Romulan

For the Romulan Homeworld, see: Romulus or Achernar Prime

Introduction
The Romulans are a Vulcanoid species that mostly live in the Beta Quadrant. They founded and rule the Romulan Star Empire and its sucessor state the Romulan Civil States.

Biology
Being descended from Vulcans, Romulans have pointed ears, eyebrows that are arched and upswept, a heart located where a Human liver is present and copper-based green blood. As such, they possess many similarities with only small differences separating the two species.

One of these noted differences is the presence of only a vestigial inner eyelid, as the Romulans no longer live under a bright sun. As such, the inner eyelid no longer possessed a function and became vestigial, though a small number of newly born Romulans do possess an additional lid. Romulan geneticists, however, believe that within another few centuries, the genes that produce the inner eyelid would be bred out. Furthermore, due to the decreased gravity on Romulan worlds compared to Vulcan, the Romulans have lost the greater strength as well as endurance of their Vulcan cousins.

A Romulan possesses greater strength compared to a Human of similar height and weight. This is attributed to the greater muscle mass and increased bone density of their bodies.

Many Romulans have two brow ridges above the bridge of their nose, forming a V-shape on the forehead. Others lack the ridges, making them outwardly indistinguishable from Vulcans.

While being direct descendants of the Vulcans, the Romulans have not exhibited the physical strength and telepathic abilities common in Vulcans, this is possibly because the Romulans do not share the Vulcans' mental discipline. Physiologically speaking, the Romulans have a much faster heart rate than humans, at an average rate of 240 beats per minute.

Reproduction
In addition to this, the Romulans did not undergo the affects of Pon farr, due to mutations faced between them and their Vulcan cousins. Despite this, certain Romulans are receptive to this condition.

Vulcans, Romulans and other Vulcanoid species are genetically compatible for breeding purposes, although for many years the Romulan government denied this was a possibility, to avoid the still tension filled ideas of Vulcan-Romulan re-unification.

Lifespan
The Romulan lifespan is noted to be still prodigious and it's not uncommon for certain members of the species to pass two centuries of age.

Like many Vulcanoid species, the Romulans require a daily diet of Kelassium in order to avoid intestinal scarring.

Telepathy
Most Romulans did not possess the same psionic talents as their parent race. This was due to the Followers of Surak, who possessed the telepathic abilities among their kind, were banished to Remus (Romii), while the others were killed on the journey across space. This could primarily explain why the telepathic traits of the Vulcan travelers did not get inherited by the Romulans. But Remans do have limited telepathy.

As such, Romulans do not demonstrate the telepathic traits that their Vulcan cousins possess, though it has been hypothesized and speculated that the dormant gene allowing these abilities does surface on the rare occasion among Romulans.

Psionic development was noted as being limited amongst the Romulan race and lacked the intensive training of their Vulcan cousins. Despite this being the case, it was known that the potential existed should the race choose to exploit it. Some reports indicated that the Romulans used their limited psionic potential to enhance the expression of emotion between individuals in close contact which was done so only amongst family members.

Culture
During the rule of the Star Empire, Romulans believed in the Way of D'era which dictated that they were destined to rule the galaxy and was the source of their arrogant views as well as their belief in their own superiority. It comes from the teachings of Tellus who stated that their people were the children of the Vhorani who made the Vulcan race to become their inheritors to a great destiny of controlling the galaxy. Therefore, under these teachings, all other races were inferior to the Romulan people. Some reports even indicated that Romulan writings that their ancestors were told by a race of great beings called the Great Brothers who were possibly the Preservers gave them a responsibility to build a Road to the Stars in order to join their gods at the end of their task. Furthermore, these stories state that that they were given enough just to start the "Road" and that it was their duty to build upon it further which makes Romulan expansionism a religiously motivated behavior. Their relationship with the Great Brothers was not entirely clear but a shrine of them existed in each family temple.

The dictates of D'era became the source of the Romulan concept of honor which differs greatly compared to the Klingons for it was not a warrior-like concept but a reflection of the accomplishments made by the individual on a family, personal and imperial level.

Another concept that was viewed religiously by certain Romulans was a belief in the Elements which they believe embody the universe itself.

Interestingly, the Romulan had their own concept of a mythical creature that would die in fire and be reborn such as the Phoenix of Earth myths. It was known as Alth'Indor in the Romulan language. In addition to this, certain demons existed within Romulan beliefs. One such creature was a demon lord called Bettatan'ru who certain Romulans prayed to in order to achieve their goals.

Family
Romulan children are branded at birth with a mark unique to their family. Amongst their society, the cry for vengeance was passed from father to son until it was meted out.

