Archives of Dis

What is Dis:

• Dis is a plane that is sandwiched between the mortal plane and hell. It has earth’s landscape and physics, but is inhabited mostly by demons, devils and fiends that are strong enough to push their way out of hell and get caught up in this world on their way to the mortal plane.
  
• A giant worm called the Strygan roams through planes in a cycle, leaving behind temporary ‘worm holes’ in its wake. If anything is swallowed up vy the worm it spits up an exact copy of what it ate in the next dimension on it’s travels.
  
• In 1680, the city of Rome and 100 miles of surrounding area was copied into Dis by the Striggan as well as its populace.
  

Inhabitants of Dis:

• Humans- Self explanatory. Most are peasants, some are with the church.
  Demons- All sorts of devilish creatures can be in Dis
  Reavers- Reavers are a race of necromantic constructs made from human children killed by demons. They retain their human emotions and feelings, however they are inoculated against demons and are naturally inclined to fight against them.
  

Dis Society:

• -Dis is a catholic theocracy run entirely from the vatican Rome and Vatican City are no longer separate and the pope is essentially the king of Dis.
  Nobility is composed of people ordained by the church. They are land owners and are  wealthy. Being ordained by the pope is a trait that passes from father to son like a nobility title so the theocracy begins to resemble a feudalistic system.
  
• Inquisitors are human soldiers who, rather than fight demons, they deal with the more human aspect. They can be seen as a kind of ‘moral police’, ensuring that all of Dis’s good people stay on the path set out by the church. They enforce the rule of the pope and of the religion. Inquisitors are also pivotal in enforcing the rules on reavers and punishing them swiftly when one steps out of line.  
  
• Reavers are seen as necessary abominations. Although at the time of their creation they were considered superheroes, their reputation has been tarnished by the church over time and they have now been reduced to a slave race who is forced to fight for humans. Many tactics are applied to keep the reavers in line, most of which play on the fact that reavers have a natural aversion to harming humans. They treat them as sinful creatures and even the regular people of Dis do not like them much.
  

Notable locations:

• Rome- Capitol city in Dis, the most heavily defended and religious center as the vatican city has been enveloped by Rome. All government is run from Rome.
  
• The boneyard- A vast expanse outside of Dis where all reavers are created
  
• Cappella Sistina- The sistine chapel, considered the palace of the pope. In it’s catacombs the full and unabridged history of Dis is stored away from the public as well as the prior renditions of the bible that have been changed over time to support the way of life in Dis. The catacombs also hold records of every reaver ever created with their birth names, their birth locations, death dates and a few other details.
  
• The Ash District- The ash district is an area of Rome where Reavers who are not compliant will find themselves. There are many pyres were public executions via burning take place. It gets it’s name from the fine coat of ash from the burning reavers coats the bricks of the road.
  
• Terni- A city in the northern area of the papacy’s control.It hugs a massive lake, of which the waters are used to irrigate surrounding fields. The city became the locations of one of the largest sieges recently, in which a few hundred reavers defended against massive demon forces and won.
  

Notable People-

• Fiora Del Rosso- The witch who created the first reaver. She was imprisoned for witchcraft and was set to be burned before the conversion. Afterwards she created the first reaver using The Devil’s bible and taught other witches how to do so as well.
  
• Dam’ien Bao-lin- The first successful reaver ever created. 500 years later survives execution under seemingly miraculous circumstances and leads a revolt against the humans.
  
• Sa’rai Osgho’l- A reaver who is partly responsible for the defense of Dis. She was the first reaver to survive an execution and returned to Terni, choosing to defend it anyway even though humanity tried to kill her. The tale is becoming a folk lore amongst the reavers, only a handful of which actually believe as Sa’rai disappeared immediately after, yet to be seen nor heard from again.
  
• Pope Clement Paul III- Current pope of Rome. His father before him was pope as was his father before him. It is unclear to the general public how long the family has been in power, however it is likely for the vasty majority of Dis. The current Pope has two sons and a daughter.
  
• Emelio Medici- Eldest son of the pope. He is often at his elderly father’s side learning how to fill his father’s shoes.
  
