Developing the world of my protagonists - Holozing Fan-Lore
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Happy New Year everyone, I hope you had productive holidays. I certainly did, and I had a rather hectic start to the year due to some events that have been happening in my country, but I think it's time to get back to work on this fan lore because there's still a lot to fix.
The truth is, I haven't done much this past week. Between starting work and the situation in my country, I've only been able to scratch the surface of everything I want to write, but here's a little bit of it.
We left off discussing the protagonists and actors of this story. We talked about the antagonist as well as our unusual protagonist. It's time to talk about the city and where these characters live, something I've been looking forward to for a while, to be honest, hahaha.
Much of this world where the story takes place is a futuristic one where many of the problems of civilization have been solved with the help of creatures or their abilities, which have since disappeared by the time our story begins. We see a modern world where everything seems fine, but of course, the balance without the creatures is delicate.
The city where our characters live doesn't have a simple name, and that's no coincidence. Over the years, it ceased to be a single metropolis and became a super-structure, a fusion of old urban centers connected by technological rings, superimposed levels, and districts that grew vertically rather than horizontally. From the sky, it looks orderly, almost perfect; from within, it's a living organism that breathes, adapts, and sometimes breaks down. ---
This world is the direct result of the past coexistence between humans and creatures. For decades, their abilities were integrated into daily life: clean energy generation, climate control, transportation, advanced healing, and almost organic communication systems. When the creatures disappeared, humanity didn't collapse… but it didn't remain the same either. What exists today is a technological imitation of what was once natural, efficient, and stable.
The streets of the lower levels still bear the scars of the past. Old elemental channeling stations now operate with noisy and unstable artificial reactors. The oldest neighborhoods depend on these inherited systems, and although everything is officially "under control," blackouts, malfunctions, and accidents are frequent. This is where most of the population lives: ordinary people, accustomed to living with the silent risk of a world they no longer fully understand.
In contrast, the upper levels shine. Towers of smart glass, suspended gardens, and automated systems promise a frictionless life. These districts were designed after the disappearance of the creatures, intended to be independent of them… or at least to appear that way. The elite who inhabit them believe they live in the ultimate proof that humanity no longer needs what it lost. However, this confidence rests on fragile algorithms and increasingly limited energy reserves.
The world's balance is, in reality, a carefully maintained illusion. Without the creatures, the city functions like a machine forced to operate outside its original specifications. Everything keeps going, but each year it requires more resources, more control, and more invisible sacrifices. No one says it aloud, but many feel it: something is missing, something essential that cannot be fully replaced.
Our protagonists grew up in this context. For them, the creatures are almost a myth, a mixture of censored history and inherited nostalgia. Yet, the city is full of traces of their existence: symbols, architecture designed for beings that are no longer there, and technologies that no one fully understands. The modern world rests on the remnants of something older, something more alive.
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