Origionally posted to the old forum by [JakeNolan]
using a planetary system from STO called Elwing, near Bajor.
Elwing:
Class M Planet
Artificial Rings (Remains of the Bastion moon)
Minor Tectonic instabilities
Extreme Weather:
Typhoons
Heatbursts
massive lightning storms
Tornados
Tsunamis
Damaging meteor showers
The Tekli:
Humanoid race, exterior bony plates. Average lifespan 150 years. Through muscle movements can “lock” plates together and survive in hostile environs for ~1 hour. Locking Down has several drawbacks including torn muscles, broken bones, damaged tendons and ligaments from the strain of the action, even death may result. usually a last ditch survival measure. Plates give a moderate amount of natural armor. Plates are frequently decorated with jewelry and coloring, plates are more infrequently carved into. The carving causes a great deal of pain and compromises the plates ability to seal and defend. Most commonly done on lesser plates in pairing ceremonies, More Traditional families do so as a rite of passage, as a gesture of fealty or loyalty toward something or as penance for something. Government officials do so as well dating back to an ancient practice whereby rulers would carve into their bony plates as a gesture towards their subjects in showing them simultaneously strength form the act, and as a gesture of trust as they were now made more vulnerable before those they ruled over. (Attributes: +1 Insight, +1 Presence, +1 Control | Trait: Tekli - the tekli are normally reserved and frank, however once a bond is established they reveal rich inner selves that becomes hidden again around strangers. very good judges of character, loyal to a fault and staunch allies. betrayal is viewed as an unspeakable crime| different Talents: Natural Armor- +1 to Resistance, can voluntarily take on an Injury and complication to be able to “Lockdown” and withstand Hostile environment for a short duration of time (time is base of 1 hour + 1d20 roll, Target = Fitness+Command) cannot be taken if Carved In Bone is taken. or Carved In Bone: This tekli has carved into his or her bony plates and have decorated them beautifully in a way that has deep meaning to the individual, these Tekli are typically more initially outgoing. additional +1 to presence, same lockdown ability as other Trait but the ability to withstand a hostile environment is halved. cannot be taken if Natural Armor is taken.
The cataclysm:
The dominion war began in 2373. In the first month of 2374 The Tekli were prepping to launch their first warp capable ship the Aegis, From the staging base on the second dwarf moon of Elwing, named Bastion. The Aegis was underway and had just ended a successful short warp Jump of 5 seconds at warp 1 When The Dominion arrived. A Battleship and Escort entered into the system near the moon of Bastion, the desperate ships trailed by 5 Federation ships firing on them. The first battleship Lost its shiled quickly after warp and a federation Cruiser scored a hit on its main engine. The ship augered towards the Bation moon and upon impact, the warp core breached. the Aegis could only look on in horror (their systems drained) as the moon disintegrated taking the staging base with it as well as 50,000 Tekli lives with it. The second Dominion ship, the escort made a beeline for the planet. Not wanting to fire on a populated planet, the federation ships backed off, but the Dominion escort had entered to far into the gravity well and atmosphere of the planet. Although it never reached the surface, the warp core breach burned the atmosphere above the planet and cracked the ground beneath. The comms of the Aegis, yelling for a status point all the while form the Elwing staging base, went suddenly silent. and every city on the dark side of Elwing went dark. In the aftermath, the firestorms, Tsunamis, earthquakes and tornado would claim millions of lives. It took 2 years, until 2375 until the carious Demesne across the planet would regain order, and the extreme weather patterns became somewhat predictable. Throughout the crises, the Tekli Science institute was single mindedly bent towards reverse engineering the tech that had fallen to Elwing, and the tech left behind form the Dominion in the ruin of the Bastion moon, whose debris was already becoming a ring around the planet. Though initially done with the aim to mounting some sort of defense or counterattack against the people that had devastated their world. but it quickly became apparent that the energy shielding, environmental tech and other advancements went a long way towards helping their society survive in a much harsher world. Although the effects of the cataclysm had largely stabilized by 2376, Food and water crises forced the Aegis, now upgraded with a warp 5 engine to retrace the warp signatures of the Feration ships recorded form years before. They found themselves in the Bajor system, the Federation waiting for them. The federation had monitored the Elwing system closely following the incident but the Prime Directive prohibited First contact, considering the circumstances under which the Tekli developed their warp tech. Still somewhat aloof and hesitant to give aid to the system, The bajorans wholeheartedly began to help the Tekli rebuild, seeing within the Tekli a shadow of their former selves. The Tekli and the Bajorans soon became fast friends and Allies. relations with the Federation gradually improved until in 2384, Elwing petitioned for Federation Membership. In 2385, The first Tekli accepted to starfleet graduated and was assigned aboard the honorifically and diplomatically named USS-Aegis (formerly the Charon) a Luna class starship now tasked with patrolling the Elwing region and facilitating their transition into the Federation.
