Arekk
The Flesh Of Fallen Angels
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a new world within the Meissa System, for the Je'daii to unearth in the future and utilize for storyline purposes
- Image Credit: MemoryGammaWiki
- Canon: N/A
- Links:
- Aurum
- The Je'daii Order
- Search For Gang Members (5OfNovember - DeviantArt)
- The Art of Blade Runner 2049
- Blade Runner 2049 - Los Angeles (Seungjin Woo - ArtStation)
- Cyberpunk City (Artursadlos - DeviantArt)
- Blade Runner 2049 - Black Out 2022 (Paul Chadeisson - ArtStation)
- Cyberpunk District (MacFixed - DeviantArt)
- The Future (Jeremy Chong - ArtStation)
- Black Market (Jarnuschel - ArtSpire)
- Blade Runner 2049 - Street Concept (Frank Capezzuto III - ArtStation)
- Blade Runner 2049 - Wasteland (Paul Chadeisson - ArtStation)
- Planet Name: Lithios
- Demonym: Lithiori
- Region: Outer Rim Territories
- System Name: Meissa System
- System Features: Ner (G-Type Main Sequence Star) | Astennu, Bambina, and Cyras (3 Moons) | 45 Hour Rotational Period | 33945 Day Orbital Period | Located in the Inhabitable Zone | 9th Planet From Ner | Sits along the Crusaders' Way Hyperlane
- Coordinates: T-59
- Major Imports: Foodstuffs, Medicine, Arborous Materials
- Major Exports: Technology, Minerals
- Gravity: Controlled | Standard
- Climate: Controlled | Despite the world being controlled completely through technology, it still retains an almost constant dreary climate, with rain a common occurrence.
- Primary Terrain: Ecumenopolis, Wasteland Poles
- Major Locations:
- Ethos City: The capital of Lithios. It serves as the hub of entertainment, technology and trading. Its artificial landscapes and city lights receding make it a truly interesting place to visit. In this dystopian urban sprawl there is rain. From a steady drizzle to a horrific downpour, rain permeates the city and washes away the hope and cheer of the population. Hundreds of buildings cluster together to blot out the natural sky the result is a dark landscape that is illuminated only by the neon and flashing screens that batter the people beneath an onslaught of messages.
- Ethos City Downtown: The blending of architectural styles mirrors the population of the city, with the city’s predominant architectural style coming straight from its dominant culture. You cannot escape the advertisers in the city. Walls are covered in billboards, screens, and holographic advertisements that blanket most of your field of vision with demands for your attention, brand loyalty, and cash. Many times these advertisements recognize you and target you directly, tapping into your purchasing history, public records, and private digital trail in order to tailor the message directly to you. This constant barrage of advertising numbs the population, making it tougher each year to reach people with a message. As the people become immune to the advertising methods of yesterday, the corporations improve on their techniques for tomorrow.
- Red Light And Entertainment Sector: Within the sector there are dozens of restaurants, nightclubs, art galleries, and other things that one might find in any large cities entertainment sector. Venturing deeper into the Red Light & Entertainment Sector one can find almost anything if they look hard enough, including the those more inclined for the shadier sides of life. Sealed off from the main hubs is the Red Light Sector. As its name explicitly implies, only here you can find the "true" definition of fun. Girls of all kind roam freely or work in their respective buildings, trying to get everyone's (specially men) attention for a "good time".
- Senate Tower: Towering over most of the other structures in Ethos City is the Senate Tower, a place where the corporate bodies of Lithios convene for the good of the people. In truth it is a place as corrupt as the rest of the world, where bills and laws are passed which benefit only the 1%. Here companies will plan changes in prices and service rates, usually purposely playing off one another's prices to encourage the populace into buying specific goods and services from their 'open market'. In truth most of the companies are owned by the same couple of parent corporations who benefit regardless of which brand is chosen. Far from an open forum, only those with prior clearance are permitted to enter the Tower.
- Merchants' District: Located in the upper and richer side of Ethos City, the Merchants' District is the prime location to purchase a plethora of items ranging from technology, luxury brands, gadgets and more. Police activity in the area has increased the last few years as illegal vendors had taken over for a brief period, forced to move away from the area towards a more grim region underneath the district. Crimes are not something usual here and that's thanks to the proactive action of law enforcement, not for anything this is a location that tends to appeal the richest part of Ethos City.
- Underground Black Market: After the increase of police activity in the Merchants' District, all the shopkeepers and vendors trying to make a living by selling illegal items were forced to move to the slums of Ethos City or they would face prosecution. The underground black market has been operating for a long time now and its wide range of shops provide the criminals and similar individuals with military-grade weapons, narcotics, prohibited devices, etcetera. This part of the city is also considered key for the organization and recruitment of delinquents to join the ranks of several organized crime groups scattered throughout the city.
