Tag: NAM Tour

Welcome to Animos City

Posted on by The ZIGZAG All-Stars

A City Shrouded in Mystery

Converted: 36 After Launch

Animos City is a sensory blast of people and culture. While the densely packed urban landscape is a wash of neon colors and skyscrapers, it’s the people that capture the eye: to preserve their strict sense of community-run democracy and free exchange of information, Animos citizens sport a cutting edge fashion sense, portraying their individuality through the masks that conceal their faces.

Animos rose from the ashes of a totalitarian regime. Under the repressive rule of Emperor Kush Chernova, a group of people rallied a resistance and reclaimed their freedom in the ‘Animos Liberation’. With the tyrant’s political purges seared into their minds, the newly freed people took to hiding their identities from any who would target them. The anonymous crypto lifestyle was born. Animos was built on top of that foundation, and now only the famous Library preserves the historical record, protecting the mistakes of the past to safeguard the future.

Because of the impersonal feel, the culture that built up can be harsh and direct. To keep from a centralized authority, members of the community banded together to form the Enforcer’s watch group, with the imposingly large Commander the central figurehead, his thick helmet and reflective visor connected by five thick bolts. Their successes are regularly featured on Animos’ ‘RSS News’ program, the network Anchor’s visage beamed against hundreds of surfaces every night. Animos was a gruff but peaceful city.

That was until Vikky Relay, co-owner of the industrial tech giant Circuit Breaker Manufacturing, was found dead and her husband Tommy at large. Now, with the economy suffering and crime spiking, only a few can see the city’s silent screams, painted across every steel beam, over every glass sheet. And amid this rising chaos, someone new steps onto Animos City’s turf, wielding a metal baseball bat with the numbers ‘.357’ sprayed in runny red ink.

The North American Motherboard

Posted on by The ZIGZAG All-Stars

Welcome To The Configurable Techno Union

There is no place in the world like the North American Motherboard. Spanning the entirety of the continent is a collection of individually governed lands, all part of a larger network, guaranteeing flexibility but ensuring a basic cohesion. Since its launch, the land has fostered unparalleled creativity and rapid growth. The establishment of the NAM ushered the After Launch period human history.

The NAM’s secret lies in the distribution of ZetaPorts across the continent, massive nodes housing advanced technology installed directly into the Earth’s crust that allows lease holders to create societies as varied as their imagination. Over the years, cities popped up all over the map, from the respected Diamond Kingdom to the barbaric Hammer Valley, from the beautiful Blackletter Coast to the mysterious Animos City. By utilizing the port’s natively running Zeta Operating System, leaders can provide their people with unique civilizations, and endless opportunities.

But despite their widespread and unquestioned use, few know anything about the nature of the North American Motherboard, including how ZetaPorts are powered, why some sit abandoned, or who laid the foundation. For now, only rumors persist, and most information remains unverified. What’s heard is brushed off as conspiracy theory, but the few who dare to speak out always seem to start from the same place: The Electron Gods walk the land. Each decides when to reveal themselves, and how.

The Diamond Kingdom

Posted on by The ZIGZAG All-Stars

A Monarchy Awash in Neon

noodles-conceptConnected: 30 After Launch

The neon purple beam shooting from the Diamond Castle is visible for dozens of miles outside the kingdom’s border, casting royal Light over all within. It was a reassuring reminder of the Diamond Family’s warmth and wisdom.

The Diamond Kingdom was designed to give its people the freedom to pursue their dreams. From the rich farmland to the concrete suburbs to the steel-beamed high rises, the kingdom was able to sustain its land and retain its lease on the North American Motherboard.

The Kingdom’s culture is varied and ample, where people could buy a steaming bowl of ramen from Noodles’ mobile stand, take classes at the prestigious university, and cheer on the Diamond Cutters at the stadium. With opportunity came wealth, and happiness followed. But turmoil seeped from below. Nobody knows for sure when the switch was flipped and neighbors went to war.

Built on a robust social networking suite, the kingdom’s citizens freelyknight-concept exchange information, commenting on the news, and engaging in open debate free of reprisal. Their chatter is constant and quick, the public’s mood ebbing and flowing in real-time for all to see. But with all the openness, you never really know who is listening, or who knows what.

To ensure that the law is upheld, the military was divided into two branches: the Diamond Knights to protect the people, and the Royal Guards who protect those that serve them. And at their breasts the badges that show their rank, and communicate their division.

But things changed when Drake, celebrated leader of the Diamond Knights, turned his sword towards the man that gave him his title. Now, with the land on edge and loyalties split, the young Princess Alexandria Diamond charges toward an unknown future.

*Concept art by Christine Chan