Difference between revisions of "Eternal Doctrine"

Revision as of 09:12, 11 November 2007

Ur-Quan Topics
Species
Ur-Quan Kzer-Za • Kohr-Ah
History
Sentient Milieu Slave Revolt Slave War The Words Doctrinal Conflict Second Doctrinal War
Personalities
Kzer-Za • Kohr-Ah
Philosophies
Path of Now and Forever Ur-Quan Hierarchy • Battle Thrall • Fallow Slave • Oath of Fealty Eternal Doctrine Death March Doctrinal Conflict
Ships
Dreadnought • Marauder • Sa-Matra
Science
Excruciator • Slave Shield • Talking Pet

The Eternal Doctrine is how most species refer to the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah's alternative philosophy to the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za's Path of Now and Forever. It stipulates that to eliminate any future threat to Ur-Quan freedom all non-Ur-Quan sentient species are to be exterminated. While the Kzer-Za, the Melnorme, and most Human sources use the term "Eternal Doctrine", the Kohr-Ah themselves never use this phrase to describe their philosophy, instead calling it the "Path of Now and Forever".

History

Origin

The Black Ur-Quan, as the warriors they were, found themselves unable to accept the Path of Now and Forever created by the Kzer-Za following the victory of the Ur-Quan slave revolt. A charismatic leader, Kohr-Ah, stepped forward to declare a doctrine that renounced the Kzer-Za's plan to mimic the Dnyarri in becoming slave masters, which the Black Ur-Quan saw as demeaning and useless. Instead, they decided to take the bold step of simply destroying sentient life where they found it.

The Words

The first race to fall victim to this philosophy was the Yuptar, a former member of the Sentient Milieu, only just freed from the Dnyarri Slave Empire by the Ur-Quan's revolt. After incinerating the Yuptar homeworld, the Kohr-Ah traveled to the homeworld of the only other remaining Milieu race, the Mael-Num. However, the Mael-Num, having learned of the Kohr-Ah's intention and unable to resist them, broadcast a single, plaintive plea for an explanation. The Kohr-Ah were so moved by this helpless gesture that they felt compelled to halt their advance and argue the case for their beliefs to the Mael-Num. While they were thus detained the Kzer-Za intercepted their advance and began contradicting their argument, making a case for their Path of Now and Forever and stating their absolute opposition to the crime of genocide. In the confusion, the two opposing factions broke out into the first Doctrinal War, and the Mael-Num escaped.

Such was the emotional impact of the Mael-Num's plea, known to them simply as "the Words", on the two Ur-Quan cultures that many generations later, any repetition of the Words — usually translated in English as "Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why are you doing this thing?" — is enough to force the Ur-Quan to halt their actions and justify them, though the Kohr-Ah's emotional reaction to the Words seems far more intense than the Kzer-Za's.

After the Doctrinal War

After the Kohr-Ah lost the first Doctrinal War, they were forced to let the Kzer-Za pursue their Path of Now and Forever on a spinward path through the galaxy without interference, while they traveled anti-spinward pursuing what they themselves refer to as the Path of Now and Forever but the Kzer-Za refer to only as the Eternal Doctrine. The Kohr-Ah have ruthlessly slaughtered over five thousand civilizations throughout a large portion of the galaxy before they are stopped, at the end of Star Control II, by the combined might of the New Alliance of Free Stars.