- Ethos City Slums: Considered as the lowest of the low, the slums of Ethos City or "Trench Town" is home to the poorest population. It's a run-down area of the city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and lacking in law enforcement presence. Crime is substantially higher in Trench Town and the police of Ethos City has prohibited all tourists and citizens access to the slums. Those who decide to pass through the checkpoint are on their own and no one will help them in case of emergency, clearly letting it be known that it's a high risk zone.
- The Xeno-Sector: Alien Species are not permitted within Ethos City or any of its districts, and instead any who migrate to Lithios find themselves pushed into a sector specifically intended for their kind. Xenophobia is not actually rampant among the general populace, largely due to the fact that most never see anything less than near-human in their lives, it is the 1% that are the problem. While they have access to much of the same commercialism, propaganda, and constant advertisements, most who reside here are worked tirelessly for very little pay and cannot afford the luxuries afforded to other members of society. They are also forbidden from accessing starships and the like. Their homes still resemble much of Ethos City, as the same companies constructed them.
- The Wasteland: It is unknown for how long the wasteland has been in this condition, almost post-apocalyptic. Covered in nuclear radiation, this place is as dead as it comes and can't be habitated by humans due to its massive toxicity. Most of the structures and buildings in the wasteland belonged to industrial companies and it is implied that a catastrophic event in one of the nuclear industries blew up during a test. Passage is prohibited to all citizens and the checkpoints cover the entirety of the wasteland, heavily guarded by the military. It is impossible to get inside without proper clearance or authorization.
- Astennu: Known as "Moon A" by many Lithiori, Astennu is a frigid moon purposely kept this way by technology. Like much of the system it was terraformed when settlers first came to the region, initially intended to host moisture farms and the like to provide the planet it orbited with an extra source of water, yet over time the lack of maintenance caused some of the temperature-altering machines to mess up and now instead of featuring water the moon is coated with ice. Rather than fix it up the Lithiori decided instead to keep it in such a state and use it now as a method of gaining ice for whatever icy needs they have.
- Bambina: Known as "Moon B" by many, Bambina is a luscious moon that faced much more terraforming than the planet it orbits and its sister moons. Green, filled with rolling fields and forests, though obviously this state is controlled and maintained by technology given its position in the system, it was intended to house livestock and farms before Fenn, another world in the system, was colonized and turned into a much larger variant. These days Bambina is mostly left alone, flourishing with animals and maintained by workers from Lithios. It is known as a quiet getaway for many of the more rich inhabitants of the planet down below, with some owning vacation homes there.
- Cyras: Known as "Moon C" by many Lithiori, Cyras is a rocky moon that is rich in minerals. It is with basic metals sourced from this moon that much of Lithios' technology is made, and unlike its sisters Cyras was never actually terraformed leaving it open to the spacey elements. A few dig sites exist, owned by the mining companies of Lithios, and a few teams are sent there on rotation throughout the year. Enviromental suits are a necessity, and most who reside there for work do so in completely artificial environments, bunkered down in fabricated buildings for months at an end. Prisoners who are not deemed so dangerous that they must go into a maximum security prison will often be shipped off to Cyras to work off their debts to society.
- Native Species: Not Applicable
- Immigrated Species: Human | Umbaran | Arkanian | Rodian | Togorian | Numerous Other Near-Human and Alien Species In Negligible Amounts
- Population: Heavily Populated (City) | Sparsely Populated (Wastelands)
- Demographics: Mostly Humans and Near-Humans, though a few Alien Species exist in smaller groups
- Primary Languages: Galactic Basic Standard
- Culture: Lithios is a relatively peaceful planet where the vast majority of its citizens coexist neutrally. However, there are a bunch of racially charged attacks amongst the alien species to the point where they aren't allowed access to Ethos City anymore. Omitting this, Lithios is a relatively efficient system and largely self-sustaining.
Living on Lithios differs depending on how much wealth you possess. An upper-class citizen has the ability to fulfill any and all of their desires, at any time of day. They may go to a casino, watch violent sports, spend their day in the Red Light Sector searching for the best girls, go to expensive restaurants to dine on exotic meat and beverages, purchase the most expensive brands to wear and show off, visit the underground black market for illegal weaponry and gadgets. Others are less lucky and toil their days away in the slums or working ten hours a day for scrap in one of the many industries throughout Ethos City.
While there is no religion imposed, most of the migrating species have brought over their beliefs to guide and enlighten those who want to believe or discover more about their spirituality. The people prefers a good game of Hutt Ball or podracing to place their bets in one of the many bars scattered through the city. There is no favorite defined but the two aforementioned are the most popular among the Lithiori. Most of the artists of Lithios are angsty individuals that want to go against the corporate system by showing their discontent through graffitis and filling the streets and walls of Ethos City with their messages of peace, anarchy and anti-oppression.
