From: "Jay P Hailey" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative,alt.startrek.creative.all-ages Approved: Moderator on Duty Stephen Subject: NEW Profile The Kurr Association (OCC, Outwardly Mobile) Organization: Alt.StarTrek.Creative Virtual Staff Office Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.92/32.572 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 361 Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 18:47:00 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.191.144.243 X-Complaints-To: abuse@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net 1090176420 63.191.144.243 (Sun, 18 Jul 2004 11:47:00 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 11:47:00 PDT Title: Profile: The Kurr Association Author: Jay P Hailey Series: OCC, TNG era, Outwardly Mobile Profile the Kurr Association Name: The Kurr Association Created By: Dennnis Washburn and Jay P Hailey Short Summary: An Association of five races who have become ethically advanced, because they had to. Apppearance: The Kurr Association appeared in Dennnis' 1992-1994 Star Trek Game. Biology: There are five founding members of the Kurr Association. They are considering associating more close with the Murachi. Humans - a human world is one of the founders of the Kurr association. They are Human in all respects The Kamla, a Humanoid mammalian race descended from hebivorous runners, think Bunny Furries. The Kamla can be very calm, and pleasant to be around. However, they are territorial and can be violent when provoked. The Kloosh, a Humanoid Mammalian race which seems to be in the process of transitioning to ocean based life. They are not graceful on land, and prefer to swim, where they outperform any other humanoid race as hunters and swimmers. The Kloosh have a think layer of Blubber and are well streamlined. The Banduch, a race of Sentient, intensely psionic Brontosauri. Their culture and Civilization is 99% virtual, a creature of the mind. They form the moral core, and the conscience of the Kurr Association. Insect men (As seen in GURPS Fantasy Folk, I'll look up more detail later.) A multi caste race of humanoids evolved from an Insect base. They burrow into the ground making stunningly large nests and labrynths underground. Location: To Spinward and core ward of the Federation border about 750 light years. Population: 56.7 billion of the various races Languages: Each race of the Kurr association has it's own set of languages and cultures. They use a common kamla tongue which is easy for the other two mammalian races to learn. The Insect men need universal translators and the Banduch communicate telepathically. The Common tongue of the Kurr Association is Kamlan trade tounge, Government: The Kurr Association is run by an Association Council which considers every problem carefully andf thoughtfully, and then publishes recommendations. The indivudal worlds then decide how to enact the Association council's suggestions. In practice the recommendations of the Council are treated like policy rulings. Each planet retains it own government, reorganized along strickly ethical lines. The planets cooperate in terms of economy and mutual support, using standards set by the Kurr Association Advisory Comittee Economy: The economy of the Kurr Assdocation is a very complex system of energy accounting, that carefully allows for freedom of choice and determination of each individual. The Kurr association is researching Gold-Pressed Latinum as an even more free wheeling standard of exchange. The Economy of the Kurr Association blossomed in the early days of the Release, but this expansion has hit a snag in the Conflict with the Zak. However the core is strong and they are cheerfully expanding in other directions. The Kurr association economy is good at exploting mineral wealth with a minimal disturbance of local conditions and ecology. They are also every good at recycling and extremely efficient use of resources, and exchange program with the UFP is under way to share these techniques. Military: The Kurr Association Military is new, and struggling to meet the demands placed upon it. They have a history of warfare and violence which is now being reconsidered in the light of necessity, and information is being re-uptaken from Kurr History to reconstitute a true military force. They borrowed a lot from Starfleet, a major successful example in the early going. For all that it is an Ad-hoc self defense force, the Kurr Military has done a good job of assembling itself and fending off attacks from the Tonagi and the Zak. The margin is often too narrow for comfort, though. The Kurr nightmare is that they will not be able to expand their military to the size required to defend aganst the Zak before a rising spiral of violence destroys both cultures. Aid from the Federation has titlted the balance some in their favor, as have military advisors from the Murachi, who despite never having won a major space war, have the organizational knowledge to make a military work. Older Kurr Military