Any chance of a date?

POSTED BY: NEEDY
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 18:04
VIEWED: 7610
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NEEDY

Friday, August 13, 2010 3:50 PM

Don't get the wrong idea from the thread title, I'm not talking about that sort of date.

I'm writing a fic at the minute which goes into a bit of the history of the verse, including life before and after the grand exodus from earth.
Although its not the most important part of my story, i do want to get established facts right.

So has it actually been stated when people left Earth that was, or at least when they first established life in the new solar system?
I know in the Serenity companion it talks about an entire generation not seeing life outside of a ship (during the departure from earth) but wondered if there was any more info other than that

Any help would be most appreciated and I will award you 10 "shiny" points

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Needy. Male Companion: Chosen One?
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http://needsalt.livejournal.com/
www.myspace.com/dicksquinty The World's Greatest Detective?

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WHOZIT

Friday, August 13, 2010 3:58 PM

What a shame cause you're sooooooo dreamy!

Those arn't boobs, they're lies! - Stewie Griffin

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BYTEMITE

Friday, August 13, 2010 4:26 PM

What I've read from statements from Joss and others is that the voyage took 120 years between Earth and the new star system. I haven't heard when exactly they set out.

Unfortunately, within the verse itself, the lead up to Earth's devastation and the exodus are kind of a dark age. Aside from stories passed down from the now-mythical Earth-That-Was and what items of historical significance could be salvaged, the time-line is rather uncertain. The ships kept track of the years that passed (maybe, barring glitches, but it's probably close enough), and we know the Unification War began in 2505, ended in 2510, and the series starts in 2517. But we don't know when terraforming began and humans arrived, only that the arcs sent out robotic drones to work the central planet of Londinium in advance of their arrival.

There's also some question about just when the Alliance arose. Officially, governments on the Central Planets decided to form a Parliament only a few decades before the Unification War broke out, but elements of the Anglo-Sino Alliance, and fingerprints of of Chinese totalitarianism and American corporatism, likely were around since before the Exodus.

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ZZETTA13

Friday, August 13, 2010 4:32 PM

Hello Needy!

I’ve written TONs of FF fan-fic. I hope some of it good.

Anyway try:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)

Seems to me it would have taken generations upon generations upon generations to have reached the new verse deemed viable for human conquest. Certainly some never made it and also others were lost in other directions, still enough made the trip.

Hope this helps, Z

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BYTEMITE

Friday, August 13, 2010 4:36 PM

There is a more specific timeline in the Qmx white pages, which is semi-canon for right now, but as a word of caution, it might be invalidated later on.

http://www.qmxonline.com/The_Verse_in_Numbers_v1.1.pdf

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BYTEMITE

Friday, August 13, 2010 4:42 PM

This is what the Serenity RPG handbook has to say about the History of the verse.

Quote:

---

The original cradle of humanity, Earth, has long
since faded into legend. Dreamers and tale spinners
glamorize Earth-That-Was. It’s become a sort of
Garden of Eden, where mankind was always happy.
Its relics are now priceless. Truth is, mankind sucked
Earth dry.

The story goes that depleted resources,
overpopulation, and a compromised ecosystem
forced mankind to abandon Earth-That-Was.

Some do speculate, however, that the planet wasn’t
completely abandoned, that folk still survive on
mankind’s original home, though there is no proof
to back the notion and no easy way to conjure the
truth. It is possible that Earth is not quite as drained
as the old legends suggest and has been quietly
regenerating ever since man left. One day, mankind
may find the lost keys to Eden and return to their
old home once again. That day is a long way off,
though. If it even comes at all.

The wise searched the heavens and found a star
system with planets and moons that could, with a
little help, support human life. Mankind began the
great exodus. They set out in enormous ships they
called “arks,” after the tale of Noah and his crew.
Lacking “faster-than-light” drives, folk found the
journey to their new home long and taxing. At least
one full generation was born, lived, and died without
ever leaving the huge, contained ships that crawled
through the black. The initial excitement of the
voyage quickly faded into the monotony of keeping
the ships moving, keeping the life-support systems
intact, and perfecting the technologies that would
give future generations good lives on new worlds.
Naturally, some folk expected to encounter alien life,
but the only signals on the scanner were the natural
static of the stars. So far as we know, mankind is
alone in the ‘Verse.

With so many different folk of all nationalities
and races packed inside small ships, the old ethnic
and political barriers began to blur. People learned
the native tongues of their fellow ship dwellers.
Subsequent generations would come to speak
fluently the two dominant languages, English and
Chinese, and phrases from other cultures.

Not surprising, some folk lost hope along the
way. There were accidents, malfunctions. If an ark
lost life support, thousands died. The arks became
their coffins, forever drifting in the cold. But for
every person that lost hope, hundreds were there to
keep it alive. Each day brought mankind closer to
home.

And then, one day, there it was.

...............
............

Even after continued refinement, the process
of terraforming a moon or a planet takes decades.
Terraforming requires atmospheric processing
plants, the regulation of gravity, environmental
adaptation and the introduction of creatures
great and small brought from Earth-That-Was—
everything from algae and bacteria to insects, birds,
and mammals. The power to make such jing chai
changes is astonishing, but is not without its limits.
While most all terraformed worlds are suitable for
human life, each has its own quirks.

The first two planets terraformed and settled
were Londinum and Sihnon, and they became the
center of culture and business throughout the
system. The governments of these two planets took
an enlightened view of civilization. They worked
to maintain order, but also encouraged diversity
of language, ethnicity, religion, and expression of
thought.

Despite all the best efforts and intentions of the
original founders, the problems of the common
folk did not go away with the formation of new
worlds. Mankind is restless, always looking to find
greener pastures somewhere else. Pioneers left the
crowded cities and traveled out to the most newly
terraformed worlds, hoping to build a better life for
themselves.

As mankind spread out, he brought with
him his usual miseries: greed, corruption, crime.
Disagreement over r

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