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Jorahl

Why Romulans Are Just Better Than You

53 posts in this topic
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).

I could see an argument being made that the portrayal of Romulans as sneaky and dishonourable is all a large smear campaign instigated by the Klingons or the Breen, with the participation of the Federation. This would have begun during the post-TOS era, when the Klingons began to regret their recent decades of rather dishonourable behaviour and wanted to restore their reputation as honourable warriors. The Federation needed a way to redirect ire toward the Klingons after these two powers signed the Khitomer treaty. What better way than to make the Romulans the new bad guy? The Khitomer massacre didn't help, and during their isolation after that until the events in "The Neutral Zone" at the end of TNG's first seasons, the Romulans weren't around to defend themselves.

 

On the other hand, it's conceivable that Romulan culture simply changed over the decades between TOS and their reappearance in TNG. Just as the Klingons became more honourable, there was plenty of time for balances of power to shift and cultural mores to move away from honour and toward paranoia. Rome did eventually fall. And now the events at the end of Nemesis (I will totally agree to ignore all that Reman stuff...) indicate that the society may be returning to those honourable roots now that leaders have come to power who are more open to interacting with other species.

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

I was correct in my supposition that they harvest the Hawking radiation. Cool. ^_^

 

Hmm ... I wonder if some Starfleet Intelligence operatives would approach Scott with the aim of getting him to steal classified Romulan design plans.... ;)

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Hmm ... I wonder if some Starfleet Intelligence operatives would approach Scott with the aim of getting him to steal classified Romulan design plans.... ;)

 

Now, whatever gave you that idea?

 

::chuckle::

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Now, whatever gave you that idea?

 

::chuckle::

 

Indeed. ::chuckles::

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I know the Federation attempted to create a phase cloak, which turned out to be a very tricky thing indeed. I don't know that the Romulans attempted the same.

 

The failed development of a Romulan version of the phase cloak was established in TNG: The Next Phase - it wound up phasing Geordi and Ro during transport. Whether the Romulans went back to the drawing board and resolved their problems is unknown. (Since the Romulans tend not to give up on any technological advantage, I imagine them continuing their research.) And of course, the Federation developed one years earlier, with its own problems, as established in TNG: "Pegasus".

 

As for the existence and dangers of quantum singularities, one need only look to the TNG episode "Timescape". This episode established that warbird's use an artificiial singularity to power their engines, and showed that one mode of catastrophic failure was the complete collapse of the ship. (Note: This was due to the interference of creatures who inadvertantly damaged the singularity by trying to procreate within it - a cautionary note on such exhibitions if I ever heard one.)

 

Such singularities don't actually require much mass. What they require is sufficient density - Tachyon's description of microsingularities seems right on the mark. (And in true geek mode, I felt a shudder of thrill seeing Hawking radiation used outside a textbook.) I tend to agree with Tachyon that Romulan singularities would be micro, but there was a reference to the Hirogen using similar technology, with the singularity being a centimeter in diameter. If they do work like a black hole, the old adage of "a teaspoonful would have the mass of the Earth" would suggest it's massive indeed.

 

From the one episode we saw them, quantum singularities seem to have properties related to gravitational singularities (black holes), but the difference in name may suggest other differences.

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Not to mention they wear cool metallic-weave uniforms, but do they ever relax and have a good laugh?

romulan_lowerranks_balanceofterror.jpg

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To clarify, I had meant that discipline as applied to their military/political culture, not the mental discipline and less military minded outlook of the Vulcans.

 

See, here's the problem: the non canon Romulan novels of Duane show the Rihan culture - both military, political, and family and estate ties - in detail, while the canon television shows only touch on the culture, and typically we only see the military or political manuevering, with some concentration on the underground movements (rejoining the Vulcans) as showcased in the Spock "Unification" episodes of Next Gen. I understand that the Star Trek novels are non canon, and Star Trek TV shows are canon, but I feel as if the Duane novels showcase a possible Rihan culture much better, or rather give us a better overview to play with in the imagination.

 

I like the Romulans, and as an original Original Series species, they really have not gotten the exposure due them as the more popular Klingons have.

