Cart'henian

The Cart'henian home world of Cart'hen III is in the Trinity Sector of space.

History

Pre Klingon Takeover

The natives were a peaceful nomadic race, well suited to survival in the harsh desert conditions found everywhere on the surface of Cart'hen III. They had no history of war or intertribal conflict. The fight to survive was the main battle they fought everyday. The desert conditions and the need to find, grow or raise food meant that for the most part contact between tribes was a rare and infrequent occassion. When it did happen they usually celebrated the occurance with feast and song before parting to continue the constant never ending wandering accross the surface of their world.

Their population had been slowly decreaseing as the water supply became increaseingly more scarce. It had dropped to about 300,000 prior to the arrival of the Klingons.

Klingon Occupation

All this ended in 2193 when the Klingon Empire claimed their world for their own. An examination of Klingon records shows that a force of 50,000 soldiers and 10,000 civilians was dispatched to the planet. The civilians were a collection of engineers, mining specialists, technical experts and prison workers. The soldiers hunted down and transported the native population to the site of their first strip mining operation, what is now the city of Mith.

It was here at the mining facility that their population continued to drop to the point where extinction became a very real possability. The harsh working environment and strict rules enforced by the Klingon guards took many lives.

Finally Independance

In 2368 the Klingon High Command decided to leave Cart'hen III. They had found other sources of the mainly industrial and heavy metals closer to the center of the Empire. It was more cost effective this way, however a small minority was against this plan. The final result was that most of the Klingon forces left. A new location was selected and a permanent military garrison was established as well as a close by penal colony to work the new mine works.

Due to the new, more friendly relations they had established with the Federation, the Klingons turned all of the native Cart'henians free. However over the 175 years of captivity that they had spent as slaves to the Klingons, the natives had lost most of their culture and survival skills.

At this time a large number of them took to the stars looking for a new home. They paid for their passage aboard freighters with gems dug from the mines of their home world. The largest off world colony of Cart'henians is on Miri IV which now has a population of around 20,000.

Now by 2385 their population has started to rise again. They now number about 45,000 with almost 30,000 of those liveing in the cities and only about 15,000 have returned to the deserts.

Description

The natives of Cart'hen III are a hardy people, with the men standing on average 5'6" and weighting about 160 lbs. Females are on average 5'4" and weight about 130 lbs. They are covered in a very short course sandy fur, with double eye lids, one of which is transparent to protect the eye from intense light or flying sand.

They have the ability to store water within a special internal water storage organ, due to this they can on average go for as long as a week without needing to take a drink. They also have wide flat feet with 4 toes and hands with 3 long fingers and 1 thumb.

Those that still live in the deserts still wear long loose robes, usually tan or mixed light browns in color. These robes allow them to blend into their environment. Those that live in the cities wear a wide variety of styles.

Before the Klingon occupation they were a peaceful people and while it is unheard of for them to take any violent action against another native, regardless of tribe, they have been known to attack off worlder's. Those that have returned to the desert's have become excellent guerrilla fighters useing unpredictable, unconventional, deceitful and depriving combat tactics that use the environment to their best military benefit.

Religion

Water is life, especially to the Cart'hen. For them it is represented by Uh'tir, a god that is both male and female. As the embodiment of life and water, the two being intermingled not just in their beliefs but also in reality, Uh'tir is the giver of all. They have no priests, nor any need for any. Each day at sun up they voice a prayer, giving thanks for another day of water, another day of life