Synthworld

Synthworld is a worldbuilding project inspired by world such as: BLAME! Nausicaä, NaissanceE and Sable. I've always been fascinated by settings with ruins and megastructures - coupled with post-(post-)apocalypticism. Themes I'd like to explore are: angency and exploitation, perserverance, identity and the ego, hierarchy and ecology: parasitism, predation and symbiosis.

introduction

Vast, desolate and sparsely populated - the ravaged earth is covered by a world-encompassing industrial growth. Small pockets of life exists but humans, as we know ourselves, are not known to exist in this age. A small number of humanoid synthetic lifeforms walk these meandering, senseless and illogical halls. Searching for answers. Surviving. Thriving. unknowingly replicating some of the most vicious and cruel aspects of humanity - while at the same time showing the same amount of potential to achieve a symbiotic and harmonious existence. The dispersed nature of the population has given rise to many different cultures, beliefsystems and ways of living. Nomads and merchants link these together, moving resources and ideas from place to place. Sleepy, tight-knit communities hang onto local systems of replenishment. Those who wish to live and function as a part of a larger whole, a mutual bond to the struggling ecology, they have put in place; traditions and customs to prevent the accumulation of power - and thus also domination of others, as well as the ecology. The spearhead of this symbiotic-minded society are the "ecologists", whose aim is to aid the slow comeback of the ecology. Through careful transplantation of flora and fauna, new ecosystems are built. Where these aims succeed symbiotic society prevails. They prevail, yet they cannot be perfect. Hierarchy does appear, only with substantial effort is the symbiotic nature of their society upheld. A source of contention within their society is the necessary trade with outside merchants whose motives differ enormously. Dependent on this trade they cannot withdraw from all market activity. The surrounding societies are themselves likewise dependent on the ecologists. This has ensured a long, yet periodically unstable peace.

In other parts of the megastructure, people search for inner harmony - unity. They seek to reject the soma - the body - and fully delve into their psyche. Many eras of prophets have come and gone, none are perhaps as established as the Şebéþian religions - a loosely-knit web of philosophies ranging from absolute orthodoxies to mere philosophical paths toward enlightenment.

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