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[h1]𝔻𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕟: ℝ𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖[/h1]
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[b]Setting:[/b]

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A catastrophic event-known as [b]The Scorching[/b]— obliterated the surface world centuries ago. Whether caused by nuclear war, solar flares, or a cosmic disaster, the result was the same: an irradiated wasteland where no organic life could survive. Humanity, along with remnants of other species, retreated underground, carving out a new existence in the depths of the earth.

The surface slowly began to fade in the memories of who saw it last and there are no generations that have ever been close to seeing the surface. A council government rules over the major metropolis underground cities and is called the Crystalline Council. However, the majority of individuals refer to it as "Craty/cartie" which is street slang that refers to someone as crazy, disheveled, unorganized, and even dirty. A ton of people do not support the council though they have a heavy thumb on the authority of the cities. 
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[hider=CHRONICLES OF DOMINION]
[b]CHRONICLES OF DOMINION[/b] 
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There is no understanding of why people went underground though people can speculate that an unnatural disaster happens, and the most common thing brought up in Dominion history is nuclear warfare. However, there is emphasis that it could have been any unnatural or natural phenomenon that was threatening to end humanity and going underground was the only way to avoid extinction. 

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In the beginning of the descent, there is no knowledge or official history of those times, and everything that is to do with the beginning is called “The Lost Age” because there is no hardcore evidence or facts. After this period everything begins to unravel the centuries of history that the people have gone through to get to where they are in modern Dominion. 

The only thing that Dominion society has of that day was the reliance of oral tradition and ancient scribbles on the stone of cave walls. Being able to decipher the language was difficult at first though it translates to something along the lines of “The Sky Turned,” which doesn’t give anyone much of anything to go off from. These engraves on cave walls are ancient and no one in Dominion was alive when there was access to these ancient sites. 

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There is an assumption that there was about 150 years between coming from the surface and when records of people started living but there is no certainty. An era that lasted almost 300 years has been referenced as the “Suffering Era” because of all the evidence that shows mass death from the people that came from the surface. During these three hundred years, light sources were sacred and only leaders had access to something called glowmoss and other bioluminescent fungi. 

Groups were beginning to focus on the fauna and flora underground and began agricultural techniques to keep these items abundant in their supplies. 

However, the beginnings of fully understanding the circumstances were slow and most people seemed to die out because of famine, disease, and chaos. 

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During the next step into history, this was when people grouped up and began to go their own ways to what they thought was best. This period is referred to as the “Fragmentation Era” because there seemed to be a lot of disputes and issues during this time that caused people to go their separate ways. 

Amongst the fragmentation of society in that day, there are known to be 15 official groups that spanned out underground to do their own thing with 3 major groups participating in trade with the rest. All these groups seemed to develop unique technology, techniques, and culture – from evidence it appears that some focused-on steam, others harnessed geothermal energy or went with domesticating glowing fauna and flora. 
What is considered a dead language today was used up until these points and there is evidence to show how language emerged today – the different groups were slowly losing the language of the surface and began to merge into a strange dialect in each ancient society. 

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A handful of decades after the range of the Fragmentation Era the city of Stone began to be documented, and it was a subterranean city state that was ruled by dynasties. Another major point was the flourishing writings about religion that showed “The Above” which is to reference the surface became a realm of demons and angels while “The Below” was a sacred and nurturing place – something safe. 

During this time, ancient machinery was found amongst other things, and the referencing of “First Worlders” was used heavily and questions of people from the surface or the above started to show a twisted reality of being sky gods. 

Exploration was beginning a giant thing in society and people were venturing deeper into the ground where vast caverns, fossilized forests, and other findings were successful steps into the future. 

It is unknown how long this city lasted though it is believed that the City of Stone was functionally running for roughly 500 years before the rebellion happened. 

There was a 45-year rebellion that was heavily documented in a variety of perspectives and the majority of what is known is that the rebellion was called “Illumination” and the people of this group focused on bringing light to the people in the city and knowledge. Opposing the dynasties rule. 

Near the end of the rebellion, the City of Stone fell, and democratic communities briefly rose and a common phrase began to show up in a lot of educational documents to personal journals – [i]”We must remember forward.”[/i]  

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Sometime after the rebellion, there wasn’t much documentation for about 60 years, and the first major documentation after this period of silence was talking about an unexplainable geological event known as the Stone-quake which caused a ton of networks to collapse and be lost forever. 

