Silversun

"The so-called activist Urepa Keona was, for once, correct when she said that Silversun's strength was its natural beauty. So we say to her, if you believe Silversun is beautiful, why do you so badly want to hide it from everyone else?" - Noel Blair, Idris Representative, recorded during a private investors' meeting, 2578

A glittering jewel of a world sitting on the edge of the known Orion Spur, Silversun is the darling of the tourism industry across the galaxy. While people may mostly perceive the planet as a lively island holiday destination, there are, as with all tourist destinations, real human beings living there, and these ones in particular are getting sick of their lives being sold as entertainment to the more fortunate.

Environment

The planet is 90% water by surface volume, with vast oceans that could barely be considered broken up. Can you consider the Pacific broken by the measly islands within it? This is a similar situation for Silversun, where the networks of archipelagos are made up entirely of islands that can be walked across in a day by anyone so much as determined to. The few islands that are larger than that make up some of the most important, allowing cities to overtake their landscapes. The majority of these islands exist around the equator, with only a handful of remote islands existing nearer to the poles. The result of this is that the weather is always temperate at worst, actively boiling towards the peak of their summers but never more than mildly unpleasant.

The oceans themselves are teeming with a combination of native and Earthen life, introduced during early colonisation to preserve endangered species. These oceans are relatively shallow, no deeper than earth’s Mediterranean or Red Sea, but more than make up for their shallowness with the amount life scattered across them.

History

The flag of Silversun

GF 2701 III was first found to be habitable in 2375, needing little to no terraforming or human influence. Following this, in 2392 the first humans began to arrive and colonise the planet, naming it Silversun for the white dwarf star it orbited so close to, being promised a future of homesteading on their own private islands. The reality was starkly different, with the majority of people only being able to afford to move into the main towns on the large islands with shuttle-ports. Over time, the private island fantasy died, and only the smallest of islands avoided becoming at least villages, if not towns, as human settlement spread outwards from the space-linked islands. Technological advancement was much slower than other parts of the Spur, not least since the majority of infrastructure needed to support such modern technology was too large for most islands, and instead many 20^th to 22^nd century technologies were re-pioneered to make this novel island lifestyle possible.

This unique lifestyle could not last unexploited in the corporate age, however, and in 2510 tourism went from a secondary industry to a primary industry with the simultaneous construction of over a dozen Idris run resort islands. Initially, this was extremely welcome, giving many of the surrounding islands subject to cruises more jobs and more money to spend, but over time the effects of the tourism began to show cracks. The fast paced nature of the tours, the erasure of Silversunner culture where it was inconvenient for the corporations and the flood of tourists moving into the island towns without a care for the people there all compounded into modern anti-tourism, with sea-plane pirates beginning to show up some time in the 2530s.

Tourism

Silversun has become inextricably linked to the tourism industry over the past century. While the planet has always relied to some extent on tourism to bring new money into the economy, tourism has taken on a life of its own within Silversun, one that many are starting to consider more parasitic than beneficial.

Before Idris, the majority of Silversun’s economy was agrarian and research focussed, primarily concerned with the vast oceans that covered the planet. As time has passed, the giant cruise ships run by Idris and other tourism companies have flooded these oceans with pollutants, meanwhile trawlers have nearly wiped out certain populations of fish attempting to meet the ravenous appetites of tourists.

As the planet becomes more and more characterised by the tourism industry, an identity crisis has begun to take hold within the very roots of its society. The appealing weather and the idyllic lifestyles have made the planet an incredibly attractive retirement location for the affluent and the over-enamoured of the Orion Spur, with retirees and forever-tourists moving into the cheap properties of the islands without any real care for the authentic cultures, instead looking to emulate their tourism experiences. With such an appetite for Silversun property, some companies have taken to speculating on island properties, to the point that some parts of the planet have more than half of their properties empty, rented out in tourism season at best, or just functionally abandoned at worst.

