Difference between revisions of "K'kree"

Starport	B	Good: Spacecraft Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel
Size	8	Large (12,800 km, 0.80g - 1.08g)
Atmosphere	6	Standard
Hydrographics	3	Wet World 30%
Population	A	High (90 billion)
Government	0	No Government structure
Law	3	Low Law (no automatic weapons)
Tech Level	F	High Stellar (anagathics)

Primary Star

F5 V

Atmosphere

Standard

Off-world presence

Yes

Zoetic individuals

Yes

Source

Reference

"Contact:Centaurs." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 10 6-11.

Canon

Yes

Also see

Two Thousand Worlds

The K'kree of Kirur (Ruupiin 1315) are a Major Race of centauroid appearance and technologically advanced sophonts.

Physical sophontology

The K'kree, once called Centaurs by humans, are among the most massive of the major races. They bear some resemblance to the centaurs of ancient Terran myth, a trait noted by the earliest human explorers.

An adult K'kree stands about 1.5 meters at the shoulder and between 2.0 and 2.4 meters tall when standing erect. Weight averages 550 kg. They are bilaterally symmetrical, hexapodal, and homeothermic. The K'kree are covered with a short gray or black fur and with a dense black mane covering the head and neck and upper back of both sexes.

The arrangement of the manipulatory organ, or "hand," on the front limb of a K'kree is one of their most interesting biological features. Complex or cartilaginous tubes permit the fingers of the K'kree hand to telescope up out of the way when the hand is used as a weapon. Fully extended, the fingers are mutually opposable to each other and to the "thumb" which is in reality an extension of the ulna. The K'kree hand is very flexible but somewhat weaker in grasping power than the human hand.

K'kree have a conventional carbon-water based biochemistry. K'kree use a conventional respiration cycle consisting of:

Oxygen-nitrogen inhalant
Carbon dioxide exhalant

Morphology

Non-humanoid (centauroid)
Bilateral symmetry (2-ial)
Hexapod (6-ped)
- Two limbs used for manipulation "arms"
- Four limbs used for locomotion (quadruped) "legs"
- Tail
Body consists of four segments
- Head with sensors and multiple-use orifice (consumption, communication, and respiration)
- Upper torso with manipulatory limbs
- Forward torso with locomotor limbs
- Rear torso (abdomen) with locomotor limbs

Climate and environment preferences

This species holds the following environmental preferences:

Terrestrial planet
Temperate climate
Plains and field ecotopes
Standard gravity
Standard atmosphere

Diet and trophics

Herbivore/grazer
- Homeotherm

Life Cycle and reproduction

K'kree have the following reproductive characteristics::

Two genders (male & female)
- Strong sexual dimorphism
(sexual reproduction)
- Reproduces through conjugal intercourse
- Polygynous mating system (4f:1m average)
Viviparous birth
- (Iteroparous): Uses K-selection and have few offspring that require considerable amounts of time to raise to maturity.

The K'kree are a sexually dimorphic species. Males average 15 percent to 20 percent larger than females.

The K'kree have two genders, male and female, and reproduce sexually [i.e. a process that creates a new organism by combining the genetic material of two organisms (lateral gene transfer)]. Typically, the most robust and viable males practice a policy of polygyny (i.e. a form of plural conjugation, in which each male mates with multiple females). K'kree young are fed partially digested, regurgitated food.

Genetic code

K'kree use the following IISS code:

SDEIES-SP
- Strength
- Dexterity
- Endurance
- Intelligence
- Education
- Social Standing
- Sanity
- Psionics
More complex genetic coding data available to qualified personnel upon request.

Archaeological sophontology

The word K'kree comes from their own language, and translates literally as all the nobles, or more broadly, The Herd.

Evolution

The K'kree developed as a plains herbivore, who developed intelligence to thwart carnivorous predators. K'kree quickly achieved dominance and, convinced of the righteousness of their ways, committed genocide against a number of meat-eating carnivorous species, called "G'naak" in K'kree speech.

At least one species of G'naak was intelligent and possessed rudimentary spaceflight technology, which they used to escape the K'kree to the Kirur's, the K'kree homeworld, moon. However, the K'kree were determined to wipe out this species and soon followed them to the moon of Kirur and wiped them out to the last sophont. Not even the name of this intelligent "G'naak" species is known any longer. However, non-K'kree sophontologists refer to this "G'naak" species as the Kirrixurians.

Another big evolutionary influence was a planetary holocaust caused by a supernova that caused a great extinction wave on their homeworld. Intelligence was one of the evolutionary responses to this planet-wide disaster.

First Contact & Empire

K'kree expansion into space progressed very slowly after the discovery of the jump drive in -4142. The conservative nature of society and the technical limitations placed upon space flight by that society (K'kree spaceships must be very large, for example) combined to inhibit early exploration and colonization.

