System: Sun Prairie

Sun Prairie is one of the official 28 worlds of the Riviera-style gambling “Circuit,” with its New Monaco being a venue for the Inner Sphere’s rich and famous to go and spend their wealth.

It is also one of the many worlds that celebrate Festa Piepa. Alternately translated from a variety of local dialects as “Festival of the People” or “Festival of the Pope” (or pontiff), it originated in the Amaris Civil War. In the centuries prior, a pagan ritual known as the Night of the Sword grew to prominence, slowly transforming from a dark ritual observed by a relative few into a veritable celebration of inebriation and excess for the masses, marked by the celebrants carrying blades of all kinds (mostly novelty items, though occasionally actual blades) and making faux sacrifices during the revelry. For years, various Christian churches denounced these pagan and hedonistic celebrations, especially as it began on the evening of Easter Sunday and lasted for two full days. Of course, that only increased its popularity, and on many worlds it soon eclipsed Mardi Gras.

In the wake of Amaris’ bloody revolution on Terra, the nascent New Avalon Catholic Church co-opted the two-day event and began celebrating a festival of life on key worlds throughout the Federated Suns. Since then, it has steadily grown in size and importance, crossing denominational boundaries and becoming the most significant of the Suns’ unique religious festivals. Nevertheless, the various religious groups that celebrate it have not been able to eradicate the more secular and still somewhat pagan celebrations of excess. Festa Piepa has become a balanced dichotomy: during the daylight hours, it is an upbeat religious celebration of life and salvation, while at night it is a wild and hedonistic celebration of life and all its secular joys.

There are no functional factories located on this planet.