Current political system:
Bruny Mara is a male Tekli is the current Executive Chancellor, Partan Rania is a female and the Adjudicator General, Shoggue Boheek is the male Architect of Law. As devistating as the cataclysm was, it has since bred the most meritorious crop of political entities to exist in Tekli society.
Bruny Mara: is 43 and was instrumental in the relief efforts in his Demesne of Drini on the Eastern continent. he has a wife and two children, his eldest son having been killed shortly after the cataclysm as he was also involved in relief efforts and was killed in a flash heatburst. He has been in office for two years and has Championed the cause to join the federation. He has taken a Hardline against the Honored Dead.
Partan Rania is 110 years old. She has been a justice and judge for 80 of those and hs been married to her wife for the same number of years. she was a shining light of Lawa and order in her Demesne of Eos on the Western continent during and after the cataclysm. She has a single daughter and has occupied her office for 5 years and 2 landslide elections. she is ambivalent to the Federation and has been… aloof to their representatives. She is Intolerant of the Honored Dead. She is currently in a wheelchair as the cataclysm claimed both her legs. For an unheard of 4 hours She remained Locked down amidst a Firestorm. her bone plates are perpetually marked with Geometric signs in black soot as a testament to her adamant nature in the face of the cataclysm and her own personal tribulations. She is the only one of the council still serving that was involved with first contact with the federation and Bajor.
Shoggue Boheek is the youngest ever Architect of Law at 35. hailing form the Northern Demesne of Eires, he has the darker skin typical of that arid region, and his deeds match those of his colleagues as the ehads of the other governmental branches. he has served for all of a year, and despite his jovial, charismatic, and outgoing nature is openly hostile to the idea of joining the federation. Although he is critical of the radical Honored Dead, he is somewhat Ambiguous of their efforts and counts himself as a member of their pacifist branch.
the Honored Dead is a faction of the Tekli population divided. they take on the names of those who perished in the cataclysm and aftermath and were initially involved in organizing efforts to bury, remember and memorialize the dead. Soon however a splinter faction of the group’s rhetoric turned violent and they began sabotaging Federation relief efforts, blaming them in part for the cataclysm, and the bajoran relief effort to a lesser extent. they also seek any means necessary to attack and destroy any sort of Dominion personnel and member species (with emphasis on the Jem’Hadar) in an effort to respark the dominion war wherein they can take their revenge. After being driven underground, they now seek more subtle means to move against these powers. the other faction of the Honored Dead is still a public and pacifist branch who still fufill what they see as their duties to tend to and memorialize those claimed in the cataclysm.
economy:
The Tekli maintain a standard economy with one specialization. In a joint federation/tekli science initiative, the structure and composition of the Teklis bone plates has been found to have extraordinary applications in almost every field, from ship plating, to medicine, to thermal insulation, agriculture and beyond. the Tekli are been capable of growing the bone in various forms in mass producing complexes, but some environmental specific factor prevents such efforts from succeeding on anywhere but elwing.
basically my group will be stationed aboard the USS Aegis. The opening mission however will be as the crew of the Aegis experimental Warp ship that was being tested during the cataclsym. they will see the cataclysm unfold and by whatever means they can think of try and mitigate the damage during said incident, or try and escape the damage etc. specific problems will involve using the ships limited point defense system to navigate debris, contact the planet, maybe even try and maneuver in front of the ship falling planetside using the prototype warp drive, sacrificing themselves to try and save who they can and mitigate the damage.