Grazerite
Grazerite (canon summary)
Species Physiology
The grazerite race consists of several interrelated subspecies, with some featuring appearances ranging from goat-like to gazelle-like to wildebeest-like. Grazerites are accustomed to primarily vegetarian diets, having evolved from herbivores. They typically have a deeply set brow and thicker skulls which support curving horns. Most have very short body hair (various ranges of tan, white, browns, and reds, and sometimes piebald) and thickly padded hands. Grazerites require substantially less sleep compared to humans.
Culture
On their homeworld of Grazer, grazerites congregate in upsols, which are units of between 100 to 500 individuals who live and work together, often these consist of extended families, but they do cross into mixed upsols as well. Grazerite naming conventions consist of a familiar name first, hyphenated with the name of the individual’s upsol. Childrearing is shared among the members of the upsol, although children do remain in the primary care of their own parents. Upon having their first child, grazerite parents gain voting rights and full citizenship, registered through their upsol. This is celebrated as the rites of “first-birth”.
While they have advanced in technology and are valued members of the United Federation of Planets and demonstrate good statesmanship as well as contribute as members of Starfleet, the arts produced from Grazer are not considered particularly challenging or valuable compared to other worlds. It is supposed that without conflict, the art became complacent. Going into the twenty-fifth century, there is a new burgeoning movement of grazerite art beginning to challenge the old complacency.
Grazerite debate is not generally a contest of wills but tends to be well intentioned and moves towards gaining consensus, speaking in agreement with small additions to the given thought and tending to go around in turns, as happy to listen as to speak. On average, Grazerites seem careful and methodical and do not bore very easily, making them suited to deep thinking and tedious tasks. Optimism is a common trait among them, and they do not discourage easily, going from one hopeful ideal to the next.
A highly regarded grazerite educational institution is the Outworld Cooperation Symposia, a system of universities which train scientists, astronauts, engineers, and diplomats.
One of the rites of grazerite death sometimes observed is called Semtir, and is the final destruction of the remains of the dead before friends, after which memories are shared.
History: Brief canon overview
Grazerites hail from the Federation member planet of Grazer, which has been a UFP member world since the late 2300’s. The planet is largely peaceful and has historically been a world famed for agriculture. The technology of the world began with advancements in agriculture and presumably continued into other sciences including achieving space travel and warp technology. In their modern period, the world is incredibly peaceful.
Historically, the grazerites do have accounts of a violent period in the early development of their society. When Grazer had many predators and survival was challenged, they were a prey species in the ecosystem. But as they developed intelligence, the early grazerite societies hunted and cleared the predator species in self-preservation. Once security was achieved, civilization blossomed and future generations disavowed violence.
In the 2370’s it was in fashion for grazerites to demonstrate their commitment to peaceful principles by wearing a cloth covering over their horns. This was demonstrated by the Grazerite UFP President Jaresh-Inyo, who donned the horn covering while in office (from 2369-2373).
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Grazerite (extended lore)
Physiology & Geneology
The Grazerites are a people made up of many sub-species. These subspecies can range in appearance, having features reminiscent to creatures like wildebeest, antelope, bighorn sheep, goat, gazelle and others. There are great ranges in height and weight between the subspecies, some topping out at less than five feet on average and others growing well over seven feet tall, with broad boned builds. Most of their genetics can interbreed, although there are often combinations which cannot produce offspring, or which are likely to produce sterile offspring, making some of the sub species more common than others, and resulting in regional subspecies genetics. Hybrid grazerite and human offspring are known to exist, and it may be possible for other interspecies offspring, though some sub-species will be more likely than others to result in viable pregnancies of mixed races. Twins are very common among some genealogies; there are even small minorities of upsols where twins are far more common than single births.
Grazer has also established many colonies, and often those new settlements will feature one subspecies more strongly than the others within a few generations. They often settle worlds with natural conditions that the subspecies settling the world finds preferable, i.e., a subspecies with mountain goat-like genes favors rocky elevations, while a bison-like subspecies seeks out grassy windswept plains. This leads to self-selection in the genepool according to environment, in spite of the social openness the Grazers have towards the various subspecies among their greater kind.
Another challenge and unintentional discouragement for intermarriage between subspecies or with other non-grazerite races is that the legal basis for voting rights and some other civic access is given during the rights of first birth, when the couple has had their first child. Therefore, when potentially infertile pairings fall in love, this often leads to them seeking to have children with partners outside of the marriage to attain their rights of First Birth and is not ideal. There have been talks for hundreds of years about how best to amend the civic system for this modern issue (brought about by easy travel between upsols and between planets that did not used to be as widespread) and it’s expected that society will reach a consensus about it in the next century or so.