Tradition allows for no room for individuals who are not physically able to serve their obligations to society. As such, children born with physical deformities or attributes that impede their ability to serve their society are not allowed to live which means that the Romulans practice euthanasia. This ideal however has fallen out of practice, as after the destruction of Romulus and the bulk of the Romulan population, every child was considered too important to lose.

The development of the child is monitored closely until the age of 5. If the child is fit then they enter a rigorous training program of schooling, cultural indoctrination and physical training for 15-years. During this time, the child is regularly tested as the Romulans are reluctant to spend resources on a child that is unable to compete; such children are forever left behind.

Until the age of 20, the child is judged on whether they are physically and mentally fit by Romulan standards. If they are not then they must prove that they have the right to live by fighting a youth of the same approximate age. This trial by combat is to the death with the winner proving their worthiness while the loser being shown to be unsuitable to become a Romulan citizen. Once this is complete, it is compulsory for all Romulans to spend at least 5 years in the military with both sexes serving equally which provides the bulk of the Empire's military forces. After completion of this tour of duty, the Romulan is accepted as a citizen and may marry.

Within Romulan society, there exists the family structure known as the House who are an extended family of nobles who sit in the Imperial Romulan Senate. The leader of the House tend to maneuver its members to positions of power and authority in order to enhance the Houses power, prestige and wealth. Houses can be divided and merged which can lead to new Houses forming or old Houses being destroyed.

Family was important to a Romulan, most notably among the upper echelons, the pseudo-aristocracy that rules Romulan life. Family is a source of pride. It is a way to amass great wealth and power within the empire. Notable Romulan families control entire fleets and worlds, and most often send a family member to sit on the Senate. They are patricians in the classic sense, believing they have the right to rule, but caring for their subjects as though they were beloved children.

It was Romulan tradition that upon the death of a loved one that the grieving loved ones painted ancient symbols of love and loss onto their skin. This represented their grief according to their traditions and by the time the paint faded, the mourning period was over whereupon life went on.

Society
Romulans were known to fear disgrace over death. This was one of the reasons why Romulan parents were known to kill offspring who possessed any form of birth defect as they would be a waste of resources as well as a burden on the family. Part of Romulan behavior was influenced by the belief in D'era, which stated that they were the caretakers of the universe.

Part of their races belief that they are a superior form of life and destined to rule the galaxy stems from the fact that the early Romulans, once they settled on their new home world, encountered very few alien races and tended to believe that they were the only advanced race in existence.

Among the Romulan people, the race developed the concept of "Final Honor" which was something that requires a Romulan to sacrifice their life to prevent them from being captured, or for their honor being taken from them.

Romulans tend to consider themselves, as well as their distant Vulcan brethren, as superior to other races. However, this being said, the Romulans also consider the Vulcans to have strayed away from the warrior teachings of D'Era and have abandoned their destiny that was given to them by the Vhorani.

The Romulans possess a caste system-based society with a high caste; given more respect, due to the nature of their birth. The Reman species, being an offshoot of the Romulans, are considered an undesirable caste within Romulan society. Romulans are also known to make use of slaves.

By tradition, a Rihannsu who was incapable of mating and continuing the clan line was not permitted a political career. This meant that castration was considered an act similar to execution in some instances and was employed against conquered political enemies as well as upon Court servants in order to eliminate their aspirations for power.

Ancient History
There is some controversy over the origin the Romulan species and their Vulcan forebears, and on whether their ancestral homeworld is actually their birth place, or if it was colonized some six million years ago. Much of Vulcan pre-history was a mixture of myth and legends, one of which stated that their race was seeded by the Preservers, or the race that Sargon belonged to. Another myth spoke of the Vhorani, who were known as the Ancient Ones, who came from the Wellspring of Creation known as Vorta Vor. Once they reached the harsh world that was the planet Vulcan, they created the Vulcan species.

Among the Vulcan species, it was believed that the first of their kind, known as The Wanderer, was the one who developed speech and the first word. These same primitive Vulcans witnessed the intense damage done to their world by their sun's solar flare, which wiped out much of the planet's surface and transformed it into its desert form. In the aftermath, the planet was divided into numerous clans that sought refuge in the few locations left on the now-desolate world. Locations that held water were prized, but the dangers of daytime travel meant that it was difficult to wage conflict when the sun was up. However, one clan, which possessed the 'Eye' - an inner eyelid - held an advantage, as they were able to travel during the day. They attacked the well spring at Pelasht. After taking it, they decided to hold their advantage by allowing other clans to breed with their women, so that those clans' offspring would develop the trait. In exchange, they gained access to resources, as well as the other clans' own unique advantages, such as the ability to touch minds. This primitive form of eugenics program formed the basis of modern Vulcan marriage customs. In time, various telepathic and other traits spread throughout the race.

