During the Diaspora, many colonies began as emulations of a particular era of history, or a specific milieu. Most of them died out, became Old Worlders or Cargo Cults, or joined the Tao. Nou Occitan is one of the exceptions.
Originally begun as a careful recreation of medieval Aquitaine with the benefits of modern technology, its moved away from that. The initial colonists used neural mesh and lenses to avoid 'slips' out of character, thus setting the tone for the colony and future generations. Careful genetic engineering and psychohistorical engineering ensured that it would be an Aquitaine as it never was: a place dominated by romantic troubadours and dueling bravos, where all the women are beautiful and honor is the highest currency. It was filled with enseingnamen, gratz and espiritu, (honor, grace and spirit respectively) as well as full of brutal misogyny, cruelty and lives wasted for a very narrowly defined ideal. Especially the women – they didn't really count.
It is a place where duels are fought with equal passion over insults and artistic views alike. It is also a civilization that uses modern transport, automation, medicine, information technology and weapons, specifically the neuroducer.
Duels on Nou Occitan are typically fought with modified neural induction weapons (neuroducers), where they can induce specific sensations. Normally, these area favorite of riot police because they hurt, and infrequent exposure doesn't cause problems. On Nou Occitans, they are a common melee weapon in the form of less lethal rapiers, daggers and swords. Frequent exposure causes the body to hallucinate long term injuries (like duelist's eyebrow or loser's grin) that can only be countered with long term hospital treatment. Or a neural mesh with a specific lens. Repeated exposure is dangerous though – it can cause a victim to hallucinate him or herself into a stroke or heart attack.
Because of this psychohistorical engineering it is also a place with an astoundingly high child and adolescent mortality rate due to accident, violence and suicide. Children are actively encouraged to break the rules, but as many Occitans have noted, the survivors had a great time. This is ironic since they have a fairly low reproduction rate and value and spoil their children during the early years. The intent is to create the male bravos and artists that the originators wanted.
On reaching adolescence and passing a series of tests, adolescents become jovents (young men) and donzelhas (young women) and are emancipated from their parents, become eligible for a allowance from the government (a niggardly thing that encourages them to seek other sources of income) and able to live in the quartier des jovents quarter of their city.
A quartier des jovents is a place of art, honor, passionate love affairs, duels and taverns. The art is frequently bad, the honor strained at best, the love affairs passionate as only teenagers can be. The taverns are good though. An uglier side of this is the use of neuroducer weapons for rape by the jovents.
Noble titles are awarded by lottery and have specific public duties and appearances that the nobility must keep up. The real government is by meritocracy with an automated system of placement and promotional exams for Occitans that tire of the life of the jovent and leave the jovents quarter. These become the bureaucracy that actually runs the civilization. Oddly, there is a tradition of scholarship for these former jovents and donzelhas, primarily in the social sciences (history, literature, economics, etc.) but also some very good psychohistory and engineering.
Nou Occitan was a violently creative, chauvinistic and flamboyant culture. It still is artistic, creative and flamboyant, but it isn't as chauvinistic or violent as it once was. Since recontact, Nou Occitan has had to undergo radical change, with the willing help of the civilization's youth and government.
For one, they learned much of their history was a fabrication to perpetuate their worldview and ensure the that it continued in the directions the founders wanted. Then as the jovents discovered what others lived like, they decided they wanted life like that, especially the women. Making matters worse (or more embarrassing – there is very little difference for an Occitan) was that their government had known this but not told them or altered the curricula of the schools.
One near revolution later, and a multitude of social reforms (including the donzelhas taking up arms, typically less lethal weapons like neuroducer dart guns, dazzle weapons and the like), Nou Occitans is fairly nice place much sought out for its art and romantic atmosphere. The quartier des jovents is still a lively place, but now no one is forced to go there. Duels still occur, but the Infosphere is just as often a duelling ground as the real world.
The look and feel of Nou Occitans is thoroughly medieval, but takes full advantage of modern materials and technologies. Lights and advertisements are designed not to reflect up into the sky and obscure the stars. Clothing has many medieval touches with tunics, tights and liripes for the men, and elaborate dresses for the women, but it now has quick and easy access and is much more comfortable than it looks. No matter the look, it is said an Occitan can make a potato sack look fashionable with a bit of preparation.
Their world, Wilson, a well terraformed planet with only one subcontinent and a host of islands, is nice. Almost a garden, but one with a wilderness look to it. As a result Wilson has some of the most spectacular scenery in the human diaspora.
For most of its history, Nou Occitan only had a planetary police force (a thankless task on this world of fierce individualists). With recontact and the realization that not all of the human civilizations are friendly, they established a military – the Legion Occitane. While non-natives may make fun of their uniforms, they are a reliable and competent force that works closely with the police (they view them as their eyes and ears on the ground – the police view them as the heavy hitters), and for planetary defense.
They've made a name for themselves, thanks to their art, literature and dramatic social reforms. The beautiful scenery and the excitement of the quartier des jovents makes for a wonderful tourist trade. On the whole, the get along well with the Masquerade, Independents and the Tao (negotiations by the Tao for the rights to create entertainments based on their history have helped there). They also get along well, but with some reservations, about the Replicants and Stored. The Logicians, Union, Stardwellers and Mechanicans unnerve them though.
All of the societies except the Group Minds, Sleepers and Hyperevolutes can be found among the Nou Occitans. All of the unofficial societies can be found there, especially the Mushashi Flex.
Common Name: Occitans
Benefit: Occitans receive an extra Twist at the beginning of each session, which they may only spend through Romance, Intrigue, or Magnetism.
Inspector Status: FBI, RCMP or Customs Inspector equivalent.
Core Values: Because of its unusual psychohistoric and social design, Nou Occitans typically will pick 2 Core Values from from Honor, Spirit and Grace. This allows for a dynamic and stable society.
Honor is the code of integrity, dignity, and pride, among Occitans, maintained by force of arms and scathing wit. This means the CV is used to fight back against insults (real and perceived) by the recipient. It also makes it very hard for the Occitan not to fight back against the insults. Usually found among Occitan bravos, duelists and raconteurs.
Spirit is vigor, courage, firmness of intent to the Occitans. This means that it is used to bear up under difficult circumstances and persevere in the face of opposition – be it physical or social. This is commonly found among the artists of the civilization.
Grace has a dual meaning for Occitans. First, it is the seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion that they possess and can be used to charm, impress and other social actions. It is also the disposition to be generous show goodwill and mercy – even when vengeance is appropriate. Historically, this was a female virtue, but now it is widely found throughout the Nou Occitan civilization.
| Civilization | Bio | Cog | Meta | Nano | String |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occitans | 1-5 | 1-5 | 3-8 | 1-5 | 1-6 |
