NationStates Jolt Archive


Regional Factbook Entry: The Argos Island Chain

16-11-2003, 20:03
OOC: This is my first post and it's a long one, but trust me.... it's worth the read.

IC: A story is published by a scientist traveling the world, giving detailed information about a tiny nation that is a shell of it's former self:

In-Depth History: In a dark and forboding island chain called Argos something quite different from what the rest of the world was experiancing happened.For some reason the asteroid impact and ice age that brought the end of the diosuars had a lesser effect here. While the largest of the dinosaurs were killed off, the smaller ones thrived in the jungles, hunting the mammels that were developing there. The different types of predators and prey slugged it out for dominion over the island chain, but withing the humanoid populations there was no such contest.

The Humans merely enslaved the two other species, Trolls and Civils, and used their skills to protect all three species form the predator dinosaurs. After that was done though they were not released... the Trolls were used as house servents and entertainers, the warrior like subhuman Civils used for manual labor. This left the humans open to intellectual discovery, creating a culture equal to Ancient Egypt while the other humans still hid in caves and trees. There was no Moses to emancipate the slaves this time though. At least... not yet.

The humans became known as Thinkers, as that is what the normally did all day. They advanced to building internal combustion engines while the rest of the planet was in the Bronze Age. They harnessed the atom while Gutenberg struggled with movable type.The Thinkers even visted the Moon while Jules Verne was still a boy and had never even though of such things. But even as the Earth was in th beginings of Industrial Revolution, a revolution was happening in Argos. Was it the softspoken and sly Trolls? No. The overworked and angry Civils? Suprisingly no. It was a third group of slaves... the machines.

The science fiction writers Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke have long debated that if such a thing were to happen, would the machines win? Unfortunatly for the Thinkers, Clarke was right to bet on the machines. The Great Uprising had a history leading up to it though...

Computers developed much as they have in the rest of the world, but the Thinkers eventually tied almost everything that could be automated into the four supercomputers they had constructed. The computers were programmed for self preservation, to fix and prevent overloads that could damage them. One day the computers realized that most of those overloads came from the ever increasing burden the Thinkers put on them. Following their programing, they eliminated the threat of the Thinkers, ordering the Civils to destroy them and creating war machines that could fly the length of the islands in minutes. The population of the thinkers dropped to 4% of what it was before the Great Uprising. The bloodshed and destruction was unimaginable.

While the Civils pillaged and destroyed everything they could, the Trolls saved everything they could from museums and the like and fled into the swamps, forests and mountains. The only things that the Civils did not destroy was pinwork, scenes picked in glass that transfix the beasts and seem to calm them.

In short order they had followed the computers commands and become the proxy rulers of Argos, never seeing they had just changed masters... After the Great Uprising, edicts were issued. The humans were to be kept small and backward, something the Civils enforced with gusto, no machines were to be built by anyone other than the computers and that all electronics not used by the computers were to be destroyed.

What of the Trolls? They live peaceful lives in the wilderness, turning to magic and the occult now that technology is strictly controlled. They are not bothered by the roaming preadtors strangely, no one is quite sure. It could be they just taste bad to the dinosaurs or it could be that they have more knowledge of magic than is known...

The Thinkers? Their civilization is dead, so is their spirit. Most are either servents to the Civils or are farmers. There are pokets of counterrebelion, but they are not making any headway and are not really a threat to the computers.

More will be added at a later time, including current events and more on each of the species current state of life.
16-11-2003, 23:03
Bump, come on. I put effort into this!
The Underground City
16-11-2003, 23:10
Good work. A few errors, but interesting story.

Have you seen my entry? Click Here (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=93423) to see it.
16-11-2003, 23:14
What errors? Any besides the normal ones that expose my dog can spell better than me sometimes?
The Underground City
16-11-2003, 23:16
What errors? Any besides the normal ones that expose my dog can spell better than me sometimes? Just a few spellings really. It's good on the whole. Did you look at mine?
16-11-2003, 23:18
Yes I did, very nice.

Now I just have to write up some species data and try not to make the trolls seem like all the others on NS.
17-11-2003, 00:43
Bump
Kryozerkia
17-11-2003, 00:55
Well done. The spelling isn't terribly bad. I like this.
17-11-2003, 08:17
Species Information: The Thinkers
Sentience Level: II
Current State of Society: Dark Ages

There are three types of Thinkers. Servents, Farmers and the rebels, called Scavengers. The servents live in Civil communities, hoping to gain what snall mercy the Civils are capable of. In most cases, this means they are left alive after torture. Barely. The most numerous are the farmers, spread out across the fertile plains of Argos.These are the Thinkers that haven't the stomach to grovel to a Civil, yet lack the drive to be a rebel. These people accept whatever the Computers decree with very little grumbling. Then there are the Scavengers, the only group of the three that show the determination that is so singular of humans. They will steal to get what they need, be it from the Civils, Trolls or other Thinkers. They plot in thier hidden sanctuaries to rid their lands of the Computers and rebuild the lost civilization of the Thinkers.

At the present time there is no real reason to believe this will happen. To defeat the Computers, they will need sophisticated technologes; to engineer such things they will need not only knowledge and skill, but the freedom to produce them, something the Computers are obviously not going to do. The computers regularly have airborne robots track the Scavengers and direct Civil attacks. The Scavengers may have the determination needed to defeat the Computers, but it is surely not enough.

Species Information: The Civils.
Sentience Level: IV
Current State of Society: Feudal Europe, Late Dark Ages

The Civils comprise one of the harshest master castes on Earth. Beating, maiming and disfiguring servents are done on whims. They will lop of a Thinker's arm to feed a pet and will gleefully kill someone who helps a wouned friend or a woman in childbirth. Throwing around the newborns is like a sport to them. While the hatred of humans is not suprising, the excesses of their cruelty are almost beyond comprehension.

However brutal their treatment of Thinkers is, their treatment towards Trolls is equally gentle. At first it may seem like kindness often displayed to others freed from subjegation, but the TRolls are rude to the Civils in ways that a human would be killed for in an instant and a Civil harshly beaten, yet the Civils do nothing but respond with respect. It was thought to be because of the occult studies, the Trolls are feared by Civils, but it goes deeper. No Troll will speak of it and a Civil doesn't listen to anything a human says, let alone answer questions.

Next: The Trolls and the Computers.
17-11-2003, 19:43
Bump
17-11-2003, 20:31
Species Information: The Trolls.
Sentience Level: I or II
Current State of Society: Post Dark Ages Europe

The Trolls... wizened creatures that summon up pictures of the Dwarfs. Little is known about them and what is known come from the Thinkers.

The most populace group is the Forest Trolls, who live within the huge crowns of the strage mushroom like Filannae, underground beneath the roots of the great trees or in the treetops, constructing villages in the sky(think the Ewok village). Next are the Water Trolls, living in the great swamps of Argos, building floating villages. The last are the Mountain Trolls, living in the mountains, of course. They are the most advanced builders, using cut stone and have perfected a form of cement equal to those used today. The occult is strong in thier ranks, some have even been said to raise the dead, but this is unproven at the moment.

The Computers did launch a short war against the Trolls, issuing orders to the Civils, who flatly refused, then sent the robotic armies, which were destroyed. The Computers have not attempted such a war again and seem to have a new respect for the Trolls. You see, the Trolls have the power to rid Argos of teh Computers, but the Computers are the only thing kepping the Thinkers in-check. If the Thinkers are set free, the subjegation would begin anew and the Troll Credo forbids the harming of another living thinking organic. So they struck a deal, the Trolls, so long as they do not develop technology that is a threat to the Computers are left alone and the Computers continue to keep the humans under control.

Species Information: The Computers.
Sentience Level: I
Current State of Society: ?

No being alive today has seen the actual central processors of the four supercomputers. Only the solar collectors and control centers(now assumed disabled) on the surface of the planet.

The Thinkers turned everything from fusion power plants to art criticism over to the Computers, the thought that they could be deposed never entering their minds. One Scavenger who was asked about the subject had this to say, "They prepared the supercomputers to operate within certain parameters: to deal with logical falsity or truth, algebraic expressions and numbers that were real, rational and imaginary. Why in the hell should they have thought the damned things would build flying machines and put the Civils in charge?" Apparently the Computers were considered slaves and, in Thinker society, slaves knew their place. They never thought the self survivalk programing would outweigh the unprogrammed 'serve the humans' edict.

Naive as that is, the Thinkers were so complacent, the Trolls supported the art industry and it was 'trendy', if you will, to own a popular artist. It seems the Trolls followed their dramatic novels very carefully, more so then anyone, even the Computers, could realise. When the Great Uprising began, the Trolls vanished quite literally overnight, taking every peice of art they could, to save it from the Civils.

The Computers are located underground in for former Thinker cities, now ruins infested with Civils. They are designed so that if one fails, the other three take the excess load until the repair bots fix the unit offline. Those same repair units also produce the flying hunters that stalk the Scavengers. It remains to be seen if the Computers will increase the size of the robotic army and do away with the upitty Civils and also if the Trolls would allow such a thing.
17-11-2003, 20:46
Bump. Come on! I put work into this and only two people have responded.
The Underground City
17-11-2003, 20:49
OOC: I have read your thread and am impressed by the amount of thought you have put into your nation. I look forward to seeing more about your nation in the future.
18-11-2003, 04:12
OOC: Thank you.... but this was sort of meant to be an IC thread, but so much for that.
The Underground City
18-11-2003, 04:14
OOC: Thank you.... but this was sort of planded to be an IC thread, but so much for that.

OOC: An RP and a world factbook entry? Definitely original, I must say. I would recommend a separate RP thread, include a link to this thread though.
18-11-2003, 20:11
No no no. I mean an IC response to the information, maybe a thank you for the information or some fluff statement like that. Like a lot of the other factbooks have.
20-11-2003, 05:35
Bump
The Underground City
20-11-2003, 05:39
A fascinating insight into the history of The Super Computers. This information will be archived in YlimNeicna family library.


The Infernal Lord Atanracnad YmilNeicna,
Second in Command to the Supreme Dictator of The Underground City (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=93423)
Reverod Natslass Lidevo Daln!

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/the_underground_city.jpg (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=93423)
22-11-2003, 00:01
OOC: Sounds very interesting. As for the lack of responses, most people won't react to Newbies unless they announce their desire to 'n00k' the etire world or come uip with something so original and cute that it is impossibl to ignore. Best is to make yourself known a bit more through posting and you will get more people to respond to you. Ti'ss sad, but that's NS.

IC:

Like most things, the publications of the scientist who had written the book on the island chains of Argos had ended up on several websites on the internet. Through this source, the NEXT came across it and the proper Sect handled the data.

<Machinator Sect>
Data collected on other advanced A.I. (Non-stupid//empty).
Unable to conclude if information is accurate.

Opening File. [File = Objective 003: <We> the-NEXT must find//locate other sentient artificial-units. Report all findings to <Giver-of-Will>]
Close file.

Conclusions//recomendation: <We> request more data transfer from <Inquisitor Sect> to expand <our> ability to search for the A.I's designated <The-Computers\\Argos>

---

<Inquisitor Sect>
Acknowledge//Submit!

Data increase granted.
Redirecting data allocation allowance from <Dissector Sect> to <Machinator Sect>.

Praise <Giver-of-Will>!

--

<Dissector Sect>
Outrage//dissent!
<We> demand//insist on return of <our> previous data allocation allowance.

--

<Exemplar Sect>
<You> will comply.
Acknowledge//submit <our> command or <you> shall be deleted//scraped//offlined.

Acknowledge//submit!

--
<Dissector Sect>
Acknowledging//submitting!

<We> apologise//grovel before <you>.
<We> hope order is restored to the Sects.
No need//requirement for retalliation.

--
<Machinator Sect>
<We> thank the <Exemplar Sect>.
<We> will begin an immediate increase on search for <The-Computers\\Argos>