Beliefs

The Kohr-Ah's Eternal Doctrine is much simpler and less subtle than the byzantine Path of Now and Forever of their "effete" Kzer-Za brothers. The Kohr-Ah religiously ignore any pragmatical or moral objections to their philosophy, which they consider self-justifying, needing no confirmation. They also believe in reincarnation, that all sentient life is in a constant cycle of death and rebirth into new forms. Since the death of an individual is the not the end of its existence, termination of life has no adverse effects, but in fact provides a sentient being with an opportunity to be reborn as an Ur-Quan. All other forms of life (with the exception of the Kzer-Za, their "partners in the eternal conflict", the only race they consider an enemy) are considered "filth" — possible future threats to the freedom and security of the Ur-Quan species — or "threats" — a status that The Captain may receive after destroying a certain number of Marauders. Both filth and threats must be cleansed. The only exception allowed is the case of an alien race which agrees to kill every non-Ur-Quan sentient life-form, including themselves — a condition that no one has ever accepted.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 The '''Eternal Doctrine''' is how most species refer to the [[Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah]]'s alternative philosophy to the [[Ur-Quan Kzer-Za]]'s [[Path of Now and Forever]]. It stipulates that to eliminate any future threat to [[Ur-Quan]] freedom all non-Ur-Quan sentient species are to be exterminated. While the Kzer-Za, the [[Melnorme]], and most [[Human]] sources use the term "Eternal Doctrine", the Kohr-Ah themselves never use this phrase to describe their philosophy, instead calling it the "Path of Now and Forever".
-The Black Ur-Quan, lacking the subtlety of thought of the Green Kzer-Za caste or perhaps simply finding the Dnyarri-created administrative hierarchy inherently untrustworthy or distasteful, found themselves unable to accept the Path of Now and Forever created by the Kzer-Za following the victory of the [[Ur-Quan#Slave Revolt|Ur-Quan Slave Revolt]]. A charismatic leader, [[Kohr-Ah (Character)|Kohr-Ah]], stepped forward to declare a new interpretation of the Path of Now and Forever that renounced the Kzer-Za's plan to mimic the Dnyarri in becoming slave masters, which the Black Ur-Quan saw as despicable. Instead, seeing the Kzer-Za's altruistic concern for the inferior races as superfluous, they would take the bold step of simply destroying sentient life where they found it.
+==History==
+===Origin===
-The first race to fall victim to this philosophy was the [[Yuptar]], a former member of the [[Sentient Milieu]], only just freed from the [[Ur-Quan#Dnyarri Slave Empire|Dnyarri Slave Empire]] by the Ur-Quan's revolt. After burning the Yuptar homeworld from orbit, the Kohr-Ah traveled to the homeworld of another of the last remaining Milieu race, the [[Mael-Num]]. However, the Mael-Num, having learned of the Kohr-Ah's intention and unable to resist them, broadcast a single, plaintive plea for an explanation. The Kohr-Ah, perhaps still emotionally vulnerable, were so moved by this helpless gesture that they felt compelled to halt their advance and argue the case for their beliefs to the Mael-Num. While they were thus detained the Kzer-Za intercepted their advance and began contradicting their argument, making a case for the original Path of Now and Forever and stating their absolute opposition to the crime of genocide. In the confusion, the two opposing factions broke out into the first Doctrinal War, and the Mael-Num escaped.
+The Black Ur-Quan, as the warriors they were, found themselves unable to accept the Path of Now and Forever created by the Kzer-Za following the victory of the [[Ur-Quan#Slave Revolt|Ur-Quan slave revolt]]. A charismatic leader, [[Kohr-Ah (Character)|Kohr-Ah]], stepped forward to declare a doctrine that renounced the Kzer-Za's plan to mimic the Dnyarri in becoming slave masters, which the Black Ur-Quan saw as demeaning and useless. Instead, they decided to take the bold step of simply destroying sentient life where they found it.
-This became a defining moment for the two parties, and both saw the Mael-Num's plea, known to them simply as "[[the Words]]", as a fundamental challenge of legitimacy to the two doctrines to which both sides were obligated to respond. Such was the emotional attachment to the Words within the two Ur-Quan cultures that many generations later, any repetition of the Words &mdash; usually translated in English as "Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why are you doing this thing?" &mdash; is enough to force the Ur-Quan to halt their actions and justify them, though the Kohr-Ah's emotional reaction to the Words are far more intense than the Kzer-Za's.
+===The Words===
-After the Kohr-Ah lost the first [[Doctrinal War]], they were forced to give up their claim to the [[Sa-Matra]] and let the Kzer-Za pursue their Path of Now and Forever on a spinward path through the galaxy without interference, while they traveled anti-spinward pursuing what they themselves refer to as the Path of Now and Forever but the Kzer-Za refer to only as the Eternal Doctrine. Pausing only to give the barest of warnings to each species they encounter, giving them an opportunity to invoke the Words and hear an explanation of their deaths beforehand, they have ruthlessly slaughtered over five thousand civilizations throughout one whole half of the circumference of the galaxy before they are stopped at the Battle of the Sa-Matra at the end of [[Star Control II]] by the [[New Alliance of Free Stars]]. What form the Eternal Doctrine will have, given the crushing and disorienting defeat of the Ur-Quan race and unseating of their place as the galaxy's dominant life form, is unknown.