 

I don't disagree that the society Duane imagined was far richer than what the TNG (and certainly Nemesis) writers imagined, and I'm sorry to see that so much was underutilized. (I absolutely hated what she developed for Vulcan history in Spock's World, but that's another string for another day. :::mutters::: Laughing Vulcans...) Indeed, it was reading The Romulan Way in my first year of college that pushed me into becoming :::gasp::: a Trekkie. I certainly wouldn't discourage Romulan players or Romulan sims from continuing to play with those Duane-esque elements (pun intended). But I do like Jorahl's concept of there being multiple or at least subcultures in their society. Trek often makes the mistake of homogenizing every species that isn't human - Earth has a babel of languages and religions and histories, while Vulcan has one. I know I purposely make reference to "alternate" Vulcan viewpoints just to suggest depth. The continuum between emotional mastery versus suppression is one example. Sorehl is a student of Surak, but thinks kolinahr is an abomination. I think Jorahl referencing other worlds and other perspectives seems reasonable. I know I did a log suggesting the Romulan Continuing Committee was a lot like the old Soviet Politburo. I didn't hear any negative feedback on that, but was there any?

 

I wouldn't discount the TNG Romulans too much, either. We got wonderful episodes like "The Enemy" and "Face of the Enemy" (hmm, sensing a theme) as well as characters like Tomalok and Vreenak. But we did get Sela, too... :::more muttering:::

 

It's a subject for another string, probably, but the Romulans seem to be a curious mix of totalitarianism and overzealous patriotism (ala Soviet Russia) with the efficiency, treachery, and racial xenophobia of a Nazi regime. Neither is a perfect fit, nor are both a complete picture, but I'd be interested to hear what images people use in their background development.

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But frankly, I do not like "Rihannsu" Romulans. I am not a fan of those novels.

 

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.

 

And now the events at the end of Nemesis (I will totally agree to ignore all that Reman stuff...) indicate that the society may be returning to those honourable roots now that leaders have come to power who are more open to interacting with other species.

 

I'd be interested to hear what images people use in their background development.

 

Jorahl: actually, I'm in agreement with the TOS era Romulans for any sort of RPG role play, and if I were to role play a Romulan, I'd probably use some sort of blending of TOS and the Rihannsu of the Duane novels since I do like the books.

 

Tach: Like many others, I'm with Tach on the Nemesis Reman stuff - but only to a point. Now, don't hurt me Taloners, because I did like the concept of the Reman offshoot race *BUT* thought the concept was introduced and handled flippin' lousy.

 

Hello? Wanna have a Romulan offshoot race that look like big giant bats? Fine: genetic abnormality, experimentation, or go with the original harsh environmental/enforced labor concept of the movie, and do not make one of the twin Romulan worlds barren, inhospitable, and a mining fuel source.

 

And, again from Nemesis, I also thought the Donatra character rocked out: classy, true warrior, and reminded me of the Romulan Commander from "Enterprise Incident" as well as the Commander (Mark Lenard) from "Balance of Terror". She was old school.

 

Sorehl: For my choice of image for a Romulan background development, I'd go for what I mentioned earlier, a "dark and mysterious honor" type of background, along with the original TOS images and introductions as well as the concepts put forth in the Duane Rihannsu novels.

 

Supplemental Gripe: I personally don't care for the V shaped forehead protrusion intro'ed in Next Gen (guess this one is my own personal "Nemesis", eh?), so I guess I tend to mentally lean toward the original Rommie TOS images. I'm sure I read somewhere that the protrusion was to distinguish the Next Gen Roms from Vulcans, right? The TOS Romulans were left in the dust with that canon introduction so I never really understood the need to do that.

 

I'll stop now with the V Thing before I sound too much like the people at the Sci Fi conventions who won't leave a point go and are convinced that they are right. :-P

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One of the major issues with going so far off- to a version put forth that Duane's novels don't exist and that the Romulans live on some world called "romii"--is the vast disparity between the accepted canon of the people who play Romulans and that versionis that the two versions utterly incompatible and makes my brain hurt trying compromise the two into a workable canon.

