Reol

[Akren Garkos]

One of the more elusive species in the galaxy, the Reol have a past shrouded in mystery, but what is known gives rise to wild speculation about their whereabouts, motives & abilities. At this time, the location of their current homeworld is unknown, but it is possible that an alliance could be formed if they are encountered under favorable circumstances.

[Akren Garkos]

In their natural form, most adult Reol have silvery skin, a hominid form, & stand five to six feet tall. Their body type is more slender than that of Humans, almost bony, with attenuated limbs on an angular frame. Freely waving thin tentacles hang loose from their heads instead of hair, along with a skeletal face, & dark, sunken eyes.

The Reol are natural chameleons, capable of secreting a chemical similar to acetylcholine, which acts on the portion of most species’ brains responsible for facial recognition & memory. Basically, this chemical acts as an idea implant. Contact with the chemical implants a ‘false memory’ for the Reol who originated it. The mind will automatically fill ‘normal’ details & history for the individual Reol in question, in essence masking Reol behind a perfect façade. The effect can be broken by the Reol that caused the memory implant through direct physical contact & deliberate effort.

It is nearly impossible to detect evidence of such tampering without an MRI done within hours of contact with the substance. After that, the chemical becomes undetectable, as the memories integrate with the subject’s brain patterns & are reinforced over time. Confrontation with evidence of the tampering can go some way towards mitigating its effects, but an affected individual will still retain false memories of a person whom they have never met, which will take some time to fade.

Clearly, this ability makes the Reol natural spies & infiltrators, & would put the SGC in a certain degree of danger if they were considered a threat to Earth. However, given their history it is unlikely (although not impossible) that they will move against humanity.

[Akren Garkos]

Most other species regard the Reol with fear & mistrust, & they return the feeling with interest. By nature, they are not aggressive species, nor one with a high interest in accumulating technology or weapons. Physically, they lack significant offensive abilities, nor do they have the scientific background to pose a threat by distance or energy weapons. While they heal much faster than Humans – a broken bone will knit with hours, not weeks - & have impressive reflexes & speed, their musculature is less developed, & their senses are comparable to those of Humans. Without their ability to blend in with a crowd, they lack any tangible advantages. As guerrillas or spies, however, their abilities become almost supernatural.

[Akren Garkos]

The original Homeworld of the Reol had a highly varied environment with many larger species capable of supporting the Reol’s nomadic hunter-gather lifestyle. The memory chemical which they secrete was developed as a natural response to a highly active, aggressive ecosystem, allowing them to deceive the senses of their prey & escape larger animals. Some of the other animals on their planet possessed an ability to blend to a limited degree, though without the Reol’s level of sophistication. The Reol survived at least two ice ages which killed off several species of larger predators.

Unfortunately, the planet’s Stargate happened to lie within the Goa’uuld System Lord’s network. Word of the Reol’s abilities reached the Goa’uuld, who invaded in force & nearly hunted them to extinction. The Reol were forced to abandon their original Homeworld in order to survive.

At this time, they are in the process of establishing a new colony on an unnamed planet somewhere a more isolated portion of the galaxy. They have stated that after the majority of their population reaches this new world, they will bury their Stargate in an attempt to avoid all further contact with the Goa’uuld. However, until then, the remaining Reol avoid contact with outsiders & try to make their way to their new planet, using whatever means are available to them.

[Akren Garkos]

Recorded history for the Reol starts at the time of their first encounter with an unknown off-world species – possibly Goa’uuld subjects – whom came through the Stargate on a scouting/trading party. At the time, the Reol population consisted of loosely organized tribes, with no domesticated animals, no constructed land vehicles, & side from canoes & small boats, no transportation options. Occasionally, individuals would go on ‘quests’ to meet up with other tribes & pass along stories, or a rare outlaw Reol would be banished (usually for violating hunting taboos & family laws). The tribes who lived within walking distance of the Stargate knew that it was an anomaly on the landscape, & not a natural formation; but lacking any technological explanation for it, they relegated it to the status of myth & mystery.