There was a lot of loss, knowledge, technology, people, fauna, flora, and more. This was the beginning of a second dark age referred to as the Silence Age. There is a variety of personal journal entries that can be found over the next 100 years which is believed to be how long the Silent Age lasted. 

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A new era came to place called the “Rebirth of Below” and it showed that survivors of the Stone-quake were reclaiming lost knowledge and resources. Steam engines became a very common thing during this time. Different trade routes were discovered and created. A talk about mole caravans (gigantic digging creatures) and cave-skimmers (machines) were used to reclaim trade routes. 

Languages continued to morph and a main language that looks like Modern day Dominion was created and used vastly though modern-day individuals have no idea what it says unless translated. 

The surface began to be a large topic during this time, questions of whether it was cursed or okay to go up, and plenty of other discussions about going higher or lower for the sake of society were done during this time. 

During this time, a hidden library of stone which is referred to as “The Vault of Dawn” was uncovered. There were plenty of professional and private writings, packaged seeds (known and unknown), full skeletons of creatures that were unknown (some small to others being as big as whales), maps of caverns, and plenty of other resources to help society to move forward. 

Religion began to appear again, groups were worshiping “The Above” again. This influenced expeditions to the surface though there was never an uncovering of the surface. However, plenty of other things were found such as man-made tunnels (sewers), shafts with chains and squishy wires (elevators), and fossilized creatures. 

There were reports of people seeing some type of light coming from cracks in the ceiling. Others referenced this as a hallucination and a sickness called “Sky madness”. People who had seen these “lights” were being treated negatively. 

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The period of undesirable tension began and individuals who were content with life were beginning to find tension between the cults that worshiped the surface. These individuals were called “Children of the rift” and influenced expeditions to the surface where man made home-like things (vaults) were discovered. Some of these things had writing on the wall in a variety of substances (coal, blood, ink) that said [i]”This is not a test,” and “Please help!”[/i] or plenty of other phrases that struck fear into the people of this time. 
This caused uproars and most of society moved deeper into the earth. Societal influence caused people to be ashamed of thinking about going to the surface. People were referencing “Sky Madness” again and institutions opened to help people with over reactive fantasies about the surface. 

And during this time, the first documented mention of “The Cult of Darkness” started though there is not much written except quick statements – some good, some bad, and most neutral. People referred to this cult as an “over correction” because of the surface cults. 
Another breakthrough was the discovery of “other humans” and how the majority of these “other humans” looked similar though they were able to do things normal humans could not. These tribes/groups were starting to be studied during this time. 

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Dominion was a city that was created after a large population went deeper into the surface after another terrible occurrence though this was not a natural phenomenon but references of “giant” creatures that were long and terrifying began to disrupt the known cities of the time. This was about 300 years old. There aren’t any other cities that are known to be functioning though no major expeditions continued after a continuation of running into these gigantic worm-like things called “tunnelers”. 

People began to focus on Dominion which was called “Junction” at the time and started out as a resource harvesting establishment before growing into a foundational city which is now known as Khia. About 70 years after Khia began and it being upgraded, Qona was discovered, and with the discovery of Qona – advancements started to speed up – which is where Slia began to be established about 20 years later. 
All of these “cities” were being continuously upgraded and improved which allowed the creation of Esille to come into play about 50 years later. 

During these times, “Emperors” and “Empresses” were the leaders of Dominion. A single emperor ruled with an empress until about 100 years ago. The last to rule under this governmental foundation was Empress Heavalyn who was murdered, and nothing came out of the investigations. 
This caused the government of Dominion to change into a council because people feared what could happen if they stepped up to rule. Too many threats and not enough societal support allowed the council to continue into what is known today. There was about 20 years of “false leadership” that happened and once a council was officially established laws were becoming formed to protect people in society and to protect Dominion as a whole. One of the first strict laws happened about 30 years ago when Burrowers were officially not categorized as “people” and moved into a class of “subhuman” and were kicked out of society. 
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[b]Structure of the known world:[/b]

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The world as everyone knows it consists of interconnected cavernous cities and communities, glowing fungi forests, strange creatures that have naturally developed from the fallout centuries ago, geothermal power hubs, and vast underground fresh and salt water lakes. Closer to the surface one gets, the older and more mysterious it becomes. 

