Kazon

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SPECIES
Kazon
Homeworld:
Kazon
Quadrant:
Delta
Affiliation:
Unknown
Biology
Average Male Height:
168 cm (5 ft. 6 in.) to 203 cm (6 ft. 8 in.)
Average Male Weight:
63.5 kg (140 lb.) to 117.9 kg (260 lb.)
Average Female Height:
168 cm (5 ft. 6 in.) to 203 cm (6 ft. 8 in.)
Average Female Weight:
63.5 kg (140 lb.) to 117.9 kg (260 lb.)
Minimum Academy Age:
Life Expectancy:
130
Distinctive Features:
Playability
PRC Rated:
No
NPC Rated:
No
DeltaQuadrant.jpg


First Maje Jal Culluh, a Kazon male
Kazon script
Note: This is NOT a PC and NPC rated species.


The Kazon are a violent warrior species from the Delta Quadrant, first encountered by the Federation starship USS Voyager in 2371. As of 2372, they were divided into eighteen different sects. Each sect has possession of different natural resources over which the sects fought each other. By 2420, however, the sects have dwindled to two, and are nomadic, fleet-based raiders.


Physiology

The Kazon are a humanoid species with at least two racial variants, one minority race with brown skin and the most common race with copper-colored skin. The foreheads of all Kazon feature distinctive ridges and their black or brown hair grows in large chunks rather than individual strands.


Society

Male Kazon children are usually raised as warriors. When they come of age they take part in trials to earn their adult names. When they have earned their names they are considered to be true warriors. Displays of affection from a father to his son are considered a source of shame for the son.


Kazon society is patriarchal, divided along gender lines, with female Kazon typically spoken down to and treated as second-class citizens. A male Kazon will generally not tolerate being given orders by a woman.


Political

Prior to the Kazon Consolidation Wars, the Kazon were together known as the Kazon Collective, made up of numerous semi-independent tribes known as sects. There was no overall leader, with the strongest sect still only able to rely on their own strength, and hopefully a small number of allies. The major sects are Kazon-Halik, Kazon-Ogla, Kazon-Oglamar, Kazon-Relora, Kazon-Nistrim, Kazon-Mostral, Kazon-Hobii, and Kazon-Pommar.


The two most powerful sects were the Ogla and Relora, who possess most of the Kazons' manpower and ships. The Nistrim were once a powerful and influential sect, however their power has diminished; by 2372, they possessed fewer than six raider vessels.


Leaders within the Kazon sects are referred to as Maje with the head of the sect referred to as First Maje.


The behavior of the various Kazon sects has caused them to make enemies. Attacks on Talaxian trade convoys were frequent.


After Voyager passed beyond the territory claimed by the sects, the Kazon fought a number of internecine wars. Slowly, consolidation of the sects was accomplished either through peaceful or not-so-peaceful means, until only two were left.


The Kazon-Jal were established from a core of the Kazon-Olga under First Maje Jal Karden. Having learned from Voyager's more peaceful ways, they became a union of sects both large and small. While as fierce as any other Kazon, those of the Jal have learned that not fighting is to be preferred, if only to save their strength for the fights that are necessary. They were driven from ancestral Kazon territory by their enemies and followed Voyager's trail across the quadrant.


Opposing them are a faction simply called the Kazon, or True Kazon. Formed by the son of Maje Chulluh and the Cardassian Seska named Sessen, he became First Maje of the Nistrim, he took the traditional path to power - ruthlessness and low cunning. Subsuming the Nistrim's few allies through judicious battle and intimidation, they then consolidated the rest through war until the only two factions that remained were the Jal and Sessen's forces. After the Jal fled, Sessen's pride and ambition took the True Kazon across the quadrant in purusit - to the detriment of everyone, not least the True Kazon.


History

History until 2372

The Kazon were a subjugated race, used as slave labor by the Trabe, who had conquered their homeworld. It is unknown if the Kazon were divided into sects before they were conquered by the Trabe, but the sects were in existence during their oppression. One of the Trabe's tactics in keeping the Kazon under control was to encourage infighting among the sects.


In 2346, Jal Sankur convinced the Kazon sects to put aside their differences and rise up against the Trabe. In doing so the Kazon took the Trabe's ships and technology, forcing them to become a nomadic species, never allowing them to settle on a new world.


In 2372, the leaders of all Kazon sects were invited to a peace conference on the planet Sobras by Captain Kathryn Janeway along with the Trabe leader Mabus. However, Mabus only consented to attend the conference in the hope of eliminating all Kazon leaders at once. The assassination was unsuccessful, and Kazon relations worsened with both the Trabe and the crew of Voyager.


2372-2395: Kazon Consolidation Wars

The Kazon have long been a species of clans, of tribes. Despite all having a common interest, each of the sects refused to work together, competing for resources, territory, and technology. The Ogla, Nistrim, Relora, Oglamar - each of the dozens of sects competed, only rarely teaming up for a foe that was greater than they could handle alone.


As Voyager passed through their territory in the early years of its Delta Quadrant journey, though, they changed by necessity. Seska attempted to use them to build a power base and control the Quadrant with them, but ultimately failed. As Voyager moved on after Seska’s death, the sects fell to in-fighting to come out on top from the disaster, devouring some of the smaller sects and consolidating into just a handful.


The largest was the Kazon-Nistrim, under First Maje Chulluh. Despite being the leader directly underneath Seska, and the only one alive left to blame, he was able to maintain his position through brute force and the division of copious spoils from devouring sects such as the Hobii and Mostral, which were left to either join or die. Many questioned his leadership, especially as he defended his young half-breed son Sessen, his son with the Cardassian Seska, but he held on to power with an iron fist.


Opposing him was an alliance that grew under the Kazon-Ogla. A rising maje, Jal Karden, had learned a very different lesson from his contact with Voyager than many others. Having been stranded with Chakotay, and spent quite some time with the man, he learned the value of words and deeds, rather than force. He was first able to unite the Ogla, the Relora, and the Pommar into a coalition to oppose Chulluh and his raiders. This raised his status greatly within Kazon society, and he was soon able to claim the position of First Maje of a new, united sect, called the Kazon-Jal in his honor.


By 2390, Kazon society was prepared to devolve into a true civil war. Chulluh was old, and his ambitions were still high from where Seska had promised him power beyond imagining. He wanted to leave a people to be feared for his son, and wanted them all under Sessen’s control. These upstart Jal stood in his way, though, and he refused to accept that any longer. He launched an assault against the Jal and their allies. Many Kazon joined with Chulluh, preferring the old ways and the promise of power rather than the promises of collective power that Karden espoused, though many of the independent majes threw in their lot with Karden.


Unfortunately, the combined power of Chulluh and his allies was too much, though the battle was long and fierce. In the final conflict of the war, the Jal were able to penetrate the Nistrim lines and destroyed Chulluh’s ship, killing him. Sessen took command and drove off the Jal, but the Nistrim and their allies were in disarray afterwards. Karden, having lost much of the strength of his sect, made the hard decision: the Jal left Kazon territory in 2395, moving out towards the galactic center.


2395-Present: Nomads and Raiders

As they travelled, they made new alliances, trading for supplies and technology where possible, raiding and taking them by force where impossible. Occasionally new ships and people would join them, though usually not for long. Their ships were improved, adding transporter technology, new phaser and disruptor weapons, new types of torpedoes, and upgrading their sensor capacity along the way, though the hodge-podge of technologies made their ships temperamental and made servicing them a very unique challenge.


Meanwhile, Sessen was consolidating his hold on the remaining Kazon. Believing the best course was to attack, he solidified his power by combining the remaining sects. After two more years of battle, he declared the abolition of the sects, and that they were simply Kazon, one and all. All answered to him, and he ruthlessly killed any who challenged him.


He had inherited two things from his parents: his father’s ruthlessness, and his mother’s ambition. Uniting the Kazon was not enough for him. He wanted more. He wanted to conquer the Quadrant, and believed that he now had the power behind him to do it. Declaring that he wanted to avenge Chulluh and wipe out the Jal once and for all, he pointed his warriors out, and the Kazon moved out. Not all agreed with him, and some quietly abandoned the exodus, but by 2400, the Kazon no longer dominated the space on the galactic rim, and were reduced to pirates and raiders.


