There's something rotten in the state of StrangerVille. We're determined to to get to the bottom of it. Prove yourself worthy, and we'll let you help.
Club Requirements: Invite Only
Club Hangout: StrangerVille Information Center
Club Activities: Do Research, Use Science Objects, Use Listening Device, Read, Take Photos
Banned Activities: Tend & Harvest Garden, Hail to Mother!
Club Leader: Alice Martin
Club Members: George Cahill, Erwin Pries
StrangerVille absolutely needs a club of meddling kids (and their little cat, too!) determined to figure out just what is going on in that crater. And with three members to start, it's the perfect size to be a playable Sim's posse when it's time to take down the Mother plant.
To learn more about my regional system, click here!
To learn more about Uberwald, click here!
Head of State: Vladdy Daddy The Count of Uberwald
Count Vladislaus appears to be a toothless hereditary monarch like the kings and queens of Tredonia. But reality is a bit more complicated.
On paper, the Counts of Uberwald have a simple succession of system of absolute primogeniture. The current count, after all, is (theoretically) the fourth of his name. But the Counts of Uberwald have always been strangely similar in a way that goes beyond family resemblance. They have never liked to go out in daylight, have always been gifted pipe organ players, and have always had strikingly angular faces with gray-toned skin, white hair, and pale eyes.
The people joke that their count is a vampire. The Uberwald Council knows very well that yes, Count Vladislaus is indeed a vampire who has spent several generations pretending to be his own descendant, and while they’d like to change the laws to make this state of affairs legal, they’re not sure how to do so without alarming the populace. Count Vladislaus himself is tight-lipped about the matter in public, but his intimates report that he finds the whole thing quite amusing.
Another facet of Uberwald’s Noble ranks that non-Uberwaldians find strange is this: the ranks themselves are somewhat lowly (with the region’s Nobles taking on ranks like “keeper of the cellars” and “person in charge of filling the cups” with a straight face) as well as out of order. A Vornic, or an officer in charge of justice, is four levels below a Cupar, or the person in charge of filling the cups at the royal table. Yet when one reflects that the very long-serving Head of State is a Vampire, suddenly everything makes sense.This is not the only way that the government of Uberwald is not exactly as it appears from outside. Elections in Uberwald are free and fair; citizens’ rights are respected; and the count never interferes with the Council’s choice of a Prime Minister. Indeed, the count never expresses any political opinion in public and only rarely discusses politics in private. But every Prime Minister swiftly finds that the count has certain legislative priorities and projects that will be respected … or else. Prime Ministers who refuse to entertain the count’s gentle hints often find themselves needing to resign for reasons of ill health, with anemia and memory issues being the chief complaints.
Noble Titles
Quick key: Gender-differentiated titles will be listed in this order: Masculine | Feminine | Neutral. Titles for children and spouses of an office-holder will be directly under the office title.
These titles were all adapted from medieval Romanian titles, so an explanation is included in parentheses for each title.
Level 1: Bogatyr | Bogatrina | Bogatrum (Knight)
The Honorable
Level 2: Spatar | Spatrina | Spectrum (Second-in-command of the army)
The Honorable
Level 3: Dregator | Dregatrina | Dregatrum (General title for court officials)
Lord | Lady | Lordem
Level 4: Vornic | Vornicina | Vornicum (Officer in charge of justice)
Lord | Lady | Lordem
Level 5: Clucer | Clucerina | Clucerum (Person in charge of the court household and servants)
Lord | Lady | Lordem
Level 6: Sluger | Slugerina | Slugerum (Person in charge of meat supplies for the court)
Lord | Lady | Lordem
Level 7: Chelar | Chelarina | Chelarum (Person in charge of cellars and food stores)
Lord | Lady | Lordem
Level 8: Cupar | Cuparina | Cuparrum (Person in charge of filling the cups at the high table)
This is part of my ongoing series of myths I developed for the religions in my game. To learn more about the religions of SimNation, click here!
The Creation of the World
In the beginning, there was the Watcher. The Watcher was all that there was in the universe.
And the Watcher was bored.
So the Watcher started to create. First, the Watcher created the sky and the stars, the land and the waters. But that wasn’t enough. So the Watcher created plants and animals, birds and fish. That still wasn’t enough. Next, the Watcher created the Holy Llamas - creatures fair of form and wise of mind, but on the whole, quite tame. It still wasn’t enough, so finally, the Watcher created creatures in Their own image – the Sims.