[u]The Upper Tunnels[/u]– These are closest to the surface, these zones are home to criminals and people that want to keep away from the eye of the council and authority figures of Dominion though these individuals do not dare open the sealed iron gates to the surface level. In truth, no one knows how to open these large doors, and everyone that has tried has "disappeared". People that still seek to uncover lost memories of the world tend to not stay around long unless they were very careful... sadly, no one can be that careful in a situation with limited flexibility. 

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[u][b]The Upper Tunnels–[/b][/u] These are closest to the surface, these zones are home to criminals and people that want to keep away from the eye of the council and authority figures of Dominion though these individuals do not dare open the sealed iron gates to the surface level. In truth, no one knows how to open these large doors, and everyone that has tried has "disappeared". People that still seek to uncover lost memories of the world tend to not stay around long unless they were very careful... sadly, no one can be that careful in a situation with limited flexibility. 

These tunnels come from natural caves, once forgotten mines, and ancient sewer ways. 

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Very rarely do regulars go up this high unless they have a wanted poster in the cities or they could be curious. There might be a few other reasons though someone that is too curious could find semi-decent make-shift homes in drier rooms of these upper tunnels. Sometimes these rooms are forgotten, sometimes you are the first to come across one and can loot it, but be careful! You never know who is living in one or has claimed it as their own. Usually groups are found in these areas but loners roam around as well. 

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[u]The Core Cities[/u]– There are four cities: Khia, Qona, Slia, and Esille. These are massive underground metropolises powered by geothermal vents and bio-luminescent plant life. Enormous vertical shafts, reinforced by ancient machinery, connect these cities like a beehive. Most people do not leave the cities in fear of the wildlife and dangerous outside of the immediate walls, understandably, but people have been wondering why the leaders have not attempted to start outsourcing resources that are beginning to dwindle. It's causing curiosity and for people to get the resources themselves.

[hider=Khia]
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[b][u]Khia[/u][/b] is known as the [i]oldest city[/i] and possibly the first one of advancement in the century long council-based government and civilized system that Dominion has. This city has the largest and most unruly population out of all the cities. It was once a great place but the majority of people that live in the area are anywhere from stricken and stuck in poverty to purely middle-class individuals. Another attribute of this city that helps keep the Dominion functioning is that this is the city where resources are gathered and processed. A lot of resources are in this city such as minerals, precious metals and natural fuels, farming land, and more! 

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Another fact about this city is where one can find the [b][i]Grey Market[/i][/b] where you can find almost anything you want for a price. Everything has a price. Plus, this is where people go to do procedures if other cities medical systems reject them for artificial enhancements. Not everyone that goes under the knife comes out of that back room, you have to pay good, and have a little bit of trust! 
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[hider=Qona]
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[b][u]Qona[/u][/b] is known as the city of wonders and dreams. Everyone seems to be pretty happy in this city and the lower classes in this city find basic jobs or route themselves to work in Khia. There is barely anyone under lower middle-class in this city but there isn't many families in this area that are higher than a little richer than most. 

This city is the city of education, there are public and private options in this area. Private options are similar to what the surface societies once referred to as "Homeschooling" and families (married or not) that have independents are allowed to take governmental assistance to have children tutored at home. The requirements are for one parent to stay home because the Qonian people believe there are roles in society. They see raising children as a full-time job and encourage a parent to stay home or a family to have an in-home-nanny. This is doable in this city because of the great council member Tarin Geode! 

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This city is also known for its higher forms of education! The university, Geode of Dominion, was founded by Tarin's family decades upon decades ago. A ton of people have put a lot of work into the GoD university. 

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The GoD has improved life for all of Dominion by tenfold since it has opened and the university can start at any age. There are students as young as thirteen enrolled because of their abilities and quick-to-learn certain topics or a career field. The average enrollment age is 16 while the average graduation age is 20.5 for a masters degree. 
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[hider=Slia]
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[b][u]Slia[/u][/b] is another city in Dominion that helps the whole ecosystem of this civilization to be prosperous. This is the only city that has access to fresh water and has a man-made dam that filters and purifies the water to make sure there are no contaminants or outbreaks of any kind.

The people of Slia are referred to as the [i]Slia[/i], a softer pronunciation versus when people refer to the city. [i]S-lie[/i] versus [b]S-L-eye[/b]. 

