New Atlantis

Official Name: Atlantian Expedition in the Name and Pleasure of the Eminent Lady Oyalla

Founded: 1884

Form of Government: Theocracy

Head of State: High Priestess Flounderscale

Population Level: Above Average

Society Structure: Urban

Technological Level: Extreme

Background: New Atlantis exists on what was, for millenia, land covered by a massive glacier. Since the mid-1600s explorers set out intent on discovering what, if anything, existed in or around that arctic ice, but for two hundred years most expeditions returned to their home ports empty-handed. The rest did not return at all, lost- presumably- to the vagaries of the sea.

However, in 1849 a Bremen-funded expedition led by Dr. Jonas Brats became the first to report touching down on land and returning. Their findings were not encouraging; the uncovered territory only stretched several dozen yards inland before the glacier sloped down to meet it. The one remarkable aspect was the discovery of human remains, a plethora of deteriorated mining tools, and signs of ground being torn up and packed back down in several places.

The tools became the first point of scrutiny. They were old, too old and numerous for Brats to have found them elsewhere and faked the discovery, but not ancient enough to suggest the remnant of some lost civilization. As for the people, no sign of transport the dead may have used to reach the glacier existed. The general belief became that they were likely survivors of a shipwreck and carried picks and axes onto the lifeboat, or boats, with a mind towards carving out a chunk of land to live on until rescue came. Gouges in the turf were assumed to have been caused by a search for anything edible, such as worms. Questions about the find were endless; the only definite was that whatever rescue those survivors may have waited for never arrived.

For a time, exploration of the glacier's perimeter became a boom business. But for all the funds poured into various such projects, no other stretches of visible land were discovered. By 1860, nations had focused their scientific funds on various steam and electricity-based technologies, leaving only a few small companies and private citizens to continue the search for value in the glacier.

In 1862, a young Bayronite heiress named Juliana Bowler-Meadow funded an excursion on the private ship Fair Seas to the small patch of land, by that time long picked clean of everything besides its frozen dirt. Unlike the vast majority of those funding such expeditions, she insisted on taking the journey herself. It turned out to be a tragic decision, as neither she nor the ship made it home. Investigating the disappearance, those close to her noticed whatever wealth she did not spend on the ship and crew had been left behind, along with all her worldly possessions. All her possessions, that is, save one: an odd little statue the fledgling art collector had recently acquired, as she had so many of her favorite pieces, through one or another of her numerous unsavory connections.

Founding: Only within the last few years have details of New Atlantis' founding come to light. As these are almost entirely derived from traveling Atlantian citizens preaching the glory of their homeland, researchers have had to check these details against independently verifiied data to determine the actual or probable truth. Therefore, much of New Atlantis' "known" history that follows represents best guesses rather than hard fact, and may be subject to change.

The story of New Atlantis' founding always begins with the rise of Her Lady Priestess Sharktooth. This implies that, though recorded as lost, Miss Bowler-Meadow and the Fair Seas did make landfall at the glacier's edge. Since women had just begun serving aboard ships regularly in the mid-1800s, few would have held significant rank anywhere in 1862, and the Fair Seas was no exception. Thus it is unlikely any woman besides Bowler-Meadow, on the Fair Seas or any other ship, would have convinced a mostly male crew to follow her orders.

A second critical, if long mysterious, factor in the beginnings of New Atlantis is something referred to as the "Seabringer". Assumed for years to be a fabricated deity used to control the population, only recently have researchers hypothesized that the "Seabringer" is, in fact, Bowler-Meadow's ill-gotten statue.

It is unclear how the expedition initially survived on such a small patch of land. Though scientists generally estimate the beginning of the Melt at 1862 or 1863, it remains possible the northern glacier had already been eroding for months or years beforehand and freed up more space for Bowler-Meadow's people to set up camps. Atlantian preachers maintain that after landing ("The Arrival"), Sharktooth ventured inland, guded by the Seabringer. They offer no time frame for this; given that no one on Ereth would have considered the glacier's melting possible until it happened, this may well have taken years yet still been attributed to the presence of the statue.

Once the expedition found a way to maintain itself, however, the people began to give themselves over to religious fervor. As more land became uncovered, various discoveries were hailed as gifts from the Eminent Lady Oyalla, a heretofore unknown deity in Erethian lore. Most importantly, alongside various natural resources, this included the unveiling of massive underground caverns where miniature versions of animals similar to ancient dinosaurs survived. At the behest of Sharktooth, certain varieties were slaughtered to the last, but two were kept and allowed to flourish: the rindersaurus, an ox-sized creature used for meat, and microraptors, which became favored pets in the growing society.

