Title Pending
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The World has changed more than you can imagine.
At an indeterminate point in the Worldâ,¬,,¢s Antiquity, mankind developed a culture of Technological Singularity. Their inventions were of such strange and vast intellect that humanity no longer had to think for itself. Man could be entirely nurtured and sustained by His own constructs, and so He never knew strife or want.
The Intellects (working title), the eventual "descendants" of Man's first thinking machines, devised ever-more efficient means to provide for their charges, until their efforts began to tend towards the creative and experimental. The nature and meaning of life, belief, artificiality and humanity, were shaped and shattered, and soon the World was utterly unlike before.
In this new World, some humans depended entirely on these Machine Gods. They grew apathetic, solipsistic and valueless, sinking ever-deeper into blinding ignorance and inertia.
But others were awed and inspired by the gifts of the Gods, and they sought to utilise those gifts for entirely new forms of expression and advancement, perhaps, even to transcend the expectations of their servants-turned-masters.
Today, all of this is passed.
There was no great cataclysm, no violent and bloody confrontation that sundered the foundations of civilisation as we understand it. Rather, the strange unity of man and "machine" (one wonders if such a notion truly exists any longer) resulted in the slow, quiet liberation of the thinking creature from the limits of its past conventions.
Those who have Risen are now curious and unseemly things. They are themselves great cities, dreaming forests, wandering fauna or disembodied energy currents.
Those whose own sloth denied them the glories of enlightenment were changed and evolved by the whims of their Artifice-Gods. Thus, their descendants, while majestic, monstrous and mythical, cannot begin to approach the glory of their Risen kin.
But perhaps the same paths their cousins trod in far-flung Antiquity can be walked again, and the last prodigal scatterlings of the old human order can join the wondrous chorus of the Divine.This is just a teaser.
Much, much, more to come.[spoiler=Collaborators]Kindling
Salacious Angel
Captain Obvious
Golem
(that's all, as far as I know)[/spoiler]
I love the use of the technological singularity here - the theory has always facinated me immensely, so it's amazing to see what creative minds as yourselves will be able to come up with for a post-singularity culture, which is something I don't think I've actually seen before. Extremely well done, and it's only the first post - I can't wait for more!
Consider me this settings first fan. :)
(If I wasn't supposed to post here, just have the mods delete it. :))
This is awesome. I want to help!
Consider me watching with great interest.
Ooo, wait. This is Obsidian, right? So, uhr. Whoo?
Quote from: Stargate525This is awesome. I want to help!
Ooo, wait. This is Obsidian, right? So, uhr. Whoo?[/quote]
Uhm. Yeeeeaaahhh....
I mean, what?
Whoa. I've never seen this take post singularity setting, even in theoretical or short fiction, or even a post singularity that wasn't some sort of nihilist, horrible dystopia from beyond the void. The possible excpetion being (The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect). My curiosity begs me ask ave any of the esteemed members of this project read Ellisons' depictions of such a setting?
This ultimate machina ex deus rocks!
[spoiler]Obsidian is a type of naturally-occurring glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock. :P[/spoiler]
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Yeah. It was a working name we came up with for the project at one point. :P