Tam!sian
From Memory-Zeta
Categories: Planetary Bodies | Cultures | Other Cultures
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[edit] Planetary Information
Planetary Class: M (Arboreal/Glaciated)
Gravity: .65 Terran Standard
Axial Tilt: .03%
Temperature Averages-
Equator: 15C Tropics: 0C Poles: -90C
Population: 500,000 stable
Tech Level: Warp Capable
[edit] Planetary Overview:
The primary star of Tam!sia borders between the Ferenghi sphere of influence and Federation Space.
Tam!sia is the fourth planet around a yellow-white (F4) star in the outer region of its habitable zone. The planet is glaciated from the poles to 50 degrees north and south. The remaining land is almost completely arboreal, with the massive Latkeen trees predominating. The forest canopy reaches an average height of around 2km, and admits little light to the forest floor. A large There are no large standing bodies of water, with most of the planet's water tied up in the glaciers or in vegetable matter. The almost non-existant axial tilt means that there is little seasonal variance.
There are peculiarities with the foliage of Tamsia. A high metallic content in the crust caused the plants to naturally evolve to leech minerals directly from the soil, incorporating it into their structures. This provides both amazing strength and flexibility. For example, the average mid-growth latkeen tree has several hundred kilometers of carbon-steel reinforcing "wires" in a mesh throughout their trunks, along with numerous other minerals. The semi-rare baratkeen tree has leaves of semi-pure silver as a defence mechanism, since the insulated leaves gather static-electrical charges from the atmosphere, shocking or killing any animals trying to feed on the foliage. Tam!sian bioengineers have developed bacteria which can collect minerals from the trees without harming them. These metal deposits form large bulbs of pure metal in "infected" trees. This property of the trees was the primary cause of the Ferenghi invasion, the Ferenghi seeing easy money by harvesting the trees for their metal.
[edit] Racial Information
[edit] Physical Description:
Tam!sians are tall (2.0m - 6'7" on average) furred humanoids. Their fur length, color and pattern varies from region to region and family to family. They have digitigrade legs and a tail which is about 1.3m long, prehensile, and strong enough to support their weight in their native gravity (though it couldn't support them in 1g). They also have retractable claws on hands and feet, both for hunting and climbing. The ambient light level even at high noon on Tam!sia is only about .2 of "standard" lighting on Federation ships due to the everpresent foliage coverage, and long term unprotected exposure (several hours) to "regular" light levels would permanently damage the retinas, much like staring at the sun would do to a human.
[edit] Lifespan:
Originally the Tam!sian lifespan averaged 175 terran standard years, but genetic engineering over the past several generations has extended this greatly. The current Tam!sian average life span is 550 terran standard years, consisting of a youth to about 40 years, fertile period from 40 years with "old age" occurring around 500 years.
[edit] Reproduction:
Tam!sians are mammalian and viviparous. The average Tam!sian female becomes fertile at around 40 years of age, and can be fertile until they die, though most births occur between 200-300 years of age. Tam!sian females have full control over their fertility cycles, allowing them to choose an optimal time to become pregnant. Gestation lasts 13.5 months. There are never multiple births. The young attain full growth aged about 25 years.
[edit] Diet:
While technically omnivores, Tam!sians evolved from an arboreal hunter, and as such 75% of their diet is meat. They are capable of eating raw meat, but usually cook it with some vegetation.
[edit] Society:
The primary social group in Tam!sian society is the family. A typical family will consist of 50-200 beings, all living in the same compound, usually a small town in its own right. These compounds are self-sufficient, having numerous specialised buildings. The household claims an area of forest around their compound, usually with a radius of at least 50 miles. No hunting or gathering should be performed in this area by another family without permission. There are over a thousand individual families on Tam!sia.
In the distant past, disputes between two families would be resolved by single combat between a designated member from each family - usually hunters. These duals were usually to first blood, or until the opponent yielded, though rarely they resulted in the death of one or both adversaries. The winner's family would be considered the winner of the dispute. Nowadays such disputes are taken to the planetary government at Parsino to be decided nonviolently (see Government). Dueling is still practiced, as a sport without claws extended, as a rememberance of their history. This sport has become more popular since the Ferenghi invasion (see Recent History).
