Holy Mormon Protectorate Lore

(I really hope this is the right category to put this under)

Hello! I'm Belle, and I'm a new player here as of yesterday, and a new player of MUD/MUSHs in general. I've been wanting to take a stab at Sindome for a long while now, and yesterday I finally made my first immie. I've decided to make my character a native of the HMP after looking at the map, but aside from the mention in the Timeline of its establishment, I couldn't find any lore across the site.

Obviously the society of the HMP would have an impact on my character's history which I'm currently in the midst of writing, hence my search. Is there anything akin to a lore-writing team that could give me a rundown on the differences (if any) between it and wider society?

I understand that most population centers aren't too different from Withmore besides turning the dial on overpopulation and class issues up to eleven; there is a pseudo-equality between races, creeds, genders, sexual minorities, etc., but would that hold true for the Protectorate?

I don't think I need to go into the issues and intolerance that arise from a religious society, especially one that could be written as fundamental in their beliefs, which could occur as a reaction to the "denigration" of society, but I'm not going to pretend like I have any say over lore, as its ultimately up to staff. However, is this really the case, or should I assume that the HMP is no different than the rest of global society?

(Though I would like to point out that a fundamental religious and intolerant society would be quite themely and could make for great histories of people fleeing persecution, smuggling booze, soda, coffee, and the like.)

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

By ImpossiBelle at May 1, 2020 12:50 PM

A lot of times, what players do when they want to be from a place without a lot of Lore available in the OOC places like the Timeline and Lore, is, they decide *why* they want to be from there, in a way which doesn't contradict what *is* established.

From there, they get their character into the game, and, establish points-of-fact on their own. There's a lot of freedom to do this because, imgaine: HMP is a large area with a large population, your character can be from a place with a particular subculture or local flavor. You can establish your character's background and culture without necessarily worrying about contradicting the game world.

Sometimes what happens is, PCs get involved in plots which do wind up establishing Lore and Timeline facts about a place on the whole. Since that's in the future, you shouldn't worry about it.

Players who are aware of any HMP facts which you've seen presented by other PCs in the past could fill in some blanks here - as long as it's not character-specific details and it's been more than two years since the in-game reveal.

I think personally a couple of generalizations which can be made are safe to extrapolate from current-day Mormonism:

They consider themselves Christians, individuals may or may not identify with the Eternalist prophecy, on the whole they probably wouldn't challenge Eternalism the way Christian Fundamentalists have in-universe.

They are motivated and influenced by the same commercial interests as anyone else in the world who doesn't have ideology-driven restrictions on commerce. Maybe they stay away from vice oriented bizz. There are probably global mega-corps originating in HMP and headed by Mormon businesspeople.

They probably have highly sophisticated paramilitary capabilities, but tend to deploy them defensively rather than aggresively.

Possibly the whole missionary element could come into play for a new PC, or possibly they could be someone who's already done with their missionary obligation.

Just some ideas. Pin down *why* you want your character to be from there and you can probably work around the lack of established Lore while making your concept work.

By beandip at May 1, 2020 1:12 PM

Players are given wide latitude to write their own histories, as long as they don't effect their status or function within Withmore itself, since everyone starts equal at the bottom more or less.

In practice, communal in-game world building by players for places outside of Withmore is usually avoided outside of generalities, since it just ends up with backstories conflicting with one another.

So you might get two characters who both spent time in say, Berlin, but outside of details from the official timeline, they're probably not going to haggle over specifics of what the city was like or what events occurred there because it has no relevance to the stories being told now in Withmore.

By 0x1mm at May 1, 2020 1:22 PM

I do think that as a matter of theme, the mainstream of HMP culture is probably like the rest of the world - we're a century past intolerance around sex, gender, presentation, orientation, skin color, or most of the other "isms" which are irrelevant to business.

There certainly could be fringe groups inside HMP who for some reason insist on preserving these bigotries.

Money drives everything. The main difference between cyberpunk and contemporary real life is how unconcealed that fact is.

By beandip at May 1, 2020 1:28 PM

Thanks very much for the replies! I think in light of this information I'll pick an easier origin for my first character to get a better feel of the world.

By ImpossiBelle at May 1, 2020 2:55 PM

We all have say over the lore. That's the beauty of it.

Except certain hardline exceptions.

By Azriel at May 1, 2020 2:57 PM

We all have say over the lore. That's the beauty of it.

Except certain hardline exceptions.

By Azriel at May 1, 2020 2:57 PM

-	BigLammo	1m	https://youtu.be/fE53m3N1WSc
-	SmokePotion	6m
-	BluuOwl	5s
-	notloose	1h
-	Rillem	14m
-	Wonderland	1m
-	QueenZombean	1m
-	Komira	1m
-	adrognik	16m
a	Mench	50m	Doing a bit of everything.
a	Kard	7h
-	zxq	24s
-	Devi	2h
-	BitLittle	14m
-	Napoleon	23h
And 23 more hiding and/or disguised

Holy Mormon Protectorate Lore ... I keep wanting to type "Holy Mromon Empire"

Holy Mormon Protectorate Lore
... I keep wanting to type "Holy Mromon Empire"