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143 lines
5.7 KiB
143 lines
5.7 KiB
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<title>LG: Londo Mollari and the Centauri Republic</title>
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<h1>Londo Mollari and the Centauri Republic</h1>
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<h3>As written by J. Michael Straczynski on GEnie</h3>
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On the other end of the spectrum is Ambassador Londo Mollari, of the
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Centauri Republic. Londo is the most human of all the various ambassadors,
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and there's some speculation that we might be a long forgotten outpost of the
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Republic.
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<p>
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Of course, the only ones MAKING that assertion are Londo's people, who
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have much to gain in trying to convince others of that.
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<p>
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For a thousand years, the Centauri Republic was a force to be reckoned
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with. Like the English empire once upon a time, it held hundreds of planets
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in its control. It was a great military power. But slowly, as can happen,
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they grew content, and lazy, and gradually their own empire began to slip
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between their fingers. A world deciding to go rogue was troublesome, to be
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sure, but it's SO far away, and it's SUCH a bother to go take care of it, when
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we can easily get the same things from other places...let them go. They'll
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come crawling back sooner or later.
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<p>
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As a result, they are now down to a Republic that consists of barely a
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dozen systems and thirty worlds.
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<p>
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It was, interestingly enough, the Centauri Republic that was Earth's
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first contact with another major government. The CR was well in advance of
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Earth science, and we all considered them a terrible power...an illusion they
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hardly tried to set right. Trade agreements were set up, and we gained an
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ASTONISHING amount of technical know-how in a very short time, letting us leap-
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frog a hundred years of progress in a single year. They were most curious to
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get cultural stuff in return...music, art, philosophy, literature..."native"
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trinkets that could be resold for more money back on homeworld.
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<p>
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In the thirty or forty years since then, however, we've found out the
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truth, that the CR is really on its last legs. And we've taken the technology
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we've gotten and perfected it, and now the Earth Alliance is fast becoming one
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of the dominant forces of this time. And the Centauri Republic is trying to
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attach itself to us the way a ramora attaches itself to a shark...for
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preservation, in this case.
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<p>
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They are governed by an emperor, and the government works mainly through
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personal and family influence. It's a very indulgent society, and Londo
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reflects that. Overweight, prone to gambling constantly (null-pool is his
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favorite), and fond of women and drinks, he understands his role and doesn't
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try to push it. Like his Republic, he subsists on old stories and tales of
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former glory, remarking -- one night, when drunk -- "my god, we've become a
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tourist attraction. See the Great Fallen Centauri Republic, open nine to
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five...Earth Time." He is, by turns, a comic figure, and a tragic figure.
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<h2>What about that hair?</h2>
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Centauri males wear their hair in this fashion, the length of which is
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determined by the person's status. Centauri women scorn such symbols of
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status and go bald except for a knot of hair from the back. (Sort of a
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peacock approach.)
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<p>
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Certainly, you could wear your hair longer than your status permits, but
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it's like pretending to a status you don't have, which is viewed as pathetic.
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<pre>
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</pre>
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<h5>
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Last update:
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October 8, 1995
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</h5>
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