Grazerite: Difference between revisions

==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.