Persephone
Nov 22, 2014 22:26:33 GMT -7
Post by Roger on Nov 22, 2014 22:26:33 GMT -7
Persephone
S/2040(P/2020(34Tauri(2020)A)02)02
S/2040(P/2020(34Tauri(2020)A)02)02
Orbital Distance: 0.36 AU
Rotational Period: 3.24 Years
Surface Area: 670,854,970 km2 (132% that of Earth-That-Was)
Population: 4,750,000,000
Terraformed: 2308
Affiliation: Independent Planets of White Sun
Persephone is the "Gateway" between the Rim and the Core. It holds this title based upon its prime location controlling the outer band of the White Sun system as well as its atmosphere as the most quintessential "Border World." (Persehpone's star, Lux, is also notably in retrograde orbit which causes Persephone to travel around the White Sun system in reverse.) Persephone has a considerable population bolstered by a rapid growth rate unsurpassed on any other major world. The planet runs the gamut from rural farmland to dense industrial zones, centers of culture to hubs of commerce. There are incredibly rich sections of the world and incredibly poor ones, areas of high society and areas dominated by the criminal underworld.
Persephone is of course the controlling power of the IPWS. Further information on the IPWS can be found here.
Persephone itself is comprised of primarily two continents: one in the north and a slightly larger southern continent. For the most part, the world divides rather evenly between the two. The southern continent is home to the capital, Sheffield, a small, quiet, and beautiful city. Up-scale commerce, hi-tech industry, and a thriving cultural and entertainment sector make up the majority of the city alongside the government itself. The northern continent, on the other hand, has numerous cities that are industrial centers with bustling spaceports, the largest city being Teporatz. The grittier northern continent is home to Persephone's renowned criminal element while the southern continent is largely controlled by the monarchy and aristocracy. The two powers co-exist in their self-imposed isolation from each other.
Military
Persephone's military is comprised of three parts. The first is the Royal Guard. As the name implies, the guard protects the king and have fairly elaborate uniforms, but they are much more numerous and their duties are far more reaching than that name suggests. The Royal Guard are not just bodyguards or an honor guard but Persephone's standing army, renowned as a disciplined, educated, and cultured force. The officer corps is largely comprised of aristocrats and the enlisted are typically recruited from the southern continent.
The second part is the Grand Army, a force only raised during times of national emergency through mass volunteer drives as well as conscription. The massive population of Persephone is mobilized into service in this branch often under the command of Royal Guards officers.
The third part of Persephone's military are private military contractors. Various PMCs (Rhodium being the largest) are hired to supplement the standing army (or even bolster it in times of war). Persephone's outer holdings in particular are garrisoned almost exclusively by mercenaries with only a token force of Royal Guard officers in command.
History
250 years ago Persephone was the frontier way out on the edge of human civilization. While Santo was settled primarily by Sihnon, Persephone was settled primarily from Londinium. Along with this wave of settlers came Londinium control as a "Crown Colony" ruled by the king of Londinium's cousin. Over time the "Verse changed as did Persephone's role in it, and the ruling families of the two worlds drifted apart. By 2400 when Londinium and Sihnon began formally attempting to recognize the other worlds and add them to their Union of Allied Planets, Persephone refused the offer and instead chose independence.
100 years later, the Alliance would attempt to unify the rest of the 'Verse under the Alliance whether they liked it or not, Persephone included. If anything, Persephone had become even more distant from the Core in those intervening years so it came as no surprise when Persephone refused to submit to this second "offer". However, as the rest of the 'Verse also began to reject the offer and war seemed imminent, the Alliance quickly moved to occupy Persephone thus preventing it from raising arms against the Alliance. For the rest of the war, Persephone would remain a major base from which the Alliance would launch offensives into the Rim.
In 2541, Persephone would finally break free of Alliance control and declare independence leading to a second wave of fighting in the Wars of Independence. Following their liberation, Persephone would secure its position by seizing crucial positions around the periphery of White Sun and establish the IPWS.
The Purge
In 2570, tensions were once again coming to a head on Persephone. The criminal element was always a problem on Persephone, but it was typically tolerated as a necessity of such a thriving crossroads and potentially a lucrative and useful part of society. However, at the time the criminal underworld was fragmented into thousands of vying groups with a gang popping up on nearly every street corner. Whats worse was the inevitable acts of these gangs. Rather than "organized crime" these gangs perpetrated street crime. Those traders coming into the Gateway that weren't murdered, robbed, or kidnapped would have their pockets picked and their ships vandalized. To make matters worse, the gangs fought frequently street battles against each other. Local law enforcement at best was unequipped and outnumbered. At worst, entire police departments were wiped out or merely deserted their posts. And this wave of crime was not purely limited to the northern continent but had begun to spread south as well.
