Jupiter

Jupiter, the fifth planet in the Sol System, is one of Humanity's most prized possessions. Initially colonised by corporations from Earth, it became the focus of many nations during the Jovian Riots in the mid 22nd century, which ended in the establishment of an independent Europa, bound tightly to the ISEO, and the collapse of MegaCorps previously considered 'too powerful to fall'.

Power is concentrated around the Galilean Moon of Europa, which has been the target of human exploration and colonisation since the 20th Century. It is here, under the ice, where the majority of Jovians reside. There are colonies on the other moons, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto, but none are as developed as the Europan settlements.

Control of Jupiter and its Moons is firmly in the hands of the ISEO, who, alongside their Earth nation supporters, brought down the Chen-Peterson Corporation, which until the 2160s, controlled the entire system in an iron grip.

Politics

Jupiter is largely left to its own devices, with local governments and cooperatives. So long as some of their resources are given to the ISEO, and providing these states follow both Common Space Law and the Sapient Rights Act, then the ISEO largely leaves them to themselves, something that benefits both parties.

The largest power bloc on Europa is the Europan Democratic League, which is supported by the majority of Europan settlements and peoples. There exists some corporate hardliners out in the most isolated of settlements, many of whom are the relics of the old corporate influence across the region.

Culture

The cultures of Jupiter and its moons are highly divergent to most Earther cultures. This can largely be traced back to the fact that as a Corporate colony, it attracted people from all parts of the Earth, who brought with them their traditions, which merged with their neighbors to create new ones.

One of the most important, and controversial things regarding Jovian culture is their wide acceptance of genemods. This stems back to the days of the Corporation, who in an attempt to 'cheap out' on radiation shielding needed to survive long-term in proximity to Jupiter, inadvertently exposed a large part of the population to unwanted genetic alteration, creating in many cases, undesirable alterations to their physical appearances. This, among many other scandals, brought down the Corporation, and placed these people in the care of the ISEO, who have spent a large portion of their budget on providing care and genetic treatment for those victims. This has paid off significantly, with the majority of people afflicted now living healthy, normal lives. With the process to revert genetic alterations being an extremely traumatic and dangerous process, most people have grown to accept their appearance, which has been reflected in a widespread tolerance for modifications and non-traditional appearances. As such, Jupiter attracts a large number of non-natives, who now live under the ice in a tolerant, respectful society.

Besides the Genemodders, there still exists a sizable 'average human' population, albeit adapted to life under the ocean, under the ice, and under constant threat of radiation. Thankfully, the ISEO doesn't cheap out on their shielding. By now, the new generation of Europans have grown up in a post-corporate world, and have embraced all that comes with it.

Geography

Jupiter itself is home to various gas harvesting facilities, dubbed scoopers. Most of these are autonomous, largely by remote control or by drone. There are a few trading posts, mining outposts, and other collections of colonies out on Jupiter's other moons, but the vast majority of the population live on only one, Europa.

Europa

Europa is an ocean world, submerged under hundreds of meters of ice. Over the years, more and more access tunnels have been constructed all over the surface, allowing for greater connection across the Paneuropan Ocean. There are many colonies under the ice, most of them built into the ice, staring down into the deep abyss below. Most travel is done by submersible, with personal travel effectively impossible beyond one's colony. This has fostered a sense of community among the colonies, with all of them effectively reliant on each other for resources. Thanks to this, and the Jovian Riots, there is a sense of community between Europans like no other.

The largest of these colonies is Minos, and this is considered both the capital of Europa, and of Jupiter itself. It is largely an urban settlement, home to bureaucrats and administrators that keep the economy running. As it is also the oldest settlement, Minos is uniquely positioned directly at the base of a major access shaft. As such, it has a tiered, torus shape.

Io

Io, better known as Hell by its inhabitants, is a truly awful world. There is no reason to ever put humans on its surface, except some ridiculous pursuit of profit that benefits nobody. So anyway, the Corporation put a bunch of humans on Io around 2132, aimed largely at accessing deep sulphur deposits underground. Like their counterparts on Europa, Ionians have embraced genemodding, largely out of necessity, and have since been best described as "Short, stocky, and either angry or drunk, probably both."

