Jorahl

We discussed this in PM, but just so everyone knows.... I am not trying to change anything. I haven't tried changing the way Rihannsu are played on the Rihannsu sim I am on. Now, if you have problems with me playing Romulans a different way on a non-Rihannsu sim then I can't help you there. I wouldn't expect you to try and change how I play them any more then I expect you to change. What I have been trying to do is present a "compromise outlook" or at least a "possibility of different outlooks" so that whenever someone of a Rihannsu mindset wanders across my characters both views on Romulans can co-exist.

Part two of my little story.... My wife is quite upset with me. The seasons are changing here and the courtyard is in disarray but I did say I would not delay in our lesson. Before she finds I've slipped away again I will try and tell you what I know of our forebears. I have read some about your own forefathers. I know there are questions of the origins of life on Vulcan. You may have evolved for life on Vulcan but there are so many questions about if you evolved FROM life on Vulcan. Another common belief of our people goes beyond the Rihan Saga's and well beyond the colonization of Vulcan. Some say we are destined to rule the galaxy because we ruled it before. The myths and stories of this forgotten empire are many and divergent. Each little town on Romulus has a story of their part in that past empire. Every colony is somehow a lost city or forgotten shrine. It all gives us a manifest destiny to restore that great empire and live up to the potential of our forebears. The reality of this however is a great dark age exists between the last great empire and known history of our peoples. It is generally agreed that if such an empire existed it was in serious decline by what your Terran comrades would call the 5th century BC. Much of it's knowledge had been lost by then and the worlds grouped in fractured factions. Somewhere by this timescale the Romulan people called Romulus home. As well, Remus, Romii, the worlds of the Debrune and the Sakethen had been settled for unknown generations. Between this 5th century BC and 2nd Century AD wars raged, planets fell, and for a moment the greatness of our peoples may have been questioned. The Debrune and Sakethen's all but vanished. We had lost contact with Vulcan for generations and it had become more myth then fact. The Remans claimed to know it's forgotten location but for what purpose they held this in their memories has always been a mystery. Not until sometime in the 3rd or 4th century did we know Vulcan still existed when the ships of the Rihannsu came to Romulus. The Rihan will boast that they were the first to settle Romulus but it has been somewhat established that the world was the home to many Romulans for centuries before. It was however a date marked forever in our minds. First many of the old myths seemed to become fact again. If this one world still held Romulan life then how many more did as well? And how much of the empire of stories had been an empire of reality. Second there was fear of what we heard was happening on Vulcan. The striping of emotions seemed strange and gastly to us. One story says the Remans knew where Vulcan was because they had heard the cries of those who's hearts were being silenced and followed it to wage war. The limited facts say a small band of mercenaries did set off towards the Vulcan sector and returned shortly before landfall of the Rihannsu but nothing more. Times were hard then and these refugees found making a life on Romulus just as hard as those already there. One dark age after another has blurred much of this time. The Rihan Saga was such a compelling story it is no wonder many chose to believe it amongst the other stories of our origins. When a Rihannsu Praetor rules this story is unquestionable fact within the courts. When a Reman Praetor sits in council there usually is a war. But there was one time when a Praetor of the Romii changed the Empire forever. I'm sure such a grand attempt at a cliffhanger is lost on your stoic emotionless mind. However I believe my wife has found me missing from my chores and I do need to end this letter now. I think the next lesson will be of some interest to you. It will be many facts and dates you already know but from a different perspective. Jolan Tru

Okay, I've begun my own "lesson" in the ways of the Romulans. This is part 1 and is played out as a letter from a Romulan to a Vulcan. I tried to merge canon and the books and my own views all together in a workable package. I hope it might be enjoyable.

Xenophobia is the fear of other cultures. It caused itself? I understand the xenophobic nature of "Rihannsu" Romulans and all that went into developing it. I just don't see any xenophobic nature in the TOS Romulans so I have never had it part of my Romulan mental make up. Honestly, I took Rihannsu xenophobia when I read the books as most folks took Remus being a charred hulk of a world in Nemesis. It was just SO outside of my idea from everything I've seen that I just refuse to accept it. And a quick AQS note, check out the LHC Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment Webcams and give it a few seconds to see the fun of quantum experiments.

