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arkshiparchitects) wrote2025-07-21 03:32 pm
The Kingdom of the Divine
The Kingdom of the Divine refers to the biosphere of the Hyperion Star and the civilization which inhabits it: a techno-medieval kingdom focused entirely on maintaining a population sufficient to empower the gods with faith and worship. At present, that population is 5.5 million sapient creatures spread across 150,000 km2. Humans represent the majority at approximately 2.4 million, with the rest comprising different xenoforms, either in enclaves or fully integrated.
Given its size, the Kingdom contains more territory than anyone could hope to explore, with as much variety as you could ask for (unless you wanted deserts, it has no deserts). Forest and sweeping plains and grasslands dominate the majority of the land, but rolling hills, a significant mountain range on the western border, and numerous lakes also round out the area available for a determined explorer to venture through. Most of it is unsettled, most of the remainder is farms, and the people generally cluster in large, dense cities to maximize their comfort and benefits.
Thanks to design and the gods, the Kingdom has weather and seasons befitting a temperate climate. The artificial sun that crosses the barrier dome above the Kingdom is notoriously wonky, resulting in days that range from 23 to 27 hours without apparent pattern or predictability.
Civilization within the Kingdom of the Divine resembles a quasi-medieval, feudal structure inching closer to the Renaissance Era, but also with lots of technology! Cities are clean, hygienic, well-lit, and full of a confusing mismatch of amenities -- television has never been invented, and in its place radio not only thrives but relies on end-user imaging to draw its contents into the visual. Swift transportation methods seat one or two at best: hoverbikes, floating discs, and antigrav suits are most common. Everyday objects occupy a baffling midpoint between meticulously hand-crafted and technologically-advanced; that pleasant knit sweater has internal temperature-control fibers that keep you toasty in the cold, and your quill pen actually produces its own ink.
The Kingdom, as its name implies, operates under an absolute monarchy, under which feudal lords serve from dukes down to barons. The nobility possesses literal and demonstrable divine right, making consideration of any other governance difficult to say the least. The political stagnation is so severe, in fact, that many aristocrats dabble in scheming and intrigue just to entertain themselves, and having an overtly evil chancellor is a status symbol that demonstrates a noble is so secure in their position they can actually have someone constantly trying to sabotage them just to have something to do.
The economy of the Kingdom centers mainly around guilds, which generally dominate large cities as they coordinate the creation and provision of goods and services within. A lack of external trade means a lack of mercantilism, and thus mercantile investors never led the way to capitalism, which is another reason this is a techno-fantasy kingdom.
Perhaps obviously, every single person worships a god. Religious signs, symbolism, and imagery dominate everything in the kingdom, be it architecture, signs and logos, personal style, or nifty glowing tattoo-lines, and the different temples all compete to gain the lion's share of representation. This is actually the only way they can compete; all forms of proselytizing are banned and religious freedom is absolutely respected, since the gods are well aware that any of that will start the infighting and collapse the mission entirely in like two seconds.
Seat of power in the Kingdom, Castle Aquilaine also serves as a central location for the Marked, thanks to three very relevant features:
The epitome of medieval sensibility juxtaposed with futuristic flavor, Verisol contains almost one million people within its districts, packed together horizontally and vertically. Unbound by walls, the City is instead constrained by the farmland around it, and so has grown upwards rather than outwards; it now exists on several discrete levels, and much of its population goes weeks or even months without ever touching the ground proper.
Everything that the Hyperion Star has to offer can be found here, but with astoundingly little rhyme or reason -- housing, shops, and industries intermix in a way that would make anyone who'd ever played SimCity cry. The Cartographer's Guild ruthlessly suppresses any efforts to distribute maps or directions, so oftentimes the only way to find what you're looking for is by paying a Guild-certified Guide.