Pe'khdar

The Pe'khdar were a humanoid species that originated on the planet Dar Klatus in the, located in the Beta Quadrant. However, due to the destruction of their homeworld they now inhabit space stations throughout the Dar Klatus system.

Physiology
The Pe'khdar were, oxygen-breathing reptomammals that evolved in gravity 1.42 times as strong as Earth's. Though , they preferred temperatures slightly warmer than humans. Like other humanoids, their evolution was influenced by the.

Externally the Pe'khdar were recognizable by having skin tones ranging from gold to pale green, several back-swept horns, six nostrils, and eyes with vertical pupils. Males averaged 2.1 meters and 95 kilograms, while females averaged 1.9 meters and 77 kilograms. Their hands and feet had short claws, and their muscles had a high percentage of.

Both sexes grew hair in a topknot at the back of the head, and males often grew facial hair.

They reproduced sexually and gave birth to live young.

Society and Culture
Pe'khdar society was slightly and heavily clan-oriented. In fact the Pe'khdar generally valued their clan, and especially its children, above all else. This extended family group controlled a territory called a clanhold, which in modern times meant a single space habitat and attendant starships. Clans averaged 2,500 members, and there were 427 clans in 2409.

Like most humanoids the Pe'khdar strongly discouraged mating between closely related individuals, and keeping track of the complex web of genetic relationships within and outside of a clan was one of the secondary responsibilities of clan elders. The Pe'khdar did not practice anything resembling, although a member who had a child with someone from another clan was considered "blood-tied" to the other parent's clan. In inter-clan matings the child was considered members of the mother's clan, and the clan's entire adult population was considered collectively responsible for raising all children born to clan women. They were considered legal adults at age 16.

Pe'khdar names consisted of a prefix, a syllabic break represented in with an apostrophe, and a suffix. The prefix was akin to a given name, while the suffix was passed down from their same-sex parent. Therefore Dul'krah, Clan Korekh meant to something akin to "Dul, of the line of Krah, of Clan Korekh".

Religion
The primary Pe'khdar religion was bitheistic, worshiping a sun goddess named Chul'teth and a night god named Vo'tak. Practices and rites varied somewhat by clan but most ceremonies for Chul'teth involved burnt sacrifices of fashkh herbs, while Vo'tak was honored with blood sacrifice. Other minor religions were represented, and since contact was made with the Federation other faiths made inroads.

Military and Justice
The Pe'khdar military and security agencies were fused into one body known as the Ver Eshalakh, a name meaning something akin to "the truth is mighty". The Ver Eshalakh were similar to Starfleet in that they had many functions, including operating what military starships the species owned, but state security was chief among them. All clans were required to contribute a minimum of four percent of their adult population to the agency.

The Ver Eshalakh had the authority to investigate any and all crimes reported to it regardless of where the trail led. In most cases the investigating security officer(s) would deliver their findings to the clan's Council of Elders, who would adjudicate the case and hand down a sentence. The most common sentence was hard labor for varying periods of time, but in the case of sexual crimes, murder, and any major violent crime committed by a clan elder, the only sentence was death. If a clan elder or chief was conclusively implicated in such manner the investigating officer had the authority to kill the perpetrator on the spot.

Due to the unusual space-based nature of the Pe'khdar Nation the Ver Eshalakh's spacefleet was not absorbed into Starfleet after the species was admitted into the Federation in 2397.

Pe'khdar law allowed for a ritualized form of revenge killing called trakh'pash. For the most part the right to declare trakh'pash was restricted to close relatives (up to two degrees' separation). However, any member of a clan could declare it for the death of a child, and Ver Eshalakh officers could declare it for the death of a fellow officer.

Government
The Pe'khdar Nation was ruled by the Council of Clans, a body composed of the chiefs of all 427 clans that met twice weekly and made its decisions democratically. Each chief was in turn elected from the members of the clan's Council of Elders, a body composed of any clan members of sound mind older than age 85 who wished to sit on it.

Technology
Due to the destruction of their homeworld in a nuclear war, the Pe'khdar purchased most of their advanced technology from the Ferengi Alliance and other neutral powers such as the. Their newest warp drives are Romulan in origin, from reverse-engineering one of a pair of outdated warbirds the Council of Clans purchased from the Romulan Star Empire in 2371.

History
Little is known of the period before what the Pe'khdar call the Great Clan War, but Federation archaeologists and historians have pieced some details together. By the early 22nd century the Pe'khdar were a of roughly 12 billion people with sublight space travel powered by  that had a couple of asteroid mining colonies. Resource pressures led to the formation of at least three great rival blocs of clans. In approximately 2115 the Pe'khdar launched their first warp-capable vessel, attracting the attention of the nearby Romulan Star Empire, but less than a year later the inter-clan tensions exploded into violence. The subsequent killed 99.5% of the population, and most of the 60 million survivors died of starvation, radiation-related illness, or both in subsequent years. By the time a Ferengi starship en route to Romulan space happened upon the planet in 2230 there were only 500,000 Pe'khdar remaining on Dar Klatus.

The Council of Clans begged the Ferengi Alliance for assistance, eventually working out a deal with Drog whereby the Pe'khdar would sell the planet and its considerable unexploited pockets of duranium, dilithium, and heavy elements to the Drog Mining Consortium in exchange for Ferengi medical technology and a lift off the planet. The Ferengi supplied technology and engineers to construct the first Pe'khdar space habitats, and the species soon found that they could support themselves reasonably well in the galactic economy by exporting refined ores from their asteroid fields and dwarf planets, and their population began to grow.

In 2372 the peace of the Dar Klatus system was disrupted when a Klingon Defense Force battle group arrived with the intent of seizing the system as a forward base to strike against Starfleet bases in the. The Ver Eshalakh's fleet of cutters and its single outdated  warbird Rendakh proved no match for the Klingon warships. Seventeen cutters and 85 Ver Eshalakh sacrificed themselves to hold off the IKS thlab long enough for the Rendakh to escape into warp. She reached the Federation-controlled and requested assistance, and Starfleet dispatched a task force led by Vice Admiral Chovex aboard the USS Vigilant. After a pitched battle the task force and the Rendakh drove the Klingons out of the system.

Admiral Chovex opened formal proceedings with the Council of Clans a week later, and by the end of the year the Federation and the Pe'khdar were trading partners. In 2389 they opened negotiations to join the Federation, and were formally accepted in 2397. Approximately 1,500 Ver Eshalakh officers were accepted into Starfleet.