We can expect that a phase cloak would be too much of an "ultimate weapon" to be allowed into the regular hands of anyone so for just the storytelling aspect of Trek, it will never be developed. But, I can come up with a few explanations In Character why we won't see phased cloaking. First, Geordi and Ro were "de-phased" eventually. I'm sure that Romulan spies were reading every record of this incident and how they were dephased was probably not so classified that it could not have been found by the spies. So, we see a way of disabling a phase cloaking field before a phase cloak is even perfected. Back to the drawing boards! Now on another matter, Romulan xenophobia. Perhaps it's just the root meaning of the word that gets me but I do not see Romulans "fearing" other cultures. Again, I play a Roman'ish Romulan. The Romans were quite open to other cultures and borrowed heavily from many. But they made the new aspects truly Roman and were quite arrogant about Roman superiority. It seemed very much an attitude of "We like that, we'll do that to....we'll just do it a lot better than you because we're just special that way." There is more fear of internal forces, as seen with the Tal Shiar being a secret police against it's own people. Being as emotional and savage as the Romulans are though, keeping a stronger social control can be understandable. But, secret police are more common in new radical societies that have to force this new ideology on it's populace rather than a really old society that should have more than enough social institutions to maintain social cohesion. Again, something totally underplayed in most post-TOS Romulan portrayals.

You obviously have never had Romulan Ale.

You misunderstood. I did not say Duane's "Romulans" don't exist and Romulans live on Romii. I said my Romulan is from Romii. This is a world,star,something seen on the Romulan side of the neutral zone map on Balance Of Terror. "Rihannsu's" are just one culture among the Romulan people. Much like the Byzantine's of Constantinople still called themselves Roman even though the Empire at one time did not even consist of the city of Rome, those of Romii still call themselves Romulans. But, their origins are a little broader than the folk tales of the Rihannsu.

These are the AQS stats from the Talon's specs. I think they give a good idea of how it's suppose to work.

Well, I played many moons ago on the Selok. And, I've played since somewhere in the mid 90's on a Romulan ship of another group. But frankly, I do not like "Rihannsu" Romulans. I am not a fan of those novels. The language is horrid and sounds exactly like what it is, random letters crunched through a computer program. I can not tell you how much I hate that language, especially when it is overused to the point I don't know or even care anymore what someone is trying to say. I am not a huge fan of TNG Romulans either, but can actually deal with them better. The why I play Romulans is based on the TOS Romulans. I play my Romulans as coming from the planet Romii. I do not consider this to be Remus or Rom2 as some have speculated. If you search Romii on Wiki it redirects you to Greek, specifically ancient Greeks. I keep to the idea that the Romulans are like the classical cultures of Greece and Rome. Romulans were introduced during the time when Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, and many other Roman Empire based movies were all the rage. I think they were trying to capitalize on this. But, because Klingon makeup (at the time) was cheaper the Klingons got most all the airtime on TOS. By the movie times two things had happened. First, the Klingons were the popular villain and Japaneses culture (specifically Ninja's and Samaria) were all the rage. So, the Klingons got a cultural makeover (TOS Klingons were more like Cardassians then anything) as the "creatures of honor". This left the Romulans to fill the "unhonorable" alien role. Why? Because of the cloaking device. "They hide in shadows...they MUST be dishonest!" Of course the Klingons got cloaking devices too. (Romulans were suppose to be the bad guys in ST:III Search For Spock). But back on the point, I play my Romulans holding to the TOS ideal. And, being from Romii... a place I believe left well alone in ANY ST book I can create the culture I believe to be true to this ideal, while leaving how others play Romulans as just "that culture over there". The one thing I do like about "The Romulan Way" is every other chapter which tells you the Rihannsu history. While I disagree with that history, I like that story telling style. (The actual story making up the other half of the book is weak and after finishing the history part I stuck that thing back on the shelf and haven't looked back). Anyway, I hope to one day write up "My" history of the Romulan people. The Romulan people HAVE to be a people of many cultures. And it doesn't matter. We KNOW Romulans, by whatever name or culture are a superior people. The Romulan Commander in The Enterprise Incident knew that Spock, a Vulcan was better than anyone else on Enterprise. Even a distant cousin from a totally strange culture to a Very emotional Romulan is seen as better. That ONE stereotypical culture is portrayed both in canon and the Rihannsu books is just troubling to me. The portrayals of Romulans in the 2 TOS episodes were SO good and SO SO deep, it just makes me sad how stereotyped they are made. "Our people are warriors. Often Savage. But we are also many other pleasant things." -Romulans Commander, The Enterprise Incident.

