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Welcome to the Cardassian Embassy

Cardassian Union

Political Seat of Power: Cardassian Prime
Governmental Leader: Meros Jasad
Liason to Central Command: Gul Jarrit Legrath
Leading Ambassador: Ambassador Melora Damesh
Diplomatic Aide: Tamil Dumik

Physiology and Appearance

The Cardassians appear to have evolved from a creature with both reptilian and mammalian traits. Standing roughly 1/8 meters tall, Cardassians evidence gray to grayish-green skin and shiny, black hair. Cardassians are barrel-chested and slightly heavier than humans, a result of their planet's thick atmosphere and slightly higher gravity. Elongated vertebrae covered in scaly plate sections extend along their necks. Segmented brow ridges stretch down from the forehead and encircle their eyes, giving them a slightly "hooded" look reminiscent of a Terran Cobra. An unsegmented ridge known as a chufa extends upward from the tip of the nose to a spoon-shaped protrusion in the center of the forehead.

Homeworld

Cardassia Prime is the homeworld of the Cardassian people and capital of the Cardassian Union. The third of eight planets, it orbits a single Type K7 V (bright, orange dwarf) star. Although these worlds -- several Class-F and Class-H planets -- provided much-needed resources, their mineral wealth has long since been exhausted. Spinward of the Federation, the system lies in the Bajor sector, though the Cardassians do not refer to it as such. Cardassia is a planet poor in natural resources, having exhausted what little silicates they had as a result of their efforts to develop their space fleet. Cardassia's gravity is slightly greater than that of Earth (roughly 1.18 G), but not enough to affect non-Cardassian visitors. The atmospher, though composed of nitrogen-oxygen, is thick enough to trap excess heat, making the planet warm.

History

Long ago, the Cardassians were a peaceful, spiritual people. Their world was home to a splended civilization known as the First Hebitian civilization. They created incredible works of art, technically sophisticated philosphies, and extraordinary architecture. As the Cardassians exhausted their resources, starvation and disease ran rampant. People died by the millions. In order to survive, the Cardassians gocused the efforts on acquiring new territories and new resources. As the military gained more power, the whole of society was reorganized to support military expansion at the cost of the very culture they saught to preserve. Cardassians call this gradual decline of their civilization vereshvar. Althought the ruins of this period are legendary, and considered some of the most remarkable in the galaxy, much of this hisotrical wealth and cultural heritage was plundered by the military, who sought funds to fight back.

The Cardassians approached encounters with other intergalactic civilizations with suspicion and mistrust, seeing them as competitors for resources and impediments to their expansion. Their first encounter with Klingons led to an 18-year long war. Yet it was their bitter conflict with the Federation -- beginning in 2347, over the ownership of several planets along their ill-defined border -- that taxed their facilities. After some 20 years, the two sides reached an uneasy truce in 2366, followed by a historic peace treaty signed the following year. Conflicts continued, however, as both agreements left unresolved in their original territorial dispute. After another pact, the Federation-Cardassian treaty of 2370, which established a demilitarized zone by relocating several Federation and Cardassian colonies. Ironically, the agreement created a new thorn in Cardassia's side -- a terrorist organization knows as the Maquis composed of Federation colonists who refused to leave their homes and attacked Cardassian targets for the next three years.

The occupations of Bajor and Aqualia provide infamous examples of the Cardassians' ruthless exploitation of other worlds. At first, the Cardassians would offer assistance to improve the standard of living for the native peoples of the worlds they were interested in controlling. The natives often initially saw this as benevolent, and even desirable. The Aqualish and the Bajorans quickly changed their minds after their worlds were officially annexed by the Cardassian Union. Over the next several decades, such worlds were stripped of their resources for shipment back to Cardassia Prime. Resistance cells quickly formed on these occupied worlds. Some, like the Barjorans, were able to convince the Cardassians to leave, but others such as the Aqualish had to wait for the Cardassian-Klingon War or the Dominion War to bring about their freedom.

During the Dominion War, the role of the Cardassian Union had many twists and turns. At first, the Cardassian Central Command and Obsidian Order fought alongside the Klingons and the Federation to oppose invasion by the Dominion. A civilian uprising in 2372 overthrew the military government, placing power in the hands of the long-impotent Detapa Council. Suspecting that shape-shifting agents of the Dominion had replaced the Council, the Klingon Empiore invaded Cardassia Prime, which destroyed the industrial capability of dozens of Cardassian Worlds and devastated the economy.

Desperate, the Cardassian government entered into an alliance with the Dominion in the following year. From this, the Cardassians gained a measure of relief from Dominion attacks, and Cardassian space became a staging point for Jem'Hadar fleets. By late 2375, however, Cardassian public opinion turned against the Dominion alliance, as the Jem'Hadar consumed more and more resources, and progressively larger numbers of Cardassians either starved or died in the war. In response, the Dominion leveled entire cities to quash the nascant rebellion, which only triggered more massive uprisings not only among the civilian population, but also among the ranks of the military. Although, Cardassia won its freedom at the end of the war, some 800 million Cardassians lost their lives and their world was in shambles.

With its independence restored, the Cardassian rebuilt itself, the Detapa Councile was reformed to lead Central Command. Cardassia quickly rebuilt its empire, but not nearly to the pre-war size. The military continues to play a smaller, even if it is still very important, role in Cardassian society, though intelligence reports to many of its neighbors are indicating that the military may also be returning to power.

Culture

The typical Cardassian is still somewhat xenophobic, arrogant, and paranoid. They believe that theirs is the greatest civilization in the universe that continues to rise above challenges to it from other lesser species, which are intent on preventing Cardassia from taking its rightful place as the most important power int he quadrant.

Cardassians respond well to order, though their instinct for opportunity and influence can compromise their command structures; it's not unheard of for a Cardassian soldier to betray his crewmates as a favor to an influential Gul. They prefer to deal with others from a position of strength, whether that strength be military, intellectual, or social.

The world's chronic lack of natural resources and involvement in warfare shapes the Cardassian psyche. All Cardassians are expected to sacrificeto preserve Cardassian culture and obedience to the state is considered fundamental to society.

Advanced age is a sign of great dignity. Cardassians respect authority and age, usually equating the two. A junior will attach himself to an up-and-coming superior or already successful elder, assisting his chosen mentor in any number of tasks intended to further their career, and presumably furthering his own as well. This can be dangerous, however, should the mentor's fortunes turn, as the apprentice makes a convenient patsy on which to blame everything. The older a Cardassian, the more reveared he is because he is likely to know many secrets and maintains and extensive, and hidden, web of connections. Family is very imporant to Cardassians, with several generations living under one roof.

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