The Dosadi are a felinoid race originating from the planet Dosad, a heavily forested water-rich planet orbiting an F-class yellow-white dwarf star in the constellation Cygnus. Galactically, they are a small stellar empire of a dozen planets and three sentient races sandwiched between the Gorn and Romulan empires.
Physical Characteristics
Dosadi are omnivorous bi-pedal felinoids averaging 5' (1.5 m) in height with a highly mobile but non-prehensile tail matching their torso length. Average mass is 180 lbs (80 kg) with females being slightly smaller than males on average with softer, more rounded features. They are generally marked much like a Terran cougar with golden eyes although green and less commonly blue are also present. Rarely a kit will be born with all black fur.
They have excellent senses, and on average, slightly above human reflex speed. Both hands and feet have five digits with retractable claws with the fifth digit on the foot being vestigial and higher on the rear ankle.
Females only become fertile after taking a mate and being exposed to that mate's pheromones for some time. Average litter is 1 kit, with twins, triplets and quadruplets occurring significantly less often than in humans. Gestation period averages 8 months. Kits are born with open, blue eyes but this color usually fades within a year or two. Breasts appear during late pregnancy and disappear after weaning (around age 2-3). One to two litters per female is the norm. Population on Dosad is about 2 billion with a total population across the Imperium of 8 billion. Average life expectancy is 85, though few Dosadi die in their beds.
If they lose their mate, it is not uncommon for a Dosadi to simply lose the will to live. Usually their friends will help them through it and help them to find someone new. Often they will remain alone and focus on their remaining family however.
Internal organ arrangement is very similar to humans' although the lungs and heart are slightly larger (relatively) than humans while the liver is smaller.
Society
Dosadi are strongly monogamous. Sex between unmated pairs (or any close-friends) is normal and seen as a sign of an extremely special friendship. But once mated, Dosadi lose interest in anyone else. Sleeping with another person is likewise seen as a sign of a strong friendship and does not have overtones of sexuality.
They are extremely social, bonding closely with groups of friends to various degrees. A loner Dosadi is seen as almost dangerously strange. But despite this, the are strong individualists.
Their cities are integrated tightly into the forest. Pavement is rare. Buildings (homes are traditionally a roundhouse style) are in clusters connected by paths, which are moved as they become over-worn. External lighting is only used in an emergency.
Dosadi prefer natural things to technological wizardry. They would rather hunt their food than use a replicator, but they will use technology when necessary. They do not trust transporters, but will use them as needed. They far prefer to fly, which they love.
Dosadi love music and play it aboard ship throughout battles. Most Dosadi sing and play at least one musical instrument (flute and drum are common choices). The characteristic Dosadi instrument is the 'trusk' – a sort of bagpipe.
They are a strict honor/shame culture (real honor, not the sort where a woman speaking to a male her husband disapproves of 'dishonors' her family) and value their word and their honor above almost anything. Their usual method of settling disputes is single combat (rules are set beforehand, usually until one party yields). They do NOT carry a grudge – the fight settles it. Their ships have always had families aboard – they live, fight, and die as families. Raider-class starships are a notable exception to this rule.
Politics
The Dosadi Imperium is a parliamentary monarchy. The Emperor is selected by an elected council of advisers based upon skill, honor, and reputation. The Emperor (or Empress) rules until they die, abdicate, or are removed by the council (which requires a unanimous vote).
Individual districts are governed by an elected council. These councils elect the members of the Imperial Council.
The Dosadi Imperium has been strongly allied with the Federation since a very successful first-contact mission by the USS Defiant in 2162 during the Dosadi's first warp flight. They also maintain an alliance with the Klingon Empire, although 'recreational raids' between the two species are common and seen as more of a full-contact sport than an act of war.
In 2310 they fought a short war with the Cardassian Union. The Cardassians made an attempt to destroy a dilithium mining facility on Eletha which supplies the Dosadi's space fleet.
Military
The Dosadi military is broken into 3 branches: Navy, Marines, and Flight.
All three branches utilize the same rank system.
Enlisted:
Trainee
Crewman
Crew Leader
Team Leader
Group Leader
Force Leader
Strike Leader
Storm Leader
Officer:
Cadet
Ensign
Lieutenant (JG)
Lieutenant
Lieutenant Commander
Commander
Captain
Admiral (or Marshal for Marines or Flight)
Navy: All sea-going or space-going vessels.
Marines: Any ground combatant.
Flight: Any air or space-based fighter craft.
The Dosadi military are well known as innovative and creative tacticians and have an annoying tendency to win despite overwhelming odds.
