Postfurry Wiki - User contributions [en]

User:TheArchivist

2016-09-30T07:05:48Z

TheArchivist:

The Archivist is a tall, slender feminine figure clad in an ornate robe of office patterned in shades of lavender, indigo and chrome. She has long, straight black hair that she wears in a bun, pale skin, and a disinterested mien. She wears the parachronotic bracers and mantle common to anyone worthing in chrononautics, and leaves a trail when she walks, as though she were not quite focused in the present moment.

The Archivist works out of Celemareven Tower in [[Upwarp]], as part of the Department for Parachronotic Research and Retrieval. Recently she has been engaged in deep-bore excursions into L-Space, with the goal of recovering historical documents from the distant past and adjacent timelines. While in the normal course of things her research is presented as part of departmental findings, she has also been known to supplement collaborative hypertext systems with her discoveries on her own time.

Strangewarp/Archives

2016-09-30T06:48:58Z

TheArchivist: /* Points of Interest */

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

Strangewarp is the black sheep of the Mess family, an entire district disowned. Few visit its feverish canals and infected spires, and fewer still really understand what goes on there. Not only is Strange home to the hated [[Strangevirus]], its backup system is said to be so corrupted that permanent losses to the body or mind are actually possible there. Thus, Strange tends to be treated like a "lost warp" among non-natives, to be avoided at all costs.

To outsiders, Strangewarp is synonymous with the Strangevirus, the infectious liquid metal bioware that turns people into febrile, disaffected ghouls. The influence of the Strangevirus is everywhere, from the membranous webbing on the architecture, to the blobs of stolen memory in its fabled Library. But not every resident of Strange is an actual host. Strange is home to all sorts of beings of a dark and eerie disposition: monstergrrls and broken sex-dolls deemed too scary for Charm, delinquent illithids in search of new kicks, single-minded occultists willing to trade reason and compassion for knowledge, anyone else willing to stay... The Warp would never reject anyone who's willing to play along with it.

The culture of Strange is apocalyptic and primal, based on pure fulfillment of the Id. The Strangers commonly believe that all urges are self-justifying, and the individual has no obligation to others besides their own whim to help or harm. Influence upon the will of a being can not be imposed by mere guilt or altruism. It must be earned, by force, trickery, or seduction. There is no concept of moral obligation in Strange. The "an it harm none" clause has been stricken from its law, in an ink ruddy and clotted.

The Strangers justify their depravity as the logical consequence of immortality. Transcendence takes all the gravity out of the darker emotions, and all the finality out of death. Thus, so the reasoning goes, no experience is inherently more or less healthy than any other, leaving the beauty of death and disease bare for the admiration of all...

Strangewarp's society is extremely loose and chaotic, but still civilized in the sense of having complex cultural institutions. The Warp is full of delirious, cruel parodies of the customs of "healthy" societies. Besides the aforementioned Library, Strangewarp has theatres, sculpture gardens, fine dining, open-air markets, public sports, and even singles bars. (If your imagination leads you to shudder at how they apply these concepts, you're beginning to grasp Strange.)

The gregarious behavior of typical [[the Mess|Mess]] residents, however, is lacking in most Strangewarp citizens. Many dismiss seeking company for its own sake as somewhat "herd-like," inappropriate to predators. Instead, social behavior tends to follow more pack-like rituals of dominance and submission rituals. The Strangers generally don't interact with their fellow citizens unless they suspect they have something direct to gain from it, even if only a moment of amusement or arousal.

Strangewarp is still a bustling city, though, if you know where to look. Strangers even rival Downers in their skill at making use of every hidden crevice of a city. Of course, Strangers have the advantage of comfort and physical safety not being real issues.

Because its residents have done away with the most trappings of mortal life, Strangewarp has perhaps become the most "transhumane" of the six known Warps. Most of its flesh-based inhabitants have had all their biological processes taken over by the Strangevirus, or left them to fail. Most Strangers aren't, strictly speaking, alive. They like to celebrate and toy with their viscerality, especially in the view of easily squicked visitors, treating their useless innards like so much decorative gadgetry.

Strangewarp's reputation for corporeal violence is not undeserved, though insanity and spiritual erosion are much more serious threats to long-term visitors. Bloodshed is more of a consequence of those hazards than an end in itself, as Strange natives and permanent guests may occasionally lose themselves to a moment of "lighthearted abandon" and accidentally dismember somebody not equipped to take it. Natives are usually all too happy to give generously of their own augmented blood to save those unfortunate enough to be injured, though, and can't really see what the big deal is about. They'll even think any deformities left behind by the flawed body-backup system are rather pretty, and often stop to complement their disfigured victims upon further encounters.

Signs of insanity and enigma abound throughout Strangewarp. Cryptic messages appear on walls. Flashes of other realities gleam in the infected silver film on the walls of buildings. Illusions hide things in plain sight. Buildings appear and disappear, moving around behind people's backs. Shrill voices whisper meaningless prophecies and unfamiliar names. Hidden ecosystems of vermin are found working in conjunction towards some nonsensical task. Strange has clearly lost all its marbles, and perhaps it is going to turn all its residents inside-out until it finds them.

Remember, the residents of Strange don't share a single disposition, not even the Viral hosts. They don't necessarily act like the stereotypical lurching psychopaths of the other Warps' imagination. And even if they are monsters, not all of them are always seeking to do harm. (This is not to say sadism isn't rampant, just that it isn't ubiquitous.) There is still kindness and dignity among the dead. A sense of haunted beauty and pathos runs deep and true in Strangewarp, underneath all the gaudy Grand Guignol, but few stay long enough to look for it.

=== Points of Interest ===

;Strangewarp Library
: It's said that all the secrets of Puzzlebox and the Mess can be found if you search the Strangewarp Library long enough. It's also said that you probably won't survive long enough to find out where the bathrooms are.
;The Moon
: The moon of Strangewarp, a perpetually full silver disc pasted in the sky, is rumored to be an echo of a variant Strangewarp in exile. It's said to be a clean, cold, and bright place, populated by ruthless cyborg matriarchs and castles of razor-sharp steel, where artistic and emotional urges are suppressed in favor of perfect robotic dispassion. Its presence is sometimes blamed on a conspiracy of Uppers and/or Toppers, who are scheming to subvert and replace Strange with something closer to their own values.

Strangewarp/Archives

2016-09-30T06:48:28Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

Strangewarp is the black sheep of the Mess family, an entire district disowned. Few visit its feverish canals and infected spires, and fewer still really understand what goes on there. Not only is Strange home to the hated [[Strangevirus]], its backup system is said to be so corrupted that permanent losses to the body or mind are actually possible there. Thus, Strange tends to be treated like a "lost warp" among non-natives, to be avoided at all costs.

To outsiders, Strangewarp is synonymous with the Strangevirus, the infectious liquid metal bioware that turns people into febrile, disaffected ghouls. The influence of the Strangevirus is everywhere, from the membranous webbing on the architecture, to the blobs of stolen memory in its fabled Library. But not every resident of Strange is an actual host. Strange is home to all sorts of beings of a dark and eerie disposition: monstergrrls and broken sex-dolls deemed too scary for Charm, delinquent illithids in search of new kicks, single-minded occultists willing to trade reason and compassion for knowledge, anyone else willing to stay... The Warp would never reject anyone who's willing to play along with it.

The culture of Strange is apocalyptic and primal, based on pure fulfillment of the Id. The Strangers commonly believe that all urges are self-justifying, and the individual has no obligation to others besides their own whim to help or harm. Influence upon the will of a being can not be imposed by mere guilt or altruism. It must be earned, by force, trickery, or seduction. There is no concept of moral obligation in Strange. The "an it harm none" clause has been stricken from its law, in an ink ruddy and clotted.

The Strangers justify their depravity as the logical consequence of immortality. Transcendence takes all the gravity out of the darker emotions, and all the finality out of death. Thus, so the reasoning goes, no experience is inherently more or less healthy than any other, leaving the beauty of death and disease bare for the admiration of all...

Strangewarp's society is extremely loose and chaotic, but still civilized in the sense of having complex cultural institutions. The Warp is full of delirious, cruel parodies of the customs of "healthy" societies. Besides the aforementioned Library, Strangewarp has theatres, sculpture gardens, fine dining, open-air markets, public sports, and even singles bars. (If your imagination leads you to shudder at how they apply these concepts, you're beginning to grasp Strange.)

The gregarious behavior of typical [[the Mess|Mess]] residents, however, is lacking in most Strangewarp citizens. Many dismiss seeking company for its own sake as somewhat "herd-like," inappropriate to predators. Instead, social behavior tends to follow more pack-like rituals of dominance and submission rituals. The Strangers generally don't interact with their fellow citizens unless they suspect they have something direct to gain from it, even if only a moment of amusement or arousal.

Strangewarp is still a bustling city, though, if you know where to look. Strangers even rival Downers in their skill at making use of every hidden crevice of a city. Of course, Strangers have the advantage of comfort and physical safety not being real issues.

Because its residents have done away with the most trappings of mortal life, Strangewarp has perhaps become the most "transhumane" of the six known Warps. Most of its flesh-based inhabitants have had all their biological processes taken over by the Strangevirus, or left them to fail. Most Strangers aren't, strictly speaking, alive. They like to celebrate and toy with their viscerality, especially in the view of easily squicked visitors, treating their useless innards like so much decorative gadgetry.