The average Tam!sian is born, lives and dies never setting foot on the ground. The Latkeen trees which average 2000m in height are their homes, with the average villiage or town built around the trunks nearly a kilometer from the ground. The houses are usually straddled around several trees, interconnected by sturdy but flexible wooden bridges and platforms.
Tam!sian males leave their family to seek prospective mates in other Families, and it is customary that they be shown hospitality while they visit. After mating, the male becomes part of the new family. Most matings are for life, though, there are occasional divorces. In this case the male remains part of his new family, unless he should choose to seek another mate, at which point he usually wanders looking for a mate from another family.
Hunting and gathering are vital roles in the self sufficiency of each household, and there are generally dedicated family hunters, though generally all family members who are able hunt and gather to a greater or lesser degree.
[edit] Government:
Within each family, every adult member takes part in the decision-making process in family matters. However some have more social power than others, depending on the family and the individual. While there is no generally recognised leader in a family, there are usually three to four individuals who administer the day-to-day running of the settlement.
For larger matters, each family sends a family member to Parsino. These members form the government of Tam!sia known as the Assemblage. They debate issues which affect Tam!sia as a whole, as well as mediating disputes between families. The Assemblage is in session year-round, and families usually have a rotation of members who attend throughout the year. Representatives are usually autonomous when making decisions, being trusted members of the family, though they may contact the family by radio to discuss the Family's position on important issues.
From the Assemblage are selected five individuals, known as the Council, who act as a deciding body for when proceedings stall, or when executive decisions are required. The Council votes with a majority decision taking precedence. Abstaining is not allowed. If an issue affects the family of a member of the Council, they are expected to excuse themselves from the proceedings. In order to maintain the odd number of Council members in this situation, another Council member will volunteer to accompany them.
[edit] Education:
Education of the young is informal, since there are usually only three to four young in any family at one time. Mostly the education is undertaken by parents and older family members. While certain topics are expected to be learned - such as history, mathematics, basic science, hunting and biology - attention is given to those areas in which a youth shows interest and promise.
Parsino is also the home of the Institute, the center of learning for Tam!sia. It is expected that every Tam!sian should attend the institute at some point in their first 100 years to study a discipline, the choice of which is up to the individual, though it may be affected by the needs of the family. Many Tam!sians return many times in thieir lifetime to aquire further education, and some decide to remain at the Institute as instructors, living there almost permanently.
[edit] Capital:
By far the largest settlement on Tam!sia - and the only settlement not affiliated with any family - is the planetary capical of Parsino, founded over four thousand years ago. Originally it was founded by a group of neighboring families as a neutral place to discuss matters. It grew as more and more families participated, with the last families joining the Assemblage two thousand years ago.
It is located at the equator, in a complex of fifteen ancient latkeen trees, with platforms ranging over nearly five hundred meters from the lowest to the highest. With the Assemblage and the Institute, there are usually nearly seven thousand individuals resident in the Capital. Every family contributes with supplying food, equipment and supplies to Parsino. The Federation also has a small outpost here, consisting of around fifty individuals, supervising the Tam!sian bid for Federation Membership.
[edit] Beliefs:
General Tam!sian religeous belief is a type of Shamanism, in that every form of life has a spirit, and that ancestral spirits watch over the families of Tam!sians. All households have a shrine which members can visit to seek ancestral guidance. Aside from this, all Tam!sians have great reverence for the natural balance, and will avoid overhunting, and will not strip all the foliage or fruit when gathering. While they are not against taking life, regarding hunting as a natural process, causing unnessary suffering or pointless death is abhorrent to them.
[edit] Technology:
Tam!sians developed a biological-based technology rather than a material-based one, though they did develop mechanical tools, they were always much further ahead biologically. They moved from selective breeding, through to biochemistry, then genetic alterations with tailored bacteria and finally DNA re-sequencing with tailored viruses. When they developed starflight, it was with 'grown' spaceships - genetically modified plants with natural space inside. Their current starships are living plants, and regenerate atmosphere and biomatter while in space, and can even 'heal' minor damage. Major damage can 'kill' the ship, however. Though warp drives and weaponry are still installed as additional units, they are fitted into 'naturally' occurring openings in the ship's shell. A current project of the Institute is to develop a grown warp engine.
