SummerPledge
This is a WIP
The Pledge
I pledge to achieve the Diamond badge during July 2023 to improve my world of Vnou.
I make this pledge to myself, my readers, the World Anvil community, and the world, which is made better by my creative spirit.
SanctifiedSavage
Theme : Power
One of my main motivations and premises for Vnou was the gross disparity of power between those who have it and those who don't. I've created worlds where the characters have a lot of agency for change, where their will can move mountains... But in Vnou, only the special, only those born into it, can. There are measured powered levels referred to as Shra. The general populace has been culled, and continues to be, to keep their Shra to the weaker levels. To the point that many believe there is no longer anyone born above a Dez. This is because anyone stronger is either killed or adopted into the politically powerful and brought into the world of the Elite.
There is a giant power game by the affluent and politically powerful to keep the common people complacent and ignorant. Common vnou, those of Dez and below, are viewed as pawns or pieces to be moved on the game board of the world.
We'll show you how real men murder for fun.
And why you wanna go?
The strongest survives while the weak sleep below."
Weaknesses & Needs
The politically powerful families are wildly outnumbered by the general populace and have almost always have been. They were able to steer the growth of society, but this population disparity has led to rebellion and revolution in the past that they nearly lost. See the Reconstruction. Mental power doesn't work when there are simply too many minds on a battlefield to try and control.
This has just meant that their tools have evolved. Propaganda and farce. The false spread of information across the internet. Bribery and subtle manipulations of those who think they are in power. The grip of the powerful families is as strong as ever, even if it isn't as obvious.
Don't you wish that you could be somebody
You could stay forever young and lovely
Drink forbidden wine"
The Curated Bloodlines
Who has it?
Zhu : Indicates a family is patriarchal. Pra : Indicates a family is matriarchal. Sid : Indicates inheritance is neither, usually set in some other, declarative manner2. Sid'Thovaych
3. Pra'Stazrach
4. Zhu'Zmoh
5. Pra'Myoiw
6. Zhu'Drahinuaw
7. Pra'Viyk
9. Sid'Dievdhash
10. Sid'Vyouz
11. Sid'Blemang
12. Zhu'Thlach
13. Zhu'Klasha
14. Zhu'Myak
16. Sid'Zhewday
17. Zhu'Blayskuch
18. Pra'Haje
19. Pra'Oisvas
20. Sid'Chiengie
Dha & Bya
Every Dha has a Bya, at a 1:1 ratio. It's a subconscious need and cultural expectation that they do so, as it stems from a more primitive time when they automatically formed attachments.
In a very base sense, a Dha and Bya relationship is a power dynamic. The Dha will always be of a higher Shra and be viewed in an elevated way in society by default. This is amplified to more extremes amongst the nobility, but this is a racial norm that trickles through the entirety of vnou society - no matter the variance of culture. This is an absolute in Vnou - there are no exceptions, no Bya that can hope to mentally overcome their Dha or even seek to change how the world might view their position in relation to their Dha. The entirety of vnou is structured around this soul bond, it is fundamental to who and what they are.
Vnou simply do not not bond. It is a mental requirement, a biological imperative to what they are. Because that is how they've evolved as a species and people, what a Dha and Bya are have been a fixed aspect of the vnou even during times of upheaval.
This bonding is not always smooth, of course. The interpersonal intricacies that come with soul bonding run deep through vnou culture - both in those who seek to bond up and those who do so for political arrangements. No matter the means, a bond cannot be forced. It is a natural, not entirely understood phenomena that occurs between two willing vnou - sometimes against the wishes of the families involved. It is one of the very few things in vnou society that, in its formation, requires no paperwork, no outside approval, and seems almost akin to magic.
Romantics among the vnou society believe that there is only one Bya for a Dha and vice versa. No matter the supersitions, it is simply a matter of Shra compatibility - a matching of opposites on the power scale. The stronger are drawn to the weaker and, with compatible personalities, are able to bond with one another. This has ensured that there is always a vnou out there for another - even if it might take some time to find someone compatible.
The Frontier
Where?
Vnou, or the planet they occupy, is a sort of EarthAU or re-imagined if the populace were vnou instead of human. The people have a lot of the same physical features and traits as well as modern advancements. Thus, they also have a sense of wonder and desire to see the world as they know it. Like the earth today, much of their planet has already been mapped and civilized - certain areas more so than others - but there are always vast oceans to cross, peaks to climb, and rainforests to explore. Just because satellites have provided a map of the world at large, that doesn't mean that the desire to see what hasn't been seen before isn't there. This is more true of the common vnou than the nobility, who retain a sense of wonder when it comes to life and the planet around them.It's blinding
But no one knows
How deep it goes
And it seems like it's calling out to me
So come find me
And let me know
What's beyond that line?
Will I cross that line?
Why?
“Before we invented civilization our ancestors lived mainly in the open out under the sky. Before we devised artificial lights and atmospheric pollution and modern forms of nocturnal entertainment we watched the stars. There were practical calendar reasons of course but there was more to it than that. Even today the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling stars. When it happens to me after all these years it still takes my breath away.” ― Carl Sagan,For the same reason anyone goes anywhere. To learn, to explore, to live, to have an adventure. Sometimes it's about science and sometimes it's about going somewhere new with the people in your life.