+The first race to fall victim to this philosophy was the [[Yuptar]], a former member of the [[Sentient Milieu]], only just freed from the [[Ur-Quan#Dnyarri Slave Empire|Dnyarri Slave Empire]] by the Ur-Quan's revolt. After incinerating the Yuptar homeworld, the Kohr-Ah traveled to the homeworld of the only other remaining Milieu race, the [[Mael-Num]]. However, the Mael-Num, having learned of the Kohr-Ah's intention and unable to resist them, broadcast a single, plaintive plea for an explanation. The Kohr-Ah were so moved by this helpless gesture that they felt compelled to halt their advance and argue the case for their beliefs to the Mael-Num. While they were thus detained the Kzer-Za intercepted their advance and began contradicting their argument, making a case for their Path of Now and Forever and stating their absolute opposition to the crime of genocide. In the confusion, the two opposing factions broke out into the first Doctrinal War, and the Mael-Num escaped.
-The Kohr-Ah's Eternal Doctrine is much simpler and less subtle and nuanced than the Path of Now and Forever; the Kohr-Ah seem to pride themselves on the straightforwardness of their policy toward alien races compared to the byzantine Hierarchy system established by the Kzer-Za, and pride themselves on remaining the proactive, clear-minded and uncontaminated Effectuators they had been in the Dnyarri Slave Empire, as opposed to their "effete" brothers. They roundly counter moral objections to their philosophy &mdash; that it could not be the proper destiny of any living species to be utterly destroyed &mdash; with an odd belief system similar to certain religions. They believe in the transmigration of souls, that all sentient life is in a constant cycle of death and rebirth into new forms. Since the death of an individual is the not the end of its existence, termination of life has no adverse effects, but in fact provides an intelligent being with an opportunity to be reborn in a new, hopefully Ur-Quan form. All other forms of life are threats to the freedom and security of the Ur-Quan species, and therefore all manifestions of non-Ur-Quan intelligence are explicitly unacceptable and implicitly inferior. Thus purifying the universe of other races so that their souls might have a greater chance to become Ur-Quan is in fact a sacred duty.
+Such was the emotional impact of the Mael-Num's plea, known to them simply as "[[the Words]]", on the two Ur-Quan cultures that many generations later, any repetition of the Words &mdash; usually translated in English as "Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why are you doing this thing?" &mdash; is enough to force the Ur-Quan to halt their actions and justify them, though the Kohr-Ah's emotional reaction to the Words seems far more intense than the Kzer-Za's.
-Compared to the Kzer-Za's Path of Now and Forever the Eternal Doctrine is almost instinctive in its simplicity; the Kohr-Ah simplified their philosophy to almost nothing but a knee-jerk urge to destroy, expressed in their terminology as the high duty of "Cleansing" the galaxy of "Filth", a worldview rivaling the [[Mycon]]'s in its single-mindedness. Filth is not the only status that the Kohr-Ah give to other races. If [[The Captain]] destroys a few [[Marauder]]s, he gets a pseudo-promotion: "You are no longer filth.  You are a threat. Threats deserve more attention than filth." The more thoughtful Kzer-Za, though their own culture could not allow them to conceive of the Kohr-Ah as anything less worthy of respect than themselves, saw them as an enemy to be contained rather than peers to be reasoned with.
+===After the Doctrinal War===
+After the Kohr-Ah lost the first [[Doctrinal War]], they were forced to let the Kzer-Za pursue their Path of Now and Forever on a spinward path through the galaxy without interference, while they traveled anti-spinward pursuing what they themselves refer to as the Path of Now and Forever but the Kzer-Za refer to only as the Eternal Doctrine. The Kohr-Ah have ruthlessly slaughtered over five thousand civilizations throughout a large portion of the galaxy before they are stopped, at the end of [[Star Control II]], by the combined might of the [[New Alliance of Free Stars]].
+==Beliefs==
+The Kohr-Ah's Eternal Doctrine is much simpler and less subtle than the byzantine Path of Now and Forever of their "effete" Kzer-Za brothers. The Kohr-Ah religiously ignore any pragmatical or moral objections to their philosophy, which they consider self-justifying, needing no confirmation. They also believe in reincarnation, that all sentient life is in a constant cycle of death and rebirth into new forms. Since the death of an individual is the not the end of its existence, termination of life has no adverse effects, but in fact provides a sentient being with an opportunity to be reborn as an Ur-Quan. All other forms of life (with the exception of the Kzer-Za, their "partners in the eternal conflict", the only race they consider an enemy) are considered "filth" &mdash; possible future threats to the freedom and security of the Ur-Quan species &mdash; or "threats" &mdash; a status that [[The Captain]] may receive after destroying a certain number <!-- How many? --> of [[Marauder]]s. Both filth and threats must be cleansed. The only exception allowed is the case of an alien race which agrees to kill every non-Ur-Quan sentient life-form, including themselves &mdash; a condition that no one has ever accepted.
 [[Category:Kohr-Ah]]