Feegles Verses Klingons

[bazz cargo]

There is one particular aspect of writing that seems to send me round in circles. I can't help pulling at loose threads.

I did have an idea for a Star Trek book. It is a reasonable franchise to get into. But, the thing that bugs me is the Klingons. A race of warriors. Prideful and quick to turn to violence. So, where does their food come from? Who develops their technology? How do you go Empire building when there is no coherent government structure?

Sure, they work well as a two dimensional character that pops up for a brief cameo, but... I can't help feeling that a retired warrior turned farmer that is forced to go on a one Klingon mission of revenge, or rescue or something has interesting possibilities. Then...

I had this other idea, what would the Klingon version of Feegles be like? I don't know why, but in my head they sound Geordie. Could they be living on his/her farm and accompany the Klingon on the mission?

So, wouldn't it be nice to add to the Star Trek Universe?

Are there any other thread pullers out there?

[Foxee]

I get what you're saying but I bet there is more Klingon canon out there than what you're aware of.

[apocalypsegal]

I always wondered the same things about the villains in Star Gate. Did they have fashion runway shows? Who designed their outfits? Who made them? How did they get food, or fuel, or booze? Did they watch media? Was there a major network? Even the Jaffa had downtime, what did they do other than practice fighting?

Side note: why did none of the transported humans develop technology? It was sort of explained in SG: Atlantis, but never touched on in the regular show. Also, why didn't they ever colonize any of the nice planets the SG teams found? There were a lot that weren't being noticed by the Goa'uld, good places with no pollution or over-crowding.

My brain hurts now.

[Doodah]

This could sound very negative, but I don't mean it that way. Humans can be seen in a similar manner. We are constantly at war with ourselves. When we discuss the possibility of alien races, the first thing that pops into our heads, as a collective, is not what we can gain, but what we have to lose should beings from distant stars make themselves known. We immediately consider how to defend and protect what is ours, the pointy end of spears facing up, not down.

Humans are a species of war and death. That is how we survive and how we expand. I don't see Klingons as so different that they wouldn't have art and fashion and poetry. I assume, based on canon, that it is art of conquest and war, but art none the less.

[druid12000]

There is one particular aspect of writing that seems to send me round in circles. I can't help pulling at loose threads.

I did have an idea for a Star Trek book. It is a reasonable franchise to get into. But, the thing that bugs me is the Klingons. A race of warriors. Prideful and quick to turn to violence. So, where does their food come from? Who develops their technology? How do you go Empire building when there is no coherent government structure?

Sure, they work well as a two dimensional character that pops up for a brief cameo, but... I can't help feeling that a retired warrior turned farmer that is forced to go on a one Klingon mission of revenge, or rescue or something has interesting possibilities. Then...

I had this other idea, what would the Klingon version of Feegles be like? I don't know why, but in my head they sound Geordie. Could they be living on his/her farm and accompany the Klingon on the mission?

So, wouldn't it be nice to add to the Star Trek Universe?

Are there any other thread pullers out there?

The Klingons remind me of a race of warriors in a game I play on my phone. The strongest are the warriors. They fight and train and are inglorious bastards. Everyone else does the grunt work. Not strong enough to join the ranks, shovel shit or plow the fields.

But you raise a good point about the technology. Even if they just acquire the tech through intimidation and conquest, presumably, some of them have to be smart enough to use it and teach others. And considering their cloaking tech is the cat's meow, someone had to invent it, right?

I did a google search to see how much backstory there is on the Klingons. Holy Sh*t, there's a lot. Trekkies are insanely passionate folks

[thepancreas11]

I actually just watched a TNG episode featuring a Klingon scientist, and she's exactly what you'd imagine. Obviously, she becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, and obviously, she ends up throwing Beverly Crusher into the wall. I have the same feeling though. What is a Klingon farmer like? They have to have them. Someone is out there raking the worms for their worm soups (I don't remember any of the names of their dishes, but they always look like either wild boar or a bowl of worms).

I love DS9 because it is kind of like pulling at threads. It's like, "Hey, what if we just followed the daily comings and goings of people at one of these super remote outposts that we always mention offhandedly?"

The thread I would pull at? Hmm...I'm between Lord of the Rings orc architect and the chef at the Jedi Temple. Either of those would be a lot of fun to look into.

[escorial]

I get served by Klingons in most record shops...

[Llyralen]

I study Vikings— mostly Vikings in their own homeland. They used to get looked at kind of like Klingons, well many people still see them that way. The retired Viking living on their farm, dealing with that honor code while trying to find a suitable person to marry and ally with (or piss her dad and entire clan off and start a feud) — man that could all come together so easily and it would be so interesting! Just off the top of my head I will tell you that young men were the main labor force on the farm before they set sail and often they were expected to be back for Harvest, if possible. The women were a very strong matriarchy at home— used to running practical affairs while men were away— the head woman of the house kept all of the keys and was expected to be able to figure out how to ration everything properly through the winter, how to manage slaves and workers, know how many pigs or horses to slaughter at a blot (look up blot) while still getting through the winter. Chiefs and kings were expected to sacrifice animals for the good of all, but women were often the presiders of spirituality and as everyone knows women naturally hold magic and it is considered homosexual for men to do spiritual/magical acts other than the sacrifices so men usually have to do some purification stuff if they are caught somewhere with no women in sight and have to perform magic. However, there are also men who try to practice magic further than that and they are risking their necks doing so. That honor code means a lot of revenge among themselves that just keeps going.