This tourism boom can be unequivocally linked to Idris and their mass-marketing the planet as the experience of a lifetime. In doing this, they have become the face of the enemy to many Silversunners, especially anti-tourist activists of both the legal and illegal stripes. Statistics show that Idris cruises are three times as likely to be attacked by sea-plane pirates per ship, and Idris personnel are treated far worse on capture. To try and combat this negative issue, not least the accusations of developing a functional monopoly of the planet’s tourism and tourism-adjacent industries, Idris has engaged in a large-scale media campaign. This media campaign has been compared to a propaganda campaign by some, with heavy evidence in favour of accusations of the statistics used by Idris broadcasts being skewed or even outright forged.

Anti-tourism is more than just an environmental and economic movement, however, also taking a large cultural concern. Many parts of Silversun culture are flanderised or otherwise perverted in order to make them more acceptable to the tourist audience, and with Idris’ campaign bordering on disinformation, some young people on Silversun are convinced that their culture has always been the way it is presented. This has horrified the older generation, not least the ones that remember the time before the tourism explosion.

Culture

Attitudes

Silversunners are possibly some of the happiest, healthiest people in the Orion Spur. There is much speculation on this, ranging from the way their towns are designed to their diets. One major tenet, however, is the philosophies that they live by. Good health and easy living are considered important parts of their lives, especially taking care of one’s body and mind. The term “your body is a temple” is almost an understatement, to a Silversunner the body and mind is more akin to a site of pilgrimage, and it must be kept pristine.

The most important tenet of this philosophy is manifest in how day-to-day life is tackled. You have over a hundred years to do everything you could ever want, so why rush all of it into your youth? Take life slowly, relax, and enjoy what you have already. This attitude can be seen as frustrating to some of the more ambitious youth, and is often the main reason for moving away from the planet, or moving to the few cities in hopes of a faster paced life.

A dyed-in-the-wool Silversunner will typically follow the idea that a considered, well though-out decision will lead to more happiness and benefit in life than a snap or impulse decision ever will, and to some extent if an opportunity requires immediate action, it likely will not benefit you so much as it may present itself.

Food

Unsurprisingly, considering the nature of the geography of Silversun, the majority of meals are in some way based upon seafood. A large amount of sea life has been imported from Earth, primarily formerly endangered species, and has adapted rather well to the Silversun ecosystem. Tuna thrive, and eels are considered a delicacy, while clams are often used to bulk out protein in a meal. The main leafy-green, however, is seaweed or kelp, and many a dish neglects to add salt from the included salty flavour of most ingredients. With such a variety of ingredients, it’s not uncommon for most Silversunners to resort to one pot cooking, making stews and roasts in a large melting pot and simmering over the day, before serving on hydroponically grown rice. The other popular cooking method is barbecue, with rooftops often being collective grounds for the entire building to enjoy a cookout together.

Sports

One of the primary hobbies of Silversunners, the planet could be considered sports mad. Whereas a normal person may only have one or two favourite sports, the average Silversunner keeps four or five favourite sports, often followed in a way that they can keep their entire year occupied following the professional leagues without break.

Of course, sports are not only to be witnessed, they are to be played, and Silversun is no exception. With limited space on every island, formal sports fields are unpopular, instead having holographic community centres designed to accommodate each and every sport. Where the space is too great, or the island too remote, the preference instead goes to more informal sports, particularly ball sports that require minimal equipment. In fact, many sports are adapted to be played in the narrow streets of Silversun towns, whether it be complex golf games involving getting the ball into open windows with as many bounces as possible, or bicycle races that route through steep staircases and over rooftops.

Silversun Football

None of these sports, however, can beat the popularity of the Beautiful Game that is played on every island, by every demographic, of all ages: Silversun Football, sometimes called Silversun Soccer. The game occupies children for hours at a time, and is played entirely within the narrow alleys that stitch the tapestry of Silversun towns. It is, down to its very core, soccer, but adapted to be played in the narrow streets and allowing limited use of one’s hands.

Preparing the field

A suitably long stretch of relatively straight corridor or alleyway should be marked out by laying a balled up jacket at either end of the play area. These balled up jackets, or in the event of a more formal game, lines of chalk; make up the goal lines. Once the field is prepared, the players should divide themselves up into teams, customarily three aside plus goal-keepers.