When the first alien species came through the Stargate, it took some time for the natives to either realize what had happened, or to feel the effects of the interlopers’ presence. Originally, the scouting/trading party who came through were interested in the natural resources of the planet, but after observing some of the local fauna, & their limited but still effective ‘stealth’ abilities, word got out that planet had unusual extra resources. More visitors came to study the local biology, & eventually, the native Reol became aware of outsiders in their midst.

Instead of directly confronting the alien visitors, they adopted their usual strategy; observation, escalating surveillance, & finally infiltration. They learned that their ability to blend in with a crowd was highly prized, as were the chameleon capabilities of the local animals. Highly alarmed, they stepped up their surveillance as well as passing the news of this new threat to surrounding tribes. Information traveled slowly, but within a year, most of the inhabitants of the Homeworld knew that visitors from outside their world existed, & that they weren’t friendly. Tribes of Reol actively avoided contact with the visitors now, & took measures to thwart their attempts to study the local wildlife.

The next development involved intimidation tactics : infiltrating their camps, committing acts of sabotage, & generally making their stay on the planet a unpleasant as possible. Amazing as it seems, the Reol efforts constituted a successful guerrilla war despite their lack of a central authority. Their advanced infiltration abilities & the continued efforts of off-world visitors to study & capture them rather than kill them both aided them in their struggle.

Within the next decade, however, the Goa’uuld became aware of the Reols’ existence, which was the beginning of the end of life on their native planet.

Invasion[/i]

Ra himself ordered the original invasion of the Reol Homeworld, in an effort to keep the news of the Reol’s abilities a secret from the other System Lords. The initial expedition force was of a limited size, & implemented through the Stargate, rather than by ship. Approximately one thousand Jaffa were sent to capture & subdue any members of the native population they could find. The Reol watched them from the moment they emerged from the Stargate, following their movements, memorizing their activities & infiltrating their ranks. More information was gathered & passed back to the tribes within days of the Jaffa invasion. It became immediately apparent that the removal of the Jaffa from the planet would be highly desirable.

Within the week, the natives instigated running skirmishes involving sabotaged supplies, diverted water courses, landslides, & other long-distance attacks, even as Reol infiltrators mislead the Jaffa at every turn. The first invasion was an unmitigated disaster, & the Jaffa returned to Ra empty-handed with only one-third of the troops with which they’d left, despite their superior weaponry & organization.

By this time, the Reol had assimilated enough knowledge of the Stargates to realize that this artifact was their best chance of escaping any further attacks. However, an immediate evacuation was not suggested, because they did not yet understand the sheer scope of the Goa’uuld influence. The tribal leaders called for a concordance (gathering) for all the tribes, an unprecedented measure. There, they shared knowledge of the Stargate’s workings, along with discussions of how to handle further attacks, should they come from other species. They decided that in the event of an attack, the Reol would escape to a nearby uninhabited world, & set up new camps & lives there.

Unfortunately, Ra’s forces returned with reinforcements via Goa’uuld motherships. The Jaffa instigated a systematic search-&-destroy mission, & the Stargate was guarded on a round-the-clock basis. The first chance of Reol escape was blocked, & it became necessary to formulate new plans.

Resistance[/i]

Jaffa forces began attacking camps & settlements across the planet, taking prisoners wherever possible. Within days, Ra’s army had a growing fifth column of Reol impersonators intermingled within his troops. Some set up an underground, transporting ‘captured’ Reol through the Stargate to other destinations. Others worked to free those Reol held prisoner aboard Ra’s mothership. Their efforts were partly successful; those Reol previously at liberty escaped the planet to the nearby system without casualties. However, the efforts of the Reol impersonators aboard the mothership were detected at a critical stage of the process, & rather than be capture, all Reol aboard the mothership fought to the death. Those left on the planet escaped through the Stargate, killing many Jaffa before making planetfall at their new home. By this time, the Reol population had been reduced by half.