I do not make it vanish because I don't like it, I do so because....as I said, that's the way I see it. As for canon danger, where? We saw a Romulan science vessel eject their core and it managed not to suck the Enterprise and Romulans into a black hole. If I remember right, actually there was a nice boom. When the joint Cardassian/Tal Shiar fleet was being wiped out by the Dominion we did not see black holes popping up at the location of each destroyed Warbird. We did not see this during the Dominion War either. Actually, being a remote outpost would be the reason they would. The remote location is why ships are being built here in the first place. It's far easier to build them here, supply them here, and maintain them here rather than traveling back and forth to "civilized" space. It is an even longer trip to Romulan space. Which is also why a Romulan crew would want a power source they know and understand rather than trying to figure out how some Starfleet steampot works in an emergency. Again, these are all questions that Aegis' engineers and scientist will have to work on... and we only got the project a few days ago.

Many questions about a design still in the works. About AQS', I don't believe they are as dangerous as portrayed. In my idea if containment is lost the AQS would become a free black hole for about a nanosecond before exploding outward. That's still enough time to turn a starship into a crushed aluminum can but the end result is still a big boom. Read over the AQS stats on the Talon's specs. I think you can get a fair idea of things there. Now, I do know those specs say that AQS' are ONLY produced in one place in the entire Star Empire. I personally find that part hard to believe and think it would be a critical weakness in multiple ways. My first thoughts however are that the ships can be equiped with either a M/AM reactor or AQS, depending upon who will take possesion of the craft. This would cover cloaking devices as well.

On Romulan discipline, Counselor Troi while advising Picard in "The Neutral Zone" said, "They will not initiate anything, they will wait for you to commit yourself." And it might be noted that Vulcans have not disciplined their emotions anymore than a man who muzzles their dog has taught them not to bite. It is the wolf who watches over the safety of babes that is disciplined...not the wolf shackled and chained. But this debate could go on for awhile, especially against a well learned Vulcan such as Mr. Sorehl. And as to our defeats, I'd expect the Federation to hush up all of their own defeats at our hands. As to "Jorahl's" personal history he has some nice trinkets labeled Enterprise-C, a wall sized high detailed poster of the Enterprise-D's warp core, and the personal satisfaction that the Romulans saved the Klingons and Federation's hide in the Dominion War. And our defeats have cost us little. Balance of Terror: Romulan Losses: One small ship, Terran Losses: 4 Outposts. Enterprise Incident: Romulans Losses: 1 Cloak, 1 Commander, Terran Losses: Reputation of not being thieves. And most all other Romulan actions have been with the use of pawns, mostly Klingons. Losing those is still a plus for the galaxy as a whole.

We will be producing the ships but I don't think the intent is for joint crews. Aegis itself is a joint crew. Okay, it's me, Mr. Drankum, and a bunch of kids in pajamas... but anyway. We build the ships and each government crews the ships it purchases, much like any military manufacturer who supplies to multiple countries.

