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| The Colony of Sevrin was founded by James SEVRIN in response to a request by the UGC for someone to develop food production in the RRXT-1211 galaxy to support the Council's extensive mineral development operations there. James SEVRIN and his followers were the only people willing to take on the Council's call- But their agenda wasn't feeding the miners but rather creating a place where they could practice their extremists religion without continued interference. They were a breakaway sect of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) that preached absolute abstinence outside of marriage and that marriage was strictly between one man and one woman- And nothing else. Since RRXT-1211 has no intelligent indigenous life, fears of armed opposition were dismissed as inconsequential, which has mostly proven true. The only significant break from this was the so called Jerome And Anastasia Rebellion. A graver threat is a growing internal one. The first settlers were parceled tracts to develop based on what the terrain and weather patterns best supported, becoming local lords in the process, and those local lords have become somewhat restless with the power of the Pontiff. They all think they could rule the planet better, with some justification. The UGC has declared their continued support for the Pontiffs ("this colony was established on the understanding with the PLENIPOTENTIARY COUNCIL and the first settlers that the church would be the supreme power, and we can't back out of the deal now just because it's lost popularity in some circles"). Colony Size Sevrin Colony only covers their own solar system, though it encompasses the entire system. They routinely lease off world bodies to mining concerns in accordance with the original PPC charter. History The colony was formed as the RRXT-1211 galaxy mining charters were being formed. James SEVRIN offered to form an initial colony, on the condition that he and his followers were given sole ownership of the entire system and were allowed to form whatever law they chose. It was never a secret that they intended to form a strict theocracy based on the New Covenant Of The Galilean, an offshoot of Puritan theology (but not quite as strict); It was a declared purpose. Technological Level Sevrin Colony has access to civilian fusion reactors, Bylor Buildings, and any of the normal technologies of the UGC except space fold capable ships and certain militry hardware. They also have massive desalination plants producing millions of gallons of water per day to feed arid deserts that the colony would like to turn into new massive farms; Some of these farms have already been built and are producing enough for the planet's own needs, but not enough for export in any meaningful way. Racial Composition 99% of Sevrin are human, though around 25-30% have T'sentradi ancestors as well. Government Severin is a strict theocracy; The ecclesiastical courts are also the criminal and civil courts, though the ecclesiastical courts do require the same level of evidence. The head of state is the Pontiff of the Convenient who is elected by the Congress of the Parish Bishops. The Bishops are elected by the Chaplains of their Parish, the Chaplains elected by their congregants. Available Chaplains are invited to temporarily take over a chapel, giving the congregants a chance to see what they're like; They can then select from the available chaplains the ones they prefer. The subordinate bodies are county level bodies called parishes which are administer by the parish Board Of Supervisors who attend to the local issues such as policing, fire protection, etc. Each parish was founded by an original settler being given a land tract to develop; They retain their titles but otherwise are just figureheads, although their parish is their property and as such they collect a substantial stipend simply for the parish existing. They live in REF surplused mobile fortresses like castles of old, with most of them having been expanded in different ways by the successive generations of owners. They are also the nominal commander in chief of their National Guard, though many have relinquished this to dedicated warriors from within the NatGar's ranks. Administrative Control The Pontiff has the typical police and other agencies, though it's far from the draconian state of other theocracies. The amin law enforcement agencies are the municipal police and parish sheriff's, with Central Investigations reporting to the Pontiff. General Attitude/Culture: 99% of Sevrinites are strict Covenantites. Clothing colors aren't enforced, but they must cover a woman from neckline to just below the knees and above the elbows at least. Men's must cover from the beltline to just above the knees. Social attitudes are just as conservative; Religious sins are considered as real as criminal ones, and poverty and addiction are seen as signs of immorality. Holidays