The planet
Fragment is an ancient place, carved out over eons by various powers, some excellent, some ruinous. Its poles are encrusted with water ice, and no star shines upon its surface, and yet enough heat emanates from its depths that the surface remains solid, waters flow, and life is able to thrive in select places.
There are two main types of landmass: Silicate landforms, which harbor radio forests as well as organic life, and Iron Continents, which are composed of metals and are unsuitable for life in its normal forms, although silicon-deficient radio life finds its place near sources of energy.
The mountainous formations are caused by Faults extending throughout the crust. Conduits beneath the surface transmit mystical energy through the earth, which is tapped by radio life in as a form of sustenance. The conduits themselves rupture at many points, giving rise to Faults where the energy bleeds through to the surface, resulting in great amounts of vegetation and opening up the underworld, where unusual life forms thrive in the high-energy, oft isolated environment. The Iron Continents, especially, contain an underworld so vast that only main routes have been explored to superficial depths, as few are willing to toss their immortal lives away without walking in the footsteps of trailblazers who light the passages.
It is the underworld where most chemicals, metals, and non-mundane elements are gathered, for the surface contains little other than basic elements such as silicon, carbon, and iron.
The most notable locations are highlighted in red. While there are many history textbooks to be written about each, the gist is as follows:
--Occidental States--Azimuth is a mountain-city built atop the frigid wastes of northern Occident, where long ago an artificial fault was created out of a deep conduit, and huge radio forests continue to thrive beneath the glaciers. The city's academy boasts a huge antenna, used for predicting the flow patterns of the penumbral mist.
Sanctum is a village atop an ancient tower, one of many found on the Occident (but curiously none are found on any of the other continents). The tower possesses resources akin to an Iron Continent of its own, but the harsh terrain make ascend and descent difficult, so access is normally made by airship.
Vault is the prime bastion, the largest and most reputable fortress representing mankind's willingness to brave death for the sake of discovery. Located on the precipice of an Iron Continent, Vault's claimed underground territory spans at least 10% of the estimated passages accessible from its closely-guarded cave entrance.
Bayearth is a notable city located at the mouth of a great and ancient radio forest, supposedly the birthplace of all life on Occident and potentially the whole globe. It is here uniquely where non-sessile creatures roam wild, paying no heed to human vagrants and travelers.
Anitaph is the largest, most ancient city on the globe. Founded by the first Architect, who uniquely ruled through selecting and subsidizing the family lines of those he trusted, building up a small empire spanning much of the continent at some point. When the cities under his rule submitted an ultimatum, he voluntarily relinquished power to his heirs, who branched out and used their father's resources to explore new lands and cross the sea.
--Cities of the Orient--Inberlin is located in a prime location for studying the façade of Ithcanthar's greatest section of Iron Continent. It was founded long ago by the disgruntled heir of Anitaph's architect, who sought a refuge from his father's iron fist long before he relinquished control. Inberlin is a free city, subject to no power above, however its wealth and prowess ought to be attributed only to the influx of peoples from across the globe, who heard of this city on a golden coast and brought with them knowledge and concrete ideas. Its current state is a fusion of many social institutions acquired from cities across the globe, from the reputation system pioneered by Mantle, to the pass-produced limbs produced in Archaeum.
Mantle was built atop the tar sea, under the pretense that its people would be strong, and its torches of purifying light would eradicate all the spirits invading from beneath. The city has since grown to be devoid of spirits; they are heavily regulated and indeed, fathers crafting souls are held under strict scrutiny in the fortress. Its citizens operate off of a social credit based on the good they have done for society; promising citizens 'level up' and gain access to increasing services, and may eventually bypass the city's strict regulations.
Archeaum is a city located next to an expansive cave network in the fault line. Unlike the deep radio forests of the Occident, the Orient boasts an underworld garden composed on mostly organic life, although artificial constructs still roam in the forms of spheres and pillars levitating through the caverns and mist-filled vales. It is home to a community of freemen, mass-produced souls in mass-produced bodies.
Thor is a bastion on its eponymous continent, formed by nomadic tribes as an embassy for mediation between tribes, and also for organizing joint expeditions into the iron continent. Eventually it became known for its own advances, and a tribe of spiritseers took up residence there as the permanent keepers.
Triearch is a bastion-turned city long famous for pioneering modern Landcruisers, the tracked vehicles used to navigate the Tar Sea. Its landscape is starkly different from the conventional forms encountered--a massive swamp filled with organics had merged with the Tar Sea, and lived on as an echo in the active psystrate. Black trees and fungus acted out the lifecycle of organic life, spreading miles offshore until the memories finally decay and meld with the rest of the dead sea.
--Overseas Colonies--Altaic is a frigid colony of Inberlin, no longer subsidized as it now boasts an Academy of its own. The shallow Tar Sea is calmer here, and recently a magical project has begun to 'terraform' its coastal lands, taming the tar sea and creating landforms out of it.
Legend is Azimuth's colony. The city laid an undersea cable to communicate with its diaspora, but said cable is known to fail for indeterminate periods of time, sometimes fabricating messages of its own.
Expanse is an archipelago of colonies in mutual ceasefire, a hub friendly to privateers who roam the Tar Sea, conscripted by Anitaph, Inberlin, and other cities with tribute to spare.
Prima is the Occident's first colony, founded by the denizens of Vault who sought to explore the alien faults. It is said they found ferals living in the mountains, humans without magic, who wield ancient weapons scavenged from the tunnels.
Mythos is the gateway to the colonies on Ithcanthar. Its dockyards span the whole length of the city, servicing the Orient's giant tracked vehicles which ferry cargo, constructs, and passengers to the Lost Continent. Environmentally speaking, it is located on a barren island with few Fault lines and little vegetation of either silicon or organic class.
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Topic: Antinomy of the Five Spectra - Another Magic University Game - OOC (Read 21717 times)