Tova Veer, a Voth male
The Voth (Second Human Empire name Zii'kkio Ais'knno) were a saurian species, presumably having evolved from beings originally native to Duyi'zu Earth, but later coming to reside in the Delta Quadrant. One of the oldest and most technologically sophisticated civilizations on record, their belief system promotes the understanding that they are the rightful rulers and guardians of that Quadrant, the first people to evolve there. Human relations with the Voth, initiated by the crew of the lost starship USS Voyager, were complicated by evidence that the Voth species in fact originated on Earth, with the extinct dinosaurs. Voth share 47 distinct genetic markers with Humans and other Earth species, although, being reptilian, their physiology differs considerably from that of the mammalian Humans. The Voth also view mammals as a less evolved form of life.
History[]
Ancient Origins[]
The ancient ancestors of the Voth were the Hadrosaurids, which were a species of large herbivore dinosaurs that inhabited prehistoric Earth. They may have evolved until they became a bipedal race and formed settlements on their homeworld. At some point in their time, they discovered that an asteroid would destroy the surface of their planet and began the task of leaving their homeworld. It had been suggested by Commander Chakotay that any settlements that the Voth had on Earth had been buried by natural disasters such as earthquakes or sank to the bottom of the sea.
There was no indications of how the race left Duyi’zu Earth. They could conceivably either have left Earth in primitive sleeper ships or they could have been transplanted by either the Progenitors or the Preservers who were also responsible for saving the Troodons which in turn evolved into the Clan Ru.
Somehow, the Voth would later find themselves in the Delta Quadrant where they began to start a new life. Nothing is known about this period or how the race managed to 'forget' its origins on Earth. They established their new homeworld and began to believe in a new belief known as Doctrine which governed their society. This was enforced by Inquisitors.
The race would eventually learn to travel through transwarp space even though Doctrine stated that a great disaster would occur should this happen. Upon using this advanced form of propulsion, a new era of exploration began for the species.
The First Multiverse War[]
The Voth received reports of dimension rifts in the late 15th Century, coming from the Beta Quadrant and eventually encountered advance forces of the Combine who were vastly superior to their technologies and weaponry compared to the other factions who were allied with the invaders. They successfully acquired knowledge of the invading force known as the Axis of Empires after capturing Droid Confederate and German ships to study their technologies, even a rare surprise of a Combine ship to discover they came from another universe.
15th Century New Era[]
Despite the relative calm within their race after the Axis invasion ended, a noted scientist, Professor Forra Gegen, believed in the theory that their race was not native to that region of space. This came after an extend analysis that showed that their race had nothing in common with the species native to their homeworld. They also discovered the remains of a mammalianendothermic that contained genetic markers that were common with the Voth. Gegen would be on the run from his government with his assistant Tova Veer as they searched for the USS Voyager, which was present in the Delta Quadrant. In December (2374 Duyi’zu) they managed to locate the ship and confirm the theory but were apprehended by the Ministry of Elders who journeyed to the location and captured the starship Voyager.
On board the Voth City Ship the Ministry rejected Gegen's arguments for his theory and forced him to retract his statement or the Voyager crew would face detention and the destruction of their starship. He would later be assigned to metallurgy while the Voyagercrew were warned not to encounter the Voth again.
Despite the Ministry of Elders' misgivings, the Distant Origin theory gained traction among parts of the Voth population. Chakotay had given Gegen a globe representing Earth and containing chip with Starfleet's database entry of the planet. In XXXX NE (2376), Chakotay met two members of the Voth underground on the Markonian outpost, 40,000 lightyears away from the location of Voyager's first encounter with their people. The underground informed Chakotay that the knowledge was being disseminated and that the orthodoxy began to sent fleets of ships to demand symbolic obedience to them. While the underground was unable to directly share the spoils of the Voth's transwarp technology, they provided the chance to collect scans of its usage by giving Chakotay the coordinates of a Voth transwarp conduit near a young star.
