WWW: The Blurr · 8:02pm Feb 3rd, 2017
Short version: worldbuilding is back, we're doing Tumblr, go get it!
The Blurr
“She is composed of lines:
tropics and meridians
At the party, never fitting in
“What's on the other side
A politics of sisterhood
Doing what a sister should”
— Indelible Ink, by Tysolin and SoGreatandPowerful
The Dashlands
“I once heard a man claim, ‘The line between what is right and what is necessary is thin indeed.’ This is the first illusion: there is no line.”
— Confessions of an Oppressed
In the east of the Internet, one finds the fabled field of the Painted Sea. It is a wide and bustling ocean, teeming with island archipelagos and filled with the numerous sites that dominate that region—the descendants of Devio, of Markarr, of Etsia. Across this expanse, the ships of merchant guilds and massive trading companies find their way from port to port, peddling with ink shops and dye-pressers and content mills, taking on the crafted works and raw goods of the industrious sites and powerful fandoms that dwell there. It is not at all like the roiling, storm-tossed waters of the Saying Sea, and many a sailor would tell you that the Painted Sites dwell in a far calmer clime. The waters of the east are green and warm, the winds tepid and soft, the opportunities for trade many. The Painted Sea is tamed.
The people dwelling there are not.
In the lower region of that green ocean, in the southern-most site, one will find a strange place, rich and tumultuous and troubled. A vast landscape of fertile coasts, dry mountains, and bitter desert wastes, inhabited by sun-baked cities and dust-choked ruins beyond imagination. But even in this continent of temples carved from living rock, of cities raised from blue stone, of golden plains trodden by paint horses, and of hungry sands where only death resides, it is the people who make their homes in this fascinating and harrowing land that are most curious by far. In these troubled times, it seems every man or woman across this World Within the Web has a different mind as to who exactly these strange people are: tyrants or targets, oppressed or oppressors, liars and lunatics or else saints bearing sins. Are they a people of peace, or a danger? If the latter, to whom? There is no agreement now, nor is there ever likely to be any—such is the nature of the Known Internet in these difficult days. And yet there is still much to known, and much to learn, about this famous and infamous place, and perhaps this understanding will bring one closer to that long-sought answer. The first step, as always, is to know its name.
It is called the Blurr. A land of peace, or so we hope.
A Fiery People
“The Blurrites are fire made flesh. They circle and dance and leap at a chance, ever moving, ever changing. A careful and courteous traveller has little to fear from fires, of course. Mind yourself, and you will find them warm. But they can burn, my friend—oh, can they burn.”
— Hans Divekar, merchant of Am-Azon.
The Blurr is home to a culture which many in the Web consider more than passing strange. It is a civilization whose roots are in expression—the manifestation of one’s personality through action. At a glance, this is not unlike other nations in the Painted Sea, many of whom believe that the works of one’s hands—arts, music, writing, and the like—are reflections of one’s soul, as seen with the noble creator-families of the Devien Isles. And, certainly, such artistry is to be found in the Blurr as well: creative works, fandom-formed or otherwise, are among the finest attractions to be found in Askobarr and elsewhere, a thriving source of content for the inter-Web shipping companies. In truth, however, this covers only the surface of the Blurrite zeal—theirs is a culture for which emotion and pathos are nigh-holy.
This view sets the Blurrites in sharp contrast with certain other dwellers of the Web. The Moderators of Central, for example, are drilled endlessly in their training about the infantile and dangerous nature of emotions—since Moderators are expected to cultivate a ‘death-self’ that thoughtlessly observes righteousness, emotions are seen as distractions at best, and mortal temptations at worst. Amongst the Blurrites, however, such stoicism is regarded as vile and hateful, an insult to the natural order. Emotions are to be cherished and celebrated, and it is vital to accept and share these feelings no matter how wild or passionate they might be: to shout, to laugh, to rage and writhe and to weep openly are all seen as marks of civilization. An outside observer might regard the Blurrites as a tempest-tossed people, given to fits and flights of fancy, nigh-hysterical in their tendency to change from joy to sorrow to anger at the drop of a hat and endlessly susceptible to feel-mongers and fanatics. All of this, though, is a result of a cultivated attitude, and a culture that bombards and tears down the walls between the inner and outer self in pursuit of enlightenment.
The Blurrite Language and the Sacred Taboos
“With one mind, we can make, we can live
With a life, we can take, we can give
We rejoice, lending all we possess
With a voice, one can lift or depress.”
— "The Chant of Mirth," by Garrison Ulrich
It is a fact well-known to the Knight Enlighteners that, throughout the Known Internet and beyond, a civilization’s tongue and a civilization’s beliefs often reflect one another, though there is disagreement as to which gives birth to which. For example, the rise of the Moderator Authority has allowed two Centrellian languages to become the most common in the rest of the Web: Basic, born from trade-talk and loan-words from a hundred-fold sites across the Web, and Scriptspeak, which is every bit as formal and blunt as the Moderators who learn it. The dialect of the Chan, on the other hand, is a dialect of Leetish that is harsh and gutteral to the ears, easy to learn but unpleasant to repeat. This connection is no less present in the Blurr, which is home to a language deeply rooted in their national identity.
