Grazerite
| Intelligent Lifeform Index |
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| Grazerite | |
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| Four Letter Code | GRAZ |
| Federation Status | Member |
| Planet of Origin | Unknown |
| Encountered | DS9: Homefront |
| T/E Rating | T0/E0 |
| Current Tech Level | N+ |
| List of Named Grazerites | |
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The name of the species of Federation President Jaresh-Inyo. Tall and contemplative, they evolved from herbivorous herd animals and loath violence and confrontation.
Name
- Proper Name: Grazerite
- Pronunciation: ['ɡreɪseraɪt]
Home System
- Quadrant: Alpha
- Location: Grazer System
- Pronunciation: ['ɡreɪ.ser]
- Stars: The Grazer system is a quadrinary star consisting of the following 2 binary elements:-
- Grazer A, a type-A blue-white giant; and Grazer B, a type-M red dwarf
- Companions: 6 planets: Grazer I (Class-J), Grazer II (Class-E), Grazer III (Class-M), Grazer IV (Class-I), Grazer V (Class-J), Grazer VI (Class-D). Additionally, there is a large asteroid field between Grazer A&B and Grazer I.
- Grazer C, a type-G yellow dwarf and Grazer D, type-K orange dwarf, thought to have formed separately and have become a long-range gravitational capture of Grazer A.
- Grazer A, a type-A blue-white giant; and Grazer B, a type-M red dwarf
Home World
- Proper Name: Grazer III
- Pronunciation: ['ɡreɪser θriː]
- Native Name: Graz-Horr
- Other Names: Vacca III (name given by Captain Cacciatore on first contact with humans)
- Gravity: 1.2G
- Orbital period: 8.34 Earth-years; 1,227 revolutions per orbit.
- Satellites: 3: Lorjo (Grazer IIIa, Class-C dwarf planet comparable in size to Ceres); Jeshu and Rajimo (Grazer IIIb and IIIc respectively, gravity-captured rogue asteroids)
- Classification: M
- Atmosphere: Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide
- Climate: Variable, due to quadrinary star system. When in perihelion to Grazer C & D, the climate is widely tropical. In aphelion, temperatures can drop to sub-arctic.
History
Early Grazerite civilisation was founded in the islands in the leeward wind-shelter of the prime continent, where temperature variations were mediated by climactic systems and the surrounding ocean. With little competition to challenge the small kingdoms, the island civilisations developed advanced philosophy and science compared to the wilder hinterlands of itinerant Grazerites of the continent. The details of these republics and kingdoms was largely lost in oral histories, conflating into a series of foundation myths of heroic figures called the Visionaries.
Unlike most humanoids, this imbalance did not lead to conflict. A system of sponsored client regimes were set up with the itinerant herds (or upsols), whereby chosen youths would travel to the island academies for training and education, in exchange for trade goods. In the Grazerite language, the terms for "islander" and "urbanite" have been conflated together; it is indicative that Continental Grazerites see Islanders as having lost much of their herd instinct and values in their individualistc urban life. This is in contrast to most of Grazerite Standard being descended from the Islander trade pidgin language. Industrialisation was thus slow to develop on Grazer, taking thousands of years to advance, due to the barter economy of the Grazerites. First contact was made by the ancient Orion civilisation in 231 CE, who maintained a trading outpost there until their eventual demise. Grazer would develop fusion power and warp drive of their own, with displaced Orion help, in 571 CE. This brought them into contact with other neighbouring star-systems and alien civilisations, such as the Menthar, Promellians, Vulcans, Tellarites, Tholians and the Hebitian empires.
Due to the more isolated nature of Grazer, which is quite far from the galactic plane, it has remained a strategically unimportant and thus Grazerites were able to survive as neutral pacifists in galactic affairs. However, increasing conflicts in the region (The Menthar-Promellian war, Tzenketh raids, Cardassian & Tholian expansion) led to Grazer applying for membership in the United Federation of Planets in the year 2335. While impressed with the long history of democracy, technology and good diplomatic relations with the Tholians (which the Federation wished to cultivate) this was conditional on Grazerites supplying Starfleet manpower, to run Federation-designed capital class ships, in order to defend this isolated, strategically-unimportant and underpopulated sector.
