Vulcan

Vulcan
Planet of Origin:	Vulcan
Affiliation:	United Federation of Planets
Warp Capable:	1440 AD
Borg Designation:	Species 3259
Biology
Classification:	mammalian humanoid
Environmental Requirements:	warm Class M conditions
Typical Lifespan:	200 years
Sexes:	male, female
Telepathic Abilities:	touch telepath
Blood Coloration:	green (copper-based)
Distinctive Features: pointed ears and eyebrows
Racial Sub-Divisions: varied skin and eye coloration
Vulcan characters in Star Trek: Theurgy:
T'Less Foval Seren (Stasis) Hathev The Borg Queen T'Panu (KIA) Cross T'Rena (KIA) Cir'Cie Dr. Maya (MIA)

The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few, or the One.

The Vulcans were a stoic, rational people. Widely claimed to be emotionless, in truth the Vulcans felt deeply and intensely, to their own detriment. Their stoicism came from a culture of logic and self-discipline, where emotions were analyzed and dissected to rob them of their potency so that they could not overwhelm or control the individual. Vulcans embraced science and reason, but their lives were not purely devoted to logic: they also had a deeply philosophical side, with art and music as vital to their culture as logic. They were also intensely private people, with many aspects of their culture — such as the rites of Pon Farr — which were not discussed amongst outsiders.

Psychology

Vulcans exalted logic over emotion and usually repressed or sublimated emotions in their daily behavior. Vulcans who dealt with non-Vulcans on a regular basis often maintained an almost glacial calm, possibly as self-defense against so much unguarded feeling. Among themselves, however, Vulcans usually seemed more relaxed; Vulcan ambassadors often cultivated a kind of distant good humor and politesse. Even Vulcan ambassadors, however, had trouble predicting or depending upon the behavior of more emotional species.

Surak's teachings were the most important philosophical essays in Vulcan history, detailing the use of logic and reason in order to control warring emotions and destructive tendencies. In the beginning, Vulcans used their emotions as a tool, preferring to apply logic to justify their actions. AS the race evolved and the teachings of Surak spread, however the use of various techniques to banish and suppress emotions became more prevalent and Vulcan psychology blossomed. The understanding of one's mind and mental processes as well as one's emotional reactions became a necessity, and psychology was applied not only to one' own actions but also to understanding the actions of others.

The foremost psychologists on Vulcan belonged to the religious orders that guide Vulcan society. Surak's school the largest and most popular sect of Vulcan beliefs, advocated the study and understanding of emotional desires, so that the student can suppress and control them. Constant study of this process, as well as assisting others in achieving mastery of psionics through control of emotion, caused the devotees of this doctrine to become experts on the workings and common psychological traumas of Vulcan minds.

The school of Surak had many techniques which can open the mind of a student, perceiving where the student's difficulties and strongest emotions lie and adjusting the mind's processes so that the student can more completely face the emotion and learn to control it. Thus, they are experienced in abnormal psychology as well as the common workings of Vulcan minds. When a Vulcan is unable to control his emotions, his family or colleagues often summon a devotee of Surak to deal with him. When a Vulcan willingly gives in to his emotions, it is one goal of those who follow the doctrines of Surak to help him resolve his problems and rejoin society.

One of the most contemplated teachings of Surak was his admonition that one should study reason above all else. ("The chief subject of reason is reason") Surak taught that a Vulcan should learn to discern reality both as it seems to be and as it truly was. This dissection of truth from illusion spurred Vulcans into intense study of science and mathematics, helping them dissect many of the most complex workings of the universe into logical steps. Patience, temperance, and logical observation (truthfulness to the world) were three of the greatest virtues of Vulcan culture and all had great application to scientific reasoning. Vulcans believed that their adherence to this doctrine made them the foremost scientists in the Federation.

The application of these virtues, combined with intense meditation, gave Vulcans great control over their native psionic abilities. They remained unable to control that most famous biological trigger of Vulcan mental abilities, the pon farr.

Physiology

Vulcans closely resembled Humans, with the same average height and weight. Their pointed ears were slightly larger than the Human norm, and their slanted eyebrows sometimes gave them a questioning look. The inner, or nictitating, eyelid was not visible. Vulcan skin complexions ranged from olive to dark mahogany, with a green cast provided by their copper-based blood. The Vulcan heart rested in the lower center of the torso, surrounded and protected by highly efficient lungs.

