Anton, short for Antonio Giordano. A pitifully small, nervous and short tempered man with a magical affinity for mechanics. He has the temperance of a mistreated chihuahua, and is being kept as a captive tool by the NSO.
Mr. Piper. From my sci fi(?) setting, Sanitorum. A malignant metaphysical entity made of extradimensional matter and electricity. His form shifts depending on his intentions and his energy levels. This form is how he appears on television screens, projectors and photographs. He typically moves or changes expressions when whoever he’s talking to loses focus or blinks. The top left profile is him forming a face from matter seeping out of the Place Medium (his home world).
My newest art project. An eldritch horror dystopian fantasy, and a self indulgent blend of everything I like.
Preface
Nature is ruled by the two worldly magics: Absurdity, the rule of randomness, mutation, and concept, and Law, the rule of mechanism, process and order.
170 years before the present, a violent apocalyptic event called the Spike rocked the world.
The natural balance of worldly magics was thrown askew, plunging humanity into a dark age. A group of survivors of this cataclysm banded together to form the coalition of Natural Societal Order, or the N.S.O. Over the next fifty years, this collection of engineers, agriculturalists and military personnel would construct the beginnings of the Capital, a bastion for humanity and all its old technology.
More info below …
The Capital
The Capital is a gargantuan feat of engineering, spanning 800 km and hosting a bustling multicultural population of three million people. It is split into three major districts: The agricultural district, the industrial district, and the central district. Underneath it is a labyrinthine system of catacombs hosting its own culture and population, colloquially dubbed the ‘sin district’ for its rampant organised crime.
However, the Capital’s most defining trait is the wall. Surrounding the complex is a gargantuan concrete wall, three miles wide and two miles thick, built to keep the horrors out and its inhabitants in. Within the wall are power lines and sewage pipes, packed tight like sardines. Atop the ridge of the great wall are a series of sentry towers, manned 24/7 by armed N.S.O. employees. There are four major gates, mirrored by the inner walls of each district – North, South, East and West. The outer gates stay closed, and the inner ones stay open, save for a breach event. Surrounding the wall’s diameter, both inside and out, are small settlements – military towns, mining towns, and refugee camps for the stragglers seeking asylum. Work outside of the wall is dangerous; either paid handsomely or delegated to the undesirable, such as prison labourers and refugees.
The world beyond the wall is referred to as the Wilderness. It is a land that has shed human borders, the remnants of the old world now reclaimed by nature. The new nature, that is. The Spike shifted plants and animals into new, surreal forms. Walking alongside wolves, deer, and the like are creatures warped by Absurd magic. Kratts form from ancient human garbage, trees yawn a mile high, and men fused with their beasts of burden wander with split consciousness. The land itself is difficult to traverse, the Spike physically shifting the earth, causing deep gouges, steep cliffs and unnatural mountains. It is a surreal, nightmarish place. And yet, it bears fruit. The N.S.O. sends its best and it’s most naïve out on missions to reap the land for its resources.
The Spike changed people, too.
In the Old World, Law and Absurdity were balanced. The cataclysm came from a rapid spike (hence the name) in Absurdity. Some children were born with this higher degree of Absurdity, and thus operated in different ways compared to how a human ought to.
This brings me to Anomalies.
Anomalies & Expressive Classes
Anomalies are magically imbued living beings, though this title is generally used for humans. For the majority of them, it is hereditary. Bloodlines first exposed to the Spike pass down magic through the generations. There are three major states of an anomaly; Practical, Absurd and Transmutative.
Practical anomalies are based in Law, and have the lowest percentage of Absurdity. This is still considerably higher than your average human, but it is low enough that they are more predictable, and generally retain a form resembling their species.
Absurd anomalies are based in Absurdity. They are far more diverse and are rarely found within the Capital wall. They range from monstrous beings to powerful warlocks to those with unfortunate form-altering magical afflictions.
Transmutative anomalies are artificially created. They, like the former, are a diverse group, ranging from homunculi, constructs and kratts, to living beings forcibly turned into a subset of magic.
Many different types of anomalies exist, some not fitting any classification beyond the nature of their magic. However, under the N.S.O., a system has been developed over the past century to medically define and organise human anomalies, called Expressive Classification.
- Absorbents
Absorbents absorb energy from other beings. They are magic-based predators, though their forms and methods of predation vary considerably. They have slower metabolisms, sturdier bodies, and various adaptations centred around hunting, killing and consuming.
Practical absorbents are your most common types, and the ones with the lowest percentage of Absurdity. They operate on a logical predatory system and have no magical abilities or physiological powers beyond those needed to hunt and consume other beings. Human absorbents are much like vampires, blending into human society and generally behaving in a normal fashion until it is time to feed. They’re undeniably frightening, but they are pretty mundane compared to what can be found beyond the wall. Humanoid examples solely include those colloquially dubbed ‘vampires.’
