Gl'lu

Starport	X	No Starport
Size	0	Asteroid/Planetoid Belt
Atmosphere	0	Vacuum
Hydrographics	0	Desert World 0%
Population	0	Barren (0)
Government	0	No Government structure
Law	0	No Law
Tech Level	0	Pre-Industrial (primitive)

Primary Star

Atmosphere

Off-world presence

No

Zoetic individuals

Source

Reference

Deneb Sector 53-54,85-86.

Canon

Yes

Also see

The Gl'lu are a Minor Race from Kubishush (Deneb 0917).

Physiology

The Gl'lu are a hermaphroditic species sporting four arms and three legs on their stout bodies. Crowning their heads are three eye stalks. Oxidation of the ammonia in the air drives their metabolism.

Their planet circles at the outer edge of the star’s habitable zone, giving them average temperatures of -40°C. A dense nitrogen atmosphere hides ammonia seas and geologically active terrain.

Society & Culture

Gl'lu Technology & Trade

Over the post-Imperial contact centuries, trade with the Imperials inadvertently raised Gl'lu technology to the point where they could not help but develop better disaster recovery methods. While most Gl'lu do not enjoy the benefits of TL–14 technology, the elite Unaga developed ways to protect themselves from planetary catastrophes. The most popular method utilizes borrowed elements of Vincennezi technology. The Unaga began to build floating cities with gravitic capabilities to lift them into the upper reaches of Kubishush's atmosphere during times of high seismic and/or meteorological activity. Low-common technology generally reflects the technology of the land-based Gl'lu, or Kilig Gunati, who comprise the majority of the population. The Kilig Gunati on the whole do not benefit from the technological advancements made by the Unaga and continue to be subjected to the violent upheavals of the planet.

While only about 10 percent of the Gl'lu enjoy high-common technology, the centuries of imbalance have allowed the Gl'lu to increase their population from approximately 800 million at first contact with Imperial surveyors to about 14.7 billion inhabitants at the present time. Because of the disparity in technology levels between the Unaga and the Kilig Gunati, however, the Gl'lu currently have a large surplus of "elite" citizens. One might think that the Kilig Gunati would resent this arrangement. Surprisingly enough, they do not. Gl'lu on the whole are extraordinarily accepting of ewang'vn or "fate." Because of a natural propensity for lending a helping hand to fellow Gl'lu, the Unaga are known to do whatever they can to help the Kilig Gunati through the turmoil of natural disasters. This extensiveness seems to curtail resentment of the social inequalities that exist on Kubishush. Unaga factions are surprisingly paternal and territorial over the groupings of Kilig Gunati they protect, however, and are not likely to assist a rival faction with disaster relief. Parcels of Kilig Gunati territory are unofficially under the protection of individual Unaga factions that report to the Sananes. So it is that the ambiguous traits of racial extensiveness and internecine competition meet in Gl'lu society.

Uplifted by Imperial and Regency technology, the Gl'lu have become a minor starfaring race. Thousands of Gl'lu traders can be found throughout the region, selling their high-grade materials and innovative environmental products. Through years of study, the Gl'lu have found ways to implement their knowledge of catastrophe-defying technology into usable products by humans, Vargr and Droyne (the three most common races in the region).

Though the Gl'lu have also invented high-tech environment suits and PLSSs to protect them and nourish them with ammonia-tainted nitrogen, they generally do not stray too far from home. Few worlds present an atmosphere that is breathable in the long term for the Gl'lu and even fewer are dense enough to provide a comfortably high gravity level.

Gl'lu Archtitecture

Gl'lu architecture is universally the most sound and durable one is likely to find. The Gl'lu mastery of materials technology gives them the ability to produce TL–14 bonded superdense alloys. The most common shape for Gl'lu buildings is a flattened sphere with an interior "rolling sphere." During large quakes, the rolling sphere within rotates on its transverse axis, thereby protecting the inhabited interior structure from toppling onto its side. The rounded edges, spherical rooms, elliptical entryways and portals of the interior remind many cosmopolitan travellers of aslant architecture. A closer look, however, will reveal numerous microstruts and jambs throughout the interiors of Gl'lu buildings, intended to ensure the integrity of each and every wall and doorway.

The Gl'lu are nothing if not meticulous about safety and the strength of their constructions. Following punishing earthquakes and storms, Gl'lu corporate buildings and housing complexes are frequently found intact hundreds of meters from their original locations. Their inhabitants may be frightened and perhaps bruised, but most often protected by the strength of the building hull. So strong is the outer hull of these buildings that they can often be recovered even after slipping into crust fissures during particularly heavy quakes. Cities on Kubishush are generally regions dotted with hundreds or even thousands of these flattened spheres, with nothing by dry rocky land in between. Huge grav tugs are employed to transfer buildings to other regions when a corporate headquarters or factory requires relocation to another Kubishushi region. Because of the frequent movement of Kubishushi buildings, both natural and unnatural, the planet has no "cities," per se. Regions are sometimes given unofficial names or nicknames, but due to the everchanging nature of the Kubishushi landscape, the convention of naming geographic regions is almost obsolete on Kubishush.

