We found a new world under new stars, and we brought our demons with us. Yet this world
and its enigmas extends a hope to us: that we may be made over on this alien soil and
freed from the chains of suffering that bind us to the darkness we escaped.
-- Brother Joaquin Al'Kadiz,
"Collected Sermons"
We were born into a world where those with the ability
to create were hamstrung by the narrow visions of those
who could not, and where the worker was denied his dues by the
social parasites who profited from his toil. But we have been
given a chance to forge a new society free of such inequities,
where the laborer who sweats under this foreign sun will
receive in full the fruits of his activity.
-- Architect Henry Roark,
"The Builder's Burden"
If we are to survive on this world, then it will
be as one nation with a singularity of purpose. The
Many fall, the One survives. The Many flee, the One
stands strong. The Many struggle, the One perseveres.
-- Marshall Valentin Basque,
"The Colonial Creed"
One would be led to believe that life on another world requires
new rules be written for every aspect of human endeavor, and in
most areas they would be correct. Most areas, save for commerce.
It is in that this area alone that Planet's fungal ravines are
no different from the streets of Tokyo or Berlin.
--Guildmaster Atsumi Satori,
"The Colonist's Economic Primer"
The proctor is neither a leader nor a commander. He is a speaker for
the teeming masses whose voice boils within their hardened prison,
whose jailors once called themselves their representatives. He does not
speak of his own originality, but so that through him what was
silenced may be heard and never again quieted.
-- Proctor Omar van Blum,
"Can You Hear the People Sing?"
Every human being spends thirty minutes as a single celled organism,
scarcely different from the first paramecia that fought tooth and nail against
nature's cruelty for every evolutionary edge they could find. It is amazing to
think how far we have come since then, and humbling to think how far we have yet
to go.
-- Director Jaqueline Navarro,
"The Terminal Cure"
The common work of all science is bringing under order the blind
violence and injustice of the universe. In this way we will one
day break free from the limitations of death and dischord, the way
that by rockets we escaped Earth's gravity.
-- Founder Josef Federov,
"Address to the Republic Academy of Science"
I'd suggest going for a well connected by land map, I'm happy to build you a map based off a random one with good connections and some other fun bits (nothing unnatural, just a tweaked random map). You'll still get to explore as if it was normal, but avoid being stranded on an island.
And.. for faction I'm tempted to say go with the Technos, but perhaps he Pilgrims or Authority would be more interesting, especially earlier on. Satori could be fun, but maybe too peaceful for a good AAR.