 

That said, not to be too much of a massive grouch. When I play Romulans, I think Duane is especially helpful because it's a very deep look into their culture. I always draw on too historical sources for my inspiration, though. Japan/China and Rome/Greece. We've seen from the Romulans, and this in both canon and Duane which for Talon we consider canon, that the Romulans do have a highly developed sense of honor.

 

Even in the abomination that was Nemesis, they ultimately turn against Shinzon because of the great dishonor that his actions would have for "on them and their children for generations." That, I think, is the biggest misconception, that Romulans are creatures without honor, or that they're savage beasts.

 

They most certainly are brutal and savage at times. They, by their own admission, are passionate people prone aggression, but they do have a highly developed sense of honor. Granted, it's not honor in the Klingon-sense. It's something deeper. The other bit is their massive superiority complex, and it's related, somewhat to their outside perceptions. To a Romulan, in my opinion, because the other races are beneath them, few of them... if any... are worthy of being honored.

 

Back to my inspiration, I draw heavily from Japanesse culture because of the similarities in notions of honor and personal conduct (the Bushido code is a great example), while the Roman and Greek cultures I think provide an excellent frame work for the social structures of how the Romulan Empire works. You have clans, houses... an entire social structure built on various relationships between them.

 

Another, I think, misconception is that they're entirely war like, especially if you're given to the notion that they're base on Rome and Greece. While they were certainly inclined to war, neither culture devalued the arts. Likewise, the Romulans, as I envision them have a great love for the arts.

 

Again, the difference, as I see it, between Vulcan and Romulan cultures is that they both of the same potential, but the Romulans embrace their passionate side, while the Vulcans suppress it, muzzle it.

 

Put into maxim, I think the best one to ever describe the Romulan way of life is:

"Life burns, ale burns, politics burns--but cold would life be without them."

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

 

Hmm... I'm not sure I can really buy it, but then i'm not sure I buy warp drive, transporters and inertial compensators either. I think it was Robert Forward who wrote a hard science book describing a micro black hole drive. I am perhaps allowing that to color my views on such too much. Star Trek is much freer with its pseudo science. I'd rather have kept some of the limitations and dangers.

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I will admit to have liked The Romulan Way a good deal, though I didn't follow up with pursuit of other stories in the series. I'd agree that too many Trek races are played as stereotypes, with no variations of culture, philosophy and perhaps not enough between individuals.

 

I've had a few continuity problems with different interpretations of a race. At one time Joy worked closely with a Klingon character, creating some interesting stories and relationships. At a later time, I ran into another player with a different interpretation of the Klingons, who tried to tell me that no Klingon would behave as Joy said a Klingon had behaved. As Joy's played out in sim history conflicted with his made up background, I would have to change Joy's history.

 

My solution since has been to be vague when telling stories about one's home culture or from other sims. Oh, Jorahl and Joy on Aegis might occasionally chat about old events on Camelot, and I'll occasionally mention that the MMS Mudd is built on a Klingon B'rel hull, with an engine design based on The Makers, but it doesn't seem prudent and right to insist that my own character background and history is entirely canon. I'm too creative and free with Joy for everything she does to be canon. Various Joys have participated in too many sims for everyone to agree that everything she has done is plausible or correct.

 

I think players of Romulans might have to flow that way too. Perhaps there have to be different Romulan philosophies and values that reflect the different canon versions of the Romulans. I know I have to do the same thing even with Federation politics. Some players like the early idealistic Roddenbery Federation ideals, while others like the later more militaristic perspective. No race or society might be entirely uniform.

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I will admit to have liked The Romulan Way a good deal, though I didn't follow up with pursuit of other stories in the series. I'd agree that too many Trek races are played as stereotypes, with no variations of culture, philosophy and perhaps not enough between individuals.

 

...

 

I think players of Romulans might have to flow that way too. Perhaps there have to be different Romulan philosophies and values that reflect the different canon versions of the Romulans. I know I have to do the same thing even with Federation politics. Some players like the early idealistic Roddenbery Federation ideals, while others like the later more militaristic perspective. No race or society might be entirely uniform.

