Gawain and the Green State of Avalon

[Archangel Michael]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]"[/FONT]To be the most perfect paladin ever to pace the earth.
As the pearl to the white pea in precious worth,
So in good faith is Gawain to other gay knights."
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]-Sir Gawain and the Green Knight[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]

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[/FONT][FONT=&quot]A map of Gawain within the Commonwealth of Avalon, with the Unite[FONT=&quot]d Arab Republics to the east[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Gawain[/FONT][FONT=&quot] is a state within the Commonwealth of Avalon on the Saturnian world of Mimas. It is found in northeast Avalon, bordering the Arab Republic of Enki to the east. Gawain borders Lancelot to the south and Arthuria to the west; it’s northern border is the Herschel Sea, while its southern border is the Pangea Mountains that split the Commonwealth of Avalon in two.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The first Terran expeditions reached Mimas with the Messenger 4 lander Endurance in 2022. This was followed by the first Terran manned landings later in the century, with the Soviets landing in the 2030s and the Americans in the 2050s. There was intermittent Terran expeditions over the succeeding centuries, and full-scale human settlement didn’t begin until 2092 when the United States Congress passed the Mimas Homestead Act.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Gawain, like the other states in Avalon, is very dry. Its northern coastal regions are generally temperate broadleaf forests and are more suited to agriculture thanks to the freshwater Herschel Sea. The interior quickly gives way to an arid steppe and then a desert, before hitting the Pangea Mountains in the south. Approximately 58% of the state’s land (28,544 square miles (73,928 km2 or 18,268,160 acres)) is owned by the federal government.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As of a 2135 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, Gawain has a population of 2,235,364 people, making it the 2nd most populous state in Avalon and the 238th most populous state overall. It was admitted to the Union on August 22, 2117, the 6th and most recent state in Avalon to be admitted. It has experienced tremendous growth in recent years due to the growing financial sector in the northern cities and the recent mineral wealth discovered in the Pangea Mountains. Its capital and largest city is Greensboro.[FONT=&quot]
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[Archangel Michael]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Demo[FONT=&quot]graphics

[FONT=&quot]PART I: DOMINANT TRENDS[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Gawain has a total population of 2,235,364, with an estimated 150,000 non-citizen permanent resident aliens, and the state is experiencing annual population growth of 4.79%, which is third in the Commonwealth of Avalon. More than half of the state’s population lives within 50 miles of the Herschel Sea, with the rest of it clustered either long the Thames River in the southwest or near major waystations in the interior like Dry Springs. There are larger concentrations of military personnel (Minutemen or Coast Guard) near the border with the UAR, along with several air bases in the central portions of the state.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Like all frontier states, Gawain is ethnically and racially diverse. The world is home to three indigenous intelligent species: humans, orcs and sphinxes. The U.S. National Wildlife Service estimates that there’s less than 100 sphinxes living in Gawain, all of them concentrated in the state’s national parks and forests. As with all sphinxes on Mimas and Enceladus, Gawain’s sphinxes take no interest in the outside world and are not U.S. citizens, though they have various statutory protections--in Jensen v. Buziz (633 F.12d 982, 15 Avln. 56, 2125), the 68th Circuit of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the crime of first-degree murder can be extended to the sphinxes.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Since the beginning of large-scale off-world settlement in the later quarter of the 21st century, thousands of settlers from dozens of ethnic, racial and species groups arrived in Gawain. One of the most notable things about Gawain’s demographics (and, to a larger extent, the rest of Avalon) is the existence of the so-called Xtlil Belt or the Avalonian Cotton Belt, which covers the northeast portion of the state. The Xtlil Belt is home to a large number of xtlil settlers from Io who began to arrive on Mimas during and after the Ionian Mutiny in the mid-2120s--nearly 100,000 xtlil settlers have arrived since 2125. Migration and settlement was encouraged by a variety of civic and religious groups, most notably the Federation of Xtlil Settlers, the xtlil wing of the Pioneer Alliance. This region of Gawain is called the Cotton Belt because the primary economic activity is the cultivation of cotton--primarily GMO strands derived from Ionian cotton.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Overall, xtlil comprise 15.05% of the total population of Gawain (336,199). While heavily concentrated in the northeast, there are also large concentrations in the major urban areas of Gawain such as Greensboro and Camp Blythe. The single largest individual ethnic group are Mexican-Americans, comprise 8.29% of the total population (8.29%). The state’s human population is incredibly diverse and mixed, with multi-racial and Creole-Americans counting for 7.96% of the population, while 45% of the human population is of non-Terran origin.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]

