Bethsaida

System: Gliese 682
Classification: Christian Separatist Colony
Radius: 4,220 km | Gravity: 0.66 g | Atmosphere: Thin (0.39 atm)
Temperature: 281 K (8 °C) | Water/Ice Index: 0.42
Population: ≈ 2,300,000 | Economic Profile: Agriculture, craft industry, religious tourism

Introduction

Bethsaida is the sanctuary world of Terran Christendom—an agrarian refuge established by separatist colonists seeking a purer expression of faith beyond the reach of secular or corporate power. Its settlers view survival as devotion, and every harvest, every sunrise, as a covenant renewed.

Environment and Settlement

The planet’s mild, humid climate supports rich loam and freshwater basins. Settlements cluster in valleys surrounded by terraced hillsides where wheat, olives, and medicinal herbs flourish. Domed churches serve as both temples and community halls, their spires piercing the amber-lit sky of Gliese 682. The low gravity gives the architecture an ethereal grace—vaults stretch impossibly high, stained glass radiates across kilometers.

Society and Faith

Life on Bethsaida is governed by scripture and communal law. The planetary charter forbids corporate ownership, standing armies, and artificial intelligence. Families live in extended cooperatives, working shared lands and redistributing harvests. Education blends theology with ecology, teaching stewardship of soil as moral duty. Pilgrims from the Core arrive each year, walking the “Fields of Revelation” where the first colonists landed.

Economy and Culture

Exports include fine textiles, hand-tooled instruments, and fermented oils prized across the colonies. Religious tourism provides steady income, though profit is seen as service, not gain. Music and art flourish, echoing Renaissance styles reborn under alien suns. Bethsaida’s spiritual influence far exceeds its modest population.

Conclusion

Bethsaida endures as a world of faith made tangible—a quiet, self-sufficient Eden where belief is both creed and crop.