Angessa's Pearl

Name	Angessa's Pearl
Class	Terrestrial Planet
Mass	.121 Earths
Radius	.55 Earths
Rotational Period	26 Hours
Gravity	.4 G
Distance from Star	1.1 AU
Orbital Period	.3 years
Orbitting Bodies	None
Discovery Date	March 14th, 2499
Surface Pressure	.4atm
Surface Temperature	18C
Atmosphere	98% CO2, 1% Water, 1% Trace
Ruling Bodies	Republic of Exalt's Light / Angessian Technocracy / Almach Protectorate

Angessa's Pearl is the only inhabited world in the Exalt's Light system, a former member of the Almach Association, and a major population center. Colonized just before the beginning of the Contact War by a pseudo-religious movement lead by Angessa Martei, the people of Angessa's Pearl practice extreme asceticism and rigorous self-improvement in hopes of transcending their natural limitations. The practice is viewed with mistrust and trepidation outside of the Almach Rim region, but has been spreading in influence for the last several decades. The colony prides itself on self-sufficiency, but is friendly to pilgrims and visitors. Angessa's Pearl was one of the first systems to secede from SolGov to form the Association and together with Vounna drove its more hawkish policies.

After being subsumed by the Skrellian Almach Protectorate, a period of hostile resistance to the occupation lead to the planet being torn between the former skrellian collaboration government of the Republic of Exalt's Light, and the Association "loyalists" of the Angessian Technocracy. These two states now share the planet in a state of intense conflict under the eyes of the Protectorate Government and invested foreign TSCs.

Geography

Angessa's Pearl is composed of smooth white cliffs and plateaus, etched into place when the planet was still tectonically active. The cliffs clash together irregularly, and the gaps between them are shaded from the harsh light of the sun. In these spaces, the colonists built their cities. The few lowland regions are mostly low plains with stagnant basins of water.

There is evidence that, earlier in its history, Angessa's Pearl contained much more water than it does presently.

Infrastructure

Much of Angessa's Pearl lives in sealed-off warren habitats drilled into the face of the cliffs, adjacent settlements connected by flexible tubing strung between the canyons. However, as star-contemplation factors majorly into the religious practices of the colony, every habitat has some public areas anchored between canyon walls, allowing one to gaze upon the strange and alien constellations and be inspired by their light.

Angessian colonies were the state of the art when they were established, using a combination of life support technologies stolen from NanoTrasen and other TSCs by Angessian faithful, advanced construction techniques pioneered in Shelf, and illegal, potentially transgressive nanotechnology and advanced drone intelligences used in industry.

All Angessian colonies were designed to be self-sufficient for basic necessities, but relied on supermatter imports for advanced functionality. These imports stopped during the Almach Crisis, and most colonies have been operating at reduced capacities ever since. Colonial infrastructure was further degraded by Far Kingdoms orbital strikes on loyalist cities, loyalist bombings against settlements siding with the occupiers, and the Skathari Incursion.

Population

Angessa Martei's philosophy attracted adherent from all species, and the Pearl contains roughly even levels of humans, positronics, skrell, and tajaran. Most humans are descended from nearby midworlds, including Vir, while the makeup of other species is more varied. Unathi are a comparative minority, since Moghes is on the other side of Sol from the Pearl and the Sol-Moghes border was closed during the colonization, but there is a small number of Unbound rounding out their numbers.

Many skrellian Angessians found prominent positions within the occupation government, which fueled anti-skrell sentiments within the loyalist movement and has lead to them tending to cluster within the cities controlled by the Republic. Angessa's domestically produced Vatborn, positronic, promethean, and drone populations, due to their higher levels of indoctrination and fanaticism and the legal sanctions many would face under the occupation, tended to strongly support the loyalist movement and currently make up a majority of the Technocracy population. Almost all Angessian Unbound are currently employed as private security by the independent city-state of Tsunami. Other populations are split evenly.

A significant portion of Pearl's population are Vatborn referred to as "community children". As the name suggests, community children are raised collectively, with a child to adult ratio of between 5:1 and 20:1 depending on exact demographics. The production on industrial scales of community children plays a role in Pearl's unusually high population and its close-knit sociology, although complaints of abuse in the nurseries and schools set aside from the community children are common. Community Children have become an important demographic within both the Angessian diaspora in SolGov and as the leaders of the loyalist movement during occupation. They are identifiable by their unusual names, modeled after Angessian virtues. Examples include "Waits-Before-Acting", "Trusts-His-Own-Strength", and "Cultivates-Reason".

During the secession, many of the A-class drones involved in the Pearl's autonomous industry and infrastructure were recognized as equal citizens with an equal capacity to pursue enlightenment. This legal status was briefly revoked under the Almach Protectorate Government, leading many to side with Association loyalist movements where possible. The modern Protectorate upholds the personhood of drones recognized as people by the Technocracy, while many remain trapped within machinery controlled by the Republic.

