User:Rowtree/Luna

Luna, the moon of the planet Earth is one of the oldest homes of Humanity. Home of the influential, the powerful, and the corporate classes, Luna is seen as the playground of the rich and famous. It is divided into a series of interconnected domes and city-states that are scattered across the dusty, pockmarked surface of the unterraformed moon.

Many of these cities, known locally as a prefecture, are located on the far-side of the planetoid, which has seen large scale urbanisation attempts over the past two-hundred years. The Capital, Selene, is located in the large Apollo Crater, on the far-side of the moon. It is a centre of culture, arts, trade, and politics, and where the name of the planet's dialect, Selenian, comes from. The near-side of the moon has largely avoided urban build-up, becoming home to countless biodomed towns and settlements away from the chaotic politics of the capital. It is here that the quieter, more humble Lunarians live, neither rich nor poor, and content to be outside of the viciousness of upper-class life.

Those fortunate to be rich and powerful enough to be born into high Selenian society continue to exert influence across human space, and corporations flock to Luna to build their own prefecture and establish their headquarters there as a symbol of success, power and accomplishment. Even those born away from the Capital are considered the 'old money' of humanity, with many of them having distinct, traceable lineages to the first settlers of Luna, who were often rich refugees escaping the conditions of Earth. Despite the public belief, many Lunarians are just as poor as anywhere else. Luna has significant social issues in regards to its class divisions, which threaten to repeat the same issues that led to the rich's arrival on Luna in the first place. Protests, and cries of "Eat the Rich!" are a common sight and sound to visitors of the Capital.

Geography
Luna is too small to hold an atmosphere, and has not been terraformed. Cities on the planet are built in various craters on the planet's surface, covered by large domes and protective shielding. Under these domes, the land has been extensively modified to hold grass and greenery. The various domes and cities are connected via underground rail and by spaceport. Due to the planet's low gravity, most people from Luna are adapted to the planet's low gravity, typically tall and pale. In more recent times, artificial gravity systems have been installed to help lessen the effects.

The far side of Luna has become increasingly urbanised over the past two hundred years, with vast urban spaces built across the surface, largely funded by corporate investors and rich Lunarians. The near side has largely avoided urban build-up in favour of decentralised city states.

Selene
Location:Coulomb-Sarton Basin Primary Demographic:Upper-Class Lunarian The first city and capital of both Luna and the Aether Prefecture. Selene is the center of Lunar politics and commerce and is also a strong contender to be the center of arts and culture, though many would dispute that title in favor of New Vegas. It has weak gravity generators which were state of the art at the time of Selene's founding hundreds of years ago, but were not yet capable of creating Earth-like gravity. In modern times this actually has the advantage of making Selene habitable to both visitors from the rest of Luna who are unused to heavy gravity, and visitors from the rest of Sol who are unused to the light gravity of the rest of the moon. Selene's architecture is inspired by Greek and Roman architecture but built on a grander scale – massive marble skyscrapers support the biodome above, built to resemble tremendous pillars of the Parthenon while the insides function as shopping centers, offices, and more. Statues of Greek and Roman deities stand in parks, squares, and shopping malls, mixing the trappings of a modern city with relics and recreations of the past.

New Vegas
Location:Montes Rook Primary Demographic:Upper/Middle/Lower Class Lunarian The capital of the Gilthari Prefecture. Gilthari Exports sought to recreate the gambling and holiday destination of old Earth. New Vegas is the number one tourist destination on Luna. It is situated right on the edge of what would be considered the far side, accessible from every part of the planet by quick shuttle flight. New Vegas is, consequently, the most populous prefecture on Luna. It also possesses the greatest wealth gap, with many in new Vegas living close to the poverty line and predominantly employed in lowly casino and service positions. New Vegas also has a significant crime problem, and has seen a large temperance and anti-gambling push from local groups. They have infrequently come into conflict with Glithari security, creating a source of national controversy.

