Swanhilde is named for a famous swan maiden of Germanic folklore given that Kepler is a star within the Cygnus constellation.
Parent StarKepler-22
Planetary Characteristics Distance from Sol: 644 ly
Mass: 9.1 Earths
Orbital Period: 289.9 days
Mean Orbital distance: 0.812 AU
Day Length: 21 hours
Orbit Shape: Circular, mildly eccentric
Planet Type: Terraformed Water World2
Brief History Kepler-22b has long been dreamed of by scientists and visionaries as a potential new world for humanity, one of the few planets that was within it's star's habitable zones and seemed perfect to have water. With the discovery of the Pluto ship crash and the engineering of the Argos FTL drive, seeing Kelper-22b in person finally become a possibility. Then when they finally arrived, they discovered that it was indeed a water world, but not much other than water, a very volcanic core, a few rocky mountains, and an air almost right for life as humans knew it, but not quite. After some examinations to make sure there was no life, the go-ahead was given for terraforming efforts to begin. With the terraforming, the atmosphere gained the right amount of oxygen to introduce sea life and fish that could be genetically tailored to the planet and a few volcanic soil-rich islands raised to the surface that could start to help supplement Earth's role as the main breadbasket of the USF. Once the scientists deemed things satisfactory, pioneers came pouring in, taking charge of their own lands and ships and after some hiccups managing to create the newly christened Swanhilde into the prosperous place it is today.
Industry and Role in the Federation With some terraforming, Swanhilde has become a major fishing and farming planet, with the fish bred from Earth varieties and genetically altered to best suit the changes to Swanhilde and farming done on created islands enriched by the volcanic activity from under the ocean's surface with any other necessities done on ships or gotten through trade. It has also become a major scientific hub as genetic engineers and astrogeologists study to make sure the terraforming holds and to keep records of what's working for any future endeavors. Astrophysicist are also able to establish observatories within the higher rocky islands or sail through the oceans themselves to study the stars from a whole other view. Tourists also like to visit to scuba dive within the ocean depths, sail across the endless ocean, and stay at a few areas that have been made into tropical paradise resorts, much to the chagrin of many of the colonists.
Population and SocietyAround 1 billion people make their permanent home on the planet. The vast majority are migrant fishers, often families working together within a fleet of ships, that follow different patterns to catch fish at the prime times to catch them then take their catches to port cities to sell, where they can then buy anything they can't catch or make themselves then take some time to enjoy the sights of land before taking off to fish all over again, their exact routes changing by the season. Overall, they keep to themselves, handle their own affairs, fend off raiders, and get to live a life of sailing under the sky and stars that they like. There can sometimes be quarrels between fleets over fishing spots, sometimes leading to fleet feuds that may turn violent if someone doesn't the level head to radio for a sheriff to settle and still might lead to grudges and ill-will, especially if different fleets were descended from different sides of WW3. But by and large, the fishers can generally settle disagreements themselves amicably and may even become friends over it, settling any lingering hostility with drink as the fleets lash themselves together for a party (a thing only otherwise done for religious observances, holidays, and other celebrations depending on the cultural background of those families).
The secondary majority are the farmers, who take charge of the islands and end up taking over most of the governance of the world (though it then also mostly applies to the islands themselves and not to the fishers when they're not on land). Given the limited nature of their situation, they of course seek to maximize as much land as possible for growing crops. Many farmers even live within house boats and other forms of floating houses or dig their houses under the ground in order to save more precious farm land. Needless to say then, they tend to not like anything not meant to help with farmland. Most industries then are regulated to rocky islands that are unfit for farming along with most scientific venues. Ports are kept strictly to the beaches and are built off into piers, also encompassing most of the cities of the planet. Only reluctantly do some farmers sacrifice land for anything else and they have to feel it's worthwhile, such as for a church or a nearby school for their kids or for a water purifier. Even then, they'll still seek to be as frugal, prudent, and economic as they can be while also seeking to keep good relations with their neighbors and with the established law.
It especially grinds the farmers' gears then that any of the precious land would be squandered for tourist traps. Sure, some of the more enterprising farmers enjoy having direct customers to sell to and make connections with within the broader USF. But most farmers can only see good land being used for busy-bodies to tramp around like they own the place and stick their noses where they don't belong, with the worst ones even making it so the tourists think they're actually 'living the life' that the farmers actually live daily. They could live with it though, if it weren't for the fact that many of the resorts also contain casinos and other sordid 'entertainments' that the vast majority of the farmers (and a good number of the fishers) find abhorrent, damaging to Swanhilde's community and reputation over all, and bringing in suckers who then are stuck on the planet with no one way home and so make it everyone else's problem or criminals who pretend to be normal tourists while using the resorts as places for their various machinations with many choosing to 'disappear' into the planet's population, which then creates more ruckus further down the line as unrepentant former criminals don't tend to be the most model of citizens later on. Farmers do keep themselves armed and generally know how to defend themselves from those types and from raiders, but they'd still prefer to not have such troubles in the first place if they can avoid it. However, any motion to get the resorts banned have so far been stalled and denied. Among the resort owners themselves, there's some smaller owners (along with just simple inn and/or tavern owners) scattered throughout who just want people to be able to enjoy a visit to Swanhilde and see themselves as innkeepers to travelers, fishers, and farmers alike. Many of those might even share many of the moral scruples of the farmers and are generally not that unwelcome though still sometimes seen with wariness. The larger resort owners though are just in it for the money, not caring what ripple effects their business can have as long as they profit.
Scientists make the smallest legal minority, with few staying around permanently. They generally keep to themselves as well and their studies, purchasing food and other local-made goods from passing fishers and nearby farmers while sending on their reports and findings back home. Some of them choose to retire to the planet, becoming the main caretakers of the scientific institutions there and seeking to maintain positive relationships with the locals. Their places tend to be the most high-tech since, as opposed to the farmers and fishers, their installations are the most protected from getting wet and most of their scientific equipment needs to be made specifically elsewhere anyway. Also, they're government run facilities and so are forced to maintain government standards.
Then there are the raiders, smugglers, pirates, and other types of lowlife who decide to make parts of the planet their hideouts. Given that Swanhilde is so remote and is such a vast open ocean world, USF law enforcement can't monitor the entire surface at all times. And so, fleets of raiders have built up for various reasons to migrate like the fishers (and are often formers fishers) but then target the fisher fleets and the farmers to steal their produce along with anything else they can get their hands on, often killing their unlucky victims with rumors spreading that the most vile raiders kidnap some of their victims to sell into slavery or forcibly conscript into their crew. Then if they're successful, what they don't eat, they take to a friendly resort where they then sell their ill-gotten gains and squander it on the resort itself before continuing the cycle all again. Pirates and smugglers are said to have modified their spaceships to be able to dive beneath the ocean in order to throw off pursuit, then are able to make their way into coves where they then make their way to friendly resorts in order to celebrate with their plunder, rendezvous with their contacts, plan their next attack, or simply to lay low until the heat is down. Farmers and Fishers alike have gotten better at defending themselves against raiders (even if maintaining guns around salt water can be difficult), but there are always someone small and weak enough to be a new target and only so much the local law enforcement can do at the moment.
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