Acamar III

### Climate

Temperate but cool near the equator; extensive arctic regions surrounding the poles. Extensive cloud cover typically blankets most of the planet.

## Demographics

### Government

Representative oligarchy, led by a Sovereign and Ruling Council.

### Resources

Magnesite and other minerals

**Acamar III** (or **Theta Eridani III**) was the Class M third planet of the Acamar system in the Azure sector of the Beta Quadrant. It was the homeworld of the Acamarians. (TNG: "The Vengeance Factor"; *Star Trek Online*; LUG: *Planets of the UFP*)

## History

The relatively inhospitable climate of Acamar III gave rise to various nomadic or seminomadic tribes of Acamarians. Scarce resources led to fierce conflicts between tribes. By the time the first Acamarian city-states a rose, nearly four thousand years before the 24th century, the rigid clan structures which characterize Acamarian society were firmly in place. Over four millennia of recorded history the Acamarians also adopted a rigid caste system, and slowly advanced to an industrial level of technology. Intrigue and open conflict between clans were rife, and short, furious wars were commonplace. The perpetually cloudy skies of Acamar III left the planet's inhabitants with little reason to study the heavens or wonder what might lie among the stars. However, the stars eventually came to them.

The Acamarians' first contact with an extraplanetary civilization came in 2224 when an Orion vessel surveyed the system and noted the extensive mineral deposits on Acamar III. The aliens made peaceful overtures to the Acamarians, pledging eternal friendship and trade. The Acamarians were impressed by the aliens' advanced technology, but were highly suspicious of their motives. The Orions offered the various Acamarian states samples of high technology in exchange for mineral rights. At their current stage of technological development, the Acamarians did not possess the means to mine many of the minerals, so making the concessions posed little problem for them. The clan leaders were particularly interested in the advanced weapons the Orions offered -- each hoped to gain a decisive edge against neighboring clans.

The Orions engaged in vast strip-mining operations with serious environmental consequences. As their air and water became polluted, the clan leaders realized what was happening and suspended their various conflicts. They turned all of their efforts to driving the invaders away. The Orions never suspected that the Acamarians would be able to reverse-engineer and duplicate the weapons which they had given them, and totally underestimated the military acumen of a people who had spent millennia embroiled in conflict. The Orions were quickly driven from Acamar III, and, after three years of fruitless attempts to conquer the planet, deemed the venture unprofitable and turned their interests to other worlds like Coridan.

After the expulsion of the Orions, attempts were made to establish an interclan council to unite the clans against any further threats from space. After some initial progress, disputes over the leadership of the council degenerated into feuds and interclan squabbles. A new wave of conflicts began which, thanks to the new technologies available, were more devastating than ever before. The Acamarians referred to the years which followed the end of Orion attempts to conquer them as the Clan Wars. It was estimated that close to a quarter of the planet's population perished in the fighting. Medical technology received from the Orions gave rise to great advances in the Acamarians' understanding of genetics and biotechnology, and plague became the ultimate weapon of the clans. The Clan Wars culminated in the mutual destruction of clans Shovran and Nalitha, the most powerful of the Acamarian clan states, and the creation of the Wasteland.

The rest of Acamar III looked on in terror at the devastation the Shovrans and Nalithas had unleashed. Maran, leader of clan Shova, made a desperate appeal to end the conflict, asking why the people of Acamar III were so desperate "to accomplish what the invaders could not." Soon clan Shova, the most powerful of the remaining clans, hammered out a peace settlement. Maran was named Sovereign of Acamar III, and had the responsibility of enforcing the treaty and ensuring peace between the clans. The Ruling Council was formed in 2266, an event commemorated by the Acamarians as "The Reconciliation."

Several clans (most notably the Lornak, who had virtually eradicated their chief rivals, the Tralesta clan) refused to have anything to do with the negotiations, seeing Maran's proposal as little more than conquest by decree. The rebel clans were given an ultimatum: Submit to the new system or leave Acamar III forever. The dissidents opted for banishment. Utilizing the new space technologies acquired in the war with the Orions, the rebel clans left "to gather their fortunes among the stars." The exodus of the rebels, now called the Gatherers, occurred in the year 2268. In the decades that followed, the Gatherers became known as a horde of interstellar parasites. They moved from planet to planet, colony to colony, stealing what they needed to survive.

In 2366, the USS *Enterprise* visited Acamar III. Captain Jean-Luc Picard was able to convince Sovereign Marouk to reopen discussions with the wayward Gatherers, and after a stormy period of negotiations (which were nearly derailed by the revival of an ancient blood feud between clans Lornak and Tralesta), Marouk and Chorgan, leader of the Gatherers, were able to reach a settlement. By 2368, all of the Gatherers had returned to Acamar III to try to build a new life. (LUG: *Planets of the UFP*; TNG: "The Vengeance Factor")

### 2370s

The reintegration of the Gatherers into Acamarian society proved more difficult than either side had bargained for. The Gatherers' first attempts at colonization of the Govax region met with many setbacks, and more than one group of Gatherers turned to raiding to help establish their outposts. The outcry in the Ruling Council was terrific, and Sovereign Marouk was hard pressed to keep the disagreements from erupting into open conflict.

The return of the Gatherers had other, unforeseen effects on Acamarian culture. The youth of Acamar III, feeling stifled under the rigid caste and clan structures, began to see the freedom-loving lifestyle of the
Gatherers as an attractive alternative. Disobedience and social protest among the younger generation rose sharply after the Gatherers' return, as more and more students and freethinkers found the courage to protest their elders' decisions. The Acamarian elite, shocked by the degradation of traditional values, appealed for firmer social controls and the lessening of the Gatherers' influence. Neither side seemed willing to yield.

