Simply put, City of Unity is an IRC roleplaying site set in a far-future Orwellian dystopia populated by furries. Launched in July, 2007.
There is, however, more than that. Much more.
From the main page: In an ancient age long ago, the Sun died. How, is impossible to say. Some say it was the consequence of forbidden science. Other tales claim it was the wrath of the gods themselves which smote it from the heavens. Whatever the cause, the Time of Light ended, and the long night and winter of the Fimbulvetr began.
It was only through sheer technological might, the atmosphere-warming Sky Furnaces desperately launched into the skies after the Sun's death, that the planet was kept from plummeting to the temperature of cold, sunless space. The world transformed into a grim, frostbitten wasteland known as the Nightlands, haunted by horrific abberations and monstrous things awoken by the coming of the forever Night. Surviving populations crowded into the last great fortress cities, the Colonies, where civilization continued... In a sense. As the world grew ever colder, so did the relationships between different races. Primal survival instincts which, in the Time of Light, had no place in society began to stir after ages of slumber.
In time, the concern for preserving the survival of one's own people regardless of the cost on other species slowly took hold over society. A powerful feline house ruling one Colony would accuse a neighboring rodent enclave of violating a resource-sharing treaty, eventually leading to war. Working class canines in the same Colony would blame food shortages the ruling felines and carry out a genocidal revolt, while reptiles in yet another would be exiled to their doom in the Nightlands by the ruling mammals. Yet in all scenarios, hybrids would by far receive the most persecution, being seen by each side as impure abominations — the shameful, aberrant fruit of inter-species procreation.
In time, the Species Wars, as they would later be known as, led to the destruction of civilization... With one exception: Einheit City, The City of Unity.
It is here where the tale of the world's end will be told. What part in it will you play?
As of 13 May 2011, the roleplay has officially ended.
City of Unity provides examples of:
- All There in the Manual: The Q & A thread revealed a lot of things that were never mentioned or fully explained elsewhere.
- Bilingual Bonus:
- Einheit is "Unity" in German.
- Also, Vorhang is German for "curtain", possibly a referance to the Iron Curtain.
- Bio Punk: Can be seen in wetwiring, the WhiteGear, artificial hybridization and more.
- Commie Nazis: The Ministry mix-and-match Communist and Fascist ideology quite a bit. They're even said to follow North Korea's Songun and Juche philosophies on top of their Nazi-esque eugenics and use of SS-like military structure.
- Crapsack World: The sun is dead. Einheit City is the last bastion of civilization in the entire world, and it's ruled by an Orwellian dictatorship. The rest of the world is a frozen waste populated by vicious carnivores. It even says right on the front page that "It is here where the tale of the world's end will be told." Basically, everyone is screwed.
- Death Is Dramatic: Most players prefer that their characters go out with a bang.
- Eldritch Location: Sector 2, the Underqueen's lair. She can change the surroundings there as much as she likes. Good luck finding it.
- Fascist, but Inefficient: Averted. The Ministry had virtually every aspect of the city under its control, and the parts it didn't posed zero threat to it or were considered below its attention.
- Heinz Hybrid: Some of the UniClassers have so many different species in their background that it can be hard to tell what they are.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: You know the Heart Machine, the power plant at the top of the Toride that's provided the entire city with energy for the past 34 years? It's all powered by a hybrid girl genetically engineered by the former Heart Machine Council.
- Putting on the Reich: The Ministry itself is fairly Nazi-esque in their beliefs. Also, Ministry ranks are similar to that of the Waffen-SS, such as Sturmfuhrer.
- Schizo Tech: Gunpowder firearms exist alongside pulse rifles and black hole bombs. Justified in that the Ministry has had access to the Architect's technology, and designed their own weapons with that knowledge.
- The Sky Is an Ocean: Skyships are a common sight around the city, looking like anything from zeppelins to space ships.
- Wham Episode: In one recent RP session, the Vorhang Wall was breached, Korvulgr soldiers swarmed in from the Nightlands, and the skyships of the former canid colony Yerushalem VI launched an attack from the sky. Einheit City is on its way to being a full-blown war zone.
- Webcomic Time: Averted nicely. The past three years of the setting's existence equals three years in-game.
- Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": Operation Boreas. In which every last Colony on the face of the planet was destroyed in a massive bombing campaign by the Ministry.... all of the Colonies, along with billions of purebred lives, were indiscriminately annihilated by the Ministry in the series of massive absolute-zero temperature detonations.This was not called genocide, but Peacemaking.
