Gemenon

Introduction
Gemenon, officially the Gemenese Holy Order, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Helios Alpha-system. Illumini the capital of Gemenon, has for centuries been a political and religious centre of Colonial civilization and site of the Illumini Pantheon, the most sacred religious institution in the Colonies. Gemenon plays a prominent role in Colonies and military, cultural and diplomatic affairs.

Planetary Geography and Climate
An arid and xeric red world that shared its orbit with Caprica, its atmosphere consisting of thinner air and a closer proximity to the sun, in relation to Caprica, rendering only the polar regions of the world habitable.

The Acros Mountains and the Atticus Mountains form natural barriers along Gemenon's northern polar region, creating the habitable areas of that many Gemenese cities are located in called the Antony Basin. Gemenon's highest point is located on Mount Dionysus, in which the city of Illumini is settled in the foothills of.

The Pedion Tou, Gemenon's longest river, flows from the Atticus Mountains. Because Gemenon is a desert world and lacks oceans most cities are located around the five largest lakes. In order of diminishing size: Garda River, Maggiore River, Como River, Trasimeno River and Bolsena River.

Although the settled Gemenon areas are located in the Antony Basin, some of Gemenon's territory extends beyond the Antony Basin and some hamlet’s are located in the western hemisphere.

History
Gemenon was founded by the followers of Hera from the Gemoni Galleon around 132 CE, the first of the vessels to arrive from Kobol, as such Gemenon was the first Colony founded.

At first as a flourishing industrial economy which processed the extensive resources on its surface. However, Tauron's enormous industrial growth caused the Gemonese economy to fall into a depression. In these times the Gemenese people became deeply religious, and were most immersed in translation of ancient scrolls and religious artefacts than their Colonial brethren elsewhere.

Many people immigrated to the Colony following the re-establishment of contact between the Colonial worlds, most of these were the priests, oracles and others who closely studied the Sacred Scrolls. They built shrines and temples by the dozens. Gemenon became a place for religious pilgrimage and visitors would have to bundled up and braved the scorching, windswept mountains of this rocky planet to see the original temples and monasteries built by the first Colonials.

Before the Cylon War, two sects lived in relative tolerance of one another on Gemenon. The fundamentalists believed that every word of the Sacred Scrolls was literally truth. The Gods could heal and regularly bestowed visions on their most devout followers and the cycle of time repeated forever. Many saw the fundamentalists as a little loony, zealots, or worse. It didn't help that they looked at children as property of the Gods and imposed the death penalty for abortion, child abuse, and even a failure to provide proper education.

The second religious faction was made up of orthodox theists. Contrary to their name, they were the least judgemental of the Gemenese. They used their resources to found the Colonial Cross, a relief foundation that served the Twelve Colonies. They also operated Kobol College, with schools devoted to philosophy, psychology, medicine, administration, civil engineering, and public relations. Their efforts earned them a significant following and great political pull, resulting in Gemenon voting out its theocratic government and becoming a unitary parliamentary republic.

During the the Cylon War a small civil war erupted when the fundamentalists attempted to gain power and launch a purge of the orthodox theists. Though they failed it led to a polar shift against the fundamentalists, causing the majority to migrate to the southern deserts and become largely isolationists. Until this day they maintain little contact with the Gemenese government yet still constitute a third of the Colony's population. Almost yearly the most fanatical members of the fundamentalist attempt to bomb orthodox temples or places of government, though generally are intercepted when attempting to cross the equatorial deserts, since air travel to the southern pole is subject to immediate attack by Colonial forces.

After the Cylon War and with most of the heavy industry relocated to Tauron, the Gemenese Holy Order embarked on a reformation policy and began to reform the city of Oranu as a large financial centre. Favourable taxation forms saw commercial activity rise greatly from the eighteen year flat-line of the depression. Many multi-colony corporations, exchanges, and the Colonial Reserve Bank set up their headquarters in Oranu prosperous financial district.

Because of this Gemenon is one of the more moderately wealthy colonies and is home to Colonies most extensive secondary education complexes. 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. The Gemenese are well-known for their literal interpretations of the Sacred Scrolls and most of the population of Gemenon very strongly opposed to the federal laws of the Twelve Colonies legalizing abortion, to the point where civil disobedience has become a serious concern among the Colonial government, primarily due to the bombings of several abortion clinics and the fact that many young mothers seek out back alley centres, resulting in numerous deaths and infections.

Since Gemenon is an industrial powerhouse the Gemenon Fleet Hub was established in orbit, designed to both upgrade and retrofit ships for the Colonial Fleet. It quickly became the single largest shipyard in the Colonies next to the Scorpia Shipyards.

Society and Culture
Gemenon was settled by the followers of the goddess Hera, who chose this planet specifically for its inhospitable nature.

Several natural wonders were exalted as being only native to the planet, including the Faces of the Lords, a series of wind carvings said to resemble the gods. Religious types believed that trips to these sites would awaken and refresh the spirit.

Gemenon is a unitary parliamentary republic, when the theocratic was abolished by a constitutional referendum just five years before the Cylon War. The High Priest of the Holy Order of Gemenon, is Gemenon's head of state. The High Priest is elected for a single seven years mandate by the Parliament of Gemenon in joint session. Gemenon has a written democratic constitution, resulting from the work of a Constituent Assembly.

Gemenese have a heavy gender imbalance skewed towards men, due genetic deformities that are associated with the female chromosome. As such, the gender ratio is 1 female to every 4 males. Because of this the Gemenese practice polygamy, with wives have multiple husbands. As a result, women tend to hold more power based on the number of husbands they have, creating a quasi-matriarchal society. The Gemenese, are stated to be 'arguably the most attractive of the Colonials', and typically taller and thinner.

Gemenon has a free market economy characterized by high per capita GDP and low unemployment rates. It is the fourth-largest economy in the Twelve Colonies and the fourth-largest in Colonies in terms of nominal GDP, and the tenth-largest economy in the Interstellar Coalition.

Provinces and Cities

 * Illumini: Capital of Gemenon, has for centuries been a political and religious center of Colonial civilization and site of the Illumini Pantheon, the most sacred religious insitution in the Colonies.
 * Oranu: A large financial centre and centre for the Colonial Reserve Bank.