Externally Vulcans seemed to have much in common with Terrans, Vulcan internal physiology is quite different.

Body Size and Shape

Males and females were of similar height and stature, averaging 2 meters in height and 70 kilos in weight. Although their structure and frame were of similar height to those of Terrans, their strength was derived from longer muscle mass and a dense skeletal frame, the consequences of evolution in Vulcan's higher gravity and thinner atmosphere. One other significant difference from Terran physiology was the distinct lack of Vulcan sweat glands. Vulcans used blood, skin, and body structure to cool themselves rather than perspiration, which would have been inefficient given the high temperatures on the planet Vulcan.

Skin

Vulcan epidermis was unlike any other in the galaxy. Forming a two-way moisture-proof shield, it protected Vulcans from external liquids and pressure, as well as maintaining the inner temperature and liquid environment of their organs. Because Vulcan blood was copper-based rather than iron-based, it was green in color and was extremely effective in separating and utilizing the smaller amounts of oxygen available in Vulcan's low-pressure mildly irradiated environment. Due to this specialization of their blood and blood cells, Vulcans could survive for several minutes under water or in any oxygen-poor environment, as long as there was a small amount of oxygen available.

Brain

Not much was known about the Vulcan brain, although it was clear from even the simplest autopsy that the Vulcan midbrain is larger and more complex, and contains more nerve endings and blood capillaries than similar areas of Terran brains. The only other major species known to have possessed such a large percentage of midbrain was the Betazoid race, whose midbrain comprises nearly 65% of their entire brain mass. Vulcan midbrains were significantly smaller, averaging only 45% of the organ, yet this is still much more than comparative races. It was assumed that the majority of Vulcan psionic powers came from this enlarged region, although testing has been inconclusive.

Eyes

A clear inner eyelid formed of a nictitating membrane that filtered radiation, dust, and other harmful elements protected Vulcan eyes. Vulcan range of vision was more acute, as was their ability to recognize color frequencies and perceived more clearly at a distance. This seemed to have certain negative drawbacks as many Vulcans describe painful symptoms, similar to headaches and eyestrain, from being exposed to vibrant high colorations for long periods of time. The Vulcan optic nerve, much more delicate and sensitive than a typical Terran nerve, was more prone to disease and degeneration.

Ears

One of the most commonly noted differences between Terran and Vulcan physiology was the shape and structure of the earlobe and the functioning of the Vulcan inner ear. Although the Vulcan ear shape helped to funnel sound and intensify the reception of harmonics, the internal structure of the eardrum is very different, formed of no fewer than three separate functioning eardrums. These eardrums seemed to respond to differing volume and pitch, relaying the sound through separate channels to the nerve centers of the brain. Each worked independently, and in Vulcans of advanced age it was most often the low-pitched eardrum that deteriorates.

Skull

Vulcans had only 28 teeth, lacking rear molars and possessed a longer mandibular movement than most bipedal species. Although the bone structure of the Vulcan skull is thinner, the actual skull casing was formed of extremely dense matter, allowing a thinner depth of bone actually to be harder and stronger than a human skull.

Heart

Vulcan internal organs tended to operate at a much faster rate than those of comparable species, with an average heart rate as 265 beats per minute. The Vulcan heart lied in the center of the torso, surrounded by a large lung structure, capable of holding approximately 20% more capacity than Terran lungs. The Vulcan torso, ribcage, and musculature were also significantly longer, in order to encompass the organs within.

Vulcan hormonal activity was under muscular control and could be regulated by conscious processes of trained Vulcans. Thus, it was possible that a Vulcan could control his adrenaline, thyroid, and other metabolic systems, causing a change in heart rate, oxygen consumption, and other bodily resources. This accounts for the amazing Vulcan capacity to "regenerate" wounds, using a special trance state in order to repair any internal or structural damage more efficiently. The one primary exception to this rule was the reproductive hormone complex released during the Pon farr, in which a hormone known as yamareen was released into the bloodstream of the mature male Vulcan. Although the female Vulcan be impregnated after her menstrual cycle began (typically as early as age 16 and as late as 25), the male Vulcan was incapable of creating progeny until after the onset of his first pon farr. Thereafter, the Vulcan male is capable of reproducting, but must obey the physical urge to mate every seven years, during the pon farr. Vulcans, humans, and Klingons were all interfertile, giving credence to theories that all three races sprang from common ancestors seeded by the Preservers.