The discovery of other sophonts caused a xenophobic reaction in K'kree society. The realization that intelligent carnivores might exist somewhere in space sparked the K'kree obsession to convert the universe to herbivorism. This obsession stimulated the growth of the Two Thousand Worlds to its present size and still dominates K'kree culture. Local cultures are tolerated and other aspects of K'kree society are not heavily enforced, but all races within the Two Thousand Worlds are herbivorous.

The K'kree Empire eventually stopped in its expansion. Increasing problems of administration over interstellar distances and contact with other starfaring races, such as Hivers and Humaniti, have stabilized the Two Thousand Worlds at its present size.

Hiver-K'kree War of (-2029 to -2013)

K'kree history is one of constant triumph until the K'kree of the Two Thousand Worlds encountered the Hivers of the Hive Federation. K'kree contact with the Hive Federation was soon followed by the Hiver-K'kree War of -2029 to -2013. The military technology of the K'kree proved superior in the first stages of the war. The war ended due to nonmilitary considerations, however, when the Hive Federation demonstrated a plan to radically alter the K'kree social order through the use of psycho-historical techniques and threatened to implement it. The K'kree withdrew to the antebellum borders, and the border between the two states has remained stable to this day.

Cultural sophontology

K'kree are highly social animals with an intense respect for their elders. Their love of nature and the outdoors is legendary manifesting itself in large, open forms of architecture that display the surrounding countryside and optimally create a view of the horizon. K'kree have little concept of private ownership and whenever possible go in for large, public infrastructure shared by large communities.

Belief system and philosophy

K'kree have a compulsory practice of ancestor worship. They venerate their ancestors to a degree that makes the ancient Terran Chinese look like amateurs. This obsession with one's forbears leads to many interesting K'kree art forms as well as a very widespread level of appreciation for history and chronicling. ^[1]

Morality and ethics

Perhaps the most visible and outwardly visible sign of K'kree philosophy is their incredibly welcoming social behavior. K'kree openly welcome guests and have a long tradition of hospitality. If a K'kree is your friend, he will be your best friend... However, if one steps over one of the lines of K'kree propriety, a K'kree will just as quickly become your worst enemy.

K'kree have an average level of socio-plasticity (tolerance) about most matters except for that of diet. The eating of animals (carnivory), is an overwhelming taboo and will quickly offend a K'kree as well as possibly invoking a vendetta. Foreign merchants, ambassadors, and visitors are advised to avoid meat consumption while in K'kree space.

Cultural hierarchies

The K'kree having a strong interventionary stance balanced by a competing trend towards tribalism, somewhat focused by the herd and steppelord hierarchies.

Most K'kree have a general agreement that the "meat-eaters" should be brought to justice to protect herbivorous kind.
On the other hand, while gregarious, most K'kree want to protect their culture from outside influences in an isolationist stance.
Somehow, it all works to a somewhat successful degree for the K'kree although cultural schisms sometimes produce offshoots such as the Lords of Thunder.
After all, the K'kree are known for having one of the most stable, least overtly quarrelsome, and long-lasting societies in Charted Space.

Motivation

K'kree Primary Values Overview
Value	Aspect	Remarks
Conservatism	Tradition	K'kree are extremely conservative in all aspects of their culture. Ceremonial military units (such as bodyguards) are armed with equipment which K'kree military technology outdated centuries ago, and (aside from modifications made necessary by the discovery of space flight) K'kree government has not changed significantly in centuries.
Claustrophobia	Agoraphilia	Because of their origins as plains-dwelling herd animals, the K'kree are claustrophobic and agoraphilic; they cannot stand to be enclosed. K'kree cities are clumps of low, broad, buildings; the interior is never more than one story in height, which allows the sky to be visible. Internal building divisions are achieved with curtains or tapestries.
Gregariousness	Monophobia	K'kree are extremely gregarious. They are never found alone, and will quickly sicken and die if removed from other K'kree for any length of time. Receiving a trade or diplomatic delegation from the K'kree means entertaining the entire family (one or more wives, servants, scribes, assistants, etc.) of the merchant or the ambassador. The K'kree word for "my" refers to a possession of an individual's herd, not to that of an individual. Privacy and individuality are exotic and little understood concepts for the K'kree.

