| Leonis |
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| The flag of Leonis. |
| Important Notice about Canon Material |
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| Material from the television program Caprica is NOT automatically considered canon, although players may adopt individual bits and pieces from what's depicted on Caprica into the regional cultural background of their character(s). When in doubt, please ask. To avoid contradictions in established RP, a policy of "localization" has been adopted. Apart from the Staff-written Overview and items firmly established in the main BSG series, there should be no all-encompassing tidbits for any of the Twelve Colonies. Players are wholeheartedly encouraged to create regional write-ups. Those seeking to deviate from the general "flavor" of the Overview should first consult with Staff. |
Overview
A large world notable for its fertile plains and its remarkable concentrations of uranium, Leonis sought to exploit both of those natural advantages by initiating a war of conquest against its neighboring Colonies. After its defeat at the hands of the Triple Alliance (between Picon, Scorpia, and Caprica), its new government voluntarily slashed its military budget, eliminated most of its nuclear arsenal, and focused on keeping as aloof as possible from internecine Colonial disputes. Not until the First Cylon War did Leonisian forces fight on another Colony's territory, redeeming themselves spectacularly by spearheading the campaign to retake Caprica City. Since then, Leonis has tentatively expanded its role in Colonial politics, culminating in its successful bid to construct the second of the Fleet's two major shipyards. While not as large as its Scorpian counterpart, Spacedock Leonis is at the cutting edge of military technology, and Battlestar Cerberus is its pride and joy.
Places and Regions
Players are encouraged to add their own write-ups. If you'd like to add to something already listed, please speak with the player who created the region.
Aspasia Province
A map of Aspasia. Image credit: Evandreus' player.
The province of Aspasia is one of the largest administrative units in northern Leonis, spanning the length of the largest peninsula on the planet. It is bordered to the south by the Kyrinis Desert, to the north by the Bethel Mountains, and to the east by the Elpeus Plains. Its capital is Cel Domines, located at the base of the mountain range that forms the backbone of this sprawling forested territory; however, its largest city is Kythera, home to well over a million souls as of the most recent census.
For the better part of its history, Aspasia has been ranked among the poorest of Leonis' old provinces. Possessing neither the rich uranium deposits of its neighbors to the north nor the fertile plains of its neighbors to the east, Aspasia and its people were largely left out of the political struggles that characterized medieval Leonisian politics. As recently as fifteen years ago, Aspasia was receiving a significant amount of monetary assistance from the Colonial government. However, its fortunes changed rather dramatically when a number of well-established biotechnology firms fleeing Scorpia's revised regulatory regime set up shop in the region, drawn there by the prospect of cheap land and low taxes. Now, Aspasia has become one of the engines at the heart of Leonis' economic boom. Indeed, Cel Domines is home to the highest number of millionaires per capita on the entire Colony, whose summer houses at Bethel Point — a town that just ten years earlier had been a lazy seaside village — are the now envy of the Colonial upper-crust.
Contact: Staff
The City of Pantheiras
Pantheiras was established at the cross-roads of three early trading routes. Situated nearly in the geographical center of the planet's primary continent, it soon grew into first a trading mecca and then a military powerhouse. Coming to prominence during the Colonial period, Pantheiras was named the Capital of Leonis and has held the designation since.
Contact: Staff
Leontinia Province
A map of Leontinia. Image credit: Evandreus' player.
Leontinia is a smallish coastal province along the north shore of the largest continent in Leonis' southern hemisphere. A heavily socially progressive area with a large capital city at the head of the great Anthegon river delta that flows into the ocean, its beautiful shoreline is a great draw for tourists, especially the twin cities of Thalattra and Columella, the former a mecca for starving artists of all flavors, the latter the home of the great Temple of Aphrodite Philommeides.
Environment and Environmentalism
- The inhabitants of the region are heavily environmentally aware, and large sections of land, including all of the Adonaian Archipelago (except for the island of Adonaia itself) and most of the Therian Archipelago, are under governmental protection and heavily restricted for development. The inner cities, however, are quite crowded, and, despite everything, are marred somewhat by a smoggy atmosphere.
- The coastline is known for an indigenous breed of aquatic wild pigs which, too, were a protected species at the time of the Cylon attacks, and are the national animal of the area, featured on much of the currency.