Around 1870, acolytes of Sharktooth's "church" returned to civilized society. These infiltrators worked to convince certain valuable individuals- mainly shipwrights- to return with them to the land around the thawing glacier. Atlantian preachers do not acknowledge this; they say all who come to New Atlantis are called by Oyalla into her service, with no mortal shenanigans required. Thus it remains unclear what methods of conversion may have been used. Regardless, a number of notable (and many less-known) ship designers and builders were recruited to New Atlantis during the early 1870s.

The Melt is hailed in Atlantian folklore as the start of the Destined Age for Oyalla's chosen. During this time, endless ships were sent out across the rising oceans; most maintained short routes to and from the shores of northern countries, but a few ventured as far south as Azteka and southern Shenzhen. These missions are described in plentiful detail by Atlantian preachers. Briefly, they were search and rescue efforts designed to save as many people from the rising tides as possible, especially from nations without the capability or wherewithal to thoroughly evacuate their own. As such, most of the rescued were Antonian citizens situated on or near the tundra, northern Busani, or residents of the war-ravaged lands now split amongst the Four Baronies. These efforts proved so successful that, by best estimates, the population of New Atlantis expanded by a factor of twenty between 1876 and 1884.

Most critically to New Atlantis, the rescued were inundated with frequent, albeit peaceful, propagandistic messages about how they were part of the "Saved" or the "Chosen". Given their deliverance from almost certain demise, the great majority were very open to this message and became willing acolytes to Sharktooth and Oyalla. A minority, while appreciative of the rescue, did not accept the religious hierarchy of New Atlantis; even the preachers will generally acknowledge this when pressed, though they do not bring it up themselves. The fate of these skeptics, however, remains clouded.

When the glacier had fully eroded from the landmass in 1884, a celebration was held. Hundreds of kumasauri, raised en masse in preparation for that day, were slaughtered and cooked for a massive feast. Priestess Sharktooth lauded the efforts of her people, and in recognition of what had become the start of a civilization- including the construction of several coastal towns- declared them the true and independent nation of New Atlantis, after the mythical undersea kingdom of old. Sitting upon her dais, she was emblazoned with the first Mark of Oyalla, or fishscale tattoo, to tremendous fanfare. With the Destined Age at hand, the nature of her country's worship began to take on a truer form.

Pre-Melt: N/A

Melt: N/A

Great War: The short period from the official founding of New Atlantis to the start of the Great War marked a significant shift in Atlantian culture. Previously, the worship of Oyalla with Sharktooth as High Priestess and the Seabringer as her marker of power maintained broad connections with other types of Erethian religion, especially in theocratic societies. The clergy maintained power through their roles as intercessors between the people and their goddess, favoring the most loyal and strictly punishing any sign of disbelief. The people were expected to do Oyalla's bidding as interpreted by the priestesses without question, up to and including suicidal tasks. The only significant difference between the Oyallan cult and other religions was the pre-eminence of women in the hierarchy and the subservience of men as laborers and consorts (though lay men and women were given more or less equal treatment).

The public tattooing of Sharktooth, however, sparked a major push towards ostentatious displays of faith. Where a devotion to the oceans and seas had been a general concept, the Oyallan cult was now transfixed with actually becoming more fish-like. The least of the Atlantian citizens wore jewelry and other adornments carved to represent fish or fish heads. Those of slightly better means wore necklaces and earrings hewn from actual fish bones. Among the more devoted lay people, the clergy, and the clergy's servants, permanent markings became the norm. One earned Marks of Oyalla through fervent worship and appropriate behavior; hands and feet were always the first parts of the body to be tattooed, being most readily visible, followed by arms and legs. Chest, back, and facial marks were reserved for high-ranking clergy or lay people deemed especially holy in Oyalla's sight.

New Atlantis' power structure also became more animal-like; or, at least, it evinced a survival-of-the-fittest mindset that had not previously existed. One aspect of the matriarchal priesthood that had been pronounced from the beginning was the importance of motherhood and bearing as many children as possible so as to expand the society's numbers. Though it is unclear if any rule or law existed to this effect, apparently priestesses tended to select a different mate each time they chose to become pregnant (there is no similar reported trend among the lay people; for now it is presumed they maintained methods for pairing up similar to most other Erethian societies).

