Axanari

Hailing from the planet Axanar, the Axanari have the dubious honor of being the first species to fight a war with the Federation before joining it, a feat not repeated until the Ktarians tried to take over the Federation in 2368 and then gained probationary membership in 2369. The Axanari are known to be stubborn and at times impulsive, but are also well known for their keen senses and brilliant deductive abilities.

Axanar

The Planet Axanar and it's people are now a fundamental element of the Federation, though this was not always the case. Strategically located in the Beta Quadrant about half way between Earth and Cestus III, Axanar IV and its sister worlds are mineral rich sources of starship construction materials and the Axanar Station handles third echelon repairs for most of the local sub-quadrant. Starfleet Intelligence has one of its major analysis facilities on Axanar as well as it's Advanced Analyst School; likewise the Federation Intelligence Service has its Criminological Profiling school on Axanar - all of this a tribute to the startlingly common ability among Axanarians to intuitively unravel patterns in any sort of behavioral interaction or natural phenomena. 

Axanar IV orbits a Type B Super-Giant which is the source of much scientific interest in an of itself; most Type B stars have a much shorter life cycle than main sequence stars, the Blue star in the Axanar system has lived longer than any reasonable life expectancy, and this has been discovered in 2314 to be the result of a stable wormhole of sorts that is feeding a steady stream of helium and hydrogen into the star like a feeding tube, which has kept the star from proceeding to the Nova and then Black Hole stellar life cycle. Axanar itself is bathed in higher levels of background radiation and visitors to the planet must take precautions to avoid eventual radiation poisoning, a slightly more elevated situation than found on Vulcan. Axanar has two moon orbiting it's 1.13 G gravity well, Dortos and Marvaxan; class F and class L respectively, both of which are heavily colonized by the Axanari.

Panzan

Panzan is the capital city of Axanar, located alongside a crescent shaped bay on the equatorial isthmus between two of the planet's continents. An eclectic mixture of ancient historical districts and cutting edge modern Federation architectural zones, this city played host to the famous Axanar Peace Mission following Garth of Izar's defeat of Axanar in the Axanar rebellion in the 23rd century. The Axanari Museum of Culture has a selections of exhibits from all about the Federation and includes a rich section detailing the process of moving from a caste based hierarchy to a modern democracy by the Axanari after their joining of the United Federation of Planets. Dominating Federation Square is a 10 meter tall bronze statue of Namyl Ruhart -- the first Axanari to take a commission as a Starfleet officer.

Culture

As mentioned above, the Axanari claim a dubious distinction as the only people to have achieved full Federation membership after going to war with it. Today's Axanari see the Axanar Rebellion as both a hideous misunderstanding and a historical turning point for their people. For centuries, the Axanari lived within a rigid caste system in which the lower echelons were virtual slaves. The massive failure of the elite classes -- who misunderstood the Federation sufficiently to think they wanted some planets conquered for them, and compounding the mistake by refusing to back down when otherwise informed -- caused great social upheaval on Axanar. A bloodless revolution -- the Social Awakening, to use the Axanari term -- followed. They abolished their caste system almost overnight, chaotically selecting new leaders from all classes to negotiate peace terms with the Federation. After a period of proving their good intentions, the Axanari overcame the mistrust of the Federation Council; they gained admission to the UFP in 2265. Then they strove to prove themselves as worthy contributors, working to atone for the errors of their old leaders and old system. They had good reason to worry about the mistrust of their colleagues for any Starfleet at the time of their joining in his early thirties or older had likely been involved in the battle against the Axanar fleet and remembered comrades killed in the fighting. Furthermore, some Axanari carried around gigantic chips on both shoulders, always ready to take offense at perceived slights; hating the old regime that got them into the war with the Federation they went to great lengths to distance themselves angrily from it. Others sheepishly curried favor with other Federation species, hoping to prove that they were friendly, thoughtful and at all the reflexively warlike conclusion jumpers they had been made out to be.

The crucial blunder of the Axanari Rebellion may be rooted in Axanari physiology. A variety of large predators with highly sophisticated camouflage abilities hunted the ancient hominid ancestors of the Axanari. In response, the Axanari evolved acute perceptual abilities, especially in the area of pattern recognition. These senses allowed them to spot predators, and then assisted in the development of intelligence. Today's Axanari see, hear and smell better than most intelligent species. Their brains process perceptual information at a phenomenal rate, allowing them to identify the hidden patterns in what they see. This process looks like amazing intuition to others, but there's nothing psychic about it. Alas, if there's no pattern to detect, they'll often find one anyway. No Axanari language contains the phrase "I don't know." When you ask an Axanari a question, he makes a definite judgment one way or the other, even if insufficient evidence exists to draw any conclusion. He then treats his inference as conclusive fact and stands on it with absolute certitude. 