I don’t know if you’d be interested in basing a story off of a Viking saga, but if I were going to do it I’d look at Njal’s Saga. He is legend for his wisdom and the players in that story are also the hero’s of other stories (Gudrun, specifically— in Laxendale Saga. Kjartan, Boli these are very interesting characters in the most famous and tragic feud in Iceland and they were real people.) If you wanted a warrior-poet I’d look at Egil Skalagrimson. The women are just as interesting as the men. Leif Erikson’s daughter was a serial killer in their colony in America. Anyway. you might not want a template. Oh and when Norway was being united under Harold Fairhair and his Queen Ragnhild (she’s fascinating and had a blood feud with Egil Skalagrimson going— Ragnhild, considered a very powerful sorceress— her many sons were all famous and interesting: Eric Bloodaxe, and the one who did do magic who her King Harold (the dad) burned in a house with all his friends. I do wonder if I’m mixing up the story of Harold’s grandson now, but it’s easy to look up.).

I mean it is all very interesting. Harold’s take-over was a huge turning point for Norway and many families exiled to Iceland. and the take-over showed how unification and structure would form from what was before small kingdoms or chiefdoms. Some of the structure there before even came from vows made to kings in exchange for gold and renown/fame but also for protection due to the bigger group and for the sacrifices the kings made, so spiritual protection as well. Otherwise they were kind of solitary dwellings. In Denmark the structure and more unified country started to happen a few hundred years earlier— likely unified due to need against Charlemagne who was wiping out their Saxon cousins to the south. What’s left of the huge round tower military bases is super interesting. The defenses in the water against Charlemagne and sons is something also very interesting, imo. By the way, I’d imagine just like for the Vikings, for Klingons the role of the skalds/bards/poets/storytellers would be very important. If you’ve got that honor code going then you need people to make you famous and sing your praises.

Klingons becoming unified under a central government— my guess is that would be a very bloody happening. There would likely have to be some king-worship or something going on to really make it happen. For sure a lot of wiping out of rival groups, I’d think.

[bazz cargo]

OP Foxee I get what you're saying but I bet there is more Klingon canon out there than what you're aware of.

The amount of Star Trek stuff out there is mind boggling. Mind you, having read a few books the writing skill bar is remarkably low.

There is a lot of online stuff
http://asktrek.iwarp.com/whats_new.html
I just think that the usual Klingon/Star Trek mythos could do with a bit of subversion.

OP apocalypsegalI always wondered the same things about the villains in Star Gate. Did they have fashion runway shows? Who designed their outfits? Who made them? How did they get food, or fuel, or booze? Did they watch media? Was there a major network? Even the Jaffa had downtime, what did they do other than practice fighting?

Side note: why did none of the transported humans develop technology? It was sort of explained in SG: Atlantis, but never touched on in the regular show. Also, why didn't they ever colonize any of the nice planets the SG teams found? There were a lot that weren't being noticed by the Goa'uld, good places with no pollution or over-crowding.

My brain hurts now.

Of the shows I watch, only two spring to mind that have a complex 'iceberg' of society on display. DS9 and B5. Everything else seems open for investigating. A writer's imagination can go anywhere.

OP DoodahThis could sound very negative, but I don't mean it that way. Humans can be seen in a similar manner. We are constantly at war with ourselves. When we discuss the possibility of alien races, the first thing that pops into our heads, as a collective, is not what we can gain, but what we have to lose should beings from distant stars make themselves known. We immediately consider how to defend and protect what is ours, the pointy end of spears facing up, not down.

Humans are a species of war and death. That is how we survive and how we expand. I don't see Klingons as so different that they wouldn't have art and fashion and poetry. I assume, based on canon, that it is art of conquest and war, but art none the less.

In a sideways way you have hit my point better than I. As a writer, exploring concepts is an exercise in thread pulling. Going beyond the surface of the story to find the ebbs and flows of what everything is built on. A useful tip is remember the root of aggression is fear.

OP thepancreas11I actually just watched a TNG episode featuring a Klingon scientist, and she's exactly what you'd imagine. Obviously, she becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, and obviously, she ends up throwing Beverly Crusher into the wall. I have the same feeling though. What is a Klingon farmer like? They have to have them. Someone is out there raking the worms for their worm soups (I don't remember any of the names of their dishes, but they always look like either wild boar or a bowl of worms).

I love DS9 because it is kind of like pulling at threads. It's like, "Hey, what if we just followed the daily comings and goings of people at one of these super remote outposts that we always mention offhandedly?"

The thread I would pull at? Hmm...I'm between Lord of the Rings orc architect and the chef at the Jedi Temple. Either of those would be a lot of fun to look into.

There is a Klingon Restaurant on DS9. And I spotted a Klingon 'gypsy violinist' doing the rounds in what I think was the replimat. What I wonder is the tech behind the food dispensers?

OPescorial I get served by Klingons in most record shops...

And there is a story all by itself...

OP LlyralenKlingons becoming unified under a central government— my guess is that would be a very bloody happening. There would likely have to be some king-worship or something going on to really make it happen. For sure a lot of wiping out of rival groups, I’d think.

I would recommend that your post above is read just for the Viking content.
The one author who really placed the little people in context during the grand sweep of epic story telling is Terry Pratchett. His Night Watch book is amazing.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply.
Be it known I have now almost a dozen pages of a Klingon Novel. No Feegles.

[Gumby]

Interesting, I bet they relied on slave labor for most everything. But a farmer Klingon would certainly seem like a contradiction to how they are always presented.