Fulmen Libera Civitas

Neon lights and glass towers piercing the sky; gleaming metal limbs and eyes that glow in the dark. This city seems almost to wake with the setting of the sun, LEDs like landbound stars flickering on one by one to light narrow, winding roads. Colloquially referred to as "the Lightning Republic," stepping into the capital city, Ovidia, is a bit like entering an alien world.

Overview

Comfydants hail from a distant future, bearing sacred texts penned by their god’s own hands. The texts detail the god’s travels through a post-apocalyptic dystopia – one where emotion has been subsumed by logic, technology reigns supreme, and the privileged few control the masses down to the very thoughts they are allowed to think. Preventing this timeline from meeting that same fate is surely their sacred duty.

Owing to the totalitarian future from which they hail, Comfydants have swung hard in the opposite direction. Free will is sacrosanct, and the Republic is always about half a step away from total anarchy at any given time. In their original timeline, they were scattered groups of insurrectionists, and much of that has carried over here. Their "government" is a council made up of the leaders of each former-rebel group. Nominally this is a peaceful, conflict-adverse society...but when words fail, decisions are reached through trial by combat.

((Most of the Republic is pretty haphazard looking. The territory was granted to Comfydants by their neighbors, so to the north are airy marble buildings done in Stargard fashion, while to the east is whatever gets decided for Brisketia. Buildings are overrun by ivy and roads are overgrown as the Comfydants believe in letting nature “heal.” Ovidia, by contrast, is futuristic looking as the capital serves as the hub for all the future tech they brought with them. Databases, the tools and means to perform maintenance & surgeries on their bodies, etc – all that shit is housed in Ovidia, meaning that by sheer necessity the city has to be defensible and sterile in a way the rest of the Republic doesn’t. They should be extremely paranoid about allowing outsiders access. Full on walls + moat around the city, blindfolding patients coming in for surgeries and having them followed everywhere by guards + tailed by spies, etc. But they’re also absolute suckers who are probably more lax than they should be when the guest is from another Noctyx territory.))

((Tech should be nerfed both by energy being a problem, and the tendency for vast quantities of chuubanite to fuck things up, since chuubanite was no longer a thing in the time Comfydants come from. None of their tech is chuubanite-interference-proofed. This creates a catch-22 where they can use chuubanite to power stuff, but relying on it too much makes their stuff worthless. The only way to move forward becomes actually integrating with the world and figuring out tech alongside everyone else. Their knowledge of science being so far ahead of everyone else gives an advantage here, but it’s tempered by their desire to be eco-friendly. They do not know shit about how to create eco-friendly tech, it just was not an area that received any study in their original timeline. Waterwheels, windmills, things that have been around forever like that – yeah, they probably already know about those. Wind turbines and solar panels? They’re going to have to figure it out on their own. Tl;dr the idea is to treat their R&D like they’re attempting to reinvent the wheel. The distant end goal is a solarpunk society.))

Religion

A God With Two Faces

While the name of the patron god so beloved by Comfydants had previously been lost to the annals of history, enough remained to piece together the existence of two different facets of the god. The gentle Archivist governs over History, Diplomacy and the Hearth, while the unforgiving Legatus oversees Science, Vengeance and Justice. The Archivist is regarded as the dominant personality, with the Legatus only emerging in times of war.

The Sacred Texts

Found within the shockingly well-preserved ruins of an ancient civilization, these documents are the backbone of Comfydant religious doctrine.

((The “document” which would become the sacred texts is a damaged copy of what’s more or less the Legatus 505 blog, though it shouldn’t be treated as a 1:1 copy since having to adjust our lore every time he reveals a plot twist would be a pain in the ass. Comfydants believe the texts to be an autobiographical account of the time their god visited the mortal realm, but who fucking knows. The comfydants’ original timeline should be set so far in the future that chuubas have been gone for possibly thousands of years. For all anyone knows the sacred texts are actually just someone’s unfinished fanfic.))

Symbolic Marriage

Ultimately, this is a religion characterized by the adherents’ unconditional adoration of their god. This is made evident by the faith’s most important religious ceremony. When a Comfydant comes of age, they are wed to their god. Comfydants who have undergone this ceremony will refer to their god almost exclusively as their wife, rather than by his official titles. The slightest hint of interest has been known to cause Comfydants to launch into long-winded monologues about the many positive qualities of their “cute and lovely wife.” This habit causes great confusion among outsiders.

