The Kingdom of Ithaca

In the Odyssey of Homer, Odysseus sought above all to return home to Ithaca. The various humans on the Longshot vessel Odyssey found themselves a home when Earth was not welcoming. The beautiful planet had vast alien structures and a cool yet pleasant climate. Bound by a shared sense of dedication, they, like Odysseus, would defend their home to the death.

Project Methuselah

"Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech.

Then Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. "

Genesis 5:25-27

The story of Ithaca begins with Dr. Abigail Halliwell, a leading research in the transhuman research field. She was a lower-level researcher with the Brazilian group that later formed the Magnates, but she was fired for refusing to let them proceed with unethical experiments. She shared their desire to make a more perfect human, but her Christianity and ethical conscience would not let her fall into the trap of making people into machines. Her goal was to improve on the corrupted human condition, and make something like the legendary antediluvian humans. Beyond a long life, she desired to slow aging itself, so that a person would not be physically mature until they were much older. There were also minor physical improvements and considerable selection for memory, intellect, and imagination.

Her work attracted a wide range of backers. A number of prominent leaders in the Evangelical Christian movement endorsed her work, and her ideas became prominent among the conservative wing of transhuman enhancement. Her emphasis on making people ideal for families was quite popular. Her movement also began attracting satellite groups who shared her vision of enhancement without the ensuing libertine ideology. There were chivalrous knights, Orthodox Jews, and even a hefty contribution from the Government of Singapore. All came together to start Project Methuselah.

The first children were born to parents who knew they would be old when their children grew up. This started the trend of extreme protectiveness toward Project children, which continues in modern Ithaca. While not afraid to discipline them, modern Ithacans react with disproportionate violence when facing threats to children. Informally sometimes called "Abbies", the children were educated in private Project schools until they were old enough to be safe on their own. As the majority of the Abbies came of age, the excesses of the Brazilians began to come to the light, and Dr. Halliwell was threatened for her past work with on genetic modification and her later research with a old collaborator on creating specialist bioroids, which she never implement. The Project had enough political power to keep her out of harms way, but only just. Many of their allies on the right had left them adrift, and the politics of the era seemed to be turning against them. The time had come to act.

The Odyssey Expedition

It is said that Dr. Halliwell copied her all of her findings and left them as a legacy to her children before going to the Posthumans - a trip from which she never returned. It is known that the Odyssey appeared with a first-generation FTL drive not long after her disappearance, and the colonists boarded the ship, as if it were a modern Ark. Most government were glad to be rid of them, but they brought with a lot of people from all walks of life, and a vast group of children.

The trip through space was long, but they had cold sleep. When they arrived at the world, they rejoiced, for they had a planet of wonders. Mysterious Precursor structures dotted the surface, and the climate was ideal. The leaders of the expedition, including the ship captain, took up leadership roles in what would later become the nobility of Ithaca. Everyone had to work, especially the leaders, setting the precedent for the service nobility of the future.

They set to work rapidly, they ran into a problem early on. Ithaca's population was growing too slowly. The Project was designed for a long-term stable society, not a frontier world. This led to the production of bioroids based on Dr. Halliwell's research. While many people objected to such an unnatural process of reproduction, there simply was no other way to build up a suitable labor force. The new bioroids used specialized traits for specific tasks, though nowhere near the level of Haraway. For example, a steelworker bioroid used traits from families of steelworkers back on Earth. This origin, along with their training from birth, gives them a high value to society. They also were given full rights, a status which has remained to the present day.

The Colony of Ithaca

There was a lot of resource-rich land to be developed on the continents of Ithaca Prime, much less the outer moons. The captain and his officers decided to offer land grants to people who would develop the land, in a practice resembling the Homestead Act or medieval vassals. While some people ran vast hybrid farms, others developed mines and industry, and these early companies became Ithacan nobility, passing the lands and companies on to their most able heirs. While most of these companies are now open to investment, the higher families still own the land.

The Specialist bioroids, being cut out of the land grants, began organizing into their own associations. A cross between a union and a contractor, these guilds began negotiating for reasonable pay rates and competing against each other. They also provided training and support for individual specialists and interested generalists. Most importantly, they ensured there would be a regular supply of Specialists for their field, a duty that continues to this day.

As Ithaca grew in size, there was a growing pressure for more democracy.

