_ _ _ _ _ \ _ _ _
/(_)_) (_)_)(_) /(_)_) (_) (_) \ Background information on the
(_)( ) \ ( )(_)( ) (_)_)(_)(_) K Z I N T I R A C E
/ (_) / \ For the Star Trek Universe
I
I n t r o d u c t i o n
Kzinti are a race of fierce homicidal warrior cats developed by the Larry
Niven for use in his _Known Space_ series of novels. They have appeared,
with that author's permission in two Animated Series episodes, and in the
novels, and are described as a major(ish) power in the spin-off tabletop
game of Star Fleet Battles.
For a game of interactive fiction/roleplaying they make interesting
player characters, staunch - if worrying - allies, and wonderful enemies.
II
P h y s i o l o g y
Kzinti males, called kzintosh(es/chi?), stand around eight feet (243 cm)
tall and have the general appearance of a fat stripeless tiger standing on
his back legs. The females - kzinrret(s/i?) - are similar, shorter and
non-sentient. The stance is either bipedal or quadrupedal, depending on
what the kzin feels like at the time and how imposing he wants to look.
Their spines are more flexible than a humans, and on all fours they move
like a weasel - with what more than one human has described as a "chilling
sinuous grace".
Most people notice the claws and fangs first. Kzinti claws are
retractable on all four digits of both hands and feet, the teeth are those
of a large hunting carnivore, which given their culture and diet is hardly
surprising. The kzinti larynx is a kludge, but allows for a similar vocal
range to a human. Kzinti stomachs do not tolerate vegetable matter.
Kzinti have the level of intelligence humans, and appropriately bigger
skulls to accomodate these brains. A kzinti face resembles that of a
great cat, with teeth, eyes and expresions to match, and the domed
braincase is proportionally longer than ours.
An average kzintosh weighs a quarter of a ton, none of it fat, despite
appearances. Kzinti are tall, strong, ferocious in demeanour and
physically imposing.
The fur, which covers the body, is orange, and is thickest around the
ears and back. A kzin's ears, which resemble cocktail umbraellas or a pink
bat's wing can fold into pockets of fur at the side of the head to protect
them from damage. The tail is pink and hairless, looks rather silly and is
strong enough to knock an enemy off his feet. Kzinti have no external
genetalia, and thus no nudity taboo.
The kzinti evolved from plains dwelling hunters, rather similar to
lions. Due to the harshness and vagaries of their world, they evolved an
upright posture in order to raise their heads above the long grass, and
paws with three stubby fingers and a thumb in order to climb trees and
rocks more effectively. The method of hunting favoured by kzinti is short
attacks, unlike early humans, who took to tracking their prey in long
hunts.
The nucleus of a kzin's cells are rather more complex than those of a
human. They contain three distinct types of chromosme: `lumpy',
`long-chain' and the sex chromosomes. The kzinti male has two similar
`male' sex chromosomes, and the female has one `male' and one `female'
chromosome. This is the opposite way around from humans.
Modern kzinti females, although partally intelligent, have very little
ability to handle language. Their vocabulary usually peaks at about 500
words. Their instincts, however, are still intact. Historically, kzinti
males had a tendency to eat male kits: the females try to dig birthing
tunnels which they defend against any kzinti male who approaches. (cf.
/Cathouse/, /Briar Patch/)
Another major difference from humans is kzinti telepathy. Very few
kzinti have any sort of telepathy at all. Those who do need an extract
from the lymph glands of the _sthondat_, a kzinti herbivore, to develop
these powers to any degree. Unfortunateley, this substance is addictive.
Kzinti telepaths are burdened by a double shame - their addiction and
their dependance on the blood of a herbivore. They are therefore shunned
by all, having only the lowest social satatus. Therefore they tend to
suffer from depression - a Telepath can usually be distinguished by his
drooping ears and whiskers, his matted fur and sagging tail, his absolute
servility towards every other kzin and his nervous tics and habits. Kzinti
telepaths are usually very strong empaths, often able to passively read
the minds of many subjects from great distances (cf. /Warriors/).
