Kriosian

The Kriosians are a warp capable civilization native to the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy and aligned with the Klingon Empire.

# History

The Kriosians are a warp capable civilization that, much like the Gorn, Orion, and Nausicans, exists as a client state of the Klingon Empire. The Kriosian Province consists of two star systems and numerous colonies within the Ikalian Asteroid Belt. The Kriosians once ruled an extensive empire centered on Valt Minor, their original homeworld located in the binary Kilila-B'tul system. When a civil war brought on the collapse of the Kriosian Empire, the ancestors of the modern Kriosians fled to their current homeworld of Krios Prime adjacent to the Klingon Empire. The faction of the Kriosian Empire that continued to hold the old Imperial capitol on Valt Minor eventually became known as the Valtese.

The Klingons eventually invaded and conquered Krios Prime and the Kriosians of the Ikalian Asteroid Belt, already dissatisfied with how they had been treated by the Kriosian High Caste, rebelled against Klingon rule. The Klingons, who viewed the Kriosians of Krios Prime with disdain, found something to admire in the code of honor and warrior spirit of the Kriosian rebels. The unofficial policy of the Empire became to indulge the rebels in their rebellion and to allow them their autonomy within the asteroid belt so long as they were willing to fight for it themselves. Sometime between 2367 and 2368 the Klingons seem to have granted the Krios Prime a certain degree of autonomy which the Kriosians took advantage of (perhaps at the urging of the Klingons) to enlist the aid of the Federation to negotiate an end to their centuries old civil war with the Valtese. Once reunification was complete, and to the surprise of many Valtese, the Kriosian leaders renewed their oaths of fealty to the Klingon Empire and surrendered their territories, and thanks to the terms of the reunification treaty the territories of the Valtese as well, to Klingon rule. As a result, a number of Valtese fled Valt Minor to join the rebels in Ikalian Asteroid Belt.

With the onset of the Iconian War, the Klingon High Council declared the time to humor the Septisolaran rebellion had come to an end. The Empire's 12th Legion gathered en masse just outside the Ikalian Asteroid Belt and broadcast an open message giving the rebels a choice: swear allegiance to the Empire and join the fight to save the galaxy from the Iconians or perish in a single glorious battle that would be sung of for centuries to come. The Septisolarans chose to swear fealty to the Empire and join the fight against the Iconians.

# The People

The Kriosian are a humanoid race physiologically similar to humans but with some general similarities in physical appearance to the Trill. The Kriosian are divided into two ethnic groups: Kriosian, the natives of Krios Prime star system, and Valtese, the natives of Valt Minor. The Kriosians of Krios Prime are further subdivided into two groups or sects - the natives of Krios Prime itself and the Septisolaran, adherents of the Seven Suns Sect living in the Ikalian Asteroid Belt.

# The Seven Suns Sect

Within the Ikalian Asteroid Belt are seven asteroid colonies originally settled by seven commercial entities (mega-corporations, for lack of a better term) of the former Kriosian Empire. These commercial entities had been given or had purchased exclusive use of the region of the Ikalian Asteroid Belt in which they were based and it is from the original corporation names that the names of the tribes/Houses of the Seven Suns Sect, or Septisolarans, are derived: Ain, Chafu, Khep, Mo-Si, Psamtoc, Ta-Hi, and Y'hra. For several centuries after the fall of the Kriosian Empire, the Septisolarans resorted to piracy and scavenging to survive. At some point, however, the Septisolarans underwent a significant cultural shift under the guidance of the Zdragios. Historical records do not make clear if the Zdragios was an individual or a group of individuals and this is a matter of passionate debate among Kriosian historians; regardless, the Zdragios had both authority and the means to cause the Septisolarans to foreswear the piracy and tribal warfare that threatened to destroy them. After this reform the Seven Suns made efforts to rejoin mainstream Kriosian society, a task made difficult by a significant cultural divide. While the followers of the Seven Suns still adhered to the old ways and traditions of the Kriosian empire, Krios Prime had moved on from them.

