EDC Alien Dossier: The Tarkil
**REPORT TO THE EARTH DEFENSE COUNCIL: ALIEN DOSSIER 3-B: THE TARKIL**
**Overview**
The tarkil (/ˈtɑɹ-kɪl/) are a sapient spacefaring species native to the planet Tsaphon (/ˈtseɪ-fɒn/), located in Righteous Authority space. They are considered junior allies of the Harmonious Logh. Communication with the Tarkil Protectorate has proven impossible, but we have been able to gather a large degree of information from tarkil pirates and independent colonies.
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**Biology and Ecology**
Tarkil are an invertebrate species vaguely resembling large crabs, with eight legs and a wide shall with a flat carapace and fused plastron. Tarkil possess two sets of forelimbs, a pair of crustacean-like claws and a smaller pair of arms ending in seven-fingered hands. Fully grown tarkil stand on average about a meter tall.
Tarkil have two biological sexes and reproduce through laying and fertilizing eggs. Female tarkil typically lay only one egg at a time, and the young and raised by both parents.
The most interesting aspect of tarkil biology is their empathic link. This phenomenon is based on their twin antennae, which act as organic radio transceivers. Tarkil continuously and involuntarily broadcast radio signals modulated by their emotional state, which trigger sympathetic emotions in any tarkil who receives the signal.
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**Psychology and Society**
Tarkil can be divided into two broad social categories based on their empathic link - the Living, who possess the link, and the Dead, whose antennae have been amputated and who therefore no longer share the link. The relation between the Living and the Dead has a long and complicated history.
The Living can and do communicate verbally, but their ready and involuntary access to each other's emotions underlies all their interactions. Strong emotions are effectively contagious, spreading rapidly from one Living to another, leading to frequent mass public displays of emotion. Communal bonds between the Living are very strong, and violence between the Living is virtually unheard of.
The Dead cut themselves off from these phenomena, putting themselves outside traditional tarkil society. Most notably, the Dead possess the capacity to do violence against other tarkil and have violence done against them, something which is always a permanent and visible choice.
To the tarkil, the empathic link is not just a vital component of their way of life, but what separates them from mere animals. As a result, neither the Dead nor alien species are regarded as fully morally valuable people, although practical concessions are sometimes made. They consider aliens to be inherently untrustworthy, leading the species to be perceived as paranoid and xenophobic in the extreme.
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**Government and Galactic Relations**
At various times and places in their history, the tarkil have been ruled by both popular assemblies of the Living and warrior-aristocracies of the Dead. At present, however, the species is mostly united under the Tarkil Protectorate, a client state of the Righteous Authority.
The Protectorate is a totalitarian police state where all state power is centralized in an executive council. The Chancellor, the Protectorate's chief diplomat, the Commandant, its highest-ranking military officer, and the Warden, head of the Protectorate's internal security forces, all hold permanent seats on the council, and jointly decide the rest of its membership.
Severing of the empathic link is strictly illegal in the Protectorate except when done in service to the state. This naturally means that diplomats, soldiers, and uniformed police officers are overwhelming Dead, while the general population are primarily Living. Some Living also act as spies and secret police for the Warden, using the empathic link to police treasonous or unpatriotic emotions.
The Protectorate is nominally an independent state, but in practice it is governed by the Righteous Authority, with the executive council unwilling or unable to defy logh orders. Tarkil forces are integrated into the Righteous Authority's military in units jointly commanded by tarkil commanders and logh political officers.
Needless to say, the Protectorate is deeply unpopular with the general population. However, its internal security apparatus is extremely effective, and the general unwillingness of the Living to resort to violence has made resistance difficult to impossible. The majority of free tarkil consist of refugees, independent colonies, and Dead pirates.
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**Conclusions**
As a client state of the Righteous Authority, the Tarkil Protectorate must be considered an enemy. While resistance movements against the Protectorate exist, cooperation with them will be almost impossible, due to tarkil xenophobia. We have had more luck in establishing relations with Dead pirates, who are more used to dealing with strangers and who typically have no love for the Protectorate. It is possible that they could help open negotiations with some of the free tarkil colonies.
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