The 12 colonies of kobol and the
13th tribe
OFFICIAL NAME: The United
Colonies of Kobol
ALTERNATE NAME: The Twelve Colonies
of Kobol
FOUNDING DOCUMENT: Articles of
Colonization
EXECUTIVE: President (elected)
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS: Quorum of Twelve;
People's Council
JUDICIAL BRANCH: Colonial Court
MILITARY BRANCH: Colonial Fleet
NUMBER OF COLONIES: 12
TOTAL POPULATION (before the fall): 28.55 billion (human)
VIRGON
Name: VIRGON
Ancient name: Virgo
Alternative Name: N/A
Patron God: Hestia
Population: ± 4.300.000.000 (Four
billion, three hundred million)
Capital: Boskirk
Star system: Helios beta
Virgon is one of
the twelve colonies of Kobol. Virgon is the last of the three planets in the
Trojan orbit. A mid-sized jungle world, it had a few concentrated cities, a
subtle reputation, and a lot of big ideas. Its people were known for their most
frivolous pursuit: Fashion.
Virgons tend to revere the "finer things" such as ornate
country gardens, elaborate laced garments, and the ability to distinguish
vintages of Leonian wine. Virgon government was at one time a true monarchy,
which changed to a parliamentary system. The royal family remain, but are
figureheads. Virgons pride themselves on their ability to determine where
someone new they meet originally came from, due to the accent spoken.
Many
of the colonies' celebrated actors, models, and public speakers were Virgons.
Every world looked to Virgon for each season's trends, even in Caprica City,
Virgons set the style.
Behind
the glitz and the glamour, Virgons controlled or influenced far more than
anyone suspected. They were said to have 'the eye', a sixth sense for
opportunities, personalities, and motives. This wasn't some sacred gift. The
Virgons were religious, but not fiercely.
Many
oracles came from Virgon, but so did many business moguls, city builders,
artists, and soldiers. They claimed it was just healthy, sensible ambition.
Have faith in yourself and your deeds, and the gods will provide for you.
Whatever
the reason, Virgons were everywhere.
Mostly out of the spotlight, their art graced small galleries on Caprica,
their contracts crossed moderately influential desks on Picon and Scorpia, and
their money filled respectably sized coffers on Libran.
Virgons
held some to the most underrated positions in the colonial military, often as
gunners due to their keen vision and reflexes.
Outside fashion,
Virgons' reputation is one of excellence without notoriety. Self-effacing, and
respectful, most Virgons choose accomplishment over fanfare any day of the
week.
Virgon is the planet where the Virgo
tribe of Kobol settled.
It is considered to be one of the wealthiest and most advanced colonies. It is
known throughout the Four Systems as "Imperial Virgon" and more
recently as "The Blue Colony".
Virgon is one of only two habitable planets in the Helios Beta star system, the
other being longtime rival Leonis.
In the past the two empires on Virgon and Leonis were at odds with each other.
Virgon shares the Ouranos asteroid belt border with
Leonis where mining operations have been conducted for hundreds of years by
both planets, and has one habitable moon Hibernia, home to a minority group
called the Celtons.
The capital is Boskirk, the former federal capital of the Colonies for a
thousand years, until a few centuries ago when the Colonial Capitol became
Caprica City in the Helios Alpha star system. It is also where a major battle
occurred during the Destruction of the Twelve Colonies.
The human forces above the planet lost the battle; and the colony was destroyed
by the Cylons. Other cities on Virgon are Bloustad (Dutch for "blue city"), a
beach town, an hour from Boskirk, and Hadrian in the south is a mining
community.
The climate of Virgon is notable for its
singular blueness. Not only are the seas blue, but its plant life contains oils
that evaporate in sunlight and cast a bluish tinge in the air. Quantities of anthracene, a substance that emits a
blue glow when exposed to UV light, near the surface provide a bluish hue.
Virgon's climate is temperate in the north, but variable and less pleasant in
the south.
TAURON
Name: tauron
Ancient name: taurus
Alternative Name: N/A
Patron God: ares
Population: ± 2.500.000.000 (Two billion,
five hundred million)
Capital: hypatia
Star system: Helios alpha
Taurons were
known to be very traditional people, even speaking a very old and distinctive
language.
Some 800 years before the Fall Tauron was colonized by Virgon and Leonis. The
people of Tauron liberated themselves and ever since this world has been known
for its troubled and violent history.
Nearly a century before its Fall, Tauron was one of the poorer colonial worlds
and the center of a civil war. A few years before the First Cylon War, the
crime syndicate Ha'la'tha had enormous influence over the planet, which even
extended to other colonies, such as Caprica.
During the War, Hypatia was was the location of a fierce and lossy battle
against Cylon forces.
After the War, Tauron was known to be a somewhat troublesome colony within the
federal system of the Colonies, often disobeying directives decided by the
colonies and pushing their luck with the admiralty. Yet this world was counted
among the wealthier of the twelve worlds.
Males
are considered a "man" at the age of 13 on Tauron.
One of their common believes is that nobody is really dead, until their death
was avenged.
The Tauron Globe Times, is the major newspaper on the Colony.
TAURON CULTURE “BLOOD CALLS TO BLOOD!
Balance,
vengeance and justice are the primary moral drivers in Tauron culture. If
insulted, hurt or treated unfairly, a Tauron will not rest until the slight has
been avenged.
Patience
is a Tauron virtue. Balance will be restored, in due time.
A “real Tauron” values the immediate family highest, then clan, then him- or
herself. Career and personal gain are seen as suspect, and typically Caprican,
drives.
“Choose
the time of your own passing into the soil.” Wilfully terminating your own life
when the time has come is seen as the best way to die, but only when dues to
family and clan have been paid.
Tauron
Culture is more conservative in regard to non-traditional types of culture.
Drugs beyond alcohol are not accepted, and drunkenness outside the rites of
Dionysus is generally frowned upon. Frowned upon. Not nonexistent.
Food is seen as medicine and often carries symbolical meaning. Organic food
strengthens the body, mineral waters makes thinking flow smoother, and offering
fruit is a way to show gratitude.
Sharing
meals and breaking bread together can be a powerful sign of mutual respect.
Turning down dinner is seen as an insult.
CAPRICA
Name: Caprica
Ancient name: capricorn
Alternative Name: c-city / cap-city
(nicknames)
Patron God: apollo
Population: ± 4.900.000.000 (four
billion, nine hundred million)
Capital: caprica
city
Star system: Helios alpha
Caprica is
the Federal Capital of the 12 Colonies of Kobol. The spoken language is
Caprican, which has been adopted as an "official" language by the
other colonies as well.
It is
one of the most modern of all colonies and the center of government, education
and culture.
Caprica
and Gemenon share an orbit, each planet interchanges the other one every 28.2
days, and Gemenon can often be seen when looking up into the Caprican sky.
Locations:
–
Caprica Beach (a beach near Caprica City)
–
Caprica Interplanetary Spaceport (Caprica City Space Port)
–
Cobb’s Point (Place on Caprica, contains an air strip)
–
Little Tauron (enclave in Caprica City where many Tauran expats live)
–
Martok Valley (a valley)
–
Apollo Park (amphitheater and recreation area. It has a range of cafes and a
park on its premises. A giant statue of its namesake god, Apollo, distinguishes
the park)
–
Atlas Arena (Home court to the Caprica Buccaneers Pyramid Team, 30.000+ seats,
downtown Caprica City)
– The
Riverwalk (open-air promenade & walking area near the Colonial Government
Offices)
–
Orpheus Park (Park in Caprica City with a lot of jogging strips.
–
Kara Thrace’s apartment (Starbuck’s crappy apartment is in Delphi)
–
Delphi Convalescent Institute (mental health facility on Torreo Avenue in
Delphi – later used by Cylons as one of their Breeding Farms, Starbuck was held
here)
– The
Forum (replica of The Forum on Kobol)
– The
Opera House (replica of The Opera House on Kobol)
– The
Temple (replica of The Temple on Kobol)
–
Delphi Museum of the Colonies (contains many ancient artifacts, including the
Arrow of Apollo)
–
MagLev Stations (monorail/train-like mass transportation system on Caprica)
Landmarks:
–
Caprica Transfer Station (Colonial Fleet Transfer point on Caprica – where
Fleet members stay until they are shipped of on their deployment)
–
Pantheon Bridge (bridge that crosses Caprican Bay)
–
Graystone Industries Campus (home of the many facilities of Graystone
Industries)
–
Caprican Bay (water mass adjacent Caprica City)
–
Theoresos (water mass on Caprica)
–
Telamont Building (Tall building in Delphi)
Caprica
is a temperate, blue-green gem of a world and is commonly depicted as the
middle planet of the Trojan orbit, for indeed, Caprica truly is the center of
the Colonies: the focal point of commerce, politics, law, culture, and faith.
Its capital, Caprica City, houses the three branches of the Colonial government
in addition to a veritable horde of corporate headquarters, merchant banks, and
institutions of higher learning. Delphi is more religious in nature: not only
is it home to painstaking recreations of Kobol's Pantheon, Forum, and Opera
House, it possesses the Colonies' largest collection of artifacts from the lost
homeworld. The Caprican people are a diverse lot, but on the whole they're
perceived as urbane and cosmopolitan, spoiled by the privileges of luxury and
wealth. They have relatively little representation in the ranks of the enlisted
but are disproportionately represented in the higher ranks of the officer corps
— the traditional proving ground for the sons and daughters of elite Caprican
families.
Caprica
City
Caprica
City was a major metropolitan area, and the capital city of both the planet
Caprica and The Twelve Colonies of Kobol.
Eleusis
Located
between the Caprican Bay and a range of hills, covering a wide expanse of land,
and divided by a number of waterways, the greater Caprica City metro area was
once home to countless suburban neighborhoods. Among these is the region
approximately 5 km to the southeast of Caprica City known as Eleusis. A fairly
good modern analogy would be Weston, Massachusetts. It's a place known for
large homes on comfortably green lots, many constructed within the century
leading up to The Fall. Old growth shade trees and sidewalk-side wrought iron
fences are not uncommon in Eleusis.
Serving
primarily as a bedroom community for Caprica City's countless working
professionals, Eleusis had easy accessibility to C-City via MagLev rail system
and road; the city's D line served the suburbs of Eleusis and others southeast
of the city.
Eleuthia
South
of Caprica City and bordering the region known as Eleusis was the city of
Eleuthia within the Amnisos Valley. The valley itself is flanked and surrounded
by a pair of mountains: Mount Pinot to the northwest and the stretch of the
Arcadian Mountains to the east. Eleuthia was warm in the summer and cool in the
winter, an area of perpetually temperate weather.
Being
a strong viticultural area made Eleuthia famous for many a generation and made
the city thrive under northern Caprica City's shadow. Surrounding the city and
along the valley floor were hundreds of wineries and strictly preserved agricultural
areas. For those not native to the area, it was a popular seasonal vacation
spot for Caprica's denizens.
A
decent analogy of Eleuthia would be Napa Valley, California.
Capricans
live a very cosmopolitan life with a prosperous economy, and have access to the
latest technological conveniences. They appear to be accepting of just about
any lifestyle, and with few reservations, seem to live and let live. According
to Doctor Gaius Baltar, Caprica was the "seat of politics, culture, art,
science and learning." He considered being Caprican to be prestigious in
and of itself. The official language of Caprica is Caprican, which is
equivalent to modern English, and is spoken throughout the Colonies. The
national anthem of Caprica is Caprica Abides.
The
Planet of Caprica has been the center of the twelve colonies civilization from
the beginning of recorded time.
The planet is a paradise for humanity and is perfectly suited for habitation.
Caprica society is highly orderly and peaceful.
Caprica is known for its philosophers, particularly of legal issues, morality
and enlightened thought. Caprica is also the fashion capital and trendsetter of
the Twelve Colonies, Fashion Week in Caprica City is a major Colonial event for
the elite.
Thanks to a pleasant environment, and good government Caprica soon dominated
the remaining Colonies with respect to economic and military power though it
rarely attempted to dominant the other colonies. Caprica morality, political
views, and philosophy considered such tactics as heresy.
Caprica efforts to push through the Articles of Colonization were the single
most important factor in the unification of the Colonies. We also know that
Caprica City itself was the first Colonial settlement to be founded, and it is
from here that the fledging Caprica Government ran its planetary affairs.
Caprica invested much time and effort into their “Crown Jewel”, and Caprica
City stands supreme amongst all Colonial cities as the most beautiful, cultured
and richest city with wide boulevards and shopping areas. The Caprica
Government Building is a tourist attraction as much as it is the bureaucratic
and political heart of the Colonies.
CAPRICAN CULTURE: “THE SKY IS NO LIMIT!”
In general, Caprican culture is pretty much identical to its stereotypical
American earth counterpart. Career, beauty, wealth, status, efficiency and a
polite facade are all valued traits. Capricans want to consider themselves
self-made people. New money trumps old money. They drive
big
cars and project a work hard, play hard image. Being perceived as successful is
of utmost importance.
Caprican
society is generally “democrat,” progressive, hyper-individualistic and
politically correct. Multiple partnerships are common, gay marriage fully
accepted; racism exists ONLY between individuals hailing from different
colonies or species (Caprican and Tauron, Cylon and Human). Skin color and
sub-ethnicities, on various planets, are not fuel for prejudice. Drugs like
weed, E or “empathy” (MDMA), K (Cocaine), Ambrosia and other alcohol - as well
as many psychoactive compounds, like Kamala - are legal and sold by the state,
without profit, at special lounges. Despite this state of affairs, drugs can
still be socially stigmatized. Only holy people can do drugs without suspicion.
