Thalim & the Tleilaxu

[Major_Gilbear]

I was wondering what information was available about the Tleilaxu and their home-planet?

I have the DE, and have read the original books (though not the prequels).

What's Thalim like?

Do the Tleilaxu have an army?

If so, what's it nature?

Do the Tleilaxu have any philosophical principles, and what might they be?

Any help appreciated! ;D

[Vanguard3000]

I assume by Thalim, you mean Tleilax. Tleilax is the homeworld of the Tleilaxu, and is the lone planet of the Thalim system. It's capital is Bandalong. "Outsiders" never see most of the planet because they are forbidden to leave starports and special ambassadorial areas. These areas were purposefully made to be ugly and decrepit (according to the prequels), because the Tleilaxu don't like others on their homeworld.

The Tleilaxu do have an army of sorts. They can grow legions of face dancers in their Axolotl tanks. However, you don't see the Tleilaxu in combat situations until GEoD. Because of their shape-shifting abilities, they are naturally good at sneak attacks and the like. In the last two novels, we see them simply rushing enemies en masse, which shows how expendable the Face Dancers really are.

The reader knows almost nothing of the Tleilaxu until Heretics and Chapterhouse (and the prequels). They are religious fanatics. In fact, I remember one of the books mentioning that they referred to gene manipulation and DNA sequencing as "the language of God".

I hope I've helped.

[Major_Gilbear]

Hmm... sounds good so far.

I also heard that their Society is very highy structured into classes, more so than other parts of the universe.

They are keen to experiment on their own kind,as they have avery large underclass to supply test subjects. They also have machinery (their metal eyes, as mentioned in Dune Messiah), with generally biological functions.

They were discovered relatively recently (compared to the other systems) by the Spacing Guild and are very remotely located - this is why they escaped purging by the Great Revolt.

They view just about everything is terms of of whether it is a raw material or a product; really very mercenary and economical.

This is what else I have so far uncovered.

Somemore questions:

*Do they breed other species?

*Do they experiment with other biological life around them (eg plants, animals, etc)?

*What kind of planet is Tleilax (I meant Tleilax in my other post above, sorry Vanguard!)? <-- As in what terrain is it? What are light levels like? And so on.

*Do they have a "house" crest?

[Vanguard3000]

There is a heirarchy of sorts. There are the masses - Face Dancers, Gholas, and other creations. Above them are the Masters, who are the closest thing to "citizens" (with rights and free will) as you or I would use the term. They seem to be led by a senate-like council of Masters, with a Master of Master at it's head. Of course, Tleilaxu women hold a "special" place in the Tleilaxu heirarchy (you do now about this, right?)

The Tleilaxu do breed other secies, such as the Face Dancers (who cannot breed, and have no will of their own), as well as other creatures like sligs (slug + pig = "The sweetest meat this side of heaven."), and chairdogs.

Genetic experimentation is the basis of their technology. They are fanatics when it comes to the rules which came about after the Butlerian Jihad. They are very much against any machines that even remotely resemble the "Thinking Machines" of the Jihad.

The Tlailax don't seem to have a crest, since they are not a House in the landsraad. Although the Tleilaxu symbol is depicted in E:BfD as a beetle with an eye on it's back (I think).

[Major_Gilbear]

There is a heirarchy of sorts.

Tleilaxu women hold a "special" place in the Tleilaxu heirarchy (you do now about this, right?)

Erm, no I don't.

I have read Dune about twelve times, but am only recently working my way through the original series(though I already know what happens in them, more or less). I'm on CoD.

What is special about them?

[Vanguard3000]

I highly recommend reading on to find out, since it's a fairly major spoiler (well, it's not that crucial to the story or anything, but it is very interesting when you find out). I'd rather not tell you unless you need this information right away.

[Colonel_Worf]

Spoiler alert!

[hide]The axlotl tanks are the females. Don't you just find that disgusting? ;D[/hide]

I hid it since it was a spoiler, like Vanguard said.

Andrew