In was also in 2570 that King Eric assumed the throne of Persephone. The new monarch wanted to restore order to his realm, assert his authority as uncontested ruler, leave his mark on history, and instill his own personal moral values on his people. Thus the purge began.
Eric had the desire to act, but he lacked the means to do so. Persephone was a military powerhouse waiting to be awakened, a fact known during the past two wars and all the more true as the years passed, but fighting a war against a foreign power and mobilizing the populace to wage war against their neighbors, friends, and even family was something else entirely. And there was no mistaking it, to crush the crime wave it would indeed be a war.
King Eric thus took the only option available to him. He sought foreign intervention and the 'Verse responded with military expeditions arriving from nearly every major power and many small insignificant worlds as well. Combined with Persephone's own force of Guardsmen and mercenaries, the purge began. Over the course of the next two years, the involved military forces would literally wage war across Persephone. Before the war ended, millions lay dead with many more wounded or displaced and uncounted trillions in property damage.
King Eric notably offered amnesty at the start of the purge for any criminals willing to turn themselves in, turnover all weapons and contraband, swear allegiance to the King, vow never to return to a life of crime, and to submit to a database. Anyone who refused the amnesty would be killed or imprisoned. Anyone who violated their parole based on the amnesty would be executed regardless of the circumstances. In addition to all past criminal activity, Eric also imposed his own strict moralism onto a new law code which included prohibition of alcohol and any other narcotics including tobacco. Prostitution, gambling, and other forms of vice were also targeted.
Notably, as the purge began, a woman by the name of Minerva Colt had just begun to carve out her own little niche in Persehpone's underworld. At the time at least, Minerva was small time, a facilitator with no hand in the all too common violence that plagued the planet. With the king's crackdown on vice crimes, a whole new market exploded which Minerva took advantaged of. As competitors either took amnesty or died in the streets, Minerva's share of the market gradually began to grow.
As zealous as King Eric might have been about his sweeping reforms, the actual forces fighting in the streets to suppress the gangs were less enthusiastic. Non-violent criminals were typically left alone, and Minverva Colt played into this unwritten rule of the purge. Her men stayed out of all conflicts even going so far as forbidding her men from carrying weapons. In the end, the strategy worked and except for a bit of collateral damage from time to time her operations went untouched.
By 2572 Minerva had gone from small time crew leader to a the most dominant crime boss on the planet, though it wasn't all too much of a feat considering how fragmented Persephone's crime world had been at the time. The purge was seeming to wind down as the gangs were nearly extinguished. It was at this time that Minerva was approached by Phillip, the king's cousin, with a proposition. To all sane individuals, the purge had succeeded, but Eric insisted on continuing it to expel all vice from Persephone which happened to include Minerva's operations.
Phillip was of a different mind than his cousin. He was a realist who knew society could not be perfected by force, he saw the benefits of controlling the criminal element as previous monarchs had, he liked a bit of vice himself, and of course he also coveted the monarchy. Together he and Minerva plotted and eventually saw to King Eric's untimely death and the rise of King Phillip to the throne of Persephone where he rules to this day.
One of Phillip's first acts (after acting his way through a tearful royal funeral) was to declare the purge a success and then roll back his predecessor's criminal code to what it had been three years earlier. His next step was to politely tell the foreign armies on his soil to leave immediately. After two years of fighting Persephone's war, however, the foreign powers wanted something in return, especially the Alliance which was frustrated enough losing the Six Years War. Phillip's solution was to grant embassies and trade-quarters as payment and a sign of good will, and thus the purge officially ended with the removal of all foreign troops.
In a matter of days, Phillip's end of the purge, expulsion of the foreign armies, and abolition of Eric's strict criminal code made him one of the most popular rulers Persephone has ever known, even blinding the public to his suspicious ascension to the throne. Eric on the other hand certainly left his mark on history, and although the purge was ultimately successful and a true show of force, he is now remembered only for his extremism and failures.
Modern Persephone
Over the next few years, Minerva Colt's power grew even faster than the new king's. Her operations spread from simple vice to all the now untapped markets whose previous occupants had been gunned down in the streets. Many others that had accepted amnesty under the old king forsook their promises and joined Minerva's operations. By 2575 Minerva had complete control of the northern continent and her once peaceful tactics had given way to the standard violence of organized crime though in moderation as opposed to the pre-purge bloodbaths.
