Betazoids

Betazoids are from the planet Betazed, and are characterized by their telepathic abilities, enabling them to read most minds. Their strong ethics, however, prevent them from abusing their powers. They are peaceful and altruistic, and usually become ship's counselors, doctors, or diplomats.

Betazed

The planet of Betazed is highly respected in the Federation, as they have achieved a significant degree of importance among Federation affairs. Most notable are the biennial Trade Agreements Conference that is hosted there, where the economic strengths of worlds are weighed against the Federation credit. The negotiations are fierce, but the Betazoid's shrewd but fair dealings have earned them a great amount of respect from their Federation peers.

Betazed itself is in a system of five planets, orbiting a yellow star. Betazed is the second planet in the system, and has three small moons, named Avandar, Merandar, and Keylandar. It has a gravity of 1.0 G. It is Oxygen-Nitrogen in atmosphere, with a pressure equivalent to Earth's. The climate ranges from tropical to arctic. There is no weather-control technology due to the Betazoid belief that it is unnecessarily tampering with nature.

Medara

Medara is the capital city of Betazed, and it is located on the largest of the continents. The city's districts branch out like the spokes of a great wheel, and in the center of this is the Plaza of Contemplation - the center of Betazoid spirituality. The design is greatly integrated into the natural environment, and a thriving swampy ecosystem exists side-by-side with the Betazoid inhabitants. Medara is also a sacred city, sporting many holy places and shrines. Many of the Great Houses tend to these with great care, as many of their members have religious duties as well as temporal ones.

Just outside the city's center are the governmental and bureaucratic complexes. The planet is governed from this location by The Ruling Council.  The Great Houses of Betazed also maintain residences in this district.

Beyond the govermental complexes are commercial, industrial, and eventually residential districts.

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?

The great noble houses of Betazed still maintain a privileged status on Betazed, even though their power has waned over the years. Their origins are intertwined with the inception of the priesthood and Betazed spirituality. A cultural distinction still exists on Betazed. While there are laws preventing discrimination based on lineage, a noble title still carries weight. 

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.

Code of Sentience

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 ensued. 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.

Government

The Ruling Council rules Betazed. It is a democratically elected body. Within the Council halls, all debates, discussion and business is communicated strictly telepathically. Unlike many of its Federation counterparts, Betazed does not have a single supreme leader. Instead, a vast bureaucracy serves under the Ruling Council. 

Physical notes

Betazoids physically resemble humans with only a few differences. The only noticable difference to the naked eye, are the solid-colored dark iris and 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. During this time, a Betazoid woman's sex drive is expected to quadruple.

Internally, there are minor organ placement differences that can be determined on standard medical scans. The largest internal difference to humans, though, is the Betazoid mind.

The Betazoid mind contains the paracortex, which is the their telepathic lobe. It is very resiliant to injury, and contains the metaconsciousness, 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.

Spirituality

The Betazoids are a highly spiritual people. Their spiritualism guides them every day. Their mythology centers around the Four Deities, which also represent four apsects of Betazoid life. These four deities are not anthropomorphic, but rather spiritual concepts that they worship and adhere to. 

The Four Deities are named after the Betazoid words for the spiritual concepts: Altha (Peace/Stability), Imza (Love/Compassion), Fana (Nature), Tholta (Truth/Honesty). While all four have equal 'weight' as deities, there exists a structure to them in a diamond shape. At the top is Altha. Imza and Tholta are the middle points of the diamond, for without Turth and Love, there can be no peace and stability. The bottom point is Fana, or Nature, symbolizing the roots of the faith. Two central points represent the 'base' of the Betazoid civilized society. The bottom point of the diamond's association to the natural is a reminder that it is something that is often a delicate balace.

Names

Some example Betazoid names are provided below:

Family Names: Elbrun, Grax, Hagen, Morganth, Stadi, Suder.

Male Names: Andrus, Lon, Reittan, Tam, Talloc.

Female Names: Azuma, Deanna, Jemma, Kestra, Lwaxana, Yaxara

Proverbs

"One who speaks one thing and thinks another, has a war inside."

"Thank the Four Deities!" - A common exclamation of relief.

"The moons over Medara have converged." - meaning an event has come to a crescendo. Has many variants, but the idea behind it is the same.