Industry and Economy

Prior to the Almach Crisis, Angessa's Pearl focused almost entirely on industrial and population growth and attempted to minimize imports. Personal luxuries, even for the most elite Angessians, were extremely rare to come by. This lead to the colony's explosive growth, virtually unrivaled in recent history. Much of the Pearl was dotted with autonomous mining and manufacturing plants, all controlled directly by the Exalt. These factories were turned to producing sophisticated warships and critical components of the Whythe Superweapon during the war.

After the Far Kingdoms invasion, many Angessian factories were privatized by the collaboration government to raise capital and attract foreign investments from skrellian kingdoms and Solar TSCs. This has lead to the Republic becoming the predominant manufacturer of consumer goods for the region with the help of companies like Ward-Takahashi. Restrictions on personal luxuries and independent wealth were also relaxed, though the Republic is still acetic by most standards.

The Technocracy maintains its industry in approximately the same conditions as before the war, and retains a focus on industrial growth above all else, though many facilities no longer function reliably without pre-war unrestricted nanotechnology and much output must be turned to repairing damage sustained to existing settlements.

All polities on Angessa's Pearl are also involved in the trade in cosmetic and functional genemods and cyberware, usually through Kaleidoscope Cosmetics, Vey-Medical, and Bishop Cybernetics. Angessian designs formed the basis for these modification in SolGov space, and Angessian interests still hold the patents to some important technologies (though many have since been sold or appropriated).

Government

Controlling a slight majority of the planet, the Republic of Exalt's Light is lead by an elected Exalt, who is also considered the religious head of the Reformed Starlit Path. Elections are overseen by the Almach Protectorate Government. The powers of the Exalt are strictly limited by a parliamentary system considered by many independent observers to be extremely corrupt and beholden to Skrellian and TSC interests.

Most of the remaining population falls under the Angessan Technocracy, a unitary theocracy lead by the Exalt of the Orthodox Starlit Path. This position has been held continuously since its inception by the mysterious Community Child Ceaselessly-Pursues-Progress, though she claims to be simply stewarding the position until Angessa Martei returns from exile. Prior to the war, Martei replied to those with concerns that her direct control over the machinery of state and the legions of drones that allow Angessian society to function leaves the common people with no choice but to prove their worth or starve to death with "so does capitalism." This position has been affirmed by Pursues-Progress.

Culture

The Starlit Path of Angessa Martei (also sometimes called the Spiral Path, Angessa's Way, or other names-- Angessa Martei stated no strong opinion on the matter) was the state philosophy of Angessa's Pearl, and adherence is required for permanent residency. It focused on radical self-improvement of the body and mind, through asceticism, self-contemplation, and ordeals, and gatekept access to Angessian body and brain modification. Both successor states maintain independent versions of the Starlit Path and retain the requirement for adherence.

The Reformed Starlit Path was a heretical practice found in some Angessian communities beginning in 2551. It emphasizes above all else the importance of reason and personal restraint in the matters of self-improvement, and believes the physically demanding ritual ordeals of the original faith outdated. It became the official state religion during occupation due to noted similarities to the Skrellian faith of Xilar Qall.

The faith usually identified as the "Orthodox" Starlit Path is never called that by its adherents, who maintain that they practice the original Starlit Path laid out by Angessa Martei. It has de-emphasized the original faith's focus on self-determination, instead advocating for unity in the pursuit of personal excellence. The faith is also, unsurprisingly, militaristic and hostile to outsiders, advocating for the removal of all possible threats in the name of rational self-preservation.

Notable Locations

Skylight

The capital city of the Republic of Exalt's Light, Skylight was originally constructed as a huge series of twisting beehive warrens intended as a deliberate challenge to one's sense of direction and spatial reasoning. It was expanded by the construction of several Skrellian-style domes on the planet's surface, meant to house occupation officials and currently housing the city's upper class. Connecting the two halves of the city is the original colonization ship, converted into the residence of the Exalt and official chambers of parliament.

Melt

Melt was intended to be a deliberately uncomfortable place to live; a poorly maintained, septic series of cramped tunnels designed for Angessians to prove their worth of the colony's most carefully-guarded augments. Due to its remote location, symbolic importance, and extremely religious population, Melt became the nucleus and core redoubt of the loyalist movement. Degradations in infrastructure have made pilgrimages to Melt even more miserable than before.

Angessa's Grave

Originally built around the second grave of Angessa Martei and an important site in Angessian mourning rituals, Angessa's Grave has rapidly ballooned in size and importance as the capital of the Angessian Technocracy. The Technocracy tightly controls access to the city, extracting no small amount of money from Solar pilgrims and inciting frequent attempted terror attacks from the Reformed Path.

Tsunami

The independent settlement of Tsunami, located on the far side of the planet, was founded by disgruntled second-generation Angessians, with an average age of 23, as a pirate port and smuggling base. It remained neutral during the Almach War but, like Taron in Relan, was incorporated within the Almach Protectorate Government. Its neutral status made it a prime target for TSC investment, causing Tsunami to develop into a heavily-fortified city-state hosting the Almachi HQs for Kaleidoscope Cosmetics and Bishop Cybernetics and making its founders incredibly wealthy.

