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Background information on the
C A I T I A N R A C E
For the HWF Star Trek Universe
I
I n t r o d u c t i o n
Caitians first appeared in the non-canon cartoon series of star
trek, with the Female Caitian, Lieutenant M'Ress. When the first
RPG rules where published in the Mid '70s, they contained stats
for PC Caitian's. In neither case was the background built up
with any great depth.
Whilst never 'officially' recognized as canon, they have made a
couple of 'face in the crowd' appearances in the star trek films.
II
P h y s i o l o g y
With Kzinti also being part of HWF canon, there is either a
direct biological link in the past of the two species or it is a
case of close parallel evolution. Both display similarities to
the 'big cats' of Sol III (Earth) but whilst the Kzin have the
larger, more angular features akin to that of a Terran Lion,
Caitians have the smaller, softer lines akin to that of a
cheetah.
On average, Caitians tend toward being a few inches shorter than
the average human, with a relatively slight build. The chest/rib
cage being relatively deep and large thighs, both baring
testimony to their evolutionary heritage as fast, solitary
hunters. Short, strong, retractable claws and an uncanny sense
of balance are evolved in the races other, and main hunting
ground, the tree-tops of Caits vast forests.
In comparison with humans, they are very fast (Both movement and
hand/eye co-ordination) but not as strong on average (0.9
gravity on Cait)
The fur colour of Caitians varies across the entire range and
patterns. Black, brown, tan, grey, white, spotted, striped,
plain, can all be found amongst the diverse population.
III
P s y c h o l o g y
The greater the damage from potential inter-personal combat from
the members of the society to inflict on one another (In the
hunter-gatherer pre-settled state of social evolution) the
grater need for the development of a strong moral code to
develop in order for the society to function.
Even pre-tool using, Caitians had natural weaponry which meant
disastrous consequences from such encounters. The move from
direct family units to larger 'clan' groupings took longer than
the human equivalent but when it did, it was due to the
development of an honour code in which clan honour and survival
took precedence over personal honour and survival. It is a
testament to the strength of that 'code of honour' that it is
still a deep rooted part of Caitian Psyche.
A heavy reliance on elders and 'superiors' (Clan chiefs) enabled
Caitians to control the instances of personal combat to mostly
ritualistic situations.
In character terms, the natural predatorily drive is still
strong in Caitians, but the 'good of their Clan' (or ship if in
HWF) comes first. They make for loyal officers but the conflict
between Caitian honour/customs and starfleet directives/orders
can often prove very problematical. This often results in a
personality crisis of sorts, being in the position of having
two, often conflicting honour obligations is not comfortable as
honour is the one area where Caitians find it difficult (if not
impossible) to compromise.
Also, being a race of carnivores, hunters, they tend to view
herbivores and omnivores as 'prey animals'. This tends to surface
in initial interactions. A carnivorous race will often be viewed
as intrinsically better (more likely to act honourably) and
Warlike/hunter races tent to get the 'benefit of the doubt but
vegetarian pacifists tend to get initially treated with disdain.
This of course is a generalization and those few Caitians to
have gone through the academy will display much less of that
prejudice. Also individuals, if given chance to do so, can
prove/disprove their honour and alter the Caitians initial
viewpoint of them. It is not the level of success that will
determine the change but the courage and honour that the Caitian
sees in their actions.
If a Caitian officer found himself under a weak CO (There would
have to be a lot of instances of 'dishonorable actions' for the
natural 'clan heads are to be obeyed' tendency to be overridden)
it is quite possible that the Caitian would find himself being
pulled into challenging the CO. First in little things, doing
what he does but doing it BETTER, verbal confrontations, doing
things 'under protest' etc. if these 'WARNING SIGNS' are not
acted on then the Caitian WILL eventually either leave (More
likely for starfleet officers) or challenge to combat for
command.
This stems from the customs/honour 'rules' which cover the
replacement of a 'bad' clan chief in Caitian society.
IV
H o m e w o r l d
Cait is a world of extremes, huge mountains, wide forests, deep
swamps. Slightly higher water coverage, slightly less gravity
but otherwise relatively similar to Earth normal.
The largest bodies of forestation hold giant trees hundreds of
meters tall, these cover most of the natural Clan homelands but
Caitian influence extends to all bar the worst of the
swamplands.