Reproduction

The biological and anthropological origins of pon farr remained unclear, and Vulcan modesty defeated Vulcan curiosity, leaving the subject mostly unstudied. The secretion of a hormone complex known yamareen caused the pon farr, or mating cycle. Difficult to produce scientifically, all attempts to create yamareen in laboratory experiments were unsuccessful. In the prehistoric phase of Vulcan, men fought to the death regularly for the right to mate with females. This kept the population down (useful on a desert planet) and ensured that only the strongest survived to reproduce. It also hindered the growth of Vulcan society, as men would not cooperate with others who could soon be their deadly enemies.

Pon farr occurred every seven years, regardless of physical condition or the Vulcan's social capacity to mate. Those who felt the "blood stirring" did not always have the luxury of being ceremonially joined to another Vulcan. In this case, they were free to choose their mate as they saw fit, hoping that they would be accepted. If a Vulcan was rejected or if his pon farr is allowed to continue without mating, he was said to suffer from plak tow, the "blood fever."

Plak tow was extremely dangerous and could result in death if not carefully controlled. Those around a plak tow sufferer would not speak his name out of courtesy. Ideally, this was the Vulcan way of "ignoring" the incident's occurrence at all, allowing the sufferer to endure with a minimum of stigma from other Vulcans. This habit caused many deaths because a series of intense meditations and rigorous physical disciplines was required to survive an unrequited plak tow, and even those methods were not always successful.

Vulcans reverted to ancient mating ceremonies during their pon far, attempting to cover their emotional abandon with logic and ancient ritual. The parents of both parties, as well as representatives from the School of Surak or other religious orders, oversaw the mating contract. This ritual began well before puberty, to minimize irrational behavior and channel it toward social cohesion rather than the rutting madness that split Vulcan apart during its prehistory.

At age seven, Vulcans ceremonially bonded telepathically with their betrothed. This tradition dated back to the early, violent days of Vulcan history, when great families arranged marriages for convenience and alliance. Some families, notably those who were old, wealthy, or influential, held to this tradition, called koon-ul, "the joining." At the proper time, both individuals felt the strange rise of emotions, the nearly uncontrollable urges and overwhelming passions, signaling the star of pon farr. Other less traditional, Vulcans simply relied on shon-ha'lock, "the engulfment," to direct them to a mate at the proper time. This experience, although similar to human "love at first sight," was seen by most Vulcans as a dangerous but necessary experience, much like kahs-wan.

During pon farr, the two betrothed parties met at a ceremonial ground (usually the one belonging to the more influential family) and engaged in the rite of Koon-ut-kal-if-fee, "marriage or challenge." Here, the bride had the right to demand that the groom win her in mortal combat with a champion. (Some versions of the ritual allowed the bride herself to serve as her own champion in combat.)

Koon-ut-kal-if-fee was a survivor of ancient Vulcan customs from times when the great houses used marriages as tests of military and political strength. In modern times, a formalized question replaced this rite and the ceremony goes forth as planned. Koon-ut so'-lik, the formal marriage proposal, could occur during the koon-ul, at the beginnning of the mutual pon farr, or even at the conclusion of the ceremony. Althought much of the pon farr was public, the deep emotional nature of the situation caused Vulcans to shield it from the prying eyes of other races.

This was but one aspect of the Vulcan traditional reserve, stemming from a cultural fear of emotional vulnerability and exposure called k'oh-nar.

Homeworld

The planet Vulcan (or Ti-Valka'ain, in the Vulcan language) was the second plant of six orbiting the orange star 40 Eridani A (part of a trinary system; the other two stars were too far away to be immediately visible in Vulcan's sky). Vulcan was a harsh, desert world (barely a quarter of the surface area was water) with a thin atmosphere and high (1.4 G) gravity. Vulcan's geology produced starkly upthrust mountains: craggy, inhospitable, and inspiring to the planet's ascetic logicians and mystics alike. The capital city of Vulcan, ShirKahr, was a low, stark city laid out in logical grids and quarters around an ancient oasis.

