What's On Your Mind, Then?

 I made this blog first and foremost as an outlet to express a bunch of ideas. This is not an airtight sort of logic, as what I define as "expression" and "ideas" can vary wildly based on the seasons, but I'll try to make things make sense. Also, I get to share my thoughts with internet people! How fun!

Let's start with the basics: campaign settings.

Bromeilles is a continent literally cracked by warfare and strife. An unknown cosmological event some 400 years ago invoked a massive storm which formed over the landscape, effectively destroying whatever fragments of everyday life remained. The storm's still there, albeit in many ways dormant. The sun's been obscured for centuries. There are no traditional Gods; the closest thing to organized religion are cults worshipping primordial entities. The largest nation is a dishevelled, french-inspired republic, which has sat on the precipice of annihilation for effectively half its lifespan.

Magic is accessible but ridiculously dangerous. An impossibly diverse cast of intelligent bug-people lives in tandem with other humanoids. Monstrosities, demons, and an entire alien civilization (complete with what remains of their species) have appeared in the world since the storm first struck. The main themes of the setting are belief, war, transmutation, curiosity and decay. Hard fantasy is my jam, so I attempt to keep everything in this world consistent with one another. It isn't easy, but it sure is fun.

Oh, also, rumours can create bloodthirsty monsters.

Seraphine is a hellhole in a shimmering ribbon. All the continents and their islands are a part of one combined government, with a pantheistic church to boot. Conflict is centred moreso around culture wars and sociological struggles than hateful neighbouring states. Language is as quintessential here as pissing. Infighting is everywhere, chaos roams in pockets throughout the world, yet The State holds firm. A massive fog bank hangs a few miles off the shore of the farthest landmasses. A vaporous glacier in all directions.

Sainthood is simultaneously a tremendous honour and the most terrible of curses. Anything that hasn't yet been built is razed or domesticated. Corpses roam the street in church garb. Heads are tied together by their locks and used for incense burning. The collectivist government is actively combating threats from the (self-proclaimed) riders of the apocalypse, who cry for the end of days behind the fog wall. The moon shifts between vibrant colours to signal the coming of various seasons or holidays, many of which cause a violent change in the world. Aspects of divinity itself roam the land atop chariots of boiling mercury, while others inhabit the cities of which their shrines reside, healing the hungry and feeding the sick.

It's currently the least developed of my settings, but I'm excited to learn more about it.

The City of Light is a gigantic complex somewhere around half the size of Nevada. It's also smack dab in the middle of actual Nevada, in a post-post-apocalypse version of the United States of America. This is my Cyberpunk™ setting, and it's also by far the oldest of the three stated here. A series of fledgling and experienced megacorporations fight for a majority share of the city (big shocker, there) while the undercity bubbles beneath. A catastrophic war between the companies resulted in the nuclear annihilation of one and the subsequent peace negotiations that followed. As a partial consequence of those accords, the city has been divided into segments; generous swathes of land and industry meant to keep the city alive. The megacorps are intended to keep the city fed rather than milking it dry. Each megacorp supplies a critical portion of civil support.

Body augmentation is heavily prevalent. 99% of people possess at least a simple modification or robotic prosthetic. Entertainment is one of the beating hearts within the city, an aspect that the spirit of Vegas keeps alive, although the actual city of Las Vegas hasn't existed for decades. Full-body augers exist, having replaced just about everything but their soul with machine parts. Automatons and intelligent machines are prevalent, though not quite yet commonplace. A large swath of Nevada desert remains accessible outside of the city's walls, lived in by many, but the various checkpoints and borders past it are nothing short of a mystery to what lies beyond. Nothing departs from the city save for megacorp business, yet even the founders rarely leave.

The president of the united states is alive and well, busy enough with European politics and a rising wave of monarchist nationalism.

There is not enough time or space in a single post for me to give this thing justice, from intricacies surrounding the failed management of a megacorporation by a spoiled teenager to the black-room drama of runner gangs "scavenging" impromptu donors.

What else then? Well, I love history, art, and music. I'm fascinated by sociology and all the intricacies it entails. I also just like to talk about stuff. So, that's probably what I'll do!