Age of Antiquity
The ancient Vulcan people were divided into tribal lines and consisted of extended clans that were organized together for protection against the harsh environment of the desert. These tribes existed in a nomadic fashion, where they traveled between different reservoirs of water. Some eventually established permanent settlements in areas that provided adequate food, water and shelter, these sites being the source of the first city-states. Much of this part of Vulcan history is uncertain, as there were many legends that spoke of angry gods, wars in the sky and tales of psionic might. The only trace of such events were the scattered ruins that dotted the planets' surface. It is believed that certain Vulcans demonstrated moderate amounts of psionic talents at this time, their abilities making them revered by their people, who viewed such individuals as favored by their deities. Such Vulcans were often focal points within their tribes, and the source of many alliances between the different families, though some resorted to violence in order to acquire such individuals. In addition, there was violent and bitter competition for natural resources, leading to fierce conflict.

During the early eras of Vulcan civilization, it difficult to gather sufficient metals and ores. This was not because the world was resource-poor, but rather because valuable minerals were located too deep below the surface to be easily mined. As such, Vulcan metalsmiths had to work extremely hard in order to craft the items that they needed, from simple weapons to agricultural tools. This changed as mindsciences developed that allowed adepts to locate veins of ores and pull them from the crust psychokinetically. At one point during ancient Vulcan history, the world was invaded by a race of non-corporeal entities that relished in causing death and destruction. Conventional weapons were incapable of killing these creatures. Fortunately, the Vulcan Sajik created the Sword of Sajik, which was used to slay many of the creatures, eventually driving them away from Vulcan.

Eventually, Vulcan began to develop weapons of mass destruction, including atomic weaponry. Initially, these weapons were used frequently, but such use did not provoke a worldwide disarmament program, as was the case on other worlds. These ancient atomic wars ravaged the surface of Vulcan, permanently distorting a region of its magnetic field, and leading to frequent energy discharges in the red sands. Rather than stop the use of such destructive weapons, the ancient Vulcans instead refined their usage to create 'cleaner' weapons, such as 'neutron bombs' designed to kill the inhabitants of a city but leave the surrounding region unharmed. Records indicated that even at their most violent phase of their existence where they committed a number of atrocities in the name of conquest, no Vulcan had ever hunted another or treated their brothers as if they were beasts.

Age of Expansion
Experiments in space flight technology began early on Vulcan, with legend stating that the first flight-capable starship was built in the city of Devlarmby the Warlord D'Vir. It was believed that the first to reach the stars would gain ultimate status and a crucial advantage over the other factions. Many petitioned to meet with D'Vir, with some negotiating for use of his developing ship and others attempting to sabotage it. Ultimately, a rival Warlord by the name of Nu'Val decided to stop the project at all costs and attacked the settlement. Archaeological records indicate that a devastating air strike, with neutron bombs employed, killed the one million inhabitants of the city and turned it into the ruined 'City of Shadows'. This was thought to have occured in the year 855 B.C. Despite this failed attempt, others strove to attain space flight, such as the House of Suvin, which allied with Lady Evekh in order to exploit the minerals of T'Khut. Suvin managed to complete the hulls of two starships, with instruments being installed by various lesser Houses. However, Lady Evekh's desire for the Last Thought technique from a union of her grandson Mahak with T'Thelaih led to the latter going mad with rage when she discovered the true purpose of the union. Lady Evekh's High House was exterminated, which set back the first manned landing of T'Khut by fifty standard years. Psi-communication technology was also lost, and had to be bred and rediscovered once more.

Eventually, T'Khut was colonized and mined, whereupon the Vulcan race went off to the outer planets within their star system. It is known that several small wars broke out on Vulcan at the time of the first successful landing, due to the shifting balances of power that were always feared by the various factions. Marriages at this time were conducted, not out of love, but eugenics, in order to breed specific psionic talents. Eventually, T'Khut's surface was scarred with mines, and the wars on Vulcan continued for centuries. Limited sub-light space travel continued within the star system as the Vulcans began mining from the asteroid belts and the other worlds around their star. This period became known to later Vulcans as the Age of Expansion, and the petty kingdoms of Vulcan eventually achieved an unwilling unified peace with one another. Warfare and terrorism, however, eventually began to spread into space around Vulcan itself. The destruction of the mining ship Rasha at Ashif Station sparked hostilities once more, with Mahn'heh Protectorate beginning its attacks against the Lalirh by detonating a matter/antimatter bomb at their orbital stations in the asteroid belts. New fires began to emerge on Vulcan as warfare once again consumed its surface.

