Gorn

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BASIC INFORMATION:
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Official Name in Standard:       Gorn
National Name:                   Gorn Confederacy
Title of the Head of Government: Vrazuul or, in Federation
                                 Standard, Prime Councul
                                 (pronounced very similarly to
                                 council)

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GEOGRAPHY/POPULATION
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The Gorn Confederacy covers multiple Star Systems.  Approximately
a tenth the size of the Federation, the total population, all
Gorn, is slightly less than a sixth that of the United Federation
of Planets.  Originally positioned just above the Romulan Empire,
and bordering both the Federation and the Empire, the Gorn
Confederacy lost direct contact with it's ally, the Federation,
some 100 years after the Second General War.  Its borders with
the United Federation of Planets taken over by the Romulan
Empire, trade and communication were maintained through third
parties.  A recent cease fire agreement with the Romulan Empire
has now seen the restoration of the Gorn/Federation border, and
conveniently adds a new buffering Neutral Zone between Starfleet
and the Romulans.  This places the star systems that make up the
Gorn Confederacy in their previous location just above the
Romulan Empire, and bordering the United Federation of Planets.

The Gorn Star Cluster is broken into three sectors, each with
roughly the same number of star systems contained within.  Each
sector is then subdivided into three rings (inner, outer, and
center), each ring is broken up into three zones, each zone
into sections (which are groupings of specific planets that
either share a close proximity in space or similar political,
military, or economic purpose), and then finally into specific
planets and/or moons themselves.

Each of the three sectors of the Gorn Star Cluster has a single
capital planet which is considered the center of government for
the particular sector that the planet resides within.  Every
three years the entire Gorn Confederacy is run from one of these
three sector Capital Planets, and during its tenure as the
bastion of the Gorn Government, that planet is titled the Capital
of the Gorn Confederacy.  The designations of these planets, in
Federation Standard, are: Sal'Yskoz, Vraneen Yskoz, and Thizarus
Yskoz.

The Gorn race is very advanced in the technology of terra
forming, and commonly over half of the planets in most of the
Star Systems that they occupy are inhabited.  Usually every moon
of each planet is also settled. Despite the smaller size of the
Gorn Star Cluster, a higher percentage of inhabited planets per
Star System has allowed them to maintain a higher population per
Star System than the Federation while actually having fewer
people per planet.  The types of planets themselves, as well as
the types of Star Systems, vary as widely in the Gorn Confederacy
as they do in either the Federation or Romulan/Klingon Empires.
Additionally, there are no other species present in any of the
Star Systems that are inhabited by the Gorn race.

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ECONOMIC SUMMARY
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The United Federation of Planets and the Gorn Confederacy are
most similar in their economic situations.  There is no form of
currency in the Gorn Star Cluster, every citizen is provided for
equally.  Foreign trade is performed with a variety of
currencies and precious gems/metals, including Latinum, that are
mined and/or created within the Confederacy itself.

The Gorn race is completely capable of sustaining itself with the
natural and Gorn-made resources that exist within the
Confederacy.  However trade is maintained with a variety of
imports/exports in order to solidify relations with the other
species that exist within the quadrant.  Ferengi, Breen,
Klingons, Lyrans, Humans, Tholians, Nausicaans, and Bajorans
comprise the bulk of their trading partners, but there are a host
of other races that they trade with on an infrequent basis.
Until the recent cease fire with the Romulan Empire, all
transactions were performed via third party shipping and
subspace business dealings.  However the products being traded
were severely limited by the Romulan Empire, which searched
every ship entering Gorn space.  The Romulans and Gorn have
never opened trade negotiations between their two peoples in
their entire history as neighbors, and this situation will not
change in the foreseeable future.

