Taalo

The Taalo are a race of rocklike beings, which, although sharing a base of silicon with the Chenjesu, are very little reminiscent of them. Their former homeworld is the moon Delta Vulpeculae II-C.

The only clue to what their physiology was like is given in a conversation with the neo-Dnyarri. "They were nothing more than thugs, especially the hideous Taalo. Those evil rocklike creatures were the worst of all! For fun, they would take one of our children... and then... roll over it!... again and again." From this, it may be assumed that the Taalo were capable of rolling in some manner. Whether or not this was their primary means of locomotion is unknown. However, given the credibility of the source, it may not be true at all.

The Taalo were the first sentient race to encounter the Ur-Quan, and enlisted them into the Sentient Milieu. They were the only race that did not invoke the Ur-Quan's inherent territoriality, and the two species became close friends. They were innately immune to the Dnyarri psionic powers, so the Dnyarri forced the enslaved races of the Sentient Milieu to destroy them. The Taalo frantically attempted to build a device that would grant their former allies the same psychic-defense but before they could announce complete success, they were attacked and destroyed. For a long time, the Taalo were thought to be extinct. However, speculation has led some to believe that the Taalo still live.¹ They were the only race of the Sentient Milieu that is known to have lived in the region of the galaxy now occupied by the New Alliance of Free Stars. The Taalo may well still exist in some form; the Orz refer to them in the present tense and mention that they have *spread* to *Pretty Space* to escape the Dnyarri, but that, now, the Orz *chase* them ("them" might refer to either the Taalo or the Dnyarri, most likely the former). Given that their region of space has recently been associated with Inter-Dimensional Fatigue phenomena, namely the research of the Androsynth and the presence of the Orz, it may be possible that the Taalo were also in possession of some sort of IDF technology.

Notes and references

¹From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):

<_Stilgar> <che`z`puf> Are the Taalo really dead, and when the Pkunk spoke of rocks that were awakened, did they mean the Taaolo?

<Fwiffo> The Taalo LIVE!

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