The Llop were a pseudosentient species of hyena-like beings native to the planet Catalunya. They were named "lobo", or "wolf" by the Catalan-speaking settlers.[1]
Biology[]
The Llop were omnivores, and hunted for other animals during winter. The troop of Llop nearest to Tarragona gave birth and took care of their young in woodlands. They were similar to baboons in that their society was a matriarchy. The female Llop did not have mammary glands.[1]
If a female Llop joined with a certain parasite, it gained the ability to speak. However, the introduction of cats to Catalunya by pirates infected these parasites with Toxoplasma gondii, killing them quickly. Without these parasites, the Llop subconsciously retained knowledge of their past pseudosentience, but could no longer speak.[1]
Sentience[]
The sentience of the Llop is questionable, even by characters in-universe. They showed signs of intelligence as they refrained from eating the carcasses of animals killed by Earth-native cats, as they knew that they contained Toxoplasma gondii. Andrew Wiggin described the knowledge of the Llop to be that "they once knew how to do things they no longer know how to do", and that the older females once knew how to speak. He witnessed the matriarch of the troop drawing pictures in the dirt.[1]
Later, when Andrew, Valentine, and Dabeet Ochoa took the Llop matriarch Great Mother into the lab, she consumed a parasite that made liquid come out from her ears and nostrils, defying gravity and covering her head. This parasite transformed her head into a globe where only her jaws protruded, with holes for her eyes. It gave her back the ability to speak, as all female Llop once could.[1]
In essence, the Llop required a "companion", the parasite, in order to communicate, but these parasites were killed off by the Toxoplasma gondii carried by the cats bought to the planet by the pirates who originally settled it. The one remaining that joined with Great Mother died hours after communicating with Andrew, Valentine, and Dabeet. Thus, the Llop lost their pseudosentience around 500 AX.[1]
History[]
Encounter with Pirates[]
The Llop were first encountered by the space pirates who settled Catalunya (then known as Whydah). They were terrified, as surmised by Andrew Wiggin, by the fact that the Llop could reproduce human speech.[1]
The housecats that were brought over by the pirates carried Toxoplasma gondii, a bacteria deadly to the Llop. This bacteria quickly destroyed nearly all the parasitic lifeforms that gave the Llop the ability to speak. This left the Llop as highly intelligent, yet mute, beings who retained knowledge of their past pseudosentience, yet could not comprehend it.[1]
Renegat[]
As Andrew Wiggin came to Catalunya, he spent time attempting to communicate with the Llop, and spent most of his time with a certain matriarch, Great Mother. Eventually she was brought into an Exploratory Service lab where the last remaining parasite was, though close to death. She joined with it and briefly got back her ability to speak. She relayed this information to Andrew, Valentine, and Dabeet, and requested something record her sing the song of her people. Valentine left a recorder in the lab and exited with the other humans. Hours later, the parasite died, and the Llop lost their ability to speak.[1]