The metaphorical
Vnou, unlike human, have a mental or bonding aspect that doesn't exist on earth. As such, some of their biological knowledge and medical advancements can seem akin to magic since it deals with how their brains work and how they form connections with one another. However, much like today's medicine, a lot of it is speculation and experimental when it comes to the brain and its activity. It's a sphere of their civilization that has a lot of push back when it comes to toying with how the vnou function - on the same level as how one might conduct experiments on a person to determine if they have a soul. Some vnou would insist that some things are beyond the boundaries of science while others believe it can be quantified.Much like earth, there is hunting, camping, and crossing vast distances to vacation in exotic locales. What vnou doesn't have is a large disparity in cultures. Because of how the nobility functions across the world, much of the vnou are cultivated - almost like cattle - so the world at large is more or less either civilized or not. Some cities might be better off or more advanced when it comes to wealth or the technology available, but there are very few outlying cities that are out of touch or not monitored in some form or fashion. This creates a sort of surveillance governance-state amongst the nobility that the general populace isn't aware of. So, while the world may seem a place full of wonder, the nobility aren't likely to see it in much the same light.
Who is remembered?
It is important to note that the vnou culture is a highly cultivated and curated thing, driven by the machinations of the nobility who all work together to keep the world fit for them. This means that much of the history that is known has either been fabricated into wistful, believable stories to inform and direct the populace into acceptable behavior or it has been memory-holed so that only the powerful few know the real developmental truth of the vnou. What is to be believed as a rocky but over all profitable industrial and enlightened revolution throughout the course of their civilization’s history and evolution is but a veneer over the much more brutal, bloody and somewhat horrifying truth.
More importantly, the heroes of legend and the myths crafted for the common vnou are frequently prominent members of past nobility who likely played some significant role in history, but their story will have been watered down or highly edited to be something palatable or educational to the common vnou. The names and stories that are remembered are the names and stories that the nobility want to be remembered. Entire branches of noble blood lines have vanished over the course of vnou history and absolutely no one remembers who they are or that they ever existed. Records are expunged and memories wiped so that, with the next generation, it is as though the bloodline never was. That is the true power of the nobility.
The Zhu’Shpazh name
One would be hard pressed to find a vnou on the planet who does not know of the name. It is the oldest bloodline, serving as a sort of historical monarchy of the vnou people as a whole. Many vnou track the world’s history through the perceived and propagandized rise and fall of this particular bloodline. Manufactured conflict gave the illusion that Shpazh eventually gave up control over much of the world and, in present day, exists as rich celebrity figureheads that orbit around prominent political figures. Their name holds historical weight and real world power and wealth. To be Zhu’Shpazh is to be at the pinnacle of vnou society. Though there are many other noble bloodlines that might have equal historical claims to fame in terms of longevity, there is only one that has sat at the top for as long as recorded history. Zhu’Shpazh’s family’s mark is a crown for a reason – they were the rulers and to this day, still are.
What has been forgotten?
So much truth of who the vnou used to be and how their culture used to operate has been wiped from memory and record. Their entire world was rebuilt anew after the Reconstruction, in which the few powerful Shra set up the world to be segregated – turning the existence of high Shra into fairy tale and myth, warping the powerful nobility into perceived harmless celebrities; rich and out of touch but ultimately harmless. This dark time prior to the modern vnou era could be equated to earth’s medieval ages – it was ruled by Kings, land barons, Dukes, and any high Shra who could carve out a piece of it for themselves and corral lower Shra to their land or cause. Just a step above tribal, moving into the industrial era. Progress continued to move forward while unrest brewed amongst the larger population of lower Shra, spurned by the conflict between the various territories and kingdoms.
The bloody battles, the changes in territories, the brutalities and atrocities that high Shra have committed simply because they could have all been lost. Memory wiped. Instead, vnou are told about a watered down, softer version of their history where high Shra became a relic of bloodlines. An uncommon, almost mythical thing. A fairy tale so that now, every vnou born is relatively equal. High Shra were bred out of royal bloodlines through poor breeding. Given the rarity of the trait, it eventually disappeared. Any conflict that is mentioned in vnou history is often diplomatic in nature or the cause of faceless, often nameless, rebels or bandits. Blips of protest or resistance to a shift in a territory dispute where the lawful are almost always painted in the right.
Communication
Technology
Vnou, as an Earth-adjacent / AU has technology that is similar to ours. Internet, cellphones, computers, tablets, cell-towers, satellites - all of these are used and connected to networks and servers across the planet. These things are more or less avaliable to the vast majority of the peoples in most of the countries, certainly in all of the large cities. Because the planet is pretty similar culturally - with small nuances - communication across the planet is rather smooth, at least when it comes to the actual transmission of information. Dialects and accents do not differ so much that one vnou cannot or will not be able to understand another; with a notable exception of the vnou that orbit around the Pra'Myoiw.
Information Control
Communications seem relatively open and available across the planet and, while the hardware can be easily obtained, the sort of information that is shared is heavily monitored and regulated. The vnou population is more or less controlled through the use of heavy propaganda through the various means of communication - email, television, the internet - all of the information they could want seems readily available but nearly all of it has been combed through and curated to be content the nobilty wants the common vnou to know. This creates a sort of segragated network - one for the common vnou who are like surface level users. They access content they've permission to view and are generally unaware of anything else that might be buried or hidden deeper in the web or code. Then there is the noble's network and servers, where all the horrors of the truth are kept and catalogued - usually by Drahinuaw - to be accessed and referenced when necessary.
To the common vnou, the internet, their cellphones, tablets, and computers are tools to be used for work and entertainment. They connect vnou across the globe with one another and enable communication that might not otherwise happen, allowing families to move without truly losing touch with one another. It is useful and convenient.
For the nobility, it is more a tool and sometimes a weapon. The expansion of technology and communications in general have allowed their scope and control to blossom further, beyond the television screen. These advancements have made it significantly easier for them to exercise control over the populations, or at least monitor them.
Let's have some fun!