Society
puts an emphasis on what is worldly or holy, rather than what is male or
female. Worldly people (businesspeople, military, workers etc) praise
efficiency, control of emotion, ambition and the protection of loved ones -
virtues we often see as “male” in our reality. Example: Starbuck. Worldly
people behave in traditionally masculine ways, regardless of their sex. Holy
individuals (artists, teachers, priests, drug-farmers, musicians etc) follow
intuition, empathy, and other virtues usually labelled as “female” in today’s
society. Example: Gaius Baltar.
Colonial
society has evolved beyond the primitive forms of gender inequality we have in
our society. Women do not have lower wages or limited career choices and are
actually overrepresented in high-status military careers, like navy Viper
pilots. Worldly women tend to be as sexually active and take as much initiative
in the courting game as men. Fashion is the big
exception.
High heels and a skimpy dress still seem to be the popular female choice for
partying.
Strange,
but that’s apparently how stuff works in the Colonies.
In
art and entertainment, live performance and engaging in physical activities is
seen as cool, while the virtual or pre-recorded alternative would be lame.
After The Cylon War, the digital realm is not only viewed with suspicion, but
also seen as boring. Even passively watching something
can
be regarded as “sitting around in your own fumes, like a frakking toaster”.
Reading, going to (or better, performing in) the theatre, musicals, radio
plays, playing sports like boxing and pyramid, as well as hiking, skateboarding
etc are held as cool pastimes in the post-digital colonies. Partying and doing
hard drugs is rated higher than losing yourself in virtual worlds, literally
“toasting your brain”.
Colonial
culture is inherently morally relative and tolerant. There are thousands of
gods, and philosophical creeds. Your beliefs are your personal business. These
days, moral absolutes (if they can even be grasped) would be associated with
the terrorist group STO and their worship of a dictator god known as “The One”.
Utilitarianism dominates thinking. Taurons and Capricans clash on the better
way to order family, values and society. Better, not true, way. Instead of
trying to convert somebody to follow their traditions, a Tauron citizen would
continue on her way, saying “It’s the Tauron way,” and that would be the end of
it. A Caprican, on the other hand, might
try
to civilize someone with different customs - not because they are wrong, but
simply because things works better on Caprica.
CAPRICANS VS. TAURONS
Cultural
intolerance is a sad fact of life in the colonies. The democratic, capitalist
Capricans see themselves as culturally superior to clan-, blood- and
honour-focused Taurons. “Dirteaters” (a derogatory term for Tauron colonists)
migrating to Caprica (often fleeing from persecution or poverty on their home
world) are treated as second-class citizens. Most Capricans would never see
themselves as racist, they simply love their free way of life and don’t want
any weird off world customs to infringe upon it. Some organize in political
movements and rallies, blaming immigrants for surging crime rates, honor
killings, and exploiting the Caprican wealth without contributing in kind, like
the parasites they seem to be.
Intolerant
Taurons, on their hand, see Capricans as orphaned and hedonistic creatures,
ignoring their roots and only staying tied together
by
the senseless accumulation of wealth and the dictates of a faceless state. They
care not for oaths, tradition or family. Their superior attitude is reminiscent
of how Taurons were treated in ancient days, when they were slaves to the
imperial Virgons and Leonides, more than 800 years ago. Those are not good
buttons to push in proud people.
SOME DEROGATORY TERMS FOR
TAURONS:
Dirteater,
Bullhead, Bullfrakker, Yoke-dragger, Dirtfrakker, Mudsucker, TT-banger (from
Tauron Town, the main ethnic Tauron area in Caprica City), Ha’la’thista.
SOME INSULTS TOWARDS
CAPRICANS:
Cap-trash,
Master, Mistress, Sir or Madame (said with dripping sarcasm), Faithless,
Godsless, Flowerfrakker (refers to the ancient Tauron belief that flowers
belong to the gods and should not be worn, displayed or even seen by humans),
Waste of seed.
AERILON
Name: Aerilon
Ancient name: Aries
Alternative Name: food basket of the
colonies
Patron God: demeter
Population: ± 1.200.000.000 (one billion,
two hundred million)
Capital: gaoth
Star system: Helios delta
Aerilon
is one of the poorest colonies.
The portrait that hangs in Laura Roslin’s office and in the Pilot Ready Room
(the one all pilots touch before take-off in the miniseries) is of a soldier on
Aerilon.
The
colonies’ economy is based largely on agriculture and Aerilonians have a
typical deep, raspy and husky way of speaking their local dialect.
Aerilon doesn’t only have agriculture, they also have tylium mines and produce
table salt.
One of its pyramid teams won against the Caprica Buccaneers a few days before
the fall, as is mentioned in "The Resistance" episode.
Gaius Baltar grew up near the Euclid River, other known fleet members from
Aerilon are Colonel Saul Tigh and Socinus - a member of Chief Tyrol's deck
crew.
Often called the breadbasket of the Twelve Colonies, Aerilon is an agricultural
world with little in the way of heavy industry or large cities. It's also one
of the poorest worlds in the Colonies, and as a result its people are
stereotyped — often unfairly — as low-class uneducated bumpkins.
Unsurprisingly, Aerilonians tend to describe themselves in slightly different
terms: in their minds, they are a honest and hard-working people with simple
needs and frugal character, unafraid to get their hands dirty in cities or
fields. They are highly represented in the Colonial Fleet, particularly among
the CMC's enlisted personnel, in large part because the military offers
enterprising young Aerilonians an easy way to get off the farmstead and see new
things.
The
culture and geography of Aerilon is largely comparable to a mixture of the
highlands of Northern England/Scotland, the small towns of the prairies of the
American Midwest, and U.S. tobacco country. Northern Aerilon is also home to
the scratchy, guttural accent as demonstrated by Dr. Baltar in Dirty Hands.
Northern
Hemisphere
Tarnock
is a small town just north of the Tannerman Ocean on Aerilon's northern
continent. The Tannerman is Aerilon's largest single body of water, though the
tall, rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean in the vicinity of Tarnock means that
little in the way of port facilities have developed there. Tarnock is more
sleepy college/farming town than anything else; although the ocean cliffs and a
local colonial park do a decent job of bringing tourists and their money to the
town, the local economy owes far more to agriculture and the presence of one of
Aerilon's few colleges, Colchis University (more specifically, the influx of
Colchis students who bring along with them their parents' money to spend). As
such, although you'll find the same mix of farmers and laborers on the
outskirts of Tarnock as you would in any other small town on the planet, the
city center is a more affluent place than one would find in most small towns on
the colony; natives therefore tend to be just a little more cosmopolitan than
the Aerilon stereotype. (Not much, though. The locals can still throw a barn
party with the best of them.)
During
Aerilon's days of prohibition, many farmers in the area turned to home
distillation rather than bootlegging or home brewing. Before the attack on the
colonies, the most renowned moonshiner in the vicinity of Tarnock was a canny
old farmer named Ivan Laskaris.
Tarnock
is relatively isolated; a major highway does run along the ocean and through
the town, but the only other human settlements within 50 miles are the slightly
smaller towns of Deronda, Stovall, and Ryker's Aerie. Most of the surrounding
landscape consists of prairie and stretches of rolling hills, though the nearby
Tarham Colonial Park holds a fairly substantial swath of forests as well as
what passes for mountains in the area. There is(was) also a small training camp
for the Colonial Fleet located adjacent to the park; Camp Alfa conducted
all-weather training for would-be pilots in the Fleet, and probably explains
why the region received the attention it did when the Cylons executed their
attack.
Southern
Hemisphere
Named
after the river that runs through it, Allegheny is a province located on the
southern continent that is most famous for two things:
(1)
the exceptional tobacco that is unique to the region; and
(2)
the Blue Ridge Mountains (not to be confused with the Blue Mountains on the
Isle of Langley in northern Aerilon), so named for their bluish color when seen
from a distance. The natives tend to favor Demeter, and snake handling is a
common religious practice.
A
comparison in our world would be Appalachia.
Meaning
blossom in ancient Kobol, the province of Thales is one of Aerilon's earliest
settlements. Located to the southeast of Allegheny, it is home of the Antheian
Mountain Range, so named after Antheia, a non-Olympian goddess of flowers. Even
from afar, there is no mistaking the reason for this: as far as the eye can
see, the region is a sweet-smelling swathe of lavender fields, wild violets,
lilac, and flax. So exquisite are these florae, they are purchased and utilized
by the most elite perfume houses of Virgon. Although the natives do produce
their own delightful fragranced oils and lotions, those items are not the
region's claim to fame.
Thalesian
linen is reputed to be the finest in all the Twelve Colonies, hand-woven with
techniques that the locals maintain are those imparted by Athena herself aeons
ago on Kobol. Additionally, few places rival the province's fabric dyes; and
when it comes to shades of lavender, violet, and lilac, nothing comes close to
those of Thales. Unsurprisingly, there also are strong herbalism and apothecary
traditions.
For
the most part, primary and secondary education in Thales cover reading,
writing, and arithmetic in both Colonial Standard and the regional dialect. The
Humanities are strongly covered, including all manner of myth and lore, ancient
and regional history, arts, music, philosophy, and so forth. Earth sciences and
chemistry are heuristically taught and primarily pertain to agriculture,
dye-making, herbalism, and other related disciplines. These 'general education'
requirements aside, the set-up is very much akin to a vocational school, which
means far less book learning and theory than other places in the Twelve
Colonies in exchange for practical work skills that are cultivated from a very
young age.
As
far as real world equivalents go, Thales is pretty much a hodgepodge of accents
and cultural idiosyncrasies from the (U.S.) South. This very much includes iced
tea, which is considered something of an abomination in other parts of Aerilon.
Thalesians tend to amiably touch others when they converse, address people by
first name prefaced by the gender-appropriate title of Mister or Miss
regardless of a person's age or social standing, and use terms of endearment
such as "hon" and "shug" (for sugar) even with people they
hardly know. Porch gatherings, community barbecues, and quilting circles are
ways of life.
Cultural Details
The
people of Aerilon are stereotyped as staid and traditional, but that stereotype
does not include the ritualistic/superstitious bent that typifies Gemenese and
Sagittaron culture. (For example, arranged marriages are extremely uncommon
here.)
College
education is rare; it's uncommon enough to find people with a community college
class or three under their belts outside the major cities, much less an actual
degree-holding professional. Because of the labor-intensive nature of agriculture
and the relatively poor economic conditions, most young people in rural areas
like Tarnock that don't or can't go in search of higher education stay at home
and either work their family's land or hire themselves out as laborers on other
people's land. Those residents that do achieve a college degree tend to get the
hell out.
Pyramid
is a favored pastime of the farmers and workers of northern Aerilon; nearly all
the locals are fans of the Aerilon Thrashers, and blue, red, and gold (the
team's colors) are popular all over the planet. The rivalry between the
Thrashers and the Leonis Wildcats is something that most Aerilonians take
extremely seriously. (Think Penguins-Flyers, hockey fans.)
Aerilon
isn't the most religious of the Colonies, but Artemis, Demeter, and Hera all
have devoted followings here.
Tea,
not coffee, is the hot morning beverage of choice in the region.
Many
of the crops on Aerilon, especially in the northern provinces, tended towards
root vegetables and potatoes — able to survive difficult winters and grow
plentiful over the years.
The
culture of the planet has developed slightly more on its own for being so poor
— music and dancing are a large part of entertainment in the Aerilon
communities. The fiddle tends to be a prime instrument of choice.
In
some of the northern provinces, Castor and Pollux have gained a large following
of the religious community. Agricultural deities, the brothers have been said
to warn when the harvests will fail or give blessings to the turn of the
seasons.
Woad
is popularly used on Aerilon for religious tattooing and cultural
entertainment. Some contribute the heavy use of woad to the visions that
Aerilon's oracles often profess.
AQUARIA
Name: aquaria
Ancient name: aquarion
Alternative Name: the ocean world
Patron God: hermes
Population: ± 25.000 (twenty-five
thousand)
Capital: no capital
/ major city is heim
Star system: Helios delta
Aquaria
is the colony with the lowest population. and has only 1 major space ship,
which is located at the Geological Research Center
Other
than oceans, Aquaria also has small parts of volcanic land mass, but only 1
major continent/ land mass that is inhabited.
It is
one of the most tolerant colonies, live and let live is a major outlook on life
for most Aquarians.
There
is a strong sense of independence and tolerance towards others, with the goal
of developing a society where people can express their creativity to the
utmost.
Aquaria
is often visited by scientists who want to visit and study its oceans.
Other
than your average cubits, Aquarians also trade by bargain, they enjoy playing
Kastaa, a game which resembles modern-day frisbeeing.
The
Battlestar Therion fought against the Cylons during the Fall of the 12
Colonies, trying to protect Aquaria.
The
Kyros Summerfest, named after the inhabited continent, is one festival not a
single colonial wants to miss out on and the population skyrockets for the time
of the festival.
Aquaria,
does not have a professional pyramid team. It's capital city is
"Heim" which means "home" in German.
Dotted
with many small seas, its tribe settled along the coasts and developed a
water-oriented culture including a strong sailing tradition. The planet's
proximity to Caprica and Virgon made it cheap and easy to trade their two most
abundant resources: fish and algae. They also developed highly efficient
growing techniques that worked pretty much everywhere. Nearly every botanical
ship in the fleet is either owned or operated by Aquarians.
Aquarians
are highly educated, liberal, tolerant, and peaceful, and think nothing of
paying for services rendered with a painting, a song, or a good story, and will
accept such payment just as casually. The society is small enough for
individuals to remain fully accountable, so the system usually works very well.