Race - Total (Percent)


Xtlil - 336,199 (15.04%)
White - 311,833 (13.95%)
Hispanic - 302,668 (13.54%)
Mimantean - 247,008 (11.05%)
Mixed - 177,935 (7.96%)
Orc - 172,794 (7.73%)
Black - 154,911 (6.93%)
Asian - 68,402 (3.06%)
Ionian - 67,508 (3.02%)
Martian - 57,225 (2.56%)
Tsukagi - 52,308 (2.34%)
Venusian - 47,837 (2.14%)
Drazani - 47,390 (2.12%)
Ganymedian - 41,801 (1.87%)
Callistoan - 28,166 (1.26%)
Europan - 27,271 (1.22%)
Nagina - 21,683 (0.97%)

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[Archangel Michael]

[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]1. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Ansel Briggs (Democrat)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - 2117 - 2119[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ansel Briggs was the last territorial governor of Gawain and the first democratically-elected state governor. He was appointed in 2116 by President Douglas Grayson to help shepherd the territory to statehood, and also served as the ex officio chairman of the constitutional committee in early 2116. He was cross-nominated by the Republicans in the first gubernatorial election in 2117 on a general Statehood Ticket. He spent his term shaping state government and getting off the ground; with that work done, he declined to run for another term in 2119. Briggs had originally been the general counsel to the local chapter of the United Mineworkers, and he returned to that position after leaving office.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]2.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Annamarie Landero (Republican)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - 2119 - 2125[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Annamarie Landero was elected to three two-year terms as Governor of Gawain, and helped to craft the state’s image as a business-friendly chancery state. A former bank president and hedge fund manager, Landero had broad support amongst the professional middle class and the burgeoning hedge fund class along the coast. Under her watch, the state passed business-friendly corporate law based on Delaware General Corporate Law. As a market progressive, she broadened welfare benefits for state residents. She was also responsible for the creation of the University of Gawain System. After she left office, she returned to the world of business and finance, and helped to found the University of Gawain’s School of Business.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]3. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]DeMario Bridges (Democrat)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - 2125 - 2127[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]DeMario Bridges was elected to one term in 2125, and was defeated easily by former Lieutenant Governor Buddy Ortega for reelection in 2127. Bridges was the president of the United Autoworkers in Gawain, and had based his election campaign on the need for the government to encourage growth in the auto industry in the Thames River valley in the state’s southwest. However, his term was marked with by conflicts with the Republican-dominated legislature and controversies regarding contract negotiations with the state’s longshoremen. Bridges proved unpopular with the state’s large white collar population and he left office extremely unpopular.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]4. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Buddy Ortega (Republican)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - 2127 - 2128[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The former lieutenant governor had made a name for himself during the Landero administration as the point man for labor negotiations. The former labor lawyer and state senator easily defeated incumbent Democratic DeMario Bridges in the 2127 election, and he immediately got to work. He voided the longshoremen’s previous contract and forced the negotiations of a new. He pushed through tax cuts and shifted many of Landero’s welfare reforms to workfare programs. He resigned a year into his only term to take his seat as U.S. Senator.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]5. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Danielle Pitcher (Republican)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - 2128 - 2129[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Danielle Pitcher had been Buddy Ortega’s lieutenant governor and ascended to the governor’s mansion after he resigned to enter the U.S. Senate. Pitcher was seen as a place holder governor, as she accomplished very little. Her most notably contribution was abolishing the state income tax, reducing the capital gains tax and instituting a slew of new sin an sale taxes. She declined to run for her own term, and returned to her law practice after leaving office. She was appointed to the Gawain Court of Chancery in 2132.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]6. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Charity Parker Welles (Republican)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - 2129 - 2135[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Charity Parker Welles had spent 12 years as the Attorney-General of Gawain and had been the only person to hold that office. As Attorney-General, she also acted as the state’s solicitor general and argued numerous cases in defense of the state. She took an active role in defending the state’s chancery laws and ensuring fair play, bringing down several banks and hedge funds who were abusing the state’s laws. Welles proved to be an extremely popular leader, and she oversaw massive growth and expansion of the state’s economy. However, her term was marred by the rise of the Pioneer Alliance and political violence. The Democrats took control of the State Assembly in 2131, but Welles was able to negotiate budget and tax reforms with the party leaders.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]7. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Madison KroSoab (Pioneer)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - 2135 - Incumbent[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With her election in 2135, Madison KroSoab became the first Orcish-American elected governor in the Commonwealth of Avalon. A member of the State Senate from the Pioneer Alliance, KroSoab was controversially cross-endorsed by the Democratic Party--many labor Democrats wanted to run a protest candidate on the Working Families line, but union leaders declined. Despite her party’s reputation for political violence, the campaign season was relatively calm and peaceful. She won the election by less than 6,000 votes on a platform calling for quicker disbursement of land, more infrastructure spending, higher capital gains tax and a reform of the chancery laws.[/FONT]