are observed but they are supposed to be somber occasions- Prayer and some feasting, nothing more. The birth and death of Christ, a day for giving thanks, a day to remember those who died in defense of their lands, and the day the colony was founded are the only official holidays. Excessive celebration on Foundation day is tolerated but not encouraged. Addiction, adultery, anger, argumentativeness, bearing false witness, bitterness, blasphemy, cowardice, dishonoring your father or mother, disobedient, dissension, drunkenness, envy, gluttony, greed, homosexuality, hypocrisy, idolatry, lust, malingering, poverty, pride, profanity, slander, uncleanness, failure to forgive others, vanity, and witchcraft are all sins in their religion. It formed from disaffected fundamentalists and like minded people in the early 21ˢᵗ century. Originally the colony was a strict temperance world, but the laws were revoked after a few decades of continuous failure to be able to enforce such laws. While Sevrin is ruled by the religious elite, the lesser lords have been scheming to claim the throne for themselves for over a century. The boldest expression of this desire was the attempted betrayal of the Pontiff, the so called Jerome And Anastasia Rebellion. The Canaanites are heretics in Sevrin society, and can be tried in the ecclesiastical courts. A declared heretic has 48 hours to vacate the cities and must live in the wilderness and no two Canaanites may live within one mile of each other. After the Jerome And Anastasia Rebellion Canaanites who submit the enslavement could remain within city limits, but hold no franchise and few rights. Trade Sevrin maintains a small fleet to ship their goods across the galaxy. Their primary export is food and food products, and to a lesser extent wood and paper products. They also export a large amount of salt (the byproduct of their desalination plants) typically at below cost of production simply to get it off-world. Their primary import is machinery, though they manufacture their own farm and ranch equipment from raw materials abroad. Sevin does not mine in any way except gold and silver panning; These are kept for recreational and historic purposes, and are not considered major industries. Status Sevrin peaked early and plateaued hard, but hasn't declined in any meaningful way. The simple fact is the planet was settled towards one general goal and achieved this rather quickly. | ||||||
| A. Size: | B. History: | C. Technological Level: | D. General Attitude/Culture: | |||
| Single Planet/Solar System; The Sevrin System. | The colony started on its own from a single colony of independents. | Advanced Space Age; Sevrin has access to FTL ships, including a fleet of about 12 of their own. | Multi-Factional: Sevrin is ruled by the religious elite, but the lesser lords are scheming to claim the throne for themselves. | |||
| E: Racial Composition: | F. Government: | G. Administrative Control: | H. External Trade: | |||
| 99% Human or Human/T'sentraedi hybrid. | Strict Theocracy. | Tight: The central government's rulings are thoroughly enforced by its agents and agencies, and it's when the rules AREN'T enforced or administrative control/oversight slips up that it makes the news. | The star kingdom maintains a large mercantile fleet that wheels and deals across the cosmos, trading in various goods, and the kingdom's planets themselves can serve as trading hubs or waystations. Their primary trade good is food and food products. | |||
| I. Status Rating: | ||||||
| Stagnant: Sevrin reached it's plateau early on and expansion has stopped with external borders that haven't changed in over a centuryand internal borders that have only changed slightly in that time; There is tension between various internal factions over control of the planet but these have failed to result in any real change outside of the Jerome And Anastasia Rebellion. | ||||||
| Heritage, Endurance, Community. |  | ||||
Current day Tobolls Parish is the site of Donavan MERCER's original Two Bulls Ranch, which covered the entire parish plus parts of a couple other
l was a 1 year study to see if the planet could potentially support a herd. The first year went very well, despite a winter that was harder than expected. With that, the UGC underwrote the loans need for James to buy a larger herd of around 1,000 cattle and bring in the first settlers. In 150 years the farmstead had become the seat of Tobolls Parish. "Tobolls" is a corruption of "Two Bulls." MERCER and his family now live at Two Bulls Castle on a mountain overlooking the town of Tobolls.Toboll's reputation of beef and dairy cattle is matched by it's reputation for cooaid, ethanol based cleaning solvents mixed with artificial fruit drink in about a 6 to 1 ratio. The crisis is so bad that it fundamentally influenced local politics when despite the planets' declared theocracy the Parish Board Of Supervisors elected Mirelle VOSS, a woman who'd "sinned, and