Absurd absorbents are the truly terrifying types. Due to their higher percentage of absurdity, they can specialise in their manner of consuming magical energy. This means they tend to have far more monstrous forms, even when ‘technically’ human, and more monstrous methods of consumption. Human-based examples include manticores, nephilim, and tarasques.
Transmutative absorbents are artificially created absorbents. Examples of this are human beings turned absorbent (thus lacking their biological adaptations), homunculi, and bone kratts.
- Sensors
Sensors are the most diverse Expressive Class. They are finely attuned to specific elements of the world, with varying degrees of exaggeration depending on Absurdity.
Practical sensors are savants in specific areas. They have elevated intelligence and abilities relating to whatever they embody. For example, a sensor of machinery would have the ability to fix, alter and tinker with any mechanism presented to them, even with no prior knowledge. This is not limited to technology, however. There are sensors of a variety of things, such as botany, prospecting, music, and magic. Sensors are almost always highly sensitive and struggle to integrate into society. They are often sought after as a resource by the N.S.O.
Absurd sensors often assume surreal and exaggerated forms of what they embody, thanks to Absurdity. They physically adapt to whatever they are attuned to. An absurd sensor of botany would be a dryad, or one of prospecting, a moleman.
Transmutative sensors are artificially made sensors. They are harder to create, and how they are defined can get blurry. Kratts made with the intention of attunement fall under this table.
- Beacons
The rarest type. They can attract, locate, and communicate with magical forces. Due to this, they’re capable of great power and influence.
Practical beacons are psychics, essentially. They are able to communicate through dreams, patterns and hallucinations. More powerful beacons can affect photograph development.
Absurd beacons are intensely powerful magical beings able to command and influence creatures to their will. They are the catalysts of a magical network, like mycelium, influencing the world around them even when dormant. The most powerful instances of these are referred to as the Old Gods, who cropped up shortly after the Spike. All of the Old Gods are beacons, though they have overlap with other expressive traits. They have patrons, often practical beacons, who serve as vessels for them.
Transmutative beacons are generally not possible. They have been tried and so far, have failed disastrously.
Simon — Plagued with anxiety yet warily optimistic. He works in navigation with Raizel, studying the geology and biology of the surreal world beyond the fort wall. Ironically, he is more terriifed of people than the horrors he studies. He has a morbid sense of humor, but is surprisingly upbeat despite his trembling disposition.
Andrew — Subtle but sweet. He’s quiet and socially awkward, but he has a heart of gold, helping others and seeing the best in people, even when he struggles to say a word to them. He’s an intellectual type, fascinated by the old world, and the wilderness beyond the wall. His quiet disposition and soft heart has unwittingly saved him from a grisly fate at the hands of his strange smoking coworker.
Ephraim — Much like his sister Nina, Ephraim is crushed by the responsibilities set upon him by his mother. He was the golden child where Nina often fell short, but despite this, the two were close. Up until their admission into the NSO, where their jobs have caused both physical and emotional distance. Despite their newfound differences, Ephraim still worries deeply for his sister, and can only watch as she strays down a dark path and hides more and more from him.
Melvin — An adrenaline junkie who loves to push peoples buttons. He’s a slack off, an asshole and a menace, but one thing he isn’t is disloyal. He cares deeply for his buddies, Ephraim and Josef. He has a rivalry with his sister Raizel, but they begrudgingly get along for the sake of their jobs.
Ricardo — A simple, upbeat fella with a simple job. He wants a straightforward life: Join the military, do his service and get his education, start a family and a business. But life is far more chaotic than what he promised, and his narrow tunnel vision approach to life leaves him frustrated. Unlike his sister Lani, who submits to the cold waves of cynicism, Ricardo forces himself to bury his emotions and fit the mold of an “upstanding guy.” This facade won’t last long.
Josef — A peoples man. Social yet laid back, erudite but not pretentious, he gets along with nearly everyone. There’s no kicker here, he really is just a chill dude. However, much like Etta, he is observant. He’s noticing patterns in the NSO that he doesn’t like, and ideologies arising within his friends and teammates that spell a grim future… He’s beginning to turn to new ideas and underground knowledge buried by the totalitarian government.
Phillip — Cold, calculating killer. He doesn’t even care about the NSO. He’s here to take magical lives. Absurdity, he believes, is a stain. A perversion of t nature. It is the duty of every man and woman to stamp it out. He likes guns a little too much.
Jason — A whiny, self centered and performative egotist. The type of guy who calls himself a male feminist but still calls any woman he dislikes a bitch. Constantly trumped by his brother Chett in acts of grotesque masculinity, he is incredibly insecure, and resorts to licking his wounds and being an emotional parasite to his girlfriend, Saoirse. To make matters worse, he is jealous of her, ‘emasculated’ by her high stakes job in comparison to him. He eats a lot of lollipops.
Chett — A roided up caricature of a boot boy. This guy loves the NSO almost as much as he likes guns, gains and tits (usually his own). He is an obsessive body builder, morphing his oily, grotesque form with a variety of steroids. He often picks on his little brother Jason, bossing and bullying him around to peacock his perceived superior masculinity.
