  
Ra E68659A-6

          Size: Medium  D=9600km                Atmosphere: Dense
          Hydrographics: 60%                    Population: 200,000
          Government: Impersonal Bureaucracy    Law Level: High
          Tech Level: 6 (Circa 1950)            Star port: Frontier
      

Geography:
    Port Adrian is the world's capital and is located at the south end of
the Straits of Rickett, an 800km gap between the south coast of Seabridge
Peninsula and North Bannon Continent. (30 deg above equator, temperate
year round) Seabridge Peninsula is 5000km from north to south. The other
major continent is named Bannon and is 16,000 km from pole to pole.  

History:
	Before the Rebellion, Herring was owned by Cirrino Stronglia.  He
ran a back to nature, survivalist training center.  For employees, he
hired members of his family, figuring that he could trust them, and that
they would more loyal than strangers.  About fifty family members came to 
help. They started bringing in small groups of off worlders to train in 
survival skills, including small arms training, wilderness survival,
hunting, and fishing. The family didn't have enough resources or manpower
to be self sufficient, almost all raw materials were shipped in from off
world.  They were able to grow a fair amount of food in a large garden,
but still shipped in some foodstuffs. 
	During the Rebellion, the family saw an upswing in business, but 
towards the onset of the Hard Times, business began to dry up. The family
began to worry about their survival, and to supplement their income, they
allowed several starmerc groups to base themselves on the planet.  The 
starmercs started constructing a small primitive landing field for their 
ships. This still serves as the planet's only starport. It is at the
southern end of the Port Adrian helioport.  It During the last stages of
Hard Times, refugees started to land on the planet, at first it was a 
trickle, when Virus struck it became a flood, as over three quarters of a 
million people landed on the planet. The Stronglia family at first
resisted letting the refugees land on the planet, but many were coming in
ships that were failing and had no where else to go.  Unscrupulous
merchants would land in the far reaches of the planet, and disgorge their
hordes.  Others would  promise only to refuel, but then release hundreds
if not thousands of refugees.  
	The family debated on what to do, some members suggested hiring the 
starmercs to wipe out refugees or shoot down any incoming ships, but
calmer minds prevailed.  The family decided to hire the starmercs as a
security force, and to settle the refugees across the planet. This would
allow them to start to grow their own food, and lessen their impact on
any one area.  They also hired a company from Keipes to manage the
refugees. The company was payed off with the starport concession and short
term mineral rights on the system's far planets. These showed some promise
of being profitable for the production of radioactives.  The company was
given  wide latitude and told to do whatever it took to save as many of
the refugees as possible.  The most immediate problem was that there was
no food for the thousands of refugees.  In the first year, over 400,000 of
them starved to death.  In the second year, another two hundred thousand
starved. In the the third year, enough farmland was under use that the
surviving population of 150,000 was able to survive.
	Virus missed the planet on its first sweep through the sector, but 
several months later, a Vampire fleet jumped into the system. The
starmercs tried to fight them off, but were defeated.  After the Vampires 
had infected the surviving starmerc ships, they ignored the planet and 
jumped out of the system.  
	In 1140, pretty much everyone had finally conceded that the rest of
the universe was either dead or so badly destroyed that they weren't
coming	back to Herring any time soon.  The Stronglia family decided to
create a formal government, and to turn the surviving starmercs into a
permanent army. The family drew up a constitution and presented it to the
refugees.  The refugees were able to comment on the document, but only a
few minor wordings were changed. 
     The constitution set up the present system of government. It also set
up a legal system.  Accused citizens do not have many civil rights; they
have no right to consul, no right against self incrimination, no right to
bond, and are considered guilty until proven innocent.  The accused are
often physically interrogated.  The rules of evidence are also rather lax.
Trials are held before a panel of three judges, who question the
prosecutor and any witnesses that the defense or prosecution may have
brought forth.  The guilty are sentenced to long prison sentences, where
they are forced to do manual labor.  The death penalty is almost never
applied, which is unusual for a world with such a high law level. It is
only applied to the most heinous murders. This legal system doesn't apply
to members of the Stronglia family.  They can only be charged with capital
crimes, and a panel of family members judges the cases.  The death penalty
is never applied to a Stronglia.
      The bureaus and the Stronglias set up 13 different communities. From
ten to twenty thousand people live in each community.  Originally each
community tended to be made up of people from one planet, but in the
seventy years there has been some mixing.  The towns are connected by a
small two lane highway.  Each town has unlimited use of the surrounding
2500 square kilometers.  If they want to make use of any land beyond this,
they must petition the Stronglia family.  The towns do trade among
themselves, each  town has an agricultural specialty.  Sendegon makes
excellent dewmelon wine. While Leftbridge makes sugar and candy from the
sap of the carbi vine. Port Adrian catches dozens of different varieties
of seafood. 
     The towns have a  center which is composed of the original buildings,
that were built to house the refugees.  These were hastily constructed and
are falling apart.  The Bureaus are starting a new program tearing these
down and turning the land into public parks.  Most residents live in small
single family houses. Each house has a small yard.  There is a sense of
community and most residents know most of their neighbors personally.