Of the various raw materials and finished products exported out
of Gorn Space, the service most in demand from the Gorn is their
expertise in terra forming.  Being completely surrounded on all
sides for a few hundred years by their blood enemies the
Romulans, and thereby enclosed into a limited slice of space,
the Gorn race rapidly developed the technology to expand
settlements to the other worlds within the Star Systems that
they already populated.  Although aided by the robustness of
their own species, which allowed them to survive in harsher
climates and required less terra forming, their continued
advancements in this field has left the Gorn as the most
technologically advanced species in either the Alpha or Beta
quadrants, with regards to this process.  Prior to the cease
fire with the Romulan Empire, the Gorn's were limited to
exporting information on the topic of terra forming.  With
their active return to the Alpha Quadrant, now that they can
freely move throughout the area, the Gorn's have begun
offering their highly advanced teams and equipment for terra
forming contracts.

Technologically speaking, the Gorns are on an equivalent to
slightly more advanced level than the Federation.  Centuries of
war with the Romulans has caused the development of weapons
(personal and otherwise), armor (personal and otherwise),ship
design, power, defensive capabilities, and propulsion to be
slightly ahead of the Federation in certain areas.  On a larger
scale however, they are just short of being the military
equivalent of their Federation allies.  Medical technology is
considerably behind the capabilities of the Federation, most
likely due to the regenerative abilities of the species, but
Genetic Engineering is noticeably more advanced within the Gorn
Star Cluster.  This is most likely the direct result of the goal
of Gorn Medicine being to help the body heal itself naturally,
as opposed to surgical procedures and drugs.  With the
previously noted exception of Terra forming, the level of
technology in all other areas is about 30 years behind the
Federation.

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GOVERNMENT/HISTORY
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Government:

The government of the Gorn Confederacy is a democratic ruling
body of nine elected representatives that sit on the Council.
Three representatives are elected from each of the three sectors
of Gorn space.  All decisions, political or otherwise, are voted
upon by the Council.  Every member must vote, either for or
against, on every proposal brought before the Council, there is
no abstaining.  Each Council member has a team of Advisors that
comprises three elected individuals from each Ring within their
Sector, or nine total Advisors.  These Advisors are also
responsible for Governing the Ring from which they were elected.
Each zone within the Rings has a ruling body of three elected
representatives which facilitate the implementation of the
decisions passed down from the Council through the Advisors.
The Zone Leaders may also make suggestions and provide
recommendations to the Advisors.  Each section of the Zones also
has a ruling body of three elected individuals, and this structure
of an elected ruling body of three Gorns is continued throughout
the rest of the political structure of the entire Gorn Star
System.  In other words, every city and even each Government
owned company is administered by three elected representatives.

History:

The Gorn race has always been staunch allies of the Federation,
and hated enemies of the Romulans.  Since the first time humans
and Gorns met to discuss their differences peacefully, the
Federation has had a powerful ally.  The Gorns have always hated
the Romulans however, and the two races have been at war since
they first discovered the existence of the other.  It should be
noted that the Romulans seem to hate the Gorns just as much. The
recent Cease Fire Agreement, which is not a peace treaty or even
a non-aggressions pact, is the first instance of any form of
peaceful negotiation of any sort between the two races.

The Gorn species actually started on three separate planets in
three different star systems.  Shortly after one of these three
subspecies of the Gorn race discovered interstellar travel, they
also found two extremely similar races living in nearby solar
systems.  Peaceful interaction ensued between all three
neighboring Gorn races.  With the sharing of knowledge between
the three planets, each became stronger and more technologically
advanced.  They soon signed a peace agreement forming an alliance
amongst their three worlds, and this eventually evolved into the
Gorn Confederacy.  Although there exist minor differences between
the three types of Gorn, the race as a whole does not acknowledge
them (all members of the race are considered to be one species,
Gorn).

Supporters of the Federation during both the First and Second
General Wars, the Gorns had their borders with the Federation
overrun by the Romulans approximately 100 years after the Second
General War.  This provided the Romulans with the opportunity to
completely encircle the Gorn Confederacy, which they proceeded
to accomplish.  The Romulan Empire devoted significant resources
to the total obliteration of the entire Gorn race.  This would
have been occurring during the long period in which the
Federation heard nothing from the Romulan Empire, and no Romulan
ships were seen in the Quadrant.  Unfortunately for the Romulans,
their venture into genocide did not succeed.  Although the Gorn
Confederacy shrank in size over the course of the most brutal
and bloody war the two races have engaged in, the Gorn survived
by expanding to other worlds in the Star Systems that were left
to them.

