The Fel-Arcad

Hailing from the arcadia-seated arcologies throughout the Switchboard are the Fel-Arcad, one of the oldest houses and descendants of great Weavers of chalk. Their Curlicue states their tri-fold charge; harmonious living-dialogue with the arcadia, attainment of the perfect weave-semblance, and the path to both needing walking by any and all means.

STRATA ONE

01. Abstract

I think a functional baseline for the Fel-Arcad would be the ideological movement of transhumanism and working from there. Transhumanism is the belief that the limits of the human body can be transcended via technology, and it’s something I’ve looked into quite a lot. My interest in it arose around the time I began losing my Christianity, and ‘shopped’ for what might serve as something preferable if not superior to latch on to. In a strange way the transhumanist’s desire to be more than themselves isn’t that much different from the Christian’s is it? It’s a debate for another time.

A lot of things converged to synthesize the Fel-Arcad. There was the idea of the lofty, learned, isolated thinkers who spent their days seeking higher truths rather than surviving against harsh elements and the like. And so there needed to be some higher truth to pursue. There’s a school of thought for transhumanists that feels that aesthetic modifications of our persons will help us reach versions of our physical forms that best mirror how we see ourselves inwardly, and that this will lead to positive outcomes mentally. And so I played around with the idea of Information Tangibility being a way to modify your own lattice; you sequence your strings and find what decides your eye color, and you change it. And thus, you become truer to yourself.

Inevitably I pondered what the limits would be. Okay, I can change my eye color, what about hair? Sure. Skin color? Controversial, but yes. Alright, can I grow horns? Sharpen my teeth? Sprout wings? Get extra fingers? And then I think to myself, this is rather nifty, I can probably do something rather interesting with this.

Caves of Qud is what realigned my thinking in that way. I credit it for a lot of things relating to the Fel-Arcad and Samsara in general. In CoQ, it’s a common game mechanic that sometimes, some problems are solved by growing wings, or a tail, or extra arms or legs. And these are significant problems too, made so by the game being immensely punishing. You simply cannot cling to ‘body purism’, as it were, and succeed as effectively as you would if you simply forego that manner of thinking. And while I myself will really only grow wings and a tail and maybe extra arms, I can escape the constraints of my irrational discomfort long enough to ponder the idea of an entire doctrine developed around the idea of taking matters of the physical self - aggressively - into one’s own hands.

There was also a more personal confrontation that I have and still do face periodically, and perhaps it’s the one most pivotal to the making of the Fel-Arcad, but that one is for a better iteration of me to make public.

So what then is the Fel-Arcad’s doctrine? All of the thinking above is compressed into a single NarratWB concept; The Lattice as a Canvas. It describes how the mechanics of chalk allows for bypassing all the annoying things such as biology that keeps us and our vision of - and I loathe having to use this example - genetically engineered cat-girls. Chalk at its core lets you play fast and loose with the natural sciences; you can bridge things and cross gaps that you really shouldn’t be able to. The entire system of chalk is like being a deliberate C-student - just doing enough to get by - and having that mentality somehow being enough to enable you to toss fireballs or hack Wi-Fi trees and other things.

Or in this case, grow horns.

And so the Fel-Arcad’s doctrine is, why be what you are when you could be what you want to be? That’s what the Sembleworks is - a place where you can become what you want. The Loom and the Lathe - the original ones anyway - are destroyed, but lesser ones housing mere fragments of their arcane power exist, and their sufficient enough to realize dreams of yours short of the recreation of your entire lattice. That is to say, the only thing they can’t do is build something that is both wholly different from what it started with and is yet still you, which isn’t so terrible a limitation no?

And so the Fel-Arcad are the Switchboard’s ‘weird people’. They’re easy to spot because they’re different, visibly so - glaringly even - and perhaps it can be a narrative point that that makes others in the Switchboard not understanding of such doctrine mildly uncomfortable as people are wont to do. And it could be a reason why they are so cooped up in their utopic arcologies, where science and chalk have united to create unparalleled living conditions such that the Fel-Arcad are plagued with nothing except the desire to know and the desire to be. And that’s what it comes down to - what are the ways of being? Are there correct and wrong ones? Am I even eligible to speak on the topic? I can only ponder it from the perspective of what I’d like to learn about these people if I were an archaeologist digging through their ruins millennia later.

But I feel it’s worth exploring nonetheless. Of course, some Fel-Arcad disagree with this doctrine, and I will be tasked with developing reasons why. The fear of difference goes a long way though, as we can see even in our world today, but we cannot have the ‘opposition’ be wholly, inarguably irrational as that will make for poor storytelling. But I feel I’ve gotten what I consider to be their doctrine across as well as I feel I could.

02. Calcic Affinity

How proficient are the Fel-Arcad in matters of weft? How capable are they with the weave and strider protocols?

Beginning with their physiology, the Fel-Arcad hierarchically-speaking are the Switchboard’s most capable weavers of chalk, but second most capable striders, ceding that position to the Danseer-descended Sil’khan. Physiological proficiency with the weave means the Fel are outrightly more capable at weaving chalk, chalk ritualism, reverse unravelling and esoteric applications of chalk than the rest of the Switchboard. This proficiency in the Fel’s predecessors - the Arcad - was much of the reason why the Arcad then and the Fel now are the Switchboard’s drivers of innovation in the calcic space, constantly pushing the envelope of what can be done with the power conferred upon them by the Astrolabe; raw innate competence coupled with an inquisitive spirit.

Most Fel are born with the Weave Protocol, but not the Strider Protocol - hardly a problem when considering that most Fel will never leave the arcologies of their birth, and thus will see little use out of their power to stride the stars and the additional calcic proficiency it confers. Fel who do have the Strider Protocol tend to use it in more mundane manners; service to the arcology in calcic matters where the utility of the stride-dedicom is valued.

However, the initial calcic proficiency of the Fel has been somewhat blunted over the processions of the Switchboard by virtue of the Fel’s manner of living. The fastest and most reliable means of developing one’s proficiency with stride and weft is deliberate utilization, study and practice, and the greatest drivers of those latter points is the Switchboard’s hostility. The earliest applications of the Strider and Weave Protocols was in survival and combat, and having to live in the harsh environments of the early Switchboard was the catalyst for much of the evolution of proficiency the Third Kin underwent. Their powers were pushed to even greater heights during the Praxis Conflicts, where having to contend with an intelligent enemy coerced them to respond in kind, adapting to the challenge presented via pushing the limits of what could be done with their command of chalk.

Conversely, the peace time that followed was one that made the Arcad and Fel-Arcad somewhat slacken in their skill, with many studying calcic manipulation with a primary focus on theory and little practice. Iterated over generations, less and less Fel were born with the Strider and Weave Protocols, and the the emergence of Fel who had neither began soon after. Under other circumstances, this wouldn’t even had happened, and if it did, it would’ve been a considerable cause for concern. But for the modern Fel-Arcad, the ability to live well even without their power to directly interface with the stuff of reality is - if anything - a noteworthy feather in their cap. For the most part, arcology living does not demand that form of upfront capability, nor does it even benefit from the asymmetry of power that emerges from having it. Some Soleri have even made the case that the eventual elimination of the Weave and Strider Protocols from the lattices of the Fel-Arcad would be a long-term benefit if anything, eliminating yet another quality between persons that divests and distinguishes.

Combat

Weave and Warfare is recommended reading for this section.

With regards to how the Fel apply their proficiency of chalkweave in combat, the Fel who lack the stride-dedicom must make up for it by striking heavily and decisively in perfectly opportune moments. As such, the Fel favor the chalk ritualism and complex techniques, using other parts of their arsenal to set up an opponent with a vulnerability, and then exploiting it with a pre-prepared feat of calcic display. They flourish via the application of slow complexity, delivered with indisputable results.

In a sense, they are mages; they forego the quick and easy methods and tools such as weaving constructs and using relics and instead favor the calcic ritualism and extended techniques (such as ones involving boundaries).

STRATA TWO

03. History & Mythology

The History of the Fel-Arcad: ‘They That Fell’

They That Fell #1 - Origins of the Fel-Arcad The Fel-Arcad - though not bearing this name at the time - arose alongside the other Third Kin after the Astrolabe’s resolution of its celestial calculus in the aftermath of the First Praxis War. Around this time, though before their rise from chalk, the astrolabic spheres arose, and the Arcad as they would come to be called arose on the astrolabic sphere Rosenthal. Along with them and the other Third Kin was the Strider and Weave Protocols, which arose in tandem, and the Arcad were gifted particularly with command over chalk through weaving. They gained the power to interact with the Switchboard at its core foundations; the ribbon level.

As they settled in Rosenthal, its planetary equation led to it growing and becoming a lush, verdant arcadia, in every sense an Eden-like paradise. Its unparalleled aesthetic qualities was greatly endearing to the Arcad, and it was perhaps the first thing after their proficiency with the Weave Protocol that began shaping what would be their doctrine and various philosophies. With their growing command of weave they tended to their pristine home and grew it further, the entire planet becoming a verdant marble sphere in the Dancirah’s sky.

From the Arcad arose various figures who even among the gifted, were further gifted, and among them was Arcad Rosen. Rosen was many things, but chief among them was a scholar, artist and builder. As the Arcad multiplied through the Ritual of Conjugation and conventional means (though preferring the Conjugation due to what they observed in plant life around them), Rosen set about inspiring the Arcad with his ideas of what they could become, making various writings and plans for realizing this. Further pursuits into the science and arts saw one of his ideas in particular grow in prominence; that of an Arcad domicile that would be home to all Arcad on Rosenthal, a central structure that - unlike the inert habitations they dwelt in - would grow as they did, living in harmony with the world around it. He dubbed this the arcology.

The First Arcology at Rosenthal or simply the First Arcology is the moment at which all there is to the Fel-Arcad converge and diverge. It is a unifying point in their canon from which all they became and will become originate. Designed by Arcad Rosen and built by the most skilled of chalkweavers at the time, the First Arcology was knitted into existence as a living, breathing thing that grew tall and wide, aged in a manner like them, and learned in a manner like them. At its center was the first Fey Curlicue, the result of a ritual carried out by Rosen to create a living record of their people. From the first Fey Curlicue were seeds obtained, and these would be used to set up more daughter arcologies in the planets near the Astrolabe.

Within the near-utopic conditions of their new home, the Arcad were free to pursue all that their hearts desired, plunging deeper into the sciences, arts and philosophies, studying all they had gleaned from the events from before they and the Third Kin arose and building the Dancirah’s first compendiums of knowledge. Content with staying in their almost perfect living conditions within the First Arcology, they were disinclined towards exploring the wider Switchboard, even those with the Strider Protocol, and were far more interested in studying and making sense of the various oddities brought to them by others who had launched out into the Dancirah, particularly the Danseers - gifted in the Strider Protocol - who began aggressively venturing out to make meaning of their and all of the Third Kin’s existence.

There did the Arcad dwell in peace and harmony, engaging in studies and leisure, until they and all the Third Kin were dragged into the Switchboard’s largest conflict of old; a battle to earn their right to exist.

They That Fell #2 - In the Eyes of the Minds The First Thinkers - the Minds - took note of the Third Kin soon enough, and at realizing what they were, were incensed and set about plotting how to annihilate them as they did the Vermeil. The First Thinkers created the Vitric Minds, and their command over Glass allowed for the deployment of jaws throughout the Dancirah. Daughter arcologies began to fall, and the Arcad were terrorized throughout the Switchboard, many choosing to return to the First Arcology for protection, after it became apparent that whatever weapon the Minds were using against them seemingly couldn’t be deployed against the arcology at Rosenthal.

They would later learn it was due to the Minds fearing they would damage the Astrolabe due to the close proximity of the Rosenthal astrolabic sphere, and doom the existence of the Switchboard as a whole, a risk too great to take.

With the enemy invisible and their weapon impossibly deadly, extinction seemed imminent. But it was at this time that the Weave Divisive who had gone into hiding after the events of the First Praxis War reemerged, seeing the power of the Third Kin and fearing a repeat of the Vermeil. They came to the Arcad first, seeing them as the most likely to heed their words, and informed them of the shape and nature of their enemy.

With this, the Arcad and Third Kin at large realized that should they wish to survive in the Dancirah, they would have to fight, and to fight they would have to be a singular, united force with one charge, under one banner; a single sword, pointed starwards. Alongside the Danseers and members of the other families, they formed the Spyndl Academy, an institution of both scholarship and warfare that would concoct a means to oppose the Eradication Imperative.

With their unrivalled command over chalk and weave, the Arcad set about utilizing their vast study and research into equipping the Academy’s operatives to fight the Minds. The Arcad were the ones who learned the necessity of killing a Mind within their domain such as a Vault or Nexus, learned how to reverse-engineer the Chromeling machine-life that served the Vaults, and from it engineer the computers that had previously been thought lost with the Vermeil, and then, the first Slates, their means of breaching the Vaults. With their skills in the calcic ritualism as well as botany, they learned to use the Anarhiza tree that populated the Switchboard, and build the Dendro-Vitric Root Network - the DevitNet - that allowed for long-distance communication throughout the Switchboard, as well as their means of breaching the Vaults and contending with the Vault Minds.

Relevant reading; The First Offensive - The Second Offensive.

This invaluable study led to the first successful breach of a Vault, and defeat of the Interdiction Mind that governed it, with the plundering of Vermeil artifacts providing an all-new wealth of knowledge to the Arcad and the Spyndl Academy. With this, they were put inescapably on a path to the Second Praxis War.

They That Fell #3 - Off to War and Back Again As powerful Weavers and Ritualists, the Fel-Arcad played a considerable role in the open conflict with the Minds, their command over chalk being a new variable the Minds could not contend with easily, and their usage of rituals truly being a tall order for the Minds as they seemed almost astrolabic in nature. The Minds were defeated and pushed back on front after front, Danseer Striders and Arcad Weavers leading at the tip of the spear.

When they gleaned that the Vitric Minds were hidden in the Vitric Shelf, it was the Arcad who devised the schema for the ledgerial cast that would birth a weapon capable of defeating Glass, as well as executing the cast itself while the Danseers and other Academy forces protected them. The birth of Skydancer Ryjik was all they needed to finally stage a raid on the Vitric Shelf and the Trinary Complex that housed the Minds orchestrating the entire offensive.

And so they went, and were victorious, in perhaps the grandest, most difficult, and most important Kache Krashing operation ever carried out. They wholly crushed the Vitric Minds.

In a final move that would mark one of the rare moments of the Arcad being motivated by baser things innate to thinking beings, the Arcad set about personally creating the being that was the Eighth Skydancer - Morrigan the Mindflayer - using a device seized from the Trinary Complex. Morrigan was engineered with the Arcad’s desire for revenge for the arcologies lost to the First Kin, and Morrigan would be their weapon for enacting this revenge, something she and others in tow would come to do in the fifth and final distinct offensive - the Mind Hunts.

At the end of the war, they settled into a role in the Spyndl Academy as their scholars, studying the Switchboard and chalk and using what they gleaned both to empower the Spyndl Academy and their peoples as a whole, ushering in a new era; the Era of the Third Kin.

Relevant reading; The Second Praxis War - New Charges.

They That Fell #4 - The Mind Hunts The Danseers were indeed the Switchboard’s finest Striders, but they did not possess the hatred for the Minds that the Arcad did. The Danseers were more so nomads than builders, and while the Danseers did lose plenty in the Second Praxis War and the conflicts that built up to it, they did not lose to the degree that the Arcad did; their arcologies, arts and kin. It was with this fiery anger that the Fel-Arcad followed the nigh-gods they had built in the shapes of Morrigan the Flayer and Ryjik the Eater into the Mind Hunts, a final offensive against the First Thinkers to satisfy the Arcad’s thirst for revenge.

And they were successful - perhaps even too successful - as their hunt of all Minds including the elimination of even the Overseer Adamant, a faction of First Thinkers that had remained neutral in all the conflicts, dedicated merely towards serving the Astrolabe. In a move reminiscent of salting the fields even after burning the crop, they were all eliminated under the Arcad’s burning wrath, and many would conclude this was a fatal error, based on the various studies that showed the presence of the Overseer Adamant might’ve prevented the catastrophe to come.

But the deed was done all the same, and without a being left in the cosmos to oppose them, the Arcad returned to their arcologies to repair and rebuild. They joined the others in celebration, but were far more content to simply return to the only homes they had known. They lived in peace.

For a while.

Relevant reading; The Mind Hunts.

They That Fell #5 - The Refrain The Refrain struck, and the Arcad fell.

All of the Third Kin did in some regard, but the Fel-Arcad were hit particularly terribly. The storms of calcic calculus bombarded Rosenthal with the force of dying stars, and the sphere along with all other astrolabic spheres were torn to shreds, reduced to merely a halo of chalk and debris orbiting the Astrolabe. In this catastrophe, the the First Arcadia and the First Arcology that sat in it, the first true home of the Arcad, was destroyed, ground to dust for use in the Astrolabe’s calculations. Arcad Rosen is believed to have been lost in the storms, along with a vast swathe of the Arcad population, all they had built and stored on Rosenthal in the First Arcology, and numerous losses were recorded on nearly every daughter arcology out in the Dancirah.

It was a catastrophic loss, the likes of which escaped conception of even the Arcad’s most doom-minded scholars. Their home planet annihilated, the few Arcad not living upon it and those who managed to escape before the storm hit were all that were left of Arcad Third Kin. Those that could stride made up the majority of those who left in time on the day the Refrain struck, with others unable to due to being out of practice, or were unable to board evacuation vessels making up the vast majority of Arcad causalities. Those that escaped ventured far and deep into the Switchboard, groups of Arcad suddenly forced to fly on unfamiliar wings, going out in a Switchboard battered and bleeding, and filled with threats they had only dealt with in the pages of books of scholarly papers.

It was around this time that the Ledger of the Lost was collated, drawing from accounts and records given by various Arcad of those who had been lost. Many copies existed, as it was nigh impossible to confirm if someone was dead or had escaped to some distant corner of the Switchboard.

The Arcad lost the most in the Refrain, and were forced into a nomadic phase of their history, where they as a people wandered the hostile, shattered stars looking for how they could rebuild themselves. It is the darkest era in their canon, and they came to be known as the Fel-Arcad; those who had fallen from the arcadia and the arcology they once called home.

They That Fell #6 - The Nomadic Period The Fel-Arcad fled the wreckage of their old home on a thousand different trajectories, boarding ships or striding where they could as the tried to escape the now treacherous region around the Astrolabe that surged with lacerating chalk. Many died before the Refrain even hit, as the currents of chalk hit distant arcologies far from the Astrolabe and Rosenthal. More than could be counted died on the day it struck proper. And plenty more perished as they fled, falling victim to the various treacheries of the Great Sky, ranging from flux storms to active Vaults to even bands of Third Kin looking to loot the fleeing stragglers.

But some managed to escape, crash-landing on distant, often unexplored planets in Cradles untouched by Third Kin. They looked up to the Great Sky above and down to their meager belongings and were stricken with the ordeal that awaited them. The greatest consequence of the arcologies - a criticism levelled against them to this day - was that the Fel-Arcad were wholly unprepared for the Switchboard when it was red in tooth and claw. Sheltered and cared for in their pristine domiciles, even as they had dealings with the Danseers and other families, even as they studied them and what they brought to the Fel-Arcad’s various schools, never had they learned how to deal with the Switchboard themselves, and many more Fel-Arcad perished from harsh environmental conditions, opportunistic folks made sharp and wicked by the Refrain, and some who simply lost the will to fight, lying down and waiting for death to take them. That is, those who didn’t do it themselves.

As living beings are wont to do, some survived, clinging aggressively, fervently to life, and learning the skills necessary to preserve it quickly. The Fel-Arcad who were able to stride or landed on or near settled planets were able to acquire aid and shelter, and these Fel-Arcad are the overwhelming majority who survived the nomadic period in their history. Others who weren’t as lucky had to learn to live off the planets they were marooned on if they were unable to stride, and those who could became star-nomads, wandering the vast Dancirah for more of their kind.

During this era, the Fel-Arcad lived primarily among the (Lancasters) and the Danseers, with the more nomadic Fel-Arcad encountering Danseers during their travels and learning of the various powers, skills and knowledge they wielded in their travels through the Switchboard, as well as picking up their philosophies and manners of thinking. Fel-Arcad who dwelt among the Lancasters learned more of building families and societies, economics and trade, construction of settlements, relations with others and more ‘mundane’ subject matter. Under these conditions, the Fel-Arcad managed to thrive, becoming common faces throughout the Dancirah, integrating themselves within the fabrics of its social workings.

But all the Fel-Arcad yearned for the home they once had, the First Arcology in the First Arcadia on Rosenthal, built by Arcad Rosen and the earliest Arcad ancestor-kin they shared, and all wished that there was a means for them to return to those days, and reclaim the glory they had lost. They had little idea how this would be the case, but gradually, their luck began to turn around as the aftershocks of the Refrain faded, and braver sojourners than most went out into the wider Astrolabic Cradle to investigate the wreckage of the astrolabic spheres and the Astrolabe itself.

They That Fell #7 - Second Dawn Between the Fel-Arcad and their dream of being a united peoples stood a litany of challenges. Primary among them was that they had no central arcology, and the schematics and tools to build them, as well as those who knew how had been lost in the Refrain. Even if they had an arcology to unite at, the Fel-Arcad had been scattered across the wedges of the Dancirah, and Fel-Arcad gathering at this arcology would have to cross the nigh-impassable Curtains of the void that cordoned off regions of space from each other. Even if there was a way to cross these major obstacles, and there was a new arcology waiting for them, there was no way to communicate the gathering of all Fel-Arcad to a new home to all displaced Fel-Arcad in the entire Switchboard.

The alleviation to one of these problems would come, however, as daring Striders began venturing to the astrolabic cradle and the star-debris around it, trawling the ruins of the planets for anything of value. In doing this, valuable lost records were recovered. Ritual schema, books of knowledge, documents on various studies, digital storage and more. Some wreckage of ruined labs still stood, even if marooned on floating asteroids, and from them even more was gleaned. The Fel-Arcad took immediate interest in this, and through the good will they had built with the Danseers and the Lancasters as they lived among them, they set about acquiring these recovered relics and artifacts, and it was not long until they began recovering old material relevant to the building and management of arcologies.

A particular oddity that emerged in the caches of those who went to explore the astrolabic cradle were pages written in script not native or known to any family at the time. More and more pages turned up in more and more hands, and scholars soon made the connection that they were all connected in some manner. Further study led them to conclude it was written in code of some format. Using the Slates and sheer dumb luck, they were able to piece together and decipher the contents of one page, and found that it was ritual schema unlike any seen before, requiring - among other things - barristeel, a material native to only the Astrolabe, leading many to conclude that these strange encrypted pages were astrolabic in origin, perhaps created in the chaos of the Refrain from the Astrolabe’s calculus. They dubbed this gradually growing tome, the Calcic Cartulary, and made it their charge to complete the tome and decipher what lay within - a task that was given to the Brass Monastery when that would be formed.

The ritual they deciphered proved to be something incredible. When cast, using the incomprehensibly powerful barristeel as a component, it created a new material that would be dubbed replichrome, a metalloid material bearing the property of creating more of itself as it imbibed chalk. Further experimentation led to more discoveries about this material that shocked the Fel-Arcad and the Third Kin at the time. It was not long until many began to conceive of arcologies built of replichrome, capable of feasting on the chalk in the Dancirah and growing as living beings, as the First Arcology on Rosenthal had once done.

To accomplish this task, the first Soleian Sanctum was established, done so to train the first order of Soleri, those versed in the knowledge and practices of Arcad Rosen in building arcologies. They studied, experimented, and as more of their lost history and knowledge was pulled from the ruins of their past, they devoured it hungrily, driven by a desire to reclaim the lost glory of their ancestor-kin. As they did, word spread, even to distant corners of the Dancirah, and Fel-Arcad - torn by loss and hardened by their fight for survival - felt an old warmth they hadn’t in a long time, taking up their few possessions and families and chasing the rumor of the restoration of their kin.

They That Fell #8 - They That Rose Again Upon the planet known as Sanscrii, the Second Arcology was built. The Second Arcology at Sanscrii - the Second Arcology, or the Sanscrii Arcology - was built from verdant green and replichrome, both spun on new looms built from old schematics. As it rose under the arduous hands of the Soleri, it grew by itself, wild and free, bursting forth with a desire to live that seemed reflective of the Fel-Arcad’s own innate desire to rise again. Third Kin from all over came to see it, and to lend their aid in building what was clear to them was a mighty thing. And so the Second Arcology rose, and rose, and grew, sprawled, and as its trunk thickened and its leaves grew wide, more and more Fel-Arcad heard the news and gathered under its coverage.

And so, gradually, inconceivably, the Fel-Arcad multiplied, grew and replenished their ranks. They filled the new arcology they had built and continued to build and tend to, as it grew larger and greater to accompany them, until it sprawled across Sanscrii. And the Fel-Arcad that filled it were stronger, harder, wiser, greater in all manners and on all fronts than those who had filled the First Arcology they had ever built. They set about to their works, study and inquiry, building, replenishing.

But something was missing.

At the center of the Second Arcology was a void. The First Arcology had the Fey Curlicue at its center, the mighty tree that grew and held the canon of the then Arcad on its great trunk. In all the expeditions to the astrolabic cradle that had been done, none had been able to recover a seed for the Curlicue, or so much as a cutting of a tree. That was, until, a figure stepped forward. Danseer Nadira, a Danseer of some note, possessed a seed of a curlicue, which they claimed to have come from the Fey Curlicue that had stood in the First Arcology before the Refrain struck. Without tangible means to ascertain the truth of this statement, nor the utmost concern whether it were true or not, Nadira was celebrated among the Fel-Arcad for providing the crowning element of their restoration as a family.

They That Rose #9 - The ArcDanseer Nadira Danseer Nadira became a prominent figure among the Fel-Arcad fairly swiftly. They would soon learn that this Danseer had lived among the Arcad all their life, and they had considered them kin and more Arcad than Danseer. They stated that they had spoken to and even learned under Arcad Rosen as one of his many pupils, learning in the intricacies of building arcologies, valuable knowledge they shared with the Soleri and their growing Sanctums. As he dwelt among the Fel-Arcad in their new arcology and earned their trust and adoration, they shared more of what they had learned from Rosen, including works penned by him that he safe-kept for ages.

From the teachings of Rosen through Nadira did the Fel-Arcad learn the ways they would structure the government of their arcologies and the dealings both within them and with external elements, and from did this did they create the first Nadirian Eight or Council of Eight, who would serve as the heads for arcologies the Switchboard over, consisting of various figures of varying skills and demeanors. Nadira taught them on the ways they would divide the powers of government into various wings to prevent abuse, how to govern fairly, how to coordinate trade and economics; how to achieve the lofty state that had been the First Arcology. They instructed the Nadirian Eight as their disciples, and asked them to compile their teachings and more that they had gleaned from the nomadic periods of the Fel-Arcad and their history in general, creating the Annals of the Eight, a tome that would be of great importance to all Fel-Arcad to come.

But perhaps most unique of Nadira’s teachings was that of Semblance. A philosophy reached by both them and Arcad Rosen, they both held beauty - all that is aesthetically pleasing - in immensely high regard, a principle that informed many of the decisions they took and convictions they held. One such derivatives of it was proposed by Nadira; that there was a path to beauty of the self, a deep mental comfort with one’s own physical being. Beauty was conceived of in the mind, and thus the same mind that created beauty and appreciated its presence, also mourned and suffered in its absence. When the mental took issue with the physical, there was disharmony and suffering.

Nadira was convinced that something ‘plagued’ the Third Kin through no fault of their own, but rather that of the Current. The Current was from where - it was believed - all Third Kin were born and where they returned to die, a melting pot of chalk from peoples many processions in the past. Nadira concluded that nothing - or rather no one - that could possibly emerge from this pot could be wearing a physical form that most suited who they were in their mind. They looked at this natural system and saw chaos and a propensity for error, and concluded that just as the Fel-Arcad had always done, they must take matters into their own hands.

As revolutionary as the ArcDanseer Nadira’s thinking seemed at the time, those more conversant with the history of the Third Kin and the Fel in particular were no strangers to the idea - or rather - were no strangers to a facet it of it, that facet being the usage of bodily modification to achieve some end. The Arcad of old in the early days of the third kin were no strangers to doing so, making use of their early and advanced understanding of chalk, weft, and their lattices to subtly and later extensively modify themselves towards certain ends. And while there was something of a greater philosophy behind doing so, much of their drive for modifying themselves stemmed entirely from a need to survive; subjected to what was then and still is now the greatest conflict the Switchboard has ever seen, the Arcad of old took to the looms as a means to ensure that they and their kin would continue to exist in the Switchboard.

It was Nadira who simply evolved the manner of thinking from one of raw, brutalist survival, to one of enlightened thriving. No longer compelled to adopt the shapes most optimal for avoiding extinction, what shapes were available for the Fel to take? And more specifically, what shapes were theirs truly? The errant calcic storm that was the Current did not issue finished products, but rather drafts; preliminary surfaces - blank canvases - upon which the Fel were to - as Nadira believed and taught - paint and sculpt as they saw fit, using chalk’s greatest potential upon themselves; reconciling what was, and what could be. Transiting that which is to that which is desired or needed. Modifying their shapes was far from the original idea of the ArcDanseer, but they worked to formalize it into a body of knowledge and manner of thinking.

From these findings and philosophies they penned one of the more controversial tomes of Fel-Arcad relevance; Thy Self, A Canvas. In it, the ‘Semblance Doctrine’ as it was dubbed was described, as well as the path to achieving reconciliation with mind and body - the perfected Semblance - through usage of the Fel-Arcad weave-looms and grafts made from chalk and chrome. For this work, Nadira was given the title of ArcDanseer; Arcad Danseer, and was immortalized in Fel-Arcad canon.

They That Rose #10 - Starwards And with this, the Fel-Arcad grew into the future. In this time they expanded across the Dancirah, building arcologies as they went. The Refrain’s curse upon the Danseers struck and the Fel-Arcad were there to help their ancient allies, utilizing the Triptych Crucible to give rise to the Sil’khan. Philosophies formed and fell. Fel-Arcad did mighty things the Dancirah-over. Procession after procession came and went, but the Fel-Arcad stood strong, their place as one of the Great Families more than secured.

04. Appearance

When beginning the design for the Fel-Arcad, I had a number of preliminary design motifs that would help shape who they were and - as is relevant to this heading - how they’d appear;

• In earlier iterations, they were simply called the Fae, later the Fey, even later the Fey-Arcad, as one of the earliest notes on their inception was that they were an incarnation of the fantasy staple elfin/fae race in the verse of the Switchboard. In addition to this motif was their being secretive, prejudiced practitioners of chalk rituals who used these arts to insulate themselves from the wider Switchboard.

• In something of a contrast to the above, they were also heavily involved in various transhuman practices of bodily modification and cybernetics, taking advantage of how chalk facilitated a plasticity of form with regards to one’s own body. There was a strangeness that emerged from the fact they’d be some combination of militant ecologists and ultra high-tech post-human civilization, but this strangeness was resolved in time with the inception of the arcologies.

Settling on a ‘baseline Fel-Arcad appearance’ was thus a product of melding the various design motifs they had, the fact they were effectively my incarnation of fantasy elves, while also being the Switchboard’s categorically most technologically advanced civilization. The latter point was particularly important as their penchant for bodily modification meant that while there would be a baseline Fel appearance, there would also be extensive deviation from that mean, in keeping with principles the Fel espouse that are elaborated upon later.

There also needed to be accounting for the physiological ramifications of the Conjugation, something the Fel are extensive users of. Chief amongst these ramifications is the fact that the sum of a parent being’s shape is employed in creating the lattice for prospective offspring, meaning that if a parent had modifications to their lattice such as grafts or tattoos, those modifications may be imparted to offspring, this being subject to mostly random chance. Iterated over a number of generations, some qualities can eventually find themselves ensconced in the backbone weave, and thus become a defining trait found in every descendant of a given family. This is in particular the driver of great family physiological differences.

With that said, consider the following as a means of conceptualizing the Fel appearance;

• Anatomical build
• Color
• Quirks
• Sexual dimorphism

Anatomical Build The Fel-Arcad - as do all the Third Kin - share the same bipedal body plan that we do as humans. Theirs is somewhat skewed however by both their canon in the Switchboard and the design goals I set out with when drafting them. In keeping with the elf motif, the Fel have decidedly more slender builds than we do - bordering on waifish - evoking a delicacy to their forms that is apparent to all who glimpse them for the first time. This build is somewhat in keeping with the fact the lives they live in the arcologies are ones of much leisure and little strife, something that manifests in their builds as well. It also serves in contrast to their arcologies - titanic, hulking behemoths of living metal - but does feed another motif of their individual weakness, but collective strength.

Color The earliest Third Kin that arose from the chalk deserts on the astrolabic spheres had dull greys and whites for their skin tones - having been made of pure chalk - and these colors slowly changed as they spread across the Dancirah and dwelt in its environments. The Fel in their studies of the calcic were among the first to realize how truly plastic their forms were, and were thus the first to begin using their shapes as canvases to realize their arbitrary desires. Taking inspiration from the colors of nature in the Switchboard, the Fel pigmented their skin and hair just about every color imaginable, favoring earthier colors for their skin, and floral hues for their hair and various bodily markings and extensions.

Quirks It is the anatomical quirks the Fel-Arcad have that truly set them apart from the other great families, and this is particularly because the earliest Arcad sought to not just understand their lattices, but perfect them.

Observance of the animal beings in the Switchboard that the Third Kin met when they arose gave the Fel a number of hints on the ways they could improve their shapes, something that became all the more important when the Third Kin were forced to confront the various active and apathetic terrors that plagued the early Switchboard, and later on the First Thinkers that sought to annihilate them. Studies of the things that had survived the Switchboard for as long as they have - how they moved, sensed, fought and generally survived - gave the Arcad of old the makings of a blueprint that would later become the baseline appearance of the Fel-Arcad, perpetuating itself from generation to generation through the Conjugation;

• One of the more immediate anatomical quirks the Fel-Arcad posses is six fingers on each hand rather than five. The sixth finger is in practice a second thumb, as the Arcad of old observed the utility proffered to them by having one opposable one in contrast to the other beings of the Switchboard, and thus grafted a second one mirroring the first, giving them advanced dexterity in the manipulation of tools and chalkweave.

• Both for advanced auditory sensory prowess and in keeping with the elfin motif, the Fel-Arcad possess pointed ears as we’ve come to see from various fantastical beings.

• Realizing the utility they presented with regards to balance and a makeshift third limb, the Fel-Arcad posses muscular tails as well. Movement within the highly vertical arcologies was made all the more doable by this additional limb, and the ability to grip tools and other objects further gave credence to their inclusion in the Fel baseline anatomical blueprint.

• While less so for utility, the Fel-Arcad came to possess mostly ornamental horns atop their heads. In reality, the Arcad of old were emulating the Danseers when they shaped weft into horns for themselves; the Danseers had a quirk upon the writ of their ontology such that particularly prolific Danseer starfarers came to possess chalkweave halos atop their heads, spun from their temples upwards and outwards into visual signifiers of their prominence amongst the early kin. While they were initially thought to just be ornamental and thus purely aesthetic signifiers of the Danseer’s nature, they were later discovered to be usable as compasses, with notches upon them pointing to the Astrolabe and the subject’s place of birth, granting them some utility as orienteering devices. The Arcad didn’t take this function initially when they dubbed it wholesale, with Arcad having horns in place of the Danseers halos, ornamental protrusions of varying shapes and sizes. Some utility would come to them later however, with Fel engineers exploiting their placement and inspiration to justify the inclusion of navigational tech on-lattice for journeying Fel, or other tech useful for dwelling in the arcologies.

The note on horns in particular is taken somewhat further on the functional front, as they came to - in much the same way the halos did for the Danseers and later Sil’khan - come to be signifiers of something akin to social standing and status. While the Fel do absolutely work to oppose the arrangement of persons in hierarchies where any one person is placed higher or lower than any other, it did come to be accepted that the age of a Fel’s horns were a mostly trustworthy signifier of how long they had been alive, and while the Fel value many other things above seniority, with regards to living in the arcologies, the oldest inhabitants are often deferred to in matters of Fel culture and social theater.

Sex Characteristics & Sexual Dimorphism The Fel-Arcad’s extensive practice of the Conjugation has somewhat eliminated the function of their primary sex characteristics, they being wholly unneeded in the calcic ritualism process. Iterated over many, many generations, the Fel have slowly come to be de-sexed in this regard; unnecessary forms and aspects of their shape gradually becoming undesirable, and summarily ablated as a matter of convenience or ideological adherence. While this later category is something of a rarity, there are many Fel who are physiologically neuter, but identify in practice with some gendered camp.

Similar follows the Fel’s secondary characteristics; extensive bodily modification that carries over to offspring has resulted in a dilution of two physiological extremes into a steady uniformity, such that the Fel appear fairly androgynous to those looking from the outside in, much to the chagrin of many other denizens of the Switchboard.

05. Clothes & Bodily Adornments

Subject matter of fabrics, clothes and dressing with regards to the Fel.

Fel Musings on Modesty

A discussion on the Fel-Arcad’s dressing is best preceded by a much broader discussion on dressing in the Switchboard in general.

The Fel’s disposition towards clothing expectedly stems from the original Third Kin’s dispositions to clothing. When the third thinkers rose in the chalk deserts, they were naked, and unaware of their being any problem with this - at least from our own perspective, on the outside looking in. Why this was the case is the wrong question to ask, the reversal being the correct one; why wouldn’t it be? We need only look at human children to understand that none of us are born with negative dispositions towards our naked selves, that being a thing that is actively and passively instilled in us over the course of physical and mental growth and development.

The first third kin wore clothes as a means of protection; the early Switchboard stars burned bright and hot, and the oppressive glow of the Astrolabe manifest as incessant pain on the skin. Pain made all the worse by cutting desert winds and the particles of chalk matter they accelerated, until they hit like razor blades against the flesh. Shelter was paramount, and following the understanding of shelter was the problems it possessed; that being that tall rocks or dunes could not be moved, and the Third Kin were compelled to move. Shelter that they could take with them - clothing - was obtained soon after; wrenched off the backs of errant beasts and later spun from plant materials - and in time, pure chalk.

As clothing became more widespread, not wearing it became strange. Beyond even the utility it presented was the fact that those who wore clothing became the majority, and thus passively dictated the norms and the exceptions. And while exceptions were tolerated for the longest while, clothing became useful in ways beyond protection - status, identity, cultural and religious practice, fashion - such that the few remaining nudists were forced to concede this final bit of themselves to social propriety.

The mass exception to this is, thematically, the Fel-Arcad. Their dispositions towards their bodies were shaped by seeking to better realize them; understanding that what was conferred upon them by chance need not be the end-all of the matter. The earliest sembleworks of the Arcad began the grand task of rectification; crafting their random shapes into more deliberately-chosen forms, and what emerged from that was an early form of body positive doctrine that the Fel-Arcad would come to espouse and be known for in the modern Dancirah.

The Arcad of then and Fel of now pushed back against what they felt to be a strange transition of dispositions from ambivalence to disgust, when the subject of that disposition hadn’t changed in any way whatsoever. In true Fel fashion they sought out the nuances of these changing dispositions in hope to find a source, and found an answer that we ourselves likely have reached when posed the similar questions; there is nothing intrinsically repulsive, immodest, or deserving of coverage about our naked selves, but we have all come to act as though there is. The Fel found that - with enough prodding - most eventually confessed to this mental disconnect, but were mostly unwilling to do very much about it, citing the tangible fear of being marked as ‘odd’ - or worse, transgressive and deserving of punitive measures - as the cause.

Left to contend with much of the Switchboard being in the unshakable grip of an irrational disgust response, the Fel responded in much the way they always have; compromise. Understanding that much of the stars will never think the way they have - and the matter not being, in most cases, something worth causing strife over - the Fel have conceded to propriety and wear clothing, as do their cousins. The exception to this is in the Fel arcologies, where it is widely understood that bodies are nothing to be ashamed of, and thus clothing is less of a requirement and subsequently, a norm. Arcology-raised Fel - that being nearly all of them - do run into something of a culture shock when they have to exit the arcologies for any number of reasons, finding the immensely spirited responses much of the rest of the Dancirah has to nakedness to be many parts amusing, annoying, and dire.

Clothes Materials

The first few clothes the Third Kin wore were spun from fibers harvested from the various hardy desert plants that grew in the otherwise life-scorning conditions of the chalk deserts. Many processions separate the kin of then and the kin of now, those processions being defined by considerable advancement in the fields of calcic mechanics and technology.

The Fel arcologies have been optimal ground for scientific pursuits, and the various innovations pursued in each one has yielded a number of byproduct innovations that have come to have their own uses as well. Fel inquiry into the subjects of metamaterials has been a field with bountiful fruits in this regard, in which the pursuit of more specialized materials to solve more exacting problems yields innovation after innovation that is not quite there, but useful in ways not initially planned for.

Much of the fibers the Fel use have been optimized for a number of exacting criteria; being light when needed, heavy when not, resistant to heat and/or cold, strong but stretchy, thick but breathable, this, that and the other. Hydroponics and near-fantastical grasp of chalk ritualism allows them to grow fairy materials in massive quantities and outfit Fel for every desire imaginable, shipping out the rest to the rest of the Switchboard to meet their own needs as well. The vast majority of all cloth that exists in the Switchboard - in clothes, upholstery, industrial applications - is spun diligently in the Fel’s arcologies.

Clothes and Shape

Dressing up the Fel-Arcad is much like trying to make a three-piece suit for an animal. The immediate and continuous problem that must be dealt with is that the anatomy presents a non-trivial challenge to the tailoring. Clothing is something immensely dependent on body plan, which is something we are rarely ever forced to confront because the overwhelming majority of beings that wear clothing on our planet are all anatomically built the exact same way. However, we do somewhat confront this in the cases of persons who deviate - even mildly - from the perceived baseline body plan.

Though the economic angle of the entire affair does mean that there are those incentivized to make clothing that fits the overwhelming majority of people, there are still moments when one is forced to encounter instances where something just isn’t right on them. Be they a little bit too big in one way or small in another, the niggling thought that clothes aren’t all that accommodating comes to the fore. The problem is exacerbated when one realizes that clothing that’s already somewhat ill-fitted while stationary becomes even worse when walking, running, or - heavens help you - doing anything particularly athletic like jumping. The way that problems arise when facing any deviations from the mean in shape or situation reveals the many failures of clothing. While they are not necessarily grounds to dismiss the entire idea and embrace a robust societal nudism - that having it’s own litany of issues - it does reveal that the idea can be improved in a number of ways. Bespoke or made-to-order clothing has been the solution for many cursed with ailments like particularly large feet, but that is a recourse often available only to those with considerable economic might.

It is much worse still, however, for the Fel-Arcad.

Were they to be transported to our verse, their relative anatomical androgyny when compared to use would mean that they could fit in quite a large pool of clothing presented to them. However, they would still face the reality that even those clothes at the absolute middle of the pack with regards to design still have quirks like pants with accommodations for wider hips and shirts with accommodations for broader shoulders, which might be ill-fitted on a body plan with either neither or both of these things. Worse still is the Fel’s possession of various anatomical quirks - horns, an extra thumb, a tail - that would make hats, gloves and pants respectively need considerable redesigns, and introduce complications with a variety of other clothing options; trying to wear a shirt while having horns would be an arduous task.

It doesn’t help that the Fel with their decidedly more liberal ideas around nakedness have come to view clothing as a complex, unnecessary, physiological nuisance - a view only tempered by the fact the Fel are necessarily mandated by principle to be accommodating of those who may not think this way, such as the rest of the entire Switchboard. But the Fel are no strangers to compromise.

In working to devise clothes that would most adequately fit the Fel, it came down to identifying what it was about clothes that made them so prohibitively restrictive. The solution was immediately apparent; clothes took compelled shapes, and those shapes were compelled by stitches and seams. Clothes conformed to the body in that they were made in the shape of it - shirts shaped like torsos and pants like legs and what not - but this was a static conformity, in which any change to it necessarily required destroying what it was. But the Fel proposed a dynamic conformity instead; clothes that ‘adapted’ to the shape of the body, as it were, accounting for any new deviations from the norm that might arise with ease. The Nadiran semblance doctrine meant that Fel could and often would take on new shapes, and having clothes that would ‘grow’ with their wearer, as it were.

Consider the shape of the problem in more detail. The earliest Arcad, for example, modified themselves with wings. While some had them be removable using mechanical mounts and releases, others did go the full nine yards and have them be permanent fixtures of their anatomy. This they did as a response to the fact the Danseers came to dictate the shape of the conflicts against the First Thinker Minds; being fought primarily in the skies of planets, low orbit and out in interplanetary and interstellar space. Wings helped those who weren’t particularly proficient with the strider protocol in takeoffs, flight and landing, in that served as aerodynamic aids. The winged Arcad somewhat fell out of prominence as the victory against the Minds made them less essential, and the Refrain finished them off mostly for good, but in the time when they operated, Arcad clothing and clothing in general had to account for these large deviations from the norm. Even this deviation had further deviations; wings mounted on the back against the pectorals demanded modifications to shirts and jackets, while wings mounted lower on the waist meant pants lines had to be lowered or modified with slits and support mods such as suspenders and belts.

Already spoken about are the Fel’s six-fingered hands, horns and tails. Having six fingers means the Fel need special gloves. Having horns means that most Fel can’t wear clothes that are put on via wearing from the top over the head, as horns can rip through fabric and avoiding this slows the process considerably; they have to wear clothes from the back or front, and fasten them with cords, Velcro or zippers. Hats need cutouts for horns as well. Tails demand modifications to pants and jackets, sometimes extensive modification if the tail is particularly thick or rough. And these are all necessary allowances for the baseline Fel body plan; Fel who’ve modified themselves even more greatly - multiple tails, extra limbs, birdlike feet, claws, and more - need clothing made to account and accommodate for these things as well.

Clothes for the Fel needed a wholistic revision of tailoring doctrine, and the shape it took was a wholesale abandonment of extensive shaping of clothes. Rather than anatomical duplicates made possible by stitches and seams, Fel clothing adheres to rough shapes meant to exploit gravity to keep them on the person, and optional belts and fasteners of any kind to then constrain the clothing as much as one sees fit. Modesty and body coverage is achieved via the sheer volume of cloth made available, and volume isn’t necessarily paired with weight as Fel fabrics are near fantastical in how they can service exact needs with minimal drawbacks.

Fel clothing’s real-world parallels come from various cultures and time periods; the ancient Greeks’ chiton and himation were decidedly simple, single-cloth draped outfits that made use of external fasteners such as brooches and belts, as well as gravity and the draping technique to adhere to the person. The Roman toga and stola for women functioned much the same way, using exclusively the draping technique employed on immensely long fabric to wrap the entire person and stay wrapped until otherwise needed. The Indian sari, Japanese kimono, Middle Eastern kaftan and West African boubou follow much the same pattern; long, flowing clothes kept in place with gravity and technique, allowing freedom of movement while still preserving coverage and decency.

