Kinshaya titles

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

I'm curious why all of the Kinshaya titles in A Singular Destiny were Christian in origin (e.g., archbishop; bishop; vicar)? I'm assuming that the titles would be 'translated' from Kinshaya into their english equivalent, but considering the range of religious titles from the various Earth religions, I'm surprised we didn't have any titles like 'guru', 'imam', 'lama', 'mawlawi', or 'rabbi' (or 'vedek', for that matter) which may have better fit the roles played in the Kinshaya.

 

[Christopher]

I'm curious why all of the Kinshaya titles in A Singular Destiny were Christian in origin (e.g., archbishop; bishop; vicar)? I'm assuming that the titles would be 'translated' from Kinshaya into their english equivalent, but considering the range of religious titles from the various Earth religions, I'm surprised we didn't have any titles like 'guru', 'imam', 'lama', 'mawlawi', or 'rabbi' (or 'vedek', for that matter) which may have better fit the roles played in the Kinshaya.

The terms aren't interchangeable. All the titles you list (except for "vedek") refer to teachers, scholars, or community leaders in a religious community. None of them are titles within an organized clerical hierarchy. Vicar, bishop, and archbishop are actual offices within such an institution, posts with formal authority and responsibility. They're not just terms of respect, but official ranks within an organization. Presumably the titles are being used to indicate that the Kinshaya in question have a hierarchical religious institution analogous to the Christian Church, rather than one of the different kinds of religious system found in other human cultures.

 

[KRAD]

As Christopher said, I was going for something that would immediately indicate to the reader that this was a religious hierarchy. So I thought the best translations of Kinshaya ranks into English would be those of an instantly recognizable religious hierarchy.

 

[FalTorPan]

Are these the same Kinshaya of John Ford and FASA fame? I never read Ford's The Final Reflection, which I presume contained Kinshaya content, but FASA's The Klingons supplement to Star Trek: The Role-Playing Game piqued my curiosity about that species.

 

[JoeZhang]

Vicar? you have space vicars as the bad guys.

more tea Vicar?

 

[Lonemagpie]

Vicar? you have space vicars as the bad guys.

more tea Vicar?

I now have this image of a horde of evil Derek Nimmos

 

[JoeZhang]

Vicar? you have space vicars as the bad guys.

more tea Vicar?

I now have this image of a horde of evil Derek Nimmos

It's TNG as a 1970s sitcom

Life's an enterprise: hijinks ensures when Picard invites the admiral to dinner but forgets that his trousers are in the wash and the vicar calls for a donation for the summer fate.

The admiral is played by Sid James "corrrr, look at photons on that..."

 

[Christopher]

Are these the same Kinshaya of John Ford and FASA fame? I never read Ford's The Final Reflection, which I presume contained Kinshaya content, but FASA's The Klingons supplement to Star Trek: The Role-Playing Game piqued my curiosity about that species.

That's answered in this post:

http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=2617998&postcount=303

 

[Thor Damar]

Silly question perhaps, but are the Kinshaya the fellows who conquered the Keel and have been causing trouble for the Klingons on the borders of their Empire?

 

[elaithin]

Silly question perhaps, but are the Kinshaya the fellows who conquered the Kreel and have been causing trouble for the Klingons on the borders of their Empire?

Yeah, among others. I think the Kreel are serving as the Kinshaya's cannon fodder, but the Kinshaya are also one of the six member-states of the Typhon Pact.

 

[EmperorKalan]

Are these the same Kinshaya of John Ford and FASA fame? I never read Ford's The Final Reflection, which I presume contained Kinshaya content, but FASA's The Klingons supplement to Star Trek: The Role-Playing Game piqued my curiosity about that species.

KRAD can say more, but basically it seems to be "yes" to Ford and TFR, and "no, but retaining a bit or two" from FASA.

TFR didn't give any details: They were one of the states hemming in the Empire (along with the Romulans and Federation), and the nearest thing to a description there put them as equivalent to humans as "almost too devious to be allowed to live" when captured.

FASA didn't actually include them in the first edition of their Klingon module. I remember at the time there was a lot of speculation that "Kinshaya" might be the Klingon's name for the Kzinti. Two or three years later FASA published the second edition, which added about half a page on the Kinshaya (and this was entirely FASA's material, not part of that developed with Ford). Christopher copied their description in another thread
http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=2530404&postcount=36

I think FASA was going for an uncommunicative, implacable, relentless type of adversary (much like the Borg were early on), a good change of pace from a normally intrigue-laden Klingon campaign. (Good for a campaign, but not so good for literary purposes).

KRAD does seem to have carried a few things over from FASA, though. Most obvious is the black spherical ships. And I will speculate that the "demon" business was also inspired by FASA, but with the sides flipped: instead of the Kinshaya being like Klingon demons, the Klingons are the Kinshaya's demons.