Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antemyst (SemiOpen)

[Antemyst]

OOC: For IC reasons, I have decided to begin work on a factbook for Antemyst. This thread is closed to comments and spam; please post only if you have a legitimate question- any attempts to test this policy will be met by perfectly-executed sarcasm and snarkiness. There's my disclaimer; feel free to browse this info and use it ICly if necessary. It will be updated somewhat regularly.


Introduction
The Unofficial Empire of Antemyst is primarily located on a tiny atoll in the vast expanse of the ocean of Xaymaca. Antemyst, a Fantasy/ FT nation, also has territories in the Cyrna system, in the galactic northwest of the Milky Way. Antemyst is led by the Unofficial Leader, Crystalline Fosterman (alternate titles include "Supreme Leader, Beloved Leader, Glorious Leader, and so on). The Antemystic populace is best known for its resounding apathy regarding domestic and international events.

[Antemyst]

Why is Antemyst "Unofficial"?

This is the question most often asked by outsiders. It is a reasonable question- after all, "Unofficial Empire" is a unique and awkward style for a nation, especially one of Antemyst's stature. The answers most locals give is: *shrug* "We've just never made it official."

Antemyst's roots date back to prehistory. Where the original Antemystics came from is a mystery; there have been humans on Antemyst as far back as any historian can uncover. As the other peoples of the world began to organize themselves into nations, the people of Antemyst continued to live as a loose association of families.

The first semblance of a government appeared in the 17th century, when a man named Kenneth Fosterman, an immigrant from another, more advanced nation (which has now ceased to exist), suggested that the Antemystic families pool their resources together- after all, life on a small atoll is catch as catch can- if one family has plenty of fish, and another can hunt birds, why not work together and make life better for all?

The families agreed, and put Kenneth in charge of the arrangement. Soon, the families went to Kenneth to settle disputes, make rules (laws), and give advice, making Kenneth an unofficial leader of an unofficial dominion.

The tradition of leaving things as they are until they become troublesome is still adhered to today- almost religiously, in fact. Thus, an unofficial empire with an unofficial leader of an unofficial populace.

[Antemyst]

Crystalline Fosterman: She's Kind Of A Big Deal

Kenneth Fosterman married Askyneiua "Ashley" Feijenoritz in 1750, and gave birth to a daughter, Crystalline, in 1751. Hopefully, you just scrolled back up to the last post to check that you read it right: yep, Kenneth moved to Antemyst in the 1600s. And Crystalline was born in 1751.

There is something special about the people of Antemyst: They are way ahead of the general human population. Over time- since prehistory and beyond- they have adapted and mutated to better suit life in the atoll. Whether these mutations were natural or caused by some external factor is a matter of intense debate among scientists. Regardless of the cause, Antemystics have developed "superhuman abilities," as well as made huge advances in fields such as space exploration, agriculture, and medicine. They often live to be centuries old.

Kenneth is not a natural-born Antemystic, but Ashley is. It is suggested that she endowed him with his own abilities so he could better identify with the Antemystics. They are both Beta Class mutants, and are still living today.

Crystalline is Kenneth and Ashley's only child. She was raised in a shack on the beach of the atoll, and went to school at a stone building constructed quite haphazardly. Because of her parents' status as unofficial leaders, she did not grow up in the typical manner that heirs do. Rather, she grew up as a "normal" Antemystic- if there is such a thing- on the same level as everyone else.

At thirty years old, Crystalline took over leadership of Antemyst, and has ruled it continuously since then. Also, she has not aged a second beyond her thirtieth birthday. She is an Alpha Class mutant, meaning that her abilities are not limited to a specific field (psion, mage, etc). At only five feet tall, she appears to be small and malleable, but her personality and strength of character make up for this- she is deliberate, persuasive, and often ruthless, and is respected (and feared) by all of her Xaymacan colleagues, and by a considerable portion of the outside world.

Under Crystalline's guidance, Antemyst has built a seastead (on which sits the unofficial capital city, Qumenee), acquired rights to an entire system (Cyrna), developed their own infrastructure, and devised methods by which they can provide for themselves, even though they live on a tiny atoll. They have begun to preserve their unique culture, and have made advances in discovering their roots. Their population has skyrocketed, leading to both underwater and extraplanetary colonization.

Though Antemyst's population is still woefully apathetic, Crystalline is widely regarded as a thoughtful, skilled, and fair leader. She has critics, but she has never experienced an attempt on her life or a coup, which speaks volumes about the value of her leadership, and the extensiveness of Antemystic apathy.

[Antemyst]

The Long List of Crystalline's Abilities

The following is a list of abilities Crystalline Fosterman has presented with thus far:

• Telekinesis
• Self-Replication (number of replicas limited by power splits)
• Power Bestowal (requires very strong human subject)

Additionally, Crystalline is a practitioner of the ancient Antemystic magics.

It is important to note that Crystalline is not immortal, and cannot see the future. Also, the use of her abilities drains her power and, depending on the occasion, can leave her considerably weakened.

Edited 8/9 July 2011 to reduce the number of abilities.

[Antemyst]

The Xaymacan Shield

With the advent of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, Crystalline Fosterman made the controversial decision to build a defensive shield powered by "Force extract" -a substance found in the blood of persons who have developed Force Field abilities.

The shield at first covered only Antemyst, but was expanded to include the entire region of Xaymaca when Fosterman created the region.

While the shield has only been tested in a few scenarios, it is expected to lessen the impact of nuclear warheads and prevent the spread of chemical and biological weapons.

[Antemyst]

Resources

There are zero natural resources available in Antemyst itself. After all, it is a tiny atoll. Previously, Antemyst survived by either purchasing resources from its neighbors or creating its own compounds. The lack of resources inspired Antemyst to engineer products based on what they had- crude wind turbines, algae as both food and fuel, and other such ideas.

However, Antemyst's current extraplanetary territories, Terminus and Mosiant, and their moons, are all being studied for the presence of resources. If anything is found, it will most likely be sold to other countries instead of used domestically- the Antemystics consider it a backwards step to go from green technology to oil and coal.

It is expected that uranium will be found on Terminus, and oil on Mosiant. However, if anything has been found yet, the government has yet to announce it.

[Antemyst]

Cyrna

The system of Cyrna is known to contain at least four planets, which each have one or two moons. Antemyst claims ownership of this system, but has been known to sell planets- one was sold to the Deboracracy of Aaali, who then colonized the planet.

The two farthest planets from the sun (as discovered thus far) are Terminus and Mosiant. The nearest is Aaaliya, the planet owned by Aaali. Antemyst's designs on the second planet (as yet unnamed) are unknown, but there are whispers that the nation is in talks to sell it to someone.

The system is protected by Antemystic fleets and FTLi. So far, it is known to contain only those four planets, five moons, and a few comets and asteroids (no asteroid belt so far). It is suspected that a fifth and sixth planet exist beyond Terminus, and it is suspected that the government knows whether this is true, but Fosterman and her advisers have said little about the prospect.

[Antemyst]

Qumenee

Qumenee is the largest city in Antemyst; that is, it is the only city in Antemyst. The rest of the nation is made up of unnamed towns and communities along the atoll, in the delta, or in the lagoon.

Qumenee itself is located on a seastead in the lagoon. A large portion of Antemyst's population lives in the city, mostly in highrise apartments. The city is divided into uptown, which is mostly residential, and downtown, which is mostly business. The only government building in Antemyst is the highrise located at One Main Street, which houses the Leader's office and the offices of the Leader's advisers. The Leader's residence is an apartment uptown.

Qumenee has a lively nightlife, and, despite the few laws and small police force, has little crime. The culture of apathy allows citizens to do as they wish, but deal with the consequences.

[Antemyst]

Cyrna: Space Station Project

Antemyst has just released plans for building three additional space stations for Cyrna. The proposed stations will cover the vast majority of Cyrna with FTLi.

There are already two space stations in orbit around Terminus and Mosiant, and any nation with holdings in Cyrna is required to build at least one station per holding (usually with Antemyst's help). This will result in a grand total of seven space stations in the system.

The plan is expected to be finished in a matter of years, and Aaali and Almajoya, the apparent owner of the last planet, Katsuro, are hurrying to build their own stations as soon as they feasibly can.