PERSEPHO.RIC

RICE Paper # AWP-00074: Persephone

 Persephone (Lunion:Spinward Marches/2228)
 B775833-A W  922Re M2V
 B4A-0 502-8NA0-2A Re3
 g=.7962  day=26:03:35.06; year=64d 19:10:59.75/59d 16:15:46.60
 atmos=.92, natural weather
 Temp=0 (6/lat +18 to -42) (season 17 to -26, 16 deg lat)
 daily temp range 15
 Agricultural; Durables; Recordings, Software, Documents
 Conservative/Indifferent, Expansionistic/Militant, Monolithic/Aloof
 Legal 3-40535,  Tech AA-AAA99-AAAB-AA-D

 Persephone has always been noted as just a whistle-stop on the Strouden -
 Glisten xboat route.  Most traders, pre-Collapse and today, have not even
 bothered to land on Persephone itself.  Instead, they merely refulled at
 the the Gas Giant Demeter (diameter: 84,329 km), which Persephone orbits
 around.

 A flotilla of ships and small space stations, greeting the local traveller
 near Demeter's norhtern polar regions, glistens like red stars against the
 planetary tempests below. This flotilla serves a vital purpose for local
 traffic: providing fuel (both refined and unrefined) and basic repair
 services, which the small, TL A local starport cannot provide. The
 flotilla is a transient affair, growing larger as more traffic passes
 through Persephone, fading away as traffic weakens.

 There is no organization in the flotilla: each and every ship is a law onto
 itself.  There _are_ a few common characteristics shared by nearly all of the
 thousand or so ships and stations: they are all registered with nearby
 Strouden (Lunion: Spinward Marches/2327  A745988-D), never set foot on
 Persephone itself, and have a running vendetta against the local Persephone
 System Guard regarding taxes and tarrifs.  Although hostilities between
 the Guard and the flotilla rarely break out into violence, there is a near
 continual game of hide and seek between them.  The Guard strives to record
 every major transaction while the flotilla conspires to hide "the Big
 Stuff" from the Guard and their ugly taxes.

 Approaching Persephone the casual traveller can easily make out the Dam
 Aspshii, a major sea covering 1/3 of the surface area of Persephone.  This
 circular sea is widely believed to have been the result of either a
 massive impact crater or the work of the local Keo Neseb civilization.
 While my scout ship - the R.S.S Aurora - did not dock at the high port, we
 did take a pass.  The port seems to be nothing but a long communication
 antenna, with a stub at the end for insystem shuttles and living space.

 The small size of Persephone Lowport - it can hold the grand total of 1600
 Disp worth of craft, total - is fabled thoughout the subsector.  I counted
 at least 47 craft on my sensors waiting to land.  According to legend, a
 messanger with an Imperial Warrent, waiting to speak to the King himself, was
 left waiting in orbit for 52 hours as traffic untangled itself.  One large
 merchant, which needed the ENTIRE starport to land, waited for an entire
 month until finally the port was freed for landing.  The fact that the
 port can only repair ships to TL A does not endear it any more deeply to
 hard-pressed merchantmen.

 The current activist monarch, Queen Ashki, is laying plans to expand the
 starport drastically.  Already construction has finally begun on a new
 starport just outside of the system capital of Ki Didimgamu, finally
 laying to rest the jokes of a "starport smaller than a Tirken's mouth".
 (especially since the Moran Tirken doesn't even _have_ a mouth, just a small,
 noticable pore.)

 My pilot waited two hours in orbit, but we finally landed at the Scout Way
 Station rather than the Lowport.  The station administrator laughed at my
 troubles, and she promptly swamped me with tales of 'backyard landings'
 and 'running touchdowns', leaving me helpless with laughter.

 The next day, I took an air/raft to the Lowport.  If you examine the Law
 Code closely, you'd realise that these is NO TRADE LAW on Persephone.
 This makes for cutthroat trading, indeed.  This also makes Persephone The
 Source for all sorts of goodies you can't find anywhere else in the
 subsector.  I recommend that only experienced traders visit Persephone's
 Giilumadgii Trade District, people who _know_ what they're doing.