Stronglia Family
    There are currently some 250 members of the Stronglia family, they all
use the family name as their surname.  Members of the family are usually
addressed with the honorific Kel for male members of the family or Kela
for female members. Most of the family lives on the family estates several
hundred kilometers north of Port Adrian.  The family estates are very
modest, they centered around the 80 year old main house.  This house was
built by Cirrino Stronglia, and has been in use since then.  The
Stronglias make a living by running a trading corporation which trades
between the different cities.  It is the largest such company, the
Stronglias make a point of not using their power to help the company. It
really doesn't need the help, it was the first trading company established
and has built up an insurmountable lead on the competition.  The
Stronglias also receive a small amount of money from the thirteen
communities, as a rent for being allowed to live on the planet.  This tax
amounts to about 2% of the gross domestic product. 
    The Stronglia family is run by a council of all members of the family
over 60 years old.  The younger Stronglias have always complained about
this, feeling that they were shut out.  To help alleviate these feelings,
in  1197, the family allowed the younger members to appoint one of their
own to join the council.  They choose Kela Doreen Stronglia, a 31 year old 
who was filled with visions of the changes he could make, once getting in
a position of power.  So far he has been extremly bored with the council, 
because they really don't do all that much.  It is only in a time of
crisis that they are called on to act, otherwise the members tell dirty
jokes, play canasta and finish off the meeting with a good meal.  The
council meets about once a month. 
     The family has access to a fair bit of relic technology.  They have
several hundred small arms, mostly Imperial gauss weaponry. Two grav 
speeders have been kept operational, are are used in emergencies.  They
also have many miscellaneous consumer items, such as sonic massagers,
holovid games, microwave ovens, gravometric exercise equipment, and
an automed. 

