A vre'katra (or vre-katra) was a receptacle used to contain the katra of a deceased Vulcan. It is translated from Vulcan as "katric ark" or "Urn of Memory".
Traditionally, Vulcans would craft such items from volcanic glass, jasif crystal or polished tir-nuk wood. The Vre'katra was a reminder of the death of the departed, and usually placed within a family shrine near the Vulcan's estate, where the ancestors are both honored and remembered. Such shrines could contain hundreds of Vre'katra that covered generations of ancestors. However, only a few of these were actually built to contain the katra, or life essence of a Vulcan, and in modern times, the ability to do so was thought by most to be myth and rumor. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Way of Kolinahr: The Vulcans)
A group of Vulcan dissidents known as the Sakethans, who left Vulcan hundreds of centuries ago, used katric arks, which were placed inside their burial mounds. (TNG - Mirror Universe novel: The Worst of Both Worlds)
Sometime prior to the 2150s, katric arks were discovered on P'Jem, though the Vulcan Science Academy failed to determine whether they actually contained katras. (ENT episode: "Awakening")
In 2267, Healer Sobon used a vre-katra to transfer the katra of Sten out of the mind of his would-be mate, T'Prynn. (VAN novel: Open Secrets)
Many vre'katra were stored in the Hall of Ancient Thought. The katra of Zakal was housed in one, until its theft from Vulcan in 2270. (TOS novel: The Lost Years)
In 2371, in the mirror universe, Jean-Luc Picard discovered a large number of katric arks stored in a burial mound on New T'Karath. (TNG - Mirror Universe novel: The Worst of Both Worlds)
- The vre'katra seem to be related to the receptacles used by Sargon and his people.
- The TOS - Vulcan's Soul novel: Exodus refers to one such receptacle as an Urn of Memory.
External links
- Vre'katra article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Vre'katra article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.