Futuristic Sleeping Giants: Melodies of Memories Past

[Sullivanity]

Damn. Honestly, I don't know what I expected from somone 92% like-post ratio. Do you mind if some of us see what you have so far?

 

[welian]

92% like-post ratio

That like-post ratio is a filthy lie, I was a moderator for a little over a year and I don't think those likes should count.


Other than that, sure! I don't want to link the doc itself because there's a lot of info there that's not very well thought out yet, and I don't want to confuse players. But, I'd be more than happy to copy some snippets here.


As a note, anything italicized is OOC information only. It's stuff that your characters don't know (at least, not at the beginning of the story) but that you as a player ought to know in order to understand the setting.

Spoiler

Landscape



Thick forests cover most of the land, primarily pine trees that can withstand the frigid winters. The plains slope upward to the west, where they eventually meet the stony, craggy, mountains.


The land is pitted with many craters, remnants of the Magi’s mighty war that altered the land itself. Heading northwest from Shayn, after traveling for several days, you will eventually approach the outer edges of what’s simply called No Man’s Land - the epicenter of a major battle of the Magi, where the very veins of magic are permanently disrupted, and a profane curse continues to linger. It brings weakness and disease to anyone who lingers for too long.


No Man’s Land resulted from Yellowstone’s eruption damaging nearby nuclear weapons. The combination of radioactive material and pyroclastic debris decimated the area and rendered it uninhabitable. The radiation continues to corrode electrical systems. No one lives here, and people try to avoid eating plants and animals from this area as well.


Religion



Modern people see the Magi as powerful ancestors, worthy of ancestral worship and praise, while also acknowledging that they became corrupt and selfish, turning away from Heaven and using their power to rule instead of serve. Their evil resulted in the Second Judgement, a world-wide series of cataclysms echoing that of Noah and the flood (which has since been called the First Judgement).


Some people also call the Magi’s greed the Second Sin, comparing it to the First Sin of eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. While Eve’s sin resulted in banishment from Paradise, the Second Sin resulted in the slow drain of magic from the world. Some people believe that allowing the world to recover from the Judgement was God’s final favor to humanity.


A popular legend is that of the Wanderer, a pure-hearted Magi that God spared from the Judgement. The Wanderer travels the world, performing good deeds in the dark of night. The legend is typically presented as a two-fold moral lesson - that God will also see you as pure of heart if you assist your brothers and sisters in a humble manner, and by striving to be a good person you will restore God’s faith in humanity (and, it is implied, contribute to bringing miracles back to the world).


Due to increasing secularism, few people at the time of the war practiced organized religion. People always turn to religion after hardships and disaster, however, and so spiritual beliefs survived and have been tailored to meet the needs of present-day people.


The general, common religious belief of Northern Union is that of the typical Christian narrative, but with some pagan and indigenous influences that have permeated. The result is a common decentralized religion that acknowledges a divine creator that set the world in motion, while also accommodating beliefs in magic (seen as miracles).

 

 

[welian]

SUNNY


IT'S RIGHT THERE


I ITALICIZED IT.

 

[Lemon Boy]

I KNOW.


I WENT BACK TO READ IT AND I LOOKED AND I WAS LIKE "WAIT A SECOND." 


I HOPED NO ONE WOULD HAVE NOTICED. < _ <

 

[welian]

It's okay. It's unreasonable to expect a person to read a text-based roleplay, I understand.

 

[Lemon Boy]

*scream* 

 

[Sullivanity]

That like-post ratio is a filthy lie, I was a moderator for a little over a year and I don't think those likes should count.


Other than that, sure! I don't want to link the doc itself because there's a lot of info there that's not very well thought out yet, and I don't want to confuse players. But, I'd be more than happy to copy some snippets here.


As a note, anything italicized is OOC information only. It's stuff that your characters don't know (at least, not at the beginning of the story) but that you as a player ought to know in order to understand the setting.

Spoiler

Landscape



Thick forests cover most of the land, primarily pine trees that can withstand the frigid winters. The plains slope upward to the west, where they eventually meet the stony, craggy, mountains.


The land is pitted with many craters, remnants of the Magi’s mighty war that altered the land itself. Heading northwest from Shayn, after traveling for several days, you will eventually approach the outer edges of what’s simply called No Man’s Land - the epicenter of a major battle of the Magi, where the very veins of magic are permanently disrupted, and a profane curse continues to linger. It brings weakness and disease to anyone who lingers for too long.