III
P s y c h o l o g y
Kzinti are bad-tempered, take offence at almost any slight, and have a
society and a code of honour that compels them to react violently if an
apology is not immediately forthcoming. The same code of honour also
permits no apology if the kzin in question believes himself to be in the
right. As such, kzinti society has developed a great number of ways of
reducing such conflict, but this is not always successful.
Kzinti are honourable cats. Honour is considered so personal, so
important that a dishonoured individual might as well not live. The
kzinti system of honour means that they will not lie to anyone under
practically any circumstance and they will not mistreat prisoners or
torture them needlessly (but they can kill and eat them if they are
useless). Honoured prisoners (eg. kzinti with complete or partial names)
are permitted an honourable death, which means a hopeless - or nearly
hopeless - fight usually resulting in the prisoner's death.
A kzin attacking appears to be properly berserk to human eyes, as they
seem to attack with no caution and ignore all but the most catastrophic
damage. In fact they are usually quite cool during battle, but headstrong
and willful to an inhuman degree.
Kzinti see themselves (or once saw themselves) as the lords of
creation, and believe military expansion and subjugation of other races to
be their birthright.
Kzinti honour forbids outright lying to anyone, and the unneccesary
torture of prisoners, although verbal abuse and a bullying outlook are
common, if frowned upon. Prisoners are seen as practically devoid of
rights, and can be summarily hunted down and eaten if they are not of
immediate use.
This having been said, kzinti are not cowards, and truly respect
those with strength, or to a lesser degree, intelligence, and may even
bestow great honours upon members of other races if they prove worthy.
Scientists and scholars are generally looked down upon in kzinti
society, however the greatest of such kzinti are respected in the same
way as our own men of learning and geniuses.
IV
H o m e w o r l d
The Kzinti homeworld orbits the star 61 Ursa Majoris at a distance
somewhat greater than that at which Earth orbits the sun. It is a larger
world, with gravity 1.55 times that of Earth's. Its year is roughly one
and a half times longer than Earth's, and its day is 27 hrs and 36 minutes
long. The climate of this world is cooler and drier than Earth's, and
since it has a definite axial tilt it also has seasons. It receives less
light from it's star, which is redder than Sol; and is consequently
dimmer.
The Kzinti refer to this world only as "Homeworld": it has no other
name.
V
S o c i e t y
Kzinti society would be considered a violent and militaristic society by
our standards; social status is guaranteed through strength, success in
duels and political forethought and cunning, status in other matters
through what we would consider 'normal' methods.
Kzinti society is essentially feudal, and simlilar in outlook to that
of a Samurai noble in old Japan. A kzinti warrior is supposed to follow
his lord or leader in all matters, and his lord must look to the court of
the Patriarch; the nominal leader of all the kzinti. All kzinti are (in
name at least) ruled by the Patriarch, and he is the only kzin with the
power to grant Names. It is considered an insult to refer to either
oneself or another by the translation of one's title into another language
or to shorten it; so for instance my character habitually calls himself
Tzak-rathri or possibly Tzak-rathra'tar (Tzak-of-Security or Tzak-Security-
Chief), and will expect the same in return.
Duelling is common in kzinti society, social rank being conferred by
winning; losers are generally killed. Fighting is usually bare-handed (or
-clawed), but some kzinti prefer to duel with the ceremonial /wtsai/
knife, and schools specialising in instruction with this weapon have
sprung up in recent years on Homeworld. Ears are taken as trophies during
these battles, and the kzinti word for 'earless' is a synonym for
dishonour. Not killing a defeated opponent and tearing off an ear is
considered the worst mark of disrespect and contempt possible. Although
kzinti are generally proud of their accumulated scars, the loss of an ear
is considered extremely shameful.
Kzinti are not given names at birth, as we are; but rather they are
supposed to earn a Name though services for their lords and masters.
