T'zen

Created by: Robert Aspirin, Garry Stahl
Appearance: Starbase 600 game
Number of Members: Extinct
Nature of Members: Large bodied saurinods. An ancient star faring race that once was common in the Galaxy 1 million years ago and fought a genocidal war with the "Bugs". It is believed that the cost of that victory was was a technological fall.
Organization: Military. From all evidence their entire population was under martial law.
Government: Totalitarian racial nation.
Culture: Again we have scant evidence of culture
Game Role: Curious Has-Beens
World Role: Ancient history
Relative Influence: Surprisingly large if you look at the various races descended from them.
Public or Secret?: Lost to history is more like it.
Publicly Stated Goal: Be understood.
Relative Wealth: None
Race Advantages: None
Race disadvantages: Extinct
Relations: None, Kara lives among the Zak.
Area of Operation: That is still being puzzled out.
Headquarters Location: Unknown
Public Face: The face of futile war.
Notable Members: Kara - A T'zen female recovered from an older than dirt hibernation capsule. The Zak physicians that pulled it off themselves were astounded. She has made a full recovery and finds herself species ambassador.
History of the Race: In the period after the fall of the Great Crescent Empire of the Serpents, a number of races attempted to carve out Empires of their own, one of these was the T'zen, powerful sauriniods that could breed quickly. They found themselves in a multi-generation war with a number of arthropod species colloquially know as "The Bugs".
Based mainly on the reports of the survivor. Million year old computer cores are mostly crunchy. 
*The Tzen were a totalitarian racial nation. The ruling body was "The Committee" until such time as the Bugs destroyed the Black Swamps, the Tzen home world. At that point they were ruled by a Junta of military commanders. She is unaware of any political movement beyond this time. 
*Every aspect of life was controlled, from your role in life to reproduction. She considers this perfectly natural.
*The Tzen practiced genetic tinkering in themselves. She states that her generation was only the second that had color vision, a deliberate adaptation.
*The Bug Wars was total and genocidal war fought by all sides. Bug reasons are not known. She claims it was species survival for the Tzen.
*Tzen ships were slow warp monsters on the order of 2000 meters or more. They carried massive armies in cold sleep, she was one. They could go a dozen or more years between operations.
*She is vaguely aware that there were serpents in space. She knows of no conflict between the Tzen and the serpents
In the process of all sides losing this genocidal war the T'zen managed to lose a number of colonies all over known space. In that respect they can be said to have won.
Zak -- Physically the closet to the T'zen themselves. Close enough that Kara can breed with them. 
Gorn -- While genetically identifiable as T'zen descendants they have drifted the furthest from the original model.
Ithklur -- In the Hiver Federation Their culture thrives on conflict. They use to kill each other for fun. The Hivers sublimated that urge into sport. Oh, and less I forget they are crack warriors and shock troops, and they LIKE that. More colorful than T'zen and a touch larger.
Category:Races
Category:History
Category:Epiphany Trek