Columbia

Columbia is a planet orbiting the red dwarf star Providence. It is covered in both oceans and sprawling grassy plains with a few concentrated urban centers. The local flora tends to be a vibrant red as an adaptation to Providence's dim luminosity. As the planet is tidally locked to its star, one side exists in perpetual daylight while the other is perpetually night and completely covered in ice. Most of civilization exists in the twilight band between the day and the night sides.

Economy

Columbia's extensive farmland makes it one of the galaxy's largest exporters of organically grown food. With the planet's lack of seasons and virtual lack of an axial tilt, the same crops can be grown year round. Some varieties of food such as potatoes and corn were specifically bred to adapt to grow better under Columbia's sun.

History

Columbia's locals are genetically related to the Merinians, with Columbia being the older of the two colonies. During the Blackout, Columbia faced massive technological regression as without the vrNet and steady trade from other worlds, they lacked the infrastructure to maintain their higher tech establishments. However, one of the first bits of pre-Blackout information that was recovered from a virtuoarchaeological expedition was a Valerian historical record containing a snapshot vrNet world depicting the American Revolution. Recovered from the snapshot was a virtual life form depiction of George Washington who since became promoted to machine god status.

The contents of this snapshot of history, even if it was very brief, proved to be very influential towards Columbian culture. Various lifestyles and fashion choices were adopted, and perhaps among some of the most valuable documents they discovered: full text copies of the Declaration of Independence as well as the United States of America Constitution. Because of the themes of revolution and independence ingrained in their culture, Columbia was initially hesitant to join the Federation of Stellar Systems, fearing that they would repeat history. Negotiations took over one hundred years to complete before Columbia became a Federation member.

During the Virtual Wars, the Insurgency attempted to get Columbia to side with them, but they declined. It wasn't until the Insurgency chose to directly attack them that Columbia became involved in the war.

Cities

Montgomery

The largest city on Columbia and the capital of the Federal Republic of Columbia. It is a mix of old and new buildings with marble white architecture.