Play

The rules are similar to the kind of soccer you might have played as a child. Informal rules, no offside rule and no corner kicks. The main differences to the rules are as such:

• You can pick up the ball, but only for a maximum of three steps (tiles)
• You may kick the ball indefinitely
• There is no such thing as a foul tackle unless you hurt or risk dangerously hurting your opponent
• There is no “over” on a goal, as long as it crosses the line, it is a legal goal
• Games run as long as both sides agree it is worth continuing

It should be noted that all rules are informal, and the game is something of a Calvinball in that the rules often change between whoever is playing it.

Boating

Being a series of island archipelagos, Silversun has developed a rich boating culture to account for the lack of space on most islands for a shuttle-port. Instead, most islands are linked by a series of ferries, personal boats and, if the island is big enough to warrant it, a sea-plane terminal. In fact, most Silversunners don’t even own a car, the size of their islands being too small to even warrant anything more than small goods vehicles. In contrast, one of the most developed areas of most islands is the marina, where the majority of islanders will keep their boats when not in use.

Sea Plane Pirates

This reliance upon boating comes with its own issues, of course. Aside from reliance upon weather to travel, somewhat mitigated by modern technology, a more pressing issue comes, one that has become an iconic part of Silversun’s image: Sea-Plane Piracy. Taking advantage of tourist cruises and the general apathy of locals towards the safety of tourists, pirates will use lightly-weaponised sea-planes to take tourists ransom and steal valuables off of cargo ships in flash-raids.

These pirates are largely harmless to their victims aside from the emotional and financial distress, which has granted them a famous image of the “noble sea-plane pilot”. This image has been flanderised rather heavily, leading to some tourists even hoping to be attacked by these pirates for the “authentic” experience. It is not uncommon for cruises to be punctuated by dogfights between mercenaries paid by shipping companies and the pirates, and some cruises use them as the main attraction. Some pirates have gained such a reputation that they are comparable to the gunslingers of Old Earth’s Wild West.

Fashion

Silversunner fashion is sometimes considered an oxymoron by the larger Orion Spur. Much of their available style is either something that has been co-opted by elderly retirees or entirely impractical in cooler climates. Despite this, Silversunners rarely give a particular shit what anybody else thinks, and wear their distinctive fashions proudly.

On the topic of distinctive, one of the most iconic parts of Silversun culture is their elaborate beard and hair culture. While many cultures may have conventions around their beards as practical or religious concerns, Silversunners turn beards to true accessories. Beards will be trimmed, styled and permed into elaborate shapes and coloured patterns. Every island has at least two beard salons, regardless of size, and they pull double-duty as social gathering points, with many even having alcohol set aside for customers while they chat.

In regards to clothing, the climate dictates at least some manner of practicality. Short sleeved shirts and loose shorts make up the majority of a Silversunner’s wardrobe, typically in bright colours to match the murals that decorate their homes. While “Silversunner Shirts” are typically thought of as floral patterned short-sleeve button-ups, these are actually a manufacture of the tourism industry. Instead, light polo shirts and sports jerseys make up the average upper-wear, with cargo shorts preferred below for the storage. Speaking of tourist clothing, sandals are almost never worn, not least because they are not nearly as comfortable as the much more popular canvas slip-on boat shoe or modern trainer.

Architecture

Silversun has a particular image when thought of across the Spur. Iconic plastered exteriors and narrow streets that protect against the heat and the elements, with businesses and shops flanking either side while people live above stringing washing between one-another’s windows. What is often neglected from this image is some of the more human elements of these streets.

While tourists are encouraged to get lost amongst the businesses, spending their money and being pushed towards the sea-fronts that they so desire, the people of the towns seek solace in courtyards and divots underneath the rooftops. Space is used efficiently, as it has to be, leaving little room for trees or avenues. Instead, beauty is found in art, with great murals and bright colours adorning the white plaster walls to create an almost psychedelic experience for anybody that walks deeper into town. These murals are often local artists, encouraged to put their artistic pursuits towards beautifying their town, not least because graffiti is seen as a genuine art form on Silversun.