Joz
The Joz are a species that are native to the Planet Jozem located in the Beta Quadrant.
They are known allies of the Tch'Kairn and the Niglik and are at war with the Waagoshin.
The Mosek Joz
The Joz are comprised of two distinct subspecies, both reptilian in nature. The first of these is the Mosek Joz. The Mosek Joz are powerfully built, with a strong forward thrust neck and head. They have deep chests and are well-suited for difficult physical labor and combat.
They possess a dominate horn on the top of their head that is very similar in design and structure to that of the terran rhinocerous. they also possess a heavy bony plate over their shoulder blades which protects their back from ancilliary damage during combat.
The Mosek Joz, though social equals to their brothren the Aznek Joz tend to dominate the heavy workforce and military, due to their superior strength and stamina. Female Mozek Joz are found in all sectors of Joz society and range from military personnel to artists and philosophers.
The average Mosek Joz weighs in at close to 2500 pounds and stands at roughly six-foot seven to seven-foot tall. They are bipedal humanoids with strong limbs.
Their hands ends in three fingers which are connected by a thick webbing. Their feet end in thick heavy claws, which make excellent natural weapons.
Their head, which is distinctly reptillian ends in a massive powerful beak and is capped by a strong cranial horn. Their hide is think and teathery with bonelike portrusions alomg the jaw line and extending from the shoulder blades.
Mosek Joz reproduce sexually,and the female lays a clutch of eggs which take three years to mature before hatching.
The Mosek have an excellent sense of smell and keen eyesight.
The Mosek are primarily vegetarians and have a well developed agricultural society. They have very resilient constitutions which allow them to process most biological poisons with only mild side effects. their beaks are srong enough to crush woody plants to pulp for digestion.
The Aznek Joz
The Aznek Joz are closely related to their cousins the Mosek. like them, they have a strong reptilian ancestry.
Physically they are somewhat smaller that the Mosek, Their forms although well-muscled by the standards of most species are significantly smaller than their cousins. They average roughly 2000-2200 pounds and stand roughly six-foot two to six-foot five inches in height.
One of the major differences that is noted when regarding the Aznek is that they possess a slightly different head arrangement that those held by their close cousins.
The Aznek possess the same cranial horn, but this horn is much farther forward on the snout of the Asnek. They also possess a small short jaw horn just behind and below their eyes. Like the Mosek, they possess a beak, although it is not as pronounced as that possessed by the Mosek.
Another major difference is the lack of bony purtrusions from their shoulder blades. Instead the Aznek possess a bony shield that extends from the back of thier skull and protects the back of their neck. this plate is very similar to one possessed by the ancient terran dinosaur triceratops.
The Aznek although strong do not possess the same degree of physical stamina and strength as is enjoyed by their cousins. They have therefore socially become more connected with the more intellectual pursuits of Joz Society.
They are most likely to be merchants, artists, diplomats and scientists, although there is no discernable difference in intelligence between the Mozek and the Aznek subspecies.
Like their cousins, they reproduce sexually and the female of the species lay a clutch of egges which take three years to mature before hatching.
Mosek and Aznek Joz are capable of interbreeding and it is not considered taboo to do so. Additionally, both subspecies are considered social equals.
Joz Society
Because of the long period of time needed to raise their young and the natural dispostion of the Joz as non-agressive herbivores, they have developed a relatively benign society.
There were some tensions in their past between the two distinct species, but after they were almost driven to the point of extinction by competing for resources, the Joz have forged a strong centralized government and have managed to bury any social prejudice between their two subspecies.
Any Joz is capable of working in any level of their society doing any function that they like. While most Mosek's tend towards physical jobs and most Aznkes towards intellectual pursuits, it is not uncommon for them to choose other avenuse normally dominated by their biological cousins.
Joz History
The Joz developed a strong ecologically friendly industry early in their social develpment. The primary focus of their industrial growth was invested in agricultural and renewable energy sources. They also developed advanced construction and industrial infrastructure.
because of their low-birthrate and therefore their relatively small population, the Joz invested heavily in advanced robotics and automation.
