#loredump

[nopanamaman]

How do mutants in the Facility live?

Patreon Loredump. August 2023

One of the most frequent types of questions I get are about life in the Facility. So it seems like a good topic to start my loredumping series with! 

Apologies in advance for all the photo examples, I hope they work fine for getting the vibes across.

Overview

The facility dome is visible in the distance.

The facility in general – or, as it’s officially known, the Zh. I. Alferov National Institute of Anomalous Research – is a large structure located on the border of the Zone. Its most notable feature is the massive dome surrounded by an outside wall.

The wall. In real life, the famous building of НИЦЭВТ.

The latter is a building in itself, containing offices, lecture halls, resting and dining quarters for researchers, as well as minor labs. All entrances are supervised, though not totally closed off to the public. Excursions, official meetings, TV reports – all of those happen within the wall.

But you will not find any mutants here. As you may have already guessed, all the major laboratories, anomalous artefacts, and, of course, mutants are housed in the dome. The entrances to the dome are monitored and equipped with anomaly scanners, allowing only authorised personnel and mutants to travel between its sectors.

Mutants cannot traverse the facility unsupervised.

What is the mutant classification system?

Depending on their anomalous characteristics, cooperability and method of containment, mutants are sorted into types and numbered groups. Individual mutant numbers usually look like XT000-000.

Let’s use Dmitry as an example.

Dima’s serial number is DT001-319.

The type constitutes the first part of the mutant’s number. Dima’s mutation is Directional Type, hence the letters DT at the start (for the record, KT stands for Kernel Type).

Next we have the 00X number. Mutants are assigned a 001, 002, 003 or 004 class depending on the potency and containability of their mutation – kinda like SCPs, yeah. Dima has a very powerful mutation he has good control over, plus he is sound of mind, making him suitable for 001 containment.

The last three digits are the overall number of the mutant within their type. So if Dima’s are 319, the facility has had 318 directional-type mutants on record prior to his arrival. This does not mean they were as powerful or had the same level of control over their telekinesis, just that they possessed a similar mutation to some extent.

How do different mutant classes live?

001

001 quarters example. Not too different from a hospital or sanatorium

Subjects ranked as 001 are extremely powerful, have good control over their powers and are, most importantly, docile. Since their mutations are very potent and difficult to forcefully contain, the go-to approach is making them not want to leave.

001s spend most (if not all) of their conscious lives surrounded by doctors. The latter foster a particular mindset in their subjects, where the world outside is presented as a place that is unanimously hostile to mutants. This is done by means of propaganda, reminders about their family’s supposed mistreatment and, in case a mutant has some favourable recollections of their childhood, gaslighting. Additionally, subjects are never left alone with each other.

001s get very luxurious treatment by facility's standards, with much bigger, more comfortable rooms than other mutant types. They're even allowed to have gaming consoles, TVs with VHS and video players, and their own bookshelves. Each mutant has their own separate room, which is kept under constant camera surveillance with the toilet being the only blind spot.

Special folders are issued to 001s before experiments with lower-ranked mutants.

Experiments held on 001s are relatively humane so as not to discourage them from staying at the facility. They do undergo daily checkups mostly designed to monitor their mental state. 001s are also active participants in experimentation on lower-ranked mutants, who they are taught and encouraged to treat as lesser beings.

001s are a high-risk investment, so their numbers are far smaller than those of 002 and 003-class mutants. Additionally, because of the potential danger they present, the institute is quick to dispose of 001 subjects by either termination or reclassification to 004. Though, if a 001 manages to stay cooperative long-term, they can become a very valuable asset for the facility.

002 and 003

002 and 003 quarters example. Though, they’re typically not as well-kept

002 and 003 mutant classes can be grouped together, since their treatment is largely the same. Both of these types’ mutations are easy to forcibly contain. The difference is their danger levels. 003s require close monitoring to not be harmful to others, while 002s are borderline harmless. Both types are characterised by general cooperability.

002s live in wards for 2 to 4 people, while 003s are more commonly placed in single-person wards to prevent accidents. A standard room includes a bed, a desk and a small bathroom (multiple beds and two desks in bigger wards).

KT got to take a dinosaur plushie to her room for good behaviour.

Mutants are allowed to borrow books from the library, as well as get drawing and writing materials. If they behave well, they can get a toy or even be lent a handheld console for a few days. 

002s and 003s have breakfasts, lunches and dinners together, and can spend some time in the playroom with other mutants (that’s also where they can play computer games and watch TV) – all under very strict surveillance, of course.

In some ways, their treatment is much less cruel than that of the elite 001 subjects.

KT before the DT experiment.

Though, not when it comes to experiments. 002s and 003s are very common, and are thus treated as disposable material in a scientific sense. The people holding experiments on them are a lot less concerned with minimising the subject’s pain or discomfort. Consequently, it’s not uncommon for mutants of these classes to sustain serious injuries or die as a result of experimentation.

That said, 002s have the highest likelihood of getting released from the facility, given they meet the conditions for it (more on that below).

004

004 quarters example. Basically a prison bunker

004 is a special category reserved for powerful mutants that refuse or physically cannot cooperate. This number can also be issued as a temporary or permanent punishment to misbehaving mutants. The 004 quarters are located underground and have the highest level of security, acting as a sort of bunker for the most dangerous subjects the facility has.

004 rooms are even more barebones than those of 002 and 003s. They have no access to entertainment (unless it is somehow required to contain their mutation) and cannot leave their room under any circumstances. They are more weapons than test subjects.

Do mutants receive education?

All mutants from class 003 and above receive basic education, learning to read, write and count. They additionally get curated history and sociology lessons. Some mutants, namely 001s, attend mandatory classes in certain disciplines to better apply their mutation. For example, Dmitry studied anatomy to know the precise positioning of internal organs.

Mutants are also free to study whatever sciences interest them in their free time by asking for educational materials at the library. Needless to say, most kids aren’t too interested in that, and are very uneducated compared to their outside peers.

Is there censorship in the facility?

