The original setting prompt made by Azrai for Asunderland discord.
The World
Consider this a world where all fairytale/folklore characters live on the same map, like a bigger version of Storybrooke in Once Upon A Time, or the Fables comic universe. Asunderland predominantly includes major elements from Wonderland, Oz, and Neverland. However, the characters and settings are not limited to those worlds. We define these specific areas, but leave enough open so that participants can create their own. Canon characters can come from most any fairytales, classic literature, or folklore- exceptions being gods, "creepypasta," and strictly copyrighted IP that isn't based in the aforementioned categories. For example, you may find a Sleeping Beauty or even an Aurora, but you would not find characters from Disney's Wreck-It-Ralph.
THE POWER IN THE EMERALD CITY
Ironically, the City's power structure was very similar to...Well, Hell. There was one entity in charge of everything (The Wizard) but then under him, there were many kings/queens/sovereigns, and further descending titles. So, as far as government offices go, there would be everything from sovereigns to mayors (and multiple of every title) all commanding their own designations. This allows for the many fairytale characters in every class of society.
Through intense censorship and propaganda, The City gave the illusion of being an incredible display of technology and magic. The reality; it was draining the world around it dry so that the innermost circles of the Wizard could hoard power, magic and resources. The Wizard was a mysterious and secretive man, and very few knew him before his ascent to rule. Though he would assure his closest followers that his obsession with amassing strength was "for the good of all." Citizens who challenged him or the way of life in his City were promptly sent down the Rabbit Hole to be Repurposed as better assets. There was no room for error.
Through intense censorship and propaganda, The City gave the illusion of being an incredible display of technology and magic. The reality; it was draining the world around it dry so that the innermost circles of the Wizard could hoard power, magic and resources. The Wizard was a mysterious and secretive man, and very few knew him before his ascent to rule. Though he would assure his closest followers that his obsession with amassing strength was "for the good of all." Citizens who challenged him or the way of life in his City were promptly sent down the Rabbit Hole to be Repurposed as better assets. There was no room for error.
"The Scream"
|
Asunderland is a post-apocalyptic fairytale world. What has been played out in Season One up until the apocalyptic event now serves as a prologue.
The event itself was built up over several months and made possible by the collaboration of hundreds of participants. There were several events in play really, but the cataclysmic event is referred to as "The Scream," after the legendary Jabberwock's devastating "death scream" - an incendiary shriek of magical, impossibly hot blue flame. Rebels opposing the Emerald City and Rabbit Hole patients worked together to trigger a maginuclear meltdown, which combined with the explosion of the Jabberwock's Scream to create the lasting toxicity/radiation that now permeates Oz. The rebels utilized a mental link created between certain Rabbit Hole Patients and ancient legendary creatures in a top secret endeavor called Project Conduit. Once the Jabberwock (through AA1i5, or Aalis) was activated, the rebels merely had to open it's door, and it unleashed it’s wrath upon the City. Many other living beasts were imprisoned deep in the Vault of the Rabbit Hole, and once freed helped raze it to the ground. The Jabberwock fled shortly after the destruction, and hasn't been sighted since. The Emerald City and the Rabbit Hole are now the Emerald Ruins. It is Ground Zero. The air is toxic and the radiation there has maddening effects with long exposure. Many Ozian officials are still alive and active, trying to reclaim a semblance of the power they once had. Some have woken up from their own conditioning and are attempting rehabilitation. The story is now about who these characters will choose to be, and the world they will build for themselves. |
|
|
A video Azrai made showing the changing world of Asunderland's Oz, utilizing composite and b-roll footage they took themselves at various theme parks and immersive play events around the world.
|
A changed landscape.After The Scream, the magical radiation had mixed effects on the flora and fauna. Sometimes turning them toxic or corrupted, sometimes acting as a super fertilizer- causing some areas to be incredibly deadly and some areas to be more full of life than they have ever been. It is sometimes hard to tell which life forms are corrupted or toxic until it’s too late- a lot of things glow now.
There are pockets of incredibly vivacious forest, a new abundance of bio-luminescent life, and new toxic life forms. (Particpants are free to invent some themselves.) |
GEOGRAPHY
A hastily drawn, post "scream" (apocalypse) Asunderland map
BY AREA:
THE MUSHROOM FOREST
|
THE MUSHROOM FOREST
PRESUMED HIGHLY TOXIC, NOW LIVABLE This is an area that has flourished because of The Scream. Mushrooms of all kinds, including some as tall as redwoods, grew within a matter of weeks. The mushrooms on the outskirts were thought to be so toxic and poisonous that the forest had been virtually unexplored. At least, until Aalis, Rabbit, and Hatter returned- bringing with them some of the mysterious mushrooms that kept Aalis alive in the rubble of the Emerald City for weeks. Introducing this new strain, a kind that glows blue, seemed to render the forest perfectly liveable, if... a little strange. Aalis and the Wonderlanders now live there, studying the mushroom's regenerative purifying effects and distributing what they discover when possible. |
|
THE EVERFOREST
|
THE EVERFOREST:
PRESUMED MILDLY TOXIC WITH NONTOXIC OASES This is a forested area in what the Emerald City once labeled “The Wastes." This is what the Wizard called "The West," because it was largely inhabited by rebels and opposing powers. These camps, including the newly established NEVERLAND outpost, remain some of the few safe refuges left in Oz. The forest has grown into a veritable jungle, teeming with both toxic and nontoxic life. Attempts to tame the forest generally prove futile. It grows so incredibly quickly that inhabitants have to learn to live with the environment and incorporate it into any architecture. It will not be culled. PLAYER CREATED AREA: NEVERLAND OUTPOST Wendy and some of her companions have set up an encampment that focuses on rehabilitation and recovery for the Repurposed, or as they call themselves there, the Lost. |
|
THE NOXIOUS DESERT
|
THE NOXIOUS DESERT
CONFIRMED FATALLY TOXIC Formerly the Deadly Desert, which surrounds Oz on all sides. The Jabberwock and select other beasts were last seen flying across this Desert and out of sight after they were set free from the Vault down in the Rabbit Hole. The desert, formerly inhospitable in it's own right, is now so incredibly and thoroughly irradiated that there is a magical nuclear winter as far as the eye can see. With special equipment, mountains can sometimes be spotted across the desert- but nobody who has tried to cross it has ever been heard from again. There is a legend of a passage under the desert of caves and tunnels, but no such thing has been found. |
|
THE BLACK LAGOON
|
THE BLACK LAGOON:
CONFIRMED MODERATELY TOXIC An area considered HIGHLY toxic for a time immediately after the scream, and has since leveled off- though everything living there has either died or become mutated. Once the Mermaid Lagoon, It has spread from it’s original place on the map and has grown to include a large area of fairly toxic marshes. This area is considered dangerous not for it's toxicity level, but more for the creatures that live there. Mutated beasts that have become more aggressive, unpredictable and deadly since the Scream. However, some have reported that the inherent magic of the creatures has also been augmented and if it can be harnessed, extremely valuable. |
|
THE GLASS MOUNTAINS (and "underland")
|
THE GLASS MOUNTAINS:
MILD, LIVABLE TOXICITY (FATAL TOXICITY INSIDE CAVERNS) A mountain range that "starts" in the West and completely encircles Oz. Named after the visual effect of the rock that forms them, the Glass Mountains glitter as if knapped from rough crystal. It is a harsher life in the Glass Mountains, but a life generally unbothered by societal demands, and so some call them home all the same. However, inside and underneath the mountains is a different landscape altogether. A deep system of caverns and caves called "Underland." The fumes that come up from the caves have always been highly toxic- a maddening, noxious gas. Sometimes loud, almost industrial rumbling is heard coming up through the caves. These noises, unknown to most inhabitants, are from the industrial underground kingdom of Underland ruled by the Nome King of Oz. |
|
THE HOLLOW
|
THE HOLLOW:
FLUCTUATING TOXICITY Formerly the Fairy Vale - it is now irradiated. However, the effects of The Scream seem to have interacted strangely with the unique magic of the fairies. It is now an extremely volatile place, with unpredictable pockets of extreme toxicity and relative safety. Fairies (with their magic) seem to be the only citizens of Oz that can be there for any extended period of time now. They seem changed and evolved, but mostly unharmed. |
|
Mirror LAKE
|
Mirror LAKE
CONFIRMED NONTOXIC Mirror Lake is almost miraculously untouched by the magical radiation, mercifully, as it is now a major source of safe drinking water. The lake remains as it always has been; pristine and clear, almost silver. There is something unsettling about it, however. It is seemingly fathomless and it is impossible to keep a comprehensive record of creatures that live in it's depths. Folk tales say that looking into your reflection on it's waters for too long will invite spirits into you. No body of any presumably drowned person has ever been found, but strange people have been said to wash up on it's shores either raving about strange places, or with no memory at all. |
|
THE EMERALD RUINS
|
THE EMERALD RUINS
HIGHLY TOXIC Once the glittering center of Oz, The Emerald City has been decimated by the furious death scream of the Jabberwock as it was freed by rebels from the Rabbit Hole facilities deep below. It is now an irradiated, toxic crater of ruins. Scavengers look for scraps of salvageable tech or magic at their own risk. The combination of the Jabberwock's fire, the destroyed power plant of the city, and the volatile materials in the Rabbit Hole have made the atmosphere of the Emerald Ruins uniquely dangerous. Prolonged exposure causes maddening effects and various physically degenerative symptoms healers have called "the green sickness" after the glow of the ruins. |
|
Munchkinland
|
MUNCHKINLAND
GENERALLY NONTOXIC
"Munchkinland" was once once a collection of villages and townships that comprised a vast farmland, exploited by the Emerald City as it supplied much of the agricultural goods consumed there. While the physical damage from the detonation of the City was considerable, Munchkinland has proven resilient. Because of it's proximity and irrigation systems from Mirror Lake, the effects of The Scream on their ability to farm was relatively mild. Free from the Wizard's hold, inhabitants of Munchkinland now retain the goods they produce and invest their efforts into their own communities. However, strange beasts find large gatherings of people extremely tempting and they are frequently plagued by various monsters. Farming has become something of a warrior's job, and is not for the faint of heart. |
|
POPPY FIELDS
|
POPPY FIELDS
MODERATELY TOXIC
The Poppy Fields were once a novelty of Oz, a place where flowers of all kinds were cultivated for medicinal, decorative and religious purposes. Since the Mushroom Forest evolved after The Scream, Poppies have largely taken over the other species and developed new properties. Traveling through the fields causes one to fall into a deep sleep, rendering travelers helpless to mutated beasts looking for an easy meal. Travelers still come, though, when they are in desperate need of the medicinal flowers that are left. It's said that witches live in the nearby mountains. |
|
The West
|
THE WEST
MODERATELY TOXIC WITH NONTOXIC POCKETS
Once referred to as "The Wastes" by the Emerald City because it was inhabited by detractors and rebels, The West has reclaimed it's proper title. Emerald City citizens were told that it was a barren wasteland, but in reality it was a densely forested area. After The Scream, the Everforest has absolutely overgrown and taken over most architectural structures. However, small settlements remain on the outer border of the forest reaching up into the Glass Mountains. |
|
MAGIC & TECHNOLOGY
In the world of Asundelrand's Oz, technology has developed at a rapid pace in many aspects duet to augmentation by magic. As far as actual magical powers go, it's fair to say that the land is more magical than the inhabitants. People who can actually control and channel magic are rare (like Elphaba in the Wicked books setting) but there are talking animals and flowers, magical flora, fauna and artifacts etc. Magic effects the inhabitants of the world far more than they effect it. Below are some major technological/magical elements present in Asunderland.
THE RABBIT HOLE
The Emerald City was highly technologically and magically prolific.
Life for it's high society citizens was pampered and opulent- as long as they remained useful, productive contributions to the City's prestige.
Those who failed to meet this criteria were sent to below the City, to a place called the Rabbit Hole, to be "repurposed."
The Rabbit Hole was a massive "research facility" and laboratory system located underneath the Emerald City, where the magic and technology that the Emerald City enjoyed was developed and tested.
It was operated by technicians appointed by the Ozian government. These technicians were also tasked with the creation of service bots and "repurposing" of the City's less "desirable" citizens into valuable assets; giving them magical programming based on a "model" code. Some citizens spend longer than others, some spent years there. Those who were deemed hopeless went deeper down, to a facility only known as The Vault, and were rarely seen again. The methods of the technicians went unquestioned as long as they got results. Many of the Rabbit Hole's own workers were repurposed themselves.
Once repurposed, assets were promised reintegration into society as happy, productive citizens, and some seemed to achieve this.
Though, it is said that nobody ever truly leaves the Rabbit Hole.
Life for it's high society citizens was pampered and opulent- as long as they remained useful, productive contributions to the City's prestige.
Those who failed to meet this criteria were sent to below the City, to a place called the Rabbit Hole, to be "repurposed."
The Rabbit Hole was a massive "research facility" and laboratory system located underneath the Emerald City, where the magic and technology that the Emerald City enjoyed was developed and tested.
It was operated by technicians appointed by the Ozian government. These technicians were also tasked with the creation of service bots and "repurposing" of the City's less "desirable" citizens into valuable assets; giving them magical programming based on a "model" code. Some citizens spend longer than others, some spent years there. Those who were deemed hopeless went deeper down, to a facility only known as The Vault, and were rarely seen again. The methods of the technicians went unquestioned as long as they got results. Many of the Rabbit Hole's own workers were repurposed themselves.
Once repurposed, assets were promised reintegration into society as happy, productive citizens, and some seemed to achieve this.
Though, it is said that nobody ever truly leaves the Rabbit Hole.
|
|
PROJECT CONDUIT & ANCIENT BEASTS
|
PROJECT CONDUIT was a secret endeavor overseen by the Wizard himself. Over his many years in power, he managed to trap or trick several ancient beasts of Asunderland into imprisonment deep in the Rabbit Hole.
A high profile team of Rabbit Hole scientists were tasked with finding ways to harness their magic, or control them. They were not told why, only that it was for the good of the City. For many more years, experiments were done on the beasts with limited success. They would not be broken. Eventually, select assets were chosen who showed signs of a resilient mind- for example, those who consistently broke their standard repurposing- to be used for Project Conduit; an attempt to create a magineurological link between an ancient beast and a Rabbit Hole Asset. They could not control the beasts, but if they forced a shared consciousness with someone they could control... The first breakthrough was between asset RA3317, or "Rabbit," and the legendary Bandersnatch. A link was successful and the asset maintained some use of the beasts power while remaining under Ozian control. However, rather than harnessing it, the process weakened and destroyed the Bandersnatch's physical body. Only it's consciousness remained. Several other attempts were made with similarly limited success. Asset T1NK was linked with a smaller creature, the Neverbeast. Elphaba, a former/rogue Rabbit Hole scientist, was linked with the Ozian Time Dragon. All produced... Interesting results, but none were the result The Wizard was looking for. Until AA1i5, or, Aalis. Her link with the legendary Jabberwock was, academically, a complete success. However, their link wasn't one of control, but empathy. What it saw and felt through her galvanized it out of years of resignation with grief and fury. After seeing what they had done to it's fellow creatures, and saying goodbye to the Bandersnatch, all the rebels had to do on the fateful day of the Emerald City Siege was open it's door.
|
|
The NOME KING of Underland
|
Roq, The Nome King of Oz, rules the extensive "kingdom" of caverns and caves, called Underland, located beneath the Glass Mountains.
Because he and his gnomes breathe Underland's noxious fumes like oxygen, he has unfettered access to it's resources; an impossible variety of minerals, and precious gems and metals. Though some with the proper equipment scavenge and mind the crystal caverns, the Nome King maintains a selectively ruthless grip on them- keeping people in Oz indebted to him, as gems are valuable components in magic and Ozian technology. Despite his obsession with the surface world, an obsession that has cost him dearly in his personal life, the fresh air of the surface is toxic to him and his Gnomes. So the Nome King and his "subjects" have always remained underground. At least, until The Scream. The more toxic the surface world becomes, the closer to it he can get. Realizing this, he develops a plan with the help of his trusted bodyguard, Midas, to augment the surface's toxicity. He uses a combination of his inherent power, his mechanical hand, and stolen magical artifacts to spy on surface dwellers... and enlist them, or turn them into Gnomes. Gnomes he engineers to spread toxic sludge and further contaminate the world. It is up to citizens of Oz to band together and protect their new world, before he makes it noxious enough to take for himself. |
|
The Blue Fairy Mushrooms
Just before The Scream that wiped out the Emerald City, the Blue Fairy sacrificed herself to save Aalis and anyone else she could who may have been stuck inside the Rabbit Hole. Her sacrifice had an unexpected effect. In the weeks following the devastation, strange new mushrooms started to grow in small pockets of the rubble. They seemed to preserve, heal, and protect some from the effects of the magical radiation.
Aalis, who was thought to have died that day, was one of those preserved and even reconstructed by the mushrooms. She was visited by Absolem in dreams and she experimented with them while she waited for her friends to find her.
Eventually Aalis brought a sample of the Blue Fairy mushroom to the Toxic Mushroom Forest. Introducing the new species seemed to purify the forest, making it livable. Many species of mushrooms that grow there are now edible or even restorative- though with some very curious side effects.
Aalis and the Wonderlanders now operate in the forest, studying and distributing the mushrooms. Many curious minds across Oz now research them to understand their seemingly miraculous properties, trying to find a way to use them to heal the devastated land and it's people.
Aalis, who was thought to have died that day, was one of those preserved and even reconstructed by the mushrooms. She was visited by Absolem in dreams and she experimented with them while she waited for her friends to find her.
Eventually Aalis brought a sample of the Blue Fairy mushroom to the Toxic Mushroom Forest. Introducing the new species seemed to purify the forest, making it livable. Many species of mushrooms that grow there are now edible or even restorative- though with some very curious side effects.
Aalis and the Wonderlanders now operate in the forest, studying and distributing the mushrooms. Many curious minds across Oz now research them to understand their seemingly miraculous properties, trying to find a way to use them to heal the devastated land and it's people.
|
|
The Hollow Fairies
|
Once regarded as largely benevolent (if tempestuous) spirits of nature, the Fairies have become a far more volatile force since The Scream. Radiation has interacted with fairy magic in a way that is unique, chaotic and difficult to study. Unlike other Ozian habitants, fairies themselves seem changed but not harmed by mutation.
|
|