Poldor

The Poldor are a rhinocerotidae-like species who live on Valhera Major, located in the Valhera System in the Valhera Sector. Little is known about their world; first contact was made in 2376 by the U.S.S. Admiral Graf Spee when the ship met the first Poldor Warp 5 ship, the KPS Vuldor.

The Poldor are not hostile with the Federation. A loose open border treaty is observed, for exploration and trade purposes.

Appearance and Biology

The Poldor are a bulky species. They have thick armoured skin, and flat three-toed feet. They have three fingers on each hand. Their design allows them to walk on both their hands and their feet, or just their feet. Their heads are large and are rhino-like; they have small eyes and ears, and each sports from two to five horns on their face, the largest being that on the snout. Males live between 40 to 70 years.

All Poldor are born male. When the Poldor reaches sexual maturity they are able to transition to a female. This is done by the most dominant member in the clan, and they become the leader. There is a strict hierarchy in clans, and should the leader die, go missing, or become otherwise impaired, the next strongest male turns into a female and leads the clan. This transition is done when the viskati hormone in the brain is released in significant quantities and it allows for the development the egg forming systems that lie dormant from birth. There are no other physiological changes, with the exception of the brain mass growing about 20%. There are also some psychological changes; the female becomes more aggressive but also with an increase in brain capacity, they become smarter and faster.

Reproduction is done asexually, and is done once every season (a season lasting two months). The female chooses a mate and lays her eggs, which can range from one to three on average. The male then fertilises the eggs and is responsible for watching over the eggs until hatching, which can take between two to four seasons. The young Poldor are then mentored by the matriarch for another four seasons until they begin to exhibit sexual maturity, and then they are released into the clan (roughly between one to one and a half years).

Poldor females can live between 20 to 40 years after their transition (depending on the age of the Poldor at transition). Once a transition has been made, it is not possible to transition back to a male. Poldor females must also continue to secrete the viskati hormone in regular amounts to survive; a failure to synthesise the hormone leads to cell degradation and eventually, death. This hormone is responsible for intense euphoric feelings and is secreted from violent actions including killing, victory, and sexual intercourse; to continue to secrete the hormone, these actions must be undertaken. In modern society, drugs containing the hormone have been developed which can lead to dependency and withdrawal.

The Poldor are a militaristic warrior race.

Governace

Their government is led by the Kienspoldor or the Queen of the Poldor. Despite the monarchist name, this is an elected position, though the franchise is limited to the keinsropk or the Queen Council. The council is made of the longest-serving and highest matriarchs of the major clans; females may choose to retire when they believe they are no longer strong enough to lead the clan. They are then able to submit their application to the keinsropk and if voted on, are able to wear the keinskopt (Queen's Robe), and sit on the keinsropk. Every five years, the keinsropk vote on the next Kienspoldor though there are no term limits. Members of the keinsropk serve in all government and judicial matters and are appointed by the Kienspoldor. Service in the keinsropk is for life, or until retirement (although a Poldor who has retired may not rejoin the keinsropk).

The keinsropk is also hierarchical, with the longest-serving members having a greater voting strength than younger members.

Clans

The clan (kogsa) is the central ideology behind Poldor society. Your clan dictates your status in Poldor society, as well as providing a canvas to attribute your deeds and conquests. In the past, clans would be naturally forming; in modern-day society, clans have to be registered with the keinsropk and maintained constantly.

Clans are a group of males who form a fellowship and brotherhood. The strongest Poldor becomes the female of the clan, and acts as the clan's leader, or the kienies (princess). There is a strict hierarchy in terms of order in the clan. Challenging the order takes a lot of reputation and honour. When challenged, the combatants ram each other with their horns until one submits or is killed. If the challenger submits, they are branded KX (kogsastrixa - clan defiler) and are removed from the clan. In the days of old, they were often just killed by other members of the clan. If the one who is challenged submits, they are replaced by the challenger and are pushed to the bottom of the order. Clans are built upon trust and strength. Leaving a clan voluntarily is not discouraged, but deserting the clan in battle is a death sentence.

Clans themselves are ranked by reputation. The biggest clans are the ones that hold the most reputation and deeds; they will have the strongest Poldor in them, and their matriarch will be universally feared and respected. Naturally, the largest clans will be the ones with the most reputation, but this is not always so; there have been some smaller clans which have proven reputable. In fact, the smaller the clan, the more respected each action and deed is, and a smaller clan will always hold more sway than a bigger clan of the same reputation. This acts as an incentive to keep clans as small as possible, and means that clans have tough standards to which members must adhere to. Larger, well-established clans, do not have this issue as their reputation outweighs the size issue, and this leads to smaller clans sometimes being absorbed into a larger clan as part of a political union. Sometimes, larger clans may force a merger with a small and up and coming clan to solidify their reputation as well as removing a future threat.

A clan is similar, but not exactly the same as a family. A family contains the matriarch, the father, and siblings. Whilst the matriarch and the father are in the same clan during reproduction, this may change and the father may be expelled from the clan. Equally so, although the children are raised as part of the clan, if they do not live up to the clan's standards, they will be kicked out after sexual maturity, as any member of the clan would.

As time grew on, clans began to merge together but did not want to lose the individual reputation and honour of the clans. These clans became known as invakogsa or clan's group. These were not mergers, but alliances between clans. Most cities are named after old invakogsa. These invakogsa were once large but became less important and prominent as clans became honourable without the group.

Clans can be subdivided into smaller clan groups. Clan groups are led by asnikien or a sub princess. Whilst being a kien is an honour, an asnikien is not seen as a high ranking. Having smaller clan groups makes the clan easier to manage, but in doing so, you open it up for asnikiens to break away from the clan and form their own clan where they are able to become the kien in their own right. However, unless ratified by the keinsropk, the matriarch of the clan continues to be called asnikien. These clans, called asnikogsa are often disregarded unless they can prove their reputation to become a clan in their own right. These groups often leave the Poldor to spend a life of piracy and marauding, either temporarily in order to gain enough reputation to be recognised as a clan, or permanently.

To prevent splits, the kien must offer a form of tribute to the asnikien which include sexual favours and a recommendation onto the keinsropk as the asnikien cannot became part of the keinsropk without first being promoted to a kien.

In modern society, clans are less rigid. A Poldor may move from clan to clan; a Poldor who has served reputably in many clans are actually held in higher regard than one that has just served in one clan.

In the Poldoskore, the Poldor's space force, one ship is crewed by one clan. The captain of the ship is often the matriarch of that clan. Larger clans can often crew multiple ships, and each ship is therefore crewed by a sub clan; the asnikien of a ship does not have the same social stigma as an asnikien without a ship; ships are viewed as objects with large reputations and the clans that can field more ships are inherently viewed as more powerful and more reputable. Due to this, invakogsa have made a return in the modern period, as the larger clan would allow for the sub clan to break away from the parent clan with the guarantee that the new clan become part of the invakogsa; having more ships as part of your invakogsa is worth the devolution of power within the clan, rather than risk the sub clan breaking away with the ship themselves.