All the media mutants are exposed to at the facility is strictly controlled.

6 y.o. Dima and his politically correct PSP.

The only movies, cartoons, comics, books and games allowed are those that either don't feature the Zone or mutants at all, those that show the discrimination mutants face outside, or those that are very obvious anti-mutant propaganda.

In essence, there are no positive depictions of human-to-mutant interaction, aside from ones between mutants and noble scientists. And, of course, nothing that goes against the general government ideology.

Can mutants be released from the facility?

It is generally assumed that mutants that go into the dome do not come out.

While they are largely dehumanised, the facility is still publicly presented as a sort of scientific sanatorium and hospice for those that cannot safely exist in society. Releasing mutants that know the truth behind the institute’s experiments into the wild is simply of no benefit to the government. So the majority are terminated once their scientific potential is exhausted or if they become too expensive to contain. As a result, few mutants live to adulthood.

Though, there are exceptions to the rule. Occasionally, mutants deemed non-hazardous can be released back into society. This is applicable to mutants that have not experienced significant mistreatment from the facility, lack the ability to talk about their experiences and optimally have been brainwashed by an appropriate 001 subject.

Have other mutants before DT and KT ever escaped?

The funny thing is, escapes aren’t a particularly rare occurrence.

Dmitry and Katya’s escape in KT’s Official Guide to Coolness.

Despite getting a lot of funding, the facility itself is very disorganised. Most of the money is blatantly pocketed by the higher-ups, so a lot of its structures and equipment are subpar – this includes its outdated safety systems. To top it all off, the security staff isn’t especially well-paid, so their diligence is highly questionable.

With all that piling up, there are around 3 cases of low-level escapes every year. Because of tight budgets and plenty of work to do as is, these escapes are generally brushed under the rug. The institute still keeps tabs on the escapees in case they happen to show up on the radar, but it rarely organises active searches or alerts the public for that matter.

DT and KT’s escape stood out because it was anything but low-level, and pretty bombastic at that. But even that didn’t warrant a public announcement for fear of panic and reputational damage. So if you’re an 003 mutant looking for an opportunity to sneak out… Hell, man, just go for it.

Wrap-up

That’s about all I can say about mutants’ life in the research centre, scratch some small factoids here and there. I tried to answer the most common questions regarding the topic, so I hope your curiosity was satisfied!

#loredump #deepest lore #parties are for losers #katya #dmitry #dr temnova #comfort zone #kt's official guide to coolness

[no-less-than-a-god]

“May I ask a question?” The Lamb’s voice carries easily through the Afterlife, and if The One Who Waits hadn’t just watched them die (an attack that they were too weakened to dodge, an arrow piercing their chest), he would have startled at how it echoes around them; Aym and Baal didn’t have such foresight, and both of them jerked, ears flicking and tails fluffing up for only a moment before calming.

“I have told you, Vessel,” The One Who Waits answers, as the Lamb grows close. “You are free to ask anything of your god.”

“Who are these two?” the Lamb asks, and gestures to the disciples on either side of the god. Having been directly referenced, both of their ears prick up, and they stand as straight as they can, alert and curious.

“They’re my disciples,” The One Who Waits replies, “gifted upon me as kits.”

He does not mention his sibling’s name, or the fact he knows it was them. It hurts to think about it, even now.

“Do they have names?”

The god makes a motion with his chained wrist, and addresses his keepers. “Speak freely, and introduce yourself to the Lamb.”

“Baal.”

“Aym.”

“Are you two brothers?”

“Yes,” it was Baal who replies, his brother’s head tilting as he answers. “Twins.”

“Who’s older?”

There is a pause. Both disciples look upon each other silently, before turning back to the Lamb they towered over.

“I think,” it was Aym who speaks this time, as he points his staff towards Baal, “he’s older.”

“Huh…” the Lamb trails off then, before speaking up again. “Who’s better at fighting?”

“I am,” both of them reply simultaneously, and then shoot each other a look.

“I beat you last time we sparred,” Aym says.

“But I had beaten you thrice before that,” Baal counters.

“Twice,” Aym corrects.

“Thrice,” Baal insists.

In a sudden move, Aym pounces on his brother, staff brandished. “I’ll show you who’s a better fighter!” he yells, and the two throw themselves off to the side, bickering and fighting.

Both the Lamb and The One Who Waits watches the brothers for a few moments, before the Lamb looks up at their god.

“Apologies, I seem to have caused that,” they say.

“They fight, it happens,” the god replies. He does not stop his disciples, or reprimand them from fighting in front of his vessel. Instead, he watches with amusement.

“It’s entertaining, most of the time,” he adds. “I’ve been keeping track of who wins.”

“Who’s winning, then?”

Beneath the veil, The One Who Waits begins to smile, and he turns back to the Lamb.

“They’re tied.”

-------------------------------------

“May I ask what happens to the offerings I give you?”

“My disciples eat the fish.”

“You don’t?”

“I cannot.”

“Would you like me to send other things, then?”

“The fish is adequate, Vessel. You do not have to.”

“Do you know what fish they prefer, then?”

“Aym prefers swordfish; Baal prefers tuna.”

“And you?”

“...It’s been too long for me to remember the tastes, but I remember being partial to salmon the most.”

-------------------------------------

“Does it hurt?” they ask, sitting among the ethereal ground. The One Who Waits watches them, as they peer up at him.

They look so small.

“Does what hurt?” he asks in return, although he has a speculation.

“The shackles, the chains. Being bound.”

The One Who Waits remains silent, contemplating, before he speaks honestly. “They have pained me for so long, I take no further notice. I have been forced to grow used to the unbearable agony; it no longer affects me as greatly as it once did. Is there a reason you ask, Vessel?”

The Lamb, The One Who Waits surprisingly finds, is silent. They’ve looked away from him, and suddenly, they’re standing up.

“I’m ready to go back,” they claim, and there’s a tremble at the end of their voice.

Ignoring that they failed to answer his own question, Narinder raises his bony arm, chainlinks clinking together, as he resurrects them.

