VORTA

Physiology
The Founders created the Vorta as diplomats of the Dominion. They were not built from scratch, but improved upon an already existing species. If the Vorta Eris's account of the Vorta homeworld could be trusted (which is in doubt), Vortas originate from the planet Kurill Prime, in the Gamma Quadrant. Weyoun No. 6 gave a narrative of how the Founders changed their evolutionary path. Long ago, the Vorta were a race of tree-dwelling, ape-like species with undeveloped intelligence. An injured Founder stumbled into their forest one time, and a family of Vorta sheltered him. In return, the Founder promised that one day the Vorta would become an integral part of an empire that spanned the galaxy. The Jem'Hadar being too violently inclined and lacking in social graces, the second tier of the Dominion was created for the purpose of negotiation and administration. Vortas have pointed ears, are all highly intelligent and soft-spoken as a rule. Their genetic coding forces them to blindly follow the Founder's orders and regard them as Gods. As Weyoun No. 6 said, "Why be a God if there is no one to worship you?"

In line with their diplomatic duties and posts of command over the Jem'Hadar, Vortas are immune to almost every kind of poisoning. This comes in very handy when they are dealing with hostile races. Vortas are experts at cloning, and seem to reserve backup copies of themselves that can be cloned if an earlier version was killed or lost in the treacheries involved with Dominion diplomacy. One particularly prominent Vorta supervisor, Weyoun, has gone through 7 reincarnations. The same Vorta has supplied the Federation with knowledge that Vorta have poor hearing while they have a keen olfactory sense. They also cannot "taste" anything, another genetic programming from the Founders to help them "remember their roots" and keep them in their place. When asked whether the Founders made a mistake in choosing a species with poor hearing to be diplomatic delegates, the Vorta Weyoun fervently denied even the possibilities of their "Gods" making mistakes.

The Founders sometimes gives special abilities to certain Vortas for the successful completion of their mission. The first Vorta seen by the Federation was a female named Eris. She had telekinetic powers that enabled her to manipulate energy. Later Vortas have not been noted to possess such powers, and it is the belief of the Federation that Eris was an exception.



Life Purpose
The Vorta are the administrators and diplomats of the Dominion, the ones who carry out the dictates of the Founders and "negotiate" new worlds into submission. In serving the Founder, Vortas are also zealous in protecting the Dominion's agenda. If captured, Vortas are also obligated to commit suicide rather than surrender to enemies. One Vorta, Keevan, however did not follow this policy and opted to kill his Jem'Hadars rather than die. They revere the Founders in much the same light as Jem'Hadar do, and give precedence to the safety of a Founder's life over everything else. Vorta supervisor Kilana once exchanged a whole Jem'Hadar ship for the ashes of a dead Founder.

One Vorta is usually at the head of every Jem'Hadar Attack Craft, along with a complement of 42 Jem'Hadar. Several are believed to be aboard the larger Jem'Hadar Battle Cruiser. The Vortas are known as supervisors, the ones who oversees missions and other delicate affairs that Jem'Hadars are incapable of handling. Inside the Jem'Hadar ship, the supervisor and the Jem'Hadar First are given visors that allow them to augment the exterior visually. Perhaps that too is symbolic of the unerring trust the Jem'Hadar show in their supervisors.