Eris

Eris
Seal, referencing the ancient Greek myth of the goddess Eris
Photograph of Eris
Interstellar Zone
Government:	IGSA administration; de-facto managed by corporations
Lead Director:	Ren Guo
Colonised:	2315
Currency:	Various
Capital:	Limos
Demonym:	Eridian
Geography
Located:	Scattered disc
System:	Solar System
Avg. distance from Earth:	14 billion km
Moon(s):	Dysnomia
Demographics
Population:	2 million
[Source]

Eris is a dwarf planet in the scattered disc and the most massive planetoid in the Solar System. Because of its location beyond the Kuiper Belt and its distance from the Sun, Eris was colonised relatively late in the history of the Solar System. The planetoid is a mine and minor point for trade, but it remains of little interest to the wider world.

History

Eris, located past the vast cold Kuiper Belt in the scattered disc, came to the attention of human explorers after the colonisation of Pluto. Men wanted to strike out further into the Kuiper Belt and beyond to find more objects suitable for exploitation. The first of these objects was Eris, whose size was comparable to Pluto itself.

Human colonists from the inner planets would only reach Eris after the conclusion of the Martian War of Independence, around 2315. From there on, mining corporations began the long process of effectively hollowing out the dwarf planet.

Although Eris was colonised later than Pluto, it was mined with much more ferocity by the corporations present there on the behalf of Earth. However, the mining operations on Eris failed to attract any large permanent population, and so, the dwarf planet's progress sputtered well before the dawn of the 4th millennium, becoming little more than a backwater mostly forgotten.

Eris emerged back into the consciousness of the Solar System during the Great Interstellar War and the following instability. Saturnian freelancers captured Eris along with many other Trans-Neptunian objects as means of cutting off Earth from any resources available. At that point, Eris shifted hands from Earther corporations to Saturnian corporations. The main beneficiary of this was Kuiper Minerals, founded for the express purpose of exploiting the chaos brought to the Kuiper Belt and beyond by the Great Interstellar War.

Since then, Kuiper Minerals has effectively run Eris with little interference as other Saturnians have left for home. Kuiper Minerals has recently tried to revitalise Eris through a variety of methods, most notably being the importation of Earther migrants of mostly Turkish and Chinese origins. The executives hope to create something akin to Pluto, a sort of interstellar trade hub between the Solar System and extrasolar planets. Eris has not gotten attained this role yet, but Kuiper Minerals hopes for positive results in the near future.

Geography

Habitability

One of the furthest planetoids from the Sun, Eris has a pittance of sunlight. That leaves the dwarf planet's surface very cold and unsuitable for life. Eris is a cold rock that is not fit for normal habitation so most of Eris's inhabitants live underground. The subterranean structures of Eris are modeled after those on Ceres.

Government

The government of Eris is a board of directors of the various corporations on the planetoid. The board used to be larger but is now only three people, as many of the mining corporations have left for greener pastures. The current lead director, Ren Guo of Kuiper Minerals, is the only member of the board who lives on Eris, and she acts as sole executive in the absence of other members of the board. Eris' government is generally pretty hands-off, and it allows a surprising amount of freedoms for the inhabitants of Eris.

Economy

The economy of Eris used to be centered more upon mining, but it has shifted over the years more towards servicing interstellar trade. Kuiper Minerals is the biggest employer on Eris currently, and it is their largest operation outside their various operations on Pluto. The corporation is looking towards new frontiers currently and hopes to transform Eris into a trade hub similar to Pluto, except under their control.

Culture

Architecture

Much like on Luna, most of its civilian structures are large, subterranean structures similar to those on Ceres. These structures are located at various levels within the hollowed-out dwarf planet.

Ethnicity

There is no shared ethnic identity on Eris with most of the residents being relatively recent arrivals from Earth and Saturn. Although there are some families who can trace their heritage on Eris back generations, there is no real Eridian culture.

The largest contingents on Eris are Earthers and Saturnians. The Earthers make up the lower classes and do service and mining jobs. These Earthers are mostly descended from Turks and Chinese who immigrated to Eris to escape squalid conditions outside the arcologies. The two large ethnic groups sometimes conflict with one another but together resent their real enemy: the Saturnians. Saturnians make up the upper class of Eris, mostly because the corporations that effectively own the planetoid are Saturnian as well. The Saturnians that live on Eris live a rather bored existence, as Eris has even less means for entertainment or pleasure than Pluto. Still, Saturnians are able to enjoy some vices, and they indulge themselves to the disgust of the Earthers on Eris.

The Saturnians in charge of Eris currently want to assimilate the diverse underclass of Earthers into into one homogeneous group obedient to authority. This has mostly involved imposing the Solar English upon the lower classes and attempting to promote intermarriage. The Earthers have resisted these efforts so far.

Language

Solar English is the favored language on Eris with language becoming something of a contentious issue. Turkish, Solar Chinese, and Cantonese also have a large presence, but English is the only language used in any official capacity. Solar English is the primary language taught in the few schools around Eris, and that has caused some assimilation issues.