The pattern repeated itself across many planets, & several systems, as Ra’s forces harried them across the galaxy. No sooner would the Reol find a new sanctuary, than the Goa’uuld would uncover them, & the cycle would begin again. Over the next two decades, news of Ra quest to subdue the Reol leaked out to the other System Lords, & the pursuit of their people became even more feverish as each Lord sought to claim a Reol for his or her own. During this time, several Reol were captured & examined, but the process by which they produced their chameleon substance could not be duplicated effectively. The Goa’uuld could not use dead Reol to synthesize the substance, & no living Reol would cooperate with their enemies. Most committed suicide while being taken into captivity, in hopes of protecting their people & frustrating the Goa’uuld

Hope[/i]

Finally, after thirty years of pursuit after fleeing their Homeworld, the tribal elders split their people apart, with only the inner circle of their highest chieftains aware of their next homeland. They adopted a policy of kamikaze infiltration & destruction, & a network of far-flung way stations, designed to lead refugees through roundabout routes to their new home. Several spies were left far behind the others in order to mislead Jaffa squads with false information.

At this time, the majority of Reol have apparently reached their new planet. But a skeleton underground is still trying to get ‘home’, attempting to elude the Goa’uuld & any other species which would turn them in to the System Lords. These operatives have avoided capture for decades in some cases, & would be highly wary to any contact with an unknown species or race.

[Akren Garkos]

The Reols’ culture used to be highly diverse & individual, based around the local geography of their planet & their nomadic hunting life. They emphasized different skills in the arts of weaving, painting, metalworking, & carving, depending on the resources of the region, the natural wildlife available, & possibilities suggested by the terrain.

The flight from their planet reduced most of this cultural information to mere scraps of memory, & some carefully hoarded skills preserved for use along the journey. The Reol have adapted quickly, learning to use Jaffa weapons, Goa’uuld technology, & techniques of agriculture & food production far different from those on their native planet. When they reach their new home, they will be able to apply this information in ways which will hopefully allow them to thrive in their new environment. But in order to survive as a species the Reol relied on their own skills of storytelling & song weaving, preserving an important part of their heritage in the process.

Nomadic cultures rely heavily on storytelling as a means of passing along information. So did the Reol at the time of the first Goa’uuld invasion. At the first concordance, certain songs were written & taught, for use in the case the Jaffa returned at some later date. These songs were passed around the tribes, detailing the acts which the Jaffa had committed & the Reol’s response. Embedded within these songs, in a code, was the name & address of the next planet which the Reol would flee to, should it become necessary. After the second invasion by Ra’s forces, a new song was sung on the next planet, again containing the coded location of a new sanctuary embedded in the notes (not words) of the song. This code, known to the Reol but never cracked nor discovered by the Goa’uuld, allowed the Reol not only to pass along information while in prison or while impersonating other species, but to do so under the very noses of their oppressors.

Reol music operates on a 14-tone scale, with several of the higher registers verging on the edge of human & Jaffa hearing. The music of a native species is also not the kind of information that the Jaffa or Goa’uuld regularly bother to learn, so they failed to realize the importance of the Reol’s songs.

The religion of the Reol was mostly totemic; they venerated the spirits of animals, stones, tress & rivers, along with the spirits of their ancestors. Exposure to the Goa’uuld ‘god’ theory & demands for worship were met with either bewilderment or outrage amongst those taken captive. Most Reol subsequently developed a religious leaning that emphasized vengeance & protection. Amongst some Reol, the Goa’uuld are specifically named as ‘demons’ & various curses are usually called down upon them. The Reol especially abhor broken promises, & their loyalty to each other is their most prized virtue. All outsiders are regarded as a threat until definitively proven otherwise.

