Putting this up here while I work out tags and the stuff in this revamped app. Recycling a heck of a lot for it, though, and added a few more pics in the Military section to boot as well (among other things elsewhere). Also tossed in a new flag, new planetary description, etc. The History section is going to be the pain in my head to get hashed out, and lot still has to be fixed up or edited or added in it, but I will get it completed sooner or later dangit! Will edit as updates to this app are made of a major sort, etc, before handing over for round two of the GMs looking over an app of mine.
"E Pluribus Unum" (Aka: "Out of Many, One")
Government Form: Democratic Republic
(Secretly/In Reality: Synarchism/Synarchic Oligarchy - As in âa secret cabal is in charge behind it allâ, not as in the original meaning of synarchy/synarchism.)
Population: 7.7 billion
((General Very Rough Population Growth Timescale - 150 years ago: 5.4 billion, 350 years ago: 2.5 billion, ~425 years ago: Some Millions At Maximum; Improved as technology and survivability and sustainability for the colony overall improved, which led in part to a boom in growth. Wars did lessen this to some extent at times, among other things, etc, but 500 years is a long time indeed.))
What is humanity?: Humanity? What is humanity, but the ability to connect, empathize, and build alongside others through the good and the bad and the ugly? To be able to fight for survival against a hostile nature that seeks to kill you, to mete out survival even when you're against the ropes and despite your own mistakes, and to seek out a future even when all seems to be at its bleakest?
In the mundane and far less poetic sense, however, for the GER the matter is a simple one for defining humanity. It is being born as one of the human species biologically, born to human species parents.....whether it be Homo sapiens sapiens or a new subspecies otherwise. Sapient rights, however, are things that most certainly also exist under GER law as well.
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Planet/System Name and Description:
Star/System Name - Euryale
Planet Name - Euryale IV/Sarpedon
Living on the fourth planet, in the âhabitable zoneâ of the star Euryale, the GER was begun on the planet of Euryale IV, aka âSarpedonâ as it would come to be called. A planet of size 1.37 times the size of the Earth, it was among the earliest âhabitableâ worlds to be discovered during the scramble to create the Gateway and escape the dying earth. Discovery of the star and its system was credited to the Greek astronomer Sebastian Kiritikos, who was working with the United Nations and other cooperating groups and companies to find habitable stars and potentially human-habitable worlds, who named it after one of the gorgon sisters of ancient mythology. Likewise the names of the planets of the starâs system would be initially named in a more standard fashion, though the name of âSarpedonâ would be given to Euryale IV (named after the legendary isle the gorgons lived upon) after it was found to be the first habitable sphere in the system after the use of self-replicating von Neumann probes to further investigate the systemâs potential habitability.
It is a generally warmer planet than Earth to an extent despite being labeled as a âmiraculous Earth-like planetâ, sporting a larger (but not all-encompassing for the planet certainly either) band of warmer and humid climates across a wider band of its landmass due to its wide equatorial band length. This is in part due to a somewhat thicker atmosphere and atmospheric pressure being minutely over 1 atm/atmospheres, which has led to the greater retention of heat from the systemâs sun. Increased rainfall and humidity are notable factors as well as a result of these things, as well as a more frequent occurrence of storms that has led to local construction and settlement methods being designed with such things being much more in mind (using rounded shapes or easier to build multi-sided octagonal homes, applying improved material sciences for more resilient materials, etc). At the same time, however, there are still proper more temperate climes the closer one gets to its proper northern and southern polar regions despite these bands being distinctly narrower than those on âOld Earthâ used to be. Likewise features such as tall mountains and sprawling valleys, and similar things to Old Earth geography, do still exist as do things such as deserts and such like to some extent or another.
The planetâs water-to-land ratio features 74% water to 26% land overall. Further, unlike the notable deeper blue color of the ocean waters, the planetâs plantlife sports in the majority shades of bluish-greens, like how green was most common on Earth, with some rarer vivid or deeper greens and some blues in the rarest of cases. Autumnal colors remain similar to those of Earth, with varieties such as reds, yellows, and oranges, with even purples for that matter depending on the plantlife involved. Meanwhile bodies of water appear to be a more vibrant blue compared to the waters of âOld Earthâ proper. This is all due to the nature of the yellowish-white F-class star of the system proper, of which Euryale IV (and the one habitable moon of the neighboring large gas giant of Euryale V, which also benefits from tidal forces to warm it due to its position) falls into. Earth-based species, as in those adapted somewhat to the new planetâs environment through genetic modification or the use of special fertilizers or composed soils, have also found general success on the face of Sapedon proper over the past several centuries of humanityâs settlement and development on the planet proper.
The planetâs atmosphere sports a distinctly more âEarth-likeâ mix than some potentially habitable exoplanets in general, at least, though genetic vaccines and certain medical procedures would come to be deployed eventually both initially and in the long-term to combat the initial struggle of humanity to mete out survival in the still-alien atmosphere. By current times, though it took several centuries of work and some ups and downs in tinkering with things to get there in the end, humanity has since come to mete out a comfortable existence within the atmosphere and Earthlike varied environs of Sarpedon, with such long-term health issues being only visible in a small slice of the most vulnerable populations for the most part.
Meanwhile the animal life of the planet has in ways come to reflect a number of Earth-like species, though much more âalienâ examples have also arisen throughout the ages and epochs of the planetâs development and evolution. Some bear more notable similarities to things such as traditional mammals or the like, while others take on more unique shapes or niches or even fully alien sorts of designs. Life on this planet is also carbon-based and uses a closely-related form of genetics and genetic sequences in its organic life, however, and while similar-ish to that of Earth it nominally and normally shouldnât have interactions with life that grew elsewhere on a whole other world according to older Old Earth sciences. Yet some tinkering with genetic engineering has sought to âbridgeâ the gaps between Sarpedon and imported Earth lifeforms to some extent or another here and there, and efforts to help adapt humanity to the alien planet and their new lives had also taken place using genetic engineering, which in part also fed into the use and implementation of these technologies on a wider scale in society over the centuries in the long-run.
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Humanity also lives on the neighboring gas giant of Euryale V, at least in anchored or stabilized upper atmospheric habitats. Here many things are processed using the heat and pressure farther down in the gas giant, within human reach at least, and hydrogen and helium are harvested and processed in vast quantities to produce fuel and fuel cells to boot. Said habitats are closed off from the outside, aside from places such as localized spaceports and such, with pressurized thick walls and durable make from neighboring planetary or asteroid-mined metals. Notable air circulation systems, other critical atmospheric and hydroponics systems, and the like also exist within the webs of interconnected âtownsâ and in much rarer cases âcitiesâ these habitats form inherently by design. Everything is close together due to dangers in attempting to enable âpersonal transitâ or such things, and running monorails and public transport are of the most common note aside from the very wealthiest living on Euryale V who can afford an otherwise nigh unheard of equivalent of a âpersonal transit vehicleâ while living down there.