Essentially, a kzin can be 'unnamed' (called after his profession, e.g.
`Generator Supervisor'), have a 'partial name' (a mix of profession and
proper name, e.g. `Trask-Captain'), or a 'full name' which is just a name
on it's own, for example `Kldat'. Partially named kzinti are usually
minor nobles with no real lands or power, fully-named kzinti are full
nobles; having performed considerable services for the Patriarch, and
usually have large wealth and extensive lands.
Royalty are given two names, for example `Chmod-Mdar', and are
generally found in command of navies or overseeing planets. The
suffix-name `Riit' is reserved for the direct lineage of the Patriarch
alone, and the Patriarch himself.
Sex and sexuality are not great motivators in kzinti society, as they
are in ours. This is mainly due to the fact that kzinti females have been
bred stupid; for want of a better expression, for several centuries. It
is likely that not all kzinti see this as a good thing.
The Fanged God is father to the Patriarch. The Patriarch is father to
all kzinti. That, in a nutshell, is kzinti religion. After the first
Patriarchy- Federation war, a sect arose which stated that mankind also
had been created in the God's image, since why else could they have
defeated the kzinti so thoroughly? These "Kdaptists" (so named after their
leader, Kdapt-Preacher),are considered to be dangerous nuisances, as they
sided with the humans in every war thereafter. Few remain.
(Vb)
L a n g u a g e , S c r i p t & N u m e r a l s
Kzinti count in octal, which means decimal-ten is represented a o12, d100
as o144 and so on. Script is based on claw-carvings in wood and is often
described as 'dots and commas' by humans. An impression of the script is at
the top of the document, presumably cursive forms exist.
The language sounds clashing and terrible to human ears, but is in
fact pitched and cased with several modes; mode being dependant upon who
you are talking to. Although there is only one main language (the Heroes'
Tongue), it has many modes including Mocking, Deferential and Royal, which
is only spoken to and by royalty. A human with plenty of spit and a good
falsetto can learn the basic mode of the H. T. and be understood anywhere,
but pronunciation will be difficult; similarly kzinti can learn to speak
Terran with some difficulty.
FLORA AND FAUNA:
zheerekti, n. Judging by the kzinti reaction to this plant, it contains
a substance much like catnip.
kz'eerkt, n. Looks and acts very much like a monkey: humans (derog).
Kz'eerekti pl.
kshat, n. A herbivore capable of digesting offal: An insulting term for one
behaving as a kshat. [O.K. /Kshauvat/, eater-of-offal].
raaairtwo, n. A large herbivore. 2 metres high at the shoulder, covered in
shaggy orange hair, it typically weighs in at about twelve tons. It has
the temperment of a rhino, and with the spiked ball on it's tail, is
well capable of defending itself.
sthondat, n. 'unfit for kzinti consuption'. Sthondats feature in a great
many colourful kzinti insults, and an extract of the blood is used by
telepaths.
terrenki, n. A rather strong, fast animal which fights ferociously when
cornered.
vatach, n. A creature analogous to an earless Terran rabbit. The meat is
reputedly tasty, but the animal is considered too tame for kzinti sport.
zianyas, n. A herbivore, and a favoured kzinti food.
ztirgor, n. A herd beast used by the kzinti for freight haulage.
MICRO-LEXICON:
arow, /A'row/, prn. That.
ch'rowl, /ch'RAOWl/, vt. to have sex with; vi. the act of mating, highly
emotive sexual trigger word.
chss, /chSS/, adv. No.
chssee, /chSSE~/, adv. Not.
chugra, /chug'ra/, n. Spear.
h'rr, /hr~/, cas. Interrogative modifier; conversational fill-syllable
('um...' 'er...').
hrung, /Hr~ng/, v. To think (1st sing. 'hrunge').
hvraf' /h'vR~AF-/, v. To scent.
k'tze, /KTsey/, adv. That I-
kchee, /kch'EE/, prn. Giant: extremely large.