With the war at a stand still, and the death toll rising, the
Romulan Empire finally turned its attention to other areas.
Eventually the Gorns managed to recapture some Star Systems, and
more recently with the Dominion situation, they have found the
Romulans vulnerable.  Apparently the Romulans arrived at the
same conclusion.  Shortly after their initial agreement to join
the Federation in the war against the Dominion, the Romulans
opened negotiations with the Gorns to end hostilities between
their respective peoples.  Although the negotiations took over
four years, and the implementation of the agreement took even
longer, the two races finally agreed on the following:  the
Romulans would give back to the Gorn specific planets (not
developed) that would restore their border with both the
Federation and the rest of the Alpha Quadrant (i.e. the Romulans
would no longer encircle the Gorns.),  the Gorns would give up
certain planets (terra formed already) to the Romulans to
compensate for the planets that the Romulans were giving up, a
Neutral Zone would be established between the two races
respective spaces, and all hostilities would cease (for the
moment).

Now that the Neutral Zone has been established and the Gorns have
not only taken possession of their new worlds but also terra
formed and fortified them, the Gorn race has reappeared in force
in the Alpha Quadrant.  Quickly reaffirming their association
with the Federation, the Gorns rapidly moved to also re-establish
their previous ties with other races and solidify the
relationships they had made during their exile by the Romulans.
Although the true return of the race to the Alpha Quadrant only
occurred less than a year ago, with the startlingly swift
recovery the species has made, it almost seems that they were
never gone.  In recent months they have also finally begun to
deploy ships in concert with Federation forces, signifying their
full support of Starfleet and thus the United Federation of
Planets.

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RACE/SOCIETY/CULTURE
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Society/Culture:

The sociological structure of the Gorn race is very diverse.
Similar to human culture in most respects, there are some
notable differences.  The Gorn race deeply respects the
individuality of its people, and strives to provide everyone
with ample opportunity to pursue their respective dreams, goals,
desires, and abilities.  Their educational facilities are highly
advanced, and promote the exploration of a persons environment
and self with equal regard.  Education commences at birth with
tutors that are supervised by the parents, often times one of
the parents actually is the tutor.  Even before a child is
capable of speech, teachers read to the infant and provide
external stimuli in the form of pictures and movies.  Topics
covered range the entire spectrum of knowledge, and this
attitude toward teaching is prevalent throughout the entire
educational system.  The idea is to provide access to every
known form of information, in order to provide the individual a
chance to find what sparks their interest.  Once a student has
shown an aptitude for a particular skill, or interest in an area,
they are moved to an institution that specializes in that field
(often enough the same institution provides specialized classes,
preventing the need to move the individual to a new school).
The teaching does not get limited to a specific topic at this
time, or any other time in the students education.  Instruction
on a wide variety of other subjects continues, with the focus
on how those topics relate to the subjects particular field.
Aptitude and interest is continually monitored while this varied
plethora of information is being supplied, and students are
reassigned to appropriate classes as the need arises.


Another key difference of the Gorn species, is the prevalence of
the number three throughout all aspects of life.  The government
is based on the number three, the Gorns have a trinary numbering
system, children have three parents (the closest description to
this would be to label them Mother, Father, and Nanny), and
their religion is based on the three elements of Earth, Air, and
Water (the Gorns do not recognize fire as a naturally occurring
element, but rather a creation of combining two elements, namely
Air and Earth).  It is also interesting that although individual
Gorns will sometimes follow the edicts of different religions,
the only religion formally practised within the Gorn Confederacy
is Vra'Suth (the religion mentioned above based on three
elements).

Although the species prizes individualism, there is a strong
sense of familial connections to their entire race.  It is not
known if this derives from their religion or education, but the
Gorn race vehemently believes that, "The needs of the many
outweigh the needs of the one or the few".  Each persons
abilities are emphasized on a personal basis, but those
abilities are incorporated into a greater whole for the benefit
of the entire race and the individual.