 

I don't disagree that there more than likely are cultural variations, in fact it's something I've committed on a few times with my own character. But there's a point to that even. I think, in order to have any semblance of unified canon, there are certain things you have to be able to agree on.

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I don't disagree that there more than likely are cultural variations, in fact it's something I've committed on a few times with my own character. But there's a point to that even. I think, in order to have any semblance of unified canon, there are certain things you have to be able to agree on.

 

True. The Camelot campaign went militaristic enough, pushed the Section 31 / Starfleet Intelligence style of culture so far, that I felt I needed to pull Joy out if it entirely.

 

Perhaps it might be prudent to run Rihannsu sims and entirely separate Romulan sims. All those participating in either might agree that one approach should be considered primary. For a Federation sims with a few Romulan characters running through, might folks be expected to make room for one another? Would it be the hosts' call whether or not it is necessary to declare one history or the other canon?

 

I'd hate to think we'd often have to go to that extreme, but after trying to play the designed for TNG Joy in environments her programming just didn't work, I could see where it might be necessary.

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One of the major issues with going so far off- to a version put forth that Duane's novels don't exist and that the Romulans live on some world called "romii"--is the vast disparity between the accepted canon of the people who play Romulans and that versionis that the two versions utterly incompatible and makes my brain hurt trying compromise the two into a workable canon.

 

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.

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Not to mention they wear cool metallic-weave uniforms, but do they ever relax and have a good laugh?

 

You obviously have never had Romulan Ale.

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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.

 

Oh, that jives then. ;)

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The failed development of a Romulan version of the phase cloak was established in TNG: The Next Phase - it wound up phasing Geordi and Ro during transport. Whether the Romulans went back to the drawing board and resolved their problems is unknown. (Since the Romulans tend not to give up on any technological advantage, I imagine them continuing their research.) And of course, the Federation developed one years earlier, with its own problems, as established in TNG: "Pegasus".

 

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.

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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."

 

Actually, it was that fear of other cultures...that caused the xenophobia. If you go back and read all the backstory, alot of which you can find in "The Romulan Way", even before the split that had S'Task's group leaving Vulcan, and ultimately helping to cause the split, was the attack of the Duthulhiv pirates, which ended up starting a small war, causing Vulcan's to having to develop defensive weapons, and the creation of this defense a split in the philosphies of Surak and S'task. Not only was there anger and distrust caused amongst those on Vulcan by the pirates attacks, but even after some of the populace had split off and travelled 'ultimately to become the Romulans', that even during the crossing to where they finally setteled, on ch'Rihan (Romulus) and ch'Havran (Remus) <<NOT THAT CRAP FROM NEMESIS>> they were almost obliterated by pirates and mauraders during their voyage and barely made it to where they did. It caused them to become distrustful and keep to themselves.

 

Essentially, it was a defense mechanism, that allowed them to keep to themselves, keep themselves safe and set up a perimiter to keep those that would do harm away. Such as the dirty Klingons.... <lol..love ya Bch>. To their eyes, they were doing the right thing to protect their people and to keep others away.

 

Sadly, alot of people don't know how to play Rihannsu...assuming they are dishonorable and untrustworthy. Far from that. Look at the episode 'The Balance of Terror', when the Romulan commander had to put the body of his friend into the debris field to help lure in the Enterprise. He felt torn about doing it, but had to do it to try to save his crew. He had to weigh his feelings vs being pragmatic for the good of all.

 

As for canon, people have to realize and more so for the older players that were actually alive and watched Star Trek each week when it came on TV for the first time back in the late 60's, that some of us have been doing Trek gaming since in the 70's, and to follow a certain set of canon derived from the shows, books and movies, as well as the copywrited RPG games from Paramount, that some of us had 20-30 years of time invested in playing Romulans in a particular way, and then came Nemesis. To suddenly, take 30 years of accepted Trek back history, and totally trash it for that story line...really was hard to accept for those that had already been playing for years with the old stuff. Alot of our characters were from ch'Havran, the smaller more agricultural world next to ch'Rihan. To suddenly have that turned into a useless piece of dilitium rock with a slave race on it.....uhm no. And with the technology they had, to be able to hide a 'Reman fleet' behind that small planet why they built it up, come on....