At this time, the main authorities amongst the Reol are their tribal elders & shamans, those who wrote the song stories that kept them alive. The elders protect their people with fanatical devotion, & advocate avoiding & frustrating the Goa’uuld at all costs. Whether this attitude will relax most of their people have reached their new sanctuary is open for debate. Previous to the Reol exodus from their home planet, tribal elders & shamans held authority over no more than fifty to sixty people at a time; now, with their reduced numbers, any elder has the authority to ask for & expect obedience (or at least assistance) from any Reol. They do not always act on concert; with exception of their final goal of saving their people, they rarely agree on all issues. However, the Reol have a strong tradition of respect towards their leaders, & they will preserve an image of agreement in order to preserve their authority. Holding sway over spiritual matters, legal issues, & the life-preserving work of escape, they represent the most direct avenue into a diplomatic relationship with the Reol as a whole.

Secondary to the tribal leaders & shamans are the infiltrators on the front lines of the fight against the Goa’uuld. Most of them volunteered when they lost families or loved ones to Goa’uuld attacks, & are loyal to their people first, & the tribal elders & shamans a close second. They are not, strictly speaking, warriors or assassins – but they will act as such if forced to. As saboteurs & agents provocateurs, they have few equals, & receive instant respect & near-total obedience by Reol ‘civilians’ who depend on them for their lives.

Due to their constant status as fugitives, the Reol overlook of even laud many acts which might be regarded as crimes by other cultures. They value theft, impersonation, lying, & talent for causing trouble, since such qualities keep their people alive. But they also value personal integrity, & place a strong emphasis on putting the needs of the many over those of the individual.

[Akren Garkos]

Reol family life is in a state constant flux. , since so many families have been killed or split apart by the search for sanctuary. Family structure prior to this was patrilineal, with few gender-role differences & both sexes acting as hunters & gatherers for food. Shamans could be either male or female; the custom of taking one’s identity from the father’s family was simplest because females usually outnumbered males by a 3:2 margin. Few Reol married for life, but separations between mates usually amicable. Most familial bonds formed for the sake of children & only lasted until the children were raised.

Now, haphazard refugee ‘families’ & new tribes are being reformed along the path to their new planet. Older generations look after younger, & young adults adopt elderly Reol as their ‘grandparents’ if their own have been killed. Children are fostered to anyone who will take them. When life settles down on the new colony, new skills – such as the ability to build & use new technology – may become more important. For now, family is determined by circumstances, not blood.

[Akren Garkos]

As omnivorous hunter-gatherers, the Reol learned to find food in sparse conditions, & they quickly adapt to whatever new conditions they run across. They prefer strongly spiced food, with several small meals eaten throughout the day. Their protein needs are not as high as those for humans & Jaffa, but they do not have any outstanding dietary requirements that mark them as non-human while in ‘infiltration mode’.

The Reol tradition of music helped saved their people, & they have adapted it to their new circumstances as well. Most learn to blend their music into other cultures, only indulging in their native music & communication when amongst themselves. They possess many song-cycles which incorporate tales of the ‘First Meeting’, the ‘First Invasion’, the ‘Return of Ra’, the ‘Flight’, & the ‘Journey to the New Colony’ which all Reol operatives know & can sing when needed.

The Reol favor light, flowing, comfortable garments when amongst their own people. Animal furs & feathers were sometimes taken as trophies, but only worn for high occasions. However, when on hunt, or initiating an impersonation, the Reol will go naked both as a ceremonial gesture, & to insure the success of the endeavor. No foreign material may interfere. They do not have a written language of their own, although they do have ritual symbols (largely pictographic) for ceremonial purposes. Many Reol are now fully cognizant of Goa’uuld language, as well as the languages of other species whom they have encountered over time.

