Alshain

The Alshain are a canid species from the planet Alshain Proper in the Beta Quadrant.

Physiology
Alshain males are lupine in appearance, similar to werewolves of Terran legend. The Alshain females are smaller and more vulpine in appearance. Alshain are covered in fine pelages of fur that range in color from black, gray, red, and white.

The Alshain have razor sharp claws, along with a heightened sense of smell and hearing. They are natural born predators.

Society
The Alshain Exarchate is a rigid class-based system, governed by a small group of clans called Septs. The Septs are similar to the Houses of the Klingon Empire. The ruling Exarch is chosen from among the Septs, shedding his or her surname when they ascend to the throne. The shedding of the surname in theory is supposed to symbolize that the Exarch represents all Alshain. But reality has historically contradicted that. The relatives, or Bloodlings, of the reigning Exarch use their familial ties to extract all manner of government contracts, bribes, and tributes.

Traditions and Culture
The Alshain as a whole are a very ritualistic people, however the nobility has taken on more refined, cultured, and imported airs, in part to combat the quadrant-wide perceptions that the Alshain are as savage as their appearance, and a large part of their history, would suggest.

The nobles work hard to dispell the old stereotypes, often overdoing it in the process and come off as snobbish, arrogant, pedantic, and rude to many offworlders who visit the Exarchate. And though the nobles have disavowed much of the Alshain ancient beliefs, many still believe in Iblika-"The Desolate Plain"-their version of Hell. And the ancient practice of writing official decrees in blood still endures.

Much of the Alshain sense of innate superiority comes from their belief and reverence in Greater Alshain, an ancient empire said to encompass much of the Beta Quadrant. However, the Alshain Starforce had dwindled significantly over the centuries and the Alshain found themselves hemmed in by the Klingons, Gorn, Tholians, and Son'a.

History
The Alshain have had a long tortured history with the Son'a. After leaving Bak'u the Son'a sought to carve out an empire for themselves along the Alshain border. Knowing they couldn't match the Alshain military at the time of their expulsion, the Son'a hatched an insidious plan that played into the Alshain nobility's weaknesses and decadence.

The Son'a introduced the Alshain nobles to ketracel white, and a long parasitic relationship was forged. The Exarchate weakened under a succession of drug addled leaders until the ascension of Jedalla in the 2360s.

Jedalla wanted to rebuild Greater Alshain and knew he would have to free his people from the grip of the Son'a to do it. He saw the Dominion War as a great opportunity to do so after the Son'a joined the Dominion. Initially the Alshain were neutral, but Jedalla acceded to the entreaties of the Federation in mid-2375 in a deal brokered by Captain Monica Covey of the Starship Chevalier.

In exchange for significant financial and military aid, the Alshain opened a new front in the war, helping stretch the overburdened Dominion forces even further.

After the war, the Federation Alliance awarded the Exarchate control over captured Son'a territory. During the war Jedalla had encouraged the Tarlac and Ellorans, both servitor races of the Son'a to rebel with the promise of supporting their independence movements. Jedalla reneged on that promise after the war. Instead the Alshain Starforce began a pogrom of ethnic cleansing in former Son'a territories as part of Jedalla's desire to remake Greater Alshain.

The Federation Council has condemned Alshain atrocities but were largely powerless to stop the Alshain due to the weakened position of the Federation post-Dominion War and the surging Cardassian insurgency against the Federation's occupation of Cardassian territory.

People

 * Exarch Jedalla
 * Envoy Tinjan G'Tan
 * Sutahr Shir T'Shing
 * Lt. Seb N'Saba