Yalu (symbiont): Difference between revisions

[[File:Yoganyalu3.jpg|thumb|200px|Yogan, the eighth and current host of the Yalu symbiont]]'''Yalu''' (born 2030) is a [[Symbiont|symbiont]], a sentient vermiform lifeform native to the planet [[Trill (planet)|Trill]].  Yalu, like all symbionts, is capable of living symbiotically inside hosts of the humanoid [[Trill]] species.  Each joining of Yalu to a humanoid host creates a new, unique individual, who carries the memories of the previous hosts.  As of {{CurrentStarYear}}, Yalu's eighth and current host is [[Yogan Yalu|the former Yogan Verso]].

While the Trill possess a similar average lifespan to Humans, Bajorans, and other Alpha Quadrant humanoid species, the symbionts are considerably longer-lived.  When a humanoid host dies, the symbiont is joined to a new host, bringing the collected memories and personalities within.  A symbiont can be joined to many hosts over time; Yalu's current host is the eighth.

Edanne was born in 2167 in a village near Devritane on Trill.  She was educated mostly at home, but completed a few years of education in a nearby village school.  She apprenticed to a weaver in her home village and became exceptionally skilled in the art and craft of weaving.  She was Joined to Yalu in 2193, at the age of 26, and was the first person in her agricultural community to receive a symbiont.  In 2196, she married Laharno Meeros, a fellow farmer from the same region.  They had a son, Rajim, and a daughter, Rekela.  She taught both of her children how to weave.  Edanne died in 2208 from injuries sustained in an accidental fall on her family's farm.  She was 41 years old.  Nearly two centuries after her death, some of her woven works had been preserved as part of a traveling museum exhibit of 22nd century Trill folk art.

In 2297, Benim married his longtime partner Yaver Tallus, and in 2301 they adopted two infant sons, Hraz and Bror.  By the early 2310s, Benim was investigating organized crime in the Barisa system, and his reporting made him an enemy of several syndicate bosses.  He survived an attempt on his life in 2314, but the following year, Benim's husband and two teenaged sons were killed in a shuttlecraft explosion meant to assassinate him.  In 2318, a collection of his articles was later published as a single volume, ''At What Cost'', which brought his work to a wider audience and inspired him to trade the dangers of investigative reporting for the relative safety of writing fiction.  Beginning in the 2320s and continuing for the rest of his life, Benim was a prolific author of light, fluffy, compulsively readable fiction, earning him the epithet "King of the Risa Read."  He also had a 15-year relationship with novelist Togar Mahl, during which both men enjoyed healthy professional competition.  Their relationship positively impacted their writing, and both men were awarded the Rixx Prize for Fiction, with Benim winning in 2336 and 2339.  In 2340, at the age of 84, Benim retired to Ohmallera on Betazed, and continued to publish a new book every year or two until weakening eyesight forced his full retirement in 2356, shortly after his 100th birthday.  He lived in Ohmallera until his death of natural causes in 2364, at the age of 108.  In 2388, Benim's gravesite was destroyed when an attack annihilated the city.

In the early 2370s, Eira was one of a group of senators to speak out against the Dominion's encroachment into the Alpha Quadrant, and called upon the Federation to take a harsher stance against the Founders.  In 2374, at the age of 48, Eira was Joined to Yalu, fulfilling a long-held ambition that had been deferred to accommodate her political career.  Toward the end of her life, Eira was introduced to Bajoran culture and religion.  She eventually came to accept The Prophets as deities and practiced the Bajoran religion privately.  In the late 2380s, she was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disease, but kept this a secret from her family and colleagues.  In 2392, she collapsed while speaking on the floor of the Trill Senate and died the following day.  She was 66 years old.