Nightmare Fuel / Beyond Earth

aka: Ho I 4 Beyond Earth

• The Great Mistake. A conflict between two nations that escalated to nuclear exchange, inflicting a crippling blow to a planet already groaning under the stress of human activity. The immediate aftermath was devastating, with millions dead or displaced. But the subsequent nuclear winter had global consequences that plunged humanity into a new dark age. By the time humanity emerges from it - and the mod begins - the world is barely recognizable. Rising sea levels have greatly altered the landscape, while political upheaval has redrawn the world's borders in countless ways. Even though global civilization continues to function in some capacity, it's not hard to wonder how long that's going to last.
  • The Great Mistake also saw Kessler Syndrome break out in orbit, creating a debris storm that destroyed the world's satellites. Economic collapse also meant space exploration all but stopped, to the point of people being left stranded to die on Luna and Mars. Considering that both Civilization: Beyond Earth and Alpha Centauri depicted space as a reason to have hope for humanity's future, the mod is a stark reminder about just how fragile our connection to space truly is.
  • Perhaps the scariest part of the Great Mistake is simply how mundane it is. It was a catastrophic perfect storm of war and environmental decline, both of which have long been pressing threats to human life. If anything, with the climate crisis and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, their threat has only increased.
• Just as terrifying is the buildup to the Final War, which is just as apocalyptic as its name indicates. If the Unity isn't completed by peaceful international effort, a global conflict will erupt to seize the vessel as the situation deteriorates politically and ecologically. Embassies close, communications lines are cut, and the media doesn't even bother trying to track the massive troop movements. The end goal of the nations involved is plain and simple survival - being able to launch the Unity with their colonists onboard, to ensure that they will be the ones to carry the torch of humanity into the unknown.
  • There's also a genuine concern that whoever colonizes space first will leave other nations at their mercy, potentially seeing their colonists one day returning to Earth. This concern is perfectly valid. If a nation sends the Unity off with their colonists aboard after the Final War breaks out, the descendants of those colonists will one day return to relieve their homeland. The endeavor to save humanity from the consequences of its conflicts ends up only serving to perpetuate it.
• It's made very clear that the United States of America was hit hard by the Great Mistake, being especially unprepared for rising sea levels threatening its coastal cities. As the country was wracked by migration, famine and violence, a military coup seized control and lay the foundations for the North American Union. The result is a corrupt, ineffective and unpopular military dictatorship based out of the district of Central, whose rule is frequently challenged by the American Reclamation Corporation and other radical groups. The various districts vary wildly in prosperity and stability, ranging from glorified wasteland filled with violence to pre-Mistake prosperity rife with political struggle. And with the Union teetering on the brink of collapse, it's only a matter of time before things blow over into full-scale Civil War.
  • District One (comprising old California) has been hit the hardest by the Great Mistake. It has no government, cities or even sustainable farms. Nuclear meltdowns and chemical warfare have soured the land, with animals and vegetation growing scarce enough that cannibalism is not unheard of. The biggest settlement has a population of around five thousand, which survives by trading with pirates and receiving aid from Central. And who happens to be living out in the wasteland? The Spartanists, Alpha Centauri's resident social Darwinist survivalists.
  • District Three (comprising the northern half of the East Coast) has fared only a little better. The inundation of America's largest cities caused an internal refugee crisis beyond anything the government could cope with, leading to famine, banditry and and general anarchy. The only remotely official authority comes from ARC's Oversight Board (when they aren't busy taking vacations) and their Private Military Contractors, who maintain power over local settlements by controlling the distribution of food and water. Even so, their rule is frequently opposed by interest groups, including the remnants of the United Nations. Who, it should be noted, have become so radicalized that they believe humanity must be saved from itself by establishing a One World Order under their rule.
  • District Four (comprising the southern half of the East Coast and much of the South in general) is home to none other than Miriam Godwinson. Just as in Alpha Centauri, she holds a very deep distrust for modern technology, coupled with nostalgia for the Good Old Ways. And once again, her charisma and political aptitude is on full display. She's gone from a mere psych-chaplain to leading a religious movement that dominates an entire district, while also holding influence in its neighbors and Central itself. It's also made clear that she will stop at nothing to protect humanity from dangerous technologies, even if it means forcing society to exist at a semi-modern level under her rule.
  • District Eight (comprising former Canada and Alaska) has weathered the Great Mistakes and subsequent unrest comparatively intact, but has largely been turned into a country-sized research facility. Its leader is bona-fide Mad Scientist Gabriel Ivanov, variously described as psychopathic, sociopathic and antisocial. It's at the point where the rising Canadian separatist movement explicitly seeks to prevent Ivanov from turning the District into his own personal petri dish.