This sense of certitude led Axanar's peoples into violent conflict, which ultimately led to the forcible institution of the old caste system. The Axanari faced an identity crisis after joining the Federation; their changing social system and attitudes didn't provide the bedrock certainty the Axanari brain craved. Many Axanari felt lost, desperately searching for new certainties -- any many turned to the Federation and Starfleet to provide these irrefutable truths. Over the following decades the Axanari embraced the Federation Constitution and the Code of Honor of the Starfleet until it became the replacement philosophy for their entire culture. The Axanari traits of stubbornness and impulsiveness are channeled through the driving points -- they stubbornly resist any changes to the Constitution or Federation Constitutional procedures and they seldom hesitate to take an action outlined as appropriate by Federation Law or Starfleet procedure respectively -- consequently the Axanari provide a population disproportionate number of members to Starfleet, the Federation Merchant Marines, the F.I.S. and other government service professions. Another singular note -- almost every Federation member embassy has at least one Axanari political analyst on staff -- even the Vulcans, who find the intuitive leaps of Axanari troubling for their lack of logical establishment of facts almost as off-putting as the uncanny accuracy of their conclusions. 

Axanari throw themselves into any task with gusto, but perhaps not much forethought. They fight eagerly, preferring to hurtle pell-mell into their foes, scattering them through sheer aggression and enthusiasm. They may have thrown off the caste system, but centuries of ingrained behavior don't vanish overnight, so they respond almost joyfully to the exercise of strong authority. Woe betide the officer, however, who attempts to order an Axanarian to do something that contravenes his personal list of certitudes. 

Relations with other Federation races are most notable when considering the Andorians, the Vulcans and the Tellarites. The Vulcans find the Axanari's exuberance and impulsiveness disturbing to say the least; and are frustrated by the Axanari intractability when a position is logically put forward that does not comply with their own assessment. Likewise, the Vulcans find the Axanari ability to find the solution to a problem without proceeding through a step by step proof to reach the conclusion illogical -- but the accuracy of their conclusions without the support of obvious proofs fascinating. The Tellarites enjoy working with Axanari who are quick to reach a decisive position, and don't care if a Tellarite spends hours arguing the Devil's advocate position where many other species lose patience with the continued argumentativeness in short order. The relationship with the Andorians is unusual to most outsiders as they would find the passionate natures and willingness to use direct action of both species a common ground -- to the contrary, the Axanari have never really forgiven the Andorians for their flip-flopping position regarding Axanari membership in the Federation and their eagerness to take up arms against the Axanari in what lead to the Axanari Rebellion. More pointedly, an Axanari is unlikely to ever back down from an opportunity to squabble with an Andorian as long as this squabbling doesn't violate the tenants of their profession in some manner.

The Axanar Rebellion

The Federation faced its worst internal crisis since its foundation over the issue of Axanar's application for UFP membership. The Axanari, a proud people with a rigidly hierarchical social structure, all but demanded membership in 2252. They pointed to their interstellar spaceships and tight sense of discipline as hallmarks of their development as a civilization. Their application split the Federation Council. One faction, led by the Centaurans and Vulcans, argued that the Axanari class system was too oppressive; its lower castes lived in virtual slavery. Besides, the Axanari didn't technically qualify for membership because their ships weren't propelled by true warp technology. Other members, spearheaded by the Tellarites and Andorians, argued that the Federation had never turned down a willing applicant, and that it had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of would-be members. 

Axanari leaders took the questions about its status as an outright rejection, and, offended by the mention of their inferior technology, decided to prove their worthiness. They conquered several neighboring worlds and presented them to the Federation Council as tribute. Ambassador T'Pavis threatened to pull Vulcan out of the Federation if Axanari aggression went unchecked, and Andorian Admiral Farsha, seeing a grave threat, added his arguments to hers. This stand swayed the more cautious members; a fleet of ships, commanded by Garth of Izar, hurtled toward Axanar to demand their immediate withdrawal from the conquered planets. This further offended the Axanar who refused to stand down. A series of deadly engagements followed, pitting the numerically superior Axanari fleet against the more advanced Constitution class vessels of the Federation. Garth's tactical brilliance, bolstered by the bravery of his Starfleet crews, carried the day for the Federation. The Axanari surrendered and abandoned their conquered planets. Their leaders resigned in disgrace, leaving new officials to negotiate peace terms with the Federation. Captain Garth proved as gifted in peace as he was in war, negotiating an agreement which laid the grounds for a future alliance. One of the junior members of the Federation delegation was a cadet on the U.S.S. Republic, one James T. Kirk. Kirk, despite his low rank, ended up taking a decisive role, uncovering an old-guard assassination plot against the new Axanari leadership. Kirk was awarded the Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission during the treaty signing ceremony.