Culture

Art

Vulcan art was intensely formal and traditional. It was not intended to evoke an emotional response, unlike the art of other cultures or even of Vulcan's past. Rather, Vulcan art often projected a calmness conductive to meditative thought. This was especially common in arts such as interior design, landscaping, and gardening and in plastic arts such as painting, keethara block art, and sculpture. Other Vulcan arts actively stimulated thought; into this category fell arts such as poetry, song (instrumental music such as a Vulcan lute sonata often conveys mathematical or geometrical conapts), dance and games.

Vulcans saw the play of a game of strategy as both an intellectual exercise and a performance illustrating an intellectual exercise and a performance illustrating modes of thought. Earth games like chess, go, and ohwaree all had their devotees on Vulcan, but the ancient Vulcan game of kal-toh (a puzzle of balance and concentration) drew spectators from all over the planet for its Master tournaments.

The most radical arts, influenced by Centauran schools, seek to build alternate intellectual constructs, sought to build alternate intellectual constructs. These arts, centering on holography (or much less commonly ska-plak forgery), had gained little acceptance with deeply conservative average Vulcans.

Architecture

Vulcan architecture was as precise and logical as the Vulcan philosophy of life. Vulcans preferred clean, mathematical designs. Their buildings tended to be geometric, both in design and in layout. They built using a variety of stone, such as granite and marble, both found in great quantity on Vulcan. A third stone, unlike any on Earth, was known as bureki stone. It was volcanic in origin and was suitable for building in Vulcan's high temperatures, because it did not conduct heat well. Further, bureki was a more flexible stone than marble or granite and withstood the numerous tectonic shocks which occasionally rippled Vulcan's surface. Thus, many of Vulcan's older buildings have bureki stone foundations.

Because of the hotter climate, Vulcan buildings were generally open and spacious on the inside. Columnar verandas and courtyards surrounded large rooms with light paper or wood screen walls. On Vulcan, wood was considerably rarer than on Earth, so wooden constructions were as light as possible. When stone was used in interiors, it was primarily for support rather than as a primary building material. Wide, open walkways and lush gardens with running fountains and pools of clear water formed the heart of many Vulcan residences and large, netted windows caught cool breezes. Vulcans also tended to build "contemplative" spaces, places conducive to meditation and serenity.

Vulcan rooms were rarely covered with paintings or wall hangings. Instead, Vulcans preferred frescoes and murals painted directly onto the plain surface of the wall, whether or paper or stone. Vulcans enjoyed statuary and carving, from bas-reliefs to icons in niches. Simple tables and high-backed chairs, as well as shifting surfaces, furnished a typical Vulcan room. The floors were often stepped into daises and plateaus in order to separate a larger space into smaller parts.

Vulcan architecture, like Vulcan art, was designed to elicit thought, rather than an emotional response. Vulcan rooms were designed to use mathematical lines and forms to divide what appears to be empty space. Despite what non-Vulcans thought, Vulcans appreciated beauty. They admired art from other cultures, primarily because of the thoughts and insights that it provoked.

Cuisine

"In a strict scientific sense, Doctor, we all feed on death-even vegetarians."

-Spock ("Wolf in the Fold", Star Trek)

Those who did not comprehend its nature often called Vulcan food bland. Because their taste buds were more sensitive than those of humans or other races, Vulcans took great care in the preparation of food. Eating was a ritual that required time and precision, as did many Vulcan tasks. The exact nature and amount of spice and the perfect consistency of the food was very important.

Vulcans were strictly vegetarian and refused to eat meat even when traveling to other planets and visiting other cultures. Because they were used to the less spicy flavors of Vulcan food, they often have difficulty digesting the foods of many other cultures. Klingon food, for example, was totally repulsive to a Vulcan.

Because of their high sense of taste, Vulcan food tended to be delicately flavored. The emphasis was on enjoying the subtle flavors of the food and the beauty of its preparation, rather than on spices and harsh tastes. Some Vulcan dishes were adopted by other Federation races and were considered delicacies. Vulcan mocha was a beverage similar to coffee, but with a lighter taste. It was greenish brown in color (which some races found disconcerting) and was made from the berries of the g'teth plant. Vulcan mollusks were another delicacy, best sautéed in Rhombolian butter, although only a very few Vulcans eat mollusks. Plomeek soup, on the other hand, was a Vulcan staple (much like Russian borscht) which came in many regional varieties but rarely appealed to offworlders.

Vulcan port was similar to human brandy in color and consistency, but smelled more like flowers than alcohol. It was created from tree bark and had to be aged for nearly 50 years before it was considered palatable by Vulcans. Over 100 years ago, a bottle of Vulcan port bottled in the time of Surak was discovered in the ruins of an ancient Vulcan city. It rested in the T'sar Museum as one of the planetary treasures.

Another unusual cuisine type which Vulcans perfected were the ob'taree, or fasting meals. These high-vitamin, low-intake foods were designed to supplement a Vulcan's diet of water while he experienced a lengthy ritual fast, for purification or any other reason. Without these supplements, the Vulcan body would quickly wither and die during the most intense fasts. These foods were used by the Federation as required fare for scouting missions, as an individual was capable of surviving for many days on the barest amount of ob'taree, in danger or other extreme circumstances.

Religion

A common misconception was that all Vulcans were alike. To the Vulcan race, logic was almost a religion and it was filled with sects and schools of thought, each with widely differing opinions on nearly every subject. Vulcan religion was born in the fires of Vulcan's legendary and violent past, and it transformed over the centuries.

The Twilight of the Gods

The ancient religion of the Vulcans contained a wide pantheon of gods, each with a dual character. Sculptures and portraits of the gods revealed two natures: one wrathful, the other joyful. This duality pervaded ancient Vulcan belief for thousands of years.

At the Time of the Awakening, the focus of Vulcan thought turned away from deities and toward reason. It was a difficult turn, for unlike psionically deaf humanity, Vulcans had already done much research into the katra, the Vulcan soul, had already been developed, and power from it exploited.

Vulcan philosophers and holy men were forced to seek a compromise between reason and faith. They found it in the heart of their own religion. Vulcans stopped looking to the skies and mountains for their gods and started looking within. Traditionalist cults held to the worship of the Vulcan gods, but such Vulcans interact little with the technological utopia of the Federation.

Language and Names

Vulcan and Federation Standard was the dominant language spoken by Vulcans.

Vulcans used only given names, though in ritual greetings they added their parent's name (and sometimes more), as in Spock, son of Sarek, son of Solkar. Even Vulcans of extremely ancient and powerful families used no honorifics; aristocracy was illogical, and logically, anyone worth impressing should already know who you were without being reminded of your family's status.

Male Names

Aravik, Delvok, Kovar, Lojal, Muroc, Rekan, Salok, Sakar, Sakkath, Sanshiin, Sarek, Satelk, Satok, Savar, Savel, Sevek, Skon, Solkar, Solok, Sonak, Sopek, Soral, Soval, Spock, Stonn, Surak, Sutok, Sybok, Syrran, Tavin, Tekav, Tolaris, Tolek, Tuvok, Vanik, Velik, Vorik

Female Names

Falor, Metana, Perren, Saavik, Sakonna, Selar, Seleya, Senva, Simora, Sitak, T'Karra, T'Lann, T'Lar, T'Lara, T'Les, T'Mal, T'Paal, T'Pan, T'Para, T'Pau, T'Pel, T'Penna, T'Pera, T'Plana-hath, T'Pol, T'Pring, T'Rel, T'Shanik, T'Vran, Tallera, V'Lar, Valeris

Reference works used in creation of this page

The majority of this information & images has been taken from:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek
2. http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Vulcans
3. http://www.vulcanlanguage.com/
4. http://www.ditl.org/
5. http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/history.htm
6. http://www.geocities.com/shirkahr/VulcanTimeline.html
7. http://www.ccdump.org/
8. http://www.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php/Vulcan_(planet):_The_Provinces_of_Na’nam
9. http://www.geocities.com/shirkahr/ShirKahrCity.html
10. http://www.projectrho.com/vulsun.htm
11. “The Way of Kolinahr” by Last Unicorn Games
12. “Sarek” by A.C Crispin
13. “The IDIC Epidemic” by Jean Lorrah
14. “Spock’s World” by Diane Duane