Romulus
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*FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY: Obsidian Fleet follows the premise that all the planets of the Romulus System, including Romulus and Remus were destroyed in 2387 when the Hobus Star went supernova (as occurred in the 2009 Star Trek movie). For history and guidelines regarding this and subsequent events relating to the destruction of Romulus, click here.*
Romulus occupies the Beta Quadrant, orbiting the star that Federation charts label as Romulus along with Remus (called Romii in a Romulan dialect). This system lies opposite the Neutral Zone, a buffer area that keeps the UFP and Romulan Star Empire apart.
Perhaps one of the most dedicated foes of the Federation, the Romulans make their home on a pair of habitable worlds in the Beta Quadrant, far from their ancestral beginnings. While these paired worlds are both beautiful and dangerous, they remain isolated behind a Neutral Zone and mysterious to the other Galactic powers, a reminder of the duality of the Romulan people: Passionate dedication mixed with inscrutable goals.
The Federation first ran afoul of the Romulans in the 22nd century, when the NX-class Enterprise stumbled across a Romulan client world seeded with cloaked mines. Of course, Romulus and Remus serve as the center of the Romulan Star Empire long before this, ever since the Vulcan diaspora centuries before. Even into the 24th century, very few Federation citizens have seen Romulus or Remus.
Climate
Romulus has a splendid climate. Slightly cooler than Vulcan and with a marginally lower temperature, it is a world of stark majesty. From tall trees to jagged mountains to glittering waterfalls, Romulus exhibits all of the natural beauty one could hope to see on a Class M planet. The Romulans themselves doubtless found this primitive natural beauty a strong reason to stay and call the planet home.
Romulus has plentiful indigenous life, and far more vegetation than the comparatively arid world Vulcan. Additionally, Romulans seeded some of their own animals and plants here; evolutionary offshoots of Vulcan flora and fauna have adapted to the ecosystem.
Along with its cooler clime, Romulus has a more significant hydrosphere than Vulcan. Rainfall is common in many parts of the planet, and instead of having small, salty oceans, the world boasts a large ocean and an array of many seas. This climate has contributed significantly to the decline in general Romulan strength compared to their Vulcan ancestors.
Geography
Over a quarter of Romulus comprises the continent Brel’kar, and it is here that the capital city of Val’danadex Trel resides. In spite of the high Romulan population of this continent, the government studiously protects its natural resources. Mountains retain their sharp edge, and the seas are largely unpolluted. Brel’kar runs the gamut of Romulan geography, then, ranging from arctic tundra in the north to coastal plains and tropical woodlands near the equator.
Besides the main continent, Romulus also hosts a variety of sub-continents and islands, broken up by large seas. The Nelrek ocean remains a tremendous sight that moves many a visitor; it’s said that when Romulans first beheld the ocean, they cried out in wonder, for their ancestors had never envisioned such a turbulent yet inviting body of water.
Civilization
While Romulan civilization does not emphasize the same values as the Federation — such as privacy, forthrightness, and earnestness — it is nevertheless a highly evolved culture. The Romulan colonists took pains not only to bring with them all of the best technological tools of their Vulcan antecedents, but to build a civilization that would mesh with the lavish new world. From the outset, the Romulans cast an eye toward the conservation of their natural resources, while occasionally fighting amongst themselves in struggles designed to gauge faction strength and encourage dominance by the most clever, ruthless, and powerful members of society.
Combining Vulcan tenacity and intellect with their tools, the Romulans built their civilization from the ground up in a fashion engineered to suit their needs. The promulgation of a code of honor — the code of D’era — served to remind all citizens of their place and duties to the state. The formation of their capital city revolved around the creation of a Senate, so that the most influential members of society could have a peaceable means of arbitrating their disputes. And always, the Romulans kept an eye to the stars, knowing that it was their destiny to spread forth and conquer.
Romulan civilization boasts some of the finest technologies of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Even though the dreaded Tal Shiar watches over personal affairs, Romulan citizens enjoy a high standard of living. Certainly they are subordinate to the state, but they also have material sustenance equivalent to what a citizen of the Federation would garner: food, clothing, housing, entertainment… just so long as one doesn’t pick certain types of things that might make the government suspicious of seditious influences.
The Romulans, largely alone among the races of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, refused to send expeditions to colonize or exploit the Gamma Quadrant after the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole. Romulus has historically remained an isolated power, and that isolation served well, keeping the Romulans out of many conflicts until they were ready to enter on their own terms.
