Vulcan (planet)/Provinces of Na'nam: Difference between revisions

The province of Raal occupies the western edge of Na'nam, and includes most of the navigable coastline along the Voroth Sea. Raal is one of Vulcan's most geologically stable regions, and as a result contains a number of its oldest settlements. Almost half of the province consists of temperate coastlands, which lie along the Voroth and the Na'ree River Valley, whose namesake watercourse is navigable by small boats for two to three months each year. As a result, although the city of Vulcana Regar is Raal's largest population center, there are at least a dozen smaller cities and towns in the province with populations ranging from 10,000 to 80,000 residents.

The Vulcana Regar spaceport is one of the three main points of entry for visitors to Vulcan. While those with diplomatic missions or spiritual quests to fulfill tend to beam down to [[ShirKahr]], those who come to Vulcan for trade purposes use Vulcana Regar as their base of operations. Also a popular tourist destination, Raal offers guided expeditions through the spectacular wonders of the Fire Plains (except during solar flare season, when only the brave and foolish journey there at their own risk), and even pleasure cruises across the Voroth to Kwil'inor on solar-assisted sailing ships.

Covering over 2 million hectares of land 644 kilometers to the northeast of Vulcana Regar, the Fire Plains lie at the base of a triangle of three active volcanoes - T'raan to the north, T'riall to the southeast, and T'regar to the southwest. The Plains would be of scientific interest for this reason alone, as barely a decade has passed without an eruption from at least one of the triple peaks. What makes the Fire Plains renowned throughout the galaxy, however, are the multicolored crystalline formations which grow throughout this superheated environment, providing an ever-changing explosion of kaleidoscopic panoramas - a feast for the eye or the soul.

Finally, Vulcana Regar is also the headquarters of the ''[[ma:V%27Shar|V'Shar]]'', the Vulcan bureau of internal security. For most of the past two centuries, the ''[[ma:V%27Shar|V'Shar]]'' had become little more than a glorified spaceport police, checking manifests and apprehending offworlder pickpockets, and making ceremonial appearances at meetings of the Vulcan Council. Even its traditional technical information-gathering role had slipped to the [[ShirKahr#Vulcan Science Academy|Science Academy]]. As the activities of the '''[[ma:Vulcan_Isolationist_Movement|Vulcan Isolationist Movement (VIM)]]''' have increased in intensity over the past several years, however, the presence of the ''[[ma:V%27Shar|V'Shar]]'' grows steadily more visible and important.

A heavy-set, olive-skinned man of almost 150 years, Director [[ma:Satok|Satok]] has been head of the ''[[ma:V%27Shar|V'Shar]]'' for almost forty years. He has a deep, sonorous voice and a regal bearing, and always prefers if possible to reflect upon a situation before choosing a course of action. A graduate of both the [[ShirKahr#Vulcan Science Academy|Science Academy]] (in molecular chemistry) and the Vulcan Institute of Defensive Arts (VIDA), [[ma:Satok|Satok]] has never been off-world. There are those who allege that [[ma:Satok|Satok]] holds a degree of sympathy for some of the political agendas of the '''[[ma:Vulcan_Isolationist_Movement|VIM]]''', and may have moved slowly to infiltrate their ranks as a result. Now that the '''[[ma:Vulcan_Isolationist_Movement|VIM]]''' has stepped up its activities to include treasonous plots such as the recent attempt to locate and reassemble the [[ma:Stone_of_Gol|Stone of Gol]], [[ma:Satok|Satok]] has dedicated the ''[[ma:V%27Shar|V'Shar]]'' to rooting out its members and bringing them to justice.

A lithe young Vulcan woman with black hair and hazel eyes, T'shanik enrolled in the ''[[ma:V%27Shar|V'Shar]]'' upon returning to Vulcan in 2366, after just failing (as runner-up to Wesley Crusher) to qualify for admission to Starfleet Academy. Although a strict adherent to the ways of [[ma:Surak|Surak]], T'shanik seems to possess an unusually high degree of curiosity about the customs and ways of offworlders, and she has been employed on several occsions as a liaison when the ''[[ma:V%27Shar|V'Shar]]'' is called upon to interact with other non-Vulcan Federation personnel.