To:
From: "Steve Oostrom"
Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com
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>I'm glad I started mine early. I never intended to post my entire=20
document ether, but the mad muse had me coding the sucker. I also=20
didn't start with 100 finished stories before I started cataloging.=20
Long stuff like your Betazed file is separate into stuff like the=20
Racial profiles. BTW, I wouldn't mind seeing your Betazed file.
Well, Garry, here it is. This is copied from the Steve-Trek-Pedia, a work
= in (very slow) progress. The sources for this information include the
LUG guide on the Star Trek Universe, infor= mation from my own stories,
"The
End Game" in particular, and some things pulled off the top of my
mind. Th= is is an unedited document, so
it might contain errors, and is subject to change.
Betazed
Betazed is the homeworld of the Betazoid species. The planet is a Fe=
deration member, and is=20
located just over 397 light years from Earth, roughly parallel to an
outwar= d vector from the galactic core.=20=20
The planet is the second in orbit around a class G2 star, similar to
Earth'= s, and is one of five planets in the=20
system. The three outer planets are gas giants. The continents of Betazed=
are large, and predominantly=20
gather around the equator. Both polar regions are located in extensive
sea= s, and given the circulation=20
patterns, no substantial ice caps form. The planet has a generally warm
an= d lush climate, with extensive=20
vegetation at lower levels.
Unlike most other humanoid species, the Betazoids did not migrate and=
occupy all continents on=20
their planet until after the historical record started. As a result, all
B= etazoids speak languages that are=20
related to each other, even though the modern languages might be quite
dive= rse. Political unification of=20
Betazoid also occurred at an early era, with the early unification done
und= er a priestly king. Political and=20
cultural unification occurred before the technological era began on the
pla= net. With conflicts limited to=20
minor uprisings and rebellions, the Betazoids were able to develop a rather=
extensive infrastructure of cities=20
and canals and widespread landscape modification. The capital city, Medera=
, is quite large and is an=20
architectural wonder. The Betazoid Royal Palace is located there.
The space era on Betazed began in 1862 (Earth year) when the first sp=
aceship, the Avander, was=20
launched. This vessel was something like an airplane and a rocket ship,
an= d so was used on a number of=20
flights, including the first flights to the inner planet and the satellites=
of the outer gas giants. At the same=20
time, science continued to advance rapidly, mostly due to an impressive
edu= cation system that allowed the=20
Betazoids to seek out the most intelligent and most innovative students at
= a young age. Less than a=20
hundred years after the first space flight, the Betazoids built their first=
warp-capable ship in 2050. After=20
several tests, the Betazoids moved into interstellar space on an
exploratio= n mission. Their first mission was=20
to a neighbouring star four light years away, a star that Betazoid
astrophy= sicists had determined might have=20
a class-M planet. Indeed, the an inhabited planet was found there, a
plane= t inhabited by the Terabians. The=20
Terabians were also humanoids, and in fact were physically quite similar to=
the Betazoids, except that they=20
lacked the Betazoid telepathic abilities. Because each race was at roughly=
similar levels of development,=20
with the Terabians working towards their own warp-capable ship, trading
rel= ationships developed between=20
the two cultures. By 2120, the connections between the two races were
beco= ming so extensive that there=20
was talk to some kind of political arrangement. Substantial numbers of
eac= h race lived on the other's=20
homeworld, and the colonies both established had large numbers of each race= .
However, the increasingly close relationship between the two races wa=
s starting to lead to=20
problems. The Betazoid Great Houses, which actually controlled the
governm= ent, were increasingly=20
uneasy at a political union between the two races, mostly because they
thou= ght that the Terabians were=20
somehow inferior and not worthy of being in any kind of close relationship
= with the Betazoids. By 2200,=20
this attitude of arrogance was starting to spread among the general
populat= ion. At the same time, an=20
increasing number of Terabians were convinced that the Betazoids were using=
their telepathic abilities=20
against them, and many were feeling that they were being turned from an
equ= al race to a client race. When=20
the Terabians established tentative contacts with the Orions, the Betazoids=
objected. In 2210, Nero=20
Extralwego travelled with a Betazoid fleet to Terabia and informed that
una= uthorized Terabian contacts and=20
activities were to cease. The Terabians attacked this fleet, but the ships=
were crushed, mostly because the=20
Betazoid telepaths could read the minds of the Terabian commanders and got
= such information as tactical=20
plans and shield modulation frequencies.
Contact between the two races was severed. Terabians on Betazed were=
rounded up and=20
dispatched to internment camps, while on Terabia, the Betazoids were also
r= ounded up, and many were=20
killed. The conflict lasted for eight years, but consisted mostly of
hit-a= nd-run attacks. One attack on=20
Betazed was particularly devastating. While the Betazoids built their own
= weapons and ships, the=20
Terabians made a deal with the Orions for ships and weapons, and a device
t= o counter the Betazoid=20
telepathic abilities. Unfortunately, this device also opened up the
Terabi= ans to control and attack by the=20
Orions, who really wanted both sides weakened before taking them both over.=
The Betazoids learned of=20
this plan, and in a final battle in 2218, was able to narrowly hold off a
T= erabian fleet, along with an Orion=20
fleet. Realizing what was happening to them, the Terabians made peace with=
the Betazoids, and the two=20
races were able to pool their efforts and defeat the Orions. Beset with
th= eir own problems, the Orions=20
retreated. A new leadership on Betazed realized the mistakes that they had=
made in their relationship with=20
the Terabians, and as a result, came up with a code of ethics for dealing
w= ith non-telepathic species. They=20
worked hard on trying to be less arrogant and more understanding. Whereas
= they once thought telepathy=20
was the norm for sentient species, they soon learned it was the exception.
First contact with the Federation came on 2255 when the Betazoid expl=
oration ship Exwar=20
detected a deep-space station and approached. The station was Starbase 13,=
and the captain and crew of the=20
Exwar introduced themselves. Shortly thereafter, Betazed began to debate
t= he merits of joining the=20
Federation. They saw an organization that was devoted to peace and
explora= tion and mutual benefit, which=20
was similar, but on a more grand scale, to the kind of relationship many
th= ought should have appeared=20
between Betazed and Terabia. For the next fifty-eight years, the debates,
= sometimes spirited, continued,=20
with the population split between joining the Federation and remaining
inde= pendent. Three referendums=20
were held, the last one in 2308, and in the last one, the population voted
= to support membership in the=20
Federation. By this time, trade contacts had been made, and some exchange
= officers had served on each=20
other's ships. Tourism between Betazed and other worlds of the Federation
= were becoming extensive. In=20
the 2308 referendum, the population voted sixty-nine percent in favour of
j= oining the Federation. An=20
application for membership was made, and by 2315, Betazed was admitted as a=
full member.
Since joining the Federation, Betazed has become an influential membe=
r. Many Betazoids have=20
started to serve in Starfleet, both in the Earth-based ships and in the
sma= ller number of ships that the=20
Betazoids have built. In 2375, during the Dominion War, the Dominion
launc= hed a powerful sneak attack=20
on the planet, destroying the system's defensive ships and installations
an= d landing ground forces within a=20
day. Although there was some resistance, Betazed quickly fell and became a=
Dominion-occupied world.=20=20
To ensure peace, the Betazed government worked with the Dominion occupiers
= and urged the population=20
not to resist the Dominion rulers. For the most part, the Betazoids went
a= bout their day-to-day lives with=20
relatively little change, except that they were cut off from the rest of
th= e Federation. Starfleet established a=20
blockade around Betazoid, and prevented any ships, especially those
carryin= g Dominion supplies or=20
reinforcements, from reaching the planet. All communications were also
jam= med. At the same time,=20
strategic planners were working on an invasion plan, and were trying their
= best to come up with something=20
that would be fast and effective and which would minimize civilian
casualti= es. However, all the plans that=20
could be developed could not prevent civilian casualties which could number=
in the millions (by this time,=20
the planners were aware of 800,000 Odonans who died at Pusedchou during the=
unsuccessful Dominion=20
attack on that planet).
