The Vudar are a humanoid race, taller and thinner than Terrans with oversized eyes and a pale green complexion. Rather than evolving from primates, they are descended from a line of gecko-like reptiles. Their eyes have a clear inner eyelid which affords them protection while swimming. This eyelid also allows them to ‘wet’ their lenses without seeming to blink. This gives the offworlder the impression that they are always ‘staring at you’.
Although descended from carnivores, the Vudar are generally peaceful and academic. They rival the Vulcans for their scientific achievements, and their products are a prized commodity in the Klingon Empire (of which Vudar spent more than a century as a subject world, producing 10% of the Empire’s impulse engines). The Vudar rarely, however, serve on Klingon starships due to their need for ionizing radiation that would be hazardous for the remainder of the crew.
Vudar is located in the southernmost part of the Klingon Empire, right up against the galactic barrier. A ‘weakness’ in this barrier (called ‘The Hole’) allows some dangerous ionizing radiation to ‘leak’ into the space around Vudar. Although Vudar’s atmosphere protects the planet itself (albeit not to a level comfortable for a Klingon occupation force), Vudar scientists were forced to develop several defensive technologies before they could begin serious space travel. Because of this, the Vudar are the galaxy’s foremost experts on ion and impulse technology (or at least they think so).
"The Hole" also allowed the Vudar to hide the construction of a fleet that would otherwise have attracted the early attention of their Klingon masters. (The Klingons had authorized the Vudar to build small numbers of “police" ships for local convoy escorts, relieving the ISF in their sector. The Klingons could not tell how many ships were in service because of ion interference with their long-range scans.) This fleet, along with the development of a device that produces an artificial ion storm, provided the Vudar with the means to gain their independence from the Empire in Y178. In the next seven years, the Vudar took advantage of the General War and carved out an Enclave for themselves from Klingon and Hydran territory along the galactic rim.