kreera, /creer'a/, n. A saw-edged kzinti short sword.
kshat, /cssh'AT/, n. An offal-eating herbivore; prn. expression of disgust
with.
kshinn, /csh'in/, n. The sun of Homeworld, any local star.
kzaii, /cs'ai/, vengance.
kzarr, /cs'ar~/, vengeful.
kzinrret, /ksin'R~ET/, n. kzinti female.
kzintosh, /ksin'TOSH/, n. kzinti male
maarra, /maR~'a/, n. Tool.
mearowet'aatrurre, /me'AROW'et'atru'R~E/, v. To follow on from, to be led
by.
prret, /PR~'t/, n. (arch.) courtesan, pornocrat.
reet'ss, /reet'SS/ n. Meeting.
Riit, /reEt/, p.n. A member of the patriarchal family.
sero, /se'ro/, prn. ...This.
su, /soo/, v. To slash.
t', /t-/, adv. To.
t'kzintar, /t'KSINtar/, n. warrior, hunter, provider (arch).
tai, /ti/, v. To be; adv. emphasises previous verb.
ta'sskin, /ta'SS'kin/, n. Animal, non-kzin, alien.
tauurre', /TAU~'r~e/, v. To terminate, to stop.
tui, /twi/, n. The prey.
tza, /tsa~/, v. To be present.
u'-, /ao'.../, cas. Genitive casing - belonging to ...
wtsai, /wt'SAI/, n. Ceremonial duelling knife, a symbol of virility (arch.).
ya-nar, /yah-NAR/, n. Defier of.
Thus:
H'rrearow t'chsee mearrowet'aatruure -> This does not follow.
Ya-nar kshinn -> Sun-defier (name of proven vessel)
Body language is, of course, very different from that of humans. A list of
kzinti expressions and gestures follows:
worry A flattening of the fur.
frustration Open-shut flare of nostrils, ticking noise from
throat.
readiness Ears laid flat.
'smile' Twitching of ears.
slyness Slight lidding of eyelids. Could also mean
calculating thought.
laughter Twitching of ear & tail.
dismissive shrug Yawn.
puzzlement Careful sniffs of air, slight raise of muzzle.
threat Grin (rictus) -> Grin & stare -> flaring of pelt ...
salute Claw rake in front of own face.
The tail is a great indicator of a kzin's mood. A lashing tail
signifies worry. A dragging tail shows depression, a raised tail
happiness. If the kzin's tail is hidden between it's legs, it is badly
frightened. A slow, teasing motion of a kzinrret's tail-tip is considered
extremely sexy by males, as is a cool, defiant stare. (cf. Cathouse)
The ears, too are highly expressive - a twitching indicates amusement,
laid flat they indicate nervousness or readiness; and fanned out they
indicate intent concentration or alertness.
Sitting, standing or lying down with the legs splayed is considered
obscene in both males and females.
Body language is also important in social encounters. Those of lower
social status keep their eyes averted, except when challenging (and that
in it's correct place). Submission is signaled by covering of nose with
paws, prostrating oneself or, in extreme circumstances, exposing belly and
throat. A kzin who is about to attack or challenge will often adopt a
threatening posture. The ears fold back to prevent them from being ripped
or torn, the fur bottles out to hide the shape of the flesh, the tail
becomes stiff and erect, ready to whip an opponents legs from under him.
The lips pull back from the fangs in challenge, and the claws emerge ready
for a fight. A kzin in this posture is about one second away from
screaming and leaping - a favoured method of attack.
Kzinti also use scent a lot. They scent-mark with glands in cheeks and
hands, occasionally using their urine. Their hormones are far more active
than humans: a gingery smell signals excitement - either anger or fear.
VI
E m p i r e
Kzinti are superb fighters and are - or were - great empire builders.
With little more than sublight vessels they managed to carve out a large
empire to the galactic west of Earth, populating it using what we would
recognise as similar to the Roman model. The Great Hunt, as this expansion
was called, was initiated by the patriarch of 700 or so years ago, and
proceeded almost unchecked for around 400 years.