The Blurrite tongue is a flowing, almost liquid-like tumble of words, delivered at a rapid pace that makes it tricky for an outsider to comprehend. Their written language is much the same: it contains no punctuation, nor breaks to indicate the beginning or end of a paragraph. To some, this makes understanding these words quite difficult, with topics, sentences, and exclamations blending together into more a slurring, mish-mashed rant than a proper conversation. In truth, however, there is a deeper layer to the language than that. The tonal nature of the Blurrite tongue means that a listener must be capable of picking up on subtle social cues and underlying contexts in order to understand what is being said, and similarly a person immersed in Blurrite writing becomes attuned to the mood, tone, and purpose of a sentence based upon what is written, rather than the actual articles used. It is interesting to note how this compares with Blurrite culture in general: as a society deeply concerned with empathy and feelings, the language demands that one be well-versed in both in order to pick up on the meaning of things.
While on the subject, there is another important aspect of Blurrite speech to mention: their belief in the fundamental power of words. Unlike the nihilistic and iconoclastic Channic, Blurrite believe that words carry actual, metaphysical consequences to their use, such that certain words and phrases can curse or heal those who hear them. A superstition, perhaps, but one that the Blurrites hold dear: there is a complex system of taboos against the use of certain words in the Blurr, and an equally arcane structure of euphemisms that substitute them. To even innocently violate the taboo is a grievous violation of social norms, essentially the same as physically striking a person and often punished by shunning or shaming the offender.
Dash and the Blurrite Ideal
“Troubled days is all they say
When you walk into the room
Walk into the room
Little do they know, little do they know
Vivid things
The vivid things you see
The unfiltered world you see”
— "Doe Eyes," by Facexpodie
Blurrite views towards emotion make them prone to speaking their mind: thoughts are not to be concealed, as seen by the prominence of the fandom confessors. Expression, however, is expected to be done in highly specific ways. The complex native language lends itself well to this, but the most noticeable example is very different indeed, rooted not in speaking but rather in showing. We refer, of course, to the famous ‘hidden language’: the Blurrite tradition of ‘dash.’
‘Dash’ is a word in the Blurrite tongue, often translated roughly as ‘face.’ In truth, however, the actual meaning is closer to ‘identity’ or ‘selfhood,’ specifically of a kind that is expressed entirely through visuals—in other words, through a complex dialogue of images. A person’s dash is the sum total of the way someone dresses, the tokens they wear, and the way they carry themselves in public, all of which are meant to communicate even to a perfect stranger what one’s views, opinions, feelings, and thoughts are on a given day. Certain items, colors, and materials act as symbols, forming a complex, entirely visual language that Blurrites learn from birth and which speaks volumes about a person without ever saying a word.
Dash, Continued
“Aware of field lines that extend beyond the edges of her mind
It doesn't matter where her thoughts are pointed, she picks up a signal that when decoded
Delivers a song, yes, a song's all she hears
Everything turns off and a song's all she hears”
— Over the Reals, by Over the Rainfall, dedicated to SoGreatandPowerful
The concept of dash deserves further explanation. An example: imagine a Blurrite walking on the street before you.
To the uninformed observer, her appearance would say nothing. But if one understands the hidden language, one might look deeper. Around her neck is a series of medallions: the symbols etched onto these might reveal her family name, her personal motto, her preferred title. A blue band around her left arm speaks to a political preference, whereas a purple one on the right shows that she is a student, with a white stripe added for each year of her education she has completed. A line of paint under her eye will tell you her current feeling, a type of braid or streak of dye in her hair will reveal a fandomic interest, while a white cloth-band around her waist tells you that she is open to being approached (never approach one with a black band).
Even a person’s romantic preference may be covered: rings on the second and third finger of one’s right hand show an inclination towards the same gender as the wearer—for such a preference is tolerated, even encouraged among the Blurrites—whereas rings on the left coax the opposite (a ring on every finger is an invitation too ribald to explain in detail). On the more platonic side, one’s dash can be used to express admiration for another: if one wishes to do so, they will often wear a token that displays they are a follower of a certain individual. Should that person return the favor, they become ‘mutuals,’ a bond considered equal to any blood family in the Blurrite lands.
Studs in one’s ears, bracelets on one’s wrists, paint on one’s nails, even down to the manner of one’s walk or the motion of their hands all act as coded but immediately recognizable clues as to another’s personality: Blurrites, quite literally, wear their hearts on their sleeves.
A person’s dash is an intrinsic and sacred part of their identity, the importance of which cannot be understated. There is an immense social pressure to both display and pick up on these subtle hints, and a failure to do so may result in the other party taking grave offense. Furthermore, this feeds an aversion in Blurrite culture against physical contact, at least when uninvited. Ordinary people of the Web might think nothing of a handshake or a pat on the back, but since a Blurrite is meant to communicate feelings through tone, words, and the symbols on one’s dash, resorting to an actual, physical touch to do so is considered rude at best and highly offensive at worst. For a Blurrite to allow such contact, however, is a mark of love and respect too deep for words.
Attivishem
“It's how you taught us to conjure up
A little kindness to take inside our hearts
Our will to power, together not apart
Trace of the Other, a truly modern art”
— A Sorceress Girl, by SoGreatandPowerful
The Blurrites are a fast-moving and restless people, firm in their beliefs but ever-changing in their interests. In many ways, this energy permeates into the Blurrite life and faith, found within the social movements for which the site is famous. Though not universally held or followed, one of the powerful ideological factions that hold sway in the Azurr-Dash and beyond is a native organization founded upon ideals of progress, diversity, and empathy to the dispossessed: the ‘Attivishem’ movement. Attivishem is a Blurrite word, often translated as ‘Solidarity.’ In truth, however, this is a somewhat inelegant translation, not least because the original word is actually closer to a verb than a noun: Attivishem may instead be rendered as ‘moving together’ or ‘progressing towards,’ a constant motion towards the distant goal of equality and understanding.
The Attivishem faith is multifaceted and sometimes divisive, filled with various sects and heresies amongst its followers. It worships no specific god—meaning that it can be safely paired and combined with any of the major fandoms in the Blurr without risk of unorthodoxy—but instead emphasizes the general values of charity and protection towards the vulnerable. This is the core of Attivishem: a deep concern with the well-being of people at risk, and a ferocious opposition to those who would impede upon them. An important concept in this movement, tied closely to the taboos of the Blurrite language, are the ‘Six Syllables of Sanctuary’—a coded message of sorts, these act as words of power denoting certain people with whom solidarity is particularly vital, and whose interests are most worthy of aid. These syllables are as follows: El, Jee, Bey, Tay, Ku, and the Sixth-Syllable-Yet-Unnamed (the latter being a secret and particularly sacred word, not spoken to outsiders and the source of much contention among Blurrites).
Blurrite Social Movements Abroad
“Any change, any loss, does not make us victims. Others can shake you, surprise you, disappoint you, but they can't prevent you from acting, from taking the situation you're presented with and moving on. No matter where you are in life, no matter what your situation, you can always do something. You always have a choice and the choice can be power.”
— Spoken words from “Indelible Ink,” by Tysolin and SoGreatandPowerful
Attivishem and its offshoot movements are the source of much controversy in the larger Known Internet. On the one hand, it has promoted a great deal of good for people who need it most. On the other, the role it plays in Blurrite society has given it a great deal of attention from the Web as a whole, not all of it positive. Blurrite social movements are among the most visible, well-known, and expansive aspects of their society, one that has transcended its original homeland and now has its hands all across the Known Internet. Sending its adherents abroad to fund and promote reformist campaigns in foreign sites, the increasingly prominent role these agents play in site politics has lead to a new breed of peaceful critics and violent opponents alike, and caused the Blurrites to become embroiled in various proxy conflicts.
One of the most recent, most destructive, most tragic of these was the War of the Electors, a brief but disastrous battle whose scars still remain across the Known Internet. The most well-known battlefield was in the city-site of Reddit and across the Fronting River it drinks from, but virtually the whole of the Web was affected in some way, as two vast coalitions waged a brutal fight for supremacy and survival. Arrayed on one side was a bloodthirsty mob known as the Red Hats, formed by Channic anonymites and Red Pillar cultists joined in worship of a God-Emperor thought to inhabit the World Beyond the Web. Against them was the Blue Flag Alliance, a broad and well-funded organization following the Blue Lady and eventually comprised of virtually anyone left standing against the Red Hats. The Blurrites backed the latter, as did the Authority and much of the civilized world, but it proved for naught: in an event now called ‘the Disaster,’ the Red Hats launched a savage surprise attack with a force of foreign mercenaries, massacring the largest opposition force and seizing total control over much of Reddit.
Of the Allied forces, those who survived the lynch mobs and terror-troops did so by scattering to the wind. Many of these harried remnants came to reside in the Blurr, but not all remained. These exiles, bound by a Blood Oath of Vengeance, are determined to continue the fight against the usurpers, and do so with the aid of certain others. The War of the Electors might be over, but the true battle rages on, a shadow war of resistance surreptitiously funded by sites across the Web—the Blurr among them. It is from actions like this—justified or not—that the Blurr receives its more controversial reputation, one not helped by their unfortunate association with an infamous force: the dreaded warrior-fanatics known as ‘the Oppressed.’
Geography of the Blurr
“Yeah, that was back when I served on that southern trading ship. We’d stop by Silkensigh in the Devien Isles for ink, dyes, and wine. Up there, there’s not much to do ‘sides drinkin’ tea, lookin’ at pictures, and walkin’ the foppish walk. After that, the ship went to the Blurr to trade for coffee, salt, and stones, and after six hours I’d found myself in three climbing contests, two red-zones, and a street riot. I’m pretty sure there was a boat involved, somewhere. The Blurr’s alright.”
— Lady Madelin Wright, Warden of Loyalty
The Blurr is among the largest landmasses in the Painted Sea, far larger than the Devien Isles and more diverse in its climes as well. In general, it can be safely divided into two major regions: the coastal region of the Azurr-Dash, and the Outbackground desert.
The Azurr-Dash is the large northern bay and the coast beside it, a place of rocky hills and fertile plains fed by the ocean winds and mountain rivers. It is around this ring of golden plains that the vast majority of the Blurr’s population is gathered, crowded into the few scraps of livable land in large cities that rely upon the river valleys for food. Here, one will find the beating heart of Blurrite civilization: a bay teeming with trade-ships and dominated by docks, with every arable inch occupied by a Blurrite body.
Three major rivers empty into this all-important area. The blue Azurr is easily the largest and most important, being the lifeblood of Askobarr, the Blurr’s greatest city. It is from these mighty waters that the Azurr-Dash receives its name: since this is where the ‘mouth’ of the river is found, the bay is literally the ‘face of the Azurr.’ Meanwhile, the shallow, brackish waters of the Wyne feed the city of Tolerance, and run red from the run-off of the mountain’s salt mines. Finally, the Tumbling River is found beside the stone city of Transid and its port at Smol Shore, and is so named because it is fed by titanic waterfalls emerging from the Sanctuary Mountains, whose froth give it a white color for much of its length. Along all of these rivers are flood-plains, briny marshes, and wide fields teeming with life. Many of the distinctive animals of the Blurr can be found here: Blurrite paint horses, for example, are known as some of the finest ever ridden, much prized throughout the Web.
The Outbackground
“Where has elder sister gone?
Back to the desert
Where has elder sister gone?
Back to the desert…”
— E40, by SoGreatandPowerful
Beyond the mountains lies a very different landscape: the vast and dry interior, a wasteland known as the Outbackground. Dominated by sandy dunes, rocky mesas, and limestone karsts, this desert has few inhabitants, with the scattered people dwelling within either staying in cavern shelters or in constant motion, circling the wastes as nomadic tribes. These peoples are usually desperate characters with nowhere else to go: criminal gangs, exiled fandom-followers, or else secretive insurgents like the Oppressed. As for animals, there would appear to be fewer here than in the more hospitable Azurr-Dash, but looks can be deceiving. Most creatures disguise or hide themselves in the dunes and rocks: yellow-spotted lizards, asps, sandkings, and striders can all be found if one cares (or dares) to look.
The shifting sands, lack of water, and incredible heat of the Outbackground make it difficult to explore, but a few points of interest can nevertheless be found. The greatest landmark is Dwayne Rock, a huge sandstone inselberg formation that serves as a valuable landmark for nomads and explorers alike. Other, stranger things may also be found. People travelling in the wastes report a number of bizarre sights, half-obscured by the sands. Enormous, cyclopean blocks speak to ruined cities, which some attribute to ancient sites that were old even when the Web itself was young, precursors to the Blurries reduced to rubble by the centuries. Others claim to have found the skeletal remains of some enormous, now unseen creatures: the resemblance of these bones to the leviathans of the seas has made some speculate that they are the basis of the mythical Blurrite ‘land-whale.’
Askobarr
“Child Askobarr,
Resting on the blue mantle,
Peerless in all earthly things.
To what star are you compared?”
— The Askobarr Lyrics
At the mouth of the Azurr River is the largest city of the Blurr, and one of the greatest of the Known Internet: colorful Askobarr. A sprawling metropolis, the rushing waters of the Azurr make the fields around Askobarr among the most fertile in the otherwise arid Blurr, and help feed a city with an impressive population. One hoping to take in the best that the Blurr has to offer would be well-advised to start in the City of All Blue Waters: though a bit of a poorly laid-out sprawl, Askobarr nevertheless showcases the excitement and diversity of the Azurr-Dash in a way that other places cannot. A wealth of attractions await any traveller: art galleries, picture-houses, Tropeadours in tavern dens, Tubeadours on moving stages, animal shows, fortune-readers, fandom shrines, merchant stalls and half a hundred markets, all found within sandstone walls and beside limestone pillars. The cuisine of Askobarr is also well-regarded: restaurants and food carts alike will cater in coffee drinks and dishes of sweet fruits and goat, garnished with the salt that is so common in the Blurr.
The Blurrites are known to have a certain prowess in architecture, and nowhere can this be seen more plainly than in the great center of Askobarr: an enormous spire known as the Tol Tower. The largest structure in the Blurr, the Tower is a massive work of white and blue stone, circled with precious gems and casting a shadow over every part of the city. The Tol Tower can be see from anywhere in Askobarr and for much of the land around it, something no doubt intentional: it was said to be the palace of the ancient hero Markarr, and to this day the one who occupies the Tearspun Seat at its pinnacle is given enormous prestige among the Blurrite people.
Tolerance
“What is freedom to the free? What is food to the full, love to the loved, water to the sated? Imagine being denied all of this, and then watching it wasted by those who have never suffered as you have, never lacked for it. A privilege you will always be denied, because of what you are and what you cannot change. Imagine the hate that will rise like bile to the back of your throat.
“ ‘By the gift never given, by the wound that never heals’—these are words from the Course of Dis, in which all justicars swear loyalty. The way of the righteous, then, is the way of the knife: cut from one who has never endured so as to aid those who have endured enough. You ask, ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ A simple answer: you exist, and that is crime enough.”
— Confessions of an Oppressed
In the western portion of the Azurr-Dash, there stands a very different city, sulking on the banks of the Wyne: the foul port of Tolerance. Reliant upon salt mining in the nearby mountains, Tolerance is an unsafe and unpleasant place, more a sprawling slum than a proper home. Perched upon the stoney hills, it is a city of mud streets and crumbling shacks, filled to the brim with phisers, red-pushers, and radicals who hid in the dim bars and trace-dens. It is an infamous place, not least because it is dominated by the Oppressed, who rule the streets with an iron fist and terrorize anyone they perceive as an enemy. Some fandoms have their own presence there, but be warned: even from otherwise respectable fandoms, the agents they have operating in Tolerance are rarely wholesome types.
One is advised to maintain a careful distance from Tolerance if possible. Truthfully, there is little to miss: much of the place is taken up by stretched-out red-zones, crime-ridden dockyards, and clandestine chapter-houses of the Oppressed. The central area of Tolerance, the Baalpit, is more a sewer than a square, and is often filled with refuse and feel-mongers. One place of certain interest, though, is the pillared temple found on the city’s highest hill. Used as a rallying point by the Oppressed, the tower of this building is crowned by an ever-burning flame—the Feelspyre, which symbolizes the eternal, emotional drive of the Oppressed, and their struggle to eliminate their perceived enemies.
The Stone City of Transid
“The sanctuary is not merely for anchorites and hermits, but rather for all who need a place of safety in a world that despises them. Even when life crumbles away, stone remains. I’ve heard some say that to hide is cowardice, is weakness. Try and breach the gates of Transid, and you will learn what strength truly is.”
— Jerena Ased, Blurrite peregrine-guard
While some of the most impressive sights of the Blurr are found on the coast, the cities that cling to the continent’s exterior should not be the only stop on any journey to the Painted Sea. Far from the sea, high in the mountains and plateaus, are among the greatest marvels of the Blurrite people: stone-cut temples, carved meticulously into the living rock of the mountains. Many of these sanctums grow out of the natural caves that honeycomb these peaks and cliffs, expanded over the long ages by numerous inhabitants. Once, these were the haunts of solitary, cave-dwelling tribes, but were later utilized by Attivishem holy men as reclusive hideaways. It is from this seed that the current structures grew: now elaborate and impregnable, these temples act as hermitages and shelters to those in need of protection or escape from the outside world, a safe space to the otherwise dispossessed.
There are numerous smaller temples across the Sanctuary Mountains, but the greatest is apparent to any traveller: the stone city of Transid. Accessible only by enormous stone bridges across a ravine and supplied by the Tumbling River and underground wells, Transid is a fortress unvanquishable, never taken in its history by force of arms and virtually immune from attack. Its inhabitants dwell and work in secret within, joined into small groups and circles that rely on one another for support in an almost familial bond. Though secluded, Transid does not act in total isolation: many of its residents do not stay there permanently, and even those who do have contact with the outside through trade. Caravans are often seen tracing the stone road that leads from Transid’s gates down to the coast, where dwells a bay-fed trading town that deals in much of the hermitage-city’s supplies—Smol Shore.
Moderators of the Blurr
“Notice of Fallen and Salacious Works”
— A Moderator edict denoting a certain piece of content as ‘red-zone material’
Though the Moderator Authority is the dominant power in the Known Internet, they are not as welcome in the Blurr as some would like. The Blurrites are skeptical of Mod power: to many, the police forces and armies sent by Central are the arms of foreign oppressors, rather than the bringers of order and civilization seen by much of the Web. For most sites, Moderators are given a large degree of power within their territories, enacting and enforcing Authority law, regulating and directing trade, and generally keeping the peace in a world where most desire nothing but conflict. Other sites on the fringes of the Known Internet reject Mod control entirely, choosing to live without regard to anything but anarchy and vice. Twicechan, for example, is an offshoot of the Channic culture with even less regard for governance than their northern peers, and is currently under the thumb of a sorcerer-lord in the port of Freewheel claiming to be the True Mootking of the Channic, allied with fleshtrappers and Torric Raiders from the Deep Web. The Blurr exists in a grey area somewhere between: it allows a certain presence of Moderators, but largely rejects the Authority’s law and rarely allows its representatives to make any practical difference.
The Moderators who are present in the Blurr are badly overstretched, entirely outmanned, and hopelessly underfunded, with barely enough manpower and resources to maintain even a paltry presence in major cities like Askobarr. Those who are present are generally Knight Censors, attempting to regulate however they can the flood of prurient content. In more civilized sites, such material is consigned to special quarantines, called ‘red-zones,’ to prevent them from corrupting the populace at large. In the libertine Blurr, however, these zones are allowed to run wild, stretching out far past any reasonable boundary with the aid of ‘red-pushers’—hired men who aggressively promote and advertise such content. The Moderators are allowed to intervene in some cases—the condemnation of the Proana Heresy in the Blurr remains a notable example—but this is only at the grudging sufferance of local powers. Instead, the fandoms and factions of the Blurr are left to largely police and control their own territories, with starkly mixed results. Though the Blurr is technically connected to Central via the Green Engine Line, the Moderators who created it are largely isolated, their largest base being on Outcast Island at the fringes of the Azurr-Dash.
The Fandoms of the Blurr
“Sister Shy, flower of all things sweet and kind,
Maybe you’re a little late,
Maybe you’re a hurricane.
Please stay awhile,
Are these feathers I see spinning with me?
A piece of the puzzle finds herself.”
— E48, by SoGreatandPowerful
With a lack of Moderator control, power in the Blurr is instead divided between various other groups—aside from the native Attivishem movement, the largest of these are the fandoms. Greater or Lesser, the innumerable fandoms of the Web dominate the Blurr, carving out spheres of influence in which the word of their respective faiths is absolute. Shrines and temples dot the cities of the Blurr, each devoted to a different fandomic idol thought to emanate from the World Beyond the Web, but a few of the fandoms are powerful enough to own entire towns, and even small cities. There are even certain fandomic practices largely unique to the Blurr: the oracular ‘askmen’ are fandom followers who claim to channel the personalities of their idols, answering questions from their deity’s point of view, while ‘confessors’ are followers who use their faiths to reveal their innermost thoughts and phobias, seeking liberation through this expression. Fandoms are thus an intrinsic part of Blurrite identity, even down to its calendar. Fandom holidays—called ‘Cons’—are widely celebrated, with costumed parades and parties in the streets for events like the Summer Sun Celebration (though the attempt to make a uniquely Blurrite con in the Baalpit of Tolerance was a disaster we needn’t mention further).
There are a handful of fandoms whose domination of the Blurr is of particular note. The most storied by far is the Tripartisan Alliance: a conglomerate fandom formed by three separate groups, the Tripartisan ‘longcoats’ have their most impressive holdings in the Blurr. Though they own several towns as well, their principal place of operations in is Askobarr, where the Alliance’s leaders have managed to claim the Tol Tower as their own: the Holy Triad (the leading council, comprised of the Misha, the High Detective, and the First Doctor) rules from the Tearspun Seat, and their edicts are of great consequence to the Blurr as a whole. A near competitor is the DA, who venerate cybramancy and whose schools have recently been reinvigorated by a new vision from their creator-source. Though spread across the Azurr-Dash, the DA’s largest holdings are in the harbor of Draco, famed for its leather-works. Finally, the Animen—who have a stranglehold over much of the Painted Sea—have an impressive presence of their own in the burg of Ramasama, though not quite as large as in the Devien Isles to the north.
Other Fandoms
“I once saw a green land, bathed in color. A white city on a blue mountain. A rainbow booming over a wide expanse. A town of friends… a world of friendship. A six-pointed star. We have all seen this. Now it is our task to live up to that vision.
— “Lecture on Equestria,” by Lord Feylen Mars, Warden of Magic
Aside from those three, there are various other fandoms of note in the Blurr, with varying degrees of power. A few are listed below:
- The Comican: largely represented by their Marvellian sect, the Comican have considerable power in the Blurr, centered around their base in Hiddlestown.
- The Brony Collective: among the youngest of the Great Fandoms, the Generous Friends—one of the fandom’s six branches—are particularly active here. Their principal place of worship is in the Temple of the Moonstuck Princess in Askobarr, designed by the famous fandom artisan Egophilia Grey.
- The Universals: a new, energetic, and rapidly growing group, the Universals are based in the Bay City-Shrine of Askobarr, and are recognizable by their practice of wearing precious stones on their foreheads. They are a dynamic fandom hungry for recognition, but their rumored ties to the Oppressed has made some wary of extending such privileges.
- The Homesteaders: once a far more powerful fandom, the Homesteader organization has largely collapsed across the Web—exiled from Askobarr, they are now reduced to nomadic tribes that circle the S’Burb Sands of the west.
- The Skinchangers: more politely called ‘Anthromorphs,’ these much maligned followers wear animal pelts and claim to have the souls of beasts. Legends are traded of the enormous power this ancient fandom’s empire once held, but they are now shattered, scattered, and largely in hiding from feared persecution.
The Oppressed
“Trite as it might sound, one could compare the Blurr to a rose. At first touch and first glance, a man might remark on its softness, its beauty. But beneath that, the thorns.”
— Vetrius Shi, nobleman of the Devien Isles
Though often testy and prone to fighting amongst themselves, the fandoms who rule much of the Blurr are nevertheless reasonable and sane as a whole. The same cannot be said of a very different faction that seeks control of the Dashlands, however: the insurgency known as ‘the Oppressed.’
The Oppressed are a militant, schismatic branch of the Blurrite social movements, a fanatical and ruthless band now infamous across the Web for their relentless campaign of violence. Sitting on the fringe of Attivishem beliefs, the Oppressed believe in a rigid code of orthodoxy, against which any transgression marks one as a slave-maker and enemy. They are an insurgent force: justicars of the Oppressed are sent out as saboteurs, infiltrators, feel-mongers, and assassins, using mobs and targeted killings to destabilize regions and eliminate certain targets. They claim to act against tyrants, but their means of determining who that actually entails is never said: the Oppressed claim that the truth and justice of their crusade is self-evident, so requiring an explanation of their demands marks one as a heretic. In effect, their efforts appear to be utterly arbitrary, directed largely at those who run afoul of their leaders. Admitted enemies and even neutral actors that are targeted find themselves at risk of an unpleasant fate: those marked by the Oppressed are often found dead, usually by strangulation with a length of red silk that is left behind as a warning.
Contrary to popular belief, the Oppressed are actually few in number. But they are vocal, relentless, and extremely dangerous, using terror tactics to mask their numerical weakness and seem a larger threat than they might actually be. Their attention-grabbing methods garners them a disproportionate reputation amongst foreigners, with many mistaking their presence as ordinary and acceptable to the average Blurrite. In reality, there exists a substantial Anti-Oppressed movement in the Blurr, albeit one comprised at least in part by Channic infiltrators. The tendency to see the fingerprints of the Oppressed on virtually any controversy and issue has increased dramatically in recent years, a rising paranoia that has provoked crisis across the Internet.
Chapters of the Blurr
“What does this word ‘tolerance’ actually mean? Perhaps it appears obvious, but we must unpack this so casually-used term if we are to combat the effect. The Oppressed of the Blurr are particularly fond of it: whenever one can be found that violates the vaunted sensibilities of their justicars, do not be surprised when you see that word ‘intolerant’ within their accusations against the perceived offender! And what is the punishment for ‘intolerance?’ To be humiliated before one’s neighbors, to be driven from one’s home, to be utterly hated, and to be strangled by a red ribbon until dead.”
— “On Tolerance,” a printed lecture by the Lord Moderator Dyren Halforth, OGH
Though considered a single organization, the Oppressed are not as united as some might think. Being hot-blooded and quick to take offense rarely lends itself to cooperation, and this is no less true for the Blurrite guerrillas: the Oppressed are prone to splintering into factions that fight as much amongst themselves as they do against foreigners. Individual sects and heresies sprout up by the dozens, far too many to recount in full here. There are, however, several important chapters of the Oppressed that war against or alongside one another as the moment permits, making their homes in the secret places of the Blurr. These major branches are listed below:
- The Red Oppressed: supporters of various red-zone activities, founded in the belief that carnal practices are a path for personal liberation. Though based in the western hills and desert, they have a major presence in the cities as well, particularly Tolerance and fandom-controlled zones. The Reds are infamous for their underhanded tactics, utilizing red-pushers and temple prostitutes to form a web of espionage and blackmail.
- The Blue Oppressed: violently opposed to the Reds, the Blues are a puritanical sect that believe carnality is a form of objectification and a means of enslavement. Around red-zones, the Blues will often prey upon both workers and customers found within, and engage in rituals of public-shaming to expose their enemies.
- The Purple Oppressed: supposedly led by prophetic visions, the Purples distinguish themselves through militant opposition to a theorized Syllable of Sanctuary: the Syllable of Ay, which represents a lack of identity. The violent rejection of this null value is controversial among other Oppressed groups, isolating the Purples politically.
- The Black Oppressed: numerous and widespread, this branch is focused upon ridding the Web and the Blurr of foreign influences, holding the Authority and various moneyed groups as being instruments of slavery who appropriate Blurrite culture. While their principal bases are carved into the southern hills, the Black have various outposts all across the Blurr, including the port of Tolerance and the Asedk Isles, where they prey upon trade routes and Moderator patrols.
- The Orange Oppressed: a small, vocal, and greatly reviled faction, the Orange Oppressed are radicals even by the standards of their peers, due to their rejection of the Syllable of Tay and murderous campaign against those covered by it.
- The Yellow Oppressed: secretive, feared, and widely hated, the Yellow advocate for the acceptance of disturbing practices that even the Blurrites cannot tolerate, and are intrinsically aligned with the fleshtrappers of the Deep Web. Spending much of their time in hiding among the endless sands and limestone karsts of the Blurr’s southeast, the activities of the Yellow Oppressed are open to great speculation, though none doubt that their collusion with dark powers makes them a dangerous foe.
The Oppressed and the Masked-Men
“It’s troubling how slim our options have become. The Oppressed at least believe in something, whereas a Channic will never care about anything but himself. At the same time, though, the advantage of not believing in anything is that you can never accuse a Channic of hypocrisy. Ah, choices.”
— Geleddi Tormin, Opeer of Reddit
The cut-stone hills of the Blurr might be the cradle of the Oppressed, but this cult of warrior-fanatics has since raised sail and made their way elsewhere in the Web, involving themselves in pan-Internet conflicts and dragging many of their countrymen with them. The enemies these insurrectionists fight are legion, but their most consistent foes lie far in the west, clustered in gloomy, windswept islands in the Saying Sea: the anonymites of the Chan. The Channic are an infamous and unpleasant people, known largely for their spurn of civilized society and an odd custom of constantly wearing masks, supposedly to avoid the surveillance of a demon-god they sometimes worship and always fear. Lawless and brutal, the Channic care little for foreigners as a whole—the people who dwell beyond the Chan are often seen as thralls and supplicants, people with bended knees who have lost whatever manly virtues they might have once had. In recent times, though, they have settled on one particular enemy to fight: none other than the Oppressed.
The Moderators would tell us that the Web is created by and composed of the Logos, the Code of the World, which grants us the consistent laws of reality. Among these laws is this: each action has an equal and opposite reaction. So it is with the Blurrites and the Channic. In many ways, they reflect one another: both are emotional, often belligerent people largely outside of Authority control, zealous in their beliefs and sometimes violent in their means. And yet, one could not find pair of people more fiercely opposed. The Blurrites display everything, leaving nothing to the imagination, while the Channic hide themselves away behind masks and bear false names. The Blurrites revel in feelings, whereas Channic mock them. The Blurrites adore color and comfort, but the Channic see themselves as toughened by disgust and misery. The Blurrites are offended, and the Channic offensive. And more than anything else, each despises the other.
If asked, the Channic anonymites would tell you that the Blurrites form a cabal that has clandestine control over the entire Web, having sunk their hooks into the Moderators and major trading cartels in a plot to enslave the Known Internet. Interestingly, the Oppressed say precisely the same thing about the anonymites. Either way, it is this endless war between these two factions that has embroiled the entire world: a cultural clash, a conflict of ideals and starkly different views of the Web that can never be reconciled. Virtually every lesser controversy or battle in recent history has merely been a different front in this much grander game, and the Web has been polarized as a result.
No peace or negotiation is possible: the Blurr and the Chan both are caught in thrall of the Closed-Circle Problem, bound into opposite camps that are incapable of backing down and inherently hostile to dissenters. No facts can be held by one side that the other will not deny, no lie peddled that cannot be believed, and no discourse offered that can bridge the growing gap that has split families and ruined lives. Only total victory will satisfy either, and so they are prepared to fight forever if necessary, with most every other site dragged along with them… to disastrous consequences. The Great Gamer War crippled kingdoms and brought much of the Internet to destruction. The War of the Electors ended with discord and disaster. And it is only a matter of time before the next war comes, one greater and even more terrible than before...
The Future of the Blurr
“Deny all you want: there is a part of you that knows what must be done. Dress it in black robes or hide it with a carven mask, but that awful, crawling certainty will always remain. Look into that part of your mind that you bury away, and you will find us staring back.”
— Confessions of an Oppressed
As of now, the future of the Blurrites cannot be said with any certainty. They have in their power a home many would hold in envy: a vast land laden with treasure, rich from trade, swollen with mystery. Few people in the Web could rival them in their energy and drive, in their endless pursuit of progress, and in their limitless belief in the better nature of man. Yet still, that selfsame, dogged faith is so easily corrupted and so willingly shattered, leaving behind only a Blurrite people swept by suspicion, plagued by fanaticism, and with their better angels drowned by the will of iconoclasm and self-worship.
A war rages across the World Within the Web, one the Blurrites claim to have not started but are perfectly willing to prolong until victory—no matter how hollow—can be gained. That victory has never seemed so distant as now, and yet there is one outcome that any observer can see well enough: an end to the Web as we once knew it, lost to this firestorm and left in ruin. The days before this final war will be the Blurr greatest test: a measure of whether that sunbaked land of hot sand and hot blood can survive this trial with its ideals intact, or whether it will sacrifice all on the altar of success at any cost.
The Blurr of Memory
“Laying in the dim light, thinking up ways to fit the stars in her cape
Think that such dim light can shatter the mistakes that poison her wake?
But what's a pony to do, oh, what's a pony to do
when fire won't burn for her anymore, when even dust runs out and the space left in its place
turns to question her, and says:
"What's your story about? Will you see it to a dichotomic end: the ground or the sky?
Are you a name or a life?”
— Over the Reals, by And the Rainfall, dedicated to SoGreatandPowerful
In the southern-most site of the Painted Sea, one finds a strange place. A land of low valleys and high mountains, of blooming greeneries and barren sands, of treasure and ruin, and of a people sanguine and sorrowful both. For now, it remains as it has been: rich and tumultuous and troubled. Its people laugh in the streets of Askobarr, dice in the dens of Tolerance, pray in the halls of Transid, meek and bold and blind at once. A day may yet come when those streets are deserted, when those dens are rooted out, and when those gods are cast down and shattered. But still its people press on, eyes closed, into that deep and violent unknown.
It is called the Blurr. A land of peace, someday.
Okay just from the map alone...... "Salt Mountains"? So much YEEEES!.. Dwayne Rock?, Wyne? "The Missing point"... did you really put a place called "The blogospher!?
These maps, really reimnd me of xkcd, and that is awesome... just so much
No. no the very much is at times....
Ohhhh making it kind of middle-eastern themed, between the look, the climate, the description of the place.... and does rather fit the extremist ways at times... very clever.
Again... just.... damn you are good at this.
And very nicely put way of making that work.... it does fit in so well yet.. work so perfectly for an actual culture..... it's just SO damn spot on....
Okay maybe getting a bit to spot on with current events, yet at the same time... damn it's so well integrated to this world.... Sort of, none of this was brought up in the Reddit blurb, and being it's so new.. question how well it was worked into things already. Not bad but, does set of warning flags about adding in to many new things as they happen rather then keep a solidified backstory.
not sure if should
or 
Seriously how can you make me want to both grin and laugh, while at the same time groan and facepalm so much at the same time?
Oh.. ohhhh i really like this bit.
Get to this at the but, again, just... DAMN this si so amazingly done.
okay this is just pure
#slow clap.
Is it bad it takes me a bit of pondering to realize just who some of what you are talking about is? But still, damn it's good.
Again creepy how spot on my WWI comparison a while ago seems to have been.
Just... damn this was awesome, as always, your ability to take these things from the net, to make them work, fit, to so closely mirror them, and yet make them still feel natural, feel like real things, to make this entire world so vibrant, so detailed from it, and crafting all these ideas and themes into things that... that make so much perfect sense in context. Creating real cultures and nations from them, stuff like 'dash' and how you can craft those concepts into a 'real' world setting and make it work.. the shear amount of thought and planning and work and skill.... all just for background worldbuilding is staggering and... oh wait.. there is a new chapter now...... gotta go!
Actually, it was brought up in the Reddit post, albeit briefly towards the end. And yeah, that's a concern of mine as well. I try to avoid adding really current things in, so as to prevent me wanting to constantly play catch-up with the latest happenings, but sometimes I have an idea that is too enticing to pass up. Rest assured that I'll keep further additions to a respectful minimum.
Man, I would settled for just one of those!
I'm going to level with you: I was really proud of that one.
Great to finally get some more context on this.
still not quite certain if the Oppressed=SJWs or what
4410849 Yup, that is exactly what they are.
The Red Hats didn't actually win by (just) hiring foreign mercenaries: The Blue Alliance had turncoats and sleepers, people who quietly followed the God-Emperor but worried for their safety if they spoke up. Given how the Blue Alliance attacked any and all God-Emperor demonstrations, no matter what form they took, that fear was justified. Thus, when The Disaster struck, part of the reason it hit so hard was because the Red Hats had people on the inside feeding them information and leaving the back doors open.
4444566
After the War of the Electors, some Alliance refugees were recruited into the Oppressed, vowing to seek revenge against the members who had betrayed them. This combined with the brutal nature of The Disaster caused the Oppressed to grow more powerful and turn their sights on the Red Hats. After several unsuccessful attacks on the larger and better organized Red Hats, the Oppressed retreated and focused on building up defenses and recruiting warriors from the Blurr.