"The Gorn Hegemony is the state formed by the Gorn society. It is governed by a King and a council. In the 25th century the Hegemony has been absorbed by the Klingon Empire but retains the right to self-rule, and has a non-voting seat on the Klingon High Council.
Little is known about the Gorn Hegemony culture, other than it is based
on a caste system. Matters of territory seem to be very important, since
the hegemony reacts very forcefully to any incursion.
Culture
Little is known about the Gorn Hegemony culture, other than it is based on a caste system. Matters of territory seem to be very important, since the hegemony reacts very forcefully to any incursion.
In many Gorn homes you will find four candles constantly burning. These candles represent the idea of the Four Sides of Life: Family, Honor, Service and Faith. This concept is the foundation on which the Gorn society is built: Family cares for its own. One must always uphold one’s Honor. All must Serve a greater purpose than themselves. To be Gorn is to have Faith in S’Yahazah and her Plan. (more of that under Religion)
Family
Family is of paramount importance to the Gorn. The Gorn mate for life, and reproduce slowly. Females are typically in cycle to bear eggs only once every six years on average for Soldiers and Intellectuals; Technicals’ reproductive cycles work at twice that rate. Technicals may be ovoviviparous although that is in dispute. Soldiers and Intellectuals normally lay only one egg at a time (although clutches of two or three eggs are not unheard-of) and eggs take over two years to incubate. However, the Gorn remain fertile until death. Due to this fact and along with their extremely long lifespans, it is not at all uncommon to have siblings born hundreds of years apart. Or two Gorn could be the same age, and one could be the other's great-great-great-uncle.
Due to the relative infrequency of the Gorn reproductive cycle, they have a seemingly reduced libido compared to other sapient species. While it is true that a Gorn Soldier can remain abstinent throughout their century-plus military career, the Gorn do enjoy physical intimacy and will often take “pleasure-mates” (as opposed to “lifemates”) for a night or longer. Occassionaly this will result in the female having a fertilized egg, and this would obligate her partner to take her as his lifemate. (There is a bit of a cultural stigma associated with this; due to the Gorn’s very long and very predictable reproductive cycle, this usually results only because of carelessness on the female’s part, or because she wants her partner to be her lifemate but can’t persuade him to claim her.) The terms “contraceptive” and “abortion” are completely foreign to the Gorn, as they believe that life is a gift from S’Yahazah, the Mistress of Fertility.
The Gorn are patriarchal, and fathers always have the final say in what is best for the family. Children remain close to their parents and siblings through their entire lives. Immediate family members are to be counted on to defend one another from any threat or peril. Children are raised to respect and obey their parents and older siblings. It is the responsibility of the children to care for their parents in their old age. If the parents of a Gorn child (under 24) are deceased, responsibility for the care of that child falls on the oldest sibling. Adoption is also common in these cases. Often single, older Gorn (widows or unmarried retirees) will adopt and care for orphans.
Many thousands of young Gorn were orphaned during the war with the Klingons. When the war ended, the Klingons conscripted many of these orphans, either not realizing or not caring that the Gorn mature at only half the rate that Klingons do and that these children were not ready for military service. In the Klingon Empire, legal age of conscription is 15 (in Earth years) and 11 for voluntary enlistment with a guardian’s consent. As losses mounted in the war against the Federation, some Klingon-administered orphanages were encouraged to “volunteer” Gorn children as young as eleven for service. (That is the equivalent of a Human eight-year-old.) This practice has ceased, as the Klingons were made to understand Gorn maturation rates and the consequences of thrusting unprepared, undeveloped minds into battle.
Honor
The Gorn concept of what is honorable differs greatly from the Klingon's personal honor (quv) and cultural Honor (batlh.) There is great variety among the Gorn when it comes to personal codes of honor. Universal to all however is the idea that no Gorn shall take a life without just cause. (Life being a gift from S’Yahazah.)
