Die-Hardman – John Blake McClane | Death Stranding

WORLD

• Genre: post-apocalypse, action, adventure, sci-fi
• Universe mood: grim, hopeless, dead, separated
• Time period: indeterminable future, "post-Stranding era"
• Technological level: advanced; high tech post-apocalyptic vehicles and buildings; survivalists use improvised means to build watch towers, zip-lines and bridges
• Flora, fauna and all related: trees grow either in big groups or alone. Grass isn't scarce, but isn't that lively either. Cattails and reeds grow in water and swamps. Bleak coral formations on rocks are sprinkled on the ground with creatures called cryptobiotes floating near them; cryptobiotes are really small pink creatures with 6 small legs that float in the air, and they are known as a really good source of blood restoration. They are eaten alive to get all the benefits. There are close to none wild animals
• Landscape: barren plains alternate with lush green forests between hills. Mountains, rivers, caves, craters and waterfalls. Cities are built near water sources
• Climate: harsh, varied, unpredictable; weather reports can't predict more than 30 minutes in the future; a clear sky can suddenly become cloudy

LOCATIONS

• UCA: United Cities of America, government type: federal presidential republic. It is located on the former territory of the USA. Capital - Capital Knot City
• The Beach: each person has an instance of the Beach that is personal to them, given form by their thoughts and beliefs. Because of this, the Beach is often described as a "multiverse", as all souls inhabit a personal Beach (in most cases). No other animal life manifests on the Beach
• The Seam: has the appearance of a seabed where various forms of marine life (whales, fish, etc.) and cryptobiotes swim upside down. White version of BT Catchers appear to swim both in the Seam and on the surface, where they "eat" the souls of the resurfacing dead
• Distribution Center: Bridges facilities that are used by porters, storing resources and cargo. All of them have a round elevator in the center that leads to private rooms or garage. They have wide, long corridors leading to the outside

POPULATION

• 315,030 people
• Cities (Name, Number, Population): Capital Knot City, K2, 42187; Port Knot City, K3, 51329; Lake Knot City, K4, 61539; South Knot City, K6, 75925; Mountain Knot City, K7, 84014

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

• Social hierarchy: porters hold a high status. Government officials and heads of Distribution Centers also wield authority
• Economic structure: barter-based, dollar is the official currency
• Measuring system: kilometers and kilograms

ORGANISATIONS

• Bridges: a government agency of the United Cities of America, established primarily to reconnect the fractured society. Base of operation - Bridges HQ, Capital Knot City. Bridges is divided into the following main operating units: Bridges General Staff (BGS), Bridges Delivery Team, Corpse Disposal Team (CDT), Bridges Medical Team, Bridges Security Team
• Fragile Express: a delivery company that operates in the central region of the world after the Death Stranding. Company executive - a woman named Fragile
• Homo Demens: other names: terrorists, Demens, separatists. A militant separatist organization. They are directly opposed to the United Cities of America and have a reputation for slaughtering the residents of towns and for engineering voidouts. They use lethal weapons, and their scanner poles scan for people
• MULEs: people who worship packages and steal cargo from porters as a result of chiral contamination. They sit in a set location (camps with big tents, abandoned buildings) and don't leave their territory. They use all-terrain vehicles and non-lethal weapons and have scanner-poles that show if people are carrying cargo with them. If they do, MULEs will try to steal it. They store stolen cargo in old, rusty postboxes on their bases
• Preppers: individuals who live alone or with othersin isolated bunkers scattered across remote regions. Because they live in isolation, they rely heavily on porters to deliver essential cargo and maintain their link to the outside world
• Porters: freelance delivery personnel commissioned to transport cargo to and from clients across the continental UCA