 

[Komodo]

Very interesting, I like it. (it's okay to post here, right? This isn't a story-only thread?). I would be interested to hear more about these sphinxes.

 

[Archangel Michael]

Very interesting, I like it. (it's okay to post here, right? This isn't a story-only thread?). I would be interested to hear more about these sphinxes.

Oh, it's not a story-only thread. People just seem to scared to comment.

There'll be more about Sphinxes here and there. This is an attempt at some major, real macro-level worldbuilding.

 

[Komodo]

Oh, it's not a story-only thread. People just seem to scared to comment.

There'll be more about Sphinxes here and there. This is an attempt at some major, real macro-level worldbuilding.

Ah, cool. Well I enjoy what's here so far, looking forward to more. Can I ask how large sphinxes are? We talking human size, the size of the Egyptian sphinx, or...? Given how small they seem to be in number, I'm going to guess that they are a physically large and solitary species?

 

[Archangel Michael]

Ah, cool. Well I enjoy what's here so far, looking forward to more. Can I ask how large sphinxes are? We talking human size, the size of the Egyptian sphinx, or...? Given how small they seem to be in number, I'm going to guess that they are a physically large and solitary species?

They're not quite that big. About 12 feet tall and maybe twice that long. They're very solitary and it's rare to see then in pairs or groups--basically a once-in-a-century event. There's also Sphinxes on neighboring Enceladus--Mimantean Sphinxes are all female and Enceladean Sphinxes are all male.

 

[Komodo]

They're not quite that big. About 12 feet tall and maybe twice that long. They're very solitary and it's rare to see then in pairs or groups--basically a once-in-a-century event. There's also Sphinxes on neighboring Enceladus--Mimantean Sphinxes are all female and Enceladean Sphinxes are all male.

Ah, I see. So they likely meet up every once in a while to reproduce, and then go to their separate ways?

A most interesting species, I must say.

 

[Gryphon]

There's also Sphinxes on neighboring Enceladus--Mimantean Sphinxes are all female and Enceladean Sphinxes are all male.

There's several obvious questions here, but I feel like the answer is going to be 'magic' so I'm not even sure I should ask.

 

[Archangel Michael]

Ah, I see. So they likely meet up every once in a while to reproduce, and then go to their separate ways?

A most interesting species, I must say.

Terran scientists once forced a female Mimantean Sphinx into a room with a male Enceladean Sphinx. The two Sphinxes proceeded to tear each other to shreds. Sphinxes just exist and as far as we can tell, they don't age or reproduce.