Most every corner of the world was under Colt's control, and those few start-ups that were independent were offered a little amnesty deal of their own. They would pledge fealty to Colt, pay her a portion of their profits, and in turn could go about their business. By 2577 and for the past five years, Minerva Colt has moved into the southern continent not to expand her business but to live a life of luxury alongside such political allies as king Phillip, an absentee ruler of a criminal empire in the north.
Persephone is the "Gateway" between the Rim and the Core. It holds this title based upon its prime location controlling the outer band of the White Sun system as well as its atmosphere as the most quintessential "Border World." (Persehpone's star, Lux, is also notably in retrograde orbit which causes Persephone to travel around the White Sun system in reverse.) Persephone has a considerable population bolstered by a rapid growth rate unsurpassed on any other major world. The planet runs the gamut from rural farmland to dense industrial zones, centers of culture to hubs of commerce. There are incredibly rich sections of the world and incredibly poor ones, areas of high society and areas dominated by the criminal underworld.
Persephone is of course the controlling power of the IPWS. Further information on the IPWS can be found here.
Persephone itself is comprised of primarily two continents: one in the north and a slightly larger southern continent. For the most part, the world divides rather evenly between the two. The southern continent is home to the capital, Sheffield, a small, quiet, and beautiful city. Up-scale commerce, hi-tech industry, and a thriving cultural and entertainment sector make up the majority of the city alongside the government itself. The northern continent, on the other hand, has numerous cities that are industrial centers with bustling spaceports, the largest city being Teporatz. The grittier northern continent is home to Persephone's renowned criminal element while the southern continent is largely controlled by the monarchy and aristocracy. The two powers co-exist in their self-imposed isolation from each other.
Military
Persephone's military is comprised of three parts. The first is the Royal Guard. As the name implies, the guard protects the king and have fairly elaborate uniforms, but they are much more numerous and their duties are far more reaching than that name suggests. The Royal Guard are not just bodyguards or an honor guard but Persephone's standing army, renowned as a disciplined, educated, and cultured force. The officer corps is largely comprised of aristocrats and the enlisted are typically recruited from the southern continent.
The second part is the Grand Army, a force only raised during times of national emergency through mass volunteer drives as well as conscription. The massive population of Persephone is mobilized into service in this branch often under the command of Royal Guards officers.
The third part of Persephone's military are private military contractors. Various PMCs (Rhodium being the largest) are hired to supplement the standing army (or even bolster it in times of war). Persephone's outer holdings in particular are garrisoned almost exclusively by mercenaries with only a token force of Royal Guard officers in command.
History
250 years ago Persephone was the frontier way out on the edge of human civilization. While Santo was settled primarily by Sihnon, Persephone was settled primarily from Londinium. Along with this wave of settlers came Londinium control as a "Crown Colony" ruled by the king of Londinium's cousin. Over time the "Verse changed as did Persephone's role in it, and the ruling families of the two worlds drifted apart. By 2400 when Londinium and Sihnon began formally attempting to recognize the other worlds and add them to their Union of Allied Planets, Persephone refused the offer and instead chose independence.
100 years later, the Alliance would attempt to unify the rest of the 'Verse under the Alliance whether they liked it or not, Persephone included. If anything, Persephone had become even more distant from the Core in those intervening years so it came as no surprise when Persephone refused to submit to this second "offer". However, as the rest of the 'Verse also began to reject the offer and war seemed imminent, the Alliance quickly moved to occupy Persephone thus preventing it from raising arms against the Alliance. For the rest of the war, Persephone would remain a major base from which the Alliance would launch offensives into the Rim.
In 2541, Persephone would finally break free of Alliance control and declare independence leading to a second wave of fighting in the Wars of Independence. Following their liberation, Persephone would secure its position by seizing crucial positions around the periphery of White Sun and establish the IPWS.
The Purge
In 2570, tensions were once again coming to a head on Persephone. The criminal element was always a problem on Persephone, but it was typically tolerated as a necessity of such a thriving crossroads and potentially a lucrative and useful part of society. However, at the time the criminal underworld was fragmented into thousands of vying groups with a gang popping up on nearly every street corner. Whats worse was the inevitable acts of these gangs. Rather than "organized crime" these gangs perpetrated street crime. Those traders coming into the Gateway that weren't murdered, robbed, or kidnapped would have their pockets picked and their ships vandalized. To make matters worse, the gangs fought frequently street battles against each other. Local law enforcement at best was unequipped and outnumbered. At worst, entire police departments were wiped out or merely deserted their posts. And this wave of crime was not purely limited to the northern continent but had begun to spread south as well.
In was also in 2570 that King Eric assumed the throne of Persephone. The new monarch wanted to restore order to his realm, assert his authority as uncontested ruler, leave his mark on history, and instill his own personal moral values on his people. Thus the purge began.