The Dosadi intelligence apparatus is called the Korat.
The Dosadi Navy still paints their vessels in a blue-grey color scheme for camouflage. Internally, they lack individual quarters, instead having a few large living pods stuffed with greenery and places to lie, drape, climb, or relax. The ceiling's are designed to mimic the Dosadi sky right down to the stars at night.
The Dosadi Marines utilize battle armor painted in a mottled tan and blue-grey designed to cause sensor enhancers to 'fuzz' in a feedback loop. This forces their enemies to use normal vision. The armor will stop a hand phaser entirely and even a phaser rifle needs a solid hit to get through it. Their preferred weapon is the PR-12 plasma rifle – a magazine fed weapon that produces a devastating plasma bolt with penetrative capabilities toward most infantry armor.
Dosadi special forces are called 'Raider Teams'. There are 24 6-man teams sharing 12 'Raider-Class' starships; fast, heavily armed, maneuverable, cloaked (but lightly armored and lightly shielded) ships. Each team is composed of an officer (usually a Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander), a Team NCO (usually a Strike Leader), and 4 troops (usually at least Group Leaders) with a variety of specialties. All are cross-trained in at least one other specialty. These troops do not wear battle armor, instead utilizing active camouflage battle dress somewhat similar to Starfleet SEAL battle dress, although the meta-material is quite different. The active camouflage was developed after the Dosadi learned of the Federation technology; technology they adamantly refused to share. Taking what information they were able to glean (from battle reports and espionage), the Dosadi developed their own ‘poor man’s copy’. Primarily blending visual patterns, active camouflage lacks many of the features and capabilities of SEAL adaptive camouflage. Raiders are known to utilize wing-suits and do a space dive when ingressing to a landing zone.
Normal dress uniform for the Dosadi military, unfortunately, makes them look like puss-in-boots to humans: Dark blue trousers with a bronze stripe down the leg, calf-high black boots, a white linen shirt laced closed and for formal affairs, a black cloak (and long sword for higher ranking officers).
Raiders wear the same uniform, but add a red sash and leave the shirt loosely laced, which only adds to other races considering them to be pirates.
Fighter squadrons are designated by colors, flight crew wear coveralls in matching colors.
Notes of Interest
Dosadi in general LOVE history (and storytelling!) and have a fascination with Earth history. They occasionally join Starfleet or study history or other fields at Earth universities.
The planet Dosad has near earth-normal gravity and oxygen levels and a single (not tidally locked) moon which is slightly smaller than Luna. Their atmosphere has somewhat less nitrogen and more argon resulting in much paler blue sky than Earth. The planet has a 20 hour day with a sub-tropical/temperate climate across most of the planet.
Dosadi love to challenge themselves and find no dishonor in losing as long as one fought well. Retreating when sensible is not dishonorable – wasting lives and resources is, as is running from a fight due to fear. A good explanation of the Dosadi attitude would be 'When death is certain, nothing matters but style!'”
Dosadi use only a single name and sexism is unknown – what matters is your capabilities, not your plumbing.
The capitol city of T'Elesh is located on a very large lake in a region of heavy forest. The other side of the planet is broken up into many smaller lakes, rivers, and mountains.
Dosadi don't really hug – their shoulders don't rotate in as much as a human's do and the gesture requires some twisting for them. Their version of a handshake is to reach up and grip the other person's shoulder with either arm – this leaves the belly open and vulnerable and shows trust. They lack a nudity taboo and have very weak privacy taboos for most things.
They don't trust Vulcans much- honor and logic do not often go together. They get a lot of their technology from the Federation and in turn, the Federation utilizes the Dosadi military as a proxy when something dirty needs to be done but the Federation wants to keep its hands clean.
Every 2 years, each Dosadi district puts on a week long 'Memorial Games' to remember the dead. It's a combination state fair, music festival, athletic competition, and party. It's really a celebration of life in remembering those who've gone before. Dosadi towns don't use exterior artificial lighting except in an emergency.
Many Dosadi undergo warrior testing - they head out alone and naked into the wilderness areas and find the biggest baddest critter they can find (a frequent target is a narak, something like a saber-tooth tiger and related to the Dosadi much as a gorilla is to a human) and bring it back with as much style as possible. A council of Warriors will judge their performance - if they pass, they earn the right to wear a warrior pendant (a beaded necklace strung tightly about the throat with a jeweled pendant). Many fail this test. Many others don't return. When doing something worthy of high honor/respect, they will be given an honor tattoo - an ever more complex pattern as more awards are granted - around their left eye.
Due to the structure of their face, they tend to speak Standard with an almost Swedish accent.