ships were utility ships with hastily mounted weapons and defenses. Because of Advanced Kurr technology, they served adequately until true military and multi-role starships could enter service. Newer Kurr Military ships are either specialized defense ships, designed to counter and destroy an incoming Kurr Attack (Kurr Assocation analogs to the Defiant) or well armed and protected multi role ships to try and explore away from the Zak and yet still carry through military missions when required. There is much debate among the Kurr assocation about whether an offensive will be required in time, if so it will demand a new fleet wing to press it forward. As of right now, a defensive posture seems to be working and so is generally prefered by the people of the Kurr assocation. The different planets of the Kurr assocation have recruited small armies and are training them using historical examples, Murachi and Starfleet Marine advisors. Each planet in the Kurr Association theoretically has it's own military force. In practice, the worlds of the Kurr association have adopted unified proceedures, equipment and training, as well as a unified command structure The Kurr Use Frigate squadrons for defense, and Starfleet style cruisers for longer ranged missions. History: The races of the Kurr association arose and were happily having a typical history, filled with war, intrigue, commerce, violence, mayhem and injustice. The Banducch generally stayed well clear of this, maintaining their facade of small brontosauri on a strangely peaceful world. The Kamla and the Humans enjoyed the most energetic relationship with frequent wars, diplomacy treaties and then other wars. Kurr Association historians are almost unanimous that this is because the humans and Kamla were very similar to begin with. The Kloosh and the Insect people were drawn in on different sides, or in the case of the Insect people, made into prefered enemies and all proceeded in a bloody fashion. Then the Harmon came. The Harmon are Energy beings of stupendous power. The Harmon were mad, however and in the grips of a neurotic seeking ofter perfection. Looking at the area of the Kurr Assocation, the Harmon englobed it in a 100 light year force globe and informed all residents that their ethical development was so poor as to pose a danger to themselves and others. Then the Harmon left. After some stunned exploration, the Races of the Kurr realized that thet were now in a sharpely finite sum game. A violent war broke out to claim and hold as many resources as possible, and therefore extend the life time of a potentially limited duration civiliation After beating themselves to pulps, the Banducch came out and invited each race to send representative to discuss ethics and see if there was a way to grow ethically and satisfy the implied demands of the Harmon. Although this was ignored at first, the Banducch acquired a huge population of refugees, free thinkers and war weary people. In time between extensive damage to infrastructure, war weariness and despair, the races of the Kurr sent representatives to the Banducch. Almost as soon as active warfare stopped, standards of living rose. As the races of the Kurr started taking tentative steps towards cooperation, standards of living rose yet again, proving the point of the Harmon and the Banducch to the population of the Kurr. As the races started really digging into ethical matters, commerce and technology advanced as well, leading to more efficient uses of resources and greater standards of living. About 500 years after the englobement, the Kurr had formed the Kurr Association and achieved a peak of ethical accomplishment. They also marked a somber day, they had achived full "Build in" of the globe, every steller system in the globe had been mapped and explored long ago, but now every available resource was being exploited in the most efficient manner possible. The Kurr had light police forces but had left thier martial history far behind. The Kurr were starting to feel that even with their ethical and technological development maxed out, that they were missing soemthing critical from this souls, by not being able to explore into unknown regions or meet unknown people. One day a Kurr Cargo ship travelling along the edge of the Globe encountered a starship on the other side. Communication was possible. The starship was from a distant outside coalition named the Federation, a group of people who, without any coercion from the Harmon had formed into a mutal cooperation, defense and exploration culture similar in many ways to the Kurr Association. Contact with this outside ship grabbed the attention of nearly all Kurr. News of the outside galaxy was thin and very rare. Inside the globe with ethically developed individuals it occasionally got very boring. The outsider ship uploaded a pile of data to the Kurr inside the globe, adding immensely to the Kurr's store of knowledge and resources. History of hundreds of non-Kurr worlds, sciences from all over the galaxy. History, Archaeology, biology. The