This era saw Vulcan society being torn between its earliest traditions and the lure of space travel. It was known that Vulcan space travel was achieved as far back as the 3rd century. Privately funded pre-warp sleeper ships left the world in droves. During that time, one group of Vulcans left their world and crash landed on a planetoid later known as Darien 224, where they formed a colony known as the Last-of-all-Cities. Retaining their warrior heritage and psionic technology, this isolated settlement remained unknown to the galaxy at large for two millennia. By the 9th century, the Vulcans had also established a monastery on the world of P'Jem. Early Vulcan also developed several advanced psionic technologies, including psionic weapons such as the Tol par-doj and Vorl-tak. Most of these technologies were lost during the Time of Awakening. During these early periods, tribes of Vulcans were known to have possessed significant martial skills, especially in the area of archery. The arid climate of their home world was conductive to accuracy over long distances, though the heavier gravity led to some challenges. However, those that learned to shoot an arrow on Vulcan were capable of using the skill easily on other worlds.

The Time of Awakening
In the 3rd millennium BC, some Vulcans began to mentally train themselves to suppress their emotions. One of the leading Vulcan philosophers in logic and science was T'Plana-Hath who was the head of a school of historians in ShirKahr.

However by the 4th century, Vulcan was rife with violence and war, as the Vulcan people fought one another in countless battles that stained the sand of the deserts with their green blood. Wars arose from the desire for conquest and need for water resources, which were scarce on the planet. The most well-recorded of the Vulcan warlords was the tyrant Sudoc, who gained power by assassinating the previous ruling leader. Using his powerful psionic abilities and skilled tactical mind, he led his vicious barbarian armies in campaigns that dominated most of the homeworld. Those who resisted were slaughtered, and those who fell under his rule were subjected to telepathic 'adjustments' to make them loyal.

Into this time was born a boy named Surak, in the city state of ShiKahr. His home city was one of Sudoc's chief rivals, and the warlord attempted to assassinate the ruling generals, who included members of Surak's family. Surak became a skilled computer scientist, but his creations were used as weapons of war, which provoked him into developing the goals of logic and peace. In the desert, gazing upon Mount Seleya, Surak received an epiphany when he encountered an Underlier. Afterwards, he returned to civilization and did not initially speak of his experience. He later met numerous sects and groups in order to learn from them, and to develop his own philosophies, which he began to write daily, and to spread through the populace. According to legend, he also gained healing techniques and teachings from the Adepts of Seleya, along with the Adepts of Gol. He formed a circle of colleagues that sought to wage peace and master emotions, with this group consisting of Jarok, Nirak, T'mor and Vithek. While the Vulcan people were initially resistant, the teachings of peace and logic began to rapidly take hold, eventually ending the period known as the 'Years of Chaos'. During his time, Surak gained another pupil, S'task.

Eventually, the chief councilors of Lhai called upon Surak to advise their emissaries to Irik, in order to prevent a full-scale war from erupting between the two nation-states. Surak gladly joined the emissaries and shut himself with them for a day and a night, whereupon he sent them on their way. After two days they returned, and the Lhai councilors were shocked to see that they brought with them the High Council of Irik, who had signed a peace treaty following a week-long negotiation. Each nation made major concessions to the other, and many were dazed at this remarkable change, except for Surak. His peace ultimately held until the unification of the entire planet, despite the maneuvering of various belligerent power blocs in both nations. The warlords of other nations began to lose, and the captured territories of Sudoc began to fracture as his empire disintegrated. Sudoc's rule and empire finally ended with the tyrant's death, though members of his loyal cadre did and survive formed the Children of Ket-Cheleb, who were led by the warrior Tellus.

At some point, a group of devotees to the new Vulcan philosophy of logic decided to seek perfection by developing a method of removing their emotions and sealing them within bottles. However, this process diminished the soul of the individual and thus the device that accomplished this was destroyed. The philosophers abandoned the experiment and devoted their lives to teaching the value of logic. The bottles that contained the removed emotions survived through the centuries, and in honor of their mentors, the Vulcan people created a shrine on the planet Beta IV where the artifacts remained hidden in Room 101, where they were meant to be preserved for all of life.

First Contact
In the climate that followed, the Vulcan people were still fractured into various groups while Surak spread his message. It was at this time that the species made their first contact with another form of life, the people of Etosha, who appeared at Shikahr before the assembled delegates as a peaceful race. In actuality, the Etoshans were pirates who used deception to capture slaves and hold planetary leaders for ransom. At Vulcan, they took hold of numerous leaders, along with Surak's student S'task. Surak himself was spared this fate due to transportation difficulties at a port facility, which prevented him from attending the meeting.