The first such robots were used to maintain massive agricultural facilities and to make mining and other industrial pursuits less hazardous for their workers.
It was only a matter of time before Joz science allowed them to look to space and begin their own exploration and development of their immediate area.
They established colonies on their moon and also on one of the planets of their system.
These facilites ushered in a golden age of exploration which led to advances in advanced robotics, sensor technology and starship design and development. Along with these advances came related advances in medicine, agriculture, and energy science.
Four hundred years after their first space flight, the Joz developed a Quantum Skip Drive, which allowed them to begin to explore space beyond their immediate system. Manned ships were designed and developed and they had soon expanded beyond their system, by establishing small way-stations.
Encounters
The Joz eventually discovered that they were not alone. The first species that they discovered were the Drevin. This particularly hostile species attacked manned Joz vessels, seized their colonies and drove the Joz back to their home system.
As a result of this aggression, the Joz developed and trained a military force. They turned their skill at robotics into creating Telepresence controlled warships and attack drones. Where those were insufficent to deal with a particular threat, the Joz sent combat troops comprised mostly of Mosek Joz shock troops supported by telepresence controlled warmachine support.
When it became apparent that the Drevin would not accept peace with the Joz, they were forced to devestate the Drevin homeworld to secure their own survival.
Through a combination of Telepresence ships and ecological warfare, they reduced the dervin ability to conduct war. With their culture in complete ruins, the Drevin were unable to continue the conflict and isolated themselves from further extraterrestrial contact.
The price of peace was tremendous; nearly one-half of the already small Joz population was lost in the war and the golden age of exploration had come to an end.
The Joz returned to their home world to recover, abandoning their extra-solar colonies and focused on maintianing their existence.
They were not to remain isolated for long.
Only eigthy years after their self-imposed isolation, they were contacted by the Tch'kairn. a peace treaty was immediately agreed to and Tch'Kairn merchants began to ply their trade between their two worlds, much to the benefit of both species.
Joz Telepresence vessels shipped materials on behalf of the Joz merchant classes and once again began to explore their sectors of space.
It was through their contact with the Tch'Kairn that the Joz were introduced to the Niglik. As had happened with the Tch'Kairn, the Joz befriended the Niglik and established diplomatic and merchantile agreements with them. They traded freely with their new allies and their society was greatly enriched by the sharing of science and culture that came along with the agreement.
It wasn't until the Niglik were attacked by the Waagoshin that the Joz had any encounters with that species.
At first the Joz sent telepresence ships and warmachines to aid their allies, but their intial designs were not as easily replaced as were those used by the Waagoshin.
Additionally, Joz leadership oftentimes failed to press any tactical advantages that they may have agained during a given engagement. That shortfall in concert with their lack of information on the location of the waagoshin home system prevented the defeat of the Waagoshin forces assaulting the Niglik homeworld.
When the Niglik were defeated after two years of heavy fighting, the Joz sent hundreds of heavy warships to protect their remaining allies the Tch'kairn, who were sworn pacifists.
They met the Waagoshin military threat six times, each time dealing tremendous losses against the invaders but not without cost to their own unmanned fleets.
In the final fleet enagegment at the Tch'Kairn homeworld, The Joz fleet fought a desperate holding action while trying to evacuate the most brilliant scientists that the Tch'Kairn could lay claim to.
The conflict ended with a defeat for the Joz, due to the superior numbers of Waagoshin ships in their attack fleet.
The Joz retreated to their home system, reinforced it against attack and rebuilt their fleet and miliatry might.
With the aid of Tch'Kairn scientists they developed new weapons and computer systems as well as new ship designs.
For whatever reason the Waagoshin have not yet attacked the Joz home world. it is currently believed that the Tch'Kairn may have managed to destroy the location of the Joz home system, thus leaving the Waagoshin unable to attack them.
The Joz are first mentioned in the USS Hades mission:A Rule of Conscience
Credits: Special Thanks to John Koe and Simone Lee for permission to use their images of the Joz seen here. Their work is much appreciated.
