Jabberwock

Jabberwock
Base Information
Classification	Carnivore/killer
Status	Uplifted Race
Locomotion	Walker
Terrain	Rough
Body Form
Confluence	Non-humanoid
Bio-Identenoid	Alien
Size	2.6 meters
Weight	400 kg
Culture
Languages	Native Language
Social Structure	Anarchy
Technological Epoch	TL:10-12
Psionic potential	Standard
Origin World
Homeworld location	Kasaan (Solomani Rim 1711)
UWP	A785757-D Starport A Excellent: Starship Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel Size 7 Medium (11,200 km, 0.70g - 0.94g) Atmosphere 8 Dense Hydrographics 5 Wet World 50% Population 7 Moderate (10 million) Government 5 Feudal Technocracy Law 7 Moderate Law (no firearms) Tech Level D Average Stellar (holo data)
Primary Star	G2 V M8 V
Atmosphere	Dense
Off-world presence	No
Zoetic individuals	Yes
Source
Reference	"Bestiary: The Crested Jabberwock." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 15 44-45.
Canon	No
Also see

The Jabberwock of Kasaan (Solomani Rim 1711) are an Uplifted Race with a Non-humanoid appearance and technologically sophisticated sophonts.

Physiology & Environment (Ecology)

Originally Jabberwocks were bilaterally-symmetrical homeothermic quadrupeds, standing about 1.2 meters tall at the shoulder and measuring some 2.6 meters in length. Their anatomy is unusual in that they have four two chambered hearts. A fully grown specimen weighs over 400 kilograms. Their head is mounted on a long neck, and is topped with a large multicolored crest which normally lies flat, but is displayed during mating rituals and territorial fights. Their mouth is full of razor sharp teeth and spikes run down the spine to the base of the tail. The skin is very tough and furless. Jabberwocks are colored a light reddish brown. There is little apparent difference between the male and females of the species. Sentient individuals tend to be a bit smaller, about 350 kilograms, about 2.3 meters in length. Their forepaws have been altered to be manipulative members capable of using tools. Their mouths have been altered to allow them to speak some human words. This is very crude speech, and most Jabberwocks use electronic translators, but are capable of getting their point across in a pinch. GenAssist planned on improving this, but the Collapse intervened.

Jabberwock senses are superior to human senses. They have an excellent sense of sight and they can see from the blue edge of human sight into the shortwave IR (around 1.5 microns). This does not let them see in the dark as the Ithklur do, but instead gives them extra colors. As such their sense of fashion and color sense often appear odd to humans as the humans simply do not perceive all the colors. Their sense of hearing is also superior. Their sense of smell is equivalent to humans. The Jabberwock sense of taste is somewhat less than humans. As such Jabberwocks do not have a large variety of cuisine, almost all of it tastes the same. When they do prepare a dish, it tends to extremely heavily spiced so that can taste some portion of the flavor. Humans who share a Jabberwock prepared meal should be forewarned. Their diet in general consists of large portions of meat. While they are carnivores, small quantities of vegetables and grains are good for their health. Each Jabberwock will consume 10-15kg of food a day, 90% of it being meat. They can and willingly eat both cooked and raw foodstuffs.

History & Background (Dossier)

The uplift of the Crested Jabberwock (Jabberwockiscristatus Saevitia), also called the nightclaw, fanged death or simply the jabberwock, was started by GenAssist in 952 and was the last such project before the Collapse. The First Solomani Rim War and the loss of the coreward sections of the Solomani Rim forced the project to move from the Jabberwock's homeworld of Kassan (Solomani Rim 1711) to an undisclosed location in Alpha Crucis.

Several hundred experimental specimens and most of the research facilities were relocated before Kassan fell to the invading Imperial forces. The loss of the the native population delayed the project, but wasn't a fatal blow. A few worlds had captive Jabberwocks in zoos and GenAssist had a great deal of genetic material.

GenAssist created the Jabberwocks to be a warrior species for the Solomani Confederation. The company had created several other warrior species from Terran animal stock, but the Jabberwocks were native to a world with a dense atmosphere. It was hoped that Jabberwocks would be able to fight on those worlds where Terran species were ill suited. GenAssist's primary market was the military, but it was also thought that the Jabberwocks could be used as civilian security guards. Four hundred kilograms of teeth and claws is a lot more intimidating than the standard rent-a-cop with a badge.

The Solomani Military was divided on the use of of uplifted sophonts as troops. It was agreed that they would never serve as officers, but some thought any use of non-human troops went against the principals of the Solomani Movement. GenAssist managed to convince a few member worlds of the Confederation to try a few small units of Jabberwocks. They were about to sign a major contract with Vyborg, but the Collapse intervened. GenAssist did not sell the Jabberwocks as slaves, but rather as sort of indentured servants. GenAssist had gone through a long and costly procedure to create the Jabberwocks and it needed to get a return on its investment. Individuals served in a military unit voluntarily and received a regular paycheck, but a third of this paycheck went back to GenAssist. Also when GenAssist managed to secure a work contract for a group of Jabberwocks, it took a cut of the profits. In return for the Jabberwocks received free medical care and training on how to live in Solomani culture.