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Life was found to be support-able on the one habitable moon of Euryale V, the third of its three moons in fact, which was first given the moniker and name of â____â.
(finish later)
Demographics: (For talking about how much of the population belongs to different groups/ethnicities/religions/whatever. This space can also be used for describing genetic/cybernetic modifications your people have done, subspecies that have been created, aliens that may have been integrated, and so on.)
Humans. Homo sapiens sapiens.The fled children of the dying Earth. The people of Sarpedon who, as citizens of the ____, call themselves âSarpedansâ. Aside from gene therapy programs intended to help adapt humanity to the world of Sarpedon proper, and work to fix some mistakes in these therapies over the centuries, humanity by and large within the ____ hasnât wildly differed from its original baseline otherwise for most.
This remains true even for those who usually get âmetamorphicâ versions of biomods, or take one or more features of an Old Earth animal species (and even native one in more recent times) and get modified and augmented to have one. Ranging from some teenagers who enjoy anime getting just a set of kemomimi ears and/or a tail, to adults who get things like dog ears or a fox tail or cat-like eyes in a way similar to people who get tattoos or piercings on Old Earth, to even a gang getting illegal (and/or dangerous) âmeta mods/metamodsâ (the nicknames for metamorphic biomods) to have sharp and more shark-like teeth. There are even military applications of genetically modifying and biologically engineering/modifying troops (and/or bioweapons) for various uses or implementations such as giving them water-breathing (or greater breath-holding ability alongside training) and augmenting strength and stamina and such hand in hand with the continued use of old-fashioned pure training and drilling and experience and using good equipment (and the ability to remove/mute such biological modifications in and outside of the military as well) (not including visible mods in soldiers like animal parts and such, though, which is how most people get gene/bio mods by and large in the non-visible or minimal senses).
History: (What happened after your Colony landed? This can be as brief or detailed as you like. Just try to give us a feel of the nation)
Culture and Society: (How do they live? Anything from ritual cannibals, to a surveillance state dystopia, to an integrated hivemind.)
Due to similarities in genetic structures and involved amino acids between Earth life and Sarpedonâs life a number of processes have been worked out, only in the long term really though, to process some of the more farmable and edible forms of life on the planet into edible and âsafeâ foods for humankind. Yet these would first emerge only in the care of human-wrought hydroponic complexes before seeing an eventual break into the market as niche food for the ârich and wealthyâ before eventually the genetic engineering and technology behind these modified alien âfoodsâ would finally enter the wider market (though some aspect of them remains as âfiberâ to humans due to being indigestible but at least safe to âpass outâ through the body). This isnât to say such things will replace the otherwise widespread and notable use of farms of imported and genetically adapted or modified Earth crops and foods that have still seen widespread use in general on Sarpedon for the past many centuries otherwise. However, it is of note that these ânative foodsâ have begun to grow in accessibility and popularity on a wider scale than they used to in current times.
From large groups of swarm-moving but sweet-fleshed âGrilled Kongacrabsâ (groups of native social crab/crustacean-like lifeforms that, to ward off predators when traveling, travel in a âconga lineâ-like column and move in a manner that looks similar to a dangerous eel-like predator or such to imitate its movement while on the ocean floor) that that are easy to raise in even bad-quality waters, to the fatty breast of the peculiar âSarpedon Red Duckâ, to even the acquired taste of air-dried and salty-sea-preserved âLesser Reef Sarpedan Sharkâ, the range of native life turned into foods even goes as far as some forms of plants either by now naturally edible to the genetically-modified human population or even as far as these lifeforms being modified or processed to be edible for human consumption. Even a few ânew spicesâ have emerged in some part, even if as a minority of the overall variety of imported and grown human spices still being cultivated, sold, and used today, such as the semi-umami and spicy âUddi Seedsâ and the salty-sour flavor of the flesh of the oval-like and swelled-looking âGuga Fruitâ.
Most food grown and used these days originates from Old Earth, indeed, though in lieu of improved Genetic/Bio-Engineering technologies by current times some even more peculiar âhybridsâ of Old Earth foods and livestock have been developed and crafted, though with some issues along the way that did require regulation in this area to be made due to âcheap, rushed, ramshackle attempts to bank on a trend that had bad side effectsâ, with this idea reaching far back into the days of required hydroponics used by the first settlers of Sarpedon. It has gained the moniker of âHydrocultivated Cuisineâ, and has both given rise to odd foods such as a true and living âCockentriceâ as well as things like movements against the âcreation of suffering hybrids for the sole reason of profitâ that led to many simply âcreating engineered cultures to grow these meats and such fromâ as a newer alternative that many taking up this trend for food modernly have taken up using instead for commercial and other such reasons.
It is of note that those living on the suspended atmospheric habitats of the neighboring gas giant of Euryale V, however, only get to subsist on imported and hydroponically-grown foods. The higher-class among them do get fancier foods, or heaven forbid only the wealthiest of the wealthy there get an actual âgardenâ to grow something in in some expensive suspended habitat home, which for them usually consists of more hardy and mass-produced foods that have grown from âonly there to sustain life regularlyâ in quality to âa proper and more widespread varietyâ that has improved alongside their quality of life since planetary unification and the gradual interconnection of things within the ____ ever since.
Household robotics is something that has been brought down to the level of affordability for even the lower end of the middle-class by this point in time, though it also sees its limits and uses despite the highly sophisticated programming and engineering developments that it has taken centuries to make âcommonâ enough and streamlined enough for people. Helping care for kids, acting as a second set of hands in a household, acting as a babysitter or elderly caregiver, helping doing yard care work, maybe in rare cases even acting as a friendly companion for a lonely or socially isolated child, etc, etc. While some of these robots take on simply practical shapes, those that work closest with people take on human-type appearances and looks and styles to frankly a more lifelike degree all the way up to a very much a lifelike-looking style and exterior. They also see use alongside human employees within the commercial/civilian sector by businesses in âbusiness grade modelsâ respectively. The closer to humans these robots are, the more humanlike they are made to look and seem in turn as a generalistic rule of thumb. Yet even so there remain legal limits to their programming and design despite their sophistication in the current day/era.
Extreme genetic/biological modifications of the self that âwould be genetically incompatible or misaligned with normal humanityâ and lead to or generate extreme medical/other problems and warped physiologies/psychologies are most widely seen by GER culture as a notable spoken and unspoken taboo for myriad reasons in the vast and greater majority by far. AndâŚ.there are many reasons for this, both due to practical issues over the centuries and otherwise.