Later, watching through the crown, he sees the Lamb descend upon the stone statue of Heket with their oversized hammer, smashing it to pieces.

Even as it rebuilds itself, the hammer brings it all down in a fit of rage, until the Lamb is doubled over with fatigue, panting and sweating.

Eligos brings their demise two days later, and neither god nor vessel speak as the Lamb looks upon The One Who Waits.

Thank you, he wants to say, for your rage. For caring. You did not have to do that, but you did. 

But he says nothing.

-------------------------------------

“Do you know how to play knucklebones?”

“I’ve watched the rat play it, many times. And I’ve watched you play it, many times more.”

“But do you know how to play?”

“I do not.”

“Can I teach you?

“With what dice, Vessel?”

“I have some in the crown. I can teach Aym and Baal too, if they want.”

“I’m sure they’ll enjoy it.”

-------------------------------------

“Have you always had a veil?” the Lamb asks, resting in their god’s hand. They had requested to lay down, after a painful and quite literal run-in with an explosive fiend. They sit up, a curious tilt to their head.

“I acquired one not long after my ascension to a Bishop,” The One Who Waits replies. Nearby, the sound of staff clacking together continues as the twins spar. “There were complaints of my gaze being uncomfortable. Unnerving.”

The Lamb pauses, before they softly ask, “May I see?”

“The veil?”

“Your face.”

A century ago, a request as such would have given him pause. He would have declined, and sent the Lamb away.

Instead, he slowly brings his arm up, and leans down. The Lamb ducks under the veil, and for the first time, the god and vessel make true eye contact.

Red meets white. The One Who Waits looks, unblinking, as the Lamb stares back into his eyes.

Something touches his nose, and it twitches involuntarily at the unfamiliar sensation. It takes the god a few seconds to realize it’s the Lamb’s hand.

The Lamb smiles, gently. “Your eyes. They’re a pretty red.”

The One Who Waits’ ear flicks.

“Like camellias. Or fresh blood. It’s nice.”

“Vessel,” the god whispers, because they’re so close. “I ask you to stop talking.”

The Lamb leans against The One Who Waits’ nose, and all he can smell is them. “And I ask,” they reply, their smile growing, “is that I can continue praising my god’s bea-”

“Lamb-” The One Who Waits interrupts, and it comes out soft. Something warm curls in his chest, around his unbeating heart.

“What shall become of me, if I don’t stop talking?” the Lamb asks in a whisper. 

A purr threatens to rip itself from the god’s chest.

“I’ll send you back to your followers,” The One Who Waits replies.

The threat is empty, and both of them know it.

-------------------------------------

“Was Kallamar your elder or younger brother?”

“Elder.”

“And Heket was younger. Does that mean you were the middle sibling?”

“Yes, I was in the middle. Two came before, and two after.”

“May I ask what it was like, having siblings?”

“I assure you, Vessel, my experience with siblinghood is most definitely different from the norm.”

“I rephrase: May I ask what it was like for you, having siblings? May I know more of my god’s past?”

“Draw close, Lamb, and I shall tell you.”

-------------------------------------

“Shamura spoke to me.” 

The One Who Waits flicks his ear, half because of hearing his sibling’s name on his lamb's tongue, half because they sound nervous.

The Lamb continues speaking. “They told me something. A name.”

The god freezes. He stills so suddenly, not even his chains clink. It's silent.

He knows what name Shamura had spoken. He wasn't watching the Lamb during their crusade, but he knows.

He remembers, faintly, his name uttered in vain, in fear and disgust. In hatred, or indifference.

“Were they telling the truth?” the Lamb asks. “Is your name Narinder?”

Reverence. How long ago did someone last say his name with such reverence?

“It is,” he replies, and he pretends his voice doesn’t tremble at the end.

“Can I call you that?”

The answer comes at once, without thought or hesitation, “Yes.”

“Much easier to say than your title,” the Lamb smiles a little, “right, Narinder?”

His own purr surprises him, and he watches as the Lamb’s smile grows into something soft, something fond.

Off to the side, Baal and Aym shoot their master a strange look.

-------------------------------------

“What do you plan to do, once you’re free?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’ve been trapped for almost a millennium, Narinder, surely you’ve thought of something?”

“I’ve had ideas in the past, but they’ve changed. Now, I’m unsure.”

“I can help you think of something, if you want.”

-------------------------------------

Narinder, The One Who Waits, has dreamed of freedom for centuries. All he’s wished for, as time passed in his eternal prison, is that he could be set free.

The Lamb’s arrival to him, covered in chains and looking ragged, had filled him with ecstatic bloodlust.

They were it, his key. With them as his final sacrifice, he’d be free.

That thought would keep him gleeful, a comfort. With their death, he’ll find his freedom.

But something changed.

Now, the thought fills him with dread.

With their death, he’ll be free.

For the first time since he was shackled, his dreams aren’t filled with revenge, with tearing himself free and escaping.

For the first time, he becomes weary of his own domain.

He doesn’t want the Lamb to die.

He doesn’t want the Lamb to die to free him.

He wants them alive. He wants them to stay, sleeping against his claw and chest, saying his name, peering under his veil.

He doesn’t want the Lamb to die.

Which is why, when they bow to him, his crown in their hands, he cannot find the words he’s dreamed of saying for centuries, the words he’s supposed to say.

It’s why, fists clenching, he says, “No.”

Good afternoon, I woke up and chose violence today! More specifically, I decided today I would write short fragments of interaction between narinder and the lamb during their vessel years

also. lore :)

anyways if anyone's curious I listened to "Home" by Pinkshift while writing this

#loredump #fickle thing #narilamb #cult of the lamb #cotl

[sir-fluffbutts]

who's the person who introduced latte to smoking?? their design looks so cool i would like to know more good sir

I'VE BEEN WAITING TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

------------

his name is mike, a wolf anthro and 4 years older then latte

basically he's....every edgy kids dream idol

he have a car, can ride a motercycle, vocalist in his own inde goth band , smokes and is a lone wolf but don't get bullied cause he's quite tall and is intimidating towerds non-friends

pretty much every emo/punk kid at the time knew him cause he was always there when they get together in outside groups and such events

he wasn't....bad to latte, they were actually mutualy friendly towerds eachother for years

he was just a horrible influence to him and muffin noticed it

#ask #loredump

[fanged-cotl]

Lamb, do you prefer a normal sized Narinder or towering The One Who Waits version?

