Perheim

Location	Allegiance	Starport	Climate	Atmosphere	Hydro %
(0.9, -0.07, 4.7)	Confederate	V	Cold	Standard	71%
Gravity	Diameter	Moons	Avg. Orbit R	Stars	Day Length
0.88	6,978	None	0.1	M5 V	23 h
Population	Government	CR	TL	Resources	Year Length
1.4 billion	Monarchy	4	11 / 12 (Biotech)	Abundant	28 d

Languages

Esparanto, Perheimer

Background

Perheim was colonized by a group of European Odinists (neo-pagans following the Germanic/Norse gods). Several independent settlements were founded upon planetfall. Over the course of a few hundred years, these colonies and various secondary splinter colonies spread out geographically. Once land and resources became scarce, these independent polities came into conflict.

After generations of small scale warfare over the course of centuries, one of the nations, Perheim, gained a dominant, stable position. Nonetheless, squabbling amongst the various nations and factions continued, often leading to wider, full scale war. Perheim became the mediator, backed by its overwhelmingly superior army.

The relative security afforded by their military allowed Perheim to allocate substantial resources to scientific pursuits, as well as intra-system colony expeditions and mining operations. This further increased its dominance over its neighbors. It was Perheim which opened trade with nearby star systems. Over the next century, as Perheim continued to flourish while enjoying the benefits of interstellar trade, the other nations and factions joined Perheim.

In the following two centuries, Perheim retained its military traditions, building a powerful navy. They expanded steadily until the Trade Wars. While their navy and marines were highly regarded, their diplomacy was not, and, in spite of some military victories, they lost several colonies during their initial expansion. This was called the “Great Disappointment.”

Prior to the trade wars, interstellar trade brought Perheim together with Tribeca and Colm in a trade alliance. There was (and is) tremendous synergy among the three cultures. As a result, their collective power and influence grew to rival that of the Kentori. This eventually spelled war, and, when the Kentori attacked Colm, Perheim did not hesitate to come to their defense.

As a people, Perheimers are romantics. They naturally romanticize warfare, exploration, physical exploits, and the like, but it is their love of romantic relationships, however, which is most apparent to offworlders. Their love lives tend to be ongoing melodramas, often involving multiple lovers, in pursuit of the ever elusive “true” love. An offworlder pursued by a Perheimer will be courted in style, including gifts, poetry, romantic adventures, and anything else they can imagine.

Perheimers can be extremely emotional. While they prize self-control, few are fully able to constrain themselves and they often wear their emotions on their sleeves. This can make them seem like hotheads or emotional children to offworlders. Socially, they keep this in check by adhering to a myriad of codes of honor. They are also fiercely loyal, and take betrayal as the gravest of offenses.

Unsurprisingly, Perheimers are very over-represented in the Confederate military. The Confederacy’s elite unit – the Perheim Raiders – was originally an all Perheimer unit and was reluctant to admit non-Perheimers to its ranks upon its integration into the Confederate military. It’s not uncommon to find them in mercenary units or security forces throughout the sector. In spite of their reputation for martial excellence, Perheimers can be found in just about any occupation offworld.

The rhythm of life on Perheim is governed by the feasts of their pagan religion. On feast days, which are fairly common (1 - 3 each month), commercial life is halted as everyone joins in to celebrate, usually with elaborate meals, drink, sports and games, and song. This is a part of their religious rituals, which are integrated with the feasts.

Perheimers have a keen interest in sports. Team sports generally have a strong strategic or tactical component, and are usually quite physical. Their favorite individual sport is Roman Revival Gladiators, which is brutal and occasionally ends in death. Dueling is also legal, and sport versions are often spectator sports; legal duels may also be made widely available according to the wishes of the duelists.

As a people, they are less interested in virtual entertainment than most, be it VR games, holovids, etc., preferring literature and the performing arts, at which they excel. Their literature and theater tend to include strong romantic elements, but it ranges across a wide variety of genres. Their art is surprisingly inventive, using numerous media to convey complex ideas. Music is an art practiced by most, with song being almost universal.

Perheim culture also prizes intellect. A clever, but physically frail specimen, is every bit as respected as a great warrior. The value of intellect has resulted in a tremendous interest in scientific discovery, particularly in the realm of biology and genetic engineering. It has also led to highly competitive game leagues which focus on one or more board games. The most popular is the Global Chess League.

Perheim nightlife highlights their love of dance, the performing arts in general, and drink. They have numerous venues for concerts, theatrical performance, and dance halls. Their nightclubs often combine these elements making for a unique experience for offworlders. Another common component of nightlife are the drinking halls (usually called alehalls, alehouses, and feast-halls), which generally serve simple food with ale, wine, or mead. Something explicitly called a “drinking hall” serves alcohol only, expecting patrons to bring their own food. Drinking songs, impromtu individual performances, duels of spontaneous poetry or songs, and the occasional fight are the entertainments in such establishments.

Port of Perheim (Class V)

Perheim’s high port is a hub of activity. It houses the primary naval shipyard for the Confederacy and is the base for the 1st Fleet and the 1st Reserve Fleet. A military ship graveyard sits at Lagrange point L2, and a non-military graveyard at L1.

The high port itself is always in a state of flux, with new stations replacing old, and older stations being refit. Nonetheless, it is an extremely busy port, second only to Colm in the sector. In addition to the shipyards and bases, the corporate headquarters of Amalgamated Biotronics (AmBio), is on Perheim. It maintains private Class IV orbital port facilities.