While some religions and such discourage the use for âanything but medical necessities for oneâs health and proper safe job employmentâ and such otherwise, which is its own cultural matter and is a similar matter to the use of augmented mechanical prosthetics and replacements of those kinds, no matter the background or religiosity this extent of modification and body warping is drawn in the sand where it ultimately âcrosses the lineâ and creates conditions for individuals where âthings get dangerous muddied and intertwinedâ within the body. These things canât be easily, or always cheaply at that, reversed or cured or the like. Indeed they very readily lead to vast and deep medical complications and even unique or rare sorts of medical issues, and even psychological conditions and mental diseases ranging from âan addition to getting gene/bio-modsâ to âbecoming an inhuman monster or losing oneâs empathyâ in some capacity or another. It is a dangerous matter (think of people who âbecome cyberpsychosâ in the Cyberpunk universe as a similar parallel).
Nicknames for this condition include, but are not limited to: âGoing mod-madâ, being âmod addictedâ, or âgoing animalâ, among other potential lingo and terms for this general concept.
Even those who survive this condition and get the sponsor or money to get medical help toward reversing it all, then, will likely have permanent problems or other issues even if they are âcuredâ to more or less of an extent. And that is if they could get everything âremovedâ, and some part of their modifications had to be kept in for medical safety and usually patient-life-endangering reasons.
Note that not everyone is super visibly modded in society, though, as most mods are not the visible sort or are minimal visible stuff in the majority of those who get mods. Just like how everyone doesnât have a tattoo, or everyone has piercings or maybe only has one for some reason. Etc. Visible mods are seen in a similar light to piercings and tattoos and such in society in general, really, even if it has taken 500 years to get the technology to the point that such things can be much more readily and easily removed/added to people in mainstream society by the current day and age within the GER.
The reason for biomods being used for self-expression far more widely than cybernetics or advanced prosthetics boils down to the laws of the ____, which has designated that âthe removal of healthy flesh and tissues and/or organs from the human body for replacement with mechanical or cybernetically-augmenting parts, for reasons of self-expression or any such behaviors not deemed medically necessary, is deemed to be, in the eyes of the law, a form of self-harm and illegal self-destructive behaviorâ by current times.
This came in a lawsuit where, in the earlier days of such cybernetics and advanced prostheses being developed they were originally mandated to be âmedical only technologiesâ where it required a proper medical reason and rhyme to get such things installed. Some companies began seeking to find ways to commercialize the technology to the wider public in turn after this, though the ethical debate over the matter would only intensify in the wake of this. To âget aholdâ of these, some individuals would cut off limbs or damage themselves, either on their own or in some cases with illegal âmedical assistanceâ, to try to get access to these sorts of implants or prosthetics more rapidly. Indeed at the time it was the cause of a spree of these cases, caused by rumors online that many bought into that they could perform such frauds to âget past the system and lawsâ, and this in turn required deliberation in turn.
The legal case in particular that set things in motion proper as they are currently was a man, one ____ ____, who got denied a cybernetic prosthetic by one company after what had seemed to be an âaccidentâ causing the loss of his arm turned out to be part of a foolish and ill-fated plan to get a âcool cybernetic armâ. As stupid as the case was, the man sued over the denial and claimed he âneeded it to function in a job and subsist, and that the company was âcausing him undue levels of suffering and traumaâ by denying him something. During this case some would even argue that âhe can do with his organic limbs and body as he wishes, and if he wants to replace his parts with augments he has the right toâ, though in the end the judge and chosen jury would make the call that âwhat Mr. ____ did was no more than destructive and mental-health-worrying self-harm in the desire to get an advanced mechanical prosthetic for non-medically-necessary reasons, and thus it has been found that the prosecutionâs ill-fated scheme to this end renders his right and attempts to claim and purchase an advanced prosthetic limb to be null and voidâ. This would require clarifications at the federal level thereafter, which sought to âset the boundaries clearlyâ, and would in turn be the legal decision leading to certain regulations being placed on such âcybernetically-augmented equipmentâ that it âhas to not require the removal of healthy tissues or organs from patientsâ and that it take the form of externally-worn equipment and devices in any general-use or non-medically-regulated forms.
Combined with the eventual rise of casual biomods into the scene, where lessons learned from the past led those seeking to get these regulated in favor of sought to make them âeasy and safe for patients and for trained applicants of this technology to remove outside of a medical environmentâ, it would manage to pass the legal bar of standards despite being a âslower burnâ to develop into the state it exists in by current times. This being said, it would still be regulated in the casual sense quite notably in other ways, mostly to âavoid people trying to become super-soldiersâ and such goals like âgetting casual super strength to go kill a manâ or such things. Aesthetics and such were the primary focus in this vein of things in the casual market thereafter, at least outside of medical scenarios where one might get medical biomods for health reasons but could also get non-medical/casual ones for use otherwise. However, in the case one got both kinds of biomods they would have to âget safe approval by their doctorâ in certain cases depending on what casual biomod(s) they sought to have installed.
It is safe to say that with the emergence of casual biomods in the vast majority, though, some have also in the tiny minority sought to use legal and illegal cybernetics and prostheses to âgo against the bio-tideâ and express themselves in that way. However, this has been met with becoming even farther outliers than some who use âexcessiveâ amounts of casual biomods. That and there also is the existence of illegal biomods and such out there to boot. Etc. Though there are certainly augmentation-based biomods and the like used in the military and in some more limited ways by the police, though these are packaged and streamlined deals that are made for easier whole-package removal for those retiring or leaving the force (including mandatory therapy sessions and medical care for some time to adjust them to the non-augmented body/life more smoothly as required by law; are also used by military alongside things like unpowered exoskeletons or such too, etc).
With Earth-based or other general adapted animal and plant life brought over by humanity, the risk of ârampant invasive species issuesâ hasnât really arisen as much thus far in the past centuries. At least, after a fair bit of trial and error in this respect over the centuries. While some instances of âinvasive speciesâ problems have still ultimately emerged in some areas, many others are mostly unable to survive in the waters and environs of Sarpedon for the same reasons humanity couldnât just eat and digest the lifeforms and matter of the planet normally right out of the gate without assistive genetic adaptations and such: They werenât built for living on Sarpedon.
Advanced artificial intelligence is used within the ____ to secondarily assist in most areas, ranging from customer service to industrial facilities/factories to areas such as research and development to boot. Certain rights of humans to work have been cemented in the workplace as well, however, ranging from the ancient issues of art theft used to train A.I. and seeking to create a sort of âgood balanceâ between the two areas has seemingly been reached in a general sense. Admittedly some issues, such as A.I.âs use within customer service areas and such, do still fluctuate from time to time even still. However, how did this âbalanceâ manage to come to be?
To put it simply, centuries of struggle back and forth from anti-A.I. advocation to the extreme and the alternative of overusing A.I. within human society has led to this point after literal centuries of struggle. Ranging from the initial use of A.I. and robotics where humans couldnât operate things, to the zealous regulation of human deployment in areas where humans could be used instead, to the eventual wild swings back and forth within government and industry alike (itself a hotbed of some industrial lobbying and its eventual strict high regulating to boot when it came to this issue, among others) of policy on and off over the centuries.
