Denocet V
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Denocet V provides a textbook example of the dangers of violating the Prime Directive. Interference by stranded Federation citizens warped the native civilization, inexorably altering the culture's development. Visitors who discover the contamination must face a curious dilemma: Is it a violation of the Prime Directive to undo the damage caused by a previous violation?
Denocet System
The Denocet system has thirteen planets orbiting a Type F2 V (bright yellow-white dwarf) star. The inner four worlds are airless rocks (Class D), and the outer six are a variety of Class D, F, and J planets. Denocet V is a Class M world with no moons. Extremely careful scans of the third planet may reveal a century-old impact crater with some unusual features. The crater appears to be the result of a crash by a starship.
Environment
Denocet V has a diameter of fourteen thousand kilometers - slightly larger than Earth, with a surface gravity five percent greater than Earth-standard. It has a breathable oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, registering almost exactly the same mix of trace elements and rare gasses as those found throughout Earth's atmosphere. Oceans cover eighty percent of the planet's surface.
The largest landmass is the northern polar continent, which is covered by vast, unbroken tundra, rugged mountains, and glaciers. Only the coasts of the northern continent show signs of habitation. The bulk of the planet's inhabitants live in the temperate region, on two thickly forested continents each about the size of Australia. The eastern continent, Ulimar, is home to the Tezian Empire. The western one, Lastia, is dominated by the Kingdom of Pusaris. A fourth landmass at the south pole is completely covered by ice.
Locations
The largest city on the planet is Nabitum, the capital of the ancient and decaying Tezian Empire, with a population of nearly a half a million inhabitants. Nabitum's architecture reflects the Tezian Empire's greatness, with impressive monuments and great palaces built by the empire's successive rulers.
Neril, capital of the Kingdom of Pusaris, is next in size and continues to grow. A century ago, Neril was the sleep capital of a barbaric principality. Today it is a bustling industrial center, dominated by the vast fortress of the King of Pusaris. Three hundred thousand people are jammed into Neril, and more arrive every month. The academies and taverns of Neril host a remarkable intellectual flowering.
On the northern continent stands the legendary Citadel of Purity. Most people of the southern lands know the Citadel only as a folk tale, but to the northerners it is a very real place, an enclave of mystic sages with incredible powers. A complex of caves and tunnels carved into the side of a mountain comprises the Citadel. Surrounded by glaciers, a small valley at the base of the mountain remains temperate thanks to thermal springs. No more than one hundred Sages of Purity live in the citadel, growing food in the valley and trading coastal fishermen.
History
Recorded history on Denocet V extends back about nine thousand years, to a time of tribal warfare. Over the generations, these tribes banded into small principalities and warred over territory. While the continent of Ulimar remained a patchwork of tiny city-states, Lastia divided into two large kingdoms - Tezian and Pusaris. For centuries, Denocet's history consisted of rebellions, civil wars, and shifting alliances. All this would change with an unexpected event.
In 2220, while passing near the Denocet system, the Federation merchant starship Manila Clipper suffered a catastrophic failure of the main control systems. Unable to repair the problem, the crew abandoned ship in the life pods and the Manila Clipper slammed into the third planet. The pods landed on the northern continent of Denocet V with a total of twenty-four survivors. With no subspace transmitter powerful enough to contact the Federation, the crew of the Manila Clipper was stuck on Denocet.
With potentially decades before another ship reached the system, the survivors divided into three factions. Eight of the crew - including Captain Claudia Tsu and the Manila Clipper's medical officer - insisted on following the recently devised Prime Directive and advocated avoiding all contact with the Denoceti. Six of the crew had a more ambitious plan. Led by the ship's pilot, Tomas Vasquez, they proposed to use their advanced weapons and scientific knowledge to carve out an empire of their own. One night Vasquez and his allies stole some supplies, including the entire arsenal of phasers, and set sail on a handmade raft for Ulimar. Another group, led by Chief Engineer Mutsu, advocated covertly guiding the Denoceti toward a more advanced civilization, perhaps even to the point of sophisticated subspace communications or interplanetary travel. Mutsu and nine others took supplies and tools and left for Lastia. The remainder withdrew into the rugged mountains of the northern continent to await rescue.
Vasquez and his followers contacted the tiny kingdom of Tezian. Using their phasers, they helped Tezian conquer its neighbors and control all of Ulimar. Over the years, the kind of Tezian granted Vasquez more and more political power. When the nobility objected to Vasquez's demands, he and his followers took matters into their own hands, seizing the kingdom for themselves. Tomas Vasquez proclaimed himself Overlord Vask the First, ruler of the Tezian Empire, and placed his crewmates in positions of authority. For six generations, their descendants have ruled the Tezian Empire, taking Denoceti mates and integrating themselves firmly in the local society. During Vask's reign, his armies conquered a third of the continent, but in later years Tezian's relentless expansion slowed (as their phasers became drained).
