Trakenite
The Trakenites, (AUDIO: Primeval) also known as Trakens, (TV: The Keeper of Traken) were a race of peaceful humanoids native to the planet Traken. Through the Keeper of Traken, they maintained the Traken Union.
According to the Fifth Doctor, they had a particular empathy with creatures in distress. (AUDIO: Eldrad Must Die!)
Biology
Trakenites had some psychic abilities. (TV: Time-Flight, AUDIO: The Eternal Summer) However, the Source had eroded their natural psychic defences since it provided a perfect barrier, meaning those defences never had to be used. (AUDIO: Primeval)
Trakenites aged at a slower rate than humans. Tegan commented that Nyssa "look[ed] good for 70" upon meeting her at a point in time 50 years after she left the TARDIS, (AUDIO: Cobwebs) The Fifth Doctor said that Nyssa's lifespan was "roughly the same" as a human's. (AUDIO: Autumn)
Trakens did not require as much sleep as humans. (PROSE: Cold Fusion) The Fifth Doctor suspected that Tegan's first aid knowledge would be of little use for a Trakenite. (AUDIO: Secrets of Telos)
Culture
The Trakens spoke Trakenite. (PROSE: Goth Opera)
The goodness of the Trakenites was more "robust" rather than forced. (AUDIO: The Cradle of the Snake) They worshipped the god Kwundaar in their early days. (AUDIO: Primeval) By Nyssa's time, Traken had no conventional police, although Nyssa likened the function of the Fosters to the peacekeeping role the police of other species were meant to fulfill. (PROSE: Cold Fusion [+]Loading...["Cold Fusion (novel)"])
The Trakens drank ale (PROSE: Goth Opera) and wine. (PROSE: Cold Fusion) They did not, however, have chocolate. (AUDIO: The Elite)
They did not celebrate birthdays. (PROSE: Empire of Death)
The Trakens had a proverb: "the best place to hide a light is in the sun". (PROSE: Cold Fusion)
History
Early history
Kwundaar was present when the first Trakens walked the forests and groves. (AUDIO: Primeval)
The Trakens once had a monarchy. (PROSE: The Immortals) According to tradition, the Trakens were plagued with evil phenomena in their early days. This included the residents of one village receiving visitations from deceased relatives who told them stories that drove them to insanity. To stop this, a party of Proctors was formed, who put stakes made of silver through the hearts of each grave in the village. after which the village was troubled no longer. (PROSE: Goth Opera)
Circa 10,020 BC, the Trakens ceased any reliance on robots. (AUDIO: Cold Fusion) They formed the Traken Union through the signing of agreements. (PROSE: Goth Opera)
Kwundaar was worshipped as the living god of the Trakens - their god of wisdom and learning - and taught them the sciences. He lived among them benevolently. Circa 3552 BC, he built the Source (AUDIO: Primeval) on the colony of Serenity (AUDIO: Cold Fusion) to protect them from evil (AUDIO: Primeval) and to regulate the environment, (TV: The Keeper of Traken). They then used the Source to betray him and to banish him. The Source regulated itself (AUDIO: Primeval) whilst the Union was governed by five consuls. (TV: The Keeper of Traken)
Under the Source
Malador's Melkurs (AUDIO: The Guardians of Prophecy) were drawn to Traken and rendered immobile by the power of the Source, becoming statues which the Trakens would then care for until they decayed. (TV: The Keeper of Traken) The Feast of Melkur was an annual event that the Trakens held to ease their passing. (PROSE: The Astronomer's Apprentice)
The evils attracted to Traken were called "Melkurs", which literally meant "a fly trapped in honey". The Melkurs were immobile while on Traken and would deteriorate when their power no longer remained. The Trakenites felt remorse for them and took care of them until they disappeared. (TV: The Keeper of Traken)
Circa 1020 BC, Kwundaar made an attempt to take control of the Source and was thwarted by Nyssa and the Fifth Doctor, who turned its power against him and began the tradition of the Keeper of Traken. Shayla was the first to take on this role, (AUDIO: Primeval) which was enshrined in Traken law, and led the Union whilst being served by the consuls. (TV: The Keeper of Traken) This marked the end of the Primeval Times. (AUDIO: Primeval)
In 1981, the incumbent Keeper named Tremas as his successor, but the Decayed Master manipulated Kassia and became Keeper himself. The Fourth Doctor and Adric defeated him by sabotaging the Source, after which Luvic took the position and the Master stole Tremas's body. (TV: The Keeper of Traken) Nyssa sent a message to the Doctor telling him of her father's disappearance. (TV: Logopolis)
The entropy wave and aftermath
An entropy wave was unleashed by the Tremas Master and wiped out the Traken Union, (TV: Logopolis) sparing only Serenity, (AUDIO: The Guardians of Prophecy) located at the edge of the Mutter's Spiral (PROSE: Cold Fusion) or the Silver Devastation. (AUDIO: Cold Fusion) The sole survivor of Traken was Nyssa, who had been taken to Logopolis by the Watcher beforehand. (TV: Logopolis)
One Keeper caught a glimpse of the Union's destruction, and gave to Victoria Waterfield and piece of the Source, such that Traken could live on in the being she would later inadvertently create from it: Viola. (PROSE: The Astronomer's Apprentice [+]Loading...["The Astronomer's Apprentice (short story)"])
The people of Serenity went on to found the Benign Union which was threatened a thousand years after its founding by the return of Malador, whom the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown defeated. The Doctor advised that Serenity institute a power-sharing system for the Union in the interest of fairness. (AUDIO: The Guardians of Prophecy)
The blood of Traken continued through Nyssa, who married Lasarti and had two children; Neeka (AUDIO: Winter) and Adric Traken. (AUDIO: Prisoners of Fate)
