Galub

Galub, sometimes called tremen, originated in east-central Cromrya. They are most at home in wet areas: swamps, bogs, drowning forests and mangroves.

The galub are huge three-legged upright plant-like beings, standing on average 15 feet tall. Adults can weigh up to 350 kg. They have five modified tendrils: three down-ward thrusting for firm support and movement (6 feet long), two functioning as arms and hands. The powerful arms, covered with poisonous thorns, are tipped with twig-like digits which have excellent dexterity and tactile sensitivity.

Galub have a single, large (30-cm) segmented, unblinking eye, located high up on the trunk. Their “ears” consist of fine plant fibres, growing on the top of their trunks that look like fine human hair. These fibres vibrate in response to sound within the normal (human) range.

Galub can slowly absorb nutrients through their three legs. In the centre of their bodies is a toothless maw with an eyelid-like covering, which is the opening to their stomachs, where gastric juices dissolve the larger solid foods.

Located above their stomachs is a coiled frond-like structure (10-foot long when extended) which can shoot out to strike at a target. The frond is coated in digestive juices (highly corrosive to organic matter). It can be withdrawn rapidly, but takes a while to re-coil.

The external surface of a galub is coated in a slimy sap which has a distinctive tomato-plant odour.

Galub have an affinity to various kinds of insects and other swamp dwellers. Swarms of insects may inhabit their bodies, or a nest of snakes might live in their trunks.

Galub communicate audibly through a percussion organ, like a xylophone, within their body cavities. These produce resonating basso-profundo tones which can be heard over great distances.

Although they have the fine motor skills for the task, galub have no writing system. Instead, their thoughts are encoded in living plant masses, like cysts, which grow within them. They are able to clone these cysts and transfer them to other galub, enabling mass-transfer of information. The offspring of a galub acquires a large part of its parent’s knowledge at birth in this fashion. Some scholars say that the galub are the keepers of the most-detailed and complete memory on Tem.

Galub value safety and peace, particularly in the company of friends and peers. Leadership and competitiveness are important to the galub, as is achievement and the enjoyment of mastery and influence. If roused, they are highly aggressive. This is tempered by morality, which they regard highly. They are loyal to family members, and are very patriotic.

Because of their inherited racial memory, galub are not individually bigoted, but are keenly aware of their connections with others. As a species, however, galub are chauvinistic and intolerant of other races, functioning independently and mostly oblivious to others.