History: Jabberwocks in the New Era

There is a large colony of Jabberwocks in Alpha Crucis where the uplifting process was moved to after the Solomani Rim War. This colony has 5-10 thousand Jabberwocks and is located on a world with a dense atmosphere.

During the Rebellion, several units of Jabberwocks were used against Imperial forces. A unit may have survived on some world where fighting took place. Several worlds in the Solomani Confederation had units of Jabberwocks serving with their military and since Jabberwock military units have both male and females the remnants of these units might have started a self sufficient population.

Jabberwocks were often shipped in low berth. This was because starships did not offer sufficient space for the Jabberwocks to get away from each other and humans. Voyages awake were often quite stressful on the Jabberwocks. If the Jabberwocks ever design their own starships, they will most likely be quite large, much like the K'Kree, though for the exact opposite reason. A troop transport of Jabberwocks which was in flight during the Collapse could survive until the New Era. The human crew would most likely be dead, killed by the Virus, but the Jabberwocks would survive in low berth. If they were found by explorers, they could be revived and introduced into a new society. They would attempt to return to Solomani space, once they learned that the Solomani did not exist anymore, or that the journey was impossible to accomplish. They would attempt to serve with the closest human government. If that was impossible, they would serve with what ever humans they could find. They would not care too much about the structure of the human government that they served. A dictatorship would be just as good as a democracy. They would not serve or assist criminal elements like pirates or smugglers.

A Vampire could have revised the Jabberwocks and could be trying to continue the uplift process. A Vampire's vision of uplift could be quite different than GenAssist's. Cybernetic implants would probably be involved. Also what purpose would the Vampire want to use the Jabberwocks for.

Psychology & Philosophy (Mindset)

Pre-sentient jabberwocks are one of the most aggressive species known to modern exobiology. They are also extremely territorial, attacking any trespassers of any species. They only tolerate others of their species during a short mating season. These traits do not make them very social, and had to be modified in the sentient brethren. Uplifted Jabberwocks are still very aggressive, but this aggression is controlled and is channeled into several areas. Jabberwocks are very aggressive during combat and hardly ever turn down a fight. They are also extremely competitive, both in their professional careers and their personal lives. Many of them take part in sporting events of all sorts. While they are great fans of rugby, they are not often invited to play versus human teams for obvious reasons. Jabberwocks tend not to be interested in sports as spectators only as participants.

GenAssist instilled in the Jabberwocks a deep loyalty to the Solomani Cause and to those humans who were in charge of the Jabberwocks. This loyalty did not correspond to all humans, for instance a unit of Jabberwocks had no problems when ordered to help put down a rebellion on Kestral/Spica. The Jabberwocks also believe that the humans are inherently superior to themselves and that most humans are smarter and better educated. If a Jabberwock is confused or without guidance it will seek out human leadership.

Culture & Society (Ethnology)

One of the few activities that Jabberwocks gather together in large numbers to participate in is dancing. GenAssist turned some of their mating rituals into a fondness for elaborate dancing. This dancing is very energetic with Jabberwocks running, jumping, throwing themselves across the stage and rearing up. The dance tends not to be a choreographed performance, but consists of all available Jabberwocks thrashing around for the sheer pleasure of dancing. The dance is performed for the enjoyment of the participants, not an external audience. Occasionally a few favored people are invited to watch.

Jabberwocks are still solitary creatures but they can stand and even enjoy the company of others both human and jabberwock. Their tolerance for others depends on the individual, even the most sociable individual tends to spend several hours alone each day. They spend this time exploring their surroundings, practicing hobbies, or even contemplating the universe, though their philosophies are simplistic and tend towards the violent.

Social Organization

True to their pre-sentient nature, Jabberwocks do not have a very strong family structure. A pair of Jabberwocks will link up for about 18 months, as the female becomes pregnant and then for the first six months of the youngling's life. After this the couple go their separate ways, treating each other the same as any other member of the community. For the most part the Jabberwocks, after the first six months, have left the raising of their young to GenAssist personnel. This is very much like the behavior of presentient Jabberwocks, who have nothing to do with their offspring after that first six months. GenAssist has preferred this arrangement, as the Jabberwocks are still in the process of being uplifted, and this way GenAssist was more in control. They do realize that the Jabberwocks will have to take a more active part in child rearing as their forced evolution proceeds. The plan was to create an environment where the young were raised by the entire Jabberwock community. The Collapse interfered with this plan, and it is unknown what the state of Jabberwock family structure is in the New Era.

Astrography

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

• Solomani Rim Sector
• Alpha Crucis Sector

Homeworld

The homeworld of this race is:

• Kasaan (Solomani Rim 1711)

World Listing: 1105

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

No world articles for Jabberwock

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

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.

• Loren Wiseman. "Bestiary: The Crested Jabberwock." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 15 (1983): 44-45.
• Lewis Roberts. BARD CARI 9005
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science