K'kree society is very different than what loose norms exist for Humaniti:

K'kree find any kind of carnivory or meat consumption to be both offensive and an extreme taboo. K'kree are not only willing to go to war over such matters, but have actually done so.
K'kree find the great diversity of Human societies to be incredibly strange. K'kree societies are far more uniform and basic K'kree values and sensibilities are far more standard upon K'kree systems and worlds.
K'kree find the human penchant for argument and tolerance very strange compared to K'kree ideas on the same matters. What humans most often call "dissent", the K'kree call "heresy". They do not believe in any but the most limited tolerance for a lack of respect for elders or for unrestrained dissent. The human ideal of "freedom of Speech" practically doesn't exist within mainstream K'kree societies.
K'kree are extreme monophobes. They harbor a near suicidal fear of being alone. K'kree are almost never depicted alone within the visual arts. Even great leaders are always appeared with several colleagues nearby. K'kree sculpture almost never depicts a singular K'kree physical form.

Traditions

K'kree have a vast variety of traditions and cultural practices including:

The K'kree believe in ecological preservation and practically worship the environment. They bring their nature with them on their starships or at least as much of it as their technology can permit. This idea of reverence for life does not extend to carnivores, which are to be eliminated at all costs.

This belief in the value of ecological preservation causes great feelings of guilt and some schisms within K'kree society as many early K'kree settlements suffered from unregulated industrial development early in K'kree interstellar expansion and colonization. Some think of this as an ideal that many leaders do not adhere to.

Linguistic sophontology

The K'kree language, known as !xeng'ri, is shared by all K'kree as a common language and culture. The language is characteristic of the society it reflects — old, slow to change, and highly complex.

Raxkiir is the dominant dialect.
See K'kree language for more information.

Communication

This species uses the following types of language to communicate:

Biochemical language (pheromonal)
Body language
Spoken language
Visual language (sign language)
Written language

Societal sophontology

K'kree controlled space is known as the Two Thousand Worlds or T't'tkahk Xeng Kirr in the K'kree language.

See Two Thousand Worlds for more information.

The K'kree are held by many to have one of the oldest and most stable societies within Charted Space. Where most of the other Major Races, have had their societies riven by a number of revolutions and changes of power over the millennia, the K'kree were so united by their early struggle against the meat-eaters that their society stays remarkably stable. Only the Droyne or Zhodani can make competing claims.

K'kree society does have its dissidents and offshoots, but these groups such as the militant Lords of Thunder tend the drift to the frontiers of the K'kree Sphere and later get reabsorbed.

Some consider that K'kree governance has reached the effective limits of how many worlds it can effectively govern and have noticed that official expansion of the Two Thousand Worlds seems to be curtailed in many ways.

In opposition to human psychology, K'kree have little concept of "individuals" and have a hard time conceptualizing themselves as anything other than members of a family. K'kree don't operate as "loners" or "lone wolves" and have almost no conception of "rugged individualism."

K'kree Social Organization
Designation	Translation	#'s	Remarks
Families	("Little family")	8 to 24+	("Micro-family"): K'kree organize at the lowest social level as Families run by a dominant male with an entourage of several females, children, and an assortment of servants.
Extended Families	("Big family")	72 to 216+	("Macro-family"): Families organize into larger social units known as Extended Families incuding several dominant males and their entourages.
Herds	("Field-family")	216 to 648+	Several extended families organize by caste and form Herds.
Clan	("Pasture-family")	648 to 1,944+	City governors.
Phratry	("Plain-family")	1,944 to 5,832+	Arch-lieutenants.
Moiety	("Steppe-family")	5,832 to 17,496+	Ruling families.

K'kree society is divided into castes. The system is a remnant of ancient times which no longer fits K'kree culture perfectly, but the K'kree stick with it because it is traditional.

There are hundreds of castes, but the distinctions are too faint for non-K'kree to understand. For simplicity, castes can be divided into three general groupings: noble, merchant, and servant. It is possible for a family to rise in caste, but this is a rare occurrence.

K'kree Caste System
#	Caste	Function	Remarks
1. Top Highest	Nobles	Leadership	Nobles form the highest level of caste and are composed of governmental officials (the Krurruna and others), the high military officers, diplomats, and heads of trade and manufacturing concerns. Nobles are usually garbed in much more ornate fashion than the lower castes.
2. High	Merchants	Professionals	The second-highest caste, the merchants, includes most skilled workers, scientists, engineers, technicians, scribes, and government administrators, as well as merchants and businessmen.
3. Low Bottom	Servants	Labor	The lowest casted level, the servants, has come to include farmers, factory workers, and unskilled laborers as well as servants for all classes.
4. Lowest	Females	Casteless	Female K'kree are casteless, and take on the caste of their father or husband. Females have no position in government or society other than the rearing of young. Those females not attached to a male in some fashion form a fourth caste of "untouchables," which are generally composed of outcasts or orphans.