Kzinti occupation was an exercise in extremes. On the one hand,
kzinti cared little about their subject races, and so tended to leave them
to their own devices, provided they obeyed their laws. On the other hand,
an expanding kzinti population requires a vast amount of space, and the
ongoing war effort demanded natural resources, so subject races tended to
be pushed together as kzinti lands grew. If a crime committed by a member
of a subject race comitted a capital or treasonous offence, the usual
method of execution was usually a hunt, as kzinti enjoy the challenge of
hunting (and eating non-poisonous) sentients, and make no attempt to hide
it. To be fair, they have always demanded the same of their own
criminals, with the difference that cannibalism is taboo (merely the
lands and wealth of the defeated is taken).
At one point, around 300 years ago the expanding Patriarchy met the
advancing edge of the then nascent Federation, a fact which might have
meant the end of the Federation if it were not for the fortuitous
discovery of the warp drive. The ensuing one-sided battles pushed the
kzinti from their colony worlds almost as far back as Homeworld itself,
with the loss of many kzinti lives. There have been six battles past that
point, all lost by the kzinti despite their gaining the use of warp
technology, and the kzinti hold an especial hatred of humans for this,
although this has lessened during the past 200 years.
The defeats on all fronts (as they recalled garrisons from subject
worlds) utterly demoralised the kzinti race as a whole, ending their
former expansionist path, and perhaps pointing them in a more sensible
direction; although a kzin would hotly deny this, probably with
violence. The Great Hunt, however, has never been officially repealed,
and several pirates with the tacit approval of the Patriarchy have
harried the Federation and surrounding territories ever since.
Around five years ago, on Homeworld there was a bloody and desparate
revolution in which the ancient line of the Patriarchs was essentially
terminated. Many kzinti loyal to the old regieme have fled to Federation
space, and some have joined the Fleets of the appropriate worlds. The
Federation even-handedly supports both the new Hegemony and the loyalist
rebels fighting them; if this information were discovered by a kzin it
would be highly dangerous, and so these actions are classified as Highly
Sensitive, for the attention of COs only.
VII
R o l e - p l a y i n g K z i n t i
Kzinti make interesting player characters. A PC kzin is likely to be a
psychologically abnormal member of his race in many respects, and will
thus be a lot easier to get along with than other mebers of his race.
Kzinti honour can often conflict with story goals, and often a kzin will
be confused by small social matters which you or I would take for granted.
Kzinti generally speak Terran Standard very properly - if representing
this in English, don't use contractions either.
As for females, remember that kzinti females are non-sentient, or at
least very stupid*. No kzin is dumb enough to apply this to females of
other species, but he might occasionally forget himself (with definite
apologies); or he might take entirely the opposite course and behave with
deferential and rather embarassing politeness and chivalry towards members
of the opposite sex of any species.
* There are some recorded cases of genetic throwbacks, but these are
rare. Most kzinti would kill for sentient female company of their own
species.
If they make good PCs, however, kzinti make even better enemies. Kzinti
tact is almost unknown, and if you can think of something horrendous that
you couldn't possibly imagine a sane human doing, and presenting it within
a kzin's skewed version of honour, it's probably OK.
Quite often an enemy kzinti commander may actually be mad - the kzinti
social system places great pressures on individuals at all levels - and
too powerful for the rest of his crew to overthrow.
Don't play `em as stupid, though. They aren't and it irritates me to
see them portrayed as such. Blind, homicidal rage, yes; but idiocy while
the clever monkeys escape throught he air-ducts -- blech! Think on how
badly a klingon or a romulan could be played in TOS, and avoid it.
--
_ _ Kzinti background document created 20-Feb-1996 by Andrew Chadwick.
/(_)_) All text Copyright (c)1996 Andrew Chadwick; freely distributable.
(_)( ) contact for permissions, corrections.
/ Race described is the intellectual property of Larry Niven.
--
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