But even that wasn’t enough. The Watcher played with the Sims, but they were like dolls. They did what the Watcher wanted them to do, but they never thought for themselves. They were never surprising.
The Watcher was getting bored again. So the Watcher thought and thought … and then They breathed into the Sims, gave them the ability to think and feel, and endowed them with the responsibility to make their own decisions.
In short, the Watcher gave them Free Will.
Then the Watcher sat back, popped some popcorn, and watched with a glint in Their eye.
This is part of my ongoing series of myths I developed for the religions in my game. To learn more about the religions of SimNation, click here!
How Death Entered the World
After the Watcher had excoriated Mother Nature and cursed her, They were still wroth for quite some time. But eventually they had no choice but to put their wrath aside, for there was still a major problem: the overcrowding Mother Nature and her band of foolish, deluded Sims had caused.
The Watcher surveyed Their creation in near-despair. “How could it all have gone wrong so soon?” They said. “The world is too crowded. Sims can barely eat or sleep or turn around. Is there anything to be done but to destroy it and begin anew?”
Now, there was another Holy Llama near the Watcher when They said this. This Llama was very different from Mother Nature. He had no great love for creation, saving all his love and worship for the Watcher. And when he saw the great sorrow the Watcher had, he was moved to speak.
“Lord Watcher,” he said timidly, “perhaps there might be another way?”
The Watcher turned a wrathful Eye on the Llama, and the Llama quailed - but he took courage and kept speaking. “The–the problem with the world now, as I see it, is that there are too many things in too little space. This is because once things are created, be they Sims or plants or animals, they stay forever. Might there be a way to … to let some older things pass from existence, to make way for new ones?”
The Watcher stared and glared and growled - and then looked thoughtful. “This is grim advice you give, little Llama.”
“Yes, Lord Watcher,” said the Llama, “but it is the only advice I have.”
“Tell me, little Llama,” said the Watcher, “your advice - does it also apply to the Sims?”
The Llama looked down on the world and thought, and then he sighed and nodded. “I do not see how it could not, Lord Watcher. The Sims depend on the animals and the plants to keep them fed and clothed and warm. If we were to allow some of them to pass but let the Sims keep growing in number, eventually the Sims would have fewer and fewer resources to keep them comfortable. It would be a sad and miserable existence.”
“You are correct,” the Watcher said, “but you forget that the Sims are My most favorite creations. I know them all; I watch them all; I love them all. Are you saying I should destroy them, one by one, to make way for new ones?”
The Llama did not answer right away, thinking. “Do not Sims have a soul?”
“They do.”
“Then–it–it seems to me that the problem is not that there are too many Sim souls in the world, but rather too many Sim bodies. If Sim bodies were to pass, then the souls could return here, to your Kingdom, where there is plenty of room for them, and where there is no need to fight over resources.”
Then and only then did the Watcher smile. “Oh, well done, little Llama! You have spoken the solution!”
The little Llama puffed himself up with pride, pleased that he had pleased the Watcher.
“But make no mistake: this solution is a grim one, and it will require a Llama of unparalleled devotion to put it into effect.” The Watcher watched the Llama closely. “How devoted are you to Me, little Llama?”
The Llama quailed and gulped - but he answered honestly, with his whole heart. “I am but a little Llama, and doubtless there are many braver, wiser, and more devoted to you than I - but I am devoted to you with all my heart and all my soul, little though both may be.”
“And that,” said the Watcher, “is all the devotion I could ever ask for.” The Watcher clapped Their hands - and the little Llama changed. Their body shifted from that of the graceful four-legged llama to something like a Sim’s, albeit incomplete - mostly bones, wrapped in a cloak for modesty.
“Little Llama,” said the Watcher, “you have signed up for a grim duty, so a grim form you must have. Here.” They handed the Llama a scythe, the sharpest there ever was or ever could be. “Henceforth, you shall be known as the Grim Reaper, for that will be your duty: to go down to SimEarth and reap those that have stayed overlong on it, sending the souls to Me and sending the bodies to the earth.”