Strangewarp's reputation for corporeal violence is not undeserved, though insanity and spiritual erosion are much more serious threats to long-term visitors. Bloodshed is more of a consequence of those hazards than an end in itself, as Strange natives and permanent guests may occasionally lose themselves to a moment of "lighthearted abandon" and accidentally dismember somebody not equipped to take it. Natives are usually all too happy to give generously of their own augmented blood to save those unfortunate enough to be injured, though, and can't really see what the big deal is about. They'll even think any deformities left behind by the flawed body-backup system are rather pretty, and often stop to complement their disfigured victims upon further encounters.

Signs of insanity and enigma abound throughout Strangewarp. Cryptic messages appear on walls. Flashes of other realities gleam in the infected silver film on the walls of buildings. Illusions hide things in plain sight. Buildings appear and disappear, moving around behind people's backs. Shrill voices whisper meaningless prophecies and unfamiliar names. Hidden ecosystems of vermin are found working in conjunction towards some nonsensical task. Strange has clearly lost all its marbles, and perhaps it is going to turn all its residents inside-out until it finds them.

Remember, the residents of Strange don't share a single disposition, not even the Viral hosts. They don't necessarily act like the stereotypical lurching psychopaths of the other Warps' imagination. And even if they are monsters, not all of them are always seeking to do harm. (This is not to say sadism isn't rampant, just that it isn't ubiquitous.) There is still kindness and dignity among the dead. A sense of haunted beauty and pathos runs deep and true in Strangewarp, underneath all the gaudy Grand Guignol, but few stay long enough to look for it.

=== Points of Interest ===

• Strangewarp Library: It's said that all the secrets of Puzzlebox and the Mess can be found if you search the Strangewarp Library long enough. It's also said that you probably won't survive long enough to find out where the bathrooms are.

• The Moon: The moon of Strangewarp, a perpetually full silver disc pasted in the sky, is rumored to be an echo of a variant Strangewarp in exile. It's said to be a clean, cold, and bright place, populated by ruthless cyborg matriarchs and castles of razor-sharp steel, where artistic and emotional urges are suppressed in favor of perfect robotic dispassion. Its presence is sometimes blamed on a conspiracy of Uppers and/or Toppers, who are scheming to subvert and replace Strange with something closer to their own values.

Strangewarp/Archives

2016-09-30T06:48:03Z

TheArchivist: Created page with "'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION''' ''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.'' Strangewarp is the black sheep of th..."

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

Strangewarp is the black sheep of the Mess family, an entire district disowned. Few visit its feverish canals and infected spires, and fewer still really understand what goes on there. Not only is Strange home to the hated [[Strangevirus]], its backup system is said to be so corrupted that permanent losses to the body or mind are actually possible there. Thus, Strange tends to be treated like a "lost warp" among non-natives, to be avoided at all costs.

To outsiders, Strangewarp is synonymous with the Strangevirus, the infectious liquid metal bioware that turns people into febrile, disaffected ghouls. The influence of the Strangevirus is everywhere, from the membranous webbing on the architecture, to the blobs of stolen memory in its fabled Library. But not every resident of Strange is an actual host. Strange is home to all sorts of beings of a dark and eerie disposition: monstergrrls and broken sex-dolls deemed too scary for Charm, delinquent illithids in search of new kicks, single-minded occultists willing to trade reason and compassion for knowledge, anyone else willing to stay... The Warp would never reject anyone who's willing to play along with it.

The culture of Strange is apocalyptic and primal, based on pure fulfillment of the Id. The Strangers commonly believe that all urges are self-justifying, and the individual has no obligation to others besides their own whim to help or harm. Influence upon the will of a being can not be imposed by mere guilt or altruism. It must be earned, by force, trickery, or seduction. There is no concept of moral obligation in Strange. The "an it harm none" clause has been stricken from its law, in an ink ruddy and clotted.

The Strangers justify their depravity as the logical consequence of immortality. Transcendence takes all the gravity out of the darker emotions, and all the finality out of death. Thus, so the reasoning goes, no experience is inherently more or less healthy than any other, leaving the beauty of death and disease bare for the admiration of all...

Strangewarp's society is extremely loose and chaotic, but still civilized in the sense of having complex cultural institutions. The Warp is full of delirious, cruel parodies of the customs of "healthy" societies. Besides the aforementioned Library, Strangewarp has theatres, sculpture gardens, fine dining, open-air markets, public sports, and even singles bars. (If your imagination leads you to shudder at how they apply these concepts, you're beginning to grasp Strange.)

The gregarious behavior of typical [[the Mess|Mess]] residents, however, is lacking in most Strangewarp citizens. Many dismiss seeking company for its own sake as somewhat "herd-like," inappropriate to predators. Instead, social behavior tends to follow more pack-like rituals of dominance and submission rituals. The Strangers generally don't interact with their fellow citizens unless they suspect they have something direct to gain from it, even if only a moment of amusement or arousal.

Strangewarp is still a bustling city, though, if you know where to look. Strangers even rival Downers in their skill at making use of every hidden crevice of a city. Of course, Strangers have the advantage of comfort and physical safety not being real issues.

Because its residents have done away with the most trappings of mortal life, Strangewarp has perhaps become the most "transhumane" of the six known Warps. Most of its flesh-based inhabitants have had all their biological processes taken over by the Strangevirus, or left them to fail. Most Strangers aren't, strictly speaking, alive. They like to celebrate and toy with their viscerality, especially in the view of easily squicked visitors, treating their useless innards like so much decorative gadgetry.

Strangewarp's reputation for corporeal violence is not undeserved, though insanity and spiritual erosion are much more serious threats to long-term visitors. Bloodshed is more of a consequence of those hazards than an end in itself, as Strange natives and permanent guests may occasionally lose themselves to a moment of "lighthearted abandon" and accidentally dismember somebody not equipped to take it. Natives are usually all too happy to give generously of their own augmented blood to save those unfortunate enough to be injured, though, and can't really see what the big deal is about. They'll even think any deformities left behind by the flawed body-backup system are rather pretty, and often stop to complement their disfigured victims upon further encounters.

Signs of insanity and enigma abound throughout Strangewarp. Cryptic messages appear on walls. Flashes of other realities gleam in the infected silver film on the walls of buildings. Illusions hide things in plain sight. Buildings appear and disappear, moving around behind people's backs. Shrill voices whisper meaningless prophecies and unfamiliar names. Hidden ecosystems of vermin are found working in conjunction towards some nonsensical task. Strange has clearly lost all its marbles, and perhaps it is going to turn all its residents inside-out until it finds them.

Remember, the residents of Strange don't share a single disposition, not even the Viral hosts. They don't necessarily act like the stereotypical lurching psychopaths of the other Warps' imagination. And even if they are monsters, not all of them are always seeking to do harm. (This is not to say sadism isn't rampant, just that it isn't ubiquitous.) There is still kindness and dignity among the dead. A sense of haunted beauty and pathos runs deep and true in Strangewarp, underneath all the gaudy Grand Guignol, but few stay long enough to look for it.

Points of Interest:

• Strangewarp Library: It's said that all the secrets of Puzzlebox and the Mess can be found if you search the Strangewarp Library long enough. It's also said that you probably won't survive long enough to find out where the bathrooms are.

• The Moon: The moon of Strangewarp, a perpetually full silver disc pasted in the sky, is rumored to be an echo of a variant Strangewarp in exile. It's said to be a clean, cold, and bright place, populated by ruthless cyborg matriarchs and castles of razor-sharp steel, where artistic and emotional urges are suppressed in favor of perfect robotic dispassion. Its presence is sometimes blamed on a conspiracy of Uppers and/or Toppers, who are scheming to subvert and replace Strange with something closer to their own values.

Strangewarp

2016-09-30T06:45:39Z

TheArchivist:

__NOTITLE__

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----

See also: [[Strangewarp/Archives|Archival Information]]

Strangewarp

2016-09-30T06:45:23Z

TheArchivist:

Puzzlebox

2016-09-30T06:40:39Z

TheArchivist: /* Other Places */

{{TOC right}}
The Puzzlebox is an arbitrarily large, arbitrarily old, arbitrarily weird region of the Mess, an even larger, older, but rather less weird transhuman habitat. Most of the Mess is et up as a fairly mundane, unchallenging, comfortable existence for any sentient, offering freedom from death and want.

The Puzzlebox has the same conveniences overall; no one need die or go homeless or hungry, but unlike the rest of the Mess, it's divided into vastly different areas, each one seeming to have its own very forceful personality. Each of these six Warps, as they're called, has slightly different rules of reality from each other and the rest of the universe, that support their own particular ways of life. Given its oddness by the general standards of the surrounding habitat, most Mess denizens look at the Puzzlebox as down-rent property, generally to be avoided.

However, another thing that makes the Puzzlebox different is that it seems to have a will of its own, and a penchant for collecting. Strange immigrants are common there, from far-flung areas of the Mess and from other realities entirely. Many of them aren't even sure how they got there. In general, there's nothing keeping them from leaving again, but those that the Puzzlebox chooses seem to tend to find a place there, preferring it to wherever they came from.

== The Warps ==
The Puzzlebox is divided into six warps, three pairs, each named after a flavor of quark. Each warp seems to be as big as it needs to be, but borders between them can be found as well, the particular reality of one warp bleeding into another in the far reaches. There are rumors of other places too, specific junctions between two or even three warps, but details on these are sketchy at best.

[[Warp Metaphysics|There are countless ways to divide and characterize the six warps]], the following listing simply uses the masses of the corresponding quarks to provide an ordering.