The Kriosian Empire was a caste based society and both the Septisolarans and the modern day Kriosians are as well. The Septisolarans follow the four caste system of the old empire (although the terms are inexact, the castes may be thought of as Worker, Scholar, Warrior, and Religious/Aristocratic) but without rigidity of the imperials, i.e. a person may move from one caste to another through education, training, or even marriage. The modern day Kriosians have only two castes, High Caste and Low Caste, and they as rigid about them, if not moreso, as the empire ever was. The Valtese variation of the imperial caste system was very similar to the Septisolaran system and so many Valtese, like the Septisolaran were unpleasantly surprised to discover that in addition to suddenly finding themselves under Klingon rule, under the terms of the reunification treaty they were also reassigned to the Krios Prime Low Caste, complete with the resulting loss of privileges and rights that entailed. The government of Krios Prime and those select view Valtese who had been assigned to the High Caste were in turn surprised when many dissatisfied Valtese fled their homeworld to join up with the Septisolaran in the Ikalian Asteroid Belt.

In addition to their seven colonies, the Septisolarians also possess three major deep space stations with colony sized populations drawn from each of the seven clans: Doba Sahkyo, Taini Sahkyo, Kitchi Sahkyo are commercial and civilian facilities. There was once a fourth such station name Juma Sahkyo that was operated primarily by House Ain, but this station was destroyed in the Earth year 2377 by forces of the Klingon House J'Rel in an event the Septisolarans refer to as the Betrayal of the Ain.

# Septisolaran Naming Patterns

Natives of the Seven Suns will have names following the pattern of House name then given name; the term "House" in this case being defined as an individual's colony of origin. As far as the Septisolarans are concerned all natives of a given colony, or House, are sons and daughters of that House and should be treated by outsiders with appropriate respect. Family names exist but Septisolarans never use these when among outsiders (i.e., anyone not of the House) or while not on the home colony. The exceptions to this are individuals descended from one of the seven founding corporate directors; for such individuals the House name and family name are one in the same. A Seven Suns House name is also used as a prefix, similar to the use of Mister or Miss, when addressing a Septisolarian in most conversational settings with the exception of private conversations between close friends and family. An individual named Jolan belonging to House Khep would be addressed as Khep Jolan, or if Jolan belonged to House Ain then he would be addressed as Ain Jolan. In a military setting, the clan name is also an acceptable substitute for an individual's rank if the individual is the highest ranking person in the unit; i.e., Sept Leader Khep Jolan might be addressed by subordinates as either Sept Leader Jolan or as Khep Jolan while his second-in-command, Deck Officer Mo-Si Ch'Veyo would be addressed as Deck Officer Ch'Veyo.

The prefix Ch' attached to an individual's given name (Ch'Veyo, Ch'Rissa) signifies the individual is a member of a House's religious-aristocratic caste. The Ch' prefix is a contraction of the Kriosian word chenzdria meaning something along the lines of one who speaks for the company or one who speaks for the crew. Most often this prefix is inherited at birth as an indicator that an individual has also inherited the right and responsibility to become a starship captain and such individuals are given special education and training as grow to adulthood to guide them along their destined career path. A particularly valorous individual may also be awarded the title of chenzdria and will be given command of a starship once one becomes available. The title of chenzdria is awarded for life and may not be revoked, although the death of the one holding the title is certainly an option for crimes or offensive that are serious enough in nature.

The Septisolaran Kriosians serving in the KDF have also adopted the habit of using Klingon naming conventions in addition to their own traditional naming conventions. As an example, Ch'Rissa's Kriosian name is Mo-Si Ch'Rissa and since her crew is composed of individuals from the Mo-Si colony they are likely to address her as either Chenzdria (pronounced "CHEN - zdree - ah") or simply as Ch'Rissa since her title is also part of her name. When Ch'Rissa is interacting with non-Kriosians though, she will introduce herself as Ch'Rissa vri-Abhaya or Ch'Rissa, daughter of Abhaya. In private and among close friends and family, Ch'Rissa would simply go by Rissa.

# Religion

In the distant past the Kriosian, practiced a form of polytheistic religion which as time passed took on the status of myth and fable that still influence the present day Kriosian culture. The binary stars of the Kriosian home systems are named for the main deities of the ancient religion: Kilila, primarily a male deity who rides a flaming dragon and wields the Hammer of Retribution, and B'tul, primarily a female deity who rides a ghostly dragon and wields the Sword of Justice. The Kriosian, based on this ancient belief in the dual deities, also tend to have a cultural preference for, and a number of superstitions regarding, pairs or sets of two. (Note: In diplomatic functions involving an exchange of gifts with Kriosian representatives, items that come in pairs or matched sets are highly recommended.)

