Grazerite

The Grazerites are humanoid members of the Federation hailing from the planet Vacca III. The Grazerites had a position on the Federation Council in the late 24th century held by Jaresh-Inyo until he was elected Federation President.

Physiology

Grazerites fit the average height and weight parameters for known humanoid species. A layer of fine, downy fur covers their hide-thick skin. Grazerite facial features include a pronounced, deeply furrowed brow and a bovine snout. Two slightly curving horns, which may reach four inches in length, crown the Grazerite skull. Current fashion calls for a tight-fitting cloth cowl to cover the horns.

History

Grazerites evolved from small bovine herbivores on the planet Grazer, a planet of large, flat continents and overall temperate conditions. Due to a food shortage which happened in their past, Grazerite technology has always been driven by agricultural needs. In sharp contrast to most Federation member species, the Grazerites lay no claim to a dramatic, turbulent history soaked in the blood of the fallen. They hide no shameful dark period that nearly threatened them with extinction. Instead, they tell a placid, uneventful tale of slow, steady, reasonable progress, uninterrupted by war, disease, or oppression. All of the great moments in Grazerite history arise from carefully developed thoughts, broached only after long years of cautious contemplation.

The Grazerite society is a peaceful one overall. They are herbavores and do not believe in killing. This has led to historical difficulty when certain races discovered the Grazerite homeworld. For example, the Cardassians conquered the homeworld in 2257, but abandoned it shortly after, stating that the Grazerite people were hardly worth the effort and that there were little to no minerals to extract.

Grazer joined the Federation 50 years later, and the true usefulness of the people and planet was soon seen. Grazerites had keen minds in terms of diplomacy and science. They have since been a welcome addition to the Federation.

Society

The basic social unit among the Grazerites is the upsol, a conglomeration of anywhere from a hundred to five hundred individuals who work, relax, eat, and ruminate together. Grazerites append the names of their upsols to their given names; Jaresh-Inyo, for instance, is Jaresh of the Inyo upsol. Grazerite life centers on the group, not the individual; privacy, for example, is a concept unknown to them. Favorite activities, aside from the teaching and entertainment of children, are thinking and talking. Grazerites like to think together. Agreement comes naturally to them, and discussions often consist of each speaker slightly restating and refining the statements of the last. They can while away endless hours in this manner, never getting bored.

Several institutions of higher learning sprang up on Vacca III after contact with the Federation. Their role is to train Grazerites for contact with other friendly species. At these academies - staffed equally by Grazerites and aliens - students learn how to prosper in the unfamiliar environment of the Federation. They experience the shock of disagreement, learn about the strange discontent of many other species, and train themselves to speed up their decision-making.

Grazerites are self-confident; only rare individuals raised outside the upsol structure are prone to sefl-esteem problems of any kind. Thoughtful and contemplative, they are uncomfortable making snap-decisions. Grazerites are optimistic, certain that there's an answer to every problem, given enough time to think about it. Extremely patient and highly resistant to boredom, Grazerites excel at tasks requiring a long attention span and close focus on details.

Philosophy

Grazerites believe in peace above all things, preferring to die before harming another. This led the Grazerites to relocate a carnivorus cat-like species on their homeworld to a terraformed moon, rather than destroy them. All the while, the Grazerite response was that the carnivorus species was only following its natural inclination and treating the Grazerites like prey.

A Grazerite taking a life is to be universally shunned, no matter what the reason for the transgression. They lose their citizenship, their rights and in some cases their ability to visit their home planet. In essence, a Grazerite that kills ceases to become a member of Grazer.

Jaresh-Inyo

President Jaresh-Inyo (2372).

Jaresh-Inyo was a Grazerite, who served as the President of the United Federation of Planets in 2372. Jaresh-Inyo had formerly represented his people on the Federation Council. He had been in politics for seventy years previously.

In 2372, Jaresh-Inyo reluctantly agreed to implement sweeping security measures in all Starfleet ships and facilities at the recommendation of Admiral Leyton, and later authorized the deployment of Starfleet troops on Earth and the institution of martial law in response to the threat of Dominion invasion. Jaresh-Inyo rescinded the measures after Leyton was exposed as having fabricated the threat in an attempt to launch a military takeover of Earth.

By 2375, Jaresh-Inyo had completed his term in office. It was later discovered that Section 31 had planted an agent in his cabinet.