The conflict that followed was labeled 'the Ahkh', also known as the War. This action reduced all previous conflicts to simple skirmishes as the Vulcan species worked to defeat the invaders. S'task proved instrumental, liberating many of his kinsmen and killing thousands of pirates in his escape from their vessel. While primitive compared to the advanced technology of the pirates, the Vulcans had well-developed skills in the psionic arts, which allowed them to unravel the metal ships of the enemy or set their pilots on suicidal courses. Through such actions, Vulcan freed itself from the invaders that had terrorized them.

The Sundering
Though Surak had worked hard to ensure peace and spread logic, the Etoshan invasion had taken their toll on the Vulcan race, which once more became divided over the issue of pacifism. Numerous factions still competed with one another, including the Northeastern Alliance and the Southern Hegemony, both of whom wanted to acquire dominance over the other by developing space capable warships. The climate was further complicated by the vicious raids and attacks by the aggressive Te-Vikram Brotherhood that lived deep in the deserts. All these actions threatened to destabilize the planet and bring about the destruction of Vulcan-kind. While Surak still believed he could save Vulcan, the very real chance of self-annihilation prompted him travel to ShiKahr in order to meet the engineer Karatek. Befriending him, Surak asked the engineer to re-purpose the starships he was creating into long-range colony ships, in order to continue their civilization elsewhere in case Vulcan destroyed itself. He even gave Karatek a special psionic coronet to record his memories of the journey in order to bring it back to Vulcan, if it still existed.

While Surak managed to convince the various competing factions to allow the conversion of the starships, a surprise attack came on the day of the launch. Chaos ensued, and both families and friends were separated, with some accidentally being left behind while others mistakenly boarded the transport ships. One such group was Tellus and his Children of Ket-Cheleb; Surak attempted to dissuade them from leaving but he failed. The failure would forever haunt him, and his colleague Jarok never let him forget it. Remaining groups that opposed Surak's logic fought a final war with the rest of Vulcan. They were known as 'Those who marched beneath the Raptor's wing', who were eventually forced to leave the planet. Eventually, Surak died as a result of radiation sickness as he stood at Mount Seleya. This era became known as the Sundering, and was one of the most traumatic periods to befall Vulcan civilization.

Exodus
Regardless, what followed was an event known as the Sundering these individuals numbered 80,000 and were led by S'task and they began a long trek through space in twenty large sublight travel vessels that would take them on the journey. Several worlds were discovered but these were uninhabitable by Vulcan standard. Others possessed life on them that could evolve into intelligent sentient beings and these too were left alone as it as decided that the race required an unspoiled planet to begin anew.

However, as time went on, numerous casualties and loses were suffered by the travelers. Seven of the large ark vessels were lost in the event horizon of a newly developed black hole. Another two were lost to the predations of the mind devouring creature known as the Iruhe. Some were preyed upon by alien races and others were lost due to internal squabbles among the survivors. Eventually, a deadly disease erupted among some of the ships resulting in the deaths of many more.

All these factors resulted in many of the travelers losing faith in an ever finding search a new world though Tellus and S'task urged their people to continue the journey. Some, however, grew weary of the constant traveling and abandoned the fleet in order to develop their own societies. One such splinter group was led by Admiral Debrune who led his followers to establish their own colonies, however, in time these would degenerate leaving nothing but ruins though there are rumors of splinter proto-Romulan societies living on such planets. Early on, these first Romulans were devastated by a disease known as the gnawing that had a profound effect upon Romulan physiology and psychology thereafter.

Settlement
Just as the fleeing ships began to lose hope, an unstable wormhole formed that swallowed the Vulcans-in-Exile and deposited them in a twin planet system. After preliminary examinations were made, it was decided that these worlds would become the new homeworlds of the Vulcans-in-Exile who named them ch'Rihan and ch'Havran. A lottery was held to determine which worlds the denizens of the various ships were going to be sent to colonize. Though it was the voluntary actions of Karatek that took his followers to the more hostile world of ch'Havran in order to harvest the harsh worlds resources for their kinsmen on the sister world. The remaining travelers remained on the great ships that brought them to their new homeworlds and became known as the Ship-Clans who provided a level of transportation as well as communication between the Two Worlds.

After settlement began, the newly named Rihannsu returned to the war-like patterns that they left on Vulcans with numerous conflicts emerging for various reasons; from territorial disputes to acquisition of resources. It was from this atmosphere that a new warlord formed and this came in the form of T'Rehu in 67 AS (After Settlement). Within ten years, she had built a powerful army that was far stronger then any on the Two Worlds which she used to take power, through the support of the Ship-Clans, and gain recognition from the Grand Council. The Rihannsu acknowledged her as their new Ruling Queen with only S'task refusing to accept her and leaving the council chambers once this occurred. Several years later during her rule, famine had struck the south continent and she called the Council once more where she derided them for incompetence. Once again S'task turned his back on her dishonorable actions but this would be the last time as she had him killed in the council chambers. Thus began T'Rehu's tyranny that lasted for 18 years where she was both benevolent as well as ruthless on the lives of her subjects. Her rule would come to an end when twenty years later when the war-like clans of the eastern continents of ch'Havran revolted against her and defeated her armies through the support of the Ship-Clans. Rather then take power for themselves, they decided on a return to the previous style of government.

