prolegomena to the quay - part one

You may wish to read 'the legend makers' before you read this, but it is not necessary.

-- Exordium: This Text and Me --

To begin:

prolegomena - preliminary remarks or observations

This is the first in a series of three posts written with the intention of giving a basic overview of the Quay, my primary mythopoeia project. The first part includes this introduction and a discussion of the premises and history of Quay society. The second part consists of a discussion of their homeland and an introduction to some of their basic customs. The third part describes one of the most important Quay myths, as encoded in the form of an Early Modern work of Quay theatre. The aim is to give the reader a general feel for these people and their mythos.

My first memories of the Quay date from about age eight. The world that created them goes back much farther than that, having been instantiated when I was around four years old. Needless to say, both the world and the people have changed a great deal since then.

The Quay in their current incarnation were named when I was roughly twelve years old, and came into their current form towards the end of my thirteenth year. They are, in many ways, 'my people,' a culture founded to a great extent upon my personal beliefs.

Let me say now that all information given with regards to the Quay is highly subject to change. The Quay have existed in many different forms, and are continuously being reincarnated. Nothing in this prolegomenon is 'final' except for the general feel of things: The underlying myths of the Quay will always remain the same, even while the specific incarnations mutate and grow.

This prolegomena, from now on, will be written completely in character. I hope that you can get a small taste of this world which is so deeply important to me.

-- Premises and History --

The Earth and the Solar System are a good deal older than scientists today believe. Indeed, they are old enough for life to have evolved on Earth not once, but twice. We are of the Second Life. What follows is a brief history of the First.

Nothing is known about the early natural history of the First Life, but it is assumed to have progressed quite similarly to that of the Second. Regardless, the First Life eventually produced ecosystems similar to our own, and eventually, a species wholly similar to homo sapiens. We shall refer to these people as the Prehumans. Surviving recorded history begins the year that the Prehumans achieved a limited form of technological immortality.

The process by which this immortality is achieved is a simple yet extensive one: Once an individual reaches adulthood, their entire physical make-up, with the exception of the central nervous system, is rebuilt using non-organic nanotechnology. The resulting immortal is composed entirely of self-repairing, self-organizing 'nanobots', excepting, again, the central nervous system, which was found to be too complex and too dynamic for the nanotechnology to imitate adequately. The results of this system are near-imperviousness to non-fatal bodily harm and a life-span of upwards of 100 years. At the end of these 100 years, an extensive rejuvenation treatment is required to carefully document, destroy, and rebuild the central nervous system. In this matter did the Prehumans guard themselves against death.

The technology necessary for this process was developed nearly simultaneously by seven major groups. These seven would, within the first years of immortality's existence, all begin to offer both the initial reconstruction and subsequent rejuvenation treatments to all Prehuman individuals, free of cost. However, they all unanimously reserved the right to deny rejuvenation treatments to those 'criminals' judged unworthy of immortality. Slowly, using careful threats and suggestions, the seven groups consolidated their territory and control, eventually establishing the proverbial Seven Hegemonies. In this manner, the ultimate achievement of the ancient Prehumans was also their greatest downfall: From the birth of eternal life sprang the curse of complete corporate control.

The Hegemonies ruled for roughly the next hundred thousand years, the period of Prehuman history named for them. For the first part of this Era, their rule was mostly benign. While the culture was certainly a socially repressed one, with the arts and sciences almost fully under Hegemonial control, for the most part the lives of these Prehumans were fairly comfortable. Later on, however, when space-flight began to be developed extensively and the Hegemonies began to colonize the Solar System, the controllers would assert their dominance far more extensively and began to intensify their border wars, plunging the Prehumans into the Great Dark Age. During this time, the average Prehuman not of the ruling class lived an average of forty years. Nanotechnological warfare was the norm, and all aspects of the culture were generally repressed into full service of the Hegemonies.

