LORE
The World
The known world, the mega-continent of Vetus, consists of many nations and cultures inhabiting all types of biomes and regions. The governing entity is the Commonwealth of Vetus. All cities and nations are part of it. Some have been members of the Commonwealth for centuries, others joined mere decades ago.
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The Commonwealth, having unified the entire continent and eradicated conflict, has entered a Golden Age of peace and prosperity. Resources are shared throughout the entire continent, large-scale trade routes are emerging everywhere, science and philosophy is booming...
For a while now, people have been wondering what the next frontier was, and now they have found it: The Wildlands.
The Expansion
As Vetus was growing, people started to notice that resources were limited. The Senate made the decision to tackle this problem before it became significant. They founded a new branch of the military (although it mostly employs civilians) called The Quest and charged them with finding a way to avoid this issue.
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The only way to obtain more resources that The Quest could come up with was to find a new land. However, every previous attempt at discovering a new continent had failed. After years of research and mobilizing the world's brightest minds, they managed to find another way: by tapping into an omnipresent field scientists call the Aether, objects could be zapped through space and be transported to a remote place, without the need to travel. A device exploiting this principle was built: the Translocator. After a lot of trial and error, and landing unmanned probes in the middle of the ocean a few times, a new land was found: The Wildlands.
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The purpose of the Quest was now clear: they had to explore this new land and successfully create a settlement on the other side. They called this program The Expansion.
The Setting
As a character, you joined The Expansion and are getting ready to step through the Translocator – it is a one-way trip, and you had to drop your entire life to get there. A complex, expensive and temporary way to go back exists, but it is reserved for Quest officials.
Every character has been either chosen by the Commonwealth or is a volunteer loyal to the Commonwealth. The goal is to establish a flourishing new city and help shape its future.
The Nations
The society is organized around several different states and nations, usually having a capital city surrounded by smaller cities and villages attached to them. Every nation has its own way of life, culture and society. All nations are allied through the Commonwealth.
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A magnificent city built on the Sovereign river dividing Old Vetus and Ardelaine, Sovereign is filled with palaces and gardens and the capital of the Commonwealth. One of the most diverse places in the world, you won't find a city anywhere with a more luxurious lifestyle on display.
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A village built in the middle of the Hagforest with a peculiar history, the people of Byrnewood tend to be hardy folk who are good with their hands. Many renowned carpenters, architects, and masons originate from Byrnewood.
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This mountainous archipelago is home to the underground city of Dundulgur. Dundees tend to be exceptional fishermen, stoneworkers, and metalworkers - although working with metal is a rare privilege given only to the finest craftsmen in the city.
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The region where the Commonwealth origination, Old Vetus is filled with merchants and steeped in tradition. The Vetushian people are exceptional sailors and diplomats, known for their shrewd intelligence.
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A former superpower that recently fell, Ardelaine still has some of the best universities in the world. The city is known for being the place where the world's brightest scientists learned their trade.
Science & Magic
Vetus is undergoing an age of enlightenment. As such, many new scientific discoveries have been made in a variety of fields such as mechanics and engineering, chemistry, astronomy, medicine, advanced mathematics and more.
Many fields of study are moving at a rate previously unseen. A lot of new discoveries have already become widespread, like fertilizers and sterilization (mostly used on bandages), while others remain in a prototype state, only known by initiates. For instance, a lot of people who ever thought about it know that all planets are spherical and that the thing that makes things fall is gravity. However, most people still believe that diseases are caused by breathing in bad air.
Here are some topics that professionals might know about (topics in italic are fairly new, and if your character knows about them, they're likely to know very little or have only heard about it once):
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Microorganisms and bacteria (viruses are too small to be observed with the microscopes available)
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The antagony between bacteria and fungi (studied today as fungal antibiotics) and artificial antibiotics (some are reaching the experimental state)
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High explosives (dynamite, nitroglycerin)
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Photography (most people have been confronted to photography, but many still think that they are just very good drawings)
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Atmospheric engines (while they have been theorized, no working design exists)
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Static electricity (has been known since ancient times, but is only beginning to be truly studied)
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Planetary orbital mechanics
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Chemical principles (molecules are made of atoms, and reactions only rearrange them, without creating or destroying anything)
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Magic, in the fantasy meaning, doesn't exist in Vetus. However, sometimes, what we call "Science" in our modern world can be regarded by many as magic. Summoning lightnings (electrostatic generation), predicting the future (statistics and weather forecasting), capturing a piece of time (photography), ressurecting the dead (CPR)... While usually being studied as a science, a lot of topics are so rarely understood that most people but scholars and scientists see them as magic. A few people also apply that kind knowledge as a magic art, having memorised the procedures but not understanding how or why they work, and often attributing unrelated factors to the success of their experiments (like planetary alignments or burning specific incenses).
Besides discoveries, due to the recent enlightenment of society, a lot of processes became way more efficient over a short period of time (medicine with the advent of pure medication and the study of the human body, agriculture with the birth of fertilizers...), and these optimized practices can also sometimes be seen as mystical, even though them existing previously makes them more widely accepted.
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The recent birth of chemistry (which happened merely two or three decades ago) clashed with the traditional art of Alchemy.
Even though they are similar, and study the same events, chemistry and alchemy are seen by their practitioners as antagonists.
Chemists tend to see alchemists as unprofessional, messy and ignorant, burdening themselves with mystical showmanship for even the simplest processes.
Alchemists tend to see chemists as arrogant, know-it-all pseudo-alchemists who have no respect for the Art and for tradition.
General Information
On this server, we play as humans, not seraphs. Installing the client-side mod "Human-like skins for seraphs" and creating your character in-game with this mod in mind is highly recommended.
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We consider that all classical fictional and some period-appropriate scientific and medieval-fantasy literature have a counterpart in our world. Be reasonable, but your character can reference real-life books. All music that can be considered classical also exists in our world.
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Latin and Greek words and names are considered to be old Ardelannois.
People in Vetus only know the plants and animals native to the Old World (Eurasia and Africa). You might encounter New World plants and animals in-game: your character wouldn't know what they are.
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No traces of Vintage Story lore (drifters, locusts, temporal mechanics...) exist in Vetus. The only thing coming close is the Translocator built by the Quest.