Gl'lu Starship Architecture

Because of the Gl'lu obsession with safety and security, their starships are also unique within the realm of Regency Space. The Gl'lu are accustomed to inhabiting small spaces and require only a fourth of the space necessary to lodge the average human. Staterooms, generally built to house up to eight Gl'lu, displace only four metric tons. Gl'lu starships contain hardy ammonia filtration systems to keep the nitrogen atmosphere comfortably tainted. Humans visiting Gl'lu starships have noted the constant meter-high fog that covers the floors of the ship. Many humans marvel at the tight accommodations and seeming uniformity of all rooms on the ship. Many touring humans have been known to become lost in Gl'lu ships, unable to differentiate one room from another, an occurrence from which the Gl'lu derive great merriment.

Perhaps the strangest feature of Gl'lu starships is their obsession with backup systems. All Gl'lu starships have two maneuver drives, one on each end of the ship, negating the need for turnaround and retrofire. Any ships built for planetary landing also employ two contra-gravity units as well. While these are the most common redundancies on Gl'lu ships, many Gl'lu are known to install their ships with backup power plants, jump drives, bridge workstations and large quantities of backup hull material. To a human, this lack of concern for wasted space is ludicrous, but to a Gl'lu, humans are living on borrowed time in their poorly backed up ships. Most Gl'lu starships and spaceships are built in the familiar flattened sphere configuration, with large ovular openings for maneuver drive, jump drive and antenna surface space. It is currently popular to build modular ships with interlinked spheres. Multiple-sphere modular ships look something like giant metallic earthworms.

Gl'lu Physiology

Gl'lu possess unique physiological characteristics. The Gl'lu are hermaphroditic septapods (seven-limbed) sophonts whose metabolism is based on the oxidation of ammonia in Kubishush's atmosphere. Upon first meeting a Gl'lu, the first feeling most humans have is revulsion. Their porous mottled skin, six slimy appendages and periscope-like eyestalk make them look like a cross between a Terran octopus and a slug. Upon first encountering the race during the Grand Survey, scouts mistook them for a far-flung colony of githiaskio or genetically-altered hivers.

Psychology & Philosophy (Mindset)

Kubishush is a tumultuous world filled with mystery. Geological and political concerns make unravelling the mystery all the more difficult. While the Gl'lu are an amiable and sociable minor race, eager to trade and exchange ideas with their human and Vargr neighbors, they often appear secretive about their history or motivations. People who know the Gl'lu are aware that this apparent secrecy is not secrecy at all but rather acceptance. Living in an environment as harsh as Kubishush's, the Gl'lu have learned to accept impending fate and the frequent death of friends and family members. Discussing such events at length or the long history of Kubishush's cataclysms serves no purpose as far as the Gl'lu are concerned, other than to prolong one's sorrow for lost compatriots.

Government & Politics (Leadership)

The Gl'lu Sananes, literally translated as "young one," is the solitary ruler of the entire planet. Sananes are elected by a council of elders from among the dynastic families of the Unaga, or "exalted ones." The Sananes rules from early adolescence until it reaches maturity at about the age of 32 human years. Geriatric effects set in so quickly after maturity for Gl'lu that their culture has developed the tradition of bestowing leadership upon its youth. The position of Sananes is an honored one, but little fought over. The 17 electoral gerontocrat seats, however, are vehemently sought by Unaga who pass maturity. A gerontocrat electoral seat is held for the lifetime of the Gl'lu who acquires it. Because of the long lifespan of the Gl'lu (about 120 human years), opportunities for gerontocrat positions are few and far between. Selection of gerontocrat positions is determined by the outcome of a peculiar tournament, in which all eligible mature Gl'lu compete with one another for the available seat. Humans visiting Kubishush during gerontocrat selections have compared the game to "marbles," a game commonly played by human children on low-tech worlds in which small opaque glass spheres are rolled or hurled at each other.

Perhaps the greatest Sananes ever was S'lmar Vovon, who lived from 1098-1192. S'lmar developed and administered the global recovery project following arguably the worst Yulangngol in Gl'lu history. In 1108, over two billion Gl'lu died when the convergence of two tectonic plates created a quake so severe that Kubishush's smallest continent effectively sank below the surface of one of the planet's ammonia oceans. S'lmar Vovon directed the recovery project so efficiently that other than the fatalities, little evidence of the catastrophe's effect on Gl'lu society could be seen five years after the incident.

Language

Their languages are not particularly difficult for humans to learn.

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 Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

Gary L. Thomas. The Travellers' Digest 01 (Digest Group Publications, 1985), 35.
Gary L. Thomas, Joe Fugate. The Travellers' Digest 19 (Digest Group Publications, 1990), 27.
Rob Caswell. MegaTraveller Journal 1 (Digest Group Publications, 1991), 25.
Dave Nilsen. The Regency Sourcebook (Game Designers Workshop, 1995), 57.
Robert Eaglestone. Deneb Sector (Mongoose Publishing, 2012), 53-54,85-86.
External Link: RICE Paper: Kubishush/Inar by Christopher Griffen published 26 September 1995