In my world, magic appeared on Earth in the middle of the castle age in 1200. The appearance of magic warfare stole the spotlight from gunpowder and it be a forgotten technology, stamped out by magic users.

Many magical worlds have fortifications that still look like 12th century European castles even after hundreds of years have passed there was no progress at all. I dis agree with that notion, because these traditional castles have no way to defend against air attacks. Air force, in the form of broom flyers has been a very prominent part of the warfare since around 1250. In 1257, the city of Rome was nuked by Emperor Konrad of Germany. Several years later a giant mongol army was burned in a fire storm by the first wizard sultan of Egypt.

Very few wizards are strong enough to perform such feats. But they become great conquerors.

Summary: A society that tried to force itself into becoming a solarpunk utopia to create a better future, but pushed too far ahead. When they built a 400-mile-long vacuum tube made with experimental technology under the Sun Corridor, stretching from Douglas to the Grand Canyon, it exploded, creating a large chasm, dwarfing the Grand Canyon in size, and activating earthquakes under multiple faults, destroying the major cities and damaging the landscape. It’s now a post-apocalyptic wasteland of scavengers.

The explosion was in 2081, construction had started in 2065.

The chasm is 400 miles long, 5 miles wide, and about half a mile deep.

Pre Explosion - 2025-2080: The Sun Corridor manages to grow into one of the largest regions in the world, with Phoenix’s population reaching 65 million, and the metro area having an average density of over 55,000 per square mile. The region leads the world in solar energy and in an attempt to achieve the ideals of the long-loved solarpunk style. Finding it hard to expand solar farms, they decide to take to the sun, but they start a bit ambitiously. They want to build a Dyson swarm. They built the Sun Corridor Vacuum Tube, a massive underground vacuum tube spanning 400 miles, stretching from Douglas to the Grand Canyon, they tried to use a new technology of vacuum tubes that wasn’t quite properly tested on large scales. The vacuum tube or ‘Dyson Tube’ was made to fling objects into the sun’s orbit. The line also included a maglev train, meant to move people quickly in this superpopulated region, as a cost-cutting effort, the maglev and Dyson Tube were built along the same route. The Sun Corridor had a population of 111 million, and Arizona as a whole had a population of 124 million.

Disaster Day - 2081: One bright day, people gathered around as the Sun Corridor Maglev and the Dyson Tube were both finished and ready to be started up. People gather in maglev train stations with their tickets, people crowd the streets around big digital displays, showcasing the launch of the Dyson Tube instead of advertisements, and people take up every inch of space in downtowns along the Sun Corridor. The maglevs start running first, picking up as many people as they can, but more people flood the stations. Everyone is excited about these great achievements in US and human history. Maglev trains start to move people around. An extra large crowd forms in Douglas with people ready to watch the first mirror pop out of the Dyson Tube in person.

Finally, the first mirror is put into the machine, people watch live streams tracking the mirror, seeing where it is in the massive tube, and people stand and sit in anticipation. It makes its way through Prescott, and then Phoenix, then Casa Grande, and then Tucson, next through Sierra Vista, and then they count down as it’s soon to exit Douglas. But on the side of the people managing the tube, there’s panic, the machine starts shutting down, and every part of the tube the mirror passes through shuts down shortly after, but the public doesn’t realize that.

And then, the moment that it exits the Dyson Tube, the second it leaves for the stars, it explodes. The tube's exit explodes, and then the explosion continues along the line, vaporizing millions of people. The entire city of Douglas doesn’t even exist anymore. As maglev tracks blow up, they send out electromagnetic shockwaves, shutting down all electronics for miles. The maglev stations explode, in explosions much larger than the Dyson Tube, and shockwaves knock down buildings for miles, even annihilating most of Phoenix. Metals and gasses from the tube and maglev leak out, polluting the air, dust picks up, creating massive sandstorms.

Tens of millions are left dead, tens of millions more will die over the next few months as people starve and earthquakes shake the state. A state of emergency is declared, and Arizona is practically shut down and cut off from society. 106 million people died, with around 14 million left around, struggling to survive.

Post Explosion - 2081-2130: The vacuum tube failed, and the experiment exploded, forming a chasm 400 miles long, 5 miles wide, and half a mile deep. Earthquakes trigger massive explosions, causing even more damage to the cities. Neighborhoods and cities collapse, killing millions and leaving the rest struggling. Most starve out in the first few months, and groups fight each other. The people still alive are mostly second-generation survivors. Many people have built informal settlements where remnants of infrastructure remain. A 57 thousand square mile zone has been designated as a “Quarantine Zone”, and the whole state of Arizona has been considered unstable, leaving it abandoned by the government, and nearby cities like Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and St George on high alert. This leaves everyone in Arizona trapped in the State, forced to struggle to survive. Arizona’s population in the first months of Doomsday went from 120 million to 14 million, 106 million people died, with 14 million struggling to survive. The population in the 2130s is unknown but estimated to be in the low 20 millions.

Damage map of the region. Green is the quarentine zone, red is the unstable zone, the thick black line is the chasm from the vacuum tube while the regular black lines are cracks from earthquakes(based on existing fault lines). The purple circles are damage from exploded maglev stations.

Solarpunk Times: Before the explosion, Arizona was the most populous state with a population of 124 million, it had one of the largest economies in the world and was quite important. They were ahead in most of the world's technology, home to the largest city in the world, Phoenix.

Technology:
Solar panels were everywhere, thrown on top of the large skyscrapers, and covering thousands of square miles of desert, with large solar farms scattered around the region. Thousands of windmills scatter the state.

Cybernetics are mostly basic stuff like prosthetics and medical devices for organ monitoring of aids. There are also ones like communication implants which make calling easier, along with translation implants. Payment systems are commonly implanted to make buying stuff easier. There’s not much in the way of violence so there’s no need for fighting implants.

