Aethernaut
Otherworldly Visitor
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2022
- Location
- a dimension beyond comprehension
Introduction
This setting is an amalgam of science fiction and low fantasy with flashes of cyberpunk and supernatural. It will include dark themes. Our characters will inhabit a cold, bleak world where there are few heroes. While smut will be part of the story it is not the sole focus. I am looking for someone with a big, vivid imagination and dedication to worldbuilding and character development. Ideally I would like to build up a story long term. If you have any experience with AI art programs or fantasy map building your correspondence would be greatly appreciated. I am comfortable doing this idea with anyone, but if you're a man it's my personal preference that all sexual content be kept to an appropriate and sensible minimum. This is entirely writing based with no RPG systems or elements whatsoever.
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗This setting is an amalgam of science fiction and low fantasy with flashes of cyberpunk and supernatural. It will include dark themes. Our characters will inhabit a cold, bleak world where there are few heroes. While smut will be part of the story it is not the sole focus. I am looking for someone with a big, vivid imagination and dedication to worldbuilding and character development. Ideally I would like to build up a story long term. If you have any experience with AI art programs or fantasy map building your correspondence would be greatly appreciated. I am comfortable doing this idea with anyone, but if you're a man it's my personal preference that all sexual content be kept to an appropriate and sensible minimum. This is entirely writing based with no RPG systems or elements whatsoever.
Ten thousand years in the future mankind has spread across the known universe. Interstellar travel and sentient artificial intelligence had created an epoch of boundless peace & prosperity. Countless worlds were colonized and for a time, man flourished. One such planet was Eden, called the jewel of Alpha Centauri, famous for its lush green surface with crystal flowing rivers and docile, beautiful wildlife. A paradise where with genetically altered non-senescent humans could live peacefully and want for nothing tended to by sentient ai slaves. That age has long passed.
Now Eden is a blasted hellscape. Its once fertile forests and meadows are now harsh deserts prowling with hostile wildlife. Interstellar travel is no longer possible. Civilization has regressed into a Neo-Feudal form of government where life is nasty, brutish and short. Most of the population live in fortified settlements ruled over by jealous nobility and half-mad fragments of sentient AI constructs. Science and innovation have ground to a standstill. What little remains of the old world's science is treated as magic by those who possess it. Even the most learned only dare to maintain what they have, for it is too frightening to lose what remains of the old world's wonders.
Normal citizens have few if any rights beyond whatever their overlords whim. A commoner may not know if they and their children will go to bed hungry, if they even have the luxury of a bed to sleep on. One can expect to toil ten or more hours a day stirring the protein vats in the hopes of receiving enough ration bars to carry them through the next day, or crawling through narrow pipes to dislodge debris from the coolant system of the nuclear reactors that keep the air filtration system on, tending to the carnivorous gene cattle which provide meat to the nobility. The lucky ones may find themselves working for the nobility as a servant, or dealing in traded goods if they prove savvy enough to avoid the unforgiving attention of the lawbringers. No matter who they are, every commoner is replaceable.
Harsh as life in the settlements may be, the wasteland between them is incompatible with human life. Direct exposure to the Black Star's light can be fatal without proper equipment or genetic alteration. The lucky ones die eventually, the unlucky ones are changed to something other than human. Yet trade and travel are vital to Eden's civilization. Great Caravanning clans, sanctioned by the Royal Throne, brave the wastes carrying vital goods and travelers with them. Dark things lurk in the wastes, and every caravanner has a tale to tell.
Each settlement in Eden is ruled by a powerful noble family. Edenian society is extremely stratified. Contrasted with the great mass of commoners, Edenian nobility may live lives of extravagant luxury nearly rivaling the lifestyles of people before the Great Calamity. Nobles have access to genetic and cybernetic modification which extend their lifespan and capabilities. Though all nobles ostensibly obey and enact the will of the King and his laws, actual practices vary greatly between Edenian settlements. All laws, customs, judgements, and decisions are ultimately the purview of the head of their respective household. As long as the Monarch's direct orders are followed and taxes are paid, nobles may rule their settlement however they see fit. A settlement ruler may be a shrewd, reasonable well-meaning administrator, a sadistic, lecherous fool, or anything between. Nobles live in constant fear of two things: rebellion from the commoners, and assassination by their fellow nobles.
Nearly all nobles have some degree of genetic or cybernetic modification to extend their lives and give them protection from the effects of the Black Star's baleful light. Genetic modifications are the sole privilege of the Esoteric Order of Fleshweavers who guard their secrets jealously. A tell tale sign of genetic modification is the enhanced develops extremely light skin like polished marble, some also develop features such as sharp canines, vestigial horns, pointed ears, or black within black eyes. Beyond life extension, common modifications are for strength, beauty, virility, night vision, elimination of the need for sleep, resistance to poison, resistance to fire, durability, enhanced hearing, and even the ability to draw sustenance from blood. Some nobility modify themselves to such an extent they hardly resemble humans, and indeed some regard their lack of humanity as a status symbol of their wealth and power. However the more gifts the Fleshweavers bestow on a person, the more they become dependent on the Black Wine, an immunosuppressant drug with intoxicating and aphrodisiacal qualities. If a heavily enhanced individual suddenly goes into Black Wine withdrawal, their enhancements may quickly become unstable necessitating their immediate termination. A heavily enhanced individual going into Black Wine withdrawal can be extremely dangerous. Advanced technology from mankind's past golden age is omnipresent across Eden, yet the knowledge of how to innovate and create have long since been lost to time. Advanced technological artifacts are treated as esoteric holy relics by those who possess them. A knight of the household may possess a laser sword which was merely a tool to cut steel girders in the far past, decorated with gold and tribal runes as it was passed from father to son over generations, said to possess the souls of each who carried it and was slain in duty. Remnants of Sentient AI constructs still remain, though they have lost much of their minds and capabilities over the ages. Noble families who possess them treat them like genies, a strange, otherworldly being with boundless knowledge yet to be treated with a measure of suspicion and distrust for their motives. AI constructs can be quite mad or even malicious if left unchecked. Robotic servants are a status symbol for the wealthier houses, although combat robots are strictly forbidden by the King's law.
The Royal Household of Eden rules the capital city of the planet, Elysium, as well as the surrounding region of smaller towns and dependencies. Most of the capital proper exists underground in a vast bunker network. It is a treasure trove of ancient technology including no less than twelve sentient AI constructs servicing and advising the King and enough robotic servants to populate a small town. The King himself is biologically immortal owing to unparalleled access to genetic enhancement and huge reserve of the Black Wine. The Royal Household maintains a standing force of ten thousand genetically & cybernetically enhanced warriors, the Lictors, that serve as his personal bodyguard and primary enforcers of the King's laws. The Lictors dwarf any individual noble household's personal armies, but are themselves dwarfed by the noble families as a whole. The planet exists in a delicate balancing act of ambitions, grudges, schemes and alliances which change year by year. Still the Royal House has persisted over hundreds of years despite numerous rebellions, assassination attempts, and civil wars.
Life on Eden is not for the faint of heart.
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