The station was whole again. He wasn't counting the damage all the departments were doing as they tried to unpack. That fell under the heading of routine maintenance. What was done was bringing Skyharbor Aegis back online and ready for whatever task had brought them to this place. This was about the point in which Jorahl had planned to have a look at this Risa the humans were always talking about. Those ideas were on hold however. Right now he was watching the progress reports on the Aegis defense grid deployment. What a difference a day makes, was the human saying. Between Riley's 6 day deployment estimate and Drankum's 5 day demand the difference that one day had meant was the whole mess fell into Jorahl's lap. Half of the deployment was already well underway. Taking advantage of the ships still escorting Aegis the outer layers were being ferried into place to the edges of the asteroid field. Their uniform placement outside of navigational hazards was nearly identical to before. The inner layers were also taking their place. These units were simply being released and moving under their own impulse engines within the large clearing made for Aegis. Everything in between was a whole other matter. The original design of the entire network was tailor made for the Cardassian system. While an asteroid field was optimal for defense it also had it's own wide range of issues. Safe unit placement, obscured firing arcs, unprotected angles of approach, sensor ghosts, and communication obstacles were just the major considerations. For the moment Jorahl was focusing plans on grid deployment along the established navigational corridors. The outer entrances were complete. The rest of the passages could be done within the 5 day Drankum demand. However, serious consideration needed to be made about upgrading or redesigning the entire network. The tactical officers he had met with were in agreement on this and his engineers, though overworked of late seemed equally up to the task. Jorahl chuckled now at the thought of him selling this upgrade to the new Ferengi commander. The overtime pay alone might send him into a coma. Assassination by budgetary overspending... it was an interesting thought to the Romulan. But in the end Drankum would have to agree that a safe and operational station was worth more than disintegrated space dust.

It was a brief rest between major operations to make the station whole again, but Jorahl's mind made his sleep even more short. Each time his eyes would open large asteroids floating in the distance could be seen through his quarter's viewport. Each rocky fragment seemed to be looking down on the Romulan, inspecting their new neighbor and whispering among themselves why it had come. Jorahl in turn would ask himself that same question. With those thoughts on his mind he would try to go back to sleep. The cycle would repeat. Finally, it became too much and with displeasure he threw the sheets off and moved over to his desk. "Computer, pull up star charts for this sector." The computer, slowed by one diagnostic or another slowly pulled up the requested images. "TKR-117, hmm, vague enough." The other worlds in the area had slightly more recognizable names. "Overlay known trade routes in this and neighboring sectors, highlight major exports." Grids and lines spread over the existing map. The Ferengi's interest in this area became a little more clear. Inkarian wool, Delavian Chocolates, everything from simple lobi crystals to high grade dolamide circled around the area. The number of former Cardassian trade routes in the area was sizable as well. However, at this time the Cardassians had little use for many of these items. The pleasure mad Federation however would love such trinkets. Too bad between here and the heart of the Federation was the always unstable Tzenkethi Coalition and the Badlands. The safest trade routes took long circular paths around these but by doing so crossed deep into either Cardassian or Ferengi areas of influence. But trade alone would not move the Federation to such a place. Jorahl's eyes moved across the map grids. "And there are the Breen." Whatever situation they were in they could not be trusted. Never turn your back on a Breen, indeed. Perhaps the Federation learned this lesson finally as Breen disruptor bolts fell on Earth. There were scattered Bajoran and Federation worlds dotting the area as well, quite open to a Breen advanced. While the need for defense was plain he saw what probably had the Federation's interest most. Beyond Valeria and Ultima Thule lay vast unexplored tracks of space. With all of their problems the Federation still had to expand, explore, butt their noses where it wasn't asked to be. Even running into the Borg and they couldn't stop their nosing about the galaxy. This alone would probably be their undoing. His final question was what interest the Star Empire had here. Perhaps finally those brave enough to show the superiority of Romulan cultures to the galaxy would keep them from hiding behind their boarders once again. Not wreckless explorers like the Federation, the Romulans however needed to press forward not back. They need not waist resources in this endeavor either, their presence alone could shape the future as it always had. The sickly soft chirp of the Federation comm turned his attention from his pondering. "Chief, computer diagnostics are complete and we are ready for the EPS test. Do you still wish to oversee those personally?" "Yes, standby." First duty first, put this tin can back together. After that, he would truly see what lay beyond the horizon.