* [[Downwarp]] - A cyberpunkish urban ruin filled with wild-eyed artists and mystics.
* [[Upwarp]] - A clinical technocratic society devoted to humanistic science and rationalism.
* [[Strangewarp]] - A twisted mirror-image of an elegant city, turned inside-out by all those things that most folks would rather not think about.
* [[Charmwarp]] - A fantasyland of bright colors, whimsical creatures, and wide-eyed innocence.
* [[Bottomwarp]] - An endless street festival where shame (and clothing) are virtually unknown, and where kinky behavior and hippie-ish values predominate.
* [[Topwarp]] - An aristocratic land of palaces and estates, whose inhabitants are devoted to craftsbeingship and personal development.

== Life in the Puzzlebox ==
As a transhuman habitat, the Puzzlebox provides a number of conveniences. There's the Backup System, which constantly scans inhabitants' bodies and minds and, if they suffer fatal physical damage, restores them intact at a nearby safe location. There's also the Instantiator, which allows inhabitants to create simple objects, including anything needed for sustenance and shelter, with only a thought. Strangest of all, there's the Consent Maintenance System, which seems to prevent (or at least mitigate) anything happening to someone that they don't (by some definition) 'want'.

From an out-of-character perspective, this all basically means that MUCK rules are physical laws there; you can't die (unless you want to), you can make whatever you want as long as you spend the mental effort, and usually you're the one who determines what happens to you, via your own poses.

These make physical combat essentially superfluous (or at least clearly recreational), but that doesn't make the Puzzlebox free of conflict entirely. Instead, the way that Puzzlebox inhabitants contend is through memetics and propaganda, what is sometimes called 'artwar'. Over Puzzlebox's long history, factions have formed, along ideological and aesthetic lines, and they're always vying with each other to win converts and influence. New inhabitants are particuarly prized; convincing someone from somewhere else that your way of life is the right one brings with it a lot of prestige.

=== Current Events ===
Once, the warps were all connected via the [[Transit Nexus]] and its Magic Mirror, but at some point in the relatively recent past, something changed. The greater Genius Loci of the Puzzlebox seems to have changed, or simply lost interest; not much has happened, and the connections between Warps, and in and out of the Puzzlebox itself, have broken down, leaving some inhabitants stranded outwarp or outbox, and the rest a bit worried about whether the backup system or the instantiator will be next to fail.

More recently, contact has been made between [[Downwarp]] and the [[Oneiropolis]], allowing a bit of travel between that warp and other [[valences]]. Further experimentation inside Downwarp has given some hints that they may be able to re-establish contact with other places, as long as an inhabitant from each other warp can be found to help lead the way back.

=== Factions ===
This is a necessarily incomplete list; factions form and fragment constantly, and there's plenty of disagreement even within factions as to who belongs and who doesn't.

* [[Architects of the Future/Archives|Architects of the Future]]†
* [[Bonobians]]
* [[Bubbledolls/Archives|Bubbledolls]]†
* [[Chitin Queens/Archives|Chitin Queens]]†
* [[Eisenstimmen/Archives|Eisenstimmen]]†
* [[Fever Cathedral/Archives|Fever Cathedral]]†
* [[Gridshamans]]
* [[Hemotopians/Archives|Hemotopians]]†
* [[Modulari]]
* [[Neo-Boreals/Archives|Neo-Boreals]]†
* [[Neovictorians]]
* [[Plurals/Archives|Plurals]]†
* [[Strange Medical Corps]]

† archival information

== Other Places ==
Puzzlebox is generally synonymous with the Warps, but there are always edge cases. These locations are undeniably inside the Puzzlebox, but also just as clearly don't belong to any particular warp.

* [[Cube Tree Plaza]]
* [[Transit Nexus]]
* [[The Museum]]

----

See also: [[Puzzlebox/Archives|Archival Information]].

[[Category:Syncosms]] [[Category:Puzzlebox]]

Puzzlebox

2016-09-30T06:39:42Z

TheArchivist:

{{TOC right}}
The Puzzlebox is an arbitrarily large, arbitrarily old, arbitrarily weird region of the Mess, an even larger, older, but rather less weird transhuman habitat. Most of the Mess is et up as a fairly mundane, unchallenging, comfortable existence for any sentient, offering freedom from death and want.

The Puzzlebox has the same conveniences overall; no one need die or go homeless or hungry, but unlike the rest of the Mess, it's divided into vastly different areas, each one seeming to have its own very forceful personality. Each of these six Warps, as they're called, has slightly different rules of reality from each other and the rest of the universe, that support their own particular ways of life. Given its oddness by the general standards of the surrounding habitat, most Mess denizens look at the Puzzlebox as down-rent property, generally to be avoided.

However, another thing that makes the Puzzlebox different is that it seems to have a will of its own, and a penchant for collecting. Strange immigrants are common there, from far-flung areas of the Mess and from other realities entirely. Many of them aren't even sure how they got there. In general, there's nothing keeping them from leaving again, but those that the Puzzlebox chooses seem to tend to find a place there, preferring it to wherever they came from.

== The Warps ==
The Puzzlebox is divided into six warps, three pairs, each named after a flavor of quark. Each warp seems to be as big as it needs to be, but borders between them can be found as well, the particular reality of one warp bleeding into another in the far reaches. There are rumors of other places too, specific junctions between two or even three warps, but details on these are sketchy at best.

[[Warp Metaphysics|There are countless ways to divide and characterize the six warps]], the following listing simply uses the masses of the corresponding quarks to provide an ordering.

* [[Downwarp]] - A cyberpunkish urban ruin filled with wild-eyed artists and mystics.
* [[Upwarp]] - A clinical technocratic society devoted to humanistic science and rationalism.
* [[Strangewarp]] - A twisted mirror-image of an elegant city, turned inside-out by all those things that most folks would rather not think about.
* [[Charmwarp]] - A fantasyland of bright colors, whimsical creatures, and wide-eyed innocence.
* [[Bottomwarp]] - An endless street festival where shame (and clothing) are virtually unknown, and where kinky behavior and hippie-ish values predominate.
* [[Topwarp]] - An aristocratic land of palaces and estates, whose inhabitants are devoted to craftsbeingship and personal development.

== Life in the Puzzlebox ==
As a transhuman habitat, the Puzzlebox provides a number of conveniences. There's the Backup System, which constantly scans inhabitants' bodies and minds and, if they suffer fatal physical damage, restores them intact at a nearby safe location. There's also the Instantiator, which allows inhabitants to create simple objects, including anything needed for sustenance and shelter, with only a thought. Strangest of all, there's the Consent Maintenance System, which seems to prevent (or at least mitigate) anything happening to someone that they don't (by some definition) 'want'.

From an out-of-character perspective, this all basically means that MUCK rules are physical laws there; you can't die (unless you want to), you can make whatever you want as long as you spend the mental effort, and usually you're the one who determines what happens to you, via your own poses.

These make physical combat essentially superfluous (or at least clearly recreational), but that doesn't make the Puzzlebox free of conflict entirely. Instead, the way that Puzzlebox inhabitants contend is through memetics and propaganda, what is sometimes called 'artwar'. Over Puzzlebox's long history, factions have formed, along ideological and aesthetic lines, and they're always vying with each other to win converts and influence. New inhabitants are particuarly prized; convincing someone from somewhere else that your way of life is the right one brings with it a lot of prestige.

=== Current Events ===
Once, the warps were all connected via the [[Transit Nexus]] and its Magic Mirror, but at some point in the relatively recent past, something changed. The greater Genius Loci of the Puzzlebox seems to have changed, or simply lost interest; not much has happened, and the connections between Warps, and in and out of the Puzzlebox itself, have broken down, leaving some inhabitants stranded outwarp or outbox, and the rest a bit worried about whether the backup system or the instantiator will be next to fail.

More recently, contact has been made between [[Downwarp]] and the [[Oneiropolis]], allowing a bit of travel between that warp and other [[valences]]. Further experimentation inside Downwarp has given some hints that they may be able to re-establish contact with other places, as long as an inhabitant from each other warp can be found to help lead the way back.

=== Factions ===
This is a necessarily incomplete list; factions form and fragment constantly, and there's plenty of disagreement even within factions as to who belongs and who doesn't.

* [[Architects of the Future/Archives|Architects of the Future]]†
* [[Bonobians]]
* [[Bubbledolls/Archives|Bubbledolls]]†
* [[Chitin Queens/Archives|Chitin Queens]]†
* [[Eisenstimmen/Archives|Eisenstimmen]]†
* [[Fever Cathedral/Archives|Fever Cathedral]]†
* [[Gridshamans]]
* [[Hemotopians/Archives|Hemotopians]]†
* [[Modulari]]
* [[Neo-Boreals/Archives|Neo-Boreals]]†
* [[Neovictorians]]
* [[Plurals/Archives|Plurals]]†
* [[Strange Medical Corps]]

† archival information

== Other Places ==
Puzzlebox is generally synonymous with the Warps, but there are always edge cases. These locations are undeniably inside the Puzzlebox, but also just as clearly don't belong to any particular warp.

* [[Cube Tree Plaza]]
* [[Transit Nexus]]
* [[The Museum]]

See also: [[Puzzlebox/Archives|Archival Information]].

[[Category:Syncosms]] [[Category:Puzzlebox]]

Neo-Boreals/Archives

2016-09-30T06:38:51Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

This faction, known for its beautiful biotecture and uncanny ability to predict Puzzlebox's growth, is devoted to seeking signs of cosmic consciousness in the growth patterns of ordinary things. The neo-Boreals believe that natural (and pseudo-natural) phenomena contain an encrypted, lucid, and possibly urgent message from Puzzlebox or its creator. Conscious thought, which is based on a completely different set of formulae, tends to corrupt this message, and thus conscious design must not be allowed to overtake the universe.

