Star Trek: Vulcan
Page 10
Museum of Vulcan-Andorian Relations
When the Vulcan and Andorian people became aware of each other more than four centuries ago, tensions were high, and confrontations were frequent. This museum traces the evolution of the often-strained interactions between the two worlds, including the hostilities that threatened to erupt into full-scale war during the twenty-second century before both sides agreed to peace and later joined Earth and Tellar Prime in founding the United Federation of Planets. Featured among the displays are the original treaty documents signed by Vulcan and Andorian envoys that brought an end to their conflict, along with the crystal sculptures exchanged between the Vulcan High Command and the Parliament Andoria, each depicting the kril’es, a symbol of harmony that serves to unite the two peoples in peace.
Temples of Syrinx
From bastion of subjugation and intolerance to premier tourist destination, all in less than a millennium. Once the home of a particularly cruel cabal of religious zealots who stood in stark opposition to Surak’s philosophies, the Temples of Syrinx fell following a revolt as the communities they oppressed rose up to expel the priests. The ruins of the temples have been a magnet for archaeologists and historians for centuries, as the shrines’ inner walls contain engraved incantations and other passages of ancient scripture. Lower-level catacombs are home to the crypts that house the remains of those few priests who escaped public execution. Visitors are free to wander the ruins, and knowledgeable guides are on hand to answer all your questions.
Orbital Skydiving
During the earliest days of Vulcan spaceflight, ships fell through the atmosphere and parachuted to a landing in the desert, south of the original spaceport complex. Daring visitors can re-create aspects of that adventure, with no spacecraft required! An observation platform suspended in geosynchronous orbit forty kilometers above Vulcana Regar is your starting point as you freefall from the stratosphere. For beginners, computer-assisted maneuvering thrusters guide you to the landing field and ensure your parachutes are deployed in a safe manner, whereas experienced jumpers can control the entire descent. Just be sure to watch that first step!
T’Jerel Gallery
A relatively small yet elegant exhibit that highlights the wondrous stone pottery and ceramic creations of T’Jerel, one of Vulcan’s most renowned artists of the past several centuries. The gallery itself is too small to house all of her works, so curators reconfigure and rotate the exhibits every few months. Smaller exhibits travel around the planet all year, and there’s also a permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution on Earth.
Vanik Tower
Space exploration has long been a key component of Vulcan’s technological and societal advancement. Among the planet’s celebrated explorers is Vanik, who spent more than a century pushing the boundaries of exploration and knowledge. His record of thirty-seven first contacts with new sentient beings remains unmatched, and his tactical prowess was instrumental to the success of the coalition between Vulcans, humans, and Andorians during the Romulan War in the twenty-second century. There are several tributes to Vanik here in the city he called home, but the Tower is by far the most impressive. Originally constructed hundreds of years ago, this ancient temple was renovated in the early twenty-third century and rededicated as a lasting monument. Carved from the top of an immense rock formation near Vulcana Regar’s southern boundary, the stone tower features a spiral staircase at its center. The tower’s peak is the highest point of natural elevation in the region, offering an unparalleled view of the entire city, including the spaceport complex and points beyond.
World’s Largest Working Kal-toh Game
This 50-meter representation of the classic Vulcan strategy game is a favorite for children of all ages along with those adults who are still kids at heart. In an effort to turn the disjointed jumble of playing rods, called t’an, into a more ordered form such as a sphere, players use antigravity units to manipulate the individual pieces, which weigh in excess of one thousand kilograms. The game is a popular attraction for tourists and a favorite challenge for experienced kal-toh competitors.
SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT
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As you might expect, Vulcana Regar’s mercantile center tends to favor the local working-class residents. You’ll still find upscale shops, clubs, and other entertainment venues, but the city’s true charm is to be found in the hundreds of independently owned boutiques, galleries, restaurants, cafes, and other establishments. There’s a nice cosmopolitan flair throughout the city, where local merchants and outworlders have banded together to create an eclectic visitor experience.
Desert Racing
A throwback to the time when motorized overland conveyances were popular for individual travelers as well as for moving consumer goods between cities, the Vulcana Regar 1000 attracts drivers of multiwheeled vehicles who are ready to take on the challenge of the race’s grueling 1,000-kilometer trek across some of the planet’s most unforgiving terrain. The race acquired added notoriety in 2381 when famed Starfleet captain Jean-Luc Picard set a new record for completing the punishing course in just under twenty-seven hours, using nothing more than an unmodified Starfleet all-terrain ground vehicle. Visitors interested in taking on the course themselves can do so as part of a tour group or individually using chartered ATGVs. Additional packages that include overnight camping are also available.