As alien as it was it felt familiar walking through the damaged corridors of the Yorktown.. The standard exposed panels, random cable hanging from the ceiling, dust, ash, and the smell of burnt metal of battle damage filled the scene. It looked much like the Enterprise-C when he came onboard her. This time he wasn’t here to pick it apart but to put it back together. Though, from the looks he was getting it seemed this Starfleet crew was expecting the former. It didn’t matter, he had a job to do. The list of damage was quite impressive. The first system to go was the computer. That was priority one for the internal repair teams. Repairs to the nacelle was first for the workpods. The Yorktown’s crew could handle everything else in between. Station replicators would be working overtime. Of course that meant the timetable on the diplomatic sections, which he still had yet to even look at, would be delayed. He had thoughts about that but first things first. Jorahl stepped into the massive main engineering section of this Sovereign class starship. It more or less matched tactical intelligence reports. The big “steam pot” of a warp core sat lifeless at the moment. “Steam pot” was the nickname given by the engineers who worked on the Enterprise-C’s core. It properly expressed their contempt for such antiquated methods of power generation. Jorahl refrained from asking the Yorktown’s Chief Engineer where they kept the two rocks you struck together to light the thing. Insults could wait for later, it was time for action. And, the work began.

<<What follows are three record files. The first is what the Empire has provided in regards to information about Jorahl. The second is Starfleet's file, with a Security clearance of level 3 or higher required for you to know this. SECLAR (Security Clearance) is a term used in the old FASA RPG and I'm using it here. It basically means all Intelligence officers and most department heads can access this). The last record is the normal Bio as would be accessed by a Romulan officer. >> Romulan Star Empire Records NAME: Jorahl RANK: SubCommander POSITION: Engineering __---Additional Information Classified--__ -= Starfleet Intelligence Profile=- SECLAR authorization level 3 or higher required. SUBJECT: Tylus Jorahl RACE: Romulan ORIGIN: Romii, Romulan Star Empire. Subject has been part of several high security engineering projects within the Romulan Star Empire. Had some part in the study of Starfleet technology, per testimony from Stefan DeSeve. Was rumored to have been stationed onboard the Warbird Devoras when it acquired classified technical information from the spy Selok posing as Ambassador T'Pel. Star Empire Hall of Records NAME: Tylus Petrinius Jorahl siva Romii N'Marys Gol'van. (T. Petrinius Jorahl of Romii, N'Marys [province] Gol'van [city] SPECIES: Romulan GENDER: Male AGE: 99 (born earth calendar 2285) PHYSICAL STATISTICS: Height: 183cm (6ft.) Weight: 84.82 kg (187lb) Eye Color: Brown Hair Color: Brown Skin Color: Tan Blood type: TL positive FAMILY: Wife: Seryla Caris Jorahl siva Romii T'Hia Bartilian Son: Petrinius Ryus Jorahl siva Romii N'Marys Artillia Daughter: Kelya Renia Jorahl siva Romii N'Marys Artillia. BACKGROUND: Born on Romii in the Romulan Star Empire. Father and mother owned a construction company in the city of Gol'van. Both would go on to lead active careers in the social and political circles of Romii. Jorahl would be their only child. Though interested in construction he chose not to directly run the family business and instead focused his studies in engineering. During his upper education he began work through the university in reverse engineering of alien technology. Over the years he achieved several government grants in this field which would take him to many places throughout the Empire. From 2344-49 was part of the team which took apart and studied the Federation starship Enterprise-C after the Battle of Narendra III. Had some involvement with Enterprise crew and later Ensign Stefan DeSeve after his defection from the Federation. From 2350-64 served in several classified engineering projects deep in Beta Quadrant. In 2364 when the Romulans returned from their isolation from the Federation after a number of bases were destroyed along the Neutral Zone (later learned to be Borg attacks) officially joined the Romulan fleet and was assigned to the Warbird Devoras. In 2374 assigned chief engineer of the Warbird S'Tapa at the beginning of Romulan involvement in the Dominion War. In 2376 leaves Romulan fleet service and assumes a position with the teams reverse engineering captured Dominion technology at the end of the war. In 2384 is tapped to be assigned to the joint base of Skyharbor Aegis.