Introduction

This Discord RP is set in a sci-fi fantasy universe and takes place primarily on the planet Earth. You, a fresh immigrant to or citizen of Synthetica, live on an alternate history version of Earth in which several key historical events were altered and define the technological and geopolitical evolution of the world:

1. The Late Bronze Age Collapse did not occur, thus allowing ancient empires of antiquity to persist into the modern day, including the Egyptians, the Hittites, and the Assyrians, and for technology to progress at earlier stages in world history.
2. The Roman Empire very rapidly collapsed after a brief period of explosive expansionism, in part due to combined resistance by both Egypt and Carthage in the south, and conquered Celtic and Germanic tribes in the north. Thus, there was relatively little Roman influence in the region.
3. The Muslim Conquests met a similar fate to the Romans, again collapsing after combined Egyptian and Carthaginian resistance fractured the empire in two, and the Assyrians with aid of the Persians prevented the Muslim empire from expanding beyond Arabia.

As a result, although Europe eventually evolved into a somewhat recognizable form of itself, there was very little imperialism, and so neither the New World nor Africa were colonized by Europeans, leading to a wholly different global footprint today.

Technology is not only abundant, but advanced, this world having entered the interstellar space age 150 years ago, and fully perfected nuclear fusion nearly 300 years ago, although the latter technology is still prohibitively expensive. This world has been very slowly recovering from anthropogenic climate change for roughly 500 years. Progress is slow, but gradual.

Magic and alchemy also exist, although both are widely regarded to be pseudoscience at best and are not respected by academia. However, there is zero debate about the existence of magical beings and the spells and effects they are capable of casting. Debate quietly simmers about whether or not there is even a describable theory underpinning all of magic and alchemy.

Gods exist in the flesh as well on this world, although not all of them show themselves to the mortals that worship them. The Nile, Aztec, and Chinese deities, and Ahura Mazda of the Zoroastrian faith, all in particular mainly prefer to be “in the flesh” among mortals. Many others may exist “in the flesh” but remain socially segregated from their acolytes, and others still remain entirely cloistered in their divine realms, leaving their acolytes to fend entirely for themselves.

Participation Requirements

Participation in this RP requires at minimum a basic profile for your main character to be posted in the Discord chat. This profile needs to include:

1. A name
2. A description or picture (both is preferable)
3. What the character can do or actively does (this can include abilities, profession, education, etc.)
4. Why they are a Synthetican or are immigrating to Synthetica to become a Synthetican (this establishes a little bit of backstory)

A more comprehensive character profile with detailed backstory in this wiki is encouraged, but not necessary. Nearly all player-characters, unless approved by the Empress herself, will be immigrants to this Empire, whether prior to the start of the official RP, or after.

If you wish to tell a more comprehensive story and need to introduce “unknown” player-characters that the other participants in the arc must figure out who they are, then consult with the Empress to establish a privately known profile for the character.

Global Politics

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The Sol System

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Synthetica

Synthetica is the country of this RP setting. It is a sovereign state occupying the Kamchatka Peninsula of Earth. Founded 50 years ago as of 12020 CE, the Empire of Synthetica is an absolute monarchy. The current (and lifetime) head of state is Empress Calyo Delphi. The capital of Synthetica, Delphia (named in honor of the nation’s founder and monarch), is located on the banks of the Kamchatka River, at the base of the volcanic mountain Klyuchevskaya Sopka. On real-life Earth, Delphia is in approximately the same location as the city of Klyuchi.

In the south of Synthetica is the port-city of Risnlumin (Coptic; South Port), renamed from Beigǎng (Mandarin; North Port) when the colonial port was ceded to Synthetica by China following an economic pact shortly after the founding of the nation. It is through this port that the majority of Synthetica’s international shipping and trade passes. The two cities, Delphia and Risnlumin, are linked via the Dragon’s Tail, a roughly parallel set of infrastructure consisting of a highway, a heavy rail main line, and, more recently, a high speed rail line.