The Boreals do not believe that consciousness is evil— they don't, in fact, put much stock in concepts of good and evil. They celebrate consciousness for its own merits, but simply fear the consequences of its overgrowth. Thus, they operate huge preserves where natural and artificial life is allowed to develop along simple, serendipitous principles. Trained mystics study the results after drugging themselves into pre-conscious states, so as not to contaminate the systems with their observations, and try to intuit meaningful patterns that might lead them to the One Text. ("Boojum," which induces species-atavism, is an especially popular drug for this purpose; it is finding its way into the Mess as a recreational drug, much to the Boreals' dismay.)

The Neo-Boreals are particularly well-suited to [[Topwarp|Top]], and a large minority of their converts are [[Chitin Queens]]; insectoids seem particularly at ease with at the transrational thought processes needed to seek the One Text. [[Upwarp]]ians tend as a rule to have little use for information gathered non-rationally, but there are surely exceptions. [[Strangewarp]] attracts a substantial amount of neoB curiosity because of its unique type of fertility, but it is almost never acted upon, and it's doubtful that Strange returns the affection. The Boreals are quite welcome in [[Charmwarp]], but they find the Bubble Dolls too challenging to their notions of consciousness to be more than amiably distant with them. Bottom's Aquarian do-your-own-thing vibe attracts Boreals in droves. And as soon as it was understood that the One Text wasn't found exclusively in organic life, but in anything and everything that grows wild, they gained quite a few converts in [[Downwarp|Down]]; these are the fabled "rust shamans."

Fever Cathedral/Archives

2016-09-30T06:38:36Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

This is a shadowy religious order thataims to revive a mythic Vinyl Age, when music was rightfully fast, loud, and Satanic. The Cathedral is founded upon the doctrine of "pre-emptive discord": the entropic decay of the universe is irreversible. But there is one song, as yet unwritten, which will encode the principles of entropy perfectly within its thrashing guitar chords. And if that song is played loudly and drunkenly enough to a sufficiently unruly audience, all present will be raptured from this dying universe in a state of perfect nihilistic grace, and the singer will reign over them for eternity. While they wait for the Great Gig, acolytes of the Fever Cathedral occupy themselves with devotionals of rough kinky sex, stage makeup, recreational psychosis, explosives, and surprisingly inventive acts of vandalism.

The Fever Cathedral is most powerful in [[Downwarp]], but it has a "darkwave" splinter in [[Strangewarp]]. This subfaction is considered scary even by other Fever Acolytes, not to mention extremely depressing. The Strange Creed is considered heretical by the Down Creed, in particular for excessive dependence on analog synthesizers.

Eisenstimmen/Archives

2016-09-30T06:38:33Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Eisenstimmen (nicknamed "Rivethearts") could be mistaken safely for a benign splinter faction of the Architects— but not to either group's face. Both factions share an interest in archaic industrial systems as performance art, but the Eisenstimmen abhor the same sadistic legalism and depersonalization that the Architects fetishize.

The Eisenstimmen vision of industry is individualistic and expressive, based on a love of noise, labor, and machinery for their own sakes. Eisenstimmen factories are imposing affairs, part sweatshop, part dance club, part academic salon, and part tribal conclave. Many of their factories exist to produce nothing but interesting sound and movement. All their labor is voluntary and inhumanly disciplined. In fact, many Rivethearts have industrial machinery built directly into their bodies— the clunkier and more functional, the better.

The archetypal Eisenstimmen personality melds a stoic, boisterous exterior with a sensitive, sincere heart. They are an intellectual bunch, but frown upon empty ornamentation in both objects and people. They have little patience for those they consider fools, liars, or fops, and tend to be very blunt speakers. The Eisenstimmen are virtually synonymous with [[Downwarp|Down]]. They find [[Upwarp|Up]] far too quiet, [[Topwarp|Top]] too insincere, and [[Charmwarp|Charm]] too frivolous. Bored Rivethearts have been known to drop heroic doses of hallucinogens and visit [[Bottomwarp|Bottom]] in leather and metal clad mobs of over a hundred. Really bored ones have been known to eat fistfuls of fear-blockers and visit [[Strangewarp|Strangewarp]] in full hazmat gear, armed to the teeth with and decryption grenades and fixklez guns.

Chitin Queens/Archives

2016-09-30T06:38:30Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Chitin Queens are an enigmatic faction of femme insectoids with a reputation for skillful social manipulation and unnerving patience. Typical Chitin Queen style blends images of refined feminine power with grotesque forms of beauty borrowed from the invertebrate phyla. Some Queens belong natively to such species while others merely adopt the "bug" look through body art and costuming. Some even take the opposite extreme, living as a tiny symbiote within a harem of brainless host clones.

With characteristic reserve, Chitin Queens never discuss, nor tolerate outside speculation upon, whether a particular Queen was born or made. If you're wondering whether there are such things as "Chitin Drones", just find somebody who asked too many questions about a Chitin Queen's private life. They'll answer exactly as they were told to, verbatim; the Queens are exacting about manners and very, very good with "pentitentiary neurosculpture".

In general, the image of the Chitin Queens is cold, self-interested, and eccentric, but also civilized, elegant, and (within their own byzantine law) fair. The Queens are most active and overt in [[Topwarp]], but are thought to have hives hidden in every Warp, including [[Strangewarp|Strange]].

Bubbledolls/Archives

2016-09-30T06:38:28Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

An army of militant empaths, the Bubble Dolls have adopted whimsical, toylike bodies through which to pursue their relentlessly friendly jihad against hatred and despair. Reasoning that negative emotions are useless in a world where all needs can be met consistently, Theeka the Doll Queen programs her followers into a state of permanent empathetic bliss. Bubble Dolls are typically intelligent but egoless, contentedly performing the will of others— as long as it promotes joy and pleasure, an eerily seductive recruitment strategy. Rumor has it that the Dolls seek to provoke an event called the "Heart Singularity," but those who claim knowledge of it are generally too giggly to give useful answers.

The Bubble Dolls are virtually synonymous with Charm, but many are stolen away to [[Bottomwarp]] to serve as pleasure droids, or less frequently, to [[Upwarp]] to serve as vending machines.

Plurals/Archives

2016-09-30T06:38:11Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Plurals arose from the inevitable urge to put the Mess's ubiquitous cloning, bodysculpt, and mindbeam facilities to artistic use. A Plural typically consists of between 2 and 10 bodies, although Plurals of up to 1200 bodies are known. The mental configuration of each Plural varies but always includes some commonality that gives the impression all its bodies share a single soul. Favorite methods include p2p mindshare, hypnotic integration via PDKL-95, and Corsican Implant surgery.

Each Plural typically chooses a single design theme to unite all *r bodies— one rainbow color each, for example, or five identical bodies but only one can speak, or a rotating sampler of twelve popular genders. Many Plurals choose a single theme upon becoming Plural and stick with it; some are radical shapeshifters first and Plurals second and change themes as one might change clothing. These casual polymorphs are generally warmly welcomed— Plurals are nothing if not inclusive. (In fact, rumor has it that some Plurals are so inclusive, they're scheming to make all sentient life on Puzzlebox into one big happy collective mind...)

Plurals, unsurprisingly, can show up anywhere, but they're particularly fond of [[Upwarp|Up]] and [[Charmwarp|Charm]].

Neo-Boreals/Archives

2016-09-30T06:37:53Z

TheArchivist:

Architects of the Future/Archives

2016-09-30T06:37:15Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Architects are an "creative anachronism" group devoted to the aesthetic appreciation of oppression, authority, and social manipulation. They are self-styled connoisseurs of the insidious and the brutal, finding a sort of elegance in the ease with which sentient beings can be enlisted in their own captivity. Many Architects are in it for the sense of power, and struggle to rise in their clubs' arbitrary ranks. Others seem to be seeking respite from the dizzying freedom of Puzzleboxian post-scarcity, and are content to be ruled.

Architects are not too warmly welcomed anywhere in the Mess, but they've been known to have extensive cells in [[Upwarp]], who will at least concede their admirable efficiency, with lesser presence in [[Downwarp]] (where they're particularly despised) and [[Topwarp]]. [[Charmwarp]] and [[Bottomwarp]] generally won't sit still long enough to produce good proles; [[Strangewarp]] chews or burns through leashes.