Note: Sorry for the art being semi-unfinished, it was taking a while and I got burnt out.

Lamb: "Well that's an interesting question. Let's see... when I knew Narinder as "The One Who Waits" he was massive of course, and intimidating. His voice was so loud and deep.. I could feel it at times.. and- well, you get it. I liked him."

"But... he was bitter, angry, and tired. He was scary in ways I didn't always like, and although he'd never admit it, I could tell he was in pain."

"I think his mortal body suits him better, given the circumstances..

Either way, he is still taller than me!"

#ask #cult of the lamb #narilamb #cotl narinder #cotl lamb #the lamb #cult of the lamb fanart #cotl the one who waits #cotl toww #cotl fanart #loredump

[toxictoxicities]

👀Can you give me an Infodump about your AU?

>.< Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaasssse

CRACKS KNUCKLES- since I'm too lazy to draw stuff bc this is a loaded question I'll put links on certain words to what I'm referring to on the way. Also Saint and downpour warnings~

SO Emergence is a comic series I've been making bc the ending of Saint made me cry like a bitch so I NEED my happy ending.

To establish when this starts just as Saint reaches karma 10 but has ascended neither Moon nor Pebbles and actually goes to Moon first. (Comic Page 1) She and Pebs p much rearrange the entire facility ground to make a city and such, I won't get into too much detail because this will be shown in the comic!

A broadcast is sent out inviting iterators to come over to the Emergence Facility grounds and find a new purpose/stability!

Though ofc a bunch of shit happens bc void fluid is rising and trying to stop it just causes a bunch of conflict :)

Like one of which between Pebs n Suns bc duh- and I even got to make an animatic of it ;)

some other things I guess that I established Iterator generations for Emergence, a few previous broadcasts of local groups and introduced A Humid Breeze, Seven Distant Valleys who is A Plausible Links ancient!

I say check this out (This Link) bc it has a link to every piece I've done where there's some solid canon material of stuff that may be happening in Emergence~

#qna #Emergence #Infodump #loredump #Toxtalk #rw #rain world #rain world au #linkkss #i promise to start the comic again soon #and make a proper masterpost #one day

[crazlemons]

-Creatures ov Deception, Coddie Reatu-

Coddie's role in "Tainted" is currently undefined as I've thought about the good, the bad, and the side supporting roles already. Though, with deeper consideration for who they are interested in and what their motive in life is, it's safe to say Coddie is a good shape!

Their past is troublesome, let alone having no friends to confide in or family who accepts them for their facial deformity. However, they persevere through a newfound hobby which be mask making! The troubling past and new enemies made should rally Coddie up to enact pain and suffering - yet - ignores it; Coddie has no need to keep their "nose" in old news.

Red Corrupt [Red = High Hostility level] [Does not imply all Red Corrupts are violent]

Pronouns are they/them

Spider-Species Shape

Shapeshifter: Utilizes their mask-making skills to perfectly copy another existing face. Break their mask and the gig is all up

Mute & blind [Very high sense of touch and sound]

Lil bean [COD Design] bottom left belongs to @zim-card @zimcard-artblog 🫶🏻✨

#loredump #art #fanart #jsab #jsab art #jsab au

[melissa-titanium]

i dont post a ton of oc stuff umm! check it

#mel art #blood tw #loredump

[dergtrash]

Random fun fact about my pokemon canon.

One of my favorite arcs about this whole canon is indeed the Hisui arc. Mostly because is the most ANGST FILLED one from all the arcs.

In here there's three important things to take in consideration.

-Kazuya's getting more feral to survive the wildlife of hisui.

-His complicated feelings towards the Diamond Clan leader.

-The trauma.

Oh but what's his trauma you may ask. Easy

Knowing that the god of antimatter still has unresolved business with you.

I really want to write more about Kazuya's arcs in here :3

#pokemon #pokemon oc #pokemon legends #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon fanon #giratina #loredump

[cyberneticlagomorph]

((How was the "the camarilla but catholic and worse" founded? Were they different from how they are today? If so, was there any particular event that changed them?))

god ok this has been sitting in my inbox for days but i didn't forget about it i prommy.

Ok so, "the camarilla but catholic and worse" is the fun ooc definition of the Knights of the Ivory Tower (formally the Knights of Malta in older iterations of the universe), but i'm still work-shopping that name for them idk.

The Knights started out as like this aberrant faction of the Round Table who later split off from the main group after some sort of Schism and took Excalibur with them. Mind you this was way back when before the magical and mundane halves of the world were split apart forever and shit like The Veil (web of secrets and lies that keep magic hidden from the general population) was invented, so this was a time of dragons and fairies actively stealing babies and whatnot.

That original First Knight (some say it was a knight of Arthurian legend, some say it was straight up Saint George, or even the biblical Adam come back to save mankind from Something. Nobody is exactly sure who that guy was, I know I'm not and I'm the one making this shit up) saw the sinful and hedonistic ways of magic and pledged to cleanse the world of it or at least keep humanity safe from it in some way shape or form, so he gathered a bunch of like minded individuals and went to work.

What happened shortly after the first group of Knights was formed was basically a war against magical creatures that culminated in the near extinction of many magical species, including dragons.

How this war ended is largely up for debate, some claim that the Knights won outright and forced all the magical creatures to sign a contract (i'm talking like Ursula "sign away a part of you" faustian type bullshit Contract) that forced them all to Behave the way the humans wanted (ie no stealing babies, poisoning wells, kidnapping princesses etc), others say that the fae were actually winning and the Knights tricked them into signing it, but that Contract was still signed no matter what and it became known as the Dictates of Preservation.