After the death of Tellus, the Romulus descended into inter-racial conflicts known as the Clan Wars. This period saw brutal infighting which came only to an end when Jo'rek rallied his people. After this, Kimara codified the teachings of D'era and helped in the stabilization of the newly formed Romulan state.

Return to the Stars
In Stardate -2/4100, the Romulans made their first interstellar exploration with a sub-warp capable ship which was launched to Perhonies which were followed by a massive exploratory efforts core-ward. It was during the Age of Expansion that the Romulans returned to the stars where they began a period of conquering neighboring alien races. In Stardate -2/6100, the people of Gorwah were conquered and became the first culture absorbed into the Romulan state.

By Stardate -1/, the Romulans had approximately 13 settlements on other worlds. With the Romulan state expanding through space, the ability to govern these colonies grew more and more difficult. This resulted in the Romulan Civil War and it was the actions of Admiral Valkis that resulted in the formation of a true interstellar government after him declaring himself Emperor as well as forming the Romulan Senate to serve as his advisors. The Romulan Star Empire was officially formed upon the first meeting of the Imperial Senate in 938 A.D. (Earth relative date).

Between the 1270 and 1370, the Romulan Star Empire discovered a pathway back to their ancestral homeworld of Vulcan through the same unstable wormhole that deposited them at Romii system. Using this doorway back home, they waged a century long conflict through sub-light means that became known as the Vulcan-Romulan War in order to regain control of the planet. However, Vulcan strategy and tactics won against the Romulans naked aggression resulting in their defeat. The Vulcans were never aware of who the attackers were as the Romulans hid their appearance carefully as they would only declare their origins had they achieved victory. The war ended when the wormhole once again destabilized which separated Vulcan space from Romulan territory.

In 1411, the scientific arm of the Tal Diann discovered the means to isolate a quantum singularity and harness it for use as a power source for warp drive. This enabled the Romulan Star Empire to venture out beyond their solar system and become an interstellar power.

After a reign of decadent Emperors, the Imperial Senate abolished the position of Emperor in 1698 and installed a new leadership role that became known as the Praetor who would command the military.

During the early part of the 20th century, the Star Empire suffered from an attack from the Stellar Kingdom of Corill which had attacked the Romulans from a spinward position thus catching them off guard. This led to the Corillian Incident and despite heavy losses, the more numerous Romulans were victorious which led to the extinction of the Corillian civilization. This led to a period of consolidation of the Empire's domains. The mid-21st century (between 2041 and 2069) saw the empire's expansion briefly halted due to a number of skirmishes with the Klingon Empire.

At some point, early in their history, the Romulan Star Empire was engaged in a brutal war with the Hiram Assembly which started badly for the Romulans. Conflicts reached the outskirts of the Romii system and there were worries that the Star Empire might lose the war. However, the Empire turned back the tide and conquered the Hiram Assembly. The Assembly's colonies were taken by the Romulans while the Hiram themselves were exterminated.

Encounters and Skirmishes
By the 22nd Century, Romulus had begun a campaign of expansion and conquest.

During this century, the Romulan Star Empire came into conflict with the Klingon Empire over territory. Skirmishes over the Gamma Hydra sector were known to be common with the Romulans deploying gravitic mines in the region to prevent the Klingons from making a claim over that sector of space. It was also known that the Praetor of this era launched a campaign of conquest against the planet Haakona. Whilst the planet was occupied, the Romulan military faced stern opposition from insurrection movements on this world which was a bloody campaign that lasted for nineteen years. It ultimately forced the Romulans to abandon Haakona to its native race and left a disgrace on the Praetor for the failure in his mandate to conquer the planet.

The Empire made first contact with Humanity occured in 2152 when an Earth starship, UES Enterprise, fell victim to a cloaked minefield in Romulan territory. A pair of Birds-of-Prey, also equipped with cloaking devices, confronted the vessel and forced it to leave the system. This site was apparently a test location for the Romulans for their new cloaking technology; Romulan stealth technology was still very much in its infancy, the cloaked mines were considered a relative success but the power requirments for cloaking a whole ship were problematic.

2153 Romulan War of Succession
The Romulan War of Succession of 2153 was an armed conflict between outer Romulan colonies supporting Romulan Civil States and inner core Romulan worlds supporting the Romulan Star Republic. This conflict ended with the defeat of the Star Republic forces and Praetor Valdore committing suicide as a consequence.

