setting.

[unholycomedy]

Setting and Hazards.

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Discord
Prima City • The Tower • The Nest • The Bathhouse• The City
Hazards • Husks • The Membrane • Acid Rain • Red Fog
Messengers

Discord

"Discord" is like the lifeforce of this world. Everything, from people, to animals, to water, to the air, contains some amount of discord. The gods are able to harness this discord and convert it into power, and thus are constantly seeking to consume more of it.

Without enough discord, the fabric of this world begins to unravel. Buildings crumble. Environments decay. People lose themselves.

More discord is generated from the friction of two or more wills moving in incompatible directions. When a fox chases down a rabbit, the fox wants to eat the rabbit, while the rabbit doesn't want to get eaten; this contradiction is the source of discord. Creatures with higher sentience and intelligence are able to hold more complicated desires and act with more complicated intentions, and therefore are more likely to create greater amounts of discord. Thus, the gods have brought in more people to feed them and fill the deficit their appetites have left behind.

Discord will sometimes accumulate heavily enough in one place that its presence becomes tangible–a tree bearing an unusual fruit, or a rain of blood in just one spot, or a fire that breaks out but doesn't spread. Gods and demigods are able to manipulate the flow of discord to control where these accumulations appear, so long as there's enough discord to create them.

Prima City

The city of Prima was once a bustling metropolis. Now what's left of it is but shadow and stones. The crumbling buildings and scars of catastrophe remain suspended by strangling roots and vines, as if frozen in time. The streets are deathly quiet, long abandoned by all life... save for, of course, the horrors.

The Tower

The tallest, and perhaps not coincidentally the most intact, structure left standing in the city. Looming over the city, its floors seem almost impossible to count from the outside... and from the inside. Rumors whisper that the tower once belonged to a terrifying demon. Or a skilled alchemist. Or a secretive wizard. ... really, who's to say?

The fact remains that the tower is the only structure that stands strong against the numerous dangers of the city. The tower is indestructible and will also stand strong against the dangers of player characters.

More information about the tower can be found here.

The Nest

A deep crater left at the very center of the city by some unknown impact. The area can be roughly equated to the size of two "football fields", and deep within the crater the air is thick with discord.

This crater is called "the nest" because every so often, curious egg-like structures grow from within the vein-like fissures, seemingly overnight. These eggs are formed from the same blackened stone as the fissures; it is theorized that this stone contains concentrated discord in some form. This theory hasn't been confirmed in either direction, however, as the fissure rock is seemingly indestructible, and once the eggs crack any power that might have been present is already drained.

TL;DR this is where all new pawns are "born" into Prima. Congratulations.

The Bathhouse

About a ten minute's walk from the tower is an outdoor bathhouse, mostly intact. The architecture is reminiscent to another world's "Ancient Roman style" and features two open-air bathing areas, one hot water and one cold. In addition, the bathhouse boasts of the ancient world's most cutting-edge invention: communal toilets with running water and magic bidet action. Including a few private stalls for the more self-conscious.

How does this city still have running water, and how is it perfectly temperature controlled? You can thank the previous followers of Flegmat and Anima for their generosity... except they might be dead by now. So.

The City

The rest of the city is a complete wreck.

Most buildings directly outside of the tower have been reduced to rubble, and the farther one wanders from the tower the more likely it is to run into one of the city's many hazards.

Where there are still standing buildings, one might find a rotten piece of furniture or two, a pile of threadbare clothes, faded and unreadable books, broken children's toys, etc... but it seems that if there was anything of value left behind, it was either already pilfered, or consumed by the membrane.

It's not impossible for antisocial pawns to find a mostly-standing building or two and hole themselves up inside. It's simply inadvisable.

Hazards

Like most places, Prima is host to various lifeforms and natural phenomenon. There are very little records to be had about these entities, but various pawns of the past appear to have left notes on the following.

Husks

Bodies drained of all spirit and mind, they hold onto life as if out of stubborn spite. They aren't so much dead as they are simply lifeless. Perhaps they hold contempt for those who are still filled with life, as they are prone to attacking anything that moves.

Sometimes husks are so empty that they do not attack, but do you really want to risk approaching to check?

It's rumored that when a pawn loses enough of themself they will turn into a husk.

The Membrane

A mysterious substance that resembles a nervous system and seems to grow with a mind of its own. It covers the ground of more abandoned areas. While it isn't difficult to clear with violent means (cutting, fire, etc), the substance grows so quickly that it's been known to swallow anything that lies still for any period of time.

Any contact with the membrane will cause auditory hallucinations, as if someone – or a collection of someones – is speaking from the membrane itself.

Prolonged contact is not advised.

Acid Rain

Undoubtedly the cause of much of the weathering and ruin of the city. Often announced by a slight pungent smell in the air, the acid that falls from the sky is strong enough to cause an unpleasant burning rash if it comes into contact with skin. Or worse, if you fail to get out of the rain quick enough.

Red Fog

A red fog that settles around the abandoned outskirts of the city. It serves as something of an unspoken "barrier" between the city and the outside world... or whatever is left of it.

While the fog itself isn't deadly, previous attempts at crossing have resulted in explorers losing their way, falling victim to visual and auditory visions, and coming back to the city with a heightened desire to inflict cruelty onto others.

Messengers.

No one knows exactly where these little creatures came from. Only that they have existed in the city for as long as anyone can remember. Each pawn seems to meet their own "personal Messenger" upon their "hatching," and that Messenger remains attached to them for as long as they remain in the city as a whole person.

One noteworthy feature of these little creatures is that they appear to be able to speak. At the very least, they are able to hear and convey the messages of others.

Many simply use their Messengers as ... well, messengers. A character can speak a message to their Messenger, and then that Messenger will float off to the intended recipient of the message and repeat it to them. Written messages can also by sent by putting a paper in a Messenger's mouth(?). Essentially, it's a form of snail-mail... or slug-mail, if you will.

At times, the Messengers will also relay the words and wishes of the gods. This isn't so common, and mostly what they've said of the gods' wills has already been noted down in the library... but sometimes, some characters might need a little reminder.

Messengers come in a wide variety of colors and shapes.

What shape and color a character's Messenger comes in doesn't seem to have any meaning. Some in the past have remarked that the Messengers look similar to "sea slugs."

The appearance is where such similarities end however, as the Messengers are without a doubt emissaries of the gods. They are indestructible and made of a somewhat malleable material that is simultaneously soft to the touch and resistant to any attempts to cut, pierce, or tear their bodies apart. They are stretchy and bouncy, and seemingly unable to experience pain or fear.

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