On Vulcan informally referred to as "The Guardians", the V'Ket are the planet's elite military force reporting directly to the High Command.
Mainly concerned with planetary defense, the V'Ket are also serving as honor guards at major events or certain religious rites. Under command of the f'rell-bar (Grand Admiral) they maintain a small fleet of starships.
History
Founded likely some four to five thousand years before Surak, the warrior-priest order of the W'há Ķed-esh (anc. Infinite Loyalty) first gained renown as exceptional bodyguards. Notoriously disinterested in either wealth or political machinations, their services could only be obtained by direct request; and such requests were granted or denied on a seemingly arbirtary basis.
While at times V'Ket bodyguards were a popular status symbol among Vulcan noble houses, at other times the order almost fell into obscurity. This waxing and waning of awareness among Vulcan's clans and historians has led to some confusion concerning the order's origin, and in fact its very tenets; though the V'Ket's current headquarters in Te'Rashar are said to contain extensive archives.
Most historical sources agree the first W'há Ķed-esh monasteries were likely located in the province of Tat'Sahr, and by roughly YS6300 the order maintained presences in Kir, Shi'Al and Kel. It is around this time that the ancient name W'há Ķed-esh first appears in its shortened form W'Keth, and often referred to by contemporaries as 'warrior-caste'. While certainly not accurate, this term has nonetheless become somewhat of a colloquialism still in use today, and the V'Ket themselves tend to accept it as such.
A possible reason for the misconception of the V'Ket operating as a caste, or clan, is that historically the monasteries adopted and raised orphans regardless of their origins, and children of unknown origin and without clan-names would for simplicity often be referred to as 'of the V'Ket'. Another possibility is that the order, while not as strictly matriarchal as much of ancient Vulcan society and in fact often led by men, has historically counted between 50-65% women among its members, and their offspring was frequently raised within the order. While certainly not all those children would eventually come to enter the order themselves (good examples being the poet Ayhan and the mystic Haadok), it was also not uncommon for a V'Ket to have several ancestors within the order.
Weapons
The traditional primary weapon of the V'Ket is the Ma'azikh sword, a lightly curved, slender, single-edged blade with a circular (rarely a squared) guard, and a long grip to accommodate the two handed fighting style. Today the Ma'azikh is often referred to as a S'Harien style sword, as the design was the one favored by the famous Vulcan swordsmith. In the style of desert travelers, and to allow for other, smaller arms to be carried on one's belt, the sword is carried slung across the back.
The secondary weapon in ancient times were Lek'tana daggers, and many V'ket still train with these deadly close combat arms today. Similar in style to the Ma'azikh, the Lek'tana daggers possess a longer handle in proportion to the blade, and most designs have only a very light curve. Lek'tana are generally carried in pairs.
Since the invention of energy weapons the secondary weapon is generally a sidearm like a small phaser pistol. In 2307 the f'rell-bar permitted the use of customized energy weapons for V'Ket, however most still favor the sturdy Fisahr rev-gotavu for its light weight and superior accuracy.
For ceremonial purposes the V'Ket also carry lirpas, one of the oldest weapons on Vulcan. The extent of use of this staff weapon in the order's history is uncertain, though several illustrations in ancient manuscripts point to it as being used at least during some time periods.
Structure
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