Some neighboring systems were dismayed by the reunion of the Acamarians. While they welcomed the Gatherer truce and the end of piracy and raiding, many, particularly the Tonkians and Artonians, believed that since the Acamarian government had finally recognized the Gatherers, they should take some measure of responsibility for the disruptions caused by the pirates and offer restitution.

On Acamar, old hatreds died slowly. Even though Acamar's clans set aside their differences in the interests of harmony, and enjoyed a century of peace, the feud between the Lornaks and Tralesta was not the only conflict simmering beneath the surface. Members of the Tandru and Yoma clans continued to harbor ill will toward each other over a social faux pas committed a hundred and fifty years earlier (circa 2216). Periodically members of both clans engaged in vendettas against each other: brief, vicious attacks on lone individuals using a variety of ingenious weapons. The Acamarian Ruling Council denounced the violence, and Sovereign Marouk ffered to heal the breach. But there was no telling how or when similar old rivalries might flare up between the clans of Acamar III. (LUG: *Planets of the UFP*)

## Politics

Acamar III was ruled by a Sovereign who wielded supreme executive authority. In the 2360s and 2370s, the sovereign was Marouk of clan Shova. The Shovas had held the post of Sovereign since it was established at the time of the Reconciliation. The Sovereign's role was to resolve disputes between clans and set policy at the planetary level.

The Sovereign was advised by the Acamarian Ruling Council. The Council was composed of representatives of every Acamarian clan, and served as the planet's primary legislative and administrative body. Acamar III was divided into regions based on clan alliances. The government was highly decentralized, with each region seeing to its own affairs. (LUG: *Planets of the UFP*)

### Interstellar relations

Acamar III was far from the borders of any major power, and as such has never become involved in any conflict or intrigue with the Federation, the Cardassians, or the Romulans, until late in the 24th century.

The Acamar system was considered important, however, because of its value as a source of magnesite and certain other minerals, including some used in the manufacture of duranium. The Ferengi approached the Acamarian Sovereign several times, offering a "great deal" in return for exclusive trade rights with the system. While traditional Acamarian xenophobia stalled the negotiations, worsening economic conditions on Acamar III during the 2370s caused the government to reconsider. The Federation's goal was that trade with Acamar should remain open, and was willing to go to great lengths to see that it did.

Beginning in the mid-23rd century, Acamar III exported its mineral resources, trading magnesite and other ores for foodstuffs and manufactured items. Over the next hundred years, most of the nearby systems had suffered too long at the hands of the Gatherers to bear the Acamarians any goodwill. As a result, by the 2360s, Acamar III's interstellar trade was stagnant. The Federation hoped to start trading with the Acamarians, but did not want them to become dependent on such trade.

After the *Enterprise'*s visit in 2366, Federation scientists became interested in the life-extending process used by Yuta of the clan Tralesta to exact he revenge on the Lornak clan. Although she appeared to be a woman in her twenties, her rate of aging was slowed using advanced genetics and biotechnology. If scientists could synthesize Acamarian techniques, it would mean extending life expectancies throughout the Federation. (LUG: *Planets of the UFP*)

## Environment

Acamar III had a standard gravity of 1.3 G, a day of 32 standard hours, and a 382.3 standard-day year. The upper layers of the planet's atmosphere were dominated by extensive cloud formations which resulted in perpetually overcast skies on the surface and gave the planet a deep violet color from orbit. The planet had no moons.

Only 30% of Acamar III's surface was covered by water, which is concentrated in two small oceans. The rest of the planet's surface consisted of predominantly hilly, rocky terrain, with mountain rangesm ark ing the boundaries of the continental plates. Surface temperatures ranged from temperate at the equatorial regions to vast expanses of frozen tundra near the poles. The crust of the planet contained extensive deposits of magnesite and other minerals, although the depth of the ore-bearing strata and density of the surrounding crust made extraction difficult. (LUG: *Planets of the UFP*)

One of the planet's native animal species was the *cralluck*, an avian creature somewhat similar to a Terran ostrich. (LUG: *Planets of the UFP*)

## Locations

The Wasteland was a vast continent-sized region rendered completely barren by the excesses of Acamarian clan warfare. The extensive use of weapons of mass destruction, particularly biological and chemical weapons, left the region a parched desert crawling with deadly viruses. The soil was contaminated by a variety of devastating chemical agents, and was dead at the microbial level. Fused craters marked the positions of former cities in the region. The Wasteland was the final battleground between the clans Shovran and Nalitha, whose genocidal frenzy marked the last great battle of the Clan Wars.

The greatest city of the Shova clan, and the capital city of Acamar III, Toll Shovas was the seat of the Sovereign's government and home of the Ruling Council. By the mid-24th century, a Federation ambassador resided in Toll Shovas, at the request of the Sovereign.

The Govax region was a wide plain in the southern portion of Acamar III, bounded on three sides by high mountain ranges. In 2366, Sovereign Marouk ceded the entire region to the newly-reconciled Gatherers, who began to colonize the area. The extreme winters in the Govax region and its scarce resources made the resettlement difficult. (LUG: *Planets of the UFP*)

## External links

* Acamar III article at ***Memory Alpha***, the canon *Star Trek* wiki.
* Acamar III article at ***Memory Beta***, the non-canon *Star Trek* wiki.
* Acamar III article at ***Star Trek Expanded Universe***, the fanon and fanworks *Star Trek* wiki.