The Romulan War of Succession grew out of political disagreements between the outer and inner colonies of the Romulan Star Empire, a situation largely encouraged by Romulus to keep a united political front from forming among the Romulan colony worlds against the homeworld.

At the time of the Xindi First Strike on Romulus and Remus, known locally as the Immolation of the Hearthworlds, the Romulan Star Empire had been under a strict form of centralization for over two-centuries, intended to keep the homeworld supplied and in power while keeping the colonial settlements subordinate and sending regular shipments. The colonies were kept strictly specialized in certain fields and barred from development in others to keep them subordinate. Farming worlds grew food but lacked the necessary industry to replace their machines, whereas industrial worlds lacked the agriculture to support their populations but to supply other worlds. Romulus had become a nexus to every level of the empire, transit/trade routes all joined in Eisn-system, only shipyards capable of building capital ships were in Romulus-orbit and all but the most necessary levels of government were kept planet-side.

In effect Romulus was the heart of the empire, but the entire Romulan civilization was one step from a heart-attack. Any interruption to its governance could spell doom for entire colonial population.

On 3 August 2153, when the Xindi attack on Remus aggravated thalaron crystal veins that snaked the planet's surface and detonated, the resultant wave of thalaron radiation and debris ended all organic life on the Romulan homeworld before the gravitational turbulence and incoming fragments impacted, tearing off the crust of Romulus. The level of destruction was the most devastating though unintended phase of the Xindi First Strike.

In the power vacuum created and civil disorder exploded as news spread, the Romulan Star Empire collapsed officially on 15 August 2153, when Rator III declared the formation of the Romulan Star Republic and established Witom Valdore as the Romulan Praetor. Praetor Valdore quickly secured the cooperation of the military outposts at Zevarus Prime, Glintara and Chetzia III before using the assets gained there to take the critical farming colony of Abraxas V with brutal precision. The Star Republic had hoped that with their unified front along with control of three of the four major military outposts now remaining with the lose of Romulus, that the other colonies would surrender to their rule. However only worlds changed support towards the Star Empire, the planets of Kevratas, Levaeri V, Algeron III, Nequencia, Gasko II and Chaltok IV.

Instead Achernar Prime, led by former Romulan Star Empire Captain Koshan Donatra, voted to form the Romulan Civil States with Donatra as its newly appointed Emperor. Surprisingly 24 Romulan colonies voted to join the Civil States, the planets of Abraxas IX, Abraxas Prime, Achernar II, Artaleirh, Assaf Golav, Carraya IV, Celes II, Cheron, Constanthus, Devoras, D'ravasasz, Drovna III, Gotanna III, Jhazara, Ke Kwanus V, Makar, Ralatak, Rhei'llhne, Sandal IV, Talvath, Terix II, Unroth III, Virinat, Xanitla and Zaxx'n VI.

Romulan Civil States became distinctly hostile to the administration of Praetor Valdore, and the political situation became serious, at times threatened to explode in civil war and was now only waiting for a suitable opportunity to assert its authority. In 2153 it came to light that Praetor Valdore had decided to enact plans to raid Civil States shipping, as harvests on Abraxas V were too low to support the Star Empire's population, especially to supply the military who were becoming increasingly antagonistic to Valdore's orders. This brought matters to a head, and Romulan Civil States began sending armed escorts with their convoys, as well as refusing all Star Republic vessels from crossing through their territory.

On September 1, 2153, Praetor Valdore published a Declaration for a New Romulus across the sub-space waves of Romulan occupied space to declare that as the true successor to the Star Empire, the Star Republic was the legal government of the Romulan people. This act was interpreted by the opposition as illegal and a clear sign of Valdore's intentions.

On September 6, 2153, the Romulan Civil States party began to launch frigate raiding squadrons from Xanitla. The Romulan Civil States took steps to recruit an army by taking its sympathizers directly on board the fleet and training them during their patrols and voyages towards the planets of the Romulan Star Republic.

Immediately on the outbreak Praetor Valdore published a decree declaring Donatra and his companions to be traitors, and without delay organized an army of some 40-thousand for the suppression of the 'insurrection movement'. While both sides were preparing for extremities, Valdore administered the government under dictatorial powers of his own nomination.

The first shot was fired, on 16 October, at the Abraxas V trading center when landing parties from the Civil States warships engaged small parties of Star Republic troops after news of illegal execution of civilian opposition leaders and their families is discovered. Valdore's principal forces were stationed in and about Levaeri V, Chetzia III, Rator III and Zevarus Prime and made no immediate move to reinforce the planet. The troops at Levaeri V and Chetzia III were necessarily isolated from the rest and from each other, and military operations began, with a naval descent upon Chaltok IV followed soon after.

