Post by Insano-Man on Sept 17, 2018 14:53:28 GMT -5
This topic is a child of the Setting Overview article directory.
ERFBOUND
A long time ago, there was a planet that'd gotten so fed up with the laws governing the universe that it just left. It packed its bags, tore a hole through time and space, and went sightseeing. That planet's still out there, roaming between star systems and falling into wormholes. It's still just as much of a rebel as it was then. Nobody knows what it used to be - for all anyone onboard knows, it was Earth. Some people are so snarky they even call it "Erf". These days, most people are comfortable just calling it Set, after the Egyptian god of days long past.
Set is a superterrestrial world about three times the size of Earth. It didn't earn the nickname "Erf" by accident; go down onto the surface and you'd have a hard time telling the difference. Green grass, deer, scorpions - it's got everything. Snowy peaks, scorching deserts, breezy forests - it's got it everywhere. 24 hour days, 365 days a year, seasonal weather - it's even on-time for Christmas. All over and everywhere in between, mankind's doing its best to stay alive on the joyride across the cosmos.
Set can't get enough of humans. It's got plenty of aliens, but mankind's always been there, split up across small towns, nutty bunkers, and space stations all over. Set likes humanity so much that it's been spitting humans and ruins out from near the center of the planet for as long as anyone can remember. Nobody knows why. The people that actually survive the trip certainly don't remember being inside a planet before. Some have even got alternate histories to tell - and not a whole lot of hard evidence to back them up.
Mankind's not alone on Set. It's got plenty of aliens, indeed. Some showed up to see what all the fuss was about. Others couldn't find anywhere that'd take them in. Others still just sort of turned up one day without any kind of explanation at all. Some of them are nice, some are a bit picky, some are downright feral, but space over Set certainly isn't empty. Some have been here a while, some have gone extinct, some might not technically be aliens at all, but intelligence isn't something exclusive anymore.
It's not just aliens. Monsters and mutants are everywhere on the planet. Some are so thick in places that you can't go two feet without losing yours. Some are so weird and strange that no one's been able to explain how they ever managed to start existing in the first place. Some don't even do anything. Some are even part of the land itself. Plenty more coexist with earthly counterparts in ecosystems that actually make sense. New kinds of critters are everywhere from out in orbit right down to the deepest caverns on the planet.
Even the planet itself is a bit barmy. Just about everywhere you look, the laws of physics and good sense are violated on a daily basis. Some areas are inexplicably on fire. Gravity goes the wrong way in a few. Continents like to disappear and the underground's full of caves and holes that should've collapsed in on themselves by now. It gets even stranger the deeper you go; in some places underground, details of reality just go missing for no reason at all. Perhaps a bit unsurprisingly, monsters go up in quantity and ferocity with every inch underground.
Together with all that, Set's wormhole jumps just add to the level of confusion. Nobody knows why it's doing it and nobody knows where it's trying to go. Nobody's even really sure if they're wormholes Set's falling into - could be that the universe around it's just started to lose its marbles. One way or another, Set's got a tight grip on where it ends up. Every time, it arrives at just the same day length, at just the right distance from its star, at just the right speed to stay in orbit. For as long as anyone can remember, Set's never been uninhabitable. It's just not the most gracious of hosts.
Whether by choice or by mistake, Set's been home to three major factions with a bit of a flair for the insane. The oldest, grumpiest, and least dramatic about it are the Loonies, bunker-dwelling, quasi-military survivalists with a tight no-trespassing policy. Up in the stars above are the youngest, the Space Loonies - really, it's right there in the name. In the viscous meatscapes across Set, slathered in blood and tumors, the Cult of Meat reigns supreme. Their name doesn't leave much to the imagination, either; they know they're a death cult and they're not trying to hide it.
Each one's been fighting eachother - or giving eachother dirty looks - for at least four centuries. No one really thinks it's ever going to end, but a decent amount are ready to take sides. Haughty or not, the Loonies and Space Loonies get the most approval - nobody's really keen on being turned into a meat monster, as it turns out. Both usually end up tag-teaming against the Cult of Meat, but that's about as much ground as they have in common these days. Shared name or not, the Loonies and Space Loonies don't get along. A lot of bad blood in their history and a lot of staffing disagreements. Most are just happy enough that they're not killing eachother anymore. Not most of the time, anyways.
The meat grows, bunkers rise, and fleets form, but the biggest stories on Set always happen way out in the middle of nowhere where nobody'll ever hear about them. It's a funny thing about the planet; the wilderness always seems to just get bigger no matter how many people push into it. Strange things happen out there in the wild territories. The fate of the planet's probably been decided a fair few times by a bunch of nobodies with big backpacks and bigger dreams. On a planet that can't keep still, it can't be much of a surprise to anyone. Here on Set, the wanderer, the explorer, and the adventurer are all the stars of the show. A good story is all it's after - and nobody said it had to make sense.