Cultural Hierarchies Summary

K'kree social organization can be summarized as:

1. (Nobles: Governmental officials (the Krurruna and others), the high military officers, diplomats, and heads of trade and manufacturing concerns)
2. (Merchants: Most skilled workers, scientists, engineers, technicians, scribes, and government administrators, as well as merchants and businessmen)
3. (Servants: Farmers, factory workers, and unskilled laborers as well as servants for all classes)
4. (Casteless females not attached to a male: orphans or outcasts)

Government and politics

The basis of K'kree government is rooted in the traditional herd system. The basic unit of government is the herd, which consists of thousands of individuals of all sexes, castes, and ages led by krurruna (literally: bosses) under a single Steppelord. The Krurruna herd system resembles the Terran Medieval Feudal System in many ways. The Steppelord is the highest government leader and Steppelords will always organize themselves by dominance, with a most powerful Steppelord, a sort of "Emperor of Steppelords" or "Grand Steppelord of the Two Thousand Worlds", ruling over the entire system of K'kree space in a sort of federalized autocracy.

In recent times, most herds have been assigned specific geographic areas (several may be assigned to a city or a single herd may be assigned millions of hectares of farmland). A number of herds are governed by a single "lord of steppelords" (usually the ruler of a planet); and the K'kree race as a whole is ruled by a "Grand Steppelord of the 2000 Worlds."

For information on the forms of governments used in the Two Thousand Worlds, please see K'Kree (government).

Military and intelligence

Every male K'kree must serve a term in the military upon coming of age. Warriors are drawn from all castes; rank in the military is determined by the caste of origin (nobles enter the service as general officer trainees, merchants as lower officers and noncommissioned officers, etc.). Upon completing the required term of service, a warrior returns to his original caste and position.

Please see polity entry at Two Thousand Worlds for more information.

Business and trade

Most K'kree worlds are TL–7 to TL–11, averaging TL–9 to TL–10. Although much of K'kree merchant fleet uses lower technology vessels. Additionally, many K'kree worlds use infrastructure considerably less advanced than the TL–9 to TL–10 standard set by the government.

K'kree merchants and traders are not well-known in Imperial space.
Please see polity entry at Two Thousand Worlds for more information.

Astrography

This race (sophont species) is primarily located in the following areas:

Homeworld

The homeworld of this race is:

Kirur (Ruupiin 0505)

World listing: 1105

Significant communities of K'kree are known to reside within the following systems and worlds:

29 of 29 World articles in K'kree

!taarra • 'rikookut' • B!t!rr • Eek • Eetroob'r • Ekrgh'!g • G!'kuleer • Gaaiireen!k • Gh'ghukaax • K'raal • Kagh'kir • Kagr • Kir!!iix • Kirrx'rrin • Kirur • Kurr • Kutuliroo • Lalendris • Litmo • Luupim • Naniin'nee • Nitengixag • Northammon • R!krukgh! • T!reerit • Trataka • Tuktaar • Xeghahk!ghee • Zjemu-ay •

startbacknext(29 listed)

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article has metadata.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

Loren Wiseman. "Contact:Centaurs." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 10 (1981): 6-11.
John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Library Data (A-M) (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 17-18.
J. Andrew Keith, Loren Wiseman. K'kree (Game Designers Workshop, 1984), 2-6.
Loren Wiseman. "Destiny within the Two Thousand Worlds." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 21 (1984): 41-46.
Loren Wiseman. "Religion in the Two Thousand Worlds." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 24 (1985): 6-8.
Gary L. Thomas, Joe Fugate. The Travellers' Digest 17 (Digest Group Publications, 1989), 28.
Joe Fugate. "Races of the Sector: The K'kree." MegaTraveller Journal 4 (1993): 45-52.
Marc Miller. Marc Miller's Traveller (Imperium Games, 1996), 146.
Andy Slack, David Thomas, David L. Pulver. Alien Races 2 (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), 64-134.
Martin Dougherty, Hunter Gordon. Gateway to Destiny (QuikLink Interactive, 2004), 32-33.
Citation Missing - Mongoose Traveller Main Rulebook
Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science

↑ Loren Wiseman. Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 24 (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), 6-11.

[1] Loren Wiseman. Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 24 (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), 6-11.

[1]

@@ Line 175: / Line 175: @@
 The K'kree believe in ecological preservation and practically worship the environment. They bring their nature with them on their [[starship]]s or at least as much of it as their technology can permit. This idea of reverence for life does not extend to carnivores, which are to be eliminated at all costs.
-This believe in the value of ecological preservation causes great feelings of guilt and some schisms within K'kree society as many early K'kree settlements suffered from unregulated industrial development early in K'kree interstellar expansion and colonization. Some think of this as an ideal that many leaders do not adhere to.
+This belief in the value of ecological preservation causes great feelings of guilt and some schisms within K'kree society as many early K'kree settlements suffered from unregulated industrial development early in K'kree interstellar expansion and colonization. Some think of this as an ideal that many leaders do not adhere to.
 == Linguistic sophontology ==