 The careful reader would have also noted that there are no crystals, ores,
 or metals that are mined on Persephone.  This is because the old resources
 were mined out by a long-dead civilization called the Keo Neseb.  An
 insectoid race, looking more like a giant praying mantis than anything
 else, they originated on Penkwar (Lunion: Spinward Marches/2128 X978000-0), a
 Red Zone world a parsec from Persephone.  They seem to have reached their
 apex about eight million years ago, and most likely changed Persephone's
 and Harvosette's atmosphere to it's current state.  No one knows what has
 become of them, although a few archeological digs were made on Penkwar.

 Among the most important changes that has occurred on Persephone
 is a change of personality.  For centuries, Persephonians were considered
 "Unagressive/Peasable" rather than "Expansionistic/Nilitant".  However,
 the old easygoing attitude dissapeared due to the great (local)
 economic crash of 1179.  The people, led by the young, aggressive
 Queen, have changed drastically, so don't trust the old starman tales or
 out-of-date guidebooks.

 Giilumadgii itself - the major startown on Persephone - is a rather pretty
 town of 72,000, set in the Aziramam Badlands, a heavily forested, cold
 region in the southern hemisphere of Persephone.  The Persephonians
 themselves are rather distant from outworlders.  While always polite, I
 have never seen one smile in my presence.  Outside of Giilumadgii, children
 run from me and my crew, and adults only answer my questions EXACTLY,
 forceing me to dig to learn anything.

 It should be noted here that Galanglic is spoken only to foreginers.
 Among themselves, Vilani is the common tongue.  My Tobian engineer, who
 speaks Vilani himself, claimes that Persephonian Vilani is strongly
 accented, but still can be understood: but the written language is
 something else entirely!  Apperantly, their elegant script, using glyphs
 and symbols to stand for particular ideas, is not related to written
 Vilani at all.  This greatly surprised me: almost always, the spoken word
 changes but the written word remains highly stable.  It certainly doesn't
 metamorph into something completely different.  I fear that it would take
 years for a foreginer to master written "Persephonian".

 The local's name for their world is Mudemzalushush, but they call
 themselves Ushamai (as do their related folks at Harvosette (Lunion:
 Spinward Marches/2129 C330737-9)).  Local cities are not domed archeologies as
 on most worlds with tainted atmospheres, but rather like a warren of
 long steel corridors, with houses and public spaces being dome "nodes"
 connected by one or two corridors. [Incidentally, the airborne taint -
 which takes about a day of exposure before convulsive vomiting begins,
 leading eventually to death by dehydration  - is exactly the same as on
 Harvosette, only with greater concentration there.]  The domes are always
 above ground: the corridors may be above or below ground.

 In private homes, the walls have engravings and are painted with bright
 abstract patterns.  Some of the more traditional people still put up
 "wood" venners from the local flora.  The more wealthy folk buy offworld
 holographic projectors.  In the very few elite homes I was allowed to
 enter (exactly two: both actually owned by offworlders) the new fashion is
 to embed the walls with strips of black marble, with white or silver
 engravings on them.

 I feel that a brief summary of local history would not be amiss to the
 casual traveller, so here goes.  The Persephonians first settled here during
 the 420's, as political/religious refugees from Corridor.  Here, they created
 their society around Gekashiishaa (their political/economic ideology)
 and Nominolus (their religious beliefs).  They prospered and 'kept
 balance' for centuries until the Second Civil War, when Glisten was lost
 to the wicked Aslan.  The loss of Glisten slashed trade volume through
 Persephone, striking an economic blow to Persephone that slowly, inevitabily
 let to the Crisis of '79.  Then, the newly coronated Queen saved her crown
 and Persephone independence fron their creditors, at the cost of general
 living standards.  Her expansionist policies have brought Persephone a new
 spirit of greatness and hope, but most people still have not recovered
 back to pre-Crash years.

 I eventually found myself in Kigiirpaku Limis, the major holy site on
 Persephone, and home to seven million priests, acloytes, confessors and
 attendant bureaucrats.  Unlike most cities, Kigiirpaku is set in a
 arological bubble covering the entire city, allowing a freedom of movement
 hard to find in Persephone cities.  An unfortunate side effect, though, is
 that local temperature control is poor (whether deliberate or not, I don't
 know), so the heat from the noonday sun realy cooks.