- Tarrabine, though native to regions south of Leontinia, has been imported and cultivated along the coastline for its thick, liquid-rich leaves. The fluid which the plant stores in its leaves, when imbibed, produces euphoria and hallucinations. Off-planet the drug is usually distributed in distilled liquid form and taken with an eyedropper and is commonly known as Main. In Leontinia, it's usually taken by sucking on a cut square of the raw leaf and then spitting out the skin, and is usually called Petal.
- The Leontinian climate is hot in the summer and mild in winter, with light winter rains and typically one or two big heavy summer monsoons.
Populus and… Populism?
- Leontinia recognizes same-sex marriages as well as marriages between groups of up to four people. The legal age at which someone can enter into a marriage in Leontinia is 16. Leontinians are characterized by outsiders as highly adventurous and experimental in the bedroom, and generally extremely casual about their liaisons.
- Nudism and naturalistic living are in vogue.
- Skirts are considered acceptable and unremarkable menswear.
- The Leontinian accent is closest to the northern midwestern accent of the US/a Canadian English accent. (Close your eyes and think of Fargo.)
The Leontinian at Caprica University
A common joke highlighting the stereotypically wild behavior of the Leontinian people.
A Leontinian gets admitted to Caprica University and as he's signing up for his first year courses he notices a course on Sexual Physiology. Of course, he signs up, and a couple of weeks later he's heading into class high as a kite and half an hour late. The professor is in the middle of his lecture. "… And so, gentlemen, as you can see through a consideration of the anatomical possibilities, there are precisely seventy-six distinct positions possible in the sex act. If we classify these positions —" At this point, the professor notices the Leontinian student raising his hand, and calls on him.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm actually pretty sure there are seventy seven possible positions for frakking." But the Caprican stares down his student, "My dear young man," he said, "my statement reflects long and serious research in the field by many of the most highly respected authorities, men of age and experience. We are ignoring mirror images and trivial variations, of course.." "… No," the Leontinian interrupts, "I've done a little bit of research, too, and I -know- that there are seventy seven different ways to do it!"
So they agree that the only thing to do is to have the professor describe the first seventy six positions and then have the Leontinian propose the seventy-seventh, and have the rest of the students decide whether it's valid. The professor starts up, "We will start with the prime-basic, or common, position: woman horizontal-dorsal, man horizontal-ventral, parallel in line and direction through a vertical axis of symmetry."
And the Leontinian shouts, "Holy crap! Seventy eight!"
Religiosity in Leontinia
- The worship of Aphrodite is widespread in the region; many Leontinians worship the Lady (as some call her) or the Bitch (as others call her) exclusively, though it does not count as a monotheistic tradition. Others take as gospel some pieces of scripture which call Aphrodite the most powerful of the Lords and Ladies of Kobol, Mistress over all of them, even of Zeus himself.
- The worship of Aphrodite's consort Adonis, god of beauty, regeneration and fertility, is also widespread, if subordinated to Aphrodite's. All of Adonis' yearly festivals are observed, marking his birth, consummation with Aphrodite, death and re-birth, and many Leontinians are initiates in the Adonaian Mysteries.
- A set of strict dietary laws have sprung up around the local Adonis/Aphrodite cult, and some Leontinians follow it down to the last detail, though living 'clean table' is notoriously difficult for the complexity of the edicts. Many more Leontinians claim to be living 'clean table,' but restrict their observation of the edicts to the main one against the consumption of pork or other pig products.
Contact: Evandreus
Ilium Province
The Leonian province of Ilium is located directly south of Leontinia and unlike its much more populous and more prominent coast neighbour to the north, it is considered a rather conservative bastion of old school Leonian values. Much of the employment in the region is directly relating to agriculture (where farms are located in the rich river plains and mountain valleys) as well as mining (from the abundant mountains of the province). While the famous Leonian uranium is present in Ilium, it is only in small concentrations compared to elsewhere.
There are three main cities in Ilium; two are twinned, right across the River Anthegon from eachother – these cities are Faesulae and Tarpeia. The third city, Tusculum, is quite a bit older than the Twin Cities as they are known, and located on the shores of Lake Nemi, which is Leonis' biggest and deepest lake. Fishing and shipping are both promiment on the Lake, which is almost big enough to be classified as an inland sea. There is a large (blue water) naval presence relative to the size of the province here, as well as many Colonial Guard units.
Their accent is almost identical to their Leontinian neighbours to the north, which frequently causes people to mistake them as being from Leontinia. This is something which almost universally annoys the inhabitants of Ilium.
Contact: Decumius