Yet it would be the horrible results of these swinging policies and good ideas and lessons learned along the way that would shape things. From unemployment and rioting and such from former workers, to the disastrous failure of critical systems and loss or near loss of several floating cities, to the mismanagement and loss of large sums of money and resources to hacking and such, to even the misuse and destruction caused by automated and obsessively non-automated systems like during and outside of times of war, etc. This alongside the practical refinement and development of these technologies would see it and robotics alike eventually reach a place of âmoderationâ that they have today in ____ society.
It is of note to say that the initial presence of more extreme and violent environmental and such groups/parties has notably dwindled from the initial decades of settling and living on Sarpedon, both naturally so and otherwise. Initially they had a more notable presence due to the dying and loss of Earth and numbering some among the first-generation colonists, and not wishing to repeat the same mistakes on a new world they would be part of the struggles of humanity as it sought to survive and thrive on a new world. At the same time things such as the ____ ____ Incident, and the widespread news about it alongside worries of âterrorist activistsâ among the survivors of the ____ ____, would turn people against such ideas on the other end of the spectrum in ways alongside the fear of âensuing human survivalâ being at the forefront in those earlier days.
So it is not that such organized groups do not exist in a general sense yet still after all of this time, outside of more extreme and violent ones, but the less-violent ones seem to compose more so the far greater majority in current times as well. The struggle to maintain a healthy world, and a good relationship with it, has ever continued as it is wont to do. However, the consciousness of such matters among the initial colonists had rubbed off fairly well by current times to both good ends and in others become forgotten in less-than-good ways within ____ society and civilization as a whole.
Much of how the habitats of Euryale V have come to work was built on history, in part, as well as on more than a small amount of bodies and deaths along the way. Yet the thriving industry of the half-rotating and half-permanent residents has continued to push it along, whether in making fuel for vessels or to ship back to Sarpedon itself and so forth. While about three independence movements have occurred within the history of those living in the habitats of Euryale V when all of its residents and workers were permanent, though, its inherent need to connect with Sarpedon for other necessary resources, improvements in life quality and treatment under the law and in effect in the long-term to enough of an extent, and the booming growth of the ârotating workersâ and frankly even âcommutersâ coming to work on the habitats of Euryale V in recent decades have been among the factors that led to coming into line with the mainstream of the ____ as well as seen it grow into the strong sector of the nation it exists as currently.
A small minority handful of old-timers, who saw the very vestige tails of when the habitats were only manned by permanent residents year round or were influenced by the âold timersâ of their age, and those influenced by them in the younger generations seem to imagine the potential for an âindependent Euryale Vâ in current times at best. Yet by and large locals and the rotating/commuting workers alike these days consider themselves citizens of the ____ first and foremost with all of the benefits and rights. Some claim the rotating nature of roughly half the workers on the habitats of Euryale V was to âprevent secessionâ, though others point to evidence of ill-health effects to those who stayed too long and a lack of raw manpower to fill the facilities and produce what they needed as the local economy grew but the population wasnât able to go about growing fast enough to match. (Etc.)
(Should this nation have a Jurassic Park of its own? đ¤)
(More To Be Added Later, Potentially)
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Governance and Politics:
The general practice for democratic voting is that all adults, those 18 and older by law, are able to vote in general elections at the increasingly large local, district, regional, provincial, and national levels respectively. The general idea is that you canât vote on who is mayor or such in a place you donât live as well, naturally/inherently, of course.
There is some hybridization with liquid/representative democracy as well in this case. Normally citizens have the foundational right to vote on who to represent them as with a representative democracy, but in this case citizens can also sign away or hand over votes to another akin to a liquid democracy to use on their behalf. Simply put, people can invest their vote into the personage of a representative to vote on their behalf. Representatives can be as small-scale as someoneâs lazy adult kid giving his vote to his mom or dad to use on his behalf, as big as a bunch of such parents investing their accrued votes into a common singular representative on a larger scale, etc. However, each citizen also has a just as fundamental right to ârescindâ their vote from a representative to reclaim it if or as they wish, and the use of votes as âcurrencyâ to hand them over to others in legal or commercial or such exchanges (and contracts in general) has been strictly forbiddenâŚ..and not without reason either. Albeit there are regulations are in place to prevent mass vote-pulling for trolling or such bad-spirited reasons, such as trying to âpull out the rugâ from underneath a vote-invested representativeâs feet to troll or humiliate them, though it doesn't illegalize mass vote withdrawing in all cases such as if public opinion turns against a candidate your representative is voting for, etc, and you change your mind).
Representatives are those who exist in those political positions, aka: Mayor, President, District Judge, etc. Voting Representatives, then, are those who are invested with votes by others to use on behalf of others. Different things fundamentally. Also, a sitting politician/representative or someone in the running for a political position (defined in law so I donât have to try to go into deep legal details) cannot be used as a Voting Representative by others and loses that position and power and so forth if they do enter such a position or go into the running for one. Those who work for a sitting politician directly, such as staff, janitors, and the like, cannot be used as Voting Representatives either. All Voting Representatives are also barred from accepting pay to become one or participate as one (this issue always comes up here and there in the courts, but the law is generally actually enforced).
So not only are candidates seeking to gain political positions, but some supporting them might go on their own sub-campaigns for the candidate seeking to accrue votes to use to vote for them. Double the political campaigns, and sometimes these sub-campaigners work against each other to accrue votes.
Votes can be handed over on three levels. The first is the âone use basisâ, such as for a singular presidential or mayoral race and what most major candidate sub-campaigns will seek for. The next is a âlimited time basisâ, which cannot exceed one or two years due to federal law and in minor part depending on the local region one is in. Then there is âon a semi-permanent basisâ, meaning that the chosen voting representative has the handed-over vote(s) until or unless those who gave them their vote(s) decide otherwise. This of course comes with its own storm of regulations and court cases by current times to boot.
At the very top, however, the government is still generally unitary-ish by nature in how laws and such are enforced from the top-down. Federal-level law is everyoneâs law mandatorily, with certain nuances and regulations left to lower-levels of the governmental system to be flexible on and decide for themselves.
âŚ.Meanwhile, the actual behind-the-scenes oligarchy basically controls government systems in the background, with behind-the-scenes institutions from top to bottom to help support and reinforce this by current times with how far their reach has come to stretch in reality. It doesnât micromanage everything from top to bottom normally, the flexibility and such gives people room and representation enough to satiate them and allow things to run well enough in general, but it does step in and exert authority where and when it sees fit and when its interests are either endangered or when its members wish for something to be done. Their ability to control things is at all levels in reality indeed, even if they donât always abuse it all of the time.
