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| Kahless the Unforgettable |
The First Klingon Empire, founded some 1500 years ago by Kahless the Unforgettable, who first united the Klingon people
by killing the tyrant, Molor. The empire is controlled by the Klingon High Council which, by 2069, had grown so
powerful that no emperor headed the empire until the ascension of Kahless the Immortal in 2369.
The Second Klingon Dynasty after the formation of the empire (Year pre 2069) was ruled by Emperor Reclaw. This
ended quite violently as General K'Trelan assassinated Reclaw and his whole family and ushered in a new government of representational
democracy. This would be the only time where the empire would be ruled by an elected council. Ironiclly, this
ten year period would later be referred to as the Dark Time as Klingons had a bitter taste for a process where one ascended
by election and not matrial powress. Upon K'Trelan's death ten years after his ursupton of power, a new imperial family
rose up and assumed the family line and titles of the House of Reclaw in order to create the illusion of an unbroken royal
line. Thus started the Third Klingon Dynasty.
First contact between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets took place in 2218. It was a disastrous
event that led to a century of hostilities between the two powers. By 2267, negotiations between the Empire and the
Federation were on the verge of breaking down. The Klingons had issued an ultimatum to the Federation to withdraw from
all disputed areas claimed by both powers or face war. The hostilities came to a head at the planet of Organia.
The noncorporeal beings there intervened and imposed the Organian Peace Treaty on both powers, ending armed hostilities.
During the Second Empire, (Year 2250) Chancellor Mow'ga sent a fleet of Klingon Warships into Breen space. The
fleet would never be heard from again.
The Klingons entered into a brief alliance with the Romulan Star Empire around 2268 when and agreement between the two
powers resulted in the sharing of military technology and spacecraft designs. The Klingons gave up warp drive and the
Romulans gave up Cloaking Technology.
The Klingon Homeworld, Qo'noS (Pronounced Kronos), is the capital of the Empire and holds the seat of the Klingon High
Council. It is rarely referred to by its formal name inside of the Empire. Qo'noS was in trouble in 2293 when
the nearby moon of Praxis caused serious environmental damage to the planet. This damage has since been reversed.
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| Chancellor Gorkon |
A new chapter in Klingon-Federation relations opened up with the aforementioned explosion of Praxis. In the economic
disarray that followed, Chancellor Gorkon, leader of the High Council at the time, found that the empire could no longer afford
its massive military forces. Gorkon therefore launched a peace initiative to offer an end of 70 years of current hostilities.
Just prior to the peace conference, Gorkon was assassinated by people from both powers who sought to maintain the current
status quo. Gorkon was succeeded by his daughter, Azetbur, who concluded her father's work at the Khitomer Accords later
that same year.
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| Chancellor K'mpec |
The Klingon High Council was a hotbed of political intrigue that nearly plunged the empire into a civil war in 2367.
It first started when the traitor, Duras, sought to clear his own father's dishonorable involvement in the Khitomer Massacre
of 2369 by implicating Mogh. Chancellor K'mpec, arguably the greatest of all of the Chancellors by presiding over the
High Council longer than anyone, avoided war by supporting the plan to implicate Mogh. Then to protect Worf and Kurn,
the sons of Mogh, he allowed Worf to accept discommendation for the crimes. Later that year, K'mpec died of poison,
allegedly by Duras himself. This murder, viewed as a killing without honor (the victim never saw his murderer), triggered
a bitter power struggle to determine his successor. K'mpec had the forward thinking to take the unorthodox precaution
of appointing a non-Klingon, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, as his Arbiter of Succession. Under Picard's mediation (and the
fact that his Chief of Security killed Duras) political newcomer Gowron emerged as the sole canididate for council leader.
K'mpec's reign over the Klingon High Council was the longest ever in the history of the empire.
