Mystery/maybe-fantasy Fiction World Building Stuff For Funsies

Mystery/maybe-fantasy fiction world building stuff for funsies

Rowena "Winnie" Hart was accepted into a prestigious fantasy school. Her primary motivation is to find the people who murdered her parents and restore justice to her family. She believes that the murderers are linked to a secret society connected with the school.

Her parents, Jacques Hart and Lorelei Hart née Preston, used to study at the school. Her parents were part of the secret society, and were very prominent, high-ranking members. Therefore, Winnie was very famous in the school. The Hart Family was a very prestigious family with good standing. The Preston Family, Winnie's mother's family, was a family of renowned Healers and Potion-brewers.

Jacques and Lorelei had a very romantic and happy love life together, but tragically died young (for a reason that I am still trying to figure out, BTW. I'm also tryna figure out the circumstances of how they died, and whether they died when Winnie was a baby, or more recently).

Lorelei also used to be the Poisoner for the secret society; she was very good at Healing, but found Poisons to be more fascinating. She therefore exercised this talent (secretly, of course; only the society knows about it and they themselves gave her that job) to take out the enemies of the society and the school (the rest of the school didn't know about it). Of course, Lorelei also used her Healing talents publicly when needed.

More dystopian fiction lore just for funsies (and I'm sorry for the inaccuracies and not-very-knowledgeable Geography stuff and continuity issues. This is just me having fun with fiction so do with it as you will as long as you credit me for it hahahahaha yes I know I'm an amateur but I'm just expanding this lore for funsies)

Cordelia was actually a perfect clone of Past-Cordelia. Present-Cordelia is actually Cordelia II. Cordelia I (the original from the Surface) was genetically engineered in a lab on the Surface, so the first Cordelia also didn't have parents. She was literally created to be a child soldier. This leads Cordelia II to feel like she has no identity at all ("I mean, none of us in the Colony ever had an identity of our own to begin with," she recalls.)

When the very first Colonists dug Underground, they used their advanced technologies to push back the magma so there would be more space Underground to build their Colony. This led to the Core overheating, which could possibly cause it to explode, so they quickly had to construct some tunnels leading away from the Core to certain parts of the Surface. This led to lava leaks on the Surface in those areas, creating more volcanoes and volcanic eruptions in the process.

This led to the Surface becoming more dangerous than it already was. Jasper still feels bitter towards the Underground for having endangered his home and his family. When the Colonists had started pushing back the magma, it led to the Surface getting colder, with occasional startling bouts of lava spurts. Therefore, the temperature on the Surface became more unstable than it already was.

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Dystopian fiction

"Miss Lynn," A young Cordelia called her one night as she lay in bed. Lynn was just getting ready to leave the Wards' Dormitories.

"Yes, Cordelia?" Despite them being mere Caretaker and Ward (and despite Cordelia being only one of 1,000,000 Wards in her Batch), they have a very close relationship, almost like a mother and daughter, but in secret; family-like bonds were highly discouraged in the Colony.

"Has anyone ever tried going to the Surface before?"

Lynn paused, looking for the right words to say. It was a sensitive issue, and she wasn't sure if this was the right time to tell her. But Cordy seemed old enough; she would understand. Lynn looked around furtively, before going to Cordelia's bedside and whispered, "I'm gonna tell you a little secret. Okay?"

Cordelia lit up and nodded enthusiastically. She loved being trusted with secrets. It made her feel important; like a Treasurer keeping the most valuable treasures under lock and key. It was mostly things like each other's favourite colour or deepest fears, which Caretakers weren't supposed to share with their Wards. This secret felt especially important. Valuable, even.

"Once upon a time, there was a girl named Cordelia."

"Me?"

"Well, not exactly you. Your Namesake from last century." Cordelia didn't know what that meant, but she continued listening. "This Cordelia was a curious young lady. She once stumbled into the Colony from the Surface."

"WHAT!" Cordelia yelled out impulsively, and Lynn quickly shushed her in a panic. Cordelia immediately put her hands to her mouth. "I mean, what?"

Lynn glanced around quickly, hoping the ensuing silence would erase any evidence of her storytelling. Not a peep. She silently exhaled in relief before continuing the story. "No one knew how she got here. No one knew how she even knew how to get in. But they had to get rid of her."

"No!" Present-Cordelia gasped in horror, quietly this time.

"Oh, yes," Lynn affirmed. "They couldn't let anyone--" she looked around again, "anyone, know that there were still dwellers on the Surface."

"But I thought there was no way anyone could survive on the Surface," she said.

"That's what they teach you in School, Cordelia. That's why this is a secret."

More dystopian just-for-funsies stuff cuz I'm bored

Cordelia runs for her life in utter terror when she sees the barbaric procedure of Chipping, an integral part of the Integration. It involves a lobotomy, with that section of the brain responsible for making autonomous decisions being replaced with the Chip; ostensibly for identification purposes, the Chip is actually meant to monitor your every thought, and serve as a system override should you even entertain the mere notion of rebelling or anything remotely un-Colony-like.

So this is the price of Integration.

She chillingly remembers all the times she and her Batch-mates Misbehaved*, and the Caretakers took on a robotic gaze, eyes blank and unfeeling, as they reprimanded them in an uncanny, robotic tone. Those blank stares, those blank scoldings, the kind that deterred her and her Batch-mates from their prying curiosity with their inexplicable creepiness; they were all the same. Did their own minds even belong to them anymore?

Cordelia escapes, unwittingly to the Surface, where she finds that not everything was what she was taught it would be.

POV

I see a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Strange, how this exact same sentence is used to describe one's last moments in pre-Disaster literature. I shield my eyes from this strange, new sun and...

"Whoa."

*Misbehaved = not referring to mischief in general, but to "Untrustworthy" behaviour indicating distrust of the Colony or outright rebellion

Dystopian fiction stuff just for funsies, based on the Hunger Games "Hanging Tree" song cuz I was inspired by the different renditions of this song on Tiktok hahaha don't mind me cuz I'm boooooooooorrrrrrrrrreeedddddddd

This song is about a tree with birdcages on its branches. Cordelia encounters this tree during her time on the Surface. The tree with its birdcages look like a tree bearing fruits--except in this case, the "fruits" are the birds trapped in the cages; hence, the name "Birding Tree".

POV (Jasper taking Cordelia to the Birding Tree)

"I...I'm so sorry. About your gram'ma," I managed.

Jasper smiled as we continued treading through the grass. "Thanks...there was this lullaby she used to sing me. When I--when she passed, that lullaby, that was the first thing that came to mind. Funny, isn't it? I'd totally forgotten about it. It'd been years since she last sang it to me."

"Sorry, what--lala...bye?"

"Lull-a-by," he enunciated. "It's a bedtime song. Well, I don't know if it's actually written to be a lullaby, but she sang that to me at night."

"I didn't know you could sing someone to sleep." I probably sounded stupid saying that. He laughed.

"You learn something new everyday, huh?"

"When you've lived under the Surface, or 'under a rock', as you say, as long as I have, there's only so much you know," I quipped. "So, how did this...lull-a-by go?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you think you could...sing it to me? If you don't mind, of course."

He hesitated, looking around for a bit. "I guess I could. Since it's just you and me." He winked, and I could have sworn I almost tripped on air.

Are you...are you...

Comin' to the tree

We struck down a birdie

Singing in the breeze

Strange things have happened here,

No stranger would it be,

If we took...this birdie...

To the Birding Tree

Are you...are you...

Comin' to the tree

Hear a choir of birdsong

Raging to be free

Strange things have happened here

No stranger would it be,

If we took...these birdies...

To the Birding Tree

Are you...are you...

Comin' to the tree

Build a nest in this cage

Side by side with me

Strange things have happened here

No stranger would it be,

If Birdie stays awhile,

Here in the Birding Tree

We reached the top of the hill, and there was the tree. It had round little birdcages, hanging on its branches, like striped, hollowed-out apples. Each birdcage housed a little bird, tweeting away, looking around from its little abode.

"And, here we have it. The Birding Tree. Ta-daaaa...", he introduced lamely on purpose, and I laughed.