Note
Sorry for the length of this but I suck at summarizing things.
Also this is not a representation of our world, but rather one that shares a relative likeliness. Just saying XD
Content:
- Background
- Map Zones
- The Problem
- The Objective
- Characters
- Environment (Brief)
- Game Transport
- Character Creation/Stats
- Developments
Highlighted bits are additional details.
Highlighted bits are ‘laws’ and ‘traits’ being added.
Background
The greatest of ancient civilizations spoke of the gods, depicting them as if they lived among them and documenting how their gods not only offered guidance, but insight and wisdom of their past, present and future.
In a world no less lacking in faith, it came to be decided that such divine presence could only bring with it such progress, of which a lasting legacy would surely emerge. Rallying together, the people sought every means by which to bring a god, any god among the faiths, unto the physical world, and after years of exhausting every outlet across the fields of prayer, magic and technology, they succeeded.
Arriving to the world, whatever they summoned did indeed possess power befitting a god, as standing 40ft tall, it tore the world from reality, flattening its surface into a single, suspended plane in an abyss of the night sky. It answered no questions and made no indication of even noticing the confused and terrified people around it, and kneeling, settled in the center of the world.
After years of the initial fear, anger and grief fading away into a hopeless acceptance, those who survived that day came to mock the being as The Insecure One, or Inse, for at the very moment it opened its eyes to the world, all life outside its field of vision was brutally torn from the bodies of every man, woman, animal and child. Decay accelerated in everything; flesh deteriorated amidst metals, concretes and fabrics alike. Only that which was before Inse was spared, and many speculated it was the beings way of keeping an eye on them, the elimination of everything else a drastic means of preventing anyone from bringing upon it unforeseen harm. Those who had been fortunate or unfortunate enough to have been at the edge of its sights however, found themselves stricken with unexplained illnesses, physically impaired and near death, and only those who were able to return to the direct field of sight were eventually freed of their ailments, experiencing almost arbitrary, additional improvements to their physical states.
These regions – where life could still barely exist – between the major field of vision and the being’s blind fields, became simply referred to as the West and East Peripherals.
For all the destruction, life could have returned to being a twisted kind of simple: Stay where life could exist and all would be well. A month after the sudden shock to the world, however, those still alive realized Inse was beginning to turn.
Evacuating in panic, survivors watched as the seconds brought decay and death to their homes behind them, forcing them into the remains of what had previously been destroyed. Inse seemed to slowly rotate where it was, but stopped after a week’s worth of constant travel to keep within its sights. Time went on, and always Inse would turn, creating a world where all notions of home were abandoned, replaced instead with perpetual travel for survival. Perpetual scavenging became a normality as well, as decay seemed to reverse under Inse’s gaze, providing a sufficient amount of resources to remain available with each journey forward.
Life went on, around and around the remains of the world, with the unmoving Inse at its center.
Map Locations
Primary Zones
Major:
The direct field of vision of Inse stretching from Inse itself to the edge of the world. The safest and only place where life can be sustained and decay is reversed. This reversal however, stops short at actually returning life to organic matter.
The West Peripheral:
The safer of the two peripheral zones as Inse has been known to turn its gaze in the direction of the West, which upon doing so would replace it as the new Major.
The East Peripheral:
The riskier of the two peripherals as those in the East must be sure to keep up when on the move during the shift in Inse’s gaze, else they be pushed out of it to their deaths.
The Blindlands:
All outside of Inse’s vision, where instant death and accelerated decay are to be found.
Secondary Zones
Fore-lands:
The immediate region in front of Inse. It is a contested space for its security, as situated so close to Inse, the least travel is required to stay within Its sights, and the rate of Its gaze’s turn is also the slowest.
Mid-lands:
The entire region between the immediate Fore-lands and faraway End-lands. The majority of the surviving population ‘resides’ here.
End-lands:
The outer rim of Inse’s sights towards the edge of the world. It requires the fastest and furthest travel to stay within Inse’s gaze, and is the hardest region to survive in without help and proper transport.
