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Welcome to Serenity MUSH.

This file is meant to help you, the player, understand what is going on in the 'Verse, both in the past and the present, as well as give you knowledge you will need to determine your character's place in it's future. Many opportunities exist for you within this new, yet ever-changing 'Verse.

This MUSH is dedicated to story development (POLICY RP FIRST). As such, the canon series provides a basis for the story, but does not restrict the scope of the story development. The story on this MUSH can (and *will*) go wherever the staff and players collectively determine is best for character development.

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UNIFICATION WAR

The War for Unification was the most devastating war in human history. All those who lived through it are marked, like a sear left behind by an old wound. Just that some happen to have big scars traced all ‘cross their faces while others have tiny ones hidden away. Outer planets, including Shadow, Persephone, and Hera formed their own — the Independent Faction (known as “Browncoats,” thanks to the brown dusters their soldiers took to wearing). The Parliament of the Alliance instituted a draft to build its forces. They were considerably astonished to learn that more than half of the Independent forces were composed of volunteers. The Alliance (known as the “Purple Bellies” for their style of dress) had the manpower, the ships, and technology to make the result of the war a forgone conclusion — but no one anticipated that freedom would be something so many folk would be willing to die to protect.

The War raged for just over five years; taking place on land, sea, and in the dark of space. The largest space battle in terms of scale and human cost was the Battle of Sturges, one in which countless ships were destroyed, creating a massive graveyard preserved in the vacuum of the black. The largest land battle, the one that brought about the end of the war, was fought on the planet Hera in Serenity Valley. This battle raged on for seven weeks before the Independent High Command surrendered. Even then, some of the Browncoats continued to fight on for two weeks after that. Those soldiers who continued to fight even after being ordered to lay down arms were captured and tried for war crimes. Ultimately, the Alliance released the soldiers and officers as a peaceful gesture to those outer planets now under its rule. Some look upon those who fought in the Battle of Serenity as criminals. Others see them as big, damn heroes. Since the battles were mostly fought on the Border and the Rim, the Core planets escaped unscathed. To this day, many outer planets still bear terrible scars. Shadow was effectively destroyed, and it remains uninhabitable seven years later. Major cities on Athens were bombed. Several key land battles were fought on Persephone. Moons that had no strategic value, such as Whitefall and Jiangyin, were untouched, but they still suffered as a result of the disruption of trade. Supplies had been hard to get as it was, and the war made it harder. Almost every person living on those planets saw their homes leveled, no wonder some folk are still bitter.

Here and Now, life in the year 2528

Life in the 'Verse has returned to normal — leastways on the surface. In truth, no one has forgotten and few have forgiven. The Alliance now has jurisdiction over every inhabited planet in the system. The Alliances does not fully control everything within its far-flung territory. In reality, the Alliance only has full control over the Core planets. On these worlds, the eyes of the Alliance are everywhere. Federal police can be called at a moment’s notice, and cameras record every citizen’s every move. The Core worlds have the best comforts that money can buy. ‘Course, every citizen pays for such security and comfort with more than a bit of his freedom.

The outer planets were meant to be kept under the same level of strict control, but the Alliance is short on manpower and ships. They just don’t have enough folk to keep a proper eye on things. Yes, it’s true that they hire security firms to help enforce their laws and maintain order. And they send their hulking patrol ships out into the black to remind everyone who is in charge. Still, the cracks in the system are large enough for folk to fly a Firefly through.

Take slavery; for example. Slavery is outlawed by the Alliance government, but it’s an open secret that terraforming companies, mine owners and the wealthy on the Rim regularly use slave labor in their operations, and pay big sums for human cargo. Every so often, the Alliance will bust one of these owners and free the slaves — always looks good on the nightly news. But then it’s back to business as usual. Same with indentured servants. That’s not legal, either, but most folk on the Border planets accept indentured servitude as a way of life, If you’re desperate for the credits and you got nothing to offer up as collateral except yourself, then that’s what you do. Dohn ma?

GOVERNMENTS

These days, there is only one central government in the ‘Verse. Leastways, that’s what the Alliance wants you to believe. It’s hard work to rule over whole star system of bazillions of people and hundreds of worlds, especially when so many of those worlds are so very far away from the Core. Some in the Alliance might be starting to wonder if maybe they bit off more protein than they can chew by trying to extend their control over the outer planets. Some might be thinking they made a mistake. If they do, they're keeping mighty quiet about it. These days, the Alliance is all about keeping things quiet. There are local governments on the Border and Rim planets. Cities have mayors. Planets have governors. Moons have magistrates. All these answer to the Alliance. At least, that’s the way it’s supposed to work. Local officials on the outer worlds tend to wield heaps more power then their counterparts on the Core, just because no one’s close enough by to tell them they can’t. The Independent Faction is gone, but that isn’t to say there are no more Independents.

Some are still fighting the war, though now they do it more by being an annoyance than a major threat. But over the last few years, some of these folk have left off fighting guerrilla actions and are now fighting on the political front. Be right interesting to see what happens when someone from the inside starts prying open secret doors. Then of course, there are the corporations. Large corporations control powerful lobbies that have considerable influence inside the government. Favors are traded and eyes stay blind and the wheels of commerce and politics keep turning. We’re going take a brief look at all this, just so you know where you stand.

Faith in The 'Verse

Despite (or maybe because of) man’s technological achievements, a majority of folk in the ‘Verse still follow the tenets of one religion or another to some degree. Buddhism—usually of the Mahayana tradition— is the dominant religion throughout the system, particularly on the Core planets. Christianity ranks second, with larger concentrations on the outer worlds, as Christians migrated away from the centers of Buddhism. Most Christians in the ‘Verse follow a Protestant tradition hailing back to Earth-That-Was. Catholicism still exists, though the exodus of long ago ended its original structure. One group of Christian missionaries, the Order of Shepherds, still follows the monastic tradition. These men and woman take vows of poverty and chastity similar to those of a priest or monk of old. They may live and work in an abbey or travel the Black.

See Also

• Timeline