No Man’s Land resulted from Yellowstone’s eruption damaging nearby nuclear weapons. The combination of radioactive material and pyroclastic debris decimated the area and rendered it uninhabitable. The radiation continues to corrode electrical systems. No one lives here, and people try to avoid eating plants and animals from this area as well.


Religion



Modern people see the Magi as powerful ancestors, worthy of ancestral worship and praise, while also acknowledging that they became corrupt and selfish, turning away from Heaven and using their power to rule instead of serve. Their evil resulted in the Second Judgement, a world-wide series of cataclysms echoing that of Noah and the flood (which has since been called the First Judgement).


Some people also call the Magi’s greed the Second Sin, comparing it to the First Sin of eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. While Eve’s sin resulted in banishment from Paradise, the Second Sin resulted in the slow drain of magic from the world. Some people believe that allowing the world to recover from the Judgement was God’s final favor to humanity.


A popular legend is that of the Wanderer, a pure-hearted Magi that God spared from the Judgement. The Wanderer travels the world, performing good deeds in the dark of night. The legend is typically presented as a two-fold moral lesson - that God will also see you as pure of heart if you assist your brothers and sisters in a humble manner, and by striving to be a good person you will restore God’s faith in humanity (and, it is implied, contribute to bringing miracles back to the world).


Due to increasing secularism, few people at the time of the war practiced organized religion. People always turn to religion after hardships and disaster, however, and so spiritual beliefs survived and have been tailored to meet the needs of present-day people.


The general, common religious belief of Northern Union is that of the typical Christian narrative, but with some pagan and indigenous influences that have permeated. The result is a common decentralized religion that acknowledges a divine creator that set the world in motion, while also accommodating beliefs in magic (seen as miracles).

 

I like it! I wrote a similiar setting for a post-apoc RP that never got of the ground, where people worshiped the founding fathers because all the money, propaganda, and monuments left behind that depicted them led them to believe they were  gods. There were also fringe religions too, like one that worshiped the "Great Clown," a being from a paradise beyond twin arches that offered food and plenty to his followers within his temples. 

 

[welian]

I like it! I wrote a similiar setting for a post-apoc RP that never got of the ground, where people worshiped the founding fathers because all the money, propaganda, and monuments left behind that depicted them led them to believe they were  gods. There were also fringe religions too, like one that worshiped the "Great Clown," a being from a paradise beyond twin arches that offered food and plenty to his followers within his temples. 

Why NOT worship the guys whose faces are carved into the sacred mountains of the indigenous people they brutally colonized? Like, that's a pretty assertive display of domination right there.

 

[Sullivanity]

Why NOT worship the guys whose faces are carved into the sacred mountains of the indigenous people they brutally colonized? Like, that's a pretty assertive display of domination right there.

It's not like they knew why the faces were carved in there, but to them the only reason you would ever do that would be to honor a god.

 

[welian]

I have a friend running a simulation right now, we should find out in about a week what the climate and landscape would REALLY be like.

 

[TurtleBay]

@welian it's interesting that you've chosen Christianity to be the predominating religion to model the world's prevailing mythos. I like the parallel between the possible world war 3 esque end of the world and the setting of your world. What do you feel is the time gap between the war and the present story time? And are you open to the possibility that there may be more varying religion in what I presume dotted settlement around the world?

 

[Sullivanity]

@welian it's interesting that you've chosen Christianity to be the predominating religion to model the world's prevailing mythos. I like the parallel between the possible world war 3 esque end of the world and the setting of your world. What do you feel is the time gap between the war and the present story time? And are you open to the possibility that there may be more varying religion in what I presume dotted settlement around the world?

Yea. I would think civilization being fragmented as it is would result in a multitude of religions.

 

[welian]

There are certainly a multitude of religions, but this story takes place in the American West, where the majority religion is Christian. It's not as organized as it used to be - this is two thousand or so years in the future - but religions have a way of staying relatively intact. The key points are there.


Were this story to take place in China, there would still be prevailing Confucian values. The world didn't totally reset, it just regressed some as we lost major communication infrastructures.

 

[Swoob]

@welian THERES A WAY TO RUN SIMULATIONS LIKE THAT???