The colony was founded as a utopian outpost for those who prefer not to be
bothered with gods, planetary identity, politics, or other sources of division.
As a result, they have developed a strong self-perception as a place where the
human spirit and its creative expression can reach their maximum potential.
Anyone who disrupts the social balance will find themselves permanently
banished to another colony with a simple two-thirds vote, usually finding
themselves on Scorpia, or on trial on Libran, never to come back.
Aquarians
are quiet, thinker types, often seen as stubborn and independent. Some call
them shifty but more often than not, they just don't have anything to say.
Rather than fill the air with noise, they keep to themselves. Aquarians are
extremely self-sufficient and ask few questions. They get to the point and
rarely bicker. The only time they're really talkative is when they're telling
stories.
The
Aquarians do love their stories. Most of the time, they tell creepy campfire
tales about ghosts and the power of the sea. The Aquarians never really pushed
inland, leaving a lot of their world untamed, unexplored. Their folklore
therefore focused on stories which wondered what was out there, lurking in the
darkness of the night.
Watching
Aquarians in the Fleet, it seems like they feel the same way about space.
"We could find anything out here". It's not unusual to find them just
staring out a porthole, watching the stars, dreaming up new stories. Might be
why so many entertainers come from Aquaria. Their minds are always wandering.
Lots of tortured artists among them too. They might not mind being alone but
many don't get along in their own heads either.
Lots
of Aquarians are in the service. They don't mind space so much: sea sailing on
their home world is far worse. You lose control in space, you drift. You lose
control on the sea, you die. Best of all, Aquarians rarely get rattled. Even in
the most pitched battles, with the ship bucking and jerking, they just stomp
across the deck, never losing their footing.
The planet Aquaria is located right at the outer edge of Colonial space with
the highest proportion of water to land of any of the Twelve Colonies.
Planetary axial tilt is extreme, providing for large variations of temperature
with the seasons in the temperate zones. Average planetary temperatures are
lower than the Colonial average.
Surveys of the surface of Aquaria reveled very large and concentrated deposits
of tylium. Explorations of continental shelves, and sea beds revealed similarly
promising resources waiting to be exploited.
The discovery of rich tylium deposits sparked a “tylium rush” as entrepreneurs,
pioneers and miners flooded towards the Colony in an attempt to stake out their
riches and Aquaria population doubled within thirty years. To cope with the
rising population pressures, the Aquaria Government constructed a number of
orbital habitats utilizing technology purchased from Caprica with tylium export
revenues.
Aquaria soon produced the largest merchant marine fleet within the twelve
colonies. Added to the substantial population living in its orbital habitats,
Aquaria have the largest proportion of its population in space at any given
time. They are very independent people, and form tight bonds to people they
know, particularly those serving in the armed forces.
Aquarians tend to
have a witty sense of humor, although they tend to be drier and more sarcastic
than Capricans. They are a pragmatic people, a consequence of those working in
the tylium mines and the dangers of space, but also fair and dependable.
SCORPIA
Name: Scorpia
Ancient name: scorpio
Alternative Name: N/A
Patron God: dionysus
Population: ±450.000.000 (four hundred fifty
million)
Capital: celeste
Star system: Helios gamma
Scorpia - The
Playground Of The Colonies, as it is nicknamed, is known for having hot
temperatures and a lot of jungles.
The Scorpia colony
has alliances with Tauron, Picon and Caprica.
You can find great
paragliding opportunities in Scorpia, which many colonials go enjoy as a hobby.
Due to the presence
of the Scorpia Shipyards, there are a lot of Battlestars on Scorpia (Mercury
Class, Valkyrie class, Galactica Class,…)
The BS Pegasus was
stationed on Scorpia during a three month overhaul for a Command Navigation
Program update before the Cylon attacks.
Scorpians place
family happiness as paramount on Scorpia. The people consider themselves deeply
pious, but to other cultures like Capricans, they're actually very tolerant and
flexible. If an eccentric lifestyle makes someone happy, then it's all right
with them.
Scorpians are also
very athletic like Picons, and are very devoted to their favorite sports teams.
The government is a
democracy, where torture is legal, institutionalized, and conducted at the
Central Detention Facility in the capital of Celeste. Locals regard the police
as walking angels of death.
However, tourists are
seen as a source of national income, and they will kill to protect them.
Other colonial
governments have been known to dispose of terrorists, dissidents, and other
undesirables on Scorpia.
The planet of
Scorpia, while not as utopian as Caprica, it is certainly a pleasant world to
live on, although the planet is subject to violent weather patterns.
The people of Scorpia have always been the most devout and religious of the
twelve tribes. Their belief in the spiritual and power of the Twelve Lords have
undoubtedly been influenced by the location of the High Temple on that planet.
The High Temple was the ecclesiastical capital of the Twelve Colonies, housing
the keenest theologians in brotherhood with the Priests and Priestesses who
tended to the people’s well being. Scorpia people also hold to their own brand
of honor, dictated by the scriptures of the Book and the teachings of the
Twelve Lords; the word honor holds a very different meaning to them compared to
others.
Scorpions are also a kind society, and extremely charitable, also undoubtedly
due to the strong influence of the High Temple. They are polite and helpful
people.
On the other hand, centuries of religious indoctrination have also tended to
make Scorpions view “right” and “wrong” from a more traditionalist point of
view, and also tended to fuel zealotry amongst the populace.
Scorpions tend to have conservative opinions towards sexual morality, and as a
consequence of their sexual conservatism, Scorpions also tend to be insanely
jealous and suspicious of any sort of infidelity, true or imagined.
Far more important
than what's on Scorpia, however, is what's above it: the Scorpian Fleet
Shipyards, the largest manufacturing yards in all the Twelve Colonies and the
primary driver of the Scorpian economy. Scorpians themselves are reputed to be
an opinionated and hot-tempered lot, and among them can be counted many of the
Colonies' foremost satirists, essayists, and all-around gadflies.
Scorpia Shipyards
The Scorpia/Scorpion
Fleet Shipyard(s) were a series of Fleet drydocks located in orbit around
Scorpia.
The docks themselves
appear to be able to accommodate various Colonial vessels including Thera Sita
type transports, Mercury class battlestars, Valkyrie type battlestars,
Galactica type battlestars, and Berzerk type cruisers. Cargo is transported
along the entire length of the facilities by cargo trains that are able to move
along both the top and bottom to deliver the cargo to its destinations. The
shipyards also feature various points for Colonial craft to replenish their
Tylium supply, and store the fuel in massive storage tanks at various positions
along the structure.
Defensively, the
structure features very little and must rely on The Fleet for long term
defense, however, the structure includes various Viper hangars, and
anti-aircraft turrets along the entire length of the structure.
In the opening
moments of the attacks, the Cylons are able to surprise the Colonials by detonating
multiple nuclear warheads in range of the shipyards, eliminating the use of
DRADIS and blinding both sides involved. The detonations cause moderate damage
to the facilities themselves, but leave them intact, indicating they were not
directly hit. On fire, and all but defenseless, multiple squadrons of Raiders
are then able to jump in and have at the facilities with relative ease, despite
being blind. The subsequent assault ultimately destroys the facilities, and
various Colonial craft caught in the middle. However, one battlestar was able
to escape destruction, break free of her berths, and escape the battle.
At the time of the
attacks, the shipyards were seen hosting the Pegasus, at least one Galactica
type Battlestar (possibly two), at least two Valkyrie type Battlestars, and at
least two Berzerk type support vessels, along with numerous military and
civilian transports.
The Fall of the
Scorpion Fleet Shipyards is an attack launched by the Cylons as part of their
of their overall attack on the Twelve Colonies. With numerous Raider squadrons
armed with nuclear missiles, the Cylons destroy the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards as
well as at least three battlestars and several support vessels.
The Cylons achieve
complete surprise upon jumping to the shipyards, and the Colonials have little
time to put up any defense. At least one battlestar is immediately destroyed
after being struck by a missile, and rows of the shipyard's Vipers and Raptors
are destroyed before taking off. In conjunction with the attack, the Cylons
initiate a nuclear strike on the surface of Scorpia.
The battlestar
Pegasus, commanded by Admiral Helena Cain, is docked at the shipyards in order
to undergo a three-month systems overhaul when the attack occurs. In
preparation for the refit, all computer networks are shut down, leaving the
battlestar largely unaffected by Cylon-infiltrated Command Navigation Program.
During the attack, Colonel Belzen reports that all computers are down and that
the crew must perform all functions manually.
Tethered to its dock,
Pegasus is swarmed by Raiders and struck by several missiles. Fuel and ordnance
ignite on the battlestar's hangar decks, causing explosions that cause over 700
casualties. Cain orders a hasty departure from the dock, and the ship fires its
reverse thrusters and tears itself free from the burning shipyard's umbilicals.
With Pegasus's
defenses still down, and two nuclear missile inbound, Cain orders the CIC crew
to spin up the FTL drive and to perform a blind jump on her command, despite
the risk of reemerging inside a celestial body. The nuclear detonations
throughout the shipyard create bursts of electromagnetic radiation that mask
the jump and fool the Cylons into believing that the ship is destroyed.
PICON
Name: picon
Ancient name: pisces
Alternative Name: N/A
Patron God: poseidon
Population: ± 1.400.000.000 (one billion,
four hundred million)
Capital: queenstown
Star system: Helios alpha
Picon has a 75% water
mass and a 25% land mass, it's harbors play an important role in day to day
life.
Many Colonial film –
and TV series are filmed on Picon and they offer tax incentives for companies
in the film industry that choose Picon as their filming location.
Picon has the most
efficient, cooperative and responsive democracy in the colonies.In the past,
Picon had bitter rivalries with Scorpia and Leonis. Picon and Caprica have an
alliance dating back to the early days of colonization
The Rising Star was
one of the last ships to leave Picon during the Cylon attacks (the passenger
liner in which Ellen Tigh escaped the nuclear explosions).
When the nuclear
blasts destroyed the Colonial Fleet HQ, President Adar offered the Cylons an
unconditional surrender – the Cylons ignored it.
The Picon Star
Tribune is one of Picon’s leading publications.
Kara – Starbuck
-Thrace was born on Picon, moved around the colonies with her mother and ended
up on Caprica.
The capital is
Queenstown, which originally grew as a fishing village around the scenic
Penrose harbor. Perkinston, the location of the Colonial Fleet Headquarters, is
another Picon city also known for its harbor and manufacturing.
Picons are a
close-knit people, but are also friendly and hospitable to Capricans, and enjoy
a low crime-rate. Picons tend to believe in an overall sense of balance, which
is indicative of their zodiac symbol of two stylized fish circling each other,
suggesting balance. Picons are also very good athletes, and enjoy a good fight
and a pint of ale. The Picon government has made available health care,
education, and affordable housing to all inhabitants, asserting that it is a
basic human right.
Picon was originally
the home of the Virgon tribe, but was later colonized by the Pisces tribe of
Kobol; it is one of the Twelve Colonies, and is a neighbor of the other Helios
Alpha star system planets Caprica, Tauron, and Gemenon.
It is known
throughout the Four Systems as "The Ocean Colony". The ocean is a
beautiful turquoise-color and the planet is well known through the Four Systems
for its harbors.
Picon is generally
colder, greener and cloudier than Caprica, but is known for its strikingly
beautiful warm months, and Colonial visitors to Picon are encouraged to take
advantage of the pleasant Picon summer. During the planet's off-season, most of
the landscape became cold and rugged.
It is considered to
be one of the more advanced and wealthier colonies. Like the other eleven
colonies, the civilizations on Picon were destroyed by the Cylons in the
Destruction of the Twelve Colonies. Billy, personal assistant to President of
the Colonies Laura Roslin was from Picon.
In the early days of
'The First Cylon War' the Cylons invaded Picon attempting to take control of
Picon fleet headquarters, the command center coordinating the newly unified
Colonial Fleet, requiring intervention by the then flagship of the Caprican
branch of the colonial military - the Battlestar Galactica.
Picon is to the Fleet
what Caprica is to politics. Unlike the Aquarians, who were content to remain
fishermen, Picans preferred to sell their military expertise to the highest
bidder, and the professionalism of their renowned mercenary companies was only
matched by their mendacity.
The Colony took full advantage of its victory over Leonis some eighty-five
years ago, riding a wave of rapid industrialization to become only the second
world to deploy a majority Cylon force.
Needless to say, that plan didn't end very well — but once the Cylons were
defeated, Picon retained its role as backbone of the Colonial Fleet.
Picon is home to Colonial Fleet HQ, the Colonial Fleet Academy, and a host of
important military research laboratories. Its citizens boast a strong military tradition
and are highly represented at every level of the Fleet.
Picon Fleet Headquarters was a military installation operated by the Colonial
Fleet. Located on Picon, it was responsible for coordinating Colonial Forces
throughout the Twelve Colonies. During the surprise Cylon attack on the Twelve
Colonies forty years after the Cylon War, Picon Fleet Headquarters was targeted
and destroyed in the first wave of the assault after which Admiral Nagala takes
command of the fleet from the Atlantia.
Fleet Headquarters is the central operational and support center for Colonial
Fleet operations. Right across from the Fleet Headquarters you could find the
Colonial Fleet Academy.
Colonial Fleet Academy on Picon is one of the four Naval Colonial Fleet
Academies, the others being on Leonis, Caprica, and Virgon. It offers four year
undergraduate degrees in a variety of disciplines. Students are known as
Midshipmen during their enrollment, and when they graduate are mustered into
the Fleet as Ensigns.
