Quonos: Duel Mound of Kahless (Spec Art by Eshwin Dhir)

After doing a piece for Vulcan, I had to do one for Quonos, the homeworld of the Klingons. As I said before, these pieces take into account the 2009 film, and so, while this is by no means my 'definitive Klingon piece' it is an aspect of Klingon society and culture that I wanted to not only explore, but also resolve with regards to the discrepancies between Star Trek, Star Trek TNG, Enterprise, and Star Trek 09 (check the deleted scenes on the DVD), so in some capacity, I tried to represent all of those universes' ideas of the Klingons.

For example, the focal point statue is that of Klingon legend Kahless, locked into an epic fight with his brother Morath. A smaller version of this statue is shown on the TNG episode "Birthright". The starships are consistent in all of the series, but the architecture ranges, and what little you see here is an amalgamation of Enterprise and Star Trek TNG. Lastly, while I did not depict in any detail the crucial 'ridge' or 'no ridge' issue, which is addressed shoddily as a result of an augment DNA virus by Star Trek Enterprise, I do have very modest depictions of the 2009 Klingons seen on the Star Trek 09 DVD in the deleted scenes.

The idea, situationally, is that on Quonos there are sacred grounds upon which political, professional, personal, and social disputes may be settled as a duel between two representatives. The 'supreme court' of such a duel is the battle mound of Kahless and Morath.

Here, Kirk defends the Federation against Kor, after the events of the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy,' in which the Organians make an all-out war with the Klingons at that time impossible. Kor, who was played by the late great John Colicos whom I met when I was a little 12 year old Trekkie at a comic book store by my house (and who was also the voice of Apocalypse on the 90s X-Men), is one of the few characters to be both 'ridged' and 'unridged', but is depicted here as simply bald with a pig tail. Why? Well, legibility, mostly ... but someday, I'll have to do the memory of Mr. Colicos proud with something a bit more 'Kor-centric'.