• Fabio Medici-  Youngest child and the source of the papacy’s shame. He was supposed to be grand inquisitor, however his wretched lifestyle forced Pope Clement to give the role to his daughter. The papacy has had to shed plenty of blood and spread loads of propaganda to shield itself from the embarrassment of his whoring, alcoholism and uncouth public behavior.
  
• Agnes Medici- The popes Daughter, the middle child. An intelligent woman following her faith with such zeal she jumped at the opportunity to become a grand inquisitor. She appears to be a simple nun, however when met with sinners she becomes brutal and ruthless, seeking out sin wherever it may be and punishing all who break the commandments, save for her idiodic brother. Many innocent prostitutes, drinking companions and dretches have died by her hand to cover for her brothers awful behavior. She holds her brother’s acts in much disdain, however, there is not much she can do other than clean up behind him.
  

Role of the reavers:

• Reavers are a slave race, they protect humanity, yet are subject to brutal punishments for breaking social norms regarding their degraded status.
  
• Reavers are expected to be emotionless and fearless, told from spawn that they do not have emotions and if they do, they are considered defective and will be disposed of. All reavers feel, but they will never admit it for fear of being reported.
  
• They are never off the clock and can be deployed anywhere at any time
  
• They are typically not allowed in establishments such as bars, churches, inns or homes unless there for a purpose involving killing demons
  
• Very few humans don’t at least begrudgingly tolerate their existence, those few exceptions are encouraged to hide their fondness through fear of inquisitors.
  
• All reavers are expected to remain celibate. In order to enforce this, the lie of a tiefling has been sold to all of them. They truly believe that the child of a reaver is a horrific creature that would destroy thousands before being able to be put down. And no reaver wants to curse themselves with this. In reality, Reavers are all sterile.
  
• There is a hierarchy system:
  A white cloak has survived 100 years. They are elites and have some degree of respect. They can speak a bit freer, are allowed in some bars and establishments and are considered almost human. They get their name from the white cloak they are gifted by the church.
  
  A black cloak has survived 25 years. They are considered adept enough to be sent into more dangerous missions, but they don’t gain any social benefits. Their main role is to try to lead units of fledglings in a seige and keep as many of them alive as possible.
  
  Fledglings are under 25 and have no cloaks. They are considered cannon fodder and die in droves. The average lifespan of a reaver is 2 years due to the nature of early deployments.
  

Vocabulary:

• Bishop-  The next step down from the pope, often tasked with ensuring all of his country are informed of any changes or decrees. They are also responsible for collecting tithe or taxes.
  
• Black cloak- Reaver with 25 years of experience.
  
• Clergy- Blanket term for anyone in a position of authority ordained by the church
  
• Fledgling- Cloakless Reaver. Cannon fodder.
  
• Hell Touched- A term Dis uses for metahumans. Metahumans are considered sinful and are hunted down by inquisitors and destroyed.
  
• Inquisitor- Human law enforcement. They enforce laws both moral and civil and are judge jury and executioner in most situations.
  
• Magnus Pinguis Damnia- Largest Ballista in Dis. Nicknamed ‘big fat bitch’ in reaver tongue. Currently mounted to Terni’s walls but is usually in Rome.
  
• Nuns- Nuns in Dis are not like the nuns in the mortal plane. They are girls often orphaned or abandoned but are coincidentally too old to be reavers. They are trained in medicine and are akin to doctors. An Abby is essentially a hospital.
  They can also exert some form of control over their cities like a governor.
  
• Tiefling- A myth that all reavers are told is the result of conception by a reaver. The goal of the tiefling lie was to keep reavers celebate.
  
• Tithe- any money given to the church.Tithe can come in the form of Taxes paid by those within a city, as well as from nobility as they have the right to vote on decisions so long as they pay for a say in the decision, which is quite expensive.
  
• White Cloak- Reaver with 100 years of experience.
  

Fun facts;
Since the date of the conversion was 1680, the ceiling of the sistine chapel is unpainted as it happened between the time the chapel was built and when Michelangelo painted it.

There is currently a conspiracy that the church is intentionally allowing cities to fall and then feeding children to demons in order to make more reavers. This plot was uncovered in the thread The Hellhole That is Home.

The Ash order is a new faction that is quickly rising in Dis… stay tuned to learn more.