Domain Summary
The Umbral CyberRealm collided with south Texas, becoming the Domain of Dystopia. Dystopia was a dark, polluted, cyberpunk domain of technology run amok. When it vanished during the War of Aether, only a single floating island, New Atlantis, survived. This last remnant of the once powerful megacity relocated to the Great Lakes, where it resides alongside Aranta-Shadur
Life in the Domain
Competition is the name of the game in the Dystopian city of New Atlantis. The distribution of wealth is extreme and disparate. The corporate machine rewards success with increased wealth, access, population, and title. The most successful nobility find themselves in the upper city. There, they enjoy superior technology and all manner of luxuries. Repeated failures, however, are relegated to the undercity. Nobles who suffer this fate find their population and title acquired by competitors. Many in the undercity find this harsh existence impossible to endure.
Dominant Races
Mages, Shifters
Paradigm: In this domain of business and high tech, the Technocracy has a stronghold: Iteration X, Syndicate, and Void Engineers are found here in abundance. Those of technomantic traditions, Virtual Adepts and Society of Ether, have a strong presence here as well. The rare Hermetic and Euthanatos can also be found here.
Costuming and Archetypes
Cyberpunk Scientist, Ruthless Entrepreneur, High-tech Cyborg, Awakened Construct
Politics & NPCs
The political structure of New Atlantis maintains a familiar corporate structure. The Domain Lord would be the CEO, while the other lords of the Domain are viewed as a Board of Directors. Vassal nobles would be managers, and their population would be employees. Currently, the infamous Joseph Mengsk maintains control over the remnants of Dystopia, in service to his lord. Though slightly more egalitarian than Dystopia was, the politics of New Atlantis are still fairly ruthless and competitive. Those who are unable to prove their worth are largely ignored and relegated to the sewers of the Undercity, along with rejected experiments and chemical and toxic runoff. Those able to reside at street-level have to survive the constant turf wars of individual gangs. Skyscrapers towering above the streets, connected by sywalks and balconies, make up Downtown and Uptown, where a majority of the nobility’s citizens reside. All manner of technological conveniences are available to those with New Atlantean identification cards. These cards serve as cash, identification, and keys, and allowed citizens to access the numerous public computer terminals. HIT Marks and other more experimental androids, police Downtown.
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Umbral Realms
- Low Umbra - Shroud 7
- Middle Umbra - Gauntlet 8 (CyberRealm - Gauntlet 1, Pattern Web - Gauntlet 2, Digital Web - Gauntlet 3)
- Dreaming - Mists 3 (Far Dreaming - Mists 6, Deep Dreaming - Mists 9) / Banality 9
- High Umbra - Periphery 5 (Inventium - Periphery 3, Fortress of Government - Periphery 4)
Historical Information
Crash of the CyberRealm
As the shroud fell between worlds, many unforeseen and catastrophic events took place. These events altered the landscape of the world beyond repair. Some, like the Dreaming becoming more pronounced in Balor's Kingdom, were almost benign. Yet others were violent upheavals which resulted in untold devastation. The birth of Dystopia was such an upheaval. As the barrier between worlds thinned, the Umbral CyberRealm broke through. It crashed to Earth, in the area that was once Texas, and destroyed everything for miles. The impact drove the ruins of former structures deep underground. The megacity domain of Dystopia rose from the rubble.
Dystopia's Floating Island
During the first year of Balor's reign, a flying island entered Dystopian airspace. This unusual occurrence attracted the attention of many other nobles. Others sought to claim such a wonder, but Dystopia claimed it as theirs to destroy or conquer. It was, after all, in their airspace. Dystopian noble Joseph Mengsk investigated the island and discovered it inhabited. Former Society of Deus mages built the island, which they called the Grave of Voormas. They used it as a life raft to evade the upheavals which followed the Fall. Mengsk conquered the floating island, and renamed it New Atlantis.