There are several intermediate-sized cities along the route of the Dragon’s Tail, each one once a village along a simple road that had greatly expanded following the establishment of high-speed train stations along the railway and becoming concentration points of passenger rail traffic, and the central valley of the peninsula is dotted with agrarian towns and villages, with slightly larger villages having grown up around low speed train stations.

Delphia

Delphia is the primary location of this RP setting. It is the capital of Synthetica and the largest city by population and land area. The core of Delphia is a planned city, 4km in diameter, consisting of straight, radial avenues extending outward from the center and circular ring roads. The main avenues have wide centers that function as city parks. From an aerial view, the street layout of the city core imitates the Crest of Syntheticism, which serves as both a religious symbol as well as a national symbol. The entire rest of the city outside this planned core is referred to as Greater Delphia and is laid out with no central planning.

Delphia is dotted with numerous parks, and much of the city is developed with green space as a requirement. Public transit is abundant and serves just about every single block of the city. Buskers—street performers—and sex workers are commonplace throughout the city, and there is a thriving economy. The city is dotted with restaurants and cafés, bars, kink clubs, bath houses, stores, and entertainment venues of all types. There is a large market in a decommissioned railway station, as well as a university and museum complex.

Economy and Agriculture

Synthetica is an economically developed nation. However, with a relatively lean export profile, the majority of Synthetica’s economy, beyond its own self-sustainment, is dependent upon tourism, agriculture, academics, high-tech manufacturing, and tech industry.

Social, Economic, and Defense Policies

Synthetica is a leftist social capitalist state, with strong socialist policies and institutions in place to support the well-being of its citizens. Being both transgender and transanthro herself, Calyo deliberately governs Synthetica to be socially liberal to allow for nearly limitless expression of identity and self.

Social policies and institutions in place include single-payer healthcare, free post-secondary education, free housing for unemployed, mandatory paid holiday, paid sick leave, paid maternity leave, extensive mass transit, and more.

Although Synthetica is forced to participate within a global corporatist economy, that does not mean Calyo cannot incentivize socialist behaviors in a capitalist market. Economic programs in place include universal basic income, high minimum wages, high landlord income tax, tax relief for collectivist land ownership, and corporate tax incentives for partial nationalization or collectivism.

Defense

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Magic and Alchemy

Magic and Alchemy are present in this world. However, the ability to use either is a rare gift bestowed upon only those who possess the capability. Far more common are people who are simply capable of “seeing” or “observing” that an effect is unnatural, and thus imposed upon the affected target by magic, but these people may not necessarily be themselves capable of wielding magic.

Pre-enchanted objects can be freely used by those who do not themselves possess magic ability, but the uses of these items are restricted to what the enchantments can do, and how much “charge” the item possesses.

Psionics on this world are a highly specialized form of magic, in the shape of effects and powers of the “mind” such as telepathy, telekinesis, force push, et cetera.

Alchemy in particular is also an expensive process that requires the alchemist to either possess an item pre-charged with mana, or for the alchemist themself to be capable of using mana. Although alchemy is a relatively common practice on this world, the potions created by it are nonetheless expensive, and for some, may be regarded as a luxury. Transformation potions, however, are relatively inexpensive to produce as the subject’s body can often be easily shaped by magic.

A unique form of magic accessible only to Synthetics is rubbermancy. It is an ability to manipulate latex and silicone rubbers as though an element of magic such as water or fire, and to imbue the substances with fantastical materials properties that neither substance naturally possesses.

Technology and Medicine

Various future technologies that exist on this world include:

• Hardlight holography (a technology held only by Japan and Synthetica)
• Softlight holography (far more common)
• Faster than light space travel
• Nuclear fusion (fusion reactors are expensive, exotic technology that only few nations can afford)
• Long-range electric cars
• Renewable and nuclear powered ocean vessels
• Artificial intelligence (albeit HIGHLY regulated as a consequence of multiple previous AI “rebellions”)
• Cybernetics
• And to a limited degree, genetic alteration

However, in spite of a 700 year technological lead over real-life Earth, a viable alternative to fossil fuels has yet to be found for air travel, leading many nations to heavily invest in electrified high speed rail for intra-continental travel in pursuit of reducing global carbon emissions.