Eric had the desire to act, but he lacked the means to do so. Persephone was a military powerhouse waiting to be awakened, a fact known during the past two wars and all the more true as the years passed, but fighting a war against a foreign power and mobilizing the populace to wage war against their neighbors, friends, and even family was something else entirely. And there was no mistaking it, to crush the crime wave it would indeed be a war.
King Eric thus took the only option available to him. He sought foreign intervention and the 'Verse responded with military expeditions arriving from nearly every major power and many small insignificant worlds as well. Combined with Persephone's own force of Guardsmen and mercenaries, the purge began. Over the course of the next two years, the involved military forces would literally wage war across Persephone. Before the war ended, millions lay dead with many more wounded or displaced and uncounted trillions in property damage.
King Eric notably offered amnesty at the start of the purge for any criminals willing to turn themselves in, turnover all weapons and contraband, swear allegiance to the King, vow never to return to a life of crime, and to submit to a database. Anyone who refused the amnesty would be killed or imprisoned. Anyone who violated their parole based on the amnesty would be executed regardless of the circumstances. In addition to all past criminal activity, Eric also imposed his own strict moralism onto a new law code which included prohibition of alcohol and any other narcotics including tobacco. Prostitution, gambling, and other forms of vice were also targeted.
Notably, as the purge began, a woman by the name of Minerva Colt had just begun to carve out her own little niche in Persehpone's underworld. At the time at least, Minerva was small time, a facilitator with no hand in the all too common violence that plagued the planet. With the king's crackdown on vice crimes, a whole new market exploded which Minerva took advantaged of. As competitors either took amnesty or died in the streets, Minerva's share of the market gradually began to grow.
As zealous as King Eric might have been about his sweeping reforms, the actual forces fighting in the streets to suppress the gangs were less enthusiastic. Non-violent criminals were typically left alone, and Minverva Colt played into this unwritten rule of the purge. Her men stayed out of all conflicts even going so far as forbidding her men from carrying weapons. In the end, the strategy worked and except for a bit of collateral damage from time to time her operations went untouched.
By 2572 Minerva had gone from small time crew leader to a the most dominant crime boss on the planet, though it wasn't all too much of a feat considering how fragmented Persephone's crime world had been at the time. The purge was seeming to wind down as the gangs were nearly extinguished. It was at this time that Minerva was approached by Phillip, the king's cousin, with a proposition. To all sane individuals, the purge had succeeded, but Eric insisted on continuing it to expel all vice from Persephone which happened to include Minerva's operations.
Phillip was of a different mind than his cousin. He was a realist who knew society could not be perfected by force, he saw the benefits of controlling the criminal element as previous monarchs had, he liked a bit of vice himself, and of course he also coveted the monarchy. Together he and Minerva plotted and eventually saw to King Eric's untimely death and the rise of King Phillip to the throne of Persephone where he rules to this day.
One of Phillip's first acts (after acting his way through a tearful royal funeral) was to declare the purge a success and then roll back his predecessor's criminal code to what it had been three years earlier. His next step was to politely tell the foreign armies on his soil to leave immediately. After two years of fighting Persephone's war, however, the foreign powers wanted something in return, especially the Alliance which was frustrated enough losing the Six Years War. Phillip's solution was to grant embassies and trade-quarters as payment and a sign of good will, and thus the purge officially ended with the removal of all foreign troops.
In a matter of days, Phillip's end of the purge, expulsion of the foreign armies, and abolition of Eric's strict criminal code made him one of the most popular rulers Persephone has ever known, even blinding the public to his suspicious ascension to the throne. Eric on the other hand certainly left his mark on history, and although the purge was ultimately successful and a true show of force, he is now remembered only for his extremism and failures.
Modern Persephone
Over the next few years, Minerva Colt's power grew even faster than the new king's. Her operations spread from simple vice to all the now untapped markets whose previous occupants had been gunned down in the streets. Many others that had accepted amnesty under the old king forsook their promises and joined Minerva's operations. By 2575 Minerva had complete control of the northern continent and her once peaceful tactics had given way to the standard violence of organized crime though in moderation as opposed to the pre-purge bloodbaths.
Most every corner of the world was under Colt's control, and those few start-ups that were independent were offered a little amnesty deal of their own. They would pledge fealty to Colt, pay her a portion of their profits, and in turn could go about their business. By 2577 and for the past five years, Minerva Colt has moved into the southern continent not to expand her business but to live a life of luxury alongside such political allies as king Phillip, an absentee ruler of a criminal empire in the north.