Federation public access database became an over night sensation and topic of study and argument for the Kurr association. The outsider ship tried, futiley as always to unlock the force globe. Ideas and resources exausted the outside whip moved on, but not before signing a treaty of friendship with the Kurr Association. The captain of the outside ship promised, if he encountered the Harmon, to remind them of the Kurr Association. Within the year after the outside ship left, a bright, 1 meter ball was seen at the outer egde of the globe. the globe disappeared and the small bright point of light streeaked off without a word. The Kurr were FREE! Two projects were started immediately. the large subspace transmitters and recievers necessary to communicate with their new friends in the Federation, and ships for exploring the unknown areas outside the globe. Culture: The Kurr association's culture is a quiet, contemplative culture rich in ethical thought. It's generally quiet and peaceful. The Kurr themselves find it slightly boring, but their knee jerk reaction is to default to thought and communication and problem solving methodology. Relations: The Federation, long distance buddies The Zak - open hostility, occasional fighting The Tonagi, open hostility, to be run off whenever they occur The Gallowayans - Very rare trading visits. the Gallowayans and Kurr have a lot of fun attempting to transliterate their ethical concepts into a mutally understandable frame work. Advantages: The Kurr association is inventive and they have high technology. They have excellent science and diplomatic skills. Weaknesses: The Kurr were not militarized at all, and are behind the curve at rebuilding a defense mechanism consistent with their ethical principles. Campaign Role: Good guys for the PCs to encounter on a long voyage, an oasis of sanity. Good guys for the PCs to rally to the defense of. Capital City: The Kurr Council meets in a small city on the Banduch home world. Each plant of the Kurr association retains it's own local capital and sovereignty Races: Humans, natives of planet Orla, they seem to have been a preserver transplant. Orla has many colonies. Orla has a population of 6 billion people. Kamla, natives of the Planet Kam. (Think Bunny Furries) More colonies than the humans and an on going battle with population control. Kam is a beautiful but deadly world, with several scary predators some of whom still roam free. The Kloosh. Natives of the "World/Ocean" Encountered by the Humans and Kamla and given technology, the Kloosh successfully played both ends of the Kamla/Human rivalry against the middle for nearly a century. In the doing they ewventually became a power in their own right. The Banduch - See Gurps Aliens Insect men. They advanced to warp drive on their own. In the early going they were considered a terrible threat by the Humans and Kamla, In time telepaths on boths sides made contact. In peace that followed the Englobement, Insect men scientist and ethecists have become second only to the Banduch Tonagi - After the Release, a small but steady trickle of Tonagi came to the Kurr Association seeking asylum from the Zak Empire Zak - A verty small number of curious and open minded Zak have also escaped the Zak empire and sought refuge in the Kurr Association Murachi - Rubber heads, the Murachi have a very good relationship with the Kurr Association. Murachi business people, advisors and space explorers can be found in the Kurr Association. Murachi itself is considering joining the Kurr Association. Nature of Members: Sentient beings who sign the Kurr Association Charter Relative Influence: Large, they are a reasonably large stellar nation. Public or Secret?: Public Publicly Stated Goal: To ethically pursue the business of living and the well being of the Kurr Associates Relative Wealth: Large. As a Stellar nation the Kurr Association controls the output of several planets, and owns fleetrs of Starships. Compared to other nations their size the Kurr are very wealthy indeed. Group advantages: Wealthy, ethically and technologically advanced. Contacts: The Federation, the Zak and Tonagi. The Murachi. several other worlds refered to them by the USS Discovery. The Gallowayans. Group disadvantages: Under militarized, their hard zone is all the way explored and built in, and their squishy zone is very squishy indeed. Who belongs: Sentients who elect to sign the Charter and take on the way of life of the Kurr Association. Those who favor them: The Federation, the Gallowayans, the Murachi Those opposed to them: The Tonagi and the Zak Public Face: A happy and well adjusted small empire with well developed ethical awareness The Five Kurr Associates Humans The Kamla - Bunny Furries The Kloosh - Aquatic Mammal Humanoids - Seal furries The Banduch (See GURPS Aliens) Insect men (See Gurps Fantasy Folks) -- Jay P Hailey ~Meow!~ MSNIM - jayphailey ; AIM -jayphailey03; ICQ - 37959005 HTTP://jayphailey.8m.com Keep in mind Transmogrification is a new technology NewMessage: