Electric Samsara 2: Tiryag

Post 1 for Manusaya

Rules and Character Creation

Tiryag: World of Beasts

The second world on the river downstream from Manusaya is Tiryag. This world is mostly home to uplifted animals and animal hybrids. It is a world of primordial jungles home to mega flora and fauna, trees rising to gargantuan heights, ancient and alien beasts given life once more. There are also massive mountains and vast oceans along with deserts. All meticulously sectioned from each other before the Ascension to make this world a sanctuary for dying species.

Garden of Paradise: The planet is monitored by an orbital ring station and weather control grid that is controlled by the AI Bodhisattva, Gaia Module-T4R4 “Gardener of Paradise.” Her followers keep a watchful eye on the environment and catalog any changes, as well as extract medicines from flora, and rehabilitate wounded animals. Her greenhouse temple is the jewel of River City Jataka. 

River City Jakata: The river gate on this world spills the Great River onto the branches of a giant tree where lies a shining city that has made it home. The River spills into Jakata and spirals down the tree through bio sculpted half-pipes ringing its outer edge. The city is home to scholars, artists, and craftsmen. The Illumined Silverback Council, the ruling body of Jakata, has one iron law: “We are not beasts!” This council formerly consisted of uplifted Silverback Gorillas but their members now include many kinds of creatures, representing the great scholars, philosophers, and artisan guilds. They desperately wish to portray their homeworld as a beacon of civilization in opposition to the other great power on Tiryag.

The Monkey King: Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, “Great Sage, Equal of Heaven '' rules the city of Better than Heaven with what can be generously described as laissez faire governance. It is a city in a constant state of anarchy where might equals right in the depths of the bamboo forest, mostly populated by uplifted monkeys and apes, though few gorillas. The Monkey King, himself, is something of a mystery. He is the only lifeform that Kanzeon does not have any knowledge of in her genetic archive. Some say he is a Bodhisattva or even a Buddha that has retained a physical form. Some say he is a weapon gone rogue from before the Ascension. He just says that he is pretty awesome, right? The city is home to plenty of gambling, drinking, and fighting, sometimes birthing a raiding party to attack a village or even steal from Jakata, itself.

Wuru Peak Monastery: Vajra 6 Defense Network “Fist of Heaven” has his great monastery at Wuru Peak of the Songhan Mountains. This peak also holds the transmitter spire that connects to the three great Vajra warships that protect the Great River network that the Bodhisattva controls. His primary purpose is the defense of the Great River from external threats. Many of Vajra 6’s greatest followers are transported to the warships to psychically pilot the Hammer of Heaven Astral Battle Gear war mechs that accompany the warships.

Those followers who remain are given by Vajra to the governments of the River as needed or hired out as bodyguards to wealthy patrons. They are enforcers and protectors, far rarer than the Wise Blades were before their destruction. Once there was a Wise Blade in every village, keeping peace, teaching wisdom, and adjudicating justice. The Invincible Fists were only seen in the company of figures like the River Lord of Manusaya, the Illumined Silverback Council, or the Immortals of Deva. The Fist’s numbers have grown in recent years to fill the gap left by the Blades though their numbers remain fewer. 

A note on the Rareness of Technology on the River:

Technology on the River is eclectic in terms of rarity. Some things you think might be rare are common and what is common to us is sometimes rare. The thing is that mass production is less common on the River. The current Mass Pattern Replicators are owned by the megacorps of Deva and Asura. The technology produced by these Replicators is not well understood by most people on the River. Even a lot of engineers work on half-baked principles and the guidance of the AI Bodhisattvas. The Bodhisattvas also retain a secretive grasp on certain technologies and only allow these devices to be used by their followers. 

Common Tech: Well known and widely accessible technology mass produced on Deva and Asura and better understood than most pieces of technology.

• Medieval Level Tech is widely available.
• Traditional Medicine: Most of this borders on quackery but it is slightly more effective because people believe in it and the nano-cloud reacts to make it so.
• Arquebuses, fireworks, and blunderbusses are fairly common, albeit less affordable than a crossbow.
• Hover Spheres: Common devices used to make things float. Most river barges are equipped with Hover Spheres. These are not quick devices. They can go up and down but are incredibly slow moving horizontally on their own power. Hover rickshaws are pulled by humans or animals. Barges go into the river to push them along and rise up only when necessary.
• Electricity: Wires, lightbulbs, neon lights, air conditioning, are all fairly common. Generators are not very common, but ancient devices capable of producing power for the whole city are tended by human followers of the AI Bodhisattvas and hooked up to a sometimes slapdash network of wires and cables that provides the city with power. 
• Holograms: Since the dataplane is basically everywhere, creating images that others can see and interact with is not difficult at all, including advertisements, bulletin boards, even controls for technology, are relatively common although sometimes disliked as “ghost-shit” by the very superstitious. 

Uncommon tech: This is expensive technology or that reserved for specific groups of people:

• Spiders: Spiders are personal computing devices that help one interact with the dataplane and technology in general on a deeper level, often attached by nerve shunts to their users. This is expensive tech and technology that is sometimes authorized by the AIs.
• Modern firearms: Firearms that would be common by our standards are less common on the River. They are expensive and usually only produced by corporations and then stolen and sold by gangs.
• Advanced weapons technology: Rarer than your average modern firearm: things like lasers and plasma weapons. Such things are usually only found among the mercenary armies of the megacorps.
• Modern and Advanced Medical Technology: The upper classes tend to have access to modern medical technology, but Kanzeon, an AI Bodhisattva on Manusaya, provides extremely advanced medical care to anyone who asks for free. So while it is uncommon, anyone who can make it to Vipa can receive excellent care.
• Genetic Splicing: Rare most places but quite common on Asura and somewhat common on Deva. The Asurans tend to prefer exotic and showy alterations while the Devans prefer almost doll-like perfection.
• Modern and Advanced vehicles: The upper classes might have hover cars or helicopters or robotic land crawlers, although the occasional rusty crawler might be found in specialized environments like the hell wastes or the megaplains of Tiryag. Megacorps have hover vessels and ground transports for their troops.
• Small drones and droids: small robotic machines are uncommon and expensive but can be found in some places. They are simple and often require direct control from an operator. 

Super Rare Tech: This is incredibly rare technology, usually only existing as exotic artifacts, the last of their kind.

• Robots: Most pure robots were animated by AIs and so were destroyed in the Ascension. A few rare exceptions remain in forgotten places. Small drones were not destroyed in the same way for some reason.
• Space travel: There are maybe a handful of space-worthy vessels in existence on the river. Most space travel required the AIs and were lost or destroyed in the Ascension. As far as most people know, the only three spaceships that exist are the Vajra warships under the control of Vajra 6 Defense Network. All others are closely held secrets by criminal organizations and megacorps.
• Teleportation: No one has been able to replicate the transporter gates that make the River work. Teleportation is supremely rare and the only widely known teleporters are the gates, the Wuru Peak teleporter than can access the warships, the teleporters on the warships, and it is often whispered that the Star Monks have a teleporter.
• Any kind of AI or advanced computer: most of these were destroyed in the ascension and the AIs heavily police all computational technology. Spiders tend to get a pass because they usually only enhance what a human being could already do. For some reason, the AIs tend to seem to fear any artificial intelligence outside of their ranks.
• Reality Warping Technology and Nano Cloud Manipulation: At the height of mankind's golden age, reality was like pudding in their hands. Such artifacts are now supremely rare like mythic objects like the Holy Grail.
• Cloning: Kanzeon despises cloning but the Devans definitely have sleeve bodies they secretly hold onto.