J’vralek Street Market
In this outdoor shopping center covering seven blocks adjacent to the spaceport’s west end, retailers carry a number of avant-garde brands, including prominent Vulcan labels as well as those from worlds as wide-ranging as Risa, Argelius, Deneb IV, and, of course, Ferenginar. Street vendors offer a broad assortment of local and outworlder delicacies, and there are several prime holophotography opportunities with simulations of all manner of local and interplanetary celebrities, government leaders, and fictional characters past and present.
Port 47 Imports
You’ll not find a single “Made on Vulcan” label here! This popular chain of department stores specializes in goods brought in from dozens of planets. Most of the prominent Federation member worlds and colonies are represented, as well as nonaligned neighbors such as Dolysia, Cantrel V, and Arcturus. Vanilla extract from Tellar Prime? They’ve got it. Rugs and tapestries from Eminiar? This is the place. Tholian silk? You’re covered.
DINING AND NIGHTLIFE
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Whatever preconceptions you may harbor about the Vulcan people being quiet and aloof will definitely be challenged when you venture into Vulcana Regar after the sun sets. The nightclub scene here is diverse and lively. There’s something for everyone, from traditional restaurants favored by locals to high-end trendsetting establishments catering to well-traveled outworlders.
Launch Complex Bistro
A relic from Vulcan’s early spaceflight program serves as the edifice for this theme restaurant. The gantry tower that once stood alongside rockets launched into orbit offers panoramic views of the nearby spaceport and the rest of the city, while diners enjoy a diverse cuisine representing dozens of Federation worlds. That said, Vulcan fare dominates the menu, and it’s here that you’ll find the region’s best mia-zed vegetable pie. A full bar and coffee shop rounds out the presentation, along with a bakery that creates a delicious favinit bread pudding. Did we mention you can get the desserts to go?
Shaukaush
If you’re looking for subtlety, this is most definitely not the place for you. Founded by a Risian entrepreneur in the mid-twenty-third century, this after-hours nightclub is strictly for those who want a bit of that famous resort planet’s ambience and flair. Only the drinks from the club’s well stocked bar have any chance of cooling things down, because everything else is hot. The music is hot, the dancing is hotter, and the dancers—dozens of them crossing numerous genders and species—will all but set the place on fire. The party’s even more intense on Friday when the club brings in live music to drive the temperature even higher.
DON’T EAT WITH YOUR FINGERS!
Picture this common scenario: You’re an outworlder tourist, you order a meal at a restaurant or outdoor cafe, and you dig in. Even if you’ve decided on something as innocuous as a hot dog, you—like many patrons before you—quickly find yourself on the unfortunate end of a withering stare from the local proprietor (who may or may not be Vulcan). What could you possibly have done?
Believe it or not, it’s what you’re doing with your hands. Vulcans simply do not touch their food with their hands. They consider such behavior to be an unwelcome connection to their far less civilized ancestors, from whom Vulcans have been trying to distance themselves for millennia. No matter what Vulcans are eating, they always employ utensils. This practice means little by itself, and may seem silly from the viewpoint of an outsider, but it is one more small measure of self-discipline Vulcans practice as part of their unending pursuit of logic and emotional control. While this likely isn’t a tough transition for most non-Vulcans (at least, those of you who possess appendages), it’s definitely something to keep in mind when sampling the local cuisine.
Vic’s Lounge
What began as a simple holosuite program has gone mainstream and interstellar. Derived from an amalgam of mid-twentieth-century Earth singer/performers, Vic Fontaine is the holographic proprietor of this throwback to ancient entertainment forms, which provides a host of musical selections including jazz and cabaret. While the lounge and its accompanying bar and restaurant maintains the old Earth illusion, another section of the club offers more modern music and dancing selections.
LODGING
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You can count on one hand the number of resorts you’ll find in Vulcana Regar, though fine hotels and smaller, less lavish accommodations are everywhere. Then there are the purely functional quarters catering to the large number of people just passing through, particularly in and around the spaceport district. A few upscale establishments can be found, too, but they’re almost always packed with business travelers and other affluent visitors who don’t mind paying top dollar. You should definitely do your homework before booking an extended stay here.
Tvi’sochya
If tranquility is your goal, this small, unassuming inn might be to your liking. A preferred destination for seasoned travelers, this modestly sized inn of fewer than one hundred suites sits well away from the city and the spaceport. A towering stone wall, which in ancient times offered protection against the sand storms that were known to ravage the area, now insulates guests and staff from the area hubbub while weather-modification satellites keep the storms at bay. The grounds include an immaculately tended garden sprinkled with waterfalls and natural pools that beckon to swimmers.
The Lazy Le-matya
While it won’t make many “best of” lists, this functional if not luxurious waterfront hotel serves its purpose well enough. Formerly owned by a local family, the hotel was purchased and renamed a century ago by a Ferengi business exec looking to capitalize on the increased trade between Ferenginar and Vulcan. Though it lacks extravagance, the service is first rate and the food at the attached restaurant, the Starving Sehlat, is a favorite of local freight haulers and port workers.