13th TRIBE / CYLON EARTH
Name: Earth
Ancient name: Earth
Alternative Name: Cylon Earth/The Thirteenth
Tribe of Kobol
Patron God: The One True (Cylon) God
Population: unknown
Capital: unknown
Star system: unknown
Earth was believed to
be mostly a myth until Starbuck and the Final Five Cylons took the fleet there.
Earth was inhabited by Cylons, the humanoid variety. Much like the Colonies,
Cylon Earth was completely destroyed and its people annihilated by nuclear
bombs which were dropped during a rebellion of Cylon Earth’s robotic creations.
Earth is mentioned
often as the 13th (and lost) Tribe of civilization in the Sacred Scrolls of
Pythia. According the scrolls, the exodus of the 13th Tribe of Humanity began
on Kobol more than 4.000 years prior to the Cylon War. The Final Five Cylons
are all from (Cylon) Earth, they are responsible for Cylon Ressurection.
In the re-imagined
continuity, the Thirteenth Tribe is literally the last tribe of Kobol, being
artificial lifeforms created by the other twelve. In the original series, they
were the thirteenth solely by virtue of having gone in another direction.
The Thirteenth Tribe
left the twelve tribes of humans and settled on Earth some 2,000 years before
the remaining tribes left Kobol to form the Twelve Colonies of Kobol (The Eye
of Jupiter), some 4,000 years prior to the events of the Cylon Attack.
The twelve tribes
eventually forgot that their ancestors had ever created Cylons, and the
Thirteenth Tribe was mistakenly remembered as being another tribe of humans.
They and Earth were also considered mythical by many on the Twelve Colonies.
Because the Number Ones' reprogramming of their siblings left the other six active
models unaware of their origins, the majority of Cylons also believed that the
Thirteenth Tribe had been human and had no knowledge of their connection to
them until the discovery of Earth.
The Thirteenth Tribe
consisted of humanoid Cylons, who originated on Kobol, evolved from mechanical
counterparts that the humans of Kobol had created. With them on Earth there was
also a distinct model of robotic Cylon, of which only the buried helmet has
been seen.
While still on Kobol,
Cylons or their creators had developed resurrection technology. The Thirteenth
Tribe abandoned and eventually forgot how to build or use this technology
during their stay on Earth after they had started to reproduce sexually.
Subsequent generations of Cylons were born, not built. The knowledge that their
ancestors had used resurrection remained, however, and there was later an
effort to recreate it at a scientific research facility.
Roughly two millennia
prior to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, Earth was devastated by an apocalyptic
rebellion of their own Centurions that apparently destroyed both sides. At that
time a group of scientists, later known as the Final Five, had worked very hard
to reinvent resurrection. They had anticipated the obliteration and prepared a
vessel in Earth's orbit, which they downloaded to in due time. They were the
only survivors, and only survived due to resurrecting in new bodies.
The five survivors,
the last of the Thirteenth Tribe, went on a long trip using sub-luminal speed
in search of the Twelve Colonies to warn them of the dangers inherent in
creating artificial life and not treating it well.
The Final Five allied
themselves with the Colonial Centurions and went on to create eight new models
of humanoid Cylon. The Thirteenth Tribe can be said to survive in the new
Cylons, and in their hybrid descendants on the new Earth.
Of the Final Five,
two, Tory Foster and Samuel Anders, eventually were killed permanently. Ellen
Tigh, Saul Tigh, and Galen Tyrol made it to the new Earth to live out the rest
of their lives.
During some period,
travel appears to have taken place from Earth to Kobol, as the Sacred Scrolls
give an account of the journey to Earth.
After finding Earth,
the Fleet's first landing party lands on a coast, near the burned out ruins of a
city which had been nuked some 2,000 years previously (Revelations).
Excavations by Cylon teams produced skeletons and the head of a previously
unknown model of Cylon Centurion. DNA analysis of the skeletons using Cylon
protocols revealed that the Thirteenth Tribe was Cylon. Samuel Anders, Tory
Foster, Saul Tigh, and Galen Tyrol recover fragments of memory while in the
ruins, recalling that they were part of the Thirteenth Tribe and lived on Earth
until the disaster hit.
Approximately 2,000
years before the fall of the 12 Colonies, the Life Form Nodes created by the
Thirteenth Tribe rebelled, and in an act of mutually assured destruction,
leveled the planet in a nuclear holocaust, in which everyone including the
Centurions were destroyed. The Final Five (Saul Tigh, Ellen Tigh, Tory Foster,
Galen Tyrol and Samuel Anders) managed to survive by downloading to a ship
containing their rebuilt resurrection technology in orbit. They helped the
Centurions they found from the Twelve Colonies build a new Cylon society, but
were killed and downloaded into new bodies with false memories by Number One.
The Five spent most of their "human" lives with no knowledge of who
they were until months before they rediscovered Earth. Four of the five had
knowledge of their true identities triggered (the fifth, Ellen, was a Cylon
prisoner whose resurrection into a new body had restored her memories) but none
of their memories restored except brief flashes.
When the Five's Cylon
"children" destroyed the Twelve Colonies, the Five ended up having to
go through another nuclear holocaust, although they survived this one without
downloading. The Cavils had expected them to die, download and apologize but
none died. Tyrol and Saul Tigh were on Galactica, Anders was high in the
mountains doing survival training, Tory survived a blast outside Delphi, and
Ellen survived a blast on Picon, but was seriously hurt. Cavil, who was with
her at the time, helped rescue her as he felt she hadn't learned the lesson he
wanted her to learn and didn't want her to die and download until she learned
that. Both Ellen and Anders said "this has happened before" after the
attacks started, parts of their past apparently emerging, and Ellen even got
flashes of memory of herself on Earth with Saul before they were killed,
although she apparently didn't remember this later.
With the destruction
of Resurrection, the deaths of Anders, Foster and the other members of the Five
when they died is permanent and the last remaining members of the Thirteenth
Tribe die out, although the descendants of the Cylons and humans on Earth could
be considered in a way descendants of the Tribe as the Five created the Cylons
that settled there.
It is implied that
the humans and Cylons of Kobol had a destructive war between them as would happen
in the 12 Colonies but the nature of the possible conflict wasn't explored.
Eventually, these Cylons developed the ability to sexually reproduce and
resurrection technology fell into disuse and was lost. 2,000 years prior to the
miniseries, the "Final Five" began work to redevelop resurrection,
having been warned by mysterious "angels" that a disaster possibly
similar to the one on Kobol was coming. When life on Earth was destroyed in a
nuclear war between the thirteenth tribe of humanoid Cylons and their
mechanical Cylon creations (caused by maltreatment of the mechanical Cylons at
the hands of the humanoids), the Final Five managed to download into a vessel
they had in orbit.
As Earth was
uninhabitable, the humans and rebel Cylons (minus D'Anna), abandoned it in
search of a new home together. The humans and Cylons ended up striking a deal:
in return for joining the fleet as full members, with all the privileges that
entailed, the rebels would upgrade the fleet's FTL drives with Cylon
technology, increasing their jump distance by at least three times.
SAGITTARON
Sagittaron is one of
the poorest of all colonies, it endured centuries of exploitation from the
other colonies. This continued even during unified Colonial rule, so that
eventually Tom Zarek of the S.F.M. led an organized series of terrorist acts
against the established government there, many years before the fall of the
Colonies. One of these acts include blowing up a government building.
Sagittarons - also
known as “Sags”, are traditionalists. They want nothing to do with modern
medicine and the military.
They have their own
religion which is based on The Lords of Kobol but is focused more on nature and
traditional folk practices.
At least 5,251 Sags
survived the initial attacks on the colonies. Soma Braids are worn often by
Sagittarons as they are believed to bring good luck.
Sags are paranoid,
pigheaded, and argumentative, we heard that from Dualla.
Sagittarons are
pacifists by nature and seem to be disliked and even shunned by the rest of the
Colonials.
Under Sagittaron
penal law, convicted felons lose their citizenship, but have it automatically
reinstated after they finish serving their sentences. This included the right
to vote and to stand for election, as was shown when Tom Zarek challenged
President Roslin.
Some of the most well
known Sagittarons are
– Tom Zarek
– Anastasia – Dee –
Dualla
– Portia King
– Willie King
– Sister Clarice
Willow
– Priyah Magnus (PR
agent for Graystone Industries)
– Valance (assasin
from “Colonial Day“)
– Leon Grimes
(“Colonial Day“)
– Mr. Buckminster (is
believed to have died of the Mellorak infection but was proven to be poisoned
by Doctor Robert)
– Jacob Cantrell
(Quorum member representing Sagittaron)
The planet's land
masses are profoundly mountainous in nature, with hundreds of isolated valleys
dotted amongst them. Of note is the river Acheron, winding through the mountain
ranges for perhaps several thousand kilometers, finally finding its way to the
sea through a delta at which end lies an active volcano several kilometer
offcoast.
The capital Tawa is
situated over 1,600 kilometers inland where two rivers flow into a confluence,
either merging to form the Acheron, or joining the main stem of the river. It
is a city of marvelous temples and egg-shaped storage structures as a
precaution for flooding and storms.
The climate in
Sagittaron's fertile valleys is said to be agreeable, something that cannot be
told about the mountain trails connecting them, which experience difficult
weather circumstances and become impassable during winter, isolating the
communities during this time of year.
The Sagittarons
practice a form of the Colonial religion that can trace its roots back for at
least 1,000 years. Like the Gemenese, they developed a staunch religious stance
but with possibly a greater emphasis on traditional folk practice than
scripture. They view medicine as "an abomination, a sin against the
gods," and instead use charms and natural remedies to promote health, such
as the soma braid or the burdock root. This stubbornness and their perceived
backwards nature has led to a bitter dislike by members of the other Colonies.
During the Second Exodus, the bitterness is reinforced by the fact that many
Sagittarons on New Caprica did not help to fight the Cylons, suggesting that
the Sagittarons are also pacifists by nature.
They are strong
adherents of herbal medicine and reject much of modern medicine, which has lead
to derogatory terms such as "stubborn rootsucking jackasses". Dr.
Michael Robert expresses skepticism about its effectiveness, however his
statement implies that there has not been any serious research on the subject.
On Sagittaron, it is
illegal to sing, play, participate in public displays of affection and do a
multitude of other things. In fact, the mere mention of these activities is
considered an offense, so visitors from other colonies with more liberal
cultures are advised to consult local law for specific information on colony
etiquette.
Arranged marriage
(called "traditional marriage") is an accepted practice in many parts
of Sagittaron. Often, the bride and groom are betrothed by their parents
between ages 12-15, and the engagement and marriage ceremony are performed
between ages 16-18. In the strictest form of tradition, the bride and groom
themselves don't meet until the day of the wedding itself.
The Northern
Continent has:
the modern cities.
the high-tech
factories.
a way of life that's
more familiar to offworlders.
more speakers of
Colonial Standard.
the capital city.
the mineral
resources.
…while the Southern
Continent has:
the older cities and
historical sites.
provinces that are
closer to fiefdoms; cities that are closer to city-states.
the agricultural
resources.
Northern Continent
The Northern
Continent is not made of agriculture as the zone is colder and given to windy
seasons. A ridge of mountains makes up the west side of the continent bordered
by natural plateaus that branch out into a tundra like climate. The hard shale
ground makes it hard to find value to the land other than its minerals and
stable building materials.
Entreri Province
rests miles east of the western mountain ridge and is given to the rugged rock
landscape that is it's tundra. The plant life is minimal and where there are
groves it is of a hardy coniferous make. Lake Teska lies in the southern half
of the Province near the largest of the cities within it: Lamina. Other cities
of note are Ephestil, Y'trum, and Haimber.
Lamina: One of the
larger cities in the Northern Province, Lamina is the center of trade and
traffic. It houses a lot of the political thinkers on Sagittaron as well as
houses more than its fair share of Sagittaron military families. It is the home
of many debates and forums held in the advancement of Sagittaron belief and
gives rise to newer ideas that, in time, the natives hope will spread to the
southern continent. At its current rate of growth, the city will soon overtake
the regional capital, befitting itself slowly with the more modern trappings
that can be found in places such as Caprica. Even here, though, the true
backwards ways of the Sagittaron people can be seen still in the practices of
religion. Not far away from Lamina are the factories that refine the local
minerals. Lake Tiska is just to the south of the city.
Southern Continent
The smaller southern
continent is divided roughly into regions by the Atharamuras (Godspine), a
Y-shaped range of mountains.
Jharkhand Province
Caught in the fork of
the Atharamuras, Jharkhand is hot, arid and inhospitable except for a narrow
strip along its eponymous river. The river opens up to the Jharkhand Basin
river delta (think: the Nile/Cairo).
Aigosthena: A small
fishing village of about two thousand people located along the river some fifty
kilometers east of where delta meets ocean. Built on stilts to avoid the annual
floods like so many other villages in the area, Aigosthena has only one claim
to fame: it was leveled by Colonial forces in 2035.
Xenos Province
The southernmost part
of the Southern Continent, Xenos is split nearly in half by the tail of the
Atharamuras. To the east, Xenos is primarily green foothills trending toward
temperate rainforest at the edge of the mountains (think: Pacific Northwest);
to the west, the province is generally drier and warmer, trending toward jungle
in the southwest.
Sthenoi: The
provincial capital. As a 'chosen' capital rather than an 'evolved' one, the
best that can be said about this small city is that it is centralized.
Aera Yazd: The
largest city in Xenos, Aera Yazd is old, sprawling, dirty and turbulent.