A Gorn who has lost his honor must strive to reclaim it, even if doing so is impossible. This can be a terrible burden for one to bear, depending on how strongly they believe in honor. There is a Gorn murder-suicide ritual that has mostly gone out of practice called <Claiming-Another's-Dishonor-As-One’s-Own> that takes place between very close friends, lifemates, siblings, and very rarely among parent-child relationships, when one Gorn (X) has dishonored himself terribly and the other (Y) can’t bear to see him suffer as he tries futilely to reclaim his honor. Y would approach X in private and say to him solemnly something along the lines of “It’s killing me to see you this way. Would you allow me to end this for us?” If X accepts, Y would settle their affairs and arrange a murder-suicide in a way that left as little mess as possible for their next-of-kin. This ritual would require the sanction of a Priest of S’Yahazah, and they would have to demonstrate that S’Yahazah’s gift (i.e., their lives) had become irrecoverably tainted and had to be thrown away.
Service
The idea of service to something greater than yourself is a core ideal shared by all Gorn. What exactly they serve will vary greatly according to the individual. It could be the King or the family, or it could just be their commanding officer or their employer.
History
Before the 24th century
- In ancient times the Gorn controlled much more space.
- The Metron Consortium prevents the first contact between the Hegemony and the Federation from turning into a battle near Cestus III in 2267.
Prelude to conflict
- On Stardate 61829.83, acting against orders a Gorn ship attacks the I.K.S. Quv in the space between the Hegemony and the Klingon Empire in 2384. 207 Klingons die but King Xrathis refuses to surrender the surviving Klingons. In response, Chancellor Martok sends additional ships to their common border and expels Gorn diplomats.
- When King Xrathis dies of natural cause, his son, Crown Prince Slathis, ascends to the throne. (2386). He re-enforces the Gorn-Klingon border. Several skirmishes are reported soon after.
Gorn-Klingon conflict (2386-2389)
- On Stardate 63504.74, the Klingon-Gorn War begins when the KDF bombards the Gorn colony at Gila IV. After two days of bloody battle with the defenders the Klingon Empire conquers the planet. The conflict quiets after the battle.
- Due to the worsening relationship between the Hegemony and the Klingon Empire, the United Federation of Planets offers to mediate talks between the two powers.
Gorn-Klingon Cold War and peace attempts (2389-2399)
- In 2389, the war erupts again when the Gorn and Klingons struggle for control of the Gamma Orionis System. King Slathis negotiates a beneficial deal with the Nausicaans: For contributing weapons and ships the Nausicaans get the rights to several asteroid belts and a substantial payment. Despite the reinforcment of the Gorn military the Klingons refuse to surrender the system and win several battles. Starfleet Intelligence projects that the conflict won't end anytime soon.
- Due to increased Nausicaan raids in the Gorn-Federation borderland, the Federation again offers to mediate between the warring states at a neutral location. However, the preliminary talks drag on for weeks and come to an abrupt halt when Chancellor Martok demands Starfleet to remove its ships from the Romulan-Klingon border. (2390)
- The following year, Starfleet submits to Martok's demand and reassigns its ships to fight the Nausicaan raiders. In response, the Klingon Chancellor agrees to participate in peace talks. Representatives from the Klingons, Gorn and Nausicaans meet at Deep Space K-7. Despite initial progress the talks fail when Gorn Ambassador Zogozin is seriously injured by a hidden explosive device two days into the conference. Station security finds evidence that Klingon extremist J'dah is responsible for the attack, however, he is killed by someone unknown.
- Following the failure of the talks the Klingons advance deeper into Gorn territory. To protect their homeworld the Gorn recall ships from the outlying colonies. King Slathis tries to hire Lethean mercenaries but outside analysts doubt the Gorn have the resources to pay both Nausicaans and Letheans.
- In 2392, Cestus III hosts renewed peace talks between the Gorn and Klingons. Again, the premilinary talks don't come to a conclusion.
