Lethean

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Lethean
Four Letter Code	LETH
Federation Status	Neutral
Planet of Origin	Lethiva
Encountered	DS9: "The Sword of Kahless"
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	N, Unknown but space-faring
List of Named Letheans
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"The only good thing about secrets is how much they are worth on the black market."

a Lethean proverb.

The Lethean are a humanoid species best known for being mercenaries, assassins, criminals, spy’s and pirates. Add to this is the fact that most of them are capable of reading minds and some of conducting potentially fatal telepathic attacks on people and the amount of distrust that they create among most species can be understood.

Home System

• Quadrant: Beta
• Location: Kah'mok Tir Sector (coordinates B24-0004-1302)
• Proper Name: Curim Gamma system
• Star: It orbits a class A (White) star
• Distance from Star: its orbit is approximately 338 million km
• Companions: It is the 3rd of 8 planets in the system
• Moons: It has 2 small moons

Home World

• Proper Name: Lethiva
• Diameter: 13,956.2 km (8,672 miles)
• Gravity: 0.95 standard gravity with a density of 4.8
• Axial Tilt: 7.8%, with minimal seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 359 days
• Rotational Period: 23.2 hours
• Classification: was M
• Surface Water: only 9% remains, mostly underground as a result of the solar flares
• Atmosphere: 0.14% is an extremely low pressure unable to sustain most forms of life with 74% nitrogen, 4% oxygen, 22% trace chemicals
• Climate: Mainly a cold barren world since the solar flares destroyed much of its surface.
• Terrain: a barren desolate rocky wasteland
• Population: None on world but an estimated 6 billion inside the Klingon Empire and another 2 billion elsewhere.

History

The Letheans wiped out the neighboring Gretharans in a war in the mid to late 21st century.

In 2371, a Lethean named Altovar traveled to Deep Space 9 and attempted to acquire a few hundred milliliters of bio-mimetic gel from Doctor Julian Bashir. After Bashir refused to give him the gel, Altovar telepathically attacked him, placing him in a coma. Altovar was later arrested by Odo.

A year later in 2372, Toral, the illegitimate son of Duras, hired another Lethean, Soto, to read Kor's mind after the Dahar Master discovered the location of the mythical Sword of Kahless.

In 2391, during the Klingon-Gorn War, King Slathis of the Gorn Hegemony attempted to acquire the services of Lethean mercenaries to battle the Klingon Empire. Outside analysts doubted he had the resources to pay both them and the Nausicaans he had already hired.

Based on records received from the Klingons some form of disaster has rendered their homeworld un-inhabitable and they have been forced to find homes elsewhere. The vast majority of them now live within the Klingon Empire.

In 2401 what appeared to be Klingon Councilor Konjah was attacked by Lethean mercenaries on his way home after a night of revelry. The telepathic assault caused the Undine masquerading as Konjah to lose his humanoid form, and the Letheans quickly killed him and presented his body to the Klingon High Council. The House of Konjah was stripped of its lands and titles, and in an ensuing witch hunt all its members were killed or forced into hiding.

By 2409 many Letheans fought for the Klingon Defense Force, having offered their services to Chancellor J'mpok. They were not granted full citizenship, however, and those who did not serve in the KDF often eked out a miserable existence in slums on the fringes of First City on Qo'noS. Some Letheans of this era were known to have telekinetic abilities in addition to their other powers.

In 2409, Commander Lovik was in command of the Vo'Quv-class carrier IKS Tev, which was assigned to guard the Wasteland Area of the Solane Dyson Sphere Contested Zone. Lovik requested the assistance of an Allied vessel to collect medical supplies from the USS Salk and deliver them to ships in the Wasteland.

Government

They no longer have their own government, not since their homeworld became un-inhabitable. Now the vast majority of them live within the boundaries of the Klingon Empire and serve that Empire.

Description

mottled yellowish to brown skin, small horns along center of face and at corners of mouth

Physiology

As with most intelligent humanoid species they have a very complex system with specialized organs, and unique hormones, chemicals and enzymes. They are typical humanoids with most of the physical, mental and biological medical problems that seem to plague most humanoids.

Psychology

They are known for being incredibly stubborn, a trait that has made them highly sought after as mercenaries, criminals, assassins, spy’s and bodyguards. Also as a species they seem to lack or have a very flexible sense of moral ethics. Morals, mercy and fair play are for the stupid, violence, being sneaky and doing whatever it takes to get the job done are all that matters.

