In the Days before Kahless the Unforgettable the family Veska controlled an important seaport city.  They were well known for producing fast sailing vessels that could easily outdistance the heavier vessels of their opponents but could not withstand the sustained barrages of boltcasters and catapults.  Many warriors of the household were marines, trained to attack from shipboard.  They were lightly armored, and used a variety of weaponry including several small swords, axes, crossbows and maces. The bat'leth was never a favored weapon, due to its intense weight that could drag a warrior to the bottom of the ocean (since a true warrior would rather drown than release his weapon to the depths).

     The ships would often attack with the suns at their back, leaping from the shallow keeled vessels and wreaking great havoc, then re-boarding their ships with their booty and sailing into deeper waters.  One of the household’s enemies called them "Great Sea Hawks."  These birds with a wingspan of two meters would congregate high in the sky in packs of  almost 100 birds.  When a large prey animal was spotted, they would descend en masse and rip the hapless creature to shreds with their razor sharp talons, swallowing as much as they could, then fly away.  Rather than be offended, the early Veskans took the creature’s name and it’s fierce reputation as it’s own symbol.  Soon the warriors were wearing the bird’s claws on their gauntlets, and wearing the speckled white and black feathers on their uniforms.  Some captains risked their lives to raid sea eagle nests to capture and train hatchlings.  These mascots would fly ahead of the ships, and were trained to circle overhead if they spotted another vessel.
  

    With the spread of their reputation, many coastal cities and fortifications would go on alert anytime a lone sea eagle was sighted.  Thus the fear of attack by House Veska stretched all along the coast of the Northern continent.  The old maritime Veskan flags and sails used to show one of these birds with its wings spread and a skull in each talon.  After the move to space though and the discovery of the Romulans it was decided that the depiction was too similar to the Romulan Bird-of-Prey symbol and the flag was retired.  The romantic  association with these creatures continued although they were much harder to keep on board a space cruiser than a targ.  Klingon vessels were too cramped for the birds to exercise properly and many captains kept their mascots in stasis and would allow them to hunt on distant exotic worlds whenever the situation allowed.  More than one alien enemy of the Empire has lost their life to the swift claws of these birds.