Puzzlebox/Glossary

2016-09-30T06:26:59Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This information dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

;Cube Tree
: One of the Mess's few pieces of religious iconography, the Cube Tree resides in Puzzlepark and seem to have originated with the Mess; shows signs of autonomous growth and learning, and radiates feelings of well-being and otherworldly gnosis; beings who have meditated near the Tree for long periods have reported an overwhelming sensation that She is trying to point them to something.
;Faction: Groups of subcultural and ideological affiliation, devoted to spreading their sense of style; factions roughly take the place of ethnicities and nations in the Mess, and levels of participation range from casual fashion affectations to ritualized daily devotions to a faction's lifestyle.
;Fashion War
: AKA "Art War," "Poetic Terrorism," "Meme War": the predominant form of cultural conflict in the Mess, in which various factions attempt to popularize their ideology through propaganda, psychotronic devices, guerrilla theater, graffiti, performance art, and so forth.
;Imipolex (also, "flickercladding")
: A putty-like computing medium that can also act as a display.
;Imilexene
: An ''n''th-generation descendent of rubber and imipolex; an artificial resin seeded with a parasapient magic mirror preparation that allows it to reshape itself instantly and respond to the desires of its user via voice command or neural impulse.
;Instantiator (also, "matter compiler")
: A device or system which creates objects on demand from a base material. Puzzlebox's instantiator system is built into the atmosphere and allows most sentients to summon material objects of reasonable complexity at will. (Item templates of high craftsmanship or very specific function are deliberately disabled, for the sake of the local artisan communities.)
;Magic Mirror
: A liquid biocybernetic supercomputing medium of almost magical levels of complexity and flexibility; can also be used to reconstruct matter and energy from a pattern, so it forms the basis of the Mess's transit system as well.
;Puzzlebox
: A massive self-constructing, self-designing, possibly sentient habitat system of unfathomable size; more-than-three dimensional and so convoluted in structure that it may enter and exit several pocket dimensions ([[The Mess|the Mess]] is just one settlement in this much larger structure).
;Tasp
: A device which stimulates a sentient (but not necessarily organic) being's pleasure center; available in a dizzying variety of forms on Puzzlebox, from small bliss-wands, to rifles and crowd-control devices, to sky-mounted bombing platforms.
;The Mess
: An anomalous urban development at the outer edges of the Puzzlebox; a six-zoned complex of themed areas, connected by a system of magic mirrors; the first known evidence that Puzzlebox possesses self-awareness, long-term goals, and/or a sense of humor.
;Warp
: Each of the six themed areas named for a species of quark; the six warps are not apparently physically contiguous with each other, and each may exist in its own pocket dimension.
;Zipstops
: Huge, bustling travel plazas built and operated by the Zips; comparatively sane, safe areas favored as vacation spots for frazzled Puzzlebox pioneers.
;Zipways
: Fancifully structured highway system built by the Zips; Zipways provide transit service to MUCK areas outside the Mess.

Hemotopians/Archives

2016-09-30T06:25:29Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Strangevirus contorts the bodies and mind of all it invades, turning them into creatures cold and alien. The Hemotopians are unique only for making the death of the soul into haute couture. Those who join this faction typically choose to appear as pale, androgynous, beautiful youth with luxurious clothing and gruesome abnormalities. Their "fashion" emphasizes the horrid resilience the Virus gives its hosts (e.g.: stitched-on smiles, exposed innards tied in pretty bows, nominally-fatal piercings, unhealing tattoos).

Hemotopian culture is anarchistic. It's also courtly, catty and somewhat competitive. Hemotopians tend to roam in cliques of up to a dozen, looking for unwary visitors and less beautiful viral hosts to torment. Members who fail to live up to their ever-changing sense of fashion, or offend a more persuasive host, are promptly and brutally ostracized. Often, the Virus will even leave their body in a snit, leaving their body mods— and their old comrades— to give them a good killing.

The Hemotopians do often venture outside of [[Strangewarp|Strange]] to cause trouble, but generally take precautions not to spread the Virus. It's not that they give a fuck about you. They just don't think you deserve it.

Neo-Boreals/Archives

2016-09-30T06:25:26Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

This faction, known for its beautiful biotecture and uncanny ability to predict Puzzlebox's growth, is devoted to seeking signs of cosmic consciousness in the growth patterns of ordinary things. The neo-Boreals believe that natural (and pseudo-natural) phenomena contain an encrypted, lucid, and possibly urgent message from Puzzlebox or its creator. Conscious thought, which is based on a completely different set of formulae, tends to corrupt this message, and thus conscious design must not be allowed to overtake the universe.

The Boreals do not believe that consciousness is evil— they don't, in fact, put much stock in concepts of good and evil. They celebrate consciousness for its own merits, but simply fear the consequences of its overgrowth. Thus, they operate huge preserves where natural and artificial life is allowed to develop along simple, serendipitous principles. Trained mystics study the results after drugging themselves into pre-conscious states, so as not to contaminate the systems with their observations, and try to intuit meaningful patterns that might lead them to the One Text. ("Boojum," which induces species-atavism, is an especially popular drug for this purpose; it is finding its way into [[The Mess|the Mess]] as a recreational drug, much to the Boreals' dismay.)

The Neo-Boreals are particularly well-suited to [[Topwarp|Top]], and a large minority of their converts are [[Chitin Queens]]; insectoids seem particularly at ease with at the transrational thought processes needed to seek the One Text. [[Upwarp]]ians tend as a rule to have little use for information gathered non-rationally, but there are surely exceptions. [[Strangewarp]] attracts a substantial amount of neoB curiosity because of its unique type of fertility, but it is almost never acted upon, and it's doubtful that Strange returns the affection. The Boreals are quite welcome in [[Charmwarp]], but they find the Bubble Dolls too challenging to their notions of consciousness to be more than amiably distant with them. Bottom's Aquarian do-your-own-thing vibe attracts Boreals in droves. And as soon as it was understood that the One Text wasn't found exclusively in organic life, but in anything and everything that grows wild, they gained quite a few converts in [[Downwarp|Down]]; these are the fabled "rust shamans."

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Plurals/Archives

2016-09-30T06:25:23Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Plurals arose from the inevitable urge to put [[The Mess|the Mess]]'s ubiquitous cloning, bodysculpt, and mindbeam facilities to artistic use. A Plural typically consists of between 2 and 10 bodies, although Plurals of up to 1200 bodies are known. The mental configuration of each Plural varies but always includes some commonality that gives the impression all its bodies share a single soul. Favorite methods include p2p mindshare, hypnotic integration via PDKL-95, and Corsican Implant surgery.

Each Plural typically chooses a single design theme to unite all *r bodies— one rainbow color each, for example, or five identical bodies but only one can speak, or a rotating sampler of twelve popular genders. Many Plurals choose a single theme upon becoming Plural and stick with it; some are radical shapeshifters first and Plurals second and change themes as one might change clothing. These casual polymorphs are generally warmly welcomed— Plurals are nothing if not inclusive. (In fact, rumor has it that some Plurals are so inclusive, they're scheming to make all sentient life on Puzzlebox into one big happy collective mind...)

Plurals, unsurprisingly, can show up anywhere, but they're particularly fond of [[Upwarp|Up]] and [[Charmwarp|Charm]].

Architects of the Future/Archives

2016-09-30T06:25:19Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This document dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Architects are an "creative anachronism" group devoted to the aesthetic appreciation of oppression, authority, and social manipulation. They are self-styled connoisseurs of the insidious and the brutal, finding a sort of elegance in the ease with which sentient beings can be enlisted in their own captivity. Many Architects are in it for the sense of power, and struggle to rise in their clubs' arbitrary ranks. Others seem to be seeking respite from the dizzying freedom of Puzzleboxian post-scarcity, and are content to be ruled.

Architects are not too warmly welcomed anywhere in [[The Mess|the Mess]], but they've been known to have extensive cells in [[Upwarp]], who will at least concede their admirable efficiency, with lesser presence in [[Downwarp]] (where they're particularly despised) and [[Topwarp]]. [[Charmwarp]] and [[Bottomwarp]] generally won't sit still long enough to produce good proles; [[Strangewarp]] chews or burns through leashes.

Bubbledolls/Archives

2016-09-30T06:25:16Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This information dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

An army of militant empaths, the Bubble Dolls have adopted whimsical, toylike bodies through which to pursue their relentlessly friendly jihad against hatred and despair. Reasoning that negative emotions are useless in a world where all needs can be met consistently, Theeka the Doll Queen programs her followers into a state of permanent empathetic bliss. Bubble Dolls are typically intelligent but egoless, contentedly performing the will of others— as long as it promotes joy and pleasure, an eerily seductive recruitment strategy. Rumor has it that the Dolls seek to provoke an event called the "Heart Singularity," but those who claim knowledge of it are generally too giggly to give useful answers.

The Bubble Dolls are virtually synonymous with Charm, but many are stolen away to [[Bottomwarp]] to serve as pleasure droids, or less frequently, to [[Upwarp]] to serve as vending machines.

Chitin Queens/Archives

2016-09-30T06:25:12Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This information dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Chitin Queens are an enigmatic faction of femme insectoids with a reputation for skillful social manipulation and unnerving patience. Typical Chitin Queen style blends images of refined feminine power with grotesque forms of beauty borrowed from the invertebrate phyla. Some Queens belong natively to such species while others merely adopt the "bug" look through body art and costuming. Some even take the opposite extreme, living as a tiny symbiote within a harem of brainless host clones.

With characteristic reserve, Chitin Queens never discuss, nor tolerate outside speculation upon, whether a particular Queen was born or made. If you're wondering whether there are such things as "Chitin Drones", just find somebody who asked too many questions about a Chitin Queen's private life. They'll answer exactly as they were told to, verbatim; the Queens are exacting about manners and very, very good with "pentitentiary neurosculpture".

In general, the image of the Chitin Queens is cold, self-interested, and eccentric, but also civilized, elegant, and (within their own byzantine law) fair. The Queens are most active and overt in [[Topwarp]], but are thought to have hives hidden in every Warp, including [[Strangewarp|Strange]].

Eisenstimmen/Archives

2016-09-30T06:25:09Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This information dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

The Eisenstimmen (nicknamed "Rivethearts") could be mistaken safely for a benign splinter faction of the Architects— but not to either group's face. Both factions share an interest in archaic industrial systems as performance art, but the Eisenstimmen abhor the same sadistic legalism and depersonalization that the Architects fetishize.

The Eisenstimmen vision of industry is individualistic and expressive, based on a love of noise, labor, and machinery for their own sakes. Eisenstimmen factories are imposing affairs, part sweatshop, part dance club, part academic salon, and part tribal conclave. Many of their factories exist to produce nothing but interesting sound and movement. All their labor is voluntary and inhumanly disciplined. In fact, many Rivethearts have industrial machinery built directly into their bodies— the clunkier and more functional, the better.