The Grim Reaper - for so he would be called forevermore - bowed low. “It shall be done as You command, Lord Watcher.” And down he hurried to SimEarth, reaping and reaping and reaping, until Sims had room to move and breathe and eat and drink and turn around again.
And the Watcher saw this, and saw that Their commands and the Grim Reaper’s work were good. But They knew that the story was not yet over.
To learn more about the religions of SimNation, click here!
Ancient, august, and awe-inspiring, the Jacoban faith centers on the worship of the Watcher. Though it has calmed down a bit from its draconian medieval days, the faith is still one of the most popular in SimNation, seeking spiritual and temporal power in near-equal measure.
The Watcher (They/Them) is the central figure of the Jacoban Faith. Jacobans believe They are exacting, merciless, and prone to vengeance. Therefore, it is every Jacoban’s duty to learn the dictates of the Watcher and follow them for fear of terrible retribution. Yet those who remain upright and true in the eyes of the Watcher have a chance of earning Their favor.
The Jacoban faith is strict and hierarchical; followers are exhorted not to think for themselves on religious matters but rather to follow the guidance of their clergy (shepherds). Shepherds in turn take orders from their superiors in a chain that goes all the way up to the head of the church, called the proxy. The proxy is both the temporal ruler of the religious city-state of Yacothia and the spiritual leader of the Jacoban Church. Yet even they do not sit atop the hierarchy: they are called the proxy because they are believed to speak for Jacob, the legendary founder of the faith, who in turn spoke for the Watcher.
For all the faith’s strictness, it is not immune to changing with the times - and change it has. While sermons are still full of fire and brimstone, there is a sort of winking indulgence from the pulpit, a sense that the Sims in the pews are not the ones who need to fear the fire (too much). A lot of this has to do with a doctrine that came about in the Age of Piracy, that of the Watched and the UnWatched.
It goes like this: the Watcher, of course, sees all, knows all, creates and affects all. But just because the Watcher can see all does not mean They are paying attention to everything all the time. Instead, They devote their time and attention to Their special favorites, the Watched. Those Sims are well-poised to win the Watcher’s good will - or earn Their wrath. Meanwhile, the UnWatched are able to go about their lives with little interference from the Watcher, but without the rewards the Watcher bestows on the Watched.
Of course, believing there are Watched and UnWatched gets the average believer nowhere unless they can tell the difference between the two, but Jacobans believe they can do just that. The Watched, they reason, are those who seem to enjoy especially blessed or charmed lives: climbing to the tops of their careers, earning fame and friendships, enjoying positive milestones and avoiding negative ones. True, they can also lead spectacularly awful lives, but those lives are typically well-earned. Meanwhile, the UnWatched go through life as if on autopilot: never achieving true success, having no real depth of relationships, and often (this is the real tell) dressing in atrocious fashion. They aren’t important; they are the NPCs of life.
As for individual believers? Well, if they’re lucky enough to hear about the Watched and the UnWatched, then naturally they must be one of the Watched. Otherwise, why would the Watcher even permit them to take part in the true faith? Even if an individual isn’t sure if they are Watched or not, it’s important to live as if they are Watched, because - as anyone who has seen a spectacular and instantaneous townie makeover can attest - the UnWatched can become the Watched in an instant.
In the end, that’s the key doctrine of the Jacoban faith: live as if you are being Watched at any moment. Embrace material success, follow your (worthy) aspirations, and feel superior to all non-Jacobans you meet. For that is how you find favor with the Watcher - and with the Watcher’s favor, all things are truly possible.
Welcome to StrangerVille! We are but a group of concerned citizens striving to make life better in our fair town. ĴØIŇ UŞ IŇ ŦĦ€ ĆŘΔŦ€Ř - er, at 8 Bells, of course!
Club Requirements: Be Infected by the Mother
Club Hangout: 8 Bells in StrangerVille
Club Activities: Drink Bar Drinks, Tend and Harvest Garden, Play Pub Games, Be Funny, Hail to Mother!
Banned Activities: Be Friendly to Mystery Inc.
Club Leader: Ted Roswell
Club Members: Jess Sigworth, Leslie Holland
The StrangerVille Boosters are, of course, a completely normal group of concerned citizens just trying to do their best for their town.
Nothing to see here. Nothing to worry about.