Also of note, the near moon of the planet Valt Minor is named for Bolus, a divine thief or trickster from the ancient religion. The Kriosian have a number of myths revolving around chasing Bolus in a usually vain attempt to either catch him or acquire his treasure. Present day Kriosian colloquialisms referring to Bolus (particularly "chasing Bolus" and "chasing the shadow of Bolus") are used to either convey a sense of futility or of achieving something that others considered impossible.

The current religious beliefs are more spiritual and individual in nature rather than a formal theological system with the majority of Kriosian following one of the dozen or so mainstream philosophies.

# Lexicon of common/useful phrases

sal'htay - hello

wal'htay - good-bye

zdrachi - thank you

inmoladori - you're welcome

juvo - please

rayche'sio - acknowledged, understood, message received

sich - yes

inmo - no

akhtay - people, perhaps more accurately 'The People'

azzi - (1) other; alien; those who are not 'people', (2) can be appended to the end of a word (i.e., Terra + azzi = Terrazzi) to indicate aliens from a particular place or culture (Terrazzi = alien people from Earth) (3) when used as an insult carries additional connotations of 'uncultured' and 'barbaric', (4) exceedingly different or unusual when compared to what a Kriosian would consider normal, i.e. 'weird"

za'hrah - a hot beverage similar to coffee

Zdragios - Historical individual or individuals who were responsible for unifying the Seven Suns and reestablishing relations with Krios Prime

akhtafadrica - to terraform (akhta (the People) + fadrica (make/shape for) = make/shape to be suitable for the People)

zdrev - domestic canid

zdrevischi - (zdrev-EES-chee) a zdrev bred for hunting

zdre'ev - wolf-like canid; feral descendants of domestic zdrev

zdrevazzi - colloquialism (zdrev (a domesticated zdre'ev, i.e. a dog) + azzi (alien+uncultured+barbarian) = barbaric alien person of a species that is intellectually and culturally equivalent to domesticated dogs); uncultured alien dog; domestic canid of a race of uncultured, barbaric aliens

urbizo'eta - a comedic street performer, usually not very talented; as an insult the term implies the subject's ideas or suggestions are useful only for their (limited) comedic value; i.e., a clown, a fool.

zo'eta - a respected comedic performer or clown; used as a friendly tease

infa'hnum - (literal) Unspeakable, unbelievable; (colloquial) "I cannot believe, or even understand why, you have said such a thing!"; "Oh, the horror!"; "Que horror!"

krenobatay - a trapeze acrobat; as an insult the term implies the subject's thoughts are nothing more than meaningless flips and implausible twists of logic, i.e. - a speaker of nonsense phrases; a crazy person

da'hnay - victory

zaymirra - joyous melody

dikazay - sarcastic, witty; the opposite of urbizo'eta

welo'hikham abarrachi cokhantur - faster than you can cook abarrach (a Kriosian vegetable much like asparagus); i.e., really fast

a'hribus deneo zdre'ev - holding a zdre'ev by the ears

ka'hnah – graceful

aberru – open phase of discussion; discuss

kla'hzum – closed phase of discussion; "enough!" (talking) or "shut up!"; focus on a specific topic

zdrepozitar - colloquial term for a very remote location; equivalent of "the boondocks" or "the middle of nowhere"; for example: "If we screw this mission up Command is going to assign us to tending navigation buoys out in zdrepozitar." or "If you go to the mall during a holiday sale you'll probably end up parking out in zdrepozitar."

insidya - an ambush or to ambush

inmosidya - reconnaissance (literal translation: inmo (no or not) + insidya (ambush) = "the ambush that isn't")

inmo'iday - fearlessly, intrepidly

vortezima - bravest, most courageous

sahkyo - a large starbase or space station

# References

* Forum Post: A Guide to Aliens: Kriosian Edition

* External Link: Memory Alpha page for Kriosians