 

Thus, we spoke with the current Rihan gamers at the time, both in our forums as well as others that some of our players played in. Those already playing Rihannsu did not want to scrap all of our known back story, for a poorly concieved story line that scrapped 30 years of trek. Such a shame because originally we had been so excited when we heard we were going to get a Romulan movie. Our ship, decided and it is in our Welcome Packet, that we would continue to follow the old material, and certain new material not based on Nemesis. It was a crew decision, and that's how we roll......

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We have been telling au this all along!! So what's the surprise?!!

 

So since you all now love us.....come sign up for the Talon, and we'll show you what 'real Rihannsu' are like. Real Rihannsu would not put up with those weak Federation notions however....nor halfbreed fvai.

 

We have been noticing alot of the Federation sims are all now playing with or as Romulans, so why not 'actually play' in a Rihannsu sim? It's that, or we start writing silly storylines about the Federation in return!

 

 

Ksa> ::shudders:: Fhaen (please) no...no Lloann'na (Federation) stories. I do na have the stomach for them. Once is enough in my lifetime, hann'yyo (thank you).

 

 

Okay, dropping out of character for a moment. I found something N'Dak said that was interesting. (Don't hurt me t'Rexan). Along with the books (great info, by the way) when I started playing a Romulan way back when, I too drew from ancient Roman and Japanese cultures in trying to figure out how my character should act. I didn't realize that others had picked that out too. The deep sense of honor these characters have is very interesting to play out - especially how it colors every choice they make. It's not just your character's fate that's at risk, but the fate of their House (mom, dad, sister, brother, child, mate, etc...).

 

By the way, for those of you who might be nervous about an all-Romulan all the time sim - come check out. Seriously. As a cadet, I had no clue what a Romulan sim was like - in fact I wasn't even thinking of joining one at the time I was going through the Academy. But some other grads convinced me to come by and watch. And try it out. And I found it (gasp) fun! I forgot about those pesk Lloann'na and joined the Romulans first.

 

And Nemises....bleck, bleck, bleck! (Although you're right Kansas about Donatra character...she did rock).

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Okay, dropping out of character for a moment. I found something N'Dak said that was interesting. (Don't hurt me t'Rexan). Along with the books (great info, by the way) when I started playing a Romulan way back when, I too drew from ancient Roman and Japanese cultures in trying to figure out how my character should act. I didn't realize that others had picked that out too. The deep sense of honor these characters have is very interesting to play out - especially how it colors every choice they make. It's not just your character's fate that's at risk, but the fate of their House (mom, dad, sister, brother, child, mate, etc...).

 

I think that's what I've always found so interesting about them, is how honor-bound they are, and how complex the honor system is. With a Klingon, it's usually just personal or house honor that's spoken of, but for a Romulan it seems so much deeper.

 

Speaking of something I find it interesting, and this comes again from drawing from Roman-ish cultures. While they seem to value power and honor, it always seems that this is tempered by it not being personal power. Romulans who seek power for themselves or at the expense of the Empire seem spurned, which was something related to the Romans (see: Caesar.)

 

On the Xenephobic issue, to sort of expand on my own thoughts of what Blu said, yes, the Romans were fairly open to new cultures, but unlike the Romans, the Romulans had a unique experience during their the "Sundering" and even before, where they were raided by Orions and sold into slavery, which made them wary of other races.

 

It's more than just xenophobia though, it has to do with their notions of power, another great maxim: "If knowledge is power, then to be unknown is to be unconquerable."

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Actually, it was that fear of other cultures...that caused the xenophobia.

 

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.

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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.

 

My dear Stonn, I was quite surprised and equally fascinated to hear from you. I had figured our brief encounter during the liberation of Betazed would be our only conversation of any length. It is true that hiding from Jem'Hadar patrols was an ill setting for an in depth dialog but I did assume you had gathered all the information you needed from me. I am quite pleased that the discussion of our mutual heritage has planted a seed of future interest.