Telepathic abilities

As a species all of them have the ability to read minds to a lesser or greater degree and many of them can also use these abilities to conduct potentially fatal telepathic attacks on unsuspecting victims. A small minority of them also has telekinesis, although this number seems to have been steadily growing over the last 200 years.

Religion

No records of any kind have been discovered to support the possibility that they may have some form of religion. Even Klingon records fail to make any mention of this possibility.

Mythology

No records of any kind have been discovered to support the possibility that they may have some form of recorded mythology. Even Klingon records fail to make any mention of this possibility.

Society

They have a very disjointed society, one where anything goes as long as it is beneficial to them. Even then most could not care less what happens to other members of their own species, unless that may have an effect on their own survival, prosperity or continued lifestyle.

Culture

No records of any kind have been discovered to support the possibility that they may have developed any sort of cultural aspect to their society. Even Klingon records fail to make any mention of this possibility.

Customs

No records of any kind have been discovered to support the possibility that they may have developed any sort of customs. Even Klingon records fail to make any mention of this possibility.

Technology

They managed to procure most of their technology as a result of using various underhanded, criminal and unsavory practices. No method was too extreme, violent of morally questionable for them. Now that most of them live within the Klingon Empire they have easy access to most of their technology.

Economy

Prior to the disaster that made their world un-inhabitable they never really developed much in the way of trade, their biggest export being their own people who served as mercenaries, assassins, bodyguards and criminals. After the disaster many of them still found employment as such.

Military

They never had much of a military; rather they hired out their services to anyone willing to pay their price. As a result a large number of them ended up as members of various different crime cartels, working as mercenaries, bodyguards, assassins and doing other unsavory assignments for various different organizations.

Since the disaster that made their homeworld un-inhabitable many of them have become members of the Klingon Defense Force, some even managing to attain officer’s ranks.

Federation Intelligence Files

The Letheans are a telepathic species, whose telepathic attacks are almost always fatal. Their skills led them to being hired by various criminal groups in the 24th century. They are known for being incredibly stubborn.

The Federation believes that their homeworld is located in the Ionite Nebula. However based on data retrieved from the Klingons it would seem that some kind of disaster has rendered their homeworld un-inhabitable and they have been forced to find homes elsewhere. The vast majority of them now live within the Klingon Empire.

The Letheans were also name checked in The Art of the Impossible in a list of telepathic species which included the Vulcans and Betazoids.

Lethean veteran asylum

The Lethean veteran asylum was an institution of the Letheans which Elias Vaughn once visited, where he heard the halls echo with the mad and hopeless cries of fear and warning.

Altovar

Altovar was a Lethean criminal, with training in exobiology and medicine. In 2371, Altovar traveled to Deep Space 9 and attempted to acquire a few hundred millimeters of bio-mimetic gel from Doctor Julian Bashir. After Bashir refuses his request, Altovar telepathically attacked him and left him in a deep coma. Subsequently, Bashir recovered and Altovar was arrested by Constable Odo before he managed to leave the station.

Soto

Soto was a Lethean criminal, with training in security systems. In 2372, Toral hired Soto to read Dahar Master Kor 's mind, after he boasted that he had located the Sword of Kahless. After obtaining the information he traveled to the Gamma Quadrant with Toral. He was eventually killed by Kor.

Lovik

Lovik was a Lethean Klingon Defense Force officer in the early 25th century.

Sources

Both Memory Alpha and Memory Beta were used as references as well as the following TV episodes, DS9: Distant Voices and DS9: The Sword of Kahless. The creation of the Lethean makeup is discussed in the "Michael Westmore's Aliens, Season Four" special feature on the DS9 Season 4 DVD.

Also used were the following written sources, the CoE eBooks: Remembrance of Things Past, Book I, Remembrance of Things Past, Book II, DS9 - Avatar novel: Book One and the Last Unicorn RPG module: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Core Game Book and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 223 and the CCG: Second Edition.

Electronic sources that were used as well were the ST website: The Path to 2409, the ST video game: Star Trek Online, STO mission: Off the Beaten Path and the STO mission: Medical Relief. Letheans figure prominently in the PC game, Klingon Honor Guard as one of the more formidable adversaries faced by the player. Letheans are also a playable race in Star Trek Online in the service of the Klingon Empire.

Content from this article may have
come partially, or entirely from
 Memory Alpha

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