As it turned out, no invasion was necessary. Captain Leonard Thorpe =
of the U.S.S. Athena, with=20
the help of a Changeling named Unid successfully ran the blockade and make
= contact with the Founder in=20
charge of Betazed. He was suffering from an advanced case of the
Changelin= g disease, and was aware that=20
the tide of the war was turning against the Dominion. He agreed to leave
B= etazed with the Jem'Hadar and=20
the Vortas in exchange for safe passage back to the Gamma Quadrant. With
t= his simple act, Betazed was=20
liberated (Athena "The End Game"). The Betazoids never did learn
which Sta= rfleet captain successfully=20
negotiated the Dominion withdrawal, or even if there was one. Rumour
sprea= d around the planet that the=20
Dominion forces withdrew unilaterally, and at best, a Federation captain
ma= de sure that the withdrawing=20
forces crossed the blockade and was escorted out of Betazoid space. With
f= reedom re-established, the=20
previous Betazoid government took control of the planet.
=20
Betazoid
Betazoids are the humanoid inhabitants of Betazed. These individuals=
resemble strongly humans=20
from Earth, although at the cellular and the biochemical level, their
diffe= rences become clearer. Primary=20
differences include deeper voices in both women and men, irises that are
al= most black, dark hair being most=20
common, a ten-month gestation period, and a different arrangement of
intern= al organs. Racial variation in=20
Betazoids are minimal. The race originated on the continent of Kharazad,
b= ut they did not expand off that=20
continent in any significant number until the historical period began.
The most significant aspect of Betazoid physiology is that they are g=
enerally telepathic. Not all=20
Betazoids are telepathic. The level of telepathic ability varies among
ind= ividuals. Some are barely=20
telepathic, and some can communicate easily and effectively through
telepat= hy. Some Betazoids are=20
limited to emphatic sensations only. Historically, those Betazoids who
wer= e stronger telepaths tended to=20
dominate, and through time, family lines that produced strong telepaths
ten= ded to dominate a local culture.=20=20
Most of these family lines became the Great Houses of Betazed, in essence
t= he nobility of this planet. At=20
various times, telepathic Betazoids had used their abilities to suppress
th= ose whose gifts were not as strong.=20=20
Some conflicts, and the rise of a philosophical movement, led to the
establ= ishment of a code of ethics for=20
the telepaths. Nevertheless, no Betazoid regards his or her thoughts as
tr= uly private, thus limiting the=20
ability to form conspiracies or even carry alternative or contrary thought.=
Through time, this has led to a=20
rather uniform culture and a uniform thought process. Even so, most
Betazo= ids with minimal or absent=20
telepathic abilities, often referred to as Pentaki, tend to be
discriminat= ed against and are looked down on=20
by the majority. Despite this, some of Betazed's most influential thinkers=
, philosophers and artisans have=20
been Pentaki. The Pentaki with the most to lose have been those who came
f= rom the Great Houses, with a=20
surprisingly large number of them leaving the planet. A number have found
= their way into Starfleet, where=20
they were able to acquire other skills and work in an environment where
tel= epathy was not a factor.
=20
Enjoy. Comments are always welcome
Steve
The Universe Unbounded.
Visit "Star Trek: Athena" at http://ussathena.iwarp.com
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>I'm glad I started mine early. I never
intended to post my
entire
document ether, but the mad muse had me coding the sucker. I also
didn't start with 100 finished stories before I started cataloging.
Long stuff like your Betazed file is separate into stuff like the
Racial profiles. BTW, I wouldn't mind seeing your Betazed
file.Well, Garry, here it
is. This is copied from the Steve-Trek-Pedia, a work in (very
slow) progress. The sources
for this information include the
LUG guide on the
Star Trek Universe, information from my own stories,
"The
End Game" in particular, and
some things pulled
off
the top of my mind. This is an unedited document,
so
it might contain errors, and is subject to
change.