 

Your questions are many and quite detailed. I wish that I could give you as detailed of an answer to many of these. There are many myths and stories of those distant times but I'm afraid the lack of logical facts would force you to dismiss much of them. However, you did mention the Rihannsu Chronicles so I assume you also find the myths of a culture as valuable in the way they see themselves as any facts that might get in the way.

 

To answer one of your first questions, yes the Rihan Saga is a very common belief. It is very much as you read it and I can add little to the plain facts you already know. I will save the discussion of how you managed to come about such a complete copy of the Rihannsu Chronicles for another date. As you can imagine those of that culture are not fond of outsiders knowing so much about their history.

 

You would probably enjoy continuing your studies on the planet Romii. Perhaps enjoy is too emotional of a word. Shall I say more rewarding instead. Free from the intrigue of the Senate house those of Romii tend to be a little more open about such scholarly works. You would have to forgive them however for they are some of the most emotional of Romulans. Considering this I believe to know our history you would have to better know what we are today. We will begin there then.

 

Romulus: A jewel of a world. The sites are as extreme as the people who live there. It is truly a beloved world and held dear in the hearts of those who have never even seen it's shores. It is the adopted homeworld of every Romulan. Because of this to pin down a single dominant culture is impossible. It is easier to understand the nature of Romulus then understand the society of Romulus. The nature and stark reality is it stands as the center of power. All storms within the Empire fall on the shores of Romulus. There are no tensions, no strife, no petty squabbles that are not eventually felt there as much as whatever distant world they sprang from. This pressure tends to mold the people into a worried and cautious group. It is a great price for such glory.

 

Remus: I found your assumptions of this world humorous. I would probably be knifed in the back by a Reman if they knew I am about to push back the shadows they worked so hard to cast around themselves. Remus is the warriors heart. It is said on Remus that every plow is simply an axe waiting for battle and every sheppard's staff a bow waiting for the warhorns. The Remans are harsh even on themselves. Your stories of a blackened rock of a world were probably the result of some criminal who drug themselves out of a labor camp. As I said, the Reman's cast a frightful shadow around themselves. I have known some to breed themselves into such monsters it is not pleasant to even think about. These are the extremes and those "Cave Remans" as some call them mark the lowest of Reman society. The common Reman however would look more like a casual farmer or rancher upon first glance. But when someones life depends on the soil and the fold you had best not threaten either. For this then the Reman gets their reputation in battle. With painted faces and tattoos of war they march out under the Raptor's wings to end any and all threats to family and lands.

 

Romii: Pageantry. It is the best single word I can use to describe. As with all Romulans they are creatures of extremes. They love stronger, debate harder, sing louder, and burn in all the joys of such emotional creatures. Proud too. Arrogance finds a new definition on Romii. It is said, Never ask those of Romii a question, because they WILL answer you. Many great scholars and thinkers have come from Romii or made it their home. It is also one of the most outward looking of our worlds. Every bit of knowledge in the universe is picked over and inspected on Romii. But of course they have yet to find anything better than themselves or alteast nothing they can not do better. Such is the lot of superior beings such as ourselves.

 

You might ask how such different peoples came about to form an Empire. We will start as near the beginning as we can in my next letter. The children grow weary for sleep and the sun is setting here so I must close now. I will not delay in continuing our conversation.

 

Jolan Tru.

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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

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Honestly, we'd never be caught yy'a writing a letter to a Vulcan.

 

And...no such thing as a Reman.....

 

Seriously though, we have a Romulan sim in the forum..we have a set history that we use, and it's in our Welcome packet. Not sure why you're trying to make 'changes' to how we run things...when you haven't even applied to join us and see how we work?

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Honestly, we'd never be caught yy'a writing a letter to a Vulcan.

 

And...no such thing as a Reman.....

 

Seriously though, we have a Romulan sim in the forum..we have a set history that we use, and it's in our Welcome packet. Not sure why you're trying to make 'changes' to how we run things...when you haven't even applied to join us and see how we work?

 

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.

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