These Dictates were a set of laws that prohibited certain kinds of magic outright, like love potions or the ritual required to make a changeling child. Those Dictates are still in place today and are largely why Fae in Jack's timeline are relatively toothless compared to their ancestors.

ANYWAY.

The Knights then appointed themselves protectors of humanity, they invented the Veil and enforce it very fiercely.

Their organization has grown from a plucky band of medieval Knights, to like the shadowy hand of the fucking Vatican in some places. Their base of operations is a secluded pocket dimension only accessible by the Knights, their guests, and creatures with a flagrant disregard for those rules (ie Jack who can go p much anywhere he wants within his own universe). Yes it's a literal tower, it's caked in dragon ivory from those bloody centuries worth of hunts, each piece carved with the name of the Knight who murdered the dragon it came from and the date the deed was done.

They've grown with the times in terms of technology and medicine and arms, but they're still extremely catholic so they have monks and nuns and clerics as part of their group now with the nuns raising the children they get from Places.

One of the tenants of real chivalry is charity, and children's homes count as charities right? Where else to get fresh new recruits if your existing followers aren't breeding fast enough.

There's like, untold of levels to how seedy and dangerous this shit gets, the Knights have gotten their hands on numerous SCP level anomalies that they keep locked away or use as tools or propaganda to further their agendas.

Like Excalibur, who is always bonded to and wielded by the current head of their organization. Or Noah's ark, which they use for artifact storage. The christian themed anomalies are classed as "holy relics" while stuff like the Promethean Flame is an "arcane artifact"

It's just A Whole Lot

#ooc #ask games #ask to tag #religious imagery #religion #lore dump #loredump

[approximateknowledge]

state of the Medium at the tail-end of the Long Wait

Derse

the Dersite royals got assassinated millenia ago, and the scattered habitats along the outer edge of the incipisphere (constructed of raw material both of deconstructed Derse and the asteroid belt of the Veil) are currently ruled by a couple dozen squabbling gangs and clans and cults in perpetual low-stakes war over resources and habitats (and a third thing ill come to later); they do however tend to mostly temporarily band together any time there's a threat from the the system's center

the mostly still intact but much changed moon with its 3 dreaming gods are a kind of collective holy site for many of the most important veil-cults, and is both untouchable as a holy site and a place of fierce competition (including a few cults who want to kill the dreamers to prevent the session from ever happening)

Prospit

the Prospitian king got assassinated by a Dersite from the Battlefield relatively early in the Wait, while the queen is legally still, though functionally comatose and kept alive only by means of jerry-rigged poorly understood technology copied and looted from the old asteroid belt; the actual ruling now happens via a complex bureaucracy of priest-engineers (the Phyllobatic Order) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_poison_frog)

notably the "royal" palace/temple complex is not located on Prosit proper anymore, instead being "relocated to" its moon, or rather it would be more accurate to say the moon *is* the palace at this point; the base of each Dreamer's tower seen as the most hallowed of places under Skaia's light (and each is guarded by a promising neophyte Phyllobate assigned Guardian of the door, a most honourable position);

Prospit itself is significantly bigger than at the start of the Wait, and between it and the detached moon orbit a host of other infrastructural projects of both civilian and military nature, and the entire orbital path of Prospit is strewn with habitat-cities and arcologies all the way around

The Battlefield

with no prototyping happening, the Battlefield remains a giant centerpiece of eternal stalemate; except of course the amount of players has increased, and the stakes have changed; because after the exhaustion of the asteroids of the Veil, the Battlefield is pretty much the only place in the Medium with unexploited raw resources

which brings us to the main tension between the city-ring of Prospit and the Gang-councils of the Veil; Prospit has the Battlefield seemingly locked down, but they're not actually in the advantage

and the reason is

Carapacian Biological Peculiarities

carapacians have no method of independent reproduction; they're *made*, ectobiologically, in the labs of the Meteor Veil

and that's the 3rd thing: means of reproduction; the Dersite Veil-habitats naturally have the vast majority of ectobiological equipment at their disposal

now, carapcians don't actually *age* like most species do either of course, but they do wear down, the have accidents, they can get sick (and as time and chance goes on, the amount of new sicknesses which had the opportunity to evolve has been increasing!), and so they do in fact still die

so without ectobiological equipment, no amount of raw resources will help in the long run

so while the Veil-Dersites tend to mostly focus on resource-extraction from the inner system for further expansion of their territory (as in, number of habitats and industry), the Prospitians fight mostly to acquire irreplicable ecto-tech from the Veil-Dersites, who in turn squabble over it between themselves, while everywhere various priest-engineers try and fail and try again to find a way to reverse-engineer the holy machines that birthed every single one of them (and the poor sods living on (or these days mostly beneath in subterranean cities of perpetual refugees on account of their usual complete lack of ecto-tech) the Battlefield just take the brunt of it, as usual)

#ak goes insane #homestuck #carapacians #Long Wait #loredump

[feybeasts]

Y'all remember Howell? My battletech OC I never really fleshed out?

Well, I've done some fleshin'.

Howell Koga, thirty-odd years old. Nonbinary, preferring they/them.

They're- perhaps surprising nobody- formerly of Clan Coyote. Prolly from around 3062, the FedCom civil war. Lost pretty much their whole sibko during Operation Revival and didn't preserve their honor when their own 'mech was destroyed, being taken captive by Lyran forces instead of fighting to the death. Spent most of the last decade and a half as persona-non-grata with their former kin, and have taken up as a merc in the Inner Sphere, first for the Lyrans, then later as part of a rag-tag company of other misfits.

They're somewhat humorless- as clanners tend to be- but time spent around freeborn has cracked that shell somewhat. They've also slowly learned to develop their own identity outside of the cockpit of a Conjurer, becoming something of a history buff and fond of fishing in their free time- of which they have more than they ever did in the Clan.

In general, Howell is someone who is slowly being dragged into having an identity that isn't just one handed to them literally from birth, but they're doing so with about as much resistance as you'd expect from a genetically-modified born-and-bred mechwarrior.

