Hello all and welcome to my interest check of the world of Axis Mundi! I’m so happy to receive you. :3 A few things before starting on the actual story and worldbuilding:
An adventurer walking through a series of “dead” Portals…
Axis Mundi is a world unlike our own. Under the paternalist gaze of the Eternal Empyreal Empire, mankind has spread across vast continents and oceans, displacing or crushing other polities, human or not. Across land and sea, it extends for a surface larger than that of the Earth. The Empire extends its tentacles through cultures, civilizations and races, all with the wonders of technological advancement such as gunpowder and oceangoing ships. Inside the inner walled cities of the Empire, commerce and culture blooms as the goods of the world travel through them. A strong military subdues any threats to the empire, ever expanding. Finally, in the jewel of their crowns, the capital, flourishes an amount of population larger than most other kingdoms or empires are able to support inside their boundaries as a whole.
How are these facts possible?
Certainly, the core of any empire is the movement, as discussed before. And so, the empire needs something to move their lifeblood farther and faster than any empire of that time on Earth. They are known just as Portals, massive structures from just a few metres across to gargantuan ones that can have an army march through them. They are located in pairs that allow travel between two locations instantly, which are always separated somewhere between 20km. and 75km. Each exit/entrance twin Portal is separated from the next one by about twenty kilometres. Thus, if one uses the Portals to travel, one can move at minimum double the speed as if one was traveling by normal means.
Portals extend in chains as if in a Metro system, with lines extending for thousand of kilometres and through whole continents. But despite the vital use in of these medium of transportation, the Empire didn’t create them nor can manipulate them. They are, in almost all cases impossible to create, destroy, change exit or move with only the last one being technically possible for the smallest portals.
One of the fortress-cities guarding the portals towards another larger city.
Axis Mundi is extremely vast and so has many cultures, societies and religions, which can be classified into three main ways of looking towards life: The World as a Legacy, The World as Order and, finally, the World as a Nest.
These views are written in the sworn oath of the Emperor or Empress to be protected.
Those who follow the Way of the World as a Legacy are intermediate ones between the other two points of view. They see the world as a gift given by either the Gods, the Ancient ones or even the Starchildren. These people in many cases worship the Portals themselves as a legacy of the past, where a much stronger and powerful civilization existed in a paradisiac affluence before collapsing and leaving few traces in the world.
While they mostly aren’t religious fanatics, they are also dutiful in their service of the multiple churches and interpretations that have arisen. They have some missionaries and proselytizing is important though not vital.
Those who follow the Way of the World as Order are the most rigid and fanatic of three main points of view. The world for them is the world as a conduct to do the will of the God/s. These “Gods” can be many, few or one and almost all are absolute beings, omnipotent, but still must have human worship.
There as many churches, schools of thought and ideas that follow this Way of thinking as stars in the sky is said contemptuously towards them. While that is a tremendous exaggeration, it isn’t far from the truth at its core. The World as Order boasts the most fanatic missionaries for the many faiths inside of it and expansion is crucial to stay alive in the midst of the silent and cold religious wars that rage beneath the surface.
The ones under the many banners of the Way of the World as a Nest follow the principle that the world is one of many where one will live many experiences of different kinds and this World is the Womb or Nest of mankind. According to their view, there are no omnipotent being, and existence as a whole only might have one constant, which is chaos.
The World as a Nest finds their meaning in teaching mankind the necessary spiritual tools to be able to navigate this whirlwind we call universe before and after death.
This is the most permissive of the three worldviews and thus is the one that has attracted the most followers. Here, expansion isn’t necessary because the religion is extremely, extremely syncretic and thus it expands itself under its own massive weight. A weight made of hundreds of millions of souls that follow it.
A city burning under the watchful eye of one of the Green Ravens
The Empire has had no great problems expanding for the last two hundred years. It’s complex and effective bureaucracy and rotation of armies, apart from the use of the portals, has made possible for the Empire to keep growing without stagnating once bereft of powerful enemies. That has changed. And in a manner that makes it impossible for the Empire to counteract.