The Romulan Civil States forces failed at first to make good on their footing (16–23 October), but, though defeated in two or three actions, they brought off many recruits and a quantity of munitions of war. On the 26th they took Chaltok IV, and on the 18 October the Star Republic commander, Panis, who offered battle in the expectation of receiving reinforcements, was completely defeated on the battlefield. The Star Republic fell back along the trade route, called up troops from Levaeri V, and beat the invaders at Huara on 17 November, but Levaeri V in the meanwhile fell to the Romulan Civil Navy on 16 November.

The Chaltok IV line of operations was at once abandoned, and the military forces of the Romulan Civil States were moved to Levaeri V, whence, under the command of Colonel Esan, they started moving. The Battle of Cheron, fought on the 7th of December, was desperately contested, but Deanto was superior in numbers and won. After this the other Star Republic troops gave up the struggle.

Early in December a portion of the Civil States squadron, comprising the armoured cruiser RCS Sarrum and other ships, was sent for repairs and put into the port of Ke Kwanus V. During the night of November 23, and whilst the Sarrum was lying quietly in orbit at Ke Kwanus V, the torpedo gunboat, belonging to the Valdore faction, sailed into the orbit of Ke Kwanus V and discharged a torpedo at the rebel ship. The Sarrum was destroyed in a few minutes and 300 of her crew perished. This disaster severely weakened the Romulan Civil States squadron.

Where this blow was to fall was not decided up to the last moment, but the instrument which was to deliver it was prepared with all the care possible under the circumstances. By the end of November Donatra and Esan had done their work as well as time permitted, and early in December 2153 the Civil State forces embarked at Levaeri V, numbering in all about 9,000. On the 10th of December the Romulan Civil States Fleet attacked and destroyed Ainpol Station at Algeron II, before jumping right away to Algeron III, where the Star Republic were entrenched.

Valdore was surprised, but acted promptly. The first battle was fought on the Hanshon Station in orbit of Algeron III on the 21st. The eager infantry of the Romulan Civil States army boarded the station en-mass and stormed the command held by the Star Republic. A severe fight ensued, in which the troops of Praetor Valdore were defeated with heavy loss. The killed and wounded of the Star Republic numbered 1,600, and nearly all the prisoners, about 1,500, enrolled themselves in the rebel army, which thus more than made good its loss of 1,000 killed and wounded.

After the victory at Algeron III the army, under command of Emperor Donatra, pressed on towards Abraxas V, but were soon brought up by the strong fortified position of the Star Republic general Pelanus Gedde at Kevratas, whither Valdore hurried up all available troops from Abraxas V and Rator III, and even from Glintara. Del Canto and Korner now resolved on a daring step. Supplies of all kinds were brought up from Algeron III to Hanshon Station to the front, and on the 24th of December the fleets abandoned its line of communications and sailed deep into Star Republic-held space. The flanking movement was conducted with great skill, little opposition was encountered, and the Civil States finally appeared near to Abraxas V.

There, on December 28, the final struggle in the conflict took place: the decisive battle of Gasko II. Algeron III had been perhaps little more than the destruction of an isolated corps; the second battle was a fair trial of strength, for Valdore's generals Gedde and Elilis were well prepared, had massed their troops in a strong position and had under their command the greater part of the existing forces of the dictator. But the fighting qualities of the Romulan Civil States troops and the superior leadership of their leaders prevailed in the end over every obstacle and resulted in victory for the rebels. The Star Republic army was annihilated, 941 were killed, including Gedde and his second in command, and 2,402 wounded. The Romulan Civil States army lost over 1,800.

Abraxas V was occupied the same evening and three days later the victorious Civil States landed on Chetzia III and assumed the government of the Star Republic soon afterwards. There was no further fighting, for so great was the effect of the battles of Algeron III and Gasko II.

After the lose of Chetzia III it was clear to Praetor Valdore that he could no longer hope to find a sufficient strength amongst his adherents to maintain himself in power, and in view of the rapid approach of the Romulan Civil States fleet he abandoned his official duties to seek an asylum in the Grand Palace in the Rator III capital city of Nova Romulus. On December 31, he officially handed power to General Denov Thrax, who maintained order in Rator III until the arrival of the Romulan Civil States leaders on January 4th.

The Praetor remained concealed in the capital of Nova Romalus until January 1. On the morning of that date, when the term for which he had been elected Praetor of the republic terminated, he committed suicide by shooting himself. The excuse for this act, put forward in letters written shortly before his end, was that he did not believe the conquerors would give him an impartial trial. The death of Valdore finished all cause of contention in the Romulan territories, and was the closing act of the most severe and bloodiest struggle that the nation had ever witnessed. In the various engagements throughout the conflict more than 10,000 lives were lost.