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Slia's population is a bigger one with wider horizons compared to the other cities in Dominion. There are areas that are more in the natural rock walls that are known as the "Slums" and they are more outside of the city while there are extremely wealthy individuals who live after the dam and have the purest and freshest water out of everyone in Dominion.   
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[hider=Esille]
[b][u]Esille[/u][/b] is known as the shopping district city. There are a ton of people that live in this city though this city is somewhat centered between the other three. It has high end establishments for anything including where the council members met for every meeting to adult night clubs that have used their resources to make artificial dancers and workers. 

This city is the city where the medical establishments are and where processing of requests, legally, can be done. This is the heart of the civilization. If you want to buy a home, you have to go to this city. If you want a medical procedure or to not be worked on by first-second ranked medical students in Qona (which is the cheaper option!) go to Esille instead. If you are going to court, you are coming to one of the legal buildings here. You want to buy a lover valentine gifts? Go to Esille. 

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[u]Chuts[/u]– These are towns outside of the city limits that... peculiar individuals live. Their ancestors were affected by the fallout centuries ago and they tend to have mutated genetics compared to the regular human that is found in Dominion. There are plenty of average individuals in these communities though there are still Burrowers. 

[u]The Abyssal Trench[/u]– Barely anyone has dared to go in the old mine-shafts, caverns, and other areas that lead deeper into the earth. Each layer closer to the core of the earth, the temperature increases, creatures become stranger, and death is most prevalent. There are plenty of old and forgotten attempts at creating civilization at lower depths to protect people from the fallout of long ago. Except, they were attempts and failures, but people venture down in the Abyssal Trenches from time to time, most becoming mad, and shunned from society because no one believes what they experienced in the darkness. 
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[b]Technology:[/b]

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[i]Energy Sources[/i]– Geothermic power, kinetic energy from underground waterways, and bio-electricity harnessed from luminescent fungi and vegetation. 

[i]Food Production[/i]– Engineered crops that grow under artificial or bio-luminescent light sources, domesticated cave creatures, and natural occurring food sources. 

[i]Transportation[/i]– Mag-rail systems carved into the rock, vertical elevators spanning miles, and organic creatures adapted for subterranean travel.
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[b]Current Known Authority-based Entities/groups:[/b]

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[u]The Crystalline Council[/u]– The ruling body over Dominion that keeps the "civilized" communities and cities in order by authority, strict laws, and other ways of guidance. [sub]People have rumored that the Crystalline Council has "re-informed" people when they stray too far from the norm of society or question too much.[/sub]

[u]Dwellers[/u]– These people are apart of a nomadic community that have made their home in the unknown undergrounds, secret caverns, darkness, and a lot of other mysterious things. They are believed to be mainly made up of "Burrowers" and it is not certain if "regulars" roam with them or not. They seem to be advanced in such ways of rock climbing, seeing in the dark, and other beneficial traits to traveling throughout the underground without proper equipment

[u]The Cult of Darkness[/u]– A group that can only be described as sacrificially religious. They believe the darkness and the abyssal trenches are the key to humanities survival. People in these groups worship the darkness, the lower levels, and the wild beasts that lurk in them. However, they are very secretive, and very unknown when it comes to anything but the name of the cult which most, even members, refer to as "Darkness". No one knows who the leader is, what rankings are like, what life is like in the cult, but all members that are known to be apart of it, truthfully or not, seem very happy with being tied to it in some fashion. 
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[center][h3]ℙ𝕝𝕠𝕥[/h3][/center]

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Rumors of the Crystalline Council have been spreading, even more rumors about the Cult of Darkness have been swarming, and people are beginning to wake up to the possibilities of needing to survive again. The Council has been hiding very important things though any curious person, sadly this is not the average individual of Dominion, would have noticed how the caverns with the cities are beginning to crack up the wall, how resources were dwindling more and more by day, and how some "government" workers and organizations are beginning to become tight-lipped compared to what they were or even more antsy about "accepting/approving" individuals for things such as helping with necessities, answering questions, or the like. 

Are you someone that believes in minding your own business and going about your day in the lovely cities of Dominion? Have you began to wonder if the Cult of Darkness is correct? Do you think there might be something on the surface that is worth fighting for? 
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