Society: Corrections and Crime
Grazerites favor their diversity of subspecies overall, considering the many different ethnicities and appearances to be the genius and gift of nature and best shared and celebrated among their kind. But it’s no secret that some of the subspecies– often male members , but sometimes females as well– have more aggressive inclinations than others, with a propensity for head butting and disagreeableness; there is special attention and effort by society and government to channel those energies into outlets considered healthy including debate, sports, martial arts, and into the Grazerite Defense Forces (a committed nonlethal defense force). Flagrant aberrant behavior often results in attempts to rehabilitate the individual, and the worst such cases may eventually be shunned by their upsol, and sent offworld. While not common, the most aggressive grazerites who have failed to find an appropriate outlet for aggression or to reform in rehabilitation often do end up involved in mercenary crews, vigilante operations like the Fenris Rangers, or in underworld elements or pirate crews and can be extremely dangerous and unsavory individuals. Some of the less physically imposing grazerites who turn to this kind of life can be equally dangerous in capacities such as thieves, assassins, hackers, or information brokers.
Defense: Starfleet Service, Grazer Defense Force and Exchange Officers
In the past few decades, there is a growing movement among younger grazerites who disagree with the social repression of aggressive nature and often these youth will seek travel and off world experiences, rejecting the philosophies of their elders and upsols. More than a few of them find enlisting in Starfleet a valid outlet for them, providing a ticket off world. They go through academy questioning their upbringing and how they fit into the service, and to what degree they are willing to use force.
For the most part, however, grazerites who enlist with Starfleet or study to become a Starfleet Officer do so being interested in the exploration and outreach vision of the Fleet, and join officially as objectors to violence, and will either refuse weapons training or else only carry stun weapons. Most enlist in the Sciences or as Engineers. They can also make good versatile operations officers. Being peace seeking, they tend to seek out jobs in diplomacy or counseling. That said, many can still make excellent security and tactical officers, their senses tuned for danger and often either very strong to resist attack and/ or very quick to escape it.
Sometimes exchange officers from the Grazer Defense Force serve in Starfleet crews. These will often be engineers, scientists, or tactical defense officers. Some trained in the humanities such as diplomacy or psychology may also go on assignment with Starfleet. Unlike Starfleet officers who have gone through the Academy in San Francisco, these exchange officers will usually continue to wear the uniform of the Grazer Defence Force while serving on a Fleet installation or ship.
The Grazer Defence Force has advanced technologies that counter or disarm opposing forces. They can scramble targeting, Pulse out electrical grids, break shield harmonics, overcome transporter technologies to prevent boarding parties, spoof signals and extend sensor arrays. They favor using stun weaponry, knock-out gasses, and sedative darts. They are always researching aggressor technologies and coming up with counter tech and can be found throughout the Federation as strategic and tactical advisors, building early detection systems, and mapping out defensive scenarios to be prepared for. Grazerite contractors and Vulcan contractors often work quite well together.
Arts and Education
Grazerite hero stories often feature a negotiator or a philosopher, and the highest enshrined historical heroes of the most revered sort almost always include someone dying or giving his life for another or for a higher purpose – martyrdom is the highest honor. Killing to win a conflict is deeply disturbing to the typical grazerite psyche. Most such figures would only serve as antagonists in their minds, in need of repentance and reform, and not due any honors.
Grazerites have musical traditions of various types. Group folk singing is often in the form of lengthy ballads with a repeated chorus. There are also folk dances of various kinds, the most popular being called out dances, not dissimilar to line dancing or square dancing. More formally, grazerites have orchestras and classical kinds of music, although these are generally forms with very old arrangements, not known for much innovation on Grazer. This has been challenged since becoming members of the UFP and being exposed to the music of other worlds. Grazer has slowly adapted new sounds and the influence of other styles can be heard in modern arrangements.
Most critics agree that Grazer itself has not made anything new in the musical arts and very little in visual or film that stands out. Literature has a few modern works of note and is the fastest growing of the arts on Grazer, as new generations challenge old ideas.
Most ideas on Grazer take a long time to develop. The deepest thinkers on Grazer like to ‘chew the cud’ for many hours, talking on end and never really arriving at any conclusion, which suits them fine as they will just pick up the conversation again over the next meal (all vegetarian, of course). Eating and talking is the favorite grazerite pastime.
In their cities, the grazerites display much ingenuity with engineering and technology. Advancement is evident in the architecture and infrastructure and in methods of transit. Their systems of education are efficient and effective, and healthcare is accessible and skilled. They have made great strides in the sciences and have one of the premiere most technical academies in the federation, which has begun to see an increase in applicants from off world. The crowning jewel of the grazerite education system is a post-graduate school called the Outworld Cooperation Symposia, which was originally a network between grazerite settled worlds but has extended more broadly in the past century. While the Symposia publicly releases curricula and content for anyone to learn from, accepted students who physically attend are on par with many Vulcan post-graduate students. The lectures can go for as many as ten or twelve hours at a time, and it is common practice for attendees to bring food to share for the duration.