Betazed
Betazed is the homeworld of the Betazoid species. The planet
is a Federation member, and is
located just over 397 light years from
Earth, roughly parallel to an outward vector from the galactic
core.
The planet is the second in orbit around a
class G2 star, similar to Earth's, and is one of five planets in the
system. The three outer planets are gas
giants.
The continents of Betazed are large, and predominantly
gather around the equator. Both polar
regions are located in extensive seas, and given the circulation
patterns, no substantial ice caps
form.
The planet has a generally warm and lush
climate, with extensive
vegetation at lower
levels.
Unlike most other humanoid species, the Betazoids did not migrate and
occupy all continents on
their planet until after the historical
record started.
As a result, all Betazoids speak languages that are
related to each other, even though the
modern languages might
be quite diverse.
Political unification of
Betazoid also occurred at an early era,
with the early unification done under a priestly king.
Political and
cultural unification occurred before the
technological era began on the planet. With conflicts
limited to
minor uprisings and rebellions, the
Betazoids were able to develop a rather extensive infrastructure of cities
and canals and widespread landscape
modification.
The capital city, Medera, is quite large
and is an
architectural wonder.
The Betazoid Royal Palace is located
there.
The space era on Betazed began in 1862 (Earth year) when the first
spaceship, the Avander, was
launched. This vessel was something like an
airplane and a rocket ship, and so was used on a number of
flights, including the first flights to the
inner planet and the satellites of the outer gas giants.
At the same
time, science continued to advance rapidly,
mostly due to an impressive education system that allowed the
Betazoids to seek out the most intelligent
and most innovative students at a young age.
Less than a
hundred years after the first space flight,
the Betazoids built their first warp-capable ship in 2050. After
several tests, the Betazoids moved into
interstellar space on
an exploration mission. Their first
mission was
to a neighbouring star four light years
away, a star that Betazoid astrophysicists had determined might have
a class-M planet.
Indeed, the an inhabited planet was found there, a planet inhabited by
the Terabians.
The
Terabians were also humanoids, and in fact
were physically quite similar to the Betazoids, except that they
lacked the Betazoid telepathic
abilities.
Because each race was at roughly similar
levels of development,
with the Terabians working towards their
own warp-capable ship, trading relationships developed between
the two cultures.
By 2120, the connections between the two races were becoming so
extensive
that there
was talk to some kind of political
arrangement.
Substantial numbers of each race lived on the other's
homeworld, and the colonies both
established had large numbers of each
race.
However, the increasingly close relationship between the two races was
starting to lead to
problems. The Betazoid Great Houses, which
actually controlled the government, were increasingly
uneasy at a political union between the two
races, mostly because they thought that the Terabians were
somehow inferior and not worthy of being in
any kind of close
relationship with the Betazoids.
By
2200,
this attitude of arrogance was starting to
spread among the general population. At the same time, an
increasing number of Terabians were
convinced that the Betazoids were using their telepathic abilities
against them, and many were feeling that
they were being turned from an equal race to a client race. When
the Terabians established tentative
contacts with the Orions,
the Betazoids objected. In 2210, Nero
Extralwego travelled with a Betazoid fleet
to Terabia and informed that unauthorized Terabian contacts and
activities were to cease. The
Terabians attacked this fleet, but the ships were crushed, mostly because
the
Betazoid telepaths could read the minds of
the Terabian commanders and got such information as tactical
plans and shield modulation
frequencies.
Contact between the two races was severed. Terabians on
Betazed were rounded up and
dispatched to internment camps, while on
Terabia, the Betazoids were also rounded up, and many were
killed. The conflict lasted for eight years,
but consisted mostly of hit-and-run attacks. One attack
on
Betazed was particularly
devastating.
While the Betazoids built their own weapons and ships, the
Terabians made a deal with the Orions for
ships and weapons, and a device to counter the Betazoid
telepathic abilities.