Eventually, this system exhausted itself. By the last century of the Hegemonial Era, most of the extraterrestrial colonies had either been abandoned, their material salvaged and returned to Earth, or else had suffered disaster. The dominance of the Hegemonies was abating, and they slowly withdrew from space entirely and attempted to salvage what was left of their reign. This intensified Earth-bound warfare, until eventually the Hegemonies collapsed in on themselves, leaving Prehuman society stunned and unstructured.

Out of this chaos, a society calling themselves the Quay emerged, heralding the beginning of the Royal Era. These early Quay organized a nation out of the confusion of the Fall, setting up shield barriers around their mountainous northern homeland to keep out the marauding tribes slowly gathering all around. They organized their society based on a democratic system, but nearly always deferred to the leadership of the unofficial King, Sanyar. Theirs was a culture obsessed with individuality, which valued form over function, which pursued abstract art and highly decadent lifestyles. They were affected in their speech and attire, valuing apparent meaning over deeper truth. They also willfully chose not to have children, existing as a mono-generational society for roughly a millennia and a half. It was at the end of this time that King Sanyar, creator of their society, unofficial ruler of their people, chose to betray them: he willfully lowered the shields and allowed the outside 'barbarian' tribes to come rampaging it, sending the Quay into the First Exodus.

The early Quay journeyed for a long time, with many deaths and many births. They maintained out of their earlier splendor only their immortality technology, preserving just enough expertise to coax the existing nanotechnology into performing the initial reconstruction and rejuvenation treatments, as well as many simpler tasks. Eventually, their wandering came to an end when they were adopted by the growing Majr Empire. The tribes outside of the Royal Quay's wall had all, without fail, lost their immortality technology in the post-Fall chaos, each individual living only a natural lifespan. The Majr Empire, recalling in their myths the eternal life of their ancestors, recognized it in the wandering Quay and enfolded them into Majr society. Here, the Quay provided the gift of eternal life to their protectors. They lived primarily at the whim of their new overlords, necessarily complying with all requests and living as a permanent lower class in the Majr society. However, the nearly holy status of the gift they gave brought the Majr people to very nearly revere them. In this manner, the Quay lived in closed enclaves within the Empire, a part of its culture and yet distinct from it. This would continue for thousands of years, until the Earth began to enter one of its periodic Ice Ages. Hemmed in by the encroaching ice, steadily loosing its food supplies, the Empire began to decline in power. Dissatisfied immortals began rebellions; the Quay, recognizing the uncertain future of their overlords and wishing for a greater degree of cultural freedom, chose to begin the Second Exodus. Taking with them all the supplies and equipment they could gather, the Quay began a journey farther south, deep into the southern ice, in search of a homeland.

Decades of wandering and many deaths passed before the Quay reached their goal. A hollow in the ice provided a good beginning; it was simple work for the Quay to train nanotechnology to burrow further, carving out a city in the ice and the stone beneath it, pulling the veil of the glacier closed behind them. Here, Quayaln, the homeland of the Quay, came slowly into being, pressed between the hard stone and the transient yet nearly eternal ice.

Centuries passed before these settlers would feel comfortable enough to give birth; but eventually the second generation came into being, nearly all at once. The young would hear the tales of the distant past, would dream of the space-faring, world-controlling Hegemonies, would become convinced that they could organize a better society. They would wish to resume the progress of civilization. The old would argue, would disapprove of the concept of 'progress' itself. Centuries would pass, and just as Quayaln was on the brink of generational warfare, the young would leave, venturing out into the ice-covered world to bring their words true. The Quay call them the Lost.

While the First Generation mourned the loss of their children, while they set about building a Quay society which would be in no danger of ever splitting ever again, which would focus inward, would value rebirth over endless forward motion, meaningful living rather than eternal progress... While they did this, the Lost would scour the Earth, erasing the past and setting the stage for their eternity. While the Quay, in their homeland, began again the endless passing of generations, the Lost would engineer the first creatures of the Second Life, starting anew the process of evolution, this time with a definite goal. The Quay have made and remade their deep-searching society; the Lost have made and controlled our present day world.

Thus stands our time.

Continues in parts two and three.

-lelandpaul