Still, it is by far in current times seen as a crazy but lingering conspiracy theory that a âsecret cabal controls the nation itselfâ, and even more so with the sub-rumor that âits members are all immortalsâ and such things (they are actually in most cases âeffectively immortalâ in some scientifically-wrought way or another, funny enough, but this bit of the conspiracy theory is seen as the most ridiculous as well). The âtrue synarchyâ behind closed doors also has a titanic amount of wealth and the like individually, but even they have created a sort of code of ethics and such to try to regulate themselves internally to boot.
((Note: At some point the underlying synarchic oligarchy did, in fact, attempt to have members focus entirely on certain areas of things in a manner similar to the original definition of a synarchy/synarchism. It didnât really pan out too well, but the general idea of each being invested or skilled or involved in a different area/areas to complement each other did roughly stick and become codified among them to some extent in the end at least.))
Technology Overview:
Limited Graviton/Gravity Technologies - A breakthrough in human scientific understanding that, ultimately, was developed with the intent to allow humans to settle more widely and oddly across the surface of the planet of Sarpedon in some ways. Harnessing the power of the graviton, it allowed the anchoring of buildings using âgravity tethersâ (for ocean cities or suspended larger buildings/habitations) and has enabled the use of artificial gravity devices on spacecraft, habitats in the atmosphere of Euryale V, and general space stations. This being noted, however, this technology has become limited to these implementations (and due to RP rules) due to how bulky and rough the nature of this technology is.
Nanotechnologies - Ranging from advanced nanomaterials able to recover from or withstand terrible storms, to nanoengineered factories capable of producing incredibly hardy and resilient materials and specs using a combination of organic and inorganic processes, to the likes of electrically-resistant and resilient medical nanomachines, to nano-scale art exhibits, to even nano-scale synthetic fabrics beyond the reach of human hands, to the safe installation of new cybernetics and removal of them alike, etc, these things emerged mostly as human civilization on Sarpedon would begin to reach beyond its infancy after a number of macroengineering questions had to be answered. It is a form of technology that has become an in-depth subject explored and still to this day being tinkered with within ____ society.
Robotics (and Artificial Intelligence) - While humans have retained a by now more grounded place in the workplace despite the presence of robotics, this technology has still transformed things much over the years alongside the issues and development of advanced artificial intelligence. Ranging from deep-sea or voidbound mining drones with rugged exteriors, meant to handle rough and dangerous environments of the seas and space, all the way down to household human-like or such robotics used to assist parents, act as elderly caregivers, or even just be time-spending supplementary companions to keep even a minority of people who buy them for such reasons more socially engaged and happier in the household. They are implemented in various industries ranging from production and refineries, both on-planet for Euryale IV and in the myriad industrial habitats of Euryale V, in commercial industries as in-store assistants in some cases, in areas of business targeted at all sorts of ages, and even within the military for use alongside living, breathing soldiers.
Among the most famous companies to produce household robotics are âVaul Technological Enterprisesâ, âRaijin Roboticsâ, and the last of the âBig Threeâ names in robotics being the âAutoDoll Corporationâ. Yet, historically at least, the most notable of these three companies is the lattermost one: The AutoDoll Corporation. Founded roughly four hundred and eighty three years ago by a well-to-do German-born polymath and first generation colonist, Dr. Heinrich Nachtnebel, the AutoDoll Corporation has remained a generally consistent name in the realm of robotics and secondarily in artificial intelligence (at first) for most of its history. Being one of the oldest extant companies within the GER, it has passed from hand to hand and generally stayed a profitable and lasting presence within the industry that even today still has an existing civilian market and a number of military contracts with the government. While seen by some as an âold handâ that has been around a long time, or being past its glory days, it is also a presence that remains far from being âgoneâ and continues to regain occasional relevancy here and there after having managed to adapt to the times.
Knowledge of Robotics is also employed for the use and deployment of "Specialized Single-Pilot Vehicles" (SSPV), which range from 14-foot-tall humanoid-like "Urban Combat Piloted Vehicles" (UCPV) that are deployed in small numbers in serious urban police or âMilitary-Grade Specialized Single-Pilot Vehiclesâ that are deployed in military scenarios in rough/dense/wild terrains like forests, to ball-like underwater submersibles with attached robotics arms and mounted tools for underwater work, to similarly-shaped ball-like space-piloted vehicles for work in a vacuum and bearing their own array of arms and tools and specialized features, and even civilian-grade SSPV's akin to the UCPV that are used in logging and construction and even certain forms of hazardous work environments. For the most part SSPVs of any kind are not for frontline combat in every situation, especially on open terrain, but in what such roles exist for them is something they've been able to be specialized for or adapted to from their original civilian-grade models. Because that is how these vehicles arose, beginning as rough and hardy âenoughâ civilian work tools and load-moving suits for industry before eventually spreading out from there in their potential uses elsewhere once the technology eventually came down to being well-understood enough. Some have even been integrated for use with cybernetics for finer-tuned control on the part of an operator(s), which seems to be another more recent development in the last few decades for SSPV technology in general.
It is of note that SSPV military variants and police variants, while of a higher grade in a number of ways, arenât made to be tanks either. They mostly take on anti-personnel-type roles alongside other ground units, and can be used to assist in even anti-SSPV roles and configurations as well.
Robotics has also played a part in the development of cybernetics and mechanical prostheses, ranging from internally-implanted medically-approved-for-health-reasons-only devices to the civilian-grade externally-worn and commercially/etc available forms under the law. (Etc.) ((Note: Some cybernetics or prostheses are actually medically-implanted ones that, under law, are medically required for safety on the habitats of Euryale V or certain extreme environment scenarios, though this also requires recipients of such medically-regulated ones to sign waivers and
As for artificial intelligence as a whole, the line between incredibly smart and human-mimicking models and still-sophisticated but decidedly less-humanlike ones has become less blurred and more well-defined over the centuries than some as far back as the early 21st century would have perhaps assumed. While the making and programming of them has certainly not been free of the occasional idea or debate if âA.I. has become sentient and sapientâ, and incidents of activism or online rumors over certain individual or âviralâ situations regarding A.I. have occurred without a doubt along the way, current-day law and regulations have placed a number of tight restrictions on âcertain aspects and capabilitiesâ of A.I. after having finally breached past the era of âoverly enthusiastic widespread A.I. usageâ and its myriad and seemingly inevitable problems along the way. Albeit this was a long, troublesome, and also-inevitably dangerous road of understanding and development that saw many current-day laws written in the depths of tragedy and at times in blood and sweat and tears otherwise.
Genetic/Bio-Engineering Technology - Mastery over the genome and an understanding of genetics has been achieved on Sarpedon over the past five centuries, the beginnings of this being wrought in the work before colonization and afterward to adapt the human body to the more alien conditions of Euryale IV/Sarpedon proper. It can also be linked to a number of leading members of the field of genetics and bioengineering and their own involvement in these things as far back as the ____âs records (and those on the old colony ship) go. Research into the field to save and preserve Old Earth species, work to understand the genetics and biology of Sarpedon, surgeries developed long ago on the cutting edge for the rich and wealthy, plagues both familiar and on rare occasion oddly alien, the danger of and development of bioweapons, and similar things have also contributed their own bits and pieces across the myriad decades until current day to create the local understanding and mastery over this âcraftâ in a manner of speaking. This and the at times sporadic or gradual march of technological development helped to facilitate the improvements in the sciences behind this technology to boot.