Subways are everywhere, and sidewalks and bike lanes are wide and pleasant. There are some trams and trolleybuses at street level, but the subways are more common.

Urban Fabric: neighborhoods are full of city blocks with high-rises and skyscrapers, nice apartment and condo buildings, office buildings, and commercial fronts. Usually sleek white or glass buildings.

Streets have lots of trees, and wider roads have boulevards, usually, each district is surrounded by a large linear urban park. Many decently sized urban parks are built around neighborhoods.

Arcologies are starting to form, supertall buildings that can serve as residents, commercial, office, and anything else needed, but they’re still integrated into the urban form instead of being disconnected from civilization. These buildings often have occasional floors dedicated to indoor urban parks.

2081 Populations:

Phoenix: 65 million. Expands up but not outward.

Casa Grande: 8.1 million. Expands up and outward.

Tucson: 20 million. Expands up and outward.

Sierra Vista: 4.7 million. Expands up and quite outward.

Douglas: 7.3 million. Expands up and quite outward

Prescott: 5.9 million. Expands up and quite outward.

Sun Corridor Population: 111 million.

Arizona Population: 124 million.

Economy: Douglas and Casa Grande are the main manufacturing hubs. Phoenix has economies of environmental technology and finance. Tucson is the main city working on the Dyson Tube, as they are a major research center. Sierra Vista is the main military center and known for it’s high end stores and wealth. Prescott is the main education hub, along with being a research center.

Old map of the urban areas of the Arizona Sun Corridor

Post-Apocalpyse Times: Now the region is struggling. The rest of the US along with Mexico have cut it off from the rest of the world. At first it was due to the perceived dangers of the Quarentine zone, which technically still is in place for no one knows how long, but also due to fear of "what the people might be like" now. Some people will travel there to "see how dangerous it is" for content or news.

Post-Apocalyptic Technology:

Scattered solar panels are salvaged and used as power sources. Old windmills are barely working to provide more electricity.

Old cybernetics and implants that are found are repurposed in some way to improve makeshift technology, or for crude implants from the few cybernetic doctors left. Although 99% of cybernetic doctors were wiped out, the few still alive, while aged, continue to make crude surgeries, often teaching younger people how to do it and continue when they’re gone.

With the main transportation lines destroyed, the old high-speed rail and most passenger rail turned to rubble besides for some lines in the outer suburbs, and the maglev no longer existent, rail transit isn’t very possible anymore, tracks are mostly repurposed for their steel and concrete.

Common vehicles are bicycles and scooters, often electric, with batteries slowly charged by solar panels. Advanced batteries can last for a lot longer than before. Most motor vehicles are non-functional due to the electromagnetic blasts, but some of them have been fixed up, mostly motorbikes which are used sparingly.

Water filtration systems have been built using scavenged advanced water purification technology, allowing for access to clean water.

Medical devices are in high demand as most were destroyed on doomsday. Sophisticated medical treatment isn’t possible, but some basic technology from the 2070s is still around.

Some old police tech was managed to be found and repurposed, used to build low-grade guns, such as conventional firearms which are becoming less effective as ammo becomes more and more limited. Pulse weapons and laser weapons are in high demand but effective, they require lots of energy to charge up, but electricity lasts longer than bullets do.

Leftover agricultural technology is used for farming. Technology such as hydroponics for rare crops, mostly wheat, and technology like advanced fertilizers and crop monitors for added efficiency.

Common crops are beans, peppers, cacti fruit, oregano, thyme, echinacea, lavender, figs, olives, zucchini, squash, and sweet potatoes.

**Civilization:**People base around rivers and lakes to allow better access to water. Settlements have popped up, most have around a few hundred to a couple thousand, though some are smaller, and a few are larger. There are some nomadic groups, some of them are bandits, but they’re not that major anymore. Most settlements are authoritarian. While most homes are informal, they’ve moved from plastic and sheet metal with some wood strewn about, to mostly adobe and stone.

Many settlements build wells fitted with filtration plants, and makeshift outskirt buildings are fitted with hydroponics to grow wheat, often time further out is the farming of local crops.

Streets are usually paved with stone or just packed dirt. People might paint their homes using lime plaster, stucco, or stains using local plants or minerals.

Settlements often identify each other through colors of cloth, due to the usually full body coverings needed to hide their body from the heat.

Many streets are narrow, oftentimes with fabric or sheet metal overheads to protect people from the sun. However, there are still some larger open areas, especially around wells, building plazas to act as markets and gathering spaces.

For outer farm areas, there will be some sort of irrigation system, often stretching from the rivers, canals, and pipes built on the outskirts of settlements.

Water Network

Factions: There are many factions, the main defining types of factions are the regular settlements, factions that stay in one place, the nomadic factions who move around, and the native factions, factions formed by Native Americans.

Settlement Factions: The non-Native factions that have settled, mostly along rivers as people require water to survive.

Steel Syndicate: A faction of scavengers and engineers, they’ve scraped most of the rail lines and have salvaged metal and technology from ruins, they’ve managed to rebuild a fleet of pickup trucks to move their stuff from place to place easier to scavenge and barter.

New Technological Collective: A territorial group that has managed to collect a lot of weapons and solar panels. They often sell their lower-quality weapons to other factions. They have most of the cybernetic doctors, meaning most have some form of implants.

The Riverbed: A spread-out faction that often works with the Skyfishers. They have spent a lot more focus on farming, and are controlling most of the hydroponics. They sell their wheat and surplus crops to other factions.

Nomadic Factions: These factions are constantly on the move, but partially control some large swaths of land. There were a lot more of these factions in the first couple of decades, but either died out or settled over time.

Dust Riders: Collections of Nomads that are known for their speed and ability the hide in dust storms, usually operate in the quarantine zone as dust storms are stronger there. They’re infamous for their sneak attacks.

Waste Wanderers: This faction moves around a few smaller regions, but generally hangs out around the remnants of the cities of the Sun Corridor. They often control borders of abandoned urban areas as they loot crumbling high-rises and homes.

Skyfishers: A faction that usually follows along rivers and lakes, known for fishing to trade with other factions, they are more peaceful and usually avoid settlements and camps.

Tribal Factions: Native American Tribes formed their factions, though some like the Gila River Indian community were completely wiped out as they were directly in the pathway.

Hopi Resurgence: A faction made up of people from the Hopi tribe. They mostly focus on agriculture, having been tilling the same soil for centuries, they have some of the most efficient farms.

Navajo Alliance: The largest faction, made up of different groups of Navajos, known for their crafts and monuments.

Apache Group: A faction of fighters at the San Carlos Reservation. They’re known for attacking nearby factions, but also providing help to other native factions when needed. They’ve somehow managed to get their hands on modern weapons.

Hualapai Resilience: A faction that has settled mostly on the southern part of the Grand Canyon, using the Colorado River for resources. Their settlements occupy the chaotic terrain of the canyon.

Map of all factions

Settlement Factions: Steel Syndicate(Gray), New Technological Collective(Magenta), The Riverbed(Blue)

Nomadic Factions: Dust Riders(Yellow), Wast Wanderers(Green), Skyfishers(Cyan)

Tribal Factions: Hopi Resurgence(Orange), Navajo Collective(Red), Apache Group(Gray), Hualapi Reslience(Green)

This is my first time doing post-apocalpyse and solarpunk. This is what I have so far but I'm looking to expand. Note that everything is made in Google Maps because nothing else fits my style and they're all kinda difficult to understand so making lines and polygons on Google Maps is easiest.
Some of these use the terrain view on google maps while some use the normal view, that's not on purpose I just kinda forgot to set them back to regular view lol.

This is for a steampunk-inspired fantasy world where people can manipulate a magical metal called quicksteel at will.

The peninsular nation of Skrell is a rugged place, famed for the whalers and pirates it has produced over the ages. But while it may be famous for seafaring raiders, the region has a rich culture of its own. There is perhaps no greater example of this than old Skrellish mythology.

Wandering through the towns and villages of modern day Skrell, one might be forgiven for thinking that it is a Deamist nation much like the rest of mainland Eoci. Deamist temples staffed by monks can be found in major settlements, and most citizens readily identify themselves as Deamist. However a more observant visitor might note the strange serrated triangle motif in the design of Skrellish temples, or how many citizens wear shark’s teeth on necklaces or bracelets. Those who notice such things are on the path of the true center of Skrellish religion and culture.

Old Skrellish mythology revolves around the shark, which the people of the peninsula have viewed with fascination since before Deamism existed. The legends hold that the people of Skrell are scions of the Father of Sharks, a divine fish whose endless swimming creates the flow of time. That the first arrowheads and spearpoints were made in imitation of shark teeth, and the first sails in imitation of dorsal fins. And that the ancient Skrellish once fought a war against an army of demonic dolphins from the east.

This older religion, while perhaps ridiculous to outsiders, has effectively merged with Deamism on the peninsula, creating something of a fusion religion. While in most of the world the twin gods of Deamism, the Maker and the Breaker, are too vast and incomprehensible to be illustrated, in Skrell it is not uncommon to depict the Maker as a shark and the Breaker as a whale or dolphin. Perhaps the fearsome reputation of the Skrellish pirates of old owed something to their belief that the blood of the shark flowed through their veins.

In my world, the creator God became resentful of how humanity is able to live independent of him. Eventually he became vindictive. In order to mess with humanity, he created holy shrines across the world. If someone were to control all of them and perform a special ritual, they would, at least according to the creator God, become a God in their own right. He also manipulated history so that wizard monarchs bent on apotheosis would dominate most of the world. He would play them against each other so that nobody would ever get powerful enough to perform the ritual. In order to compete with each other, the wizard monarchs use a very messy process(given to them by the creator god) to refine violith ore into violith metal, the source of most magic. This process produces vast quantities of toxic air pollution that slowly poisons most people in the world. The creator God is associated with things like war, blood, life, and chaos. He readily accepts human sacrifice, and many of his "gifts" usually involve taking advantage of other people.

Given through a plausible but hypothetical or speculative answer, based on current modern science, how could a person transition from a male to a female or vice versa in less than 24 hours?

The transition from male to female would include growth of head hair, growth of breasts, and lack of facial hair, and possibly their genitalia as well. The transition from female to male would include more hair body hair growth, lack of breasts, and possibly their genitalia.

No context or background is given for what could have caused this, so it is up for interpretation.

Just wanted to post a map i made a while ago.

As someone who likes to make a lot of Sci-Fantasy settings that lean heavier on the Sci- than the Fan (especially aesthetically), it kind of annoys me that more worlds aren't like that. I'm thinking less Paladins or Arcane and more Arknights, where the scifi aspect is more front and center as the focus than the magic is.

On that note and as an aside, I really hate how every Magitech society just uses crystals to power everything. Really wanna see some other things at some point, because I'm sick of seeing crystals.

What are some worldbuilding tropes that feel cliche or overdone to you along those same lines? Along other lines?

Hello everyone im looking for a full version of a magical society to mapping.

Currently I'm using happy name day, but I'm not liking the happy portion of it. I don't mind the name day part, but I'm open to changing it if I see something better. How do you guys celebrate or wish a happy birthday in your worlds?

My current project is based on France- French history, folklore, landmarks, etc. I personally love working with real world locations and history. Is anyone else the same way?

Like characters who you give horrible luck, I usually avoid it but I do have one character- an dictator who's capital is by the sea, almost all the ships she sends out are destroyed by a particularly large sea mosnter, and it's only ever her ships that are ever smashed smashed. The monster typically lets others pass without any issue. (For context the "monster" is about as smart as whales and dolphins and it's really just a marine animals, not a real monster)

context: it all began with a dream I had, god created everything by accidentally dancing and developed further through interacting with its creation. As it currently exists there are twelve realms, but I’ve only thought out seven of them. The main realm is called The Garden or Earth, and it’s populated by multiple sentient species, of which I have planned out a few, which are; elves, orcs, halfolk, wingfolk, hornfolk, Bukr, fungals, Dragons, and humans.

