Lore drifters

To speak of subcultures in Ofermod is misleading. Earth of the 25th century is such a tapestry of social bubbles that the very idea of a common culture has dissolved. The Human diaspora is at once massively interconnected by economic and political structures and completely atomized in terms of identity, belonging, and sensibilities. In this sense, we could equally say that there exists only subcultures in that world, or that there are none at all. Inequalities are massive. Wealth is concentrated to an unprecedented extent. But the elites have mostly disappeared from public view. Whereas in earlier centuries images of monarchs, leaders, tycoons, sports and performing arts superstars, or simply famous "personalities" of no particular accomplishment saturated the mediasphere, the world has evolved into what one might call a collection of niche markets and echo chambers. The super-rich, such as the corridori, exist in a parallel universe that would make absolutely no sense to the non-initiated. Their confrontations have massive consequences for the rest of humanity, but the reasons underlying the famines they cause, the religious uprisings they engineer, the city-block they raze, or the disease they spread are completely opaque to those outside their circle. If one seeks anything that might resemble a "core" culture to the world of Ofermod, perhaps it could be sampled at the annual auction of Capraria, during a brief week when the Sirakoth-seeking puppet masters briefly come together to trade toys and play mind games with each other. But apart from that ephemeral, chaotic summit of the insatiables, any subsisting notion of a common notion of hegemonic world culture can only be rendered by the image of a vase that has been dropped on the floor. Whether it was a pretty vase, a valuable vase, a deformed vase is entirely up for debate. But the fact of the matter is that it has been shattered and will never be put back together again.

Il the elite live in a parallel universe, those of less means live on islands. Of course, they might walk pass one another on the street of one of the world megalopolis, or even live next to one another. But they exist rather like oil and water in a same beaker than as participants in a culture. Most human communities have closed in on themselves and moved out of cities. They now live in their own little utopias... or dystopias, depending on one's point of view regarding their own particular way of doing things.

If there is anything resembling a subculture left in Ofermod, however, it is the Lore Drifters. Although humans have mostly lost their taste for Humanity as a whole, they are nevertheless often curious about the peculiarities of their neighbors. Lore Drifters belong nowhere. They have seen too much to be docile participants in one particular bubble. They know too little of a given community to be considered as fully integrated as some expect. So they move from one social island to the next, knowing that when the novelty of the stories they have to tell wears off, they will be nudged toward the door.

More often than not, Lore Drifters will walk from one settlement to the next. It's cheaper that way, provides a welcome break from the barrage of questions and comments they have to endure to gain their pittance, and above all creates an opportunity to meet other Drifters. Outsiders call it the culture of the Interstice. Drifters do not go as far as to speak of a culture, but they do recognize that a code exists between them. They do not share a language, but can certainly communicate through an highly unstable, polyglotic pidgin that some have called Miksita, the "mixture".

As human worlds diverged from one another, endogamy became stronger and stronger. Few communities had strict coercive rules enforcing it, but each human world became so specific in its tastes, referents, and aspirations that it became harder and harder to develop affinities outside one's own niche. Most people breaking that mold ended up Drifters. With time, the loose cosmopolitan drifter diaspora became sufficiently large to sustain itself and grow into a fluid anarchistic form of solidarity... except in cases where Drifters turned on each other.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Acuben, Anba, Gané, Misi, Oucera, Zhada

Masculine names

Aboje, Ibaca, Skan, Sunon,

Family names

As one would expect, family names among Lore Drifters are as diverse as humanity itself. However, after living in that mode for some time, people tend to abandon surnames altogether. Children born of Drifter parents are only known by one given name.