Post by Zaezar on Sept 22, 2016 18:44:51 GMT
This is a place to explain some common phrases and ideas you may be hearing around the Forum. This will be updated as needed to reflect new developments in project Cyden.
Aether
Many wars were had in the history of Cyden. With wars comes new technology and new weapons. Aether is the result of mass bombings using at the time experimental technology. It was a type of radiation bomb, designed to irradiate an entire city or area to deathly levels. But it had an interesting side-effect. It generated charged particles and isotopes that free-floated through the air and spread around the world. At first, it was a terrible tragedy as people thought it was certainly going to give everyone radiation poisoning. But there were no incidents of it caused by this side effect of the bombings. In fact, it was shown that you could now charge items using the particles in the air so long as you used a special filter. They started to be called Aether filters and Aether batteries, and it was super compressed energy to power strong portable tools and electronics.
There are drawbacks to using such a filter, of course. The charged batteries are HEAVY. The weight per charge is far more than conventional batteries. in fact, they get heavier with the more Aether charge is in them, implying that its the charge itself that causes the weight. But the fact that it never truly needs to be recharged or replaced so long as you have a strong enough filter makes it very good for a reliable device.
The Cursed Family
A long time ago, someone did something that they shouldn't have done. And it cursed their entire family to die until there is only one left. But in this day and age, there are so many that it will take a literal apocalypse to manage that. So we have The Cursed Family as an option to you to make your character designs. Quite simply put, the curse is something that could very easily be the thing that they die from. It can range from simply little things like having busy hands and needing to constantly work, all the way up to fluctuating levels of luck that rebound to cause deathly accidents. Clever people have made ways around their curses and can live rather healthy lives, but most are stuck in certain patterns or systems to hold back the inevitable.
For those that wish to make a character in The Cursed Family, there are only a few simple rules with them. The character has to be in the cat or vulpine family or anywhere in between. Fennec, Tiger, Housecat, Red Fox, Lynx, Panther, Cross Fox, or whatever is in those families. The family's genes are super messed up, as you can guess. So they can be literally any of those species or any mix no matter how closely related they are. Then you need to curse them. Have some fun, get creative. You do not need to match science perfectly for this one, trust me, its explained just fine to do whatever you want. They can be simple little things that might not effect their life too much, all the way up to insane stuff like spontaneous combustion.
Bio-tech Sludge
A mix of organic cells and technology gone awry. This material is technically a sentient parasite bent on surviving. They do so by merging with the first sentient being they come into contact with and from then on the struggle for control ensues. The person "infected" gains abilities and powers based on what poor creature made the bio in the bio-tech. Assuming they live through the process. On the flip side, the Sludge is constantly trying to take control of the person for one reason or another. Normally if the Sludge wins they are turned into wild beasts bent on killing all those around them.
The Sludge is very unstable, however. If it cannot find a subject within 24 hours of being made it will decompose into a harmless ball of goo. This means that the longer its been since it was made, the weaker the abilities gained and the less it can take over you. Though it also means the better chance of surviving the initial merging in the first place.
You can read more information about this subject in the Thread dedicated to it: projectcyden.boards.net/thread/53/organic-tech-concept-extraterrestrial-samples
Money/Credit
Money in Cyden is not too unfamiliar from what we know now. In certain places, at least. For cities and developed places credit and digital transactions are the norm. Some more "progressive" cities may even not have the ability to process physical currency or its just too annoying for them to bother. But its still used even here for back alley deals and people looking not to leave a trail. For other places in Cyden that aren't so well off, they probably don't have a card linked to an account on hand. They would use physical money currency in some form or another. Even lower than that is just trading off pieces of metal or bartering useful materials. When it comes down to it, a medical kit is probably more useful than some pieces of paper to some people.
Governments are very closed off by today's standards. A lack of trust due to recent or past events makes transferring money in any way rather annoying. Each place has its own denomination or way of trading that is rather unique to them. Leaving this system might cause you trouble as you find someone willing to take your foreign scraps of paper and coin. Let alone someone who can convert it for you.
Species
Every species and type are found in Cyden. Before the Dystopia travel and commerce were easy enough. So its not impossible for someone to be in a place you might not expect. Like Zebras in Texas. Whether or not they are accepted into that culture for what they are is a completely different story and varies wildly between cities and countries.
In some places, Humans are totally shunned for some historical or personal reason. In others, they are considered the greatest achievable species. All depends on what has happened to cause it based on the city/state/country.
Hybrids
The status of hybrid creatures in Cyden is not strictly the same as you can find in other settings. Any species can breed with another species. Assuming that things "fit" anyways. However there are difficulties coming to term assuming that the two aren't of the same species already. Depending on how different they are it could range from miscarriage, difficulties in birth, damage to the mother, abnormalities in the child, or even death entirely for everyone involved. However should the child come to term and there are no other ill effects, they are still sterile and cannot carry on that lineage. Effectively meaning that only pureblood creatures can actually have children that can continue on having kids. There are notable exceptions to this rule, however. Aliens like the Ka'Rlfn that are designed to intermingle with the native species can cause some normally impossible combinations to work. The Cursed family is also somewhat immune to this rule as well, but their children are genetically unstable already.