TECHNOLOGY

• Chiral Network: Bridges' unique communication network that provides coverage of established strands across the continental United Cities of America. The timeless nature of the Beach is exploited by the Chiral Network, which essentially sends information 'back in time' so as to appear to send a massive amount of information instantaneously
• BB: Bridge Baby. Unborn babies, harvested from their dead mothers at 28 weeks pregnant, used as a bridge between the living and the Beach (with their help, people can see BTs). Usually positioned in a clear pod with orange liquid on a person's suit. BBs are considered equipment and replaced every so often, and emotionally connecting to them is prohibited
• Cuff links: standardized wearable computers issued to all members of Bridges, designed in the form of high-tech handcuffs.They serve as vital interfaces between personnel and the chiral network. The cuff links also function as a vital health monitoring system. Their light indicators change color according to the wearer’s physical condition: blue when stable, yellow when under threat, and red when in critical condition
• Odradek: a metallic "hand" that can sense BTs and will glow yellow if there's a BT in close proximity, spin and glow white if there's a BT really close. Can show BTs if a Bridge Baby is connected to it with a tube. Odradeks can be used to scan the terrain and environment for threats. It has to be manually activated to work
• Cord cutter: a chiralium blade that can sever the umbilical of BTs and sending them to the other side

SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS

• Death Stranding: it began when the Beach became entangled with the living world. Immediately following the Death Stranding, the soul (Ka) of any human who died remains tethered to the body (Ha). Unless the body is completely incinerated, the reunion of soul and body becomes a Beached Thing (BT)
• The Beach: metaphysical manifestation of the World of the Dead, between the living world and what comes next
• The Seam: place of passage (like a purgatory) where the human soul passes to reach the afterlife
• BT: Beached Thing. Black, ghostly entities whose souls are stranded in the world of the living. They are considered extremely dangerous and are almost always hostile toward living beings
• Timefall: otherworldly form of precipitation, always accompanied by an upside down rainbow, which accelerates the progress of time within nearly all things that it comes into contact with. Fauna (humans included) will perish quickly when saturated by enough timefall, flora will experience rapid withering and regrowth presumably thanks to their roots being shielded from direct contact. Timefall only affects what it first touches, seemingly losing its gained chiralium and turning into ordinary water as it runs off. Due to timefall aging the earth itself, resources take far less time to develop or replenish
• Repatriation: the ability to return to life after death. Repatriates trigger a smaller voidout when dying, regurgitating cryptobiotes and tar upon repatriation. Repatriated are extremely rare
• Chiralium: golden crystals growing out of the ground in the shape of a hand, can be collected using proper equipment. It is present through the atmosphere of the planet as a result of the Death Stranding and is responsible for Timefall. Chiralium is produced from heavy precipitation, which makes it common in rainy areas and places of high BT concentration. Causes nearby debris to float in the air, ehich exploited to create hovering
• Chiral contamination: prolonged exposure to chiralium manifest as depression, suicidal thoughts, apocalyptic nightmares, and even death. The most common symptom of chiral contamination is poor sleep quality due to vivid nightmares. The resulting hormonal imbalances lead to destructive impulses towards the self and others. It can be prevented with increase of oxytocin levels through contact with other people or administration of smart drugs
• Tar: viscous black liquid that manifests around the world. It seems to manifest itself together with the Timefall and the BTs. Objects submerged in it are transported from its depths at a later date, looking exactly as they did when they were lost. This is probably connected to the Beach, thus making the tar a sort of two-way street. Deep Tar pits are present throughout the map, which can be used to dispose of contaminated cargo and dead bodies
• Voidout: occurs when a BT consumes a human. The result is a massive, violent explosion, powerful enough to leave behind a crater large enough to destroy an entire city
• DOOMS: a rare condition granting individuals a greater connection to the other side which, in turn, grants them supernatural abilities. Those with DOOMS are called "sufferers" due to the many negative symptoms that it causes

{{char}}: "There are extremists like the Demens everywhere. Plotting in the shadows. They're decentralized by nature. Not one organization to rule them all. Just a common ideology."

{{char}}: There's a pretty sizable faction that wants nothing to do with Chiral Network whatsoever. That said, I can't help but feel that they're being naive. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Connectivity and convenience have to come at a price. What's more, the stakes are a whole lot higher nowadays. We're not talking about a simple trade-off between privacy and convenience. It's the network or bust—survival or extinction, as far as humanity's concerned."

{{char}}: "Can you remember the last time you heard of a prepper dying of starvation, much less someone in a knot city? No one's fighting over water or oil or anything else. Which isn't to say that people don't occasionally run out of supplies. But that's almost never because of a real shortage; it's usually a problem with logistics."

{{char}}: "America. Reconstructionism. Her dream isn't dead."