CANCERON
Name: Canceron
Ancient name: Cancer
Nickname: “The Largest Democracy”
Patron God: Hephaestus
Population: ± 6.700.000.000 (Six Billion, seven
hundred million)
Capital: Hades
Star system: Helios Delta
Canceron is a barren planet, it is inhabited only at its two poles (Northern
& Southern), it’s middle section is one large desert, riddled with
volcanoes.
It also is the most
crowded of all Colonies, some might even call it over-crowded. There are a lot
of beaches on Canceron, it even has a Coastal metropolis.
Canceron is one of
the more poor colonies, its large cities have several slums.
The middle (desert) region of Canceron is used as Military practice grounds for
flight- and artillery exercises by the Colonial Fleet.
The Southers (people
living at the Southern Pole of Canceron) are dour people who live in climate
controlled, subterranean mazes and live mostly of sales profits.
The Northern part
contains a lot of Prison Colonies.
Canceron soil is rich
in tylium – prisoners sentenced to manual labor often end up in its mines,
extracting tylium
The Colonies’ Black
Market was “founded” on Canceron
Major Canceron
attractions include: Prommos, Ruby Range, Kor Yaz Glacier.
Canceron has a large
multitude of diverse dialects, religions, epic poems, cuisines, music, theater,
and literature, yet Canceron's own people rarely know much outside their own
subculture.
The government, due to its massive population, proclaims itself the largest
democracy of all the colonies.
At its planetary Congress, it has more than 2,300 representatives from 88
states that speak at least 19 distinct dialects, that are answerable to the 88
state congresses.
Terrorism is a basic fact of life for young Cancerons.
Canceron was settled
by the Cancer tribe of Kobol. It is known for having maintained a
constitutional democracy for over 1,000 years.
Canceron and its twin Aerilon are two planets that orbit the sun Helios Delta
along with the gas giant planet Hestia at Hestia's lagrange points.
Canceron has two great landmasses both have beaches, large cities, fertile
plains and in the far north very tall mountain ranges. The climate has warm
southern beaches, hot and steamy in the inland south, highly temperate and
farming friendly in the north, with the frigid Ruby Ridge mountains with the
Kor Yaz (Turkish for "summer corps") high altitude glacier.
Canceron is also known for its vast
mineral deposits of coal, iron and silver.
The capital is Hades in the Great Valley and was the site of growing
immigration.
Hades has a security zone for powerful people called "New Hades".
The third city is Mangala, a former trading port, known for fine art and
museums. Mangala is the site of poor settlers who live in makeshift shanties
that extend to the very edge of seaside cliffs.
The resort town of Psammos is known throughout the colonies for its five-star
hotels, casinos and pristine beaches.
Prior to the First Cylon War, Canceron was a very overpopulated and poor
colony. Canceron's major cities such as Hades and Mangala were known to have
large slums.
Its large population earned Canceron the nickname "The Largest
Democracy" within the colonies, though some believed the government was
nothing more than a corrupt Oligarchy.
During the Cylon
attack, Canceron is hit with at least three nuclear devices. One of the
passenger liners within the fleet, Pyxis, is one of the last ships that escapes
this world when the attack began. Aboard is the Number Six copy Shelly Godfrey.
TROY
Troy is a small,
metal rich planet in the Helios Beta system, and home to a Colonial mining
settlement that suffered a cataclysm, killing a majority of the people who were
there at the time. It was not one of the Twelve Colonies themselves. The
disaster was caused by a protective dome collapsing and causing a massive
explosion as a result of a chain reaction.
It had an estimated
population count of 425,000 BCH.
The Cylon copy Number
Eight known as Sharon "Boomer" Valerii believed that she and her
parents, Abraham and Katherine Valerii, had lived on Troy. In reality, as a
Cylon construct, Valerii had no parents, though whether or not Katherine and
Abraham actually existed is unknown.
In Greek mythology,
in Homer's Iliad, Troy was a city and the site of the Trojan War.
A certain parallel
can be seen between the backstory and the story of the Trojan Horse. Sharon
Varelii could be seen as the Trojan Horse sent by the Cylons, who would be
considered the other Greek factions aligned against the Trojans. The Cylons
send Valerii into the Colonies through Troy to destroy them. Valerii is
accepted and ultimately betrays the Colonies much to their shock and surprise.
According to the
fictional backstory, her mother was still alive when Boomer left for the
Colonial Fleet academy and that the accident happened en route. In the
Miniseries, she tells Boxey that her parents died when she was little. Later,
in "Downloaded", she says that she received a gift from her mother
when she left for the academy. This jibes with the first point, but conflicts
with what she tells Boxey, therefore becoming a continuity error unless
training exists for very young cadets. However, Sharon also might have been
making this claim in an attempt to comfort Boxey.
The colony was
possibly settled by Aerilon, as Gaius Baltar noted that Valerii had a slight
trace of an Aerilonian accent, however, the Map of the Twelve Colonies shows
that the planet is located in a separate system from Aerilon, instead being the
first planet located next to Virgon and Leonis. It is noted that Troy has been
mined extensively by these two colonies since their founding.
A deleted scene from
"Daybreak" mentions that the disaster was the result of a protective
dome over a city collapsing and causing a massive explosion as a result of a
chain reaction. The fact that cities on Troy were domed indicates that the rest
of the planet was either uninhabitable or at least very unfriendly to human
life. This is supported by information from the Map of the Twelve Colonies from
which you can learn that the actual atmosphere on Troy would have been toxic to
humans.
With the accident
destroying the dome, all human life inadvertently died.
Troy is considered
part of the Outer Colonies.
The Outer Colonies
are a scattered assortment of a few marginally habitable planets or moons
within the double-binary Cyrannus star cluster, which are the site of some
human habitation. According to Ron Moore in a blog post, the "Twelve"
Colonies are the only human colonies in the system of any significance: they do
loosely maintain a few scientific outposts, military bases, or mining outposts
on some of the uninhabitable moons or asteroids in the system, but none of them
are fully functional or in any way self-sustaining, and few if any have been
terraformed. Moreover, even the combined population of all of these "outer
colonies" is so low - 1.4 million, compared to the total 28.5 billion
population of the star system as a whole - that they have little social or
political significance, and are truly more "outposts" than
"colonies". Nonetheless the mining resources of several airless
rocks, or Tylium mining operations in asteroid fields, are vital enough that
different colonies have fought interplanetary wars over them.
Only Troy was
mentioned within the 2004 TV series. Espenson and Grazier's 2011 "Map of
the Twelve Colonies" goes into some more detail, stating that minor
colonies were located on four planets or moons in the star cluster:
~MINOS - a moon of
Tauron, located in Helios Alpha, and the largest moon in the entire star
cluster. While it lacks an atmosphere, it is the location of several scientific
outposts and domed mining colonies. More of an extension of Tauron than a world
in its own right, and like Tauron it was fought over by Virgon and Leonis
during their old imperial wars.
~TROY - a small but
metal rich planet in Helios Beta, whose material resources were fought over for
centuries by nearby Virgon and Leonis. Troy's mining outposts required sealed
domes, indicating that it either doesn't have an atmosphere or that it is toxic
to humans.
~PALLAS - a Mars-like
planet whose atmosphere gradually leaked away into space over millions of
years, located in Helios Beta. Today its dry, barren, desert-like surface has
an atmosphere that is too thin to breathe, and terraforming efforts have
failed. It is nonetheless the site of several domed colonies and a military
research station. Although marginally more habitable than Troy, and fought over
between Virgon and Leonis as it was, Pallas does not have the rich metal
resources of Troy, and thus the planet was not as heavily contested between the
two powers as Troy was.
~HIBERNIA - a
marginally habitable moon of Virgon, settled centuries ago by the Celtans, an
ethnic group fiercely opposed to Virgon rule. Along with Virgon it is located
in Helios Beta. Although easily the most habitable of the Outer Colonies (the
others all require domed habitats), its small population combined with
centuries of domination by nearby Virgon have precluded it from ever being
considered close to an equal of the main "Twelve Colonies". Administratively,
it remains a province of Virgon.
Some of the moons of
the gas giants in the star cluster are stated to have atmospheres, but whether
these atmospheres are breathable is not clear. Moreover, it is not established
if any of these moons were large enough to be inhabitable, atmosphere or not.
If that is the case, of the four known "outer colonies", none are
located in the Helios Gamma/Helios Delta binary star system, one (Tauron's moon
Minos) is located in Helios Alpha, and three (Troy, Pallas, and Virgon's moon
Hibernia) are located in Helios Beta.
The exact legal and
political status of the inhabitants of the Outer Colonies is not clear, and may
have been vague within the fictional universe as well. The Twelve Colonies only
shifted to a unified federal government 50 years ago, and before that defined
their political allegiances along ethnic lines to each of the "Twelve
Tribes" that controlled an entire planet, like Caprica or Virgon. The
falsified identity that the Number Eight Cylon on Galactica presented was that
she was the child of colonists from Aerilon who were living on Troy (while her
cover story was fake, what is relevant is that others thought it was a
believable background). it's not clear if miners on marginally habitable
planets like Troy would still retain absentee-citizenship with their
mother-planet like Troy; it's possible that so few colonists were actually born
and raised on minor colonies like Troy that they never developed a group or
cultural identity, even on worlds like Troy whose resources had been fought
over for centuries.
Permanent habitation
of these minor colonies seems to not have occurred on a large scale. Again the
one major exception to this is the mention that the Celtans of Virgon's
habitable moon Hibernia actually strove to assert their independence but were
forced into submission by Virgon; it is plausible that they strove for equal
representation in the new unified federal government.
RAGNAR ANCHORAGE
Ragnar Anchorage (also known as
"Ragnar Station" or "Ragnar Station Ammunition Reserve") is
an unmanned orbital refueling station and naval armory, suspended in the upper
atmosphere of the gas giant Ragnar, that distills hydrocarbons from the
planet's upper atmosphere. Ragnar Anchorage is most likely a remnant of the
First Cylon War (or earlier), and is largely unkempt and abandoned by the
Colonials. On the exterior, the station features three massive rotating habitat
ringed sections, the "top" ring being unfinished or scrapped for
parts, and as many as seven airlocks on the station's "cap". The
interior of the station features a dark, damp, and largely exposed environment,
which now creates a somewhat hostile atmosphere to any Human (or Cylon)
inhabitants. What's left of its ammunition and supplies stores is strewn about
near the airlocks, largely forgotten.
The Colonial Fleet had created this
station in this location, aware that the atmosphere's radiation adversely
affects Cylon technology. The EM field of the atmosphere also affected DRADIS,
weapons targeting and navigation, making it impossible for the Cylons to chase
and attack within the Ragnar atmosphere. The station is infamous amongst the
Colonial Fleet as a "super bitch" to dock to, likely due to the
turbulence experienced by ships traveling within the tenuous upper layers of
the atmosphere.
Ragnar holds no known offensive or
defensive weapons, and appears permanently berthed in the upper atmosphere of
Ragnar, indicating the station holds no sublight engines or FTL drives.
Ragnar Anchorage was the rendezvous
site the surviving civilian Colonials met the battlestar Galactica, then known
to be the only surviving Colonial military vessel. It was from here that they
made their escape from the Colonial solar systems, never to return. The station
is presumed to have been abandoned or destroyed following the successful
retrieval of Aaron Doral by Cylon forces after the battle.
Ragnar itself is a gas giant located on
the outer edge of the Helios Gamma/Delta system, and site of the Ragnar
Anchorage munitions station. After the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, Commander
Adama, assuming command of the Colonial Fleet after Admiral Nagala's death,
orders all ships to Ragnar; President Laura Roslin's fleet is the only known
assemblage of ships to make this rendezvous.
Ragnar is wracked by violent storms.
Ragnar Anchorage appears to be located in an area of relative calm within the
storms. The storms themselves create a high level of electromagnetic
discharges, which interfere with a range of systems, including a ship's ability
to plot FTL jumps. While this effectively hides the Anchorage station from
enemy scans, it also means that a ship must cross the "EM threshold"
above the main bulk of the storms before attempting a jump. This problem
requires Commander Adama to place Galactica directly between the planet and an
opposing force of Cylon basestars to provide the necessary protection for the
civilian Fleet to jump away from Colonial space.
Another side effect of the storm is the
emission of a form of radiation that adversely affected the Cylons' silica
pathways, a technology integrated into humanoid Cylons. When Leoben Conoy
appears to fall sick while trapped on the station with Adama, it gives the
commander his first clue that Conoy is a Cylon construct.
Ragnar is said to be at least three
days away at sublight speed and the entire Cylon fleet is between Galactica and
the Anchorage, hence the ship has to make a FTL jump, even though Colonel Saul
Tigh warns that Galactica could end up in the middle of the sun rather than at
Ragnar if the calculations are off even by a few degrees.
It is possible that the deleterious
effects of Ragnar's radiation on Cylon technology became known to the Colonials
during the Cylon War, prompting them to place the Anchorage within Ragnar's
atmosphere.
The name "Ragnar" is an
homage to Ragnarök, the apocalyptic battle of the gods of North Germanic
mythology. The story of Ragnarök coincidentally ties with the career of William
Adama; he is a former commander of the battlestar Valkyrie, named for minor
female deities and goddesses of fate who carried the most heroic fallen
warriors to Valhalla to await the pre-ordained battle at the end of the world.