There's several obvious questions here, but I feel like the answer is going to be 'magic' so I'm not even sure I should ask.

 

[KN1]

I forget, was it ever explained why Avalon has the whole King Arthur vibe?

And did Monty Python have anything to do with it?

 

[Archangel Michael]

I forget, was it ever explained why Avalon has the whole King Arthur vibe?

And did Monty Python have anything to do with it?

The IAU's OTL naming nomenclature for geological features on Mimas derive from Arthurian legend

 

[KN1]

The IAU's OTL naming nomenclature for geological features on Mimas derive from Arthurian legend

Huh. Learn something new every day!

 

[Archangel Michael]

Demographics
PART II: RELIGION
Gawain is entirely normal when it comes to the base numbers of religions and their believers. Just over half the population is Christian (50.57%) with more than a third claiming to be Columbianist (37.71%). Catholics make up the bulk of the Christians, accounting for 18.93% of the total state population--the vast majority of those being Free Catholics, professing their fealty to the Free Patriarch of Mexico City, with a very small number claiming to support either the Roman Pope or the Liberal Bishoprics (less than 15,000 total between those two groups). The Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Greensboro lies contiguously within the state; the Archdiocese of Greensboro was established in 2109 and was elevated to an archdiocese in 2122 with the creation of the Diocese of Camp Blythe to the north and the Diocese of Pulaski to the south. There’s large concentrations in the south, with the blue collar workers in the southwest (namely Irish American) and amongst the Irish-Mimantean creole Answan in the southeast.

Mainline Protestants and Evangelical Protestants make up 10.62% and 8.92% of the total population. Mainline Protestants are mainly Lutherans and Episcopalians found in the larger cities and suburbs on the northern coast alongside the Evangelical Protestants, who retain their reputation for mega-churches and televangelists. Robbie Barrett is one of the more prominent televangelists and his afternoon talk show is broadcast across Mimas and the Saturnian system beyond. Due to doctrinal traditions, Evangelicals are almost entirely human (and majority Terran), while Mainline Protestants have been attempting to make inroads to indigenous populations but have been failing.

There is a very strong undercurrent of Mormonism in Gawain, accounting for 10.34% of the population, and are concentrated in the middle parts of the state. The number of Mormons has plateaued in recent years and it’s mostly attributed to intense competition from Catholic and Columbianist missionaries. There’s a small number of other Christians, namely Orthodox Christians are various strands along with Jehovah’s Witnesses and neo-Gnostics.

Columbianists account for 37.71% of the state’s population, and are divided almost evenly between Mainline Columbianists (13.09%) and Reconstructionist Columbianists (18.39%), with a small minority of other types of Columbianists (6.22%), including Reform Columbianists and Scientific Columbianists. The Reconstructionists are nearly evenly split between Germanic Columbianism (namely the Germanic Altars of Freyja) and the xtlil-dominated Pharaohs of Bastet. The various Columbianist sects have made significant and large headway with the indigenous populations, with significant pluralities of orcs, xtlil and Mimantean humans amongst their ranks.

Jews account for a small percentage of the population, at 1.82% of the total, and there’s a scattering of other and indigenous religions, with a small percentage of the population (6.02%) is irreligious (non-practicing, atheist, agnostic, etc.).

As with the rest of the United States, religion is extremely important in everyday life. It forms one of the primary pillars of society, and is an easy way to bind the civilization-state together. Catholics and Columbianists are strongly Democratic, with Republicans gaining support from Protestants, Jews and the non-religious.

 

[Kome]

The IAU's OTL naming nomenclature for geological features on Mimas derive from Arthurian legend

Huh. Interesting. But what of the blackamoors, to use what I presume is the Arthurian period slang? Where do they come from?

 

[Archangel Michael]

Huh. Interesting. But what of the blackamoors, to use what I presume is the Arthurian period slang? Where do they come from?

Earth. The UAR got lucky, rolled some sixes and now they're one of the great powers.