The Problem
Life literally revolved around Inse for a barely tolerated ten years, but as the cycles of Inse’s gaze went by, it became apparent among survivors that the old could not die, and the young barely aged. Their prolonged lives, constantly beset by the never ending reminder of Inse’s destruction with each journey, were also forced to coexist by the piles of dead loved ones and fellow man alike who would never find rest, and finally, anger was reignited; survivors rallied to fight.
Creating weapons and reviving spells of battle, they traveled inland towards Inse despite the next period of travel expected to have been approaching, intent on finding some way to make it pay for their predicaments. As the first attacks fell, however, Inse, for the very first time since its arrival, reacted to their presence.
Its gaze began to turn faster than it had ever turned, and when it finally settled again, it did so for a week less than before, the period of travel itself lengthened by hours. Again the survivors tried, and tried again, but as if Inse now watched them, the mere act of preparing an attack brought along even shorter period of stillness, accelerated turns, and gradually lengthened periods of travel. To continue trying to fight, it seemed, was to bring about their own demise.
The Objective
Inse’s gaze now turns every 3 days-almost too quickly to keep up on foot-and each turn lasts 9 days.
But still people are angry.
There is no stopping further impulsive attempts against Inse, and hence no stopping the eventuality that one day, Inse’s retaliation would set his sights beyond any survivor’s means of keeping up.
There is no stopping It bringing about the end of all remaining life, and the only thing left to do is to beat Inse to that eventuality by either outsmarting, or destroying, It first.
Characters
The dwellers/survivors of Whatslef, a name coined for the region under Inse’s gaze at any given time for obvious reasons, vary largely in terms of lifestyles given the complex nature of the world and the absence of any official social structures. How they travel and whether they are solitary or part of a group can change on a whim, and the majority of the population largely came to create their own purpose in life to live for.
The list below both serve to present the types of people you may encounter as well as the types you may choose from. You may also choose to come up with something completely different as long as it could exist in this world where technology and magic are still being practiced (based on what can be/was recovered from Whatslef by said character).
***
Groups/Alliances:
“Barriguards”
Those who carried out the first attacks against Inse were the first to recognize the consequences of doing so. Rallying together, they created the second and most formidable line of defense in the Fore-lands against those out to destroy Inse in the hopes of preventing the attacks from worsening the situation. They are only active and hence effective at the base of Inse Itself, where they have set up a barricade they guard. They are strictly organized and hardly tolerant even among their own ranks.
“Zealots”
Survivors who have convinced themselves to embrace Inse’s presence. They make up the first defense of Inse in the Fore-lands beyond the barricade and claim to receive power from the ‘god’.
“Airtroopers/Airfarers”
Survivors who choose to travel in airships and air balloons during times of travel. Often, these vessels form a secondary ‘city’ above the ground when anchored in the Major with makeshift bridges and ladders linking them to trusted ships. Given the high risks involved in relying on these vessels for travel and security, access to them are often restricted to the crew and trusted passengers, or strictly controlled in visitor/passenger movement. There are only a few people who have their own, solitary air vessels that are tolerated by the larger vessels. Air space within Inse’s sight is not exactly contested, but for fear of crashing, proximity is a serious, mutual concern.
Unofficial Groups and Callings:
“Ritesmen”
Finding the dead too many to bury, survivors initially piled them up and left them for the element. Returning to the location the next time around Inse however, it became apparent the dead were unable to decay away under Inse’s restoring gaze. Some people began trying to solve the problem of the piling masses, and dedicated groups or individuals began formed in the hopes of laying the deceased to rest. With cremation throwing the ashes of the dead into the air to invisibility spells causing rude shocks and dangerous obstructions, however, these people are somewhat respected for their cause but generally seen as a nuisance.
“Railfolk”
Dedicated to manning and maintaining the train and the tracks in the End-lands for the sake of fellow survivors.
“Scavenger-Traders”
Self explanatory. These people have selective ties to different groups and types of people who choose to coordinate with them.