- On Stardate 69259.56 the hopes of peace finally collapse when a Gorn and Nausicaan fleet attacks the Klingon world of Ogat. The KDF manages to repel the invaders more than two weeks later and both military forces now attack on sight.
- Chancellor J'mpok reluctantly agrees to a third round of peace talks. (2397)
- On Stardate 75705.90 (2398), the Federation-mediated peace talks between the Hegemony and the Empire are disrupted by an explosion that rocks the resort on Casperia Prime where the talks are being held. Again, a Klingon extremist group is found responsible for the dishonorable attack. The Federation attempts to restart the peace talks, but both the Klingons and the Gorn recall their delegations and the cease-fire ends.
Full-scale war and Klingon invasion (2400-2403)
- The I.K.S. Kang returns to Qo'noS, proving the Council of the Gorn Hegemony has been infiltrated by Undine. Chancellor J'mpok order a full-scale invasion of Gorn space the day after. The border is stormed by a combined Klingon-Orion fleet within weeks. The simmering conflict erupts into open warfare when Gorn and Nausicaan ships clash with the invaders in multiple systems. (2399)
- In 2400, the Gorn-Nausicaan fleet initially repels the invader's advance, earning respect for their ferocity in battle. Victory for the Klingons is almost assured but does come with a high blood toll. The Federation Council declares the war to be unlawful but the censure is ignored by the belligerents.
- The defenders are holding the line in 2401 and the war becomes a stalemate. However, the Gorn don't have enough ships to repel the Klingons and Orions.
- After two years of war, the Klingons blockade the Gorn homeworld, finally decisively turning the war into their favor. (2402).
- On Stardate 80344.81, the Klingons manage to make planetfall when the web of transport inhibtors protecting the Gorn homeworld fails. Remaining Gorn forces defend key areas while the civilian population arms itself. However, the Klingons spare the militias and assault the capitol city. Twenty-eight hours after the planetary invasion began, the royal palace is stormed, King Slathis surrenders and the Gorn Hegemony falls. Klingon General Klag agrees to lift martial law orders for the civilian population. The Klingons treat the population remarkably civilized. (2403)
Klingon occupation and admission to the Empire (2403)
- General Klag, military governor of the Gorn homeworld, stabilizes the situation there in the following week. Chancellor J'mpok meets with King Slathis and broadcasts a message throughout the entire Hegemony, revealing the scale of Undine infiltration of the Gorn Council and military. These infiltrators are executed.
- Despite demands by hardliners in the Klingon High Council, J'mpok chooses not to have the royal family executed. Rather, he offers them self-rule as long as they swear loyalty to the Empire. Slathis agrees and is given a non-voting seat in the High Council. The Klingon Fifth Fleet is withdrawn from Gorn space.
Participation in the Third Federation-Klingon War (2405-2409)
- Now involved with the Empire, the Hegemony participates in the Third Federation-Klingon War and invades Sherman's Planet on Stardate 82626.64. However, Starfleet is able to repel the attack. (2405)
- The same year, King Slathis brokers a deal between the Nausicaans and Klingons, resulting in the signing of a non-aggression pact.
- In 2408, Klingons and Gorn invade Cestus III. Starfleet masses fleet to defend this worlds and its population.
- By 2409, some Gorn have begun to rebel against the Klingon Empire, staging attacks on Klingon starbases.
Politics
"The Gorn Hegemony is a parliamentary monarchy ruled by the King. This King is the head of state while the government consists of the Gorn Council, the prime minister and advisers, such as the head of military intelligence. Although the Hegemony was a vassal state to the Klingon Empire, its governmental structure remains unchanged. However, several high-ranking government officials, including the prime minister, were revealed to be Undine infiltrators in 2403, resulting in their execution. Despite that, King Slathis remained in power and currently rules the Hegemony as of 2409.
