World Building #5 - The People of Goroesgi

 

In this week's World Building chapter I started to think about the people that now lived on the structure of the Great Ark Goroesgi.

As with the previous passages, this one is about how the society living aboard the Ark lives rather than describing actual individuals living in my fictional world.  The idea is to create a series of factions and a scope of the society to maintain a cohesive world when I eventually manage to create stories in my world through games or other media.

The passage touches on quite a few different principles for use when constructing stories, from the types of societal roles people can have, and their professions, through to the economic system used, and the larger factions that operate within the society.

As this is the first passage discussing these aspects, there are a lot of new ideas raised that are vague, needing further refinement in future to better explain how the different aspects function in the fictional world.

Next week's chapter will discuss the Guild in more depth.  At present there will two more passages before these posts catch up with what I have already written about my world, at which point I will need to continue to write more about it to keep this series going.

Thanks for reading.

The People of the Ark

Since the first survivors were saved by the launching of the Great Ark and Citadel in the Sky, their descendants have lived in ignorance of the workings of the massive structure. While they do not understand the structure, or remember their true history, the design of the structure allows the people now living within it to lead normal lives.

The centre of every level of the structure contains a walled town that allows the majority of people to live the sort of lives you might expect from a civilised society, complete with shops, governance and organisation. The economies of these towns is based on the trade of goods both found and farmed on the respective levels, and trading happens between the different levels, though with lesser frequency than that which occurs within the levels themselves. On the larger lower levels, trade is assisted by farmsteads and the occasional village away from the central towns.

The trade based economy allows for a great variety of professions for the people, from simple labourers, to guards and political roles governing the various communities within the structure. Traditionally, individuals would maintain the professions of their parents. This became the norm to ensure that farms would still be farmed, animals could still be hunted, and the resources acquired through these professions could find their way to people serving society in other ways. Without this tradition, the people aboard the structure would have been unable to survive, as without the farmers and hunters, there would be no food, and without the merchants and governors, there would be no balance of resources within the communities.

Although it is tradition to follow on in the professions of one’s parents, there is no strict adherence to this tradition, allowing people to follow the path they choose, or the one they need to choose. However, social mobility from a humble farmer to a governor, even a low level governor is far from easy. While the society of the structure is not based on class through any ruling or law, the normal segregation of the roles within society, and the tradition of following on a parents role in society, means that any who do manage to change their roles in life are shunned, they are viewed with scorn for breaking tradition, and furthering their own ambitions.

As the people of the Ark are now developing the abilities and powers of the Demons and Beasts, new roles within society are being created to recognise the capabilities of those that have developed these abilities. Some have taken to study the limits of these abilities, while others have begun to use them in hunting, warfare, and the exploration of the structure of the Ark.

The activities of these individuals are organised by two distinct institutions, first the Academy, is an institution for furthering the understanding and usage of the newly emerging abilities. The members of the Academy are split into teachers and students. The teachers undertake research into their abilities and the abilities of others, and they teach the students in the basics of what is known of the abilities and how to manifest them. The students, once measured for an aptitude, study under a teacher aligned to their own manifest abilities. The students in turn support the research activities of their teachers, helping to further the understanding of these abilities, their capabilities and their limits. While members of the Academy will undertake expeditions, their primary intent is to further the understanding of abilities, and how best to utilise these often destructive and mysterious abilities.

The combating of the Beasts and Demons is left to members of the second institution managing those with these newly emerged abilities, the Guild. Where the Academy aims to learn and understand these abilities, the Guild conversely aims to ensure the efficient use of those with abilities. The Guild was originally organised to ensure work for the original survivors saved within the structure, though it now also serves as a hub for activities aimed at controlling the spread of Beasts and Demons aboard the Ark, and to explore the various tunnels and interconnecting structures of the Ark, now referred to as Dungeons. While the routes between the lower levels of the Ark can be relatively freely travelled, travelling to the higher levels of the structure is obstructed by the Beasts and Demons, and while travel between the lower levels is not actively obstructed, the Beasts and Demons can be found within the Dungeons found on the lower levels themselves. Due to the exploration of the unknown, and the inherent risks associated with the exploration of the Dungeons, the members of the Guild are referred to as Adventurers, and while there are restrictions for becoming a member of the Academy, no such restrictions exist for the Guild, however advancement through the ranks of the Guild does require assessment of an individual’s own capabilities. Even without the usage or development of the capabilities of the newly emerging abilities, it is entirely possible for an individual to advance through the ranks of the Guild, however without these abilities, only individuals of great skill and prowess manage to advance to the top of the Guild.

While these two institutions primarily work with individuals of ability, they are not the only societal institutions formed aboard the Ark. Since the passing of the Architects, a religion has formed from their history, and their actions in saving the people of the world below; the Way of the Builders. While this religion allows for a version of the history of the structure, its creation and its reason for being, the true detail has been lost, and the now twisted version of history has become the religion’s gospel. With little of the original religions of the surface world surviving aboard the structure, this newly formed religion has become the primary religion aboard the structure, influencing the society and politics aboard the structure.

The followers of the Way of the Builders believe that the Architects were gods, and that the history that should be remembered as an act of great sacrifice and endurance by people of great will and determination, is the creation myth of their religion. While there is great commonality between the creation myths of other religions, and the actions taken by the Architects in constructing the Ark, they were not the actions of gods.

The followers of the Way of the Builders also do not believe in the exploration of the structure. The upper levels of the Ark, according to the Way of the Builders, is the realm of the gods and should not be set upon by any person, for to do so is to bring great offence to the gods. This belief puts the followers of the Way of the Builders at odds with the Guild, and the Academy, who actively seek to explore the Dungeons in their search for wealth and knowledge. While the religion is powerful within society, their constrained views struggle to deter the advancement of the exploration of the dungeons. They cannot condone the activities of the Guild and the Academy, but they also cannot prevent them either.