V
S o c i e t y
The basic unit of Caitian society is the Clan, all members of a
particular clan sharing the same prefix (Av'ern, Av'anvor and
Av'elona are all of clan Av for example). The clan chiefs
authority is ALMOST absolute only two forces act to hold them in
check. One being the right of warriors within the clan to
'challenge' if they have cause, if the clan chief can not
persuade another warrior to stand in his stead then he must face
the challenge himself. The more faith the Clan has in the chiefs
decisions the less he will be challenged, however a weak or
misguided chief will continually find themselves fighting off
challenges until they loose the position.
The other check, is the 'elders council' they are the keepers of
the law, they are the forum which decides how the law applies to
new situations, also the group who judges if a challenge has
'worth'. (If a challenge is made and the chief wishes not to
face it, the elders are called on to decide if it has worth or
not, if it has then they can demand that the challenge be taken
up on. any clan who defies the elders in this, would likely find
itself under attack from many, if not all, the other clans)
The elders (formed of many older warriors, too old to fight, who
have stepped down from their clan positions to take elder
status) can also sponsor a challenge where they feel a clan is
in breach of the law but where no member of that clan will face
the chief. A volunteer from ANY clan will then take the
challenge forward.
The Caitian system is archaic, and at times violent, but unlike
many civilizations they have not had a major 'world war' in
their entire history.
The Elders are also the main teachers of social/moral values. In
the past they would be the main teachers of all skills, but over
the last 100 years specialist teachers/schools have taken much
of the formal teaching role, but an Elder is still held in very
high regard.
Females, are still regarded very much as property of the
father/husband although as time goes on, they are gradually
gaining more in the way of rights. Younglings also are
considered as property although males do gain some rights of
their own after their first kill and take their responsibility
for themselves when they become an adult in their own right.
Unlike many societies there is no formal age for many of the
changes in status of Caitians, they rather measure it by
ability. As long as the various trials and tests of the society
are taken in the correct order then there is no limit to how
fast the individual could theoretically take them. This, at least
to start with is the only decision that a youngling can make
independent of their father.
Since meeting other races 100 year ago, the clan council was
formed. A forum where all the clan heads can meet to decide on
law and uniform interaction with other races. But even this
council has to abide by the decision of the council of elders
when it comes to questions of morality and behaviour. Because of
the interaction with other cultures, THIS is the only forum that
uses a vote system.
VI
R e c e n t H i s t o r y
Around 100 years ago, Cait was still a pre-warp society. Their
sublight space program had taken them only as far as the other
planets in the Cait system and set up a number of mining (and in
one case farming (Herds of food animals) operations on them.
When one of these had been struck by a meteor, fears for the
safety of the homeworld grew, a number of heavily armed sublight
ships where built and placed in the system as a result. Their
task, to identify and deal with space borne threats to Cait.
During the latter part of the Federation-Klingon conflict, two
Klingon battle cruisers forced a small federation scout vessel
out of warp and into Caitian space. As the sublight vessels
moved to investigate this first proof of extra-Caitian life, the
Klingons opened fire. The Caitians responded in kind.
Although almost 90% of the Caitian fleet was defeated, their
weapons had been designed to destroy the largest conceivable
asteroids and meteors. The concerted attack crippled one cruiser
and drove the other off.
Being badly damaged itself the federation scout could do
nothing to stop the Caitians salvage the remains of the battle
cruiser.
The Caitians would obviously have warp drive in the near future
and there was always the chance they would be the target of
Klingon reprisals, so in spite of the 'no pre-warp' directive,
formal negotiations with Cait where instigated.
So long as the interaction was on their terms, the Caitians
seemed to be able to interact successfully with what they saw as
'elder' races despite some reluctance to deal with non hunters.
Within 5 years enough common ground had been found to enable
them to become full members in the federation.
However there has always been a large (but still in the
minority) body of Caitians who resent such formal links with
'grass eaters' and would have Cait remove itself from the
federation. This has polarized the clan council into two
factions, the expansionists (Pro-federation membership) and the
centrists (Anti-federation membership).
--
Caitian background document created 8-April-2000 by Raven.
All text Copyright (c)2000 Raven; freely usable for any
Holoworld fleet involvement.
contact for other permissions.ons.
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