The Sessen’s forces terrorized and invaded their way after the Jal, following along in their wake. Any he found that had traded or, even worse, allied with the Jal were attacked and punished. Sometimes he was extremely successful, burning independent worlds and claiming what he could make use of. Sometimes he was beaten, which only fueled his rage. He learned that his Kazon were not as powerful as he had believed, and tried to make changes. He raided for new ships, new technologies. He enslaved engineers and inventors, trying to integrate these new technologies into his old ships. And as he went, he collected all the information he could about the quadrant, learning that it was a much larger, much more populated place than he had expected. A worthy challenge for his power and intellect, obviously.


By the latter half of the decade, however, both groups were crossing into territory more dangerous than any they had known: Borg space. True to their natures, both groups crossed in their fashions.


The Kazon-Jal encountered an enclave on the outskirts of Borg space, a colony of Unimatrix Zero survivors and other ex-Borg who had started a life together on a forgotten planet. From this colony they were able to learn about the Borg and the dangers they were about to face. Not just the might and anger of the collective, but also the dangers of the ongoing war they fought amongst themselves. The group, allied with other enclaves of similar outcasts and abandoned drones, was working to help those caught in the crossfire, and agreed to guide the Jal through Borg space, though they couldn’t guarantee their safety.


Through the following months and years, the Kazon-Jal went from enclave to enclave, and ferried some of these ex-Borg from colony to colony as they went as a way to pay for their passage. In doing so, they helped them form the Borg Cooperative and even fought alongside them in some early battles. Though often outmatched and outclassed, they fought for their allies with a tenacity and a skill that helped them fight above their weight.


Sessen’s True Kazon, however, went for a different approach. Arriving at the outskirts of Borg space, they didn’t heed the warnings of those they bullied their way through, and stumbled into Unimatrix 08, the headquarters of one of the three Queens fighting the Borg civil war. Fortunately for the Kazon, the Borg still didn’t consider them worthy of their attention. After destroying several Kazon vessels to the loss of one previously-damaged Wedge, the Kazon retreated and the Borg let them go.


Sessen was furious, and cracks began to show in his leadership. His chief advisor Maje Parnul challenged him for leadership, backed by several of the captains in the fleet. The combat between them was swift, as Sessen showed no mercy. Brutalized, his corpse was sent on a tour throughout the fleet, to show everyone what happened to those who challenged his rule.


Despite this, he knew his forces could not withstand the Borg as they stood. They picked their way through Borg space, preying on the weak and scavenging from battlegrounds what they could. Their captive engineers were unable to integrate the Borg technology but several other civilizations were found, each of which gave aid to the True Kazon whether they wanted to or not.


Both groups, being forced to pick their way carefully through what had become a warzone, took years to cross Borg territory before finally exiting on the far side. Each had suffered losses, but had become tempered by the experience. The Kazon-Jal had been shown time and again the wisdom of working with others when possible, becoming stronger through peaceful means rather than simply taking what they wanted. Sessen and his forces learned just the opposite: that no one would help unless they were forced to, that the universe was uncaring and that it took Sessen and his will to force things into the shape they should take.


By the time they arrived near New Talax, the two forces could hardly have been more dissimilar, and were it not for their appearance, you would think they were two different species.


Other Information

The Kazon are the only species known to have been rejected by the Borg for assimilation. The former Borg drone Seven of Nine explained this to Neelix, the chef aboard Voyager, in the following manner: "Their biological and technological distinctiveness was unremarkable; they were unworthy of assimilation." When Neelix commented on this heretofore unknown discriminating nature of the Borg, she replied: "Why assimilate a species that would detract from perfection?".


Technology

While the technology they took from the Trabe allowed the Kazon to spread throughout a small area of the Delta Quadrant, it lacked elements common to the technology of Alpha Quadrant races. For instance, the Kazon possessed plasma cannons and deflector shields but had no knowledge of technology such as transporters and replicators, until their first contact with Voyager.


Kazon raider ships were tactically inferior to a Star Fleet Intrepid class starship, although their larger carrier vessels posed more of a threat.


After 2395, the primary Kazon sects both became pure nomads and wandered across the quadrant. By 2420, their fleets were made of a core of Kazon ships, but also contained numerous ships of alien origin, as well as numerous upgrades and repairs to their base ships. Their fleets were more powerful than the Kazon would have been when Voyager met them, and have generally kept up with the times. Individually they are still inferior to Star Fleet ships, but they are still more powerful than any Kazon ship before.