Oh, you want to join? Sure! Just one condition. A little ritual we have, you might say. No, it's not hazing.
All you have to do is eat this little red fruit - and you'll be one of us in no time.
This is the start of my series of myths from the five religions I plan to have in my game. To learn more about the religions of SimNation, click here!
The Creation of the World
In the beginning, there was the Watcher. The Watcher was all that there was in the universe.
But the Watcher was not content with this state of affairs. So the Watcher started to create.
First, the Watcher created the sky and the stars, the land and the waters. But that wasn’t enough. So the Watcher created plants and animals, birds and fish. That still wasn’t enough. They next created the Holy Llamas, but the Llamas were limited company. Finally, the Watcher created creatures in Their own image: the Sims. To them, the Watcher gave comely forms, passionate emotions, and Free Will - something even the Holy Llamas did not have.
The Sims were the most precious of the Watcher’s creations, Their dearest darlings and the apple of Their eye. Though the Watcher’s love for the Holy Llamas was boundless, it could not compare to the love They bore the Sims.
However, not all the Holy Llamas were as enamoured of the Sims as the Watcher was. One was far more interested in the rest of the Watcher’s creation. She would spend hours, days, even weeks among the birds and the bees, the plants and the trees. She learned the intricacies of the seasons and the wonders of animals. And sometimes, in her wanderings, she would run across Sims.
Now, this Llama knew well that Sims were the Watcher’s favorites among all Their creation. And though the Llama did not understand this love, she respected it. So she treated the Sims she met kindly. She changed her form into that of another Sim (green-skinned, but a Sim) so they would not be frightened of her. When they were curious, she answered their questions. She taught them all she knew about care for the earth and the waters.
With many faithful servants by her side, the Llama was able to devote even more of her time and energy to caring for the Watcher’s creation. And her servants used the power and magic she had given them to bring even more life and fruit to the world. The Llama’s servants were very fond of her and even gave her a kind nickname, Mother Nature, since no Sim could ever hope to pronounce her true Llama name.
One such servant, called Spruce by their people, seemed especially promising. Mother Nature took a particular shine to them, teaching them more and more of her powers and secrets. Spruce, in turn, became more and more enamored of Mother Nature with every passing day. Soon the two were inseparable; they even took in a little girl (named Sylvia) and began to raise her as their own.
But Spruce was not entirely content with this state of affairs. As a Sim with Free Will, they were far bolder than Mother Nature. They began to experiment with the magic Mother Nature had taught them. First, they melded the magic of the earth with the life-force of Sims themselves to create Plantsims. Then, they used the magic of fire and water to create Spellcasters and Merfolk respectively.
Mother Nature saw all this and delighted in Spruce’s ingenuity. So she helped Spruce in their experiments and made the various life states they had created permanent. She even added a life state of her own to the mix, infusing the Moondrop Springs in Innisgreen with her emotions and creating Fairies.
These might have been good things, but for two problems: one, the world had only so much space, and the profusion of life meant it was getting very crowded. Two, in their zeal to care for the earth, Mother Nature, Spruce, and Mother Nature’s other servants began to neglect the worship of the Watcher.
Of course the Watcher soon became aware of this - and when They did, They were wroth. “What is the meaning of this?” They bellowed. “Do ye not remember where ye came from, who made ye, and to whom ye owe your allegiance and worship?”
Of course, when the Sims heard this, they wailed in great despair, falling prostrate before the Watcher’s feet and begging Their forgiveness. The Watcher was moved to grant it, though not before smiting some of the Sims - afflicting the Spellcasters with curses, the Plantsims with unholy Myconid and Spriggan forms, the Merfolk with corrupt Kelpie forms as well as Aquatic Weaknesses, and Fairies with a crippling reliance on the emotions of others.
But Mother Nature, Holy Llama though she was, did not fall prostrate, did not despair. “Great Watcher, how could You?” she cried. “These Sims did nothing but care for Your creation! How is that not as pure a worship as lighting incense or singing Your praises? They dirtied their hands and broke their backs caring for the world You made - as did I!”
The Watcher glared at her. “Is that what you truly believe? That this is as holy a form of showing reverence and obedience as the worship I command?”
Mother Nature quailed - but she did not give in. “Yes. I do.”
