betazoids

betazoids                                                               02Nov15
  
  Physical notes:
  
  Betazoids physically resemble humans with only a few differences. The only 
  noticable difference to the naked eye, are the solid-colored dark pupils of 
  their eyes. Other physiological differences are not so obvious. Betazoids
  have a 10 month gestation period, and Betazoid women are not considered to 
  be 'mature' until they reach the human equivalent of their forties, which
  coincides with the female Betazoid 'Phase', at which time an unmarried woman 
  is expected to seek and find a mate.
  
Continued in: betazoids2                                             Top: theme
betazoids2                                                              02Nov15
  
  Culture and Society:
    
  Betazoid society, by nature of their telepathy, is very open, outgoing and 
  friendly. They genuinely enjoy helping others. This, as well as their 
  telepathic/empathic abilites, makes them excellent counselors and diplomatic 
  negotiators.  The Starfleet position of Ship's Counselor was created with 
  Betazoids in mind.  They have very few prejudices, however they tend to 
  dislike, or at least distrust, any race whose mind they cannot understand.
  Betazoids also have a strong dislike for liars, due to their own strong sense
  of honesty. They themselves seldom lie; after all, what is the point of 
  telling a lie when your society around you can read your mind?
  
Continued in: betazoids3                                             Top: theme
betazoids3                                                              02Nov15
  
  Betazoid society is also matriarchal, though they do not discriminate based 
  on gender.  They practice a traditional style of marriage arrangement called 
  'genetic bonding', where children are promised to each other for marriage by 
  their parents at birth. Politics plays a role in this selection, but 
  typically such genetic pairing has been for the purpose of creating healthy,
  intelligent children.  As part of this, or perhaps because of it, marriage 
  and love are viewed differently.  Betazoids are known for their ability to 
  love more than one person, without losing their ability to love their mate.
  They also are not bound by their marriage customs.  These traditions are 
  practiced most strongly among the noble houses, or First Houses, which hold
  the political clout of Betazoid society.  Marriage ceremonies are typically
  performed in the nude, as a symbol of the culture's openness and high regard 
  for love.  Presently, many young Betazoids of recent generations have started
  to refuse their genetically chosen mates, to marry their 'Imzadi'. The term 
  Imzadi loosely translates to 'beloved', yet goes far beyond that. The 
  relationship often also involves a psychic bond between the two. It is a 
  deep connection which lasts a lifetime, regardless of what direction each 
  partner takes in life. Once Imzadi, always Imzadi.
   
Continued in: betazoids4                                             Top: theme
betazoids4                                                              02Nov15
  
  Betazoid Telepathy:
  
  The Betazoid mind contains the paracortex, which is the their telepathic 
  lobe. It is very resiliant to injury, and contains the metaconciousness, a
  trauma filter. Psilosynine, a nerotransmitter, is involved in processing 
  telepathic 'signals' to the paracortex.  Betazoids are not born with 
  telepathy; rather, it develops as they come into adolesence.  Occasionally
  a child encounters their telepathy at an early age, or may be over-empathic,
  and these children must be counciled and trained to avoid insanity. 
  Betazoids are unable to read the minds of Breen and Ferengi, probably due to
  the physical make up of those race's brains. As they are with any person or
  race that they cannot understand, they are typically uneasy around these 
  races.
  
Continued in: betazoids5                                             Top: theme
betazoids5                                                              02Nov15
  
  Betazoids also have a strict code of ethics regarding use of their telepathy 
  with alien species, known as the Code of Sentience. Much of this stems from 
  their history. When Betazoids first ventured into space, they made contact
  with the Terabin, the people of a nearby world.  The relationship was 
  friendly at first, however the Terabin began to mistrust Betazoids for their
  use of telepathy. Betazoids on the Terabin worlds were rounded up and placed
  in internment camps, and a brief war insued. As a result of that first 
  encounter, Betazoids use their telepathy with extreme discretion.  They would
  never use their abilities to invade another person's private thoughts, and 
  what they do see remains private unless absolutely necessary.  Betazoid 
  telepathy and empathy are also typically receptive in regards to 
  non-telepathic species. While projecting directed thoughts to a 
  non-telepath is possible, it requires concentration, and often a receptive
  mind to be successful.  Naturally, some Betazoids are stronger telepathically
  than others and would have greater success; however, the Code of Sentience,
  the Betazoid code of ethics regarding telepathy, also applies. It would be 
  just as unethical to intrude into another being's mind to -leave- a thought, 
  as it would be to invade and read their private thoughts.
  
Continued in: betazoids6                                             Top: theme
betazoids6                                                              02Nov15
  
  Betazoids and Anomaly's code:
  
  Anomaly has several commands coded with the Betazoid, and other empathic 
  races, in mind. See +help think, +help feel, news psionics, and +info 
  psionics for details on those commands. Most of these pertain to -receptive-
  telepathy. However, there is also the ability to project thoughts and 
  feelings to a specific individual. From one Betazoid to another is natural. 
  But projecting a thought or feeling to a non-telepath isn't so easy.  In 
  most cases, the Betazoid character would need to be in the same area or room
  as the character they are attempting to project to. Why? Imagine, if your
  character were human, being in the sonic shower or otherwise engaged, and 
  suddenly without warning, a particular Betazoid in the Mall projects a 
  thought, unbidden and unexpected, into your mind. So much for Betazoid 
  ethics! They were just violated. Lets hope it was an emergency. As a 
  Betazoid, you would typically want the person you're attempting to 
  communicate with to be receptive to your attempt. Being within eye contact 
  is usually best. In addition, there is no guarantee your projected thought 
  will be recieved. The target character's mind may be intently locked on 
  something else, or other factors may be in play. There is also a question of
  ability. A Betazoid with a projective skill of 3 is more likely to be 
  successful than one with an ability of 1.
  
Please see: game, psionics, imzadi                                   Top: theme