Synthetica is currently the ONLY nation in the world to actively host sapient, “rampant” artificial intelligences in spite of previous world-crippling attempted AI rebellions, with one such intelligence serving in the Imperial Self Defense Armed Forces as a top general and the other providing systems security for multiple world governments and major corporations.

Unique Technologies

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Money

Synthetica relies on a representative money system. Although the majority of transactions are entirely electronic, cash transactions are still relied upon in certain sectors. Synthetican currency denominations follow the 1-2-5 series of preferred numbers. The currency is called the hedj (singular and plural), named from the Ancient Egyptian word for “silver”. It is a decimalized currency with strong purchasing power parity: 1 hedj has roughly the same purchasing power as $10/£10/10€.

Points of Interest

The Imperial Palace

The Imperial Palace is the seat of the government of Synthetica. A large annular structure, its lowest levels are open to public access with public art galleries where one may interact with “living art”, and serves as a primary point of contact between the Empress herself and the majority of the nation’s governmental administrations. The Imperial Palace is where Calyo makes her home for the majority of the year, in an apartment penthouse that looks out towards the center of the city core. The Palace is located inside a large traffic circle between the center of the city core and its primary ring avenue.

The National Mall

The National Mall is a large, kilometer-long open park extending from the center of the city core in the direction opposite the Imperial Palace. Lining either side of this park are museums and the East and West campuses of Delphia University. The National Mall is an extension of the Egypt-based Pharos Institute headed by Thoth, and serves as a secondary center of world knowledge.

Public Baths

The city of Delphia is dotted with public baths utilizing the natural geothermal heat of the volcanically active peninsula. All public baths offer water bathing options, however some offer alternative bathing fluids such as latex, slime, cum, lubricant, and, more rarely, glue.

Calyo has a favorite bathhouse that caters specifically to rubber creatures and offers a special type of bathing glue that, once cooled, cures and bonds to the bather’s rubber skin to become an unremovable sticky coat that must be heated again to wash off. Only this bathhouse offers the solvent bath to clean off this glue. It is a very popular treatment amongst this bathhouse’s clients, with many taking a dip and leaving their bodies coated and self-adhesive for days on end before returning to be properly cleaned off.

Asnmoni Agora (Old Station Market)

Asnmoni Agora, or the Old Station Market, is a large marketplace established in the disused old train station of Delphia. Following a population boom in the 11990s CE, it was necessary for a new Grand Central Station to be built once the original had been pushed far beyond capacity and could no longer be expanded. Shortly after the new Grand Central Station was inaugurated and opened for train traffic, the old station was converted into a marketplace and bazaar, its operation overseen by the Delphia Chamber of Commerce which seeks to keep stall rents low in order to increase accessibility to lower income sellers.

Various Kink Clubs

The city of Delphia is peppered with kink clubs, many of which cater to specific kinks with other kinks typically included as extra flavoring. Popular clubs in the City include Rubberfateς, The Stickypit, the Time’s Up Casino and Resort, and many more. Calyo is a frequent flyer at several of these clubs, as well as a partner in business for her favorites.

The Founders Monument

The Founders Monument stands in the center of the Founders Park at the northernmost tip of the avenue that extends from the National Mall. This monument commemorates the 1000 names of the First Founders of the Empire.

The Tekhenu

In the very center of the city core of Delphia exists a large traffic circle, encircling a park in which a large obelisk, the Tekhenu, stands tall and proud. The Tekhenu stands 36m tall above its base and is the largest and tallest Khemetian monolithic obelisk in the world, carved from a single piece of red granite and decorated not with inscriptions but with simple geometric designs upon its four sides purely for the aesthetic purpose of casting light and shadow.