gravely" and was at this point the unmarried mother of 4 as the board's Deacon (referee). This gained Tobolls increased notoriety in public discourse but also brought the cooaid crisis right to the top of the collective agenda since Mirelle's whole agenda was fighting the alcohol addiction she herself suffered through in her youth. Tobols is now known as a place where reformed Canaanites can migrate to without having their past follow them too closely- And those who follow reformed Canaanites to harass them find the reception can be unwelcome, or even violent. In a very public display of courage Mirelle modeled the parish's new militia vest. In the photo session she was "immodestly dressed" since her skirt reaches above her knees, but that was part of her whole platform- "I have a past. I don't care if you care." It also showed her knees weren't scraped meaning she hadn't spent a lot of time on them (i.e. she hadn't been performing oral sex). Tobols has around 50,000 full time residents and 25-30,000 militia, 3 ER hospitals, 1 psychiatric hospital, and 4 non-acute/convalescent hospitals, an airport that can be used as a spaceport in an emergency, and a seaport that can support up to 12 Liberty-Class freighters. The two main cities are Tobolls (the parish seat) and Richland, with about a dozens smaller villages across the parish. | ||||||
| Anastasia Rebellion. | | ||||
After 1,400 years of mostly peaceful settlement a strange period occurred; Rising over the course of 20 year anti-Canaanite street preachers began calling for the destr uction of all "witches" meaning all heretics.Jerome was an REF veteran who'd just returned home after seeing various factions use local disputes as a means to conquer territories. He got into an argument with one of the street preachers so heated the police were called; Though no charges were filed on either party, he was warned to stay away from the street preachers. Kristine, then 12 years old, saw this confronation and remembered it. 4 years later she discovered she was lesbian, and the ecclesiastical courts ordered her banished. After a few years living in what she generously called a cottage the Witch Hunters came in one night and Kristine returned to find it had been burned to the ground- Then she discovers the other "witches" homes have been attacked too, and some of them hung. She rescued as many as she could but that wasn't all. After a very rough night hiding out, the Kristine forms a plan to reach out to Jerome, offering herself and her sisters in slavery in exchange for protection. Jerome warned her "You know what a man will want from a woman." She accepted his 'conditions' and he enslaved her, renaming her Anastasia. She then offered Jerome's protection to her sisters in exchange for the same conditions- Some accept others do not. Within the month Jerome has "sold" most of the slaves (symbolically accepting money in exchange for their bodies, though he did recoup his losses in food, water, fuel, etc.) to other Covenant members who while loyal to the faith had expressed doubts about the strictures. Within days the Witch Hunters arrived at his door demanding he hand the heretics over; Rather than de-escalate the situation he grossly escalated it, shooting his way out the front door. He was now a man defending his home, and failing to defend his home is a sin in Covenant. Several witch hunters are killed and many more injured. Jerome assumed the police will be seeking him, so he took Anastasia and her girlfriend and hid out in a cave network not far from a ravine that offered passage to the Pontiff's castle and set up an ambush. After waiting for nearly a year they saw the invaders coming up the ravine and he opened fire on the vehicles and began throwing Molotov cocktails down, killing a few of the soldier but more importantly creating a scene that forced the Pontiff to send his own soldiers to investigate. They discovered the invaders were actually mercenries for one of the lessor lords who'd hoped to usurp the Pontiff and place himself on the throne, though the evidence was insufficient to support a criminal proceeding. Jerome and Anastasia's "terrorism" at the ravine revealed the backers of the Witch Hunters, the invasion and plot to overthrow the Pontiff, thus saving the Pontiff's position. Anastasia then brokered a deal allowing Canaanites to accept enslavement to a "good loyal Covenant," giving up most of their rights in the process but permanently undermining one faction that had already been used to undermine the Pontiff. Canaanites who refuse slavery can still accept banishment to the wilds. Within a year Anastasia had developed the ideology into The Sisterhood Of The Lost", establishing an nunnery in Tobolls where would-be sisters are brought to be enslaved and trained in a very ritual process developed with Jerome's assistance using Dreveil philosophy. Within 2 years the Sisterhood would accept it's first male member. | ||||||
