"ERROR 101"Out of all Departments in the Wal, the Tronic Temple of Electronics are the most paranoid and illusive out of all of them. The Electronics Department hoards its knowledge and tech more greedily than the other Departments, only sharing piece-meals or scraps of it during negotiations or trade agreements. However, most Tronic Tech is completely useless in the hands of anyone else other than a trained Tech Wizard. Anyone who is caught with unsanctioned Tronic tech or dealing in Tronic Tech outside their borders will be hunted down by the most skilled of their Keyboard Warriors.
The Tronic Temple in of itself is a quasi-religious technocratic organisation with multiple guilds dedicated towards the worship of electronic brands and CEOs. The Guardians of Gates, the Tesla-Born and the Knights of Zuckerberg are a few of the famous guilds dedicated towards specific areas of technology. In comparison to Pre-Fall engineers and scientists, the Tronic’s Temple scientific method is focused on mostly impractical inventions that have a high chance of hurting the user the more advanced it is.
Study of Wal-Tech is only reserved for the most skilled and eldest Wizards. Due to the hidden workings of these mysterious technologies and the dangerous effects of tampering with their security mechanisms, they are kept under heavy guard. Open source Wal-Tech blueprints are considered to be the holy grail of technology and a dream for any Tech Wizard to discover. Only 3 blueprints have been discovered so far since the inception of the Tronic Temple: the designs for an experimental microwave, a prototypical hoverboard and a Wal-Incorporated interpretation of the shake weight.
The Nobles Houses of the Clothing Dynasties
One would be foolish and right to believe that Clothing is anything else other than a band of stuck-up nobles, their heads up in the rafters, concerned with otherworldly rights whilst the Wal around them is stuck in perpetual conflict. In truth, the Noble Clothing Brands have managed to maintain their power on an illusory facade of diplomatic ties with departments and domination of the most vital trade routes in the Wal, exerting soft power wherever they see fit. Diplomacy is their strength rather than military might. The lands of Clothing are indeed opulent and majestic compared to the more unsavory regions of the Wal. However, each day within Clothing is full of political conspiring and backstabbing by the nobles, with deals sewn in secret and plots weaved in the dark.
Operating on a caste-system, entire families are separated on the quality of material their clothing are designed from. Silk-born and velvet-born is used to designate the upper echelons of nobility, restricted to dynasties allied with the . Nylon and polyester-born are found within the bowels of the Sports Clothing Section, most commonly drafted into the ranks of soldiers. Cotton-borns are considered to be of lesser nobility due to the commonality of their material, most finding their path as merchants or journeymen.
“ Steel bends, paper tears, our honour is forever eternal!” To say that the Office Supply Department is steeped in tradition is a grave understatement. Considered to be one of the most ancient and powerful Departments in the Wal, every minor Department fears of being conquered by their paper and ink tide. Walled cities of folded paper and mache forts await those who travel within their territory.
The main coveted power that has kept the Stationary Shogunate and their territories strong is the art of Origami. These papersmiths and crafters are so valued that they are considered first class citizens in Stationary settlements. It is said that a true Origami paper blade can cut a Stocker in half. Numerous departments have attempted to replicate the power of Origami, only making inferior versions at best.
However, their refusal to export origami has led to a lack of goods to supply for economic trade within the Stationary Shogunate. Due to this, the Stationary Shogunate are heavily reliant on importation of vital supplies such as medicine, food and water from other Departments such as Gardening and Pets N Animals.
Their reckless overexpansion has led to decreased regulation of law in recently conquered territories and consequently given rise to criminal elements. Glue trafficking is currently the most profitable of these ventures. While the substance is commonly used for construction, it can act as a potent narcotic in small doses.
The Dorfen Kingdom of Toys
Unlike most other Departments, the Dorfen Kingdoms are not decentralized to one region but rather spread out around the Wal in roving settlements known as Forts. Dorfs are so named because of their dwarfism - a result of a mysterious age regression chemical known only as Age B Gone. No one knows the exact nature of its workings but its usage among the denizens of the Toys Department has slowed down the effects of time on their bodies - leaving them adults stuck in the bodies of children.
However, the same chemical responsible for birthing Dorfen society was responsible for its downfall. Centuries of overconsumption of expired and unclean Age B Gone resulted in widespread psychotic breakdowns and physical mutations among a large proportion of the Dorfen population. By the time they realised the repercussions of Age B Gone, most of the population became helplessly addicted towards consuming more of the cursed chemical. Eventually, this resulted in the rise of the Nevergrow, a teeming mass of mutated monstrous immortal children with no conception of morality. As the Nevergrow grew too powerful, the sane Dorfs were forced to abandon their homeland and scatter amongst the Wal, refusing to ever consume Age B Gone ever again.
Forts typically base their society around the veneration of old toys, boardgames and pen and paper roleplaying games, interpreting rulebooks as sacrosanct and figurines as religious idols. No two forts are the same. The Dorfs of Fort Catan are skilled in merchantry, the Dorfs of Fort Lego are the most skilled architects in all of the Wal - second only to the Origami Artists of Stationary - and the Dorfs of Fort Dungeons and Dragons are the best mercenaries and adventurers you can ask for.
“ Our Hunger will unstock the shelves!”
Out of all the Departments in the Wal, the Grocery Tribes are barbarians that live nomadic lives within the heavily Stocker-infested Department of Grocery. Due to their monopoly of the all-too valuable Grocery shelves, they are almost hostile to every Department within the Wal that they encounter, not willing to humor diplomatic ties or trade deals. It’s lucky that the Grocery Tribes remain fractured and in war with one another almost as they are with the entire Wal. If united, the Grocery Tribes could have every Department at their mercy.
Only the Cereai of the Cereal section are the only faction which has diplomatic ties to other Departments not within the grocery aisles. A loose knit monastic group of holy warriors, they adorn themselves in thick cardboard boxes, labelled with the iconography of their patron saint. Each Cereai follows a different ‘path’ depending on who they worship.
“ To Have Fear is to be Prey” The Pet-Tamers of Pets N Animals hold an invaluable monopoly, virtue of being the only Department in the Wal to command and domesticate mutated household abominations. This fearsome reputation is due to their massive stockpile of mutagenic pet food and supplementations that genetically modify benign species of animals such as hamsters and parakeets into death-dealing monstrosities. Breeders help to maintain and rear their stocks of Pets whilst Rangers and Hunters venture out in the Wal to find new Pets and to eliminate monsters that threaten the sanctity of their settlements.
The Cult of the Smiling One
There is no singular one faction that attracts as much dread, hatred or loathing by all other Departments in the Wal other than the Cult of the Smiling One. Worship of Smiley, their central idol, is banned in most Departments. Secret cults, like infestations, do take root and flourish, taking advantage of the lost, the needy and the weak to remould in their image.
It is hard to recognise a follower at first. Unlike in the early days, where most preferred to wear the uniform of the former employees of Wal-Incorporated, they tend to take a more subtle approach. In battle or when enacting one of their crusades, they don yellow facepaint alongside with their uniform.
The central tenet of the Cult is to maintain the status quo of the Wal at all costs possible. Sabotage of peace treaties, incitement of conflicts between Departments, activating defunct Sec-bots, the Cult of the Smiling One believes that these are necessary acts to maintain the vision that the Great Sam had for the Wal. The tenacity and single-minded religious fervor of their followers is . Hearing the sound of a thousand Smilers cry “ ALWAYS LOW PRICES” haunts the memories of those who have survived their crusades.
Through coincidence or through sheer plain luck, the Cult of the Smiling One has suffered many schisms in their organisation, leading to new splinter groups. The Neo-Smilers and the Frowners are considered to be the two most popular denominations out of the dozens that have formed in these wars. The Neo-Smilers adhere to maintaining the status quo, albeit in a more pacifistic manner rather than the militant methods of their original founders. The Frowners are former Smilers who have become ‘heretical’ in the eyes of the original Cult, believing the Cult of the Smiling One to have strayed away from Sam’s original teachings.
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