Due north of the Tekhenu are three smaller markers, spaced equally from each other, to mark the points at which the shadow cast by the Tekhenu fall upon the solstices and equinoxes.

Grand Temple City

The Grand Temple City is a walled city-state in the city core of Delphia. The city grew up around the Grand Temple of Syntheticism, the central-most place of worship for all Synthetics, and is governed by a fundamentalist religious law with Calyo crowned as its eternal goddess and ruler. It is located inside another large traffic circle between the center of the city core and the primary ring avenue.

The Kamentekhenu (Black Obelisk)

The Kamentekhenu, or Black Obelisk, is a monument standing in the entrance courtyard to the Grand Temple City. It is a Khemetian monolithic obelisk, standing precisely 12m tall above its base. Unlike the Tekhenu in the city center, the Kamentekhenu is not composed of stone, but rather entirely of black latex. The four sides of the Kamentekhenu are flawlessly smooth, while ancient Coptic inscriptions texture the base, imbuing it with the power to (reversibly) convert all who touch it into Synthetics for entry into the Grand Temple City beyond.

It is surrounded by three fountains which visitors can bathe in to become covered in latex, or to drink from, which can convert them to latex.

Together, the four objects within the entrance courtyard form the set of things that all those who wish to enter the Grand Temple City must interact with if they are not completely covered by, or composed of, latex. No fleshy skin can be shown within the city’s walls.

Temple Street

Temple Street is the main street adjoining the entrance courtyard with the Grand Temple of Syntheticism. It is the only publicly accessible area of the Grand Temple City, with all side streets branching off from the Temple Street ultimately passing through guarded gates that prevent all but Synthetics to enter the city beyond.

Grand Temple of Syntheticism

The Grand Temple of Syntheticism is the most significant house of worship for Synthetics. All Synthetics are encouraged, if able, to go on pilgrimage to visit the Grand Temple at least once in their lives. The Grand Temple is open to the public, although being deep within the Grand Temple City, only those willing to cover or convert themselves in latex are allowed to visit the temple.

The Palatial Estate

The Palatial Estate is, essentially, Calyo’s “summer home”. It is located within the third large traffic circle in the city, completing a trio of central structures around the city along with the Imperial Palace and the Grand Temple City. Most of the Palatial Estate is a privately owned public access park, with a smaller section that is off-limits to public access. In this section stands Calyo’s private mansion which she can retreat to as well as the stables and barracks for the Imperial Taxi Company. In the very center of the Palatial Estate there exists a Japanese style tea garden which Calyo can take tea in, in privacy.

Risnlumin

Risnlumin is the southern port-city of Synthetica. Formerly a Chinese port-colony, Beigǎng, the city and surrounding territory fall under the Lordship governance of Feruccio Enzo Panucci, styled as Don Panucci. Panucci owns the Port of Risnlumin and founded the Ferrovia Synthética corporation which transports all rail-based freight throughout the country.

Klyuchevskaya Sopka

Klyuchevskaya Sopka, a name given to the mountain by the Russians prior to Synthetica’s founding, is an active stratovolcano that looms over the capital city of Delphia, with multiple volcanic peaks surrounding it. This volcano is one of two that frequently threaten the safety of the capital of Synthetica.

Shiveluch

Shiveluch, a name given to the mountain by the Russians prior to Synthetica’s founding, is an active stratovolcano that looms somewhat more distantly over the capital city of Delphia. Shiveluch is a solitary volcanic peak and one of two that frequently threaten the safety of the capital of Synthetica.

The Monastery

Working name. The Monastery is the mountain village of a monastic sect of fundamentalist Synthetics located in the mountains west of Delphia. Although there is a road leading up to this village, it is impassable for most vehicles and its passage requires riding on the backs of mounts. The mounts provided at the base of the final leg are all members of the monastic sect, having chosen a lifetime of servitude as transportation into, out of, and within, the village.