Ahrir'fvahir mnean? (What are we?)

Ahrir'fvahir mnean?

(What are we?)

The Tal Diann is a branch of the New Romulan Republic Forces, consisting of four fleets.  Members of this organization include Romulans, Remans, Vulcans, Orions, Andorians, Klingons, and various other species from within the New Romulan Republic, the Klingon Empire, and the United Federation of Planets.  The Tal Diann is best known to outsiders as Phi'Tlaru Rihan (Romulan Military Intelligence), and best known to our own people as Romulan Military Internal Affairs.  These, however, are but two of the four wings of the organization.  Although our membership is diverse, our outlook is Rihan (Romulan), and so for us to explain what "Rihan" means is a good way of beginning the discussion of what we are.  For this, we turn to the words of D'Ral, the Keeper of Lore from the Virinat colony, and D'Tan, the Proconsul of the New Romulan Republic.

We were Vulcan, until Vulcans stopped being Vulcan.

"Almost two thousand years ago, our people were Vulcans.  At that time, Vulcan was a world of war, with constant struggles between the tribes.  Surak changed that.  He taught that peace came through logic.  And if you ask me, not all Vulcans get that right -- Surak said that people should master their emotions, not eliminate them.  But not everyone on Vulcan wanted to give up love, or passion, or even anger.  The Vulcans said that these people marched beneath the raptor's wings."
-- D'Ral, Virinat Keeper of Lore

We have been called "savage" and "warlike," but this is not entirely true.

"Instead of fighting their own people, these Vulcans decided to leave.  In an event we call the Sundering, they boarded great colony ships and set out into unexplored space, looking for a home where they could live -- and feel -- as they wished.  Eventually, those who marched beneath the raptor's wings found Romulus and Remus.  They created an empire.  Although we share a genetic bond with the Vulcans, we are our own people.  Never forget that."
-- D'Ral, Virinat Keeper of Lore

We embrace our emotions, rather than engaging in vain efforts to suppress them.  We love freedom.

"The Sundering tore our people apart, but it also unified the Romulans under a common cause:  the preservation of our emotions and our freedom.  If this is truly the Sword of the Raptor Star, it could help to once again unify the Romulans under the cause of preserving the freedoms we hold dear."
-- D'Tan, Proconsul of the New Romulan Republic



To examine these questions in greater detail, we turn more specifically to the origins of our people.

Onre:  ilhael 1 - Rihanh:  Na Temrhae
(Next: book 1 - Romulans:  The Beginning)