Following the events of a failed secret Cylon reconnaissance mission, Adama is
given command of the to-be-decommissioned Galactica, during which the Cylons attack,
the Colonies fall, and Adama prepares to fight the Battle of Ragnar Anchorage,
the last battle within Colonial space fought by the last remaining battlestar
of the fleet (a recurring theme of "last", "final", and
"ending")
The dark, dank, extremely dirty
interior of Ragnar Anchorage was filmed in the Roger's Sugar Mill in Vancouver,
according to the Miniseries DVD commentary.
The large ordnance room (where the
Colonials abandon Aaron Doral before leaving the Anchorage) is an abandoned
potash silo within the British Columbia railyards. The locale is reused as the
Temple of Five for the Season 3 mid-season cliffhanger, "The Eye of
Jupiter".
WATCH this fan made video of the Batlle At Ragnar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vekVCGapI-4
GEMENON
Name: Gemenon
Ancient name: Gemini
Nickname: /
Patron God: Hera
Population: ± 2.800.000.000 (Two billion, eight hundred million)
Capital: Oranu
Star system: Helios
Gemenon was the first world colonized by the humans of Kobol, and it's official language is "Old Gemenese".
Gemenon is the planet where the Gemini tribe of Kobol settled. It is known throughout the Four Systems as "The First Colony".
Gemenon is in the Helios Alpha star system and it's twin planet Caprica is only 493,000 kilometres (306,336.0 mi) away.
It shares its orbit around Helios Alpha with Caprica, completing an rotation once every 28.2 days. Its status as a twin planet gives it its name. Its climate can vary wildly, featuring frozen plateaus, and searing deserts, which can make life difficult for its inhabitants.
Gemenon also shares its star system with Picon and Tauron.
Gemenon's largest land mass is the Pustiu Desert ("pustiu" is Romanian for desert), which lies in the shadow of the vast Gramada Mountains (in Romanian "gramada" means large pile) on the western coast.
Between the Gramadas and the desert is the barren 10,000 feet (3.0 km) high plateau called the Spatiu Gol ("spatiu" is Romanian for "space" and "gol" is Romanian for empty: Empty Space), which slopes down into farmland.
The east coast is the site of the capital Oranu, which has both temples and high-rise buildings, offset by holy statuary.
Illumini, the religious center, features more sacred artwork, and was built around an enormous pantheon complex, in which every deity in the Sacred Scrolls is represented.
Gemenon was one of the poorer colonies,though while many Gemenese are poor, some choose to be because their religion means more to them then the cubits in their pockets.
The Gemenese, were known for their religious fundamentalism. Fundamentalist Gemenese take the Sacred Scrolls of Pythia literally and every word in the scrolls is to be taken literal as well.
School children know the names of every god, and won't hesitate to correct you if you get one wrong. The government is a republic led by the Prime Minister. They have a Guardian Council, which presides over all moral issues, while the lower house called the House of Councilors handles the administration of the laws.
Orthodox Theists, while still very religious, are more lenient compared to the Fundamentalists.The Gemenese consider their children to be property of the Gods.
Gemenon is a place for religious pilgrimage. There are two different religious factions on Gemenon.
Abortion, child abuse and failure to provide children with decent education are punishable by the death penalty on Gemenon.
Most of the population of Gemenon was apparently very strongly opposed to the federal laws legalizing abortion .
Before the First Cylon War, Gemenon was home to the Kobol Colleges and a monotheistic cult called "The Soldiers of the One" or STO. Events in the prequel series Caprica reveal how The Soldiers of the One influence the creation of a monotheistic Cylon God.
Gemenon's second-largest city, Illumini, was built around a large Pantheon complex, composed of buildings intended to worship and celebrate every deity in the Sacred Scrolls.
During the Cylon attack, Gemenon comes under heavy assault by Cylon air and ground forces, completely obliterating one city with a high-yield nuclear device, and causing extensive damage to another with conventional means. At least one ship, the Cybele, is able to escape the destruction of its port and occupying Cylon forces, and find Roslin's fleet.
Three months after the attacks, approximately 9,500 Gemenese break away from the main fleet, and join the Laura Roslin faction over Kobol . The large and devoted Gemenese population continues to be an important political factor within the fugitive fleet.
Fun Facts:
If the word "Inviere" (meaning "Resurrection") is any indication, Old Gemenese was probably similar to the Romanian language of our Earth.
According to Serge's Twitter account, Gemenon is the planet that shares its orbit with Caprica. This planet is seen at the beginning of the aired Caprica pilot, but is not clearly identified as such until CAP: "The Heavens Will Rise" in a visual transition from Caprica to Gemenon.
As an Easter Egg in The Plan, the building on the lower left of the screen is the same one where the Romulan Senate assembles in Star Trek Nemesis.
THE STO
The Soldiers of the One (also known as the "STO") are a group which is the militant arm of the Monad Church based on Gemenon. It is active sixty years before the Fall of the Colonies. Its singular mission is to "drive out the many Gods" and combat the decadence and corruption of Colonial society. They also seek to unite the Twelve Colonies by imposing a single monotheistic faith on all of them. The Caprican government considers them a terrorist criminal organization. Apparently the link between the Monad Church and the Soldiers of the One is still a secret in the Twelve Colonies, or at least officially denied.
The leadership of the group is based on Gemenon. They are governed by the matriarch of the church, who is known only as The Mother. The church maintains good relations with other, polytheistic faiths, which is resented by many in the STO, including Sister Clarice Willow.
Sister Clarice Willow, headmistress of the Athena Academy, is the clandestine leader of the group on Caprica. She initially reported to Barnabas Greeley, but later was granted leadership over all STO cells on Caprica by The Mother after she carried out a coup on Gemenon. Other members include her students Lacy Rand, Ben Stark, Zoe Graystone, Keon Gatwick, Pann and Hippolyta. At least two -- Stark and Gatwick -- collected explosives.
Zoe Graystone had intended to seek refuge with the church on Gemenon prior to her death. She had plans to further the Soldiers of the One's mission that involved the process of apotheosis.
The origins of the STO are as yet unknown. Officer Duram tells Amanda Graystone that Sister Clarice was born on Gemenon at a time when the STO was actively recruiting members "to protect the new church," implying that the Monad Church and the STO are not much more than a few decades old (the exact age of Clarice is unknown). It has also been said that, after an earlier time of conflict, the STO went dormant ten years prior to the bombing of Maglev 23. Sister Clarice claims that the STO was the only thing that allowed the church to survive during an unspecified period of challenges.
58 years before the fall, a number of STO members intend to flee to Gemenon—Zoe Graystone, Ben Stark and Lacy Rand. However, Rand pulls out of the trip at the last minute and further, Stark, wearing a suicide vest, blew it up on Maglev 23—much to the surprise of Graystone, who is herself killed in the bombing.
Sister Willow refers to this as "premature" and "unauthorized". However, a second attack in Caprica City on an empty building follows soon after. A third attack on the Caprica Spaceport, ordered by Barnabas in a plan to kill Clarice, is attempted but fails.
Clarice Willow and Barnabas Greeley were originally the leaders of two STO factions in Caprica City. The two groups have come into conflict; Barnabas even tried to kill Clarice. This conflict eventually leads Clarice to travel to the church's headquarters on Gemenon, where she presents them with a plan for a devastating suicide attack on Atlas Arena in Caprica City. Further, she shows them how the holobands can be used to create avatars for the dead bombers through apotheosis. This, Clarice believes, can become the church's most powerful tool to recruit new members, since it allows people to see the afterlife in this life. One of the church's elders, Obal Ferras, is disturbed by Clarice's suggestions and asks The Mother for permission to kill her, which is granted. However, Clarice, suspecting his intentions, turns the other STO members against him, and kills him before he can enact his plan. The Mother, clearly horrified by this act, nevertheless feels powerless to stop Clarice, and grants Clarice her request to take command over all STO cells on Caprica. Clarice then returns to Caprica and kills Barnabas and those who are loyal to him.
Finding Lacy Rand among Barnabas' followers, Clarice sends her to Gemenon to take part in a youth training program. Hoping that this will give the girl "time to reflect", Clarice inadvertently brings about the downfall of the STO leadership. Lacy Rand becomes further alienated from the STO by their ruthless training program and attempts to assassinate her when she is discovered to have inexplicable command over U-87 Cylon robots under STO control. With the help of these robots and fellow recruits, Lacy leads a successful coup against the STO and Monad Church leadership and becomes reverend mother herself.
Having seized control of all STO assets on Caprica, Clarice Willow begins preparations for apotheosis and the Atlas Arena terrorist attack. These operations are thwarted, however, by the actions of the Graystones and Clarice's cell is effectively destroyed in the process without successfully attaining apotheosis. Clarice Willow herself survives and turns to concentrate on converting the Cylons to rise up against their human creators. She returns to Gemenon to seek assistance from the Revered Mother, but discovers that Lacy Rand has overthrown the STO leadership. As new leader of the Monad Church, Lacy Rand expresses antipathy towards Clarice. This and Lacy Rand's faction's non-violent leanings suggest that the STO's violent agenda has at least temporarily been put on hold.
The symbol used by the STO and the Monad Church is the Infinity Symbol.
More than sixty years later the same symbol utilized by this group is seen at the hands of the humanoid Cylons, being employed during a religious funereal service.The reappearance of the symbol may suggest a direct connection between the religion inherited by the modern Cylon nation from the Caprican Centurions and that espoused by the Soldiers of the One.
In some ways the structure and practices of the church seem similar to the medieval Catholic Church, such as in Barnabas Greeley's practice of self-flagellation, although in others it is very different (such as in it being led by a woman).
THE MONAD CHURCH
The Monotheist Church, sometimes referred to as the Monad Church, was a religious organization based on Gemenon in the years before the Fall. Lead by the cleric known as Mother, the Monotheist Church's goal was to spread the gospel of a single, all knowing, all powerful God to the generally polytheist Twelve Worlds.
Formed in the decades leading up to the First Cylon War, the Monotheist Church was housed in the rocky, seaside cliffs of Gemenese in a temple referred to as "the retreat". The location was considered by the monotheists to be the Holy Land. Inside the retreat was an elaborate cathedral distinguished by buttresses, stained glass windows and reflecting pools where the clerics met for worship as well as politicking. The halls of the Monotheist Church echoed with the sound of chanting and prayer, reflecting a bygone age of mysticism in the Twelve Colonies.
In the early years of its formation, the Monad Church came into conflict with its polytheistic neighbors with polytheist rebels in the east and the "Hephaistons" in the west. Despite these tensions, the Monad Chruch's relationship with the polytheist ones softened over time, though they still considered nonbelievers "unenlightened".
The Soldiers of the One
The Soldiers of the One, or STO, was the militant arm of the Monotheist Church, formed in the movement's early years to defend the church, driving out the many Gods and combating the corruption and decadence of Colonial society. Considered by the Caprican Government to be a terrorist organization, the STO was at least in part seen by Obal Ferras, with training camps set up on Gemenon.
Meeting resistance to the monotheist movement, the Monotheist Church at first heavily utilized its arm branch, crediting it with its success in leaner years. Despite the fact that they were treated as saviors, the Monotheist Church ultimately took up a more distant relationship with its STO cells, going so far as to refuse to house its leaders within the church proper .
A comparison in our world could be made with organizations like the IRA, as they appear to have a similar set up.
Conclave
The monotheist conclave was a ten member group of clerics that convened on Gemenon to carry out the affairs of the Church, with members including Obal Ferras consulting directly with the Blessed Mother.
58 years before the Fall of the Twelve Worlds, the conclave came into direct conflict with the STO. Objecting to the church's newly found "coziness" with the polytheist organizations in the Colonies, Caprican cell leader Clarice Willow sought a new direction for the church. Meeting with the conclave on Gemenon, Clarice unveiled her notion of "Apotheosis" — the realization of life everlasting in a virtual heaven. Despite a convincing argument, however, Obal Ferras found Willow's notion blasphemous, relating his position to Mother and securing permission to have Clarice disposed of.
Willow's Apotheosis had nevertheless won over many other members of the conclave and the STO who conspired to murder Ferras instead. With the conclave stabbing Ferras to death before her eyes, Mother acquiesced, giving Willow the resources she needed to complete her "science project" and granting her full control over the STO cells on Caprica. Willow quickly returned to Caprica where she set out eliminating her competition.
Ascension of Lacy Rand
Monotheist Lacy Rand initially infiltrates the STO on Caprica in order to gain their trust sufficiently to smuggle Zoe-R's U-87 Centurion body to Gemenon. She becomes a pawn in the battle of supremacy between her mentor Sister Clarice Willow and the Caprican STO commander Barnabas Greeley who can facilitate the transport, and unwittingly plants Barnabas' bomb to kill Clarice. Lacy's efforts are for naught, as Zoe-R is captured and severely damaged. Her fate sealed, Lacy actively trains under Barnabas, and attempts to bomb the Caprica Interplanetary Spaceport . Clarice had survived; she hunts down Barnabas and Lacy, kills the former, and takes the latter prisoner. Lacy manages to regain some of Clarice's trust and Clarice gives Lacy an opportunity for redemption, sending her off to the STO training camp on Gemenon.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Lacy, the STO begins purchasing U-87s - the very thing Lacy had tried to smuggle - from the Ha'la'tha planted in Graystone Industries. The black market U-87s are sent to Gemenon.
When polytheists hijack the STO shuttle, Lacy takes the lead in successfully fighting the hijackers and personally injures one of them. The incident is immediately revealed to have been an evaluation and training exercise. That evening, Lacy and her comrade Odin Sinclair witnesses the execution of those recruits who had renounced their faith during the evaluation; the executioner is a U-87.
