Ekos
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Ekos is the inner planet in the M43 Alpha system, located in the Alpha Quadrant. A social experiment gone awry nearly wrecked Ekos, home to the crafty and warlike Ekosians. The fact that a Federation representative conducted this experiment was an embarrassment to the UFP, which has done its best since then to patch over the damage.
Ekos first came to Federation attention in the early 23rd century; in the 2260s, Federation sociologist John Gill arrived and upset the delicate balance of the society. Most of the Federation’s attention on Ekos in the next century hinged on trying to restore the society to a “natural” course of evolution, and encouraging a peaceful changeover.
Climate
Ekos’ climate falls well within the norms for Class M worlds. Most Ekosians live in the planet’s sub-arctic and sub-tropical zones. Ekos’ equatorial zones are habitable, but strong tropical storms and unfriendly terrain have discouraged dense settlement there.
Geography
All Ekosians live on one large continent that stretches across both sub-arctic bands. The sub-arctic regions are mostly frozen tundra and only marginally habitable. The sub-tropical regions are fertile agricultural plains, and most Ekosians reside there. The equatorial belt is mostly mountain and dense rain forest.
Civilization
The Ekosians bear a striking resemblance to Humans, both physically and anatomically. They are crafty and tough, and they tend to be suspicious of strangers. They are quite good at setting elaborate ruses or traps to test strangers’ intentions. Ekosians also have a long history of internecine warfare, so they know how to fight and do not shy from confrontation.
Traditional Ekosian society exhibits a mixture of tribal and feudal characteristics. Individuals identify most strongly with their clans, or extended families, which in turn owe allegiance to a local feudal lord or tribal chieftain. Each local leader owes fealty to a regional overlord. At every step of the social ladder, those below owe their superiors a tax (whether in the form of money, goods or service) in return for physical protection and governmental services.
The disruptive period known as the Gill Interregnum tried to destroy these bonds and replace them with them with an ideal of obedience to a centralized state above all else. After John Gill’s handiwork was dismantled the old ways quickly returned. Subsequent Federation advisers steered the Ekosians into creating a global federation of 24 regional states, all of which were recreated with historical precedent in mind. Representatives from each state meet for three months out of every year to decide matters of global importance, but each retains complete autonomy over its own provincial affairs.
The Ekosians consider themselves a warlike race, but they also have a rich culture of art and artifacts that bring to mind the great civilizations of Iron Age Earth. They have vibrant literary and oral storytelling traditions, the most popular subjects of which are the glorious deeds of past kings and the warriors who fought for them. Ekosian handcrafted ceramics and textiles are noted for their colorful designs. Since Ekos became a Federation member, these artifacts have found strong export markets in certain sectors of the Alpha Quadrant. Troupes specializing in Ekosian folk dance, which is noted for its hypnotically slow and austere movements, also perform throughout the Alpha Quadrant.
History
For most of their history, the Ekosians lived as a collection of warlike tribes or semi-feudal states. These simple political entities fought each other constantly, leaving Ekos globally in a state of perpetual anarchy. The Ekosians’ own historical accounts proudly describe them as a ferocious, warlike people who organized themselves into tribes, and then semi-feudal states led by warrior-kings. These political entities fought each other constantly. Technologically, they had barely left the Iron Age when the Federation first discovered them in 2260.
Shortly thereafter, historian John Gill came to Ekos as a UFP cultural observer and precipitated the calamitous Gill Interregnum. The warlike Ekosians shocked Gill, and he made the fateful decision to violate the Prime Directive and take their social evolution into his own hands. Capitalizing on their respect for him as a visitor from a more advanced civilization, he swept aside their entire history and condensed into several years political developments that took centuries on his native Earth. He also gave the Ekosians industrial technology. He even persuaded them to abandon their native tongue in favor of Federation Standard. His efforts created a totalitarian world government through which he tried to replicate the orderliness of Nazi Germany without its intrigue and genocidal hatred of outsiders.
The experiment failed disastrously, for Gill had failed to unravel the generations of experience that had taught the Ekosians that force validates the exercise of power, and that hatred serves as a powerful rallying point. In 2268, Deputy Fuhrer Melakon seized control of the government in a daring coup. He used Gill as a captive figurehead, and united his people behind a genocidal war against the Zeons, a technologically advanced and peaceful civilization based on Zeos, the outer planet in the M43 Alpha system. Only active intervention by the Federation starship Enterprise, with the help of armed dissident Ekosians, toppled Melakon’s regime. John Gill was killed in the process, sparing him the trouble of answering for his gross violation of the Prime Directive.
In the wake of the Gill Interregnum, Federation advisers (closely supervised this time) helped rebuild Ekosian society. The Ekosians made peace with the Zeons and welcomed trade and cultural contacts with the Federation. They applied for, and received, UFP membership in 2373. No Ekosians have served in the Federation civil service or diplomatic corps since then, but an adventurous few have signed on with Starfleet. However, not every Ekosian accepts peace and integration into the brotherhood of races; a few die-hard admirers of Melakon still haunt the margins of Ekosian politics, agitating for a new war with Zeon and a return to a single, autocratic world government.
Places of Interest
Ekosis, traditional capital of the ancient kingdom of Thalossis, is the largest city on Ekos. It was here that John Gill planted the seat of government for the kinder, gentler version of Nazism that he created for the Ekosians. After his death, the new federal government preserved his palatial central governing structure. Some Ekosians have clamored for moving the government to the old Thalossian royal palace, a smaller but somehow more imposing structure. Critics, however, cite the cost of repairing the ancient palace, which fell into severe disrepair during the Gill Interregnum.
Reference(s)
- Burns, Eric, Kenneth A. Hite & Doug Sun. Star Trek Roleplaying Game Book 7: Worlds, Decipher, 2005. ISBN: 1582369097.