#topic: human

[collector-wb]

The 1608 Attack on Acolb

history diverges significantly on this point depending on what story you're reading. I'll present the facts leading up to the attack the same, but tell you the AU version under the cut (alongside its consequences).

so! it starts with the West Sea Itsus hiring Morphilan soldiers to invade Acolb. the idea was this: plant bombs in some significang location within the kingdom, blow it up, and create enough chaos in Acolb to incite a panic and internal destruction of the country. the Itsus are staunchly religious (at least, their government is), so seeing the Humans go would be hugely celebrated, and Zlanzgard just likes the money, especially since they aren't being asked to intercede in some religious war (instead to start one, but that isn't a line they're not allowed to cross. not yet, anyway).

and so, in Sidulú of that year, soldiers sneak into the country. there are field spies, mostly, but plenty of ints as well. the ints are automatically sent to places of interest--capitals, castles, universities, etc etc. there, they learn about people that, upon dying, would set the country into a panic. that isn't only the king and his advisors, but celebrities and other local officials. the spies, at the beginning, simply do their best to blend in and find their tools for the next step.

in late Cthìa, that next step begins. the ints inform the spies of their targets. and here is where the guard begins catching on--finding the Morphila in the country and suspecting something wrong. prime case being this: Internal Defense Advisor to the King, Rudolf Murdock, attacked at a swordsmanship event in Slant. this attack wasn't the standard, of course--especially after most of that squad either died or was captured and presumably tortured.

Cthìa is also when they begin planting the bombs. mostly in places like downtown Ijcoc or around Maria (since no way they're sneaking in there, even disguised), but also in cities like Gateship or Zuntal.

the 1st of Súnique is when the operation is executed in full. by this point most of the morphila in Surias have been captured, half of them in Sele have been captured, and plenty of the bombs in other provinces cannot be set off because all the spies in the area were found and captured. however! the bombs in Sele and Surias are most certainly set off.

and here's where the story diverges. if you're here for the AU lore, go below the cut!! if you want to know what happened fr, keep reading here :)

we'll start in Maria. the closest the morphs were able to get is the pipe/sewage system that flows way way way below the city. those go off, and it destabilizes the center of the city into collapse. the External Defense Advisor (Adjara Crutchner), his secretaries, and a few others die because of this, and plenty others are injured. this is considered a success.

onto Ijecoc! morphila were actually able to get inside of the castle housing the King, named Filipe, and his family. the castle also frequently quartered other advisors to the king, like his Economic Advisor, City Design Advisor, and Advancement Advisor. and (despite Advisor Murdock's warnings) they were all at the capital on the day the capital got #exploded. the King, however, was not. instead, he was off in a meeting with Murdock, in Slant, where all of the morphila were captured and likely killed. none of the ints organizing the date of explosion knew of this meeting, with how secretive it was.

but still, the 1st was the date of explosion, and explode the castle did. most of the King's Advisors--dead. most of the castle staff--dead. plenty others in the city around warehouses--dead. King Filipe's family--dead. King Filipe--alive. buuuut not for long, lol. once he hears of his family's death, dude is devastated. he mighta been a dictator but he definitely loved his family! uhmm anyway so he kills himself.

leaving only one person available to take the crown: Internal Defense Advisor Rudolf Murdock. which... didn't spell out good things for the Itsus' intent with this operation.

after the attack on Acolb, and Murdock's ascension to the throne, plenty of things change. for one, all access points to the outside world are cut off. they were already very closed off, but after a year even the gate in Acum was closed up. the walls become higher, and guarded more viciously. for another, all things pertaining to the other species' were removed. books in Revnenge or Common or books about the other species' folklore, or the labs Filipe had to experiment with the transformation, or any speech about the outside world. all of it, gotten rid of. burned or killed or suppressed. basically, after Murdock came to power, EVERYTHING was locked down. not quite what the Itsus wanted.

so that's the attack on Acolb! probably the most important recent historical event on the Saizenas, lol

hope this was interesting!! :D

so, in AU world, everything in Surias remains the same, and most of what happens in Sele remains the same. the one difference: Filipe took his family with him to Slant. they don't die in the Ijecoc explosion, and the King doesn't commit suicide.

instead, the King is outraged by this attack, and declares war on the morphila for it--against Murdock's advice. Murdock recommends shutting the country down, getting everyone locked in and focusing on keeping their people safe, but Filipe's hella insulted by this attack and does not gaf what his advisor's saying.

this is what starts the great war! which DOES ultimately give the Itsus what they wanted... technically. it gets rid of Acolb, but doesn't get rid of Humans as a whole. I think I'll give a full timeline of the war in some other post, even though it isn't canon at all XD

[thekingsparty]

@malumxsubest​ sent a minion: Juliet | Human | Power | Loneliness (for headcanons omg i love you)

loneliness. 

i’ll start right to left this time around, because i’ve actually already written a thing about loneliness because it’s such a huge part of who crowley is & without feeling lonely crowley would never have gotten close to the winchesters, really & he’d most likely still be alive being fabulous. 

power. 

crowley’s hunger & need for power actually goes hand-in-hand with this, because for the longest time he believed that power would make all that hurt go away. being powerful & strong meant he wouldn’t be alone anymore, because obviously. up to some point it actually worked, because power brought crowley the throne, minions etc., but deep down he’s still always help alone. as a human, he was weak, useless & helpless - so when he became a demon crowley swore he’d never again be that. given that rowena also tried to sell him, i’m pretty sure he felt more than just worthless even before she left him to fend for himself. in crowley’s mind, nothing matters more than power, because if he’s the strongest, he can’t get hurt again, right? if only. 

human. 

i’ve been able to explore some of that in purified!crowley threads & it’s not a pretty sight at all. crowley is happy as a demon, he’s happy having left humanity behind - emotions (i mean he still feels plenty, so imagine how bad it would be with added guilt etc. as a human) & all that nonsense. becoming human again, weak, mortal & vulnerable is one of crowley’s biggest fears. 

juliet. 

ending this on a good note. >_> juliet was the smallest & weakest in her litter of hellpups. crowley saw her & immediately fell for her. she stole his heart the second she nuzzled his palm & that will last until the day either of them dies. she’s obviously his favorite, but she’s grown strong & feisty enough to hold up her own against jealous hounds. crowley cuddles with all of them, but she’s the only one allowed in his bed & office. 

[collector-wb]

The Human Kingdom, Acolb

an approximate map of Acolb :) it's generally between the major mountain ranges on Upper Saizena; the northern bounds don't really have walls (the lines were drawn arbitrarily, since there aren't any Human settlements so far north anyway).

they're separated into provinces, not states. if you're confused by the difference, as I once was, let me elucidate (as much as I can, to my level of understanding, ofc): a state can be a sovereign territory that's subject to federal/international laws but can have it's own governmental autonomy, and a province is a subdivision of a larger territory, subject to the overreaching authority of some national government with limited legislative and executive autonomy. basically: the provinces don't have much power.

which gets a little into the political system of Acolb! Acolb's got a monarchy, and has since the country's creation. the citizens of Acolb have no say in the highest leaders of their country, but they do vote for their local police officials! (becoming a police officer--or as they call them, guard--is nigh impossible for those not born into households that have an officer in them. so. the pool is already very selective. but they do get to vote for something!)

very controlling, very authoritative. uhh, no bueno. but the Humans think this system keeps them safe--and they're really not that poor to consider protesting (they think, anyway)--so they don't object to it.

besides! that's not what I wanted to post this for. we're gonna go thru the basics of some of the key provinces!! I'll do it below the cut cuz there are twenty-one provinces total, lmao

we'll start on the left! that's Lita, Alisel, Echil, Pilyat, and Thacar. not a lot to say on them, honestly--they're mostly used for agricultural purposes, since a specific species of grains grow really well in the dry heat behind the mountains, especially down south. sometimes they experience some attacks from the Sekratua living the mountains right to their west, but those became less frequent after 1608! (that last part isn't true for anyone coming from my fic!)

Lita is barely populated. there are plenty of places for military training and incarcerated individuals, but not many normal settlements. very cold up there.

to the right of that, we've got the white collar line. that's Conwis, Vahrad, Sele, Buclom, Surias, and Lenlor.

Sele is where the royal family’s castle is! Also where the most colleges are. City where the castle is humongous and is called Ijecoc.

Surias is the defense/military stronghold; they’ve got their version of the Pentagon, there. Their Pentagon is the city Maria.

most of the higher education organizations are in this line.

like the Lita line, the northern part of this line isn't very populated. there are plenty of mansions in Conwis and Vahrad for the rich, though!

to the right of that, we've got the industrial line. Letal, Inomatin, Riag, and Movetur.

Letal's actually decently populated! ofc, pretty much all of the population is concentrated on the southern border, but it's there!