#c:howell #fey's art #sketches #loredump #battletech #furry art #furry

[thunderboltfire]

Valentine's Day loredump, pt. 1:

Igna & Argo

"And You? What are You exactly, her brother? Her lover?

Worse, I'm her shieldflank."

These two come as a bundle! They probably constitute the most annoying slowburn out of my OCs. It's simultaneously the easiest and the most complicated situation. Also, it's sort of hard to explain their situation without spoiling a relatively large part of their story and as a result it's horribly long, so the rest is under the cut!

@rayless-reblogs @kaldurcalm

Background:

Igna and Argo meet fairly early in the story. They're in a rather similar situation, both are apprentice Wanderers and pretty quickly it turns out that both of their masters won't be coming back from wherever they were last seen. As the Wanderers has called for all of their knights and apprentices to gather (a bad omen on its own) they've joined forces on their way to the nearest outpost. It's a pretty standard choice, Wanderers usually travel in twos or even threes if the situation is particularly dire.

Their several weeks long journey has seen its end at the Vale of Haergard - which came to be the place of the first open battle of an already brewing Invasion. The very same battle in which Theria's company got almost completely obliterated, and the same one from which Argo has carried out a mangled face. At this occasion, he pretty much owed his life to Igna's fast thinking, because she managed to get him on her horse and out of the immediate heat. Maybe even twice over, due to the fact that if she didn't manage to get him a special sort of sutures and medicine, the wounds would never close.

It constituted a debt of life, which Argo repaid by organising a rescue party when two months later due to a chain of unlucky events Igna got captured and imprisoned by Yrreth of Zvaerit. He managed to leverage the fact that Igna had spellbreaker talents in order to get enough resources in an endeavor which many would consider hopeless, but it paid off. The major downside of it was however that the Covenant's intelligence now knew she's a spellbreaker - and would utilise it. After finishing their apprenticeship together with many other 'orphaned' apprentices, which were as a whole dubbed 'Kestrels', they both ended up drafted into a wizard hunting team - together with Theria and Haart, with Daen as the leader of the group.

-----------------------------------

So what is really going on between those two?

They enjoy each others' company in a friendly way and spend a lot of time together, and it's pretty obvious they care about each other a lot. However, for a very long time their relationship was pretty much just friendship, despite a lot of people assuming otherwise. They were considered each others' shieldflanks, and introduced each other as such (shieldflank is an informal title regarding two Wanderer knights accompanying each other in journey, supposed to cover each others' backs). The two got pretty good at dancing around the topic of the nature of their relationship, denying anything inappropriate and deflecting from it whenever it was raised, which of course didn't do anything to change people's assumptions.

Because while the level of trust between them could mean a strictly familial or friendly relation, the somewhat careful respect between the two and the discomfort around the entire discussion suggested that there is something else going on.

In fact, Igna has harbored a crush on Argo, but first she wasn't willing to admit it even to herself, and then she decided that she wasn't going to pursue it. First, it would be sort-of inapropriate. She wasn't sure if there's even a rule that two Wanderers shouldn't get together but considering her own father was a Wanderer and his relationship with her mother was quite difficult, she was pretty sure that the relationship between two Wanderers would be an even worse idea. To add to it, there wasn't many female Wanderers at all. There was not many female knights either. She didn't set the precedent, but she was still an outlier, and the weight of expectations made her extra careful about her conduct. She was afraid that if she'll let herself act as a woman first and not as a Wanderer first, it may compromise the calling she worked hard to fulfill. The job wasn't really built for maintaining long-term relatioships anyway, and during the Invasion, it had a terribly high mortality rate. She was pretty sure that should she and Argo be together, one of them would inevitably hurt the other, even unintentionally.

The second issue, was that she thought Argo wasn't really interested. One of the social rules among elven nobility which was supposed to ensure the security of their bloodline was a pretty strict celibacy until marriage, and from Igna's observation it wasn't looking like Argo was intending to break it. She had too much to lose if she messed it up, which is why having no experience in the area, she was too afraid to try. She pretty much assumed that if she'll ignore the attraction, it will sooner or later go away.

It didn't go away, but she lived with it.

Argo wasn't going to make the first move, and for a few reasons. After Igna was rescued from inprisonment she was in a pretty rough physical and emotional state, and Argo thought that she probably needs some space. He also felt quite guilty for revealing that she is a spellbreaker - even if he had to do it or she'd still be Yrreth's prisoner, the consequences directly caused her a lot of trouble. Unlike Igna, he wasn't too concerned with whether it would be possible for two Wanderers to be together, however during his last visit at home he's got an explicit reminder from his father not to do anything stupid. He wasn't going to listen to his parents indefinitely, and not in every aspect, but it definitely acted as an added pressure.

On the surface level, he's had a much more relaxed approach to the whole matter than Igna - if the romantic relationship was going to happen, he would be fairly open to it. Igna wasn't just anyone, he trusted her above all and has known her for a time which wasn't extremely long, but it was extremely eventful. On the deeper level, he's got a host of self-worth and self-image issues, which made him quite sure he generally isn't a good party, and most probably not for Igna. So far she seemed to keep anybody who even suggested courting her at a safe distance, so it seemed like a pretty clear signal she isn't looking for a relationship in general. Besides, he was convinced he would surely notice if she liked him in this way. Except despite his general perceptiveness, he wasn't the best at deciphering social cues and subtext (the fact that he's raised in a different culture only made this stronger), which made him rather oblivious. From what he knew, Igna was generally direct and she wasn't afraid to voice her opinion, so he thought that if she truly was interested in him, she'd just admit it.

She, of course, didn't do it.

Over three years fellow Kestrels had badgered him into a few half-hearted efforts to court someone else, but in general neither party was satisfied with them. Sometimes it just wasn't a good match, otherwise it was obvious that something prevents Argo from getting really involved, and soon his friends stopped trying to match him with anyone. He concluded that it just wasn't his thing. He was a Wanderer after all, so maybe it was for the best.