“Then so be it!” cried the Watcher. “If this is what you believe, then by all means, keep worshiping Me like this - and stay here, on SimEarth, forever, or until you learn proper respect!”
Mother Nature cried out in shock and shame - but it was too late. The Watcher’s curse was spoken, and it could never be broken until Mother Nature bowed to the Watcher’s Will and worshiped Them in the way They demanded.
But this Mother Nature will not do. She is so blinded by pride that she refuses to see how she is wrong. Instead, she continues to wander SimEarth, caring for every plant and animal she finds, and she exhorts Sims to follow her and her misguided ways. She is not evil; she is still a Holy Llama; she still loves the Watcher and does not tempt Sims to true wickedness. But she is dangerously deluded and blinded by pride, and all Sims should stay well away from her.
And that is how the world was created, and how things in it first began to go wrong. But that is not the end of the story. There is still much more to tell.
While every religion in SimNation preaches some form of tolerance, in practice, many of them have specific opinions about the various occult life states that also populate SimNation. The Jacoban Church firmly believes that all occults are not created equal, and that good Jacobans must practice discernment in order to treat each occult according to the Watcher’s Will. This is what they teach their followers about Spellcasters, Servos, Werewolves, Fairies, Sylvan Fae, and Witches.
Spellcasters
Spellcasters round out the Twisted Trio of occult states created thanks to Spruce and Mother Nature’s hubris (Plantsims, Merfolk, Spellcasters - Fairies, being creations of Mother Nature alone, are in their own category). Of the three, though, Jacobans see Spellcasters as the worst in some respects. For instance, Merfolk and Plantsims have a relatively limited set of powers closely related to their environments, but Spellcasters have a much bigger range of spells. And unlike Plantsims or even Merfolk, Spellcasters blend right into the normal population of Sims.
Worst of all, Spellcasters have shown themselves to be affected by hubris as bad as or possibly worse than Mother Nature’s or even Spruce’s. Their mad desire to push their magic to its limits led to the creation of Cowplants, Werewolves, and Vampires (though the latter’s creation was influenced by the Watcher to attempt to bring the Spellcasters to heel). Of course, Spellcasters also have genuinely useful spells, so Jacobans have typically refrained from calling for mass witch-burnings. Though relations have had their ups and downs, the fact that Spellcasters can and will burn Jacobans back is probably what has kept them safest.
Thanks to their more useful spells, Spellcasters are permitted to join the Jacoban Church - if they promise to only use their magic in pro-social, Watcher-approved ways. Some Jacobans even attempt to convert as many Spellcasters as possible in the hopes of “containing” the “threat.” (For some reason, especially in modern times, many Spellcasters are not enticed by this rhetoric.) However, even though the Jacoban Church will tolerate Spellcasters who were Spellcasters before they became Jacobans (whether they’re adult converts who were already Spellcasters or were born into the faith as Spellcasters), it will not tolerate Jacobans who actively choose to become Spellcasters. Jacobans who choose to become Spellcasters will not be excommunicated, but their penance will invariably be to give up their magic and return to the correct way of being: normal Sims, the way the Watcher made them.
Servos
Jacobans are horrified by the existence of Servos and see them as the most ghastly display of Sim hubris since the creation of Werewolves, one that might even exceed the hubris of Spruce in animating the gnomes. Jacobans believe that Servos do not and cannot have a soul - only the Watcher can grant a soul to Sims, and the Watcher only grants a soul to Sims. (Aliens just barely pass the “has a soul” test.) Jacobans do not allow Servos to convert and will excommunicate any Sim who builds or activates a Servo. Indeed, the Jacoban Church holds the use of all robots, like Utili-Bots, robotic vacuums, and streaming drones, as sinful, but many less pious Jacobans flout this teaching and have these labor-saving devices in their homes anyway.
However, for all that the Jacoban Church does not like the existence of Servos, it does recognize that they are useful. Jacobans are permitted to have Servos in their households provided they did not create or initialize them - if the Servos have to exist, it’s better that they be under the “control” of good Jacobans. (The Jacoban Church justifies allowing this while forbidding other robots by pointing out that Servos have something like sentience and free will, so must be monitored and controlled. Meanwhile, a robotic vacuum left on the shelf of a department store will only gather dust.) If the law says that Servos must be paid for labor, then Jacobans must follow the law. However, Jacobans believe that true friendship or - shudder - romantic relationships with Servos are either impossible or deeply perverted. And marrying one is absolutely out of the question. Any Jacoban who tries will end up excommunicated.