Physiology:

Asexual the Gorns reproduce in the same manner as humans, but
choose mates freely from amongst their own race.  Although very
rare, there have been instances of a Gorn marrying outside of
their race.  On average they are 7 to 8 feet tall, and weigh
between 500 and 900 pounds.  Extremely strong, they are usually
capable of lifting up to 3 or four times their own body weight.
Similar to a humanoid version of a lizard, they vary in color but
are most commonly a dark green that lightens towards the
extremities. Their eyesight is not as keen as a normal human, but
they have a much wider area over which they see giving them
comparatively remarkable peripheral vision.  Although hearing is
roughly equivalent to human norms, their sense of smell is
markedly more sensitive.

The Gorn body is designed for hardship.  Covered in a thick
epidermal layer, the skin is very close to being a hide that is
difficult to penetrate.  The nerves are deeper under the skin
than a normal human, lending to their resilience to pain and
phaser stuns.  Except in the very tips of the fingers and the
tongue, which harbor small nerve bundles for better tactile
sensation, the Gorns have a very poor sense of touch.  Their
thick hide also acts as a natural insulator keeping extreme
temperatures at bay.  This enables them to live comfortably in
temperatures ranging from -30 C to 40 C, and survive in much
harsher climes.

Three separate hearts provide the constant flow of blood to their
massive frames.  Despite this it is uncommon to see a Gorn bleed
more than slightly, unless cut very deeply.  This is due to the
lack of capillaries in their system., instead blood is carried to
small sacks buried well under the skin.  These sacks periodically
open multiple tiny valves, similar to a heart, and release blood
into the surrounding tissue.  From there it is carried to the
upper layers of the skin through microscopic channels that exist
in the tissue itself.  Although capable of surviving in colder
weather, the race prefers much warmer climates.  Temperatures
below freezing slow the flow of the blood to the outer layers of
skin, which causes the hide to harden and severely impair
mobility.

In addition to multiple hearts, the race is blessed with three
spines and the brain is composed of three hemispheres instead of
two.  The third section of the brain seems to only function as a
backup, and usually is not active until needed.  This same
redundancy in systems is repeated throughout their physiology
including the bone and muscle structure.  The protection around
the chest area is a prime example of this.  Beneath the skin and
muscle of a Gorn chest are two sets of bone plates that run
horizontally across the body.  These are spaced evenly to the
left and right, and also vertically.  Although the two separate
sets of plates are independent, each plate within a set is
connected by a similar plate of cartilidge interspersed between
the plates of bone.  Under these bone plates is another set of
muscles that perform the exact same duties as the ones beneath
the skin, and just beneath these muscles is another set of bone
plates.  This second dual pair of plates line up with the set
above to place the bone plates under the cartilidge of the upper
layer.  Finally there exists a third muscle structure under this
second set of plates, and then the ribs.   A similar arrangement
protects the head with a solid bone plate that protects the nose
and upper area of the skull, a series of plates interconnected
by cartilidge and sinew beneath it, and finally the skull itself.

All these factors combined would make a species very difficult to
kill.  When combined with the races ability of slow. natural
regeneration, they are nearly impervious to anything besides
total annihilation.  Although the natural ability of regeneration
would seem to make them completely indestructible, this is not
the case.  At least one hemisphere of the brain must be active
and connected to the body, in order for this function to work.
Additionally the process is very slow, requiring fourteen months
to regrow a hand.  This regenerative process also interferes with
non-natural healing attempts such as surgery or dermal
regenerators, as the body will still try to heal a damaged area
even after it has been repaired by a procedure other than its
own.  This can cause horrible disfigurement, and the eventual
loss of the ability as the body starts to assume that something
else will heal it.

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Semi-Canonical - All rights reserved by Paramount.

Adaptor:

Very loosely based on the Gorn race presented in the Original
Star Trek series, and information contained within the Star
Fleet Battles tactical simulation game (created by Task Force
Games), the information provided above is mostly original work
by myself, Gary Dickison (havoc@nbnet.nb.ca).

Created for/First Use:

Ensign Sorthis - CSO USS Leviathan
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