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| Chancellor Gowron |
Chancellor Gowron, as new head of the High Council, had a major problem to face upon taking office. Forces loyal
to the Duras family, led by his sisters Lursa and B'Etor, unsuccessfully attempted to block Gowron and thus ended up plunging
the Empire into a brief but bitter civil war in 2367. The conflict lasted a year. At first, the Duras Sisters
had Gowron's forces overmatched, but it was soon learned that they were receiving aid from the Romulans. As such, the
Federation conducted a blockade of the Klingon-Romulan boarder to keep supplies from reaching the sisters. As a result,
Gowron's forces were successful in maintaining power.
Though called an Empire, no emperor had ruled for more than 300 years. This situation changed rather dramatically
in 2369 when the clerics of Boreth produced a clone of Kahless the Unforgettable (Later called Kahless the Immortal).
Although their initial claim that the clone was the actual Kahless was quickly disproven, this clone was regarded as the rightful
heir to the throne and, with the support of Chancellor Gowron, was installed as the ceremonial emperor of the Klingon people.
Gowron's leadership of the High Council came to an end in 2375 when a series of politicall motivated decisions by Gowron cost
the lives of numerous Klingon warriors during the final days of the Dominion War. Appaled by Gowron's squandering of
warrior's lives, Worf challenged and slew Gowron in a bat'leth fight for honor.
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| Chancellor Martok |
Although Worf had earned the right to lead the High Council by killing Gowron in a duel, Worf stood aside to allow Martok
to ascend to the chancellorship. Under Martok's guidance, and the help of a final push from the Federation, the Dominion
War came to a close. As a matter of victory, Martok drank a bottle of bloodwine on the smoldering ruins of Cardassia
Prime... an honorable toast that Admiral Ross and Captain Sisko declined on.
Martok had a rocky road ahead of him as the Dominion War ended. Many empire worlds needed to be reconquered as
the jeg'pu'wI on those worlds managed to throw off their Klingon overseerers. While the worlds were reconquered in a
short amount of time, the seeds of rebellion remained on some. Martok realized that he would soon need a powerful icon
to rally the people behind. Worf brought up the possibility of finding the Sword Of Kahless. With the sword in
Martok's possession, no one could dispute his claim to the Chancellorship. In 2376, Martok and Worf set out to reclaim
the legendary sword. A few of the Great Houses on Qo'noS decided that at this moment would be the perfect
time to kill Martok and take his position as Chancellor. After Martok had recoverd the Sword Of Kahless and returned
home triumphant, those House still loyal to Martok purged the Houses that attempted to steal control. In 2377, Martok
called for the Great Expansion, knowing that the still weakened empire needed many more resources than it had in order to
rebuild. By 2380, many more worlds were brought under the banner of the empire while everyone enjoyed the steady, if
not uneasy, peace that was between all of the major powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.
And this is the current state of political affairs as of 2381: The Klingon Empire has peace treaties with the United
Federation of Planets and the Romulan Empire. The empire has non-agression treaties with the Cardassian Union and the
Dominion for the time being. There has been an emergence of an apparant T'Kith'Kin-Hydran-Breen alliance and they
are rapidly making the balance of power in the Alpha Quadrant shift. The once proud Thallonian Empire has collapsed
with the destruction of thier homeworld and rebuilding is looking like a long, hard road. Terrorism is rocking the Federation
and the Romulans have begun cover attacks on the Klingon Empire. Things are rapidly begining to spiral down the tubes
to another series of wars and the Borg are still a threat as they await out in the Delta Quadrant somewhere, rebuilding and
waiting for thier time to strike.
Internally, the Klingon Empire has made great strides in terms of Medical Care, prostetics, and (of course) weaponry.
Many models of starships have been upgraded with the latest in Klingon and Federation technology. More and more Klingons
are engaging in the Officer Exchange program with the Federation and even attending their academies. Likewise, many
Humans are in the program and attending the Klingon Academies. As a result, the USS Enterprise and USS Arizona have
Klingon executive officers and the I.K.S. Ty'Gokor and I.K.S. Rotarran have Human first officers.
FULL TIMELINE OF THE KLINGON EMPIRE
HONORS BESTOWED TO WARRIORS OF THE EMPIRE
THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR: OUR CODE OF CONDUCT
CHANCELLORS OF THE HIGH COUNCIL
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