Werewolves
If there could be a creature more emblematic of hubris than Servos or Spellcasters, it would be the Werewolf. Spellcasters came about thanks to Spruce and Mother Nature’s hubris, and Servos, while they are certainly hubristic, were the result of scientists and engineers more focused on whether they could than whether they should. But Werewolves? Werewolves were created during the First Vampire War when Spellcasters were attempting to evade the Watcher’s rightful punishment. They are not to be borne!
No good Jacoban will permit themselves to befriend or sympathize with a Werewolf unless that Werewolf moves past their wicked, feral ways. The Watcher must surely shun Werewolves even as good Jacobans do. If a Werewolf sees the light and wishes to join the Jacoban Church, they must first find a cure for their condition - whether they were turned into a Werewolf later in life or were born as one. Any Jacoban who willingly becomes a Werewolf is instantly excommunicated.
Of course, Jacobans do realize that some Sims are turned into Werewolves without their consent. Those Sims are not automatically excommunicated, though they can expect to face harsh penance for their stupidity in allowing this to happen to them. They also need to cure themselves as soon as possible. If they don’t seek and take a cure as quickly as they can, then Jacoban authorities will assume that they were turned into Werewolves willingly and will excommunicate them accordingly.
Strangely, there are vanishingly few Werewolves who seek to convert to the Jacoban faith, and those Jacobans who do get turned into Werewolves tend to either get cured as soon as possible or leave the faith of their own accord.
Fairies
The Jacoban Church cannot claim to be fond of Fairies. Fairies are, of course, creatures of Mother Nature’s hubris, and no good Jacoban can deny that they can often lack propriety and can be a bit flighty. However, neither can any good Jacoban deny that Fairies have placed themselves on the side of righteousness from time to time, most notably during the Gnome Wars. Therefore, the Jacoban Church holds that while Fairies are not the most favored, proper life state (that, of course, is normal Sims), neither are they anathema in the way Werewolves or Plantsims and Merfolks are.
Both born Fairies and those who chose this life state later in life are permitted to join the Jacoban Church, provided they follow the proper doctrine of the church and forswear any further contact with Mother Nature not explicitly authorized by the church. (The church hasn’t officially authorized any such contact in centuries, but the proxies like to keep their options open.) Fairies get more lenience than Vampires for a very simple reason: any Fairy who wishes to renounce their wings must make contact with Mother Nature, and contact with Mother Nature is exactly what Jacobans are trying to avoid.
Of course, any Jacoban who becomes a Fairy is instantly excommunicated - but especially in these modern times, when freedom of religion is the norm, it’s safe to assume that any Sim who goes out of their way to become a Fairy was halfway out the church door anyway.
Sylvan Fae
The Jacoban Church is not aware of the existence of Sylvan Fae - not even the proxy and high-ranking church members. (If they did, they would out Sylvan Fae immediately.) On the rare occasion that a Jacoban becomes aware of a Sylvan Fae, they tend to assume that the Fae is a Fairy and treat them accordingly.
Sylvan Fae, being well aware of the hostility that Jacobans have toward most occult life states, tend to stay well away from the Jacoban Church and Yacothia. Practically no Sylvan Fae are born into the Jacoban faith, and those who learn about the faith as adults and seek to convert (for some reason) will often seek a cure for their Fae nature of their own accord before attempting to go through the conversion process.
Witches
Jacobans are no more aware of the existence of Witches than they are of Sylvan Fae. (Again, if they knew, they would out the Witches.) Witches have an easy time passing as Spellcasters, so the average Jacoban finding a Witch at work will almost certainly assume they are a Spellcaster and treat them accordingly.
Because Witches can “blend in” as Spellcasters, there are some Witch families who follow the Jacoban faith. However, these families are very rare, and with every passing generation, more and more Witches fall away from the faith in search of more welcoming options. On the rare occasion that a Witch seeks to join the Jacoban with, they will almost certainly give up their magic before changing their faith.
To learn more about the religions of SimNation, click here! And to learn more about the Jacoban Church, click here.