Inomatin has Samacu, the big lake in the middle of US!

to the right of that, we've got the livestock line. Negray, Vacena, Tusaria, Taman, Slant, and Acum.

these provinces have some of the highest populations! well, actually, that's a lie. Negray, Vacena, Tusaria--they've all got the same approximate populations of Alisel or Riag. but Slant and Acum have a combined population that's close to the entire white collar line.

somewhat relevantly to that last point: both Slant and Acum are fuckin' crazy! in different ways.

Slant--and specifically its capital, Zuntal--is basically gang central. I would equate it to some fictional city with terrible corruption, but I'm afraid I'm not in the right fandom for that. anyway! there is PLENTY of opportunity there for getting rich or popular (fun fact: the most advisors to the kings across the centuries have come from Slant), but the wealth gap for most is insane. pretty much unlivable, if not for all the illicit substances that their elected officials somehow don't manage to catch and put away.

and then there's Acum! Acum's fun, because it's the only city with direct sight out into a green world. which, okay, maybe explains an explanation. so, a quick interjection here--

Acolb's pretty much just concrete and steel. the ground wasn't really viable for planting anything, where Acolb was originally established, so they covered it up to make good, firm housing that would protect them from the long Upper Saizena winters. and as Acolb kept growing, the Humans joining in kept making the same architecture and whatnot, leaving more and more of the ground just covered in stone. by the time they realized they needed to feed themselves, all of the viable land was taken up by their settlements.

they resolved this by making greenhouses. tearing up the concrete--which does do a rather good job at insulating their homes, and their parents tell them concrete is much easier to traverse upon, etc etc--wasn't an option most wanted to take; buildings with the purposes they needed was much easier. greenhouses, the founder of Acolb mused, were also much easier to control. (he liked controlled things.)

so--what little non-concrete/stone ground they have is mostly dirt and weeds or small orchards and gardens that can handle such infertile land. northern Acolb--aka Lita, Alisel, Conwis, Letal, etc etc--is pretty much all of that kind of land, but because most of the land is marshy and freezing for 85% of the year, most don't live there. and because the majority of Humans don't really have the time or resources to travel, wide expanses of plain earth isn't something many experience. bringing us back to the task at hand...

--Acolb is cut through by the widest river on the continent, and the gates allowing the river to pass through the Wall (TM) are surrounded by Acum's biggest city (named, most intuitively, Gateship). the gates obviously can't be solid all of the time, to let the river pass through, so everyone can see the luscious greenery of the outside world. that's what makes Acum citizens a bit cray-cray :)

Taman adopts only a little bit of Slant and Acum's craziness. Taman's chill :]

anyway that was a general overview of Acolb! hope it was interesting :D

[collector-wb]

A bit of history: Humans came to this planet from a spaceship; they aren't native to this planet's ecosystem. Really, all of the humanoid species would count as invasive, since none of them came about due to evolution or anything.

See, all the humanoid species--Morphila, Turakurtz, Itsus, etc--are mutations of Humans.

Soon after arriving on the planet, Humans began to experience physiological and mental changes, each person aligned with one of the eight natural "species" seen already in the world. Early on, "physiological" changes meant no more than simple cosmetic differences (purple bruises that don't seem to go away for Transportau-aligned, for example) and a degradation in their ability to see, and "mental" changes meant mental fog and difficulty remembering everyday things. Later on, when Iau Hegadan-inclined individuals began growing wings and the skin of Sekratua-inclined became permanently purple, the Humans realized they were being changed by something, and they scrambled to find a solution.

And here's the point of this post: Human masks! (below cut cuz this is longer than I thought it would be XD )

Their solution was to cover their eyes, nose, and mouth with metal. Admittedly, their first few iterations weren't completely effective (since there was no rubber seal or satisfactory welding), but they slowed the transformation down some. This is what that mask would look like:

It may be difficult to see with the shading, but it really just has the bare-bones of a mask. It was uncomfortable, and it didn't do its job perfectly. It really restricted the airflow, and the goggles reduced sight greatly. But hey! At least they weren't getting any more blind or becoming living zombies.

Over time--which they now had, due to the masks--they improved the design. Wider goggles, padding on the inside, adjusted and refined breathing parts, etc. etc. I don't have a colored drawing of this mask :( I do have a sketch, though!

The goggles are like one-way glass: people cannot see through the external side, but the Human looking through it from inside can see well! Oh, but they're not very "goggle"-ish. They're more like lenses, since they're connected to the lower part of the mask.

I hope this was interesting! See ya! :D