At the time of the Fair Seas' departure, Juliana Bowler-Meadow was 24 years old. In 1890 she would have celebrated her 52nd birthday. Around this time, when "the seas drank the blood of heretic nations"- a phrase believed to be an allusion to the start of the Great War- the following is said about Priestess Sharktooth: "Young she had not borne for many a year, and her children had reached the age of Teaching; and lo, though she desired to continue working for her people, Oyalla did call her herald beneath the sea to serve forevermore." The "Age of Teaching" in New Atlantis is somewhere between ten and twelve. That would have placed Bowler-Meadow in her early 40s at the time of her last birth. This moment also marks the rise of a new High Priestess known as Angelcod, who "whisked Oyalla's First unto her eternal home". This and other passages indicate either a plot or direct assassination, with the overall tone suggesting a High Priestess loses her influence once her direct child-rearing has ceased. (There are indications this state of affairs exists for other high-ranking priestesses, but not lower ranks or lay women. It may be a sign of ultimate esteem for motherhood, a cynical rationale for removing rivals from power, or a mix of the two.)

Despite the potentially lurid details of Sharktooth's deposal, High Priestess Angelcod did not stray far from her methods. Atlantian ships sailed along the outskirts of battle zones, seeking refugees or survivors from sunken vessels to bring into their fold. Top scientists began vanishing from some of the more advanced societies, including a trio of experimental steam techs from Chiba and a host of Bremen architects. Scout ships and planes were chased off once within a certain distance of the New Atlantis mainland, but since the Atlantians did not interfere with battles and the disappearances still had the flavor of random defections, no nation considered it worth the effort or resources to push back against the Atlantian fleet.

Once the various conflicts drew to a close under the AeroKnights Armistice, the world remembered New Atlantis existed. Some sent emissaries to establish relations and obtain information on how the society had progressed. All such emissaries were turned away; but what they reported from the New Atlantis coast gave world governments cause for concern.

Post-War to Present: By the end of the war, the southern shore of New Atlantis had become an almost unbroken string of ports, shipyards, and airfields. Their architecture resembles all manner of oceanic forms, from buildings twisted into shapes like coral reefs to structures built from the excavated fossils of massive amphibian dinosaurs; after the stretch of buildings tapers off, outposts are regularly seated, keeping the entire coast on watch. However, despite the clear threat at hand if these shipyards and airfields were ever put to full capacity in the aim of going to war, they were but footnotes in the reports of many ambassadors.

Rather, the people themselves became the focus of visitors. By the turn of the century, the body modification trend instituted by Sharktooth and her Marks of Oyalla had expanded. Not only did all but the lowest members of Atlantian society possess some manner of Mark tattoo, several delegations were met by Atlantians with skin-like webbing sewn between their fingers. At least one emissary witnessed a mid-to-high level priestess with two slits on each side of her neck; too precise to be caused by injury, he eventually determined they must have been designed as superficial gills. And on occasion Atlantians referenced a push for "ocean eyes"; sociologists believe this may indicate research into specialized lenses that would at least resemble the eyes of a fish, and possibly offer a similar type of sight.

More militarily troubling is the level of technology exhibited by Atlantian vessels and planes, to the extent they are ever seen. One type of plane is able to cut its engine and glide silently through the air for short stretches, a technology even the Flotilla is still said to be perfecting. Another is essentially a boat in the sky; such is its size that no one has been able to even theorize the power of the engine needed to keep it aloft. Foreign affairs officers the world over have commented on the luck entailed in New Atlantis signing the Armistice, given not only what is know of their capabilities, but the implication of what is not known.

For all their power, however, Atlantian planes have not fared particularly well in the ARI. The first decade saw one team advance beyond the competition's preliminary stage. Recent years have heralded slow improvement in their results; some attribute this to the Atlantians simply lacking experience pilots in the early years, though others point to the rise of High Priestess Flounderscale somewhere between 1908 and 1910 as more noteworthy. Intelligence from New Atlantis, though sparse, indicates the rise of a caste known as Plane Priestesses; this suggests the latter may be true, and that Flounderscale sees more opportunity in ARI success than her predecessor.

No one quite knows what the Atlantians would do with the prize from an ARI victory. For many countries, the greatest threat is that New Atlantis will demand an end to the Armistice and launch a holy war on the rest of the world- one they may be equipped to win. But no one will know for certain until it happens.