DETERRENT - Apply Fic

B A C K G R O U N D

Hey, sorry that this is something new. I know it can be hard to get engrossed in worlds that you aren't familiar with, so I'm going to have a long application period on this. Like, I often close in less than five days but this bad boy, I am COMMITTED to being up for three weeks. It's going to require a bit of workshopping to make characters that fit in this world. More to come in the rules.

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THE CITY

This story takes place in a sort of future version of our world. The world has been destroyed, via disease, natural disasters, man-made catastrophes, exploitation, etc. Much of the land is uninhabitable, even the land where our characters will be from.

The story takes place within the city of Neo Elysium. Neo Elysium is kind of geographically located in North America, but it's so far in the future that that information isn't super relevant. So, Neo Elysium is a cyberpunk place. For those unfamiliar, it's a sort of future with high tech and low life. There are androids, cyborgs, crazy body modifications, and lots of hacking. Corporations are a big deal, even bigger than the Neo Elysian government, and there is great inequality and crowding. Crime, misfits, and rebellion are big themes in these kinds of genres.

In terms of geography, Neo Elysium has five burrows. Cocta is a slum area with stacked houses, unhygienic conditions, and the poorest of the poor. There are a few factories in Cocta, but the people who live in Cocta don't work in them. Otherwise, Cocta doesn't have much to offer.

Leth is home to a lot of the lower middle and middle class. If you can afford a roof, you at least live in Leth. The people there kind of work boring jobs, often commuting to other areas of the town or working at small businesses or corporate outlets within Leth. People in Leth work in the factories in Cocta and The Arch and The Sticks.

The Sticks is a transportation hub. It's on the water, safe to swim in without getting exposed to contaminants but it's dirty and people wouldn't drink it. The Sticks has ports for exports, but also planes. There are a lot of mechanic shops and other types of things here. It's kind of grimy, but not filthy. Oily, maybe. Some people live in The Sticks for ease, but it doesn't smell the greatest so Leth is more desirable.

The Arch is where the richest of the rich live. It is home to many corporations, government buildings, museums, universities, and kind of the intellectual sector. People who live in The Arch don't just work but will have big investments in corporations or are landlords to areas in Leth.

Finally, there is Flage, which is a night district where just about anything and everything happens. Youth in Flage are often described as out of control. While all the other areas are relatively similar in sizes (still varying), Flage is only about four city blocks with buildings stacked tall and high.

THE WORLD

So, Neo Elysium is on the Marcanty continent. It is in the south, and a party of the Protectionist Liberal Union of South Marcanty (called the Adam Collective colloquially since PLUSM became +M became ADDM became Adam). Anyway, the Adam Collective is kind of like the European Union in that it oversees trade and some other economic areas but it isn't a government with a head of state or anything. All of the city-states in the Adam Collective are autonomous. People can move generally about as they please, but the city-states are far enough apart and the land between them isn't inhabitable so it isn't an easy task.

In the Adam Collective, there are five other city-states. The Republic of Marcanty (The ROM) is a place where people aren't allowed to enter or exit, except very specific Neo Elysian trade ambassadors. No one really knows what goes on in there, except that it is very repressive. There is also Serment, an oppressive religious state. While you can move freely within the Adam Collective, you can't move in and out of those two city-states.