In a manner akin to getting a tattoo or piercing, people get âbiomodsâ as a means of self-expression. Anything from cat-eared streamer girls on college campuses, to a gang of men with shark-like sharp teeth, to teenagers getting eye and body mods to âstand outâ or something of the sort, the use of biomods has taken the place of something like cybernetics in the causal sense due to the âfather aheadâ developments of Genetic/Bio-Engineering technologies compared to cybernetics and cybernetic/mechanical prostheses within the ____.
((Note: In some medical cases, a mechanical prosthetic or cybernetic implant might be deemed safer for use than a biomod, or perhaps be deemed âmore effectiveâ than a simple regrown replacement part/tissue/limb/organ for someone (usually due to old age or such factors though).))
Fusion Technology/Fission Technology/Batteries - The GER has developed improved, self-sustaining fusion technologies, as well as the likes of fission and fusion batteries/cells/engines in increasingly compact sizes and improved outputs. While mentioned in another tech category in the above parts, it is worth a mention here on its own regardless at the very least. In part, however, fuel for some of these things is derived naturally, safely, and sustainably from local seawater to boot before being further refined or processed to required specifications. Other fuel production is taken, derived, and developed in facilities suspended in the atmosphere of the neighboring gas giant of Euryale V. Modern practices are more sustainable for these things, in part due to development and time and in part at least some level of hard-learned long-term and more recent environmental-consciousness that has affected the generations that have been born and living on Sarpedon in some way or another (even if not directly these days) since the fall of âOld Earthâ.
This being said, the development of power-generating/holding technologies has historically on Sarpedon been an influencing factor in 'downscaling' or 'upsizing' some other technologies along the way. Among the technologies that came into fruition with the âdownsizingâ of power sources on Sarpedon is the development of hovercraft/ground-based ionocraft (and likewise thrusters and such related technologies) making use of electrohydrodynamic thrust for rapid and quiet on-planet ground-level transportation, which have been able to be developed far enough for both the civilian and military markets to make use of them in one way or another (including finding them to be vehicles used on the roads to boot). (A nice little historical note to end on with this as well for fun!)
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((Extra: Technology Q&A Section (To Be Added Onto As Needed) -
Q: Wasnât Gravity-Based Stuff Banned?
A: Yes, and I ran what I have here this time by Tort before putting it into this app as well to be safe. No tractor beams, or other wonky stuff like handheld gravity guns and such, just simple gravity tethers to suspend stuff and enough to do artificial gravity stuff in space proper. I just wanted to put it in the app to feel like I was fleshing things out properly and likewise IC rudimentarily justifying why (beyond it being an RP rule) that there isnât more grav tech stuff in my nation.))
Military Overview:
((General Military Info:
Use a mixture of Kinetic, Missile/Explosive, and Particle Beam weapons in a general sense across various theaters ranging from ground all the way to combat-oriented spacecraft.
Orbital Defense Vessels are only located around Sarpedon/Euryale IV and Euryale V defensively, though upon the opening of the Gateways more will be deployed and made to heavily guard a wide perimeter around the Euryale Systemâs gateway proper alongside patrols and a spaced-out series of space stations.
Improvements in Nanotechnology have led to the development of modern military exoskeletons/exosuits being by far unpowered/passive by nature, rather than risking a powered one making a âwrong moveâ and tearing off someoneâs limbs or worse (etc). This does not mean these modern exoskeletons/exosuits are themselves useless or weak in comparison, however, as their unpowered design has also left more room to add defensive protection/survival aspects to it (such as further protection against biological and chemical weapons). However, despite this they can and do often still have powered tech integrated into them (etc) for use in the field. Just the base exoskeleton/exosuit itself isnât powered is all, but things thrown in there for use out in the field or that are attached to them externally can be powered.
(Leaving Room For More To Be Added Later)
))
(Basic Soldier [Example])
(Exoskeleton Soldier [Light Exoskeleton/Exosuit; General Example, Not For Ground-Based Only])
(Exoskeleton Soldier [Heavy Exoskeleton/Exosuit; General Example, Not For Ground-Based Only])
(Multi-Role-Capable Military Hovercraft [Missile Loadout])
(Rail Hovertank)
(Track-Based MLRS-Type Vehicle)
(Latest-Generation Military MG-SSPV; Is Used In Very Limited Numbers In The Field Currently)
(Current Gen Military MG-SSPV; In Widespread Usage)
Additional Info: (Anything else you want to include that there isn't a spot for up there.)
A section to be filled out IC, both as they are revealed (primarily) and as I actually write them up (which will likely not be all at once) and such. They will be passed by the GMs to make sure they're ok to toss in behind the scenes as I actually manage to write up and finish each one, but won't be publicly tossed into the app until they are used or revealed IC to enough of an extent (to keep some sort of mystique about them around, at least maybe).
"Do not look for the qualities of a just ruler in those whose path to power relies on their ability to lie and manipulate."
Government Form:
Constitutional federal dictatorship.
Population:
3.4 billion.
What is humanity?:
Human nature cannot be separated from the human body. To be truly human means a human soul in a human body of flesh and bones.
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Planet/System Name and Description:
Kamenymir is a deceptively Earth-like planet. It is a temperate world with a breathable atmosphere, covered with verdant thick forests, rolling green hills, steppes and deserts, snowy mountain chains and chromatic jungles. 53% of Kamenymir is covered in water, including a single large ocean of salt water, many lakes and two frozen poles.
This veritable paradise world, however, is not as hospitable as it first may seem. Kamenymirâs gravity is higher than that of Earth, complicating human habitation. Of much greater concern is the strange radiation present throughout every inch of the planet. Local wildlife is perfectly adapted to it, but other life forms develop serious medical conditions from prolonged exposure to this radiation; mainly cancerous tumors, blindness, and blood diseases, proving fatal within six years at most, while plants that arenât native to Kamenymir wither and die.
Demographics:
The population of Kamenymir is entirely composed of humans whose distant heritage traces back to Ancient Poland, Germany and Russia.
Religion: Church of the Vissaric Covenant 68% Non-theist 22% Orthodoxist Patriarchate of Kamenymir 6% Church of the Garden 2% Other 2%
History:
The space technology corporation known as Calypso-Utopia launched a colony ship intended to colonize Kamenymir amidst the chaos engulfing Earth. It embarked several hundred thousands of settlers with an unusually high proportion of scientists among them, along with everything that the colony would need to establish itself.