Government
	Each of the thirteen communities sends representatives to the
Planetary Assembly.  An assemblyman is awarded for each 2100 residents.
This number fluctuates, so that at anyone time, there are only 200
assemblymen.  The assemblymen are popularly elected by the towns.
Assemblymen serve a three year term, and can serve an unlimited number of
terms. The assemblymen select one of their number to be the world's
representative to the Reformation Coalition's Assembly of World.  The
Stronglia Family selects one of the Assemblymen to be Planetary Governor.
The current governor is Manjit Bryce, who has served four consecutive
terms as governor. The  Planetary Assembly can vote to remove the governor
from office with a 90% majority of the Assembly.  The Stronglias must then
select a new governor.  So far, this has never happened.  
	The Stronglia family also selects one of their own members to be the 
Chairman of the Assembly.  The Chairman has a veto over all declarations
that the Assembly makes.  No means are provided to override this veto.
The Chairman also has the ability to dissolve the Assembly and call for
new
elections.  So far this has only happened once, when 37 of the assembly-
members were arrested on corruption charges. 
	The Assembly does not have a great deal of power.  It is able to pass
non-binding resolutions on any topic. It also has the ability to pass 
suggestions to the bureaucracy and the military.  All resolutions must be 
passed by a 75% majority.  In general the Assembly is a place for the 
people's representatives to talk about problems and discuss possible
solutions. These solutions are sometimes listened to, but often ignored.
	The real power in the government is the bureaucracy.  The Bureaus as
as they are called, were set up during the Hard Times that followed the 
Rebellion. The Bureaus are concerned with the welfare and well being of 
populace, but they assume that they know what is best for the populace. 
With dozens of different cultures being represented on the planet, someone
is always grousing and complaining.  The Bureaus are in charge of pretty
much everything except for religion.  The Bureaus run the schools, but
tend to stay away from the teaching of moral values, and the like, leaving
that to the parents and religious figures.  
    To many outsiders Ra seems a repressive planet, with a government that
ignores the will of the people.  Several groups from other planets in the
Coalition have tried to launch a democracy movement. The most visable of
these has been the efforts by the Blue & White party from Aurora.
So far these efforts have not borne fruit. One reason is that the 
government does not appreciate outsiders involving themselves with 
internal politics, the other is that the residents do not see democracy
as the ideal model of government.  They realize that Ra is not perfect, 
but it is better than what mob rule would turn it into.  Ra is firmly 
a member of the Federalist bloc, believing that each world is an isolated 
case, shaped by circumstances unique to the planet. Each world should be
allowed to determine the form of government and social structure that 
suits it best.  Kel Lucas Stronglia, the Assemblyman from Ra often 
critises other more interventionist Federalists, who want to interfere
in the internal affairs of other planets.

Seabridge Nest
	A nest of 500 hivers has settled on Ra.  They settled on Seabridge 
Peninsula, and have taken this as the name of their nest.  The nest is 
primarily interested in sharing agricultural expertise with the Coalition.
They have stated genetically engineering plant species for some of the
harsher planets in the RC, such as Phoebus.  The government of Ra, has
established a reserve around the nest to protect the Hiver larvae from 
human interference.  Penalties for broaching the enclave are fairly
severe. The nest is protected by the Company A of the 515th Ra Military
Police. The hivers have seeded the area with predators from the hiver
homeworld in order to keep the larvae population in check.  M. Dina is the
head of the project. 
	The nest was founded in VIII/1200. In exchange for the use of the
land, the hivers have given the Stronglia family a sizable cargo of high
tech industrial goods. The Stronglia family sold these, to purchase two
TL-12 System Defense Boats from Aubaine. These have subsequently been
named Asp One and Asp Two.  They also purchased a pair of weather
satellites to provide weather forecasts.  The hivers also supply a handful
of technical advisors to assist in helping the residents of Ra increase
their tech level. In early 1202 the nest was attacked with a biological
weapon of Solomani origin.  The renegade Dawn League scout, Vega Norn is
suspected in the attack. She is also suspected in the firing of a nuclear
warhead at the surface.  The target was an uninhabited island in the
north. No casualties were reported, but a RCES crew was in the area.
Several hundred of the hivers died from the biological weapon which is
believed to be Folgorex II.  This has severely handicapped their work, and
it is unknown when and if they will be able to resume their work.
	The nest is supplied with state of the art hiver technology.  This
includes many expert system robots.  Thus ironically, a low tech world
like Ra, is one of the few places in the RC where you can find large
numbers of high tech robots.   The nest also has a state of the art
passive electromagnetic sensor array in orbit.