[Akren Garkos]

Whether the Reol will all find their colony, & then make plans to strike back at the Goa’uuld whom destroyed their Homeworld, remains to be seen. They are technologically backwards compared to the Goa’uuld, but they have proven very flexible, & accumulate new knowledge at a very fast rate. Hopefully, the SGC’s single encounter with the Reol laid the basis for a tentative friendship which could one day become an alliance with the people of Earth.

[Akren Garkos]

+2 Charisma, -2 Constitution. The Reol are exceptionally talents at using their natural abilities for deception & subterfuge, but are lanky & physically frailer than most species.

Chemical Deception:[/i] The Reol emit a neurotransmitting chemical that gives them the exceptional ability to blend in with beings around them. With a successful half action touch attack (see page 353 of the SG SG-1 core RPG book), the character may target one person with this ability. With success, all Disguise checks made to convince the target that the character is of the same species gain a +8 circumstance bonus. This bonus lasts for a number of rounds equal to the difference between the characters touch attack result & the targets Defense.

Unskilled Warriors:[/i] The character suffers a permanent -1 species penalty with all attack checks except the check required to activate his or her chemical deception species ability (see above).

Poor Species Reputation:[/i] The character suffers a -4 species penalty with all Diplomacy checks targeting a being who’s aware they are interacting with a Reol.

Cultural Weaponry:[/i] The character does not gain the Weapon Group Proficiency feats typically granted by his class, nor does he gain any replacements. He must choose Weapon Group Proficiency feats with his level-based & applicable bonus feats.

Species Feats:[/i] The character may choose level-based feats from the species feat tree (see page 264 of the SG SG-1 core RPG rulebook). Typically, a character may not choose feats from the species tree unless he possesses a character option that expressly allows him to do so.

Pay Grade:[/i] While working with the SGC, the character may choose to be paid as an enlisted solider or a specialist (refer page 283 of the SG SG-1 core rulebook). Alien characters are often paid in commensurate non-monetary concessions & favors.

Languages:[/i] Reol is a native language for the character.

Alien Observer[/u]

Some adventurous Reol use their natural blending talents to expand their knowledge of other planets & cultures. Much like Earth’s scientists who live amongst primates in order to better understand them, these Reol integrate themselves into other societies & harvest information & experiences for other members of their scattered species. Alien observers often spend great periods of time in the field, only rarely returning home to report their findings.

Special Talents

+2 Intelligence.

+1 Species bonus with Bluff & Cultures checks. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 4th level & for every 4 character levels gained thereafter. Alien observers must blend in perfectly with their target societies, & benefit directly from their findings.

Bonus Feat: Any basic skill feat. The character must still meet all prerequisites for this feat before choosing it.

Fugitive Reol[/u]

Seeking to discover the secret of the Reol’s chemical blending ability, the Goa’uuld hunt down Reol across the known galaxy, tasking relentless hordes of Jaffa with seizing them for interrogation, or worse. A small number of Reol remain just a step ahead of their pursuers using the pan-galactic system of Stargates, jumping from planet to planet to keep the System Lords distracted & to ensure that small cells of their fellow Reol survive in relative peace.

Special Talents

+2 Wisdom.

+1 Species bonus to Defense. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 4th level & for every 4 character levels gained thereafter. Reol on the run learn to avoid danger at all times, lest they be captured & all other Reol they know compromised.

Bonus Feat: Stargate Explorer. All prerequisites for this fest – including minimum character level – are waived.

Reol Mole[/u]

Though the Reol don’t embrace violence or conflict as a species, some among them are not adverse to aiding those fighting against their former oppressors, & act as spies & saboteurs for their cause. Some of these Reol present themselves to allies directly, while others quietly infiltrate the ranks of potential allies, assisting in silence or using a disguise.

Special Talents

+2 Charisma.

+1 Species bonus with Hide & Move Silently checks. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 4th level & for every 4 character levels gained thereafter. Reol moles are discrete about espionage & remain out of sight despite their immaculate disguises.

Bonus Feat: Shared Deception. All prerequisites for this fest – including minimum character level – are waived.