ERFBOUND
A long time ago, there was a planet that'd gotten so fed up with the laws governing the universe that it just left. It packed its bags, tore a hole through time and space, and went sightseeing. That planet's still out there, roaming between star systems and falling into wormholes. It's still just as much of a rebel as it was then. Nobody knows what it used to be - for all anyone onboard knows, it was Earth. Some people are so snarky they even call it "Erf". These days, most people are comfortable just calling it Set, after the Egyptian god of days long past.
Set is a superterrestrial world about three times the size of Earth. It didn't earn the nickname "Erf" by accident; go down onto the surface and you'd have a hard time telling the difference. Green grass, deer, scorpions - it's got everything. Snowy peaks, scorching deserts, breezy forests - it's got it everywhere. 24 hour days, 365 days a year, seasonal weather - it's even on-time for Christmas. All over and everywhere in between, mankind's doing its best to stay alive on the joyride across the cosmos.
Set can't get enough of humans. It's got plenty of aliens, but mankind's always been there, split up across small towns, nutty bunkers, and space stations all over. Set likes humanity so much that it's been spitting humans and ruins out from near the center of the planet for as long as anyone can remember. Nobody knows why. The people that actually survive the trip certainly don't remember being inside a planet before. Some have even got alternate histories to tell - and not a whole lot of hard evidence to back them up.
Mankind's not alone on Set. It's got plenty of aliens, indeed. Some showed up to see what all the fuss was about. Others couldn't find anywhere that'd take them in. Others still just sort of turned up one day without any kind of explanation at all. Some of them are nice, some are a bit picky, some are downright feral, but space over Set certainly isn't empty. Some have been here a while, some have gone extinct, some might not technically be aliens at all, but intelligence isn't something exclusive anymore.
It's not just aliens. Monsters and mutants are everywhere on the planet. Some are so thick in places that you can't go two feet without losing yours. Some are so weird and strange that no one's been able to explain how they ever managed to start existing in the first place. Some don't even do anything. Some are even part of the land itself. Plenty more coexist with earthly counterparts in ecosystems that actually make sense. New kinds of critters are everywhere from out in orbit right down to the deepest caverns on the planet.
Even the planet itself is a bit barmy. Just about everywhere you look, the laws of physics and good sense are violated on a daily basis. Some areas are inexplicably on fire. Gravity goes the wrong way in a few. Continents like to disappear and the underground's full of caves and holes that should've collapsed in on themselves by now. It gets even stranger the deeper you go; in some places underground, details of reality just go missing for no reason at all. Perhaps a bit unsurprisingly, monsters go up in quantity and ferocity with every inch underground.
Together with all that, Set's wormhole jumps just add to the level of confusion. Nobody knows why it's doing it and nobody knows where it's trying to go. Nobody's even really sure if they're wormholes Set's falling into - could be that the universe around it's just started to lose its marbles. One way or another, Set's got a tight grip on where it ends up. Every time, it arrives at just the same day length, at just the right distance from its star, at just the right speed to stay in orbit. For as long as anyone can remember, Set's never been uninhabitable. It's just not the most gracious of hosts.
Whether by choice or by mistake, Set's been home to three major factions with a bit of a flair for the insane. The oldest, grumpiest, and least dramatic about it are the Loonies, bunker-dwelling, quasi-military survivalists with a tight no-trespassing policy. Up in the stars above are the youngest, the Space Loonies - really, it's right there in the name. In the viscous meatscapes across Set, slathered in blood and tumors, the Cult of Meat reigns supreme. Their name doesn't leave much to the imagination, either; they know they're a death cult and they're not trying to hide it.
Each one's been fighting eachother - or giving eachother dirty looks - for at least four centuries. No one really thinks it's ever going to end, but a decent amount are ready to take sides. Haughty or not, the Loonies and Space Loonies get the most approval - nobody's really keen on being turned into a meat monster, as it turns out. Both usually end up tag-teaming against the Cult of Meat, but that's about as much ground as they have in common these days. Shared name or not, the Loonies and Space Loonies don't get along. A lot of bad blood in their history and a lot of staffing disagreements. Most are just happy enough that they're not killing eachother anymore. Not most of the time, anyways.
The meat grows, bunkers rise, and fleets form, but the biggest stories on Set always happen way out in the middle of nowhere where nobody'll ever hear about them. It's a funny thing about the planet; the wilderness always seems to just get bigger no matter how many people push into it. Strange things happen out there in the wild territories. The fate of the planet's probably been decided a fair few times by a bunch of nobodies with big backpacks and bigger dreams. On a planet that can't keep still, it can't be much of a surprise to anyone. Here on Set, the wanderer, the explorer, and the adventurer are all the stars of the show. A good story is all it's after - and nobody said it had to make sense.