Lambs

Those who choose to wed the Archivist are referred to as Lambs. Lambs are the public face of the Lightning Republic, often serving as diplomats, scholars and foreign ambassadors. Generally viewed as polite, conflict-adverse and unassuming, Lambs are easily underestimated – which suits their purposes just fine. In reality, though a Lamb will rarely start a fight, they will happily finish it. Their dedication to studying and building upon the Archives grants them vast knowledge on a variety of topics. Though this knowledge tends to be surface-level, it allows Lambs to easily ingratiate themselves upon others. Rarely will they accidentally cause offense through a lack of knowledge of someone’s culture and customs, and often there will be at least a few topics of mutual interest to bond over. This amiable demeanor and ability to blend in with the locals – sometimes quite literally, Lambs under deep cover undergoing operations to modify their appearances completely – is what allows Lambs to build the connections necessary to maintain the Lightning Republic’s spy network.

Hounds

Sometimes, for the herd to survive the winter you must first cull the flock. Those who choose to wed the Legatus are referred to as Hounds. Armed with tazers and private channels on the internal communications network, Hounds specialize in taking down other Comfydants. They can be considered a cross between law enforcement and domestic intelligence agents – though they would, perhaps, be more accurately described as assassins. In the event two Hounds disagree on a legal matter and the situation cannot be resolved through conversation, a formal duel may be declared to settle the matter. At least one Lamb must be present to witness the duel for the results to be considered official. Hounds almost never leave the Republic.

”Biology”

The Body Is Not Sacred

If humans have a soul, it surely is not housed in the flesh.

Despite appearances, Comfydants are entirely human. While there exist purists who believe it best to keep as much of their original bodies intact as possible, the majority see no reason to subject themselves to the limitations of fragile, organic bodies. Flesh will weaken. Bones will fail you. Metal will not.

At absolute minimum, a Comfydant will have artificial eyes and an air filtration device – often resembling a choker – which cuts all the way through the throat. These modifications were necessary for survival in the future, as toxic levels of smog burned out natural eyes and made unfiltered air unbreathable. Small computer chips implanted in the back of the brain manage the connections between cynets and the body’s natural neural network. Purists would refuse modifications beyond this point.

For the vast majority of people, however, excess organic parts are regarded as an unnecessary burden. Cybernetic limbs are exceedingly common. The skeletal structure underneath may be enforced or replaced entirely with metal, as an organic skeleton would more easily fracture under the heavier workloads cybernetic limbs are capable of handling. Hair is often synthetic.

In terms of physical ability, Comfydants far outstrip than any unmodified, flesh-and-blood humanoid. Hurling boulders and leaping buildings aren't out of the question. However, they have no access to their original power sources. Chuubanite "batteries" have been created as an eco-friendly stopgap solution, but running at full power drains these batteries at an insane rate. Restricted to power-saving mode, Comfydants only outperform organic humans a little. Physical ability becomes a sliding scale where exerting greater force drains battery more quickly. Overexertion quickly leads to death as vital components such as the throa2 begin shutting down.

Between themselves, Comfydants are capable of short-range radio communications. However, hailing from a time when chuubas had disappeared from the world entirely, their comms are not suited to the chuubanite-rich environment of today. Chuubanite interference restricts comms to a distance of tens of meters. Only within Ovidia, where a full on radio communications network has been set up, is long-range communication possible. Small internal storage banks allow the storing of photos and videos taken through their eyes. Storage is limited, and like the comm system, recordings tend to be damaged by chuubanite interference. High concentrations of chuubanite in an area may cause photos to turn out grainy, while videos will be interspersed with static. Data transfer between Comfydants is possible, but it requires direct physical contact.

Cybernetic parts may be covered with synthetic skin or fur for a more natural appearance, though the majority of Comfydants regard the creation of so much environmentally hazardous material for purely cosmetic reasons as a frivolous excess.

In theory, there is no need for cybernetic parts to conform to the human standard. Multiple sets of arms. All are within the realm of possibility. In practice, however, such unusual prostheses carry a high risk of triggering body dysphoria – and in that once future, it also served to attract unwanted attention. Few were those willing to risk drawing the government’s eyes with such radical augments. In the current time period, cost of maintenance and power consumption have become major concerns. Even so, there are still those who prefer the advantages offered by unconventional cybernetics.