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Leonisian Culture (As Established In-Game)
Quite a few of the game's characters are from Leonis. As such, this page has been established as sort of a meeting point for all the various cultures of the planet, both as a resource for new players and for the purposes of all players to keep track of the minutae they've each brought to the table.
Leonis, like the other Colonies, is a big world. Just like Earth, it has numerous subcultures. Below are some locations described in-game, followed by a section on the subcultures on a by player basis.
Locations on Leonis
The Twin Cities of Thalattra and Columella (Matto)
The holy grail of runaways, drifters, hippies and dreamers, the Twin Cities of Thalattra and Columella on Leonis, the former known for its harboring and nourishing of young, impoverished artists, the creation of some of the Colonies' greatest bands, grassroots theatrical programs, gorgeous hand-made artwork and crafts, massive homeless population and free-spirited society, the latter known mostly for the massive gilded temple of Aphrodite, a monument to pleasure of all sorts. The twin cities drew two sorts of society: the dregs and the cream, the former to create, the latter to purchase and sightsee.
Thalattra and Columella are located on the northern coast of the southern continent, Columella further to the west and Thalattra further east and a little bit more inland, though a series of both natural inlets and manmade canals give the latter city a somewhat maritime feel. The area surrounding the two cities is mostly lowland plains, good for farming, scenic rolling hills and spots of woodland.
Despite being called the Twin Cities, there is some distance between them. Most of their sprawl sprawls out in opposite directions from one another, leaving a mostly pristine stretch of lowland descending into the coast between the two.
Zemba Forest (Jules)
A large forest on the Northern Continent, spread over a thousand kilometers. Primarily a home to many survivalist types. Think of the Appalachian folk of our world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia)
Laconia City (Jules)
A moderately sized city on the Southern Continent, home to nature enthusiasts. Comparable in our world would be Moab, Utah or Aspen, Colorado. It's a vacation hot spot due to nearly nine national parks being in close proximity. Within easy reach are hundreds of kilometers of pristine forest, a mountain range and a large inland lake.
Northwestern Territory (Hale)
The Northwestern Territory, is not inherently Northern as much as it is western. Located on the smaller Western Continent, the Territory is a thing of myth and legend. Rolling plains with a bit of desert to the south and most western coasts. Most of the cities are Coastal, and the people who live there rural. If you're not working as a fisherman or in the industries in the big cities, you are most likely a rancher. Comparable to our world would be Australia, and Texas.
Marathon (Hale)
The largest city in the Western Continent. Known for its chalky cliffs (different from the red dirt and grass seen elsewhere on the continent) Marathon is home to several arms industries, as well as a flourishing art scene. It is nothing compared to the twin cities. This is often the last stop for horse and cattle drives, as well as a main port for the Colonial Navy.
Clanlands, Northwestern Territory (Panda, Kitty)
The Austreth River marks the edge of the continent's plentiful watersheds; south and west beyond its verdant banks trees are few and far between and grasslands fade to golden prairie laden with the insidious dust and gravel of the crumbling Western Herald Range. This steppe is colloquially known as the Clanlands, an area settled by atavistic malcontents of the original colonization who promptly "went primitive" (distinct from "going native" only by virtue of there being no natives in the first place). When the Leonisian colonies proper caught up with them they had grown into a fractuous tribal lot engaged in cyclic struggle. Contact with the more civilized new arrivals increased and the clans' superstitious, paganesque adaptation of the Lords of Kobol smoothed the first steps of reintegration. Further integration was problematic due largely to same, and it is still not uncommon in the area for even the most urbanized families (not that the "cities" of the area would be called anything but "towns" to outsiders) to have a few members who cling to ancient rituals such as primogeniture, sky worship, or burnt offerings.
Succinctly put, imagine a trailer park conquered by classic Mongols.
Cultural Notes (by Leonisian PC)
Lieutenant JG Katherine Ajtai - Raptor ECO
Lance Corporal Pandorian Ajtai - Marine, Rifleman
Lieutenant Abraham Hale - Viper Pilot
- Leonisian Literature is well known throughout the colonies of hiding a great overarching lesson through the nuances of nature and grit. Mainly stories from Leonis, contain cowboys, adventurers, and war heros-with the wilderness as a backdrop.
- Leonisian Accents differ pertaining to which continent you are from. Those from the Western Continent would be comparable to our world's Australian, New Zealander, and Texan accents.
- The Western Leonisian is fond of a dish called Vindaloo, which usually involves a type of curry, to go with beef.
- A favoured rum from Leonis is Poor Richard's Rum. Not exactly the best in the world, but it is well liked by Leonisians
- Leonisians are adventurers, and as such you can usually find one anywhere in the colonies, or the Colonial Military
- The Leonisian Pyramid team are known as the Lions and have a good rivalry shared with the Aerelon Archers.
Homer - Resistance Fighter
Lieutenant JG Drarelle Leodis - Former Marine S2, Killed
Lieutenant JG Indigo Mars - Viper Pilot
Lieutenant JG Kisseus Matto - Raptor Pilot
- Kissy ran away to Leonis with his boyfriend at a young age; Leonis has a reputation for fostering love of all flavors and varieties, though this is especially true in the cities, and some of the more rural regions may be less open to controversial arrangements. In Thalattra and Columella, however, 'anything goes' is more or less the mantra.
- The temple of Aphrodite at Columella was the largest temple of Aphrodite in the colonies. It attracted many millions of pilgrims every year, and had the wealthiest coffers of any religious precinct by miles. The temple compound was huge, built on a massive acropolis, all marble and gold. The priestesses of the temple (colloquially known as 'fillies') were renowned for their beauty and skill in attending to Aphrodite's rites. Once a year at the spring festival the mysteries would be opened up to anyone wanting to be indoctrinated in them. Most citizens of Thalattra and Columella eventually end up learning the Mysteries of the Goddess.
- The temple was also well-known for putting on lavish public games, spectacles, and festivals, and Columella was famous especially for its bullfighting.
- The people of the northern half of the southern continent, of which Thalattra and Columella are the capital cities, are often called Leontinian rather than Leonisian. Same goes for the Leontinian accent, which falls in the range between that of the Northern-Midwestern United States and Canada.
- The Clanlands tribes have a rich mythos including the existance of many sorts of fae. One type of fae are humanoid creatures known as goblins, who take after elements of the natural landscape. Tribal Sky-Goblins are a rich blue in hue, and are the noble knights of the goblin kin. Aristaeus, Kisseus' chivalry-driven alter ego, is modeled after the tribal Sky-Goblin of the Clanlands mythos. In that guise Kisseus used to perform fire-dances after the model of some ritual dances performed among the tribes for the sake of the tourists coming to the Twin Cities and wanting a taste of tribal culture without going all the way out to the actual Clanlands.
Private Juliette Ozymandias - Marine, Machine Gunner
- Leonisian Blues is a well-established subset of Blues music throughout the Colonies. Played in bars and dives across the planet, it's especially prevalent on the southern continent (perhaps due to the Twin Cities being there).
- Cultural tenets are Strength, Freedom and Self-Sacrifice.
- Despite being backwoods, they aren't backwards (with several notable exceptions, one being Jules' relations in Zemba Forest on the Northern Continent). Laconia City has a modern hospital and it's residents avail themselves of it frequently.
- Worship of Artemis is BIG in the rural areas of Leonis. As a consequence, so is hunting. The Leonisian who doesn't own a hunting rifle is probably one of the minority (also probably lives in one of the big cities).
- Marriage is almost always about love. Arranged marriages are nigh unheard of on Leonis.
- Leonisians are known for their martial prowess and a great many of them serve in the Colonial Military.