History

2499: Discovered, mapped, and claimed for SolGov by a small exploratory vessel.

2503: Due to its obscurity, scarcity of minerals, and out-of-the-way position, Angessa Martei choses the world for her retreat from the world. Several devotees pool funds to acquire a colony ship from Shelf.

2504: Skylight is formed. It possesses a state-of-the-art bioprinting facility, several artificial wombs, and a variety of general-purpose manufacturing devices.

2506: The first vat-grown community children are decanted.

2508: War breaks out with the Moghes Hegemony. Angessa's Pearl is relatively unaffected.

2510: First contact with the Tajara. Angessa Martei goes to prosthelytize, codifying the position of the Exalt to serve in her absence.

2513: Angessa returns with a passenger ship full of Tajaran converts.

2521: A noticeable uptick in human immigration comes at the heels of peace with the Unathi.

2524: The first community children reach maturity. Vat-grown production is at industrial levels.

2530: Melt is established.

2535: Angessa Martei is assassinated while proselytizing to the Unathi. She is cloned in Skylight, and relinquishes her role as the community leader during her convalescence.

2541: Angessa Martei returns to political life.

2546: Extensive modernizing of Angessian industry on the heels of relaxed EIO regulations.

2550: Boiling Point forms somewhere in the Almach Rim. Angessa's Pearl is considered a likely point of origin.

2553: Angessa Martei attempts to proselytize to the Unathi once more, and returns with a small coterie of Unbound.

2557: Several high-level government officials are killed by SolGov ion weaponry after an attempted coup by Boiling Point. Angessa's Grave is created. Angessa Martei retires.

February 2562: Angessa's Pearl secedes from SolGov as part of the Gray Hour.

July 2562: An experimental, skrell-derived intelligence augmentation procedure is performed on Angessa Martei, sparking international interest.

February 2563: Angessa Martei returns to notional leadership the Pearl and departs to Sol to attempt to incite conversions. Shortly thereafter, the Almach War begins. Information regarding her position is unreliable and prone to rumor, with many believing an illegal duplicate Martei remained on the Pearl to conduct the Association's war effort.

November 2563: The Exalt of the Pearl signs off on the destruction of the Phorcys system.

2564: The skrellian Far Kingdoms invade the Almach Rim, forcing a near-immediate end of the war. Angessa Martei is tried in absentia and convicted of crimes against sapient life. The Exalt of the Pearl is executed. Ae'quae Teqer, a heresiarch whose Reformed Starlit Path sabotaged a minor arms factory in protest of the war, is pronounced the new Exalt by Far Kingdoms officials. High levels of dissent are noticed immediately and suppressed brutally. Occupation domes constructed in Skylight.

2565: Owing to the Tachyon Downtick, much of the fleet occupying Angessa's Pearl withdraws to re-consolidate in Whythe's Vigilance Station. Exalt Teqer is allowed to form his own government, subject to an occupation force veto. The Republic of Exalt's Light is declared. Pilgrims in Melt, lead by the heavily augmented Ceaselessly-Pursues-Progress, forms a resistance movement.

2566: The Skathari Incursion. Angessa's Pearl less affected than many worlds in the Almach Rim due to the population's near universal augmentation and martial training, lack of orbital infrastructure, minimal gateway usage, and decimated civilian fleet. Loyalist forces under Pursues-Progress repel a major incursion within Angessa's Grave with minimal damage. Footage from the assault brings tens of thousands to her banner.

2567: Against the advice of Exalt Teqer, junior officers in the occupation fleet bombard Melt. The assault is minimally effective due to Melt's geography and the biology of its inhabitants, and further aligns the population with the loyalists. The occupation officers face no discipline.

2568: Skrellian occupation forces withdraw from the APG. The new, Relan-lead government offers no support to the Republic. The Republic votes to nationalize several underutilized factories and brokers a historic trade deal with Ward-Takahashi.

2569: Open war breaks out between loyalists and collaborators. Many uninvolved in the fighting flee to Tsunami, with the most wealthy booking passage back to the Golden Crescent on TSC trade ships. Tsunami municipal government secures arrangements with Bishop and Kaleidoscope.

2570: The secession of the Five Arrows produces lucrative new markets for Angessian products, spurring further investment in Tsunami. Angessians form a small but notable diaspora within SolGov while TSC employees and private security take up residence in fortified hab blocks in Tsunami.

2571: Kaleidoscope executives extend financial support to the loyalists after a closed-door meeting with Pursues-Progress. Similar arrangements made between Vey-Medical and the Republican government. The conflict intensifies.

2572: The Exalt of the Angessian Diaspora denounces both the Reformed and Orthodox Starlit Path. Relan declares its intent to put an end to the civil war, though Protectorate forces remain pinned by pirates from Eutopia, Vystholm, and the Vox.

2573: Relani relief forces finally arrive. Diplomats recognize the loyalists as the Angessian Technocracy and negotiate a ceasefire at a peace conference in Tsunami. The war, never officially declared, also never officially ends, with both sides enforcing harsh embargos on the other (while trading freely with the same TSCs).

2575 Present day.