Aether
Many wars were had in the history of Cyden. With wars comes new technology and new weapons. Aether is the result of mass bombings using at the time experimental technology. It was a type of radiation bomb, designed to irradiate an entire city or area to deathly levels. But it had an interesting side-effect. It generated charged particles and isotopes that free-floated through the air and spread around the world. At first, it was a terrible tragedy as people thought it was certainly going to give everyone radiation poisoning. But there were no incidents of it caused by this side effect of the bombings. In fact, it was shown that you could now charge items using the particles in the air so long as you used a special filter. They started to be called Aether filters and Aether batteries, and it was super compressed energy to power strong portable tools and electronics.
There are drawbacks to using such a filter, of course. The charged batteries are HEAVY. The weight per charge is far more than conventional batteries. in fact, they get heavier with the more Aether charge is in them, implying that its the charge itself that causes the weight. But the fact that it never truly needs to be recharged or replaced so long as you have a strong enough filter makes it very good for a reliable device.
The Cursed Family
A long time ago, someone did something that they shouldn't have done. And it cursed their entire family to die until there is only one left. But in this day and age, there are so many that it will take a literal apocalypse to manage that. So we have The Cursed Family as an option to you to make your character designs. Quite simply put, the curse is something that could very easily be the thing that they die from. It can range from simply little things like having busy hands and needing to constantly work, all the way up to fluctuating levels of luck that rebound to cause deathly accidents. Clever people have made ways around their curses and can live rather healthy lives, but most are stuck in certain patterns or systems to hold back the inevitable.
For those that wish to make a character in The Cursed Family, there are only a few simple rules with them. The character has to be in the cat or vulpine family or anywhere in between. Fennec, Tiger, Housecat, Red Fox, Lynx, Panther, Cross Fox, or whatever is in those families. The family's genes are super messed up, as you can guess. So they can be literally any of those species or any mix no matter how closely related they are. Then you need to curse them. Have some fun, get creative. You do not need to match science perfectly for this one, trust me, its explained just fine to do whatever you want. They can be simple little things that might not effect their life too much, all the way up to insane stuff like spontaneous combustion.
Bio-tech Sludge
A mix of organic cells and technology gone awry. This material is technically a sentient parasite bent on surviving. They do so by merging with the first sentient being they come into contact with and from then on the struggle for control ensues. The person "infected" gains abilities and powers based on what poor creature made the bio in the bio-tech. Assuming they live through the process. On the flip side, the Sludge is constantly trying to take control of the person for one reason or another. Normally if the Sludge wins they are turned into wild beasts bent on killing all those around them.
The Sludge is very unstable, however. If it cannot find a subject within 24 hours of being made it will decompose into a harmless ball of goo. This means that the longer its been since it was made, the weaker the abilities gained and the less it can take over you. Though it also means the better chance of surviving the initial merging in the first place.
You can read more information about this subject in the Thread dedicated to it: projectcyden.boards.net/thread/53/organic-tech-concept-extraterrestrial-samples
Money/Credit
Money in Cyden is not too unfamiliar from what we know now. In certain places, at least. For cities and developed places credit and digital transactions are the norm. Some more "progressive" cities may even not have the ability to process physical currency or its just too annoying for them to bother. But its still used even here for back alley deals and people looking not to leave a trail. For other places in Cyden that aren't so well off, they probably don't have a card linked to an account on hand. They would use physical money currency in some form or another. Even lower than that is just trading off pieces of metal or bartering useful materials. When it comes down to it, a medical kit is probably more useful than some pieces of paper to some people.
Governments are very closed off by today's standards. A lack of trust due to recent or past events makes transferring money in any way rather annoying. Each place has its own denomination or way of trading that is rather unique to them. Leaving this system might cause you trouble as you find someone willing to take your foreign scraps of paper and coin. Let alone someone who can convert it for you.
Species
Every species and type are found in Cyden. Before the Dystopia travel and commerce were easy enough. So its not impossible for someone to be in a place you might not expect. Like Zebras in Texas. Whether or not they are accepted into that culture for what they are is a completely different story and varies wildly between cities and countries.
In some places, Humans are totally shunned for some historical or personal reason. In others, they are considered the greatest achievable species. All depends on what has happened to cause it based on the city/state/country.
Hybrids
The status of hybrid creatures in Cyden is not strictly the same as you can find in other settings. Any species can breed with another species. Assuming that things "fit" anyways. However there are difficulties coming to term assuming that the two aren't of the same species already. Depending on how different they are it could range from miscarriage, difficulties in birth, damage to the mother, abnormalities in the child, or even death entirely for everyone involved. However should the child come to term and there are no other ill effects, they are still sterile and cannot carry on that lineage. Effectively meaning that only pureblood creatures can actually have children that can continue on having kids. There are notable exceptions to this rule, however. Aliens like the Ka'Rlfn that are designed to intermingle with the native species can cause some normally impossible combinations to work. The Cursed family is also somewhat immune to this rule as well, but their children are genetically unstable already.