 The local faith - called "Naminalus", Vilani for Balancing - centres on a
 triune God, but composed of Time/Space/Energy rather than the Christian
 conception of Father/Son/Spirit.  The goal of the Naminalii Kuk Kusili - a
 follower of Naminalus, or "Maintainer of the Balance" - is to maintain the
 Balance demanded by God, by keeping the forces of Time, Space and Energy in
 Balance throughout their life.  By doing so, a form of immortality is
 granted to the believer, being merged with the "Universal Balance" that
 all life depends on.

 For a long time, the priests of Naminalus was concerned only with fellow
 believers on Persephone, Harvosette and Strouden.  But now, as the old
 faith in Gekashiishaa fades away, the Queen - a strong believer - is
 urging the priesthood to spread the faith, to help restore Balance
 throughout the Regency, and eventually - especially - throughout the
 ex-Imperial Wilds.  "Seekers" (Naminalusian mossionaries) are now being
 sent throughout the subsector, and are causing quite a bit of comment,
 both good and bad.

 Finally, I went to Ki Didimgamu, the capital of Persephone.  An undersea
 city, set under Une Didimgamu (Lake Didimgamu), it houses 138 million
 people and is the largest city on Persephone.  It is very much a _Royal_
 city, proud of it's Vilani heritage.  Most prevelant here is the
 Digamu, the ruling elite of Persephone, and their entourange.  One of the
 most surprising aspects here is the absolute ease that the richly
 dressed rulers move through the commoners, many without any bodyguards.

 As a lark, I sent a video message to the Palace, persenting myself as a
 Regency Scout asking for an interview.  And not only was their a response,
 but the answer was yes!  Well, a virtual interview, anyway.  The contents
 of the interview is available elsewhere, but I can vouch for the fact that
 the Queen is quite a remarkable woman, with a strong 'presence' that is
 unmistakable.

 Among the more strangest sounds I have heard in my 24-year career as a
 scout was the Mortiousa Melody, often heard in the poorer quarters of
 the city.  The best I can describe it is as a combination of Latin Chant and
 Cantonese Popsongs, with a fast samba beat.  I have no idea how the poor
 folks sleep at night, it sounds so bad to my ears.  Moreover, it is a
 tradition to never let the song die, but to pass it on from singer to
 singer.

                 DATA: QUEEN ASHKI, MARCHIONESS OF PERSEPHONE.

   By: alvin plummera [email removed]
     _________________________________________________________________

Data and an interview on

   Queen Ashki Medish Saakekuu

          Queen of Mudemzalushush(Persephone Royality)
          Marchioness of Persephone(Imperial Royality)
          Master of the Ushama
          Champion of the Widows
          Judge of the Balance


UPP 544759-4-D    born: 1158   age: 42

   skills...

          Act/Bluff 2 (11)
          Admin/Legal 6 (11)
          Enviro Suit 1 (5)
          Galanglic 2 (10)
          Grav Pilot 2 (6)
          History: General 1 (6)
          History: Persaphone/Ushama 2(7)
          Interrorgation 3 (10)
          Leader 4 (13)
          Marketing 1 (6)
          Observation 2 (9)
          Liaison 6 (15)
          Persuasion 5 (14)
          Psychology 4 (11)
          Theology: Naminolus 1 (8)
          Unarmed M.A. 1 (6)
          Vilani 3 (11)

   psionic skills...

          Project Emotion 2
          Project Though, Willpower Drain, etc... 0
          Telempathy 4

   family...
   Prince Consort Ikigmis (born 1154)... a pleasent, harmless fellow. Her
   husband whom she dearly loves.

   Princess Khukude (born 1179) ........ a religious daughter, currently
   in religious training.

   Prince Inuksi (born 1181) ........... a happy-go-lucky son, just
   returned from a trade mission to the Sword Worlds.

   Princess Aargir (born 1184) ......... at home being tutored. The
   Queen's favorite.

   Prinesss Ashki (born 1190) .......... at home being tutored.


     _________________________________________________________________

   [NOTE TO REFEREE: the Queen will NOT openly discuss her psionic
   powers, or the psionic powers of the ruling Digamu aristocracy. The
   Digamu has had connections with the Zhodani Consulate for a long tome,
   streching back to 502. This psionic order arrived at Persephone at 603
   as Naminalus pilgrims, and stayed. By 720 they were the ruling elite,
   but when the Psionic Suppression hit in 800, they offically gave up
   their psionics.