General Survivors:
“Survivors”
They mind their own business and do their own thing for their own purposes and means. Whether in groups or alone, they generally do little to stir things up. Even if they did stir things up, odds are those in their circles would know.
“Extravs”
Whatslef is the ‘continent’ that Inse is based on in the center of the flattened world. Other continents are still in existence, and testing fate, the more extreme travelers risk sea travel to them without the certainty of surviving the next shift in the waters or in the next lands over.
“Riskies”
Riskies, or Risk Junkies, come in three forms. 1. Highly adept at survival and more exposed/uniquely equipped than others. 2. Extremely, learned and informative but also extremely disabled and/or dying. 3. Dead, with their only use being in collecting whatever loot they recovered whilst still alive. Whatever the status, they are the most unpredictable of the lot, with a extended branch of their lifestyles being the Saboteurs.
“Saboteurs”
Unsatisfied with their already dangerous lifestyles, Saboteurs are Riskies who cross the line and literally find/create trouble around others, causing anything from petty scuffles to fatal accidents for the heck of it. The worst among them once caused an airship to fall into Blindlands during a shift, killing everyone on board.
“Inventors/Alchemist”
Survivors actively still pursuing advancements in technology and/or magic wherever they can. Their intentions and purpose for doing so vary.
Environment (Brief)
Whatslef features mostly intact ruins of large buildings and structures, with land forms depending on the Major at the time. Dwellers usually use mechanized or simple stilts or climbing equipment in order to get around.
Water bodies inland are not common.
Given Inse’s restoring gaze, physical tolerance for damage and contaminants are moderately improved, so riskier feats within the Major can be achieved at reduced physical consequences.
The air is breathable (so long as the Ritesmen are not burning corpses. . .)
Game Transport
‘Public’ Transport:
Nice people do exist, and such people would be willing to help others during the traveling periods of time as Inse turns by allowing you to hitch a ride or even temporarily belong to their traveling groups for a price or even for free. Be advised however: Murphy’s law wasn’t one of the victims of Inse’s arrival.
Private Transport:
Players are allowed to create any form of personal transport vehicle based off, and even combining, the use of magic, technology and science with whatever their character may have been able to salvage from their surroundings with respect to their backstories.
Players are even welcomed to go to the extremes in their transports if so wished, though it would be advised to set your own limits to these extremes as given the nature of the environment, it would be just as easy for your characters to do so as it would be for me to destroy them across the course of the story.
This would be in order to prevent any-over-the-top-extremes from compromising the plot.
All characters would typically require some means of transport however.
Unless you’re cool to walk.
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(Additional)
‘Emergency’ Transport:
Over the years, some of the more practical of survivors, eventually coined Railfolk, situated in the End-lands started creating train tracks that would run from the East Peripheral to the West in order to give the Eastern dwellers a better chance at getting away. The train would be placed a distance from the edge of the East Peripheral while the tracks, built the last time they were there and since rusted away, recovered under Inse’s gaze. Upon the beginnings of Inse’s shift, the train would leave the East Peripheral without any stops until it reached the West. The rest of the way is independent to the survivors.
Character Creation
Character Details
- Name
- Age
- Means of transportation, whether a personal vehicle or not (Completely up to you. This will affect your overall inventory.)
- Preferred ‘tools of the trade’ (Magic/Tech/Nil/etc)
- Backstory
- *Character Type
*Brief overview of your character’s chosen ‘lifestyle’. You may choose a listed character type or create whatever character fits into the lore. There are only humans in this world, but the existence of both magic and tech may provide alternatives if you want to go there. . .
Additional Details:
- Stats (You may arrange your 8 stat points according to your character. If you leave this out, I will assign them for you based on the above details.)
- Affiliations in Whatslef
- Companions/Familiars if any
Making it to the bottom of the page means you needed to scroll past the sea of font above. I went crazy so you’re welcomed to do so too.
Development
The was a rumor that if a child is hated by Inse, he would be born with blue inscriptions on the body.