This led to a period of factionalised politics on Grazer, between pure pacifists and pragmatists, led by survivors of raids on Grazer outposts by various privateers such as the Breen and Nausicaans, and relatives of those lost in the Algenib incident with the Tholians, who mistakenly believed a Grazer trade ship to be Orion pirates. More consensual politics has returned though, since the Federation provided transporter and weather control technologies to the Grazerites, and Starfleet came to the defence of Grazer during the Talarian border conflicts of the 2350s.
Government
The legislature is made up of 5-year-old democratically-elected representatives from the different herds or upsols of Grazer, with the executive indirectly elected from the legislature. Suffrage is extended to only those individuals that are parents. (Decipher sourcebook: Starfleet Operations Manual) Legislative terms are 1 Grazer year long. With the Grazer mating season and age restriction, this means that only 1 generation of Grazerites are ever in power over the planet. The election of the Federation Council representative takes place as a direct universal ballot of candidates. There are no restrictions on the age of this representative, and no restrictions on suffrage, as per Federation law. Upsol elders still form the judicial system of Grazer, with panels of neutral elders convened to settle inter-herd disputes. The court of final appeal is the Federation Supreme Court.
Description
Grazerites are tall, willowy humanoids. Their thick hide has a flat layer of hair all over it, usually amber in color, but white, beige, and black Grazerites exist, as do piebald or mottled ones. (Decipher sourcebook: Starfleet Operations Manual) Grazerite facial features include a pronounced, deeply furrowed brow and a bovine snout. Two slightly curving horns, which may reach ten centimeters in length, crown the Grazerite skull. (DS9: Homefront)
Physiology
Grazerites are descended from ruminants that are believed to have climbed rocky outcrops, which developed their bipedal frame. They are vegetarian, lacking the enzymes necessary to digest meat, which are found in most humanoids. They require very little sleep , believed to be due to the perpetual daylight during the long Grazer summers. They are one of the few humanoids that have a mating season. This is during the first days of spring, with children born approximately 100 Grazer days later. Twins and triplets are common among Grazerites. Grazerites possess a highly-developed atmospheric sense, with sensory organs located in their snouts to detect levels of air moisture, ionicity and pressure.
Psychology
Grazerites are pacifists by nature, drawn to resolve matters through contemplative long debate. They loathe confrontation, and the disappointment of others hurts particularly hard. They are valued in Starfleet for their ability to concentrate on tasks for long periods of time and thoughtful, methodological approach. (Decipher sourcebook: Starfleet Operations Manual)
Religion & beliefs
Grazerites predominantly have no religion. However, Grazerites usually identify with one of the philosophical traditions as expounded by the ancient Visionaries or other later notes philosophers. One such tradition is semtir, (Star Trek Novel: Articles of the Federation) which encourages studies of pure reason but places a low value on the metaphysical.
While some pagan idioms and superstitions persist, especially in rural areas, Grazerites are largely rational atheists since the philosophical revolutions of the Visionaries. Usually the members of Grazerite herds all belong to the same philosophical traditions. The phenomenon of generational naming and culture may come from ancient age-worship rituals, where Grazerites revered their offspring as symbols of the return of spring and a better future, and the deceased as guiding spirits making themselves known through the songs they leave behind.
Society
The basic social unit among the Grazerites is the herd or upsol, a conglomeration of anywhere from a hundred to five hundred individuals who work, relax, eat, and ruminate together. They are often related to one another by blood, but herds consisting entirely of unrelated individuals also exist, and behave no differently than their more common counterparts. Grazerite life centers on the group, not the individual; privacy, for example, is a concept unknown to them except as a topic in one of Grazer's prestigious Outworld Co-operation Symposia (the equivalent of academies for Grazerite diplomats, starship crews, and scientists). (Decipher sourcebook: Starfleet Operations Manual)
The herd plays the primary role in raising, tutoring, and sheltering of Grazerite children. Although Grazerites usually retain some affection for their blood parents, all adult members of the herd share equally in child-raising duties. Adult Grazerites carefully shelter the young from even the minimal dangers of Grazer, and shower them with love, food, and affection. Grazerites grow up emotionally secure and certain of the benign nature of the universe. With the birth of their first child, Grazerite parents attain full citizenship, and can participate in their own upsol's deliberations and in Grazer's consensus democracy. (Decipher sourcebook: Starfleet Operations Manual) Like all important Grazerite occasions, a communal ritual involving the entire herd marks the first-birth of mothers that year.
