Welcome to another installment of Tuesdays at Quark’s. We’re continuing our jaunt through the Beta Quadrant with a look at the other species from the Rigel system, the Chelons. While the idea of saber-toothed turtles might seem like a silly idea, there are definitely ways to change it up. T’k-ghal is one of those ways.
Your mileage may vary, but I see the Chelons as a tragic race stuck with a number of evolutionary traits unsuited to living in space. They are androgynous, shifting between sexes, which means that they need large populations to make sure that they can procreate. They also have a structured society as evidenced by their “lords.” Change it up how you like but in my campaign Chelons are losing population and the solution is not obvious.
Not obvious to most, at least. Dr. T’k-ghal has a few ideas and those ideas all rhyme with Menetic Engineering. He’s convinced that he can restructure the Chelon genome to save them but that means breaking the prohibition against eugenics that is one of the core medical policies of the Federation. If Dr. Bashir can break it, though, then so can T’k-ghal. He’s a complex figure and one that offers the kind of philosophical debate that Star Trek is known for. Sure his tactics are harsh and his outlook is dangerously blunt but he’s also trying to save an entire species. Where does that fall on the ethical spectrum?
There are plenty of directions to take this, but here are a few plot hooks to get you started.
- When evidence points to Mailys Sault operating in the sector, the crew is joined T’k-ghal who is an expert in augmented humans. No one knows the Chelon’s true motivations, however, and so when they find and capture Mailys the crew will be unprepared for him to transport away with his prize.
- The crew is transporting an important medical officer to a remote starbase when they pick up the distress signal of a run about. The ship is actually empty, thigh, with a device that is faking lifesigbs of unconscious crew members. When the runabout or device is brought aboard, it releases a mutagenic virus that rapidly spreads through the players’ ship. T’k-ghan contacts them soon after saying that they will son all be dead unless they turn over the doctor in exchange for a treatment.
Click on the image below to get the PDF.