Shortly after the colony ship landed, the expedition found itself under attack by an alien lifeform made of crystalline mineral matter. These reddish crystals were able to change shape, move and even fly, as the expeditionâs security forces were soon engaged in vicious combat around the burgeoning colonyâs perimeter. All efforts to try and communicate with the crystals, nicknamed âShardsâ by the colonial security personnel, failed. There were no discernable reactions other than aggression to speech, light signals, even radio communications and visual depictions.
The fighting kept intensifying over two years with precious few periods of calm. Eventually, the attacks stopped as suddenly as they came. It seemed like the aliens had simply thrown themselves at the colony, being destroyed in the process and costing the Kamenyan settlers thousands of lives, in addition to the early destruction of their spatial shuttles.
They had precious little respite. The effects of Kamenymirâs radiation which had remained undetected up until that point began to show as cancers were diagnosed in exponentially increasing numbers. Under the steely leadership of the military officers of the emergency provisional government, the Kamenyans showed incredible resilience and determination. Those who could still see assisting those whose eyesight was lost to the radiation poisoning in whatever way they could, and working to provide cybernetic eye implants to vital personnel. Finally, after two long years during which thousands more died in agony, a cure was developed. Baptised âHekateâ by its creator, Vissarion Stasko, it was a marvel of biomedical technology that modified the patientâs genetic makeup to negate the effects of the radiation with the sole side effect of changing eye color to bright orange or purple.
Stasko would not live to see the fruits of his work. Like so many others, he died of radiation poisoning before the cure could be produced. During his last hours, it has been reported that all he managed to ask for through the agony was to listen to a favourite song one last time.
The emergency military government that led the Kamenyans through two existential threats had earned tremendous prestige and trust with the general population. The Kamenyan Defense Directorate was formed as a constitutional military junta with little opposition and went on to govern as a totalitarian regime that maintained a large standing army and began to grow more and more authoritarian.
Nevertheless, Kamenymir enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity. The planetâs high gravity had been a problem from the very beginning, complicating even simple tasks and causing health issues. Using the same technology as the Hekate, the approach chosen to solve the problem was deliberately counter-intuitive. Instead of modifying their biology towards a shorter, squat form, the Kamenyans decided on the opposite. The Hekate Phase 2 would instead increase the human bodyâs height, bone density and muscle mass. The heart would also grow larger and stronger, and the entire circulatory system was strengthened to withstand the increased blood pressure. Phase 2 was not just a cure, it was a statement and a symbol.
A satellite in orbit was the first to detect what was assumed to be a meteor shower descending on Kamenymir. When they crashed onto the surface, it was discovered that they were instead extraordinarily large living crystals; the Shards had returned. The death toll was considerable as the aliens began rampaging through cities and farmsteads. In the chaos, civilians armed themselves by looting deserted army warehouses and formed ad hoc militias. Professional KDD soldiers and courageous amateurs fought side by side in the defense of their homes, and even though casualties were high, the invasion force was eventually destroyed.
The aftermath was tough on the regime. The scale of the destruction was considerable, with even the capital city of Novyras having terribly suffered and notably lost a large portion of the Directorateâs archives and databanks to the Shardsâ unexplained ability to interface with and corrupt electronic systems. The heydays of the Directorateâs first years had come and gone. Leadership had grown complacent and ineffective, its totalitarian approach to governance more and more unpopular as crisis after crisis followed in the wake of the war.
The KDDâs response to growing unrest was repressive and stubborn, which only fostered liberal ideas among the population. With heavy-handed dispersion of protests, more and more people joined the dissidents until a number of army officers mutinied, kicking off a civil war. The Directorate gradually lost more and more control. Unable to enforce martial law, the KDD was reduced to pockets of authority that capitulated one after the other, and after ten years of severe unrest, the Directorate was no more. In its place, a presidential republic would be formed by the leaders of political groups, establishing free elections with universal suffrage.
Slowly, Kamenymir rebuilt and recovered. From the Catholic heritage of many of the settlers, a new iteration appeared. Its followers believed that the man who saved the colony a century and a half ago, Vissarion Stasko, had a covenant with God who inspired his work. The Church of the Vissaric Covenant, or more simply known as the Vissaric Church, taught that Kamenymir was Godâs second chance for humanity, and gave the planet to the Kamenyans as their own promised land. This new faith grew exponentially from its humble beginnings, to the point of completely transforming what traditional Catholic clergy and influence remained in the span of a century and a half.
Over time, trust in the Republic faded. Corruption scandals were frequent, the political elite grew more isolated from the rest of society, and a deep contempt and anger began to take root in the general population. Artificial intelligence simulating human emotions and companionship, combined with an increasingly money-centric society, eroded the bonds between people. Suicide rates skyrocketed amidst political turmoil, while a series of gun ownership laws stripped the overwhelming majority of Kamenyans of their self-defense rights.
Among those who protested not against a political line, but against the Republic as a whole, some of the most militant were members of the Church; firebrand preachers who insisted that the Kamenyan Republic would eventually lead all Kamenyans to their doom. What would be later known as Persecutions followed. Many of the Churchâs faithful were targeted and ostracised, while others were imprisoned in blatant violation of Kamenyan free speech laws.
A series of sabotage and bombing attacks on software companies and mining corporations were claimed by the Church of the Garden, a radical environmentalist and technophobic sect of the Vissaric Church that had been gaining traction for several years. In response, the government doubled down and planned several raids on homesteads and compounds where members of the Church of the Garden, self-named Keepers, lived. A number of the raids went badly; many people were killed without repercussions for the police forces responsible. The public outrage was immense, and decades of bubbling tension finally boiled over into full-blown rebellion when colonel Anton Kroll of the Kamenyan Army defected.
He united the disparate political, popular and religious rebels under his leadership with his diplomatic acumen, extraordinary charisma and sheer force of will. The Rebel Armies escalated the civil war at every opportunity, taking over centers of governance and attacking republican forces wherever they were. The underground guerilla snowballed into a force capable of engaging government troops in battle, and with increasing support from a population desperate for change, Anton Kroll and the Rebel Armies destroyed the Kamenyan Republic.
Kroll was determined to not repeat the mistakes of the past centuries as he worked with the leaders of various anti-republican groups to create a new government. The First Directorateâs top-down, totalitarian approach was rejected along with the Republicâs democratic system in favour of delegating almost all day-to-day matters to local elected governors, while the small central government would be run by a dictator.
A focal point of the Second Directorate was a complete change in military doctrine, turning the army into a small, elite professional force designed as a strike force capable of taking on any external enemy, while lacking the numbers required to control a large amount of territory. The duty of regular defense for the planet instead passed over to local police forces and citizen militias, aiming to ensure that the army could not be used to control the people.