Society
     Since the refugees were from so many different worlds, they brought
different customs, religions and tastes to their adopted world.  This
heritage is still present on Ra.  Ra has dozens of different holidays,
festivals and other ceremonies, that a fraction of the population follows.
The blending of culture has given Ra a very exotic air, as dozens of
cultures merge into something unique.
      The L'Steich refugees still celebrate the Feast of St Vladimir, a
four day festival celebrating the salvation of the early colony on
L'Steich. The colony experienced a horrible first growing season, and mass
starvation was imminent, when Vladimir Lukin arrived in system. His free
trader had malfunctioned and he needed some spare parts to fix his jump
drive.  Luckily he was shipping luxury food items to Terra. He saw the 
desperate straits the colonists were in, and donated his entire cargo 
to the colony.  The Colonists celebrated with a great feast.  From then
on their fortunes looked much brighter.  To this day, the feast is
held on the 10th through the 14th of the ninth month of the year. It is 
celebrated with parades and feasts where the whole neighborhood joins in.
Of course historical events don't resemble the myth of St Vladimir,
but when did that stop a good holiday.
      The residents of Blackstone celebrate the Night of a Thousand Faces,
where the entire community dresses up in fanciful costumes and engage in
a wild party.  During this night, almost all social restrictions are
relaxed and the people let themselves go wild.  Different groups in the
city put on block parties, and residents go from party to party, partaking
of alcohol, narcotics, hallucigens and other drugs.  Many people engage in
sexual behavior that they normally wouldn't dare do.  In the last few
years, the festival has attracted alot of attention from the other
communities on the planet. Many residents of other cities have started to
come to partaking in the festivities. While other more conservative
residents, particularly the community of Greenwillow have condemn the
festival as a hedonistic ritual that should be eliminated before it
contaminates further generations.
     While Port Adrian is the capital of the planet, it is primarily
populated with refugees from the asteroid world of Kruyter. One of their
holidays is Equality Day. Mona Biel was a vocal supporter of minority and
women's rights.  In 432 the corporate dictatorship which ruled Kruyter at
that time executed her for her anti-government rhetoric.  The populace was
outraged and rose up and overthrew the government.  Ever since the date of
her death has been a national holiday.  Most people celebrate the holiday
by taking the day off, and spending time with their family.  There are
also lectures by prominent thinkers of the day. They give speeches on the
status of to equality in the world today.
     The Corrigian residents of Sendegon and Le'Fleiago celebrate the 
end of a deadly plague on the Festival of the Blessed Lady.  In -1500
a plague was ravaging the city of Belcoh. A mysterious woman appeared
and went through the populace healing the sick and raising the dead.
By dawn she had vanished, never to be heard of again.  A religion sprang
up around her.  On the day of the festival, the believers go to church
and pray.  On the day of the festival, the believers light their homes
with white candles.  On Corrig there was a large shrine dedicated to the
Lady. It purports to have holy relics that were actually touched by the
Lady herself.  Many in the community want to bring the shrine to Ra. They
are trying to organize a mission to do so.  They  have gotten permission
from the Stronglias and the Assembly of Worlds. They are currently trying
to raise funds.
      The residents of Kelogogianolk celebrate Holy Rites every 15
standard months.  The Rites is a week of parties and wild abandon,
followed by three days of contrition. This contrition usually involves
fasting, praying and physical castigation.  The Rites are supposed to
balance the soul, by purging the soul of urges that people are filled
with.  Most other residents of Ra, think the holiday is rather bizarre.
     The cities of Greenwillow and Hazardville celebrate one of the more
fun holidays, Minlidno Day.  Minlidno was the planetary symbol of Bestor.
She was a Keltara.  Keltara are a species of large arboreal animal native
to Bestor.  They are very gentle animals, eating fruits and leaves.  
Almost all humans find them extremly cute and adorable. They are covered 
with a beautiful golden fur, with large brown spots.  Keltara live for