Fall and Rise of Samhain
Dystopian Joseph Mengsk declared war on the neighboring domain of Samhain. He did so without the approval, or military backing, of his superiors and lords. Mengsk felt he did not need it, believing he could conquer through intimidation alone. He threatened to destroy them if they did not surrender. The nobles of Samhain refused, calling his bluff, but Mengsk had not been bluffing. He pressed the button to launch a barrage of missiles.
Read more: (Founder Era) Fall and Rise of Samhain
With Samhain and its population destroyed, their representatives lost their noble title. Other nobles of the court turned against Mengsk. Jack 2.0, A fellow Dystopian, defeated Mengsk in a duel to the death, hoping to redeem his domain in the eyes of the court. Mengsk had prepared for this eventuality, however. He had downloaded a copy of himself to reboot upon his death. Angered by his unauthorized attack, the Dystopian lords intervened. They locked him in stasis, and he was not seen again for more than two hundred years.
Samhain's destruction appeared total, but appearances were deceiving. Lumivadoma Hev'Aber, a seer, foresaw the disaster and prepared contingencies against it. Nobles smuggled population and fetters out of Samhain months earlier. They enlisted the aid of their allies; the Society of Deus, Appalachia, and Domain of the Dead. Through these preparations, Samhain rose from the ashes of their destruction.
Arantan Dystopia
Dystopia struggled to find suitable nobles to represent their interests at court. Instead, Imperial Prince Lothar Merovingian brokered an agreement with Aranta-Shadur. Dystopian nobles would attend the Surveyor's Court under Aranta's banner. Yet this proved to be another ploy by Dystopia to usurp control of another domain. Through contracts and hollow promises, Dystopia sought to conquer Aranta from within.
Read more: (Surveyor’s Court) Arantan Dystopia
The Arantan council discovered their plot, and turned it against them. They brought their discoveries to light, and the Imperials acted. For their actions, the Imperials executed two of Dystopia's princes. In the end it was Dystopia that fell under the weight of their own hubris. What remained of that domain joined with Aranta-Shadur.
Aranta underwent reorganization to integrate Dystopia into the fold. The Imperials saw this as an opportunity to bring Aranta more in line with their feudal ideals. They demanded that Aranta abandon their Council, and swear to single domain lord. In the restructuring, Hal Morgan, Warlord of Aranta-Shadur, was released from his oaths. The Imperial Prince Synthas Leanhaun capitalized on the opportunity. Using Hal's True Name, he pressured him into service. Left without a leader, Aranta chose Urchin, Black Bart's former first-mate, as their new domain lord. Though he held the title, he would remain a figurehead who still answered to the will of the Council.
New Atlantis
In the final nights of the Surveyor's Court, Nul, the King of Aether, struck against Dischordia. In his attack, he turned Dystopia's own security systems against its anonymous lord. With the lord dead, the rest of Dystopia fell to chaos with little provocation. They had built the means to their own destruction.
Read more: (War of Aether) New Atlantis
Countless soulless clones served as empty vessels possessed by Aether's forces. Abyssal spirits, demons and specters slipped unnoticed into the flesh-suits and robotic drones. Nul's instigators had long concealed themselves in the darkness of the undercity. They spurred the oppressed masses into open rebellion against their callous Dystopian overlords. Outnumbered and overrun, the city never stood a chance. Nobles, executives, and board members tried to save their own skin. They threw one another to their deaths, torn to shreds in the riots. Lothar Merovingian fled the destruction of Dystopia for the new Imperial City. Surviving refugees fled to New Atlantis, domain of the infamous Joseph Mengsk. The island itself, filled with all every soul it could save, relocated from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes just as the Megacity of Dystopia collapsed upon itself... and vanished.
History remembers Mengsk for bombing Samhain into oblivion. Upon his arrival in Aranta-Shadur, he assured the council that he would never repeat such actions. Quite the opposite, Mengsk had saved countless Dystopian lives. New Atlantis devoted itself to developing technology to combat the attacking Abyssal forces."
