The Technology of Terra

The Technology of Dark Renaissance


This is a guide aimed at the purpose of helping writers understand the state of technology present in the Dark Renaissance story setting. The story takes place in the future, 155 years from present day, allowing a landscape that is conducive to Sci-fi genre for writers to take advantage of in addition to all other genres. Please keep in mind that the setting world took a divergent path in 1945 and necessity that fueled advancement was driven by global war. Finally this technologically advanced world was struck by a global cataclysm that caused a great deal to be lost or destroyed. It has been ten years since the terrible event and the world is rebuilding from the scraps it was able to salvage.


Creating a case by case explanation guide easiest way to approach this subject without forcing writers to do unnecessary reading.


Energy Sources and Power Grid: The Great War and The Enlightenment has made the continued reliance on fossil fuels impractical. It became necessary to rely on alternative sources of energy. Continued evolution on Tesla's ground breaking work has allowed electricity to be used more efficiently. Solar, geothermal, and turbine generation methods were all embraced over the many decades. There are also methods of collecting mana and using it to generate a useable electric current.

Most technology is not powered by mana directly, but electricity that is generated from mana collection and conversion. Cities and towns use a combination of these generation methods to produce power for sustaining life. The process of mana collection and conversion also aids in making large cities, which are built upon ley lines, safe to inhabit by drawing on over abundant mana which could possibly cause Rift activity. Within these cities power grids, in addition to water and sewer lines, are the only physical infrastructures present.



Vehicles: The war followed by the Enlightenment has caused there to not be a thriving automotive industry. Vehicles do exist, but most of them are salvaged relics and repurposed military vehicles. Corporations have begun to make personal vehicles but they are extremely expensive. Majority of the populace rely on the extensive mass transit systems that have been implemented by the cities and governments to keep them all connect. Aircraft technology is similar to what writers are familiar with, with minor advancements in speed and maneuverability.



Telecommunications: The Enlightenment destroyed almost all landline based means of communication. Voice and data transmission is built on a wireless network of broadcast antennae and satellites similar to those of present day cell phones. People who can afford them possess personal handset devices, while the general populace use public access terminals similar to pay phones.



Internet: Information technologies are similar to what we have today. There exists an 'Infonet' similar to the internet that computer users can access for purposes of transmitting data and networking. This network is built on the foundation of the Telecommunications Network.



Firearms: Fire arms technology has not drastically changed over the years. It is still physical projectiles propelled by powder. The advances have come in the terms of construction materials, design improvements, and firing capacity. Technology has improved sighting optics. Projectile types have become varied for military use such as explosive, and corrosive rounds.

There has been some melding of technology and magic to yield projectile types that manifest different magical effects upon firing and or impact. These are called 'Caster Shells' and some of the effects are: Non-linear flight, paralysis, explosive, and tracking. Caster shells are very expensive and hard to come by as they take a very talented individual with a specific skill set to create them.



Energy Weapons: There are no laser guns or blaster rifles. Energy based weapons do exist but they are bulky and impractical for personal use. These devices are based on the work of Nikola Tesla, and designed for high yield destruction. Usually mounted to vehicles or stationary structures, energy weapons were used by mankind to balance the scales against powerful offensive and defensive magic.



Cybernetic Implants: The science of prosthetic devices has progressed by leaps and bounds over many decades of the war. With a constant war raging on and limited numbers to fight it, innovative means were developed to rehabilitate soldiers and return them to the battlefield. Once doctors were able to adequately replace limbs, the government began to militarize the prosthetic applications. As time passed and techniques improved, more and more of the body's components and processes have been able to be replaced by technological equivalents.



Robots, Androids, and Artificial Intelligence: Throughout the war automated machinery has been used for manufacture of goods. Similar machinery had been militarized to create automated weapons and defenses. Remotely operated and preprogrammed war machines have been used to supplement human forces during the war, but it wasn't until the final decades of the war that work in Artificial Intelligence began. Most work and research in this area was destroyed during the Enlightenment. After the Enlightenment when the Treaty of Terra was written The Others sued for such research to be made illegal. Heeding the wisdom of nature and the warnings present in humankind's own writings by authors such as Isaac Asimov, they feared what could come of it. As a result of the Treaty's ratification, all work in AI and mechanical organisms is forbidden. Anything falling into this category whether it be from before or after the war's end is a Treaty violation, and will be hunted down and destroyed by the Terran Guard.


MORE WILL BE WRITTEN AS QUESTIONS ARISE