Chief Engineer Mutsu and nine others voyaged to the kingdom of Pusaris, and blended in with the Denoceti. Calling themselves the Brotherhood, a group of intellectuals and thinkers, Mutsu and his band slowly introduced new technology to the Pusari populace. They became thoroughly assimilated into native society, taking Denoceti spouses and adopting native customs. Their descendants continue the goal of improving civilization, having infiltrated schools and trade guils. It is the Brotherhood that secretly drives Pusaris' intellectual flowering, educating Denocet's inhabitants in 23rd century science. These descendants know of their other-worldly origins, and hope for the arrival of a starship some day. Native Denoceti know them only as a brotherhood of intellectuals devoted to the pursuit of science.
Captain Tsu and her small group established their own settlement far from the Denoceti. They constructed what would become known as the Citadel of Purity, and patiently waited to be rescued. Successive generations were forced to trade with local natives to survive, offering them medical treatment in exchange. Over the years, stories of mystic healers in the remote mountains began to filter out of the northern continent. This enclave became known as the Sages of Purity. They managed to maintain their isolation, refusing to take Denoceti spouses and keeping their medical knowledge to themselves.
The major conflict on Denocet V, between the Tezian Empire and the Kingdom of Pusaris, remains at a stalemate. Neither side possesses a strategic advantage; both possess similar technology and maintain armies of roughly the same size.
The discovery by Manila Clipper descendants of the presence of Starfleet officers in their midst would introduce a new conflict to Denocet V. How would they react to the news that they indeed came from other planets? The Tezian descendants have forgotten their roots, while the Sages of Purity expect some otherworldly being to reveal itself, and the Brotherhood focuses on the goal of advancing Denoceti technology. Alternatively, the Manila Clipper's descendants might demand to leave the planet, to reclaim their birthright, thus further altering Denocet's development.
Population
The inhabitants of Denocet V are mammalian humanoids whose most notable feature is that they are almost completely devoid of hair. Denoceti physical attributes are in the human-Klingon range, and their average intelligence is quite high. Human-Denoceti matings can produce offspring, although there is a high risk of miscarriage. Crew members using universal translators may not notice it, but the Denoceti language holds a big clue to the secret of the planet's history. Many Denoceti words for new inventions or scientific concepts are corruptions of human words. Guns and cannons are called "gans" and "kanans." The invisible creatures which cause disease are called "jerims," and the fundamental units of matter are "atams."
Government
Denocet V has no unified planetary government. The two most important political entities are the Tezian Empire, which controls the Ulimar continent, and the Kingdom of Pusaris, which dominates Lastia. The Republic of Alpatal is a small state on the Lastian coast, wedged between the two great powers, preserving its independence by playing its neighbor off against one another.
The Tezian Empire possesses roughly Renaissance-level technology - cannon, crude firearms, sailing ships, and steel weapons and armor. The Kingdom of Pusaris fares better technologically, with the Brotherhood recently introducing electricity to the Denoceti. All Denoceti on Lastia possess an extremely sophisticated knowledge of the sciences. Their astronomy is superb, even though telescopes are still a rarity. They know about the germ theory of disease and the importance of sanitation. They even know about subatomic particles and the periodic table of elements.
Besides Denoceti technology, the three factions each have some old Starfleet devices that still work. The Overlord of Tezian has six antique phaser pistols, long drained of their power. The scientists of Pusaris have two old tricorders; using recently developed electricity, they are attempting to convert these into a primitive computer and preserve the tricorders' memory banks. The Sages of Purity maintain a good supply of medical supplies, tools, and tricorders. If any working communicators survived to the present day, no one knows where they might be found.
His Supremacy Vask IV is the absolute ruler of the Tezian Empire. He is a ruthless and aggressive ruler, who longs to be the one who finally conquers Pusaris and fulfill his family's glorious destiny. He (like the other descendants of Vasquez's group) does not know his true history; they remain ignorant of their ties to the Federation, or of the origins of the ancient weapons that propelled the first Vask to power. After six generations, he is fully Denoceti. The arrival of Starfleet officers would likely frighten and confuse him, though he would certainly understand the power their technology represented. On his belt, Vask IV wears the "fazer," the traditional symbol of leadership.
One of the finest scientists in the Kingdom of Pusaris, Lodgemaster Modas knows the full story of the crash of the Manila Clipper, and carefully plots Denoceti technological advancement. He hopes the electricity project succeeds, and plans to introduce heavier-than-air flight and fusion power in the next few years. Unlike some of his fellow Brotherhood members, he believes the Denoceti can still rapidly advance to the level of 21st century Earth. Modas does not expect the arrival of Starfleet, and his reaction remains in question. Would he seek to return to the Federation, or does he belong on Denocet V?
Shirala is the leader of the secretive Sages of Purity. She is not quite sane, a result of inbreeding over the past six generations. Shirala believes all the teachings of her ancestors fervently - that the Sages came to Denocet from a better world, and someday will return there. Meanwhile they must keep themselves pure and removed from the world and all its evils. Unfortunately, Shirala and her fellow Sages expect the emissary of the Star People to be a supernatural being of some sort, and are unlikely to believe a mere mortal claiming to be from the stars.
Reference(s)
- Cambias, James, et al. Planets of the UFP: A Guide to Federation Worlds, Last Unicorn Games, 1999. ISBN: 0671040065.