Zakdorn

[[File:File:Zakdorn.jpg|350px]] Zakdorn Basic Information Quadrant Alpha or Beta Home System Zakdorn Government Language Zakdorn

The Zakdorn are a humanoid race native to the Alpha or Beta Quadrant. For nine millennia, they were regarded by potential foes as having the greatest innately strategic minds in the galaxy. As a people, the Zakdorn were generally replete with self-assuredness and confidence. They were members of the United Federation of Planets by the 2360s.

They operated the Starfleet Surplus Depot Z15 in orbit of Qualor II.

Personality

Zakdorns are highly solitary beings, so they get very little practice in social interaction and don't grasp its importance to other races. They have an understandable reputation for arrogance and petulance because they don't know how to smooth over their differences with others, and they wouldn't care even if they did. They frequently display compulsive behavior and feel threatened if they cannot control the immediate circumstances in which they find themselves.

Physiology

Zakdorns are humanoids whose bald heads are marked by folds of thick, fibrous tissue that hang down from their cheeks. Most Zakdorns have three of these pouches on each side of the face, although the number has been known to vary. Scientists who have studied Zakdorn anatomy theorize that these structures served as mating displays early in the race's evolution.

Homeworld

Zakdorns take their name from their original homeworld, Zakdorn, which was destroyed by an artificially induced catastrophe in 2170. They now live on an exact replica of Zakdorn that they constructed in their home system. This replica is not entirely satisfactory - many geological features are simply holographic simulations of the originals, and genetically engineered replicas of native fauna occasionally behave in uncharacteristic ways - but it remains a remarkable feat of engineering.

History and Society

Weak central authority characterized most of Zakdorn social evolution, as their instinctive reluctance to cooperate with each other made it almost impossible for those who would lead to persuade others to follow. Even chieftains and kings whose intentions clearly served the common good found that their persuasive (and even coercive) appeals had limited effect. Nation-states were exceedingly fragile, as communities (and individuals within communities) did their best to remain isolated from each other.

The invention of electronic communications technology made it easier for ambitious Zakdorn leaders to make their constituents associate with each other whether they really wanted to or not. Various nation-states began cobbling together their own comprehensive communications networks. These networks eventually merged into a planet-wide network called the Imon Uldani. But for the Zakdorn, easy worldwide communication meant bickering on an unprecedented scale. Small groups dedicated to destroying the network surfaced. In 2170 one of these underground organizations detonated a massive explosive device in the atmosphere, intending that the electromagnetic pulse would cripple the Imon Uldani. Instead, it set off a chemical chain reaction that ultimately dissolved Zakdorn's ozone layer and made the planet uninhabitable.

Faced with such a crisis, the Zakdorn united for the first time in their history to evacuate their homeworld and resettle on nearby Class M planets. Over the next 150 worlds, Zakdorn scientists and engineers worked on the Great Project - a replica of Zakdorn as it had once been, complete with all geological features and native life forms, and set in an orbit synchronized with the irradiated hulk of the original planet. This new Zakdorn became habitable in 2320.

The Federation made first contact with the Zakdorn in 2300. The Zakdorn accepted technical assistance from Federation member races on the Great Project and applied for formal membership in 2344.

In keeping with their prickly temperaments, Zakdorns have a deliberately anti-social society. They live by themselves and do not cohabit for any reason other than child rearing. They consider reproducing their species a chore at best, a distasteful biological compulsion. Mating involves only brief contact between partners, usually arranged by long-distance communication through third-party brokers. The brokers help negotiate a contract between the partners stipulating their obligations (or lack of obligation) to participate in raising the child. They also name the child if the parents cannot agree on a name (Zakdorns have no social convention requiring that children inherit their parents' names). Children live with their fathers until maturity, receiving only periodic visits from their mothers.

Reference(s)

• Bridges, Bill, et al. Star Trek Roleplaying Game Book 5: Aliens, Decipher, 2003. ISBN: 1582369070.