   Well, they kept it, but "under wraps", and mainly in connection with
   their religion. Much of the nobility eventually 'semi-legimitized'
   their psionics by secretly promoting, and later patronizing, the
   secret Imperial Psionic Institute on Mora (Mora: Spinward Marches 3124
   A99AB7-F). They never fully revealed their family connections to the
   Consulate, though. They 'kept in touch' with Zhodani family members
   back in the Far Frontiers sector (the zhodane "Afachiabr Sector"),
   though always discreetly and never seriously treasonous...except in
   'flexing' a few laws here and there.

   Even after the Psionic Suppressions were repealed in the 1140's, they
   did not "come out of the closet". They remain quite secretive about
   their psionic powers; although the Regency Govt. knows about it, they
   rather aviod the general public knowing. And their family connections
   to the Zhodani Consulate is a deep deep secret. ]
     _________________________________________________________________



   Details:
   Born at 1158 to King Shi (at age 62) and Concubine Agiigugig Raised as
   the Heiress to the Crown, under a regent (King Shi died in 1167)
   Crowned Queen at 1179; married that same year

   Visual:
   A slim, attractive elegant woman of 42.
   Typically Vilani features (large oval head, bronzed skin, large grey
   eyes. sharp facial features)
   Long, greying brunette hair, always swept back
   Clothing in typical Vilani style, of asymmeterical form and thick,
   bulky material.
   An affection for tasteful hair jewelery



     _________________________________________________________________



   Queen Ashki is a good example of how a minor noble can dominate a
   subsector, if the political enviroment permits it.

   At 1179, Ashki inherited a bankrupt government from her father, King
   Shi (1194 - 1179). For centuries Gekashiishaa, a ancient form of
   Vilani communism (it originated at Diaspora, at -7200 Imperial),
   worked well on Persephone.

   The unexpected loss of Glisten in [1125? help, anyone?] slashed
   revenue to Persephone, and the enormous bureaucracy failed to react
   quickly or creatively enough to avoid the long-term consequences.

   At 1179, Ashki became Queen of Persephone. Two months later,
   Persephone's four main creditors arrived at her palace for discussions
   on debt servicing. But, Persephone could give no more without
   threatening the very stability of her society, and the Crown itself.
   So she recieved an ultimatim...

   "Turn over the administration of your government to us" [Give us your
   crown]
   or
   "Slash social spending." [And face the planetary equivelant of the
   Rebellion and Collapse]
   or
   "Declare bankrupcy" [And have your crown stripped from you by the
   Archduke, for dereliction of Duty.]


   Queen Ashki choose to end social spending, but in a way that kept her
   crown on her head.

   Basically, she maneouvered the political situation so that not only
   did her political and ideological enemies, the leaders of the Old
   Order, recieved the blame for the financial crunch, they also had to
   publicly sign the documents that ended the old system of Gekashiishaa.
   Moreover, in a stunning move, the Queen held them _personally_ liable
   for the debt, and confisitated all their property and wealth to pay
   for it. All this at the tender age of 21.

   After destroying the Old Order - by implication, but never by openly
   challenging it - Queen Ashki began to establish her New Order - again
   by her actions, rather than proclimation.

   She surrounded herself with wealthy, aggressive young men who's
   destiny she controlled with steel smiles and velvet words. The priests
   who she favoured did not wish to perfect their inner faith, like the
   old establishment wanted. The "New Balance" required the conversion of
   offworlders, rather than "keeping your own life clean next to the
   spiritually dying, crying out for help and Balance in their lives".

   Those who suffered the most in the nameless New Order were mocked and
   attacked ruthlessly if they dared complain. Very few even understoon
   what was going on, as the situation was so novel in their 770 year
   history that their wasn't even a name for it, or a word to describe
   it. Those that did understood could do nothing: their leadership was
   discraced, their ideology in ruins.

   By 1190 the economy was finally recovering. With the death of
   Gekashiishaa a new, vigourous society was being born. In this society
   freedom reined, with one limit: never challange the elite, the Digamu.
   The drive of this society was for raw, unlimited wealth and power,
   cloaked/limited by an extreme piety to the High God and His Balance.
   Anyone could rise as high as they can, but if you fall, not a hand
   will be given in aid. A lot better than the old 100% income taxes. A
   lot crueler than the excellent old health care system, free to all.