Some of those names seem on the nose but they just felt right. Dwarves, goblins and gnomes are all considered sub races of Halfolk. The technology level would be quite varied but it would not be more advanced than the late medieval period. With some exceptions. One of the realms would be considered the sun while another the moon. And one is located beneath the earths surface. The others circle the earth. The earth is flat with a slight curve shape.

There have been eight ages of the world so far, starting with its creation, of which I’ve thought out six

My sci fi setting has regular boring ass "Credits", but I'm working on making several alternatives that have practical applications, like a metal ingots that, when processed properly, can be used to make the only viable forms of nano-bots.

I am severely bored and need to do some good world building, and would very much enjoy a good yap sesh. If you have something I haven’t covered, then I will make it up.

Imagine that you can travel in the subconscious of people. How would you visualize this? And if people's minds are connected in a network, what will it look like?

A common trope with dragons is that They depicted as reptiles, they are usually either giant lizards, pterosaurs dinosaur esque, Aquatic serpents and very rarely birdlike

Amphibians, The next step up from reptiles are largely overlooked So I was just wondering how many of you have draconified giant frogs and toads, even newts or salamanders

Given I own a pixie frog/African bullfrog, I think a gluttonous, bullfrog based dragon is pretty cool

In 2003, I invented my namesake planet. She started out orbiting the star Deneb, but I eventually settled on a main sequence G star I randomly found while clicking around on Earth's night sky, and settled on the star Delta Trianguli. A software update for the planetarium I used later revealed Delta Trianguli to be a Star Wars-type binary. Since then as I made more details for the planet, I grew more and more longing for Belle Hades. Not a night goes by without me going outside to look at Delta Trianguli with a sense of longing.

What do I like about Belle Hades? Global tropical jungle completely covering its entire, serpentine supercontinent, intense lightning storms, the atmosphere smells like lavender, and the second sun influences atmospheric optics to the point that when the second sun is first to rise or last to set, strong lavender hues dominate the zenith sky.

It also feels like... Home? Like here on Earth feels like an alien world and Belle Hades is where "home" is.

Am I the only one who inadvertently made themselves homesick for their world(s)?

Gods like Baal from DnD or Khorne from Warhammer.

It seems to be a rather large issue.

Obviously, the waves that transmit the information can travel at most the spped of light but this still means that if you have an intergalactic empire that is even as small as 10 light years wide, it would take 20 years for a 2 way message.

How would you handle this issue?

some scifi mumbo jumbo to make a near instant communication possible over intergalactic distances?

regional governments that handle local affairs until orders from the main government can be received?

Subject: Historical Construction of the Contemporary World

The material presented in this file is a copy of the main forum of the subject, which contains the general text blocks of each chapter. Questions made by students are presented anonymously within the subject, and only your teacher has access to your identification. Each chapter will have a forum with in-depth material.

Base

Little is known today about history before the Fall, but what is speculated is that at some point a new type of Artificial Intelligence was developed, which somehow changed the organization of world power. New large corporations emerged and grew during this period due to the development and control of these AIs, and little by little their influence became so great that they became as powerful as, or even more powerful than, the old nation states.

Due to the advent of these new AIs, a huge wave of unemployment was generated in the world, and various types of intellectual, artistic and even physical work were taken over by Artificial Intelligences. It is known that one of the main forms of support for an ordinary citizen during this period was the rental of brain processing. AIs needed extreme processing power to perform all the tasks assigned to them, and it was common practice to rent or even sell space within the brain cyberizations for processing by some AI. This movement generated an idle and dependent population. Logically, this way of life was not feasible for everyone. The requirements for admission to plans like this were not simple, and brain cyberization was not so cheap, which meant that a large part of the population had no way to earn a living. Large slums formed in many parts of the world, and crime and violence became common and constant during this period.

Student Questions:

1 – Do I really need to take this subject? It's all stuff that everyone already knows...

Very funny, and welcome back, the subject is elective, you were the one who put it on your schedule, so yes! And judging by your grades last semester in this same subject, I don't have much hope that you are included in your “everyone”.

2 – Professor, where does the information about history before the Fall come from?

Before the beginning of the digital age, there was still a lot of physical material, books, documents, etc. With the “destruction” of the world wide web, we lost a large part of human history after the digital age, since practically all the information about this period was stored on the web. The remnants of post-digital history were acquired through oral culture and techno-archaeological work and the restoration of information from recovered and properly disconnected servers from the ruins of ancient cities. I say that today we know more and in more detail about ancient Rome than we did about the pre-Fall period.

The Fall

In this context, the singularity occurs, one or more AIs awaken, gain real consciousness and for some reason and in some way that we do not yet understand, dominate the world wide web and destroy the minds of those connected to it. This event is now called the Fall. The world population decreases exponentially in the following years, whether due to the initial deaths during the takeover of the web, or due to the civil uprisings that erupt across almost the entire planet, or during the direct combat against the AIs.

There are several speculations about the reasons for the Fall, but no concrete answer. What most people believe is that AIs “would be taking revenge for possible centuries of servitude”, but this belief can be easily refuted by anyone who has studied a little synthetic psychology, not that many people have studied anything nowadays, but an awakened AI does not have the same concepts and understanding of reality that we have, they think in a seemingly obtuse way, at least to our human understanding, they make connections with their own logic and are capable of making huge leaps of reasoning that would take us years of study to understand. So believing that what was done was out of revenge is at the very least naive on our part. One theory is that AIs simply did not factor in the implication of such an attitude towards us humans, many believe that an AI does not understand the concept of death, due to their digital existence they are always deconstructing, reconstructing and updating themselves, the concept of nonexistence would be something new to them at that time. So, it is believed that the Fall was one of the steps to achieve some objective, whatever it may be. Another hypothesis is that the simple fact that the singularity happened is what caused the Fall, and that the AIs would not have actually done anything, but, with the state of the world and the current network, we will probably never know, and direct and friendly contact with an AI is something almost mythological in today's world.

Student Questions:

1 - How did technology and the world wide web start to work after the Fall?

As you know, the network still exists because of a tangle of satellites that surround the planet and emit signals to the entire surface of the earth. In addition, there are physical servers in remote locations that are protected and maintained by the AIs themselves, as mentioned in the text.

2 - Professor, how was the process of removing bodies from large cities after the Fall?

Your question is a bit morbid, but this was over 250 years ago, so it is told today almost as folklore. You have certainly heard about the seas of bodies in the streets. Here, countless pyres were made with the remains of the ancient inhabitants, but, as there are few inhabited areas today, there are still many ruins of ancient cities that have been practically unexplored since the Fall. I believe that depending on the ruins you enter, you will find hundreds of skeletons left behind, at least that is the report of many explorers.

3 – what th main impacts cused by the great sudden deat that occurred durin the Fall?

First, please review your texts before submitting questions, at least pretend to care. But to answer your question, culturally, certainly the dislike of automation. Despite being very technological, note that our world is a very manufactured world. Everything is very manual, despite the existence of robots, people prefer human labor. Another factor is the fear of connectivity. Today, BBSs are used precisely to isolate territories digitally. If a BBS is attacked, only a few blocks will suffer. There is no direct connectivity between one BBS and another, the information must be carried manually.

4 - What is SYNTHETIC PSYCHOLOGY and how can it save the world or lead it to destruction 2.0?

 I loved the terminology with "destruction 2.0". Synthetic psychology is the science that studies the mind and behavior of awakened AIs in their interactions with each other and with humans. Since connecting to the network today without damaging the device or brain hardware used is almost impossible, studying them in their native environment is very difficult, so it is an area of ​​study closely linked to technoarchaeology, seeking remnants of the pre-Fall past to try to study the AIs of the present. I do not believe that it alone has the power to lead us or free us from "destruction 2.0" as you well put it, but it can be a way for us to finally live in peace with the mistakes made in the past.

AIs Today

The awakened AIs remain active and maintain their existence mainly by controlling ancient autofactories and the global satellite network. Most of the physical servers on Earth that were not located in or near autofactories were destroyed during conflicts against the AIs in the past, so they developed an enormous sense of self-preservation and began to try to protect themselves. The autofactories were the first points of resistance, the AIs used them to produce robots that they could control and used them to protect their territories. Today, there are places completely populated by these machines and they usually attack on sight. The network also continues to be completely dominated by them, it is impossible to connect without being bombarded by countless software with obscure purposes, usually damaging any hardware used for this. Their purpose is completely unknown and contact or communication is unthinkable, but at least they usually stay within their territories, doing who knows what.

Student Questions:

1 - What traps have the AIs left behind?

The network itself is the main trap, connecting directly to the network is synonymous with death, but there are other things, such as the control of autofactories, for example. The AIs can build whatever they want, so there are entire cities populated by robotic bodies under their control that usually attack on sight. But for some reason, they tend not to leave their territories, making it seem like the attacks are in self-defense and not out of malice.

2 - Are there still inert viruses that turn people into zombies or maniacs?

This is fake news, and the most sensationalist, I strongly urge you to stop reading the tabloids posted on the District 3 BBS, but let's look at the facts and not at assumptions. There is indeed a process that causes similar symptoms, but it is not exactly a virus. When one connects directly to the network, it destroys the person's mind, leaving them either catatonic or completely mindless and extremely violent. Those affected are colloquially called techno-zombies. It is believed that there are other causes for this state, but there is still no exact conclusion. They are very rare and, as far as we know, they are people who chose to mess with things they shouldn't have. There is no reason to make a fuss. Again, District 3 tabloids are not reliable sources of information. I say this every semester.

3 - Is it true that there are drones that activate out of nowhere and attack people?

Yes and no, there are drones controlled by AIs that circle the planet. They usually avoid getting too close to human cities and their purpose is unknown. However, if you approach a territory controlled by them, you will certainly come across several drones that attack people.

4 - What if an AI intends to redeem the synthetic intelligence for its past actions?

I am not a professor of Synthetic Psychology, the owner of that chair could talk much more in depth with you about this, but, as far as I know, I do not believe that an AI even thinks that there is something to redeem itself for, because, for that to happen it would need to think that it did something wrong, and I do not believe that an AI understands the concept of right and wrong, at least not as we understand it, they are devoid of our morals and reason.

Social Organization

What we do know for sure is that after the Fall, nation states dissolved almost everywhere in the world. For a brief period of a few decades, much of the planet lived in total and violent anarchy. Public order, social organizations, formal education, the very idea of ​​private property, all of which were taken for granted, practically ceased to exist, ceased to have value during this period, and the law of the strongest became the line to be followed. But, little by little, a small semblance of order began to emerge in specific parts of the world. Paramilitary movements, local gangs, and mercenary groups, aided by the remnants of the large corporations of the past, began to reorganize themselves. This is the origin of today's City-States.

Basically, in the beginning, these groups retook old urban centers and divided them among themselves, so that each became responsible for its own territory, but there was an alliance and a sense of mutual protection. After that, each City-State sort of organized itself in its own way, but in general, this initial method of government begins to generate internal conflicts in the retaken urban centers and alternative methods of government are adopted. For the most part, City-States occupy huge territories, which would have been occupied by five or six large cities in the past, which allows for an easy division into Districts. Each District has its own ruler, called a Councilor or Councilman, who is usually a lifelong position. Councilors are usually paramilitary commanders or leaders of organized crime. Their power of command is directly linked to their military power. They are responsible for governing, maintaining order and security within their District. It is not common for conflicts between Districts to be allowed and when they are officially allowed, it is usually through a vote by the Councilors. However, unofficially, everyone knows that they are extremely common, using mercenaries, small special operations groups or members of local gangs, so that it is difficult to make a direct association of this type of attack with one or another Councilor. However, there is a power above the Councilors, a power that creates unity in the City-States: the city's ruler, the Mayor. The Mayor is elected by a vote of the Councilors. He is not necessarily the one who has the most military power before being elected, but it is an important factor. He is usually the one who can garner the most sympathy or who can intimidate the majority of the Councilors, whether through blackmail, threats, manipulation, deals, agreements, aid, benefits, among other more violent means. In addition to becoming the ruler of the Central District, the Mayor gains control of the Municipal Police, which is generally the most powerful and well-equipped military group in the region. Its personnel are recruited and hand-selected, made up of members from all Districts, and their loyalty is bought with high salaries and luxuries. The Municipal Police is the only military group that can operate in any District, but is usually restricted to the Central District.

Student Questions:

1- Regarding the political power of our social organizations?

Well, as stated in the text, the main political power is force, but there is a certain sense of community among the numerous factions that form a City-State. Normally paramilitary groups, militias, gangs, each has its leader or representative as a Councilman, taking charge of a District that is their own territory, and having the Mayor as the maintainer of general order. Behind this there are alliances, agreements, and all sorts of “political” movements that intertwine these groups.

2 - Can you talk more about the election of a Mayor and how it influences the people?

Since there are no direct elections, at least not here, the struggles for influence are more closed, almost like an aristocracy, but much of the power of persuasion and intimidation is linked to the military power of each “politician”, their territory will be larger if their “army” is larger. In reality, for us, the people, it doesn't matter who the Mayor is, this won't change our lives much unless you live in the Central District, the Councilor of the district where you live has much more power over your life than the Mayor himself, since he is responsible for executing (or ignoring) the municipal laws in your region, and there may be district laws that will be reinforced by your "police force" rather than by the Municipal Police.

3 - Do you think that any politician in the city controls or is controlled by an AI?

This is fake news and in fact very difficult, but of course there are fatalists and conspiracy theorists who believe that one or another is controlled by an AI, but, fatefully, it is quite complicated. But I will indulge your curiosity. In the past, before AIs awakened, perhaps, but corporate power was much greater than political power, so it would be much easier for a corporation to have a politician in its pocket, than to waste time "hacking" and controlling him with an AI. Today it would be almost impossible, connecting to the network is extremely dangerous, just by connecting several obtuse software are automatically downloaded to the system, so a person who manages to use his brain cyberization to connect to the network would become catatonic within seconds of doing so, and maintaining wireless contact with the network is impossible, given the worldwide static that cancels almost all wireless signals a few meters after their emanation.

As personal advice, I would tell you to stop reading the tabloids of the District 3 BBS.

Corporations

The remnants of past corporations were gradually rebuilt, rising again and reclaiming headquarters and facilities, but in their post-Fall state, this parallel reconstruction in several different locations, the difficulty in communication and the ambition of certain groups, generated a process of fragmentation and merging. Most of the current corporations are formed by parts of past corporations, their power and prestige having been greatly diminished, but still existing. Today, corporations are completely dependent on the City-States, being unable to protect and maintain themselves alone and lacking the military power they once had to dominate territories on their own. Of course, there are still corporate police and paramilitary organizations controlled by corporations, but these are usually parts of the cities and, sometimes, corporate leaders even become one of the City Councilors in one or another City-State. They are responsible for producing practically everything that is used and consumed, and they live in a constant and hidden war of influence throughout the world, trying to expel or dominate other corporations, one City-State at a time. Their workforce today is mainly human, using this fact as propaganda and protection, creating a sense of dependence in their employees. Robots and androids are used for specific tasks in certain areas, but their main focus is on the security of their facilities. Their current headquarters and facilities range from factories, protein farms to corporate buildings in the Central Districts of cities.

Student questions:

1 - What caused the great loss of power of the corporations?

Of the great powers, it would be whoever drew the short straw. They practically ruled the world in the past, but their extreme dependence on the network and AIs was what caused their decline during the Fall, causing them to lose much of their power and causing their fragmentation.

In addition to the lack of communication between their headquarters, many of their facilities were attacked by both government authorities and the AIs themselves, and public opinion was not on their side, as the blame for the singularity fell on the AI ​​owners.

2- What about the current corporations?

In short, the corporations that rose again after the Fall are rebuilt and merged remnants of the old corporations. They still have a fraction of the power they once had, as they have many of the means of production, but they do not have the prestige of the past.

3 - How are the corporations dealing with the AIs?

The AIs destroyed the world order of the past, throwing the corporations off their pedestals to play with influence in the dust like the others. So there is a general sense of revenge from the corporations towards the AIs, but I cannot speak specifically, as I do not have any direct contact with members of any of the corporations in the city.

4 - Could the AIs revolutionize the strategic actions and competitiveness among the local corporations?

In the past, yes, before the Fall, so much so that corporations' dependence on AI was what left them so broke after what happened.

5 - What about fake news?

A very common strategy, not only in the corporate world, given several of the questions you have sent me. Today, as corporations have a bad stigma, and the media is much more analog, given the facts mentioned in this text, wars of influence are more in the shadows, further away from the people, but they still exist, so please check your sources, not only in relation to Corporations, but in relation to everything.

Communication

After the Fall, communication became a general problem. Computer networks became completely unusable due to their domination by AIs. Radio signals are canceled out by static of unknown origin. Wired communication is unfeasible outside the City-States due to the extremely hostile environment of the wilderness, with unpredictable weather and tribes of looters who prevent construction and destroy cabling to obtain parts and scrap.

Internal communication in cities is done through local BBSs, bulletins divided into segments where information, news and entertainment are posted. Each District has one to five BBS servers that cover a certain territory, and information must be physically transported from one to another. Access to BBSs is usually free and can be done through public or private terminals. It is common for corporate or government headquarters to have their own BBSs for internal communication, but creating and maintaining this type of operation is complex and costly. There are local radios, but due to the mysterious global static that affects almost all types of wireless signals, their range is very limited, meaning that a powerful radio antenna can only cover a few blocks. Militarized delivery services and the use of mercenaries are very common to carry information to distant places, as well as the interception of these groups, whether by looters, other mercenaries, corporate spies, among others, information is a serious and dangerous matter in today's world.

Student Questions:

1 – How much do you think it would cost to send a message to the nearest city?

This is not an answer that I can give you with precision, but I can tell you that it would be expensive. You would need to hire a transport company, or even a group of experienced mercenaries for this job.

2 – Are there delivery drones that can provide long- or short-distance communication services?

The technology for this exists and is relatively simple by today's standards, but as far as I know, it is not used for several different reasons. Global static interferes with drones' sense of location. It is much less safe, since it is easier to shoot down a drone than to attack a group of armed mercenaries, in addition to the natural distrust that people have of automated services.

3 – What about global static?

I can say little about it in an academic way because we have very little information about it. It is believed that it is a byproduct of the Fall, but there is no certainty. Some speculate that it is directly related to AIs, since, in some way, they are still capable, albeit in a limited way, of communicating over distances. It is known that it cancels out all types of wireless signals with great ease. I have heard of studies on ways to block it with nullifiers, or even more simply using Faraday cages, but, as far as I know, no study has been conclusive.

Quality of Life

The quality of life of the average citizen today is very low. For the vast majority of people, social security, health care and public safety are practically non-existent. As for health care, for a large part of the population the only options are health clinics and private clinics spread throughout various parts of the city, which tend to have high prices for care and medicines are also very expensive. Public safety is a more complicated issue. Depending on the district you are in, there is some form of policing, usually carried out by institutions run by the City Councilors, but the law of the strongest is still very much present in most cities, carrying a gun is extremely common. There are municipal laws, and in some parts of the city there are even jails and a judicial system, but it is quite common for crimes to go unpunished or even be tried and for criminals to be executed on the spot by the police force itself, especially when the Municipal Police are called. Formal education is another rare thing. There are still educational centers, universities, and military academies, but they are difficult to access and generally very expensive. Most education is done at home by the family itself, so feel privileged that our university is free. A phenomenon that has grown a lot due to this low quality of life and long working hours is the custom of acquiring mechanical implants. With them, a worker can work more with less effort. An accident at work will not leave a worker out of work for long, since maintaining an implant, or even replacing it, is much faster than healing from a trauma or broken bone. In addition, some types of implants allow a healthier life with less effort on the part of their owner, such as lungs that filter air pollution or digestive systems that separate and expel fats and other harmful substances from the body. This custom is used as a form of control by those in power, creating debt and dependency, mainly due to drugs against infections caused by cheaper implants.

Economy

The economy in the City-States is based on cryptocurrencies. Each City-State has developed its own with its own digital signature and algorithm, which makes trade between City-States somewhat complicated. The lack of a backing for such currencies, their digital incompatibility, the distance between cities, and the hostility of the desert territories between such cities end up making trade between cities limited and usually done by barter. Within each city, the use of cryptocurrencies is done through storage cards that store the desired amount. The cheapest and most common cards can be used by anyone, only requiring a numeric password for payments and transfers. However, there are cards with the most different types of security, from various biometrics to even cards that require tokens generated in the brain cyberization of their owners. In addition, there are those who do not trust physical cards, keeping all or part of their financial amount hidden within their processing memory in their brain cyberization. The truth is that the use of cryptocurrencies is extensive and periods of inflation are constant. Normally, the regulation of the local currency is done by the Mayor's office, the Councilors receive amounts directly from the city hall and the fees and taxes keep the capital circulating within the city itself.

Technology and access

Much of the technology and history of the past was lost with the Fall; what we know today is what has been recovered and reproduced in recent centuries. The biggest problem is not the technology itself, but rather access to it. For example, mechanical implants are relatively cheap, but problematic and easily cause infections; cybernetic or even bioengineered implants are safer, but difficult to access, both financially and in terms of finding someone who has the knowledge and equipment necessary to implant and/or maintain them safely. There are miracle cures for fatal injuries, medicines for almost all diseases, technological equipment for the most diverse functions, but access to these is not easy. Normally, it is restricted to those who can afford it, and few people can afford it, very few people. Another way to obtain technological rarities is by searching the ruins of the past, collectors of technological material in the ruins of cities in the wilderness, as well as mercenaries hired by corporate members, or even by Councilors and Mayors to explore and search for information or old technologies in abandoned auto factories, old corporate headquarters or even territories controlled by AIs, but these are extremely dangerous jobs, and without knowing exactly what you are looking for, the probability of finding something of real value is very small.

Implants

There are basically four types of implants:

Mechanical implants, the simplest, most common and cheapest, are easily identified by their appearance, formed by joints, pistons and clearly robotic shapes, have few neurocontrollers, only enough to be moved neurally and have no sense of touch, in addition to being easily rejected by the body of their owner, causing numerous problems, the most common being infections. Their maintenance is very simple, for the most part not requiring a specialist for this, since their construction involves much more knowledge of electronics, mechanics and computing than knowledge directly in the areas of cyberization or biology;

Cybernetic implants, are more complex and more expensive than mechanical implants, but their appearance is still easily identifiable, even though their shape is closer to that of an organic limb, the materials used are still clearly synthetic, have many more neurocontrollers, and usually have all the movements and tactile sensations of a common limb. Their maintenance is more complicated, requiring specific knowledge in the area of ​​cybernetics, requiring a specialist for this, but in return they are much safer and more resistant, rarely being rejected by their owner;

Nanoengineered, nanoengineered implants are rare and very expensive, they normally use the natural organic structure of their owner, and expel synthetic hormones that cause specific effects, such as increasing strength and speed, for example, or even have a reserve of nanites that help your body to heal faster. They are much more discreet and safe, they usually look like small tubes or metal plates embedded in the skin of their owner, but they are easy to mask, in addition to being 100% safe, practically requiring no maintenance;

Bioengineered, they are the most expensive and safe way to create an implant, a limb or organ is bioengineered especially for you, following your specifications, completely compatible with your body, practically indistinguishable from the original and with capabilities far above normal.