New Hamburg
Location:Sommerfeld Crater Primary Demographic:Middle/Lower Class Lunarian A city in the Hephaestus Prefecture, on the far side of Luna. It is the headquarters of both the Lunar Guard, and of Hephaestus Industries. The city is warmed by the power of its forges, where it produces a significant quantity of Hephaestus products. Like most of the corporate prefectures, most of its residents are employees of Hephaestus. It is not much younger than Selene and Yuèliàng, and its architecture is built in a style popular in the early 23rd century with modernity, sleekness, and practicality in mind. New Hamburg is also home to the Confucius spaceport, which is the primary landing and takeoff point for craft moving to and from Luna.

Yuèliàng
Location:Mare Nubium Primary Demographic:Middle Class Lunarian Founded several years after Selene, and the first major city-state on the near side of Luna, it remains one of the oldest and largest cities on the moon and is considered a trendy, modern city with no corporate influence. Largely ran by the people and for the people, it has a distinct culture from that of the far side of Luna, something that its citizens pride themselves on massively.

Elysium
Location:Aristarchus Crater Primary Demographic:Upper/Middle Class Lunarian An independent prefecture that was funded by the collective effort of a multitude of Earth-based universities to create an academic haven that would be at the forefront of research and technology. Not far from Yuèliàng, it was strategically placed to be far enough from Selenite politics but close enough to a major city to have the benefits which that entails.

New Amsterdam
Location:Mare Tranquillitas (Sea of Tranquility) Primary Demographic:Uppe/Middle/Lower Class Lunarian The capital of the NanoTrasen Prefecture, New Amsterdam is a small and quiet city that is home to the NT Central Offices. It is mostly inhabited by NanoTrasen workers and traders looking to make quick cash off the constant NT related traffic to the area.

Politics
TBD

Law and Military
TBD

Culture
Culturally, Luna is home to many different cultural and ethnic groups, many of whom have their origins in old Earth culture. Traditionally, each prefecture has been treated as its own 'nation-state', and developed mostly independent from one-another, leading to the creation of vastly divergent groups. The majority of Lunarians are considered to be Selenian, followed by Yuèliàngers.

Roleplaying Tips
TBD

History
The history of human occupation of the Moon dates back to 1969, when mankind first landed on the planetoid. A long-term settlement did not come until the mid 21st Century, ran not by government ventures, but by private corporations. As spaceflight became increasingly common, so to did longterm settlement by various wealthy Earthers who had come to dislike the state of affairs on the blue planet. First a novelty for the rich, the first major city development on Luna took place well into the 22nd Century, as a mass exodus from Earth took place in the face of planetary unification, and the various political conflicts that entailed.

The rich citizens, and governments of Earth founded the city of Selene on the farside of the moon, made up of a myriad of Earther cultures with their definining features being rich and influential. Those that could not afford, or were opposed to such classist treatment, founded Yuèliàng on the near side. Both found themselves awash with support from their Earth-bound sponsors, though with Selene receiving the majority of funding.

Political and economic turmoil on Earth forced the fledgling colonies to turn to a new source of support, corporations. By opening themselves up to the highest bidder, Selene was able to modernise rapidly, becoming an independent city-state, under the control of Aether Atmospherics and Recycling, and CEO Arthur Greyson. With Selene under the control of one corporation, others quickly followed suit in establishing their own cities and fiefdoms on Luna. New Hamburg was founded by Hephaestus Industries, followed by New Amsterdam, followed by countless minor and major corporate settelements.

The rampant corporate takeover of Luna did not go by unnoticed, and the new united government of humanity, the Sol Central Government, with the support of free, non-corporate traders, began a democratic campaign across the planet, attempting to unify the various disorganised corporate and independent states into a centralised government, largely in the hopes of curtailing corporate power. A great compromise was achieved by Corporate and Solar diplomats, to get all parties to agree and recognise a Lunar constitution. The Lunar Confederation, a directorial republic with no single head of state, was formed in 2275. Though a democratic republic, each corporation holds significant power over their prefecture, often under the guise of a political party.

In order to maintain control, many corporations created proxy political parties to campaign for seats in the Lunar Assembly as well as for Director. Due to their immense funding, these parties became the most powerful parties on Luna, their only rivals being; the Free Trade Party, an independent organisation of non-aligned traders and merchants who oppose strong corporate influence; the Unification Party, who seek to unify Luna under a non-corporate government; and each other. To this day, the only political parties on Luna who've won more than three single seats in the Lunar Assembly are funded by a large corporation, the Free Trade Union, or Sol Central.