 

[Archangel Michael]

Sorry there hasn't been an update in a while. I've been much too busy with classes to focus much on this. But have some minor things.

 

[Gryphon]

That is a lot of names. Almost too many names. It's a significant portion of total known names. A very large number of names.

 

[Archangel Michael]

[FONT=&quot]SPORTS[/FONT]

Greensboro Knights outfielder Jerry Thomas in the batter's box at Manning Field against the Greensboro Bulls

[FONT=&quot]Baseball[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Baseball is and always will be America’s pastime, and the state of Gawain is no different from the rest of America. The Commonwealth of Avalon is home to the Avalon League, Major League Baseball’s premier league on Mimas. The Avalon League is a Single-A level premier league with 12 teams divided into 2 conferences of 6 teams each. Gawain is home to two teams, both of which are found in Greensboro: the Greensboro Knights and the Greensboro Bulls. Due to intense summer heat, the Avalon League’s 162-game season is split into 2 81 game divisions--the Spring Division (April-June) and the Fall Division (September-November), with a post-season that’s played between the winner of each division.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Gawain is also home to several minor league baseball teams. Below the Avalon League is the standard farm league pyramid (Double-B, Single-B, Class C, Class D and Rookie), with more than a dozen teams found in more than a dozen cities and suburbs. Baseball is also played at the collegiate level and high school level, with the Pioneer Alliance sponsoring Pioneer Baseball in the late spring/early summer before temperatures get too hot. Avalon League games are broadcast on television almost every night, and significant minor league, collegiate and high school games are also sometimes aired. Attendance at all levels has been rising steadily with the population, and baseball remains extraordinarily popular despite the rise of football and basketball.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Football[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Outdoor football is practically non-existent on Mimas--there simply isn’t enough usable water and arable land to be wasted on something like that. Even baseball fields have dirt outfields and infields. Football, which is very popular with the lower and working classes, never caught on in Avalon. However, indoor football did. Indoor football is played on a 50 yard field with two teams of 8 players (fields are artificial turf that require little water and sunlight). There is no kicking, and the games are fast-paced and high-scoring.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The NFL began the Avalon Indoor Football League (AIFL) in 2114 and it has become extraordinarily popular, and is often called “basketball on grass”. The league currently has 14 teams, with one team in Greensboro (Greensboro Blitz) and Camp Blythe (Camp Blythe Bombers). Games are played in the summer and fall after the end of the basketball season. The Greensboro Blitz averaged 19,150 fans per game in 2134 and the Camp Blythe Bombers averaged 18,203--good for 3rd and 5th in the league.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The AIFL is considered the best indoor football league in the Solar System, even as the game begins to grow and expand on other dry worlds--and like it’s outdoor partner, it’s extraordinarily popular with the lower and working classes. Indoor football is also played at lower levels, including college, high school and youth (high school and youth leagues are known for passes hitting gym ceilings). There has been a noted rise of hooliganism and fan violence connected to politics and sports.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Basketball[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If baseball is America’s pastime, then basketball is Avalon’s hobby. Basketball has, in recent years, become very popular across different socio-economic brackets, though it has a very strong upper class bent to it. Every game of the NBA’s Avalon Basketball League is broadcast on television, and floor seats for major games can cost thousands of dollars. The ABL has 16 teams, including three in Gawain--the Greensboro Cavaliers, the Greensboro Condors and the Camp Blythe Matadors. The three teams have had major success over the past decade having combined to win 7 championships in 11 years and combining for a winning percentage of .601.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Gawain is also noted for its streetball. It is a less formal, less structured form of basketball played on outdoor basketball courts. Even major ABL players can be found playing streetball in even the smallest of cities during the off-season. It’s a fast-paced, rapid-fire sport with amazing trick shots and dunks. It’s even influenced regular ABL basketball, as the ABL has the three-point line, a shorter shot clock and allows unlimited dunking. Major streetball tournaments can attract thousands of spectators, and many players and prospects are discovered by scouts at streetball games.[/FONT]