 

[welian]

I met a genius in summer camp and we're good friends. He hooks me up with technobabble, and I smile and nod while he talks about math and science and physics.


But yes. He said it would take about five days to run.

 

[welian]

Since I'm unable to add a poll to the first post, I created this Straw Poll to ask you guys which format you would prefer for the roleplay - a traditional thread format, or a hosted project.


Vote here!

 

[welian]

Added the poll and an interest list to the first post of the thread.

 

[welian]

Hey @welian!  Any chance we could have a sneak peak of the character sheet? ^^"

Nope! Because I haven't made it yet. Character sheets are the last thing I create, because they're the least important to my creation process. I do understand that they are the most important to your process though, as a player.


I'll be looking for basic, essential information such as your character's name and gender and age, a written description of their appearance (not sure if I'll be requiring pictures for this RP, if I do I always prefer illustrations over photographs), their skills... History will be pretty light, mostly I'm looking for information on their motivations in day-to-day life. I might facetiously ask for their traditional D&D alignment, lol.

 

[TurtleBay]

There are certainly a multitude of religions, but this story takes place in the American West, where the majority religion is Christian. It's not as organized as it used to be - this is two thousand or so years in the future - but religions have a way of staying relatively intact. The key points are there.


Were this story to take place in China, there would still be prevailing Confucian values. The world didn't totally reset, it just regressed some as we lost major communication infrastructures.

I disagree that religion stays relatively intact over time, especially if you consider how much Christianity some has changed in 2000 years. Consider that 0 AD was when Christianity is considered to have been found, the amount of different sects of Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, Presbyterian, Jehova's Witness, etc.), there has been exceptional amounts of changes to the religion.


Especially during the times where communication between two 'cities' or centers of human interactions were difficult, the religion changed drastically between two locations. Note that even within Jesus's own life time, he had to write 7 letters to 7 churches that were practicing his religion wrong.


New religion is also extremely difficult for people to accept. In order for new civilization to accept the new religion, the religion itself has to change and consume some popular beliefs and rituals for that civilization. Christmas was not at all a Christian concept. It was added to attract the residents of a new civilization.


Religious tolerance has only been a thing for past couple of hundreds of years. England established its own religion when the pope refused to let the king divorce his wife. In fact, in the bible, religious tolerance is not a highly touted attribute. 


Even the stories within the bible are inconsistent as no one is capable of reading the scripture as it was originally written. The bible we know and love has been translated by King James so many years ago that not even priests and scholars today can agree on the meaning. Not to mention that there is a select group of individuals determining what is and is not a legitimate biblical scripture. So, I can't agree with the idea that religion has stays relatively intact. 


As for Confucianism, Confucianism was not the dominant way of living or religion, and Confucius was a monk who was trying to bring back what we consider Confucianism to China. But due to the ever changing social beliefs and norms, Confucianism has changed drastically over the years as certain values become more important than others. 

 

[simj26]

Guys, this is an internet forum, populated mostly by teenagers, dedicated to writing fictional stories on the internet. It and everything that takes place on it are of such minuscule importance as to be worth less than nothing. If you want to put in the effort to make sure the religious knowledge of your players are coherent in their presentation, then props to you for putting the effort in. If you seriously find yourself becoming angry, irritated or what have you because someone else doesn't know about historical religious origins. I'm sorry, but the problem is with you and you should probably take a long hard look at your life and do some rethinking on the matter.

Spoiler

This is an inside joke, don't hurt me.

 

[Syrenrei]

I'll be looking for basic, essential information such as your character's name and gender and age, a written description of their appearance (not sure if I'll be requiring pictures for this RP, if I do I always prefer illustrations over photographs), their skills... History will be pretty light, mostly I'm looking for information on their motivations in day-to-day life. I might facetiously ask for their traditional D&D alignment, lol.

Any ideas on any age limitations? I generally enjoy playing slightly older characters but a lot of stuff in the mech genre has teenagers. Do you anticipate being open to and accepting characters in their 20s (or older) or is your preference for teenagers? Also, we all know @simj22 is going to make a pretty girl, that's a given.


Simsy

 

[welian]

@TurtleBay Interesting information! I'll consider revising some of that setting information, and if I change anything I'll be sure to post the updated information here in the interest check.