Ganymede

Ganymede is a world much like Europa. It has a liquid ocean, with a thick sheet of ice covering it. Ganymede is seen as the elder brother of Europa. Everyone forgot Ganymede existed, and now it smokes cigarettes and swears. The place has a reputation for being the "toughest place around", where folks go to have bar fights for fun, and chew nails, and tell tall sailor tales. This is a sort of self repeating cycle as people travel to Ganymede in search of cheap booze and easy fights.

Callisto

Callisto was the first world colonised when Humans first arrived around Jupiter. It is best shielded from the Jovian radiation belts, and was where the Corporation established their headquarters, from which the governed the rest of the moons. As such, this has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth regarding Callisto, to the point where nobody even bothered to clean up the mess following the Riots. There are all kinds of 'ruins' dotting the Callistan surface, mostly picked clean years ago, and now almost on the verge of becoming tourist traps. Come see the husk of a board room where a bunch of suits surrendered to the Espatier Corps. People from Callisto do not tell people that they are from Callisto.

History

The Jovian System was first colonised in the late 21st Century, not by any nation, but by the Chen-Peterson Corporation, commonly referred to simply as just The Corporation. Initially establishing their outpost on Callisto, they soon set to work on penetrating and charting the vast underwater Europan ocean. In 2096, work on the Europan Ice Drill began, with workers from all across the world joining the Corporation, promised a better life on Jupiter.

At first, this was actually true. The Corporation recognised the challenges of drilling through the ice and beginning work on a long term habitat. Workers were safe, and well paid, and such told all their friends and family about the prosperity on Europa. But as more people arrived, and the Europan colonies began expanding through the ocean, safety standards began to dramatically decrease. The Corporation's increasing influence on everyday life rendered them an inescapable fact. Jupiter was a corporation state, directly ruled by a board of directors and their shareholders. It was in many ways, the end result of the corporate system of the 21st century, and it was on collision course for disaster.

Beginning in the 2130s, the Corporation, eager to address the growing cost of radiation shielding, began investing in the growing field of genemodding to pursue alternate means of protecting their colonists. A mixture of ethical failures, the pursuit of money, and genuine accidents led to one thing. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, afflicted with unwanted genetic alterations. These people, believing it to be safe, were given supposed anti-radiation therapy, which often had severe cosmetic side effects. Almost immediately, word of this disaster got out, leading to numerous PR disasters, and a large scale civil revolt breaking out across Jupiter. Unable, or unwilling to back down, the Corporation began cracking down on protest, sparking the Jovian Riots.

Jovian Riots

The Jovian Riots took place between 2150 and 2160, starting with civil protests on Europa. In response, the Corporation began an all out war with their own colonists, which culminated in a joint operation between various nation states of Earth and the ISEO, who joined with the protestors to break the Corporation. After countless battles in Jovian orbit, the ISEO was successful in liberating Europa. Most of the Corporation's senior board were arrested, along with countless paramilitary soldiers. In a dramatic first, the entire megacorporation was disbanded, its assets seized by the ISEO and its power curtailed. Furthermore, when presented with evidence of the Corporation's crimes against humanity, it instigated species-wide reform on the nature of Corporations, and the power of MegaCorps. Most point to the Jovian Riots as the single reason behind the decline of Corporationism, and the subsequent demonopolizing of previously extremely powerful human corporations.

Modern Day

Following the subsequent collapse of the Corporation, the creation of the first civilian democratic governments took place, with the ISEO setting up a Jovian Headquarters on Europa, where it has focused largely on treating and reversing the effects of the Corporate Therapy. Modern Europans live happy, healthy lives, being proud supporters of the ISEO and their mission. With the Riots taking place over 40 years ago by now, the new post-corporate generation has taken their newfound freedoms and run wild with it. Optimism is the most popular drug on Europa, and boy are they feeling the euphoria.

OOC Notes

Biggest and most important note for players of Europan characters: You don't have to have genemods. You can be a normal person who lives under da sea. That's totally fine.

So, the main goal of the Corporation's genemodding fuckup is to give people an avenue to have weird and strange appearances in-game, without having to justify why someone would seek that out. You never asked for this? Well, good thing the ISEO was there to help reverse the most extreme health side effects and get you in good enough condition to work. Now it's time to return the favour by working for them, onboard the Endeavour!