Language

   Humankind likely would never have reached the stars without a common language through which scientists could share ideas.  A common language opens up markets, expands technology and brings people closer together.

   By the twenty-first century, English had become the lingua france shared by most nations.  Terra adopted it as the official language in 2092; by the time of the great colonial expansion, most colony ships carried English with them.  More than one interstellar nation, however, turned to other tongues as primary languages, retaining English as a language of trade and politics.  The population of the thirty-first century is generally bilingual, speaking English as a primary or secondary language.  Many people speak three or more languages, depending their own patois, such as the “Swedenese” blend of Swedish and Japanese spoken in the Free Rasalhague Republic.

Mechwarrior Refreshment

   The alcoholic drink most associated with MechWarriors is the PPC, named after the BattleMech heavy weapon.  First introduced on Solaris VII, where a few “manly” MechWarriors pointedly favored it, the drink has become a stereotype of MechWarrior fiction.  In fact, most MechWarriors avoid any drink that you have to swallow quickly before your mouth goes numb.

   Four shots of grain alcohol poured into a brandy snifter are the drink’s basic element.  Each variant of the PPC is name for a Great House, depending on what is used to dilute the grain alcohol.  A Steiner cuts it with two shots of peppermint schnapps.  A Marik uses two shots of ouzo, and a Davion either two shots of bourbon or, in the Capellan March, tequila.  The Liao variant cuts the drink with a double shot of plum wine, the Kurita version with sake.  Taking the grain alcohol straight is sometimes called a Periphery PPC, or just plain foolish.

Entertainment

   Whether a night on the town or a holiday getaway, each Inner Sphere nation has its own diversion to offer, from music to holovid programming to vacation spots.

   In character with its polyglot origins, the Free Worlds League boasts many competing diversion, all available for a price.  Pay-per-view holovid extravaganzas are common, as are live tours by bands, magicians and other entertainers from across the Inner Sphere.  The most profitable national pastime, however, is gambling.  The League is home to the independent planet of Kyeinnisan, also known as the Gambler’s World.  Eagle’s Nest, the Cave and Light City are the best-known gambling palaces, each able to house the population of a small city within their huge, rambling complexes of casinos, hotels, auditoriums and ballrooms.  Four-card Drax is the most popular game, attracting high-stakeds players from every Inner Sphere and Periphery nation.

   The Federated Suns half of the Commonwealth tends to sineer a little at the League’s high-glitz, low-glamour establishments.  Only the Gambler’s World gets any respect from the FedSuns, which boasts eighteen of the twenty-eight worlds on the official Riviera-style “circuit.”  From the Ammon Ocean Resorts on New Syrtis to El Dorado’s Casino City to Sun Prairie’s New Monaco, there is no end of getaways for those who can afford them.  The Federated Suns is also home to Three House Entertainment, the only agency of its kind with licenses for travel into and out of the Federated Commonwealth.  New Avalon Publishers, the Inner Sphere’s single largest book publisher, has its home office on the FedSuns capital, with remote publishing and distribution centers in every nation.  In the Combine, the NAP office is a loose affiliate of Luthien Press.

   The Lyran Alliance has always maintained an impressive mass entertainment industry.  Alliance producers are into everything, from music and sensory discs to holovid dramas.  Surprisingly, rather than offering escape from the usual grind of politics and warfare, the Alliance capitalizes on it.  The barely fictionalized account of the House Steiner’s rise, produced as The Steinhearts, is one of the longest-running series ever created by Tharkad Media Associates.  As popular as any fiction are the Auburn histories, written by members of the famous Auburn family, court historians on Tharkad for generations.  Melissa Auburn’s latest publication, The Black Widow: In Memoriam, stayed on the interstellar top ten list for an incredible thirteen months.  A Lyran production team also created the Immortal Warrior series, a holovid action-adventure show in which the main character shares half his screen time with incredible explosions, carries a small fortune in weapons, never runs out of ammunition and expends about eight lives per episode.

   The Capellan Confederation imports most of its high-profile entertainment, rather than directly subsidizing what it calls “unproductive labor.”  Poplar imports include the Immortal Warrior series (held up as proof of natural Lyran aggression) and Three House Entertainment’s theatrical and musical troupes.  Lately, the Chancellor has allowed Canopian pleasure circuses, traveling DropShips stuffed with casinos and other flashy entertainment, into the Confederation, as a gesture to the Magistracy of Canopus and to reward Capellan soldiers for their recent hardships.  The Confederation’s largest entertainment event is the Quarterly ‘Mech Games,’ held on New Hessen and Westerhand.  Similar to the bouts on Solaris, these games draw new talent to the Confederation.

   Combine citizens can vacation at low-key resorts on every planet.  House Kurita has recently begun vidcasting the Kensai Kami martial competition, allowing its citizens to watch some of their best MechWarriors battling each other.  In a demonstration of Theodor Kurita’s freer policies regarding mass entertainment, the Solaris Mech duels are finally being broadcast within Combine borders.  Despite its historically xenophobic tendencies, the Draconis Combine allows outsiders at a few entertainment events and vacation spots.  The worlds of Nirasaki and Atria, two of the plush resorts frequently visited by Combine nobility, are part of the Riviera-style circuit for anyone able to obtain visitors’ permits.  Nirasaki also hosts the annual Hiyake solar yacht races, the premier event in that sport.  The world of Dieron hosts a yearly naked-blade tournament, which evolved from the older Combine tradition of blood sport.  This tournament is for professionals and by invitation only.  The sponsors sell secondary vidcasting rights to the other nations for a high price.

hehe right outa the book... nice one.