Not only did they use the techniques on the plants and animals around them, they also employed the use on their offspring to prevent birth defects, enhance lifespan, increase intelligence and improve dexterity and strength. With a low population density, they were never a warlike species and hence never used the technique aggressively as humans did to create supersoldiers. They utilised it very slowly, making minor alterations with each generation. This is, however, a delicate point in their negotiations for membership with the Federation, which has a negative stance on genetic engineering. The Institute is generally the authority on genetic engineering.
Tam!sians medical technology is very advanced, utilising retroviruses, tailored bacteria, and rapid cloning of body tissues. Those leaving Tam!sia are given retroviral DNA alteration which strengthen their skeletal structure and musculature. This prevents many long-term problems with adjusting from the natural Tam!sian .65g to 1g. Some also elect to have their retinas adjusted to be less photosensitive.
Prior to the Ferenghi invasion (see Recent History), Tam!sians had developed electronics and mechanics equivalent to twenty-first century earth, though considerably less destructive to the environment. Radios to communicate to Parsino had been in use for nearly a thousand years, making use of the metal content of the latkeen trees as massive natural antennas. After the invasion, Tam!sian technology quickly advanced to near-Federation level, reverse engineering captured devices and ships.
While shuttles are available for transport, they are not common, and the planetary transporter network is still in planning, so the primary mode of transportation are floaters. Floaters are bio-engineered plants, modified from a naturally occurring vegetable which used electrolisis to turn water into hydrogen, which it stored in a baloon-like sac. This allowed it to float to the upper reaches of the forest canopy, giving it access to light and rainfall.
The engineered versions come in two varieties. A personal one, which will support one person, which includes a root-tail which has seat and foot-rest protruberances, and leaf-wings which are manipulated to provide forward motion. Water squeezed into the electrolisis chamber will produce more hydrogen, while a flap allows hydrogen to be vented to reduce lift. These are primarily for local use around a settlement, though they can be used for inter-settlement transport. Taken too far without nourishment will cause them to run out of water and nutrients and die. When not in use the floaters' root-tail is placed in a trough of nutrients and water, which keep the plant fuelled and healthy.
A larger version of the floater is also grown for long distance travel and cargo transport. These resemble the zepplins of Earth history, though still obviously living plants. They float above the forest canopy, with a lattice goldola of woven vines hanging below the gas bag. These floaters when fully grown can carry more than fifty people, or an equivalent amount of cargo. Obviously any Tam!sian riding one of these must wear protective eyewear against the full daylight above the treetops.
Most families maintain ten to fourty personal floaters depending on the size of the family, as well as a single large floater.
[edit] Recent History:
Twenty years ago a Ferenghi trading corporation discovered the system, and decided to harvest the trees, which contain many rare metals. They destroyed the few defenceless and non-warp-capable ships of the Tam!sian Space Exploration Corps and established a clear-cutting logging operation. During the first couple of years of the war, the Tam!sians experienced many losses, as they learned how to wage a guerrilla war through trial and error. The Ferenghi employed Nausican mercinaries for security, and the hunters of the families were initially no match for these these ruthless and experienced fighters in direct confrontations. Over the next three years, the Tam!sians proceeded to wage more and more successful raids against the Ferenghi, finally creating enough damage to make the whole operation unprofitable, at which point the Ferenghi pulled out.
This conflict has left some cultural scarring, for a species which didn't know war to having to defend their home. Most Tam!sians hate Ferenghi to a greater or lesser extent.
Following the war, the Tamsians quickly reverse-engineered captured Ferenghi technology to develop their own warp drives and space weaponry. After exploring several nearby star systems, they encountered a Federation Starship. After a tense introduction, where the Tam!sians were more than slightly paranoid about the good intentions of the Federation, the Federation was invited to visit the Tam!sian homeworld. Having been convinced of the morality of the Federation, five years ago a protection treaty was signed, and Tam!sia is currently in the process of becoming a Federation member.
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