The downport, Perheim Downport, has 3 locations situated strategically on the Perheim. Each is large enough to fulfill any expectation of what a Class V downport should look like. They are known as Trydyn Downport, Perheim Downport, and Broadridge Downport, respectively.

The startown around Perheim Downport lies within 100 miles of the capital. Once a rival to Trydyn Downport as Perheim’s primary downport, the war laid waste to the port and much of its surrounding infrastructure. As a result, it is comparatively small, catering almost exclusively to the starport’s immediate needs. Maglev trains can take visitors to Perheim City in less than 30 minutes, so most spacers choose to go to the city rather than remain in the startown.

Trydyn Downport is in the center of Perheim’s most important industrial complexes. The startown is more of a district of the Trydyn Megaplex than a city in its own right. Tyrden Megaplex is “blue collar” insofar as most of its employed residents work in the manufacturing sector. Tyrden Megaplex also houses a significant amount of AmBio’s Perheim based manufacturing facilities.

Broadridge Downport is in the middle of nowhere, though it serves several cities within a 500 mile radius. The startown that surrounds it, Broadridge View, is almost a tourist destination in its own right, with all of the activities Perheim is famous for within easy reach. The most popular attraction is the gladiatorial arena, which many find both compelling and repulsive all at once. Many spacers will take their vacations here during ship maintenance and refits.

Government

Perheim is ruled by a constitutional monarchy. The monarchy itself is matrilineal. Perheim City is the holding of the queen, who is called “Queen of the Perinn”, or the “Perinn.” The ruling Perinn has been in power for 3 centuries.

Officially, Perheim is made of three classes: jarls, the hereditary nobility; carls, the common citizens of Perheim; and the thralls, an underclass that was once comprised of slaves. The jarls exercise executive powers roughly equivalent to a governor or mayor (depending on the size of their holding), as well as local judiciary power. They are held in check by a the local council, which is responsible for making laws. Jarls have taxing authority within their holding, and are legally permitted to employ their own military units in accordance with the size of their holding. Roughly ⅓ of the planet is held directly by the jarls, the rest being controlled by carls.

The carls are free citizens with full rights and privileges. In places not ruled by jarls, carls hold political offices at all levels. The vast majority of the population are carls. Thralls in modern use are AIs, bioroids, or other manufactured beings, as well as indentured servants. For SAIs as well as anything otherwise deemed to have the spark of life, thralldom is temporary, designed to profit from the cost of creation. Carls may sell themselves into thralldom, or be put there as a criminal or civil penalty.

Parliament consists of two houses: the Commons (Carlstand) and the Lords (Jarlsprach). The Lords is the senior house, able to exercise veto power over laws enacted by the Commons. The Commons is comprised of carls elected democratically. They write laws, exercise ministerial authority with the consent of the Perinn, and their Prime Minister is the head of government.

Judiciary authority comes exclusively from the jarls, the Perinn first among them. Lawspeakers (lawyers) argue cases before the jarls or their appointed magistrates. Generally an audience of ostensibly disinterested people are gathered to hear the arguments. This can become quite rambunctious, and often influences the decision of the judge. Nonetheless, the judge is the final arbiter of the case. Cases can be appealed to the court of the Perinn, which may or may not choose to intervene. Although it may seem arbitrary, most offworld observers are satisfied that the system is just.

 Civil disputes are generally settled financially, up to and including thralldom. They may legally be settled by a duel, should both parties choose. Criminal penalties include thralldom, mind control implants, and psychological reconditioning (which many consider a form of execution).

The Perinn is the head of state. She has the power to dissolve one or both houses of parliament, and can be voted emergency powers by the Lords in times of crisis. Her judicial power allows her to appoint judges and even act as the final judge herself, in concert with 2 jarls appointed by the Lords.

Colonies

Perheim has numerous colonies, and has fully developed its system, effectively doubling its population. PerCol, as it is know, is the agency which administers the colonies. Currently, the status of these colonies within the Confederacy is undecided; whether they will be admitted as protectorates, territories, colonies of the Confederacy, or simply remain in the hands of their mother system is a matter of intense debate.

Religion

Perheim continues to follow its pagan Odinist ways. For many, it is merely a civic religion, essentially a part of the culture with religious overtones. For most, it is their religion. Within its lore, there are tales of mystics capable of working “magic of the gods”, but most tales can be explained by psionics.

While Perheim has a state religion, there is freedom or religion. The most significant religions aside from Odinistic paganism are other forms of paganism, Christianity (mostly a Lutheran-derived sect), and Buddhism (mostly Stellar Buddhism, which is a variant of Zen Buddhism).

Perheim Baseline Genetic Template

Perheimers have tinkered with their genetics almost since making planetfall. Perheim is a light world, but they have made musculoskeletal modifications to enhance their strength above that of baseline humans. They have made cardiovascular modifications to increase their health, glandular modifications to reduce their pain response and increase their ability to adjust to differing gravities, and sleep state modifications to improve the quality of their sleep, among other minor tweaks. Their genome is stable, and they are able to interbreed with most members of the baseline human family.

Perheimers fit the Nordic mold, tending to be tall and well muscled with fair skin. Their typical hair colors are blond, red, and a pale-blue white. They have blue or green eyes.

Perheim Racial Template [38]

Attribute Modifiers: ST+1 [10], Per+1 [5]. HT+1[10].

Advantages: Deep Sleeper [1], Fit [5], High Pain Threshold [10], Improved G Tolerance (0.3G) [5], Rapid Healing [5].

Disadvantages: Lecherous (15 or less: obsessed with romance) [-7], Odious Racial Habit (Emotional) [-5]

Features: Taboo Traits (Genetic Defects)