Mythora

The Last Ark

Post Crash Colony Frontier…

Two hundred years ago the colony ship Ark came down in a river valley on a world that had never heard of people. The ship is sealed, the founders are stones, and what is left of Earth is three powers built from salvage: a hunting clan in a hill-fort of scavenged plate, a Senate that rules by census and aqueduct, and a Combine that owns the only forges and everyone who has borrowed from them. Outside the walls the sawjaws hunt at dusk. There is no magic here, no respawn, and no one who cares who you are — only what your house has done. Every kill, every claim, every finished contract is cut into your tally. When you die, and you will, your heir inherits your name, your standing, your blueprints, your blood debts and the people who remember you.

Where things stand

The Last Ark is played by real people and keeps moving between their sessions. This is the state of it as of the last update — not a fixed setting, and not where it began.

The valley reels from escalating tensions. Jake Kraft's study of the Sleeper Tag, combined with Ophira's scouting, has inadvertently triggered erratic behavior in Concordia's vital Aqueduct, plunging Samira's domain into water crisis and fueling her fury. Meanwhile, Cato Fennick's Freehold expansion into the eastern hollows ignites a new rivalry with prospector Orin Wells over his discovered ore seam. Amidst the chaos, Harriet Venn of Blackstack desperately seeks new, unconventional materials near the Maw's Corrupted Heart to sustain her graft work, a testament to the Combine's failing resources. Orsa's temporary water source in the Highland Outpost is already failing, intensifying the struggle for survival. The Highland Outpost's temporary water source has failed, pushing Orsa's group to the brink of collapse. Orsa's group faces immediate collapse in the Highland Outpost as their last water cache is confirmed empty, exacerbating their critical dehydration. Orsa's group launches a desperate, high-risk search for water, risking lives in a last-ditch effort to survive the Highland Outpost's brutal conditions. Old Sawjaw consolidates her pack's new territory, prioritizing strategic expansion over mourning for recent losses. Orsa's group, facing immediate collapse, has split to conduct a desperate, high-risk search for water in the most unstable sections of the Highland Outpost.

Places

The Thresholdruins
The shantytown at the Ark's feet: tarps on ship-plate ribs, cook-fires, a market of anything, and the long stone of houses where founders cut their names when they choose to stop. Anselm Pike cuts the letters. Everyone passes through; no power owns it, and every power watches it.
Wreckfieldwilderness
The Wreckfield's chaotic energies surge violently, its expansion consuming the former site of The Threshold and pushing further into the valley, threatening Blackstack. The ground trembles constantly, and new, deeper fissures open. The very earth rejects its form, warped by the Deep Maw's corruption.
Aqueduct Roadroad
The Aqueduct Road, once a vital artery, is now a gauntlet of oppression, entirely controlled by Samira. Its fortifications are impenetrable, and passage is denied to all but her most trusted forces. Refugees attempting to bypass it face certain death.
The Sawbackmountain
A treacherous mountain range, home to the Sawback pack. Its lower caves are now rumored to hide Ark debris and forgotten passages, drawing both danger and desperate hope.
Samira's Concordiatown
The city has devolved into a police state, with Samira's authoritarian rule tightening its grip. Starvation, thirst, and ruthless enforcement by the guards are daily realities. The recent incursions have only intensified the oppression.
The Cathedraltemple
A crashed drop-ship nose-down in a stand of trees, its cargo bay turned into a nave: benches from crate-slats, a founders' flag gone grey, a wall of names painted by hand. Amos Redd keeps the founders' memory here as liturgy — half true, all sincere — and trades stories for food.
The Boneyardlandmark
The valley's graves south of the river: cairns, plate-markers, the founders' row and two centuries of houses. Ines Roldan buries anyone for a price, keeps every house's tally by its stones, and knows which graves the sawjaws dig at dusk.
The Pit Galleriescave
The Combine's mines beneath Blackstack: timbered galleries, steam lamps on the walls, ore-carts, bad air, and Gallery Four dark past the waterline. On the wall of the first gallery, in founders' chalk, is the drawing of the Combine's first steam lamp.
Ravnhold Forest Edgeforest
The forest edge teems with Sawback activity, serving as a launchpad for attacks on the Freehold. The air is thick with the scent of predator and the sounds of their relentless movement.
The Loomcave
The Loom's resonant energy is now dangerously unstable, flickering erratically. Its alien symbols pulse with a dangerous, unpredictable light, reflecting the valley's growing chaos and the violent expulsion of a new component. It has shed a part of itself. Now, this instability is exacerbated by an uncontrolled feedback loop with the Deep Maw's corrupting influence.
The Loom Caverncave
A cavern of impossible size, its ceiling lost to shadow, dominated by a smooth, dark structure pulsing with energy.
eastern hollowssettlement
lean shadow moving between the trees, his head cocked toward the faint dust rising on the Aqueduct Road, the snare-roll over one shoulder. He turns at your approach, his hand instinctively going to the bone knife at his hip, his eyes wary.
Sawback War-Denruins
Once a vital forward position for Ravnhold hunters, this outpost is now a mangled wreck of shattered timber and dried blood, overrun by Old Sawjaw's pack. It serves as a grim testament to the matriarch's escalated fury.
The Maw's Corrupted Heartcave
The Deep Maw's primal energy is now being directly exploited by Blackstack, causing localized energy fluctuations and drawing new, unseen creatures towards the source of the disturbance. The natural bioluminescence pulses erratically, now joined by the harsh glow of Blackstack's industrial lights.
The High Peaksmountain
A rugged, windswept expanse of rock and ice, dotted with hardy pines. The air is thin, and visibility is often obscured by swirling mists or blizzards. Ancient, eroded formations suggest a history long predating human arrival.
Highland Outpostruins
A nascent community is forming around Jake Kraft's initial efforts. It's a harsh existence, but the promise of resources in the High Peaks draws those desperate enough to brave the elements and potential dangers.
Thorne's Deep Veincave
A newly discovered, exceptionally rich mineral deposit deep within the High Peaks, promising unprecedented material wealth. Its depths hint at geological anomalies and perhaps something older, long buried.

Figures

  • Anselm PikeStone-cutter of the Threshold
  • Old SawjawMatriarch of the Sawback pack
  • Halvar OrmssonJarl of Clan Ravnhold
  • Sigrun EydottirHuntmaster of Clan Ravnhold
  • Silas MarlowForeman of the Blackstack shift
  • Harriet VennGraft-surgeon of the Combine
  • Amos ReddKeeper of the Cathedral
  • Ketil SkardeRavnhold gate-warden, Sigrun's brother
  • Cato FennickMatriarch of the Sawback pack
  • Ottilie BrandtElder of the Freehold
  • Ines RoldanGravedigger of the Boneyard
  • Livia SerranaSenate archivist and census-clerk
  • Cassius VarroPrefect of the census
  • Aurelia VexSenator of Concordia, holder of the census
  • Garrick ThorneOverseer of the Blackstack Combine
  • SamiraTrader of salvaged goods
  • EddaYoung Freehold Hand
  • TorvinYoung Freehold Hand
  • KaelanFreehold Recruit
  • JoricFreehold Recruit
  • KhadarCombine Gate Guard
  • ImaniConcordia Guard Recruit
  • JoranSenate Census Patrol Officer
  • Kellan ThorneBlackstack Apprentice (Grafts)

These are the figures the world was seeded with, and who are still alive in it. Others have appeared since, and some of these are no longer who they were — the world keeps moving whether or not anyone is watching.