~ A James Usari Faction Roleplay ~
Aurora Equatorialis in southern Ethiopia
“How a solar flare could send us back to the Stone Age”
Perhaps we ought to have listened more to the science fiction writers and popular scientists behind eye-catching titles, such as the one above. Some damage could have been avoided. Then again, they turned out to be as foretelling as they were needlessly alarmist.
The 2021 Great Blackout took us by surprise, for sure. As a species, as an economy, we were entirely unprepared for the total loss of electrical power. The damage was catastrophic. No accurate estimate exists, but current figures put the death toll in the tens of millions, mostly in the immediate aftermath of the Event. Hospitals losing power, planes falling from the sky, safety measures of chemical plants failing… Furthermore, the economy was reduced by several trillion dollars overnight. The stock exchanges were obliterated on the middle of trading day. Whole accounting firms were wiped out due to the loss of their electronic archives. The possibility for instant communication over wire disappeared. It was a complete and total disaster, for everyone on Earth, at once. Europe and Africa lost power in the evening, leading to a panicked night, and Asia woke up to a darkened world.
But we did not fall back to the Stone Age. Of course not, how could we? Power grids are a thing of the early 20th century. Electrical computing was invented in the 1930s and 1940s. Consumer electronics did not come around until the 60s. Mobile phones are an invention of the 80s and 90s. We lost technologies, but not technologies that people didn’t have before. Many people in the US still remember a time before their home was hooked up to the grid, and many, many more in the global south have known nothing else. To claim that the loss of electricity would put us back so far, while the majority of human history was not aided by electronics, was absurd and lacked historical awareness.
Our world is vastly different now than it was at the start of 2021. In many ways, the regression is obvious. There is no TV, no internet, no instant messaging and no personal computing. But humanity is not defined by what is lacks; it is defined by how it rises to the challenge. The word ‘computer’ has come to define not a machine, but a person. Large rooms of people with pens and paper working on complex arithmetic wherever it is needed, from the largest corporations to the smallest municipalities. Some governments have began building large Babish Machines, differential engines using physical processes for computing. Factories now run on large, extremely efficient steam engines instead of mass current. And some secrets of the Modern World, like futuristic polymers and precise machine tooling, were never truly lost. In many ways, our world is entirely unlike the one that preceded it, both more advanced and more backwards than what most of us remember.
The world of 2034 is different in other ways too. The age of MAD is now, and probably forever, over. Even if the nuclear weapons of the superpowers still operated, the missiles and bombers that were supposed to carry them to their targets have been grounded forever. Modern targeting systems and radio communications have failed, leaving entire armies without logistics. But while the trucks have been silenced, firearms still shoot, and artillery is as potent as it has ever been. Opportunistic powers have begun to take advantage of the situation, even more so now that the world economy has reinvented itself. Rare earth minerals became worthless overnight. Coal and oil lost in value as the power grids collapsed, although steam engines are bringing them back into popularity. Prime horses and iron are again prime resources. Arable land is at a premium. Africa has seen surprising cooperation in this field, but the Americas and Europe are ablaze with conflict, if not open warfare.
Politically, the world is at a crossroads too. The Great Blackout has worsened xenophobic fears about national resource distribution. The problem of ‘having too many mouths to feed’ is one that speaks to many poor, working class families, who have seen their standard of living shrink dramatically over the past 13 years. Young people who have known nothing but the New Order are becoming adults, and their way of looking at the world is totally estranged from their elders, still shackled to an older, almost utopian world of technology. Meanwhile, no longer opposed by the power of complex algorithms wrought by their bosses, labourers are rediscovering the power of their labour, and the power to withhold it. Human labour is in high demand, and union membership has risen, as has the number of aggressive unions. This, in turn, has led to a far right response, and the left-right divisions of the early 20th century are back in fashion once again.
The question is, where will the world go from here? What will it mean for humanity to have lost quick, automatic computing? The power of electricity? The Bomb? Will large nations still be able to maintain their cohesion? Will smaller nations be able to defend themselves? Will larger nations be able to project power far and wide, or has a new age of regionalism dawned? Those are all questions we will answer together in Age of Aurora.
Welcome to Age of Aurora, a Nation RP about a world suffering from a 13-year blackout, and counting. A solar storm has been continuously crippling power systems since 2021, forcing the world to reinvent itself many times over, in every imaginable field. This solar storm still creates auroras from pole to pole, visible every night in every part of the planet, lighting up the night sky. In this RP, you will take on the role of a nation, starting on the 3rd of June 2034, while guiding it through both national and international politics. You will be writing from the perspective of a few of your own citizens as well, not just those in government.
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Milky Way over Los Angeles
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Some things to keep in mind while creating a nation, in no particular order:
1. Instant messaging and wire communication don't exist anymore. The fastest messages are relayed via heliograph or semafore. The most reliable messaging system is physical.
2. Spark plugs don't operate anymore, car batteries have all been fried. Internal combustion engines can only be ignited by hand-cranked starters, and fuel is extremely expensive.
3. Most countries will not have grown larger. Due to the problems in communication, we will see more countries separate and federalise rather than spread outwards. The only exception is for very small countries that might have peacefully confederated with their neighbours. No united Scandinavia.
4. This RP is very much a psychological RP as well. I am interested in characters from all backgrounds, not just nations as institutions. I want to see the people who run them, and I want to see them as people, not just as 'president'. The app will include minor apps for one rich person, a working class person, and someone from a minority as well, so we can truly see nations.
5. It's only 14 years into the future. You might still be alive yourself. Imagine what that would be like.
6. I am hoping to keep this RP going by allowing for different, long-running threads to go on at once, and by allowing players to write in various different modes. If you don't feel into politics, write a more personal story. If you are not up to personal drama, write a police story. This world is your own, dimly lit oyster.
Nation Application
- Code: Select all
[box][b][size=150]The Nation[/size][/b]
[u][b]General Information[/b][/u]
[b]Official nation name: [/b]
[b]Colloquial nation name:[/b]
[b]Flag:[/b]
[b]Motto: [/b]
[b]Seat of government:[/b] (Can be more than one city)
[b]Territorial extent:[/b]
[b]Other symbols and emblems:[/b]
[b][u]The Blackout[/u][/b]
[b]History:[/b] (Few paragraphs on how your nation came to be. Remember, history is more than warfare, and not all independence struggles have to be violent)
[b]Special effect:[/b] (How was your nation especially affected by the blackout?)
[b]Rebuilding:[/b] (How is your nation recovering after the blackout?)
[b]Main changes:[/b] (How has your nation's society and economy been affected by the loss of power and the rebuilding? How has power shifted?)
[b][u]The Government[/u][/b]
[b]Government explanation: [/b]
[b]Political Factions:[/b] (Name a few institutions that have their own political goals outside the government. Even in the most totalitarian states, there are factions. For example, Nazi Germany had the industrialists, the SS, and the Wehrmacht)
[b]Three relevant axis:[/b] (Name three political debates that are relevant in your country. For the example, in the UK, it would be capitalism vs. anti-capitalism, EU vs. Brexit, and conservatism vs. progressivism)
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2-
3-
[b]Government functions:[/b] (What does the government see as its main function? What do the people expect?)
[b][u]The Economy[/u][/b]
[b]Describe the relation between employer and employee:[/b] (Can someone be fired for any reason? Or is the country run by worker’s collectives? Or is there a mix?)
[b]Describe the relation between landlord and tenant:[/b] (Can someone be evicted for any reason? Or is the State the only landlord? Or is there a mix?)
[b]Diet:[/b] (What does the diet of your people generally consist of? Keep in mind local agriculture)
[b]Main industries:[/b] (What are main industries in your nation?)
[b]Trade situation:[/b] (Is your country reliant on certain exports/imports? Is it attempting autarky?)
[b]Infrastructure:[/b] (How do people and goods get about?)
[b][u]The Military[/u][/b]
[b]Military description: [/b]
[b]Military doctrine:[/b]
[b]Military in society:[/b] (What is the standing of the military in society? Loved or despised? How much influence do they hold?)
[/box]
[box][b][size=150]The People [/size][/b]
[b][u]The Wealthy[/u][/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Occupation:[/b]
[b]Residence:[/b]
[b]Short bio: [/b](1-2 paragraphs)
[b]How did this person become rich: [/b]
[b][u]The Poor[/u][/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Occupation:[/b]
[b]Residence: [/b]
[b]Short bio:[/b] (1-2 paragraphs)
[b]Why is this person poor:[/b]
[b][u]The Minority[/u][/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Occupation:[/b]
[b]Residence: [/b]
[b]Short Bio: [/b](1-2 paragraphs)
[b]Why is this person considered a minority:[/b]
[b][u]The Traveller[/u][/b]
[b]Name: [/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Occupation:[/b]
[b]Residence:[/b]
[b]Short bio:[/b] (1-2 paragraphs)
[b]Why does this person travel:[/b][/box]
[i]Application tag - #NoMoreBrownOuts[/i]
Explanation of the app
This app has been written to help you think about your nation in a way that does not only concern the government top. It challenges you to take into account the lives of ordinary people. You can see this in the 'nation' portion of the app, but also in the 'people' portion. This part of the app asks you to create four (or more, your choice) characters. You can use these later in your story, or not, that depends on how you want to write. But these people will help flesh out your nation from the ground up, instead of top down. You are in no way forced to use these characters, but I do ask that you give them a bit of thought. As you can see from the app, there is not much info required.
You are free to interpret the questions as you wish. I myself like to write some history in the government section to give context, and write a more general history in the history section. How you deal with that is up to you. Any additional information that does not have its own bracket can be slotted in anywhere, or added at the bottom.