On Thu, Sep 14, 2017 at 11:14 AM, SuStel <sustel@trimboli.name> wrote:
On 9/14/2017 11:01 AM, qurgh lungqIj wrote:
Remember that Klingons conquer. They take control of planets once they defeat the current owners of it. They then use the resources on that planet to build more ships etc. They don't care about taking the stuff that belongs to the locals.
Let's not go making up new cultural details to justify not knowing a word. Do Klingons never raid a place and take the stuff from it? Suppose they raided a Cardassian base during the war with the Dominion. They didn't stay to govern. Did they take nothing? What about Leskit from "Soldiers of the Empire," who wore a necklace of Cardassian neck bones?
So I made up the concept that Klingons conquer stuff? SuvmeH 'ej charghmeH bogh tlhInganpu'. Klingons are born to fight and conquer. vay' DaneHbogh yIchargh. Conquer what you desire. There seems to be lots of evidence that they conquer. It's not "Klingons are born to fight and raid". Conquerors don't tend to take spoils of war because they now control the land. TOS shows Klingons conquering without any talk of taking things from the local inhabitants. In DS9 we only see Klingons destroying stuff and attempting to conquer the Cardassian Union. The war didn't end until Martok stood on Cardassian. We don't see them stealing stuff from them. I don't consider Cardassian neck bones as "spoils of war". They are kill counters. We see a Klingon "raid" in Enterprise, but what they took wouldn't be "spoils of war" as there was no war. What is gained through piracy isn't what we talk about when we use the term "spoils of war". My statement was based on known Star Trek canon. It may not cover everything every Klingon ever does, but it may help explain why they don't have a specific word for profits extracted as the result of winning a war. They don't care about profits, they care about honor. qurgh