VULCAN’S FORGE
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MAP OF VULCAN’S FORGE
GETTING AROUND
SIGHTS AND ACTIVITIES
Aerial Tour
Hiking and Climbing
The Gateway
Kolinahru Monastery
Fal-lan-tral and the Hall of Ancient Thought
Mount Seleya
Surak’s Peak
T’Klass’s Pillar
Plain of Blood
T’Karath Sanctuary
SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT
Rekoval
Gol Stones
Mavaun Gaming Arcade
DINING AND NIGHTLIFE
S’Tivok’s
T’Varnye’s Bistro
LODGING
Giidas Hotel
Markan-Te’korkel
Sandcastle Hotel
SURVIVING VULCAN’S FORGE
CALL ME A BELIEVER
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(First published in the 2286 Edition)
Well, it took me long enough, but so help me, I think I’m actually beginning to like this place.
It took some doing, you understand. First of all, there’s the giant contradiction that is Vulcan’s Forge. Despite Vulcan’s advanced technology and contributions to interstellar knowledge and all of that, the Forge exists as though trapped in amber. Here you’ll find the essence of the Vulcan people. Students and masters live and study here as they have for millennia, handing down knowledge and traditions across generations, while seemingly unmoved by the passage of time. It’s something to behold, let me tell you.
You’d think I would’ve picked up on that during my previous visits, but I guess I just didn’t appreciate any of it. This time around, though, I’ve had more of a chance to take it all in. Another thing I never truly realized was just how spiritual these people can be. You wouldn’t think that sort of thing would fit with a society that prides itself on logic and reason, and that’s before we get into philosophical discussions about science or faith. However, despite all their talk about Vulcans suppressing their emotions, those feelings are an integral part of their personalities, particularly with respect to love and friendship. That much became obvious when Spock gave me his katra. Spock’s always been a private person and, at first, sifting through his consciousness felt like a tremendous violation. Then I realized that he must have trusted me on a level even deeper than the friendship we’d enjoyed over so many years together by asking me to safeguard something like that.
It’s a long story, but Spock’s katra is back where it belongs, and he’s on the road to being back to his old self. As for me, I think I understand him just a little better now. More important, I have a greater appreciation for all Vulcans. You might even say I’m something of a convert, at least when it comes to some aspects of “Vulcan mysticism.” If you’re curious about such things, then Vulcan’s Forge is the destination for you. Sure, it’s damned hot, but if you can get past that, there’s no better place on the planet to explore the heritage of this unique culture.
Just don’t tell Spock I said so.
—Dr. Leonard McCoy
THE LEAST WELCOMING REGION ON THE PLANET, “the Forge” still manages to attract a remarkable and growing number of tourists each year. For many, this is the one place that symbolizes everything that is known about Vulcan and its people. An expanse of sprawling desert beyond the L-langon Mountains northeast of ShiKahr, the Forge, along with its most prominent terrain feature, Mount Seleya, has been a prominent location throughout numerous key points in Vulcan history. It is here that young Vulcan children undergo their first tests of maturity, and it is also where those seeking a new life directed by logic travel in order to purge themselves of their emotions. Desert dominates this region, along with mountains and canyons, and the entire area teems with wildlife. Smaller settlements, monasteries, and other historical sites are situated around the Forge’s perimeter, though a few key points of interest are to be found within the expansive interior.
GETTING AROUND
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We hope you like walking, as that’s the primary mode of transportation here, at least in and around those villages and other sites that call the Forge home. Accommodations are available for everyone seeking to venture to some of the outlying historical sites and other points of interest, even those species without appendages or physical forms.
SIGHTS AND ACTIVITIES
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Most visitors are attracted to the Forge and its surrounding historical sites, of which there are many. Indeed, you could spend an entire vacation just exploring Mount Seleya along the region’s southern border. The daytime heat here can be especially harsh, so plan your excursions to take advantage of the numerous interior and subterranean points of in
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Aerial Tours
The best way to take in the Forge and its numerous landmarks is from the air, using either skiffs piloted by remote control or powered wingflight suits. Either way, knowledgeable guides will direct you up and over this storied region. These tours are best experienced in early morning or dusk, when you can bask in the full glory of a magnificent 40 Eridani sunrise or sunset.
Hiking and Climbing
The Forge is the apex of hiking on Vulcan. The difficult terrain coupled with unrelenting heat will challenge you like nowhere else on the planet. Trace the same steps taken by Surak as experienced guides lead you over trails walked by this most revered of Vulcans along with many other notable historical figures. If rock climbing is your sport, you’ll find challenges in abundance here as well, with seasoned climbing instructors ready to accommodate all skill levels.