Pluto

We are so lucky to live in such enlightened times. Pluto is ascendant in its culture and economy, and the other worlds of the Solar System – if not the galaxy itself – gaze upon us with envy and jealousy. And we know these can make someone delusional; the galaxy might insist Pluto is just an insignificant dwarf planet, wasn’t even a real planet until not-too-long ago, and that its claim to speak for the Kuiper belt are patently on-its-face false – but these observations stem from someone so blinded by Pluto’s splendor that they don’t know any better. So it’s our job to show them the error of their ways. Our detractors are best defeated by never letting them see us lose our dignity – so we’ll keep our chins up, our shirts tucked in, and go show those Jupiter-loving terrestrials what Pluto is made of!

A member of the United Nations Interstellar Protectorate, Pluto is a water world with its core kept semi-molten and magnetized by a series of pipes that bring down waste heat from the sprawling reactors on the surface. Despite a lack of sunlight, its Great Pluto Sea is a balmy 15C near the surface due to radiator farms pumping heat into the surface. Things get colder closer to the core before suddenly heating up again; the layers of hot and cold create ocean currents and tides, with huge underwater icebergs acting as underwater cruise ships and vacation spots accessible by submarine or elevators.

One of the last bodies in the Sol System to be colonized, mining rights of the then-asteroid of Pluto were purchased at a bargain-bin price by the upstart "Evergreen Express" courier company. The plan was for an elaborate tax-write off scheme for companies owning no-value asteroids. Its primarily Off-worlder population later won its independence and membership in UNIP through a similarly elaborate political and legal scheme that saw Pluto recognized once again as a full planet.

The star nation known as Elyra has long since ‘acquired’ the mega-corp that was once the Evergreen Express and is now Charon Shipping Service. Reactions from Plutoids are a mix between 'they never cared about Pluto if they were going to be bought out', to even 'they got us where we needed to be and served their purpose’, or general apathy.

Kuiper City

Its single large settlement of Kuiper City is a sprawling, floating urban center of just under two million people. The city is tourist-trap that caters to off-worlders, providing a "Mediterranean Beach Vacation" with luxurious amenities for off-worlders far from the punishing, or even dangerous, gravity of the terrestrial planets. The rest of Pluto is dotted with floating or underwater villages that cater to particular local tourist attractions or hydroponic towns to feed the locals.

The off-worlder inhabitants of Pluto have a famous superiority complex. To its local inhabitants, Pluto is the center of human space, the galaxy, or even the universe; it is only a matter of time until they are able to assert their destiny and rule the galaxy. This superiority complex typically comes from the cultural smugness over getting Pluto recognized as a planet over a century ago, and the baggage of the Plutoid Renaissance.

Plutoid Renaissance

The Plutoid Renaissance was a unique marketing campaign that succeeded beyond its framers wildest dreams and grew wildly out of their control. The campaign was presenting Pluto as the king of the "New Olympus", with the moons of Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra forming the pantheon revolving around Pluto, King of the Kuiper Belt. It was a gimmick revolving around the theme of the names all being classical gods, meant to draw tourists and attention. In a unique cultural moment it collided with a genuine "Hellenistic Revival Movement" who immediately jumped on it. Pluto was suddenly swamped by eager, sincere and extremely wealthy believers. Kuiper City's leaders were awkwardly strung along, not wanting to alienate the new arrivals and the wealth they were injecting into the city. And now, after several generations of cultural osmosis, the line between "marketing" and "sincere spiritual belief" is an extremely blurry one. Almost two-thirds of native-born Plutoids identify as a worshiper of at least one of the five gods of the Kuiper Pantheon, but anecdotal observations from many outsiders seem to imply most of this is more of a cultural tradition than an absolute sincere belief that Pluto and its moons are deified - but, of course, where the line is drawn is impossible to tell - especially with how genuine and over-the-top the Plutoid baseline is.

Plutoid Pantheon

The pantheon of the Plutoid revolves around the God Pluto and his ancient war against his brother and former king of the solar system: Jupiter. Pluto rallied the gods of the Kuiper belt in a rebellion while Jupiter rallied his "Titans" - the terrestrial planets of the inner solar system such as Mars, Earth, etc. Pluto succeeded in the rebellion and dethroned Jupiter, becoming the undisputed King God of the solar system.

Major Gods

1. Pluto – King of ice, family, justice, and King of the Gods. He is prayed to in matters of important decisions or political decisions. He is patron of leaders and adventurers.
2. Styx – Goddess of healing and all water, including the seas and oceans. She is prayed to for matters of health and growth. She is the patron of priests, botanists, and doctors.
3. Nix – God and personification of darkness and the chaos of the Kuiper belt. He is prayed to for safe passage on space voyages and is patron of space pilots, miners, and couriers.
4. Kerberos – Goddess of knowledge and libraries. She is prayed to in rituals for the advancement of knowledge or divination of truths. She is patron of scientists, students, and apprentices.
5. Hydra – God of trade and construction. He is prayed to for rituals of prosperity. He is patron of merchants, service workers, and engineers.
6. Neptune – Son of Pluto and Styx, guardian against Jupiter and his Titans. Neptune's orbit is considered the border between the 'Jupiter Lovers' and the 'surface world' of the Kuiper belt. He is prayed to for safety and security, or victory against an enemy. He is patron of peacekeepers, law enforcement, and the twelve members of the Plutoid Navy and its single unarmed refurbished courier ship.

Jupiter & His Terrestrial Titans

• Sol – Titan of the Sun, who was defeated by Nix. This reflects the miniscule size and influence of the sun for Kupier belt residents.
• Mercury – Titan of fire, defeated by Styx. He is depicted as a hot-head whose fiery temper was doused by Styx' waters.
• Venus – Titan of poison, defeated by Styx. She is depicted as good-intentioned but noxious to whatever she touches - like a Medusa meets King Midas.
• Gaia – Titan of Terra, defeated by Hydra. She was the fiercest Titan of Jupiter and is cast as a trickster deity, constantly scheming to usurp Pluto. She remains thwarted by the guile of Hydra.
• Mars – Titan of War, defeated by Kerberos. He is depicted as a warmongering madman who is kept contained by Kerberos constantly outmaneuvering him.
• Jupiter – Fallen and cruel King of the solar system, defeated by Pluto. He is depicted as capricious in defeat, constantly popping more minor children - the moons of Jupiter - out of his forehead to try and overwhelm the Kupier gods.
• Saturn – Wife of Jupiter and mother of the evil Terrestrial Titans, defeated by Pluto.
• Uranus – Son of Jupiter and Saturn. Depicted as completely superfluous and uninteresting.

Pluto and the Solar System

Pluto considers itself the head of the “Kuiper League”, a so-called union of Pluto, its moons, and all other inhabited bodies of the Kuiper belt which Pluto claims is the political, economic, and cultural center of human civilization. Four times a year, with extravagant pomp and circumstance, Plutoid envoys, priests, and Kuiper City leaders travel the Kuiper Belt and visit their so-called fellow league members to ask for tribute, trade, and discuss “affairs of the realm”. The procession is met with a wide variety of responses running the gambit of how much this affair is indulged. The event is considered a holy ritual by true believers, a political masterstroke by moderates, and a fascinating spectacle to follow by everyone else. Some Kupier settlements, like Orcus, welcome the arrival and indulge in the pomp and circumstance because of the sudden influx of tourists boosting the otherwise tiny settlement’s economy and a genuine interest in having relations with other Kuiper settlements. Other Kupier settlements like Sedna bristle at the notion and bolt the airlocks of the settlement to physically block the entry of the Plutoids.

Pluto has also decreed that all dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt are sacred and not to be desecrated by mega-corporation mining operations. Strongly worded letters and threats of economic sanction from the “Kuiper League” nearly always fall flat on their face, and Pluto quietly and hastily de-canonizes the godhood of a dwarf planet that has been desecrated by a mega-corporation.

Playing a Plutoid

A Plutoid fully brought-into the culture may carry themselves with pomp and circumstance. You are the cream of the crop and all good fortune and wealth isn’t owed to you but simply flows into your arms as naturally as fish follow a river. You worship the gods diligently whenever appropriate, paying homage to the proper one in the proper times. Any bad luck or ill omens must be the result of scheming Titans and their devilish Gaia or her evil father Jupiter.

A Plutoid that’s more skeptical of the culture may still carry some cultural baggage from your upbringing. You may not literally think Pluto is a God nor the center of the galaxy, but all this HAS to come from SOMEWHERE, right? You may think you’re still rather important in the grand scheme of things, but carry yourself with a more muted demeanor. You might not break out with a whole ritual when appropriate, but mumble a quiet prayer of thanks to the right deity if you think someone is watching – or if you think no one is watching. Or even if you don’t pray or participate in rituals, maybe you still hold a cultural importance to the shrines and gods and would still be respectful to any priests or fellow worshippers, or at least get defensive if someone riffs on the Plutoid pantheon.