History
The Romulans are not a native people; rather, they are explorers who came from Vulcan. During the Time of Awakening, as the Vulcan people put aside their volatile emotions and warlike natures, some Vulcans refused the call of logic. These Vulcans longed for the hot-blooded days of emotional conflict. Eventually, outnumbered by the followers of Surak, they left in sublight ships, hoping to seek a new homeworld somewhere near Vulcan within twenty or thirty years. What happened exceeded any of their expectations: A temporary wormhole deposited several of the would-be colonists at the edge of the Romulus system. Noting the favorable characteristics of the planet before them, the Romulans seized this opportunity and found a new home.
While the Romulans didn’t develop warp drive as easily as some cultures, their penchant for subtlety rewarded them in other ways. The cloaking device was among their early advances, and the first Romulan exploratory vessels boasted this as a considerable advantage. The mineral resources of Remus helped immensely in the construction of an initial fleet. Still, the Romulans proceeded cautiously, ever wary of rediscovering the Vulcans or some other potentially hostile power.
By the 22nd century, the Romulans had expanded their borders slightly, but their relative lack of supraluminal propulsion hampered exploration progress. Nevertheless, they finally made fateful contact with the NX-class Enterprise when that vessel became damaged by a cloaked Romulan mine. While the Romulans didn’t show themselves here, and the Enterprise only caught a brief sighting of their ship, this presaged contact to come: Quiet withdrawal from Galactic affairs, with a consistent demand for outside races to leave, backed up by threat of force and the chilling conviction of Romulan superiority.
Later meetings proved just as difficult; the Romulans and Starfleet finally entered war in 2155. This was a mixed encounter for the Romulans. While Romulus and Remus possessed superior technology in the form of cloaks and a larger fleet, Starfleet had more maneuverable ships thanks to their advanced warp drive. Neither side could gain a decisive advantage — Starfleet vessels could flee or bring in reinforcements faster than Romulans could move tactically, but the cloak made it impossible for Starfleet to pin the Romulans down. Eventually, the Treaty of Cheron, negotiated by subspace radio, ended hostilities on a stalemate and established the Neutral Zone, from behind which the Romulan Empire would brood, expand, and occasionally emerge to test the burgeoning Federation.
In what would become a recurring pattern, the Romulans remained behind the Neutral Zone and out of mind for close to a century. Then, a new generation of their warbird was sent to assault Federation colonies and test the waters for a response. The famed Constitution-class Enterprise responded, and this time the Enterprise wasn’t as helpless before the Romulan attack. Captain Kirk managed to destroy the Romulan vessel, thereby forcing the Romulans to rethink their plans, but not before Starfleet learned conclusively the Romulan origins. While the Romulans had formed a peace treaty with the Klingons (to avoid a two front war), they now looked hungrily at that border for expansion.
Once again, nearly a decade passed before the Romulans decisively tested the Federation, this time with a standoff against the Enterprise-D. By now the Romulans had developed their massive new warbirds with singularity engines and powerful disruptor cannons, easily the equal of Starfleet’s 24th century Galaxy class ships, but careful diplomacy and maneuvering on the part of Starfleet’s finest served to stop the Romulan advance again, although the Tal Shiar dealt blows to the UFP by managing to extradite hidden operatives and flush out traitors.
With the advent of the Dominion War, the Romulan empire remained officially neutral, but was forced into the conflict when Captain Benjamin Sisko provided (falsified) evidence of a Dominion assault plan against Romulus. At the end of the war the Romulans brought their forces to bear with the Federation Alliance and aided in quashing the Dominion invasion — only to retreat once more behind their shroud of secrecy.
Most recently, the Romulan government underwent a shift in power as a new figure in Reman activism managed to assassinate the former Senate and declare himself the new supreme Praetor. This mysterious Shinzon proved to be a clone of the decorated Captain Jean-Luc Picard, designed as part of an earlier plot to infiltrate the Federation with trained clones of its top officials. Picard and the Enterprise-E responded to a call for diplomacy, only to discover that it was another trap; Shinzon had used the Reman shipbuilding facilities and technologies to design a new generation of warships and planetary weapons, with the intent of destroying Earth and crippling the Federation. Fortunately Picard and the crew of the Enterprise stopped him, but only at great cost, and leaving the Romulan government in a shambles. Whether the Romulans will retreat to their grim stoicism once more, or see this as a saving grace on their behalf thanks to the Federation, remains to be seen.
Places of Intereset
The Firefalls of Gol’gathong remain one of Romulus’ most celebrated sights; at night, the falls reflect a reddish-orange light that resembles a stream of flowing fire. Romulan officers in particular seem to find this landmark breathtaking: A symbol not only of the natural beauty of their world, but of the fiery heart that beats in the Romulan breast and glows its brightest only in the darkness.
Reference(s)
- Burns, Eric, Kenneth A. Hite & Doug Sun. Star Trek Roleplaying Game Book 7: Worlds, Decipher, 2005. ISBN: 1582369097.