In the last 1000 years, the Gorn have gone from a xeno-friendly constitutional monarchy to a xenophobic absolutist autocracy. Successive Kings have censored all documents that show non-Gorn heroes and nobility in the distant past, striving to drag the Gorn forward through species-based national pride. The current Gorn administration holds that the worlds of the Old Empire are still theirs, and that one day they will evict or enslave the squatters who currently live there. They also wish to conquer the old worlds of the Orion Empire and vanquish their foe, but are more focused on regaining holdings they’ve lost over the past 1000 years. This is actually a relatively recent strain of political thought, having emerged in the last six hundred years with the last three Gorn Kings as they struggled to unify their people behind a common purpose and justify their hold on power. There is a strong undercurrent in Gorn political thought that instead advocates securing the current borders and attempting to focus on development rather than expansion.
The vast majority of the population are commoners that live in poverty that would be shocking to most of the galaxy, living in vast city-slums or on rundown estates in the countryside. Many of them are serfs owned by one noble or another, and are impoverished and stunted, forced to work long hours and unable to move residence from their assigned farm or living establishment. If they live in the city, they are often restricted to specific districts. A class of free Gorn based in the cities also exists, although few are able to escape the crushing poverty of the slums. Education is limited, mostly to provide basic literacy, and trade-oriented skills such as coding and machine operation to help participate in the manufacturing economy. The current government has not drastically expanded education to the poor out of a continued ideology that the strong will rise to the top regardless of circumstance. Commoners are also constantly prepared to be called for for military service, as this underclass provides vast manpower to the Gorn fleets and armies through quota-based conscription. Gorn can be selected for conscription upon turning 25. Those who are selected for the 75-year long service period are mourned as if they are dead by family and friends before leaving, as there is little chance they will survive to see the benefits of nobility. Even these benefits are dubious, as Gorn often return with little money to back up their newfound status
A class of merchants, skilled craftsmen, industrialists and middle-managers make up a narrow strata of Gorn society. Often consisting of freed Gorn and minor nobility, they make up a wealthy class, with some minor houses having more resources than much more established families and certain merchants having wealth that rivals the King. A particularly lucrative area of commerce is in providing high fashion to rich nobility as they play endless games of one-upmanship in attire. In an attempt to head off potential agitation from this commoner-merchant class, the Gorn government has recently allowed them to purchase stays of military service and hereditary nobility. From the Gorn perspective, the benefit of this is providing fresh, rich blood to the noble classes, a sort of Darwinist competition that softly pushes weaker houses out of the Court, or a method to allow noble families to marry into wealth, with Many impoverished nobles go to great lengths to marry rich commoners. This has lead to some marriages straining, particularly between rich commoner women and poor noble men, the former suddenly finding their degree of relative autonomy in Gorn society stripped.
The nobility are the landowners and leaders of the Gorn, military or civil. There are several ‘ancient’ noble families, who date back to proud houses from the earliest days of the Gorn unified state and its first colonies. Then come the old blood nobility, who have been part of the Gorn court for at least 1500 years. These collectively make up the Old Families. Then comes the Middle-Aged, families who have gained their nobility via military service or otherwise at least two generations ago. Then comes the New Blood, made up of merchants who have purchased their nobility, and military officers who have earned hereditary nobility in the last 300 years. Finally there is the small nobility, a constellation of individuals who have gained personal nobility and the right to own land and serfs, but who have not earned the right to pass on their nobility. The traditional, ancient powers of the Old Families are continually challenged, and particularly galling is the fact many of them have mortgaged land to New Blood and subsequently seen productive, profitable businesses raised up there. But most important in the Gorn court is the favor of the King -- a New Blood noble who becomes a King’s confidant is more powerful than any Old Family member who isn’t
Gorn put women in a high place of pride and respect, as part of their worship of the highest in the Gorn pantheon, S'Yahazah, the Egg-Bringer. Despite their high cultural position, women are rarely in military positions, nor do they tend to form part of the senior leadership in the government bureaucracy. There has never been a female King. Present Gorn society holds that women are simply too valuable to use in wartime; heroines like Vrr’sshara, victor of the battle of Peladian Fields have been quietly removed from the public consciousness over the last 600 years. In a reverse of noble culture, many women among the commoners become de facto community leaders such as village elders or tenement supervisors, and are often the ones consulted by military recruiters as to who from their community is to be drafted. “A Kiss from a Disruptor” is a Gorn saying for a male who has courted such a community leader and then subsequently been selected for military service; it is seen as the ultimate rejection of their affection." (toboldygo.miraheze.org, 2019)
Religion
S'Yahazah, known as the Great Egg Bringer, is the name given to a god worshiped by the Gorn species. She was known also as the Mistress of Fertility and was the most important figure in Gorn noble religion.