several hundred years.  Minlidno was a orphaned as a cub, when a forest
fire killed her mother and father, and destroyed her habitat.  She was
found by a firefighter and brought to the local zoo.  Keltara hardly ever
survive in captivity, but Minlidno not only survived, but thrived.  She
was extremly friendly towards humans. Soon the entire planet had fallen
in love with her.  Minlidno died of old age, the year before the Collapse.
On the date of her death, people dress up and celebrate her life. They
either dress up in full Keltara costumes, or just wear something with
a Keltara fur pattern on it.  There is also a giant parade down the main
street in each of the cities.  There are floats, giant inflated balloons,
holographic displays, clowns and marching bands.  It is a very fun
holiday.
     The Red Tide Fete celebrates the start of the fishing season on
Welch. It is celebrated every 7 standard months. (A year on Welch.)
Originally it was celebrated with a large feast and story telling by the
elders of the community. The holiday is slowly dying, the current
generations have not ever seen Welch, and don't understand the
significance of the holiday. They are treating it as an excuse to take the
day off.  
     Bolo Ball is the obsession of anyone descended from refugees from 
L'Steich. On Ra, the game is purely amateur, on Balder the game has
professional teams. Fans on Ra, feel that Baldur has corrupted the purity
of the game. Fans on Baldur don't really care what the fans on Ra feel,
they just want to watch a good game.  On Ra, almost a third of the
L'Steich population plays in a league. On opening day, the teams parade
around town, boasting of what they will do in the upcoming season.  They
also talk to the fans, teach a few tricks to the youngsters.  Most people
have a picnic dinner.  The night ends with a fireworks display.
     The one holiday that is celebrated world wide is Remembrance Day.
This day is dedicated to remembering those who died in the Collapse.  It
is a very solemn holiday.  Everyone has the day off, except for emergency 
personal.  Many churches hold special services to pray for the dead.  
The Governor gives a speech, and lays a wreath at the Remembrance Obilisk,
located in Port Adrian. The Obilisk is a obelisk of black obsidian sited
on a disk of white marble.  The obelisk is 200 meters tall, and the disk
is 500 meters in radius.  Many people lay flowers at the base of the 
Obilisk.  Remembrance Day is celebrated on the last day of the sixth
month of the standard calendar.  
	 The Sarids of Bolton tell stories of the immense wealth that their
ancestors left behind on the homeworld.  A group of them has tried to get 
the Assembly of Worlds to grant them a deed to the planet, so as to
prevent  anyone else from recovering the treasures.  They are also trying
to raise capital to finance a recovery mission.  They are a rather poor
community  and have so far been unable to launch a mission. 
     The cuisine of Ra, is also quite varied.  Food in the communities 
with refugees from L'Steich, tends to be most vegetarian. There was very
little room on L'Steich for raising animals, so the people mostly ate
vegetables.  They came up with hundreds of ways to serve vegetables, and
to make them succulent and savory.  Now that they have access to more
meat, the chefs still make vegetables their specialty, using meat as an
accent.
     Kelogogianolk food is extremly hot and spicy. They brought several 
spice plants from Reagan, and they have found a few more on Ra.  Most 
other Ra residents won't even touch the stuff, except for a few hardy
souls with cast iron stomachs. 
      
Communities                           Original Planet(s) 
Greenwillow                            Bestor
Le'Fleiago                             Corrig/L'Steich
Harrington                             Dono (Enkidu)
Karachiko                              L'Steich
La Sienda                              L'Steich
Kelogogianolk                          Reagan
Blackstone                             Welch
Hazardville                            Bestor
Bolton                                 Sarid/L'Steich
Crackton                               Dono (Enkidu)
Sendegon                               Corrig/Junak
Leftbridge                             Dono/Heppling (Enkidu/Baldur)
Port Adrian                            Kruyter

References: Death of Wisdom
            Path of Tears
            
by 
Lewis Roberts  (lewis@chara.gsu.edu, www.chara.gsu.edu/~lewis/roberts.html)
John Muir Macphearson
Paul Walker
Rich Ostero