   At 1193, Queen Ashki again sent a political earthquake throughout
   Persephone, when she sent out most of Persephone's 70 million-man army
   to fight on Florine (District 268: Spinward Marches/1533, D312975-A),
   a balklanized world on the edge of the Aslan New Lord territories.
   Currently, Florine is involved in a bitter civil war with pro-Aslan,
   pro-Regency, and pro-Independent fractions (among others). The
   decision to send Persephone troops under the Imperial Banner to war
   electrified the planet at the time, providing a potent kick of
   patriotism. The troops are still there, but now mainly as garrison
   troops.

   [This is the first time that Persephone's army has fough (in anything
   tougher than police actions) in 360 years. AND the first time that the
   Army has left the subsector.]

   >From 1195, the Queen, now sure of herself in the interstellar sphere,
   began to promote Persephone interests throughout the subsector.
   Diplomats and missionaries have been sent as far as the Consulate and
   the coreward Vargr states. Several major deals with large subsector
   corporations are turning Persephone into a hub of industry and
   activity. Her Royal Majesty is promoting large families, to increase
   population and become a major contender for the title of subsector
   capital.

   The Queen feels that the greatest limitation to future Persephone
   greatness is tech level limitations and the fact that Glisten
   (Glisten: Spinward Marches/2036 A000986-F) remains in Aslan hands,
   limiting commerce through Persephone. To remedy this, she is openly
   courting TL B and C companies to shift their operations to Persephone,
   via tax breaks, stressing the lack of trade laws and regulations of
   any kind, and the low, low wages that Persephonians are willing to
   accept. Slowly but surely, interest is picking up. She is certain that
   a "Critical point" is nearing that will change Persephone forever as a
   flood of 'high-tech' companies move in.

   As for Glisten, she is pulling strings in both Naval circles and at
   the Archduke's palace to create a naval base at Persephone. She is
   also stressing the critical political and geopolicial importance of
   reconquering Glisten. As for Virus, we all know that Virus has died
   out back in the wilds, now don't we? This ain't 1130, after all.

   This year (1200), she has just bough 4 TL B, 350 disp. traders to
   handle increasing traffic. The new starport will be ready within the
   year. And the Naminolus religion is spreading throughout Strouden. The
   only fly in the bottle remains the new subsector governor, Subsector
   Governor Anthony E. Prentice-Hall, who attempts to stymize her every
   move. He endlessly proclames, in his nasal whine, that Persephone is
   upsetting the entire subsector economy, with the possibility of a
   major economic shift in power and economic consequences which no one
   can forsee or control.

   In subsector affairs, she has increasingly sided with Strouden
   (Lunion: Spinward Marches/2327 A745988-D) against Adabicci (Lunion:
   Spinward Marches/1824 A571896B-B) and the subsector capital of Lunion
   (Lunion: Spinward Marches 2124 A995984-D). This increasing acrimony is
   dividing the subsector into two competing blocks, and massive girdlock
   in the subsector government houses. The subsector Duke is attempting
   to calm the subsector with ineffectual meetings and soothing words,
   but "It ain't working".

   Among her other drives, she is attempting to persuade the sector
   nobility to help her convince the Archduke to declare himself Emperor.
   She feels that this would give a strong boost to the fortunes of the
   Nobility, and promote the drive to reunify the Empire. Both "Good
   Things" from her perspective.

   She is angling for a promotion, eventually as Duchess of _Persephone_
   Subsector, but right now as Countess of Ushama. As Countess, she would
   have authority over nearby Penkwar (Lunian: Spinward Marches/2128
   X978000-0) and Harvosette (Lunian: Spinward Marches/2129 C330737-9).
   Harvosette are of the same culture as Persephone - Ushama - and have
   the same system of rule; Harvosette was a colony of Persephone from
   the 870's to the 960's. Of course, only the Emperor can grand new
   noble patents... but maybe Regents can do so, too. Queen Ashki is
   trying out both avenues.

   Finally, as Champion of the Widows, she is involved in several major
   charities throughout the subsector. She also promotes several events,
   both throughout the subsector and on Persephone, to bring the plight
   of widows (and widowers) to public attention.


     _________________________________________________________________