The whole situation was looked upon with rising disbelief by Theria and Haart. Especially Theria, with a vastly different outlook on these matters couldn't believe that the two are content to fester in an unresolved situation, in which Igna set up her judgement against her heart and Argo denied anything, all while still acting with a stupid level of devotion towards her. However, as stubborn as Igna was, all that Theria's remarks did was embarass her. She couldn't convince her that confessing her feelings was a good idea. It was like an extended game of chicken, except instead of pride both sides were afraid of breaking what they already have.

It took for an entire unit to be disbanded and for Igna to be sent to a mission she wasn't supposed to come back from for something to change. From a few words (which, of course didn't truly matter since she was supposed to die anyway), everything else followed like an avalanche of events, which culminated in her trying to stop a spell which by all the laws of magic shouldn't be possible to be broken in the usual manner.

It would have its consequences, of course. But she decided the slim chance of survival was worth the price of a potential failure.

#Loredump #Isaldi #Igna Sharille #Argo Riss'Aerle #this is the longest one probably #meaning - horribly long #but I felt like explaining their motivations somewhat #they are two complete disasters on this particular front but I love them for it #I always wonder if I spoil too much of a story #But I'm pretty sure it would take actual ages until I had it written so it probably doesn't hurt this much

[no-less-than-a-god]

She’s been chained for days, strung along behind a fox. She doesn’t know where they’re going, who her captors are. All she knows is that she was taken as her village burned, and has been forced to walk since.

She’s hungry. Tired. Scared. She doesn’t know if she’ll live through this. She isn’t hopeful that she will.

The dog trips over her own bruised feet, but quickly rights herself before one of the robed heretics notice. She almost slams into the fox in front of her, but she’s lucky.

Behind her, a deer quietly speaks. “Are you okay?”

“Quiet!” a heretic suddenly yells, and the dog hears the sound of something dull hitting something solid, and a whimper.

She does her best to quell a whine of her own.

-------------------------------------

The dog is awoken from her light slumber by the sound of someone screaming for their life. Startling, she jerks her head around to either side of her, finding the fox and deer equally awake and nervous, but untouched.

The scream comes again, closer, and she can hear it beneath the voice: laughing heretics.

“NO!” the voice shrieks, and the dog hears branches snap beneath feet as two heretics return to the makeshift camp. The other three heretics rise as the bushes part, and the dog hears gasps.

From the gaps between hoods, dimly lit from the campfire in front of her, the dog sees a body squirming in the arms of a heretic, chained and slung over their shoulder. She can’t tell who or what they are, or why the heretics seem so excited.

“Finally,” one of them speaks giddily. “Where were you hiding, huh? We’ve been looking for you.”

“UNHAND ME!” the stranger screams, and a leg flies out, kicking their captor in the hooded face. They stumble back a step before finding their footing again, and suddenly, the stranger is being thrown into the dirt, an audible cry being wretched out of them.

“Try that again and you will regret it,” the heretic warns, knife drawn, and the camp falls silent, save for the sound of the stranger’s panting.

The heretic straightens, and gestures to the three comrades in front of them. “Lock them up in the front. We’ll continue at once.”

The new victim is picked up by a single heretic, and the dog catches a glimpse of a dirty white as they’re dragged. They’re surrounded by heretics as they’re pulled and prodded towards the other captured victims, and the sound of chains being moved almost covers the sound of sobbing.

After a minute of rustling, the heretics finally move away, and the dog can finally get a look at the stranger.

Her eyes go wide at what she sees in front of her. Behind her, the deer gasps.

It’s a lamb.

The dog thought there was none left. But in front of her, chained and sobbing, is a lamb.

-------------------------------------

They don’t speak, after being threatened. For the three days they walk nonstop, they don’t say a word; they just look on, eyes glazed over the mouth set straight. Nothing.

Not until they get to the Bishops.

The dog starts trembling in terror the moment she sees them, gathered together along the wall of the damaged temple the four of them were dragged into, filled with watching heretics. It’s one thing to know of the gods, but to see them? Dread strikes the dog, and she can’t help the fearful whine that escapes her.

She watches, terrified, as the lamb is unshackled from the rest of them, and brought to the middle of the temple. There, amidst dark red engravings along the floor, is a chopping block, and a large beast with an axe just as big.

They’re pushed, and they fall upon the block. Silently, they look up, and four gods stare back.

“Before us,” Bishop Heket begins, “stands the last of its kind. All others we have hunted down and put to the blade.”

“No!” the last lamb cries out in anguish, and the dog’s heart drops. The last lamb lays before her, destined to die.

“With this final sacrifice,” Bishop Leshy follows his sister, “the prophecy will be impossible to fulfill."

What prophecy, the dog wants to scream. Is that why the lambs were put to death?

“The heretic who lies bound below,” Bishop Kallamar adds, “will be condemned to eternal captivity."

“And the Old Faith shall be preserved." Bishop Shamura is the last to speak, and the lamb starts to shake, shoulders heaving. The dog can’t see their face anymore, but they know they’re crying.

The large beast raises his axe high into the air, and steadies it. 

The lamb still looks upon the Bishops as an audible cry escapes them.

The axe comes down, and the dog watches numbly as it cuts through flesh, decapitating the last lamb. Their head falls with a sickening thump, and the dog feels tears welling in her eyes.

The last one, she thinks, they just killed the last one.

Something black captures the dog’s gaze, and she looks to see the Bishops curtained by an inky, moving substance. When it falls to the stone floor, she’s surprised to see they’re no longer there.

“Brutus,” a heretic calls, and the large beast turns, blood dripping from his axe. “Slay these other three. We shall feast on their remains.”

“No!” the deer wails. “Spare us!”

The fox shakes his head, and backs up, tripping into both the dog and deer behind him. Together, the three fall to the floor, cowering in terror as the beast slowly approaches them, axe dragging along the stone with a grating noise.

The beast draws close, and slowly raises his axe.

Behind him, movement begins.

