Cairn

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SPECIES
United Federation of Planets logo.png CairnUnited Federation of Planets logo.png
Homeworld:
Cairn
Quadrant:
Beta
Affiliation:
United Federation of Planets
Biology
Average Male Height:
163 cm (5 ft. 4 in.) to 203 cm (6 ft. 8 in.)
Average Male Weight:
59 kg (130 lb.) to 117.9 kg (260 lb.)
Average Female Height:
163 cm (5 ft. 4 in.) to 203 cm (6 ft. 8 in.)
Average Female Weight:
59 kg (130 lb.) to 117.9 kg (260 lb.)
Minimum Academy Age:
Life Expectancy:
130
Distinctive Features:
Playability
PRC Rated:
Yes
NPC Rated:
Yes
BetaQuadrant.jpg


Maques, a Cairn male
Hedril, a female Cairn child
Note: This is a PC and NPC rated species with Command Officer approval.


The Cairn are a species of telepathic humanoids, located in the Beta Quadrant. Until recently, they were unaware of the concept of verbal language.


Physiology

The Cairn are humanoid, physically quite similar to Humans. The are quickly characterized by areas of exposed skin above their ears, going up the sides of their heads. These areas are wide and rounded in adult Cairn, extending further out than the tip of the ear, and are slightly "lumpier" than the rest of the skin. It is reasonable to assume that the Cairn brain is of a different shape than a Human's, requiring the extra space within the cranium that these bulges make an allowance for. The Cairn generally wear their hair in ways which leave these areas of skin exposed.


The Cairn are strong telepaths, so skilled in the use of their telepathic abilities that they are physically unable to communicate verbally and, until recently, had no concept of speech or individual words. The Cairn communicate using images, broadcasting ideas and concepts in quick succession into the mind of fellow Cairn. This enables them to learn new information far more quickly than other humanoids.


However, the unusual nature of their mental abilities makes communication with other telepathic species difficult, and is only truly effective with highly-skilled telepaths. Even for the Cairn themselves, the process of communicating for long lengths of time can be tiring and even painful. Cairn are unable to communicate mentally with non-telepaths.


Culture

The Cairn had little concept of privacy, and had to be taught once they began interacting with other telepathic species. Their ability to convey exactly what they were thinking and feeling to other Cairn, and do it with such ease, caused them to develop a society of great emotional openness and understanding. For this reason, Cairns are often particularly perceptive about the emotions of others, including other humanoid species. It is their openness to new ideas which has enabled the Cairn to so easily accept radical new concepts such as speech and privacy, and has driven their desire to join the Federation.


Technology

Once they began interacting with other species, telepathic and non-telepathic alike, the Cairn began to use artificial voice boxes in order to communicate verbally. This device is implanted into the throat of a Cairn, while enables them to produce the sounds used within speech.


Learning to use these artificial voice boxes is not easy for a Cairn, and they must also undergo speech therapy in order to learn the correct ways to move their tongues and lips.


History

The Cairn evolved into a species which relied exclusively on telepathy to communicate with each other. Their openness with thoughts and emotions encouraged an honest and peaceful culture on their homeworld. Eventually, the Cairn became warp capable, and reached out to make first contact with the United Federation of Planets. They were fascinated by other species, and wished to interact with them, but quickly discovered that they would have to master the new concepts of speech, as well as privacy, in order to do so. While attempting to develop these skills, the Cairn applied for membership in the Federation.


The Federation Ambassador Lwaxana Troi was assigned to assist the Cairn in their efforts to join the Federation. As a highly-skilled Betazoid telepath, she was able to act both as a translator and as a teacher for the Cairn. With her help, and their natural capacity to assimilate new information quickly, they made quick steps in learning to communicate verbally. They were able to achieve sufficient competency in order for a Cairn delegation to accompany Ambassador Troi onto the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D.


While on board, Ambassador Troi fell ill. Her work with the Cairn had weakened her, preventing her from maintaining mental stability. She suffered a psychic breakdown, and fell into a coma.

The senior diplomat of the Cairn delegation offered his services, helping the Ambassador's daughter form a telepathic link and reach out to her, saving her mind and her life.


With the Cairn's quick, helpfully, honorable actions during this incident, this likely endorsed their pending application into the Federation.