  • The Silk Path is also very eerie in a lot of ways, especially the way it's depicted in a series of introductory events◊ told from the perspective of a lowly messenger named Kiera. There's a general malaise in Kiera's life as time begins to lose its meaning and the war against the North American Union desensitizes her, which doesn't bode well considering that the Silk Path heavily emphasizes life-extending technology and other forms of transhumanism. The Silk Path's leadership is certainly not depicted as being in good shape, even discounting the strange appearance that their masks give them. Phoenix is utterly consumed by his role as preacher, Enkidu is disconnected from John Doe's leadership while maintaining some unknown drive burning within him, and Draugr - a man hooked up to a small building's worth of machinery - is seemingly killing the Silk Path's own people with attack drones. As for John Doe himself, he's a man shrouded in mystery who is implied to have lived much longer than the average person through technological means. Whether or not this has been worth it is unclear, as Kiera's events paint him as a shell of a man frequently lost in his own thoughts.
• England is also in a very sorry state. The birthplace of the industrial revolution is starting to resemble its grave, with a failing economy, underfunded military and ineffectual government. Rising sea levels have hit the island nation hard, with the great city of London now lost forever to the waves. A civil war now brews with various European powers backing different sides, viewing the imminent fight for England's soul and future as a mere opportunity to gain influence.
  • Of the four sides of the civil war, the English Front is a standout in terms of bloodthirstiness. Cavalierist leader Arthur Burr was once assaulted by the Front's ardently anti-technology supporters simply for having a prosthetic hand, while a now-deleted leak states that Front supporters murder hospital patients in their beds during the civil war while attempting to forcibly remove their implants.
• Even more than a century after the Great Mistake, India is still in a very sorry state. While some parts of the country have managed to rebuild to some extent, others are still little more than post-nuclear wasteland.
  • Bharat has become the closest thing to a successor to the Republic of India under Raj Thakur's political and spiritual leadership. But as his death from cancer draws near, it's made abundantly clear that his death will send shockwaves throughout Bharat and its sphere, plunging the region into a fresh round of instability and potential conflict.
  • Kavitha is ruled by and presumably named after Raj's daughter Kavitha Thakur, who is depicted as a more morally ambiguous person than her already enigmatic characterization in the original Beyond Earth. Her father doesn't consider her an adequate heir, being too brash, arrogant and self-centered. While she's still shown to be highly charitable, it's also implied that her efforts do have a significant egotistical bent to them. Much of the state of Kavitha is fanatically loyal to her, likely willing to help her violently seize power in Bharat if she so commands.
  • Rajasthan is another Bharat-aligned state sitting on a knife edge. While it is home to a vibrant democratic system, a lack of education and infrastructure has led to new variations of Thakurism that are increasingly coming into conflict with another. Even before Thakur's death, the state is beset by open religious violence between the two main sects - both of which represent a significant departure from mainstream Thakurism.
  • Karnataka is seemingly doing well for itself, thanks in no small part to the surviving Bangalore Academy. However, the Academy has become a hotbed of extremism, with radical philosophies constantly rising and falling within its walls. Headmaster Ghanaanand Kapadia - the leader of Karnataka - specifically has rather elitist and authoritarian undertones in his designs to unite India under his rule.
  • Maharashtra is ruled by a group called the Steel Guard, who maintain power with their use of cybernetic augmentation. Ruthless as they are, they also take steps to send intelligent people in their borders to neighboring Karnataka, ensuring that they cannot threaten the Steel Guard's rule. Between this and skilled people moving to Karnataka on their own volition, this has led to a significant brain drain in the region, hamstringing its development and leaving it firmly at the Steel Guard's mercy.
  • Tamilakam is doing remarkably well by the standards of post-Mistake India, having copied Chinese institutions and practices. However, this has come at a price - The Verumai, or The Emptiness. The average citizen knows nothing but an endless cycle of waking up, working a mindless job, and returning home to an empty bed. The state is suffering from cultural and spiritual death, leading to a rebel movement attempting to destroy the instruments of dehumanizing industrialization in a desperate attempt to dispel The Emptiness.
  • Punjab is the region closest to post-nuclear wasteland, as it the closest to ground zero of the nuclear exchange at the heart of the Great Mistake. Some agriculture is still possible in the southeast of the region, but it is still a harsh and violent land ruled over by survivalists descended from remnants of the Indian Army. One national spirit even refers to the region as "The Earth's Gaping Wound".
  • Perhaps the most outwardly terrifying region is West Bengal. It's a region outright stated to be suffering from a behavioral sink, being overcrowded with the displaced and the desperate. Gangs are the only semblance of authority, violence frequently erupts to seize control of airdropped relief supplies, and cannibalism is a common sight. The only thing keeping the turmoil from spilling over into the rest of India is the Dam, a collection of fortifications maintained by Bharat. But with corruption in the Dam's leadership rampant and its ranks left undermanned, it's stated that the only thing keeping the Dam operational is the influx of new troops and funding from Bharat - both likely to be disrupted by Raj Thakur's death and subsequent succession crisis. The Dam's failure looks to be inevitable, and it's only a matter of time until the anarchic hordes beyond it are unleashed.