Another month, another theme! For the month of September on Tuesdays at Quark’s we’re taking a look at one of my favorite corners of the Star Trek universe: the Bajorans. They were an interesting species and culture when they appeared on The Next Generation but they really hit their stride during the many seasons of Deep Space Nine. They’re one of the only examples of a deeply religious culture that we see in Star Trek and we’re starting with that aspect of them here as well with a vedek who has some political schemes in the works.
There are definitely vedeks in Star Trek who are political including Bareil Antos and Winn Adama (before becoming kai) so this is not at all out of the question. The question becomes, what makes Lenaris Edon special? Well, he is both principled and careful. He doesn’t like the Maquis or power-hungry leaders like Kai Winn. He believes that there is an ethical and spiritual way for Bajor to remain independent and to find its way back to the spiritual existence it held before. He doesn’t especially like the Federation presence in the Bajoran system and he’s definitely opposed to Cardassian treaties. He could tip either way therefore in the upcoming conflict with the Dominion. Maybe the PCs will tip him one way or the other.
There are plenty of directions to take this character but here are a few plot hooks to get you started.
- The crew is present on Deep Space Nine when they are asked to help with added security. It seems that a political demonstration is planned on the Promenade, put on by Bajorans angry about and impending peace treaty with Cardassia. When the security detail is on the scene they see Vedek Lenaris watching from the outskirts, then a bomb blast sends the crowd scattering. Who set the bomb and why does it seem to point to a group of pro-Federation Bajorans who don’t seem to have anything to do with the demonstration?
- Vedek Lenaris contacts the crew when they are in Bajoran space, saying that he’s heard of Maquis operations in the area. When the ship moves to investigate they don’t find Maquis vessels at all but a secretive Cardassian base in seeming violation of the Cardassian Union’s treaty with the Federation.
- A cache of weapons found on a Bajoran transport ship seems to be linked to terrorism. Since there are Federation citizens aboard, he Player Characters’ ship arrives to help with the investigation and things quickly focus on two suspects: Vedek Lenaris and Gilora Darhad. The more they look into these two, however, the more things don’t add up. Who are these two really and could they even be working together?
Click on the image below for the PDF.
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