Grazerites can change their herd, for any number of reasons: marriage, resettlement, disagreements. Often colonists and new organisations will form a new herd around them, drawing in members from others. On the whole, rural herds tend to be more conservative-minded, but decision making is more consensual.
Grazerites are also age-stratified in many ways. Eldership in herds is based on a generational hierarchy, although individual generations exhibit a large amount of independence in group decision making and ownership of common property. There is a healthy tension in the reverence of wisdom in age, and the desire to experience the fresh perspective and new knowledge of the young.
Grazerites do not commonly describe their age in years numerically, but with an idiom: new borns are known as being in "the age of discovery", 2-year-olds as "the age of parenting", 5-year-olds as "the age of decision", etc.
Culture & Arts
Grazerite arts are not known for being highly regarded in the galaxy at large. The culture tends to be quite parochial and folkish, based on the spoken and written word of fable. Traditionally, Grazerite music has been split between genders: males sing, usually in a chorus, while females play instruments such as the harp or pipes. However, with the rise of less restrictive sexual mores on Grazer over the millenia, especially since first contact with the Orions, these gender roles have become blurred and are seen as cultural hangovers. It is a traditional practice to greet the day with song, as the gastro-respiratory system fills with air during sleep which is then expelled orally upon waking.
Attire
Grazerite fashions notably include cowls to cover one's horns. The horns are perhaps an evolutionary reminder of Grazerites' heritage from territorial animals that would use them in mating conflicts. As per Starfleet regulations, they are not usually worn by serving officers and crew. Grazerites often wear long, draping clothing and gloves in temperate climates.
Language
Grazerite Standard only has one plosive consonant, commonly rendered as [t] in Federation Standard (English), but can be rendered as other letters if wished. Vowels are typically long, and only rendered as short with the addition of accents.
Customs
Different philosophical schools have lead to differing traditions being practices. For instance, the semtir tradition dictated that, upon death, the adherent's body was to be destroyed before a gathering of friends, after which those who wished to would provide remembrances of the deceased. (Star Trek Novel: Articles of the Federation) Generational naming is used among Grazerites. Take for instance, the name "Jaresh-Inyo". The first part "Jaresh" is not a family name, but rather a name shared by children born in a particular year in a particular herd. The latter part "Inyo" is the personal name. Cuisine is important to Grazerites, and all members of the herd eat together most days. Eating is also central to the culture of debate among Grazerites. This includes the legislative chamber, where opponents are invited to eat together from the same meal prior to an argument.
Technology
Most advanced technology is descended from that of the Orion traders that first visited and latterly that of common Federation sources since accession. Grazer has industrial replicators, but many Grazerites practice a relatively agrarian lifestyle.
Economy
Exports are mainly arable produce, notably spices. Grazer remains one of the best trading locations to find Tholian silk in the Federation, due to its proximity.
Military
Grazer's defence is provided for by Starfleet. Prior to UFP admission, it had only police forces and no interstellar military.
Sources
- DS9: Homefront
- Memory Alpha
- Memory Beta
- Star Trek RPG: Starfleet Operations Manual (Decipher Inc., 2003)
- Star Trek Novel: Articles of the Federation (Keith R.A. DeCandido, Pocket Books, 2005)
Grazerites: A Rationale
Author's note: Due to the lack of canon and secondary sources on the Grazerites, this article is an attempt to flesh out this sparse information. Facts are arranged within sections in waning order of canonicity. Unreferenced material was written by the author.