Unfortunately, this device also opened up the Terabians to control and
attack by the
Orions, who really wanted both sides
weakened before taking them both over. The Betazoids learned of
this plan, and in a final battle in 2218,
was able to narrowly hold off a Terabian fleet, along with an Orion
fleet.
Realizing
what was happening to them, the Terabians made peace with the Betazoids, and the
two
races were able to pool their efforts and
defeat the Orions. Beset with their own problems, the
Orions
retreated. A new
leadership on Betazed realized the mistakes that they had made in their
relationship with
the Terabians, and as a result, came up
with a code of ethics
for dealing with non-telepathic species.
They
worked hard on trying to be less arrogant
and more understanding. Whereas they once thought telepathy
was the norm for sentient species, they
soon learned it was the
exception.
First contact with the Federation came on 2255 when the Betazoid
exploration ship Exwar
detected a deep-space station and
approached.
The station was Starbase 13, and the captain and crew of the
Exwar introduced themselves. Shortly
thereafter, Betazed began to debate the merits of joining the
Federation.
They
saw an organization that was devoted to peace and exploration and mutual
benefit, which
was similar, but on a more grand scale, to
the kind of relationship many thought should have appeared
between Betazed and Terabia. For the next
fifty-eight years, the debates, sometimes spirited, continued,
with the population split between joining
the Federation and remaining independent. Three referendums
were held, the last one in 2308, and in the
last one, the population voted to support membership in the
Federation. By this
time, trade contacts had been made, and some exchange officers had served
on each
other's ships.
Tourism between Betazed and other worlds of the Federation were becoming
extensive. In
the 2308 referendum, the population voted
sixty-nine percent in favour of joining the Federation.
An
application for membership was made, and by
2315, Betazed was
admitted as a full member.
Since joining the Federation, Betazed has become an influential
member.
Many Betazoids have
started to serve in Starfleet, both in the
Earth-based ships and in the smaller number of ships that the
Betazoids have built.
In 2375, during the Dominion War, the Dominion launched a powerful sneak
attack
on the planet, destroying the system's
defensive ships and installations and landing ground forces within a
day. Although there was some resistance,
Betazed quickly fell and became a Dominion-occupied world.
To ensure peace, the Betazed government
worked with the Dominion occupiers and urged the population
not to resist the Dominion rulers. For the most
part, the Betazoids went about their day-to-day lives with
relatively little change, except that they
were cut off from the rest of the Federation.
Starfleet established a
blockade around Betazoid, and prevented any
ships, especially
those carrying Dominion supplies or
reinforcements, from reaching the
planet.
All communications were also jammed. At the same
time,
strategic planners were working on an
invasion plan, and were
trying their best to come up with something
that would be fast and effective and which
would minimize civilian casualties. However, all the plans that
could be developed could not prevent
civilian casualties which could number in the millions (by this time,
the planners were aware of 800,000 Odonans
who died at Pusedchou during the unsuccessful Dominion
attack on that
planet).
As it turned out, no invasion was necessary. Captain
Leonard Thorpe of the U.S.S. Athena, with
the help of a Changeling named Unid
successfully ran the blockade and make contact with the Founder in
charge of Betazed.
He was suffering from an advanced case of the Changeling disease, and
was
aware that
the tide of the war was turning against the
Dominion.
He agreed to leave Betazed with the Jem'Hadar and
the Vortas in exchange for safe passage
back to the Gamma Quadrant. With this simple act, Betazed was
liberated (Athena "The End
Game").
The Betazoids never did learn which Starfleet captain
successfully
negotiated the Dominion withdrawal, or even
if there was one.
Rumour spread around the planet that the
Dominion forces withdrew unilaterally, and
at best, a Federation captain made sure that the withdrawing
forces crossed the blockade and was
escorted out of Betazoid space. With freedom re-established,
the
previous Betazoid government took control
of the planet.
Betazoid
Betazoids are the humanoid inhabitants of Betazed. |