@Syrenrei So long as your character is a reasonable human age for an adventurer - ideally more than ten years old and less than eighty.

 

[Syrenrei]

@welian - Good to hear! It's hard to find places for older lady characters these days (and by that I mean past puberty and before menopause).

 

[TurtleBay]

@TurtleBay Interesting information! I'll consider revising some of that setting information, and if I change anything I'll be sure to post the updated information here in the interest check.


@Syrenrei So long as your character is a reasonable human age for an adventurer - ideally more than ten years old and less than eighty.

Whether you change or not, I was expressing my opinion. I look forward to reading about your world!

 

[Sullivanity]

I disagree that religion stays relatively intact over time, especially if you consider how much Christianity some has changed in 2000 years. Consider that 0 AD was when Christianity is considered to have been found, the amount of different sects of Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, Presbyterian, Jehova's Witness, etc.), there has been exceptional amounts of changes to the religion.


Especially during the times where communication between two 'cities' or centers of human interactions were difficult, the religion changed drastically between two locations. Note that even within Jesus's own life time, he had to write 7 letters to 7 churches that were practicing his religion wrong.


New religion is also extremely difficult for people to accept. In order for new civilization to accept the new religion, the religion itself has to change and consume some popular beliefs and rituals for that civilization. Christmas was not at all a Christian concept. It was added to attract the residents of a new civilization.


Religious tolerance has only been a thing for past couple of hundreds of years. England established its own religion when the pope refused to let the king divorce his wife. In fact, in the bible, religious tolerance is not a highly touted attribute. 


Even the stories within the bible are inconsistent as no one is capable of reading the scripture as it was originally written. The bible we know and love has been translated by King James so many years ago that not even priests and scholars today can agree on the meaning. Not to mention that there is a select group of individuals determining what is and is not a legitimate biblical scripture. So, I can't agree with the idea that religion has stays relatively intact. 


As for Confucianism, Confucianism was not the dominant way of living or religion, and Confucius was a monk who was trying to bring back what we consider Confucianism to China. But due to the ever changing social beliefs and norms, Confucianism has changed drastically over the years as certain values become more important than others. 

Although I agree with most of what you said, my Jesuit high school education won't allow me to ignore that Jesus himself did not write those letters; it was the apostle Paul who wrote them after Jesus's death. And it couldn't even be considered "his religon," because most of Jesus's followers considered themselves Jews for a very long time after his death. It wasn't until around the time Constantine came to power in Rome that their was much more of a definitive split.


Also, while i don't know if this applies to all religons, Christianity tends to branch off during times of increased communication, otherwise their isn't really an organized religon to branch off of.  Martian Luther founded Protestantism when he became disillusioned with how the church taxed pilgrims and made money off indulgences, which was when you could literally pay to be absolved of sin. During the dark ages, when simply traveling between towns was incredibly dangerous, Christianity was limited to monks in monasteries who just copied and translated religous text, the didn't waste time contemplating whether it could be improved.


And religous tolerance, while often not directly spoken about, is somewhat coverd in the bible. The only time Jesus directly answers the question "who will go to hell, and who will go to heaven?" , he basically replies with "just be a good person." And a lot of the letters Paul wrote were about how people were refusing to accept Gentiles, which he said went against Jesus's teaching. He never says that people have to be Christian to be saved, but some sects, like the Baptists, will say otherwise. And even outside of Christianity, religous tolerance was huge in the Persian empire, where the primary religon was Zoroastrianism. One of it's main tenets was that everyone had the right to worship whoever, so long as they paid taxes. And Asian culture was one of the most religiously diverse things ever; most emperors kept philosophers and scholars from all over the known world in their courts. 


The reason why the pope refusing to allow Henry VIII was such a big deal was because all of the kings power stemmed from his religous right to rule, making him super dependent on the church, limiting his power heavily. Henry was just looking for an excuse to split off, he had all of his previous wives executed, and by doing so managed to gain control over the military and religous power in his kingdom.


So I don't think it's isolation that gives rise to new sects of religons, which are instead caused by times when widespread communication allows for people to become exposed to a multitude of ideas. On the other hand, isolation coupled with ignorance leads to new religions. Like in Melenasia, where after a commercial airstrip was built, the indigenous people began building airstrips because they thought they could summon an airplane that would bring them food. It's called a cargo cult, and it's super interesting.