According to myth, S'Yahazah and the "Great Father" were responsible for the creation of the Gorn species and were, thus, their founders. However, Gorn belief would place more emphasis on the Great Egg Bringer for she protected the young Gorn from the Great Father who attempted to devour the eggs that would have given birth to the Gorn species. S'Yahazah banished the Great Father into the coldness of space after which he was never worshiped again.
The Mistress of Fertility has been known to take the eggs of all Gorn who have a blue-yellow scale coloration and safeguard them against harm. This is because those Gorn who possess such a coloration are believed to be marked for nobility and spiritual purity among their race. She has also been known to provide fertilization methods that ensure maximum genetic potential. This has resulted in certain hereditary Gorn families gaining a large number of Blue-Yellow Gorn born and is a symbol of Gorn strength.
It's been noted among the Gorn that S'Yahazah has spoken out against the leadership of the Gorn Hegemony which has caused some to wonder whether they will act in internal Gorn politics. (TOS video game: Starfleet Command)
In 2382 the terraforming device known as Brahma-Shiva was believed by members of the Gorn Technology Caste to be a reincarnation, or potentially the original, S'Yahazah because of its ability to shape planets and its presence near Gorn territory. In order to safeguard the planet Hranrar, an away mission was authorized to the terraforming device with a mission to destroy it before it could be used on the defenseless planet. During the mission the consciousness of S'Yahazah migrated into the mind of Starfleet Commander Tuvok of the USS Titan via a Mind meld and the terraforming device was destroyed shortly afterward. (ST - Typhon Pact novel: Seize the Fire)
Gornar
Gornar is the homeworld of the Gorn, the capital of the Hegemony. It is located in the Tau Lacertae System in the Beta Quadrant and has two moons, as well as three Klingon space stations in orbit.
In 2403, following the Klingon-Gorn War, the Klingon Empire annexed Gornar and the rest of the Hegemony. The initial occupation was overseen by General Klag. As the Klingon's main purpose was to expose the Gorn leadership as Undine infiltrators and not the subjection of the Gorn people, the Klingon rule over the planet has been mostly respectful." (STO gamepedia, 2019)
Gorn Space Command
"Gorn Space Command, also known as the Gorn War Fleet, was the primary defensive organization of the Gorn Hegemony. It possessed a smaller fleet compared to its comrade organizations in the other galactic states but the Gorn Space Command was known to maintain a highly trained space force that was feared by its neighbors. Gorn officers were both highly trained and possessed a great deal of military experience making them a deadly foe to face in combat." (Memory-Beta, 2019)
Black Crest Faction
"The Black Crest were a militaristic faction within the Gorn Hegemony that opposed peaceful relations with the Federation and advocated for more aggressive actions for the expansion of the Gorn empire. In late 2374, they launched a successful coup and overthrew the government. They then launched attacks on several nearby Federation targets, including Cestus III. However, they were repelled by Commander William T. Riker and a group of Klingons." (Memory-Beta, 2019)
Reference:
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/S%27Yahazah
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Gorn_Hegemony
https://toboldygo.miraheze.org/wiki/Gorn_Hegemony
https://stexpanded.fandom.com/wiki/Gorn_Hegemony
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Gorn_Hegemony
https://sites.google.com/site/seiklonaxelhome/axelpedia/species/gorn
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Gorn_Space_Comman
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Crest
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_to_2409
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Hegemon
