Cairn
| SPECIES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Cairn
| |||
| Homeworld: | Cairn | ||
| Quadrant: | Beta | ||
| Affiliation: | United Federation of Planets | ||
| Biology | |||
| Average Male Height: | 163 cm (5 ft. 4 in.)-203 cm (6 ft. 8 in.) | ||
| Average Male Weight: | 59 kg (130 lb.)-117.9 kg (260 lb.) | ||
| Average Female Height: | 163 cm (5 ft. 4 in.)-203 cm (6 ft. 8 in.) | ||
| Average Female Weight: | 59 kg (130 lb.)-117.9 kg (260 lb.) | ||
| Minimum Academy Age: | |||
| Life Expectancy: | 130 | ||
| Distinctive Features: | |||
| Playability | |||
| PRC Rated: | Yes | ||
| NPC Rated: | Yes | ||
 | |||
- Note: This is a PC and NPC rated species with Commanding Officer approval.
The Cairn are a species of telepathic humanoids located in theBeta Quadrant. Until recently, they were unaware of the concept of verbal language.
Contents
Physiology
The Cairn are humanoids who are physically very similar to Humans except for areas of exposed skin above the ears at 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 epidermis. It is reasonable to assume that the Cairn's advanced brain is of a different shape to that of a Human, requiring the extra space within the cranium that these bulges allow. 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 words. The Cairn communicate using images rather than words, broadcasting ideas and concepts in quickfire succession into the mind of fellow Cairn. This enables them to learn new information far more quickly and intuitively than other humanoids. However, the unusual nature of their mental abilities makes communication with other telepathic species difficult, and is only truly effective with skilled telepaths. Even for them, the process of communicating mentally with a Cairn is often painful and tiring. Cairn are unable to communicate mentally with non-telepaths.
Culture
As well as being unaware of spoken language until making first contact with the Federation, the Cairn also had very little concept of privacy before interaction with others species taught them that most humanoids regard it as socially important. Their ability to convey exactly what they are thinking and feeling to other Cairn with such ease caused them to develop a society of 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
The Cairn utilise an artificial voice box to communicate verbally. This device is implanted into the throat of a Cairn and 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 learn to move their tongues and lips in the correct ways to shape the sounds the voice box produces into understandable words. Since the Cairn had no need to develop such technology before starting to interact with other species, it is probable that they were provided with this device by the Federation.
Since the concept of verbalisation is so new to the Cairn, it seems likely that their first contact with another species was very recent. This may indicate that only a short amount of time has passed since they became warp capable.
History
Though they may once have been physically capable of verbal communication, the Cairn evolved into a species which relied exclusively on telepathy to communicate with each other. This engendered an honest and peaceful culture on their homeworld. Eventually, the Cairn became warp capable and made first contact with the United Federation of Planets. They were fascinated by other species and wished to interact with them but soon discovered that they would have to master the new concepts of speech and privacy to enable them 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. As a skilled Betazoid telepath, she was able to act both as a translator and as a teacher for the Cairn and, with her help and their natural capacity to assimilate new information quickly, they made quick steps forward in learning to communicate verbally. Soon, they had achieved sufficient competency for a Cairn delegation to accompany Ambassador Troi onto the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D.
While they were aboard, the Ambassador fell ill. Her work with the Cairn had weakened her to the point where her levels of psilosynine (a neurotransmitter used in telepathy) had been severely depleted. This prevented her from maintaining mental blocks she had erected years earlier to block out the memory of her first daughter's life and subsequent death. As the memories returned, the Ambassador suffered a psychic breakdown and fell into a coma. Maques, the senior diplomat of the Cairn delegation, offered his services in helping the stricken Ambassador and acted as a telepathic bridge for her daughter, Counselor Deanna Troi, to enter her psyche and reach out to her, saving her mind and her life.
Since the Cairn acted helpfully and honourably throughout this incident, there is no reason it should have negatively impacted their pending application for membership, and it is therefore likely that they went on to become Federation members.