A body raises itself, shackles around its bounded wrists dropping loudly. All eyes turn to the middle of the room, as a head reattaches itself to its body, sinew and muscle knitting together. 

Red and black encircle the healing neck, and a collar forms around it. A bell jingles in the air.

The lamb, alive, turns as something red falls behind their back. In one of their hands is a dagger, a red eye seated in the blade. Their eyes are bleeding red.

The lamb, who should be dead, screams. It’s not the scream the dog remembers hearing the night the heretics found them, no; this scream is angry, and has something eldritch in it.

It’s carnage. The lamb kills them all in less than a minute, the wounds they gain healing immediately. They don’t falter once, don’t pause a single time.

Even the executioner falls with a single blow, hitting the floor unmoving. The lamb only steps over the body, and stands before the shackled, trembling victims.

They blink. The blood in their eyes slowly stops, and the whites of their eyes return. They crouch down, and with one swipe of their dagger the fox is freed. Two more swipes, and the dog and deer are freed too.

They stand. The dagger melts into something black, and flies from the lamb’s grip. It arcs to above their head, and reforms into the shape of a black crown, a red eye blinking open to stare back at them.

The lamb, the last of their kind, holds out a hand to the three of them. “Let’s get out of here,” they say.

It’s the dog that takes their hand first.

something possessed me LSKHDGS anyways.. the Lamb's sacrifice from the pov of what became the first three followers

(Maybe.. I'll write another version of this from the Lamb's pov...)

#loredump #fickle thing #drabbling ichor #cult of the lamb #cotl

[sir-fluffbutts]

What is latte's relationship with the twins like?

quite good actually!

-----

latte does not know the fire twins are ability users (suprisingly enough, they hide it very well) and are just some kids thats in chiffons "looking good to the public" system (he is happy for them to get enough support, its just that chiffon is using them to show face to the public)

he's bit worried that two 12yos are living alone by themselves, but he was worse at that age and it could be a sensitive topic to them so he don't ask

still, as a upstairs neighbor and a adult figure, he sometimes brings them things he got at his work (like pack of soft drinks) or invite them for pizza, which they happly accepts

--------------

the fire twins don't know much about latte personaly, but they know he and chiffons relationship isn't really good

they assume maybe he's trying to sabotage chiffon so he can take the lotl.corps CEO place to himself, its a wild theory but they know he's up to no good and is planning to do something to him

still, they have a good neighbor relationship, they like being around with latte as he tend to buy them food and he has sm cool things in his place (mostly his "emo gear" )

latte is a cool adult to hand out with and they like him very much, its just that he's doing something behind the scenes and they're very suspicious about the intentions of it

#ask #loredump #fire twins will appear again in my videos i swear they play a big role in the ongoing timeline lore

[fanged-cotl]

Narinder and Lamb have a talk about mourning death

Note: I am not a writer, so if this is out of character or sounds lame that's why. Also the colored names are just something i'm trying out lol.

Narinder is desensitized to death. in his eyes, it's just moving a person from the living world to his former domain. He thinks he is above the nature of grieving a death.

Shortly after Brenna (the cow spouse) joined Finnegan (the rabbit spouse) in the afterlife, he is insensitive to Lamb's grief.

He tells Lamb how the lives of mortals will come to and end, and there is no point getting attached. It does not matter if their lives are extended or if they're revived. Resurrection is new and imperfect. The aging process will take mortals eventually. Grief is futile for a god.

Lamb turns the situation back at him.

(continuation via dialogue below)

Lamb: "Narinder I'm not stupid, I know you mourn the deaths of your siblings."

Narinder: "I dont-..... I have regrets about the way things turned out, that is all."

Lamb: "Despite my feelings about the bishops... your grief is valid. They were your family. I know you miss Aym and Baal from time to time, don't think I can't notice these things."

Narinder: "Aym and Baal were my students that is all- I do not- I told you to stop reading my mind Lamb." His frustration grows.

Lamb: "Sorry- It's a bad habit. But you shouldn't be so critical of my feelings. I don't appreciate that." Lamb gently grabs Narinder's hand. "It is okay to miss people that you've loved, Nari."

Narinder: "...."

Lamb: "Everyone Greives. Why don't we support each other through these feelings? Like me and Lycan."

Narinder, speaking quieter: "And what would these methods be like...?"

Lamb hugs Narinder. He takes a moment to blink in surprise and then embrace Lamb back.

Lamb: "I'm here for you Narinder, you know that."

Narinder: "........... Lamb... I.... I did not mean to hurt you..."

Lamb sighs. "...its alright..." He will learn not to bottle his feelings eventually, I hope. They think to themselves.

#plz ignore that I used the same angle from the last hug if you see it no you dont #cult of the lamb #cult of the lamb fanart #cotl narinder #cotl lamb #the one who waits #narilamb #narinder #the lamb #cotl #cotl fanart #cotl fanfic #??? i guess??? #loredump

[weirderscience]

I dont know enough about your ocs to ask any specific questions but i want to hear about them!! Consider this an open ramble invitation for whoever you feel like talking about!

yippy i love rambling!

Elves, known elsewhere as the Fair Folk, the Fractals, the Old Ones, and the Elder Gods, are creatures defined by their contradictions.

For mortals, the easiest way to describe them is the allegory of the Sphere in Flatland. In the Flat world, a sphere is perceived as a circle, though any three-dimensional being would find that silly. 

A sphere has much more volume than a circle, and can move about in all three axes as it wishes. It perplexingly to the Flatlander has several different sizes, though this is all of the Sphere and is just an attempt at comprehension by the Flatlander, who cannot see into the third dimension.

As for the Elves, all of space and time is interwoven in what to us is a 4-dimensional world. The gaps between are where they like to reside, but it is not uncommon for the elves to weave themselves into it.

It's also not uncommon for them to consume it, ending the timeline and taking the power of that universe into their own fold.

#ghost's art tag #setting: tnnerp #loredump #these guys have been in my brain since 2019 #oc tag: the magus #oc tag: the seer #setting: machine elves #labz.txt