An alliance consisted of the Federation, the Alliance, Klingon Empire and Romulan Republic who defected from the Axis began to occupy the Solanae Dyson Sphere in the Delta Quadrant to disable its capability of mass-producing Omega particles. The Voth were present in the Dyson sphere as well and intended to harness the powers of the particle and the Omega molecule derived from it as weapons against the Borg, who were attacking their borders. The Voth and the Allies subsequently began a trench war for the possession of the sphere.
Biology and Appearance[]
The Voth evolved from the Hadrosaur, a dinosaur species that existed before the extinction of the giant saurians on the planet Earth. This evolution resulted in a bipedal form with hands and legs present for both movement and manipulation of the environment. Voth skin is adorned with scales and bony plating, and is colored in various shades of orange, brown and gray, with green, yellow and purple streaking. An individual's skin color is subject to subtle changes; vasodilation is a form of non-verbal communication among the Voth, and much can be gleaned about an individual's emotional state from the current shade of their skin. Vasodilation is of particular importance during courtship.
A significantly advanced species, the Voth were cold-blooded creatures, had a superior sense of smell, and skin pigmentation which altered according to moods. Adult Voth were slightly taller than adult Humans, had six clawed manipulatory digits (three on each hand), and their eyes were protected by heavy bony brow ridges which had a central crest rising to a conical protrusion on the back of the skull. This extra area may account for the larger cranial capacity of the Voth compared to Humans. Human cranial capacity was 22% less than that of a typical Voth. Most importantly, they had 47 genetic markers that were identical to Humans and many Terran creatures throughout Earth's history.
Culture and Society[]
The Voth government appears to be led by the Ministry of Elders which serves as the administrative branch of the race and guides them. Another branch was the Circles of Science which is the scientific wing of the race and is divided into many 'sub-circles' such as the Circle of Exobiology.
The Voth religious belief is centered around Doctrine which is their governing principle that states that the Voth originate from their homeworld in the Delta Quadrant. While most believe this, a faction within the Circle of Science began to study this theory and hypothesized the Distant Origin theory. This theory, which is heretical as it opposes Doctrine, states that the race do not originate from their homeworld in the Delta Quadrant but are in fact from a planet in the Alpha Quadrant.
The belief in Doctrine is so rigid that it prevents many developments within their society though there are the odd occasions where Doctrine is proven wrong. One such example was the statement that using transwarp technology would bring about a great disaster but regardless of this warning, one member of their kind did succeed in this task. Despite breaking Doctrine, this was accepted and a new age of expansion began for their race while Doctrine was presumably altered to accommodate the new change in their society.
While many Voth are firm believers of Doctrine, it is known that only Heretics and the Ministry of Elders know of the truth. Heretics would be rounded up and sent to detention colonies while the Ministry would continue to suppress the knowledge as they could not bear to believe that they, as they saw it, were a race of nomads pitifully fleeing their homeworld.
The Voth were known to serve the Vothian thunder leek as a form of food.
Mainstream Voth were severely prejudiced against endothermic species such as humans, whom they saw as an inferior form of life, but considered exotherms such as the Turei to be allies.
Technology[]
By the 15th century NE, the Voth had developed a level of technology far above the successors of their original homeworld. They had developed not only transwarp drives but phase cloak devices that could be fitted on individuals as well as starships. Another demonstration of their advanced capabilities was the fielding of a massive Voth City Ship, as well as the ability to transport a starship the size of the USS Voyager into the vessel without any difficulty.
Voth weapons technologies included antiproton beams and transphasic-chroniton torpedoes. Their ground forces included genetically engineered creatures similar to Earth theropod dinosaurs, acting as both supply carriers and armored vehicle analogues, in tandem with conventional infantry forces and crewed exosuits
Voth in the Multiverse[]
It is considered some notice during First Multiverse War, several Voth who believed in the true origins of their species escaped to the Alliance to learn more of their ancestral world, those such as Forra Gegen and his supporters worked alongside palaeontologists to conduct research on the living dinosaurs that survived on alternate Earths and a Eur’uui world Zhecronus. They had made contact with the Zhecronus along with the Clan Wu, which so far are one of the few Saurian and cold-blooded species with respect.