- Government: Planetary Senate (Corporatocracy disguised as Democracy)
- Affiliation: The Senate of Lithios
- Wealth: Varies; for those in power, or with any sway over corporations and businesses, wealth can be found in abundance. More money flows through their pockets than could be used in a thousand lifetimes, yet their greed knows no limits and still prices are hiked up. For the majority of people who call Lithios home, however, the opposite is the case. Low incomes, and high cost of living, make the larger population who sit at the bottom of the barrel rather underprivileged though the constant propaganda and advertising which has a grip on their lives leads them to believe otherwise. Those who sit in the middle tend to be much more fortunate, able to live with more luxuries than most without slaving away every hour of their lives, but they tend to actually be a little less free than the rest as there's always another product to buy, another service to opt into, and with more money comes more opportunities to have pieces of their lives bought up by the mega corporations.
- Stability: Surprisingly enough, stability is one of the few things Lithios actually offers. Very little actually changes on world, positions rarely change hands, there's hardly ever a shake up in society, people know their places because they're the same as they have been for generations. While living conditions for most may not be optimal, while the corporations sap every ounce of will, money, and life from the lower tiers of society, the world is stable... Just not necessarily ideal.
- Freedom & Oppression: Low; unless you happen to be apart of the 1% chances are your life on Lithios will be dominated by near constant advertising, propaganda, and consumerism. There is a high presence of both military and police personnel in place at all times to keep the masses in their place, and the chances of anyone making it out of the position they were born into is extremely slim. Most children take after the same jobs that their parents had, living in similar districts. Products are not built to last, and many require parts only available from their original manufacturer which leads to a dependency and high service demands from specific corporations. Either you buy something brand new for ridiculous prices most can't afford, or you're roped in to paying little bits and pieces to the same company throughout your lifetime. Freedom is an illusion on Lithios, you're owned from the moment you take your first breath.
Alien species' have it much worse off; while some have found themselves on Lithios they are barred from accessing the City itself and have been for generations. Instead they are given their own sector on the planet, where most are made to work arduous hours for very little pay by the various corporations, and access to amenities such as starships are completely barred making it nigh on impossible for them to leave once they end up there. The only exceptions to these rules are when a Senate official grants access to an individual and their family, though this is extremely rare and usually reserved only for those already in high esteem for some reason or another, such as visitors from beyond the stars.
- Military: Lithios boasts a fairly large military, yet it is mostly concentrated on the City boundaries to keep men and women out of the Wastelands. For the most part general peace is kept by the significantly larger police force who can be found on most street corners, and only ever seem to be absent from areas such as the Black Market and the Slums which pretty much serve as no mans land. They are no stronger than your average planetary government, their weapons are pretty standard, but they are well trained for their specific needs and for the most part their presence is all that is required to keep the masses in place.
- Technology: Galactic Standard
Once upon a time Lithios was nothing more than a barren, rocky planet on the fringes of the Meissa System. Cold, uninhabitable, even when the first settlers to the region - members of an archaic branch of the Je'daii Order - began to terraform and colonize the region this lump of space rock was ignored. It wasn't until a large influx of Non-Force Users were born to the Order, and other settlers from beyond the stars came to the System, that their eyes turned to the only planet left untouched. And thus Project Lithios began.
It was, of course, a project which took vast amounts of time, energy, and resources. Small domes were initially set up, self contained structures which brought about a breathable atmosphere for those working on the terraforming. Slowly this expanded outward as more technology was brought across to control aspects such as airflow, moisture, gravity, and atmosphere across the majority of the planet itself.
Towns sprung up, soon reaching City-states as the generations came and went. When the Je'daii eventually dissipated from the system without a trace, the Lithiori were left to fend for themselves with the technology that had been developed and given to them, and slowly but surely they dissolve into how they are today.
However, the technology was manipulated by the ambitious and greedy corporations in a way that it'd affect one of the biggest pieces of territory of Lithios, known as District 39 or commonly called "The Industrial Zone" by the workers who resided there.
During one of the many productive evenings where these big industries worked all day every day non-stop, an experiment went wrong. A lethal explosion in one of the nuclear reactors caused a destructive and massive leak that would doom District 39 forever. Thousands of workers and innocent people died and the radiation reigned over what once was the largest industrial area of Lithios.
Now, it's a wasteland where only the bravest dare to enter. The military has sealed off the entrances to this area to the general public and only authorized personnel is allowed within or around these parts. The sole thing you can find there is a slow and secure death from the toxic cloud covering the whole territory. What once was an uprising revolutionary industry is now a graveyard for hopes and dreams.
Overtime the planet grew to what it is now, a promising and vast ecumenopolis where corporations run the strings from their political seats and technology has taken over the lives of its citizens. The present relies heavily upon the export of rich minerals and cutting-edge technology. The import of medicine and comestibles keeps the citizens going forward to create a better future, though admittedly one with a corporate and consumerist grip.