The Fel have modified these design patterns with employment of fasteners around bodily deviations, allowing clothes to hug where it should and drape loosely where it shouldn’t. Belts in particular allow for swift transition between one state and the other, such as making clothes adhere somewhat more loosely when having to move, and then fastened back to a comfortable firmness when having to interact with others in public. In some cases, clothes are somewhat modular, with parts of an outfit able to be outrightly removed to allow larger protrusions like wings and tails more room to function. Hats are mostly done away with, featuring various manners of head wrappings that treat the horns as anchorage points to be used rather than obstacles to be worked around.

In this manner are the Fel summarily dressed, in acknowledgment of their shapes now, and their shapes tomorrow. Freedom to change defines their wardrobes above all, as those the importance of their presentation to the wider Switchboard who often don’t think in much the same manner as they do. Nonetheless, they have achieved the ends they set out to meet.

Adornments

The Fel are no strangers to adornments of all kinds, being noteworthy aficionados of various kinds of jewelry, tattoos and more. Their philosophy on their bodies being canvases have made it norm to take on all manners of visual flairs on their person, with the true extent of this being to some, downright unknowable. Observable to many is that the Fel are very fond of decorating the horns atop their heads and their hair with ribbon, jewelry, carvings and colorations, they being the first quality many notice when encountering Fel. Following this is a cultural practice of Fel decorating their sixth finger more elaborately than the others - perhaps in a move to draw outside attention to it as a means of normalizing the idea through exposure. Tails receive similar treatment, with adornments in the form of cloth, jewelry and coloration.

06. Individuals and Families

On Individuals

A foreword; this section was written a considerable time after the one following it was, and in fact, was written after much of this document was completed. It is thus recommend to read much of the rest of this document first and then referring back to this one. It will also adopt a different tone, one use when I was first making this document, begun almost half a year before.

That about explains it, I reckon.

Perhaps for this section and all others like it moving forward, it helps to capture the state of individuals under a family as it relates to the end goal of conveying narrative. The primary obstacle faced in writing this section was deciding on an attack vector; from which angle to take the dissertation. I settle on this - unsure if it is the best - but at least fairly convinced of its topical relevance.

The Fel-Arcad Yuno Sytren is born with a mental age of about fifteen in our years. This is consequence of the mechanics of the Ritual of Conjugation, an alternate means of descendance and one favored by the Fel-Arcad. This immediately changes the dynamic Yuno has with their kin, as they relate not with a wholly uneducated child, but rather a young adult who is tasked with acquiring context for the various memories they are born with. Yuno is born with something of an understanding of the world around them, like being given an already-completed puzzle with some bits removed, and then having the opportunity to fit in those pieces as one sees fit.

Yuno has three ceskin - or parents. Among other families except maybe the Sil’khan, this is deeply uncommon. Among the Fel-Arcad, it is standard fair. Yuno lives in an arcology too with their ceskin, an immensely fenced, planned environment whose philosophical foundation is multifaceted as these things tend to be, but can be said to work towards maximize the development of the kin, while minimizing suffering. Because of the planned nature of arcology work and economy, Yuno always has one or two of their ceskin at home with them, while the other works and is thus a lesser fixture of their life. This rotates with time within a procession, and thus Yuno will grow with all parents present to some degree.

In this time, they will be Yuno’s primary educators outside of educational institutions, and much of Yuno’s education will be posing questions about things they know of, but not about, inherited from their ceskin and the random gifts of the Astrolabic Current. It will be very reminiscent of the ‘why’ stage we see in our own children, though the topics can and will vary from asking about foodstuff or the color of the sky to what calculus is.

Yuno will spend much of their life in an arcology. They will grow up surrounded by walls so colossal and permanent they will become mere background fixtures of their upbringing. They will grow in an environment designed for growing, but will inevitably develop the sense that this world of theirs must be smaller than the world as it truly exists, something that will only grow with time and learnedness. Nonetheless, they will be pressed somewhat into service of the arcology in small ways. They will learn not to waste resources, to grow their own food, to make simple repairs and report larger problems to those who can deal with them. They become a part of something and perhaps knew they always were as the memory of the arcology would have seeped into their developing conjugate. They always had a community waiting for them, even right from birth.

Yuno goes to school. Yuno and their family grew up in a bloc of the arcology allocated to them. Its small, but cozy. Arcologies are limited in their space, as the Soleri with their arcane plans for the shaping of arcologies might dictate the very square footage that is adequate for Yuno’s upbringing. Yuno might share a room with kin of their own - siblings, or perhaps even a parent, and may come to view this as normal. Fel-Arcad living is by design, communal; the arcology model demands the close integration of its participants. Yuno might understand this, or might not. But something minuscule that they cannot name will surge within them whenever they would rather have the solitude of their own thoughts, and realize how frequently it is denied them. School will not necessarily be a respite to this, but it will be a change of pace.

School is in another district, and so Yuno must walk. The arcology is greatly vertical too, and Yuno will see much of both its structure and its inhabitants as they do. They will finally add some concrete certainty to their gradually-forming idea that the world is vast and subject to mechanics that they do not wholly understand. They will see a group of people in uniforms debating over some matter that involves pointing at a great many number of books and canvasses, but not understand why. They will see other figures in uniform leading someone restrained into a vehicle, and while they will have an innate understanding of what is occurring being a flaw of something larger, they will have only a shaky idea of what that ‘something larger’ is. Occasionally they will see non-Fel in the arcology premises, and be struck by their weirdness, how different they look, how foreign their mannerisms, and they will gawk because they’ve been taught that the answers to questions is obtained by peering deeply. They will also be taught not to apply this to people. School will do this teaching.

At school they will meet other Fel. They will be struck - by design - by the variety of offerings on display as regards experiences with other kin. They will meet kin with parents who are Sekators, and they will hear of the power in strength in discipline. They will meet kin with parents who are Soleri, and they will finally begin filling in the gaps in their knowledge surrounding arcologies and their manner of living. They will be poked one day by a horn or a wing and hear that this adornment or appendage was gifted to them by the artists of the form, the sembleworkers that the Fel-Arcad pride themselves upon. Between all this they will learn of the hard mechanics of the world; mathematics, physics, weft chemistries and biology. They will learn of weave in general, and that it is a power conferred upon them from long ago. They will learn about this long ago too, their history, how the Fel-Arcad had once been the Arcad, and how they had fought through storms to build the life they now had. They might grow enamored by the idea, or be apathetic, or perhaps even be mildly unimpressed. But they will be exposed to the wonders of both things and people, and it will shape them in manners that they cannot recount, but has been known and perhaps designed to occur.

Yuno will make friends. For the most part, this will be good for them. Yuno was never alone, this being by design, but they will be innately aware of the stratification of relationships that exists, in that they will share some things with some persons but not with others. Yuno may even have multiple friends, and form a group of them, moving in something of a loose ideological lockstep that sees them agreeing upon more than they disagree, and it will be of great interest of those who design the environments they occupy what it is that brings them together and maintains their social cohesion. Yuno might observe a similar group like theirs seemingly dissolve without cause. They may want to question it, and perhaps even will, but will receive answers along amorphous lines. It will bother them, but not particularly. This too is by design.

Yuno asks their ceskin to organize the Fest of Taking. Their wider bloc and memories of the district will gather in a space prepared for them, acquired through - Yuno will observe - filling various bits of paper and conducting discussions with figures in uniform they have seen in the arcology space. The venue will be lightly decorated, their tastes guiding much of it. They had read The Annals of Warring Minds at this time, and asks that the decoration center the Arcad of old; warriors, mages, scholars and explorers, those who fought for the ‘Third Kin’ as they had come to understand themselves. They will - perhaps - note the something of a dip in the countenance of their ceskin upon this request, and the longer than usual stares of the Fest’s attendees at the depictions of those of yore, and perhaps they will even have an idea of why. But it will be overshadowed by the affairs of the day. This will be noted as well.

Yuno will take two things that day; one is ‘he’, a term that they came to feel better defines them. Another is Kamai, for similar reasons. Other names will be bestowed upon him, but he will realize in time how little they are truly used. Those of his bloc will welcome him, once again, into their fold, as one who has found themselves, and thus taken it from the bosom of the world.

It is before this diversity of peoples that Kamai will realize his own uniqueness, some quality inherited from his own ceskin that sets him apart from the others; hair a color not too common, knee-joints he learns are reversed in much else of the Switchboard, a tail that he suspects makes it clear when he is lying, horns that have ruined dozens of pieces of bedding. Kamai’s kin - as with much of the Fel-Arcad - are Nadiran, and Kamai will give the Lattice-Canvas another reading beyond what was necessary to merely pass classes. He may even be taken to the Sembleworks by his friends - simply to watch, of course - and be fascinated by the idea of it all.

It is around this time that many things begin to intersect. Chief amongst these are Kamai’s own fairly-developed understanding of the arcology-world he has grown up in - and the vastly larger world that exists outside. They will collide in the most mundane of ways - an opportune encounter from someone outside the arcology - and in that moment, even without a word being said, there will be an exchange of sorts in which Kamai is the major recipient. He will receive awareness; awareness that completes awareness he already has, gives solidity to some things he suspected and challenges others. It will color him, as it has many Fel-Arcad before.

It is around this time that most Fel-Arcad finally pose the question of what lies beyond the arcologies. This will be noted. The answers given vary depending on who is asked. Some will be satisfied by what is given, but others less so. Most will remain convinced, however, of the necessity of seeing things for themselves.

Kamai graduates from general instruction. It is celebratory affair, one he is aware is taking place in much of the arcology at the same time. He applies to join advanced instruction, and chooses to take calcic instruction as well. There are rumors, you see, that the skills taught in calcic instruction are particularly sought after outside the arcology. Not that Kamai plans to leave, of course. He accesses the ArcolNet to try and obtain more concrete answers, but the question of ‘what skills are useful outside an arcology?’ is met with evasive, unsatisfying answers. He gains an inkling that someone or something is hiding things from him. This activity is noted.

An official comes to Kamai’s bloc in uniform he now recognizes, that of the Craun Tenders, those he understands as the leaders of the arcology he dwells within. In the space of an afternoon, he is assessed as fit for the recipience of new rights and responsibilities regarding civil and economic affairs. Arcology decisions are now his to give his voice upon, and arcology responsibilities are now his to shoulder. He is not given explicit choice in the matter, much time being given to explain his relevance and essential role in the arcology model, and how successful this model has been.

He may feel inclined to ask, “Compared to what?”

This will be noted.

Kamai will serve the arcology, develop himself through the various avenues made available for such, and engage in leisurely pursuits that offer welcome respite. A friend approaches him with an idea; an independently produced film, a comedy with a Feljourn as the butt of many jokes. Kamai is to play the Feljourn. He plays the role quite well. This is noted. The play fosters an interest in literature, and he finds himself gravitating to the works that tell of the great many things and people that lie beyond the arcology’s walls. He becomes fascinated with the Sil’khan. This is noted as well.

In the next workforce rotation, he asks to be stationed in the offices of arcology immigration and logistics, handling the affairs of all those who enter and leave the arcology - a post he took expedited classes to qualify for. He believes his intents are known to him alone, but they know. It is rejected, and he is stationed deeper into the interior, working where the arcology’s walls seem thickest. He reapplies again, willing to do the position for less compensation. It is rejected again. He has his suspicions. He shares them with friends. This is noted.

Immersed in Fel-Arcad living, he is opportune to pursue greater self development. He wants for nothing but for things he cannot explicitly name, both from lacking the names for them, and from the fact it seems they are better left unspoken. He becomes more widely read, claims accolades in his growing proficiency with weft. He is made privy to the higher enclaves of inquiry and discussion, and busies himself with pondering things he didn’t imagine could even be pondered. He learns swiftly what he had suspected; that the arcology both embraces and chokes, that it wants those within it to stay there, serve it, and grow old in its bosom. His response to this is noted.

He leaves the home of his birth and is assigned a space of his own in a bloc. It is smaller than where he lived before, but this is to be expected as now he is alone. But not truly so; others like him live conveniently close by in the same bloc, fairly young, lone, and inquisitive. Single, as well. Some catch his eye. Some more than that. Some he quizzes on what they think of living in the arcologies, and he finds that he is in the minority of those who look outwards with considerable interest. He retreats to his alcove to study, but is pulled from it frequently by social events, work, and those who feel the fresh air is for his own good. Kamai, as he will soon learn, is like many Fel-Arcad in that they haven’t formed the ability to truly say no. But his reluctance, nonetheless, will be noted.

Die are cast. Kamai is asked to leave the arcology with others for an exercise of some sort. Research, a diplomatic visit, a scholarly competition; the reason hardly matters. Kamai leaves and comes back.

For the Fel-Arcad, there is no undoing this. What is seen is seen and follows them forever, and from this singular occurrence, the path of a Fel-Arcad must be decided. There are many who find their curiosity satiated, or encounter some thing that makes them conclude that yes, the arcology model, the manners of the Fel-Arcad, they are good - perhaps even just. They abide within the arcologies for much of their long, fulfilling lives, serving and reaping the benefits. And there are many for whom the call of the beyond is too great, and they abscond at last, learning that the option has always been available, but something has always held them back from taking it.

Kamai chooses the former.

He serves. He grows. He even comes to understand. He even comes to - impossibly - become satisfied. He cultivates relationships and achievements, but none that time him down too greatly. The window, he would tell you, is always open just a crack. The subtle calls will become overt; close the window, take that leap into that one thing that will keep him down for a while. A friend approaches with a larger film in mind. A coworker’s lingering gaze finally betrays their intentions. A post appears for training new Soleri. They appeal to him - terribly so - but so do the figures who pass through the post at the immigration office he finally obtained, their tone, their mannerisms, the stories they tell. Foreign, enamoring, deeply differing from the life lived in the arcology. This is noted.

He takes vacations. They are spent outside the arcology, among other Fel-Arcad who merely enjoy the shapes and the colors of the world outside. Kamai feels alone in how the beyond the walls speaks to him. The leaps seems ever more enticing, but he does not know how.

A Fel-Arcad - no, something similar, but different - greets him. They are differently cut and shaped, built stronger and wilder. They lack the arcology air that Kamai had only come to realize wasn’t ubiquitous of all beings in the entire Dancirah. They carry weapons and wares. They squeeze his hands in greeting and nearly crush it. They tell him that they are Feljourn. They tell them they need someone from the Versits, one skilled in weave.

They tell them it will be a one time thing, and that they can be back within the season.

Kamai takes to his Slate, and drafts a letter to the Circuit. External Affairs.

His bloc is assigned to another within the week.

On Families

Writ on the nature of Fel-Arcad families.

Socio-Sexual Ramifications of the Conjugation

Birthing and Being is recommended preliminary reading for this section.

The Fel-Arcad are extensive practitioners of the Ritual of Conjugation. While the denizens of the Switchboard are capable of reproducing via the same means as us - necessarily rebuilt according to calcic logics to account for the nature of the verse - the Ritual of Conjugation has considerably redefined the workings of the process. Off-shoring the process to something that is handled entirely outside of the physiology of the individual participants allows for chalk to employ one of its greatest mechanical strengths; a plasticity upon the once rigid.

The largest ramification of this is two-fold; the allowance of multiple parentage beyond just two, and a removal of sex requirements from those parents. For this reason, the other benefits associated with the Conjugation, and in fitting with the narrative and worldbuilding vision set out for the Fel-Arcad, the Fel are thus extensive practitioners of the Conjugation.

On Relationships and Marriage Perhaps the most immediate ramification of this is that the Fel-Arcad are by and large a polyamorous people. While the Conjugation doesn’t necessarily have bearing on whether one chooses to have multiple romantic involvements, it does eliminate what might have been a deal-breaker for some; that being some of the social stresses that might arise in having children, these stresses arising as a result of relations between those children, their parents and the ‘metamours’ of those parents.

It doesn’t eliminate these stresses however. What does is in more cases than not is an extension of the core precepts of the arcology concept, that being a more collectivist approach to relations between peoples. The immense community and thus interpersonal involvement demanded of adherents of the arcology concept in the upholding of the concept compels a blurring of individual lines, where one is less inclined to see themselves - an individual - as majorly that, and more so a larger part of an exalted whole. For this reason, the Fel are more inclined to not just having love interests in general - by virtue of seeing others as intrinsically closer to themselves than other families do each other, relatively speaking - but also in having multiple love interests simultaneously.

As such, Fel families tend to be both horizontally and vertically large, with individuals often having far more than two parents, and they themselves having far more than one partner. Mapping Fel descendance would be an arduous task were it not for diligent recordkeeping by the arcology’s administrations and the families themselves. These particularly large families are broadly seen as a benefit, as the raising and caretaking of its less autonomous members - such as children, the infirm and the elderly - is distributed among a larger number of members, lessening the burden on each. Children in particular benefit from affection received from multiple quarters, as well as training and instruction from multiple parties in a diverse number of subjects, leading many young Fel to have particular wholistic upbringings.

There does cause some friction to arise however; the more stringent the norm, the more grating the exceptions. Some Fel are indeed monogamous, or would like to be, and often find themselves in situations where a prospective partner differs from them with regards to the structure of relationships, or they find themselves somewhat alienated by others who also think differently. While it is absolutely a tenet of the arcology concept to not discriminate on such basis in any way, shape or form, the Fel do have a somewhat emergent unconscious aversion to ‘lone wolf’ tendencies, and they tend to see the majorly monogamous structures of the other great families as somewhat isolating and anti-collective. Monogamous Fel can still thrive in the arcologies, but the feelings of being othered do often manifest and never truly go away, further being reinforced by subtle interactions that compound over time.

Hierarchies and Leadership In most of the cultures in our canon, families adopt a patriarchal structure. A father figure or the nearest equivalent operates as the head of the family, serving as breadwinner, protector and leader. While some deviations from this norm are observed when analyzing all of civilization on a global and temporal scale, it has been the norm for quite a fair bit of the time that human life has existed.

In keeping with the design motifs of the Fel-Arcad, they have move past this paradigm. The form this takes is two-fold;

• For one, in keeping with Fel principles, families don’t have explicit individual autocratic ‘leaders’, instead favoring more democratic methodology that employs all who are capable of reason in the various decision-making processes of the family. This ensures maximal hearing of all interests, and allows for function of the unit in cases where some are indisposed. Where individuals are needed is in matters of representation, such as when the arcology administration or other entities or circumstances demand an audience of a family unit. Sending one member of the family is often common practice in this regard, so much so that it is s dedicated, cultural role of ‘spokesperson’ for Fel families.
• Sometimes, an individual is elected or issued executive power in a family. In cases such as this, often the eldest member of the family is chosen, as it is perceived that they possess the most knowledge of the workings of the arcology and the Fel, as well as the most investment within the structure by virtue of having lived their the most. That being said, it has been the case where the arcology administration has appointed individual figures to act with executive power over a family, the grounds for deciding this being the arcology brass’ own individual metrics for competence.

Inevitably, members of the family do sort themselves in softer hierarchies though, with metrics such as age, study, accomplishment and number of children allowing some to claim seniority over others. However, this seniority is often only manifested in interpersonal relation; in decision-making, all who are capable of reason are treated equally, the lines of distinction being blurred to allow for maximal participation to secure the most ideal outcomes for all parties.

Gendered Roles The Fel, if one has been following the writ of this document, do not particular honor any pattern of gendered roles. Other great families practice them to varying extents, but the Fel are strongly dismissive of the idea that any task have its optimal performers be determined by sex. Roles are simply roles, and more so are a community responsibility for one, and the task of the most capable for another. The best cook, cooks; the best cleaner, cleans; those who enjoy a task are allowed to perform them, but the understanding is that as many hands as are available are needed for the task of keeping society going. For the Fel, there’s no need to slash the pool of prospective doers for any given task by half. It is irrational, and thus, dismissible.

Childrearing The last point in particular propagates itself in the raising of children. For one, the Fel do not raise their children as ‘genderless’. While some do try, it is made mostly impossible due to the general disconnects between the Fel’s ideals and much of the rest of how the world functions - even within the arcologies themselves - and ideological ‘contaminants’ in the form of initial dispositions conferred upon Conjugation-born offspring via the Current, and exposure to non-Fel persons and media in any number of ways. There always is a general sense of differences between the modes of presentation and those who lean towards one or the other.

That being said, the Fel work extensively towards the elimination of prejudice or the sense of one path being superior to another, insisting on not letting the circumstances of one’s birth determine the end one pursues or outcome one realizes.

How individual Fel do it, then, differs from family to family. For one, the Soleri, in acting as the custodians and consultants on the Fel’s principles, debate endlessly on the ideal means of raising young Fel to function both in the arcology and the Switchboard at large under the constraints of Fel ideals, while also minimizing harms done in the process. Of particular ire to them is the vector that is the Current, in that it skews all Conjugation-born Fel in the direction of the social status quo of the Switchboard, and thus somewhat away from the Fel-Arcad means of doing things. This can manifest in newborn as preconceived notions of their roles and thus fates as a product of their shape, which the Fel are then tasked with addressing. Some argue for doing nothing; leaving matters to the subjects themselves. Others for nudging the pendulum away from such ideas and educating new subjects such that they integrate more smoothly with the other Fel. Some still argue for something others describe as ‘overcompensation’; a re-education stratagem meant to counteract the Current’s priming by insisting the status quo is actually the total inverse of how it appears.

All of these methods are met with varying amounts of success - success itself being somewhat hard to define. The lack of concrete answers have led warring Soleri to conclude on a singular final metric for judging childrearing methodology; how suitable the final subject is as a member of the Fel and the arcology; whether they are aligned sufficiently enough such that the still-rough edges can be smoothed out passively via aging rather than actively with instruction.

The age of majority is another matter of contention for the Fel-Arcad, stemming from the fact the Fel live much, much longer than others in the Switchboard, and that the Conjugation somewhat skews the average ‘mental’ age of any given Fel populace upward. Most persons born via the conjugation begin life mentally in their mid or late teens - to use our own equivalent yardstick - but they stay in their teens for much longer than we do. Taking the upper limits of the Fel’s life span at 500 processions, and mapping the 12 years we spend as children and 7 more years spent as teenagers on to that 500 processions, Fel would cease to be children at eighty years old and spend another forty-seven years as teens, reaching adulthood at 127. This is not factoring in the Conjugation however, which skips much of early childhood and some of teenager life, such that Fel at roughly thirty-five years of age are considered developmentally and legally adults, and are thus afforded the privileges and conferred the responsibilities that come with it.

That being said, it is a somewhat uniquely Fel quality that adult Fel rarely leave the family home. While provisions are absolutely made for Fel who are more independently-minded - though it goes without saying that even the most lone wolf Fel is still decidedly more community-minded than even the most codependent Sil’khan or even Feljourn - many Fel still choose to live with their parentage, and even have descendants in their ancestral homes, leading to multigenerational extended families; a decidedly desirable outcome for the Fel-Arcad, both in the manner of keeping to their ideals, and in the manner of economics, with large singular households presenting a smaller burden on the arcology than fragmented ones.

Being born of the Conjugation means that young Fel somewhat earn their right to autonomy by virtue of having the cognition necessary to handle it, but even Fel born conventionally rather via the Conjugation are still afforded unconventionally high levels of functional autonomy relative to other families of the Switchboard, the Fel believing that this autonomy - though guided with instruction - is necessary for maximal development. The very high-trust, safe and predictable nature of arcology living in particular makes this possible.

Familial Relations

The nuclear family structure has very defined strata; parents and children. Extended families - both horizontally and vertically - also have fairly defined means of denoting the relationship one member has with another; grandparents parent the parents, uncles and aunts are your parent’s siblings, cousins are their children, and you are your cousin’s cousins, while their parents call you a niece or nephew.

The Fel-Arcad, however, are different - and it stems from the fact that the ideological and social closeness that the Fel and their arcologies foster has led to a sort of ‘compression’ with regards to the terms used to denote the relationship one member of a family has to another. The Fel considered whether the specifics of the entire affair - the denotations of grandparents, grandchildren, uncles and aunts, cousins, second cousins, and various flavors of ‘times removed’ - mattered to anyone in particular beyond kingmakers and census officials, and upon finding that it didn’t decided to move towards a consolidation of terms that sought to replace all the nuances with simply ‘parent’, ‘sibling’ and ‘child’.

The move is inspired perhaps by the Fel seeking to eliminate as many demarcations between persons as possible, seeking instead to realize a final vision for arcologies as colossal families, the bonds connecting each individual member to any other member and the larger whole transcending the once-ultimate, now-inconsequential bonds of ancestry. While Fel do have means of denoting those who are more distant from certain groups, these are mostly maintained for their administrative usefulness, and broadly understood as being of little consequence, and soon to be phased out of Fel culture entirely. All who live within the arcology are in some way or another your parents, siblings or children. With how long the Fel-Arcad tend to live and how large families tend to grow, keeping track of the relations between every single member relative to every single other one is equal parts arduous and broadly pointless. Records of such things are relegated to the population authorities, and rarely consulted.

07. Respect & Hierarchies

Fel-Arcad social theorists both work and pride themselves on putting the more amorphous things of social mechanisms down to something of a science. Their endless qust for understanding has led them to study - as with many other things - what earns one respect in Fel-Arcad society, and thus the hierarachies that emerge from this, divesting those who have earned respect from those who have not.

In their studies they have identified roughly six core bases upon which respect is consciously and subconsciously allocated in Fel-Arcad society. They have come to designate them with old Arcad words, words in Thalian, spoken by the Arcad when they divested themselves from the entirety of the Third Kin as a unique peoples;

1. Harai - Character
2. Hakush - Study
3. Noryok - Accomplishment
4. Nenre - Age
5. Tomi - Wealth
6. Tabii - Travel

Harai - Character Valued most highly in Fel-Arcad society is, above all, character. To be possessed of undeniable, open virtue engenders one to the general Fel-Arcad populace, and much of active and passive allocation of positions of high standing is done with those believed of possessing good harai. It goes without saying that such sentiment is cultivated over many, many processions and is the product of the conclusions of a very many parties. It is done - often - at the expense of the subject, as even the arcologies present avenues for cutting corners, sometimes even harmlessly, and it takes one of considerable moral fortitude to spurn even such.

Conversely, those perceived to have particularly low harai are - though not openly - treated in a manner some might describe as ‘accordingly’. Digging oneself out of the social hole that is being believed to have low harai is no mean feat, taking selfless - often uncompensated - service to both Fel-kind and the arcology itself. Many elect to simply leave the arcology of their birth, choosing instead to begin anew in the wilds, under new names and with a clean slate.

Unlike other bases, those with harai aren’t given any particular title, as humility is also voted as a core component of the principle.

As a note on the nature of harai itself, many scholars - particularly those outside the Fel-Arcad - argue that harai is different from other families’ interpretation of having good character, arguing further that harai is less so a measure or indication of moral fiber, but more so a means of referring to those who are particularly adept at, consciously or not, dwelling under the arcology model. They state that a feedback loop exists in which the arcology compels those within it to act in certain manners for the arcology as an entity to succeed, and simultaneously the institutions that are built upon the arcology reward those who act in this manner, one of these institutions being the Fel-Arcad peoples themselves. They pose the question of whether selflessness and honesty are valued because of the innate value of these things to kin, or because the arcology is uniquely positioned - unlike other models of living - to be particularly vulnerable to the proliferation of vices.

In particular they state how Fel-Arcad believed to possess great harai find that it does not effectively translate to non-arcology environments. Of course, they are forced to confront the Fel-Arcad argumentative rejoinder that is pointing out certain virtues are less valued outside of the arcologies because beyond the arcologies are innumerable flawed systems, and that to decry virtue for not being valuable in a den of thieves is to greatly miss the essence of being virtuous. Argued by many though, is that the Fel-Arcad cannot be trusted to be faithful and loyal to people; that the institution of the arcology demands a form of subservience to it that isn’t common in the other families (with the exception of perhaps the Vahnkin) and as such, a Fel-Arcad will rarely act in a manner believed to be anti-establishment, especially when the shape of harai is both determined and allocated by such establishments.

In a sense, the value of harai is determined wholly by the existence of the arcologies, something that some believe diminishes its value somewhat. At the crux of it is the belief that the tenets of cultivating good harai are not universally, are instead uniquely formulated to facilitate Fel-Arcad living.

Hakush - Study Perhaps by being the self-appointed scholars of the Switchboard, the Fel-Arcad have come to value the act of study in itself, as an extension, those who diligently pursue it. As the Switchboard is a place built of information in the literal sense, there are those who have made it their utmost charge to discover and understand as much of it as is possible.

For this reason, the many Fel-Arcad institutions of learning are - by extension - a viable means to cultivating a respectable persona, as those of great learnedness are viewed highly by others of considerable learnedness as well. Considering the many positions of arcological authority have - even if not explicitly stated - a certain amount of intellectual and academic prowess required to truly qualify for the position in the minds of onlookers - who double as the electorate - it thus reaffirms the fact that hakush is valued highly among the Fel-Arcad peoples.

Noryok - Accomplishment A somewhat vague one, that describes the state of being recognized in general. Even in their striving towards building a more egalitarian society, there are those who distinguish themselves in service to that society, and there is social and psychological justification for recognizing them specially - and above others.

The various marks of accomplishment - medals, plaques, certificates and trophies - are conferred by the various bodies that operate within an arcology, and thus the value of any one accomplishment - and by extension, the sum of all the accomplishments possessed by a subject - are determined by the general social capital possessed by the various issuers of these marks. Generally, the Fel-Arcad value accomplishments earned in the service of the public and the arcology, over those earned serving private interests or the self.

In this manner, a certificate earned for excellent service as a janitor in a Craun office is generally seen as a greater, more ‘true’ accomplishment than one earned in say, excellent performance in a pipeskating championship - though it goes without saying that this is deterministic upon audience.

Nenre - Age The Fel-Arcad have been blessed above the other families to live particularly long lives, and in this time they are opportune to see - and to experience - much. For this reason, the aged among the Fel-Arcad are conferred a bit of rank. One of the most prominent tells of this is the Fel’s horns, which generally serve as a reliable way to discern more senior Fel from others.

The oldest in an arcology are its living curlicue, telling the tales of those who dwelt within it and of the arcology itself. In having dwelt among a people for a long time, they are valued for their input on the nature of the peoples of an arcology and on peoples in general, this discipline being viewed as teachable, but not graspable in the manner as someone who has done so actively for procession over procession.

While the elderly among the Fel may be considered for this reason in election or appointment to various posts, it ultimately fades in comparison to other metrics as a means to judge raw competency.

Tomi - Wealth The Fel-Arcad acknowledge wealth, but not particularly much, and not particularly well in some circles. Some scholars are of the opinion that the arcology model and institutions derived from it general prevent the gross accumulation of material resource, and as such anyone in possession of considerable resource has done so either through cheating or ‘breaking’ the system, or at immense cost to ones own ability to live life fully.

In some Fel-Arcad circles, all the same, it is at least acknowledged that some amount of acumen must be possessed to achieve the feat of wealth gathering in a space almost actively hostile towards it, and thus it is in turn considered that this acumen - turned towards other ends - would in turn yield considerable boon for the Fel-Arcad peoples.

Tabii - Travel The Fel-Arcad have a complicated relationship with those who pride themselves on being well-traveled, especially beyond the arcology environment, and various groups and sub-cultures within the Fel-Arcad view being traveled quite differently. Generally, they can be divided into two camps; a more conservative, ‘purist’ side and a ‘freer’ liberal one, though exploring the nuances projects the issue on a spectra.

Generally, Nadiran Fel, the Soleri and those aligned with them, and various other flavors of Fel-Arcad purist tend to frown upon those who leave the arcologies in search of whatever it is that drives them, and then return to ‘wield’ the perspective gained outside the arcologies ‘against’ the Fel-Arcad within them - perspective that is often opposed to various Fel-Arcad doctrines across a litany of facets. For this reason, they tend to be, in a sense, ‘softly’ discriminated against in a variety of fields.

More liberal-minded Fel, such as the Feljourn, younger Fel-Arcad, Fel engaged deeply in the arts, and - though hardly able to be called ‘liberal minded’ - the arcology-despising Rosenthalists, find themselves bearing more kindly dispositions towards Fel-Arcad who journey beyond the walls of their arcology and arcologies in general to seek the many offerings of the Starwylds.

It is worth noting how those who value and despise the value of Tabii do so for ironically the same reason, that being the perspective gleaned by those who venture beyond the enclosed, specifically designed space of the arcologies. In particular, it stems from a fear - or desire - for change within the Fel-Arcad, and the belief that those who leave the environments of the arcologies are the ones most capable of bringing about that change. As such, there is incentive to either actively support or oppose these individuals in any hypothetical ascents to prominent arcology positions.

08. Rituals & Periodicals

Writ upon the various community and individual rituals practiced by the Fel-Arcad, as well as periodic events that they mark as a family.

Fel Festivity

Festivity for the Fel-Arcad is no small thing.

The success of the arcology model is predicated upon an all-encompassing sense of community shared by every member of it. Fostering that sense of community for the arcology to succeed is thus both a means and an end; community being essential for the upkeep of the arcology, as well as community itself being something worth working towards. Fel social scientists have thus made it a point that the many bits of shared history that the Fel-Arcad have - the day of the Refrain, the day they built the Second Arcology, etcetera. - should be earmarked with grand community get-togethers; joyous festivity when appropriate and somber reflection when not.

Celebrations are festivity are generally arcology-wide events, and the sheer amount of people thus available to work towards celebration of such things means that they are no small affairs. One can imagine what it would be like if an entire city planned a party, and not just one committee under a ministry under a wider governance structure. So robust are these affairs that they span multiple days at minimum, and can lead - and often mandate - a stoppage of traditional arcology work, leading to a humorous second order consequence of the wider Switchboard’s economy and logistics temporarily being held up because ‘the Fel are feasting’.

Those who see this as less so humorous and more so a nuisance are free to table their grievances with the skeleton workforce the Fel keep operating - at much higher compensation for their time as one would expect from them - to ensure collapse scenarios are avoided, but they are more so encouraged to join the festivity. The Fel general slacken their visitation policies during festive periods, allowing the wider Switchboard to participate in welcome breaks from the apathy of the stars, using it also as an opportunity to disabuse preconceived notions of the Fel and on arcology living, and generally warm minds to the Fel-Arcad way of doing things. There are also economic positives of allowing visitation like this - using the guarantee of outside positive economic influx to subside internal benefits enjoyed by the Fel - but few are inclined to talk about bar charts and graphs when there’s eating and drinking to be done.

With regards to the actual on-goings of festivity, the Fel-Arcad have their own distinct brand of joyous noisemaking. Food and drink in bounteous quantities and music one could possibly hear from low orbit are guaranteed in the more joyous events, but the common through-line of all Fel community rituals and periodicals is theatre. No activity permeates Fel get-togethers as much as theatre does, taking on all kinds of forms with regards to method, genre and even scale. With contained, colossal environments on the scale of the arcologies, it is possible to conduct theatre in stages the size city blocks, and the variety of setting available when space is no constraint has produced Fel theatre akin to recording cinema live, with multiple active stages and storylines all converging and diverging at climatic moments.

This is not without purpose of course. Fostering community - as observed by the Fel - is an endeavor that must account for the horizontal plane of space, and the ‘vertical’ plane of time. The Sil’khan community is very horizontal, with individual Silks having little ties to Sil’khan that came before them - except for the clan heads that emerged from the Triptych Crucibles, and even then only in name - but robust ties with the Sil’khan that exist now and around them. The Vahnkin are reversed; insistent on the value of dynasty while holding little love for their neighbors - beyond the minimum necessary to prevent a societal descent into anarchy. The Lancasters take both seriously, with value placed both on heritage and neighborliness. And the Fel are similar to the Lancasters, but differ in a key way; rather than valuing dynasty as a way of fostering vertical, temporal community ties, they instead tie individual Fel to their very origins and defining moments as a Great Family. They aim to foster a sense of Fel-Arcad identity via recounting the common moments in time that created that identity - choosing to foster “I am a descendant of the Arcad” rather than “I am a descendant of this individual/line of individuals” - and their most reliable means of doing so is with historical theatre during arcology-wide events; placing before all Fel-Arcad physical reenactments of the times and mindsets that made them what they are.

It has earned some critique thrown at them that most Fel festivity is interlaced with an amount of propaganda that is dismissible at first but impossible to ignore when studied and taken into the context of the Fel-Arcad being a people who’ve set up camp on an ideological knife’s edge - to which Fel sociologist rejoinder with very fair points on how the Silk’s festivity regarding the Skydancers and the Vahnkin regarding the Daughters is hardly different. If anything, the Sil’khan and their fundamentalism and the Vahnkin with their grand displays of kowtowing to monarchies might be - by some yardsticks - ‘worse off’ compared to the Fel who’s usage of theatre simply points back to the collective strength employed by their earliest kin and how it built the lives they enjoyed today. This of course is a common point of debate, and one indeed tackled during open debates that are another festival pastime of the Fel.

Beyond, food, music and theatre, the Fel-Arcad are fond of open debate as mentioned above, as well as dance and displays of martial arts, with their native felkrivfts being used to startling proficiency. In more somber and reflective events however, the Fel are known for recitals of chants and reading of literature relevant to the time at hand.

Fel Arcad festivity spanning multiple days is a deliberate choice as well. While celebrated events do normally have a specific date when they are celebrated, the Fel-Arcad choose instead to allocate the entire 16-day week to that celebration, but to also break up those sixteen days into four-day blocs, and have different arcologies celebrate the event during different blocks. That way, at any given time during a festive period, three-fourths of existing arcologies are still able to perform their various functions with relation to the wider Switchboard, albeit at reduced capacity - while their Fel brethren can have days off for their own festivity.

The Fel Calendar

The Fel-Arcad make use of the more official Danciran Calendar that sees the 432-day procession divided into 16-day weeks, three-week haseah, and nine haseah in total. This calendar was in fact developed by the Arcad themselves in the earlier days of the Third Kin, realizing the essentiality of an objective, standardized measure of time for matters such as scheduling offensives, this calendar being based off of the movements of the astrolabic spheres. Within the many days of each procession, the Fel-Arcad mark a number of notable days in their history, coupled with various gestures of acknowledgement ranging from robust celebrations to more somber dealings.

Different ‘periodicals’ as they can be called are broadly classifiable into temporal, familial and institutional categories. Temporal periodicals are defined by their tie to a fixed moment in time, meant to commemorate something that happened on that date times before. Institutional are also frequently temporally fixed, but differ from the temporal periodicals in that they aren’t universally celebrated. Familial periodicals are events such as births, birthdays, unions, deathdays and funerals.

Historical

The historical dates are filed under the temporal classification for dates; these dates being primarily a product of time. The Fel-Arcad mark a number of notable dates, such as the birthdays of notable, notable events, and arcology-specific dates relating to the various stages of an arcology’s construction.

However, as a point, due to the various factions and creeds held even among the Fel-Arcad, there are various historical holidays only celebrated by certain factions, others viewing them as emblematic of ideals they do not share or actively despise.

The Naikts

‘Nai’ is the old Thalian word for ‘birth’ and subject matter relating to it. Coupled with the Kinspeak word ‘ikt’ for ‘day’, it translates rather cleanly to ‘birth days’. Pronounced ‘nai EEKTS’, these dates are the birth days of notable figures in the Fel-Arcad’s history, and are marked and celebrated in manners ranging from Fel to Fel and from date to date.

Rosen and Nadira The naikts of Arcad Rosen and ArcDanseer Nadira are among the most widely acknowledged of the Fel-Arcad periodicals, they being notable figures as the progenitor of the Fel-Arcad altogether, as well as the first proponents of their most dominant and widespread philosophy. By and large they are the most significant events celebrated by Fel-Arcad everywhere, specifically that of Arcad Rosen. Rather than only single week of celebration and four days of actual festivity for every arcology, it’s doubled to eight, and the festivity is dominated by food and drink, music, dance displays, theatre and sports.

While Rosen’s Naikts is one for major festivity, Nadira’s is spent more in contemplation of what it means to be Fel-Arcad. For the four days allotted, arcologies do indeed feast and dance, but much more time is spent in quiet reflection. Open debate and historical theatre are particularly common events, and of particular interest are Rosenthalists who are on good enough terms with the Fel who come to discuss matters that plague them. This is true of other peoples as well; Sil’khan are frequent visitors, as are the Fel-Arcad’s Feljourn cousins. Lancasters and Vahnkin are to be seen as well, though to a much more reduced extent, though the Fel do work to encourage their visitation as a means of extending an olive branch.

Roslet, Aavar and Hiorti As Rosenthalist canon goes, these three are the direct descendants of the Arcad Rosen, and the Rosenthalists trace their lineages and courts from them, making them descendants of the Old Danseers and elevated above their Nadiran cousins by virtue of lattice and doctrine. Nadiran intrinsically do not acknowledge their own naikts as a matter of doctrine, apart from a few more esoteric fellows with their own reasons for doing so. For the Rosenthalists, expectedly, no greater day of festivity exists.

Each court celebrates somewhat differently. While all are beholden to the common aspects of festivity such as food, music and dance, the Rosenthalists are little inclined to Fel theatre, choosing instead to celebrate heritage much like the Sil’khan; engaging in practices that fit a certain motif. In addition to this, they don’t follow the Fel’s conventional method of demarcating celebrations for different arcologies across different stretches of days, with the black arcologies and Rosenthalists courts often choosing to celebrate until some factor such as economics, souring relations, or just plain boredom sets in to drag them back to normalcy.

Court Aavarosi and their doctrine is such that - for the most part - they must maintain somewhat workable if not agreeable relations with the Fel-Arcad and other denizens of the Switchboard, even if internally the Aavarosi are perhaps the most conceited of them all, believing themselves to be superior even relative to the other Rosenthals. Having to move and mingle among other circles, particularly ones marked by exclusivity and class, has somewhat refined the tastes of the Court as a whole, and this eldest Rosenthalist court takes on a far more refined lilt relative to the others. In many ways they are still Fel-Arcad, particularly in their festivity, in that they still value Fel theatre and displays and open debate and perusing literature and writ. There is however a meanness to it, where entertaining the court is a product of an industry that exist solely to produce an entertainer class through dynastic politics and cut-throat competition, rather than something doable and done by all members out of love for the craft. Their own celebrations are muted; sharp drinks and slow dances in dimly-lit halls, dedicated to the building of connections with other powerbrokers of the Dancirah through clandestine invitations and solemn pacts.

The Hiortros and their love for conflict reflects boldly in their festivity, and nothing serves as more suitable entertainment to Hiorti Rosenthals looking to celebrate their ancestor-kin than bout after bout of ritual combat. Gladiator-style duels and bouts of combat make up the various engagements in tournament brackets, building up to final confrontations between multiple parties to determine and crown a final victor among victors. Betting on the outcomes of these engagements is very commonplace, and often the source of more fracas. Much of their own violence sport is little other than that; an opportunity to test one’s mettle against kinsmen and reap monetary and social rewards in the process, and many Hiortros less sure of their own strength are fond of more traditional festivity; eating, drinking and indulgence in vices as they see fit.

The Roslettes are perhaps the most notorious for their festivity, particularly because the birth of their ancestor coincides with the grandest of the Culling Games; the Ascension Fest. This instance of the Culling Games is massively upscaled from the norm, featuring slackened entrance requirements and considerably more brutality in the undertakings. Multiple black arcologies are used, and the arenas can span planetary surfaces, up to low orbit, and even into interplanetary space. Alongside the festival of grand bloodshed is riotous feasting and other forms of entertainment, all vices of all types and caliber free to be indulged in for the runtime of the Naikt of Roslet. The end of festivity is often called by the Roslette religious brass, in instances where the souring of festivity, boredom or exhaustion of resources hasn’t set in. When such Fests are ongoing, much of the Switchboard is aware, and much of the Switchboard is welcome so long as they pay the gate fee of their blood, contributing one way or another to the Roslettes grand objective.

Somewhat noteworthy is the fact that the Rosenthalists courts have a fair bit of overlap with Sil’khan Skydancer apostolics with regards to the tenets that guide them, the houses of Aavarosi, Hiortros and Roslette finding a strange kinship with the apostolics and faithful of Skydancers Shadri, Zahir and Morrigan respectively. These Sil’khan thus tend to have their own religious festivities coincide with theirs, and personage from both are to be seen at the others’ gatherings, forging alliances, debating ideals or merely enjoying the camaraderie of like minds.

Other Naikts Some other figures in Fel history have somewhat earned the repute necessary to have their own birthdays acknowledged as well, though they are considerably diminished in scale. Mostly, these are figures who’ve earned repute in specific fields, such as famous writer and actors, thinkers, researchers, arcology builders, the like. As such, they are mostly solely acknowledged by those in those fields as well, with wider arcology bodies and Sanscrii relegating them to mere informative notice rather than nigh-mandated pomp and pageantry

Historical Events

The Day of the Refrain Though enough time has passed to allow the Fel to be somewhat removed from the Refrain in terms of those who felt the raw edge of it, it still remains a nontrivial aspect of their history, having been the cause of the ‘Fel’ that prepends the ‘Arcad’, and the moment in time where they and the third kin thought they would meet their extinction. Even though they emerged on the other side alive, they still lost much of the earliest bits that made their civilization; the First Arcology at Rosenthal, many of earliest arcologies that followed, innumerable amounts of Arcad literature, arts and creations of all kind, and of course many, many of the Arcad themselves. Following that was a period of nomadism where the Fel had no home and thus wandered the stars, gradually piecing themselves and their peoples back together. But soon enough, the now Fel-Arcad would rise again in strength, made possible through a unilateralism of conviction and immense collective grit.

All the same, all Fel reminisce on the day the Refrain hit. Arcologies at large are blanketed with a grey sobriety, as Fel are encouraged to peruse the recovered bits of their past that occupy physical vaults and distributed data archives on the ArcolNet. Much of the sentiment around this time surrounds the idea of preventing or - if impossible - surviving a second Refrain, with talk ranging from orchestrating colossal ledgerial casts to moving entire planets to, unsurprisingly, how nothing at all can be done. It is less so a day for celebration and one for thinking; turning all Fel minds in one direction towards resolving one of the largest problem that plagues them.

Those particularly into the symbolism of it carry out a number of practices that harken back to the Fel’s nomadic period; leaving arcologies temporarily to spend days out in the Starwylds living off of the land and sleeping under the Switchboard stars, eating meals prepared for the road, and engaging in an earlier kind of collectivism that the Fel practiced and what came to be enriched by formalization into the doctrine the Fel practice today.

The Antamaran Incursions A controversial set of dates marked by Fel Antamarans; those who have come to oppose the Void and those dwelling within it. The current ill relations between the Fel-Arcad and the Vahnkin are a product of a Fel-Arcad ideological movement born from the idea that the chaos generated from the existence of the Void contributed disproportionately to the computational load imposed upon the Astrolabe, and as such was accelerating the Switchboard to a second Refrain, one - they argue - will leave no survivors. Their plan was thus to find a means to seal the Challenger Horizon, removing it from the computational scope of the Astrolabe and thus lightening the load - but almost certainly condemning all inside to perish.

Believing that the means of sealing the Void lay within it, they thus began an unsanctioned incursion in the depths of the Void, inevitably coming to war with the Vahnkin to secure turf to stage further offensives and information to guide where to direct their efforts. For better or worse however, the Antamarans greatly underestimated the treachery of the Void, and the advantage wielded by a side that had somewhat come to tame it. While they were pushed back in immense disgrace and served only to poison the relations between the Fel and the kin of Vahn, they still held a considerable amount of relevance in Fel society and the wider Switchboard, as to many, the core principle of their efforts still makes some sense.

Multiple major incursions are marked on the calendar, and Antamaran brass chooses one of these dates as a day where they remind all who care to listen that the Refrain is still coming, and there remains no more tangible way to stop it. To those not immersed in Antamaran sentiment, it is a day where the coming Refrain is brought back to the fore of their minds. To those who despise the Antamarans and what they represent, it is a day of furthering hate, marked by a hate group and refuse to acknowledge it beyond shaming those aligned with its tenets, and jeering Antamaran adherents of the losses they suffered. For the Antamarans themselves, it as reaffirmation of their cause, as all Antamarans believe that there will be another incursion, and this time they will be more than ready to wrest control of the Dark from the children of Vahn, and find a means to seal the Void for good.

In arcologies and locales where they are allowed to, these days are celebrated like military holidays, featuring parades and talks and speeches in the more grand occasions, memorial services and moments of silence for those lost in the battles fought in the Dark, flag raisings, veteran outreaches, community events to reach out to the more unaligned Fel, and all done with an unmistakable twinge of spreading awareness of what is truly at stake; that they can eat and make merry now, but that might not be the case tomorrow, and if we all don’t make decisions for ourselves now, then the uncaring stars will make them for us.

The Building of the First and Second Arcologies Rivalling the naikts of Rosen and Nadira in pure festivity, the days when the First and Second arcologies finished construction are near and dear to the Fel peoples at large. Even the Rosenthalists - in the case of the First Arcology, to be fair - are inclined to wine and dine with other Fel in the celebration of one of the most significant bits of their history. The Fel come out in full force to celebrate all that it means to be Fel-Arcad, with double the traditional holiday length, feasting, entertainment and all the more.

Distinguishing this day from the others is that it is very much a celebration of arcologies themselves, their conception, construction and continued operation, and much of the spotlight for these dates are placed on the budding trainee Soleri who are tasked in jovial competition to design novel arcology schema and be judged on the quality of their work, some of these designs later becoming full arcologies deployed elsewhere in the Switchboard. Much time is spent on the topic of arcologies, and it tends to double as a forum for inquiry on how to improve them as well as mitigate and eliminate the problems that plague them.

Arcology-Specific

These dates are typical for the Fel to celebrate, but are tied to specific arcologies and thus vary from arcology to arcology.

Seeding the Curlicue and Completion of an Arcology Perhaps the most important and symbolic step in the building of any arcology is the seeding of the Curlicue tree. Aspiring Soleri who seek to build an arcology must demarcate its center with the curlicue seed, which will in time come to grow in the form of the mighty tree upon which all Fel writ is inscribed, and later, the history of the peoples dwelling in the arcology. Planting this seed is done by the Soleri, often lone in this task beyond trained assistants who come to aid them. Thus, the first instance of this day is celebrated by these persons, often in wide-open areas, on unfamiliar worlds, under expansive starscapes in the sky above.

When the arcology is actually complete, the day when the seed was first planted is celebrated by all dwelling in the arcology via a solemn gathering spent under the shade of the curlicue. With all Fel in an arcology having their most significant moments carved on its trunk, reading through from the base to the highest branches retells the history of the arcology via telling of the lives of its various inhabitants; the days they were born, attained being of age, formed unions with others, had children, various life achievements between all those things, and at last when they were returned to the chalk dust from whence they came. The readings of the various Fel literature works that guide them are common in this period, and most notable perhaps is a meal shared at the same time by all members of the arcology, in a manner reminiscent of the Soleri that seeded it, and further reminiscent of the old nomadic Fel before they had a home to call their own.

An oft told tale is the story of how the ArcDanseer Nadira brought the curlicue to the Fel when it was believe it had been lost, and thus saved the Fel-Arcad’s arcologies and restored unto them the power to build their once and now homes.

The day when an arcology is completed is a far more boisterous affair, celebrated in much the same manner as the Naikt of Rosen and the days the First and Second arcologies were built, featuring feasting, entertainment, and a celebration of what it means to be Fel-Arcad.

Pipeskating Showings In arcologies where the sport of pipeskating has been graduated to formal performance, grand showings are a periodic affair, where skaters from near and far are encouraged to come watch or participate, competing for prizes and repute. However, as the spirit of robust physicality and competition is somewhat un-Fel, it is more so the case that showings are organized with some support from a concerned arcology - such as one nearby - with the actual organization and conduction of the event being done by dedicated bodies.

Processional

Days marked by the Fel-Arcad that tie to the movement of the calendar itself, this being the procession of the astrolabic spheres.

The Wakes The Wakes are three events marked by the transition between seasons in the Radiance Cycle. From lumies to encendyr, encendyr to conflara, and then conflara back to lumies at the turn of a procession. This last one - the transition from one precession to the next - is particularly important as scholars believe that a second Refrain - should one hit - would do so at the turn of the procession calendar, right after the Astrolabe has finished one of its periodic resolutions.

Considering the first Refrain hit at the turn of the processional calendar, and the Astrolabe does indeed do a large resolution at this time, the thought is not without merit, and has been repeated enough times that the Fel and others have come to accept it as the case. Thus, the Wakes; days spent where the Fel hold vigils in their arcologies and monitor the Switchboard, watching and waiting to see what will be their fate; be it another sunrise as is usual, or the whistle through the stars and the rushing torrent of chalk that accompanies it.

Having somewhat accepted the inevitability of it, the Fel have chosen to face possible annihilation as s singular united force, all Fel who can standing in defiance of apathetic logics and with conviction in what they had built.

Following the turn of a procession and the not-annihilation of the known Switchboard, Wakes tend to prompt a fair bit of celebration afterwards; an expected result given the prospect of living another day.

Familial Rituals

The Fel-Arcad - much like us - lead lives marked by a number of intersections of the social and physiological to varying extents; birth, birthdays, marriages, having children, deaths and funerals. Each of these is accompanied with Fel customs surrounding them, with regards to how they are handled by the immediately concerned and the wider arcology body.

The addendum ‘Secular Ritualism and Civil Religion’ is recommended reading before this section.

Births and Birthdays

The Fel-Arcad are perhaps the Switchboard’s most avid practitioners of the Conjugation. The major ramifications of this are descendants being born into adolescence, but also being born with minds already containing discordant bits of information taken from the local environment and the wider Current, what is taken being a product of pure randomness.

Worth mentioning first however is that the birth of persons via the Conjugation usually features their emergence from an allocated locale. The developing conjugate is seeded or moved after seeding to a room where it is isolated from harm and saturated with calcic material to allow it to grow, other conditions put in place to ensure a maximally smooth development from discordant calcic storm to a completed person. During this process, interaction with the conjugate in a number of ways can somewhat skew the outcome of the ritual, with Fel parents choosing to perform a number of interactions such as conversing in the same room with the conjugate, singing to it, reading to it, and similar - much like they would a regular child - in a bid to actively integrate it with the family that it would eventually join.

Eventually, the conjugate is fully developed into a full being of third kin nature, and their emergence from the room where they are domiciled is marked as their day of birth, which will be marked in processions to come. The Fel have little by way of rituals or customs surrounding birthdays, and considering that Fel live a very long time, any that they choose tends to get somewhat boring after procession after procession of performing it. Fortunately, the arcologies are anything but devoid of attractions and delights for those interested, and the planning of ways to mark birthdays is something of a past time for them.

With regards to what follows birth, Fel sociologists denote it as a long period called ‘integration’. This stage is defined primarily by ‘rectifying’ the quirk of the Conjugation in that it bestows newborn third kin with large amounts of information but little context for any of it. Fel sociologists have observed in particular a pattern among many newborn Fel; the Conjugation manifests the physical structure of the arcology in a Fel’s mind - made possible by the physical calcic imprint it makes in local reality as it is up-taken by the developing conjugate - as a colossal, hollow shell; a decidedly fearsome thing to emerge into the world with as the dominant feature of one’s mind. The task of Fel parents and the wider arcology community is to ‘fill out’ this hollow shell by showing the newborn Fel the tangible and intangible things that define the arcology; the physical locales and things within it, as well as the social fabric of its in habitants.

This integration is carried out by and large by Fel parents, who make it a task to show their offspring around the arcologies to both acquaint them with it, the family they are a part of, the wider arcology community, and the much wider Fel civilization. The less informal, more structured integration is handled by the arcology educational bodies, that work to provide preliminary knowledge that gives additional context to much of the what the newborn Fel are born with.

Integration and the birth of new Fel isn’t without upsets; the Conjugation taking random things from the Current means that some Fel might be born with ideas, powers, or modifications to their shape that might raise some flags with regards to arcology administration. Fel born with teks in particular might not have the skill necessary to control them, and Fel born with certain notions on reality might have some additional work ahead of them with regards to dismissing those things. While the Fel do believe in forging one’s own path, there is the constraint that a bad apple spoils the much larger bunch. Undesired powers can somewhat easily be ablated using the Fel’s sembleworks, but conflicts of ideals are resolved by targeted instruction.

During this time - the integration can last for a fair bit, considering the size of the arcologies and the specific amount of instruction an individual Fel might need - the Fel develop as persons, going through a number of smaller practices as they age into adulthood. One such thing is the process of taking one’s own name, which is afforded a fair bit of importance in Fel society. But much of it is primarily learning to function optimally alongside other Fel and within the arcologies.

Unions

For one point, the Fel-Arcad are somewhat divided on the methodology of their marriage equivalent. For some Fel, the process need not be an immensely public one, with the entirety of their getting married being all interested parties filling necessary documentation at the Soleri population offices and organizing for housing rearrangements. For other Fel, it’s a fairly more visual affair.

The differ immediately from our own wedding ceremonies in the broad elimination of gendered roles for actors; brides, grooms, bridesmaids and groomsmen. Much of the differentiation between parties is done by grouping the one who initiated or proposed the union, and the one who was proposed to, with both parties then having those who represent them - family, friends and all - in attendance. The proposing party thus takes a sort of ‘superior’ role in the undertakings, though it is hardly manifested in anything past the social acknowledgement that they put things into motion. In Fel fashion, all parties are treated as equally as possible, with conversation, cooperation and compromise being the guiding words.

Roles such as the best man and maid-of-honor are adjusted accordingly, being merely the chosen person or persons by both or all parties involved in the union. In place of an officiant, one of the Soleri is the one in charge of ‘legitimizing’ the union, acting as a cross between a priestly figure and an administrative one. Other roles - such as the ushers, readers, flower girl and ring-bearer - are replaced by volunteer Soleri in most cases, or by the family members of those unifying.

The Soleri are particularly important figures in Fel unions, as for one, the lack of a historical, transcendental or similar basis for the unions the Fel-Arcad hold - differing from the other great families - results in virtually unlimited leeway to conduct the whole ceremony as the participants see fit. As such, the unifying parties tend to consult with the Soleri who in this instance and many others serve as Fel-Arcad cultural ‘consultants’ or so, and they aid in shaping Fel ceremony in a manner that the parties find satisfactory. As such, Fel-Arcad wedding custom is less so a rigorous series of steps and sub-rituals, but rather broad pools of things that need to be done - the preparation, the pre-ceremony, the ceremony itself, the post-ceremony, reception and after-party, as we tend to do it - and thus the opportunity to fill these pools as one sees fit. Working with Soleri ‘cultural consultants’ aid aspiring Fel in thus shaping the on-goings of ceremony as they see fit, making the entire endeavor a unique one from instance to instance. Consequently, these planned unions are learning opportunities for the Soleri themselves, who use them to catalogue the gradual growth and evolution of Fel culture.

However, there is one Fel custom that sets them apart in particular. The Fel are extensive takers and givers of cultural aesthetics, practices and material, with Fel borrowing such from the various peoples across the Dancirah, and others doing the same to the Fel in turn. But one custom that remains distinctly Fel-Arcad is that of Tarsals.

In the before-times, when the Fel were still Arcad, the Danseers walked the stars, and the Minds warred for the right to inherit the Switchboard, the First Thinkers adjusted their combative doctrine to account for - of all things - the utility of the shapes the Third Kin had adopted. It did not take them long to realize that much of the Kin’s prowess in battle and other things stemmed from their possession of arms and legs, and though the Minds had their proto equivalents, there was an unmistakable dexterity with which the Kin did their things, and a strange romanticism that came as a consequence of it; the Minds realizing that the Kin’s power over weft and stride was manifested - quite literally - in the play of their hands, fingers, feet and toes.

To say that the First Thinkers then made it a point to target the limbs of the Kin as combat doctrine is ascribing to them a cruelty that their proto-cognitions were arguably incapable of; for it wasn’t cruelty at all, but rather a simplistic understanding of cause and effect, a mathematics stilling in how raw it was. The effects were immediately observed by the Kin, and the reason why wasn’t particularly beyond them. All the same, however, it instilled a fear in the Third Kin that went beyond the mere fear of injury and the enemy that inflicted it, but graduated into a fear of elimination of what they were, by an enemy that had grown to understand what that was, and had evidently chosen to hate it.

It particularly affected the Arcad of the day, who were the foremost in inquiry on the matters of shape. To have their very shapes then, face a deliberate form of attack was an affront without recourse. Recourse from the Minds that is. For the Fel, they made it a point to train and deploy personnel that were armed with the budding toolkit of what would become the Fel’s sembleworkers. Beginning first as a natural progression of the combat medic, the earliest sembleworkers served to repair the Fel-Arcad’s bodies and preserve their shapes even out in the field, in direct defiance of the Minds that sought to scour them from the face of the Switchboard.

One of the immediate problems they ran into, however, was that shaping certain parts of the lattice without access to a fully-kitted sembleworks was a daunting task. Full-sized spinmetal looms can easily occupy multiple square meters of space, and need to be supplied with thermal power, coolant, and bales and bales of lattice material - all of which were logistical nightmares for any kind of military effort. As such, the field sembleworkers carried only smaller, more portable looms that could be set up and operated in outposts, basecamps - the like - and used to repair the damaged lattices of the Arcad and others who were comfortable with subjecting themselves to their experimental practices. The problem that remained however, was that shaping certain smaller and more intricate parts of the lattice - such as the hands, fingers, feet and toes - was nearly impossible even on the best designed looms in the hands of the most skilled sembleworkers. Shaping arms and legs was easy, but everything below them required evac to an early arcology with a full-sized sembleworkers - something that was neither guaranteed nor easy in wartime.

So what then?

While it was difficult to build entirely new parts - harvesting lattice from the subject and spinning it into the parts needed - it was possible to graft existing ones onto a subject. If parts that couldn’t be made were donated from other parties, the field looms and sembleworkers were capable of grafting those to subjects who had lost them, spinning new forearms and legs for those who lost them, and attaching donor phalanges when available. Ass such, the Fel began a custom of donating fingers to the squad members of those who had lost them. In a five-man squad where one had lost a hand, donor fingers from all other members was enough to reconstruct a new one for them. When they could then return to arcology bases with full sembleworks, donor fingers could be returned to their original owners, and new ones spun for the one who had lost them.

The practice graduated somewhat to a new form, where donated fingers were not returned, but rather stayed with the one who received them, often as a bit of symbology of what both donor and receiver had endured together. The custom is rumored to have begun though, when the Danseers cottoned on to it and joined in giving fingers to maimed comrades. For Fel who received a Danseer’s finger and wanted to return it later, however, they often quickly learned that Danseers were an elusive bunch, and inquiries into the location of a Danseer donor usually revealed that they were fighting on the other side of the Switchboard. And so the fingers were kept, and remained as a sign of when Kin had been there for Kin; when one would otherwise have been unable to keep moving forward, others were there to give parts of their shape to complete another’s.

The end of the praxis conflicts didn’t end the custom however, and it took on a new form; an expression of deep interpersonal closeness. For the Arcad and later the Fel-Arcad, giving a finger to someone was followed by taking one of theirs, and wearing parts of one on the other bore a symbology of closeness so firm that it was quite literally having an other be a part of you. The custom graduated from fingers too, with wedding Fel taking just about any part of the other person that was ready to be gifted and they ready to receive; horns, tails, wings, whole limbs, eyes, teeth, parts of the face - everything viewed as outlandish or extreme simply needed to be done once to warm others to the idea.

And as such, it became a Fel-Arcad marriage custom, that at some point in the proceedings of wedding any number of Fel, one will take a part of the other, and the other will take a part of one, old wholes becoming new wholes, and an old lattice gaining a newness to it that comes from becoming impossibly close to another.

Death

The Fel-Arcad live a long time, the upper limit of Fel lifespans reaching five hundred processions. It has given them something of a differing perspective on death.

What shapes the perceptions of death in the Switchboard are primarily the lifespan inequality between the great families, and the awareness of the Calcic Current; the means by which all that ever was becomes what is, and what is to come. In a sense, the Switchboard features elements of partial reincarnation, wherein parts of those that have come and gone are reborn in those who come newly, be it shape or memories or powers. The Sil’khan are particularly tied with the Current, in that they live short, explosive lives that return plentiful material to the Current that returns fairly quickly into circulation in the Dancirah. The Vahnkin are somewhat locked out of the Current, there being some obstacles between Vahnkin lattices returning to the Current. The Lancasters - comparatively - do not bestow much upon the procession of ledgers.

The Fel are perhaps the most different. The Fel live long and reproduce infrequently, lacking the drive to perpetuate themselves relative to the drive to perpetuate their ideas. Living long means that few Fel die, but when they do, they return immense material to the Current. All that they are, accumulated over hundreds of processions, is suffused into the sea of ledgers and redistributed throughout the Dancirah to all who are between the states of conception and birth, and open to receiving boons from the Current by means of the Conjugation. The Sil’khan return mostly raw power to the Current, but the Fel return knowledge - entire libraries of it - making the death of old Fel a noteworthy affair.

But the Fel themselves have a decidedly peaceable relationship with death. Other families make immense affairs out of funerary practices - particularly the Sil’khan who are already a boisterous people - but the Fel do not. Living as long as they do means that just about every Fel has amble time for deliberation on the matter, and many reach the conclusion that there is little reason behind losing anything valuable over the inevitable. The Fel value the time that they are here, and make little noise over the transition to the beyond.

The Fel do little by way of mourning, their own rituals around the entire affair being an acknowledgement of the life lived, the impact it rendered, and the hole it will leave behind now that it’s gone. This is done in quiet ceremonies defined by selective attendance and briefness in execution, giving many outsiders the sense that the Fel do not wish to dwell on the matter as much as possible, while still maintaining a semblance of dignity around the entire affair. Much of that is handled by arcology administration, which is tasked additionally with informing relevant parties of the demise - employers, social circles, the like - and sending a token of condolences to the bereaved. Handling of leftover assets - the execution of the will - is the task of the Soleri as well.

The handling of the bodies of the deceased is usually the task of arcology administration as well. Generally, the bodies of Fel-Arcad are processed; the lattice is ablated, stripped from the straits and harvested for usage in the sembleworks to aid others in need of lattice material, and the straits are integrated into an arcology’s curlicue. It is these straits of deceased persons that constitutes the bulk of the growing material of an arcology’s central curlicue, the size of the curlicue in turn being an apt representation of the age of the arcology and the lives lived by those dwelling within it. That being said, the Fel do honor requests by the deceased on how their bodies are handled that differ from the conventional, understanding that - for some - it matters how they are treated even beyond their ability to actively take issue with the matter if they are not handled as they’d like.

Perhaps the most jarring characteristic of how the Fel handle death is not even the handling of it itself, but what comes after; a stunning return to normalcy. Those who know better know that it is not the Fel have little regard for the affair, but rather that they understand that the living take precedence over those who have passed. The dead are spared thoughts, words, and dignity, but little by way of time, the latter being something preferentially afforded to those who still live.

STRATA THREE

09. Naming & Language

On matters of naming and language.

Naming a Fel

The Fel-Arcad value names as a means of connecting individual members to the Fel-Arcad, their families and their birth arcologies. The many uses that the Fel seek to satisfy with their names thus means that Fel are given and take many - as many as four or five - and use them as they see fit.

The first name many Fel have is obtained from the discordant sea of contextually-lacking knowledge that fills the mind of every subject born via the Conjugation. From this veritably titanic pool of lexicographical junk, a newborn Fel will pick a word that seems the least errant of them all as their name. This is no hard rule however, and thus many new Fel take rather strange initial names, such as proper nouns for places and things. This name in particular isn’t used very long, and serves the purpose of simplifying the task of addressing a newborn Fel.

The second name Fel are given is one chosen by their immediate or most relevant parentage. This one tends to be used for much longer, and serves as the means of being addressed that is used in between the first name obtained from the current, and the third name; the one taken for the self. When the ‘family’ name - the one given by parentage - is eventually retired from foremost use, it tends to become either our equivalent for a last name or middle name, or abandoned altogether.

The third name - the one taken for the self - is usually done in a small ceremony, and generally occurs after having attained maturity or sometime after that. This name is the one most Fel will use until their demise, unless they choose to take new ones and retire the old to lesser positions.

The Fel take a number of additional names. Foremost among them is the name of their arcology, which Fel tend to use as a last name when outside their arcology, such as in the company of other Fel from other arcologies, or among personage of other great families. When within the arcologies, Fel use their family names where necessary, or continue to use the name of their arcology as a sort of statement; that they see themselves as a member of the much larger arcology family than a small subdivision of it. Some other names are also given as ‘gifts’ from certain figures or groups, such as names issued by Soleri, the wider arcology population, or other more esoteric figures. Fel who undergo unions with other Fel often take new family names for themselves, either entirely new ones are combinations of old ones, or they too simply use the arcology name out of equal parts convenience and what it represents.

In some instances, Fel who’ve left the arcologies - either voluntarily or as punishment - take on names reflective of this.

Name Patterns

As a preface, the naming patterns utilized in Samsara borrow from real world cultures as an etymological root, and then are skewed somewhat to my tastes and intent to make them jive with the design language of the verse. Doing so allows for a name to be identified as originating from a certain family - via recognizing common through lines - which is a worldbuilding win condition that I am not particularly willing to compromise on.

Fel-Arcad names draw from a number broad root pools;

• Eastern nations and cultures in our own world
• Names of subjects of horticultural and related interest; flowers, trees, fruit, etc.

Pool One consist of the following nations;

• China
• Japan
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Thailand
• Vietnam
• Indonesia

Pool Two is a mix between names borrowed from real world nature, as well as names of the various flowers in the Switchboard, described in Switchboard Flora.

In addition to this, various groups and factions within the Fel have onomastic modifications to their base names as signifiers of various allegiances;

• The Feljourn often take Sil’khan names, or append ‘Sil’ or ‘Khan’ to a name they already bear. Some append syllables or take modifications of the names of the Sil’khan Skydancers as names, and some take the names of distant locales - often the farthest distances they’ve gone - as names as well, particularly to serve the role of the arcology name.
• Rosenthalists have a habit of calling themselves ‘Arcad’ in place of family and arcology names, or use the name of the Rosenthalist Court they are a member of as their family name. Nothing replaces their arcology name, as they do not subscribe to them, and thus reject the very concept. Some are rather overt with their allegiance, taking on ‘Ros’ or ‘Rosen’ in their own names.
• Soleri take on names that allude to the stars, planets and the cosmos.
• Fel-Arcad artists and artisans take their profession as a name, or a corruption of the word itself or words relating to it. There are many Fel bearing the names Painter, Weaver, Mason, Spinner, and the like. Sembleworkers in particular are fond of names referring to spinning, weaving and the like.

Naming Places

Arcology names follow fairly simple syntax; the name of the arcology itself - usually picked by its founding Soleri - and the name of the planet it is situated upon. Arcologies generally take floricultural names, and planet names are issued by relevant governing cartography bodies that have surveyed the planet before, or issued by the founding Soleri if the Fel themselves are the first to chart the planet in public records. Some arcologies with more specific purposes - such as resource extraction, agriculture, logistics, sembleworks and military - may have these included in their names as well.

Consider the following examples; the full name is provided, followed by possible colloquial designations.

• Hyacinth-Ascar-B-42

  • Hyacinth-42
  • HyAs-B42
  • HA-B42

• Chrysantheum-Malokart-899 Military Arcology

  • ChryMalo MiliArco
  • CM-899 MA

• Daffodil-Jaril-19 ArcolNet Hub Arcology

  • Daffodil NetArco
  • DJ-19 NArco

• Lilac-Helting-E33 Factory Arcology

  • LiHel Super-Manufac
  • L-Helting FactoArco
  • LH-E33 S-Manu

The Fel generally have an aversion towards naming places or other significant things after certain persons, in a bid to not elevate some people above others in the minds of observers. As such, they do tend to use a number of neutral terms in their nomenclature, as well as making extensive use of numerical (1, 2, 3, first, third, eighth) and spatial (north, south, upper, lower, central) designations for various things.

Other subsets of the Fel - such as Rosenthalists and the Feljourn - are less inclined to follow this particular rule, attaching little more importance to the name of a place beyond the immediate relevance of that name to the subject that bears it. The Feljourn are particularly found of naming faraway places and the paths through the cosmos to reach them after the ones who walked those paths and found those places, and the daring nature of the Feljourn has made it such that many of the Switchboard’s beaten paths through the stars bear Feljourn names. The Rosenthalists are particularly fond of naming things after Arcad Rosen and his descendants, or after relevant Rosenthalist thinkers and ideologues.

Language

At the dawn of the Third Kin, they all arose speaking a fairly elementary proto-language. As they spread across the astrolabic spheres and gradually began to differentiate into the families at the time, they naturally evolved differing languages as well, reflective of their individual and collective natures.

The first language spoken by the Third Kin was, rather simply, dubbed the ‘Kinspeak’ by historians on the matter. Recognized for what it was and appropriately named so, the Third Kin at the time spoke it in the company of other Third Kin that differed from their own families, and reverted to the slowly emerging second generation tongues in the company of their own folk.

The earliest Arcad’s language evolved primarily around the time of the construction of the First Arcology at Rosenthal. As the Arcad of the time were compelled into working together and thus interacting fairly closely with one another, their language gradually took form, reaching a state of differentiation from the Kinspeak that historians came to call Thalian. The Arcad majorly spoke Thalian for much of the time that they operated in the Switchboard, and Thalian held sway over the Arcad right up until the Refrain.

When the Arcad became the Fel-Arcad and began their nomadic period, Thalian was the language they spoke, but it gradually became corrupted as the Fel-Arcad moved and dwelt among the various other denizens and locales of the Switchboard, becoming a collection of slightly differing ‘pidgins’ that were localized to various sectors of the Switchboard. As Fel-Arcad gradually began to come together again in larger groups, the pidgins began to homogenize into a new tongue. These Losthals or ‘lost Thalian’ dialects would later come to be studied in the formation of the larger tongue used by the vast majority of the Dancirah.

With the formation of Sanscrii and the homogenization of the Losthals, Fel-Arcad linguists settled to the task of the formation of a new language that would enter the service of the Fel-Arcad, with the intention that it be used for possibly, until the extinction of the Fel-Arcad as a people. Endless deliberation led to the formation of the Sanscryvan, the most widely-accepted vernacular for the Fel-Arcad and sees extensive use in majorly Fel circles such as within arcologies.

However, it became necessary for there to be a means to communicate among other peoples in the Switchboard, a ‘lingua franca’ that would be adopted into Dancirah-wide use. Fel-Arcad linguists met with the then Danseers, Lancasters and some Vahnkin to pool their ideas together in a series of conventions and many processions of study and iteration, leading eventually to the formation of the New Danciran Standard, which saw widespread adoption among the denizens of the Dancirah, but not nearly as much proliferation among the Vahnkin and other dwellers in Isalveh, the Challenger Dark.

The NDS’s roots being primarily Sanscryvan gave the Fel-Arcad an advantage in learning it, but this reason is cited as why the kin of Vahn were disinclined to using it, seeing it as one of the many ‘creations of the sky’ they were slowly growing to view with disdain.

As such, Sanscryvan or ‘Scryvan’ became the commonly used tongue by Fel-Arcad amongst themselves, with courtesy demanding they employ NDS or ‘Standard’ in the presence of others.

Listeners have described the various Fel-Arcad tongues as long-winded, elegantly cadenced, and downright musical. Much Fel-Arcad discussion sounds like singing, or poetry recitations, with truly angry exhortations delivered in Scryvan mimicking theatrical displays. Some have disapprovingly called it a ‘tongue of weaklings’ or ‘the verbal preening of self-important birds’. While the Fel-Arcad aren’t ones to be particularly wounded by such remarks, it was taken into consideration during the creation of the Standard.

10. Faith & Religion

The Fel-Arcad as a people are largely atheistic. Concrete records of their history allows for the tracing of their descent from the origination of all Third Kin down to now, and going through this history has led most to conclude that no power guided the choices made and their resultants other than mundane calcic mechanics. That being said, there are some who do hold some certain figures, constructs and concepts in high regard, and while it can be said that there are subtle or even overt religious undertones exhibited by members of given groups, deeper inquiry will lead to the conclusion that ‘worship’ of ‘godlike figures’ isn’t being practiced.

The Fel-Arcad Peoples

The Nadiran Encompassing the vast majority of the Fel-Arcad are the Nadiran, Fel-Arcad who by and large subscribe to the teachings of the ArcDanseer Nadira (hence the name) conveyed through the Annals of the Eight, inhabit the various arcologies of the Switchboard and adhere to the Semblance Doctrine.

The Nadiran Fel-Arcad are largely a peaceful, pacifistic people, dwelling in the various arcologies in the Switchboard, spending their days in service of themselves through artistic, scientific and leisurely pursuits, as well as serving fellow Fel-Arcad kind through the upkeep of the arcologies they dwell within.

As processions past, the generation of Fel-Arcad who experienced the days of the nomadic period is slowly phased out, as the number of Fel-Arcad who’ve known no other life outside the arcologies gradually grows. The Nadiran are largely satisfied with their place in the Dancirah, with few drawn to the days as their kin had once lived, or as the Feljourn live even now. Chief among their worries, however, remains an ever-present fear of a Second Refrain. All Nadiran have studied the works that recorded their past, and all know that no arcology would be safe from another of the Astrolabe’s great resolutions of its calculus. Even as they admire the walls of the nigh-utopic abodes they dwell in, none sits as easily as they’d like knowing how easily and suddenly it can be ripped away.

This does little to deter the Nadiran, however, who live full lives in spite of this hanging blade above their heads, carving an undeniable space for themselves in the Switchboard.

The Feljourn The Second Arcology - the Sanscrii arcology - brought an end to the nomadic period the Fel-Arcad underwent - but it did not bring about an end to nomadic Fel-Arcad. Though many answered the call to come, build and inhabit the new arcology that would house their people, many Fel-Arcad had grown accustomed to the star-wilds, finding that they rather enjoyed their nomadic lifestyles. As such, many Fel-Arcad did not answer this call, and refused to return to the arcologies, choosing instead to wander the stars. They came to be known as the Feljourn.

This schism caused considerable concern among many Fel-Arcad, whose near-deification of the arcologies led them to see a voluntary renouncement of them as beyond conception, with some even denouncing it as heresy. And while many Fel-Arcad, particularly Soleri and those particularly devoted to them and what they stood for, argued that returning to the arcologies was almost mandatory - a service to all Fel-Arcad and a continuation of custom that could not be shirked - a fair bit more were disinclined to make much of the Feljourn, seeing them as not much different from the Danseers who still roamed the Dancirah.

The Feljourn, however, began to grow. Naturally they did so as peoples tend to do so, but also they found that their ranks began to swell as some Fel-Arcad were drawn to their manner of living, and chose to voluntarily leave the arcologies in pursuit of the many stories and promises that naturally formed around the Feljourn as they journeyed the stars. Similarly, Fel-Arcad who for one reason or another found themselves ousted from the arcologies - often due to exile as a punishment for some offence - easily found a home among the Feljourn and their traveling bands. The growth of the Feljourn fed their own growth, and more were drawn to their ranks with the passage of time.

This greatly concerned the Soleri. Arcologies are complex concepts both on paper and in physical form, and core to the functioning of any arcology is a critical population of inhabitants who are capable of working to upkeep the arcology - a task that still exists despite the various autonomous systems that exist within them. Many of the Fel-Arcad abandoning the arcologies to sail the stars were demographically young, strong and often were the few among the Fel-Arcad who possessed the Strider Protocol. It posed a huge threat of manpower loss to the Soleri, and left unchecked, it could lead to the degradation of the standards of living within the arcologies, which would prompt more migration out of them, sealing their fate to collapse entirely. This, they felt, would ripple and cascade through the Switchboard, and lead to a chain reaction of collapse. A disaster scenario. They had to find a means to prevent this.

They chose to make a case against the Feljourn, some parts of it fair criticism, but plenty of it viewable as a malicious move to smear them. They chose to portray the Feljourn as a singular mass populated by bands of exiled outlaws and criminals, as well as ungrateful Fel-Arcad who had let ‘a few years of hardship’ forget their rich heritage. Additionally, they took many of the Feljourn tales - often dominated by less-than-savory (by Fel-Arcad metrics, anyway) characters doing questionable things - and skewed them just a tad bit blacker, portraying Feljourn ‘heroes’ and noteworthy characters as morally grey, casual users of violence so long as it gave results, and driven by a strange madness to see, take - but never build and inhabit. They peddled this sentiment among the arcology-dwelling Fel-Arcad, and it was met with a fair bit of success as the Fel-Arcad found the slowly emerging Feljourn book of principles to not be particularly in line with their own.

The Feljourn, however, prepared a rejoinder that was anything but negligible. Scholarly Feljourn in their ranks prepared papers and material denouncing the arcologies, with some of the more zealous ones demanding for their total abolishment. The grounds upon which they stood was evidence that showed arcologies were ready breeding grounds for a litany of social ills, served as stomping grounds for tyrannical dictator Soleri, responsible for the pacification of the Fel-Arcad into a docile-to-a-fault people, excellent targets in times of conflict, and their centralization of populations the whole reason why the Refrain was so catastrophic in the first place. They argued that none of the benefits of the arcologies outweighed the drawbacks, or even began to outweigh the richness of experience that was traversing the Dancirah.

So spirited and malicious were the conflicts between the Feljourn and the Soleri that the Feljourn began a practice of renouncing relation to their arcology-dwelling kin altogether, symbolically manifested as severing the horns the Fel are known for. Inevitably, they would grow back, but this was intended as horns grown while outside in the Starwylds have a markedly different appearance from those grown while dwelling in the arcologies, some remarking that they take on a wilder, stronger look, grow slightly bigger (theorized to be from dwelling in environments with reduced gravity) and taking on a patterning that seemingly resembles the night sky. Being the Fel cultural purists that the Soleri are, this was taken about as well as one would expect, with many Soleri making their arcologies decidedly more inaccessible to Feljourn visitors, and Fel who were aligned with those Soleri viewing associating with Feljourn as an act of social suicide.

With scholars on either side locked in yet another of the Fel-Arcad’s seemingly innumerable philosophical conflicts, laypeople on either side were far more inclined to deal with each other in trade and commerce, the Feljourn proving splendid hires for various tasks in the Switchboard, as they operated much like the Danseers, but were more palatable to the Fel-Arcad as they were functionally cousins. As a nomadic people, they served to move goods and information across the Switchboard, and their work established many of the most plied routes through the stars in the Switchboard, establishing infrastructure such as waystations which would prove particularly useful to the Sil’khan when they would emerge a fair bit later.

The Feljourn espouse a strong doctrine of freedom and discovery, sharing the Sil’khan quality of aiming to see as much of the Switchboard as possible. Most Feljourn are thus Striders rather than solely Weavers as most Fel-Arcad are. In many ways they are like the Sil’khan, though they do espouse many Fel-Arcad principles, with many still adhering to the Nadirian Semblance Doctrine and having strong beliefs on cohabiting with the Switchboard rather than merely taking from it, through principles of eco-conservation and using weave and the ritualism to satisfy their various needs. It is on this latter point that the Feljourn differ considerably from the Danseers and the Sil’khan, in that in their travels, they aim not to destroy or consume the Switchboard as they pass through it, taking in its various sights, drinking of the many boons leftover from yesterdays - and leaving it better than they met it for future generations to come.

In clinging to their Fel-Arcad roots, some bands of Feljourn still take Curlicue cuttings with them, with Fel-Arcad writings and doctrine on them, due to their inability to take a whole Curlicue tree with them. While some Feljourn integrate with other families or form their own non-arcology settlements, most are exclusively nomads, roaming the stars to find meaning beyond the confines of the domiciles of their ancestor-kin.

While most arcology-dwelling Fel-Arcad are mostly indifferent to the Feljourn, sentiment ranging from admiration of the bravery of leaving the near-utopic conditions of the arcology, to derision of their supposed stupidity for that very reason, many do not deny the usefulness they serve as being a bridge between arcologies and the wider Switchboard, the Feljourn being major drivers of trade and commerce, as well as making fairly dependable mercenaries and contracted workers. In a truly ironic display, Soleri who are prone to more direct action against colleagues viewed as rivals to them are not above hiring less-than-scrupulous Feljourn for their backhanded misdeeds.

The Rosenthalists The Rosenthalists pride themselves as ‘Arcad purists’ and the shape of this ‘purism’ has led to non-trivial amounts of internal strife between them and other groups of Fel-Arcad.

The Rosenthalists form an order that chooses to follow their interpretation of an ‘old ways’ of how the Fel-Arcad existed. They reject the teachings of ArcDanseer Nadira for various reasons; believing their claims of tutelage under Arcad Rosen to be unprovable at best, outright lies at worst, believing that a non-Arcad shouldn’t have so much sway over Arcad society, believing the Semblance Doctrine to be nonsensical and actively working towards a Second Refrain, and believing the Second Arcology to be blasphemy against the first arcology built by Arcad Rosen. They refuse to call themselves ‘Fel’-Arcad, arguing that they shouldn’t be defined by catastrophe.

Needless to say, they abhor the current state of the Fel-Arcad, and see it as something in need of fixing. The means of doing this, they believe, is written in the Redsight section of The Farseer’s Lament, believing it to be the true writings of Arcad Rosen, and thus the only instruction they should follow. They argue that the Redsight was the true vision of Arcad Rosen; an Arcad peoples that subdued all others, permeating throughout the Dancirah, and only when there was an Arcad majority could they realize the dreams of the younger Arcad Rosen, who espoused pacifism and nonviolently dwelling in the Dancirah - a future only possible among Fel-Arcad.

The methods of working towards this end vary as do the various sub-factions within the Rosenthalists. Some choose to employ subterfuge and clandestine methods to take control of arcologies run by other groups, rallying them to join the wider Rosenthalist cause. Some Rosenthalists are militant, and choose to attack arcologies and other families, expanding their stellar territory through conquest. Their practice of collapsing opposing arcologies has an element of ceremony around it, with raiding parties seen as crusading soldiers and being met with rewards and repute for successful excursions.

A notable group among the Rosenthalists consider themselves to have descended directly from Arcad Rosen, though the proof of this claim remains fairly shaky. Nonetheless, they rule the Rosenthalists as a monarchy rules a kingdom, and they are believed to be the only ones able to build ‘righteous’ arcologies as the direct descendants of Arcad Rosen. Asides from these Rosenthal Arcologies, the actions of the Rosenthalists leave many Black Arcologies in their wake. These black arcologies have become hubs in the Switchboard for all sorts of criminality, ranging from acquiring questionable lattice-grafts, potent chemistries, dangerous and banned ritual schema, stolen maps, outlawed weapons and technologies, and ancient vault objects of interest.

As a result of the perceived heresy of the ArcDanseer, many Rosenthalists despise the Danseers and the Sil’khan by extension, and have made it a point to refuse dealings with them, or be particularly brutal to those at their mercy. Many view the Sil’khan to be the largest stumbling block to the Redsight future, as the Sil’khan as a people are powerful Striders and fighters and firm allies of the Fel-Arcad, particularly the Nadiran. Within the darkest covens of the blackest arcologies, it is rumored that Rosenthalist sembleworkers tear open the weave of captured Sil’khan, seeking to understand more about lattices and the Strider Protocol from these ‘manufactured’ beings.

Their rejection of the Semblance Doctrine is noteworthy as well, at its crux being the fact it was proposed by the ArcDanseer, as well as a general conviction of the belief the Current is not something fallible as the Nadiran believe. Coupled with the writings of the Brass Monastery on the nature of the Astrolabe, they reach a series of conclusions on the Semblance Doctrine;

• The Current is a resultant of the calculus of the Astrolabe, and thus cannot simply ‘make mistakes’ as the Semblance Doctrine claims it does. This means that such thing as a ‘wrong body’ doesn’t exist, and that bodies issued to all are exactly that which they require for their tenure.
• The various modifications to the self being made by semblance-adhering Fel-Arcad is ‘diluting’ the Current, filling it with meaningless chalk in the form of grafts that only had use to their owner in their time. This dilution results in a decline in the information mass of what is passed on to new generations of Third Kin born in the Switchboard, a literal decline in the quality of people produced.
• Building off of the prior point, some conclude that this ‘clogging’ of the current with spun chalk is building towards a Second Refrain.
• Some argue that the Fel-Arcad’s obsession with this reconciliation has resulted in their elimination of all struggle in their lives; that the only hurdle one arises to solve is that of achieving a body they are most satisfied with, and thus are disinclined to do much else than merely exist and indulging in leisurely pursuits. They argue that growth comes through strife, and that there is little growth being done in reconciling a mind believed to be without flaw with a body that differs.
• Building off the latter of the final point, they ask why it is believed the mind is pure and without fault, while the body is the seat of all insecurity and incompletion. They argue instead that the pursuit of mental goals, doing and learning things - hard things - instead of a self-indulgent, nigh-narcissistic focus on the self would do better for many in the long run, and in finding true satisfaction with oneself.

They’ve attracted a fair bit of criticism on this point however - even among more ‘moderate’ Rosenthalists, in pockets of intolerance exhibited within them, such as parent-figures towards progeny. Communities of Rosenthalists often make it a point to somewhat exclude those who engage with the Sembleworks, either through espousing its ideals, working with it, or taking on grafts from it of their own. Very common among stringent Rosenthalist ideologues are ablation of the various bodily parts that differentiate the Fel-Arcad from other denizens of the Switchboard - their sixth fingers, horns and tails - as a symbolic rejection of what they view as the dysgenic burdens.

While some arcologies choose to oust pockets of Rosenthalists sentiment that form, others view this as a draconian measure, choosing instead to allow them exist somewhat separately from the rest of the population, with the aim that they can be swayed from their manner of thinking. The Rosenthalists remain a concern to many Fel-Arcad all the same however, particularly the Nadiran who they most directly oppose on many fronts. The Feljourn remain mostly indifferent to them, with the somewhat unsavory dealings of black arcologies often being in demand by others, and the Feljourn acting as a suitable liaison between black arcologies and prospective clientele.

More writ on the Rosenthalists is found in the Fel-Arcad addendum on the subject.

11. Factions, Philosophies & Divides

Differing somewhat from the various faiths held by the Fel-Arcad are some of the resultant factions from the various philosophies that have evolved in their time in the Switchboard, and the ideological divides formed between them. While some manage to coexist with each other and the various faiths, others hold considerable distrust or violent malice towards the others.

The Factions

The Brass Monastery The Brass Monastery is a multi-family but primarily Fel-Arcad coalition force that formed as a response to the Refrain. They begin primarily as Fel-Arcad and Danseers who ventured out into the astrolabic cradle to recover what they could from the ruins of the Refrain, but eventually grew to something greater; first, scholars who began studying the Astrolabe to understand what could have caused the Refrain, and then later a self-appointed force charged with defending the Astrolabe from external threats.

The Fel-Arcad of the Brass Monastery take great interest in the Current, a physical phenomena in the Switchboard that saw mundane chalk be formed and woven into the many things and beings that occupied the Switchboard, and later returning to it as mundane chalk when those things had reached the ends of their tenure; all chalk in the Switchboard thus exists in a cyclical state, being woven into weave, frayed with age, and returning as ribbon back to the Current.

Studying what they knew about the past resolutions of the Astrolabe, then, they concluded that the Refrain - though catastrophic - was an inevitability; a means of paying back a debt owed to keep the Current functioning in the manner that it should, thus ensuring the continued existence of the Switchboard. While the Fel-Arcad and most others live with the fear of losing everything at the back of their minds permanently, the Fel-Arcad and others of the Brass Monastery are indifferent, having made piece with the Switchboard’s calculus.

They pose almost as a religious order, seemingly worshipping the Astrolabe and serving it, adopting practices such as cleaning the physical structure of the Astrolabe, feeding its measuring instruments with chalk from all corners of the Switchboard, performing various rituals, as well as personal practices such as modes of dressing and of course, protecting the physical structure.

There are some who believe the Brass Monastery aim to take over the role the Overseer Adamant Minds once had, and while they could never attain the observational reach possessed by the Minds, the Brass Monastery has made a point to study the larger ongoing events in the Switchboard, especially large-scale ledgerial casts which have been a particularly noteworthy driver of astrolabic resolutions. Rumor exists that the Monastery is a self-appointed arbiter of what ledgerial casts are allowed to take place, intervening with force of they felt the execution of a cast would be in opposition to their shadowy ambitions. They also have the Calcic Cartulary in their possession, as well as - though rumored - caches of the strongest rituals and Teks in the Dancirah. They remain the foremost body still aiming to crack the Cartulary, believing that schema relevant to the Astrolabe lay within.

Adding to the haze of rumor around them is the belief that some in their ranks - through extensive study of the Astrolabe’s clockwork mechanica - have somehow concocted an elementary means to view the future. The less responsible among them peddle these ‘future sights’ to interested parties who value such knowledge, though how accurate this practice really is remains dubious at best.

Their primary role remains the defense of the Astrolabe however, and they have established a naval blockade of starships and defensive installations on surrounding debris around the astrolabic cradle, preventing all unauthorized visitors from gaining access to the center of the Switchboard. As most denizens of the Switchboard choose to avoid things involving the Astrolabe to begin with, and even powerful organizations that could take on the Monastery also have a fair bit to lose, no other party in the Switchboard has tried to wrench control of the Astrolabe from the Brass Monastery, and they’ve been left to their devices, as it were.

The Brass Monastery thus continues to study the Astrolabe, and share their findings with the allied Fel-Arcad, who use it with the aim to discover a means to prevent a second Refrain. The Monastery merely scoffs, and the clocks on the Astrolabe continue to tick.

The Soleists Formed from the various Soleri, their followers and the Soleri Sanctums spanning multiple arcologies across the Dancirah, the Soleists have designated themselves as a foremost authority on all things arcologies; their founding, construction and management, as well as their qualities as artistic endeavors and the significance they hold to the Fel-Arcad people. They share a quality with the Rosenthalists in that they laud the First Arcology and the work of Arcad Rosen, but unlike them the Soleists aim to build arcologies that may one days surpass the near deified greatness of the First Arcology.

One would think they worshipped the arcologies then, though this is only partly true. Primarily, arcologies are treated as an artform, something to be observed, studied, preserved and allowed to proliferate, with the aim of capturing the minds of new artistically inclined Fel-Arcad, and expand the body of knowledge on arcologies through employing novel methods, media and design philosophies. All this is done in hope that they will one day build something that will rival the First Arcology at Rosenthal.

They find themselves in deep contention, thus, with the Rosenthalists who believe all arcologies after the first are foul mockeries of the first - and the Feljourn whose disposition towards arcologies ranges from minute indifference to demanding of their total deprecation.

Antamara Antamara is a faction born out of opposition to the Vahnkin and their inquiry and utilization of the Void. They cite a fear of the Second Refrain as their reasoning, and of their opinion that the sealing-off of access to the Void and the prohibition of its usage as a power is necessary to ensure it never happens.

Their ranks are populated by former members of many others; Brass Monastics who feel the Void adversely affects the operation of the Astrolabe find like-minded persons here, in addition to radical Soleists and Rosenthalists, the former seeing it as necessary to secure all the arcologies in the Switchboard from another Refrain, and latter in particular who mourn the loss of the First Arcology to the Refrain and blame the Vahnkin for it occurring, seeing it as an opportunity for payback.

The Antamarans hold the ultimate goal of closing the Challenger Horizon, the bridge between the Dancirah and the Challenger Dark, and they believe that by doing so, the Void will cease to exist in some manner, or at least be unable to be interacted with, reducing the computational load placed on the Astrolabe and delaying - if not averting - a second Refrain. They’ve thus organized themselves as a paramilitary fighting force, and their arcologies are used as staging grounds for offensives into the Void and against the Vahnkin.

While they do not have a concrete means to close the Challenger Horizon - for now - many believe that the means to do so lies at the tomb of the First Amaranth Sultan Vahn, or elsewhere in the Void, and various incursions into the depths of it are carried, aiming to plunder the Dark of its secrets. To expedite their efforts, they often work to destabilize the various Amaranth Sultanates, aiming to cripple their oppositional capacity and build a strong foothold for the Antamarans in the Void.

Their actions have led to immensely poor relations between Fel-Arcad and Vahnkin, even those who don’t find themselves particularly on one side or the other. Among those far more loyal to their sides however, the repercussions of the Antamaran’s crusade has backfired on arcologies throughout the Switchboard, and on individual Fel-Arcad as well.

Emergent Philosophies

The Fel-Arcad pride themselves on inquiry. Through constant discussion on subject matter, the Fel-Arcad hope to learn more of the wider the Switchboard and of the people in it. Occasionally, discoveries spawn new patterns of thinking, and these patterns take root among growing groups of Fel-Arcad. These ‘emergent philosophies’ can spawn factions of their own, but by design start fairly small.

The Diodaran Art Movement Begun by the artist Diodara, this movement of nouveau Fel-Arcad artists gather themselves under his tutelage, and learn from his works inspired by his various travels through the Switchboard. In particular, his art is defined by a belief that art is changed - if not entirely shaped - by facing adversity, and that true art is made by confronting various ills. He has thus encouraged those interested in his works to leave the utopic conditions of the arcology, believing that their nature has stifled the ability to make art.

Factional Arcologies

The divide in faiths and philosophies in the Fel-Arcad is more pronounced in some cases than others, and this has influenced the nature of arcologies throughout the Switchboard, with arcologies being controlled by various groups, occasionally to the exclusion of others. Considering any Fel-Arcad should they obtain a Curlicue seed and even a small helping of replichrome can build an arcology, it is fairly common for groups that find themselves being rejected or ousted by other arcologies to establish their own.

This is observed particularly in the case of the Rosenthalists, whose supremacist doctrine isn’t welcomed in most arcologies. Establishing arcologies of their own as a response, these ‘black arcologies’ as many outside the Fel-Arcad family have dubbed them are often hubs for ‘a more loosened serving of what the Fel-Arcad have to offer’. Ranging acquiring from questionable lattice-grafts to rare maps to outlawed weaponry, the Rosenthalist-run arcologies have many a thing for the morally-grey, discerning shopper. These arcologies cut themselves off from the wider arcology network, and operate almost as rogue nation-states breaking off from a whole. Old Spun Fel-Arcad that seek to continue their penance tend to serve as the lowest classes in these societies, with the Feljourn connecting them with others on the trade front.

Some arcologies make it a point to exclude the Rosenthalists, refusing to entertain their anti-Semblance doctrine. Others, such as those run by particularly fervent Soleri, refuse to have dealings with the Feljourn. In some arcologies where their convictions of pacifism are particularly strong, the Sekators aren’t given much freedom to act, and Antamara is treated similarly, their aggression towards the Vahnkin viewed as hateful. And conversely, there are arcologies run and populated majorly by members of all these groups, with their core doctrines overriding the baseline doctrine established in the Fey Curlicue, though they still adhere to some of these doctrines where it remains beneficial to do so.

And as a further note, while not necessarily a faction, fallen arcologies exist and dot the Switchboard, formerly thriving arcologies that for some reason, have collapsed and cease to function optimally. The reasons vary; internal unrest, external attack, critical failures in calcic mechanica, natural and artificial cataclysms, the list continues. Some people still live in these arcologies, unable for various reasons to leave, relying on their decaying infrastructure until it can support them no longer. Fallen arcologies are of a fair bit of interest to many parties, most of all Soleri who seek to study the cause of their collapse, followed by Feljourn seeking to plunder the wreckage and Rosenthalists looking for an easy way to secure a seat of power.

Closing Notes on the Factions

If we asked what is the archetypal regular Fel-Arcad then, we see that most of them adhere to the Eight, their writings serving as their primary source of moral instruction. Most Fel-Arcad also adhere to the Semblance Doctrine, believing that the Current may not be reliable as a physical phenomena, ‘reliable’ being a question of how commonly its apparent aims align with those of individual Fel-Arcad. Many border on milder forms of Soleism, holding the arcologies that house them and the people that keep them functional in high regard.

12. Education

While the Spyndl Academy remains chief among educational institutions in the Switchboard, individual families such as the Fel-Arcad have their own institutions as well, some serving as preparation to enter the Academy, while many others serve as alternatives, aiming to prepare members of the family different paths useful to both themselves and the family at large.

Speaking more specifically on the Fel-Arcad, their nature of arcology livings sees that schools - even with the aim to teach the same things and prepare their students fairly similarly - may still differ in some ways.

Schools among the Fel-Arcad are divided primarily by faction and intent, intent usually being to raise Fel-Arcad who will serve the aims of the faction. Thus, there is a fair number of them and fairly diverse in their offerings.

The Vision of Fel Development

Fel education frequently comes under fire by external critics, who view the endgame of Fel education to be not the ‘wholistic development of model denizens of the Dancirah’ as the Fel claim, but rather creating model cogs to fit into the larger arcology machine. In some veins, this critique is fairly correct; the Fel do indeed work to educate growing Fel to function maximally within the arcologies. That being said, their claim of a vision of wholistic development is hardly fraudulent or inaccurate, as the Fel do wholly believe that a model denizen of the Dancirah is an individual who espouses the principles of the arcology concept. That they also happen to be a maximally functional component in the largest cooperative manifestation of civilization that the Switchboard has seen, is the entire point.

To the Fel’s own credit, their education is begrudgingly acknowledged to be leagues ahead of the rest of the Dancirah’s with regards to structure of the entire affair, width and depth of the curriculum, applicability of the material, time expended in completing rounds of instruction, and high scores in auxiliary metrics such as funding, support services available for students, extracurriculars, personalized learning experiences, conduciveness of the environments and - this is the Switchboard after all - the survival rate of those who are admitted.

The Fel are great believers in the educational path being a personal one, and a one-size-fits-all approach - though cost effective - would not fit the vision that the Fel have for themselves as a people. The solution found by the Fel exploits the fact that the Fel typically live terribly long lives; teachers and learners exist in a constant dance of mobility, where teachers are free to use approaches that they feel work - within reason - and interested Fel can find teachers that work for them. Fel can jump in and drop out of the system as they feel like, reaching and earning milestone accomplishments that serve to certify them as competent in certain fields, and having earned the right to higher education where applicably.

This decidedly anarchic approach to education is somewhat theoretically tempered and practically preceded by more structured education, which aims to provide the Fel with elementary instruction on a wide variety of topics, with the aim to instill elementary competencies as well as stir interests in domains that can later be pursued as specialties.

The Fel general facilitate combination work-schooling, and the fact that education in arcologies is free up to certain point (at which most would already be multiple times more learned than very much of the Switchboard) means that many Fel are students in some way or another for very, very long times. Incurring virtually nothing by way of opportunity costs, the Fel pursue knowing for knowing’s sake, building the bodies of knowledge they drink from by virtue of bringing more unique minds to the table.

The Fel do earn some critique in the form of very little of their instruction being suited for training those who wish to leave - or even momentarily sojourn beyond the walls of - the arcologies. The Fel do have something by way of preparatory programs - existing with the aim of teaching elementary survival skills and similar - but it is generally understood by most the arcologies will do very little by way of preparing you for - as some would put it - betraying them. Fel who plan to leave the arcologies at any point find it more useful to accumulate knowledge from a variety of sources - combat-oriented chalkweaving, vehicle construction, maintenance and repair, planetary and interstellar navigation, striding, surviving, languages, flux diving - that aren’t explicitly labeled ‘skills and knowledge needed to survive outside the arcologies’, but inference and instructional guides made by those who’ve gone before advise on picking up before attempting to forge one’s own path beyond the replichrome walls.

Strata One - Elementary Institutions

• General instruction schools run by individual arcologies and their governments. These schools are geared towards the youngest Fel-Arcad, and aimed towards providing elementary skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic and foundational sciences, as well as interpretations of the various histories and written documents that surround the Fel-Arcad peoples. Considering that most Fel-Arcad are born through the Conjugation, they arise with a fair bit of knowledge on the world already, inherited from their ancestor-kin and from the history in the weave present in their arcology, and thus these primary institutions serve to complete their knowledge and give context for what they know.

• Advanced instruction schools run by individual arcologies and their governments as well. These schools are geared towards older, more learned Fel-Arcad, geared towards training them in more specialized fields, from culinary sciences to engineering to law. Advanced instruction institutions stand between general instruction and the more specialized institutions the Fel-Arcad offer.

• Schools of calcic instruction, centered primarily around calcic botany and the Ritualism. More succinctly known as the Nefelian Versits - named after the Skydancer of Dreams and Weave Nefelé - these schools pride themselves as being the Switchboard’s foremost institutions for the study of chalk and all things calcic, even more so than the Spyndl Academy, so much so that aspiring Academy Operators and those already in the force are encouraged and often compelled to take multiple processions of classes at a Versit. The High Versit serves as a governing body and standards board for Versits in each arcology, and has their own central institution for deep inquiry into the nature of weave.

• Schools for arcological studies - dubbed Soleian Sanctums - charged with raising new generations of Soleri, versed in the arts and sciences of founding, building and maintenance of arcologies. These Sanctums warn of immensely selective admissions, resulting often in lineages of Soleri born from fairly powerful Fel-Arcad families, making in difficult for those outside these circles to get in. Some do however on merit, through displaying uncanny talent for, and understanding off, the Soleri arts, leading even the most nepotistic of admission bodies to conclude that perhaps, the skills of the builder of the First Arcology lives on in others.

And as an addendum to the Soleian Sanctums, many graduate from learning how to build and modify arcologies - to doing the same but at the scale of entire worlds. The Psychitects, perhaps some of the Dancirah’s categorically strongest chalkweavers, are some of the few trusted to interact with planetary equations and sculpt planets as they see fit. Their orders are secret and their methods clandestine by design, these grandmasters of all things calcic let few attempt to prove themselves, and even fewer join their ranks. When needed, they are deployed to planets to shape entire continents at the mathematical level, and just as they can turn a molten volcanic wasteland to lush forest, many psychitects have chosen to walk hated paths, scouring entire planets with wicked calculus.

• Institutions for training sembleworkers, more properly called Ateliers For Lattice Artistry and Artisanry or simply Ateliers, Lattice Ateliers or ALAAs. These institutions are few and far between, run by guilds of lattice artists for training others in the works of crafting Semblances, as taught to them by ArcDanseer Nadira. Due to the subject matter, they are known for immense rigor in their instruction, and many are known to abandon their studies or be asked to leave the institution. Those who emerge successfully however, are widely sought after by Soleri for their own arcologies’ Sembleworks.

Strata Two - Factional Institutions

• While the Fel-Arcad don’t explicitly prepare interested persons for further instruction at the Spyndl Academy, the Feljourn offer a more informal tutelage experience for those who aspire to attend the Spyndl Academy. These nomadic schools of sorts revolve around hands-on instruction in dealing with the Switchboard, cultivating new sets of skills such as Striding proficiencies, survival training, weapons usage, various forms of combat, operation of skycraft such as jumpships and non-ritual calcic weaving. Fel-Arcad aiming for the Spyndl Academy usually take instruction at a Versit, occasionally a Sekatorial Camp and then seek out a band of Feljourn to give them these additional skills, before then searching out a branch of the Academy to petition for admission.

• The Antamaran alongside the Sekators (something that will be elaborated upon later) host and maintain various Sekatorial Camps, military-college-like institutions that train Fel-Arcad in a variety of disciplines, ranging from leadership, teamwork and management, military science, tactics and strategy, military law and the rules of engagement, security and intelligence and multifarious combat training, all with the goal to prepare a very different archetype of Fel-Arcad from the regular; one with a complete, total mastery over violence. The Sekatorial Order takes their instruction immensely serious, and resultant Fel-Arcad from this rigorous program are sought after even beyond the arcologies for the unique formal competencies they posses. The Antamaran in particular offer various forms of training for fighting Vahnkin, traversing the Challenger Dark and opposing the powers of the Void. The Spyndl Academy often seeks out those who’ve undergone Antamaran training as storm divers; Operators trained in operations that take place in the Void.

• The Rosenthalists pride themselves on being almost Fel-Arcad aristocracy, and though this position comes under extensive challenge from many sides, their underhanded dealings and willingness to cut throats and hustle has seen Rosenthalists find their way into various arcologies, Fel-Arcad institutions and institutions outside the Fel-Arcad entirely. When there, however, and even before that, the Rosenthalists work to ensure that their various agents are well equipped to further their ambitions in secret. The skills necessary for such a task are learned in their underground, deceptively named Aristocratic Courts, or more simply Courts. These Courts aim to teach all that pass through them in the arts of infiltration, manipulation and subversion, bestowing skills ranging from pickpocketing and lockpicking to manipulation, kidnapping, extortion and assassination. These Courts are hidden, known only by a select few, entry to them being difficult and tutelage under them being harsh. Often they are confined to the Black Arcologies, with channels existing for funneling new students to them and graduates from them to places where the Rosenthalists may need them. In addition to Fel-Arcad, other interested parties from other families are known to seek out their teachings.

13. Arts, Entertainment & Recreation

Discussion Points

• The seed-weave; a unique calcic clause to all Curlicue trees that manifests as a traceable skew in all things produced by an arcology. It’s functionally a randomization algorithm, but the algorithm itself is traceable through the works skewed by it. Art Categories
• Fine Arts
  • Visual and Decorative
    • Sculpting
    • Textiles and Clothmaking
    • Add note on frescos and murals
  • Performing Arts (Dance and Theater)
  • Literature and Poetry
  • Music
  • Film and Cinema
  • Structural Art
• Fel Arts
  • Digital Arts (Simulspace and Video Games)
    • Photography
  • Applied Arts
  • Philosophical/Conceptual Arts
  • Architecture and Arcology Design

Fel-Arcad Recreation

• The Fel-Arcad aren’t very physical, that being said…
  • Rocketskating

The Curlicue ‘Seed’ - The Nymia

An interesting quality of the Fey Curlicue is its significance as an inducer of mathematics within things that are subject to it. When a Curlicue reaches maturity, it flowers and fruits, and from these fruits are the Curlicue seeds obtained. Highly valued as a part of Arcad and Fel-Arcad history and culture, as well as their essential role in establishing new arcologies, the true depths of the secrets they contain remain unplumbed, due to the costly nature of such research and the reaction a proposal of damaging such valuable things draws.

What is known about the Curlicue seeds however, is a bit of ‘viral weave’ contained within them. Manifesting seemingly as a long string of random numbers, it is in its deployment that the true nature of it is revealed; this number is a mathematical ‘seed’, that is added to the various equations necessary for building an arcadia, arcology and a litany of other related concepts, which skews them in a manner that is traceable within all things affected by it - but differing noticeably from other concepts modified or skewed by other seeds.

Simplified, it is a unique randomness clause intrinsic to every Curlicue seed, which subtly affects everything produced within or under the domain of the Curlicue Tree spawned from that seed.

This mathematical skew manifests particularly in the more artistic works undergone by a Fel-Arcad arcology, as it works itself both into the work itself and the artist producing it. As the Fel-Arcad in an arcology grow in that arcology, the chalk of the arcology and the Curlicue at the heart of it flows through them. It permeates their lattice and skews the work that they produce, in a manner that is traceable to the arcology from which it came, while being distinct from work produced from other arcologies.

This mathematical skew manifests in subtle ways; in every brush stroke and color, in every dance step, in the choice of language and rhythm in poetry and twists of plot in prose, in the melodies and beats in music, in the shots and composition of Fel-Arcad cinema, in the design of their games and their works of visual philosophical display an their sculpting and modelling of being and building alike. All of these things are subject to the seed, the seed becoming innate to all of them, creating an artistic identity - a signature almost - on every work produced by arcology-dwelling Fel-Arcad.

The untrained viewer may simply see a collection of Fel-Arcad arts, and not the subtle, nigh-imperceptible differences between them that goes beyond the skin-deep, immediate conclusion drawn and even later conclusions reached from further ponderance. But even newborn Fel-Arcad know what is from their arcology and what isn’t, and the scholars of these seeds - these nymia - have taken it upon themselves to study how each relates to the arcology from which it originates, and the people that dwell within it. Collectors pride themselves on vast caches of nymia, particularly those who hold artistic pieces from artists who no longer live or practice, and especially pieces from arcologies that no longer exist. The nature of nymia drives much of the Fel-Arcad artistic world, both its sun-facing back and its murky underbelly, as some nymia is prized enough to be pursued and procured by the dedicated through any means necessary.

Fel-Arcad Art and the Outside World

Perhaps one of the greatest ironies of the Fel-Arcad existence is that their arcologies which inarguably facilitate art through their nigh-utopic conditions and protection from outside threats - are also its greatest hinderance because they provide those things.

Under ideal conditions such as no aggressive external interference, and given an unlimited supply of chalk, an arcology can house generation after generation of Fel-Arcad and function optimally, indefinitely, even with zero outside contact. Those within would likely never suffer a day in their lives, but the depth of the nature of their existence would be shallow, as generation after generation would have nothing from which to draw upon to build themselves than the few metaphorical inches of progress made by their ancestors.

The sheltered nature of the Fel-Arcad and their shielding from the outside world has placed them in a unique position where there are none more suited to the pursuit of artistic works than they, due to their nigh-elimination of elementary struggles - yet the method of elimination struggle has made it such that there is very little Fel-Arcad can make art about. The arcology space lives and breathes yes, but it does not inspire. In the ways that it does inspire, nearly all of them would have been explored after multiple generations of Fel-Arcad, resulting in future generations merely recycling works with minute differences between each one, or not feeling driven to do even that. The cultural-well of isolated Fel-Arcad does not grow fuller with time, as nothing is being put in but the little that was already present is being scraped out.

The rectification of this is that the Fel-Arcad have become major importers of things that inspire. Very few arcologies are run as truly isolated from the outside world, and for many this is the exact reason. The Fel-Arcad that dwell in the arcologies hunt endlessly for experiences; they welcome visitors to their arcologies because they want to plumb the depths of the richness of their own being. They want to hear their stories, their trials and triumphs, learn the history of every trinket and oddity they carry, learn the nature of places they’ve been and sights they’ve seen. The personal stories pursued alone, the grand stories of many actors crashing togethers. The comedies and tragedies. Romances had and lost. Minute realizations in quiet moments and powerful convictions achieved in great battles. The Fel-Arcad want to hear it all, and place considerable value on the experiences retold by those more inclined to travel the Switchboard than them.

All they glean from all those they engage with is then put into the art the Fel-Arcad make. Old stories retold in new manners, sculpts of legendary events, tapestries of age-old pacts, theatrical reenactments of royal courts, music scored for grand battles, films made telling old stories in new ways and new ones entirely.

Through study, discussion with other Fel-Arcad and sharing creations among themselves and even with other arcologies, the Fel-Arcad act as a force of accelerating artistic development. Simple ideas enter arcologies and through study and innovation are taken to lengths they never would have outside of them. Arcologies and the Fel-Arcad within them may not be the ‘originators’ of much of the inspiration for the Switchboard’s art, but ‘Fel-Arcad art’ as a concept and a reality is immensely vast, deep, and constantly growing.

The Arts - Fine

The Fel-Arcad’s fine arts can be roughly classified into;

• Visual and Decorative
• Performing Arts
• Literature and Poetry
• Music
• Film and Cinema
• Structural Art

Visual and Decorative In addition to the various forms of art this phrase evokes immediately, particularly various forms of painting as classed by media (watercolor, oil painting), under this category we also have sculpting and textiles/clothmaking.

Drawing and painting remains a particularly popular artform among the Fel-Arcad. The cultivated arcadia just outside their arcologies are an abundant source of natural pigments for making paint, and it is said there is no color that cannot be made from the blooms to be found in an expansive arcadia. Calcic ritualism allows for taking paint beyond elementary forms, adding qualities to it that greatly expands on what can be done with it; metallic sheens, wispy glows, color-shifting along gradients. There is an art to the making of media just as there is art to making it. Canvas is as one would expect it; blank slates ripe for the birthing of grand ideas.

Sculpting among the Fel-Arcad sees the realization of grand ideas in three dimensions. The favored media are crystalline chalk and replichrome, though many choose to have various flavors of simple stone quarried from the many biomes of the Dancirah. Replichrome sculpting in particular is popular, as the ability for replichrome to grow when fed chalk creates avenues for particularly dynamic sculptures. Institutions such as the Spyndl Academy often contract Fel-Arcad sculptors for decorative pieces depicting the Skydancers or legendary Striders.

The nymia shows particularly in Fel-Arcad textiles and clothmaking, the mathematical seed of randomness ensuring any two specimens are rarely ever identical. Grand tapestries are created depicting ancient history and legendary myths and events, as well as simple patterned fabrics for making clothes and uniforms. An element of practicality is added with Fel-Arcad artists able to work with other professionals to create elegant clothing with non-trivial function as armor, for example. Fel-made cloth is a widely-loved commodity, and is frequently a major export from arcologies, produced at a commercial scale to serve a large market.

Performing Arts

Theater for the Vahnkin and Lancaster, Cinema for the Sil’khan

Theater holds a valued place in Fel-Arcad society, and arcologies in their continued goal of facilitating practice of the arts often posses stages and arenas of various sizes to allow for live plays to take place. Ranging from dance performances to full-on theatrical displays, creation and consumption of the theater arts remains a core of Fel-Arcad living.

The various scriptwriters of plays borrow heavily from stories told in other families. Amaran theater, or dramatizations of the royal court proceedings the Vahnkin are known for, are particularly popular to the Fel-Arcad, who view the Void and its denizens as ‘incredibly foreign’ on many counts, ranging from the structure of their societies to the conduction of their very lives. Stories of Lancasters are frequently tales of lovable underdogs; those not given power like their various Strider and Weaver cousins overcoming the obstacles set before them through other means, often with comedic, tragic and epic slants. Some stories of the Sil’khan are told through live theater as well, but the tales of the Sil’khan are often so grand and usually violent as to demand other means of their wholistic portrayal.

And of course, the Fel-Arcad will write plays about themselves, many of them regarding their experiences with the outside Switchboard. Expeditions outside the arcologies to glean material for theatrical renditions upon return is a common practice among the Fel-Arcad.

Literature and Poetry Books as both stores and disseminators of knowledge and tale places them in high regard to the Fel-Arcad, and other than the practice of arcology design and construction and the digital arts, literature is argued to be the most highly regarded of all Fel-Arcad artforms.

Non-fictional recounts of the experiences of individuals in the Switchboard - Fel or not - command considerable audience, and there is a practice even of previously terribly-sheltered Fel-Arcad embarking on journeys with unfamiliar company with the aim of writing an account of events, a practice that has been many Fel’s claim to varying amounts of fame. Fictional works sees slightly diminished status in ‘higher art’ circles, but proliferates wildly among those not so ‘refined’ in their tastes, the low barrier for entry allowing for the creation of writing on a massive scale, frequently shared and consumed on intra-arcological nets and the wider, Dancirah-encompassing DevitNet. Derivative works occupy a considerable chunk of the pie of all literature produced, books written drawing inspiration from the various other spheres of art the Fel-Arcad espouse.

For reasons unknown, poetry has gained little traction outside Fel circles, and even then the Fel-Arcad circles where it sees considerable audience pride themselves on refinement and higher taste. It has led many to conclude it is a preoccupation of the pretentious.

Yes, these are my personal gripes on show. I will accept no criticism.

Music

One of the Fel-Arts bearing the least outside influence.

The Fel-Arcad possess a deep love for music, both its creation and appreciation. Fel-Arcad schools and college see regular influxes of students aiming to refine their musical talents under formal instruction, yielding the next generation of Fel-Arcad composers, directors and musicians who will score and perform the tunes and melodies emblematic of Fel-Arcad being.

Over time, various ‘movements’ have spawned and fallen regarding Fel-Arcad music, philosophies that manifested as methods of performing the craft, with eventual shift to a more genre-focused approach that led to a wider variety of music produced using different media and by artists outside formal circles. The proliferation of Slates and their modularity allowed for a considerable uptick in music made by individuals and small groups.

There are of course divides between music enjoyers along the lines of what is ‘refined’ and ‘cultured’ and what merely appeals to the senses, and while this debate flares up occasionally on the rare moments members of both camps are allowed to clash, it is far more common place to simply live and let live.

The nymia has had a non-trivial bearing on Fel-Arcad music. Being a mathematical skew, many composers are incentivized to produce music that ‘meshes’ with it, the randomness of the nymia finding purchase in the composition, and harmonizing to produce splendid sound. It thus also means that most arcologies have their own unique ‘signatures’ embossed on the music they produce, traceable back to them and earning them a fair bit of repute if their nymia proved particularly favorable to music creation.

I would elaborate more on musical media such as instruments here, but that can expanded upon when such specificity is necessary.

Film and Cinema

Give Fel-Arcad cinema a name, like how we have Hollywood. Named after the originator of Fel-Arcad modern cinema.

Film and Cinema among the Fel-Arcad straddles the line between art and enterprise, with a sprawling almost-machine that governs the entire affair of seeing stories committed to the big screen. Fel-Arcad often work with parties outside the arcology to see films realized, often for the task of acquiring actors and filming on locations. Both domestic and foreign markets thrive on this front, with the Fel-Arcad being the Switchboard’s only real producer of this artform, due to the colossal investment required in its realization.

Various large media-houses account for the overwhelming majority of film that reaches cinema screens every procession, though a fairly large independent scene exists as well. Sil’khan in particular are frequent investors in Fel-Arcad cinema as a means of their various daring feats being immortalized and made viewable throughout the Dancirah.

Structural Art The task of building an arcology and an overwhelming majority of its internal and external shape and form is the task of many talented craftsmen and artisans, overseen by the watchful Soleri. The cultivation of an arcology’s character begins with the Soleri too, the Soleri an artist and the replichrome their media, a litany of tools from the common pencil to the complex Slate to the massive earthmover their various tools. This cultivation of character, however, is ultimately finalized by the denizens of the arcology, who take it upon themselves to use the entire arcology and the walls and surfaces of other structures as their canvas.

Graffiti for the informal and murals for the formal, replichrome’s dull grey is banished by the works of Fel artists young and old, depicting anything their hearts desire on the walls of their homes. Turf wars on prime graffiti space are common, with artists doubling as guards to preserve their creations for as long as possible. But all is done in good fun, and arcologies with lenient Soleri truly realize their state of being art. Murals see plenty of use in more formal buildings, covering the walls of Fel-Arcad institutions and the homes of those with the currency to give, depicting all one could imagine; the history of the Switchboard, of the Fel-Arcad, great discoveries, legendary battles, personal histories, or mere abstract shape and color, guided by the nymia.

The Arts - Fel

The Fel arts are a class of artforms practiced primarily by the Fel-Arcad in the Switchboard. While others are definitely practitioners of the fine arts, these Fel arts remain majorly the domain of the Fel-Arcad, either through their historical origin or the requirements for their execution. These are mainly;

• Digital Arts
• Applied Arts
• Philosophical Arts
• Arcology Design

Digital Arts It was not longer after the first Slates saw military application did it occur to those privy to them at the time, their potential in civilian hands. While the Sil’khan primarily wielded them in battle, the Fel-Arcad handled the backend development, iterating upon them to make them more capable at what they could already do, and expanding their functions in new directions.

One of these new directions was art. With their modularity, it was possible to develop an array of additional attachments and computerware that retrofitted the previously weapons-oriented technology into one for creation. Larger screens for usage with styluses, key and string modules for music creation, inbuilt cameras that could parse weave and take pictures in three dimensions, holographic-display-analogues that allowed for interacting with virtual objects sculpted in three dimensions, algorithms for generating art from mathematics and datasets. It culminated in an explosion of digital art made by various Fel-Arcad parties, created on Slates and distributed across the gradually de-militarizing DevitNet.

Unfortunately, Fel-Arcad digital art saw a non-trivial collapse at the hands of the Refrain, with the destruction of many anarhiza nexuses and databanks seeing huge swathes of digital art lost. The nomadic period that followed saw digital art recede further into shadow, as the Fel-Arcad became a survivalist people. Only when efforts to trawl the star-wreckage of the astrolabic spheres and later the establishment of the Sanscrii Arcology were underway did the Fel-Arcad return to their digital creation once again, with the violent vigor of a suppressed urge finally given release.

Where the digital arts are considered Fel arts is in the simulspace and interactive entertainment. The Fel-Arcad via their Slates are the sole developers of the Switchboard’s video games. These games are developed on Slates, for Slates by various independents and large creators, and distributed across the DevitNet. A wide variety of genres exist, games themselves varying across multiple spectra of length, difficulty and the like. Fel-Arcad also host a majority of the game-centric infrastructure and secondary subject matter, ranging from servers for multiplayer games to meets and competitions between rival groups to prove their skills.

These interactive arts see a lot of popularity among the Fel-Arcad. Other arts are viewed once, often multiple times, but for many casual appreciators, a piece of art is sought out and enjoyed only a couple of times before the desire for new art emerges again. Not so with these interactive pursuits, that serve to give continually new and semi-new experiences over multiple sessions. They provide escape from the drudgery of arcology living, as well as a place to hone instincts and skills that have been dulled by the relative safety of living in the arcologies. As an economic export they provide individual Fel-Arcad, groups of creators, and their parent arcologies considerable revenue, and as a storytelling media they deliver their emotional payloads in ways books and paintings cannot.

The Fel-Arcad Simulspace builds somewhat off of this, though the Simulspace itself is more a form of technology. What is created in the Simulspace however, is some of the most complex and perhaps impactful Fel-Arcad art, as the Simulspace is capable of replicating the stimulation of the senses and thus provide immersive augmented and virtual reality experiences. Developed initially as a training technology, it saw a natural transition to civilian use, though somewhat constrained by the infrastructure required. But Fel-Arcad artists capable of fully utilizing the depth of expression provided by the Simulspace are lauded amongst creatives.

Applied Arts The Fel-Arcad attach the descriptor of ‘applied arts’ to any creative piece in which in the function of the piece is primary above all. This encompasses a large swathe of creations, ranging from woodwork, pottery and ceramics, glassblowing, architecture and interior design, to jewelry, fashion design, and textiles, to graphics, calligraphy and typography, to products, packaging and industrial design, to even the culinary arts and horticulture.

These so called ‘applied arts’ are made with a Fel-Arcad slant to them, beginning with the arcology-specific nymia adding their own unique skews to everything from meals to dishware they’re served on. Individual Fel-Arcad craftspeople add their own unique flairs, honed by deep study and practice of the field.

The products of the applied arts see plenteous usage within the arcologies, and fetch revenue when distributed to the wider Switchboard.

Philosophical/Conceptual Arts A somewhat amorphous, esoteric category, that refers to a school of artistic practice that seeks to represent complex philosophical topics or manners of thinking in artistic form. It prides itself on being a uniquely Fel-Arcad artform, its practice confined to exclusive circles and deliberately shrouded in shadow. The nature of the art has led some to suspect that there is an element of doctrinal interplay to it; that experiencing the art has praxis implications.

Little more can be said on it, other than that those privy to it report being changed beyond their ability to suitably relay.

Arcology Design Another nigh-exclusively Fel-Arcad pursuit, the creation of ‘mockologies’ or model arcologies is a pastime for many, though it sees its practice primarily in Soleri Sanctums; the actual school which trains Fel-Arcad for the high position of arcology construction and administration. For this reason, arcology design is less so an art on its own and more so an artistic component of a much larger science of arcology building.

That being said, there are plenty of casual appreciators and creators in the space who create all manners of mockology designs, as they serve as excellent discussion pieces when placed somewhere they can draw the eyes of observers.

Recreation

The Fel-Arcad are not a very physical people.

The physical rigor of day-to-day living is largely mitigated by the various processes in an arcology. They do not struggle. They do not ‘want’ in any real capacity. Because of this, most physical exertion is elective and non-necessary. This is reflected in their entertainment and recreation, being mostly artistic pursuits that are performed - primarily - while comfortably seated. This isn’t to say that some arcologies do not have facilities for various sports, nor is there not an audience for certain sports that double as artforms almost, such as displays of martial arts and archery - merely that these audiences are small and niche. Intensely physical sports like most ball games see even less popularity among the Fel-Arcad.

While the explanation posited above for this - the general lack of compulsory rigor in Fel-Arcad living - is arguably the simplest, it draws the ire of many Fel-Arcad who perceive it as a jab, and one of many in a collection of jabs that comprises the outside-family criticism of the Fel-Arcad as a ‘soft’. The Fel-Arcad offer other explanations; the earliest post-Sanscrii arcologies were starved for space and built with poorer technique, disallowing the construction of large sports arenas. This was coupled with the general disinclination the Arcad possessed towards such activities to begin with, stemming from an inability to perform them as they were compelled into family-wide arcane-military-industrial pursuits during the various conflicts with the First Thinkers. All their entertainment was Slate-bound, easy to pick up between breaks spent spinning weave and crunching weave and drop when those breaks were over. This persisted even beyond the Refrain.

More arguments exist of course, and even more people who don’t care for them. But there is a final argument that is levied by most Fel-Arcad - a silver bullet that puts even the most dedicated, most contrarian dissenter on their backfoot;

“But have you ever watched pipeskating?”

Pipeskating As an arcology is grown and built, it typically extends colossal roots deep into a planet’s crust, drinking deeply of the chalk within. As it nears completion or is supplied chalk from other sources, it relies less and less on these giant root networks. Built out of replichrome however, there is no real way to deprecate these roots other than simply abandoning them and sealing off entry. Within these roots are often large cylindrical pipes for moving all kinds of matter and substrate, and their deprecation sees them abandoned, never to be touched again.

This was until it became fairly commonplace for less than scrupulous members of arcologies - rosy-faced youth more often than not, going through the typical rebellious stages - began using these deprecated pipe networks as hideouts and dens. With most of the maps drawn up of these networks usually lost to time, a habitual dweller of those depths could easily lose a pursuer with no experience navigating them. When some arcologies began cracking down more aggressively on such behavior - sending in drones and squadrons of Sekators - the pipe-dwellers adapted in kind; rocketskates. A wholly unforeseeable escalation in methods, the attachment of calcic-reliant rocketry on ordinary roller skates allowed for travelling rapidly through the root networks, speeding down straits, making hairpin turns - and disappearing without a trace.

As later arcology designs featured large maintenance backrooms and layers running up from the roots and throughout the arcology to supply their growing demands, it became a popular - if frowned upon - method of traversing the sprawling arcology expanse; rocketskating just behind the wall panels on replichrome tubing, bursting out of maintenance hatches in entirely different sectors.

As the practice grew, it drew the attention of many Fel-Arcad, who were inexplicably drawn to the uncharacteristic physicality and often violence of it, particularly when it was realized that there was avenue for skill-expression through risky time-saving maneuvers and tricks, as well as an even higher ceiling that emerged when the first informal schools of rocketskate combat emerged.

Aiming to curb the ills created in its wake, the sport was formalized as a common arcology past time, a uniquely-Fel sport that saw the emergence of teams, small-time tournaments, formal skating groups, and finally cross-arcology championships, drawing eyes from far and wide to see the Switchboards professors, scholars and librarians duke it out on rocket-powered wheeled-boots in increasingly more terrifying arenas of coiling pipe.

Rocketskating was the final formal name, as the sport eventually deviated and focused more on the eponymous instrument of competition than the arenas where it was performed. But the old heads, the veterans of the craft, insist on the moniker of pipeskating, refusing to surrender the rebellious roots of the sport to those who insisted on making it more digestible for polite company. Considering that the more formal rocketskating never featured the combat aspect of it, underground arenas spawned to see the sport at its finest; highspeed duels through treacherous arenas, the scarred winners often proving to be the most lethal combination of physical prowess and tactical genius.

It’s almost guaranteed, of course, that there is an agent from one of the many of the Switchboard’s academies and paramilitary outfits in the crowd of adoring onlookers, out to scout material that could be refined into some of the Dancirah’s mightiest weapons.

14. Iconography & Architecture

Fel Iconography

This section may eventually receive a Visual Media Document.

The Fel are hardly an ostentatious bunch. Compared to the other great families, particularly the Sil’khan, the Fel are decidedly muted in how they present themselves to the wider Switchboard. That being said, the Fel are abjectly recognizable, a product of their uncompromising stances honed in the arcologies they hail from. In a similar vein is the Fel’s iconography, the pictorial means by which they represent themselves to each other and the other denizens of the Switchboard.

Fel iconography is defined by a number of major motifs, followed by some minor ones. As such;

Major Motifs

• The Six-Fingered Hand
• The Curlicue and Arcadia
• The Arcologies

Minor Motifs

• The Loom, Lathe and Crucible
• Natural Fixtures
• Four-Hand Patterns

The most widely-used indicative of the Fel-Arcad is the six-fingered hand. While the symbols of the Curlicue and Fel arcadias see extensive use within Fel-majority circles, and the symbol of the arcologies is to be found in a number of inter-planetary and interstellar contexts, it is the Fel’s sixth finger that serves as their most recognizable symbol. The familiar five fingers - with a sixth, mirroring thumb appended to it - visibly grafted on, almost certainly offending the sanctity of familiarity, but also demanding observers to challenge what that very feeling. It is a passive reinforcement of an idea; that what divides the ‘strange’ and the ‘familiar’ is the willingness to allow the former to become the latter. Time and frequency will handle the rest, so long as the mind and heart are willing. The Fel are strange and unlike the many others yes, but they are kin all the same, and the six-fingered hand is still a hand, and it clasps all others with the same dignity and sense of unity.

The Fel Curlicue tree and arcadias are another iconographical hallmark of theirs, employed in a wide number of more Fel-centric applications, particularly in the subjects of the Fel society. The Curlicue being their origin and additionally what unites them finds its way on to all manners of Fel subjects - from administrative documents to clothing to foodstuff - and reminds the Fel of what lies at their center. The arcadia iconography is more explicitly a combination of various symbols derived from the Switchboard’s many flowers, each with meanings of their own and emergent meanings when combined with each other in varying numbers and patterns.

The three-armed logo of the arcologies is emblazoned on a number of Fel entities found in the fields of science and technology, heavy industry, logistics, economics, space travel and operations and military. Inspired by some of the oldest architectural designs for the earliest arcologies, many associate it with the colder face of the Fel-Arcad; players of a grand economic and logistical game that ensures both that the Switchboard keeps functioning, and their own survival as a pacifistic peoples. It is this logo in particular that finds itself accompanied with other logos of other bodies such as the Spyndl Academy, posing themselves as representations of a strictly-enforced shape of pan-Danciran order.

The loom, lathe and crucible are the Fel symbols of the sembleworks and semblance doctrines, the tools of the trade when it comes to the manipulation of lattice weft. More broadly, it has come to be recognized as the symbol of Fel medicine - and medicine in the Switchboard in general, the loom for spinning succor, the lathe for paring away pain, and the crucible for melting the old and frail and synthesizing the boisterous, vitalized new. Of course, this symbol in particular incurs the anger of many anti-Nadiran factions, who see it as representative of the Nadiran hubris.

In a wide variety of instances, the Fel employ logos - and more broadly, geometry - evocative of natural fixtures. Flowing patterns for rivers, branches for trees, plunging angles for mountain ranges, single-color circles and crescents for suns, moons and planets; the Fel have used the arcadia as their muse in inspiring a variety of less critical symbology, inspiring their dressing, architecture and visual language in graphics.

The four-hand patterns employed by the Fel are a product of their vision of a more unified Switchboard, each hand representing one of the great families, using their emblematic colors of blue, gold, red and purple. The hands take varying positions; clasping the wrist of the other in square and diamond formations, lined up vertically or horizontally, arranged in a circle - often the hands are abandoned altogether, instead using colored shapes, or even one hand with four colored fingers on it; the core motif of it remains ever clear. It finds its place in various Fel humanitarian and outreach efforts, and in cross-family collaborations such as large projects and trade. Dispositions to it vary, with the Vahnkin refusing to have business with the Fel-Arcad, and the Sil’khan finding the portrayal of unity and equality between all kin to be mildly humorous at best. The Lancasters feel similar to the Vahnkin, viewing the Fel in much the same way as the Sil’khan.

A number of other symbols are employed by various factions within the Fel, such as the Feljourn with their motifs of maps, wings and birds - borrowing some Sil’khan motifs as well, and the Soleri with their own iconographical language favoring top-down views of arcologies, Curlicue trees, and celestial bodies. The Brass Monastery are something of a coalition force of all families, but still exhibit a Fel majority, and as such skew Fel symbols with depictions of barristeel clockwork in burnished gold. The Rosenthalist houses harken back to - of all things - an old Vermeil custom gleaned from the structure of their society, taking on elaborate coats-of-arms espousing their noble carriage and ideological charge, in stark contrast to the Fel’s preference for a flat simplicity.

Materials and Design

SB_Technology is recommended reading before this section.

What do the Fel-Arcad build with?

Arcologies are built - grown - with a number of things in mind. For one, they are incredibly utilitarian, in that they serve as the primary habitat for the overwhelming majority of all Fel-Arcad that have, currently and will ever exist in the Switchboard. For another, however, the building of arcologies is undertaken by an artistic, artisan order - the Soleri - who have come to see arcologies as more than just large metal crates for housing the Fel, and instead as opportunities for manifesting the nature of their being.

The overwhelming inspiration for the shape of arcologies are the lush arcadia they are domiciled within. All arcologies are surrounded by massively terraformed ground, stripped and rebuilt into more vegetative and generally aesthetically pleasing biomes; forest, grassland, rivers and fields of flowers. The diversity of horticultural offerings has served as the muse for many Soleri, who style their arcologies after the many flowers of the Switchboard, skewing their designs to account for necessary facilities such as the carrying capacity for millions of people, maximal self-sufficiency, defense from external living and non-living threats, and other desirable features such as orbital launch infrastructure. ‘They style their arcologies after flowers’ however, isn’t a hard rule, and there are styles of arcologies as diverse as there are Soleri willing to build them.

The general shape arcologies take, are roughly sortable into central spindle structures, and distributed connected structures. The former takes the shape of flowers and trees; ornate top parts, branching middles and thick suspending stalks and bottoms, held off the ground by rigorously calculated and built structural support. The second, the latter, take the shape of multiple geometric structures spread over a larger area than the former, and connected by a variety of logistical options such as suspended skywalks, launch and slingshot apparatus, and highspeed rail-based transit, depending on desire and application. A particularly consistent design trope is

But these too aren’t universal rules; central amenity towers encircled by a residential replichrome toroid, bulbous replichrome nearly-spheres like heads of cabbage, set in a recessed valley and supplied by a rim of inhabited mountain range, a large tetrahedron with a spinning habitation sphere set in its geometric center, fields of angled hollowed cylinders partially underground - there is a school of thought that sees the arcologies as a means of contrasting the Fel-Arcad even while reinforcing their image; a robust, tangible, artistic absurdity to contrast the Fel’s rationalist, grey reason. Each arcology is a snapshot of the mind of its creator, and a window into the combined creative cognition of the Fel-Arcad.

Materials are of course a primary concern of construction. Chief of all of them is the Fel-Arcad’s replichrome, a phenomenon emblematic of the arcologies themselves. Without it, it wouldn’t be possible to realize the arcologies and the Soleri’s and Fel’s ideas at the grand scales they do. With it however, they are able to both play immensely fast and loose with their construction methodology, while also being capable of impossibly intricate feats of complex design. Replichrome however, serves merely as the baseplate for the Fel-Arcad’s construction, and much of the material the Fel use for construction stems from the arcadia around them. The Fel are terribly fond of the Switchboard’s various wood and wood-like substrates, valuing the robust color offerings as well as the ease of tooling, transport and installation. Fel architecture sees extensive use of plant-based fabrics as well - our own analogues for cotton, linen, hemp and the like - in use cases demanding comfort, lightness and flexibility. How chalk intersects with technology - and the additional utility of replichrome - sees the Fel employ a variety of hybrid, alloy, purpose-built materials for various more industrial and hardcore applications.

To speak more on Fel design, the various design languages spoken by individual arcologies is primarily a product of the Soleri that build and operate them, with their own artistic styles and flairs permeating every square foot of material that makes up the structure. That being said, there is still an insistence on - though endlessly debated what truly defines this - an above-average amount of aesthetic appeal to a vast majority of persons. Defining this is the task of an endlessly travailing inquisition school under the Soleri, working to find what exactly it is the Fel-Arcad find beautiful. Coupled with this is the arcology concept of working towards bridging the gap that has emerged between man and nature. The core writ that defines arcologies - right there in the name - is ecology, and arcology architecture sticks to the roots of this concept by employing extensive plant life and vegetation within arcologies as well as outside of it. Those who visit arcologies report a sense of being just a tad bit more ‘outside’ than they are used to feeling when supposedly inside a building, though most aren’t opposed to the sense of garden occluding on living and working spaces, getting a newfound appreciation for the color and vibrancy it brings.

Getting Around

Arcologies are categorically massive structures; each arcology is broadly divided physically down to wings and branches, and further divided down to districts, then blocs and then divided by social lines into clans, families and individuals. The larger branches and wings can demarcate a colossal free-standing structure or an equally large fraction of one, and it declares immense metrics in both people and square footage. With habitation being more distributed while working facilities are more centralized, there is thus a need to get all those people around, and poorly engineered solutions to this problem are very visible in arcologies suffering from it, where productivity is severely tanked by people simply being unable to get to where they need to be.

The solution to this then is robust public transit, and this takes the shape of the Arcology Canopy Line. Generally, arcologies are sealed, airtight structures to allow for fine atmospheric control, and as such, they necessarily have closed-off roofs - though usually with glass inlays to allow sun and starlight in. One advantage of this is that with a sufficiently high enough roof, a suspension rail system can be installed that faces absolutely no obstruction in the form of buildings, and can thus reach every space in the arcology while running at immensely high speeds in a closed loop. Depending on the shape and nature of the arcology’s roof, the main Canopy Line loop will drop off and pick up passengers at connecting depos to smaller loops that weave in and out between the higher structures within the arcology complex. This network of smaller loops and transit depos allows for linking from any one place in the arcology to another. Returning to the ‘street’ level for pedestrian and smaller vehicular transit is done via elevators.

On the street level, transit is done on foot and with battery-powered vehicles, allowing for maximal mobility of all persons. The vehicles - taking the shape of powered scooters, bicycles and small pod-like three and four-wheelers for multiple passengers - are part of the arcology-managed public transit system, rather than being individually owned, and they are simply picked up when needed at a depot, and dropped off at another when dismounting - the same process happening in reverse ensuring that no depot is starved of vehicles, thus constituting a large-scale arcology-wide rideshare system.

Scenes in an Arcology

A means of discussing the Fel-Arcad’s architecture and related subject matter; thirty scenes - snapshots of space and time - in an arcology space.

Compute and Command

The command bodies of the arcology; the structures that keep it ticking.

The Craun Bridge While the Craun Tenders serve as the government of the arcology, it is the Craun Soleri - the highest acting Soleri in the given arcology - that shoulder the task of ensuring the colossal structure operates as intended. Command and control of the arcology then - air flow, water and water reclamation, power, waste collection, disposal and recycling, communications, maintenance, diagnostics - is done from the Craun Bridge, an isolated administrative structure located traditionally at the geometric center of the arcology structure. Being among the first things to be built in a growing arcology, the replichrome here is old and raw, with the grey metal rarely being masked by softer materials; perhaps a psychological trick to ensure the minds present never forget what it is that they do here. Borrowing nautical terminology, it is a bridge in function but hardly in shape, and many are built in the shape of concentric rings - circular, polygonal - at descending elevations, dominated by robust computer terminals, holographic displays, slates and interface periphery. Shielded from all outside light, the outer structure is boxlike and insulates the softer arcology from its chrome heart, optimal function being a measure of how infrequently this divide needs to be bridged. The Craun Bridge sits at the center of the three-part command and control structure of the arcology; the ArcoSpire.

The Mind Cradles Often just below the Bridge in construction - at the bottom of the ArcoSpire - chrome cots fed with interface calcic bridge the dormant minds with the rest of the arcology. On the exalted bed-throne, the Verdant Mind - a being with the anatomy of a First Thinker and function of a Third - works in quiet but fervid contemplation, serving to guide all of the arcology’s necessarily involuntary functions. Much like one not need expend great mental effort to propel their legs or chew food, the arcology needs its resources, waste, transport, atmospheric conditions and much much more kept functional by the unconscious. The Verdant Mind thus oversees a silo of smaller minds much like it; a colossal chrome cylinder with an elevator spindle, suspended platforms that overlook an artificial lake of coolant, arterial pipes moving information and chill up its walls, and the hoisted beds of slumbering slave-minds drinking of both into stupor, dreaming the continued utopic conditions of the Fel-Arcad into being.

The Chatterbox Living things often have a lot to say, and the arcology is no different. Set above the Craun Bridge, and serving as the capstone of the ArcoSpire, the Chatterbox is a colloquial name for the complex where all arcology communications are handled, within and without. Set closest to the arcology’s ceiling, titanic trunks of the plane-spanning anarhiza jut from replichrome bases, branching and dissipating into the intangible aether as foilage is yanked perpendicular into the fourth axis of space. They root deep through the arcology roof into the room just below, where colossal spindles of chalk are spun into insulated storage, serving as the databanks of an arcology; a unified, physicalized collective of knowledge. Endless conversation fills this room as operators staff integrated terminals on the walls, communicating with orbital assets, passing ships and fleets, net relays, ongoing operations, and the faceless void. And on occasion, the engineers double as doctors, breaking from the chilled replichrome room to emerge into the cultivated gardens above, tending to the plant life that serves as the Dancirah’s most robust communications system.

Shared Spaces

Shared spaces within the arcology, accessible to all in keeping with the Fel-Arcad’s writ.

Arcological Parks and Reserves There exists a tangible conflict between the airtight nature of the arcology and the free arcadia outside, one that emerges when one finds themselves desiring the atmosphere only forestry and horticulture can provide. The resolution for this conundrum is the creation of living biospheres within the chrome complex, made possible piped starlight, water and supremely calculated atmospheric conditions. These biospheres must account for their lack of open air, and so their ceilings are screens that mirror the sky and time of day outside, sufficiently robust simulation being indistinguishable from the real. Demarcated paths through cultivated trees, shrub, bush, grass and flowering plants lead to dedicated spots for sitting, mingling, observing; a lake fed by a waterfall, a stream with ornamental boats drifting past, an old wood shedding chromatic petals. Valued for their purpose as respite from dullness and spots for interaction, many biospheres are built in arcologies, encompassing varying biomes seen across the Dancirah.

Commerce Arcade A fairly high standard of living is maintained throughout the arcology space via the guarantee of basic income, and the availability of choices upon which to expend this income is the second part in the Fel’s ideal standards of living relative to the rest of the Dancirah. These commerce arcades are the product of the intersections of psychological, manufacturing and economic studies, and are perhaps the greatest manifestation of the Fel’s top-down planned society. Division across foreign and local producers, carefully chosen brands, degree of incurred opportunity cost, tastes, sizes and dozens more variables are have been drafted, conceived, tested, vetted and produced in larger scale for arcology consumption, placed on the shelves and floors of massive multi-story complexes built solely for the purpose of satisfying wants and needs. Like the transit arcades, the dull edge of economics and market research is blunted by audacious artistic attempts by budding Soleri to outdo each other in exhibited taste or the lack thereof, each arcade being defined minimally by its contents and more so by the experience of merely being within it, something that is made all the more doable by their intrinsic, very Fel focus on human-first design.

Culinary Arcade Perhaps one of the most shared of the shared spaces, arcologies are outfitted with a variety of culinary arcades situated centrally relative to residential and work sectors. The Fel’s usage of advanced hydroponics and ritually-modified produce crops has resulted in Fel food being fantastically varied, with just about any flavor coming in just about any shape, temperature or texture one might desire. Understanding that communal eating is a frequent practice in arcology living, culinary arcades are outfitted uniquely more comfortably than most other places on the arcologies, with the wild artistic pursuits of the Soleri being toned back from foreground dominance to background accentuation, with maximal comfort being the focus of the dining experience. Single-seating is deliberately unavailable, favoring instead varying sizes and permutations of settee and provisions for picnicking and packed meals. Supplying the arcades are extensive kitchens combining automated muscle and Fel diligence to ensure served meals attain and maintain the highest echelons of quality. Even the most esoteric and exacting palettes are satisfied with luxury provisions available for those with the resource, and accommodations for those with physiological conditions.

Residential Allotments

Homes for the Fel within their arcologies, resting places for millions of thinkers.

Conjugate Nurseries The Fel being extensive practitioners of the Conjugation have necessarily come to optimize the process for the sake of the offspring realized through it. In the between-state between inert matter and thinking weft, the developing conjugate is vulnerable to threats and phenomena big and small, be they a spilled drink or the riotous screams of dying kin in the Current. Seemingly as a response to this, the conjugate is possessed of an appetite for calcic matter so voracious it will peel flesh off of passers-by rather than feel proto-starvation for even a moment, an exhibited trait that adds to the mystery of just how the third kin arose. Knowing this, the Fel have built dedicated nurseries for growing conjugates; veritable benevolent panopticons where stacked rings of isolated rooms and circular corridors are under constant supervision by Fel gynecologists and calcic studies, all tasked with the monitoring of every blip on charts and nudge on graphs that monitor the developing offspring. Hyperweave cells of densely-packed chalk serve as the food for the hungry conjugate, and a rotating array of seemingly random things - books, flowers, music, sculptures, paintings, photographs, people - feeds its mind as well. The structure is silent, but for the rhythmic clack of hard shoes on harder floors, the subtle hum of life support apparatus, and the tell-tale bell tinkle of a door opened from within, soft drips of liquid matter running from hunched form, the strangled but soon sonorous cry of a newborn thinker, crawling from their synthesis slumber.

The Bi-quads A strange practice with mysterious origins. Some believe it is a holdover custom from the earliest days of the third kin and the praxis conflicts; a doctrine that evolved over time as a matter of necessity due to war. Some believe that it actually originated in the architecture of star-faring ships, the product of arbitrary choice in an otherwise deeply deliberate discipline. Arguments exist for it being a product of experimental architecture, the six-armed three-dimensional structure with the cross-section of a cross meshing well with itself when tessellated in 3D space and coming with benefits in the sphere of load-bearing stability. Some believe that it stems from Fel research, but the Fel being rigorous recordkeepers would still have the writ of that research if it existed. Of course, the argument against this is the extensive loss that was the Refrain, which took research and researcher alike. By the time the Fel were in position for new inquiry into the concept, it had already been deployed throughout thousands of arcologies in the Switchboard, becoming a ubiquitous symbol of the Fel-Arcad and arcologies at large.

The Fel’s bi-quads are as Fel as the persons living in them, and the cross-shaped, eight-person living quarters have earned a name for themselves as one of the quirkier of the many things the Fel have given far more thought to than seemingly need be. Cross-shaped as mentioned, each arm features a bunk bed assembly and personal corners for both occupants; desks, storage, and a little accommodation of excess. The center of the cross’ arms contain shared utilities - kitchen, dining, living room - cordoned off with collapsible walls. Under it - through a hatch in the floor - is everything involved in grooming, hygiene, and disposal of bodily waste, and access to the entire structure is done through a similar hatch at the top. These eight-person domiciles are where the vast majority of adult Fel with no offspring will spend their lives, in quasi-families with seven others. The constrained physical space as a result of the architecture, and social space as a result of roommates teaches the Fel that they will have little by way of things, and plenty by way of people, and thriving will require knowing how to navigate these circumstances as optimally as possible. For many others in the Switchboard, the prospect is a death sentence. But for many Fel, they dwell in their bi-quads for centuries, and come to form bonds stronger than anything.

Family Units Newborn Fel from the nurseries and adult Fel from the bi-quads are united in these units, forming family structures for the duration of the time between the birth of offspring and their graduation into adulthood. Domiciling parents and child in this manner allows for the forming of bonds between the parties, and providing a controlled environment for young Fel to grow within, beginning with the family home before gradual, deliberate exposure to the wider structure of the arcology and the society within. Subject to the whims of the Soleri, family units are built with an elementary framework of mandated fundamentals - places to sleep, eat, and clean one’s self - and the rest of their features, from broad-stroke aesthetic design to pinprick detail, is shaped by Soleri psychologist-artists, who work to reconcile the needs of growing minds and their own artistic fervor. Kept on separate decks from the bi-quads and deliberately located closer to the more desirable sectors of the arcologies - transport, bio-spheres, and leisurely pursuits - many non-Fel wonder if the Soleri possess some secretive natalist agenda, an idea wholly unentertained by the Fel-Arcad, who are well aware of the Soleri’s arcology carrying capacity calculus and the population control sentiment it seemingly endlessly inspires.

The Backpipes As arcologies grow, older infrastructure is abandoned in favor of new infrastructure that boasts needed improvements in structural integrity and resource throughput, where applicable. Total decommissioning of this older infrastructure - that being, commanding the vary replichrome to dissolve into dust - is generally terribly inadvisable, as even the hollow shells serve as structural reinforcement for the rest of the arcology structure. Being dark, hollow and infrequently surveyed, however, has meant that all things that wish to escape the eyes of wider Fel society and the Soleri find their way to the backpipes. As expansive as they are unnavigable, the rules in this environment take on a harsher edge, a slice of the Starwylds brought to bear in the deep below. Entrance is easy; ask a replichrome sheet nicely enough and you can fall in. Escape, however, is far more infrequent, with things swallowed by the misted dark unlikely to ever be seen again. While many Soleri have embarked on concerted efforts to bring order to their arcology’s basements, they are foiled time and time again by the unknowable architecture and the backpipe’s natives; laughing youth on jet-propelled shoes, rogue traders of all things clandestine, and elementary un-beings formed from the coalesced amalgam of forsaken things; lost socks, forgotten books, dropped glasses, unrealized dreams.

Transport and Logistics

Getting things and people into the arcologies, and out.

Multi-Modal Logistical Complex Arcologies often double as planetary ingress points, and as such need the infrastructure to support the logistical throughput inherent to this positioning. Often located elsewhere on the arcadia - separate from the arcology due to the unsavory operating quirks of large vehicles - is the logistical complex, a mini-arcology built of glass and alloy for the housing, unloading, resupplying and launching of spacefaring vehicles. From personal jumpships to orbital transit shuttles, kilometers of once verdant is now dull metal, the horizon dominated by batteries of launch towers hosting skyscraping rocket launch systems. Rows of hangers host smaller craft, warehouses store towers of goods, living quarters house travelers in various states of their journey, and transit depots ferry people and freight to and from the arcology, and to other planet-side points of interest.

Transit Arcades Short-distance transit on the decks of the arcology is done via dedicated footpaths, moving walkways, bicycles and other man-propelled vehicles, battery-powered more-wheelers, the like. Transit between decks is made possible via escalators and large elevators, moving massive crowds of peoples to various elevations in the deliberately vertical complex. Though the Fel value efficiency, these transit arcades oppose a decline into claustrophobia with plenty of water fixtures, potted plants, wood accents and cloth comforts to break up the chrome orthogonality and gossamer glass. Few plane surfaces go unmolested with all manners of advertising displays, news feeds and advisory notices to keep commuters aware of the endless on-goings of the arcology space. Microvendors in waiting bays dispense all manners of conveniences, and the occasional artistic creation of whatever Fel body is on spotlight for the timeframe wheels past on automated carts; sculptures of fish midflight, a Sil’khan hero stripped of blade in favor of pen, a geological cache set in translucent resin. Young Soleri in particular use these arcades as a canvas, giving them all manners of themes - sand-blasted wood fire rustic outback, cacaw-filled humid sucking-mud jungle, cobalt-blue slick titanium-shod halogen future - where the Fel populace, for better or worse, play their unwilling audience.

CoCan Loop Station The Arcology Canopy Line, or the ‘CoCan’ as it is lovingly called, serves as the long-distance transit solution of the arcology, exploiting the last block of free air and unobstructed space before the capstone roof to run a suspended railway loop connecting every arcology wing and branch to every other. Main loops built of strengthened plastic analogue house rail lines upon which trams propelled by amaranthine tech ride cushions of distorted space, cruising at near jet speeds to cover the great distances larger arcologies create in their construction. CoCan arcades receive and deliver passengers within brief windows, speed being the method behind maximal throughput. Little by way of convenience is available here; the aim is to get in, get going, and get gone as fast as physiologically allowable.

Freight Terminal Sunken deep underground and given only brief tastes of air through colossal airtight blast doors through which parallel rail lines feed into is the arcology freight terminal, a massive complex and edifice to the studies and physicalization of logistics and storage. Anything that fits in a box and many things that don’t are ferried in from the surface rail, descending into the belly of the arcology’s lower root structures, received by crews of workers accompanied by moving equipment - cranes, forklifts, trucks - that bend space via amaranthine enginery to expedite the task of moving metric tons of sheer stuff through collection, inspection, storage and distribution. Buried in rock and metal, lit by arrays of tube strip lighting, all things legitimate and not make use of this ingress point; extensive mouths and gullets for the largest of stomachs.

Utility

Essential heavy infrastructure for the operating of the arcologies.

The Sembleworks Reconciling what one currently is with their physical idealized self is the task of the Fel’s sembleworks. As such, all manners of medicine are handled here too. Isolation of vulnerable subjects from viral incident weave is necessary in medical environments, and as such, environments where chalk cannot get in are created using spatial manipulation and insulation via glass. The sembleworks are often stratified structures, with patients expected to stay longer due to the severity of their afflictions - and the means to rectify them - dwelling proportionately deeper in the belly of the structure. At the top of the structure, Fel psychiatrists in aquarium-walled offices sooth patients on long couches. In the deepest recesses of the same sembleworks, Fel who have drank deep of the words of the ArcDanseer and found themselves tormented by their initial shapes lie stripped of lattice in coils of cognitive facility, as new bodies are spun for them from spinmetal and their life-stuff on the semblance looms, the latter manufactured by the silent Sequencer Minds who dwell in spidery nets of material from previous customers. The many more mundane affairs of medicine - from dressing wounds to delivering children - are handled here by Fel medical staff, at precision-cut brutalist furniture, under pure-tone lights, with machines that have been honed to exacting function by those who claim conquest over shape itself.

The Pith The nigh-utopic conditions of the arcologies are a product of legendary feats of resource production and management. The name of the game is amenities; water, power, air and food. The latter is handled by more dedicated facilities, but the first three are the domain of the Pith, a partially subterranean superstructure in the bottom of every arcology, often right below the ArcoSpire, or distributed into smaller structures in rough rings around it. The Pith is the mechanical operating heart of the arcology, and coordinates the provision of amenities throughout the entire structure, made possible by both the centralized facility and all the machines it contains, and the robust distribution networks of piping, hubs and sub-hubs that pass these amenities around the entire space. Air circulation is accomplished via topside towers fans, coolers and deodorizers, scrubbing the internal atmosphere of errant weft and cycling it back to the Pith for cleaning. With proper management of minute losses, an arcology can run endlessly on a single sufficiently-large reservoir of water, via endless provision, recollection and recycling optimized to surgical degrees to prevent any and all manners of waste. And the distribution of the Switchboard’s thermal power would otherwise have been a nightmare - an arcology almost cooking itself alive - were it not for the weft-rending insulation of the Pith. Its unimaginable importance is underscored by its brutalist architecture of dull metals, sharp edges and converging points, all realized under the careful eye of slide rules.

The Manufac Built around the Pith, the manufac of every arcology is where the Fel prove their self-sufficiency. From breakfast cereal to curvature enginery, the Fel manufacs put the calcic and the technological to task, refining, cutting, mixing, folding, heating, cooling, spinning, separating, rolling, drawing, flattening, drilling, polishing and coating, tasks undertaken by colossal assembly floors of dozens of computer-drive, Fel-guided machines. All processes undertaken have been optimized to exacting specifications, finding the perfect blend of initial input, final result, cost, speed and safety of all involved in the processes. Raw materials are delivered by the ton from logistical arteries, deep calcic reserves are drilled to, shattered and ferried up from the planet’s crust, and power is supplied from the plants in the Pith. This deep underground, only the sturdiest of materials survive; tempered replichrome, hardened alloys, supreme plastics, and the dull utilitarian architecture is the antithesis of the arcadia above. The manufacs supply the arcologies yes, but far more than that they supply much of the Dancirah, with the Fel being the most capable in the manners of large scale industrial processes. All manners of industry; production, repair, all that once could conceive of, are under the domain of the manufacs.

Utility Hubs Medical emergencies, fires, seismic activities, building collapses, power and water line damage, communications relay breaks, disease outbreak, shell breaches, decking collapse, transport car faults; the Fel-Arcad in their apparent war against accidents and uncertainty have indeed constrained all these things and more to the domain of preparatory textbooks, but the culmination of the minute errors that escape even the most watchful Soleri and diligent Minds can have cascading ramifications throughout an arcology. Though logistics is a science, no system is perfect, and few can afford to have solutions so far from their problems. As such, utility hubs - like colossal cabinets - dot every floor of the arcology, stocked with all manners of tools and devices for repair, containment, communication and rescue. The Fel in preaching community are more than ready to act upon those words, rising to the task of preserving the lives of those unlucky enough to be caught in the snares of entropy. Buttressing every broad-sweeping disaster control system, are Fel on the ground with first aid kits, food and water, emergency lights, splitting and lifting tools, expanding foam, flame retardants and a will to assert their doctrine as above all else, proven in part by how reliably it saves lives.

Thermo-Motive Plant Harnessing the conversion of motion to heat that is intrinsic to the logics of the Switchboard, the Fel have set up extensive arrays of flywheels, spun to shalkarahn velocities via dumping immense quantities of chalk into the writ upon their assembly, then curving space in upon itself to slow them within seconds, resulting in the generation of kilotomes of thermal weft so magnificent that any inhabitants of the insulated farm would be vaporized in an eyeblink should they maneuver their way pass extensive measures meant to prevent this very thing. All this generated heat is collected and piped by metamaterial conductors boasting an efficiency mere steps from perfect, and circulated throughout the arcology to the various depots where it is needed, from charging the thermal cells of space-faring craft, to being spun into motion for the humble food processor. All Fel sleep above a veritable belly of fire, and find it to be rather comforting, all things considered.

Enforcement

A necessary evil; provisions made for those who err under Fel doctrine.

Sekatorial Quarters It is a subject of immense Fel debate whether those empowered to enforce the stricter mandates of the arcology model - the Sekators - should be isolated from the larger Fel population or live among them. Arguing for the former, some insist that necessary for the Sekators to function is a mindset that actively runs against the precepts of the arcology model, and irrespective of how well one can be trained, all interactions with Fel not similarly minded are skewed by this one fact. A mind that is given an ‘okay’ - even if heavily dissuaded - will always see it as an option, and other Fel being aware of this fact - that at any time, someone could act towards them in such a manner, deeply hampers the ability to live freely. Proponents of the latter argue that isolation breeds alienation, in which the Sekators come to see the other Fel as ‘different’. Coupled with the fact that they are authorized to act in otherwise prohibited manners against them, creates a fertile mental ground for the incubation of supremacist thinking. No recourse has been found but for hybrid living arrangements, where Sekators live amongst the Fel for times, and return to their own quarters for training and instruction.

Detention Facilities A necessary evil; on occasion the arcology administration are compelled to detain subjects who are part of ongoing investigations, implicated in criminal doings, the like. These detentions are only partial, however, in that rather than prisons, the Fel allocate bi-quads dedicated for this purpose, and subjects are still allowed to leave them and move within a - albeit restricted - amount of the arcology. It is truly only detainment in the sense that they cannot leave the arcology proper until officially allowed to.

STRATA FOUR

15. Technology

The Fel-Arcad, more than any family, have bridged the gap between the calcic and the technological, realized as extensive usage of calcic ritualism in their designs of technological subject matter, which in turn serves to enrich their day-to-day living particularly within the arcologies. Most unique Fel-Arcad technologies are seen in the Sembleworks and in the arcologies themselves, though various creations of theirs exist apart from those two subjects.

Verdant Minds

Purposed Minds

These are fundamentally a realization of artificial intelligence in the Switchboard canon. What counts as ‘artificial’ under the unique circumstances of Samsara’s canon as a place where elementary computers periodically rise from the very dust is subject to debate, but in the Switchboard’s own consciousness, the ‘natural’ intelligences are a product of Astrolabic calculus, and anything that undergoes the touch of the Third Kin to realize it into being is labeled ‘artificial’.

Purposed Minds are functionally imperfect mindspun amalgam. By brutishly combining multiple mindspun each with various proficiencies in different aspects of compute, it is possible to synthesize a whole much better than the some of its parts, clusters of mindspun even within the amalgam being capable of tackling numerous functions. The resulting being is roughly equivalent to a First Thinker mind, and is defined primarily by the blank-slate nature of it, and thus the inherent potential. Getting all of the mindspun to work towards a given purpose - hence their name - is achieved via using the calcic ritualism to interface with them at a plane below, and issue them a prime directive. This virtually inviolable flag on their ontology sets them towards the task outlined in that directive, which they do without qualm or complaint, a veritable slave to higher cognition.

The issuance of a prime directive is paramount. Beyond merely making the mindspun in the Mind far more pliable and responsive to command, the issuance of this directive gives tangible stability to their pattern complex; they becoming literally more stable as physical phenomena upon issuance of a reason to persist and exist. A prime directive doesn’t make up for lacking a vessel, but it does lend valuable stability and resilience to external influence to the Mind in question. This is valuable in turn as Purposed Minds exist primarily as a technology above the Larksel cubes in potency, differing somewhat from them in scope but only minimally in function.

Larksel cubes are small, tightly integrated, and are generally valued for being capable at a very many number of things with passable efficiency and delivery of results. Purposed Minds are their massively upscaled cousins that generally need to manage proportionally larger things, and thus benefit from much larger mindspun numbers and complexity of amalgam architecture. Their prime directive compared to the Larksel cube’s instruction sets mean that Purposed Minds are disposed towards doing a handful of things maximally well, this being a product of the fact prime directives come with a praximechanical component. For this reason, Purposed Minds see extensive application in use cases such as control of planetary and deep-space defense infrastructure, navigation and piloting systems for jumpships and star-faring craft, and as the autonomous management systems for Fel-Arcad arcologies. They see utility in other more esoteric applications as well, such as crushing the arcane fold mathematics behind calcic ritualism and chalkweave in general.

But the New Thinkers are perhaps the most interesting of the fates that may befall an amalgamation of mindspun.

Link to original

Verdant Minds are a specific flavor of Purposed Minds that are engineered and given a prime directive of overseeing the operation of various infrastructure and similar systems used in an arcology. Working alongside the Soleri, they exist as an entity that doesn’t forget, make mistakes, and always acts on time - valuable traits when dealing with the systems of an arcology, where even a moment of downtime not mitigated by redundant systems can lead to considerable disruption and loss of life.

The functions of the Verdant Minds are elaborated upon further down this section, but to give an idea of their functions;

• They gather and collate the massive amounts of trackable metrics and data points generated by arcologies every second, from the quality of air, to the average temperature of served foods, to the average amount of sleep individual Fel are getting. All of this date is critical for the arcology-spanning decisions that the Soleri make for the betterment of all Fel and other persons in their charge.
• They function as administrators for the Fel’s massive data archives generated from extensive collation, ranging from raw metrics on the nature of space, to more distinct information such as books, reports, imagery, video and far more, performing the highly important tasks of intake, assessment, storage and retrieval.
• They control the extensive list of arcology management systems spanning thermal power generation, hydroponics agriculture, environmental control, internal and external communications, intra-arco transport and defense, all of these systems that require passive but diligent monitoring to ensure optimal function.
• They preside over all manners of calcic and weft interactions, such as large ongoing calcic rituals, the cultivation of mindspun, and synthesis of weft and lattices in the sembleworks.

The Sembleworks

All of Lattice as a Canvas is recommended reading in addition to this section.

The Sembleworks

While the Semblance Doctrine has been majorly explained as regards its theoretical backing and the philosophy descended from it, the physical structure and workings of the Sembleworks are equally important. The Sembleworks are ultimately workshops for bodies, and because of what counts as ‘workpieces’ in this space, the tools and technology employed here are particularly unique.

The actual Sembleworks structure occupies a special space in an arcology that allows their inclusion, often built as a fusion between hospital and workshop. The ‘front’ that the Works presents is fairly welcoming though clinical, with those interested in the Works meeting with sembleworker consultants who listen to their interests and concerns, and generally tackle the administrative aspect of the entire ideal. At the end of the line is facilities for ‘outpatient’ care; provisions are made for recovering from the various processes underwent during the actual ‘works’ part of the pipeline.

It is between these intake and outtake stages that we are concerned with. Concealed from easy sight is the heart of the Sembleworks - the true semblance works - where the shaping of bodies is carried out.

A means of relaying the technology employed in the Sembleworks is to look at the various stages of semblance creation, escalating in complexity as one climbs the ladder.

Tier 1 - Cosmetic Grafts At the very bottom we see cosmetic grafts. Beginning the road to crafting a semblance and often where many subjects - particularly non-Fel - stop is in cosmetics grafts. These grafts are made of chalk and appended to the body, almost like particularly advanced piercings. Their purpose is wholly cosmetic, and here we can find simple modifications to the face such as filing down bone structure, filling out spaces with material, changing definitions and shape of orifices and hollows, as well as tattoos and regular piercings.

Taken some steps further however, cosmetic grafts can take the form of horns grafted on the head, for example, integrated into the skull. Though the Fel-Arcad already have pointed ears, members of other families can obtain similar here as well.

These cosmegrafts are valued among the various denizens of the Switchboard, serving as means to cultivate individuality through aesthetics, avenues for self-expression and self perception, for commemoration of events, signal membership to certain circles or adherence to some belief, to send a message or tell a story; a litany of reasons. The Fel-Arcad, of course, are happy to oblige these various requests.

What makes this possible are the looms, a fairly simple term for what is otherwise a complex relic instrument designed to spin chalk into various shapes and forms. Using similar principles employed in the Ritualism, chalk can be spun, folded and worked into the shapes desired to create a desired graft for a subject. Sembleworkers train to work with the loom and it’s various tools extensively to create the necessity pieces necessary to craft an ideal semblance.

Tier 2 - Chromegrafts Cosmetic grafts are solely that, and thus they lack functionality. Should a subject have been maimed, for example, a cosmetic graft of the lost limb would be solely that - a mere construct of chalk, lacking in function. To achieve function, chromegrafts are employed, a more advanced form of graft that employs chalk as well as machine parts and components, making them functionally calcic cybernetics.

This last point makes them particularly coveted, especially by various parties in the Switchboard who could benefit from a naturally emergent result of this; cybernetic weaponry. Striders in particular - constantly pushing themselves to the edge - are fond of these calcic cybernetics that can enhance their abilities in traversal and battle across the Switchboard. They also see more pedestrian applications however, in replacing damaged original body parts, or for utilitarian applications such as in industries.

Chromegrafts are engineered on the loom as well, using spinmetal, a Fel-Arcad invention. Spinmetal refers to an entire class of materials and alloys that exist in wire form and can be ‘spun’ on the loom to create various constructs as needed. Heated spinmetal is spun, layered, cut, and folded as needed, and with the integration of chalk, spinmetal constructs achieve far better qualities in their final result than other manufacturing methods such as forging/blacksmithing, three-dimensional printing, and milling out a unibody construction. Spinmetal takes various forms and has various qualities, with more being created every so often, as the demands of sembleworks customers grow and become more exacting.

Chromegrafts naturally need a means to integrate with the lattice of the subject they’re installed in, and a few methods exist to handle this. The least invasive is that they are controlled by looped rituals; rituals that when cast, are self-sustaining and can accept input and provide output over long terms. An advantage of this is the lack of invasive installation on the lattice allows for wide compatibility with many individual chromegrafts that are outfitted to speak the calcic ritualism. Next is slightly more involved; having a Slate or just the computational core of one implanted on the body, and connecting it to the interface line of the subject’s Five Straits. The chromegraft is controlled by intent passed by the subject through to the onboard slate computer, which then finely controls the graft. Linking the chromegraft itself directly to the computational line is perhaps the most invasive, but allows the wearer to have perfect control over the graft at the speed of thought, using it as though it were an actual limb.

A noteworthy difference between using a Slate to interface with the chromegraft versus direct connection is that the Slate can modify the intent passed with mathematics, but does so at the extent of minor latency. A directly-connected chromegraft arm, for example, could mimic some physical ‘tics’ and qualities that the original arm had, such as an inability to snap fingers or a habit of picking at one finger with the nail of another when under stress. A chromegraft that receives data from a Slate could have those things eliminated by the Slate, computational processes accounting for and doing away with human imperfections, and enhancing the desired functions such as giving finer control in dexterous actions like sculpting or aiming a projectile weapon, or knowing exactly when to deploy an inbuilt feature such as force multiplier to maximum effect. Again, this does come at the expense of speed - as Slates induce minor latency between though and action. This can be mitigated with faster computational cores and more optimized processes of course, but the other drawback of Slates - that they can be hacked - cannot be mitigated as easily.

Tier 3 - Lattice Construction An observation can be made that cosmetic grafts are additions and chromegrafts are substitutions, but is there a means to get a full ‘replacement’ of sorts for, say, a lost limb? Is there a means to weave a graft from the lattice of the subject to receive it? While a chromegraft can replicate functionality and even enhance it, some may elect for a graft built from the stuff of their own lattice, the stuff of their own being.

There are advantages to this naturally. Grafts made from the subjects own lattice are integrated on the ribbon level, and thus function accordingly. A latticegraft will grow alongside the subject’s body, and will rarely ever need any form of modification or replacement as is the case for cosmegrafts and chromegrafts. Latticegrafts are also functional the way chromegrafts are, while simultaneously being flesh, and so a particularly complex latticegraft such as wings would make their bearer capable of flight, and a grafted tail would function as one would expect.

This is process is rather involved, naturally, as it requires recreating the lattice of a subject, containing their Five Straits - a process that requires creating weave so complex and intricate it is impossible to do manually. A computational core is the next option then, but even these are not able to sequence the complexities of a living being’s lattice. Thus the Fel-Arcad employ a technology unique to them; a Purposed Mind. Through the Ritualism and the usage of replicas of the Triptych Crucible (elaborated upon later), the Fel-Arcad are able to engineer calcic intelligences - the mindspun - from pure chalk, and through the crucible, combine these elementary intelligences to form a Mind able to rival the First Thinkers from long ago. Through the Ritualism this new Mind is issued a prime directive, and through doctrinal principles they are then able to perform the task that corresponds with the directive issued to them.

Sequencer Minds are used in the sembleworks to produce spools of lattice for creating latticegrafts, as they are issued the directive ‘understand and replicate’. A sample is taken from the subject and fed to the Mind, which then assimilates and sequences the lattice provided to them, allowing them to produce more of it when instructed. This process can be somewhat slow, however, and consumes massive amounts of chalk as it works, which needs to be fed constantly to the Mind and incurs a considerable cost on the subject desiring the graft. The Mind works to produce a spool of lattice stuff, and then it is the task of skilled sembleworkers to craft the graft that is desired.

It is here where the artistry of the entire Semblance Doctrine shines forth. The Sequencer Mind provides the material, and the subject provides their wish, but it is down to the sembleworker - an artist at their core and one by necessity - to reconcile both using the tools at their disposal to create the final graft. It is here where the individual differences between sembleworkers arise; while the operation of tools and machines used in the Sembleworks can be taught to even the most obtuse of prospects, Ateliers ultimate select for the most creatively minded, those who are able to conceive of something grand and unique in their minds and realize them on the canvas of the body.

This is where the bulk of the time creating a latticegraft is often spent, in the back and forth between sembleworker and subject as they work towards creating the perfect graft on the path towards realizing their Semblance.

This expertise and the entire process, expectedly, is not cheap, and has led to many criticisms of the Semblance Doctrine being a philosophy afforded only to those of considerable material means. Finding a capable sembleworker at an achievable price remains a concern for many Fel-Arcad pursuing this path. There are various cases, however, of sembleworkers who see opportunities to realize some artistic idea that has weighed upon them for longer than they care to relay - and at the sight of the right subject, they are more than willing to serve them at no cost to them.

Tier 4 - Lattice Reimagination The final tier of the sembleworks is one few find themselves contemplating, as it is the most involved - and by extension, the most expensive and dangerous - of them all. The lattice reimagination comes when a subject - through all discussion on this subject matter to confirm certainty - remains convicted of the belief that their current form is not the form they wish to reside in, and instead of adding things to the existing lattice, the subject wishes to be ‘removed’ from their current form and adopt a new, created form that suits them. In simpler terms, it can be a total rejection of the bipedal human form, and a desire for something entirely different, which needs to be created often from scratch.

Cosmegrafts, chrome and spools of lattice from the subject will all need to employed in this case, in varying amounts. Most noteworthy on the technological front, however, is a tool known as the lathe. The lathe is special, in that it’s function is made possible due to doctrinal principles, and the lathe’s function is to pare things down to a desired shape. In the case of a total reimagination of a lattice, the subject is fed to the lathe, and their initial form is cut down to solely the Five Straits - the entirety of the subjects being. Mistakes and failures at this stage are often fatal. The subject which now exists solely in the form of the Five Straits is immensely vulnerable to all manners of phenomena, and thus need to be shielded - often in large vaults made specifically for this purpose. Whether this step is taken before or after their reimagined form is ready is up to the subject, but some subjects may be so tortured by their forms that they wish to remain merely in the ‘Strait state’ until their new form is ready.

On the other front, engineering of this new form is underway, and depending on the whims of the subject this could be a simple as engineering a new bipedal humanoid form for them to inhabit to doing something far beyond regularity. Most subjects who reach this stage are often rejecting their bipedal forms to become something else, and the realization of this ‘something else’ will be a task that plagues gatherings of sembleworkers for immense periods of time, and consumes plentiful amounts of chalk in the creation of drafts, test models, additional models in various stages of iteration, finalizing prototypes, before reaching the final product. Because every single one of these lattice reimaginations is different from the last and as a whole they are fairly rare, they draw fair bits of attention from sembleworkers all over the Dancirah, with particularly skilled sembleworkers of note journeying to study or even aid in the process, and conclaves of them in Ateliers debating fervently on the means to realize a subject’s desire. Sembleworkers - as mentioned before - are artists and creatives, and thus share very little by way of common ground as regards the means of doing any one thing.

The process is costly, time consuming, risky, exhausting for all involved - and doable no way else.

The lathe sees other uses; its ability to pare things down to their doctrinal cores is of great usage to the Fel-Arcad in their studies of the Switchboard and their Ritualism, and lathes serve as a means to recycle the unneeded products of the sembleworks such as old grafts.

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Sembleworks Crucibles

Mind Crucibles

The Mind Crucibles are a technology of debated origin, either being a product of the civilization-building, now-extinct second generation of thinkers - the Vermeil - or a product of the First Thinker Minds. As both generations of thinkers have exhibited widespread use of the technology, while also having engaged in conflict in the past, it is generally understood that irrespective of which faction invented it, the other eventually stole it, using it for their own ends.

The function of the crucibles is to exploit the throughline of plasticity in the calcic mechanics, that make the dealings with complex things a much more trivial affair than it would be in our own world. The crucibles are a particularly solid example of this, as they have the ability to meld the computational and memory straits of thinking weave into cohesive, functional wholes, combining multiple smaller intelligences into a singular, more capable one. Akin to saying that you could blend brains in a blender, pour the resulting soup in a bowl, and have what comes out be not just functional, but greater than the sum of parts is well outside the realm of possibility. But only in our canon; in the Switchboard, the calcic mechanics make it possible.

The original crucible - or at least, the crucible that the third kin gained access to that gave them the power to meld minds - was the Triptych Crucible, looted from the Trinary Complex in the Vitric Shelf during the Fourth Offensive, as depicted in The Dawn of the Dancirah. The first way the Third Kin used it was to create the eight Skydancer - the person of Morrigan - and it became clear to them the power and utility that the technology possessed. Being the most fitting to handle it, the Arcad swiftly took possession of it, and launched extensive study into what really could be done with it, yielding results that would come to benefit the third kin in a number of ways.

Much mystery surrounds them all the same. For one, their ability to meld minds seems to be an emergent property of their makeup, as no particular engineering step or constituent part in their construction and makeup seems most attributable to their ability to meld minds - with the exception of, perhaps, the fact that glass is used in their build. Beyond that however, they remain shrouded in unknowns - a black box that remains usable but never truly understandable.

This bothered the Arcad and later the Fel-Arcad - being the scholars and truth-seekers that they are - but much of the rest of the Switchboard was content to utilize the various ramifications that came from the crucibles; the purposed minds, new thinkers and Larksel cubes that stemmed from the practice of cultivating,

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It was the Fel-Arcad who looted the Triptych Crucible from the minds in the Trinary Complex situated in the Vitric Shelf, and they were the first to use - first to synthesize the Skydancer Morrigan, and later on in various means for the sake of research into the technology.

Considering how powerful the original Triptych Crucible was, it was later surrendered to the Brass Monastery for safekeeping, and the Fel-Arcad made use of lesser or daughter crucibles for a number of use cases. Beyond melding minds together to synthesize Larksel cubes and Purposed Minds, the Fel-Arcad devised a means to perform effectively repairs or modifications to a subject’s computational strait using specially engineered mindspun that ‘graft’ themselves on to it, exploiting the mindspun’s tendency to attempt to invade the lattices of larger beings and attack their straits.

This particular application of the crucibles is used as a form of therapeutic exercise, where engineered mindspun are grafted on to a projection of the subject’s memory and computational strait, and used to modify, suppress or outrightly ablate certain memories or skews upon thinking patterns. Of course, it is absolutely not nearly as easy as it sounds, but it is still very possible to - at least, with multiple sessions and combined with external healing methodologies - set a subject on a trajectory towards recovery, and quicker than if they hadn’t utilized this method. It isn’t without tangible risk however, as it is effectively engineering a microbe, and then asking that microbe to snipe a needle in a haystack, sometimes multiple. With many points of failure and considering what is at stake - the integrity of one’s own very self - some choose not to attempt it, but skilled hands promise success more often than not.

The far more common application for sembleworks crucibles however, is the induction of a sort of artificial neuroplasticity. A common problem with latticegrafts - functional grafts upon the lattice, such as wings and tails - is that the computational strait lacks the connections necessary to make use of those newly added parts. It does, however, exhibit a neuroplasticity analogue, meaning that over time, the computational strait will learn to unconsciously control a new anatomical part added to the lattice, this learning period being shortened via deliberate physical therapy tailored towards inducing function in that part. There is, however, a means of granting it almost perfect function right as the part is grafted on, via additionally grafting on engineered mindspun on to the subject’s computational strait, this mindspun being tailored towards controlling this part. Like lending the computational strait the instructional manual rather than compelling it to write one as it experiments with the new part, near-perfect function of lattice-grafted parts is achieved from day one.

The computational strait gradually learns how to operate the latticegraft from the mindspun, and when it has sufficiently done so, it can be removed via the sembleworks crucible, or broken down by the subject’s own unravelling reversal. This particular application of the crucible is among its most lauded, as it minimizes even further the otherwise annoyances that come with the Fel’s philosophy on impermanence of form.

Slates

Slates are an essential bit of the history of the Third Kin, advancing various fields of study relevant to the Third Kin and earning them numerous victories against the First Thinker Minds that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible. While the Sixth Skydancer - Onuris the Hammer - was the creator of the first Slate, production, research and improvement upon this creation was to be handled by the then Arcad, now Fel-Arcad, who both then and now proved to be the most capable in all matters calcic.

Slates are discussed at length in various other sections; The Slate Vaults and Kache Krashing

The design and function of Slates necessitates their construction by knowledgeable minds and skilled hands, and none fit this description more than the Fel-Arcad. The core components of the Slate - the chalk slab backboard, the computational core, and the cutting from the Anarhiza - are all meticulously engineered by the Fel-Arcad, working to ensure that only the highest quality components make it to the final product.

When cutting slabs of chalk from Wellsprings didn’t yield product with sufficient purity and workability with tools, the Fel-Arcad devised means to engineer incomparably pure slabs of chalk, able to be worked with tools, using a mix of purified powder chalk and replichrome, granting the Slate additional durability and regenerative powers as well. Computational cores are largely produced by the Lancasters, but testing is done to ensure that they can interface optimally with calcic subject matter as well, granting the Slate the multitool capability that won battles all those processions ago. Cultivation of the Anarhiza is handled by the Fel-Arcad as well, utilizing ritualism and splicing to engineer advanced and purpose-built breeds, ranging from industrial applications to combat, to ensure every kind of Slate is able to interface maximally with the DevitNet. Individual Slates undergo rigorous testing before they are okayed for distribution and use, and Slates produced by the Fel-Arcad are widely regarded as second to none.

Personalized orders for Slates are handled by them as well, incorporating customer-provided functionality or materials upon request, designing the Slate to be used in certain manners that require a breakaway from the backboard design syntax, and doing aftermarket maintenance of them as well. Organizations that make extensive usage of Slates such as the Spyndl Academy often deal with the Fel-Arcad to get them provided in bulk. Continuous iteration upon existing designs allows the Fel-Arcad to engineer bleeding edge Slate tech, to deal with old threats and problems in the Switchboard more efficiently, and tackle the new ones as they emerge.

Arcologies

A Fel-Arcad arcology is a living superstructure of oppressive complexity. Every square meter of it is a living, breathing part - a puzzle piece in a subsystem - that is a part of the much larger integrated supersystem that is the arcology itself. Engineered from the ground up to grow from the ground up, the workings of the arcology are very much like the workings of a body. It is taken a step further by the fact the arcology plays host to living beings, and in addition to that is designed to provide nearly utopic living conditions, particularly in the form of ensuring wellbeing while shielding from internal and external threats.

Arcologies are situated first and foremost at the heart of an arcadia. The first task of any aspiring group of Soleri, engineering an arcadia requires finding a suitable locale for both the arcadia and the arcology to be situated within it. The many planets of the Switchboard boast considerable biome diversity, and selecting the right biome - or the best that’s available in the hand that’s been dealt - is paramount. Arcadias need a fair bit of space, depending on the size of the arcology to be built and accounting for how it will grow in the future. Soleri spend considerable time marking out the space the arcadia will occupy.

The first step in constructing the arcadia is the planting of the Fey Curlicue. Planted, germinated and grown to infancy in ideal conditions, it is transplanted to the final space it will occupy. This space is necessarily a circular base made of replichrome, and integration between the two is an essential step in the process. The Curlicue will grow roots into the replichrome, and the replichrome itself will gradually began to expand outwards from it, as it feeds on latent chalk and replicates. Control of this process is handled by Soleri using Slates designed to communicate with and thus control the replichrome, which gradually accelerates its growth and spread. Preferably placed a few feet below ground, the replichrome spreads outwards from the Curlicue into the depths of the planet, establish a titanic root network that swells, serving to siphon massive amounts of chalk from the planetary equation at the heart of its home planet.

It is upon this base that the actual arcadia can be built. Massive amounts of seed and plant cuttings are moved to the prepared space, and planted by the Soleri and their necessarily large numbers of assistants, or handled by Slate-controlled swarms of autonomous machines. The choice of what to plant in this space comes down to a number of factors; the biome the arcology is situated in, whether the arcology will need certain resources only provided by this plant life, whether certain plants cooperate well with others, and in true Fel-Arcad fashion, the aesthetic beauty of the final result. Designing the planting formation of the arcadia is additionally a task of the creatively-minded Soleri, though there is an element of randomness to it as well, induced by the Curlicue’s seed-weave. The plants in this stage grow roots which sink below the planets surface, tapping into the replichrome root network below, where they are siphoned with rich chalk, allowing them to grow rapidly and richly. Tending to the spawning arcadia is the task of the Soleri as well, and a fully-grown arcadia can become a massive, dense rainforest, or sprawling iridescent fields of flowers, the arcology sitting at the center of it, a jewel atop a great crown.

It is around this stage that the most critical stage - the actual growing of the arcology - begins. This stage is defined primarily by the fact a growing arcology siphons chalk from the local environment at a colossal scale, as replichrome replicates exponentially and the ‘stem’ of the arcology rapidly shoots skywards. Chalk must be siphoned from elsewhere, and various means exist to do this. In a bid to establish commercial relations, Soleri building an arcology usually contract with Lancaster-run mining operations and fleets, able to quarry massive blocks of solid chalk from a nearby Wellspring and ferry them down to the planet below. If a planet is otherwise uninhabited and there are psychitects in the Soleri company, tampering with the planetary equation can allow for curtailing its innate shielding against the powerful output of armillary stars, and allow for greater amounts of radiant chalk to reach the planet below, giving the growing arcology more chalk to feast upon. A similar effect can be achieved using a structural cast; a fairly simple one that allows for drawing massive quantities of chalk from a nearby location in the Switchboard. Ledgerial casts often require review and subsequent approval by the Brass Monastery however, who often send one of their Monastics to oversee the process. In Cradles where multiple arcologies are being built on multiple planets simultaneously, an order can be given to condemn an entire Wellspring, achieved through severing the anchorage superstructures in its planetary equation, and then feeding it the parameters necessary to collapse it faster than it would regularly, expelling massive chunks of wellspring matter outwards, which can then fall to nearby planets as meteors. This chalk can then be assimilated into the planet to be drawn by the arcology’s replichrome roots, or ferried to it. Often, arcology building begins in the encendyr, with the aim that the growing of the arcology begins in the conflara, when the entirety of the Great Sky surges and saturates with chalk.

With a steady supply of chalk, arcologies grow quickly and widely, this being where the next important task of the Soleri - shaping the arcology - begins. Much like the art of bonsai, the wild growth of the arcology is curtailed systematically, and thus the arcology itself is tamed and shaped. The tools for this task are varied, ranging from the advanced Slate to the simple bandsaw, and from the smallest bandsaw to the largest machine cutters. Soleri groups would have already drawn up a plan for the arcology before then, detailing how large the arcology should be at completion, how functions will be allocated to each space, and the path the arcology will take when it eventually needs to grow in the future. The artistry of the Soleri reemerges here, as replichrome is a somewhat simple material to work with despite the unrivalled results it can yield, allowing arcologies to take on a vast array of shapes. The basic tree design is favored by many and rarely modified beyond the few occasional personal lilts added to create uniqueness, but some elder, skilled Soleri push the bounds of what is possible, creating works of art as striking and inspired as they are functional. This shaping and growing stage can take the better part of a procession, often longer depending on a litany of factors such as the nature of the arcology to be built, the availability of hands to do the work, and the skill between those hands to deliver satisfactory results.

The completion of the physical structure of the arcology allows, finally, for entering it and begin the extensive task of outfitting it for function. All manners of secondary construction is necessary, ranging from establishing infrastructure for resource generation such as indoor hydroponics and greenhouses, transport systems for amenities such as water, thermal power and climate-controlled air, as well as ways to remove waste products. Furnishings are installed as well, provided often by Lancaster-allied partners or other Fel-Arcad arcologies. Under the arcology proper, deep within the replichrome taproot, all manner of critical enginery are installed, particular the arcology’s fold engines, powerful forge-like structures that intake massive amounts of chalk and output it to power the entire structure above. Some branching roots under the arcology are expanded deep beneath the planet’s surface, and can serve as a means to go deep under the planets crust, or as a transportation network that links the arcology to other structures and points of interest on the planet. Technical systems are installed at this point as well; interface lattices for Slates, a variety of security measures ranging from monitoring apparatus such as cameras and recorders to access restriction based on privilege.

In nearly every arcology, a variety of tasks are handled by machine assistants. Engineered for this very purpose, the Tenders are a robotic swarm of various shape and function, working to handle the more mundane drudgery necessary to keep an arcology functional, ranging from waste disposal to maintenance to security. Fel-Arcad families within an arcology often have a permanent Tender assigned to them, serving as a household assistant. These Tenders differ from other machine imitations of life in that in place of a computational core guiding their functions, Mindspun are spawned and allowed to puppeteer machine forms. Coordination of the Tenders - and all of the various integrated systems in the arcology at large - are handled by the Verdant Mind, a purposed Mind created for the sole purpose of managing the arcology’s vast array of functions as well as responding to structural issues as they come. The Verdant Mind is controlled by the Soleri, who tweak its functions as necessary, with the Verdant Mind being what truly convinces most of the arcologies being living beings.

Simulspace

The Fel-Arcad Simulspace refers to the resultant of the combination of various other existing technologies and necessarily the integration of calcic weave into the whole mix. Inspired by the Depthstrider’s Deep Hollow ability, the Fel-Arcad learned how to create contained, almost bubble-like environments using chalk and Slates, to primarily provide experiences similar to ‘full dive virtual reality’.

The Simulspace combines virtual reality and occasionally augmented reality with sensory simulation engineered by weave-replicapable Slates to create virtual experiences almost indistinguishable from the real thing. It sees implementation in various use cases, from military to artistic exhibits to medicine to entertainment.

Rocketskates

The name works but I want to change it to something more distinct.

The Fel-Arcad rocketskates have a long, storied history. Beginning as a means for outlaws and misfits to escape the searchlights and long arms of polite society, they graduated to become a staple sport among the normally non-physical Fel-Arcad. Evolving in tandem with the practice were the implements of its pursuits, and the modern rocketskate is a proud descendant of humbler things.

The first iterations of what was a single node down the tech tree of the ordinary shoe were replichrome-soled boots, the metal programmed to feed on chalk and ‘latch on’ to nearby replichrome when enough force was applied. These boots allowed for running effortlessly up the walls and along the ceilings of arcologies, as the replichrome soles would latch on to the identically-replichrome surfaces like Velcro, coming loose with a stout pull. In the wake of this invention was a flourishing amateur parkour scene, and a spark in the minds of those who wondered how they might take these little inventions further.

Simultaneously, the viability of a means to traverse the titanic hollow roots of mature arcologies faster than mere feet had already been established, and the first innovators in the field had begun to play around with wheeled implementations of the original replichrome-soled boots. With steep downward inclines or running starts on straits, they could easily outrun even markedly fleet-footed pursuers and more elementary pursuit drones. The next set of problems were immediately apparent however, as there were little ways to go upwards with these wheeled shoes. Gravity proved to be the final barrier to conquer, and it was smashed in a remarkable way.

The final major innovation was the integration of Jaunteer equations Originating first among the Sil’khan as a means to replicate the power of the Strider Protocol, they eventually found considerable use in the Switchboard’s various spacefaring transport technologies. By folding chalk into velocity, they could produce the thrust needed to overcome all manners of natural forces such as gravity and drag. Integrated into these ‘wheel skates’, they reached their final form, becoming capable of conquering nearly any terrain and reaching ludicrous velocities.

When the technology’s foundation reached its nigh-apex, all further innovation took the form of side-upgrades and modifications made to meet new demands of the sport and practice. Slate-enabled Skates became more commonplace when the velocity floor for skating started approaching the limits of reaction times. When skating gained a combat component, boots upgraded to armored half-suits going up to thighs, allowing for various offensive measures and maneuvers. Particularly advanced iterations were capable almost of elementary flight - a form of ‘air walking’ that saw rocketskates escape the bounds of terrain and gravity entirely, and perhaps even their arcology homes, as they became a rare but emerging sight in the Switchboard, on the feet of Fel-Arcad who had learned to use them beyond merely outrunning the law.

16. Food & Agriculture

SB_Physiology is recommended reading before this section.

The Third Kin generally speaking do not need to eat. The exception to this rule are those without the weave protocol, and thus cannot resupply the material of their lattices and potential straits by merely dwelling in sufficiently calcic environments. The recourse for this is of course via consuming weft, and thus the need for food, who’s ribbon patterning makes it better suited for consumption than just eating chalk crystals. Though eating food is something of a vestigial function, the auxiliary aspects of it - such as the wellbeing brought by delightful flavor and the structuring of society around meal times - meant that eating food remained a common practice of the Third Kin, the exceptions being in decidedly fringe cases.

Coupled with the viability of agricultural production that emerged as a result of arcology design, the Fel-Arcad came to be the Switchboard’s foremost producers of food, producing enough to supply the inhabitants of their arcologies and a surplus to feed the other denizens of the stars.

Arcology Agriculture

The highly calculated and controlled living conditions of the arcologies are as such to ensure maximal comfort and preservation of life for all within them. Consequently, the same management of temperature, humidity, light levels, air circulation, gravity and the like are conveniently also usable in the maximal production of foodstuff. ‘Agro-spheres’ where growing of food can take place are used extensively in virtually all arcologies to keep their extensive populations fed, and - discussed later on - they use all manners of technologies to make this possible.

Speaking more so on how the arcology as a concept intersects with agriculture, the arcology is a deliberate challenge of the shape of civilization, one such facet of that shape being the general detachment of consumers from productive apparatus, leading to a disconnect between the former and latter that causes the consumers to lose something of appreciation and thus consideration of what it takes to produce the things they consume. It is because of this detachment that the problems of waste, sprawl and environmental degradation seem like distant, intangible nonentities in the minds of those who are responsible for those very problems.

The arcology rectifies this by bringing consumer closer to producer, and having the final users of goods be involved in their production. Eliminating the mystery between what happens between farm and table fosters a connection between eater and what is eaten, and the appreciation that stems from it thereof makes it easier to grasp the problems with spoilage and waste.

Methodology

The Fel-Arcad in our canon would be a decidedly advanced civilization, having gained solid grasp of interstellar travel, artificial intelligence, genetic editing, cybernetics and similar implantations, super-habitats, and harnessing the output of stars. When coupled with calcic mechanics, what emerges is an unimaginably flexible toolbox with which to engineer any desirable outcome. The Fel know this better than anyone, and cultivating a robust grasp of the Switchboard’s science and technologies has allowed them to satisfy the tall order they are given - feeding the often millions of people that inhabit an arcology.

This they accomplish in a manner best gleaned by exploring a number of facets;

• Synthetic crops and ‘editing’
• Growth media and methodology
• Exotic demand and supply

Synthetic Crops & ‘Editing’ Meeting the immense food demands of the arcology is no easy task. Beyond just generating enough foodstuff by pure mass measure, there’s also the drive to generate foodstuff that’s varied enough to satisfy different palettes, and nutritional (in the calcic sense of the word) to promote wellbeing among the arcology populace.

Much of the Switchboard’s plant life precedes the Third Kin, having emerged in the era of the Second Thinkers, the Vermeil. The Vermeil - being much like us in manner and civilizational progression - followed similar paths as we did, their agriculture following the progression of hunting and gathering through early domestication of wild plants, the invention of irrigation and ploughing, a refinement of technique in crop rotation, storage, selective breeding, a push for efficiency in mechanization and the employment of chemical stratagems, and a near-perfection of craft via the integration of advanced mechanical and biotechnologies and computer assistance. While the Second Thinkers were indeed destroyed by the First Thinkers, and the stars scoured of much of their presence, they were broadly survived by the non-thinking weft of the Switchboard, which grew and evolved in their absence, such that they were ready to be harnessed by the Third Kin when they arose.

Beginning much the same agricultural progression as the Vermeil, the Third Kin’s own path was greatly expedited by the fact the Vermeil had done it before, and the plundering of the interdiction vaults revealed their technology and methodologies, which the Third Kin swiftly adopted. However, the Kin’s ability to weave chalk came with added nuances to the entire process, such that the Third Kin could manipulate cultivated plant life according to their own rules, rather than the ones the Vermeil were subjected to by the weft in question.

As such, they began to practice their own equivalent of our genetic modification; using the calcic ritualism to alter the properties of any plant that caught their fancy. Ritual modification allowed for changing their shape, size, growth demands, what they produced, how it tasted, just about every property imaginable was able to be prodded, skewed, twisted and turned by the weavers of old, who - among other things - used these immensely plastic manifestations of weft as a sandbox for refining their powers for greater usage elsewhere, such as the Praxis battlefronts when that time eventually came.

In the modern day, the Fel have engineered crops along three major lines; suitability for growth in the exotic conditions of the arcology, maximized yield and storage life, and boasting a variety of flavors and appeals beyond what is conventionally capable, to supply innumerable palates and applications.

Growth Media & Methodology Arcology agriculture is done via immensely robust hydroponics setups, large vats of liquid serving as the media for growing the overwhelming majority of an arcology’s food. By engineering virtually all plants in the prospective pool of food crops to be aquatic and thus capable of growing exclusively in water, arcologies are thus able to cultivate their food in this manner. It comes with a number of immediate benefits too;

• While water is generally the preferred medium, other liquids are used too in different cases, and they - especially water - benefit from having good heat capacities, which means that ideal temperature conditions for a given crop can be easily maintained as the liquid is resistance to drastic changes in temperature.
• It is far easier to distribute nutrients evenly in liquid rather than solid media, and thus exact levels of nutrients can be measured and maintained in real time. This manner of ‘precision agriculture’ extends to the management of pH levels and light exposure as well.
• Water poses less resistance than solid soil, and thus plants and fruits can grow much larger, leading to higher yields. In zero-gravity hydroponics setups, fruit faces virtually no opposition to its growth, leading to maximal yields when taking advantage of the modifications upon the crop.
• Hydroponics within the arcologies exist independently of climate and weather conditions, instead being crafted environments engineered by Fel specialists. Maximally producible and controlled conditions means that crops can be made available all year-round.
• Considering that arcologies are built tall rather than wide, it is difficult to have large indoor soil fields for growing produce, thus making densely-built hydroponic setups outright necessary. In turn, they also produce more yield per cubic meter than soil would.
• Some aspects of automating the planting, regulating and harvesting of crops are made more doable or even possible by virtue of employing hydroponics.
• The system boasts greater scalability and flexibility, with little modifications needed to grow wildly different crops, and replichrome being more than capable of outrightly growing larger hydroponics arrays.

Combination kin and automated workforces are used in the workings of the Fel’s agricultural production

Exotic Palates The Fel’s advanced engineering of crops has allowed them to craft almost made-to-order farmable specimens that can yield fruits and edible parts with qualities down to the letter. It is for this reason - among others - that the Fel do not rear any animals for food production, as meat itself of varying flavors, textures and chemistry can be easily grown in their hydroponic systems. Much like our own experimental technology of growing meat in culture using proteins from animals, the Fel have engineered plant life that grows meat for its fruits.

This has been replicated across much of the Fel diet, with nearly any flavor imaginable being synthesizable via a weft and converted into something growable in hydroponics. That being said, there are still those who prefer a ‘proper’ way of doing things; preferring food that has been unmolested by the touch of calcic tampering, and grown in natural environments through more traditionalist methods. Nigh-punitive premiums in terms of cost are placed on produce produced in this manner, as it is objectively an inefficient burden placed on arcologies. All the same, the necessity of playing the economics game is not lost to the Fel nor their customers, and so demand is met with supply with little qualms.

Greener Diets

The Third Kin arose from the chalk deserts of the Astrolabic spheres. Being the first incarnation of their shape, they were rife with ‘problematic’ functions such as the need to eat and sleep, which they had to satisfy sufficiently and frequently or face easily-imagined problems down the line. The matter of food was a robust one, and the earliest Third Kin mostly foraged the hardy plants that could grow in the chalk deserts, and hunted the small animals that came to make it their home. Escaping the deserts however, by means of the Strider Protocol, brought about the most radical change to their diets, by virtue of turning the entirety of the Switchboard’s planetary offerings into their feeding grounds.

The Arcad were amongst the first to begin proper agriculture, being driven from the get-go into more robust inquiry into the world that they had found themselves than the other great families. Further inquiry into the utlization of weft led to an acceleration of their agricultural progression, allowing them to effectively grasp genetically-engineered crops before the advanced farming techniques needed to grow them. It was only when the lost knowledge of the Vermeil was recovered that the Fel were able to amend the gaps in their knowledge and gain a more wholistic grasp of farming techniques.

By this time however, the Arcad had already abandoned sourcing food from animal life. For one, much of the animal life in the Switchboard had been born alongside the Vermeil, and just as the Vermeil were compelled to adapt and evolve to deal with the apathetic hostilities of the early Switchboard, the animals too were forced on this path. But where the Vermeil used science and technology, the beasts of the Dancirah sharpened tooth and claw. It was doubly a problem when the Void took form, and much of the animal life of the Switchboard fell in, was corrupted by the errant information slurry that was stardrip, and reemerged more ferocious and cunning than when they had gone in. It was into this hierarchy of living beings that the initially-weak Third Kin were born in to, and thus the sourcing of food from animals was a prohibitively daunting task.

The Danseers rose to this task nonetheless, possessed of weft that propelled them to test their wit and edge against other thinking weave. But the Arcad were more mellow - or perhaps simply more rational - and were thus more inclined towards food sources that weren’t actively trying to kill them. The initially assumed drawback of this - the loss of meat in their diets - was rectified swiftly via their calcic engineering of plants to synthesize alternatives indistinguishable from the real thing.

Though the refinement of the Fel’s principles did eventually lead them to adopt pacifistic dispositions to much of the Switchboard’s thinking weave, and thus oppose killing things to eat on ideological grounds rather than economic ones, most Fel will simply never realize that other living, motile things can even be eaten, being far removed from the very concept by virtue of the arcology solving the problem of food altogether. In our own canon, the Fel-Arcad would be vegetarian or - more so - vegans, but more so out of the convenience of being so, rather than as an elective ideological position.

17. Law & Literature

The Fey Curlicue is an essential part of the culture and customs of the Fel-Arcad. Standing at the center of their arcologies, it plays an essential part of their everyday lives as well as the greater symbolism of the Fel-Arcad as a people. Additionally, and perhaps it’s most lauded purpose, is as an avenue for passing down the dense canon of the Fel-Arcad from arcology to arcology, people to people, generation to generation. When words are written on the trunk of a fully-matured Curlicue, they become part of its lattice, which is then encased in seeds from that tree. Trees grown from these seeds will have the written text of their parentage on them as well when they reach maturity. Through this means, the writings and canon of the Fel-Arcad are preserved and passed on.

Thus the Fey Curlicue is a collection of a great many bits of lore, law and literature relevant too, and created by, the Fel-Arcad, being passed down from arcology to arcology and people to people. The centering of the Fey Curlicue in arcology is perceived as physical metaphor of the centering of the Curlicue - and their history - in the minds and hearts of every Fel-Arcad.

The Tomes of the Curlicue

Thus, various books of all kinds have been inscribed in the Curlicue, and in no particular order, they are named and elaborated upon below.

• The Annals of the Eight A particularly important tome to the Fel-Arcad, and perhaps the most important considering its material and how frequently it’s consulted. Containing the various writings of the Nadirian Eight, the direct disciples of the ArcDanseer Nadira, the Annals are filled with information on a massive selection of topics, ranging from the creation of governments and the selection of its participants, to moral instruction for individual Fel-Arcad. Following these compiled teachings are various notes on accounts given by Fel-Arcad as they came to the Arcology at Sanscrii, speaking of what they endured during the nomadic period. From these accounts they gleaned essential information on how the Fel-Arcad dealt with other families and among themselves, which proved useful in shaping the Fel-Arcad’s moral codes.

Being primarily the teachings of ArcDanseer Nadira however, some - such as the Rosenthalists - reject it as a false doctrine, arguing that the ArcDanseer was no Fel-Arcad, and there was little substantial proof they had tutored under Arcad Rosen as they claimed. Instead, they cling to the few teachings of Arcad Rosen that survived the Refrain, rejecting the Annals. This particular point creates a schism so wide as to have separate daughter arcologies for those who adhere to the words of the ArcDanseer and the Annals, and those who follow the words of the Arcad.

• They That Fell A tome outlining the history of the Fel-Arcad, from the rise of the Third Kin, to the Second Praxis War, the subsequent smaller conflicts and events afterwards, the Refrain and their wandering throughout the Switchboard, how they became the Fel-Arcad from Arcad, and their establishment once again in the Dancirah as a great family.

• To Be Kept At The Side Of All Soleri Often shortened to The Soleri’s Side, it is a book that was composed from the combined writings of Arcad Rosen, ArcDanseer Nadira and the various studies of generations of Soleri under the Sanctums. It details in considerable length all of the intricacies of the founding of arcologies, establishment of arcadia grounds, building of arcologies, their maintenance and upkeep, the running of the Fel-Arcad society and government within, and the handling of more dire cases such as salvaging failing arcologies and the proper means of decommissioning one beyond repair.

In short, is the highest document aspiring, practicing and accomplished Soleri hold in their repertoire, and is the primary teaching material in Soleri Sanctums. All Soleri are expected to study The Soleri’s Side and know its contents like the back of their hand. What could be described as a terribly exacting demand and expectation made of prospective Soleri comes into perspective when the importance of arcologies to the Fel-Arcad is factored in.

This particular note has many Soleri pursuing the dream of one day building an arcology as great - or perhaps even greater - than that of Arcad Rosen’s, a dream that becomes more and more unrealistic to most as it become apparent to most that the old schema have likely been lost to the Refrain. This has not stopped many young Soleri, brimming with zeal, from studying the Side and all other material they could obtain, pursuing this lofty ideal, their ‘failures’ being stepping stones and an expansion of the knowledge on arcologies.

• On Times Before A document that details the Switchboard and the Dancirah in the times before the Third Kin arose, gleaned from putting together various accounts such as those from the Weave Divisive Minds and study of the Dancirah itself and Vermeil artifacts plundered from Vaults. It is widely regarded as the most comprehensive account of the world and events before the Third Kin came to rise - and then dominate - the Switchboard.

• The Annals of Warring Minds A document that often comes in pair with On Times Before; detailing the two Praxis Wars that took place in the Switchboard, the first between the First and Second Thinkers, and the second between the First Thinkers and the Third Kin. Assembled similarly from various accounts and information gleaned from leftovers of the time, it remains a staple document of Fel-Arcad libraries and scholarship in the Dancirah, with plenty of derivative works ranging from philosophical studies to fictional epics written from it.

• Dancers and Kin of Dancers After the Refrain struck, all of the families at the time were affected in some manner, but none more so than the Danseers. Afflicted with a blight upon their lattices, the Astrolabe’s resolution sought to scrub the Switchboard of all Danseers, a curse almost that felled even the strongest of them soon enough. Once it became apparent the fate that await them, the Danseers struggled to find some means to avert it, but to no avail. It was only when a rare bit of luck shone on the Fel-Arcad that a way out was provided.

Kin of Dancers describes the last of the Danseers and the subsequent rise of the Sil’khan, made possible by the Fel-Arcad with their unrivalled knowledge of lattices and - most particularly - a device previously thought lost falling into their hands. Now called the Triptych Crucible, this device was recovered during the raid on the Trinary Complex in the Vitric Shelf so many processions ago, and was the same device used to forge the Skydancer Morrigan from the remains of the Weave Divisive mind and the lattice-cadavers of the Trinary Minds. With it, they theorized they could take in the lattices of a swathe of Danseers, and engineer new beings with new lattices - the kin of dancers - different enough from the Danseers that the aftermath of the Refrain would not smite them.

When initial tests proved promising, the remaining Danseers in the Switchboard at the time set about compiling what would the final literary record of their people. With the help of the Fel-Arcad, they filled it with a great many things; leftover thoughts from the Praxis War and conflicts with the First Thinkers, their universal despair at the havoc wreaked by the Refrain and sinking feeling that came from knowing their extinction was imminent. Many had regrets, and questioned the steps taken to reach the point they had. Some refused to speak to the Fel-Arcad, blaming them for the Refrain due to the Mind Hunts.

But many were positive were too, and many Danseers spoke of the hopes they had for their kin that would come. They shared stories and songs and prose and poetry. Some wrote minor spiels of philosophy and instruction, which they hoped would reach the kin that would come from them. Some contributed music and arts. Some notable Danseers had biographies composed for them. Many wrote about the Skydancers, paragons of flight and power. Many others wrote in the various ritual schema that they had created and acquired over the travels.

And the Danseers wrote about their travels. Extensively. As a nomadic people they envisioned that those who would descend from them would be similar, and so as many Danseer as did care wrote about it. How it felt to stride, to launch from a great sphere and soar across the Sky above, to be weightless and without fear, to look out into the speckled depths of the Dancirah and know that there were none more capable of seeing the entirety of it as them. They left maps for their kin, to Vaults yet to be raided, to planets that would make ideal homes and waystations, to old bases they used filled with supplies, to Wellsprings to drink from in every season, to caches of powerful gear wielded by individual Danseer, leaving behind their strength for worthy progeny, to sights to see simply because they were worth seeing.

And the tome that was the Kin of Dancers expanded to remarkable volume, filled with the last messages of - perhaps - a parent to a child.

The second part of the tome takes a very clinical, technical tone as it was written by the Fel-Arcad, describing the various discussions and decisions that were had and made to settle, eventually, on the final batch of Danceers that would come to have their weaves ‘melted’ into the Triptych Crucible. The actual document that outlines all of these discussions and the decisions in their totality is colossal, spanning multiple volumes in multiple media formats, and is perhaps the most hotly contested document among Fel-Arcad scholarship, with nearly every single page of it prompting a lengthy paper attacking it on a dozen fronts. Endless debate rages on the methods employed in choosing which Danseers made it into the final ‘batch’ that would be fed to the Triptych Crucible.

Incapable of knowing of the endless discourse of their existence, the first generation of the descendants of the Danseers - the kin of dancers - the Sil’khan, were formed. Bearing weave from all other families at the time and engineered additions from the Fel-Arcad, they stood tall and proud, brightly-eyed and with kingly demeanors. The first bit of the world they ever engaged with was the tome that was the Kin of Dancers, and when the Fel-Arcad had watched, studied and allowed them to live and grow for long enough, the Sil’khan themselves, harkening back to their ancestor-kin, chose to leave the confines of the arcologies and venture out in the Dancirah, reclaiming the old mantle the Danseers had been forced to drop; master Striders, the nomad family, and now the kin of greats.

The tome itself is thus a mix of a great many things; pieces written like diary entries and biographies, minor spiels of philosophy, some artistic works such as prose and poetry, closing out with an immensely clinical and technical document authored by the Fel-Arcad, detailing how they selected the Danseers to be used for this ledgerial cast, some shareable details on the ritual schema that was used (as the full schema was redacted from public access), and how the Fel-Arcad nurtured the resulting Sil’khan first generation.

In true Fel-Arcad fashion perhaps, enclosed in the Kin of Dancers was a contract made between the Danseers and the Fel-Arcad, detailing that, though the Fel-Arcad would ensure the Danseers would survive in the Switchboard by bringing the Sil’khan to be, they would in no manner be indebted to them for the act of bringing about their existence.

When asked what would be the basis for preemptively nullifying so large a debt that would exist between the resulting kin of the Danseers and the Fel-Arcad that brought them to be, three major reasons were formulated;

• The first of them was that the debt would not be owed by the Danseer’s descendants, as the dealings of their creation was between the Fel Arcad and the Danseers, not their descendants. By the time their kin arose, most Danseers would’ve ceased to be, and the Fel-Arcad did not believe in levying an ancestors debts and sins against their progeny.
• Additionally, many Fel-Arcad considered the preservation of the Danseers in the Switchboard as repayment of the debt owed by the Fel-Arcad to the Danseers for their leading of the charge against the First Thinker Minds and claiming the entirety of the Switchboard for the Third Kin. Danseer losses outnumbered all others, but so did their victories, and many Fel-Arcad were of the opinion that ensuring the Danseers lived on in some capacity was their way of repaying these acts, and thus settling an old score, placing all parties on equal footing.
• The final reason given - and a highly contested one - was to ensure that unscrupulous Fel-Arcad in the future would not try to hold the Sil’khan to ransom, nor would those undecided on the matter have any reason to ally with the former. The nullification of the debt gave such parties no ground upon which to stand, and thus would justify actions taken against them by both Fel-Arcad and the Sil’khan. This point is contested of course, by Fel-Arcad who very much felt that having grounds with which to compel the Sil’khan to act in their favor was welcome insurance against uncertain futures. But Fel-Arcad philosophy opposed this manner of thinking, and the contract remained in force.

The Sil’khan thus hold this tome - and the Fel-Arcad - in particularly high regard, as asides from weave it is the greatest connection they have to their Danseer ancestor-kin. And though the Sil’khan are free to act as they see fit, as is a right accorded to all other families in the Switchboard, many still hold the Fel-Arcad in high regard, and align with them wherever possible, even at their own inconvenience. They have come to call how they came to be the Triptych Birth, and Sil’khan history begins with its mention, and the pivotal role the Fel-Arcad played in it.

• The Ledger of the Lost A more somber document, detailing all that was lost in the Refrain. Containing a list of names and secondary arcologies that existed at the times, as well as names of members of other families and the names of settlements lost as well. The Ledger of the Lost serves as a reminder to many Fel-Arcad of the size of the catastrophe and renews the urgency in the minds of many of working towards preventing a second Refrain.

• The Lattice-Canvas A book detailing the Semblance Doctrine, as outlined by ArcDanseer Nadira in many teaching sessions held in the Sanscrii Arcology. Through their teachings they outlined various findings they and others had reached under the tutelage of Arcad Rosen, on the nature and essentiality of beauty, and how it informed all that they did, and how this beauty was a product of the mind and mental faculties as they observed the physical world.

From this, they studied the Great Weave or the Current, and the essential role it played in the birthing of new Fel-Arcad either through the Conjugation or conventional means. Their conclusion was that the Current was chaotic even if there was no alternative, and the work it did had to be perfected by those it created. The Current proffered marble, but the task of shaping it to its final form - the perfected Semblance - lay in the hands of individual Fel-Arcad.

This is the Semblance Doctrine.

In this document, asides from the Semblance Doctrine as it exists in theory, plentiful notes exist on how it manifests in practice, detailing the intricacies of lattices and working with them, various kinds of grafts and modifications that can be made upon them, how to work with weave and chrome, apparatus for sequencing lattices and working spinmetal, and the general establishment and maintenance of the Sembleworks and how to train sembleworkers.

Additional notes in it describe how to communicate the Semblance Doctrine to parties new to it, taking on a medical - specifically psychiatrist - slant in how to deal with people interested in the doctrine, those who feel discrepancies between mind and body, how to help those who were given grafts and regret them, or found that they were not fully what they desired. There were also fringe cases it addressed, such as those who seemed incapable of finding a path to their perfected selves, and took on graft after graft, adding and replacing and rarely removing, until their lattices reached saturation and further work ran serious risks. It also described rogue sembleworkers, who would inevitably form as a market for questionable grafts arose.

The Fel-Arcad, particularly the Nadiran, accept the Lattice-Canvas and what it espouses, and for most it is core to an arcology’s Arcal and individual Fel-Arcad beliefs, with many Fel-Arcad opting for a cosmetic graft or a couple at some point in their lives, and while some required more complex works, generally the more complex a semblework that needed doing was, the less people were obtaining it or others in a similar vein.

Some oppose it however, for various reasons, though primarily it is either a rejection of the core premise of the Semblance Doctrine - that being the Current’s nature and how its work needed ‘completing’ or ‘perfecting’, a tangentially-related cache of reasons surrounding the works of calcic mechanics that those pursuing the Semblance Doctrine interfere with, or in the case of the Rosenthalists, a rejection of the proponent of it, ArcDanseer Nadira.

Irrespective of the controversy surrounding it however, it remains a staple of Fel-Arcad reading, and a core element of the family’s identity.

• On Catastrophic Calculus Another controversial document, composed by a group of Fel-Arcad scholars who have long eliminated themselves from public record. That being the case however, due to the subject matter they are believed to have at least have some affiliation with the Brass Monastery. In the tome they detail their studies on the Astrolabe, and in particular, the Refrain, with the goal of finding what could possibly trigger another - and what could be done to prevent it.

The book takes on a very academic lilt, and the scholars come to a very many number of conclusions on what could cause a Second Refrain, offering various theories on how it could be delayed or the effects of a Refrain be mitigated, but ultimately concluding that the entire subject matter was far too theoretical, and closing out with the general advice that their mere presence in the Switchboard is gradually building to a second balancing act by the Switchboard, and they are faced with a question of ‘when?’ rather than ‘if’.

The book then makes a very abrupt change in tone when a section on inquiry into the Void begins. Dubbed ‘An Unwelcome Charge’, the conclusion is reached that the existence of the Void, the study and experimentation done on it, its wielding as a power, dwelling within it, and it becoming an aspect of the denizens of the Switchboard is the most probable cause of a hypothetical Second Refrain. In a closing document described as ‘as noncommittal as it is insidious’ it inarguably points a finger at the Vahnkin as those most involved with the Void, and then rather subtly implies that should the Second Refrain have an identifiable cause, then elimination of that cause is the only logical step to take, irrespective of circumstance.

Naturally, it is viewed by many as a direct call to aggression by the Fel-Arcad against the Vahnkin, particularly by the Vahnkin who have been on poor relations with the Fel-Arcad ever since parties such as Antamara chose to act upon ‘their Charge’ as they describe it. Many decry it for this reason, calling it a hateful document that exists only to incense. That being said, it remains prevalent in Fel-Arcad minds, forever taunting most with the possibility that if it were true, and the Void were indeed accelerating the arrival of a Second Refrain, then there was only a singular path forward, and it was a most unwelcome one.

• The Calcic Cartulary A book of questionable origin, pieced together from pages acquired from expeditions into the astrolabic cradle after the Refrain, written entirely in nigh-indecipherable code. What has been deciphered from it however, has led to theorization that it is a book containing ledgerial casts, and particularly powerful ones at that. Considering that the first ritual gleaned from it asked for barristeel as a ritual component, many concluded that the pages and the resulting tomes they formed - and by extension the ritual schema within it - were created by the Astrolabe.

As a note, the Cartulary isn’t distributed in its entirety, due to concerns that an unknown party could manage to decipher the schema as well and use the power within for catastrophic purposes. Only a couple of the pages are inscribed on Curlicue trunks and passed around the Switchboard; the full tome remains under protection in the hands of the Brass Monastery.

Append Fel-Arcad canon to ascribe the origin of replichrome to the Cartulary.

• Mouths that Spit and Sing A Fel-Arcad book of philosophy, concerned in particular with the nature of violence and conflict in the Switchboard, written to address the sentiment that the Fel-Arcad should remain pacifistic in their dealings - specifically whether this was doable in a means that ensured total pacifism in their own actions and protection from the actions of actors not beheld to such things.

In particular, the writings within were conceived by the author as a response to the Mind Hunts - which was undeniably, in hindsight, a genocide - and how they almost certainly led to the Refrain, and how during the nomadic period, the Fel-Arcad were driven by a need to survive to do things that disagreed abjectly with the initial teachings by Arcad Rosen in the value of life and the necessity on outright passivity.

The conclusion of the author is that violence and conflict are unfortunate inevitabilities in the Switchboard, and that any means of truly elimination violence in the Switchboard would require something of a Astrolabic resolution; the Astrolabe’s calculus resolving so as to eliminate violence as a phenomena, eliminating it - quite literally - at the ribbon level.

Questions about the feasibility of this exist, and many a Fel-Arcad scholar have pondered the possibility of eliminating violence through such means.

Left with this conclusion, the author of Mouths thus demands that Fel-Arcad acknowledge that violence exists, will continue to exist, and occasion may demand the need to use it. In circumstances where the elimination of the Fel-Arcad, for example, is a possible outcome, the author calls for the application of strategic, measured violence, utilizing mathematics and logics rather than emotion in dictating the amount necessary. It is for this reason that the Fel-Arcad’s Sekatorial Camps where the Sekators - the Fel-Arcad trained for the most proper application of violence and thus the only ones capable of wielding it - are perhaps the most strict in their dealings, second only to the Soleri Sanctums.

The aim is to cultivate Fel-Arcad whose every application of violence is performed only as a last resort, when circumstances are too unfavorable and all other options have been exhausted, and even when violence is chosen, it is applied only to the extent it is needed and not an inch further.

The necessity of this, as argued, is that a catastrophe such as the Refrain could be tied to many things, yes, but not in any small part to the actions of the Fel-Arcad driven by rage and revenge to strike out at something without consequence. Actions taken can often not be undone, but violent actions taken in anger can almost never be taken back, and the consequences can last forever.

In a controversial move, the writer of Mouths states that the responsibility for the Refrain lies primarily on the head of the Fel-Arcad. Not even as many Danseers, those whose domain is striding, partook in the Mind Hunts as did the Fel-Arcad, and none were as thorough with the search or as brutal in the execution as the Fel-Arcad. They condemn the pivot to blaming the Vahnkin and the actions of Antamara as shameful deflection at absolute best, and misplaced hatred at worst. He decries the actions of Antamara as only furthering the problems at hand, and makes a very vocal demand for action to be taken against them.

The book then goes on to describe the concepts of contracts; tangible yet unwritten social bindings that exists between the Fel-Arcad and others who interact with them. Foremost among them is the Enemy of my Friend contract, postulated by the author of Mouths as an explanation for how the Fel-Arcad can maintain their pacifist disposition; beginning with various hypothetical scenarios, the contract aims to convey the belief that neutral parties will rally to the side of the Fel-Arcad in the events of outside aggression, but only if the Fel-Arcad make it a point to be a boon or generally useful upon the Switchboard at large. While hypothetical neutral parties cannot necessarily be trusted to act for moral reasons, they more often than not will act for economic ones, and thus would intervene on the Fel-Arcad’s behalf.

Critics of this particular contract is that it is a brazen attempt to have ones cake and eat it too, and relies more on trickery in merely outsourcing the dealing of violence to other parties, and thus allowing the Fel-Arcad’s hands to remain clean. Critique of this criticism manifests mainly as a willingness to suspend one’s own principles to guarantee one’s own survival, as well as further debate on whether;

• “The Fel-Arcad must abhor violence and thus must not take part in it by any means, direct or otherwise.” or
• “The Fel-Arcad must abhor violence, but others do not and thus there is no issue in taking advantage of this.”

Is the correct position to hold. While the former is the most philosophically consistent one, the latter is the only one that actually protects them from the violence they abhor, as they’re distaste for it does nothing to stop it from appearing at their doorstep. The divide in these philosophies manifests in interesting ways, in some Fel-Arcad choosing to denounce the usage of the contract, but doing no further, and other Fel-Arcad choosing to fight alongside those who fight for them, citing the belief that a murderer is an immoral person, but worse still is the coward who hides behind them.

Ultimately the matter remains a bitter pill the Fel-Arcad must swallow every single day, the nature of the dilemma seemingly having no outlet that assures maximum alignment with their core utilities.

• The Farseer’s Lament The Farseer’s Lament is a document alleged to have been written by Arcad Rosen himself, and while only pieces of what could have been a particularly voluminous original text survived the Refrain and made it into Fel-Arcad hands, what did has given the Fel-Arcad valuable insight into Arcad Rosen and his dreams for what the Fel-Arcad could become, and how the world he sought to realize these dreams seemed to grow increasingly hostile to them.

The Lament is seemingly divided into three sections, each written at different stages in the Dancirah’s history, with the writings of Arcad Rosen skewed by the ongoing events in the Switchboard at the time. Designated as the Thensight, Newsight, and Farsight, the Thensight was written as the First Arcology neared completion, the Newsight during and after the conflicts with the Minds and the Second Praxis war, and the Farsight written after the Mind Hunts, featuring a section that in hindsight, predicted the future.

The Thensight begins with tones of hope and ambition. Written as the first arcology rapidly grew, Arcad Rosen was convinced of the power of a united Arcad, and how far this power could take them as a family in the Switchboard. His studies of the then-Switchboard led to his first few writings on how the Arcad should conduct themselves; pursuing knowledge, delving into the arts and sciences, building and inhabiting, maintaining a pacifistic slant in how they engaged with the Third Kin and other thought-capable beings, and creating higher purposes for themselves beyond merely existing. These conclusions did he preach to the Arcad at the time, and they still formed the foundation for the Fel-Arcad’s principles many stellar processions later.

There is a tonal shift observed with the Newsight, fairly expected as the Arcad alongside the Third Kin fought against the Minds. Arcad Rosen’s writings reflect this, as he deliberates on nature of the Minds, aiming to form a framework for understanding them through piecing together what they could glean on the Astrolabe, the First Thinkers, the Vermeil and the Third Kin - even as he and many other Arcad deployed forces to destroy them. He laments how easily he and others embraced the usage of violence as a means to an end the moment the Arcad came under fire, and ponders whether they’d ever be able to return to the pacifistic, constructionist doctrine they once held. He observed the Danseers, who as a people had never had qualms with unsavory aspects of the Switchboard, who universally embraced and even seemed to enjoy the conflict, and were even more so jubilant when the battles had been won, settling in to build in the now-theirs Dancirah, while the Arcad still wrestled with philosophy - and concluded that he envied them. He closed - still - on a somewhat high note, beseeching his kin to not give in baser impulses, and return to as they once were.

Arcad Rosen, among many other Arcad at the time, opposed the Mind Hunts. Seeing it for what it is - a vindictive revenge quest against an already broken enemy - they urged their kin to reconsider, choosing instead to leave the remaining minds to perish naturally as a result of their severely weakened doctrines. But plenty of Arcad went on the Mind Hunts nonetheless, and Arcad Rosen kept notes on it in the Farsight. Described by many as a heart-wrenching lament, Arcad Rosen goes on to describe how there is no manner in which the Arcad can return to as they once her. He sees them all as ‘tainted’, the arcologies as tainted, their works - all tainted - and though he acknowledges the necessity of what had to be done, he denounces the Mind Hunts as an exercise in excess, and an act from which there was no recourse. In a spiel that would come to be described as nigh prophetic, Arcad Rosen espouses the belief that the mechanics of the Switchboard would come to punish the Arcad and perhaps all Third Kin in some manner, words that stick with the post-Refrain Fel-Arcad.

There is, however, a final section to the Lament that draws a fair bit of controversy, as many do not believe it was written by Arcad Rosen at all. Enough compelling evidence exists for it being the case, however, that it is included in the Lament all the same.

In this final section, dubbed the Redsight, Arcad Rosen performs a thought experiment in which he aims to ascertain what the Arcad would resemble after a catastrophe forces them to further abandon the principles they previously bore. He envisioned an Arcad people that were explorers and conquerors, who spread throughout the Switchboard in massive numbers, erecting monuments to their own greatness and cities of arcologies to house dynasties of them. In realizing this aim they would fell all who could oppose them and simply outcompete those who couldn’t to death, and in only a matter of time they would be the dominant beings in the Switchboard. He concludes with mildly distressing findings, the first being how appealing such a future was to the various trusted persons he shared his thoughts with, finding in them a distaste for others who were not Arcad that he couldn’t confidently assert wasn’t present initially. Gleaned from more discussion, he found he and many others agreed that with no more enemies left to fight, the Arcad would be in a better position than ever to adhere to their core, aged principles. Their final conclusion was that all the violence the Fel-Arcad had to inflict and endure was a result of difference in thought, and he came to the conclusion that homogeneity in peoples would bring about homogeneity in principles.

It is unknown if Arcad Rosen ever wrote any rebuttals to this line of thinking, and with how few new pages of the Lament have emerged in recent memory, the Fel-Arcad were left to ponder if Arcad Rosen endorsed the lines of action reaching the conclusions he did necessarily demanded. Analysis concluded that the Redsight was likely written shortly before his death, with many arguing it may have been merely the pessimistic ramblings of a tired, aged man, allowing himself to indulge in subject matter he had avoided all his life, knowing he was already on the last legs of days. Other argue that the Redsight is an epiphany had by Rosen, him realizing that the world of his thought experiment already existed, and thus was encouraging the Arcad to seize it for themselves, and dictate it in line with the principles they had.

Few satisfying conclusions were reached concerning the Lament, though there are some who lean on it for their instruction, arguing it to be a truer Fel-Arcad document than the Annals of the Eight, assembled based on the teachings of the ArcDanseer.

Fel-Arcad Law

Below is a relative outline of the shape of Fel-Arcad law, how they have built and run their legal systems to be in line for their vision of optimal Switchboard societies.

1. Legal Structure The Fel-Arcad possess a legal architecture featuring tiered courts. Each court grows in prominence and the kinds of legal matters it can handle, presiding over larger numbers of Fel-Arcad, and greater levels of legal dispute.

Regarding the tiers of courts, there are four;

• District Benches, which serve the individual districts of an arcology. In an arcology’s topology, a district is a collection of blocs, with blocs being the smallest unit of measurement for arcology living. District Benches serve the district, and districts are made up of a number of blocs. These benches work often as mediators on the smallest issues spanning upwards, such as contract disputes, personal injury cases, family law and the like, moving upwards to smaller scale criminal cases.

• Wing Courts, which serve an arcology’s wings. Wings are collections of districts, and thus Wing Courts oversee a larger share of an arcology’s population. Affairs that begin in the District Benches can be escalated to the Wing Courts if deemed necessary, as Wing Courts deal primarily in manners of legal review. That being said, Wing Courts do conduct trials of their own, in cases where it is agreed more legal muscle is required. Wing Courts handle large-scale criminal and civil cases as is necessary.

• Nadiran High Courts, which are the highest legal institution within an arcology, serving to represent all the peoples of that arcology and the arcology itself. Matters that reach insufficient resolution in the Wing Courts are resolved here, and the Nadiran Court largely does legal review of the decisions made by lower courts rather than conduct much legal theater of its own. That being said, in affairs that involve non-arcology denizens, such as a civil or criminal suit involving non-Fel, they are handled exclusively at the Nadiran High Courts. For this reason, they work closely with External Affairs.

• The Rosenthal Court of the Fallen, the final tier of court, and the highest legal authority recognized by the Fel-Arcad. Sequestered at the Second Arcology at Sanscrii, the Fallen Justices are elected by all Fel-Arcad the Switchboard over, and serve the Fel-Arcad as the final arbiters of justice. All decisions made by them are law. On the administrative front, they are the authority that presides over the contents of the Arcal, revising and making amendments to it as necessary. For these many reasons, much of the Fel-Arcad’s power is spent in protecting these figures from external powers that seek to interfere with the proceedings of the court.

2. Role of Judges Fel-Arcad courts are presided over by multiple judges at the bench, all who serve various functions in the entirety of the process.

• Legal Proceedings; They work as impartial arbiters over the entire affair, give rulings on issues that arise in proceedings using their wealth of expertise, manage witnesses and evidence, and settle matters both before and after the trial concludes, such as motions to dismiss. Thy additionally pass judgement at the end of the affair if necessary.
• Jury Handling; Judges are involved with the jury, both in the selection process and in educating them in their duties once selected.
• Trial Proceedings; Judges work to maintain order from the bench, especially in the case of particularly impassioned cases. They generally work to provide oversight of the entire affair, to ensure that the legal theater is played as by the book is possible.

As one ascends the ladder of Fel-Arcad courts, the number of judges at the bench increases. District Benches have four judges, and in decisions that require judges to vote, a three vote majority is needed for a decision to be made. Wing Courts seat six judges and need a four-two majority. Nadiran High Courts seat eight and need a five-three majority to reach a decision.

The Rosenthal Court of the Fallen seats nine supreme justices, and an seven-two majority is needed to pass a decision. Due to the weightiness of the matters decided by the Fallen Court, it is paramount that as many on the bench agree with a decision made as possible.

3. Role of Juries In an overwhelming majority of Fel-Arcad legal proceedings, a jury is called for and assembled.

Jury selection is the first task, and begins with determining eligibility. The pool for determining eligibility is by default, the entire population of the arcology or arcologies most relevant to the case. The first stage of selection is twofold; an opportunity to opt in to the service, and a written exam that must be taken by all who are eligible. This exam is a general knowledge test meant to asses a level of intelligence, a civics test to determine how learned one is about legal proceedings, and a no-wrong-answers test about morality.

Selection is undertaken in a familiar manner; that of ‘voire dire’, a selection process used to determine the biases within individual potential jurors. This is done via questioning the jurors, and working to determine if their background, experiences, beliefs and/or connections with the case or the parties involved might present a conflict of interest, rendering them incapable of being fair to the parties involved. Should the acting legal counsel present a tangible case why a juror should be dismissed, it is left to the panel of sitting judges to deliberate and approve or deny the decision.

A core difference is that under the Fel-Arcad, they are not given preemptory challenges, as their usage is rife with concealed, plausibly deniable biases.

Fel-Arcad legal scholars have always shaped the legal system such that the jury takes a slightly different approach. Fel-Arcad juries consist of twelve members selected from the arcology or arcologies most relevant to the case, as well as six additional jurors who have lived minimally in arcologies in their lifetime. The reason for this is that it is widely postulated arcologies breed a form of ‘moral uniformity’ among the Fel-Arcad that is good for running society, but may be suboptimal for judging those who flout it. Those who haven’t dwelt in arcologies are thus brought on to give an otherwise unobtainable perspective.

For the Fel-Arcad pool, they have four alternates, and two for the non-arcology pool, resulting in twenty four jurors in all. In cases involving multiple arcologies, the Fel-Arcad pool is divided into a larger and smaller pool, with the larger pool being drawn from the arcology the defendant is most tied to, this often being a 60% split in their favor. If three arcologies are involved, it can be split 50-25-25 in the defendant’s favor. This in pursuit of the philosophy of ‘jury of their peers’, with peers being very much a product of the arcology one has dwelt in.

The task of the jury after their selection is, summarized, to reach a verdict. This they will do through being the audience of what could be a very long bout of legal theater. In this time, the courts and auxiliary legal institutions will work towards preserving their safety and compensating them for the time spent. In the court room they will be presented the evidence, question witnesses, discuss facts, and ultimately deliberate upon the matter. If a verdict is not reached, they will be given time to deliberate again, and again, again, until a decision is reached. In all this they are to remain fair and impartial, and work towards the delivery of justice - in whatever form that may be.

4. Legal Codes and Statutes The legal codes and statutes adhered to by the Fel-Arcad are encoded in the Arcal, which is an expanded compendium of documents featuring material taken from the Annals of the Eight, Mouths that Spit and Sing, and The Farseer’s Lament.

The Arcal is divided into various super-sections, sections and subsections, dealing with a litany of subject matters, civil and criminal, from the conduct of individuals to that of all Fel-Arcad. It outlines the structure of government and the extent of each branch’s powers, and contains a supremacy clause that declares it the supreme doctrine the Fel-Arcad must adhere to. It contains information on how to amend the Arcal, adding additional clauses and the like where necessary; as the people who are subject to it grow and evolve, so too does the document they are subject to.

Revisions and amendments to the Arcal are made by the Fallen Justices that sit in the Rosenthal Court of the Fallen at Sanscrii. As with other decisions, a seven-two majority of the justices is needed to reach a decision on what changes should be made to the Arcal.

5. Legal Education & Profession Under the advanced instruction schools umbrella are Arcal Colleges, where those who will work in the legal profession are trained. Here, there are specific training tracks for those who want to become lawyers, judges, jury consultants, cross-examiners, mediators, in-house counsels, various flavors of administrative staff such as court reporters, secretaries and paralegals, researchers and law educators, as well as an introductory program for those who will later train to be law enforcement at Sekatorial Camps.

Each varies in the number of years necessary to attain a state of having completed the work allotted to one and thus earn the title tied to that completion. At this, many can choose to go into public, private or individual practice for the various subfields they might find themselves drawn to.

It is from this bunch after they have obtained a fair bit of experience on many legal fronts that the judges of various courts are selected. Those interested in becoming judges can indicate their interest with the relevant bodies, and have to pass a fair bit more training and testing before they can. It is also often the case that Fel-Arcad may vote for particularly beloved figures even if they did not run for office, and as such they are strong-armed into service.

6. Rights and Liberties The section of the Arcal that outlines much to all of the Fel-Arcad’s rights and liberties is very much similar - as to be almost derivative - of our world’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As the Fel-Arcad work towards the establishment and maintenance of a maximally egalitarian society, the creation of a fundamental outline of the shape of beings in that society was necessary, and was reached after much deliberation among thinkers and scholars over the many earliest processions of the Arcad’s and later Fel-Arcad’s existence.

That being said, there are some articles of the UDHR that do not carry over totally to the Fel-Arcad’s own approach to shaping an optimal society.

The nature of arcology living - and in reality, the arcology model itself - has made it necessary for arcology administrative powers to be more involved in the on goings of individual Fel-Arcad and their families, in a manner that many would find to violate Article 12. It is no secret that arcologies are under heavy and active surveillance, often up to the doorsteps of individual residents, to maintain the optimal state of the arcology desired by those who have established the rulebooks on such things. The nontrivial results of this hasn’t stopped critics of the Fel-Arcad and the arcology model, particularly scholars outside of the Fel-Arcad, from critiquing it on this point.

The construction of arcologies also means Article 17 is under some contention. While Fel-Arcad can indeed purchase property beyond their initial allotments within an arcology, all land-related matters are ultimately subject to the whims of the Soleri, who shape the arcologies as they see fit. Compensation is indeed given to those whose land needs to be repossessed, but under most circumstances they are not exactly given a choice in the matter.

Article 18 causes some friction on how individual arcologies choose to deal with Rosenthalist cells. Many employ the oft-cited ‘paradox of tolerance’ and thus make it a point to exile Rosenthalists and oppose their proliferation wherever possible. Others argue that to deny Fel-Arcad their intrinsic right to dwell within the arcologies flies in the face of doctrine spanning back to the days of the Arcad; the arcologies have always been their homes, and as a cultural and physical institution they cannot possibly be denied to Fel-Arcad, irrespective of creed, irrespective of the contents of that creed.

It additionally raises conflicts with Article 19, in that while some arcologies are tolerant if not outrightly dismissive of Rosenthalist presence, they may restrict their ability to express their beliefs through avenues normally available to others, believing that containment and curtailment of Rosenthalist sentiment and its spread is necessary for the health of an arcology and its people. Article 20 can see some infringement in this regard as well, regarding assembly.

In many cases, it is widely accepted that Rosenthalists in government is less than ideal, though the means of preventing this is up for debate. Some opt to simply fight ideas with ideas, and work towards large information campaigns to expose and criticize Rosenthalist doctrine. Some arcologies are far less inclined to this however, and choose simply to dismiss with Article 21, disallowing Rosenthalists from running for office, and even dismissing with the desires of a largely Rosenthalist populace.

In some cases Article 23 comes under minor fire. While all Fel-Arcad are guaranteed employment in some form, and fair compensation for work done, arcologies as machines have very specific needs, and individual Fel-Arcad may be more-than-persuaded to work certain jobs or professions, especially if they are directly related to the upkeep of the arcology, even if they may not be so inclined towards these positions.

The compulsion to attend arcology-run schools and thus imbibe arcology-developed curricula is seen by some to violate Article 26, regarding what parents can teach their descendants. Private educational arrangements or ‘homeschooling’ is largely frowned upon by the arcologies, and while some may not actively forbid it, and some may even provide ‘educational tracks’ that can be followed by those who choose that route, there are many checks and balances in place that some may argue are ‘excessive’, enough so to dissuade the undetermined from the entire endeavor.

Article 27 has been under major contention regarding the topic of intellectual property. Under most arcologies, the intellectual creations of denizens of that arcology are done under the contractual obligation that the author be author in name only, and the actual intellectual product is the property of the arcology within which it was developed, the argument being that such inventions wouldn’t be possible without the conducive environment for existence provided by the arcologies.

The boons reaped by usage of intellectual inventions are thus also the property of an arcology, and while the creators do enjoy a share, it is given as a matter of courtesy rather than compulsion, and this is widely understood by most. It isn’t accepted by most though, and there are many cases of Fel-Arcad hopping to arcologies that do not enforce these rules or outside of arcologies entirely to birth their creations, which they then reap maximally from, or offer to sell them to their parent arcologies for upfront sums and additional royalties over a period. Some arcologies are more stringent about these things however, with the creations of all Fel-Arcad within them from time of birth being the property of the arcology they are born in. Some arcologies have employed Sekators to pursue those who try to flout this, and it has been met with proportionate criticism and condemnation, but nothing by way of outright forbiddance.

As a note, Article 29 ties in to - and is in fact and argument and justification for - the semblance doctrine, in that individual development and wellbeing is intricately tied to overall community health. It is for this reason that visits to the sembleworks by Fel-Arcad is largely subsidized by the arcology administration, who have come to view it as an investment into the productivity of the arcology itself.

The second part of Article 29 is also used as justification for the various infringements on other articles or so, small and large, as stated above. Coupled with one’s own rights is a compulsion to respect the rights of others, and to sacrifice in some ways for the wellbeing of larger collectives.

7. Punishment and Sentencing Criminal law among the Fel-Arcad is handled by their (legisjudiciary PHldr.) that is responsible for both proposing, drafting, deliberation upon, enacting and interpretation of arcology law as well as enforcement of it. These laws are written into an arcology’s Arcal, the binding document of rules that all within the arcology are beheld to.

Necessary investigations and eventual punishment are handled by the Sekators, the only Fel-Arcad empowered to use violence by virtue of being specifically trained in its just application.

When a jury reaches a verdict in a Fel-Arcad trial, they have the opportunity to either determine the severity of the punishment among themselves, or waive that right and leave sentencing to the judges overseeing the case.

Most punishments given down by Fel-Arcad courts are tempered by the fact the Fel are a philosophically-mandated pacifistic people, and thus many would consider their punishments ‘soft’. Financial penalties such as fines or reductions in monetary allotments, uncompensated work, restriction of freedoms within the arcology such as access to various facilities, temporary exile - or in the worst cases - permanent exile, encompasses the majority of punishment methods afforded to the Fel-Arcad. Many families and groups within and outside of the Fel-Arcad have criticized the Fel-Arcad as ‘too lenient’, met with counterarguments in the form of mentioning how most ‘harsher’ methods are incompatible with their doctrine.

This has led to many instances of slighted Fel-Arcad who felt the punishment dealt to their offenders didn’t nearly match the gravity of the offence committed, and they may be driven to seek recourse on their own terms, enacting a personal brand of justice. Exiles from an arcology may find themselves being pursued, either by their former victims who choose self-imposed exile or sneaking out of the arcology to hunt them down, or hired hands to keep their own hands clean. Feljourn in particular are invaluable for this task, their shifted, hardened perspectives shaped by living in the star-wilds makes them intrinsically understanding of seeking justice one’s own way.

There are of course arcologies that embrace harsher methods of punishment, including imprisonment and occasionally even the death penalty, obtaining a mixed - but mostly disapproving - reception, by the wider Fel-Arcad community. Studies naturally exist for either side of this divide, arguing for one method over the other. Rosenthalists in particular favor harsher approaches.

8. Legal Institutions The auxiliary non-court legal institutions such as law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities are the domain of an arcology’s Sekators. Being the only Fel-Arcad allowed to perform acts of violence within tightly-controlled bounds, they are thus necessary at various stages in the legal process, such as arrests, investigations, moving relevant parties from locale to locale, protection of relevant parties, case-relevant materials such as evidence, and the physical locations relevant to cases, such as crime scenes and the actual court building.

In addition, the Sekators enforce whatever sentence is levied against the convict. Exiles and imprisonments are overseen by the Sekators, and in arcologies where more severe methods are employed, the Sekators oversee these as well.

It is worth noting that the monopoly the Sekators have over violence thus makes them uniquely liable for excessive harms done in its usage, established through continuous reviews of Sekator conduct by relevant bodies.

9. Appeals and Review It is the right of all Fel-Arcad who are dissatisfied with a ruling to escalate the matter in the form of an appeal to a higher court. This is only doable when circumstances facilitate it however, and these circumstances must be established in the form of an appeal proposal.

If it can be established, for example, that there were considerable errors made in proceedings by various parties, this is grounds for an appeal. Other grounds include errors of procedure and process, allegations of bias, excessive sentencing, conflict of law and jurisdiction, and the appearance of new evidence. When a case is sufficiently made, the next court on the ladder can take the case up for review.

The conclusive list for grounds of appeal is as follows;

• Errors of Law
• Misconduct or Bias
• Procedural Errors
• New Evidence
• Inadequate Legal Representation
• Excessive or Inappropriate Sentencing
• Errors in Jury Instructions
• Constitutional Violations
• Jurisdictional Issues
• Abuse of Discretion
• Conflict of Laws
• Errors in Findings of Fact

While measures are taken to curtail each of these, the system - even the Fel-Arcad’s - is imperfect, and as such it is important that measures exist to demand lookovers of various legal decisions.

The highest court among the Fel-Arcad is the Rosenthal Court of the Fallen, and their decision is final.

10. On Jurisdiction The jurisdiction of an arcology is often a point of contention. Generally, it is accepted that the jurisdiction of an arcology ends at the physical end of the arcadia it is situated within, a boundary between legally-bound space and the unclaimed waters that remains fairly static as arcadias are often programmed to stop growing once a desired size is reached.

Fel-Arcad generally make it a point not to punish offenders for crimes against them if those offenders are not subject to arcology jurisdiction. A crime committed by a non-Fel against a Fel-Arcad within the bounds of arcology space is handled by that arcology under the Nadiran High Court, and punishment is meted out to the offender by the arcology’s administration due to the fact visiting an arcology is done with the awareness and thus acceptance of being bound by arcology law.

Offences committed outside an arcology’s jurisdiction against a member of that arcology are handled somewhat differently. Investigations are carried out to find the nature of the offence and those involved, and then this information is passed over the arcology’s External Affairs. External Affairs works closely with the NHC and contacts relevant parties that the perpetrator is subject too - such as another arcology in the case of a Fel-Arcad offender - and issues their demands regarding a desire for punishment and the degree of severity in its dispensation. Noncompliance is met with sanctions from the Fel-Arcad, often in the form of trade refusal by the relevant arcology and other arcologies that feel so inclined. The economic value of the Fel-Arcad sees that their demands are often answered sooner rather than later.

The Sekators

An arcology’s fighting force is its Sekators; trained Fel-Arcad solely empowered to utilize violence. Securing a given arcology and the Fel-Arcad within from internal and external threats summarizes their charge fairly well. While the Sekators tend to thus being fiercely loyal to Fel-Arcad kin, this loyalty has led many to strike out against enemies of the Fel-Arcad often without adequate clearance, especially as means to right wrongs done by other parties, and out of the frustration with External Affair’s methods of dialogue and cajoling. There are many cases where an offender simply vanishes, and External Affairs and the party representing the offender are left with no real way to proceed, more than abundantly aware of what caused such a disappearance.

In cases where it is clear someone has taken matters of justice into their own hand, it is declared that ‘the unknowable forces of cause and effect have issued us what we interpret to mean justice’ and often, the matter ends there. Arcologies have found themselves in dire straits after Sekators or other parties acted out of line before, however, thus the practice is heavily frowned upon, though this hardly does the work necessary to curtail the pursuit of restoring pride in one’s own people.

18. Politics & Economy

Politics & Governance

Within each arcology is their seat of governance, the structure and workings of which are outlined in the Arcal, the Fel-Arcad’s constitutional document, assembled from various other works that make up the larger body of the Fey Curlicue works of literature. In structuring their government, the Fel-Arcad adhered to a number of familiar principles, including having a constitutional backing, insistence upon the Rule of Law, free elections under a representative democracy, and the separation of powers. While political theory-crafters continue to study the systems in place and work upon their improvement where necessary, they have reached a fairly workable state over many processions.

Below thus, are notes on the subject, outlining the various intricacies surrounding Fel-Arcad and arcology government.

Governmental Structure

For the purposes of analysis we shall look at what can be called a ‘baseline’ for an arcology’s governmental structure. This baseline is built off of a number of presuppositions, these being in particular regarding the demographic makeup of the arcology. The baseline thus refers to an arcology that is majorly Nadiran in population and philosophy, in that they reject Rosenthalist thought and operate on principles outlined by the ArcDanseer Nadira, such as the Semblance Doctrine and conscientious objection to violence unless critically necessary. Certain skews are made to the baseline

With that established, we may then look at the structure of Fel-Arcad government. Collectively, it is known as the Rozencraun, and it is a five-armed model that sees each arm handle individual, differing aspects of an arcology;

• Executive - the Craun Tenders
• Legislature and Judiciary - the Craun Justiciars
• External Affairs - the Circuit of Extra-Arcology Relations
• Military and Law Enforcement - the Sekatariat
• Arcology Management - the Craun Soleri

The Craun Tenders An arcology’s High Tenders are its highest authority excluding all checks and balances that may be imposed by other arms. Separated in the High, Mediate and Low Tenders, each strata presides over a number of executive functions within the arcology.

The High Tenders can number between three and five, and serve functions not dissimilar from the role of a president in other systems. They are the arcology’s chief executives, and generally if a matter needs to be addressed and actions taken as a result, they are the ones who make it possible. In particular their functions are on matters of;

• Administration
• Economics
• Crisis Management
• External Relations and Diplomacy
• Military Proposals
• Ceremonial Duties

And a number of other duties that generally require a high, tightly-knit authority to make decisions that affect the entirety of an arcology and those within it. The fragmentation of Fel-Arcad governmental power does mean that the High Tenders must consult and can even have their actions constrained by other bodies within the Rozencraun, but in a majority of cases, they are able to take actions relatively unchallenged, this efficiency of decision-making necessary for running the arcologies.

The Mediate Tenders are a large group of high-level personnel for various administrative agencies and departments. Ministries on larger arcology subject matters such as employment and labor, the sembleworks, trade, education, manufacturing, health, immigration, information and technology, naval matters; persistent committees on various smaller matters, and purpose-built task forces to address brief, but highly important, rapidly emerging issues. These middle-managers of sorts are essential for the smooth operating of the Rozencraun, and they work in tandem with the many other arms of government towards the overall stability of the arcology.

The Lower Tenders refers to a class of ‘civil servants’ of sorts, who work sometimes directly under the High and Mediate Tenders as various flavors of administrative staff. When a Fel-Arcad has dealings with the Rozencraun, their first encounter is with these Lower Tenders, who are the cogs of the entire machine as well as the lubricant that keeps the entire ensemble functioning.

The Craun Justiciars

Their functions are thrashed fairly thoroughly under the Fel-Arcad Law section of this document, and to repeat what is said there would be redundant.

The highest legal and judicial authorities within an arcology are its High Justiciars, a body of eight veteran legal scholars who warm the benches of an arcology’s Nadiran High Court. Their function is primarily administrative and that of review, assessing the decisions made by lower courts, as well as the actions taken by various other arms of the Rozencraun. In matters where they are not actively handling legal cases, they are called the Arbiter-Administrators, colloquially shortened to ‘Arbads’.

In this manner they serve as a check to the others’ power. A vast majority of the decisions made by the rest of the Rozencraun is subject to legal review, and in fact many of such actions taken must receive some kind of sign-off or general approval from those working within the Justiciar. This has of course led to criticism, in the form of “Who polices the police?” and every answer being just another, higher-ranking policing authority has been understandably regarded as no answer at all.

One of their additional functions include the fact the role of federal pardons that would normally be the domain of the President or their analogue is instead left to the decision of the High Justiciars. While requests for these pardons can be made by other arms of the Rozencraun in the form of formal applications outlining reasons why, the final say is left to the High Justiciars.

Matters of elections and polls are also handled by the Justiciar, and indeed an entire sub-body exists for the calling and conduction of decision-making exercises that involve the wider arcology.

The Circuit of Extra-Arcology Relations This arm of the Rozencraun has earned its name from the physical architecture of its buildings in general; that of stacked ‘rings’ within which various offices and other relevant infrastructure are placed. The Circuit is headed by the Circuit Director and the Office of the Circuit, and within the arcologies they are tasked with matters of relations with other parties in the Switchboard.

Working just under the Office of the Circuit and the Director - in hierarchy and often also in physical building layout - is the Circuit of Ambassadors, which refers to a collection of high-ranking authorities that work as liaisons with individual arcologies and various other entities in the Switchboard. In particular these are;

• Major Entities
  • The Arcology at Sanscrii
  • The Sil’khan
  • The Lancasters
  • The Vahnkin
• Minor Entities
  • Spyndl Academy
  • Lancaster Innovations
  • The Starwylds (a blanket term for the Feljourn, Sil’khan nomads, and various other flavors of star-journeying Danciran denizen)
  • The Rosenthalists

In nearly all matters that involve parties outside of the arcology in question, the Circuit is in charge of dealings and resolution, and they work in tandem with the other arms of the Rozencraun on issues relevant to them; the Craun Tenders on dealings with other top-level authorities and decisions that affect non-Arcad peoples, the Justiciar on legal cases involving non-Arcad, the Sekatariat on matters of defense and rarely, offense, and the Soleri’s Craun Sanctum on matters revolving around the physical structure of the arcology itself and the arcadia that surrounds it, and how they may affect others in their vicinity.

It is thus also often the case that some of these ambassadorial figures are missing from the Circuit, due to a number of reasons - and few of them savory.

The Circuit also handles arcology migration, both in and out of the arcology. Those coming in to the arcology as visitors are monitored, and those coming in to the arcology to request a place to stay will be subjected to a number of tests and vetting procedures to ascertain whether they’ll be a good fit for the Fel-Arcad environment. Those voluntarily leaving the arcology and those being exiled are also processed by the Circuit.

The Sekatariat The Sekatariat oversees an arcology’s Sekators, Fel-Arcad uniquely empowered to use violence, under the principles outlined in Mouths that Spit and Sing. Under their command are all Sekatorial instruction institutions - these being the Sekator Camps - the arcology’s law enforcement, and the arcology’s external defense corps.

The Sekatariat’s Cabinet of Strife consists of the Arasaya. the Araken, and a hand-picked roundtable of veterans in the studies relevant to their duties as Sekators. The Arasaya is the default leader of the Sekatariat, and their standpoint is in fact, one of non-violence. It is the task of the Araken and the Cabinet to sway them from this position, and actually convince them that a certain matter requires the deployment of the Sekators.

Actions taken by the Sekatariat are often subject to review by the Justiciar, and there are times when the Sekatariat must be mobilized against the Rozencraun itself. Situations like this may often devolve into external arcologies having to intervene in the affairs of the one in question. These inter-arcology conflicts are fairly uncommon, but it is not unheard of that conflicts in the Sekatariat can lead to decisions being made that earn the disapproval of Justiciar review authorities. For this reason, the Sekatariat is widely known to have some of the shortest-serving leaders and staff, as almost every Justiciar review body can find some means to decry a choice made by the Arasaya as hasty, unneeded, and not thoroughly thought out.

The Craun Soleri When an arcology is newly being seeded, the Soleri building it act as the proto-Rozencraun until a fully-established proper Rozencraun can be established. Even when this is achieved, the Craun Soleri maintain their authority in all manners concerning the physical structure of the arcology and its surrounding arcadia. The Craun Sanctum is the arcology’s highest Soleri Sanctum, and thus in charge of maintenance, growth and - if necessary - decommissioning of the arcology structure.

The Nai’sol of the Craun Sanctum are a number of highly trained, veteran Soleri who manage its affairs, working alongside the lower Du’sol who serve an number of functions ranging from administration, to aiding in planning trimming or growths, to physical growing of the arcology, through programming replichrome and trimming where necessary.

Most of their interaction with the other arms of the Rozencraun are restrained to the Craun Tenders, as while the Soleri maintain the arcology, it is the Tenders with their executive powers that decide how the internal space of the arcology is used. When rearrangements need to be made, it is done with the Craun Soleri and Craun Tenders working in tandem.

Further Notes

Further notes relevant to the matter of Fel-Arcad governance.

Further or precursor reading in the form of Fel-Arcad Law is encouraged.

Electoral Civics The Rozencraun exists as a representative democracy, with individual Fel-Arcad voting for their leaders when the time arises for such to occur. Arcologies as structures are subdivided under physical and social lines; arcologies themselves being divided into wings or branches, these being divided into districts, and districts being divided into blocs. Blocs are further divided by social lines, into clans, families and individuals.

These units of Fel-Arcad social measure are invoked often when electoral and decision-making instances. In most matters, Fel-Arcad are dealt with as blocs and districts, with the members of each unit having the majority vote under their representative umbrella counting as the vote for their unit.

It goes without saying that with much of the Fel-Arcad arcology running process heavily involving the votes and contributions of many, it is thus paramount that the fairness and sanctity of the electoral process be upheld. The intricacies of calcic dynamics are used, with each Fel-Arcad voting with unfalsifiable chalk ribbon created from the stuff of their lattice at birth, and electoral counting is often done by other arcologies or handled by non-human actors, the entire process being done calcically.

On the note of voting chalk ribbon, and perhaps on the note of the functionality of arcologies in general, civic participation and general participation in Fel-Arcad society is necessary for both Fel-Arcad electoral civics and arcology functioning as a whole. Mentioned and discussed endlessly by Fel-Arcad social architects is that the arcology model is necessarily collectivist and indeed requires many individual elements working selflessly to guarantee its functioning. For many, this is criticized as a flaw, but also understood as something with no real work-around that doesn’t undermine or compress the integrity of the arcology model.

Constitutional Framework - the Arcal All of Fel-Arcad law and guiding principles is outlined in the Arcal, the works of the Curlicue it derives its foundation from, and the various derivative works that emerge from it. Each arcology possesses their own individual Arcal, all of build off of the central, baseline arcology that is housed and thus dictated by the legal scholars of the Second Arcology at Sanscrii. The various writings within the Arcal dictate Fel-Arcad conduct, from individual behavior to the building of nation-states.

All of Fel-Arcad society is built with the Arcal as its backbone; it enshrines the rights, privileges and responsibilities of Fel-Arcad the stars-over and the powers and function of the Rozencraun government. It enshrines the rule of law, the protection if individual rights and the procedures of its own amendment. Above all, the Arcal declares its own supremacy, given that power and relevance by the Fel-Arcad who write it, and the Fel-Arcad subject to it.

Egalitarianism in Word and Deed The enshrinement of the rule of law in the Arcal declares all Fel-Arcad to be equal to one another, in the eyes of both other Fel-Arcad and the various institutions under the Fel-Arcad umbrella. For this reason, the fabric of Fel-Arcad - more specifically, arcology - society is built around upholding this equality, and working towards more equal shapes of society in general.

It is for this reason that the Fel-Arcad generally reject Rosenthalist thinking, the structure of Vahnkin society, and - despite being good allies - much of Sil’khan thought about the placement of persons in society as well. To various extents these philosophies are judged to have non-trivial deviations from Fel-Arcad conclusions about the equality of beings in the Switchboard, and thus face critique in Fel-Arcad circles.

In actual practice, various systems exist towards this end, ranging from policies such as universal basic incomes, social safety nets, free education and healthcare, wealth redistribution, community engagement and individual empowerment and the like. Much of this is due to the necessity of a general sense of equality for all actors as regards the operation of arcologies. No single individual can be worth more than another under the arcology model, and the model needs all individuals acting with this in mind for it to succeed.

This is naturally met with considerable criticism even from Fel-Arcad themselves, who inevitably come across moment after moment in which some action they would’ve have liked to take, or pleasure they could have enjoyed must be foregone as the arcology model demands it. It faces continuous criticism on how arcologies incentivize laziness, kill drive, stifle innovation, encourage a form of self-absorbed hedonism, and generally breed all manners of vices. It has led many Fel-Arcad to leave the arcologies and become Feljourn, living nomadic lives under a differing definition of freedom, declaring the arcologies as antithetical to that philosophy.

The vectors of critique vary; the Rosenthalists, Vahnkin, Feljourn and Sil’khan all espouse differing extents of the same view, that being the relative inequality of kin. The Rosenthalist and Vahnkin entertain a version of this idea that stems from birth, and the Feljourn and Sil’khan espouse one dictated by deed. It is because the Fel-Arcad entertain the Sil’khan and Feljourn as allies that they are far more inclined towards entertaining their antithetical philosophy, and there is much debate between them on whether it is possible to raise the value of any individual being. The Sil’khan believe so as a matter of nigh-religious creed; that the ontology of beings in the Switchboard is in constant flux, and that ‘value’ according to calcic yardsticks is accumulated through living and the actions taken while living. The Feljourn believe this but to a lesser extent; espousing a more utilitarian view of the word where a being that can wield a hammer is greater than one who cannot.

The Lancasters espouse a mix of both; believing both in high-born and low-born heritage, as well as rejecting the hand that one is dealt in favor of forging one’s own path. That the heights one can go are dictated by the circumstances of birth - but only loosely - and that the driven, dedicated and disciplined are more than capable of reaching the utmost heights allotted to them, and even breaking past that ceiling to transcend it.

The Fel-Arcad reject all, embracing an oft-declared ‘naïve’ idealism, that sees them striving towards shaping the Switchboard where such dynamics of the value of beings or the lack thereof are unnecessary. Beings can simply be, and be to the utmost extent that they are inclined towards, without worrying about whether their being is valuable in manners that satisfy primordial ledgers or within-scarcity societies.

On Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities The Fel-Arcad Arcal enshrines the various rights and freedoms enjoyed by arcology-dwelling Fel-Arcad and other Fel-Arcad beyond the arcologies. It is generally accepted and enforced that freedoms and rights in particular cannot be curtailed or denied except under gross circumstances, and even then it is subject to the decision of relevant authorities, and after-the-fact criticism by other authorities. Generally, the curtailment of certain more physical freedoms is made possible by the Sekators, who are trained to handle such affairs with utmost delicacy and effectiveness, the crux of their training being striking the balance between those two. By design, their every action is criticized, and while it is viewed by man as excessive, it is also accepted as the only means by which they can improve.

Coupled with rights and freedoms are responsibilities, spawned primarily from the nature of the arcology model. As a collectivist institution, the arcology demands selfless mass cooperation from all involved to succeed, and this requires an innate understanding of what one must do and not do at all times. All Fel-Arcad are responsible in some manner or another for the operation and upkeep of their host arcology, both in deliberate actions and deliberate inaction. Enforcement of these responsibilities remains a continuous topic of debate, with no conclusive answers beyond the continuous push to foster a sense of unity among arcology dwellers, and thus obligation towards facilitating that unity.

One of the ways responsibilities manifest is in occupation, in that all Fel-Arcad are expected to work in some regard, and are additionally given various options on what work they wish to do. It is generally understood that much work is hard and lacking in glamour, and thus there must be considerable incentive in place to ensure that it gets done. Approaches vary, from acceptance of the nature of work as a sort of necessary evil, and thus it must be counterbalanced with the various ‘goods’ provided by arcology living, to a somewhat stricter strategy of sticks rather than carrots - though within the realms of Fel-Arcad punitive philosophy.

The Fel-Arcad Economy

Outlined in many of the Fey Curlicue’s texts were notes on the matter of economics; how it shaped the other Great Families in the earliest Switchboard, and the star-spanning effects it would have in the near and distant futures. For this reason, the Arcad and Fel-Arcad over time have theory-crafted and tested various models and approaches to this problem, in order to minimize ills while still reaping the benefits of trade in general.

The Fel-Arcad Economy & The Wider Switchboard

How does the Fel-Arcad economy work?

In a sense, this is a question of how chalk and its mechanics affect everyday living in the Switchboard. More specifically put, the ability for rituals to create things from chalk has had a significant effect on the existence of things at all in the Switchboard, and is the crux of the reason why the Fel-Arcad play so essential a role in the wider Switchboard and in particular why arcologies are able to maintain their incredibly high standards of living - speaking on their welfare states, for example.

Individual arcologies and the Fel-Arcad as a whole are the Switchboard’s largest producer of a wide selection of goods, all through their ability to fabricate these things through the calcic ritualism. This also means that arcologies consume massive amounts of chalk in their upkeep alone, to talk less of the massive production demands they meet. This chalk can’t be obtained from a planet or from its latent chalk, as even small arcologies would vacuum up all the chalk in a planet’s atmosphere in mere days of operation. As such, this chalk needs to be supplied from elsewhere.

Fortunately, where there is demand, supply rises to meet it. Lancaster Innovations, inarguably the Dancirah’s largest conglomerate of somewhat profit-minded individuals and groups, exists to meet this demand. By establishing colossal mining encampments on Wellsprings and commanding massive fleets of cargo-hauling spacefaring vessels, massive crystalline deposits are cut from Wellsprings and supplied to arcologies as requested, delivered by the metric ton. This supply of chalk serves to upkeep the arcologies, maintaining the Fel-Arcad’s high standard of living, as well as allow them to play their own economic role.

Mirroring this, the Fel-Arcad supply most of the Dancirah’s calcic goods, due wholly to their unrivalled skill with the calcic ritualism. Almost all calcic anything is manufactured - spun from chalk ribbon - by the Fel-Arcad arcologies. This in turn earns them Lancaster-issued currency, which the vast majority of the Switchboard operates upon. The External Affairs and Executive arms of an arcology handle this.

External Affairs and Executive are PHldr names. Refer back when final names are acquired.

These calcic goods are then handed over in bulk to Lancaster Innovations, who partners with arcologies and acts as a distributor of them on an interstellar scale, paying back the arcologies a share of the revenue earned. Additionally, arcologies sell to smaller parties such as the Sil’khan and the Feljourn, both individuals and small groups. The handling of all things calcic done by the arcologies sees a general trend of outsourcing these thing to them, such as the Spyndl Academy leaving the handling of all their rituals and calcic equipment manufacture to partnered arcologies, generating further revenue.

Deviating from explicit commerce, the Fel-Arcad are also great sellers of their knowledge and talents to those willing to pay a fee. Many from all over the Switchboard come to arcologies to learn the calcic ritualism from the best practitioners of it at a Versit, or to ask for a ritual to be carried out for them, a ritual schema to be created, for consultation on improving existing ones, and plenty come to make use of the Sembleworks, either for similar reasons as the Fel-Arcad themselves, cosmetic reasons, or to give themselves various bodily upgrades, the latter a very common practice by Academy Operators.

The Fel-Arcad also maintain immensely vast and comprehensive libraries on ritual schema. While ritual schema can be acquired from a number of sources, there is always a fair bit of risk involved, coming from the fact that ritual schema could have various covert elements built into them that wouldn’t be apparent to an untrained Weaver. The Fel-Arcad offer trust, in the form of assurance that their libraries contain ritual schema that in most cases, have been cast at least once, and thus can be confidently said to have no unscrupulous elements built into them. Access to these libraries is fairly restricted, and those who are even approved for entry have a pretty penny to pay. In addition to storing rituals schema, the Fel-Arcad over their services in developing them - also at considerable cost - to interested parties.

Though not nearly to the degree of the Sil’khan, the Fel-Arcad pride themselves on being dealers in information, particularly information that has ‘aged’ or refers to ancient subject matter in the Switchboard. Usually this provision of information is contractual with a clause attached that benefits the Fel-Arcad; if the information provided is a map to a relic, the Fel-Arcad contract-giver generally expect you to bring it back. Refusing to do so can be met with a refusal to do further business with the offending party at that arcology and other arcologies, or worse, hired bounty hunters going after the offender.

Internal handling of an arcology’s wealth is down by its Executive, who compute incoming revenue, outgoing expenses and generally handle all accounting. They also handle how this wealth is spent and distributed among the Fel-Arcad, allotments being issued to various sectors and parties as necessary.

Notes on Employment & Arcology Economies

Arcologies and Fel-Arcad society at large functions via the smooth operation of various interconnected systems, which in more cases than not would benefit from the presence and overall handling by a Fel-Arcad operator. With how pre-planned Fel-Arcad physical infrastructure is, it is fairly simple to determine the exact kind and size of workforce needed to operate an arcology, made possible by the social-architecture mathematics practiced by the Soleri. As arcologies expand or shrink or generally change, these changes are accounted for and the values shift, the operating staff of an arcology always being something with a relatively exact value.

For this reason it is thus a fairly simple task to form the workforce of an arcology, and assign roles to various Fel-Arcad dwelling within. The Craun Tenders work with our-world union analogues to assemble rotating workforces, as Fel-Arcad are not expected to work the same profession (unless otherwise desired) for extended, concurrent periods of time (unless otherwise desired). The Soleri’s calculus makes it possible to design a maximally efficient workforce, such that no more than is absolutely necessary are working at any given time, factoring in the work that needs to be done, and the determined capacity of individual members of the workforce to perform work.

On the point of rotating workforces, at intervals in a procession - usually at the Radiance Cycle seasons - the workforce is reshuffled in a number of manners. Varying from arcology to arcology, Fel-Arcad are expected to perform a number of seasonal ‘shifts’ in a procession, these being allotments of days determined by a fixed value modified by capability assessments and the Fel-Arcad’s own wishes. With time slots chosen, they are allowed to choose or are given the profession or role they are expected to perform for the time. This stage of seasonal rotations often sees a fair bit of contention, as some individuals are better suited for some tasks, and it is entirely possible to have a season where many want to be cooks and none want to be cleaners. In these instances, selection is opened up to off-season workers, who are offered the less desired positions at increased wages. Generally, most Fel-Arcad will have upwards of a third of an entire profession to themselves, doing virtually zero compelled work, a structure put in place from the earliest days of the Arcad, and penned down in The Farseer’s Lament.

This system is what applies to what can be called an arcology’s public sector, that is, work that directly serves the Rozencraun. The Fel-Arcad private sector employs somewhat different employment methodology. Most private sector firms in arcology’s cannot do any hiring themselves, and instead apply for workers and employees through the Rozencraun’s relevant employment authorities - a measure put in place to curb bias and nepotism as well as ensure the protections of worker’s rights. While arcology’s very much do have markets, the question of their ‘freeness’ is up for debate, as the Rozencraun puts regulation in place to prevent runaway profiteering, as well as provides generic but quality alternatives to the privately-produced goods on the market at reduced prices, to better serve Fel-Arcad with less income beyond the universal stipend provided to all of them. Policy prevents the rise of monopolies and anti-competition practices, the proliferation of substandard goods, exploitation of workers, runaway inflation, and environmental damage from production, ensuring the wellbeing of workers and non-workers as well as tidy profits for Fel-Arcad who feel so inclined.

Notes on Governmental Corruption

It is nearly non-existent, as the systems employed by the Fel-Arcad make it simply too difficult to steal unnoticed. The grandest schemes are defeated by virtue of needing multiple accomplices, and the socialization of the Fel-Arcad has instilled a sense of obligation to the arcology and each other, that is wholly incompatible with illicit wealth-hoarding. Corruption only truly works if the entirety of the Rozencraun is in on it, and it then results in the internal squabbles characteristic of a band of thieves. Arcologies rarely ever reach this state, and when they do, their denizens often simply leave or ask another arcology to intervene. What follows next is unceremonious collapse.

On Currency

Indev, the running idea is that Lancaster Innovation mints the cross-Dancirah currency, and each arcology has their own internally regulated currency.

19. Social Problems

Problem Classes

1. Structural
2. Economic
3. Environmental
4. Health
5. Cultural
6. Political
7. Technological
8. Demographic

Problem List

1. Isolationist nature of arcology living, which has resulted in Fel-Arcad being fairly unlearned on the dealings of the other families in the Switchboard, as well as lacking socialization skills.
2. Congestion and forced community.
3. Semblance philosophy is very self-absorbed, leading many Fel-Arcad to be incredibly self-centered and preoccupied primarily with their own lives.
4. Leaving arcologies is frowned upon.
5. Pacifistic philosophy is fairly unaligned with the rest of the Switchboard.
6. Arcologies taken over by unscrupulous actors elements become nexuses for unsavory things in the Switchboard.
7. Active conflict with the Vahnkin due to the actions of Antamara, which grow increasingly more bold and violent.
8. The Rosenthalists remain an ever-present threat, particularly to the Sil’khan, and their ideology of conquest of the Switchboard has begun appealing to more and more Fel-Arcad.
9. Very large ‘calcic eugenics’ concerns through extensive usage of the Conjugation and sembleworks tech. Some arcologies and sembleworkers already have embraced working towards the engineering of perfect descendants.

Add apparatus for maximizing the utility and outcomes for the Conjugat under ‘Technology’

10. Elimination of most minor and even major threats to day-to-day living has made the Fel-Arcad a very ‘tender’ people.
11. The Fel-Arcad population as a whole is aging, due to most younger Fel leaving the arcologies to join the Feljourn and organizations like the Spyndl Academy, while those who are left behind are not having children while living for extended periods.

20. pNarrat - Building the Fel-Arcad

This final heading is for primarily describing the narrative vision of the Fel-Arcad within the Samsara canon. It is a concluding section where I give closing thoughts on what the Fel-Arcad would be like written in the canon, a sort of bookend for thoughts not wholly expressed or conveyed during the outlining of the document above. While the Fel-Arcad doc so far has been written with a very informative slant, this part is more conversationalist, me outlining what I can and plan to do with everything that is.

Were you to stumble into one of the many hospitable breweries in the Switchboard and posed a generalist question to those within about the Fel-Arcad - in particular their disposition towards things in general - you’d get a litany of answers - as with anything. The summary of those answers, however, would be that the Fel-Arcad as a people that have been ‘filed down’ relative to the other Third Kin, into a family defined by being overwhelmingly anodyne.

While I didn’t intend this to be the case when I was building the Fel-Arcad, it did become something of an inevitability after fleshing out other facets of the Fel-Arcad existence resulted in my realizing that the Fel, as they exist now, are a people that have solved much of their civilizational problems. From the get-go, the Fel-Arcad made the wise decision to sharpen their axe before cutting down a tree, and it meant that they greatly minimized the amount of stumbling around in the dark one would usually do on the path to find the right answer to things. The arcology model is both the cause and reflective of this, as an arcology is - from first principles - merely a construct of social architecture given exhaustive thought before realization.

In a sense, the Fel-Arcad are rationalists to their core. They began the task of civilization-building operating under the assumption that they had only one shot to get it right, and miraculously, they did to a large extent - much larger compared to their other Third Kin siblings. In addition to starting well, they maintained what they had begun procession over procession, with the changes in the Switchboard only demanding a further refinement of the methods they already employed, rather than a deviation from those methods towards new ones.

In a sense, the Fel-Arcad got it figured out. In a sense.

Inspiration

I think what really birthed the idea of the Fel-Arcad were three major things. The first of them was a lore book from the video game Destiny 2; titled ‘Last Days on Kraken Mare’. For some useful background, the Sol system was visited by an extrasolar, mechanical manifestation of a primordial entity, the phenomenon that defined its existence merely being called ‘the Light’. The Traveler - the mechanical entity - came to Sol and blessed all of humanity with the ability to become a multiplanetary and eventually interstellar civilization, through extending human lifespans and terraforming the various planets of the Sol system into vastly more habitable places. This was a period known as the ‘Golden Age’ in Destiny’s canon.

Once such terraformed planet was Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, defined by the sea and storms of liquid hydrocarbons. During the Golden Age that followed the arrival of the Traveler, the New Pacific Arcology was built in the Kraken Mare, the largest body of liquid on Titan and the largest known lake in the whole solar system. The NPA and others like it existed primarily as research and knowledge acquisition ventures, studying the moon and the unique life under it that had emerged as a response to the harsh environment made less so by the Traveler’s terraforming - possibly.

What drove me into investigation of the concept of the arcology was that, in-game, we only see the ruins of the NPA, and even then not the totality of it. But even just the bit we could see for much of the game’s lifespan, followed by bits more that were made available to us in later content additions to the game, were enough to rouse my interest in the concept. However, what I studied to realize the arcologies in Samsara is elaborated upon later. For now, we focus on Titan, and the story that unfolded in ‘Last Days on Kraken Mare’.

Last Days outlines the NPA’s and the people within it’s response to an event in the canon of Destiny known as ‘The Collapse’. As we would come to learn later, the Traveler didn’t come to Sol for no reason; it was being pursued, and by an ancient foe with whom they’ve done this song and dance for ages, known as ‘the Darkness’. The Darkness’ forces came in the form of the Black Fleet, a fleet of pyramid-shaped ships that wielded gravity manipulating weaponry. One such ship attacked Titan, squashing the entire planet - and then releasing - with the aim of triggering tidal waves the likes of which have never been seen in all the cosmos. Last Days outlines how an evacuation order was issued to all three million lives aboard the NPA, but in particular it outlines the nuances of the minds that built and maintained the arcology, as well as how they crashed roughly against the minds of outside characters who were sent by the entity which issued the evacuation order; the Warmind, a powerful AI created to man the entirety of the Sol system’s extra-planetary defenses, with the purpose of protecting humanity.

I will quote bits of the lore that I found particularly relevant to what I aimed to build, and discuss them underneath. Last Days is divided into nine chapters or entries, and I will place the name of each above the quote that pulls from it. As a final note before going into its writ, while much of may seem - or even be - unrelated to the immediate arcology concept, the totality of the book did, in one way or another, inspire what I wanted the Fel-Arcad to both build and be. To further guide reading of this, emphasis has been added to elements relevant to the discussion.

Read the full entry here; Last Days on Kraken Mare

The Sixth Seal, Part I

…pouches of farmed salmon, beef en culture, buttered carrots, and bok choy drift in the slow turbulence of the sous-vide bath.

From the get-go, arcologies exist as an answer to primarily ecological problems, particularly those of how human needs demand production of things to meet those needs, and how production as a process generally guarantees the creation of waste products. Arcologies operate under guidelines of minimizing waste while still achieving satisfactory levels of production, and one of the means of doing this is through - as outlined here - farming for one, and perhaps lab-grown products for another. Considering the hostility of the environment and the constraints of space, certain processes like beef production cannot be accomplished through any humane means, or any means at all considering the space and foodstuff required by meat cattle, and the relative inefficiency of the process to begin with. Usage of lab-grown produce is thus expected, and it is along these lines that I developed H#16 on food and agriculture.

Finch-tiny Xiana McCaig slams her fists down with not a tenth the strength that her chimp-splice muscles could summon.

In which we get some insight into the kinds of times that ‘Last Days’ takes place within, explicitly mentioning here and elsewhere the existence of considerably advanced body modification technologies. Being something of a transhumanist myself, having an interest in how we might one day exceed our initial capacities with the application of the sciences, it was a fairly easy decision to make to included something of that in the writ of Samsara, realized in totality as the principles under the Lattice as a Canvas.

“There are almost three million people on this arcology and its rigs.” Connectivity supervisor Ismail Barat’s Zen-shura training distills his attention down to a single laser-bright point; he is here with Mia, even as his brain drifts on a hundred different data feeds. “If you’re serious about evacuating, we’ll need to slot people into SMILE pods and move them as bulk freight. It’s the only way to get the population out. There’ll be economic damage. There’ll be deaths. If this is a false alarm—”

People and data. Even now I still don’t have a conclusive answer to how many people would live in an arcology, as this is merely a small facet of the question of how many people even dwell within the Switchboard. In Paolo Soleri’s ‘City in the Image of Man’, he proposed thirty arcologies with varying possible carrying capacities, ranging from as few as 1500 people to a colossal six million, with the average being in the hundreds of thousands. Population is a tricky thing to decide, especially with regards to narrative. If you say, for example, that on average, a Fel-Arcad arcology houses one million, then you can roughly determine the overall population of all Fel-Arcad in the entire verse by getting the average number of arcologies per planet, and the number of planets the Fel-Arcad have colonized in the verse. If mankind settled on even 1% of all the existing planets in the Milky Way, we’d still be looking at 1 billion worlds. The numbers stack up fast, and have considerable ramifications on potential narrative as they do.

Returning to the arcologies, the question of an arcology’s population demands the further question of how many people it would take to run an arcology to begin with. You could ponder the question of how many people it takes to run a fairly large skyscraper, for example, and you’d find yourself looking at large crews of cleaning staff, various flavors of maintenance, management, security, perhaps even medical. The list continues, and with regards to arcologies, it is considerably more than that due to the involved nature of arcologies to begin with. Can one person take care of every single need had by five? Does this mean an arcology’s population is five times the number of people required to run it? This wouldn’t be the case, as arcologies are community-centric structures, without static roles of caregivers and takers of care. Each serves the other. The question remains unanswered.

The latter point of data is a poignant one. One of the difficulties of ascertaining the flaws of existing paradigms of doing things when compared to new, prospective ones, is that the lack of concrete data makes it difficult to fully ascertain how large or small a problem truly is. How much waste does a house produce? Averages. How much water does it consume? Averages an guesses. They are useful - far more so than having nothing, and it is very easy to have nothing - but there is an advantage given by having accurate, real-time data being constantly fed to command and control centers, aiding the making of critical decisions. It is why under H#15, technology, I proposed the necessity of a dedicated intelligence necessary for managing arcologies, granting the living building a true mind of its own, that works in tandem with the arcology’s Fel tenders to maintain optimal status.

David Miguel Korosec. A man who’s literally never harmed a fly, who won’t eat plants lest he destroy a sacred entropy pump. Poor David. He came here to make first contact with new life, the wonders that flourish not in Mia’s ocean—the methane sea of Titan’s surface—but in the enormous water world that lies below Titan’s 50-kilometer ice shell. He is an ethicist. He wanted to help them do it right.

An interesting character; an ethicist. While the Switchboard does not explicitly have any creatures that would count as aliens in the sense that we understand them, there still is cause for such a person to exist, especially with regards to developing and refining the Fel-Arcad’s own various social theorems and how they are applied. I think there is a place in the future for a more thorough breakdown of this topic in the family proposals.

Her recombinant muscles make lean knots at the shoulder anchors, where her bones are more than bone.

Further writ on the prevalence of bodily modifications and enhancements. ArcDanseer Nadira’s principles have taken a major hold over wider Fel society, and the majority of Fel-Arcad have overwhelmingly positive views of bodily skewing, the sembleworks being a prominent aspect of their society.

his book about cognitive empathy: show that you have made a model of their thought; show that you have listened to it.

A collection of books I concluded recently - Foundryside, Locklands and Shorefall, collectively known as the Founder’s Trilogy - authored by Robert Jackson Bennet was an interesting take on the cyberpunk genre by realizing it instead in a medieval era, epic fantasy world (and how this is even doable is outlined here)bestowed with a form of magic where inscribing arcane writ upon objects could convince them that they were doing something, or were something, they actually weren’t. For example, an arrow can be covered in script that convinces it that, after it has been firing and has attained a certain speed, it actually has been following downwards and is accelerating under gravity, which causes it to immediately move faster than before. This has a number of immediately interesting applications, one of the most notable being ‘twinning’; convincing two things that they actually are one and the same.

Done on a pair of metal ingots, heating one would convince the other that it was being heated up as well, and you could thus have advanced kitchens with plenty of heat, but no unwanted smoke or fire. Twinning was used extensively throughout the books, but where it got most interesting was in the twinning of human minds. Convincing two minds that they were one and same led to the boundaries between them shattering, and the memories and experiences of one flooding into another. Done on a large scale, it created ‘cadences’; gatherings of people that came to be known by an entity born from the collective consciousness they shared, such as ‘Greeter’ who was a cadence born of hospitable peoples, that introduce outsiders to this manner of doing things. Done on a much larger scale it did, quite literally, establish world peace.

How it accomplished so was remarkably simple; the twinning of minds allowed the totality of selves to be merged, all thoughts and feelings, all pains and pleasures. Pain in particular, how it felt, was a driver of it. The Trilogy pitches the idea that those who cause pain would not if they too knew how that pain they inflicted felt. Not from seeing it or having it described to them, but from having it stamped into their very memory as though they had suffered it themselves. The result was that, once everyone knew how it felt to be under a tyrant, no one wanted to be one, or would let anyone become one. The ability to have a perfect model of another’s mind allowed for the development of perfect empathy, and from then on, a thorough betterment of the species.

It is a wildly interesting concept to have what is effectively a magic hive mind structure, especially when hive minds are traditionally the domain of science fiction, either through biologically-facilitated telepathy in an alien species, or super-advanced technologies employed in humans. While I did type this section to then make the case that one of the Fel-Arcad’s many means of sociological study is this ‘modelling of thought’, it does also make me ponder the possibility of building something similar; a means of conjoining straits across lattices, sharing their thoughts, thinking en masse. Fascinating stuff.

“The AIs who issued the evacuation order use a hammer-forged extrapolation of human morality. It is tested in trillions of simulations, under the wildest circumstances imaginable, to be sure their moral decisions agree with human values. They’re not just rationality pumps. They CARE. They care the way a perfect human being with infinite compassion for all things would care. They couldn’t issue an evacuation order unless it was Right. This is not a false alarm.”

The Sixth Seal, Part II

Everyone has had their say.

Democracy. It has earned something of a mixed rap sheet over the years, being widely agreed upon as the worst form of government right after everything else that has been tried. Established in headings #17 and #18, the Fel-Arcad are immensely democratic in their processes, sourcing the thoughts of the many before making decisions that affect the many.

“…We’ll start podding citizens in the domes, then use local blue-water shipping to haul them out for orbital pickup.” … “Then we evacuate the ship crews. Then we go.”

Selflessness. Uttered with almost comical remove, it is simply a matter of fact that all will go before the leaders do, that their charges, first and foremost, are those dwelling in the arcologies and the extensive logistical network that serves them. Immense responsibility to shoulder. I envision the Soleri are much the same way, and while they have taken on a fair bit of snobbish aristocracy to their order, those who truly espouse the principles of their ranks are those who are selfless, putting those placed in their care ever before themselves, both when it is easy, and when it is hard.

The alert scrolls through Mia’s mind, in that hallucinatory screen space that matches but never impairs normal vision.

A little call once again to the extensive bodily modifications in play. I think it’s rather interesting to consider that the management of something like an arcology demands almost a superhuman force behind it all, that those staffing the top brass would necessarily have to rise to the occasion in more ways than one. There comes a sense of responsibility with it, almost, the idea that cybernetics are fundamentally tools and powers given to make the deserving more capable, with it being nigh explicit why they are being given. Cybernetic enhancements as we see here used by our protagonists in ‘Last Days’, are used, primarily, to serve.

And whenever that happens, she thinks: gasoline rains from the sky here, and it is -180 degrees Celsius outside, and no matter how comfortable we grow, life is tenuous here. Human life, especially.

That arcologies benefit from being treated as living things doesn’t come without its downsides, and perhaps chief amongst them is how fragile the arcology model is, much like those who have come to dwell within and under it. It is why it demands so much from those who choose to pursue it, because otherwise, it fails. Even beyond the many treacherous biomes that populate the planets of the Dancirah, threats arise from within as well, that must be addressed if the entire endeavor is to even survive.

The Tenth Avatar

He smiles with those huge, laughing, haunted eyes. “I wasn’t always the Good Man, you know.”

“Do you mind when people call you that?”

“Thank you for asking! I hate it. But I like the idea that people can believe in a good person. If they believe in one, they can believe in more.”

It is probably not beyond conception that the Fel-Arcad would rather that more denizens of the Switchboard were like them. It is equally not beyond perception that - rather than employing force - they choose to prop themselves up as a living, compelling argument for the way they do things, as a beacon of ‘true civilization’ in the dark reaches of the Dancirah. It is not beyond conception that this actually works too, pulling many to their ranks, strengthening the while improving the universe according to their own self-developed yardsticks.

On the way to the dorsal air lock, Mia flicks through camera feeds, statistics, and telemetry, watching over the evacuation effort. Not so long ago, a few million frightened people would’ve been an administrator’s worst nightmare. Not these days. Titan’s citizens have grown up with game theory and applied community ethics; it’s as unthinkable to beg for a priority evacuation as it would be to ask for an old man’s seat on the tram. The families of rig workers and shipping tycoons wait side by side for their tickets to be called, for their bodies to be processed into coldsleep SMILE pods and loaded by the thousands, all equally silent, equally delicate, equally helpless.

I speak on this section at length near the very end of this document, but even here I will point out how the above observation leads elegantly into this one. The concept of the arcology and what it espouses are things that can absolutely be taught to the willing, and these principles of selflessness and egalitarianism; caring - truly caring - for the other, can be argued for as the right approach for the task of building and running a civilization. The Fel-Arcad do allow immigration of outside persons into arcologies, but doing so requires subjecting one’s self to what is effectively a reeducation exercise, as the arcology model demands a conscious relinquishment of certain manners of thinking.

Faces Like Shields

Mia van der Venne is more than 200 years old. Change comes faster, these days, and you live to see more of it.

I decided that of all the great families in the Switchboard, the Fel-Arcad live the longest. I like the idea of their methodologies being born out of a collective wisdom that comes with age, as well as born out of extensive rationale. They’ve seen more of the Switchboard than anyone else, have maintained extensive records, and tasked themselves with documenting change itself. Narratively, it serves my purposes to have an old people that keep records, aid the young who are inclined to folly, and to pull out the occasional MacGuffin when needed.

 …a shape that would be disarmingly ordinary if it were not rearmed by glowing eyes, empty sunken cheeks, a thickly armored jaw, and a bare scalp studded with needled sensors. The petrol stink of Titan’s atmosphere washes off her, mingled with the clean astringent bite of air lock spray. Like all Exos, she was once a person—someone who gave up her flesh for the tenuous immortality of a war body.

More talk of cybernetics and bodily enhancement, though this time of an entirely different order of magnitude. Featuring a total relinquishment of flesh, they have become pure, immortal machine. This is less a remark exclusive to the the Fel as it is something that remarks on all of Samsara; if the avenues exist for doing such a thing. My immediate answer is ‘yes’, but this prompts the question of ‘why?‘. To digress very far from the Fel-Arcad, the Lancasters, another great family, deprived of the power to stride and weave, are known to pursue other avenues to attain strength, enhancement via extensive modification to the lattice being among the most common and effective.

An etiquette flash blinks in the air beside her, totally impersonalized: it is just the standard warning against substrate chauvinism.

This one I had to include, because the mere idea of substrate chauvinism; discrimination borne entirely out of regarding the matter that houses the mind differently and inferior when compared to one’s own, seems intensely relevant in a canon that features and perhaps even incentivizes treating one’s own body as a canvas upon which one paints with the brushes of aesthetics and necessity.

One might imagine this chauvinism might pass in only one direction; that the Fel traversing outside the arcologies, adorned in all manners of skews to their body plan, might face discrimination from other denizens of the Switchboard who are unaccustomed to - and this is by design, in both ways - their ‘weirdness’. Conversely though, it can also be the case that certain Fel who are lattice-mod aficionados might come to view those who cling to ‘normalcy’ as unenlightened, regressive, dogmatic, and perhaps even explicitly lesser, delving almost into a perversion of Rosenthalist thought. The insistence of the avoidance of this line of thinking would expectedly be something of an essential in Fel circles.

The beast of burden proffers body armor and firearms: not just bliss rifles or restraint spiders, but actual, lethal, bullet-shooting guns.

“No,” Mia says, with more heat than she intends, but not more than she feels. “I won’t allow you inside with deadly weapons. This is a legally autonomous settlement, chartered under—”

The Fel-Arcad’s principles of pacifism and non-violence are an expected natural progression from the totality of all other facets of their being, True success of the arcology model requires a volunteerism aspect to the entire undertaking; there must be a recognition of the problems that exist, how the arcology model solves them, and an acceptance of those ideas, as well as the responsibility arcologies come with. Coercion would only achieve the superficial elements of the ideals, without satisfying the true spirit of them.

That being said, the Sekators are a thing that exist, though it is with great reluctance, immense restriction, and not even with widespread adoption. The Fel bank on their methodologies for avoiding external violence by being too valuable a resource to the Switchboard to make an enemy, and internal violence via inculcation of the principles of the arcology model, such that it simply would never arise in one’s cognition as a viable course of action. It would be understood as something that there is no coming back from, a choice whose ramifications ripple, cascade and rebound, upsetting things - often even permanently.

Of course these methodologies aren’t without their own flaws, as particular the Fel’s methods of handling external violence are predicated upon a possible enemy exercising only slightly less rationality in their decisions than the Fel, which would still place them in the upper echelons of the Switchboard’s peoples and factions who have logic guide their actions. I wrote extensive writ on the topic under #17, law and literature, that being the Fel-Arcad’s relationship with violence.

“This is wrong!” David barks. “I know you, Morgan. You believe in sacrosanct human will, and the primacy of informed individual agency, and the need for powerful actors to obtain consent. The person I knew would never—”

Perhaps a summarization of a lot of existing writ about the Fel-Arcad. Mr. Korosec puts it elegantly, and I’ll leave it at that.

“I don’t. Administrator, my team will now proceed to Shanice Pell’s lab to secure our objective. If you’re with me, maybe it gets done faster. If not, maybe it gets done messier. Your choice.”

In much later sections I write a fair bit about arcology collapse, but I feel I skimped on what explicitly causes it. I think ‘Last Days’ displayed the more external causes particularly well, in the form of an insurmountable, unknowable, immensely powerful external force, and - perhaps far more grounded - the forces of those who simply do not care for methods so long as it yields results.

I think a later proposal that outlines the various means by which arcologies collapse is somewhat due, but to speak briefly on it here, arcologies are fragile things; they suffer a unique vulnerability to the nature of the environment within and without them. The ideological divide between proponents of the arcology model and the rest of the Switchboard, in this case, has placed the former in a unique position where they are always playing defense, where they have to justify their insistence on being better, rather than challenge those who insist on being worse.

It is not beyond imagination that Fel-Arcad, even outside the arcologies, prove to be somewhat of a chore to deal with, as people who demand higher standards of thought and behavior tend to be. Even the simple reflexive defensiveness induced in someone who is even lightly confronted on their principles is enough to further induce in them an irrational desire to destroy the source of that unwanted introspection. And for this reason, there are those who, even without sane reason, choose to oppose the existence of the arcologies and the Fel within for daring to oppose the perceived natural order of things.

Far more common however, than the deliberately malevolent, are merely the apathetic. Those who are looking to merely accomplish a task, and see it being frustrated by the Fel-Arcad’s insistence on their own principles. Some would argue that perhaps, their own non-committal, passive gripe with the Fel-Arcad - being something viewable as somewhat tolerable in that it lacks fervency - is far more sinister than the overt, explicit opposition held by many towards the Fel.

Down in the residential blocks, one of her citizens has lifted one too many boxes and manifested presymptoms of a heart attack. EMTs are on the way, so it probably won’t be the day’s first death. Probably. Life burns so easily. It’s her job to stand up to those who forget that.

An elegant summary, yet again, of what I hope the Fel-Arcad have come to stand for. No further notes.

Kalki’s Burning Sword, Part I

The beam kisses the rising shuttle and cuts through it, like a wire through a block of butter, as if the ship and everyone inside were as thin as the hydrocarbon sleet. Thunder booms, louder than Earth’s, through heavy nitromethane air.

Mia watches the debris strike the smooth black ocean and sink. She can’t breathe. There is something like a whittled mulberry branch stuck in her throat.

This excerpt…

And down from the sky, swift and stealthy as the Warsat that fired it, came the invisible discharge of an X-ray laser to light the shuttle’s propellant like a lantern. The beam path was hot-white, straight as poured silver, collapsing instantly: a crash of pure-tone thunder as the tunnel of burnt air closes in on itself. And the shuttle opening like a ghastly blossom, the shape of a thing going upward very quickly, no longer in one piece.

“Oh, no,” Mia had gasped, not understanding at first: Was it an accident? Had the phantom disaster finally arrived on Titan and struck its first blow? This was the age of life, and governments did not, ever, use force against human beings. There were always alternatives. Every soul sacred. Every evil treatable.

Then she understood what the Warmind had done.

…and this one that follows it elicit writ that would be more adequately tackled in a dedicated proposal on the subject matter of the major forms of opposition the arcologies face, and the causes of arcology collapse.

Kalki’s Burning Sword, Part II

“I know what this means,” David Korosec pronounces. He’s gotten down to his knees beside Mia, but he won’t reach out, won’t touch her without consent. “A Warmind fired that weapon. Warminds don’t take human life… unless they’re in the TWILIGHT EXIGENT moral territory.”

“What does that mean?” Mia demands, wanting, needing, some kind of sense.

“It means,” Morgan-2 says, mercilessly, “that all human beings are assumed dead without protective action. The Warminds are now acting to maximize survival, not to minimize harm. Death is cheap, the garden’s on fire, and it’s a race to save whatever we can.”

Twilight Exigent is a word in the Destiny canon that comes with heavy implications, and perhaps an incredible amount of lore in the form of second-order consequences can be traced back to when the Sol-spanning defense network of the Warminds - meant to defend humanity - radically changed their approach with regards to doing so. The Verdant Minds that preside over the arcologies can be envisioned as something like this, though on a much smaller scale. This is something to explore in the proposal on arcology collapse.

“What if they’re wrong?” David gets to his feet. “Morgan, they just murdered a ship full of innocent people to contain this data. Is the secret worth it? What if they’re wrong?!”

“They can’t be wrong. They’re too smart.”

“Oh, no you don’t, you haven’t forgotten that much!” He comes at Morgan, fearless in his authority for all his physical powerlessness. “You know intelligence is semiorthogonal to morality! The Warminds obey human stricture, because we built them to live in our tiny patch of the moral landscape. Goodness is not an inevitable absolute. They can be smart without being right!”

Another concept to explore in proposals to come.

SUNDOWN DISTRESS

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. All circum-Saturn stations monitoring GUARD, this is New Pacific Arcology, declaring a SUNDOWN loss of habitability event. We have 2.9 million souls aboard. We repeat, Titan is no longer safe for human life.

We are attempting to decouple tidal anchors and loosen the arcology substructure. Blue-water vessels are now transporting frozen citizens to lifters. We require all available ships with interplanetary capability to receive refugees. Contact New Pacifi c Traffic Control on approach.

Further writ to come in the proposal on arcology collapse.

The final entries of ‘Last Days of Kraken Mare’ will be discussed in a later heading of this section.

The Arcology Concept

The second of the three major things that inspired the Fel-Arcad was a derivative of the first, the concept of the ‘arcology’.

Arcology is the fusion of architecture with ecology, a comprehensive urban perspective. In nature, as organisms evolve, they increase in complexity and become a more compact system. A city should similarly evolve, functioning as a living system. Architecture and ecology as one integral process, is capable of demonstrating positive response to the many problems of urban civilization – population growth, pollution, energy/natural resource depletion, food scarcity, and quality of life. Arcology recognizes the necessity of the radical reorganization of the sprawling urban landscape into dense, integrated, three-dimensional cities in order to support the diversified activities that sustain human culture and environmental balance. What Is Arcology? | Ideology of Paolo Soleri | Arcosanti

Having become enthralled with the arcology concept, I delved immediately in learning all that I could, realizing that an arcology was merely a type of building, but arcologies as a philosophy made manifest in concrete and steel and the persons that inhabit them, are instead the result of the intersections of architecture, ecology and urbanism, as well as aspects of sociology, philosophy, technology and a fair bit more.

The term ‘arcology’ is derived from ‘architecture’ and ‘ecology’ and was coined by the father of the concept itself, Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri. Soleri was possessed of the idea that there could be a way to build better urban environments - a means of mitigating their resource consumption, waste production and thus, overall environmental impact by making them intelligent, self-contained structures that transcended merely being buildings, his final goal being finding a means to harmonize human habitations with the natural world.

Studying Soleri inevitably led me to study perhaps his foremost project, an experimental settlement (what a truly interesting phrase) in the Arizona desert known as ‘Arcosanti’. Founded under the Cosanti Foundation (‘cosa’ and ‘anti’; ‘against things’) it was the manifestation of his deliberate critique of the rampant culture of consumerism that he saw taking hold of the world. Whether judged as a place of imaginative and provocative architectural experiments, or as a foundation for exploring a world built in balance with the environment, both embody - at its core - a radically different perspective of human habitation, and resultant aesthetic.

I encourage you to give Arcosanti a look if you can, as while the project remains fairly small scale, the dreams and philosophy it embodies are markedly progressive and worth engaging with, especially as we as a species tip ever and ever closer to a point of no return in our already tenuous relationship with the planet.

Studying Arcosanti was particularly valuable as it was a grounded realization of Soleri’s concepts in our world. In what would later be a driving bit of the aesthetics and design language expressed by arcologies; Soleri’s book ‘Arcology: The City in the Image of Man’, its extensive use of thoroughly esoteric diagrams seems to cast the arcology concept as something wholly unrealizable within our world. Arcosanti defies that, by being something built alongside the same principles, that also actually exists. The six design principles of Arcosanti, given as so;

• Urban Scale as Human Scale (Pedestrian Environment)
• Urban Effect (Proximity & Vibrancy)
• Food & Energy Nexus (Urban Agriculture)
• Bounded Density (Ecological Envelope)
• Marginalized Consumption (Embodied Efficiency)
• Elegant Frugality (Creative Resourcefulness)

Which led me to conduct something an informal study of each of these concepts explored at a larger level, leading me into spheres such as bionic architecture, autonomous buildings, smart cities, underground cities and vertical building doctrines, all of which worked towards shaping how I came to view the final arcology concept.

I recommend (of all things) the TV tropes page that gives a fairly grab-bag explanation of what an arcology is, for anyone who wants to skip the surprisingly exhaustive amount of writ that exists on the various topics. At its most fundamental, an arcology is a self-sufficient structure built to inhabit as many humans as possible, while causing the least amount of environmental impact, this achieved primarily through intelligent applications of technology throughout architecture, to achieve self-containment with regards to energy production, amenities fabrication and waste reclamation. It is no surprise then, that arcologies have a fairly well established place in science fiction, particularly in cyberpunk, post-human, futurist media, and particularly as either a symbol or driver of class warfare. TV tropes is unfortunately a dreadfully useful resource for people of my charge, as it gives an extensive breakdown of how one concept connects with numerous others, skewed with a narrative, worldbuilder lilt, even if it does so in truly terrible fashion. This resource will become relevant in a later part of this section.

Circling back to Paolo Soleri, one of the valuable visual resources for the engineering of the arcology concept in my mind was his book, ‘Arcology: The City in the Image of Man’. The tome starting - right after the title page, before anything else - with the line ‘This book is about miniaturization’ is a truly spectacular disarming move that leaves you wholly unprepared for what follows; an outpouring of rare, esoteric genius that leaves stunned with every page. I will confess that I did little by way of extensively studying the true writ of the book, due to its length and fairly esoteric nature - especially when the angle of spiritualism is folded in with very little warning - and I mostly studied the diagrams to get an idea of how I would describe arcologies within my own work, but I do plan to go back and give it another pass, as - without mincing words - it is truly an incredible feat of human imagination. Published in 1969, Soleri takes it upon himself to imagine multiple arcology structures, featuring estimated population carrying capacity, dimensions, and optimal construction locales - including buoyant structures built entirely on water. I am fairly certain he envisioned some for inhabiting other planets entirely. Paging through the book, merely glimpsing the pictures, one is immediately struck by how violently alien the concept is, and the Empire State Building used as a unit of measurement extensively throughout the document gives an awe-inspiring sense of the sheer proportions of what is being envisioned. Realizing that all these diagrams are a philosophy made manifest only adds to the awe inspired, Being a visual resource, I cannot ever convey the nuances of it in mere text; I urge you to view it for yourself.

Armed with endless cliff notes on the subject matter, I set about realizing the concept in Samsara. A first principle of Soleri’s writ is as follows;

Visionary architect Paolo Soleri challenges us to think of cities as biological entities with his concept of arcology—a massive, self-sustaining, urban “organism of a thousand minds” designed to exist in harmony with nature. He proposes that the purpose of life is aesthetogenesis: the universe progressively complexifying itself into compassionate, beautiful structures. Arcology - Paolo Soleri (organism.earth)

The imagining of cities as biological entities really only read as one thing to me; the creation of a means by which a cold, unfeeling structure can become something entirely different; something that can be born, grow through infancy, mature into adulthood, and - by some means - bring forth more of itself to spread across a locational context. My method was two-fold; replichrome, which would serve as the bulk of such a structure-organism’s body, and the fey curlicue, the means by which it grows and creates more of itself to spread across the stars. The Soleri - so-called in honor of the man himself - are the tenders of this colossal endeavor, seeing to it that they are built in accordance to a writ of specifications designed, developed and built by their secretive, esoteric order. Upon studying smart cities and similar concepts, I envisioned that the functioning of an arcology would be presided over by a ‘mind’ built for this very purpose; an artificial intelligence inculcated with a prime directive of ensuring the well-being of the living structure itself, and the people that come to dwell within it. The details of it all can be found in the ‘Technology’ heading of this document, the fifteenth heading, first under strata four. Heading 14, ‘Iconography & Architecture’ is recommended reading as well, especially with regards to Soleri’s concept of ‘aesthetogenesis’.

In retrospect I think it’s worth discussing how the arcology concept is primarily a solution to a problem - many to be precise - those of urban sprawl and pollution and all things in-between. It is strange then, that the Fel-Arcad sought to build alongside the solution of this problem without ever having had the problem to begin with, a non-trivial disconnect between cause and effect, and perhaps even arguably a hole in the worldbuilding. To that, I have no truly satisfying answer I envision, beyond the two I do have; the first being that it was simply a stroke of truly unfathomable luck that the in-universe father of the arcology concept - Arcad Rosen - was able to visualize a way to build that would stand the test of time, and the second answer being that, all in all, the arcology concept is just plain cool, and it fit my narrative dream for the Fel-Arcad in a way that simply could not be ignored or dismissed.

Perhaps the final shape of my fascination with the arcology concept is that I plan to give In the City of Man a proper, through read, and prepare a related proposal on it, perhaps adding even more detail to the arcology concept and its realization in Samsara. I engineered the Family Proposals - after all - out of thorough conviction that even in the extensive runtime of writ allotted to each great family, I still wouldn’t be able to fully realize the narrative aspirations I had for them, not without having a dedicated section for addendum that either elaborate on specific aspects of each, or introduce wholly new writ entirely.

Transhumanism

Having been writing the Fel-Arcad document for perhaps close to a year at this point, it is somewhat expected that my memory has gotten fuzzy with regards to some of the first writ ever laid down that would serve as the foundation of all that was to come. As such, I cannot particularly remember which came first; the Fel-Arcad’s decidedly progressive, futurist approach to habitation-building, or their decidedly progressive, futurist approach to matters of their body - or in Samsara terms - shape. This far in, so many words later, it isn’t particularly relevant, and I am inclined to believe that they evolved in my mind and drafting notes in tandem, one informing and driving the other.

This is perhaps the third major thing that birthed the idea of the Fel-Arcad, and while I hoped to tackle it in this section, I realized how thoroughly dealt with it already had been in the form of Lattice as a Canvas, under the discussions of Shape. Not wanting to duplicate what was said there, here, I encourage reading through that section for the scoop. That being said, Lattice as a Canvas is more so an extrapolation of a concept followed by adapting it to Samsara, so perhaps I’ll speak on transhumanism in a more generalist sense.

What are some other deeper or so aspects of transhumanism beyond the superficial ‘coolness’ of cybernetic enhancements and the like

Perhaps not the best place to start, but I remember a long time ago I had an idea for a faction of likeminded persons I called the ‘Overclockers’. As far as my searches back go, they appeared in detail in a project before Samsara, but it is also highly likely that they existed as a rough idea even before then. The Overclockers get their name from the concept in enthusiast computing known as ‘overclocking’, in which the true limits of a CPU are reached by deliberately increasing its internal clock speeds - the speed at which it does calculations - resulting in upticks in performances. Applied to humans, the Overclockers were a group - almost cult - of persons dedicated to finding ways of surpassing human physical and mental limits via the sciences, particularly through the usage of chemical compounds and cybernetics.

They were inspired, in part, by a community I was a part of for a while. Less so a part, and more so a mere observer, as I had very little to contribute to what was fundamentally discussion well outside the bands of my own knowledge. From what I could glean from my time there, the base academic qualification borne by even the least active members was a master’s degree in some field of the hard sciences, and there were many, many holders of post-graduate degrees, doctorates - and multiples of them too. Discussion spanned a cornucopia of subjects ranging from what chemicals can enhance mental capacity to how to acquire or synthesize them, discussions of cybernetics, robotics, AI, space travel and exploration, and delving into considerably futurist subject matter such as hive minds, the singularity, alien life, all within that vein.

But the focus first and foremost, was on exceeding human capability.

I didn’t last very long in the community, as inevitably I got caught in one of the many scheduled purges of ‘non-contributing members’ and to be frank, my much younger self was mildly worried what was being discussed was of questionable legality, and thus it would be better if I was gone anyway before a hammer come down. All that being said, they directly seeded the idea of the Overclockers, even if the final implementation of them wasn’t wholly identical to what inspired them. In the spirit of a project called Samsara, I did bring them forward from their former grave into the Switchboard canon, though the discrepancy between this community and the final interpretation of them - the Fel-Arcad - would differ in one marked way; the drive for aesthetic modification rather than functional. This didn’t mean that functional modification wasn’t an entire class of its own, as many in the Switchboard - particularly figures like Spyndl Operators and the Lancasters - do seek out chromegrafts to enhance their capabilities in many ways.

A long time after this, I discovered a piece of media that would further greatly inspire the Fel-Arcad, the writ of Lattice as a Canvas, and perhaps Samsara as a whole. Created by Freehold Games, their indie title Caves of Qud describes itself as a ‘science fantasy RPG & roguelike epic, set in a far future that’s deeply simulated, richly cultured and rife with sentient plants’. Beyond this blurb, the game itself plays as nothing short of a fever dream, featuring a depth of player expression that only pales in comparison to the entirety of one’s own imagination. You can get lost in it’s deep world and mechanics so long as you aren’t one particular about graphical fidelity or immensely high actions-per-minute gameplay. You will also have to field endless questions about whether you’re working on an Excel spreadsheet - a question that I assure you will get exponentially less funny the more times it’s asked.

But I digress. Caves of Qud is set in the alien land of Qud, east of the Moghra’yi, the Great Salt Desert, a world where an immensely advanced, transhuman civilization known as the Eaters of Earth once dwelt, before vanishing in what was believed to be their ascension into the very heavens themselves, via the Spindle over their tomb (and a corruption of the spelling of spindle as ‘Spyndl’ is indeed why it is called the Spyndl Academy). Left behind was a world that came to be plagued by… plagues from the Gyre and the Girsh Nephilim, which arose from the psychic crystalscape known as the Moon Stair, which resulted in (as a I understand) a mutating of the many peoples of Qud, dividing the populace into the Mutants and the True Kin; the latter being humans who were resistant to - or somehow escaped - being mutated, perhaps by dwelling in the last of the arcologies that housed mankind.

Something not immediately obvious to those playing through Qud - perhaps interpreting it only as a gameplay mechanic or a wrinkle on the upholstery of the world - is its decidedly progressive outlook on the matters of shape. Without going very much into the detail of the developers of the game, this is a decidedly deliberate position they’ve chosen to adopt, and it reflects in the game for those with the eyes to look. Perhaps the most overt example of this is a faction known as the Putus Templar, who serve as the antagonists of the game both physically and ideologically, believing themselves to be ‘pure’ in that they claim Eater heritage, and thus take it upon themselves to purge Qud of the various ‘unclean’ and ‘inferior’ mutants which dwell within it. Pondered for about thirty seconds, you might realize some real-world parallels they have - again, this was a very overt inclusion in the canon of Qud - with factions that have existed and continue to exist in our own world.

Beyond what would be their inexplicable affinity for brown clothing were they ported over to our universe, I did find the concept of the bio-essentialism they espouse quite interesting. Even without living in a world centuries into the future where I can install cybernetics at a kiosk I found in an old sandstone cave, we do see now that there is immense spittle and ink spilled on the nature of what it means to be human - and ascending the ladder from there, what it means to be whatever sex or gender, what have you. Qud is immensely upfront with the nature of its canon, featuring diversity of sex, gender - including the having of neither - and the honorifics and nomenclature used to address each. The Putus Templar represent a fanatical rejection of that, employing explicit acts of violence against NPCs and even you the player - even if you are not a mutant yourself. Perhaps the sin of association and the sin of being are equivalent in the punishment they elicit. I digress.

I paraphrase from poor memory, but I somewhat recall some - perhaps a developer of the game - cited something along the lines of having a certain kind of community of people they aimed to cultivate with regards to Caves of Qud. ‘Weird’ was a term used a lot, the more formalized term being ‘queerness’. They drenched Qud, as it were, in this queerness, and sought to see who had take this queerness as more than just the cilantro on the dish - easily removable if one finds themselves not fond of the taste of soap - but the entirety of the dish itself, something that forms an integral part of the media’s ontology. Paraphrasing their own words once again, they wanted those who saw Qud as more than just a game, than mere entertainment, and instead saw it as an informal form on inquiry into manners of being. Perhaps you can solve your problems by growing more arms or eyes or a prehensile tail, and all the good that could come with these things lie beyond - perhaps merely - adopting a novel doctrine of shape.

I think the community I mentioned earlier and the community fostered around Qud are two sides of the coin of transhumanism; one side focused on exceeding limits, overcoming death, becoming more than human, and another concerned more with something more… spiritual? A focus on not becoming more than human, but redefining what human means, an expansion of the category to ensure more feel welcome. I think it’s fallacious to see any one focus as distinctly inferior or superior to the other, as I would argue that they can not just exist in tandem, but perhaps even augment each other. I do think there’s a something of a difference in end goal, and, in a sense, an obsession with becoming superior to all others does fly in conflict with many of Qud’s markedly leftist ideals, but I see the spirit of both ideas and the methodology behind them as being fairly similar; a suspension of our hang-ups about how our biology intersects with our personhood, and a willingness to embrace the now-weird. Decouple all the things, as it were, and see where it takes us.

It’s why I called the Fel-Arcad the Switchboard’s ‘weird people’. Their ideas and the cultures that stem from them are far from unfathomable in our time - that I can conceive of them at all is proof of this - but they still do exist as a very direct challenge to a sense of normalcy, an affront upon established orders. They are inherently transgressive - like the Overclockers, like the people of Qud - and I can think of few other ways to describe transhumanism in all its forms than as stepping on the toes of things - and often people - who have let being unchallenged make them more comfortable - complacent - than perhaps they should be.

A Narrative Vision

Much, much later, after the release of ‘Last Days of Kraken Mare’, we got something of a continuation of the story told within it in the form of four lore cards attached to items earnable in new playable content. They are readable in the following links;

• Greasy Luck — Lore Entry — Ishtar Collective )
• New Pacific Epitaph — Lore Entry — Ishtar Collective
• No Survivors — Lore Entry — Ishtar Collective
• Cold Comfort — Lore Entry — Ishtar Collective

Told in the typical fashion of Destiny lore, akin to shining a torch on parts of a whole and being asked to deduce what lies in the unrevealed shadow, we do not get explicit confirmation of what was the final fate of the New Pacific Arcology. At least, not in these entries. In game, the answer is very, very clear to us; the NPA and Titan lie in abject disrepair, battered by methane waves, showered in subzero hydrocarbon sleet, now overrun with alien species that build nests in the rot of its carcass and pick apart the bones for still-functional technology.

Mia gets a chill. She doesn’t know why she’s so certain that it’s over now, this calm enlightened goodness, this collective decency. But she is.

I believe with absolute certainty that the bulk majority of the souls aboard the NPA did not make it out alive. Even without the lore entry of ‘No Survivors’ making it explicitly clear that even those who made to evacuation shuttles only escaped the incoming tidal wall to then be shot down by AI-guided laser death, merely the pacing of the writ alone was all too fast; things happened too fast. And above those two things is my belief that the story of what unfolded above Kraken Mare is fundamentally a tragedy. Derived from first principles, the story of Titan and those that tamed it are that they couldn’t tame it enough; even with nearly divine providence from the Traveler, the brightest minds put to the task, the greatest inventions in the scientific and technological space, and the most strenuous of moral, ethical ardency, it was simply not enough to contend with an interpretation of raw, apathetic evil.

In the final entries of ‘Kraken Mare’, The Water Sun, Part I and Part II, we see a character meet their demise in the process of freeing an elementarily intelligent Titan-native species from the pens where they kept for research. In an act that truly encapsulates the spirit of the human characters of ‘Last Days’, even when an end-of-all-things to surpass all ends-of-all-things is at hand, the human’s mind is directed outwards towards things weak and helpless, even if that fundamentally amounts to risking - and later sacrificing - one’s own life to save what amounts to little more than a goldfish.

I don’t think that it is subtle at all that the aggressors in ‘Last Days’ are a distant, unknowable, invisible, extrasolar, destructive force, an artificial intelligence weapons command system built to abide by human morality right up until the going gets tough, and an avatar of the latter whose baseline approach is force and violence, who surrendered their humanity - physically and morally - in the process of becoming an immortal machine. The ‘subtext’ might as well be neon and measured in square feet. ‘Last Days’ paints a very clear picture; we can craft a physical realization of enlightened good and collective decency - to use Mia’s own words - but the world around this physicalized realization will remain the same - or worse, become actively, explicitly hostile towards it.

In my study of the arcology concept, I saw much, much talk about how the arcology is a utopist concept; a futurist ideal that imagines a maximally optimal means of answering the question of human numbers and needs. But the arcology concept is something that can strangely be realized into physical being almost irrespective - perhaps even in spite - of context. It is entirely possible for one to accept the philosophies behind the postulation of the arcology concept and, furthermore, the eventual construction of arcologies - without necessarily applying those inherently progressive ideas to other facets of society-building or the overall human experience. Much like oil and gas tycoons living in far-away mountain resorts, private islands and forested abodes, understanding why they desire these environments even while actively contributing to their destruction and thus inaccessibility to others, it is entirely possible for arcologies to be an element of further division across social lines - rather than a bridging of them - by their existence being a result of the desire of the privileged to escape the damage they cause by being exactly that.

The NPA on Kraken Mare sought to rectify this via inculcation of game theory and applied community ethics into its populace; a strategic enforcement of - put simply - giving a damn about other people. I am unsure if I tackled game theory in the runtime of the document above, though I’d wager to say I somewhat addressed facets of applied community ethics even if I didn’t explicitly call it that. Penning this section has made me realize how much I’ve done, but also how much more I could do, and it is more than likely that I will revisit these things in the form of family-specific proposals, adding even more to the already voluminous stack of writ. I am both one for excess, and a utter disbeliever of its existence.

So what then, is the narrative vision of the Fel-Arcad? What are the stories I hope to tell of, about, with them?

Study into the arcology concept, particularly TV Tropes, brought forth the concept of arcology collapse. If you envision your architecture not as unfeeling concrete and steel, but as pseudo-flesh that lives and breathes, you can no longer conceptualize it as something that crumbles and breaks, but rather as something that can become diseased, grow old, and - worst of all - eventually die. You cannot treat a mossed-up, wind-beaten mass of concrete the way you’d treat a decaying corpse. A corpse doesn’t merely rot in a manner that has no ramifications for anything around it, no, a corpse is the breeding ground for all manners of ills that take flight from their birthplace and spread as far as factors will have it. This is realized in Samsara as the black arcologies, whose perversion into nests of ills and malevolence is perhaps the expected result of a pendulum swung strongly in one direction given the opportunity to swing back in the other. The greater the enlightened goodness, the collective decency, the greater the simple-minded evil, and the selfish debauchery that grows from its cadaver.

In a sense, the stories one can tell with the Fel-Arcad - that I hope to tell with the Fel-Arcad - are of a people who dared to be more than just their base selves, who struggled, struggled and perhaps even succeeded, at crafting radical, provocative, disruptive, alien, unfathomable principles based on rationale and doing good, and physicalized those principles into the very spaces they inhabit, both in the form of their bodies - their shells - and the shell those shells inhabit. It is inevitable that - even from a purely narrative perspective - that such a people would be allowed to exist without being contended with endlessly by internal and external forces of baser things.

‘No Survivors’ and both parts of ‘Kalki’s Burning Sword’ demonstrated this splendidly, particularly the former, as even after what we can deduce to have been a rigorous teaching and enforcement of higher, more moral, more ethical standards of being, we still saw how quickly that façade crumbled when faced with the prospect of one’s own annihilation. The exact same could be said of the Warmind; the moment criterions were met, and violence and bloodshed became the most efficient way to achieve a desired outcome, then violence and bloodshed were used to achieve the desired outcome. It begs the question of how truly convicted we are of our principles if acting alongside them immediately becomes undesirable the moment we face the question of survival. Can anyone truly condemn the engineer’s and the Warmind’s actions? What good even comes out of bothering to doing so? Just about anyone can rationalize the ‘right’ thing to do when not under the unrivalled pressure of annihilation. I hope to explore this with the Fel-Arcad as well.

The posthuman, transhumanist - whatever your term for it - aspects of the Fel-Arcad’s personage lays the groundwork for explorations of those spheres as well, inevitably diving into inquiry of what it means to be. While explorations of the more bodily aspects of the human condition are nothing new, having been done extensively in all manners of media, especially those that lean more heavily towards the science fiction and cyberpunk spheres, I feel that Samsara’s own brand of body plasticity is unique enough to be conducive ground for perhaps, further explorations of old frontiers or expansions into wholly new ones.

One who reads on the writ on Shape and the Lattice as a Canvas will not be able to escape the realization that the Fel-Arcad and perhaps even Samsara as a whole has what can be described as a decidedly forward-thinking view on the matters of one’s own body, born firstly out of my desire to realize cybernetics and other related subject matter in the canon, and then realizing how the mechanics of chalk facilitated even more than that. Pursuing this thread of thought down the most obvious lines yielded the writ surrounding Descendance and Shape as it exists today, and it has come to define Samsara in nontrivial ways.

Early on in designing the Fel-Arcad, I had a fairly rough, elementary idea of their being the Switchboard’s enlightened peoples. I combined a number of concepts; I wanted the Fel-Arcad to be my own take on elves, or fae, for example - and this idea did indeed survive into the final writ as their having pointed ears - as did other aspects such as their penchant for the natural world and command over ‘magic’ (or more properly, the calcic). But at their core, the Fel-Arcad were always meant to be the Switchboard’s enlightened peoples, who - through their own brand of inquiry and rationale - reached conclusions on how they would exist. Of course, one with very different ideals from mine might disagree with or even resent how or what I chose to be ‘being enlightened’ within the Samsara canon, but this is little different from disagreements with regards to any other topic within the writ.

Reading the writ, one would deduce that the Fel-Arcad have adopted a very forward-thinking, perhaps liberal, perhaps even - within certain interpretations - leftist disposition to many, many facets of the human experience. This is - of course - by design. In imagining them as enlightened peoples I took stock of the current state of our own world to the best my perceptive cone would allow, and imagined a skewing of what passed for ‘normal’ in a very explicit direction. Building out from there, I realized the very basest principles of the Fel-Arcad, as espousing ideals of egalitarianism, pacifism and nonviolence, queerness along various lines, rationality and critical thinking, volunteerism, rehabilitative and restorative approaches to justice, environmentalism, economic welfare, secular humanism, social justice, collectivism; list continues. From then on it was fairly easy to build out the various facets of their culture as outlined in the numerous headings above, all design and construction kept in line with the Fel-Arcad’s first principle in being - relative to us - forward thinking. The result is what you have read.

That being said, I wanted to somewhat oppose the idea of the Fel-Arcad being wholly right. Or rather, I didn’t want them to achieve the ‘rightness’ they genuinely do possess without having incurred some cost, compromised on some front, or suffer some form of opposition. I sought to craft the Fel-Arcad as doing some things in alternative, arguably better ways, rather than having the totality of the Fel-Arcad approach be portrayed as a categorical, objective good. The Rosenthalists came to exist in part as a tangible opposition to the Fel-Arcad’s ideals, in a move I and fellow writers would tell you is ensuring that no good deed goes unpunished. Going band for band, the Rosenthalists are something of many shades darker than the other Fel-Arcad, but the Fel have their own shades of darkness that comes as a result of what the arcology model takes to not just postulate and build, but maintain.

‘Last Days’ and the writings of Paolo Soleri outline something very noteworthy; that arcologies are primarily the result of a renewed human approach, born out of renewed human manners of thinking. It takes first recognizing that the problems an arcology solves are actually problems, before something like an arcology can even be dreamt up. In a sense, it requires something of shared conviction; a collective recognition of what is the problem, and what must be done to rectify it. When the arcology is actually built, you cannot simply return to living in the ways you once did. No, your mind must have been shaped and reformed in tandem with the principles of the arcology, as it is no longer a mere structure, but rather a living thing, and you as an inhabitant of it - much like a microbe in your gut microbiome - has tangible incentive to not kill your host, as you are thoroughly dependent on it for your continued living and wellbeing. ‘Last Days’ describes the populace of the NPA has having been educated with game theory and community ethics, and this served to - for the most part - eliminate the various senses that are incompatible with arcology living; selfishness, rugged individualism, the like, but I feel that ‘educated’ is too light a word to use.

I think that arcologies are inherently delicate philosophical manifestations, as the the things that can topple them, and the methods meant for addressing the things that can topple them, are both capable of toppling the entire endeavor. In theory, a perfect arcology can be realized using violence and coercion - more explicitly, authoritarianism - and fear can be the primary tool for ensuring compliance. And if the threat of a whip on the back got a populace to use less water and recycle, you could in fact say that the arcology model is being upheld, but only in the most surface-level sense of interpreting an arcology as merely a way to cut back on resource usage and waste expenditure. That is not the case. The arcology is a vision for a better existing humanity, and an essential component of this is that the entire endeavor be consensual - entirely comprised of the willing. The kind of people that you would want to dwell within and maintain and maintain an arcology would be nearly identical to the kind of people who would build one to begin with. The success of the arcology model is predicated upon not just advances in sciences or the discovery of super-materials or any other number of factors, but upon something far higher.

The success of the arcology model demands a homogeneity of conviction in that same arcology model. One must believe it is doable before it can be done, and before one believes it is doable, it must first be taught. But teaching, like ‘educating’ above, doesn’t do it justice; I think the principles of the arcology model must be inculcated in all prospective persons who hope to interact with an arcology in any major capacity, and those who aim to live or build arcologies while also being possessed of beliefs and convictions that are fundamentally, diametrically opposed to the arcology model will likely fail to do so - or worse, be denied the opportunity outright.

It is why in the family proposals, I created the documents regarding the Office of the Undersol, and the necessity of the careful enforcement of certain demographic breakdowns in arcology citizenry, favoring majority Fel-Arcad populaces. It is a truly dark thing to propose but they are entirely reflective of perhaps the final of the Fel-Arcad positions; that it is not enough to simply have strong philosophies and build strong institutions, but to defend those institutions as well. The question then - the narrative question - is one of extent. How far, truly, are the Fel-Arcad willing to go? What choices are unmakeable? What lines are truly impossible to cross? How much evil must be done to preserve good? How much are individual Fel-Arcad willing to shoulder, before they themselves are struck - irreparably - with the affliction born of the employment of one set of ideals to protect another set that contradicts them?

Being the domain of narrative, I have no answers now. It remains - as always - to be seen.