Kahless the Unforgettable

Kahless the Unforgettable was an ancient Klingon warrior whose teachings of honor and warrior ethics would become the basis of Klingon society.

The Man: Kahless, Son of Kanjis
The story of Kahless would be far different compared to the legends that the Klingon people speak of. His life began in the Heroic Age in Klingon history where he served as a warchief within the armies of Lord Molor. He would serve his master well and saved him on one occassion against outlaws. This life would forever change during his attempt at collecting 'taxes' from the village of M'iiriah whose inhabitants had no grain or livestock to give. Taking pity, Kahless left the village but Starad, son of Molor, attempted to burn the village down as part of his fathers orders. Kahless would stop the young warrior and fight him to the death. Kahless would owe his life to one of his warriors known as Morath for helping him in the battle. Starads death sealed Kahless's fate as a newly made outlaw.

He and his band of outlaws would travel for many miles until they reached the keep of Lord Vathraq and decided to secretly drink from the river. There they found a group of naked Klingon women which Kahless attempted to calm. He would gain the favour of one of them, Kellein daughter of Lord Vathraq who provided refugee to Kahless and his band as well as food for the night. Kahless attempted to explain that his band had no intention of attacking the tyrant Molor but they did not believe him and Kahless abandoned attempting to explain it. He would journey outside the keep where he was attacked by Kellein and the two had a night of passion where they decided to be mated the next time Kahless returned during the time of the Growing. He would wear a Jinaq amulet till the time would come.

Kahless would continue to evade Molors army and on one occassion had to escape into the mountains from Molor who led the army himself this time. Morath would lead Kahless and the band to safety through a secret passage through the cold snow covered mountain. They would return to Vathraq's Keep during the Growing but only found the dead to greet them. Molor had sent his army and slaughtered the inhabitants, including Kahless's beloved Kellein.

In grief, Kahless would abandon the band of outlaws and attempted to run from his woes. To him, there was nothing left to live for and he simply wished to join his lover in death. However, this was not to be for not far behind him was his comrade Morath who he grappled for six days and six nights. This would continue until Kahless's mount collapsed from exhaustion and Kahless begged Morath to allow him to end his life. Morath refused, stating that Kahless would have to pay with his life dedicated to being the outlaw who would bring Molor down. Kahless finally relented and agreed to the task. Thus, the beginning of the legend would be born.

Kahless's army woud grow from other outlaws who would spread Kahless's message that he would end Molor's tyranny once and for all. Among those he encountered was Edronh who Kahless met earlier and this time, had lost his son,Rannuf to one of Molors raids. Kahless would battle another one of Molors army which was led by the tyrants other son, Yatron. The two would battle with Kahless being the victor and robbing Molor another one of his sons but not before being wounded by one of the soldiers of the tyrants defeated army. Kahless urged his warriors forward to take the initiative after defeating the enemy armies leader before he collapsed from his wounds. He would next face a dream where he entered the afterlife and met Kellein who told him to go to the Kris'tak Volcano with a lock of his hair and forge a sword at Lake Lusor which would be the legend of the first Bat'leth. Kellein would disappear from the dream but not before urging Kahless to continue the battle against Molor. The son of Kanjis would next be visited by the recently deceased Rannuf who told him that his father, Edronh, would betray him for the old warrior was weary of battle after his son's death and believed that it would end once Kahless was killed.

When Kahless awoke, he was being tended by a healer known as Bandac and surrounded by his closest warriors. He demanded to know where Edronh was and Morath led him to the place the chief said his warriors would rest. However, when arriving at the region, they found nothing and Kahless's vision had come true. He told some of his warriors to appear as they were sleeping but remained armed while the rest would take hidden positions to engage in a flanking action against Molors coming army. The attack would be a success and Edronh would be dealt with by Morath. Another victory was achieved by Kahless's army.

At the end of the battle, Kahless would demand a blacksmith be brought to him. He also stated that he wanted a hundred of the slain enemy warriors swords for the task. Though distorted by the myth that ould happen in latter years, this was how the first bat'leth would be made. He would equip some of his best warriors with these bladed weapons.

Kahless would next lead his army against the citadel of Molor himself in Qa'yarin.

(TNG novel: Kahless)

(more to come)

The Final Reflection: Kahless eptai Riskadh

 * This section is written from a real-world perspective.

Written nearly a decade before Kahless was even mentioned in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the novel The Final Reflection portrayed a much more modern (but equally revered) version of Kahless. In TFR, Kahless lived much more recently, after the Klingons had warp drive and wars with the Romulans. Commanding a fleet in battle with the Romulans, Emperor Kahless became "He Who is Not Forgotten" after his ship was badly damaged and he had his hand strapped to his command chair, so that no one could say he fled it, or that another had commanded his ship at its end. The crew could then be evacuated to other ships, since Kahless had taken on all of the ship's destiny (and died gloriously in battle). Thus the Klingon exclamation "Kahless's hand!"
 *  "Kahless' hand!" has also been used in the Star Trek: IKS Gorkon series. Presumably there is an alternate origin for the saying that is compatible with Kahless as portrayed in TNG and subsequent novels. 

Legacy
Kahless's teachings of honor are believed to be the key that held the Klingon people together and prevented them from falling into self destructive wars such as those experienced by the Pauyk. (TNG novel: Infiltrator)

Quotes

 * "Destroying an Empire to win a war is no victory. And ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat."
 * "A leader is judged not by the length of his reign but by the decisions he makes."
 * "There is no victory without combat."
 * ''"Great men do not seek power, they have power thrust upon them."
 * "A terrible secret cannot be kept."
 * "The battle is never over as long as one of the enemy yet lives."