Ensign Tho’Bi - Rivers, Nudity, and Rain.

[Tobi]

((Auditorium - Operations Center, Deck 5, USS Artemis-A ))

Jaran: What can you tell me about Ferengi religion? Is it accurate to say that commerce is their religion? Is it structured? I have so many questions! ::laughs::

Bergmen: ::nods:: Technically, you can take commerce as their main religion, but it’s a little more complex…

Imril: I remember one of the Dabo girls on DS9 telling me about the Great Material Continuum. Interstellar supply and demand envisioned as an endless spiritual river that one navigates through their lifetime. She didn’t describe it as ‘structured’ so much as a personal journey with individual turns and pitfalls. Winds of opportunity, shoals of bankruptcy, the Grand Nagus up ahead of the others charting the way into unknown reaches of prosperity.

Bergmen: Yes, Lieutenant Imril is right. ::smiles:: Thank you, Lieutenant. (beat) The Ferengi religion is this idea of the universe having millions of worlds of surplus and shortage, where the Great Material Continuum flows through them all like a mighty river, from having to want and back again, as the force that binds the universe together. And your life is like a ship flowing through that river with your entrepreneurial skill and grace to get everything you desire. When one path is blocked or drained, you must find another while navigating obstacles and pitfalls to ease the dearth.

Tho'Bi: ::absent mindedly:: Zee once traded a holosuite game for a bottle of Romulan Ale with a Station Deckhand, the Romulan Ale for Targ dewormer with a Betzoid Vet, the Targ dewormer for a collection of Klingon Opera with the Captain of a Klingon Transport, and the Klingon Opera for a set of Non Federation Trading Routes with the navigator aboard a Cargo Hauler.

Jaran: That's, of course, valid. But it really does seem genuine to me. Does it not to you?

Bergmen: ::nods:: Yes, Ensign. Many religions require hours of study for their followers to fully understand the passages in their religious books. You will not find that kind of ambiguity within The Great Material Continuum. You know the path you have followed when the deal concludes. ::turns to Cole:: Yes, lieutenant Cole?

Cole: I’m curious how their culture has been adapting since the Ferengi Feminist Revolution, I know some societies struggled for decades if not longer after similar movements.

Imril: The travel guide I read said to expect to see some Ferengi women going about their day in the nude, still. Especially in urban centers out of the rain. It was rather unclear if that was due to personal choice or family expectation, though.

Tho'Bi: Andorians are often naked at home …but not because of gender.

Jaran/Cole: Response

Bergman: Yes, with reforms from Grand Nagus Zek and especially with the later introduced Rom’s Women Bill of Economic Rights, you can still see both ailes of struggle. Some women are still more satisfied with their insignificant role in the old order, which, on the other hand, requires little of them; while other women take their chance for economic and civic freedom fully and turn their families upside down, quite literally. As said, the simple answer is yes, you can still see naked women in Ferenginar streets, as cultural struggle to the new order is still ongoing.

Imril: Also, the occasional nude man.

Bergman: So… ::pause:: …with this, we have tapped into Ferengi laws and regulations. Don't forget to pack the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, including Starfleet explanatory notes, since you'll be going planetside. You'll encounter them often, and they'll frequently test you with them. Respect them and try not to break them, as behavior like this would be perceived as an insult at best or a criminal act at worst. Understood?

Tho'Bi: If in doubt ::shrugs:: let them rip you off. ::smiles::

Jaran/Cole: Response

Bergmen: Yes, as you are all officers, your departmental chief will be informed in case of your arrest, and some unhappy Security Officer will pick your sorry soul back on the ship for whatever senior officer will be in command to be your summary judge at hand, and you will not want to meet our XO or Commander Jovenan that way.

The Andorian Ensign reflected upon his busy schedule of mandatory training.

Tho'Bi: Plus you’ll be doing mandatory training until the day you die.

Jaran/Cole/Imril: Response

Bergmen: So, as our time for this lecture is running out, any last questions?

Tho'Bi: ::deadpan:: Can we walk around naked?

Bergman/Jaran/Cole/Imril: Response

Tho’Bi: ::deadpan:: ….so that's a no.

Bergman/Jaran/Cole/Imril: Response

Tho'Bi: ::puts his hand up:: How would you describe the weather? Drizzle? Downpour? Light Shower? Heavy Shower?

Bergman/Jaran/Cole/Imril: Response

TAG/TBC

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Ensign Tho’Bi

Engineering

USS Artemis-A

A240203T11