The ban on artificial intelligence was part of an agreement passed between Anton Krollâs own forces and the Keepers who fought by his side during the rebellion. In exchange for a pledge of cooperation, the KDD would outlaw the use and development of artificial intelligences with any kind of self-awareness, sentience, real or simulated emotion, or âhuman likenessâ. Kroll readily agreed as banning artificial intelligence already aligned with his ideas on culture and society.
Years passed in a blur of incessant activity and booming economy with Kroll ruling as the first Director General of the Second Kamenyan Defense Directorate. It was eventually discovered that the Shards had not come from faraway deep space, as was originally theorised. Indeed, as the KDDâs first warships took to the void, it became apparent that Kamenymirâs moon, Malastra, was the real home of the crystalline creatures, which had remained undetected by early Kamenyan space ventures due to them residing beneath the surface of the planetoid. There, it was assumed that it took them some time to grow large enough to be able to launch the attack like the one that marked the beginning of the Second Shards War, and military command urged that action should be taken swiftly, lest Kamenymir suffer another invasion.
The KDD acted quickly. Space elevators and orbital dockyards were constructed in record time considering the enormity of the endeavour; only twelve years passed before the KDDN truly came into being, complete with a vast array of warships and light crafts, along with a terrifying arsenal of weapons of mass destruction assembled for one purpose: to wipe the Shards off the face of the universe.
Malastra was relentlessly bombarded with the most powerful weapons that the Kamenyans could imagine. The Shards had no way to fight back, and nuclear detonations succeeded one another on the moonâs surface over the course of three years. The barrage was of such intensity that Malastraâs geological stability, already naturally precarious, was pushed over the edge into cascading volcanic activity. To this day, the moon is an irradiated hellscape of flowing lava, erupting volcanoes and constant, extreme tectonic activity. The red hue of the moon, visible in Kamenymirâs night sky, remains as a symbol of the KDDâs ultimate victory over an existential threat.
Culture and Society:
If there was to be one word to describe Kamenyan society, it would be âtraditionâ. The Kamenyans are very attached to their roots and history, and most would consider traditions a necessary part of not only the social fabric, but also common virtues. Self-reliance, discipline, strength, kindness and honour are core cultural values for anyone and are passed down generations as the most important of legacies.
Kamenyans are politely distant with strangers. It takes some time and a little effort to become friends, but friendships are in turn deeply valued. Communities stick together as a matter of course, and both social and religious gatherings are frequent.
The Church of the Vissaric Covenant plays an important role in many peopleâs lives, even those who arenât religious. Religious holidays punctuate social life as community gathering events, and even small country churches take on the responsibility of the majority of all charity work. As most things, it is strictly separated from the state and operates solely with private funding.
It is expected that any Kamenyan should be able to provide for themselves and their families. With housing prices low, most couples choose to have one of the parents stay at home to care for the house and raise children, a role usually taken up by women; this is further encouraged and celebrated by the KDDâs natalism.
Kamenymir currently experiences an unprecedented economic and demographic boom, to the point that some have cautiously qualified this era to be a golden age. Some point out that since no significant crisis has been experienced for generations, the KDD has yet to prove itself. Others retort that the fact that there has been no significant crisis for so long is proof of the KDDâs ability.
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Governance and Politics:
The KDD is the central government in charge of the overall rule of Kamenymir. Its head of state and supreme authority is the Director General, a dictator who designates an heir to take his place upon his death or retirement. The KDD rarely gets involved in the daily lives of its citizens: it is comparatively minuscule compared to most other governments; most of its budget is dedicated to the military, while state welfare is almost non-existent.
Kamenyan territory is divided in thousands of provinces, their governors elected via restricted suffrage; only those who complete the two-year voluntary service have the right to vote. This is the system that is responsible for administration and public life at the local level; regulations are often few, and what little exist are often informed by the ever-watchful militants of the Church of the Garden and their sympathisers.
Technology Overview:
The technological level in the day-to-day life of the average Kamenyan is relatively low, as there is a certain disdain for what they would call âsuperfluous eccentricitiesâ and a general desire to preserve Kamenymirâs biosphere. Notable technologies include nanomachines, a remnant of technology preserved from Earth. It isnât fully understood even to this day, but has been successfully repurposed for a range of medical uses. Most of Kamenymirâs energy is produced by nuclear fusion reactors, and, on a smaller scale, nuclear fission. Hydrocarbon industries are minimal, discouraged as they are by the Vissaric Church and the KDD turning a blind eye to the Keepersâ militantism.
Military Overview:
The KDDâs military is a relatively small, elite force built for speed of action and local superiority. Ideally, the Kamenyan military prefers to engage in short and brutal combat with no expenses spared; the KDD considers war to be an absolute last resort, and that it should be a short affair. To this end, it focuses on targeted strikes on strategic targets with overwhelming force.
This approach is best exemplified by the Armored Infantryman, the standard footsoldier of the Kamenyan Army. He is ensconced in a massive suit of power armour, ugly and angular, without a single thought for aesthetics. Its interlocking plates are extraordinarily thick, designed to resist all but the heaviest fire. Underneath, the suit integrates a layer of servomotors and artificial muscles that compensate for the armourâs tremendous weight and further augment the physical strength of its wearer. Despite its appearance, this armour features a heads-up display and a sophisticated neuro-link to the userâs brain, assisting with aim, limb coordination and general responsiveness.
His STR-2 service rifle is adequately brutish. It is a bulky, rectangular piece of metal that would be best described as a machine gun instead, with a 150 rounds capacity helicoidal magazine of full-power cartridges, a direct visual feed from the gunâs sights to the power armourâs HUD, an under-barrel rocket launcher, and a switchblade bayonet, turning it into an axe for close-quarters combat. The STR-2âs incredibly rugged design makes it more than able to withstand being used as a melee weapon by a power-armoured soldier with augmented strength.
The Navy is larger than the Army in terms of budget. In the absence of any external threat for a long time, the KDDN has maintained its shipbuilding capacity by iterating upon its own designs and pitting them against hypothetical opponents in simulations and war games.
The KDD always has a unique vibe. Like a well-meaning bazooka.
Obviously theyâre approved, but it does feel like there's a plothole in your history. Specifically, how would the KDD not detect or realize that the Shards are from their own moon? Even if they never surveyed the system, and even if hundreds of years went by without anyone doing a study on the local moon, they have telescopes, yeah? It's a part of their night sky. Were the Shards underground, maybe? There's something similar happening with them not detecting the dangerous radiation on their planet.
Speaking as a writer, it sort of feels like you're saying the KDD wouldn't see these things for dramatic effect when they're revealed. I think a better solution would be to acknowledge that they knew about the radiation and Shards and simply didn't have the resources or ability to deal with it yet, or maybe they weren't willing to pull a xenocide until the Shards struck again, or maybe the government was not organized enough to get good weaponry in space until the Second Directorate
But that's a minor gripe in the end. Everything else is gucci. We have our slightly standoffish jocks back.