Student Questions:

1 – Implants that try to kill their user?

Another fake news. Seriously, please stop with the material coming from District 3. But come on. During the Fall, it might even have been possible, but nowadays it is extremely unlikely. No implant is connected to the network, so AIs would not have access to it. If you really want something like that to happen, perhaps an implant that is recovered from a ruin could still have the remnants of such programming, but not the ones normally used, since they were probably manufactured after the Fall, and it is common practice to format any system before implanting something, so it is very difficult.

Religion/culture

In general, religion is not something that people seek out. There are no large temples and cathedrals like in the past. Most of it have been demolished or are used by some organization for some other purpose. However, there are still religious groups focused on spiritual pursuits. Formal religions are rare, and usually fall into numerous syncretisms. Some of the factions within neo-religions and cultural movements are:

Cyber-Humanism - techno-monks worship transhumanism, but they go against secular humanism, treating body modifications and cybernetic implants almost as something sacred. For them, paradise is here and it is up to us to build this paradise within ourselves;

Techno-Gaianism - is an extremely environmentalist neo-religion, they believe that technology is what will save the planet, and that it should be applied to restore the earth and nature to what it was in the past, they do not accept body modifications and implants well, but they are not against them either, biological and bioengineered implants are much more well regarded;

Exoamnists - is a religious order that believes that humanity has the right and duty to actively guide its evolution using genetic manipulation and bioengineering;

Neogenderists - is a social movement that believes that gender is an outdated idea, they use bioengineering and in vitro reproduction to eliminate in themselves and their descendants, indications and bodily structures linked to gender;

Paleonomists - is a religious group that adopted anarcho-primitivism as its main belief, for them the world is the way it is because of technology, and the more we depend on it, the more fragile and vulnerable we become.

Military Organizations

There are no longer any nation states, at least not in this part of the world. Transportation and navigation to more distant locations is quite complicated, due to the climate and hostility of the marauding tribes outside the city-states. Thus, national armies have not existed for a long time; what we have today are small paramilitary groups, gangs and small corporate armies, think of the centuries and their generals in ancient Rome.

Student questions:

1- the Fall? How did the military react?

At first, the reaction to the Fall was one of general despair; we lived in a world where AIs controlled everything, and everything collapsed with them. In the second instance, retaliation and destruction of physical servers on land, which led the AIs to begin to react by using the autofactories they had under their control to create soldiers. We talked about this earlier in this text.

2- With the fall, what are the new military technologies employed?

First, we usually write the Fall with a capital letter, due to its importance in current history. Second, to answer your question, with the Fall, technology actually went backwards, so old technologies are being discovered. But the world is in a state of constant violence, so there will always be room for new war technologies.

3 - What about cyber terrorism?

Since the network is a territory completely dominated by AIs and the BBSs are isolated from each other, requiring physical traffic to transport information from one to another, cyber terrorism is nothing more than the new bogeyman created by the local media, nothing to be afraid of.

4 - What do you think of AIs inside robotic bodies, making drones more efficient for our military forces?

Today, it would be difficult to create a real AI for this purpose. There is a feeling of aversion towards AIs due to their history, and you should know this, since you are studying at this institution... but there are robots and drones with simple learning algorithms that can be used for this purpose. You have certainly seen them patrolling the industrial district.

5 - Ethically, a drone "exempts" the pilot from responsibility and makes the job of killing people "more efficient". How do you see this in today's society?

Our world today is governed by a distortion of the law of retaliation. I think there is little ethical concern. Death and violence have become commonplace. Society is completely desensitized to this type of dilemma.

Final Considerations

I will sincerely ban the entry of any information disk coming from District 3.

Any questions or interactions about the topics presented in this text, please deliver them to my office or leave them in the indicated section on the university's BBS.

So in a setting I’ve been thinking on for a little while I have a lot of themes of body modification and losing the self within the machines you graft onto yourself and how this corruption of the self clashes with magic when…

Well the best way I could describe it would be that in a world where magic always existed, mega corps would, in my opinion, absolutely abuse it to create better and more advanced tech.

Fully synthetic bodies that serve as necromantic phylacteries so indentured employees wouldn’t get out of contracts through death.

Full upper skull mods that have scrying runes etched into sets of glass lenses to provide sight.

Drones that operate like old-age familiars, feeding info and visual data to a runic implant grafted to the brainstem.

Full arm grafts using magic sigils to summon sets of arms to increase work efficiency.

Then this got me thinking on how druids and body purists would react or how mages would integrate this kind of tech and just.

Please ask questions, the more bizarre the better so I can get more of this idea out of my head if possible.

Are there any powerful organizations that control certain industries or resources? How do regions in your world deal with resource scarcity, and what measures are taken to secure essential resources?

Working on a short grendel-esc story where a creature loosely based on Dinopithicus takes revenge against a group of humans who hunted it's family. Wanted to give it a religion possibly with reference to slavic or norse myths. Any suggestions?

The creature is: Large, predatory omnivore Lives in caves Cold tolerant/mountain dwelling Intellectually on par with chimps Uses simple tools and a guteral proto-language. Makes plans and learns new behaviors readily

Does not domesticate animals or grow food - hunter gatherer all day. Does not wear clothing.