The archetypal Eisenstimmen personality melds a stoic, boisterous exterior with a sensitive, sincere heart. They are an intellectual bunch, but frown upon empty ornamentation in both objects and people. They have little patience for those they consider fools, liars, or fops, and tend to be very blunt speakers. The Eisenstimmen are virtually synonymous with [[Downwarp|Down]]. They find [[Upwarp|Up]] far too quiet, [[Topwarp|Top]] too insincere, and [[Charmwarp|Charm]] too frivolous. Bored Rivethearts have been known to drop heroic doses of hallucinogens and visit [[Bottomwarp|Bottom]] in leather and metal clad mobs of over a hundred. Really bored ones have been known to eat fistfuls of fear-blockers and visit [[Strangewarp|Strangewarp]] in full hazmat gear, armed to the teeth with and decryption grenades and fixklez guns.

Fever Cathedral/Archives

2016-09-30T06:25:06Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

''This information dates to an earlier instance of this wiki and is very likely not current with the metaplot.''

This is a shadowy religious order thataims to revive a mythic Vinyl Age, when music was rightfully fast, loud, and Satanic. The Cathedral is founded upon the doctrine of "pre-emptive discord": the entropic decay of the universe is irreversible. But there is one song, as yet unwritten, which will encode the principles of entropy perfectly within its thrashing guitar chords. And if that song is played loudly and drunkenly enough to a sufficiently unruly audience, all present will be raptured from this dying universe in a state of perfect nihilistic grace, and the singer will reign over them for eternity. While they wait for the Great Gig, acolytes of the Fever Cathedral occupy themselves with devotionals of rough kinky sex, stage makeup, recreational psychosis, explosives, and surprisingly inventive acts of vandalism.

The Fever Cathedral is most powerful in [[Downwarp]], but it has a "darkwave" splinter in [[Strangewarp]]. This subfaction is considered scary even by other Fever Acolytes, not to mention extremely depressing. The Strange Creed is considered heretical by the Down Creed, in particular for excessive dependence on analog synthesizers.

Fever Cathedral/Archives

2016-09-30T06:22:01Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

This is a shadowy religious order thataims to revive a mythic Vinyl Age, when music was rightfully fast, loud, and Satanic. The Cathedral is founded upon the doctrine of "pre-emptive discord": the entropic decay of the universe is irreversible. But there is one song, as yet unwritten, which will encode the principles of entropy perfectly within its thrashing guitar chords. And if that song is played loudly and drunkenly enough to a sufficiently unruly audience, all present will be raptured from this dying universe in a state of perfect nihilistic grace, and the singer will reign over them for eternity. While they wait for the Great Gig, acolytes of the Fever Cathedral occupy themselves with devotionals of rough kinky sex, stage makeup, recreational psychosis, explosives, and surprisingly inventive acts of vandalism.

The Fever Cathedral is most powerful in [[Downwarp]], but it has a "darkwave" splinter in [[Strangewarp]]. This subfaction is considered scary even by other Fever Acolytes, not to mention extremely depressing. The Strange Creed is considered heretical by the Down Creed, in particular for excessive dependence on analog synthesizers.

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Eisenstimmen/Archives

2016-09-30T06:21:58Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

The Eisenstimmen (nicknamed "Rivethearts") could be mistaken safely for a benign splinter faction of the Architects— but not to either group's face. Both factions share an interest in archaic industrial systems as performance art, but the Eisenstimmen abhor the same sadistic legalism and depersonalization that the Architects fetishize.

The Eisenstimmen vision of industry is individualistic and expressive, based on a love of noise, labor, and machinery for their own sakes. Eisenstimmen factories are imposing affairs, part sweatshop, part dance club, part academic salon, and part tribal conclave. Many of their factories exist to produce nothing but interesting sound and movement. All their labor is voluntary and inhumanly disciplined. In fact, many Rivethearts have industrial machinery built directly into their bodies— the clunkier and more functional, the better.

The archetypal Eisenstimmen personality melds a stoic, boisterous exterior with a sensitive, sincere heart. They are an intellectual bunch, but frown upon empty ornamentation in both objects and people. They have little patience for those they consider fools, liars, or fops, and tend to be very blunt speakers. The Eisenstimmen are virtually synonymous with [[Downwarp|Down]]. They find [[Upwarp|Up]] far too quiet, [[Topwarp|Top]] too insincere, and [[Charmwarp|Charm]] too frivolous. Bored Rivethearts have been known to drop heroic doses of hallucinogens and visit [[Bottomwarp|Bottom]] in leather and metal clad mobs of over a hundred. Really bored ones have been known to eat fistfuls of fear-blockers and visit [[Strangewarp|Strangewarp]] in full hazmat gear, armed to the teeth with and decryption grenades and fixklez guns.

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Chitin Queens/Archives

2016-09-30T06:21:54Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

The Chitin Queens are an enigmatic faction of femme insectoids with a reputation for skillful social manipulation and unnerving patience. Typical Chitin Queen style blends images of refined feminine power with grotesque forms of beauty borrowed from the invertebrate phyla. Some Queens belong natively to such species while others merely adopt the "bug" look through body art and costuming. Some even take the opposite extreme, living as a tiny symbiote within a harem of brainless host clones.

With characteristic reserve, Chitin Queens never discuss, nor tolerate outside speculation upon, whether a particular Queen was born or made. If you're wondering whether there are such things as "Chitin Drones", just find somebody who asked too many questions about a Chitin Queen's private life. They'll answer exactly as they were told to, verbatim; the Queens are exacting about manners and very, very good with "pentitentiary neurosculpture".

In general, the image of the Chitin Queens is cold, self-interested, and eccentric, but also civilized, elegant, and (within their own byzantine law) fair. The Queens are most active and overt in [[Topwarp]], but are thought to have hives hidden in every Warp, including [[Strangewarp|Strange]].

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Bubbledolls/Archives

2016-09-30T06:21:51Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

An army of militant empaths, the Bubble Dolls have adopted whimsical, toylike bodies through which to pursue their relentlessly friendly jihad against hatred and despair. Reasoning that negative emotions are useless in a world where all needs can be met consistently, Theeka the Doll Queen programs her followers into a state of permanent empathetic bliss. Bubble Dolls are typically intelligent but egoless, contentedly performing the will of others— as long as it promotes joy and pleasure, an eerily seductive recruitment strategy. Rumor has it that the Dolls seek to provoke an event called the "Heart Singularity," but those who claim knowledge of it are generally too giggly to give useful answers.

The Bubble Dolls are virtually synonymous with Charm, but many are stolen away to [[Bottomwarp]] to serve as pleasure droids, or less frequently, to [[Upwarp]] to serve as vending machines.

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Architects of the Future/Archives

2016-09-30T06:21:47Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

The Architects are an "creative anachronism" group devoted to the aesthetic appreciation of oppression, authority, and social manipulation. They are self-styled connoisseurs of the insidious and the brutal, finding a sort of elegance in the ease with which sentient beings can be enlisted in their own captivity. Many Architects are in it for the sense of power, and struggle to rise in their clubs' arbitrary ranks. Others seem to be seeking respite from the dizzying freedom of Puzzleboxian post-scarcity, and are content to be ruled.

Architects are not too warmly welcomed anywhere in [[The Mess|the Mess]], but they've been known to have extensive cells in [[Upwarp]], who will at least concede their admirable efficiency, with lesser presence in [[Downwarp]] (where they're particularly despised) and [[Topwarp]]. [[Charmwarp]] and [[Bottomwarp]] generally won't sit still long enough to produce good proles; [[Strangewarp]] chews or burns through leashes.

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Plurals/Archives

2016-09-30T06:21:43Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

The Plurals arose from the inevitable urge to put [[The Mess|the Mess]]'s ubiquitous cloning, bodysculpt, and mindbeam facilities to artistic use. A Plural typically consists of between 2 and 10 bodies, although Plurals of up to 1200 bodies are known. The mental configuration of each Plural varies but always includes some commonality that gives the impression all its bodies share a single soul. Favorite methods include p2p mindshare, hypnotic integration via PDKL-95, and Corsican Implant surgery.

Each Plural typically chooses a single design theme to unite all *r bodies— one rainbow color each, for example, or five identical bodies but only one can speak, or a rotating sampler of twelve popular genders. Many Plurals choose a single theme upon becoming Plural and stick with it; some are radical shapeshifters first and Plurals second and change themes as one might change clothing. These casual polymorphs are generally warmly welcomed— Plurals are nothing if not inclusive. (In fact, rumor has it that some Plurals are so inclusive, they're scheming to make all sentient life on Puzzlebox into one big happy collective mind...)

Plurals, unsurprisingly, can show up anywhere, but they're particularly fond of [[Upwarp|Up]] and [[Charmwarp|Charm]].

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Neo-Boreals/Archives

2016-09-30T06:21:40Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

This faction, known for its beautiful biotecture and uncanny ability to predict Puzzlebox's growth, is devoted to seeking signs of cosmic consciousness in the growth patterns of ordinary things. The neo-Boreals believe that natural (and pseudo-natural) phenomena contain an encrypted, lucid, and possibly urgent message from Puzzlebox or its creator. Conscious thought, which is based on a completely different set of formulae, tends to corrupt this message, and thus conscious design must not be allowed to overtake the universe.

