- For the mirror universe counterpart, see Kaylar (mirror).
| This article or subsection has an associated category. | Kaylar |
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The Kaylar, also called Kalar or Kalarans, were a pre-warp species inhabiting Rigel VII.
Biology[]
They were a large and physically powerful people with an average height of over 2.5 meters and weighed over 150 kilograms. (TNG - Intelligence Gathering comic: "A Matter of Dates"; FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)
The Kaylar were noted for their aggression and were capable of a battle-frenzy that made them hard to stop with non-lethal weapons. (TNG - Intelligence Gathering comic: "A Matter of Dates"; FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)
There were thought to be only around 100,000 Kaylar across Rigel VII in the late 23rd century. (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)
Culture[]
The Kaylar of Rigel VII were rated D-plus on the Richter Scale of Culture (ST references: Star Trek Maps, The Worlds of the Federation), known as primitive and savage, while their civilization was limited to towns, some agriculture. (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)
The Kaylar preferred to be nomadic and unsettled however, and slaves and mercenaries soon fell back to this state when their owners' empires collapsed. (Decipher RPG module: Worlds)
They were strongly territorial and xenophobic, and by the late 23rd century there had never been a successful contact that didn't end in bloodshed. The Kaylar preferred their solitude. (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge; ST reference: The Worlds of the Federation)
Aton, a 24th century Kaylar.
Their most advanced weapons were catapults, swords, spears (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge) and other primitive hand weapons (Decipher RPG module: Worlds). Kaylar warriors and construction workers mid-24th century wielded large swords and axes in addition to energy weapons. (TNG - Intelligence Gathering comic: "A Matter of Dates")
They were expert in the ways of Rigel VII's powerful and erratic tides, however, and many were skilled mariners. They could sail across the dangerous oceans on ships that were huge in size but quite light, long, narrow, and shallow-bottomed. They were also known for skills in construction. (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge; TNG - Intelligence Gathering comic: "A Matter of Dates")
The Kaylar also typically had heavily decorated left arms. (TNG - Intelligence Gathering comic: "A Matter of Dates")
History[]
The Kaylar were suspected to be originally native to Rigel V, but were taken as mercenaries and slaves and settled on Rigel II, IV, and VII, where they quickly returned to nomadic life-styles once their masters' empires collapsed. (Decipher RPG module: Worlds)
In 2254, a USS Enterprise landing party under the command of Captain Christopher Pike was attacked by the Kalar on Rigel VII. Two crewmen were killed in the attack, while one, Yeoman Zac Nguyen, was presumed dead but was in fact left behind on the planet. (TOS episode: "The Cage"; SNW episode: "Among the Lotus Eaters")
The memory of the Kaylar attack was used by the Talosians when they held Captain Pike of the Enterprise captive. To help draw Pike into the illusion his fellow captive, Vina, purposefully overplayed her role as damsel-in-distress to keep Pike from rationalizing the experience, too distracted defending her from the attacking Kaylar. (TOS episode: "The Cage"; TOS novel: Burning Dreams)
- Star Charts describes Pike's encounter as the first contact with the species and the world being quarantined pending development of warp drive.
In 2259, the Enterprise revisited Rigel VII, where Pike found out that Nguyen survived and became a leader of the Kalar as "High Lord Zacarias". (SNW episode: "Among the Lotus Eaters")
Administrator Areen battling Lieutenant Worf.
In the 2360s, a group of over two hundred Kaylar, led by Administrator Areen, were involved in a joint venture with a group of unrelated Rigelians to establish a new Federation colony on the planet Votar VII. The Kaylar were contracted to provide construction and repair services for suitable compensation. In 2368, the Rigelians attempted to renegotiate their contract with the Kaylar laborers and tried to force a lower rate of compensation upon them. The Kaylar refused the terms of the new contract and in response launched an attack on a dam and a power planet, "repossessing" the facility, and cutting the power it provided, plunging the colony into darkness.
The Rigelians believed that the Kaylar would destroy the dam if their demands weren't met, and prepared to abandon the colony. As Votar was a strategically important location to the Federation, Starfleet sent the USS Enterprise-D to mediate the dispute. Early attempts at diplomacy and a non-lethal assault led by Worf were met with resistance from the Kaylar as the Rigelians had convinced them the Federation would side with them and force the Kaylar out. Meanwhile, the Kaylar had no intention of destroying that which they'd built. Once these facts came to light, Worf was able to clear the waters and bring both sides to the negotiation table to find an amicable resolution to their dispute. (TNG comic: "A Matter of Dates")
Early Voyages continuity[]
After centuries of specialized breeding, the Kaylar developed to be quite different from the average Rigellian, being a good deal taller and stronger. (EV comic: "Our Dearest Blood")
Historically, the Kaylar played a major part in Rigel's warlike society. (EV comic: "Our Dearest Blood") In the 2250s, when Rigel VII sought to join the United Federation of Planets, the Kaylar faced being disbanded as Rigel attempted to move its society forward from its warlike routes. The Zemtar fortress, a traditional Kaylar barracks, was to be the site of Rigel VII's admission ceremony. (EV comic: "Our Dearest Blood")
However, Rigel VII did not join the Federation due to a Kaylar coup on the eve of the planet's admission. The Kaylar attacks lead to the deaths of three crewpersons from the USS Enterprise and injuries to seven others. The incident shocked much of Rigellian society, spurring them to continue their reformations, to remove the more barbaric elements of their society with the aim of eventually reclaiming its place in the Federation. (EV comics: "Our Dearest Blood", "Nor Iron Bars a Cage")
- This version of the Kaylar and Rigel VII is incompatible with the canon depiction in SNW episode: "Among the Lotus Eaters".
Appendices[]
Background[]
There have been differing depictions of Kalar or Kaylar over a number of sources. The ST references: Star Trek Maps, The Worlds of the Federation, Star Charts describe the "Kalar" or "Kaylar" as the dominant species of their homeworld, but describe them as primitive and pre-industrial, and have Rigel VII be an avoided and quarantined world (likely by the Prime Directive) after failed first contacts. The Decipher RPG module: Worlds follows suit, but places on several worlds of the Rigel system, having them be the descendants of slaves and mercenaries deposited there by ancient masters (by context, these are likely to be of the Orion Empires).
TNG comic: "A Matter of Dates", set in the 24th century, has them as a somewhat civilized warrior people in their own right, employed in Federation colony construction, indicating a century of advancement. It also depicts Kaylar of much more typically humanoid sizes than in other appearances before SNW, which also has depicts them as identical to Humans.
On the other hand, the EV comic: "Our Dearest Blood" makes the Kaylar merely a sub-culture of the more advanced Rigelians, prospective Federation members at the time others place first contact.
External link[]
- Kaylar article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.