Boreth
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A harsh, unforgiving world, Boreth holds a position of unmatched spiritual and religious importance in the Klingon Empire. While other worlds might have seen greater battles or held events of greater honor, Boreth is the world where Kahless the Unforgettable promised that one day, he would return.
When Kahless the Unforgettable left his people, he did not abandon them. “I shall return to you one day,” he said to his followers. “When I am most needed, and when the Klingon Empire’s greatest task and glory lies before it.” When his followers asked how they will know him, he pointed to a star in the sky. “Seek me there,” he said, “for there shall I return.”
Boreth is the third planet of seven in orbit around an orange star, eighteen light years from Qo'noS, the Klingon homeworld. This was the star that legends claim Kahless pointed to, when telling his followers where he would return. When the technology allowed the Klingons to travel through space, they went to Boreth’s star, and found the only Class M world in a system of gas giants. There, they established the monastery of Boreth, and there still can followers of Kahless be found, meditating upon fire.
Climate
Boreth is a somewhat harsh world, given to weather that changes quickly. In summer months, near the monastery, a thunderstorm can break with less than five minutes of warning, though on other days the sheer beauty of the stark night sky can inspire a warrior’s oath. Windstorms are not unknown throughout the year, and the winters can be harsh and cold. Each of these weather patterns are seen as a different kind of test for pilgrims, acolytes and clerics alike, and different visions are sought at different times of the Boreth year.
Geography
Boreth is a rocky, mountainous world, with harsh plains and little vegetation or water on the northern continent. It is Class M, mostly thanks to rainforests on its uninhabited southern continent, but the hard stone mountains and caves in the north appealed to the original pilgrims who traveled to Boreth seeking Kahless — and themselves.
While the monastery is the beginning and end of Boreth’s civilization, the monks and clerics, pilgrims and penitents who live there do work the land. Warriors born, on a part of the world with few animals to hunt, the Klingons of Boreth mine the high grades of baakonite metal and iron found in the mountains surrounding the monastery. These metals are refined into a high grade of baakonite steel, which is then forged in the ancient methods of the clerics into bat’leths — the Klingon swords of honor. Kahless himself forged the first bat’leth — it is said from a lock of his own hair — and bat’leth combat is a part of the martial tradition both of Klingon warriors and Klingon religion.
In the same way, Boreth provides spars of baakonite steel which are laid into the keels of Klingon starships. These are symbolic far more than functional — a piece of Boreth carried into combat as a warrior carries his weapons.
Besides the combat plains and the ancient forges, the most spiritual place on Boreth is the Mount. In the evenings, after training for battle and assisting the priest-smiths in the forging of baakonite steel, the penitents and pilgrims walk the steep path up the mountain, to a clearing at the mouth of the caves. They gather in a circle around a firepit, exposed to the winds, and light the sacred bonfires to meditate. It is said that visions can be found in the flames and in the caves surrounding them. Skeptics believe the visions come from fasting, hard labor and fumes in the forge, and the thin mountain air. They do not, however, say it where Klingon warriors can hear.
Boreth Monastery
The monastery is, perhaps paradoxically, one of the quietest, most solemn places where Klingon warriors meet, train, and die. The clerics of Kahless are among the most honored Klingons — each born warriors who, regardless of their family, have both proven themselves in battle and dedicated themselves to the greater glory of the Empire as a whole. As Kahless will one day return to the Klingon people, the clerics must prepare the Klingons for his return. They dedicate themselves to this task, eschewing personal belongings (other than their weapons, of course), property, or the politics and prestige of their house.
Obviously, the weaponsmithing done at Boreth takes a great amount of time and effort on the part of the clerics. While Boreth is not the only planet where bat’leths are forged, there is great honor and faith in carrying a blade forged by the followers of Kahless. Bat’leth means “sword of honor,” after all, and the greatest honor is reserved for Kahless. Some weapons forged on Boreth become priceless heirlooms. The House of Mogh, for example, has a bat’leth forged by the clerics of Boreth and carried for more than ten generations. (The exact disposition of this weapon after the House’s discommodation and the seizure of its possessions by the High Council remains a mystery.)
There are secrets to be found on Boreth, of course. For many years, the deepest secrets were found in the secret chambers where penitents and pilgrims could not travel — there, the clerics learned the arts of genetic engineering and mnemonic imprinting, as part of an organized effort to clone Kahless. It was their belief that Kahless’s return would reunite an increasingly divided Klingon Empire. Some followers of Kahless would later accuse the clerics of losing faith in Kahless’s return, while others claim that the cloned Kahless was himself a fulfillment of Kahless’s promise.
History
As Qo’noS first reached for the stars in warp capable starcraft, one of the earliest worlds they reached for was Boreth, where Kahless would one day return. For hundreds of years, the monastery has grown, its traditions and beliefs developing. For centuries, Boreth held a central place of importance in the spiritual life of the Empire.
As the Empire began to fragment under corruption, and spiritual matters faded from importance, the clerics of the monastery knew they were the only hope for the Empire, and the honor of Kahless. But, after nearly fifteen hundred years, there were many Klingon warriors who simply no longer believed in the old stories and legends, and proselytizing would never sway them. They needed a new vessel for those stories. With the DNA still clinging to some of the relics of Kahless — including weapons that had stabbed him without ever being cleaned — and cloning techniques learned both by Klingon scientists and taken from the scientists of other worlds and cultures, the clerics resolved to see Kahless return… on their timetable.
Kahless appeared to the pilgrims on Boreth in 2369. Among those pilgrims was Worf, son of Mogh, who had come to the monastery to find the beginnings of faith. In witnessing Kahless’s legendary return, Worf found that faith. He arranged for Kahless and the clerics to be carried by the U.S.S. Enterprise-D, to rendezvous with Chancellor Gowron’s ship. Gowron, Worf and the crew of the Enterprise penetrated the truth of Kahless’s creation, but recognized his ability to bring the Empire together in their time of need. Gowron agreed to install Kahless as the figurehead Emperor of the Klingon Empire, though the Klingon High Council retained power. The clerics returned to Boreth, which had a new influx of pilgrims and the faithful. However, some stain from their deception remained, and many Klingons found their faith tested as a result — not the least of which, Worf himself.
Reference(s)
- Burns, Eric, Kenneth A. Hite & Doug Sun. Star Trek Roleplaying Game Book 7: Worlds, Decipher, 2005. ISBN: 1582369097.