Each Portal has a fixed location of entry and exit in the shape of other Portal. However, with some sort of ancient technology the Empire of the Green Ravens has made it possible to change locations temporarily. For a few hours a place is disconnected, alone and unable to receive reinforcements. In that way, cities are isolated from other cities and then invaded from within, sacked and burned. Armies which were supposed to be sent to support the defences have been routed or sent to inhospitable places to perish. The trade routes are in jeopardy and the complex clockwork that once worked perfectly to maintain the Eternal Empyreal Empire has too many spokes in its wheels.
One of the many ports that link the Portal Network between oceans.
Your character has been contracted by the Empire to go even beyond the unexplored ends of the Portal Network. Whether is because you are great leader, marksman, swordmaster, magician or a combination of any or all of the above, you are now journeying far away from the now bleeding core of the Empire towards a mythical city-state that might have the solution. They were supposedly able to isolate and protect themselves from the civilization that flourished before the Empire by surreptitiously controlling and redirecting the Portals under their noses. If they could do so again, this time in the benefit of the Empire, it would be its salvation.
- I’m 22 years of age and a student, but currently, as this message is posted, I’m on vacations (due to end on the beginning of March).
- I live on the GMT - 3:00 timezone.
- This will be an adult RP and thus I’m looking for people over 18.
- Despite the aforementioned, the RP won’t be only of mature themes, but will also include a heavy amount of worldbuilding. I hope you are ready and eager to start on that too. The adult parts will only come after that.
- Remember that we can talk and discuss about the setting too, few things are set in stone.
- Descending from the aforementioned two, I wish for both quality and quantity. While the first one is more important than the second, we’ll likely be needing both from each other.
- Please have good orthography and post in third person past.
- I’m male and pansexual and for me all types of pairings are good. Whether is MxF, FxF, MxM, there are herms included or more than two people participate… You likely can expect it for the RP.
- There will be humans, magical races and anthros in this RP.
- I have few limits and this RP is thought to be centred around many, many kinks, so hopefully you’ll have few too ;3.
- However, the limits that exist are hard limits.
- Note that I said Renaissance, not Medieval. This is a huge difference and it will play a great role in the RP.
- I will likely need a way of discussing ideas fast due to the quantity of them involved the RP, so hopefully we can talk through Discord apart from through the guild.
- I love meeting new people and getting to know each other, I’m always going to try to be friendly with you and I’ll always try to respect you.
- 0 –
Axis Mundi
An adventurer walking through a series of “dead” Portals…
- 0 –
- What’s the lifeblood of a civilization, of an empire? What keeps it together? –
- Military might, master? –
- It isn’t something static, young one. -
- A common culture? –
- Not through long periods of time nor long distances. –
- Commerce? -
- Close, but not quite. –
- Common institutions? –
- Yes, but behind them, what’s behind them? Movement, of goods, people and information. -
Axis Mundi is a world unlike our own. Under the paternalist gaze of the Eternal Empyreal Empire, mankind has spread across vast continents and oceans, displacing or crushing other polities, human or not. Across land and sea, it extends for a surface larger than that of the Earth. The Empire extends its tentacles through cultures, civilizations and races, all with the wonders of technological advancement such as gunpowder and oceangoing ships. Inside the inner walled cities of the Empire, commerce and culture blooms as the goods of the world travel through them. A strong military subdues any threats to the empire, ever expanding. Finally, in the jewel of their crowns, the capital, flourishes an amount of population larger than most other kingdoms or empires are able to support inside their boundaries as a whole.
How are these facts possible?
Certainly, the core of any empire is the movement, as discussed before. And so, the empire needs something to move their lifeblood farther and faster than any empire of that time on Earth. They are known just as Portals, massive structures from just a few metres across to gargantuan ones that can have an army march through them. They are located in pairs that allow travel between two locations instantly, which are always separated somewhere between 20km. and 75km. Each exit/entrance twin Portal is separated from the next one by about twenty kilometres. Thus, if one uses the Portals to travel, one can move at minimum double the speed as if one was traveling by normal means.
Portals extend in chains as if in a Metro system, with lines extending for thousand of kilometres and through whole continents. But despite the vital use in of these medium of transportation, the Empire didn’t create them nor can manipulate them. They are, in almost all cases impossible to create, destroy, change exit or move with only the last one being technically possible for the smallest portals.
- 0 –
The Culture
One of the fortress-cities guarding the portals towards another larger city.
- 0 –
Axis Mundi is extremely vast and so has many cultures, societies and religions, which can be classified into three main ways of looking towards life: The World as a Legacy, The World as Order and, finally, the World as a Nest.
These views are written in the sworn oath of the Emperor or Empress to be protected.
The World as a Legacy:
Those who follow the Way of the World as a Legacy are intermediate ones between the other two points of view. They see the world as a gift given by either the Gods, the Ancient ones or even the Starchildren. These people in many cases worship the Portals themselves as a legacy of the past, where a much stronger and powerful civilization existed in a paradisiac affluence before collapsing and leaving few traces in the world.
While they mostly aren’t religious fanatics, they are also dutiful in their service of the multiple churches and interpretations that have arisen. They have some missionaries and proselytizing is important though not vital.
The World as Order:
Those who follow the Way of the World as Order are the most rigid and fanatic of three main points of view. The world for them is the world as a conduct to do the will of the God/s. These “Gods” can be many, few or one and almost all are absolute beings, omnipotent, but still must have human worship.
There as many churches, schools of thought and ideas that follow this Way of thinking as stars in the sky is said contemptuously towards them. While that is a tremendous exaggeration, it isn’t far from the truth at its core. The World as Order boasts the most fanatic missionaries for the many faiths inside of it and expansion is crucial to stay alive in the midst of the silent and cold religious wars that rage beneath the surface.
The World as a Nest:
The ones under the many banners of the Way of the World as a Nest follow the principle that the world is one of many where one will live many experiences of different kinds and this World is the Womb or Nest of mankind. According to their view, there are no omnipotent being, and existence as a whole only might have one constant, which is chaos.
The World as a Nest finds their meaning in teaching mankind the necessary spiritual tools to be able to navigate this whirlwind we call universe before and after death.
This is the most permissive of the three worldviews and thus is the one that has attracted the most followers. Here, expansion isn’t necessary because the religion is extremely, extremely syncretic and thus it expands itself under its own massive weight. A weight made of hundreds of millions of souls that follow it.
- 0 –
The Crisis
A city burning under the watchful eye of one of the Green Ravens
- 0 –
The Empire has had no great problems expanding for the last two hundred years. It’s complex and effective bureaucracy and rotation of armies, apart from the use of the portals, has made possible for the Empire to keep growing without stagnating once bereft of powerful enemies. That has changed. And in a manner that makes it impossible for the Empire to counteract.
Each Portal has a fixed location of entry and exit in the shape of other Portal. However, with some sort of ancient technology the Empire of the Green Ravens has made it possible to change locations temporarily. For a few hours a place is disconnected, alone and unable to receive reinforcements. In that way, cities are isolated from other cities and then invaded from within, sacked and burned. Armies which were supposed to be sent to support the defences have been routed or sent to inhospitable places to perish. The trade routes are in jeopardy and the complex clockwork that once worked perfectly to maintain the Eternal Empyreal Empire has too many spokes in its wheels.
- 0 –
Who are you?
One of the many ports that link the Portal Network between oceans.
- 0 –
Your character has been contracted by the Empire to go even beyond the unexplored ends of the Portal Network. Whether is because you are great leader, marksman, swordmaster, magician or a combination of any or all of the above, you are now journeying far away from the now bleeding core of the Empire towards a mythical city-state that might have the solution. They were supposedly able to isolate and protect themselves from the civilization that flourished before the Empire by surreptitiously controlling and redirecting the Portals under their noses. If they could do so again, this time in the benefit of the Empire, it would be its salvation.