Thrassi (sing., Thrass)

The Thrassi are avian humanoids who inhabit the planet Thraksis and consider themselves the dominant species. They oversee the mining efforts of the Karith, the planet's other sapient humanoid, and consider the shorter, landbound mammals as inferior servants. However, the Karith are treated well enough by the Thrassi that they do not consider themselves subservient, and there has never been an uprising. The Thrassi have achieved warp flight, but have so far rebuffed diplomatic requests to join the Federation, as they believe themselves above terrestrial beings in every sense of the word (and are offended that the Federation is hiding new technology from them).

Physiology

Thrassi are warm-blooded, feathered humanoids with four limbs: two wings with three-fingered hands for flight and manual manipulation, and two three-toed feet. One digit on all four limbs is opposable; the opposable toes are held forward while walking, but backward in flight or while perching. The tail, which is also feathered, extends to a length between the knee and ankle joints of their digitigrade legs. Their faces are vaguely humanoid, with large eyes set diagonally forward and small, tough-lipped mouths ending in sharp, straight beaks. They have no teeth, and eat fruits, nuts, and herbs, as well as live or cooked fish. Since contact with other races, they have discovered a liking for pastries as well, though they detest other kinds of meat. They have a pouch in their digestive tract that is ridged, allowing them to “chew” their food in this gizzard-like organ.

The average lifespan is 150 standard years, with majority being attained at 20. Fertility lasts until 100 for females, and 125 for males. They have a biannual mating cycle and 4-month gestation period, after which 2-4 eggs (at least one of which is usually sterile) are laid. After 2 months of incubation, the young hatch and are fed liquefied versions of adult foods.

They are also highly sexually dimorphic, both in general form and coloration. Although both have a uniform green coloration to their feathers, the females have areas of brown and white on the face, neck, chest, and belly, whereas the males are a brighter green and have corresponding areas of red and purple. Females are also larger, being 5.5- 7 ft. tall with wingspans from 15- 22 ft; the males are usually 4-6 ft. in height with wingspans from 10- 18 ft. Both genders have a ruff of longer, softer feathers on the neck: that of the males is longer and confined to the neck region, while the females' ruff is shorter and extends to mid-torso.

History

Not much is known of the Thrassi history before they achieved warp capability. What little is known concerns the clan wars, which used to establish dominance and have led to the current social hierarchy. The Brightfeather clan gained ruling status in the last clan war, displacing the Skywings from their centuries-held preeminence.

The Federation’s first contact with the Thrassi occurred in 2274, just after they achieved warp capabilities. The Thrassi showed no interest in joining the Federation, and they quickly set about carving themselves an empire. They have colonized several planets and moons within their star system, recently expanding into the neighboring systems, where they have come into conflict with the Perilkian.

Government

Thrassi are matriarchal, with females holding higher status among family members as well as in social circles. The High Winglady is an elected official (always female) chosen from the ruling clan every 10 years. She then appoints a 10-member council (she may also keep councilors from past regimes), each of whom will rule over a region and make reports of societal, civil, criminal, and mining developments directly to her.

Thrassi criminals are tried by an appointed jury, with a representative from the regional Wingleader as judge (though appeals are attended to by the Wingleader). If convicted, they are isolated in the lower parts of the cities and denied flight; the worst of these are wing-clipped, either temporarily or permanently, and sent to the surface to perform menial tasks. None are sent underground with the Karith, for they are become nervous even to the point of hyperventilation, hysterics, claustrophobia, and seizures if forced into a subterranean situation. They consider it worse than a death sentence, and use other humanoid servants to directly interact with those members of the Karith who cannot come to the surface for agoraphobic reasons.

Religion

The Thrassi are moderately religious, sometimes referring to their goddess, Uramir, Ruler of the Winds, in their everyday speech. The male counterpart to Uramir, Kreeth, who rules the clouds, isn’t mentioned as often, and is commonly thought to be subservient to the goddess.

Like the Thrassi society, the religion is very matriarchal, even to the point that the organized “church” is organized in a way that reflects the government. For each of the ten regions, which the high Wing Lady’s counselors rule, there is a high priestess. These high priestesses, in turn, serve as counselors to the high Wind Speaker.

Of the everyday worship of Uramir, little is known; the Thrassi have not been known to invite members of other races to participate in any religious practices. During one of the Federation’s first interactions with them, the Thrassi became highly agitated when a medical officer mentioned studying a corpse to obtain medical data. Talks quickly deteriorated, and fighting was only barely avoided. The apparent cause to this situation is that the Thrassi burn their dead within a certain amount of time in order to commit the dead’s soul to the wind.

Culture and Society

Thrassi are very concerned with social status, and use their clever dealings, quick thinking, and subtle manipulation to rise through the social ranks. They have developed a knotwork system where the color, complexity, and arrangement of complex knots indicate region, occupation, and rank. These are worn on the shoulder or collar of their colorful garments, where they are easily visible. It is also fashionable to bleach, then dye their primary feathers as befits their clan or station.

Their loyalty is clannish, and each clan has its own status in the hierarchy; however, individuals can rise above or fall below their base clan status through their own actions. The only clan-dependent rank is that of High Winglady, who is always chosen from the Frithare (Brightfeather) Clan. Clans with lower status tend to have land- or citybound jobs, whereas those of higher status enjoy occupations that take them into the sky or space regularly. The High Winglady herself often personally oversees important space missions, such as winning a new planet to their use or retaliating for offences committed by rival starships.

They are shrewd merchants, and give freely of their resources as long as they feel they are being adequately compensated. They trade foodstuffs, metals, gems, technology, and sometimes their own shed feathers to more primitive or equal societies. They even supply the Federation with Tritanium and duranium in exchange for exotic foods, luxury items, textiles, weaponry, and medicinals. Most of their ships are of Romulan design, though they have been unsuccessful at bargaining for the cloaking technology. When they could not coax the requisite parts from the Romulans, Thrassi have used parts from other cultures such as the Ferengi and Starfleet to complete their armaments.

Seeing themselves as the highest form of life, they seek always to expand their sphere of influence and recruit other humanoids as servants, both above and below ground. Every colonization attempt also brings a contingent of Karith to handle most of the mining procedure and oversee the 'lesser servants' (meaning those newly acquired).