believed it to be from a civilian starship crew coverall of the period of the Vargr Campaigns in Corridor under the Third Imperium (210 to 348).

Astrography[edit]

This race is primarily located in the following areas:

Corridor Sector
- Strand Subsector

Homeworld[edit]

The homeworld of this race is:

Tobibak (Corridor 1011)

Given that the Tobai are almost certainly a transplanted offshoot of the Githiaskio, it is unknown who is responsible for their presence on Tobibak.

Speculation involves the Sokorrin and, inevitably, the Ancients.

World Listing: 1105[edit]

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

No world articles for Tobai

References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

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.

Scott Haring, Loren Wiseman. Planetary Survey 5: Tobibak (Steve Jackson Games, 2001), 3-4,6,11-15,26.
EXTERNAL LINK: Tobai by Admiral Savage