Ithacan Geography / System

Ithaca Prime has a largely temperate to cool climate, with a roughly Earthlike ecosystem. It has a slightly higher gravity, and a core of heavy elements. The planet has three main continents. Thule is centered at the North Pole much like Antarctica is on Earth's South Pole, and it is bitterly cold, even at the shore. Arcadia and Elysium are located in the temperate to tropical latitudes of different hemispheres, and they house most of the kingdom's population. A set of amazingly long maglev lines connect these two continents.

Ithacan Society

Ithaca is not a utopia, nor was it ever intended to be one. The founder colonists of Ithaca had enough humility not attempt the impossible. However, the amount of planning and forethought that went into the development of Ithaca should not be understated.

Tiers of Citizenship

Ithaca openly embraces the notion of social classes. There are considerable differences in how people are treated in society, and such is not hidden. The Nobility are the traditional leadership of the Kingdom. They are required to serve in the military or an equivalent uniformed government service, and make up much of the officer corps. They also face stricter laws and harsher punishments, and generally higher social expectations. In return, they have the lowest taxes and certain specific rights, such as dueling. Next are Citizens, who have the standard rights of most citizens throughout the Sphere, though they receive considerably less government benefits. Almost all specialist bioroids are here, as are many others.

Then there are Minors. Aside from children, minors include a wide range of people, most controversially including the destitute. Someone facing financial ruin can revoke their status as adults and gain access to generous government benefits, as well as the possibility of being adopted by a Citizen. Minors also lack most financial and political rights - only a small portion of their income is available as an allowance, they cannot vote, and they cannot make any business decisions with the approval of their guardian. Being a minor is not a punishment, as it is possible to leave at any age after full biological maturity, which is usually well after 30.

History Path

Exp-1) World Type

Garden World (Go to Exp-5)

Exp-5) Garden World

A New Old World (+ 50 CIP, + 100 PIP, + 50 Wealth, + 60 Population)

Just like the mother country

Exp-6) Precursor Relics

Limited (+ 150 dust, + 5 SP)

Most worlds with complex biospheres were seeded in the distant past by the Precursors and now the ancient relics of their technologies lies locked in the rocks below.

Exp-7) Feral Drones

None (+ 60 population, + 100 Wealth)

Feral drones generally left G-type stars alone.

Exp-8) Posthuman Footsteps

Data Core (+ 150 applications, +1 Global Tech Level)

Accessing data cores was a surefire way to increase technological development.

Exp-9) Location

Routed (+ 10 SP)

Along a major arm.

Col-1) Axis Of Colonization

Longshot (+2,500 military, + 100 PIP, + 100 CIP, + 20 SP, +5 to SP limit go to Col-6)

Col-6) Leaving on a wormhole ship . . .

Outer Expanse (+ 60 population, + 100 PIP, + 50 CIP, + 100 Faber, + 25 SP, + 20 transgene)

Col-6B) Prides and Prejudices

New Freedoms (+ 20 Transgene)

Col-6C) Idealism, Meet Reality

Pod People (+ 180 Population, + 300 Wealth, + 100 CIP)

Col-6D) Colonial Demographics

Idealists (+ morale)

Some decided to go to space to make their dreams of a better society come true

Col-6E) Backing

Charitable Foundations (+100 CIP)

Some Colonies were great works of philanthropy

Col-6F) Colonists

Fleeing Trangenes (+20 Transgenics)

As the Brazilian miracle turned nightmare, many transgenes caught a boat

Col-7A) Local Affairs

Natural Disaster (+ morale, go to Col-7E)

The fury of nature is not felt only on mother Gaia

Col-7E) Natural Disaster

Na'vi Attack (+200 Wealth, + 2,500 military)

Break-1) Economic Upsets

Stability! (no modifiers)

Break-6) Longshots, Isolated Again

Stand Alone Complex (+ 100 PIP, + 100 CIP, + 100 Wealth, + 4 Logistics, +10,000 Military)

War-1) Choose Your Side

In Russia . . . (+100 CIP, +100 Wealth, +12,500 military, +5 morale, Russian Tech Paradigm, Go to War-5)

War-5A) CIS Politics

Whatever The Cost (+ 120 Pop, + Morale, + 20 Transgene, - 100 Wealth)

Long eschewed from the ranks of the great powers, Russia is on the rise again.

War-5B) CIS Economics

Industrial Heartlands (+ 200 PIP, + 200 CIP)

This world has never relied on anyone else, and it never will.

War-5C) CIS Military

Cur-1) The Business of Government

Chaotic Events

Found Religion (+ Morale, - 100 Wealth)

Religion is the opiate of the masses.