A Primer on the World and its Train

All aboard, all aboard! Brace yourself for arrival and departure. The old lady is coming in hot and is three minutes out from our station. If you are booked to use our entry cars, hold on to your handrails, if you're self boarding, please stay clear of the entryways until the ramp has passed you on its way down the station. We can not stop the ramp once its moving, your life is at risk if you get caught by it.

— - at a local Nierovian station.

Welcome to the Rolling Belt!

This article is meant to give you a first impression of this world and its main focus, The Divine Engine. In a minute, we will explain what there is to see, who there is to meet, and what there is to do. Welcome aboard! Take it all in and dont forget to breathe, but make sure to never fall out of your compartment, because the Engine never stops, not even for you.

The World and the Divine Engine

To talk about this world and its many regions is to talk about the Engine, so let us begin there. The Engine is a masterwork of creation that predates all civilisations that exist in the current day and a few that have fallen already as well. It is a train locomotive, which runs along a track, and even the wisest scholars to this day have yet to understand it truly. How it propels itself is a mystery, for it needs no fuel or source of power, nor does it slow down or speed up. Even if they knew how, no one dares to try to stop it, for it may never start up again

... of the Divine Engine

Even as the eons went on, the train stayed as unchanging as it stayed unknowable. The locomotive measures approximately five meters across and is six meters in height and 34 meters in length. Its chassis is oddly fluid as if it had grown alive during the making and the different parts glimmer in all colours metal can reach, ranging from silvers of varying brightness, over coppery reds and golden yellows, into blue- and green-ish hues. As the sun hits the locomotive, it shimmers and reflects in a myriad of directions.

The locomotive runs on a total of sixteen wheels, some of which are only guiding in nature. Behind the locomotive run five cars that are clearly of the same divine make and engineering. People in Nierovia call these five cars "the handmaidens" as they call the locomotive "the old lady". The width between all of the wheels is suprisingly narrow at only 3 meters.

Behind of the Divine Engine stretch an enormous count of additional train cars, which have been added by civilisations over the years. They are called the congregation In contrast to these, not one piece of the Divine Engine has show rust or decay, resisting all that tries to tear it down.

... of its path

The Divine Engine runs on the Divine Path. This set of tracks runs around the entire planet crossing oceans, deserts and hazardous wastes at times. It is an arduous journey for which the Divine Engine needs many months. The Divine Paths tracks are made of the same miraculous material as the Engine itself, are unchanging, unbreakable even.

Along the Divine Path lie a set number of switches in the track. In theory, sufficiently advanced civilisations could create a new part of the network and link it to the Divine Path. No one understands how the switches operate, but they seem to have a mind of their own. The switch knows if there is a track connected to the original (though it does not know if that track is safe for the entire distance) and it will decide on its own if it will divert the Divine Engine of the Divine Path.

Competition for these switches is fierce. If a civilisation can, they will try to control and maintain at least one switch, though few have actually succeeded in adding paths of their own. The reason for this competition even by parties who have no use for the switch is the effect the Divine Engine has on its surroundings.

... of its footsteps

The Divine Engines true purpose has been lost to the ages and even the wisest cannot guess it. However, the Engine still has a noticeable effect on its surroundings. People attribute the change of the seasons to the passing of the Engine, the fall of the rain, even good and bad luck. While many of these are no doubt superstitions, there is an effect beyond any reasonable doubt. The lands surrounding the Divine Path seem more fertile than other stretches of land. Societies advance more readily. Even the weather is more pleasant and manageable on average.

Thus it is no surprise that the civilisations around the Divine Path are the most advanced on the planet. As an uniting term, the lands surrounding the Divine Path are also called The Rolling Belt and all life that truly matters on this world occurs within the rolling belt.

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The tenets of Divinity

Over time, the many civilisations that span the rolling belt have settled on a series of divine tenets to support the use of the Divine Engine for all. While some civilisations are making moves to claim larger influence on the process as a whole, these tenets are unchallenged, for they are divine:

Tenet 1: The Train can never stop
All who partake in the spoils of the rolling belt have a duty to care for the journey of the Divine Engine. Keep the path unimpeded.

Tenet 2: The Train can never slow
Nor can it speed up. If anyone seeks to enter or exit the congregation must attempt it at speed. Any modifications to the congregation must be done while in motion.

Tenet 3: The Train must never derail
See Tenet 1. If a reasonable threat to the safety of the Train becomes apparent, it is the duty and obligation of all aboard and those nearby within the rolling belt to do everything to avoid catastrophe.

Tenet 4: Uncoupling requires a majority consensus
As uncoupling permanent members of the congregation affects all behind and may even cause a conflict with tenets 1 and 3, a consensus to uncouple needs to be reached first. Similarily modifications to members of the congregation require consent by the owners of that partition. Unlawful uncouplings are punishable to the highest degree.

Inhabitants of the Rolling Belt

Humans

Humans hail primarily from the temperate zones near the middle of the Divine Path, the longest distance from either of the calamities. They are hardy and adaptable people, known for their ingenuity in crafting tools and creating solutions for problems, which also create new, more interesting problems along the way. Humans divide themselves by their homeland and the attached civilisations, even if the civilisation is mainly of other sentient species. Human ingenuity is what created the first and in fact most of the cars that make up the congregation. Overall they are bipedal creatures with little hair outside certain areas and come in a variety of different shapes, colors and sizes.

Etherians

Etherians are the strangest of the sentient species out of the bunch. They are roughly humanoid in shape, though it would be hard to tell just by looking at them. The reason for this is the phalaian, their sieve-pelts, which is a thick hairlike fur that covers the entire body of the Etherian and is what allows them to eat and to some extent "breathe". Beneath their phalaian the Etherians are quadrupedal, though all four limbs can both be used to walk or grasp things. At either end of the torso, the Etherian has a headlike appendage on a long neck. Despite common superstitions, this does not mean that Etherians have two heads or personalities, as their brain resides inside the torso.

To use their phalaian effectively, the Etherian must remain in constant motion, which they usually accomplish via a nomadic lifestyle which is enhanced by their ability to glide short distances. Ever since the congregation exists atop the Divine Engine, the main habitat of the Etherians has shifted from their homelands onto the Divine Engine and the congregation. By now the vast majority of Etherians call the Divine Engine their home.

Capricornia

Capricornia, singular form Capricornium, or just Caps for short are the large sentient species that hails from the frigid and often mountainous regions to the far north. They are usually bipedal, but may go down on all six appendages to brace for impacts. The two appendages functioning as their main legs of a cap end in split hooves, while the other four are arms that end in strong clawed hands. A caps body is covered entirely in fur, which is of a greyish brown and grows thicker in winter.

The caps most distinctive feature though are their large horns, growing from the top of their skull, with which they often settle disputes. From this results a natural hierarchy between caps, which incidentally means that they worship the Divine Engine, the reoccuring visitor to their homelands who never lost a single headbutting bout in their memories.

Shapelings

Lastly the Shapelings are a feared species of mischief and grief causers. On the surface they seem to look human, but this apparent similarity goes only skin deep. A shapeling is able to modify their appearance to some minor extent, which they use to blend in with the human population, though they must tread carefully, for they are hunted whenever identified.

Shapelings can mimic speech, but do not comprehend its meaning fully, as their natural communication is non-verbal. They can most easily be identified by the lack of lunula in their finger and toe nails and a lack of a pupillary response.