Cosmid — Place Blog — Beyond the Spozak

History

When human explorers from Cosmid first reached Ovid in GSC 443, it was a barren rock, devoid of life with a thin atmosphere of methane and nitrogen deep in the Tartarus Sector. Cosmid managers decided that it would be an ideal place to test out new terraforming techniques, and perform experiments far away from the human core-worlds. Terraforming started almost immediately, and Cosmid settled a corporate colony there in GSC 480. Ovid was named for the Roman poet who authored the Metamorphoses, in anticipation of the radical changes that could be brought to the planet.

Being in such a remote corner of the galaxy caused Ovid to develop an insular culture, connected only to Cosmid, inc.

One of the largest experiments that dominated the colony was a study on the effects of gene-therapies and modifications on society. All manner of experiments were conducted, creating one of the more diverse populations of any planet in the galaxy. Since many of the experiments failed in one way or another, Cosmid also set up a fairly robust safety net for those unable to contribute to the bottom line (as it was cheaper than dealing with a rebelling population of high-powered mutants).

In GSC 1016, Cosmid (now a part of the Holy Empire of Man) officially abandoned its research colony on Ovid, so it could focus its resources on fighting the Great Reckoning. As a result, the colonists and test subjects abandoned on Ovid were left to find their own way. In GSC 1070, Ovid would become one of the first planets to join the Galactic Republic, after refugees from the Planetary League flooded the sector. The garden-world would be the breadbasket of the fledgling Galactic Republic.

Environment

As Ovid was terraformed, the land on the planet settled into four main continents. The eastern-most continent (known as Cronenberg) was the location of the capitol city (Biopolis).

All the life on Ovid was imported by Cosmid, or developed locally through that company's R+D efforts. Ovid was the first "Garden World", specially engineered to have a mild climate with a mix of ornamental and edible life without any apex predators.

Ovid orbited a stable orange dwarf star that rarely had significant solar-flare activity.

Ovid had three main moons, and several orbiting stations that were initially built to aid in terraforming.

Notable Ovidians

Sarnak the Immortal was accidentally created on Ovid.

Geography

Midori is a tropical planet. Its landmasses are largely covered in jungle and the seas are thick with algae, giving it an overall green appearance when seen from space. Volcanic mountain ranges wind through the interiors of most of Midori's eleven large landmasses. Midori has no polar ice caps, as even the poles are warm year round. Deserts are few and small, as Midori is a very wet world.

Biosphere

Midori has a complex biosphere, dominated on land by jungle biomes, with some mountainous regions and few deserts. There are large and fearsome apex predators, that will attack humans, biting and stinging insects, and a wide variety of diseases, many of which will occasionally cross species to infect humans. The sea is thick with algae, and contains a wide variety of fish-like species. Many of the lifeforms were either engineered or introduced by Cosmid during the colonial period.

History

Midori was discovered early in Era-1, (GSC 210 to be exact) by the famous explorer, Zoe Bonnard. Shortly after discovery, the planet was claimed by the Cosmid corporation, and used mainly for research. Later, in the year GSC 250, a group of settlers was brought in, under the pretense of establishing an agricultural colony. What Cosmid was actually doing; however, was conducting experiments in mind control on the colonists at the behest of certain elements within the Convergence, in exchange for access to genetic-manipulation technology. One of these experiments was the creation of the Church of God, a religion that would go on to become one of the founding institutions of the Holy Empire of Man.

Saint Valgar, an important figure in the spread of the Church of God was born on Midori in GSC: 842.

Midori attracted the hardiest, most fiercely independent colonists. This was due to the harsh jungle environment, but also played into Cosmid's plan to learn to control even the most independent minds. As time went by, however, the colonists turned on Cosmid. Many of them could tell they were being manipulated, and the members of the Church of God had ambitions of their own. Citing the casus belli of freedom of conscience, the people of Midori rebelled midway through Era-1.

The rebellion was short, but intense. It saw the founding of the infamous Midori Guard, an elite force of fighters hardened by life on Midori. When Cosmid responded by using deadly biological weapons that could lie dormant in the environment for years between outbreaks, the people of Midori founded the Legion of Fate. The Legion of Fate consisted of those struck by the biological attacks, who would rather die on their own terms, performing suicide missions to defeat Cosmid. At the end of the rebellion, the people of Midori established the Midori Republic.

The Midori Republic was one of the few states that would survive Era-2, and the Holy Empire of Man. During the Great Reckoning, several planets from the Planetary League voluntarily joined the Midori Republic, including Bonnard's World.

During the War of Galactic Unification, the rest of the Midori Republic voted to join the Galactic Republic, but Midori its self was one of the few planets that chose to remain independent.