The Boreals do not believe that consciousness is evil— they don't, in fact, put much stock in concepts of good and evil. They celebrate consciousness for its own merits, but simply fear the consequences of its overgrowth. Thus, they operate huge preserves where natural and artificial life is allowed to develop along simple, serendipitous principles. Trained mystics study the results after drugging themselves into pre-conscious states, so as not to contaminate the systems with their observations, and try to intuit meaningful patterns that might lead them to the One Text. ("Boojum," which induces species-atavism, is an especially popular drug for this purpose; it is finding its way into [[The Mess|the Mess]] as a recreational drug, much to the Boreals' dismay.)

The Neo-Boreals are particularly well-suited to [[Topwarp|Top]], and a large minority of their converts are [[Chitin Queens]]; insectoids seem particularly at ease with at the transrational thought processes needed to seek the One Text. [[Upwarp]]ians tend as a rule to have little use for information gathered non-rationally, but there are surely exceptions. [[Strangewarp]] attracts a substantial amount of neoB curiosity because of its unique type of fertility, but it is almost never acted upon, and it's doubtful that Strange returns the affection. The Boreals are quite welcome in [[Charmwarp]], but they find the Bubble Dolls too challenging to their notions of consciousness to be more than amiably distant with them. Bottom's Aquarian do-your-own-thing vibe attracts Boreals in droves. And as soon as it was understood that the One Text wasn't found exclusively in organic life, but in anything and everything that grows wild, they gained quite a few converts in [[Downwarp|Down]]; these are the fabled "rust shamans."

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Hemotopians/Archives

2016-09-30T06:21:36Z

TheArchivist:

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

The Strangevirus contorts the bodies and mind of all it invades, turning them into creatures cold and alien. The Hemotopians are unique only for making the death of the soul into haute couture. Those who join this faction typically choose to appear as pale, androgynous, beautiful youth with luxurious clothing and gruesome abnormalities. Their "fashion" emphasizes the horrid resilience the Virus gives its hosts (e.g.: stitched-on smiles, exposed innards tied in pretty bows, nominally-fatal piercings, unhealing tattoos).

Hemotopian culture is anarchistic. It's also courtly, catty and somewhat competitive. Hemotopians tend to roam in cliques of up to a dozen, looking for unwary visitors and less beautiful viral hosts to torment. Members who fail to live up to their ever-changing sense of fashion, or offend a more persuasive host, are promptly and brutally ostracized. Often, the Virus will even leave their body in a snit, leaving their body mods— and their old comrades— to give them a good killing.

The Hemotopians do often venture outside of [[Strangewarp|Strange]] to cause trouble, but generally take precautions not to spread the Virus. It's not that they give a fuck about you. They just don't think you deserve it.

'''ARCHIVAL INFORMATION'''

Puzzlebox

2016-09-30T06:16:47Z

TheArchivist: /* Factions */

Puzzlebox

2016-09-30T06:16:03Z

TheArchivist: /* Factions */

{{TOC right}}
The Puzzlebox is an arbitrarily large, arbitrarily old, arbitrarily weird region of the Mess, an even larger, older, but rather less weird transhuman habitat. Most of the Mess is et up as a fairly mundane, unchallenging, comfortable existence for any sentient, offering freedom from death and want.

The Puzzlebox has the same conveniences overall; no one need die or go homeless or hungry, but unlike the rest of the Mess, it's divided into vastly different areas, each one seeming to have its own very forceful personality. Each of these six Warps, as they're called, has slightly different rules of reality from each other and the rest of the universe, that support their own particular ways of life. Given its oddness by the general standards of the surrounding habitat, most Mess denizens look at the Puzzlebox as down-rent property, generally to be avoided.

However, another thing that makes the Puzzlebox different is that it seems to have a will of its own, and a penchant for collecting. Strange immigrants are common there, from far-flung areas of the Mess and from other realities entirely. Many of them aren't even sure how they got there. In general, there's nothing keeping them from leaving again, but those that the Puzzlebox chooses seem to tend to find a place there, preferring it to wherever they came from.

== The Warps ==
The Puzzlebox is divided into six warps, three pairs, each named after a flavor of quark. Each warp seems to be as big as it needs to be, but borders between them can be found as well, the particular reality of one warp bleeding into another in the far reaches. There are rumors of other places too, specific junctions between two or even three warps, but details on these are sketchy at best.

[[Warp Metaphysics|There are countless ways to divide and characterize the six warps]], the following listing simply uses the masses of the corresponding quarks to provide an ordering.

* [[Downwarp]] - A cyberpunkish urban ruin filled with wild-eyed artists and mystics.
* [[Upwarp]] - A clinical technocratic society devoted to humanistic science and rationalism.
* [[Strangewarp]] - A twisted mirror-image of an elegant city, turned inside-out by all those things that most folks would rather not think about.
* [[Charmwarp]] - A fantasyland of bright colors, whimsical creatures, and wide-eyed innocence.
* [[Bottomwarp]] - An endless street festival where shame (and clothing) are virtually unknown, and where kinky behavior and hippie-ish values predominate.
* [[Topwarp]] - An aristocratic land of palaces and estates, whose inhabitants are devoted to craftsbeingship and personal development.

== Life in the Puzzlebox ==
As a transhuman habitat, the Puzzlebox provides a number of conveniences. There's the Backup System, which constantly scans inhabitants' bodies and minds and, if they suffer fatal physical damage, restores them intact at a nearby safe location. There's also the Instantiator, which allows inhabitants to create simple objects, including anything needed for sustenance and shelter, with only a thought. Strangest of all, there's the Consent Maintenance System, which seems to prevent (or at least mitigate) anything happening to someone that they don't (by some definition) 'want'.

From an out-of-character perspective, this all basically means that MUCK rules are physical laws there; you can't die (unless you want to), you can make whatever you want as long as you spend the mental effort, and usually you're the one who determines what happens to you, via your own poses.

These make physical combat essentially superfluous (or at least clearly recreational), but that doesn't make the Puzzlebox free of conflict entirely. Instead, the way that Puzzlebox inhabitants contend is through memetics and propaganda, what is sometimes called 'artwar'. Over Puzzlebox's long history, factions have formed, along ideological and aesthetic lines, and they're always vying with each other to win converts and influence. New inhabitants are particuarly prized; convincing someone from somewhere else that your way of life is the right one brings with it a lot of prestige.

=== Current Events ===
Once, the warps were all connected via the [[Transit Nexus]] and its Magic Mirror, but at some point in the relatively recent past, something changed. The greater Genius Loci of the Puzzlebox seems to have changed, or simply lost interest; not much has happened, and the connections between Warps, and in and out of the Puzzlebox itself, have broken down, leaving some inhabitants stranded outwarp or outbox, and the rest a bit worried about whether the backup system or the instantiator will be next to fail.

More recently, contact has been made between [[Downwarp]] and the [[Oneiropolis]], allowing a bit of travel between that warp and other [[valences]]. Further experimentation inside Downwarp has given some hints that they may be able to re-establish contact with other places, as long as an inhabitant from each other warp can be found to help lead the way back.

=== Factions ===
This is a necessarily incomplete list; factions form and fragment constantly, and there's plenty of disagreement even within factions as to who belongs and who doesn't.

* [[Architects of the Future/Archives|Architects of the Future]]†
* [[Bonobians]]
* [[Bubbledolls/Archives|Bubbledolls]]†
* [[Chitin Queens/Archives|Chitin Queens]]†
* [[Eisenstimmen/Archives|Eisenstimmen]]†
* [[Fever Cathedral/Archives|Fever Cathedral]]†
* [[Gridshamans]]
* [[Hemotopians/Archives|Hemotopians]]†
* [[Modulari]]
* [[Neo-Boreals/Archives|Neo-Boreals]]†
* [[Neovictorians/Archives|Neovictorians]]†
* [[Plurals/Archives|Plurals]]†
* [[Strange Medical Corps]]

† archival information

== Other Places ==
Puzzlebox is generally synonymous with the Warps, but there are always edge cases. These locations are undeniably inside the Puzzlebox, but also just as clearly don't belong to any particular warp.

* [[Cube Tree Plaza]]
* [[Transit Nexus]]
* [[The Museum]]

[[Category:Syncosms]] [[Category:Puzzlebox]]

Puzzlebox

2016-09-30T06:12:57Z

TheArchivist: /* Factions */

{{TOC right}}
The Puzzlebox is an arbitrarily large, arbitrarily old, arbitrarily weird region of the Mess, an even larger, older, but rather less weird transhuman habitat. Most of the Mess is et up as a fairly mundane, unchallenging, comfortable existence for any sentient, offering freedom from death and want.

The Puzzlebox has the same conveniences overall; no one need die or go homeless or hungry, but unlike the rest of the Mess, it's divided into vastly different areas, each one seeming to have its own very forceful personality. Each of these six Warps, as they're called, has slightly different rules of reality from each other and the rest of the universe, that support their own particular ways of life. Given its oddness by the general standards of the surrounding habitat, most Mess denizens look at the Puzzlebox as down-rent property, generally to be avoided.

However, another thing that makes the Puzzlebox different is that it seems to have a will of its own, and a penchant for collecting. Strange immigrants are common there, from far-flung areas of the Mess and from other realities entirely. Many of them aren't even sure how they got there. In general, there's nothing keeping them from leaving again, but those that the Puzzlebox chooses seem to tend to find a place there, preferring it to wherever they came from.

== The Warps ==
The Puzzlebox is divided into six warps, three pairs, each named after a flavor of quark. Each warp seems to be as big as it needs to be, but borders between them can be found as well, the particular reality of one warp bleeding into another in the far reaches. There are rumors of other places too, specific junctions between two or even three warps, but details on these are sketchy at best.

[[Warp Metaphysics|There are countless ways to divide and characterize the six warps]], the following listing simply uses the masses of the corresponding quarks to provide an ordering.

