Vorta

The Vorta are a humanoid species genetically engineered by the Founders of the Dominion to act as field commanders, administrators, scientists and diplomats. The Dominion keeps the location of the Vorta homeworld secret, for they do not wish to risk the integrity of their long-term experiment in loyal minion-making to the whims of any attack fleet. Hence, little is known about it. Even the Vorta rarely talk about it among themselves; apparently the Founders gave them an opportunity they could not achieve themselves.

Personality

There is a reason the Founders chose the Vorta to be their emissaries to the races of the Dominion - the Vorta are excellent lackeys. Their cunning and callousness allows them to properly impose the discipline demanded by the Founders, while their eagerness to please and greed for notice and acceptance makes them model followers. A few words of praise from a Founder are enough to embolden a Vorta to wipe out whole civilizations in their name if necessary.

The Founders have genetically modified the Vorta through an advanced cloning process, specifically to exaggerate traits like subservience. It makes the Vorta more loyal to the Founders and more easily molded by them. The genetic modifications made to the Vorta also include a total removal of any aesthetic sense. They have little appreciation for taste. They enjoy kava nuts and rippleberries, as they did before they were genetically engineered, but little else. Combined with their poor eyesight, the Vorta lack any sense of color, proportion or beauty. For this reason, artistic treasures are valuable to Vorta only as odd curiosities or examples of the Vorta's ability to take important things away from subject races.

Vorta, like the Founders themselves, are naturally curious beings, fascinated with the behavior of other races. They get annoyed at these races' inability to smoothly bow to the will of the Founders, but they also find this trait intriguing, like a doctor enthralled by a disease process he is nonetheless sworn to wipe out. A few Vorta actually enjoy it when a race gives them problems, perhaps refusing to vacate their homes as ordered or hiding their sons and daughters from a mandatory indoctrination draft. In these cases, they get to hunt these people down and interview them, figuring out what makes them tick, what bizarre aberration of psychology causes them to think for even a moment that they can escape the will of the Founders. Once the revel relents or his mind is laid bare by torture, he is no longer interesting, and is routinely killed in a public execution designed to dissuade others from following his lead.

Among themselves, Vorta jockey for top position, not physically but through elaborate schemes to prove one-upsmanship. Those who are held to be most cunning, who detected and outmaneuvered all schemes against them and were victorious in their own schemes against others, are given deference and even a wary respect. These become the leaders and chosen overseers of the Founders. These are the ones granted duty off-world and are allowed multiple clone replicas to replace them if they die, thus giving them a longevity only dreamed of by their fellows. Because their duties for the Dominion often prove dangerous, however, many Vorta use up their allotment of clone lives before their more naturally lived brethren back home die of old age.

Physiology

Vorta are humanoid, built slightly smaller than the average human. Their eyesight is poor but their hearing is excellent, aided by their large ears, capable of funneling sounds from all directions to the Vorta's brain.

Each Vorta is cloned, given up to three clones that can be activated upon the death of the previous one, holding up all the Vorta's memories. The Founders, however, choose when and if a new clone is activated. Those Vorta who displease the Founders die a final death, with no clone to take up for them.

Although Vorta have two sexes, they don't have the instincts usually associated with races who breed by sexual reproduction. This is because the Vorta do not breed among themselves but only provide genetic material to the Founders to mix and match in whatever ways the Founders desire. A Vorta never knows his own genetic children or even if he has any - breeding new Vorta is the exclusive domain of the Founders, and is off-limits to Vorta. Vorta thus sublimate what little sex drive they have into competition with others, fueling their games of one-upsmanship. When they win such a bid, it gives them a greater satisfaction than a healthy, loving relationship ever could.

Vorta have pale skin, violet eyes, and elongated earlobes. The Founders altered the Vorta genome to include a sense of hearing greater than that of most other humanoid races, including Cardassians, but they have comparatively weak eyesight. Vorta also have an immunity to virtually all forms of poison - as diplomacy is often a dangerous occupation. A few Vorta agents, such as Eris, are capable of generating powerful blasts of telekinesis, strong enough to knock an adult human off his feet. However, this does not appear to be an attribute of most Vorta.

In the event of capture, Vorta are expected to commit suicide via their termination implant. Vorta are told that this death is quick and painless but this has proven not to be the case.

History and Culture

The Vorta serve the Founders in all things. They cannot conceive of betraying them, unless they become mentally ill. While their devotion does not go to the same unquestioning lengths as the Jem'Hadar, they worship the Founders like gods. They may doubt a particular Founder's tactics or orders, but will follow them nonetheless, assuming there is wisdom in them that is still hidden from them.

While they yearn for praises from the Founders, they greatly fear reprisal. For this reason, they are perhaps overcautious at times in their activities, fearful of failure and the censure it brings. The Founders decide whether or not to activate more clones if a Vorta should die doing his duty. A Vorta's greatest fear is that he will displease a Founder enough to be allowed no future clones.

Since a Vorta's duties often take him far from home and others of his kind, there is not much time to develop or engage in cultural activities. What culture there is among Vorta is based on subtle and elaborate games designed to test one another and see who is the most clever. These rarely grow into deep rivalries, but the farther two Vorta get from the Founders' eyes, the more vicious these games can become, sometimes devolving into actual wars between the Vortas' Jem'Hadar units. The Founders forbid such behavior and punish it severely when discovered, usually by demoting the offenders and abolishing their clones.

Vorta command the Jem'Hadar, and they are the only ones allowed to fully view a ship's data and monitor screens (sometimes, the Jem'Hadar First is also allowed access). To keep others from seeing sensitive data, it is delivered through small holographic eyepieces.

The Vorta have the duty of rewarding their JEm'Hadar warriors with their daily dose of ketracel-white. They do so ceremonially, to instill the importance of the "Founder's gift" in their soldiers - and to remind them who they must please lest they be denied a dose. The Vorta choose who among their legions gets promoted or demoted, and while they tend to reward the best warriors, they aren't above letting petty feelings decides these things, often punishing a good soldier simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Too much of this, however, would trigger aggression from the Jem'Hadar, who are loyal not to the Vorta but the Founders. Although they need the Vorta to administer their drug, their anger at continued mistreatment may blind them to this.

Vorta speak a language of the same name. They also speak Dominion Standard and the various languages of many Dominion subjects, such as the Karemma. Those tasked with extending the Dominion into the Alpha Quadrant learn Federation Standard and Cardassian.

Reference(s)

• Bridges, Bill, et al. Star Trek Roleplaying Game Book 5: Aliens, Decipher, 2003. ISBN: 1582369070.