Government

The Axanari government is a Representative Democracy, or a republic. The government has five tiers of organization, the civic level; the district level; the planetary level; the Republic level and finally the Federation body itself. The Republic level directs the efforts of Axanar and all it's colonial holdings as well as selecting the Ambassador to the Federation from Axanar -- while it does coordinate with Starfleet in the operation of it's automated defense systems, the Axanar do not maintain a defense force; instead, like the Humans, devoting all resources and personnel that would have gone into such a thing into Starfleet itself. It should be noted that though Axanari temperament keeps their numbers in the officer corps below the Federation racial average; they make a disproportionate amount of the enlisted population -- particularly in the Starfleet Ground Forces. The Axanari republic constitution is closely modeled off that of the Federation Constitution itself -- though the Axanar have done well preserving their artistic and craft heritage since joining the Federation, philosophically and politically they have become as Federation homogenized as the Humans and the Tibornese.

Religion

The Axanari cast aside their original primitive religious practices during the series of brutal tribal struggles that lead to the creation of their caste system. The caste leaders then provided a new set of spiritual teachings that reinforced the caste system itself, but this too was shattered by the stunning defeat of the Axanari at the hands of the nascent Federation. Axanari spiritual practices now are more a matter of honoring ancient rituals around seasons and life cycles, with additional factors taken on individually by an Axanari who finds the spiritual path of another species to his or her liking. Those Axanari who do opt to take the life of a religious practitioner or a mystic are as unshakably devoted to their faith's tenets as one raised in the faith since birth -- most Axanari fulfill their need for spirituality or a philosophical anchor by practicing the ideals of the Federation and or Starfleet like others would practice a religion. 

One lingering spiritual tenet left over from the most ancient days of the Axanari that is still held today is bound up in their hair. No Axanari adult would ever sheer their long hair, not even for Starfleet, which is why the Axanari are allowed by Regulation to wear their hair in length and style and many would consider faddish or even an inconvenience. The hair of an Axanari is a reflection of their personal style and their connection to their ancient roots -- any biography written by an Axanari contains detailed notes about the style of the subject's hair at the time of their individual acheivements as to the Axanari -- hair style is an indicator of the state of mind and spiritual wellness of the subject. That Vulcans almost all favor the same severe hair style is a subject of much comment by the Axanari; that Human and Centauran and Betazoid males tend to go bald as they age is to the Axanari a statement that those species artificially outlive their natural lifespans as active and vital beings. One would expect that this embrace of long hair would put the Axanari at odds with the Bolians who shave their hair as a symbol of their warrior heritage -- but such is not the case at all. Bolians have a knack for barbering and an appreciation of hair styles, Axanari love styling their hair -- so the Axanari stance is to respect the Bolians for their coiffure sacrifices and assume they would all have long luxurious hair if only they could give up their warlike ways.

Physical Characteristics

Physically, Axanari are tall humanoids with the average height being 2 meters and many growing much taller. A fine, whitish, dust like secretion covers their skin and protects them from the high radiation levels of their home world. Axanari body and head hair comes in an array of bright colors unknown to the Human head: violet, electric blue, Kelly green, fire-engine red and orange-peel orange. Head hair is long and thick, allowing Axanari to twist and braid it into tall, sculptured castles of hair. Perhaps by contrast, they wear long, plainly decorated robes or combinations of scholars robes, vests and loose fitting pants. Axanari senses are highly developed compared to other Federation species from vision, hearing and even smell and taste they pick up subtle nuances missed by most, and this combined with their racial tendency toward advanced pattern awareness facilitates them reading any situation with more speed and acuity than those around them.

Names

Some example Axanari names are provided below: 

Family Names: Dallah, Koquasi, Ma, Ruhart, Roxsati 

Male Names: Dura, Namyl, Prin, Qachen, Quasa 

Female Names: Alsazha, Gilqara, Moorilin, Sillana, Yrshama

Proverbs

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. 

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. 

Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes. 

Married couples tell each other a thousand things without speech. 

One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked.