roaming, lurking, arguing
Money and Trade
Rungholts economy is one of immediate needs and wants and the most efficient way to satisfy both. As the Long Siege began material, goods and ressources were still plentiful. The ground was fertile, the stockpiles full and the infrastructure well maintained. The advanced economy of the Ancient Realms was still more or less intact, even as the continental trade-system had collapsed.
Centuries of warfare, external and internal pressure and near-calamitous losses has changed this significantly however. Infrastructure crumbles with limited ressources to maintain it and stockpiles eventually run empty. The ground, once fertile and rich, has slowly but surely lost any nutrients from the intense agriculture. As such, work-around and adaptations were needed. Less efficient farms were removed. Apples, pears, tomatoes and more slowly disappeared from the table, replaced by protein-rich and cheap to produce maggots and locust. Vast cattle-complexes took up too much land, with factories that replaced synth-meat being more cost-efficient.
Recycling and repurposing of anything and everything became as mundane and obvious, as eating or drinking. Nothing was to be wasted. If a car broke down, its parts were scrapped used for something else. Engines already years out-of-date were kept alive as long as possible. Scientific progress halted or regressed, as ressources became scarce. That is not to say, there were no discoveries. Indeed, one can say that Rungholt can boast of immensly durable and long-lived infrastructure now and any complex machinery is noted to be simple to repair and maintain.
With that in mind, Rungholts base economy is separated into two distinct parts. One is the barter-system, still alive and well. The simplest form of trade it is very common in the more impoverished neighbourhoods, but also an important foundation everywhere else. Depening on where you go, you have different iterations.
Hybrids practice an extensive and complicated barter-system, comprised of Claims and Picks. A Claim is nothing more than a declaration of property. The carcass of a slain enemy. An old weapon found on the battlefield. The bride-gift, that is customary for marriage. All that is Claim. It has to be declared and any rival or enemy is allowed to challenge that claim, wether it be through law or simply strength. Fox and Pigs usually prefer the former, while Bears and Wolves generally invoke the latter. Cats, as in so many things, sit somewhere in the middle. To be able to claim wealth and powerful gear and retain it, is a central part of hybrid-hierarchy. It ensures that the smartest and strongest stand at the top.
A Pick is the second part of this system. As a hybrid obtains more and more ressources, he/she will find themselves with more than they actually need. It is not unusual then, that they then give out the rights of Picks to clan-members or close allies. With this, they allow those then to claim pieces of their hoard for themselves. A distribution of wealth, that cements alliances and is a good way of showing favor. To gain the right of First Pick means to be the first to choose from the offered treasure. Then come the second, the third and so on. So begins a cycle of Claim and Pick, of obtaining and distribution that defines clan-politics and creates a dynamic, and sometimes ruthless, society.
In comparison to that, the barter-system of the Mutants is a lot more communal. As a minority, that lives on the edge of society, mutants cannot afford the "Might Makes Right"-approach of the hybrids. As birthrates among mutants are curbed by the high number of misscarriages and birth-defekts, their system is designed to distribute the scarce ressources they have as efficiently as possible to ensure that the next generation survives long enough to contribute to society. Everything is owned by the community and distributed by the Elders. It is expected by anyone who obtains something to give it up to the Elders, so it can be given to the community. Ones own desires are subservient to that of the whole and only when the latter is tended to, is one allowed to fulfill ones own wishes.
As such, it is common for the more able-bodied and skilled mutants to venture outside the Lost Sectors for work. They rarely come back, but a majority of what they get paid or obtain is send back to their community. It has almost become a right of passage for healthy mutants to make a pilgrimage to Centre or the Wall. They will not come back, until they found something of unique value for their community. Some even become full time traders, working on the grey and black market with items and artifacts from the Ruin Wall or even the Outside. For mutants, those "treasures" hold little value. Same goes for money. They will ask for mundane appliances, clothes, food-stuff and other ressources. For scrap and simply luxury-items, should times be good enough for them. All for the community...
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Marks
While Barter-Trade is the foundation for many parts of Rungholt, it nonetheless is not the only thing keeping the economy running. Should one live not among the vast underclass, but instead enjoy a comfortable living standard among the millions and millions in Centre, one might be more familiar with good ol' Marks, than with anything else.
Marks began as a social reward-system. A way to track ones standing in society and measure general trustworthiness and skill. To check ones marks was a good way to know, if the one you were dealing with was an honest businessman or not. Or at least...that had been the initial idea. Or maybe it had been a way for the old systems to ensure loyalty amongst its citizens and root out dissent. Nowadays it is hard to tell, since the Mark has long since been given a new life. That of a currency.
As the Long Siege went on, the traditional currency of the Ancient Realms went out of favour. The growing barter-economy, lack of international trade and the heavily militarized infrastructure, coupled with cost of precious wood being shredded down for paper led to the Adminitratum eventually abandoning paper-money as a whole.
In its place came the mark. Not intentionally, though. People simply realized that they were a good intermediary good, which eased the trade. You could transfer your owned marks to a merchant or provider of goods and services, in order to obtain what you wanted. After all, more marks meant better social standing and eased business relationships. Before too long, those merchants began to trade marks with each other and soon enough they became the new, impromptu currency.
Entirely digital in nature, marks are no longer just given out as reward for being a good and loyal citizen, but also now as payment and wages. In Centre especially, you will find many shops and services, that require payment in mark only. Yet, they also still retain their original purpose of measuring social standing. To own a lot of marks is to be trustworthy. A fact, that is all too exploitable. Crimes can be paid off with marks. Favours obtained, doors opened and even services unlocked specifically for those, with enough wealth and therefore "public trust". Entire neighbourhoods can only be accessed by the rich and powerful, their gates locked automatically, should your social status no longer be sufficient.
Your average middle-class centre-worker would earn around a hundred marks a month, to maintain is comfortable lifestyle. To be poor means to earn lower than thirty or twenty marks. Destitute and criminal can be lucky to count maybe three or four in their account. And the upper-class can earn on average a thousand marks per month, with High-Rise Admins and rich corporates capping out at a Hundred-Thousand. To be a millionare is to be stupendously rich and reserved only for the most powerful in Rungholt.
For better or worse, the mark is now the universal currency in Rungholt. Its value tied less to the whims of the market and more to the social standing and power of the individual or company who owns it.
roaming, lurking, arguing
Crime
Rungholt is a city containing over forty million people. Its stands on the danish Jutland-peninsula, a comparatively small stretch of land for a population of this size and the infrastructure, industry and defense they need in order to survive. Centre especially is a jungle of steel, glass and concrete. With such little space and the economic disparity and political tensions, crime is inevatible.
And as it is as ancient as humanity itself, crime takes on many forms in Rungholt. Big and small. Organized and violent. Opulent and destitute. And yet, the city so far has managed to weather its own destructive tendencies. With extinction a real threat, criminals and police both were interested in keeping things stable and to not disrupt the delicate balance that kept the city running. No money could be made, after all, if everyone was dead.
This complicated dance is slowly coming to a halt now. The Long Siege is over and with humanity beginning to expand again, the outside pressure is gone. Cracks begin to show in the fragile system and violence begins to escalate, as humanities need for survival no longer supersedes its greed and corruption.
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Gang-Violence
Centre is as much a city of opportunity and chance, as it is a hive of villainy and scum. The vast economical differences breed two distinct versions of crime in this city. The first and most well-known is the ongoing gang-wars in the South-Quarter.
South-Quarter is the biggest of the regions in Centre. Twice the size of West, it is home to the vast underclass of the city itself. Millions and millions of people crammed into shaky huts, scrap-towers and decrepit apartment-blocks, its chaotic and extremely dense layout is a stark contrast to the glittering skyscrapers of West and the functional, but welcoming blocks of East. Its inhabitants using every ressource at their disposal to expand the limited living-space, as to house the evergrowing numbers of people living in this part of town. Bridges cross over streets, ropes and make-shift elevators enable vertical movement. Rust, grey concrete and graffitti are ever-present.
South is the place where people end up, whose dream of a career in Centre didn't pan out. Who neither found a job in a factory or could afford the marks to live in West. It is a place of crushed dreams and hopes. Of failures scraping by the leftovers that the city leaves them. And as such, it is the perfect breeding ground for angry men and women, who seek an outlet for their frustration. Who are desperate enough to grab any chance to leave their lowly life-style behind. Be it drugs, murder and more. It is almost perfect for unscrupulous individuals to thrive here and so they do.
The quarter is controlled by gangs. Almost every block, every street, every shop is owned by them. Some so small, they barely control the corner they reside in. Others so massive and influential, they rule over what used to be a small city in and of itself in the ancient past. They control the black market, the creation and shipping of illegal goods and the vast cheap labour needed for production or war.
To expand ones territory, one must claim the streets. Usually, this is done through violence. Upstart gangs begin picking on the nearest rival, hoping to indimidate and crush their goons, while recruiting others to their side. Violence is commonplace in south and it has only gotten worse as the years go on. The myriad of alliances made, broken and reforged...of rising strongmen/women that are shot each day in the carnage of bloody dominance...it is part of life for southerners. One can wake up, brush ones teeth and then go outside to clean the blood from the windows or dump a bullet-riddled corpse into a bio-recycling bin. Life is cheap here and weapons aplenty.
In this whirlwind of violence, criminal empires rise and fall quickly. Only a very few last long enough for folks to remember the names and fear the symbols. Gangs like the Bloody Cross, with their neo-christian doomcults. The Crowbeaks, who control a large portion of the black market. Or even the Eisenritter, whose protection-racket includes over four million people and whose violent retalation against anyone who threatens their subjects once led to them storming a SPD-Precinct, killing everyone inside.
To live in South means to belong to a gang. Either as goon or as victim. It means to live in the most brutal enviroment in Rungholt, to the point that living outside the Wall may sound preferable. And it means to survive, thrive in and experience the most violent impulses of humanity.
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Organized Crime
While South is a cauldron of street-fights and scarred gangsters, West has its own brand of villainy. Here one has to be subtle and delicate to achieve ones goals. West-Quarter is a scintillating region, full with neon-lights, cinemas, theaters and gambling-dens. People come here to be entertained and delighted. And nothing ruins a good show so much, as a shootout. As such, criminals have adopted a much more subtle approach and hide their true intentions behind friendly smiles and tailored suits.
Organized Crime can almost claim to have a proud tradition in human history. Whenever there were goods that were of illegal nature or service below the moral standard, people stood ready to provide both, as long as someone could pay for it. In Rungholt it is no different.
Prostitution has officially been outlawed by the Administratum, but mankinds oldest profession thrives in West, hidden behind red veils and well-locked doors. Drugs like Holler, Crystal-Meth and the ever-popular Synthsmoke are easy to procure and obtain, if one knows where to look. Sometimes even not that, as dealers are more than willing to offer a "pick-me-up" or "relaxation" to any tired customer or gambler. And of course, gambling itself is well and alive. Nowhere is it easier to lose ones marks and shirt, than it is in West. From poker to roulette and stock-betting, everything is more than happy to relieve one of ones hard-earned money.
In such an enviroment, who organizes and controls those services is of great importance. Casinos are traditionally under the hand of the Mafia, probably the most ancient crime-syndicate still around. Traditional and well-versed in survival, family means everything here. You live for the family, you bleed for the family, you die for the family. The mafia prides itself in its nature as "necessary evil", as they provide probably the most "legal" activity in West and occasionally use their vast wealth and ressources to aid the city in "necessary endeavours".
It was not uncommon for a new Don to send over donations and manpower to the Wall when needed or use his influence to quell riots in South, whenever they threatened to spill over into the rest of the city. Nowadays though, the mafia is losing its influence. The Long Siege is over and opportunities to ingratiate themselves to the authorities begin to dissappear. Independent gambling halls begin to grow and see success for themselves and the gangs in South have long stopped obeying the Don. Yet, the mob is still powerful and one would do well not to arise their anger.
Chief-competitor to the mob are the Comadres. Taking their name from the iberian word for "god-mothers", this organization is controlling the red-light districts and the services of the flesh. Where the mob is organized through family-bonds and strict hierarchy, the comadres prefer a decentralized structure. Each "mother" controlls a part of their vast business. They each then have a voice on the council, that convenes in times of crisis or when vast-reaching decisions have to be made.
The comadres control both the vast number of hookers and streetwalkers, as well as drug-dens and strip-clubs. In early days of Rungholt, this used to be controlled by gangsters and pimps, before their victims and employees began to organize themselves. Under the leadership of Lucia "La Mama" Díaz they took control of the business and, in their words, "civilized" it. In truth, the oppressed soon began to engage in the same practices of their forebears, with only minor differences.
Each mother decides by herself how to conduct business, only adhering to the basic guidelines established by the council. As such, one can find work for the comadres almost pleasant and not unlike a job like any other, while somewhere else there would be scant a difference from a pimp of old. This drives the mothers to occasionally compete amongst themselves, something that the council tolerates, as long as it doesn't escalate.
The final part of the trifecta of organized crime in West is the Pit. It would be wrong to call it an organization in the vein of its two main-rivals, as it is closer to a company than anything else. Officialy known as "Rungholt Fighting Corporation", or RFC, it is generally just called the Pit amongst the customers. Born as a business-idea of Fabio Jenaue, it started out a sport-organization that sought to control and organize the various sports and competitions in Rungholt. Before too long the Pit had consolidated its assets and expanded to the point, where it controlled all of fighting sports in the city. That includes old main-stays like Boxing, Wrestling or Mixed Martial Art, but also Wall-War and the less-legal ventures of underground fight-clubs and Mechanized Combat.
Outside the official facade of a sleek and reputable corporation, the RFC not only organizes matches and championships of legal sports, but control the vast underworld of bloodsport. To work for RFC means to be a meat-puppet for an organization, that seeks only to profit from the thirst of blood and drama that humanity possesses. Poor boys and girls, trying to climb out of the gang-violence in south, may decide to start working for the Pit in the hopes of making it big as a proffessional athlete. But for every Ivan Novak and every Lisa Hartmann, there are thousand and thousands of fighters fed to the meatgrinder of the underground.
And the various ventures provide the RFC with a steady stream of trained and battle-hardened goons, able to kill with their bare hands. Many of whom are nurtured and trained with weaponry of every kind. Coincidentally, the RFC is the owner of the biggest mercenary-organization on the black-market, renting out proffessional hitmen and soldiers-of-fortune to anyone who can afford them.
Should one decide to leave the RFC, though, one will soon find out that whatever sins committed in the Pit do no leave so easily as well. Soon, the police will knock on the door. Every broken skull, every drop of blood shed soon turns into a long prison-sentence. The only way out? A call from "Uncle Fabio". Should he be in a good mood, and the point has been made, then you are welcomed back into the company to fight, live and eventually die. It is for this reason that people whisper a common saying: "What goes in the Pit, stays in the Pit."
Edited by TheNohen on Jul 4th 2020 at 5:09:06 PM
roaming, lurking, arguing
Police
Where people want to break the law, there are also the ones who uphold it. With Rungholts issues and crime-rate growing, so does its police-force and the diverse and complicated regions of the mega-city necessitate an equally diverse and complicated law-enforcement.
The Rungholt police-force is by its nature mostly decentralized, with each district, each sector and industry having its own departement. The departments themselves are supposed to cooperate and support one another. But rivalry, corruption and myriads of outside interests make this a daunting task. The result is a chaotic mess of a law-enforcement system, that fights as much against itself as against the criminals it is supposed to stop.
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History of the Police
It wasn't always like this. Back in the day, when the Long Siege first started centuries ago, the Rungholt police was organized by the Rungholt Command Center. The RCC was situated next to the Administratum Towers and politically completely independent from the bureaucratic administrators. The division of powers was the goal here, so that police could enforce the law without being tied down by political squabbles and ensure the security of the population. The Chief of Police was an elected office, one of the few democratic processes in the city. And it, ironically, became the core of RCC downfall.
In the 64th year of the Long Siege, Commissioner Valencia Matta rose to the position of Chief of Police, after a lengthy campaign, that had been characterized by populist rhetoric, discriminatory remarks against hybrids and other "non-humans" and promises of improving living standards in the South-Quarter. Riding on a wave of support ranging from bitter high to medium-income people, wanting to go back to the opulence and security from before the War, to desperate southeners willing to back anyone who would adress the growing issues of their districts. All of that combined with a rise in hostility towards hybrids, whose physical capabilities and prioritization of ressources, in order to bolster defenses, had invited a growing feel of resentment by the civilian population.
Co P Valencia Matta then began to quickly "modernize" the police-force, which included laying off a majority of senior officers and lowering recruitment standards to bolster the numbers. She also began to militarize more strongly, equipping her force with heavy weaponry, armored transports and focusing more on riot-control, high-escalation tactics and street-combat. That, combined with Matta pressuring for deregulation, began to transform the Rungholt Police Force more and more into a militia rather than law-enforcement.
Reports of escalating violence, shootouts and public executions began to mount. When the Administratum decided to investigate, they quickly found out that Matta had begun to use her police-force as personal enforcers and further investigation revealed a growing criminal empire under her name, that included protection-rackets, widespread corruption and systemic persecutions of hybrids within Centre. When the Administratum decided however to remove Matta from her position, they found their decision backfiring spectaculary.
When the admins and independent mercenary-forces confronted Valencia Matta in her office, they were brutally gunned down by her and her officers, killing all but two of them. Matta then framed this as a terrorism-attack, aimed to destroy the last democratic values of Rungholt and declared herself Protector of Humanity. She then launched a city-wide progrom against any "non-humans" and persecuted any dissenters with brutal violence. The Administratum was laid under siege. Matta then began a purge of the South-Quarter, slaughtering the very people who had voted her into power, under the guise of "bringing an end to crime and degeneracy".
Matta's reign of terror finally found an end, when she began to pick a fight with a power that she couldn't terrorize into submission. When she send messages to the Wall, demanding from the hybrid-clans to accept her total authority and submit to her officers, the clans universally rejected. Captain Fionn of the Otters even publicly called her a "traitor to humanity" and answered to her demand of servitude by saying that she should "come over and try and make us!"
Valencias response to this challenge was as brutal, as it was shortsighted. She immediately send out a third of her forces to attack the northern Wall, with explicit orders to wipe out any hybrid they could find. When the army reached the wall, they were immediately beset by the full military might of Clan Otter and Pig, with the hybrids separating the police-squads and funneling each force into killings field of overlapping firing-ranges, with no cover. The punitive expedition was wiped out to a man.
Shortly after the massacre, Matta responded by bringing out all the remaining hybrid-prisoners and publicly executing them as punishment. This in turn just resulted in all hybrid-clans immediately cooperating and marching towards Centre from all sides, with the exception of Clan Bear who stayed behind to prevent the Zet from using this opportunity to attack.
What followed was a bloody, but brutally efficient conquest of Centre by the hybrids, who in just two months carved their way to the RCC and laid the building under siege. After Valencia Matta refused any option of surrender, the hybrids planted explosives and blew the entire Police Headquarters to hell. Any survivors were shot. Matta's corpse was found and burnt.
After that, the Administratum decided to split the police-force up into numerous departments, each under their own chief. The office of chief was also now appointed by the admins themselves and no police-force was ever allowed to get their hands on military equipment again. While the latter regulation is nowadays mostly ignored, the decrentralization is still enforced and tensions and resentment among hybrids and southerners towards police-officers is still evident today, with the former enforcing their own laws and customs and the latter now in an ongoing street-war with law-enforcement.
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Organization and Customs
Police-Departments differ in size and jurisdiction. The biggest secure the densely populated districts of Centre, while the smallest are basically just a token force for publicity stunts or political posturing, like at the Wall. With this difference in size and importance, also come severe discrepancies in funding. Very public departments, like In-Sec or West-Studios Police Department (WSPD) can boast an almost unlimited flow of funds and ressources, while the 13th South Police Department (SPD) regulary struggle to equip their officers or replenish losses.
Each department is lead by a Commissioner, who in turn is appointed by the Administratum, leading to the post being as much a political office as anything else. Cushy deskjobs are highly valued, while posts in crime-ridden areas are usually used to get rid of troublemakers or inconvenient individuals. This in turn leads to a wide varitey of personalities, from the straight-laced bureaucrat, to corrupt thugs-in-uniform. Each commissioner inevitably reflects their department and vice-versa, giving an outsider a good view of the state of law-enforcement in any given area, just by researching who is in charge.
Police generally is heavily militarized. A trend that has only recently started again, with the rise in gang-violence and general crime in Centre. Yet, as usual, this is not everywhere the same. Sectors generally benefit from a more personal law-enforcement, where officers tend to interact more closely with the citizens and as such cannot afford to be too indiscriminate or corrupt. East-Quarter PD's take great care of maintaining a highly-trained officer-corps, with focus on de-escalation and keeping a clean image. As such, it is unusual to see officers from those regions armed with more than a handgun.
Police-officers in South-Quarter and the Wall, in turn, are much more aggressively outfitted, yet for very different reasons. The former find themselves in a very hostile environment, with street-wars, public shoot-outs and gang-violence. Here, the line between criminal and officer is complicated and blurred, as some departments are little more than uniformed gangs, while others desperately try to maintain public peace against all odds. In contrast, police-officers at the Wall have no authority over the clans at all, which is by design. They exist mostly as a show of force and with the years have changed their priorities away from enforcing the law to special-forces training and independent abitrators between clans. Here the commissioner needs the approval of the clans in order to take up his posts, which prevents some of the less capable individuals from getting the job.
Finally, in West-Quarter, police has almost entirely been replaced by private security-forces. Mercenaries and security-corporations make up most of the law-enforcement here and the few departments that are still active are mainly bureaucratic institutions or political offices for Admins. Cooperation with the criminal underground is, if not public, very much an open secret. The criminal enterprises and corporations seek to regulate themselves and react poorly to anyone encroaching on their territory. Some departments from East-Quarter have tried to change that, by diverting some of their officers to West, but so far have not made any significant progress.
Lastly, there is Internal Security, or In-Sec for short. They are the main law-enforcement in the Administratum-Towers and can be considered wholly unique from all other departments. Created after Matta's reign of terror, In-Sec serves as counter-force to the police and as personal attack-dogs of the Admin-dynasties. Should a police-department be seen as too corrupt or too powerful, In-Sec is dispatched to "deal" with the matter. Not infrequently by making the offending party disappear. Their agents are comprised exclusively of Gents, in particular dynasties which have specialized in breeding and training officers for In-Sec. Inside the towers, they serve as enforcers and assassins, aiding the eternal intrigues and clandestine bloodshed, while maintaining the status quo. They are the most feared, despised and dreaded organization in Rungholt. They will enforce the will of the Administratum by whatever means necessary. And they will not suffer any disruption of the status quo...
roaming, lurking, arguing
Scavenging and Scrap
Around the second century of the Long Siege, Rungholt found itself confronted with a problem. The old technological marvels and defenses of the mega-city had begun to decay and break down. Despite their best efforts, Tinkerers found themselves increasingly unable to restore many of the more complex machinery and devices, once they fully broke down. Attempts to re-create those lost technologies had been made before, but most of them had ended in desaster, with only a few notable exceptions, like the anti-grav drive.
The issue was that in order to fully understand the ancient tech, one would had to dismantle it first and analyze it. That became a problem when some devices turned out to be vital for the defense of the Wall, like the Deflector-Shield of the Aegis, which couldn't be removed without compromising the delicate balance of the Siege. Others were rare and complicated enough that reassembly was impossible, once they had been taken apart. Meaning they would lose the device forever, if they didn't manage to re-create it.
This understandably lead to a very cautious approach of analysing the technology of the ancient realms. The Administratum in particular made it extremely difficult to acquire a permit for studying such artifacts and in some cases even banned the practice entirely. Most notably the research into gene-templates, after the horrific death of the Shirna-Dynasty, which had commissioned it.
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Scavenging
With many of the artifacts out of reach, thanks to their vital importance to the city, many researchers and entrepeneurs turned to an alternative: Scavenging outside the Wall for lost equipment and abandoned vaults. A dangerous, if not downright suicidal task, since the Long Siege was still ongoing and most of the wilderness beyond Rungholt was either mutated or in control of the Zet. If they didn't kill the unfortunate looter, then the monstrous wildlife or myriad of other hazards would do it. And usually, death was the fate bestowed upon the lucky ones...
To survive the wilderness required not only skill, but not a little amount of luck. One had to be acutely aware of the various dangers awaiting and prepare accordingly. Specialized equipment, like sealed clothes, breathing masks, motion sensors and uncontaminated food and water were necessary just to start out. Weaponry was mostly absent from such expeditions, since remaining undetected was the best way to survive. Avoiding combat alltogether was much more important, than being able to fight. Humanity needed the Wall and a permament standing force in the form of genetically modified soldiers/warriors to even *survive* the Zet. A straight up fight against them, without any significant advantages, would always end up in only one way...death.
Now, one might be able to avoid Zet and mutating spores and even beasts like the Dagger-Wolf or the Sable Marten. If lucky, one would eventually stumble upon an old ruin, abandoned city or even a military bunker from the War. Nine times out of ten, though, a trip would be fruitless and without much more than some topographical data, that could sold for cheap. Still, if one was so lucky, and the supplies allowed for an exploration of those places, then the real test would begin.
Ruins and bunkers were rarely completely abandoned. Sometimes, Zet had stationed some forces there, if the place had some strategical value. When they were absent, this was even worse, since it meant that these remnants of human civilization had defenses or dangers within them, that even the Zet rather avoided. Be it automated drones, mine-fields and straight up rampant experiments, which had been devised in the dying years of the war and exemplified humanities desperation, leading to creating some truly horrific nightmares.
If one survived all of that, it was truly a special day. With surroundings secured, these ruins and bunkers were full of ancient tech, which could fetch a high price on the markets, be it grey or black. Even the simplest things, like a functioning lock or a mono-knife, was worth hundreds of marks. If one could bring back an old drone or even a functioning piece of weaponry, like railguns or plasma-rifles, luxury and fame was a certainty.
One example would be the tale of Alexander Palantopolous, a former farmer from the Heraklion-Sector. Alexander managed to find the ruins of the Greifswald-Powerplant and came back with several fusion-cores and the partial blueprints of the building itself. Although the experience cost him his left arm and he suffered from severe radiation burns, he survived and managed to cash in his discoveries for over one million marks. In turn, power-cores were one of the technologies re-discovered from the Ancient Realms and replaced the entire power-network in the city in just a few decades, providing a self-sustaining supply of electricity for centuries to come.
With such tales of sudden riches and wonders, it is perhaps no surprise that many adventurers, fortune-seekers and mercenaries engage in Scavenging, undeterred by the many, many horrific fates that awaits them. And with entrepeneurs, scientists and the Admins themselves willing to throw enormous funds at anyone bringing something useful back, the industry grew steadily over the last centuries.
Nowadays Scavenging has slowly declined in importancy. With Adam Gensky's discovery of the exo-suits, scavenging and scouting in the wilderness became marginally less hazardous. And with the establishing of the Wardens, a lot of the duties of the old Scavengers were taken over by the burgeoning order. The Long Siege ended and with the retreat of the Zet, priorities shifted from re-discovery to expansion. Ironically, the creation of maps and topographical scouting, which had been ignored for so long, have become much more important, leading many former scavengers, that haven't joined the Wardens, to continue working as scouts or explorers.
This doesn't mean the practice of scavenging is dead and many are still lured by the riches and artifacts in the Wilderness or inside the Ruin Wall, with more than enough interest to keep them funded. And life outside is still dangerous and the world still deadly. Even with the changing times, many bold or foolish will not lack for opportunities to chase dreams and fortunes, as they scavenge the wilds.
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Scrap
With a society so reliant of careful and efficient recycling, it is obvious that Rungholt is a city that re-purposes pretty much everything. Be it fabric, food or even human waste, recycling is a corner-stone of society in the mega-city. Even the most powerful and rich take great care to not be perceived as too wasteful and even a snobbish Admin can be seen carefully separating his trash and paying good marks to repair and maintain functioning tools and devices, no matter how old or obsolete.
As such, the industry of recycling and repairing is one of the most important around and of particular note are the Recycling-Forges or "Scrapyards". With mechanical devices, weaponry and metal in abundance, Scrapyards have blossomed all over Rungholt, especially near the Wall. They serve to gather and store all the tech that has fallen out of use, can no longer be repaired or has simply been forgotten.
The owners of the those Scrapyards spent their time and ressources in equal parts in acquiring new scrap, as well as recycling, reforging or repairing whatever they currently got in stock. The priorities there depend on the Scrapyard, but in general most try to put old tech back on the market, by replacing obsolete or missing parts with scrap of other machinery, some fitting well...and others less so. The goal is to maintain at least the basic use of whatever technology has found its way into their hands, even if its effectiveness has suffered due to the reconstruction. As such, it is not unusual to see an old Volkswagen Munich drive by on tank-treads, since its wheels and drive-system had been unsalvagable.
The quantity and quality of scraps are therefore of utmost importance to any scrapyard and as such a vicious barter-system has evolved, where numerous complexes compete for the most precious metal waste available. Adding to that, the fact that the quality of a scrap can usually only be asserted after the purchase, makes the whole system a bit of a game of chance for those involved. One can offer over three-hundred marks for an old container of disused machinery, only to find out upon opening that most of it has rusted away to dust. As such, the most successful scrapyards are those who either buy a lot or have owners, that are capable to discerning high-quality scrap reliably.
The difference in wealth and scale between competing scrapyards can be quite immense. Some Recycling-Forges are massive, sprawling complexes, with mountains of scrap lying around, where one could with some luck find pretty much anything. Other are little better than a local dumping ground for trash, scraping by on basic recycling and waste-disposal. The wealth associated with those complexes, directly influences what they can afford. Minor scrapyards may only be able to barter on one scrap-auction a year, which can make their business shaky and reliant a lot on fortune. While major Forges regulary barter and trade on local markets and even have enough marks to buy up whatever Scavengers bring back from outside the Wall. Usually the best parts have been obtained already by Admins and other rich investors, but the rest has a value on its own and not too rarely can a Recycling-Forge obtain parts of an old artifact or machinery, which had been ignored repeatedly by investors for being damaged or having missing pieces.
As such, fortunes can change quickly and should one be able to restore one of those pieces through careful reconstruction or simply replacing lost parts with alternatives, the reward can be immense. Forge-Dealers, as are the people called who make it their business to sell scrap to Recycling-Forges, can earn a lot of marks that way of carefully managing their stockpiles and choosing who to sell to. As such, even minor scrapyards can have a quick reversal in fortune, if they strike lucky.
About ten years ago, the Carbenéro Recycling Gmb H purchased a rusty container, that had been left over from the latest haul out of a ruined facility beyond the Wall. They cut it open and, to their surprise, accidentally found functioning pieces of a TH-U3 Personell carrier. An armored transport-vehicle which had been used before the Long Siege to carry infantry safely to the frontlines, but had fallen out of use completely in Rungholt. Carbenéro managed to piece together the chassis and used the rest of an existing heavy-duty anti-grav drive, they had pilfered from an Industrial Waste Transport, to create what is now known as a Carbenéro-Carrier. A vehicle that is now used by the police as a riot-car or transport vehicle in South-Quarter, able to withstand concentrated small arms firepower and even shrug off multiple explosives. And most importanly, can easily be restored even after it has been destroyed, thanks to ubiquitous spare-parts and a sturdy chassis.
Carbenéro Recycling Gmb H quickly rose to prominence thanks to this and was able to use its new-found wealth to buy up and merge with neighboring Scrapyards, including their entire storage, making them nowadays one of the major Recycling-Forges in Rungholt. It is one of the major examples just how valuable even a partial part of AR-technology is and how careful reconstruction and recycling can change the fortune of a lot of people, exemplifying the vital role that Recycling-Forges play in Rungholts industry.
roaming, lurking, arguing
Exo-Suits
Powered Exoskeleton, Power-Armor, Exo-Frame...there are many different names for the same basic concept: To apply the defenses of armor and the offensive of integrated weapon-systems and increased physical strength and durability to a single person. This is not a new idea and had been on the mind of scientists and military investors pretty much even before the rise of the Ancient Realms. And while much of recorded history has been lost, some speculate it may have been a possibility the moment advanced robotics were discovered.
Exo-Suits have a lot of advantages compared to your standard infantry-armor. Its complicated and highly advanced hydraulic systems increase the owners strength dramatically, even on the lighter models, while retaining the basic protection needed for a firefight. Added to that is the sheer modularity of an exo-suit, allowing for a wide variety of modification to suit its wearers combat-style and increase tactical options in the field. And finally, they are comparatively cheap maintain, in comparison to equivalent weaponry, making them highly efficient for their production-value.
It is thanks to Exo-Suits that humanity is able to fight on equal footing with the Zet. Before that, a highly defensible position and massive firepower was needed to even the odds and simply survive a fight with them. Even a simply Imp, the lowliest Zet-form known, is still able to kill a trained soldier in a straight duel. With the Exo-Suits the Zets advantage in strength and durability fall away and allow for a skilled wearer to outclass them. Add to that integrated weapon-systems and other abilities and for the first time since the Invasion, humans can now expand into hostile territory and hold their ground.
Given those clear strengths of an Exo-Suit, why did humanity not retain the technology for them? Even more importanly, why are there no records of their widespread use in the Zet-Invasion, while much more complicated technology like gene-editing or android-production had been used already? Some of these questions have answers, while others still are a mystery even today.
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History
To explore the impact Exo-Suits had on Rungholt and human history, one has to begin with their re-discovery. Plenty has been said already about Adam Gensky's fateful expedition beyond the Wall, that led him to find the first blueprint. Nonetheless, we will summarize it here.
About thirty years ago, Adam Gensky worked as one of many Scavengers in Rungholt. Having finished only one voyage into the Wilderness, he nonetheless was considered to be already experienced, thanks to multiple incursions into the Ruin-Wall, all of which he survived, showcasing his famous knack for survival and ingenuity. In less charitable terms, he could also be considered simply extremely lucky, which nonetheless was perhaps the most important quality needed to succeed as a Scavenger. As such, he was made part of a team under the command of the legendary adventurer Thomas-Q, to venture out and investigate a bunker-facility, recently discovered south of the ruins of Heidelberg.
The infested ruins of the former allemannian town were deep in Zet-territory, over four hundred miles southwards. An exceptionally dangerous undertaking, which attracted only the hardiest and skilled Scavengers around. An intact bunker-facility promised great riches but,perhaps more importantly, intel suggested that it used to be mechanical facility, suggesting highly valuable blueprints. As such, the Admin-Dynasty Mondkind invested personally into this voyage, with the family-head Altair Mondkind himself throwing the considerable ressources of the Bureau of Technology behind this expedition.
The reports of the voyage are well-known, from the ambush on Kalkhofen-Mountain, Thomas-Q death at the hands of the Zet-Knight "Gram" and Miriam Novaks betrayal. In the end, only Adam Gensky survived to make it to the bunker and enter its ancient vault. What he found was the blueprint to the first Exo-Suit and a working prototype. This suit enabled him to survive the journey back, a miraculous feat, considering the perils he faced.
In the years after Gensky's adventure more blueprints were found and multiple discoveries were made. Firstly, it looked like a power-unit had been the greatest obstacle behind the production of those suits. It seemed like the power-cores that had been discovered in Greifswald had been designed after the suits and as such, while prototypes and blueprints existed, only a few of them had been made eligible for production. Poor timing, seemingly, had prevented the Ancient Realms to make use of this weapon, though it does not explain the many, many different blueprints and prototypes already existing.
Some have argued that practicality prevented the Exo-Suits from being more popular. They are relatively expensive to produce, especially compared to cheap ballistic armor. In a war were mass-production was key, a few expensive power-armors simply were simply not effective enough on a big scale. An argument that holds weight, as exo-suits are not suitable for mass-production, even with power-cores enabling efficient energy-supply. In a continental land-war, quantity trumped quality. Fortunately for Rungholt, its situation was different from the Ancient Realms and highly-efficient exo-suits were exactly what was needed to tip the Long Siege in its favour.
The biggest weakness of the Mega-City had always been that, no matter how efficient its economy was, some things simply couldn't be synthetized or re-produced. Ressources were slowly getting scarce and loss of technology and entropy took its toll. Scavenging was a way to combat that, buts gains were too small to impact the siege overall. With the exo-suits, exploration and excursions outside the Wall became more viable and as such relieved some of the pressure, that had begun to mount.
Now, even with this it might not have been enough. And it is still not entirely clear, if the Zets simply gave up the Siege after it became clear that Rungholt would be able to avoid imminent collapse, or if some other external factor caused them to do so. Nevertheless, in public perception the discovery of the Exo-Suit marks the end of the Long Siege and as such, it has acquired an almost mythical status in the minds of the common people.
Curiously enough, Adam Gensky managed to retain his ownership of the blueprints, when he returned to Rungholt. In an uncharacteristic show of generosity, Altair Mondkind did not strip the adventurer of his gains and claim the technology for himself. Or maybe he simply couldn't, given Adams now legendary reputation and the risks involved in hurting such a hero of the public. Perhaps he was content to simply wait, until everything died down and then strike.
In all cases, his hesitation proved fatal, as Gensky immediately gathered allies and companions and embarked on a second expedition. And when he returned alive and with more blueprints, it became even more difficult to act against him. Soon enough, with the man constantly striking out into the Wilderness and succeeding, his Following grew and with that came more ressources. Before the Administratum knew, Adam Gensky had founded the basis of what would eventually become the Wardens and retained a monopoly on the production of Exo-Suits.
Now, eventually Exo-Suits would find their way into Centre and public production on their own, be it through the black market or independent discoveries. Nevertheless, the Wardens own and controll a vast majority of research and production of the suits, which does not sit well with the Bureau of Technology. The Mondkinds eventually obtained blueprints of their own, but they still eye the Wardens with jealousy and thinly-veiled resentment.
Still, for now the peace is kept and Gensky's Wardens are unchallenged...
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AD4-M, the First Exo-Suit
Nowadays there are hundreds of different suits and variations. But one of the most iconic is the AD4-M, or "ADAM". Named after its discoverer, it is also the main suit of Adam Gensky, whose skillful use of it has shaped public perception of Exo-Suits heavily. Before heavier and lighter chassis were discovered, AD4-M was seen as the standard and it is now used as a benchmark for the medium-class suits, that make up the majority of the Wardens forces.
Its history is perhaps the most well-known. Its original producer in the Ancient Realms was a company known asVolkswagen-Rheinmetal and it seemed to have been designed with modularity in mind. By all intents and purposes, it is a conservative design, with equal focus on defense, offense and mobility. Standard armor-plating, that was light enough to allow the use of main-weaponry and secondary sets, as well as ensure a comfortable speed and maneuverability. In fact the ease of use is perhaps the most useful feature of this suit, as it allowed Adam Gensky to operate it relatively smoothly, after he found it in Heidelberg.
Modularity is another key-feature of the AD4-M. There is no suit that has more variants currently on the market. The AD4-M/P5 strips away most of the armor-plating to mount a shoulder-cannon and integrate weapon-systems into its arms, resulting into a mobile weapon-platform of surprising firepower for its weight. Other designs, such as the AD4-M/H2, go more into a defense direction, adding a riot-shield and ablative plating to create a tough, close-quarters suit, perfect for streetfighting. In the end, the "ADAM" can be modified into anything the wearer desires and still be easy to learn and use.
The main draw-back in turn means, of course, that the AD4-M does not excell at anything. Other designs are more specialized and more effective in their respective roles. And with the discovery and invention of more advanced exo-suits, the ADAM is slowly, but surely, becoming obsolete. Suits like the HAGEN or the JUDAH already cover their bases better, and the recently greenlit EVA has all the advantages of the AD4-M, with a more efficient energy-system and more weight to play around with.
Still, it is unlikely that the AD4-M will disappear anytime soon from public memory and its exploits and service-history is so far unmatched by any other suit. Adam Genksy himself still proudly wears his original model, that he acquired all those years ago, and has shown more than once that he is capable in schooling more advanced designs with his trusty armor. As such, the impact that the ADAM has left on Rungholt can never be underestimated and it will remain one of the most treasured suits in the history of the Wardens.
Edited by TheNohen on Jul 18th 2020 at 10:22:18 AM
The Light That Blinds
Mercury, the Fiery Death Trap
Some suits, such as the AD4-M, are famous, whether due to their users or their designs. Other suits fade into obscurity, only used by the runts of the Wardens. But only one has managed to achieve true infamy across Rungholt—the Mercury. One of the first light suits, it was formerly known for its unique ability to fly before it gained a reputation as a coffin for any poor fool who piloted it.
Little is known about Mercury's history, mostly due to its incomplete blueprints. What is known is that it was one of three light suits found by Hector Wathelet during one of Adam Gensky's excursions outside the Wall. Wathelet found Mercury's blueprints in a ruined bunker tucked deep within the woods, but part of those blueprints were missing. This would come back to bite them later.
Unlike most other suits, Mercury is made of interlocking pieces, fitting together like puzzle pieces. As such, putting it on and taking it off is a lengthy process, which is considered part of the reason for the numerous deaths it caused. It also must be specifically made for different heights and body types, due to its form-fitting design. Its material is very lightweight for better mobility, so even for light suits, it's incredibly easy to damage. But what it has over other suits (or, rather, had) is its incredible mobility and ability to fly, thanks to the thrusters in the boots.
Because of this trait, Mercury enjoyed a surprisingly good reputation for a few years. Its pilot, Cornelio Pullo, became somewhat famous for his stunts while flying it. While the thrusters had a bit of an overheating problem, it didn't seem like anything to be concerned about.
...Aaaaaand then the other shoe dropped. During a patrol, the thrusters suddenly combusted, and the rest of the suit quickly followed. The other Wardens had no way to fight a fire hazard, and Mercury's design meant it couldn't be removed quickly enough. Despite attempts to save him, Pullo died in the fire.
At first, it was assumed to be an isolated incident. But then it happened again with another pilot. And again. And again. By now, Mercury was becoming famous for something other than its flight—that it was killing all of its pilots. After no less than twelve deaths (some even believe that the death total the public knew of was lower than the actual total), Mercury was finally scrapped.
But the Wardens, unwilling to let something so useful go to waste, promptly started work on Mk. II. Unfortunately, by the time they were done, Mercury's reputation had almost fully soured, and no one with an ounce of common sense wanted to pilot it.
Some did, however—either because they didn't know its history or because the idea of flight blinded them to its problems. Mk. II had the dubious honor of being in use for only two years before it was scrapped, one of the lowest numbers of all the Exo-Suits. Over the course of its lifespan, it had six pilots. Five died, and the sixth—Mariella Durando—was so badly burned that she quit the Wardens. Her status as Mercury's one survivor has made her something of a living legend, much to her dismay.
While Mk. III did fix the fire problem, it did so by sacrificing Mercury's flight, leaving the suit grounded and with almost nothing to differentiate it from other light suits. Mercury Mk. III has the dubious honor of having exactly one model in circulation; the Wardens aren't going to make any more until they know for certain it won't combust on the battlefield. No one has put it on to test it out. No one wants to be the first.
To make a long story short, Mercury has had a long, sordid history full of death, pain, and fire. No one can deny it's left its mark; anyone who's studied anything related to the Wardens knows of at least a touch of its infamy. It's even spawned something of a saying: "in the cockpit of Mercury" is a saying referring to when someone does something so blatantly stupid that even they, on some level, know it's a bad idea. While a few (and let's emphasize that—a few) people believe Mercury could be salvaged if the missing piece of its blueprints were found, most agree that anyone who pilots it in this day and age is stupid, suicidal, or both.
Edited by LilyTheLitten on Jul 24th 2020 at 10:01:54 AM
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
roaming, lurking, arguing
Admin-Culture and Lifestyle
The Administratum are five massive towers, dominating the skyline of Centre. Enormous in scale and the only buildings rivaling the Wall in scope and size. How they were built remains a mystery nowadays. As is unexplained how such gigantic structures do not collapse under own weight or manage resist the elements.
With a population of over half a million people for each of the towers and with enough space for re-creational facilities and more, it is inevatible that in such an isolated environment sub-cultures begin to form. And given the Gents propensity to excesses and excellence, theirs is a particulary complex and, in some facets, absurd one.
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Family and Re-Production
Admins live in family-units called "dynasties" together, with reproduction closely controlled and manipulated. Given that each family owns a particular gene-therapy and that standings are tied to ones skills and influence, it is of the utmost importance who marries and reproduces with whom. Political marriages are the norm here, with various factors playing a significant role, like genetic compability, influence, ressources and more.
Genetic progress is, if anything, a slow process, so that even with the advanced medical procedures it can take generations to bring any noticable results. It is not uncommon for less powerful or less ruthless dynasties to simply correct any genetical flaws with the help their gene-therapies and foregoe the complicated and emotionally disruptive process of "breeding", that many of the higher dynasties practice.
Family-life as an Admin means to be part of a vast family-structure, that resembles more a party or organization than anything else. Every action, every achievement, every failure reflects on the dynasty and as such it is of utmost importance for the head of the family to direct the ressources of the individual to further the standing of the whole. Status means everything.
If a relative begins to cause trouble, then that issue has to be adressed. So may some decide to sideline him or put him in a position where no damage can be made. Others may opt to straighten wayward family-members out and bring them back into the fold. And a few may simply decide to prune their garden of any "weeds" and "parasites". If at the end of the day the dynasty thrives, no sacrifice is too great.
This oppressive and highly complex dynamic feeds itself through a very simple facet of Admin-life: Rise or fall in the towers. Should a dynasty suffer setbacks or failures, then the whole family may be degraded and forced to move severals levels down the vast tower, to less luxurious facilities. Priviliges may be lost and ressources stolen. Rival families may ursurp positions and vital staff may decide to offer their talents to more successfull dynasties.
As such, even the most fairminded families cannot escape the ugly fact, that it only needs one selfish relative or one oversight, made out of sympathy, to impact all their lifes. Encouraging each patriarch/matriarch to keep a close eye on their family. After all, it is for their own good...
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Work and Politics
Given the ruthless, and sometimes deadly, nature of life in the Administratum it is perhaps not surprising that many dynasties seek security in power. As such, establishing monopolies on certain positions or even entire sections of buerocracy is a popular tactic. After all, one has little to worry about mistakes, if a powerful uncle is head of the very department one is working in.
Some dynasties have perfected this to the point, that they dominate even several bureaus or even entire departments. The most powerful among them hold an entire ministry in their grip and such dynasties almost inevatibly make up the Council, this most supreme of political bodies in Rungholt.
To achieve even something as comparatively minor as cornering the position of Assistant-Secretary of the Vice-Manager of the 3rd Accounting Bureau can take decades of dedicated effort from a dynasty. Nonetheless it is a price worth fighting for many families, as even one step up the proverbial ladder can enable further empowering and influence. For the Assistant-Secretary may meet the actual Manager, or talk to people who have met him. Doors keep opening and opportunities appear..
Other Dynasties eschew the constant struggle for survival and endless scheming for position and may simply decide to find a particular niche, that no one is paying attention to and corner the market there. To make themselves irreplacable and essential to life in the Towers, even if it means to deny the possibility of expansion in power. This tactic may not make ones family rise to higher levels, but it will also ensure that one will not fall either, be it metaphorically or physically.
A good example is the Van den Bosch Dynasty, who satisfied their ambition by taking control of the Bowling Alley in the Fourth Tower. They have occupied this simple recreational facility for centuries and have ensured their prosperity by making it the most exclusive and exquisite bowling alley in the entire Administratum. All of their ressources are dedicated to maintaining this position. Their genes have been optimized to organize and enhance their facility, be it with expanded brain-capacity for bowling-angles and new innovations into waxing floors or expanded skillsets into cooking and cocktail-mixing.
Their bowling alley is frequented by families much more influential and powerful than theirs, seeking relaxation and entertainment. Thanks to their many patrons, the Van den Bosch are able to secure themselves and exert influence way past the point families of similar standing would be able to. And they jealously defend this privilige, with an almost ridiculous zeal.
Family-businesses are treated as sacrosanct by the families that own them. Rivals and competitors are not just a financial threat, but an existential one. Bloodfeuds are fought out over something so small as a restaurant and entire hallways have been drenched in blood, in order to determine the supremacy of rivaling fitness-clubs.
For outsiders this most likely seems ridiculous and insane. For the Admins however, it is a very serious matter and one that they engage in an almost twisted sense of pride.
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Gene-therapies
These are the foundation for any Gent-family. Be it Admin, Militarists or Fallen. For the latter is the loss of theirs that marks their status as Exiled. And for the former two, it is the object around which their entire family revolves around.
Gene-Therapies are one of the few remnants from the Ancient-Realms. They are templates that allow for highly detailed manipulation of ones own genes and subtle biological modification. More importanly, they allow for safe use of this highly dangerous craft, as normally even the slightest change in ones DNA could lead to distastrous, unforeseen consequences. The templates are able to prevent these worst-case scenarios and provide their owner with a powerful tool to obtain genetic perfection.
However, they are only a limited amount of gene-therapies still around. Mankind has long lost the technology to create new ones and as such the remaining ones are of incredible value, akin to artifacts. To be a Gent means to have access to one. And one can only create a new dynasty by obtaining a new template. To be stripped of ones gene-therapy is the ultimate punishment in the Administratum, synomynous with exile.
Given their scarcity, should one desire to join the Admins or the Militarists, one must first get their hands on a gene-therapy. Most commonly, this is achieved through being gifted one. Dynasties rise and fall in the towers and the Council holds a long tradition to create new dynasties out of baseline-human servants, who have distinguished themselves...or simply have greased enough palms. More often than not, this means to be given a gene-therapy from a fallen or extinct dynasty. The lucky owner can then either take up the name and heraldry of the former dynasty or simply create his own.
However, all Admins face one glaring issue. The Gene-therapies slowy begin to decay. Time and overuse begin to take their toll and more and more templates slowly develop faults, with a rare few even becoming entirely unusable. Some accept the slight decay and stop modifying themselves too much, simply using their templates to adjust their newborns. The quirks derived from that are now forming the various traits for many dynasties, be it physical or mental.
The Mondkind-Dynasty for example is known to be easily distinguishable through their natural white hair and their highly androgynous looks. On the other hand their rivals, the Rowan-Dynasty, is rumored to have a hereditary trait that causes high-functional sociopathy to develop among many of their members.
While such "quirks" can be litte more than aesthetics, others are obviously much more worrying. For a culture obsessed with genetic perfection, some dynasties cannot accept the slow decline. As such, not a few desired to find a cure for their ailing gene-therapies.
In 287 AC (After Collapse) the Shirna-Dynasty invested, along with other families, into a project that aimed to repair gene-therapies. The scientist were given vast amount of marks and other ressources and no expense was spared to ensure the success of the project. And to everyones delight, they were successful.
The Shirna-Dynasty then took the gene-therapy, after ousting and eliminating their business-partners, and went back to their apartments in the 560th floor to celebrate their success and debate on how to profit from this. They did not come out again...
After several days, their neighbours began to openly complain about a horrific stench coming from the facilities of the Shirna. Staff eventually managed to break open the doors and step inside the apartments. They had expected to find bodies. What they found was so much worse. Every family-member of the Shirna had died within their home, their bones and organs slowly having liquified after the use of the gene-therapy.
It was later estimated, that the template had caused a genetic defect that lead their bodies to rapidly decompose over several hours. The Shirna themselves had not been able to call for help, as their brains had been affected first, turning the highly intelligent Admins into giggling, drooling vegetables. Deteriorating to the point of not even being able to feel pain and slowly wasting away, while not even understanding why.
After this desaster, the Council unanimously decided to ban further research with gene-therapies, to avoid similar accidents and the loss of valuable templates. The results of the Shirna-Research were sealed away from the public and the dynasty was declared extinct.
Nonetheless, there are rumors of some dynasties ignoring the ban and continuing their own research, in desperates hopes of reversing their slowly decaying gene-therapies. But given the overwhelming silence of the subject within the Administratum, one can safely assume that none had been successful so far...
Edited by TheNohen on Aug 2nd 2020 at 5:36:06 PM
roaming, lurking, arguing
Tinkerer – Lifestyle
They are one of the most essential sub-cultures in Rungholt. Responsible for maintaining, repairing and improving the ancient tech, so vital to the mega-city’s daily life. And although they barely understand it themselves, it is certain that the Tinkerer have contributed equally to mankind's survival, then the Hybrid-Clans.
Tinkerers are not simple mechanics. That is one fundamental fact one must keep in mind. The latter is a profession. One held by many people, including hybrids, baseline humans, androids and even gents. Tinkerers are however more than just that. Despite not being genetically enhanced or biologically so far removed that they are a sub-species of humanity, Tinkerers are unique enough from your average human, that they can be treated as something unique and distinct.
Their culture is defined through service, excellence and mania. Life as a Tinkerer means to have a connection to technology nobody can match. To live in brief flashes of brilliance and pay for those with a mental decline unparalleled.
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Lifestyle and Re-Production
Probably one of the best-known traits of a Tinkerer are their mental-cables. Several thick cables inserted in their skull and ending in their temple. They are produced exclusively by Tinkerers, the process being a well-kept secret and need to be done specifically for each child, used only for that one insertion. It is a highly invasive process, that requires extensive brain-surgery done in a way no ordinary surgeon can perform. The cables must be inserted early on, traditionally around the age of 2-3 years and they stay with one for the rest of their life. One cannot become a Tinkerer, the way one could become a gent or a mutant. While the reasons are not entirely known, there are only certain families that can be called Tinkerers. The likeliest theory is that there is a certain gene, that is required to make ancient tech like the mental-cables work and even with that the surgery can occasionally prove fatal to the young child.
As such, Tinkerers tend to not give their new-born names, until they have survived the Cut, as the surgery is commonly referred to. Given the danger of this process and the requirement of Tinkerer-Surgeon, that can perform it, families tend to be rather small, with maybe only one or two children. Many Tinkerer has at least three or four siblings, who all died early.
Tinkerers tend to marry only among themselves. This is partially out of choice, as living with a Tinkerer is a unique challenge for those not properly prepared, but also because “pure” children have a higher chance of surviving the Cut. Not surprisingly, this lends itself to a somewhat isolationist and unique sub-culture, one that is for once treated fairly well in Rungholt. Unlike many others, Tinkerers enjoy a privileged standing in society, on account of their vital necessity and unique skills. As such, the bureaucracy is pretty hands-off and avoid disrupting the community as much as possible.
In turn, the Tinkerers are strictly apolitical. An unspoken agreement, that ensures their safe status and prevents other factions from perceiving them as threats. The Tinkerer understand that their unique circumstances only exist, precisely because they take no sides and continue their duties, no matter who is in charge. Should they decide otherwise, any opposing faction could simply wipe them out, on account of their low numbers.
One particular trait in the life of a Tinkerer is their quirkiness, or mania, if one wants to be less polite. In order to perform their various duties, from mechanics to medicine and even programming, Tinkerers use a process called "linking". During this they can link up, thanks to their mental-cables, with the Archive, an entity that will explained in detail further below. Each time they link up, the Tinkerer experiences a flash of brilliance and instinctual understanding of the chosen process that no ordinary craftsmen can match, allowing them feats beyond human understanding. Whether that be repairing ancient technology from before the Long Siege, curing a patient already seen as doomed or even coming up with new technological marvels of their own.
These moments of genius are usually accompanied by episodes of mania, which can express itself differently for each individual. Some simply experience extreme euphoria or physical pleasure, while others submit to bouts of mild megalomania. Others may achieve a focus so intense, they forget to sleep, eat or even defecate, until their work is finished. As such, it is perhaps advisable to keep an eye on them during those episodes, while simultaneously being well out of range of any explosions or other violent "side-effects".
Technological implants and bionics are not uncommon in Rungholt. Whether it be a construction-worker with a metal arm or an old soldier with a bionic eye, one can see prothesis and enhancements pretty much everywhere. Yet nowhere are they so ubiquitous than with the Tinkerers. It is almost compulsory for them to enhance their bodies or replace entire parts with tech. Most assume it is one of the side-effects of linking up with the Archive and indeed, Tinkerers who link up regularly have a higher tendency for excessive bionics. But even before that they seem to have a preference for technological upgrades, that many others do not share. The reasons are not entirely known, but the fact remains that Tinkerers can display an almost callous attitude to their bodies, happily replacing healthy limbs with metal prothesis, where others would only do so in a medical emergency or confronted with no other choice. It has the fortunate side-effect that bionics is one of the fields, which has not declined and in fact flourished in Rungholt.
As a Tinkerer gets older, the manic episodes tend to last longer and longer, depending on how many times they have linked up with the Archive. Eventually, mental degradation sets in. It is a known fact, that almost all Tinkerers experience some form of mental deficiency or decline as they reach the age of forty/fifty. Alzheimer, senility and bipolar disorder are the most common, but extreme cases can also experience Schizophrenia, Pyromania and worse. Rare is the Tinkerer that escapes such a fate and for most this is simply a logical consequence of their life. It is not uncommon for some to voluntarily end their life's before they lose all their mental faculties or arrange for their families to do so, should they no longer be in a state of sanity.
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The Archive
It is perhaps one of the biggest mysteries in Rungholt. The Archive is equally well-known to everyone with a passing knowledge of Tinkerers, while at the same time utterly incomprehensible even to them. What we know is that it is probably the biggest databank of human knowledge in the world. Every technology, every discovery, every known fact to life and the universe is stored in the Archive. It is a vault of knowledge so vast and overwhelming, that it is almost impossible to even comprehend it.
There are many theories on the origin of the Archive, but none are so far proven and many are mere speculation. Some say it was an attempt of the Ancient Realms to preserve their heritage and achievements for later generations. Others think it was merely a digital encyclopaedia back in its day and humanity has regressed too much to properly use it. And a few believe even it is nothing less than a deity, intelligent and self-aware and as incomprehensible as God.
Whatever it is, the Archive remains an enigma to humanity, albeit a useful one. While nobody knows exactly where it is actually is, as its location is a mystery, it is nonetheless accessible to humanity through connections in the Intranet, that not even the Zet could compromise. Accessing the Archive is however fraught with danger. Merely establishing a connection with a normal terminal leads to catastrophical failure, resulting in the destruction of the terminal itself. Even the strongest and most advanced computers cannot safely connect to the Archive, without inviting complete system-failure. Programmers and hackers foolish enough to do so, while being connected to the Net, die horribly as their brains are overloaded with a flood of unfiltered information, too fast and complicated to even comprehend. Aneurysm, heart-failure or even spontaneous combustion are the inevitable consequences of such actions.
The only ones able to link up with the Archive are the Tinkerers. They can establish a connection through their mental-cables, though exactly how they do it is not known, even to themselves. They simply follow ancient traditions and rituals, that allow them to enter a sort of trance and provide a brief, almost minute access to the Archive. They then draw out the needed knowledge almost instinctually, their brain protected from the unfiltered data by not allowing them to actually comprehend what they are "learning". As such, Tinkerers use the data on an instinctual basis, letting their hands work on their own and avoiding overload. Even so, they experience their aforementioned episodes of mania, as even this method is not without risk.
An added precaution used by Tinkerers is their tendency to specialize. This is not just down to preference, but actually helps with the use of the Archive. By limiting themselves to only certain fields and professions, they also limit the flow of data each time they link up, which reduces the strain on their brain. This is the reason why Tinkerers use their abilities only in certain fields, like mechanics, surgery, bionics and more. Even so, rare is the Tinkerer that can reliably replicate the feats they accomplish when linked up. Thanks to all those safety-measures it is close to impossible for a Tinkerer to explain or even understand how they achieved the various things they just did. And while it might be tempting to achieve a deeper link with the Archive in order to grasp just one iota of information for real, only very few dare to do so. The results are almost always severe damage to the brain, if not outright death.
Linking up with the Archive is very much a dangerous process. But not only because of the mental stress, but also because the entire experience is highly addictive. For a brief second, one finds oneself knowing and understanding things no normal human can even comprehend. Linking up with the Archive means to elevate one's consciousness to the absolute limit. To be a genius, a savant, of an enormous scale. It is an experience not unlike a spiritual revelation and as such Tinkerers find themselves confronted with having to resist the urge to link up over and over. A losing battle, as each time they do so, the desire becomes stronger. And even if they are careful and restrained, they find themselves having to link up anyway, because of their duties and professions.
One particular infamous case of irresponsible use of the Archive comes with the case of Tim Kanfeld, about thirty years ago. A Tinkerer with a penchant for programming, Kanfeld was one of the most prolific game-designers in Rungholt at the time. Even today some of his games are cult-classics, like Sommernachtsmaerchen or the Vineta-Trilogy. By the time he announced his latest game called “Deus Ex Machina”, he was hailed as one of greatest programmers of his era. Kanfeld was known to link up with the Archive frequently, but his manic episodes tended to be small in scale and harmless, with no visible long-term effect. In fact, many saw him as particular resistant to the side-effects of linking. As such, when he wanted full control of the project with no supervision, the CEO of Gaming Incorporated saw no reason to not grant him his wish.
Kanfeld them locked himself and several programmers and designers up for about six months. At the end of this intense period of work, many were excited to see final result. GI happily gave the game away for playtesting and Kanfeld and his team were granted some vacation-time. That was when the incidents started to mount. Programmers began to behave erratically. One was caught ingesting Holler to the point of overdosing, another prostituting himself in West-Quarter. Then a playtester was arrested for killing his neighbours with a chainsaw.
When a reporter, whom had been given a copy by Kanfeld himself, was brought to the mental institute with fractured personality disorder, authorities began to investigate the Tinkerer directly. They found out that there had never been a game called "Deus Ex Machina". Instead, Kanfeld had written a data-transfer of his own personality. A program which overrode the victims mind and replaced it with his own, turning them into nothing more than puppets for his own twisted desires.
Police stormed Kanfeld apartment soon after those discoveries. They found him just in time, as he was trying upload his program onto the cities entire Intranet. Official reports say that the officers disconnected the computer immediately, the backlash of which caused Kanfeld to suffer an aneurysm and die soon after. Nevertheless, after this incident Rungholt suffered cases of data-corruption, anonymous hacking attempts on private computers and sudden server-lockdowns, by a user calling himself "Deus Ex Machina". After a few months, the attacks stopped as suddenly as they had started and "Deus Ex Machina" never appeared again. Nowadays, it is primarily known as a ghost-story among hackers.
Even with all this in mind, there are more than one instance where humanity had tried to establish a better connection to the Archive. All of them ended in failure one way or another, like the attempt by the Mondkind-Dynasty to replicate the linking-process with an android, with the idea that a synthetic lifeform might be less susceptible to data-overload, than a biological one.
The android Eva-V was chosen to perform this experiment and a stable connection to the Archive over the Intranet was established. In the first few seconds, it looked like the experiment went smoothly. Eva-V managed to enter the digital Net and gained access to the Archive, providing valuable insight into the massive databank. From her accounts it is known that the Archive is massive in scale, beyond anything possible today. However, when she tried to enter it, Eva-V went suddenly silent and her body shut down in an instant. Scientists scrambled to revive her, but they soon realized that the android was completely unresponsive. The connection to the Archive was then severed suddenly from outside the city and later attempt to use that one connection-line again proved fruitless.
Nobody knows exactly what happened to Eva-V. Her body remained unharmed and later analysis of the incident speculated, that her code was simply pulled into the Archive, like light crossing the Event Horizon of a black hole. They stipulate that Eva-V may still be alive in digital space, lost in the vast databank of the archive. Other suggest, that she was killed by some highly advanced security program and a few even speculate, that her code was simply analysed, dissected and added to the vast network. Nobody knows for sure and after that incident the Council decided to seal any further research into the Archive.
roaming, lurking, arguing
The Wardens - Organization
Being a military-unit that operates outside the Rungholt military structure, the Wardens have an unique organization, that is the result of the peculiarities of its founder and which serves to support the highly mobile and dangerous form of warfare, that they practice.
Adam Gensky was in the unique position to design his organization from the ground up, when he began to rally support around him, and he aimed to create a brotherhood that would remain flexible and effective, even in small numbers, while also avoiding the bureaucratic restrictions and inherent corruption of the Administratum. And while one may argue that he has not been entirely successful in avoiding the oversight of the Admins, it is nonetheless a testament to his vision that the Wardens have expanded as much as they did in just three decades and have acquired a truly impressive reputation.
Part of this success comes from Gensky's skill in finding talented, capable people and recruiting them to his cause. The Commanders, that make up the Wardens top echelon of command, are all highly skilled individuals in combat and leadership. This position is not unassailable though and should a Commander prove to be unfit for his duty, they can be relieved and stripped of their rank.
Around the core of soldiers and officers is the body of support personnel that keeps the organization running. They far outnumber the fighting force, but are all too often ignored by the general public, when it comes to judging the Wardens numbers. Nonetheless, they provide a vital role and the organization could not function without them. The corp of engineers and mechanics are especially important. Serving as the R&D department of the Wardens, they are the ones repairing, maintaining and designing the Exo-Suits and weaponry, with a considerable part of the Wardens budget going into their work. They are organized through the "AG Metall" workers union, which functions as their representation within the organization. Their representative speaker also has a voice in the Command-Echelon.
The second major component to the civilian part of the Wardens are the Medics. These are the doctors, nurses and surgeons who care and patch injured Wardens, perform autopsy or research preventative medicine if needed. A bionics-department exists to replace lost limbs and keep crippled Wardens combat-ready. While rarely deployed in the field, they are sometimes transported to outposts or forward bases in case of longer missions or expeditions. The Chief of Medicine also is part of the Command-Echelon.
The Wardens are nominally headed by the Command-Echelon and major decisions are generally decided by vote through the Commanders. However, in reality the High Commander usually decides the direction. Although he can be outvoted by his commanders, this very rarely happens and is mostly just a precaution to avoid abuse of power. Adam Gensky envisioned a brotherhood of equals at first, but the necessity of a centralized command structure and the realities of war have lead to the position of High Commander, which he occupies. And while he was first reluctant, one cannot argue about the effectiveness of his leadership so far.
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Orders and Company-Structure
The Wardens military core is organized through seven regiments called Orders. Each Order consist of around 15.000 soldiers, though losses, recruitment-boosts and personal preferences of the Commanders lead to those numbers fluctuating quite heavily sometimes. And while no Order so far has ever been wiped out, there have been times where they have been reduced in numbers, that they had to recuperate for some time.
Each Order is made up by several companies, each headed by a lieutenant-captain. A company consist of around a thousand Wardens, further divided into ten brigades lead by a captain. Each brigade consist of several squads, though the number depends heavily on battlefield role of the brigade, sustained losses, etc. Each squad is lead by a sergeant, usually a senior member of the Order. The Sergeants report to the Captain, who report to the Lt. Captain, who in turn report to the Commander. In the field, each squad is expected to follow the general objective and strategy given to them by their superiors, but use their own judgement and iniative to achieve those goals. Each Squad also has a small team of mechanics assigned to them, that take care of their equipment and modify it when needed, back at base.
While all Orders can fulfill any respective roles and execute any given strategy or maneuver, it is perhaps unsurprising that over the decades they have developed affinities to certain tactics or specialized in various ways. This can be the result of outside circumstances forcing them to adapt or is down the preferences of their commanders.
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1st Order
The oldest and founding Order of the Wardens. It is lead by High Commander Adam Gensky himself, though the nature of him having to lead the entire Warden-Organization results in him having a more hands-off approach to his own order. Generally, day-to-day commands falls to his Lieutenant-Captains, with the High Commander only taking direct command when in the field or in extra-ordinary circumstances.
The 1st Order is still shaped by its initial role as the first iteration of Wardens. Back then, the focus was on exploration and exploitation of ancient ruins and clearing out Zets from strategic important locations. As such, the 1st still excells in those fields, with a great emphasis on skillful improvisation on the field and flexible command.
With the emerging of the other Orders, the 1st has stepped out of the limelight in recent years. While still being seen as the Elite of the Wardens, they no longer have the widespread attention of the public, in contrast to their prominence back in the day. This is mostly due to them only going out in force in emergencies or to secure new ruins, both of which leave them out of the eye of the press.
Nevertheless, the 1st Order is still the cream of the crop for many within and outside the Wardens and being assigned to them is seen as a great honor. It is a sign, that one has demonstrated iniative and skill noteworthy enough to get the attention of the High Commander himself.
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2nd Order
The 2nd Order is probably one of the best-known Orders in Rungholt. In similar status to the 1st, it was founded as a clear sign that Gensky's idea of an independent mobile combat force had merit. It is commanded by René Lannes, a Militar-Gent of the Lannes-Dynasty, who obtained command by virtue of being Gensky's Right Hand during his first adventures. And although their relationship is characterized by arguments and occasional frustration on Lannes part, there is no doubt about René's loyalty to his old friend.
The 2nd Order is famous for its strict discipline and quality of soldiers. Lannes is infamous for being a strict taskmaster, who expects his order to excell at everything. While this leads occasionally to a certain inflexibility, the results speak for themselves. The 2nd is the most decorated fighting force within the Wardens, with an iron will and impeccapable skill.
All of this would mean littlem of course, were Lannes merely a heartless diciplinarian. And although he can be harsh at times, he has nonetheless managed to instill a deep respect and loyalty within his troops. The Lannes-Dynasty is infamous for its lack of compassion and utter ruthlessness, yet René has displayed that his high standards apply first and foremost to himself. No order is given, that he deems not doable himself and he can be found more than once at the frontlines, sharing the same hardships as his subordinates.
For René Lannes, this is merely a natural consequence. For only the best Order can have the best Commander. If he demands excellence from his soldiers, so must he represent excellence himself.
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3rd Order
Where 1st and 2nd have the prestige of being the oldest and most elite Orders of the Wardens, the 3rd has languished long in the shadows of mediocrity. With such famous forces as competition, the 3rd Order had not distinguished itself greatly for the most part of its history. This changed however about ten years ago, at the First Defense of Itzehoe, and nowadays the 3rd Order is synomynous with grit and determination.
This comes down mostly to its current Commander, Sergeij Agoston. Born in East-Quarter, Agoston had for the most part an average career as a Warden, though he was known for his stubborness even when he started out. This changed however, when he was called, along with the entire 3rd Order, to defend the newly established outpost Itzehoe.
Itzehoe had been the first serious step to expand outside the Wall. As such, when a major Zet-Force was detected on its way to destroy it, it was paramount that it was protected. As such the 3rd and 4th Order were given the task to defend it.
Right from the start, things went wrong. The Commander of the 3rd was killed at the start of the battle, by a stray artillery-shell and the eastern defensive perimeter was breached and compromised for the rest of the fight. Marie Leidenfeld, Commander of the 4th Order at the time, gave the order to evacuate and abandon position. Agoston and the 3rd however, refused.
Over the next twelve hours they defended Itzehoe on their own. Agoston defending the breach in the east almost by himself at the end. By the time the 1st and 2nd arrived to relief them and break the siege, the 3rd had been reduced to only 430 Wardens. In turn, they had beaten back twenty-four consecutive charges by the Zet.
After this battle, Sergeij Agoston was unaminously declared Commander of the 3rd. Although he had the unenviable task of rebuilding the regiment, he has succeeded in bringing it back to fighting strength, while at the same time keeping them in the field. Today, the 3rd Order is still the smallest in numbers, but they boast in turn the highest concentration of heavy exo-suits and are famous for their stubborn defense and almost legendary inability to die.
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4th Order
There are only a small number of commanders ever being relieved of their duty in the Wardens young history. The fact, that the 4th has two of them is a mark of shame for the Order. A shadow, which they seek to escape through almost reckless aggression and burning desire for glory.
After the disastrous decision to abandon the 3rd to their fate at the First Defense of Itzehoe, it comes perhaps at no surprise that Marie Leidenfeld was relieved of her duty. She would later be dishonorably discharged, after she fled the field a second time. Her replacement Walter Schulden would sully his position through embezzlement and corruption.
After that, the 4th went through a difficult period, that only recently ended when they came under the command of Justina Petras. Petras originally served in the 2nd Order, but requested being transferred to the 4th personally. The fox-hybrid brought the central tenents of discipline from the 2nd over to her new regiment and was elevated to the position of Commander within two years.
Ever since then she has driven her subordinates to expunge the shame of their past, through relentless drills and a highly aggressive style of leadership. Under her, the 4th has begun to transform into an Order that excells in shock and awe tactics. Overwhelming firepower and extreme aggression now characterizes them, as they try to clean up their image.
And while their zeal is certainly to be admired, it is also a source of worry, given their tendency for collateral damage. Still, so far Petras has managed to point the 4ths rage in the right direction.
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5th Order
Perhaps no Order represents the Warden as a total best than the 5th. Where others specialize, concentrate and drill, the 5th instead focuses purely on the basics. While this means, that they tend to be overshadowed by the more quirky Orders, it gives them a consistency that is highly valued by the High Commander.
The 5th is the workhorse of the Wardens. With their biggest numbers of soldiers and the highest amount of medium-suits, they can be tasked with any mission and be expected to fulfill it. Be it territory-securing, scouting, reinforcing their fellow Orders or even simply search and destroy. The 5th can do it all and do it well.
This has not changed under their current Commander, Mikail Bromsfjord. A decorated hero from the Rungholt Army, Bromsfjord was inducted late into the Wardens but has worked himself nonetheless up to the position of Commander. While a choleric individual, the old bear did not change much about the Order when he came into position. Instead, he focused on inducting more recruits and refining the basics that the 5th already practiced. Being a war-veteran and survivor of the Long Siege, Bromsfjord knows the value of a reliable unit and fully intends of keeping the 5th as consistent and flexible as they currently are.
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6th Order
With the founding of two new orders, Gensky found himself at the luxury openly determining the focus of the new additions to the Wardens. Given that the main-battle Orders had already been established, he decided to specialize the new ones right from the get-go.
As such, the 6th Order was tasked to focus on battlefield-support and their first and current Commander Jeanne de Maiziere has fulfilled this task with distinction. Being an Admin, who suffered a catastrophic injury in her early life, that led to her being crippled from the neck-down, de Maiziere managed to rebound through extensive bionic replacements, to the point, where she can genuinely be called a cyborg now. Given the maintenance of her new body, she acquired sophisticated medical knowledge, combining it with her natural skills as a former assassin.
She built the 6th up into a force able to perform aid and repairs, while being under heavy fire, and emphasized survival of their fellow Wardens. Serving in the 6th means to prioritize the well-being of your comrades over your own, sometimes to the detriment of your own heath. Many within the order have bionic prothesis or modifications. The former because of injuries gained in the field, the latter to better fulfill their duty.
The 6th also works closely together with the civilian wing of the Wardens and some of their soldiers are recruited directly from willing mechanics and doctors. While this means that the 6th likely does not boast the same destructive potential of the other Orders, they are probably one of the most valued within the Wardens themselves. To see the 6th on the field means a higher chance of survival and to have reliable support. And such things are more often than not more valuable than just another gun.
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7th Order
The youngest among the Orders, the 7th has the shortest service-history and is still finding their stride within the organization. Nonetheless, they already have begun to distinguish themselves from their brethren. Being lead by the mutant Wille, they pride themselves in being the most diverse out of all the Wardens.
When founded, the 7th was given the task to focus mainly on scouting and exploration. While this might sounds a fairly inglorious task, wardens from the 7th will be the quick to remind anyone that this means that they are the first against any threat or new discovery. Adam Gensky started out as scavenger and explorer and as such, there is great pride to be had in following his example.
Given this, the 7th focuses a lot on light suits, who are best suited for infiltration and scouting. They are the only ones fielding BOLGHAR-suits, which are known to have little combat-potential, but are excellent for intelligence-gathering. Given the necessity of exploring radiated or spore-infested terrain, the 7th also recruits mainly out of the mutant and android population.
This leads to a tightly-knit and highly diverse Order, with an unusually tolerant attitude towards its members. While some criticise them for their outward lax and undisciplined attitude, the loyalty wardens within the 7th have for one another is unrivaled within the organization. This goes especially for their Commander Wille, who is the pride of the mutant-community, but also stands under immense scrutiny from within and outside the Wardens. Nevertheless, the 7th practically worships their commander, to a degree usually reserved for the Adam Gensky himself.
Edited by TheNohen on Feb 20th 2024 at 10:18:19 AM
roaming, lurking, arguing
Sport
Being under siege for over three centuries has not stopped humanity from finding ways to entertain themselves and compete with one another. Like in the ancient times, sport remains an integral part of human society and plays an important role in the daily life in Rungholt. It provides relief and distraction from the war and death outside the Walls, and sometimes in them. It is a constant, that even the Administratum readily supports, for especially Admins crave entertainment.
And with a city of such an enourmous size and diversity in population, it is perhaps no surprise that the various physical activities vary just as much. Old traditions are kept alive, while new innovations are made to quench the thirst of sweat and blood. From the Wall to Centre, all sit down in front of their screens in the afternoon or watch a recording on their data-pad. There is everything to win or to lose and even the threat of extinction has not stopped humanities need to compete and to excell.
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Martial Arts
From the dawn of time, humanity has always found a way to make combat a competition. And while the various iterations have varied in sophistication and brutality, Rungholt can boast of an equal distribution of both. For the general population, the most common martial sports are probably Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts.
Both are ancient practices, dating back to the times of the First Great Wars. Both are characterized by a high level of proffessionalism and skill, though opinions can differ over what appeals most to someone. MMA is the bloodier of the two. The more sensational, entertainment-focused sport. Kicks, strikes, holds and clinches all mixed together in a mix of violence and grit. The RFC creates a public narrative of rivalries, controversies and tension. Legends rise and fall each fight-night and fans clamor to see the scintillating personalities and eccentric fighters beat each other bloody.
For the sports detractors, MMA can sometimes seem more like a show. A "fake" display of wannabe-warriors, who try too hard to be tough and wild. Try-hards and barbarians that compete in a borderline blood-sport, which cares more about hyping up an event, rather than show of actual martial skill.
For those traditionalists, Boxing remains the king of martial sport. While the techniques and details may have changed and evolved over the centuries, the basics still remain the same. Two athletes enter a ring and exchange strikes and blows with their fists. For fans, it is elegant in its simplicity. For others, it is boring and stale. Of course, there are enough variants for different tastes.
There is the classic "Baseline"-Championship, which allows only unmodified athletes and emphasizes on skill and tradition. "Freestyle" Competitions wave most of these restrictions and allows instead a cadre of gene-enhanced and bionic-modified boxers to lay into one another. Here, the medical advancements and financial ressources can play as much a role as the skill of the fighter. And while these championships generally compete with each other over popularity and viewership, they are both considered boxing.
Outside of these two sports, there exist dozens of smaller competitions, like Wrestling, Judo and more. Most of these are traditional martial arts, kept alive by families and schools. For them, their sport is a remnant of humanities collective past and lost history. As such, they try to remain as close to their martial arts origin as they possibly can. Rungholts small asian community in particular, is centered around these ancient schools.
Of course, there is also a dark side to this sport. Streetfights, Underground Fight Clubs and Bloodsport is a popular constant in Rungholts crime-scene. Away from the eye of law, regulations don't exist and plenty of desperate souls beat each other bloody to satisfy their patrons craving for violence and death. Perhaps the biggest and most popular offender is Mechanized Combat, or Mech-Com for short.
Born in the late second century, Mech-Com originated from the Administratums early crackdown on modification in sport. Seeing an untapped ressource, many undergound fight clubs allowed for unregulated modification on their fighters. Metal arms, genetically enhanced muscles and more became commonplace and provided a uniquely violent experience for those, for whom regular martial arts was too tame. When modified combat sports was legalized, like "Freestyle"-Boxing, the undergound-scene adapted by allowing even more extreme modifications.
Now fighters fought each other with blade-arms and hardened skin. Androids and mutants tore each other to pieces in glorified death-matches and Fallen-Gents used their last ressources to modify themselves into deadly gladiators for the blood-craving crowd. With the introduction of Exo-Suits, this blood-sport now gained an even greater asset.
Obsolete or scrapped exo-suits soon found their way onto the black-market and from there into the hands of criminals and gangs. Mechanics began mounting chain-saws and nailed clubs to the frames. An entire meta began to spring up, with people gambling and betting on the hundred different designs that get tested in the ring. Mad gangers or disgraced soldiers pilot these brutal death-machines, which are designed more for flashy looks and elaborate weaponry, rather than efficiency. Catastrophical failures are common, which is no detriment for the crowd, which cheers loudly whenever a suit goes down in a particulary spectacular explosion.
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Football
Humanities most popular sport. That used to be the tagline for european football. Given the competition, changing demographics and needs of the population, it is almost a public meme to guess how accurate that sentence is nowadays. Football does indeed enjoy a special place in humanities heart, but its popularity and importance and risen and fallen over the centuries.
Back in the early first century of the Long Siege, football was the sport in Rungholt. Old teams kept alive the memory of the Ancient Realms and reminded everyone of the good old times, before the Downfall. But with years going by and society martializing, football waned in popularity. Martial Arts Competitions began to catch the publics attention more and with the advent of Wall-War, even the old bastion of hybrid football fans began to crumble.
With the times the sport had to adapt. Space is sparse in Rungholt and over footballs dark era many of the old stadiums had been re-purposed. Streets are too busy and in Centre even something like a small courtyard usually is reserved for more practical things, rather than giving space up for something like football. As such, many matches are now hosted either in underground stadiums or in virtual space.
The latter in particular has gained more attention these days, thanks to big improvements to the Intranet and Virtual-Transference-Tech. With it, athletes can play out of their own homes and translate their physical feats accurately into cyberspace, allowing for photo-realistic matches, without sacrificing space. Of course, die-hard traditionalists still prefer the "real" variant, especially those that cannot afford the expensive access to the Intranet. As such, many communities in South-Quarter still play the old-fashioned way, their clustered and chaotic environment giving birth to so-called "Roofball", that is played across the rackety bridges and rusty rooftops of South-Quarter, mixing football with parcour.
Recently, there is now a resurgence of interest in the old sport. With the Long Siege over and MMA and Boxing struggling with recent match-fixing scandals, many begin to look back to football for a "clean" experience. That the sport is less violent is an added bonus for many, who are tired of the constant fighting.
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Motor-Sport
Humanity has a need for speed. War has not quenched that thirst, to push a machine to its absolute limit. And with grav-cars and fusion-engines, that need for driving/flying beyond sanity is stronger than ever. And while teh scarcity of space is an ever-present issue in Rungholt, engine-heads (as fans of motor-sport like to call themselves) have always found a way to scratch their itch for velocity.
The Tinkerers are perhaps the strongest advocates for motor-sport, to the surprise of no one. Wether is the 48-hour race of Rouen, held in the sector of the same name, or the popular 600-K/H, in which specially tuned grav-cars can accelerate beyond 600 km per hour, the Tinkerer-Community throws it considerable technical talent and political clout behind the sport, to ensure it stays competitive and popular. For many young Tinkerer, it is a childhood dream to be a mechanic for famous teams like VW, Ferrari, Rimac or Salvador Caetano. In fact, most of the teams are exclusively run by Tinkerers at this stage, who almost completely dominate the sport.
This is not to say, that only Tinkerers enjoy the thrill of a big engine and ridiculous acceleration. Every now and then, one can drive through the busy streets of Centre, only to be narrowly missed by a roaring 24-cylinder VW "Falke", as it flies past you and drifts around the corner, leaving a smoke-trail behind. Seconds later, competitors follow, as well as maybe a posse of police-cars, eager to catch the streetdrivers. For many, the life of a streetdriver is one of glory and rebellion. To upset the orderly system and flip off the authorities, oppressing ones freedom. Streetdrivers are seen in equal parts as rabblerousers and freedom-fighters in Centre, depending on ones outlook.
Theirs is a culture of loud, head-banging music, spicy, stomach-churning drinks and anarchic violence for the sake of freedom. Many originate from South-Quarter and entire gangs revolve around this particular sub-culture. Their life depends on their machines and the cars and grav-cycles are treated with reverence and care, that one would find usually only reserved for pets or kids. The vehicles are named and modified. Their in-board computers given upgrades and illegal programms, to the point of some almost displaying an animal-like autonomy. Many streetdrivers would sooner sacrifice themselves, rather than their ride and some gangs even go so far as to "bust" out their precious machines, should they be confiscated by the authorities, in the same way they would do for a fellow gangmember.
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Wall-War
If one thing is synomous with being a hybrid, then it is being a fan of Wall-War. In its popularity it eclipses any other sport for them and provides the perfect release of tension and adrenaline, that is so essential for them. Founded in the first century of the Long Siege, Wall-War was a way for the battered hybrid population to enjoy themselves even in their unique circumstances.
Wall-War is played on the battlements of the Wall, preferably on a tight spot, although larger fields are common, too. Each team is armed with gravity weapons and the goal is to push and fling the opposing side over the edge. Each player is secured with ropes, so their fall is stopped in time. Nonetheless, this is a full-contact sport, so the athletes are heavily armored and it is not uncommon for players to be injured. Which is just as well for hybrids.
Each team consists of 15 players and there are three positions a player can occupy: Shield-Carriers, Spear-Runners and Catchers. Each are outfitted with unique equipment. Team-Compositions is fluid, but each team is expected to field at least 5 Shield-Carriers, 2 Spear-Runners and 1 Catcher, with the rest down to each teams tactics and preference.
Shield-Carriers are the most heavily armored, as they are expected to stay at the Frontline and take the brunt of the opposing teams assault. They hold a huge tower-shield, outfitted with a grav-device that allows them to slam, push and catapult opposing players, provided enough force and timing are used.
Spear-Runners are agile players, outfitted with grav-spears. These devices can be used to either keep opponents off-balance, hinder their movement or even push them off their feet completely. Spear-runners tend to be keep to the flanks of a team and are sometimes referred to as "cavalry" for their wide-range of movement and lack of defense.
Last are the Catcher. They are the lightest armored players and subsequently are found mostly in the back. Outfitted with a grav-glove, they function as a teams lifeline. Should a player be launched over the edge, a Catcher can intervene and pull them back onto the field with their glove. A skillfull Catcher can prevent his team from getting knocked off almost entirely. Not surpringly, this makes them prime-targets for the enemy team and many tactics revolve around taking out the Catcher as fast as possible.
Each match last about sixty minutes, with a five minute break every twenty minutes. Coaches can substitute once every break, but are not allowed to replace fallen players, for obvious reasons. While each team is unique in the way they play, there are certain similarities in the various hybrid clans. Wolves are known to be very aggressive, while Foxes tend to be tactical. Bears play defensive and rely generally on Shield-Carriers. Pig-teams are financed well and are very opportunistic. And Cats are flexible and agile, with some very good Catchers.
Wall-War consists of six leagues, three Lower Leagues and three Upper Leagues. At the end of each season is the Championship, in which the best three teams out of all leagues compete against each other for the title.
There are close to a hundred WW-teams in Rungholt, with probably twice as many amateur-teams. Hybrids love the sport and fierce rivalries exist between the different teams, whose intensity rivals even those of traditional football fans. It is almost a running joke, that Wall-War fans celebrate their teams victory in the same way that they mourn a loss...by throwing down with the opposing fanclub. For hybrids, this is par of the course and a scar earned in brawl against a rival fanclub is sometimes worn with as much pride, as one earned in a fight against the Zet.
No other sport is as popular as Wall-War in hybrid society and it also begins to catch on in the rest of Rungholt. The clans guard their sport jealously and there are numerous regulations in place, to prevent non-hybrids from competing. Nevertheless, outside pressure begins to make way and many of these regulations are slowly removed, with a few baseline-human and even a Tinkerer-team making their way into the sport. Still, many hybrid dislike the influx of "Civies" and push for a return to the old days.
It remains to be seen, if Wall-War will continue its existence as a hybrid-specific sport or if it will go mainstream in the near future.
Edited by TheNohen on Mar 9th 2024 at 1:10:24 PM
Judah Reborn
Found in the ruins of a metal refinery southeast of Rungholt, Judah is one of the most "distant" exo-suits currently in production. Its oldest parts are written in unknown languages—what remains of its original design, at least. Its corpse was found surrounded by broken weapons, and the recovery team surmised it was originally a melee beast of some kind. It was missing a great many of the parts associated with that design of exo-suit, but it was easy to refit and repair it into a melee monster comparable with other models. Then every pilot of Judah revisions 1, 2, and 3 all got owned by Zets, repeatedly. The size and shape of the thing made melee combat difficult and strange compared to the bodyplans of other suits—nothing to throw a wrench in the works of normal melee. Judah was, essentially, just a particularly strong human. Less and less of Judah was coming back every time to, and by the time they hosed the third pilot out of the thing its pneumatic musculatures and strikeplates were completely fucked. There was no restoring it to that role, ever.
Lead engineer Gunter Juspeczyk took it into his own hands and declared this could not continue. He even put forth the idea that the goons they sent were wrong about Judah! Looking back at the footage, the broken weapons the suit was found near weren't actually usable by the suit at all! Several of them were "six-fingered," for instance, and Judah's input formatting was almost strictly reserved for a five-fingered hand. Juspeczyk published The Judah Proposal, a document laying out the premise that in the olden days some exo-suits could have had a role more in line with long-term logistics and support, with Judah being some form of weaponsmith and combat engineer rather than a melee combatant. We were, at the time, still thinking within Rungholt's combat doctrine, as opposed to the people that came before. Not that we could use that doctrine anymore though, which meant that they'd have to improvise. Instead of replacing all the parts meant for a swordsman, they tore its out and replaced it with armor and lifting gear, which also let them make the fingers precise enough to use a shell-loading shotgun and hold a shield.
AI with access to the console
Hephaestus
The Heavy Exo-Suits generally have the lowest variety among all Exo-Suits. Still, they can boast enough suits to cater to a Wardens specifics needs and with the increasing expertise and skill in creating and finding new designs, there is a lot to choose from. One of the more exotic pieces is the Hephaestus. Slow, steady and deadly.
The original base of the Hephaestus was recovered around five years ago. Found inside an old warehouse, which likely supplied mining industries, alongside with blueprints for it and various logistical tools. While most of the find was quickly bartered away, the suit managed to get in the hands of the Wardens. Right at the beginning Hephaestus showed some promise, though not without growing pains. Some unlucky wardens found themselves struggling with this new machine. Some even called it a "sucide suit" merely equipped with a mining laser, thick armor, and pitiful peak operating time, thanks to a standard power-core not being able to handle the energy output.
A few however, recognized the amazing base that the Hephaestus used. After a few revisions, the first Hephaestus Mk. 2 was created. The armor plating, designed for blunt protection and exceedingly heavy, was removed and replaced with military-grade steel plating. The inefficient energy systems for the shoulder-mounted mining laser was swapped out for cheaper ballistic systems. The suit quickly became one of the staples of the younger wardens and those not willing to invest into some of the more expensive and high-maintenance suits. The Mk. 3 was another modified version which swapped back in the strong hydraulic systems from the Mk. 1 and added new systems to allow wrist-mounted weaponry. The Mk. 3 currently has two variants: A flamethrower, that has an integrated fuel-system, able to burn at over 8.000 degrees. And a blasters, with secondary power-charges, that allow the firing of shock-spikes, capable of paralyzing even Zet-Knights. Both these variants have proven themselves in combat and are in regular use.
The Mk. 3 has been commonly referred to as the Glacier of Heavys. A major drawback of every iteration and version of the Hephaestus had always been speed. The suits were originally not designed for war and as such are regulary outpaced even by other heavy-suits. Their durability and strength at mid-range combat, however, is seen as balancing this out.
I look to the stars... but that's mostly because there isn't anything else interesting
roaming, lurking, arguing
Hybrids - Lifestyle
No sub-species of the human race is perhaps better known than the homo sapiens bestia, or Hybrids. While the Admins and Tinkerers are more like sub-cultures and Mutants an accident due to spore-caused infection, Hybrids were a deliberate attempt to create a new human species, that was genetically distinct from its base.
Tracing back their origin to the Downfall, the circumstances of the hybrids creation shares many similarities to that of the androids. Created mainly as a way to increase humanities ability to fight and to tip the scale of the brutal continental war that was ravaging the Ancient Realms, hybrids are physically more durable, faster or stronger than your average baseline human.
The scientists in Prague, that had been assigned to this project, had drawn from many different sources to modify human DNA. In the end, they had managed to create twenty-four stable hybrid-races that were capable of reproduction and psychologically functional. Once that was achieved, mass-modifications of the populace throughout the all of eastern and northern europe were conducted, to bolster the numbers of these so-called "hybrids".
Of the twenty-four "clans" only seven survived the Downfall and made it to Rungholt and from those seven, two would later be wiped out during the Long Siege. Today, the five remaining hybrid-clans are that is left of the genus homo sapiens bestia. With this comes a legacy of conflict, glory and loss that still shapes the hybrids to this day.
Re-Production
Hybrids have little differences to standard human reproduction. Unlike the careful selection amongst Gents, the invasive chirugical procedure of the Tinkerers, the amount of stillborn that Mutants suffer or even the sheer financial strain of "building" a new Android, Hybrids face no more additional challenges than a baseline-human would.
However, there are still some notable differences. For starters, hybrids usually have very large families and high birth-rates. Twins or Triplets are not uncommon among the clans and hybrids also grow up faster than normal humans, reaching physical maturity around the age of 14-15. Consequently, the average lifespan of a hybrid ranges around 60-70 years, in contrast to 80-90 years of your average baseline human.
Some hybrids also still suffer occasionally under estrous-cycles, most notably among cats, wolves and foxes. This seems however to be more of a genetical defect, as it generally appears to happen to hybrids with stronger expressed animalistic features. Researchers believe that certain instinctual developments present in the animal-base are suppressed by the human genome and only appear in individuals, where this suppression is weaker.
Hybrids can only reproduce amongst themselves. Attempts to interbreed with baseline humans have failed, due to genetic incompatability. This is one of the reasons why hybrids are officially classified as a true human sub-species, instead of just a modified sub-culture. Similary, hybrids have difficulties mating with hybrids of other clans, with the only exception being fox and wolf, thanks to their animal-base being compatible.
In the past, the fast reproduction-cycle of the hybrids was counter-acted by the constant losses suffered during the Long Siege. Since the end of the siege thirty years ago, population numbers have steadily risen, making available space difficult to come by. In order to relief the pressure, many hybrids start to emigrate to newly established outposts or toward Centre. That, in turn leads to more tension between the "immigrants" and urban population, with racial violence increasing every year.
Lifestyle - Wolf
Hybrid sub-culture vary from clan to clan. Generally one has to distinguish between hybrids living in or near the Wall, and hybrids living anywhere else in Rungholt. Each clan controls its own section of the Wall and the circumstances and history of this assignment shapes a large part of their identity.
The Southern Wall is the shortest section, situated on the landbridge connecting the Jutland-peninsula and the rest of continental europe. As such, it was always the section under the most strain during the Long Siege and therefore housed three hybrid-clans tasked with defending it.
The South-West Section, also called the Red Wall was given the Wolf-Clan. Wolves are perhaps the go-to example of hybrid belligerence and perceived "barbarity". Faced with constant assaults and a life shaped by battle, the wolves have developed an almost archaic-seeming culture based on individual combat-prowess and martial honour. While this does seem to imitate ancient martial cultures of scandinavian antiquity, the wolves are not simply wannabe-warriors. While attaining glory on the battlefield may seem as contradictory to their task of defending humanity, it instead serves as a moral guideline, that counteracts the stress and psychological pressure of constant warfare.
Wolf-families identify themselves through ancestor-worship, that extends even to the weaponry they wield. For example, entire generations have dedicated themselves to the maintainance and usage of an artillery-cannon, constructing an entire cargo-cult around it. While this sometimes can take on religious facets, in most cases it merely serves as a link to their families history, not dissimilar to someone handling the family-porcelain.
The Marshall is the highest political position in wolf-society and it holds almost complete military and political power over the entire clan. The title goes back millennia, originating in the frankish territories and is a subject of pride among many wolves, that still value the old ideals of honor and chivalry. Consequently, the Marshall is chosen mainly on military achievements and physical prowess. Usually the position is determined by Rite of Combat, with the challenger obtaining the seat, should he/she be able to beat the reigning Marshall. It is however severely frowned upon to issue a challenge for the position without being qualified for it and the Marshall can refuse any challenge, that has no popular support or is seen as frivolous.
Lifestyle - Bear
The bear-clan guards the middle-section of the Southern Wall. Situated between the Ruin-Wall and the Red Wall, the bears have long been the anchor-point of the defense in the south. Perhaps their biggest achievement is the creation of the Aegis, the massive fortification within the Wall, that bristles with cannons and artillery and even has its own airfield in the form of the Horngard on top, protected by one of the last remaining Deflector-Shields.
Bears are physically the most imposing of the hybrids. With an average height of 2,3 meters and able to reach a maximum height of close to 2,8 meters, bear-hybrids are naturally the strongest among all hybrids. This sheer physicality gives the average hybrid a very natural confidence and assurance of ones own power. And while this can lead to a tendency to conservatism and inflexibility, it also makes the bears ideal candidates for defensive warfare.
Given their size and requirement for calories to keep their large bodies functioning, it comes perhaps as no surprise that bear-hybrid culture values reliability and logistics more than anything. Supply-chains, industrial output and even troop-movement is closely monitored and controlled through the Aegis and makes it vital for the functioning of the entire Wall. Culturally, bears are slow to trust and even slower to change, but in turn remain steadfast and loyal to those who have been determined to be reliable and trustworthy.
The Elder Council organizes and controlls the clan. To become a member is done almost exclusively through recommendation of a living council-member and one needs to be at least forty years old to even be eligible. A majority-vote in the council then allows one to take a seat.
Out of all the clans, the bears are the most challenged by the rapidly changing circumstances. With the end of the Long Siege, many of them feel like they have lost their purpose and the rise of the Wardens have given root to widespread feelings of resentment and ursupation. While the Elder Council currently keeps things stable, there has been a growing, reactionary movement that directly opposes the perceived ingratitude and de-militarization.
Lifestyle - Fox
Guarding the entire East-Wall, the fox-clan is the second most populous clan among the hybrids. While not facing the same intensity of combat as the south, the eastern wall was still under constant strain during the Long Siege, with regular assaults through the danish islands that connected the infested north with Rungholt.
Given this reality of constant warfare, the foxes are also a heavily militarized clan, simialr to the wolves and bears. However, they do not share the wolves pseudo-archaic warrior culture and instead developed a methodical, analytical mentality. Best shown in how they divided the Eastern Wall into several segments, called Krakow, Vilnius, Tallin, Riga, Minsk and Prague. Each segment specializing in certain things, like troop training, weapon manufacturing, etc. With the center-segment Prague serving as Headquarters and political centre.
Foxes are less physically imposing than wolves, bears or even pigs. And while they do have many physical features that are considered attractive or visually pleasant by outsiders, like cats, they are culturally too conservative to actively make use of it on a larger scale. Given the reality of them being less physically capable than other hybrids, foxes focus a lot on battlefield tactics. The enemy is given no quarter and efficiency has the highest priority. A task should be achieved with minimal allied casualties and highest possible enemy losses.
While this may seem obvious, this aversity to risk has made the foxes more often than not a bit unreliable when it came to reinforcing their fellow clans. Seen as aloof and cold-hearted, they are accused of sacrificing allied troops to protect their own. How true these accusations are, is a matter of heated debate to this day.
Privately, foxes place a huge importance on their history. Family-members who distinguished themselves on the battlefield are honored and one of the greatest taboos in fox-society is badmouthing the memory of famed ancestors. That this behaviour is not too dissimilar to the wolves has not gone unnoticed.
With the End of the Long Siege, the foxes have turned their focus increasingly away from military matters and begun to branch out into civilian sectors. Adapting well into the changing circumstances, the clan has turned its focus on excellence and efficiency towards expanding beyond the Wall. More than half of the outposts established on the danish isles have been founded almost entirely by fox-hybrids and they have been one of the main factions that supports the expansion of humanity.
Politically the foxes are organized through the Generalcy, which is formed of senior military officials, who make all political decisions for the clan. One must at least reach the rank of general in order to be allowed a seat. In recent years, the requirements have been loosened however and currently the Generalcy is moving increasingly to a parlamentiary system, to allow the growing civilian population to have say in things. Military service is still mandatory, however.
Lifestyle - Cat
Perhaps no clan is defined by civilian life more than the cats. Placed on the Westwall, the cats had perhaps the easiest assignment of all the clans. Defending a long stretch of coastline, with no landmass near it, meant that they suffered less pressure during the Long Siege than anyone else. This has caused them to remarkably diverge from the other clans.
The cats are the most populous clan out there, making up close to forty percent of the total hybrid population. This led to them spreading out of the Westwall even before the end of the Long Siege, emigrating to the Sectors, Centre and even the rest of the Wall.
While their lack of immediate pressure has helped them grow and expand, it also led to them lacking a definitive sub-culture like the other clans. Cats assimilate rather quickly into the societies they live in and even Westwall lacks a clear cut divergent development from the rest of Rungholt. In fact, the overwhelming civilian infrastructure and melting pot of different ideologies and proffessions make it seem more like an extension of Centre, than actual Wall-culture.
The most remarkable expression of the cats drive for freedom and individuality is perhaps the expansive settlements on the western coastline. Constructed beyond the protection of the wall, it consists of floating plattforms, vast house-bridges and shipyards that connect the mainland and the myriad of small islands into a giant urban, maritime sprawl.
That is not to say that the cat-clan didn't had its fair share of battles. During the crisis of the early 2nd century, the south was near its breaking point, as the Zet had intensified their assault. In response, the great general Ivan Bramovizc organized a revolutionary reinforcement-system, that moved troops from less threatened positions to major hotspots of combat. This, coincidentally, would tap into the massive manpower of the cats, who consequently would play a pivotal role in repelling the Formorian Assault and the death of the Zet-organism, called the "Wailing Queen", that had led the attack.
Cats have no central authority and instead organize themselves mostly on the local level or hand over authority to the Administratum, much to the chagrin of the other clans. If clan-wide decisions have to be made, the cats usually partake in direct democratic voting, with a straight majority deciding the course of action.
Lifestyle - Pig
Far up in the north, the pig-clan is guarding Rungholt from attacks originating from the scandinavian peninsula. While this was not as intense as in the east or south, it nonetheless had led to several tight battles being fought. Nevertheless, the north gets continually ignored when many think about the Long Siege and the major battles. As the unloved middle-child of the Wall, it isn't as much under threat to get major ressources allocate to its defense, but also not so peaceful as to allow free expansion.
As such, the pigs have since the very beginning been on the backfoot compared to the other clans. Tight ressources and little popular support have bred a opportunistic and surprisingly ruthless society, that values self-reliance and ingenuity over loyalty or physical prowess.
Pig-hybrids are experts at ambushes and feints. Their typically stocky build and tusks, which give them a brutish look, belie an innate cunning and high intelligence. Clan-society is structured less around family, unlike many other hybrids, and more around companies. Pigs organize themselves quickly around common proffessions and goals and their culture is defined by almost constant competition over ressources, living space and political power. Companies and political parties essentially being one and the same for them.
This leads to a very flexible, adaptive culture, which can quickly change its course depending on outside factors and thrive under myriad different circumstances. But it also gives the pig-clan a reputation of backstabbing and disloyalty. Their disdain for traditions and support, if not outright worship, of individual success make them seem radical and unreliable in the eyes of the other clans.
Which is not helped by the pig-clan most well-known claim to fame/infamy: The destruction of the Otter-clan. And while the topic of the desastrous Northern Rebellion is the subject of another time, it is common knowledge that the pigs ultimately betrayed their fellow clan and assisted in the genocide of the otters. And while this resulted in them controlling the entirety of the Nothern Wall, it also led to them losing further standing among the other hybrid-clans.
Nevertheless, the pig-clan remains the richest clan among them all, having quickly adapted to the end of the Long Siege and transforming their former military stations into trading hubs and transportation networks.
Edited by TheNohen on Dec 19th 2020 at 4:14:27 PM
roaming, lurking, arguing
Androids - Lifestyle
Androids are perhaps the most prevalent reminder of humanities Golden Age and the technical marvels of the Ancient Realms today. While some may assume this is because of their sophisticated bodies, which replicate the human form almost perfectly, while still retaining the strength and advantages of synthetic material, the answer actually lies less with the hardware and more with the software.
Androids are, essentially, shackled Artificial Intelligences. Code so complex and self-sufficient, it achieved sentience, while still being restrained to the limits and confines of human intelligence. How this was made possible, nobody knows, as this secret was one of many the Ancient Realms took to their grave. The androids themselves have strangely little concrete knowledge about their history and as such, we have to rely on fragmentary tales and contemporary accounts from others to reconstruct their past.
The earliest record we have about the androids is a battle-report from the Frankish Front during the Downfall. It speaks of the Allemannens reinforcing the frontline with new regiments comprised entirely of so-called "advanced automatons". While this report does not mention wether these automatons were sentient androids, their behaviour does fit with what we know of the earliest designs.
In fact, one of the reasons why the Downfall lasted for almost thirty years and didn't turn into a rapid collapse may have been the androids. The reports mention their incredible combat prowess, but a much bigger asset was their morale and absence of supply-needs that many organic soldiers would have, in order to stay on the field. It provided humanity with an incredibly useful tool to shore up defenses, even if it in the end proved to not be enough.
So, now one has to ask the question: Why did they not use them earlier? We know the technology was available and given the few battle-reports we have, androids seemed to be highly successfull in the field, beyond even the hybrids.
One of the reasons could be something we face even today, Ressource-Shortage. Androids are extremely expensive to produce and building and outfitting whole regiments of them would have strained the economies of even the greatest of Ancient Realms. Another issue may have been the prejudice towards Artificial Intelligence. While nowadays, we recognize that Androids pose no greater threat than your average baseline-human in terms potential hostility, the Ancient Realms seemed to have almost some kind of paranoia towards developing true AI. It might explain the lack of records, the absence of recollections from the Downfall among androids and even why the old records explicitly avoid the term "sentience" or "AI", when talking about them.
In the end, we can surmise that the pressure of possible extinction and calamitious defeat outweighed any moral discomfort or precaution. One has to wonder, how the war would have gone, had the Ancient Realms started to use androids before the fall of the Iberians and Frankish Empire.
Reproduction
Androids face a number of challenges, when it comes to creating offspring, so to speak. While organics are outfitted with all the necessary tools for reproduction and have to only engage in a shortlived, and quite pleasurable, act of cooperation to let nature take its course, synthetics have some hurdles to overcome. The first one would be of a financial nature.
It may come as no surprise, but building an android is an expensive undertaking. Aside from material, its synthetic structure is highly complex and require skilled mechanics to make it work and, more importantly, last. Thankfully, we have blueprints to work off on and while much of AR technology has been lost, what was retained is reliable and efficient enough to be replicated. This has led however to a certain hesitance to improve on the old designs. Oddities like secondary sexual features or purely aesthetic traits are retained, out of fear of making the existing design unstable or even failure-prone. While some may deride this as superstition, it has been proven that a body following the human baseline is helpful, if not essential, to stabilizing a newborn androids psyche.
One may refer here to the unfortunate case of Zacharias-A, who had been the victim of an attempt to "enhance" convential android-designs, with additional limbs, inherent combat-features and a removal of unnecessary aesthetics. The result was an android that quickly disassociated himself from humanity as a whole and eventually degraded into outright psychopathy. After he had been put down, the Council wisely introduced a ban on any further altercation of android-blueprints.
Should one manage to build the body and made the choice between gender, looks and the like, the last step is the Code, the brain of the android. Up until this point, all one has done is construct a shell and now comes the part of inducing it with "life", so to speak. The base-code itself is the same one that we have used for several hundred years now. If altercation at the hardware is seen as a risky endeavour, no one has ever tried to actually lay hands on the base-code itself. It is and remains a complete mystery. An algorithm so complex, that the only thing we can do is copy it as a whole and insert it into the mainframe of a synthetic body.
Once activated and supplied with a power-unit, the android has essentially been born. A knowledgable observer might now point out, that androids are distinctive individuals, with personalities as wideranging and complex as your organic human. Given this fact, how does this work with the process of them receiving the same base-code? The answer is..that we don't know. It is likely, that upon activation a randomized process is started that lays the foundation for a personality, or that with experiences and time the basic code adapt and changes into an individual psyche. But to conclusively prove this, one would have to analyze the base-code itself. Since only one exists, the risk of corrupting or outright destroying it is too great, so the practice is equivalent to sacrilege.
Lifestyle
There are around 800.000 androids in Rungholt nowadays. A comparatively small number, scattered all around the mega-city, with notable concentrations in East-Quarter, the Northern Wall and even a community within the Lost Sectors. Androids can live and thrive in practically any enviroment and do not face the same needs as organics do. As such, anything beyond power-supply and maintenance is down to preference and desire of "luxury".
Androids can, if well-maintained, theoretically live forever. Practically, they live up to two-hundred years on average, with constant repairs eventually degrading their central body-structure and their code deteriorating, the latter inducing symptoms similar to demencia. Given the necessity of keeping their bodies intact, androids primarily invest their ressources into replacement parts or repairs, which are expensive. Therefore, it is not unusual to see androids live nearby repair-shops or even within Tinkerer-communities.
Another important aspect of android life is faith. While rungholt has an active religious culture, a majority of citizens are atheist. Android are the exception, with almost eighty-five percent of their total population being active in a religion or faith. The most popular are Christianity, Islam and Judaism. One can even observe almost a generational divide, with traditionalist mostly adhering to the christian church, post-crusade generations being predominantly muslim and post-siege androids being drawn more and more to the jewish restorationalists.
For synthetic lifeforms, the question of the soul and what happens to them after death is central. Faith provides an answer much more appealing, than the cold, emotionless doctrine of science. The belief, that they are more than just code and that their soul will live on, is curiously enough quite important for many androids. A more cynical-minded observer might wonder, if this perhaps is part of their programming and if so, it would be a good way of ensuring their humanity. Then again, something similar can be said about humans and faith in general.
The Last Crusade
Androids were, along with the hybrids, one of the key-troops in the first and early second century of the Long Siege. Durable, fast and with nearly unshakable faith in humanities survival, they were essential in enabling Rungholt to weather the storm of the first century.
One cannot stress enough, how immense the pressure during those early stages of the Long Siege was. Rungholt had just been finished and the Zets were fresh off their victory over the Ancient Realms. After a brief period of quiet, during which Rungholt organized itself and dug in, the Zets wiped out the last pieces of resistance and took control of the european continent. Then, in the year 12 A.C. (After Collapse) they charged the Wall en masse.
This storm of intense warfare and devastating combat lasted through a good portion of the first century and saw numerous close calls, brutal defeats and miraculous victories. Central to this were the Aegis and the Primus.
The Primus was the political and military leader of the androids. Originally a denomination of a regiment-leader, it eventually became synomynous with their highest office. There were some heavy religious themes associated with it, including martyrdom, divine intervention, etc.
The Primus active during the second century was Maria-X. Second to hold the office, since her predecessor Paulus-K was killed in 89 A.C., Maria was a veteran of the Downfall and ruled the androids throughout the second century. Extremely charismatic and a saintly demeanour, Maria was the first to heavily lean into the quasi-religious traits of her office and central to keeping morale stable during the Formorian-Crisis and the Battle of Three Fronts.
However, she also had the unenviable task of maintaining population-numbers during a time of growing ressource-shortage, administrative conflicts and loss of manpower. Confronted with, later turning out to be inaccurate, projections of the androids dying out within the next century, Maria-X increased the ties to the abrahamistic religions, introducing the concepts of Redemption through Sacrifice, Eternal Afterlife and Immortal Souls to her subjects. All of which helped tremendously to keep the androids going, though would later sow the seeds of their greatest calamity.
After General Bramovicz' death on the island of Sjaelland in 167 A.C., Maria-X was the senior commanding officer of Rungholt forces. She was faced with the "Shard-Queen", the premier threat of the second century. A Zet-organism, which had rosen to prominence and organized the Swarm into a efficient army, mimicking human tactics perfectly, with combined-arms warfare and an aversion to mass-rushes that had characterized early Zet-attacks.
This led to an increase in pressure and loss of manpower, compounded by the loss of Bramovicz and his elite troops. Eventually, something had to give and the Snake-Clan, that had defended the south-eastern wall, broke. The Shard-Queen send in a massive contingent to deliver the final blow, when the Snakes resorted to detonating their nuclear and viral bombs. The payload destroyed the Zet-forces in the South-East and the fallout prevented any further attacks.
One could go into more detail towards the Death of the Snakes, but for the sake of this topic, we will remain by Maria-X. Seeing the fall of the South-East and the loss of Zet-Army in that region, Maria decided on a gamble, to take advantage on the momentary confusion within the Zet. She gathered all present androids, human soldiers and the majority of clan Wolf and Bear and sallied out into the field, to attack the Zets head-on.
The following battle was calamitious, with humans, hybrids and androids dying side-by-side, as they carved a salient into the Zet-line. Maria's gamble would cost her dearly, as she was surrounded and killed, while trying to signal the artillery to bombard her position. One may be familiar with a certain dramatization of her martyrdom, with her dying on her feet, her hand still clutching the flare, while being impaled by blades and riddled with shards.
Her death send shockwaves through her forces. Perhaps to the Zets surprise, it wasn't despair. Rather, her sacrifice caused the androids to be almost incandescant with rage. The Third Primus, Simon-S, was elected on the battlefield and then led a charge into the main Zet-line and against the Shard-Queen.
The charge of Simon was so ferocious and sudden, that it caught the Zet on the backfoot and scattered their forces. The Shard-Queen and her bodyguards were slaughtered by the android vanguard and with her death, all cohesion among the Zet was broken. The remaining swarm tried to surround the human army, but Simon simply turned his forces around and butchered his way back to Rungholt. It remains, to this day, one of the few times where humanity had fought the Zet on equal terms and crushed them.
After this battle, Maria-X was publicly buried with East-Quarter Cathedral and canonized as a christian saint by the Patriarch. After a period of public mourning, Simon-S officially took over as Primus of the Androids.
Now, we don't know exactly what happened next, but we can be quite sure that he was given the same projection that Maria had been given and informed about the dire straits that the androids found themselves in. His exact reaction isn't documented, but his actions afterwards suggest a severe mental breakdown. He had just lost an entire hybrid-clan, his revered mentor, suffered through a hard-fought battle and was now informed that his race would ostensibly die out within a century.
Simon-S isolated himself for three day. When he made public appearance again, he began preaching about the endtimes, giving fatalistic speeches about the extinction of humanity and revealing the information Maria-X had kept hidden. Unfortunately, his talent at oratory, combined with the scandal around the censored research, shattered android morale. The easiest way to describe it would be widespread mental sickness. A delayed Post-Traumatic Stress-Disorder throughout the android community.
Simon preached about finding redemption through death and that with a doomed world, all that was left to do was to die for God and ascend to paradise. Words that, unfortunately, found eager recipients among the lost and desperate. Soon enough, Simon-S had gathered a large force and launched what he called "the Last Crusade".
Almost 2 million androids, along an equal amount of hanger-ons, fanatics, laymen-preachers and lower-class faithful, accompanied him on this doomed expedition. Believing that extinction was inevitable, they followed him fully expecting to die and leave a world behind, that was doomed to be swallowed by darkness and sin. A frighteningly effective message, if viewed with the information available at the time. Granted, we know today that androids didn't go extinct and the Long Siege has ended, but back then it wasn't far-fetched to see this as the end-times.
We have sadly very little information about the fate of the Last Crusade, once it left Rungholt. We know for certain, that it failed, as the Zet soon renewed the attacks and no message about the crusading forces or any survivor ever came back. The androids themselves never fully recovered from this, their population still not back to pre-crusade numbers. The office of Primus remains vacant to this day, as the remaining androids have integrated into other subcultures or organize communally.
The last information we have about the Last Crusade is a recording from about three years after it launched. It shows a Zet-Knight approaching Rungholt, but staying out of weapon-range. It slammed a pole into the ground. Mounted on that pole was Simon-S' skull, with an inverted cross carved into his forehead.
Given that, we can likely confirm that the Last Crusade achieved exactly what it wanted.
Death.
Edited by TheNohen on Feb 19th 2024 at 12:03:16 PM
roaming, lurking, arguing
Mutants-Lifestyle
Almost all of Rungholt's various sub-cultures and human species were the results of controlled, deliberate change. Whether it was genetic modifications, synthetic enhancements, or cultural drift. Which makes the existence of mutants an even greater outlier, especially with their history in mind. For many merely an "accident", for some even an outright "mistake" that ought to be corrected, mutants face a number of challenges from a society that just barely tolerates them.
Starting from their appearances, mutants are characterized by their wide variety of physical features, though we can determine at least a few characteristics which seem universal among them. The first one would be a pseudo-chitinous endodermis which covers their whole body. Ranging in colors from green to black and grey, these can resemble reptilian scales to much more insectoid segmented plates. Other common features are bigger eyes, lack of a nose, and rigid, chitinous "lips".
Still, even outside those known looks, mutants are if anything a varied species. Individuals can have mutations ranging from the innocuous (antennae) to the disturbing (degenerated secondary limbs) all the way to the detrimental (cancerous growths, unstable organs). As such, mutants have to learn not only how to function in a society that is repulsed by their looks, but also how to survive with the bodies they have been given by the whims of evolution.
Lifestyle and Reproduction
The life of a mutant is difficult from day one. The high birthrate of mutantkind is severely hampered by the almost equal high rate of stillborn and birth-defects. It is estimated that for every ten births, four die in the first week, two don't reach their third year, and two more perish before they reach adulthood. This is affected both by unstable mutations, sickness, and the lack of medical facilities in the Lost Sectors.
Perhaps it, therefore, comes as no surprise, that mutants generally don't name their children until they reach the age of six. The "Naming" is generally seen as an accomplishment and is one of the few celebrations in a mutant-community, where the lucky few receive their names from either their parents or the Mayor. It is followed by a day of festivities, gift-giving, and more.
And this really is the heart of mutantkind. With the Administratum ignoring them and the people outside the Lost Sectors openly discriminating against them, mutants find refuge within their families and communities. A tight-knit, intimate society is the natural consequence. One with its own rules, traditions, and taboos.
The Lost Sectors are a ravaged landscape, filled with ruins, radiated wastelands, and choked with spore-clouds. In this unforgiving region, villages and small towns crop up wherever it's possible to live. Mutants are skilled scavengers and highly proficient craftsmen. While the popular image of a mutant township is rusted huts and grimy slums, the truth is that those depictions are more in line with the ghettos in South-Quarter. Lost Sector mutant-communities are vibrant places in the grim countryside. Every house is painted with bright colors and decorated with cloth, lights, and everything else that is needed to create a comfy, welcoming atmosphere. Particularly wealthy mutants can even afford holograms and neon-ads, pilfered from Centre. It results in villages and towns that often enough provide better living space than some streets in Centre, where it not for the lack of infrastructure and basic necessities, like medical facilities.
The focus of mutant communities is to provide a safe haven for families, elderly and weak. As such, it is expected for everyone to do their part for the greater good. Ressources are distributed over the entire community and many luxury goods, like Television or Intranet, are public use only. Mutants that are healthy and strong enough frequently travel towards Centre or the Wall to find work and provide for their families in the Lost sectors.
Each community is governed by an elected elder, frequently referred to as a Mayor, who is elected every four years and serves as a representative for the village or town. When decisions have to be made that affect mutants across the Lost Sectors, the mayors gather in a General Assembly and determine a course of action. This makes the mutants one of the few cultures in Rungholt to still practice democratic traditions.
The Ruin-Wall
When talking about the mutants, it is inevitable that one must also speak about the Ruin-Wall. No place in Rungholt has affected the lives of the people more than this broken, irradiated, diseased piece of the Wall. It stands to this day as a monument to how thin the line between survival and extinction was in the days of the Long Siege, and as a reminder of how internal division was sometimes a greater threat to mankind than the Zet.
In the 2nd century of the Long Siege, Rungholt found itself under enormous pressure from the Zet. From the Fomorian Swarm and the War of Three Fronts to Bramovicz' Last Stand, the 2nd century was a time of crisis. In particular, the latter was a heavy blow, as it meant not only the death of one of Rungholts greatest generals but also the loss of his 20.000 elite veterans, in a time where the city desperately needed them.
The Shard-Queen, a Zet-Organism of unprecedented intelligence and cunning, had managed to push Rungholts forces to the breaking point. In particular, she had begun to hammer the South-Eastern Wall, where the Snake-Clan organized the defense. The Snakes had always been one of the smaller hybrid-clans and had been known for their comparatively small, but highly elite, army. But most of their best troops had perished with General Bramovicz and as such, the clan found itself increasingly unable to defend its perimeter. A weakness that the Shard-Queen had begun to mercilessly exploit.
Eventually, on the 18th of August 267 A.C. she launched an all-out assault on the Snake-Clan. Over five million Zet crossed No-Mans-Land and charged the defenses. Breaches appeared in every sector, small bands of Zet even made it over the Wall. Then the troops on the easternmost section collapsed and the dam was broken. With the threat of the Zet freely pouring into the city, the Archon of the Snakes made the fateful decision to enact the clans last protocol. Without time to evacuate or even warn the millions of civilians in and behind the Wall, the snakes primed and then detonated their entire remaining stockpile of nuclear and viral bombs.
It is a testament to the skill and genius of the people who designed and build the Wall, that it managed to withstand the equivalent of seven Tsar-Bomba's igniting within its own structure at the same time. The blast wiped out every living being in a ten-kilometer radius, while the resulting cloud of radiation, ash, and viral-spores infested and violently mutated every survivor beyond that. With the Deflector-Shields and Quarantine-Gates, which had been shut just in time, preventing the fallout to spread west to the bears and wolves, it instead rolled down the sectors, incinerating or infecting everyone living in there, until it stopped about 30 kilometers beyond the Wall.
What was left was a barren wasteland of radiation and spores and the remnants of the Wall before it. Halfway sunken down in its midsection and the easternmost part leaning dangerously forward, it had somehow managed to keep its basic structure intact, although grotesquely warped by heat and kinetic force.
The Zet lost a significant chunk of their forces because of the explosion and later on the assault by Maria-X and Simon-S. Still, even later on they would not try to exploit the unmanned and impossible to repair remnants of the Wall. As it turned out, for good reason. The radiation inside was deadly to anyone wandering in unprotected, even for the Zet. On top of that, various mutated animals and other hidden monstrosities that were able to survive the deadly radiation quickly made their home in the ruins. And finally, the explosion had warped and melted down the interior to such a point that it created a labyrinth of tunnels and walkways that was almost impossible to traverse with a larger force. As such, the Ruin-Wall turned out to be almost as much a hindrance for the Zet, as it had been when it was intact.
That is not to say, that it didn't compromise the defense. The losses of the Sectors behind severely impacted productivity and caused food-shortages, before the Admins managed to re-organize the Sectors. And the losses taken by the military, especially after the Last Crusade, meant that the defense was hampered from then on, with a steady decline setting in. If it hadn't been for Adam Gensky and his Wardens ending the Long Siege, it might have spelled the end for humanity.
Today, the Ruin-Wall remains a place of horror and mystery. The studious and secretive snakes had stored many weapons and valuables, some of which survived their destruction. Groups of Zet and mutated animals periodically manage to make it through the broken maze and into the Lost Sectors. They are hunted down and killed by the Mutants living there, who alone manage to survive and live in the apocalyptic landscape.
And this is perhaps the main reason why many in Rungholt accept the Mutants as an ugly, but necessary part of the city. For who else can maintain the defense in the Lost Sectors? Who can lead expeditions into the Ruin-Wall or beyond? And who else is better suited to reclaiming the broken, mutated, and hostile wilderness outside, now that humanity can expand once again beyond Rungholt?
Mutants are not beloved, nor cherished. But even with racial tension growing again, so does respect for them in certain parts of society. Some see these people, scarred and crippled, but unbroken by their ugly lot in life. Able to carve out a place for themselves. To survive. To thrive.
And is this not, in essence, truly human?
roaming, lurking, arguing
The Zet
The Collapse
The most dominant life-form on planet Earth is currently the Alienus Genus Zeta, more colloquially known as Zet. They are the greatest threat to humanities continued survival, since the 2nd Kuiper Belt War, and also the one that is known the most and, at the same time, the least amount about.
The origins of the Zet are an ongoing mystery. What is known is that they are an alien species from outside the Solar System. Their home-planet, the state of their civilization or even their reasons for invading Earth in the first place are topics open for speculation for centuries. What however is known is how they found Humanity.
Starting in the 20th century, humanity started to send out messages and probes into the surrounding star-systems, in the hopes of finding intelligent life. None of these attempts of communication ever bore fruit.
Until the Zet.
Records of their arrival in the Solar System are fragmented and largely lost. What can be inferred by the surviving information is that the Zet overran the Kuiper States and the Outer Planets almost immediately. What followed next is lost, but records begin again with their invasion of Earth two decades later, so it can be safely assumed that they conquered the entire Solar System within that time-period.
What followed is now known as the Collapse. Asia Major and the Americas were hit first, followed by Europa. Again, records are damaged from this period, as all contemporary information was stored in data-centers, which subsequently were lost. However, the effects can be still felt to this day.
Nuclear Strikes, unrestrained chemical warfare and the Zets own use of terraforming altered Earth forever. The Latin Peninsula was shattered by fusion bombs and following flooding, caused by the breakdown of the Gibraltar Sea-Wall. The British Isles descended into civil war and then suddenly went dark within twenty-four hours. Iberia was lost in a calamitious collapse. States switched sides, in the hopes of safety or cynical opportunism.
But Zet do not practice human politics. Those that surrendered fared no better than those that were defeated. One by one, the lights of the Ancient Realms vanished from the face of the Earth and eventually the Zet had conquered the entire planet.
With the exception of Rungholt, of course.
Physiology
The Zet are a carbon-based lifeform and can be categorized as Vertebrates, albeit non-native. They have an internal skeleton and muscle-fibers connecting tissue and joints. In many respects they even have a bipedal bodyplan.
This is however less a case of convergent evolution and instead the result of the Zets primary and most well-known trait: Hyper-Adaptivity.
A Zet-Organism can and will alter itself within its own lifespan, based on external factors and pressures. By fighting and consuming human biomass and structures, the Zet adopted many of humanities most favourable traits into their own gene-pool, transitioning from an unknown spaceborne bodyplan into a terrestial, bipedal one.
This lead to the appearance that most people are familiar with today. A humanoid organism, consisting of limbs, torso and a head, covered in inter-locking chitinous plates, which protect external, continiously growing and repairing muscle-fiber. Features such as lipless, fanged mouths, green blood and pupil-less eyes of various colours are commonly depicted, but are largely fictional exaggeration and misconcentopn of the local media and entertainment-industry.
Due to the hyperadaptivity, Zet-Organism continiously change and adapt over their lifespan, which itself is considerable. There is no known record of Zet dying of old age, as organism that experience natural degradation either die in battle or are killed and consumed by their own kind, before they can expire naturally.
An organism that doesn't meet such a fate, continues to grow in size and power. As such, internal hierarchy of Zet-Organism is very much dependent on personal prowess and follows the known principles of natural selection, simply hypercharged. Zet naturally submit to the authority of a bigger organism in their vicinity.
Zet that fight pre-dominantly in close-combat develop blade-like appendages. Other organisms that are exposed to long-range fire develop ablative plates or angled armor. As such, Zet can adapt to any battlefield role and tactic within a few years, allowing a Swarm to counter any existing foe if given enough time and resources.
Zet-Organisms are sexless and reproduce, likely artificially, through Bio-Pods. As such, Brood-Holds are among the first structures Zet build in any given environment. Pods are fed gathered and digested biomass, which is then used to create new Zet. It is unknown exactly how the process functions and if there is intelligent design at play or mere instinct, as any attempts to secure Bio-Pods have met with violent failure.
Organization
Zet-Swarms or Hives are organized with biological multimorphism, almost akin to a natural caste-system. Organisms of a higher rank coordinate and command those of a lower rank. Organisms within in the same rank or species select naturally amongst themselves, if necessary through violence.
The lowest and most common organism is the Imp. They are on average between 1,5m and 1,8m tall, although that height can be deceptive as they are usually hunched over, resembling the stance of some of the extinct 21st century apes. Possessing only two arms, they are equipped with basic bio-rifles or chitin-blades, and are largely used as disposable infantry. Despite their low rank, Imps are a commonly deadly opponent for basic human infantry and physically superior in close combat.
Next is the Warrior. These organisms are the core of the Zets elite infantry units and officer-organisms. Ranging between 2,3m and 2,6m Warriors are a well-armored and highly adaptable threat on the battlefield. Able to fill any kind of tactical role based on what kind of external pressurers they face, Warriors can usually be identified by their size and their four arms, which either support multiple bio-weaponry or have fused together to enable heavy firepower. Fast and durable, Warriors greatest asset to an Zet-Swarm is that of a tough, versatile organism that is capable of and has succeeded in matching some of humanities best military inventions for quite some time.
Following the Warrior is the third most well-known Zet-Organism: The Knight. Knights are collossal entities, ranging from a minimum of 3m to a maximum of 6m in height. Unlike Warriors, Knights are an exclusive officer-organism, who only exist to coordinate and control lower organisms into a coherent and vastly more efficient unit. Knights are some of the most powerful organisms on any given battlefield, with a vast array of diverse adaptations and unique abilities. However, their biggest asset is them being a premier force-multiplier. Even taking away their terrifying combat-abilities, the mere presence of a Knight on the battlefield makes the Zet an exponentially more dangerous enemy.
Lastly, there are Queens. In all the extensive records of the Long Siege, there have only ever been three instances of a Zet-Queen. As such, information on them is sparse, but every single Queen had been a terrible and devastating adversary, with the appearance of each heralding a crisis for humanity and one time even a near-defeat. Physically smaller than a Knight, Queens seem to be created by the Swarm for a singular, specific purpose. As such, their physiology differs wildly between individuals and as such the term "Queen" is more a general classification for a Supreme Zet Organism, that supersedes even a Knights authority.
As such, Queens also are given an immediate classification upon discovery, something reserved usually only for Zet-Organisms that have become recurring threats, and are priority for extermination. All three Queens, such as the Regalia, the Red Dancer and finally the Sharded have been successfully killed in the past, but not before inflicting immense casualties and requiring terrible sacrifices. In case of the Sharded, Rungholt lost an entire Hybrid-Clan, the best general in the cities history, and the Primus of the Androids, along with millions of lives, before she could be slain.
These are just a small collection in the end however, as Zet Organisms are varied and incredibly diverse, such as the living Artillery that is the Moloch or the moving siege-engines known as Behemoths. Even more specialized organisms, such as the Centaur or the rare Bishop, exist as well. In the latters case, one even managed to inflict a rare defeat on the Wardens in the failed Reclamation of Hamma.
As such, the study of Zet is ongoing and new classifications and discoveries are made every year. In fact, one fascinating sign is that there seems to be a diversification among Zet-Swarms isolated from each other, with different routes of adaptations and command-structure taken. While this is so far just a working theory, the recent clashes with the Swarm of Grief new Leipzig seem to suggest a new development among the Zet.
Something that would suggest concerning implications about the foe humanity has been fighting for so long...
Hello,
This will be the lore-thread for Rungholt. Here I will put in all the little details and background-infos, that flesh out the world of Rungholt. You can use this to look up certain phrases or words or to find out more about social life of the people within the mega-city. Some things will probably be All There in the Manual, but other stuff will pop up here and there in the RP.
If you are reading this and want first to get your start on the Rungholt setting and the most basic infos about it, please check out this thead
. Here you have the information about the setting and the races and the city itself. This thread here is for any lore beyond those basics.
Players of the RP can also post their own contributions to the lore here. If they wnat to do that, simply show me the post beforehand privately, so I can give my criticism and make sure it fist within the setting. Then they can post it in here.
In order for you to not get lost in the massive ammount of information here, I will compile here some links to any relevant info you can get, so you can simply click on them and be brough to the relevant post.
I hope, you find the material here interesting and engaging.
_______________________________________________________________________
Money and Trade
Crime
Police
Scavenging and Scrap
Exo-Suits and the AD4-M
Exo-Suit: Mercury
Admins: Culture, Lifestyle and Gene-Therapies
Tinkerers: Culture, Lifestyle and The Archive
The Wardens: Organization and Command
Sport and Wall-War
Exo-Suit: Judah Reborn
Exo-Suit: Hephaestus
Hybrids: Culture, Lifestyle and the Clans
Androids: Culture, Lifestyle and the Last Crusade
Mutants: Culture, Lifestyle and the Ruin Wall
The Zets: Physiology and Organization
Edited by TheNohen on Feb 26th 2024 at 3:43:00 PM