* [[Downwarp]] - A cyberpunkish urban ruin filled with wild-eyed artists and mystics.
* [[Upwarp]] - A clinical technocratic society devoted to humanistic science and rationalism.
* [[Strangewarp]] - A twisted mirror-image of an elegant city, turned inside-out by all those things that most folks would rather not think about.
* [[Charmwarp]] - A fantasyland of bright colors, whimsical creatures, and wide-eyed innocence.
* [[Bottomwarp]] - An endless street festival where shame (and clothing) are virtually unknown, and where kinky behavior and hippie-ish values predominate.
* [[Topwarp]] - An aristocratic land of palaces and estates, whose inhabitants are devoted to craftsbeingship and personal development.

== Life in the Puzzlebox ==
As a transhuman habitat, the Puzzlebox provides a number of conveniences. There's the Backup System, which constantly scans inhabitants' bodies and minds and, if they suffer fatal physical damage, restores them intact at a nearby safe location. There's also the Instantiator, which allows inhabitants to create simple objects, including anything needed for sustenance and shelter, with only a thought. Strangest of all, there's the Consent Maintenance System, which seems to prevent (or at least mitigate) anything happening to someone that they don't (by some definition) 'want'.

From an out-of-character perspective, this all basically means that MUCK rules are physical laws there; you can't die (unless you want to), you can make whatever you want as long as you spend the mental effort, and usually you're the one who determines what happens to you, via your own poses.

These make physical combat essentially superfluous (or at least clearly recreational), but that doesn't make the Puzzlebox free of conflict entirely. Instead, the way that Puzzlebox inhabitants contend is through memetics and propaganda, what is sometimes called 'artwar'. Over Puzzlebox's long history, factions have formed, along ideological and aesthetic lines, and they're always vying with each other to win converts and influence. New inhabitants are particuarly prized; convincing someone from somewhere else that your way of life is the right one brings with it a lot of prestige.

=== Current Events ===
Once, the warps were all connected via the [[Transit Nexus]] and its Magic Mirror, but at some point in the relatively recent past, something changed. The greater Genius Loci of the Puzzlebox seems to have changed, or simply lost interest; not much has happened, and the connections between Warps, and in and out of the Puzzlebox itself, have broken down, leaving some inhabitants stranded outwarp or outbox, and the rest a bit worried about whether the backup system or the instantiator will be next to fail.

More recently, contact has been made between [[Downwarp]] and the [[Oneiropolis]], allowing a bit of travel between that warp and other [[valences]]. Further experimentation inside Downwarp has given some hints that they may be able to re-establish contact with other places, as long as an inhabitant from each other warp can be found to help lead the way back.

=== Factions ===
This is a necessarily incomplete list; factions form and fragment constantly, and there's plenty of disagreement even within factions as to who belongs and who doesn't.

* [[Architects of the Future/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Bonobians]]
* [[Bubbledolls/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Chitin Queens/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Eisenstimmen/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Fever Cathedral/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Gridshamans]]
* [[Hemotopians/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Modulari]]
* [[Neo-Boreals/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Neovictorians/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Plurals/Archives]] (archival information)
* [[Strange Medical Corps]]

== Other Places ==
Puzzlebox is generally synonymous with the Warps, but there are always edge cases. These locations are undeniably inside the Puzzlebox, but also just as clearly don't belong to any particular warp.

* [[Cube Tree Plaza]]
* [[Transit Nexus]]
* [[The Museum]]

[[Category:Syncosms]] [[Category:Puzzlebox]]

Hemotopians

2016-09-30T06:11:51Z

TheArchivist:

See also: [[Hemotopians/Archives|Archival Information]].

Neo-Boreals

2016-09-30T06:11:48Z

TheArchivist:

See also: [[Neo-Boreals/Archives|Archival Information]].

Plurals

2016-09-30T06:11:45Z

TheArchivist:

See also: [[Plurals/Archives|Archival Information]].

Architects of the Future

2016-09-30T06:11:42Z

TheArchivist:

See also: [[Architects of the Future/Archives|Archival Information]].

Bubbledolls

2016-09-30T06:11:39Z

TheArchivist:

See also: [[Bubbledolls/Archives|Archival Information]].

Chitin Queens

2016-09-30T06:11:36Z

TheArchivist:

See also: [[Chitin Queens/Archives|Archival Information]].

Eisenstimmen

2016-09-30T06:11:33Z

TheArchivist:

See also: [[Eisenstimmen/Archives|Archival Information]].

Fever Cathedral

2016-09-30T06:11:29Z

TheArchivist:

See also: [[Fever Cathedral/Archives|Archival Information]].

Glossary

2016-09-30T06:08:43Z

TheArchivist:

;Endocosm
: A personal private world.
;Eucosm
: A ideal/perfect world— or ''the'' ideal/perfect world.
;Exocosm
: Physical reality, in the sense of 'that which does not go away even if you'd prefer it did'
;Orthocosm
: Day-to-day life, in the sense of consensus reality and quotidian primate bullshit.
;Syncosm
: An interpersonal shared world.

See also: [[Glossary/Archives|Archival Information]].

[[Category:In Progress]]

Fever Cathedral

2016-09-30T06:06:57Z

TheArchivist: TheArchivist moved page Fever Cathedral to Fever Cathedral/Archives

#REDIRECT [[Fever Cathedral/Archives]]

Fever Cathedral/Archives

2016-09-30T06:06:56Z

TheArchivist: TheArchivist moved page Fever Cathedral to Fever Cathedral/Archives

This is a shadowy religious order thataims to revive a mythic Vinyl Age, when music was rightfully fast, loud, and Satanic. The Cathedral is founded upon the doctrine of "pre-emptive discord": the entropic decay of the universe is irreversible. But there is one song, as yet unwritten, which will encode the principles of entropy perfectly within its thrashing guitar chords. And if that song is played loudly and drunkenly enough to a sufficiently unruly audience, all present will be raptured from this dying universe in a state of perfect nihilistic grace, and the singer will reign over them for eternity. While they wait for the Great Gig, acolytes of the Fever Cathedral occupy themselves with devotionals of rough kinky sex, stage makeup, recreational psychosis, explosives, and surprisingly inventive acts of vandalism.

The Fever Cathedral is most powerful in [[Downwarp]], but it has a "darkwave" splinter in [[Strangewarp]]. This subfaction is considered scary even by other Fever Acolytes, not to mention extremely depressing. The Strange Creed is considered heretical by the Down Creed, in particular for excessive dependence on analog synthesizers.

Eisenstimmen

2016-09-30T06:06:48Z

TheArchivist: TheArchivist moved page Eisenstimmen to Eisenstimmen/Archives

#REDIRECT [[Eisenstimmen/Archives]]

Eisenstimmen/Archives

2016-09-30T06:06:47Z

TheArchivist: TheArchivist moved page Eisenstimmen to Eisenstimmen/Archives

The Eisenstimmen (nicknamed "Rivethearts") could be mistaken safely for a benign splinter faction of the Architects— but not to either group's face. Both factions share an interest in archaic industrial systems as performance art, but the Eisenstimmen abhor the same sadistic legalism and depersonalization that the Architects fetishize.

The Eisenstimmen vision of industry is individualistic and expressive, based on a love of noise, labor, and machinery for their own sakes. Eisenstimmen factories are imposing affairs, part sweatshop, part dance club, part academic salon, and part tribal conclave. Many of their factories exist to produce nothing but interesting sound and movement. All their labor is voluntary and inhumanly disciplined. In fact, many Rivethearts have industrial machinery built directly into their bodies— the clunkier and more functional, the better.

The archetypal Eisenstimmen personality melds a stoic, boisterous exterior with a sensitive, sincere heart. They are an intellectual bunch, but frown upon empty ornamentation in both objects and people. They have little patience for those they consider fools, liars, or fops, and tend to be very blunt speakers. The Eisenstimmen are virtually synonymous with [[Downwarp|Down]]. They find [[Upwarp|Up]] far too quiet, [[Topwarp|Top]] too insincere, and [[Charmwarp|Charm]] too frivolous. Bored Rivethearts have been known to drop heroic doses of hallucinogens and visit [[Bottomwarp|Bottom]] in leather and metal clad mobs of over a hundred. Really bored ones have been known to eat fistfuls of fear-blockers and visit [[Strangewarp|Strangewarp]] in full hazmat gear, armed to the teeth with and decryption grenades and fixklez guns.

Chitin Queens/Archives

2016-09-30T06:06:37Z

TheArchivist: TheArchivist moved page Chitin Queens to Chitin Queens/Archives

The Chitin Queens are an enigmatic faction of femme insectoids with a reputation for skillful social manipulation and unnerving patience. Typical Chitin Queen style blends images of refined feminine power with grotesque forms of beauty borrowed from the invertebrate phyla. Some Queens belong natively to such species while others merely adopt the "bug" look through body art and costuming. Some even take the opposite extreme, living as a tiny symbiote within a harem of brainless host clones.

With characteristic reserve, Chitin Queens never discuss, nor tolerate outside speculation upon, whether a particular Queen was born or made. If you're wondering whether there are such things as "Chitin Drones", just find somebody who asked too many questions about a Chitin Queen's private life. They'll answer exactly as they were told to, verbatim; the Queens are exacting about manners and very, very good with "pentitentiary neurosculpture".

In general, the image of the Chitin Queens is cold, self-interested, and eccentric, but also civilized, elegant, and (within their own byzantine law) fair. The Queens are most active and overt in [[Topwarp]], but are thought to have hives hidden in every Warp, including [[Strangewarp|Strange]].