Orion
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| SPECIES | |
|---|---|
| Orion | |
| |
| Planet of origin: | Rigel VIII (Botchok) |
| Affiliation: | Orion Congeries |
| Warp capable: | 1508 BCE |
| Biology | |
| Classification: | Humanoid |
| Environmental requirements: | Class M conditions |
| Sexes: | Male and Female |
| Blood Coloration: | Green |
| Distinctive Features: Bright Skin Colors | |
 An Orion male | |
The Orions are a race from the Beta Quadrant famous for their colorful skin: prominently green, but also blue (TAS episode: "The Pirates of Orion"), orange, yellow, and others (ST roleplay module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge). They are also famous for their involvement in many criminal endeavors: piracy, the slave trade, and the Orion Syndicate.
In their own language, they are referred to as Ur'eon. (TOS novel: Prime Directive)
Contents |
[edit] Biology
Orions are humanoids that possess the same size and build of an average Human, though their features tend toward aquiline noses and sharp chins. In addition to this, Orion gourmands often run to satisfied fat with no member of the species enjoying the concept of being underweight. Orion copper-based blood chemistry is similar to Vulcans, with skin tones ranging from pale or ruddy yellows to emerald and dark olive greens. However, its know that certain Orions paint their lips as well as eyelids and other conspicuous body parts with hair dyes remain subtle in order to highlight the glossiness of black or chestnut coiffures. The race typically enjoy jewelry as well as small daggers and other ornaments as they prefer items that combine elegance, flash, incredible value along with tiny compartments in order to hide poisons or black mail tapes. Almost no Orion would dress badly if they can help it.
The Orions evolve under a blue-white sun with a similar spectrography of Rigel with that system possibly being their home system. This meant that their green-tinted skin keeps them relatively immune to ultraviolet radiation and generally resistant to radiation. (ST reference: Aliens)
Orion women were known for their extreme appetites and very few men were known to be able to resist their approaches. (TOS episode: "The Cage")
Though it appears that, through the slavery they employ in, that Orion females are slaves to their males, the opposite is in fact true with the males being subservient to the females. This was done so as a means of deception to other species where the males would maintain the facade that their females were simple slaves that would be sold on the market to other races. (ENT episode: "Borderland")
Orion females possessed a unique aspect of their biology that provides them an advantage over male members of any species. They produce a highly potent pheromone that accelerates the metabolism of males as well as raise their adrenaline to dangerous levels causing aggression and, ultimately, a form of delusion. These abilities allow them to easily dominate the crews of entire starships by subverting the males and enthralling them under their command. By selling themselves on the slave market to unknowing males, Orion women are capable of influencing their "owners" who slowly become susceptible to the suggestions of their "female slaves" with the effects being cumulative resulting in the exposure to the pheromones being more pronounced as time goes on. This can mean male captains and crew begin to follow the commands of the Orion females that they have purchased.
While the males suffer from the effects of exposure to the pheromones, females suffer a different more negative effect as they experience headaches from the encounter. Denobulan males also find that their sleep cycles tend to be interrupted while Vulcans are immune to the process entirely. Certain males that are telepathically linked to a female Vulcan can also become immune to the pheromones exposure. Doctor Phlox of the Enterprise postulated in 2154 that the pheromones were a natural part of Orion females physiology which acted as a defensive mechanism against competition. (ENT episode: "Bound")
[edit] History
- See main article: Orion history
The Orions have an ancient history, having had their first contact with alien life around sixteen thousand years ago. They have outlasted almost all other interstellar civilizations from that time. (ST roleplay module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)
[edit] Culture
[edit] Beliefs
The Orions typically swear on the Thousand Gods but do not worship them.(ST reference: Aliens) The Orions believe in nine hells. (ST novel: Excelsior: Forged in Fire)
[edit] Family Life
[edit] Psychology
Members of the Orions typically present either world-weary cynicism and rakish good humor, being sunnily exuberant at best or brash and arrogant at their worst. They enjoy taunting helpless enemies while charming powerful friends, attempting to convince both sides to fight against each other. As such, they are known to enjoy games of skill as well as intellect - this is especially the case when they play games that their enemies do not know of, allowing them to easily turn out the victors. This means that Orions tend to delight in partaking in the more civilized vices and eagerly seek shady business ventures. They are always glad to risk others for a lucrative cause and are quite willing to run from a fight that they cannot win. They watch others and plot ways to stab the back of a victor when they are not looking.
The Orions possess a decadent and old culture which they are overshadowed as well as liberated by in their life. This is because they feel that life is too short to waste on rules or morality, though some are known to hold grudges; most members of the race, however, treat such vendettas as games rather then a matter of life or death.
The long history of their species means that Orion merchants, criminals, mercenaries, pirates, and settlers have carried their kind across worlds through the Alpha and Beta Quadrant. On these many worlds, they work to corrupt and co-opt market traders and other underworld figures for their own ends. This makes them run into the Ferengi on some occassions; the Orions consider them to be nothing more then ridiculous stereotypes with no sense of class, as well as a species in possession of ludicrous habits. Unlike the Ferengi, the Orions possess no "rules of acquisition" and would not be caught dead following any form of law.
Those Orions that become soldiers tend to drift into a career of piracy or mercenary work, as they possess little patience for a regimented life; nor do they enjoy taking orders or wear dull uniforms. Telling a pirate from a merchant can be a difficult task and entirely depends on whether an individual is armed or not - if one is armed, then the Orion is a merchant.
The diplomats of the species play a game of double- or even triple-cross in order to increase their own profits. They do not see a conflict of interest in such negotiations between opposing parties, or in working for as well as against a single body; they see it as understandable compensation for their efforts. In fact, many such diplomats serve dual roles as spies where they fish out important secrets from other representatives. This, combined with Orion women within the bedchambers of important officials on frontier worlds, gives the Orion species a further edge in terms of information and influence.
Mystics among the race are known to make use of elaborate con operations that make use of powers through the use of advanced technology or trickery in order to achieve their goals. Some of the more ancient Orion civilizations were known to produce amazing scientific wonders, but few Orions now practice in the fields of science, though there are a great number of archaeologists that scour the ruins of other worlds. However, most Federation archaeologists would call them tomb raiders, though these Orion relic hunters often have otherwise unobtainable information or artifacts from Tkon, Debrune or Iconian ruins. (ST reference: Aliens)
The Orions were noted for their sect-based society. (TOS novel: First Frontier) Their culture is cheerfully decadent and only loosly organized by great families. They are in fact divided into numerous merchant families known as Caj that serve as the guiding force within Orion society. (ST reference: Aliens) This means that the Orions are not a single, unified population, but are instead spread out into several large factions and a great many smaller ones, separated by space, allegiances and cultural differences. (DS9 novel: Wrath of the Prophets)
Throughout their history, the Orions developed several different languages which include Yrevish and Kolari. (ST reference: Aliens)
- According to both the FASA and Decipher RPGs, the Orions hail from the Rigel system, though they may have been transplanted there by the Preservers.
[edit] External links
- Orion article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