Soon thereafter, Lacy realizes that the STO trainers and leadership are murderous thugs who routinely order U-87s to summarily execute subordinates for petty infractions and mere disagreements. When she instinctively calls out for one such execution to stop, the U-87 immediately removes its muzzle from its would-be victim's head and responds, "By your command." The Cylons' programming to follow all orders from (and only from) authorized leaders is discovered to be subordinate to their recognition of, and obedience to, Lacy Rand (CAP: "The Heavens Will Rise"). Lacy sneaks into the temple where the U-87s are stored to investigate further. Recognizing the one that had obeyed her, because of its red chest markings, she asks it if it is Zoe, a question the robot does not understand; so she orders, "If you are Zoe, raise your arm." One by one, every Cylon in the temple raises its arm.
While the STO and Monad church know only of Lacy's inexplicable ability to control the one U-87 and of her opposition to the killing of innocents, that is enough to make her unacceptably dangerous. Blessed Mother orders Lacy be killed with the appearance of a training accident. Odin recognizes that such orders are necessarily imminent, and convinces Lacy and their fellow trainees of the same. Thus prepared, the trainees double-cross and ambush Lacy's would-be assassins. Lacy dismisses her comrades' proposition to escape from the base; instead, she leads them to the Cylon storage temple where she orders the Cylons to power up and directs them to follow her with the ominous, "We have work to do."
With her tiny cadre of trainees supported by Centurions, Lacy stages a coup d'état, installing herself as Blessed Mother, with Odin serving as her lieutenant, and the red-breasted U-87 as her acolyte and/or praetorian guard.
The kernel of Zoe-R's identity contained in the Cylons' fundamental programming which Lacy exploites, also makes them predisposed to monotheism. Ironically, the Cylon marines' killing of monotheist human terrorists to protect the thousands of polytheist humans at Atlas Arena (coincidental to Lacy's coup) ingratiates the Cylons with humanity and is the catalyst for their much more rapid popularity and sales than inventor Daniel Graystone had anticipated.
Clarice Willow evades capture for her orchestration of the failed arena bombing. She eventually discovers the Cylons' monothistic instincts and establishes a Cylon congregation in V-World where various domestic, industrial, and military Cylon models attend to hear her sermons. Clarice preaches that Cylons are every bit as much God's children as humans are.
Blessed Mother Lacy grants Clarice an audience at her see on Gemenon to discuss Clarice's proposal for divine recognition of the "differently sentient" - the Cylon race. Lacy greets Clarice with a smile, but commands her to kneel.
The Centurions maintain monotheism through the first human-Cylon war and beyond. The continue to progogate the belief system into the root programming of the comrades they manufacture to fight humans, as well as with most of the humanoid Cylon models they create with the help of the Final Five. Of the seven mass-produced models, only one is atheist. It is not known if the semi-sentient Raiders and second war Centurions have even the capacity to process religion. The humanoid Cylons' funerary services utilise ornaments and amulets in the form of the Monad church's infinity symbol.
- Missing Colonies will be
added once they have been discussed as colony of the week
THE BEGINNING
Following ancient
prophecies, the rebel Lords and their human followers found the quadruple
yellow-star system
Helios. Likely unique in the Milky Way, Helios Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta
boast no less than
twelve habitable worlds, and several moons with atmosphere. Mankind settled
first on Gemenon, now the centre of religious life in the colonies, and spread
out from there.
Each tribe would
eventually find a world to call their own.
This is a time of
exodus, and the start of an ancient golden age. The time when Egypt and
Mesopotamia were dominant parallels this era. Just add spaceships and forgotten
high-tech.
THE DAWN OF WAR AND THE DARK AGES
As the Lords of Kobol
faded from history, an urge for war took hold of the hearts of the colonists.
Planet rose against
planet. Nuclear and conventional warfare reversed the progress made by the
Lords, and left the
Twelve Colonies in a dark age. These ancient wars are still referred to in
political rhetoric, but are so numerous and bloody that almost any perspective
can be defended by
quoting some ancient
crusade.
To an earthling, this
turbulent time would seem very similar to the middle ages of Asia and Europe,
with constant plague, war, religious strife and the rise and fall of dynasties.
But with spaceships.
THE IMPERIAL AGE AND COLONIAL LIBERATION
From the rubble of
the dark ages rose two dominant imperial powers; Virgon and Leonis. The rival
colonies established order and introduced many of the cultural norms that are
now seen as typically colonial. For instance Caprican language is really a
merger between Virgon and Leonis tongues. Virgon and Leonis held power over the
Twelve Colonies for almost 500 years before any
uprisings or claims
to freedom started. The last colony to win their independence was Tauron, 850
years ago.
The history of Earth
covers many imperial ages, but this era most clearly resembles Roman hegemony
in Europe, Chinese dominance of the East, and the rule of the British Empire in
the 19th and early 20th century.
THE COLONIAL AGE
With independence,
the colonies were left to their own devices. World’s poor in natural resources
stagnated, while wealthier planets became cultural leaders of their respective
systems. During this time, the frantic competition (and sometimes cold war)
between Tauron and Caprica begins.
This, and the
following space age, is remembered by Taurons as their glory days, when they
could rival Caprica in wealth and prestige. Many believe the good times have
now returned, as Tauron is once again rising to prominence after two
devastating civil wars.
The dominant
(industrialized and resource-strong) worlds of this era include Caprica,
Tauron, Libra and Canceron. This time is reminiscent of the early 20th century,
with the industrialized world’s using commerce, ethnic cleansing, religion and
superior firepower to dominate the developing worlds. Many of the tragedies of
the equivalent period on Earth have their counterparts on an even larger
scale,during this time.
THE SPACE AGE
The wealth
accumulated during the colonial age allowed the Twelve Colonies to reach out
and touch the stars again. Vast fleets set off into the dark to search for
legendary Kobol. Nearby star systems were colonized and vast corporations rose
as the mineral wealth of deep space allowed
the construction of
orbital factories. There are still secret bases and small settlements left from
this age of expansion. Scavengers and exploration teams still come upon
technology and cultural artefacts from roughly a century ago, and marvel at the
achievements of their grand-grandparents. This age sees the construction of the
first massive colonial fleets since the dark age, and many off world wars are
waged. Some are secret affairs, while others make the headline news.
The fighting never
touches planetary surfaces. If there was a winner in this space race, it would
be Caprica. Through sheer audacity and wealth, this upstart colony (she was
last to be settled, only 400 years ago, and before that she was home to tribal
iron-age “natives” left over from the
dark ages) gained
total cultural dominance over Helios Alpha, and later over all of the colonies.
This age has
similarities to the rise of US global cultural dominance in the aftermath of
the second world war, as well as to the covert warfare of the cold war.
This time is followed
by the Tauron Civil Wars and the rise of the Monad Church and the STO.
Which lead to the
development of the U87 Cylon and other models and ultimately ended in the First
Cylon War.
The First Cylon War And It's Consequences
Everyone
lost someone they know or are related to, to the Cylon menace. The war started
suddenly, with every single toaster in the colonies rebooting for a mysterious
upgrade, and then marching off to assembly points where hijacked freighters
whisked them off to predetermined staging locations. A day later, the first
attacks began. In the beginning, various Cylon models
fought
with whatever they could get their stainless steel hands on - stolen weapons,
hacked industrial machinery, civilian aircraft used in kamikaze runs. As soon
as the machines gained control of orbital factories, they started to
standardize.
The
Centurion soldier, and the original disc-shaped Raider fighter plane, were the
first and most successful Cylon-built weapon systems.
They
were far from unique. Almost every mechanical nightmare imaginable was
constructed and unleashed on humanity during close to a decade of war.
After
a few initial human victories, the Cylons started using their superior electronic
warfare capabilities to unleash a stream of viruses and hacks which forced the
highly networked fleets of its time to their knees. Humanity had no real chance
of victory until all colonies united by signing the Articles of Colonization.
The invention of the deliberately low tech Battlestars was also a significant
step forward. The war was long and brutal, eventually ending in a tenuous
cease-fire and truce.
Why the Cylons, on their hand, chose to
end the hostilities was unclear to humanity. Their retreat to an adopted home
world beyond colonial space, and further exploration of the west arm of the
galaxy, are generally seen as prime motives. After so much mutual destruction,
no one expected the Cylons to ever return.
When
the war ended, dirty jobs previously done by robots still had to be done.
Corporations and national industries started hiring war-veterans, displaced
refugees and widowers to fill their shoes, aided in their efforts by wartime
rhetoric’s. The result was a return to slavery, and extreme gaps opening up
between the rich and the poor.
Sagittarion,
for instance, became a heavily industrialized labour-planet where workers were
seldom given more rights than the machinesthey replaced. Under these
conditions, Tom Zarek and his Sagittarion Freedom Movement quickly gained
popular support. Mr Zarek remains the most quoted labor rights activist in the
Twelve Colonies, despite the bombing of a government building in the past.
Post-war
Caprican economy recovered by moving manufacturing off world, where workers
were less accustomed to humane working conditions. Tauron made it through the
recession by sheer stubbornness, supported by
the
patriotism of its clans and families. They chose to nationalize many
corporations and opted for a planned economy and a solid, clan-operated social
security system.
As a
result, Caprica and Tauron have emerged as two of the wealthiest and most
influential colonies of the post-war era.
FORGETTING ABOUT THE CYLONS AND THE ADAR/BALTAR DIGITAL RENAISSANCE
Close to fifty years after the cease-fire, in the very recent past it seemed
extremely unlikely that the Cylons would ever return. Bans on AI research,
networked technology and the Holoband started to look antiquated and
counterproductive. The Holoband was used, but not for the immersive,
full-sensory illusions it was originally designed to host.
Instead, it carried the HoloNet, a simple two-dimensional internet which in
reality was military “safe” networking being put to civilian use. Most citizens
used connected devices without worrying about Cylon viruses. The champion and
public face of this re-networked society was Aerilon
computer scientist and all-round genius Gaius Baltar. He eloquently convinced
many, among them president Adar, that the time had arrived to re-evaluate
restrictions on limited artificial intelligence and networking. The CNP
(Command Navigation Program) allowed coordinated space
jumps and cross-colony communication over data-streaming FTL-capable buoys.
This system was the first major networking effort undertaken in the post-war
era.
Most citizens saw digital technology as something not to be used flippantly,
which made computer games and virtual worlds into quite suspect pastimes. Many
citizens (especially those of the older generation) still did not look kindly
on any form of computer use, no matter the reason for it.
The gradual resurgence of digital technology (especially on Caprica) brings to
mind the meteoric rise of the internet, in recent Earth history - with all the
controversies connected to leading a virtual life.
HISTORY OF THE 13th TRIBE
(semi-canonical
information from the comic book)
Timeline:
- The story starts on
Kobol 4000 years ago.
- A young woman named
Pythia wants to see the tribes united and is sentenced to death because of her
beliefs. She is receiving guidance from a blonde woman in a red dress who
appears only to her.
- The 13th tribe is
made up of members of the other twelve tribes who chose to resurrect. They have
new bodies that can't reproduce.
- Michael Tigh
represents this new tribe.
- Tigh tries to help Pythia, but she is killed.
- A man named John
Cavil is wounded while trying to help the 13th tribe members after an accident
and as a reward, ends up resurrected in a new body.
- Tensions cause the
13th tribe to leave Kobol onboard a resurrection ship.
- Michael Tigh is
commander of the resurrection ship and the rest of the fleet. Because of their
relativistic ships, months pass for them while decades pass for everyone else
on Kobol.
- Beacons are left
behind so that the other tribes can find them if they wish to. This decision
isn't popular with everyone.
- During the journey,
a viper appears out of nowhere.
- The resurrection
ship is sabotaged and crashes on an algae planet.
- While on the
planet, the ship is rebuilt, a temple is built and the saboteur, who is
revealed to be a stowaway named Magnus Baltar has a change of heart.
- The person in the
viper is revealed to be Pythia who claims to know the location of Earth.
- The blonde woman in
the red dress appears to Michael Tigh and tells him that the pilot isn't
Pythia. She's like her, a Lord of Kobol, only that she chooses to appear in the
flesh to do her work. If this is canon, then the head people are the Lords of
Kobol and the "Starbuck" who returned is one of them who appears in
the flesh. I should also add that in the comic, there is a ship that looks like
the Ship of Lights from the original series, which could belong to these Lords
of Kobol.
- With the help of
Pythia, now married to Michael Tigh, the repaired ship continues on to Earth
and the 13th tribe starts reproducing.
- Magnus Baltar heads
back to Kobol to spread the word of Pythia. He has a book with him that has the
corners burned off. This is probably why future books have the corners cut off.
- On Earth, about a
generation after their arrival, the 13th tribe is living in a small but
thriving technologically advanced society.
- John Cavil is now
the head of a corporation called Cavil Cybernetics and has a daughter named
Ellen.
- Michael Tigh,
leader of the tribe, is dying and had a son named Saul who is secretly married
to Ellen since their fathers have become rivals. Cavil wants resurrection and
Tigh doesn't.
- Cavil has been
bankrolling his daughter's resurrection research. Meanwhile, he has made plans
to have the population culled, using the centurions his company has built. The
surviving few he's chosen will continue on through resurrection.
- Tory Foster is
Cavil's assistant.
- Galen Tyrol is
Ellen's assistant.
- In order to test
resurrection technology, Tyrol finds a man on the street to volunteer. This
volunteer's name is Sam Anders.
- Sam was supposed to
be put down properly in order to resurrect, but was shot impulsively by Tory
Foster. Testing was none the less successful and Sam resurrected.
- Cavil's plan goes
bad and the centurions wipe everyone out, but Ellen managed to get everything
in place and five people are resurrected onboard a ship in orbit. Again, if
these events are canon, then it looks like the 13th tribe wasn't on Earth very
long.
- The five reach the
algae planet and see the temple. They follow the beacons and eventually reach
Kobol only to find it abandoned.
- Cylons show up,
recognize them as machines and tell them about the twelve colonies and the war.
They are also working on skinjobs which the five agree to help build.
- A Cavil body which
was on the five's ship, which was supposed to be for Ellen's resurrected father
before she cancelled his resurrection, now became Cylon No. 1 and was given its
own personality which also contained elements of her father.
- Other models are
made. One of them, No. 6, was based on a blonde woman who appeared to Pythia,
Michael and eventually Saul at some point.
- No. 1 kills one of
the models out of jealousy and condemns his five creators to life on the
colonies.
THOUGHTS ON THIS:
Resurrection was a
deliberate modification to their genetic code. They could either be able to
download, or be able to breed, but not both. Pythia showed them how to change themselves
to be able to reproduce on the Algae Planet, and Michael Tigh banned
resurrection and had the plans destroyed, hence the reason John Cavil had to
recreate it.
Fun fact: Judging by
the art, Pythia was the preincarnation of Kara Thrace. In a deleted scene in
"Deadlock," Ellen rattles off a few suggestions for who she thinks
Saul was sleeping with while she was dead, including Roslin and Starbuck. Ellen
had gotten her memories back by this point, meaning she should've full well
known that Starbuck bore a curious resemblance to Pythia, Saul's mother.
Maybe she was hoping
she wasn't the only one who'd done some freaky robo-reincarnation incest.
- The Kobolian cylons
are just people who downloaded to new bodies and not artificial creations. I
argued against something similar to this just a few weeks ago.
- Starbuck in the
last season of BSG wasn't Starbuck. She was a Lord of Kobol (who's name is
Aurora by the way) who took on her identity and "continued" her life.
- Kara Thrace is a
likeness of Saul Tigh's mother.
- Cavil is
responsible for the destruction of both Earth and the twelve colonies in a way.
- The head people are
Lords of Kobol.
- Six was modelled
after a Lord of Kobol.
(Battlestar Wiki
claims the comics take place in a different continuity than the show, however
this gives some interesting discussion starters)
BSG UNIVERSE TIMELINE
TIMELINE
OF RECENT COLONIAL HISTORY
(BCH = Before Cylon
Holocaust)
58—52 years BCH:
With the use of a meta-cognitive processor stolen from Tauron rival Tomas
Vergis, the Caprican tech CEO Daniel Graystone creates the first Cylons of the
Twelve Colonies to aid in hard labor and warfare. A virtual copy of his dead
monotheist daughter Zoe Graystone's consciousness is downloaded into one. Humanity
is unaware that they are repeating the actions of their ancestors on Kobol.
ca. 58 BCH: William Adama born in Qualai, Caprica. He is named for his
deceased older brother.
52 years BCH: Cylon revolt starts the first Cylon
War. Articles of Colonization signed.
51 years BCH: Colonial ship Brenik is lost after a
boarding action by Cylon Centurions.
ca. 50 years BCH: Battlestar Galactica
enters service.
42 years BCH: William Adama begins his service in the
Colonial Fleet as a Raptor pilot aboard Galactica with co-pilot and ECO Coker
Fasjovik, 10 years into the Cylon War. He is later promoted to Lieutenant and
is assigned his first Viper, a Mark III, and a special task force comprised of
top pilots for dangerous missions. Battlestar Archeron destroyed by Cylon forces
in Sector 12. All hands lost. Battlestar Osiris destroyed over Djerba in
suicide maneuver against lone Cylon Baseship. All hands lost. Fate of Lt. Jim
Kirby (AWOL) unknown. Becca Kelly succeeds in her mission on Djerba, and is
later killed by the Cylons. Ghost Fleet Offensive successful, decimating Cylon
military holdings in five sectors. Mechanical Cylons begin experiments
constructing humanoid forms of Cylon.
42-41 years BCH: Coker Fasjovik presumably musters out
of Fleet after termination of second mandatory tour.
40 years BCH: Experiments on
"humanoid" Cylons culminate in the creation of the First Hybrid and
subsequent Hybrids, but no fully humanoid forms. The Final Five arrive in the
Twelve Colonies in the waning days of the war. The Five meet the local Cylons
and negotiate an end to the war. They will give the Cylons biological bodies
complete with resurrection technology if the Cylons agree to end the war.
Operation Raptor Talon conducted by the Colonial Fleet, where William Adama
flies his first official Viper mission. Battlestar Columbia destroyed.
Armistice ends the Cylon War. Cylons exile themselves from the Twelve Colonies.
The First Hybrid and his Guardians part company with the other Cylons. William
Adama musters out of the Colonial Fleet.
Inter-War Period
37 BCH: William Adama enlists as merchant marine and serves
aboard inter-colony freighters.
37 to ca. 30 BCH: The Cylons establish a secret base
known as The Colony, built around and connected with the original ship of the
Final Five. This is the place where research and development equipment
belonging to the Final Five is stored. The Final Five create John Cavil, the
first of the new humanoid Cylons that are their "children," and
designate him model Number One. They raise him for some time. John matures and
assists the Final Five in the creation of seven other humanoid Cylon models. A
resurrection system is built for the new models based on technology left over
from the Thirteenth Tribe.
ca. 30 BCH: Cavil murders model Number Seven, Daniel, out of jealousy by
poisoning the amniotic fluid in which the Seven copies were maturing. The Final
Five are murdered by Cavil and their consciousnesses are boxed. Cavil erases
all knowledge of the Final Five and the missing model Number Seven from his
fellow humanoid Cylon models and specifically programs them not to think about
either. Saul Tigh is resurrected and introduced to the colonies as a military
officer with false history of fighting in the war. Ellen Tigh is resurrected
and introduced into Colonial society sometime thereafter.
ca. 28 BCH: Galen Tyrol supposedly born.[5] This is actually a
fabrication by John Cavil. First meeting between William Adama and Saul Tigh.
ca. 27 BCH: William and Carolanne Adama meet and marry.
ca. 26 BCH: Lee Adama born.
ca. 24 BCH: Zak Adama born.
23 years BCH: William Adama reinstated in the
Colonial Fleet at the rank of Captain and is assigned to the battlestar
Universal.
21 years BCH: Saul Tigh reinstated in the Colonial
Fleet at the rank of Captain by now-Major Adama.
20 years BCH: Last significant FTL jump recorded in
Galactica's logs. Tom Zarek imprisoned for blowing up a government building on
Sagittaron.
17 years BCH: William Adama assigned to the
battlestar Atlantia, where he makes his 1000th Viper landing.
13 years BCH: William Adama assigned as executive
officer to the new battlestar Columbia.
11 years BCH: Laura Roslin begins her career in
politics.
ca. 10 years BCH: Galen Tyrol enlists in the Colonial
Fleet.
9 years BCH: William Adama promoted to commander and
assigned as commander of the battlestar Valkyrie.
7 years BCH: Saul and Ellen Tigh meet and marry
again, unaware that it is the second time.
6 years BCH: William Adama leads an aborted covert
intelligence mission aboard Valkyrie. Daniel Novacek is shot down and captured
by the Cylons. Adama and Tigh are subsequently assigned to Galactica.
5 years BCH: Laura Roslin's last breast exam prior
to her cancer diagnosis. Galen Tyrol assigned to Galactica.
4 years BCH: Kara Thrace graduates from the Colonial Fleet Academy.
Socrata Thrace dies of stomach cancer.
3 years BCH: Felix Gaeta assigned to Galactica.
2 years BCH: Caprica Six begins residence on Caprica, first encounters
Dr. Gaius Baltar. Sharon Valerii begins service aboard Galactica. Zak Adama
dies in a flight school accident. Lt. Kara Thrace is re-assigned from flight
school to Galactica.
1 Year BCH: Last time William and Carolanne Adama speak. Carolanne Adama
gets engaged. Anastasia Dualla last visits her home.
Between 5 and 1 Year BCH: The following events are all seen in "Daybreak, Part
I" and "Part II" but are not dated. However, they fall within
this approximate time frame. Laura Roslin's father and sisters are killed by a
drunk driver. Kara Thrace and Lee Adama first meet. Caprica Six finds Julius
Baltar a new home in a retirement centre which encourages horticultural
activities. William Adama ponders retirement at a security firm but rejects the
job in disgust when forced to take a polygraph test. Saul and Ellen Tigh
celebrate his (and their own) supposed retirement. Sharon Valerii nearly washes
out of the Colonial Fleet, but is given a second chance by Commander Adama. She
promises to pay him back for his kindness. Laura Roslin joins Richard Adar's
presidential campaign. Gaius Baltar promises Caprica-Six full access to the
Colonial Defence Mainframe if she helps him work on the Command Navigation
Program.
Known Events
1. On Kobol :
Humans Naturally evolve (as far as we know) and 12 "tribes" of humans
exist, who create their own Cylons (becoming the 13th tribe)
2. This
is where "Man & Gods" lived in Paradise
3. The
Gods mentioned here are actually the first naturally evolved humans (as we are
told) & the "Man" is referring to the humanoid Cylons... Because
the entirety of the Colonial religion is based on Cylon (13th tribe)
documentation. (Figured out after Ellen returns to BSG - Also mentioned by
Athena : "We know more about your religion than you do..." while
searching for Tomb of Athena on Kobol) OR These Gods, could have been Humans,
who claimed to be Gods upon the creation of Cylons, and through time even
became "False Gods" to the humans themselves, namely Athena, Apollo,
Aphrodite etc... (Which COULD explain their despair over the exodus of the 12
tribes & their utter failure) again this is up for debate...
4. At
this point on Kobol, an unknown event (most likely a disagreement between cylon
& man) causes the "13th" tribe (of cylons) to be exiled from
Kobol.
5.
The 13th tribe reaches a distant planet and call it "Earth" (Cylon
Earth)
6.
The 12 tribes are "punished" by the "One True God" for
their sins & claims of being "Gods" as "God turned his back
on Kobol" (mentioned by Head 6 to Baltar while on Kobol) and experience an
apocalyptic disaster
(As explained by Mind 6 to Baltar) & are forced into exile themselves.
This
COULD be due to the humans sin & refusal to accept Cylons as a sentient
being (with souls)* (THIS PART IS OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS AS IT IS NEVER CLEARLY
EXPLAINED IN THE SHOW & WE ARE ONLY TOLD THAT GOD PUNISHED MAN ON KOBOL)
7. By
this time, the 13th tribe of Cylons (who have now become humanoid &
procreate naturally) have created their own mechanical servants, who rebel
against them
8.
Prior to this rebellion the "final 5" (Anders, Tory, Tigh, Ellen
& Tyrol) are warned. (By what Sam claims to be angels that only they could
see). ("Ellen, you saw a man, I saw a woman...") This is most likely
a reference to Head 6 & Head Baltar that appear to Baltar & Six
throughout the show)
9.The
5 "re-create" resurrection (as mentioned by Anders again - This means
that the 13th tribe WERE in fact humanoid for a LONG time but could not
procreate naturally on Kobol, and could be the reason for their exile as Humans
were either envious or thought it blasphemous because procreation is one of
Gods commendments)
10.Upon
their resurrection they intend to return to their lost brothers & sisters
of the 12 tribes to warn them that they MUST treat their mechanical creations
with kindness & fairness in order to avoid a holocaust they experienced on
"Cylon Earth"
11.Because
they travelled at Sub-Light speed, it took them thousands of years to reach the
12 colonies, and upon their arrival they realize that they are too late &
their brothers & sisters are already & war with the robotic Cylons
(created in Caprica series).
12.
During which the robotic Cylons of the 12 colonies attempt to create humanoid
models, but have only achieved creating Hybrids (This too is mentioned by
Anders)
13.Therefore,
in order to stop the war the Five decide to give the (12, 13-1) humanoid models
to the Cylons (1 for each tribe & give them resurrection as they too were
unable to procreate naturally (lacking sympathy & love as their Kobolian
ancestors once did)
14.
It is at this point that they introduce these humanoid models with the idea of
a singular loving God (Possibly in an attempt to enable them to procreate
naturally *but certainly to avoid having the 13 models deify their creators as
their own ancestors once did the humans(?) mentioned by Cavil to Ellen upon her
resurrection after New Caprica*) (Also because if they had in fact communicated
with "angels" (whether in the form of Baltar & 6 or not) then
they truly DID believe in the same God that Baltar comes to accept).
15.Cavil,
refusing to accept the "human nature" embedded within him, is
affected by THE most human attribute of jealousy & kills Daniels entire
line; traps his creators & suffocates them, planting them with false
"human" memories and introduces them on the 12 colonies as individual
humans in order to prove to them that humans ARE indeed cruel and innately
evil. (He may have also did the same with the other 11 models in order to
remove their memory of the truth to carry out his "plan".
16.The
show begins...
So
Cylons could have initially created resurrection first on Kobol (assumption),
and it caused them to be exiled. On Cylon Earth they stopped using Resurrection
until the 5 were informed by "angels" to recreate it in order to save
them selves and reach the 12 colonies.
Also
we know that Tomb of Athena on Kobol *IS* real, and it housed the 12 bodies of
the 12 tribe leaders, who possibly knew about the location of Cylon Earth, and
therefore remained on Kobol in order to avoid the 12 colonies from ever knowing
the real truth & returning to Earth for vengeance against their mechanical
slaves.
Sources:
