The LARP takes place in the post apocaliptic, tribal setting. There is no chrom, V8 cultists are long gone. In the world of Edinu most of the signs of our civilization vanished. There is no technology, only nature. Paper burned but clay survived. People found relics of prehistoric civilizations and cultures. They turned into old gods and rituals. They lived in separation for hundreds of years. Now they found themselves again, they met in Edinu. And they need to learn how to live together again.
EDINU CHRONICLES
The Apocalypse
The old world has ended, the sophisticated civilization of our ancestors has collapsed. It ended rapidly in death and ruin. No one remembers now what caused the Apocalypse. Climate change? Mass migration? Artificial intelligence rebellion? Global internet dump? The cause is unimportant as we know the effect: the global system of information disappeared, everything people knew was gone.
The books were burned, the technologies forgotten. People were left helpless and disorientated in post-apocalyptic world as hunter-gatherers of ancient times. Those who survived grew wild and primitive. They gathered in tribes. They marched on and on, in search of a place to start from anew.
The First Migration
It was many generations after the Apocalypse that first tribes appeared on the territory of Edinu. Those people were desperate, hungry and tired. Only few of them reached the place, many didn’t make the way.
Some people say that the land of Edinu was promised to them in a prophetic vision. Some say that it was a mere accident, as they’ve been wandering blindly in search of any temporary shelter. Probably both are right.
Edinu was a land of plenty that looked like a paradise to the desperate wanderers. Rich soil to cultivate, fruit trees providing food, fresh water to to drink and irrigate the fields… even some pre-constructed shelters from the older times.
Be it accident or destiny, the three tribes – Yamnaya, Uruk, Maykop – have reached this paradise from different parts of the world at almost the same moment. They didn’t know each other’s language and grew afraid and distrustful. The paradise was proved to be yet another challenge.
The First Migration was an intense inter-cultural clash of the settlers of this post-apocalyptic world. The resources available on the land were enough for everybody, but no effective system of sharing them was invented and eventually some people were hungry while the others had too much and produced a lot of waste.
The first day was a mixture of war and peace, battles and love affairs, mutual learning and distrust, joint labour and food stealing (witnesses report that it was a young Maykop woman stealing a jar of salad from Uruk that started a bloody conflict that led to many casualties).
The second day seemed to bring peace and solution. The first united festival – Edinalia – was conducted on this land. “Pax Edinu” was established for this this day, meaning that no aggression should take place. Members of different tribes started to imagine themselves as members of one nation that can peacefully occupy Edinu and share its resources.
The third day was an unexpected turn-over. Uruk and Yamanya almost joined in a ritual marriage between the tribes’ leaders, while the people of Maykop disintegrated into few separate sub-tribes which caused turmoil in the whole land. A gathering of all tribes was conducted and the idea of a unified political system was being discussed, when a new wave of violence came…
There was no external threat to the settlers, yet they couldn’t find a satisfying solution to their internal conflicts. The society thus created was unstable and eventually people left Edinu, in search of another promised land to start their life from anew.
Only a handful of people decided to stay and tried to subdue this land to their dreams. They survived. They managed. They have never left Edinu anymore, as the land satisfied them. They are grateful to the Land and sworn to protect it.
They are called THE GUILD. They had decided to set the rules for Edinu in case of any further migration happen. They are the masters of this place, they control the flow of resources and the fundamental rules of living in Edinu. It is their right because they have been here first.
The Second Migration
Many years have passed until a second migration happened. Edinu was once more occupied with people of Yamnaya, Uruk and Maykop. This time the migrants have been better prepared for complex inter-cultural negotiations. The Guild was already well established on the place. The weather was supportive and the resources were widely available.
The second wave of migrants managed to establish a system of communication and distribution of resources that proved enough to survive. Though it was far from perfect. While massive food supplies were available on the land, the settlers still didn’t manage to share them equally and many people suffered hunger during the first days. But there were many more inequalities. The Urukians have arrived first on the place and thus they claimed all of the yurts (that could have hosted all the tribes in one place) for themselves. Fences were built and arguments of longer sword were used. Other tribes were forced to camp in the forest, where it was cold and dangerous during the night.
During the second day of the Second Migration, an unexpected military raid happened from outside. This was a total surprise to everyone, especially to The Guild, which was so established on the pace that didn’t expect anything so wild to happen. A bunch of well-armed mutants have appeared out from nowhere, attacked and heavily wounded many on Maykop tribesmen. Yamnayas have hidden deep in the forest, waiting for the outcome of the battle. Urukians have bravely stood their ground. Due to a wise use of fences, they managed to keep the attackers at bay, wounding one of them and taking him hostage. Unfortunately, the hostage proved to be aggressive and untrustworthy and was eventually killed during the interrogation before revealing the identity of the aggressors.
The threat of external danger happened to be surprisingly stimulating to the migrants of Edinu. Cooperation between the tribes started, empowered by few inter-tribal marriages. Some kind of a united defence system was created under the leadership of Uruk. It has not been tested though, as second invasion have not happened yet. A pompous festival was organized, which established the Edinalia as a new tradition in this land. This festival is remembered until now for ferocious fights on The Arena (freshly constructed). The fights were supervised by the Guild’s Master of Arms – no participant died during the combat, although few were seriously wounded and required extra medicaments to get back to the living. The wise and sarcastic members of the Guild have noted, that this way of detouring violence into controlled areas was a cornerstone of a civilization that may actually prosper in Edinu.
The third day of the Second Migration was crucial to for the establishment of a long-term agreement between Yamnaya, Uruk and Maykop people. The Guild decided to give the political power to the tribes and let them decide on their own about the future of Edinu. After long negotiations and many political speeches, a kind of common election was conducted. This could have been the beginning of a stable, united political system of Edinu country. Unfortunately, majority of the participants were distracted by a controversial robbery affair…
Since few days, many important objects and artifacts were missing. Various tribes have been accusing each other, even some blood have been spilled. An investigation carried by the members of The Guild uncovered the matter. There was a single thief – a young boy from Maykop, called Paddington. He was found guilty of stealing most of the stuff. He hid the stolen things in the forest in a secret hole in the ground – “just for fun and to stir the things up” – he confessed during the interrogation.
Many people, distracted by the affair, were not present during the voting. Yet, the election was conducted successfully and a single ruler was chosen to guide all people of Edinu into a better future. A council of three advisors (one from each tribe) was chosen in order to keep balance between the tribes. Among few candidates, a female warrior from the Uruk tribe was chosen as the Queen of Edinu. This decision made her the most powerful person in the land, able to maintain peace and order – or to ruin everything and bring chaos once more to the place…
The first political decision of the Queen was to publicly and cruelly execute Paddington. Thus began her bloody reign. Some people were satisfied (“order is above justice”, they argue), others called her an usurper. For better and for worse, this is how the Second Migration ended. A kind of semi-stable peace was introduced and the migrants decided to stay this time. A permanent settlement was finally established in Edinu.
The Third Migration
Long years have passed since the last turmoils. Edinu was held in peace by the Urukian Queen. Those who opposed were cast out. The territory was safe – there were enough guards to keep mutants at bay. Resources were enough – nobody died of hunger. And then one day, without any prior notice, the Queen has abandoned Edinu, just left anonymously with a group of merchants. Another ruler was chosen. Under his reign, Edinu prospered. Uruk became more and more important. The yurts belonged to Uruk only, as well as most of the weapons. Nobody rebelled though.
Until a day came, when a new tribe approached the gates of Edinu. A big turmoil spread. Many people with weapons stood at the gates, reluctant to let the tribe inside. The newcomers we dressing in animal skins, speaking a strange language, they carried a strange smells around them – incense, oils, perfumes. They approached people by touching one’s shoulder with their foreheads. This was weird. But the smell was the worst – nobody, except the old Hermit, was feeling comfortably having those burning incense around.
The newcomers probably wouldn’t be let inside the gates – was it not for internal conflicts between the Edinu tribes. Urukian warriors we busy quarelling with Maykopian engineers about a piece of field, while Yamanyas opened the gates and introduced a welcoming singing ritual. Once they were inside, something had to be done. They were led into a provisionally built “waiting zone”, where they spent the first day with no food and little water to drink. Uruk took the supervision for the safety of Edinu that night – nobody was attacked by the migrants (later it was discovered that they carried no weapons with them).
The tribes of Edinu were divided once again. The migrants were eventually allowed into the main territory, but they had no permanent shelter and none of the tribes wanted to share its infrastructure. In this moment, the old Urukian Queen came back secretly to Edinu, under a false identity of a lost child of one of the Yamnaya woman. Somehow she got acquainted with mystical arts and performed a bloody ritual with Urukian Priest. They were about to summon a demon of fire (or a “white bird”, as she called a vision from her dreams) that would cause some random aggression among all people. The ritual was stopped by other tribesmen, but the aggression spread out anyway. So many people we killed or wounded, bandages, healing potions were all gone. The king of Uruk have driven mad and eventually died of wounds that he had taken without feeling them. At the last moment before the collapse of all Edinu, the Guild decided to act.
Disarmed, people of Edinu came back to their senses. On the next day, the High Council of Edinu was established. It consists of three decisive members (one from Maykop, Uruk and Yamnaya) and two advisory members (from Shanidar and from The Guild). To trouble-makers were judged and received punishment – the Shanidar Shaman was expelled, while the others agreed to perform unpaid labour for the society for the next couple of years. An inter-tribal system of guards had been established and the weapons were distributed to its members. Even the yearly festival of Edinalia was held, it was spectacular, although dedicated mostly to fighting and fencing competitions (easy to understand in those uneasy times).
The last moment recorded in the Edinu Chronicles is the epic battle with the mutants. As everybody knows, there are mutants dwelling in the Wilderness around Edinu, armed with heavy weapons, deadly aggressive and not talkative at all. They happen to attack merchants and lonely travellers who are foolish enough to wander astray from the civilized zone of Edinu. Sometimes, they appear inside the Edinu territory in a battle frenzy to steal, rape and kill. This time it was almost another Apocalypse! The fields were heavy with corpses lying around. Swords were broken, axes blunted, potions spilled. At the last stand beside the Urukian gates, the mutant were held back and destroyed. None was taken alive, so the reason for their attack still remains a mystery. Yet, the people of Edinu (at least some of them) managed to survive. The Chronicles stop here. What happens next, will be a part of the next chapter, perhaps written by another scribe after many years to come.
The Fourth Migration
A generation had passed since the Shanidar people came to Edinu. They got accepted, but were treated as a minor group of lower status, performing unpaid labour on the fields. It was called “the contribution”. This social structure was unfair, perhaps, but it was the first step of integrating the newcomers into the local society. When the Fourth Migration came, it was constituted mostly of the Shanidar people. They were not imprisoned nor interrogated, instead, they were allowed to pass the gates of Edinu, walk freely around and settle down among their relatives.
The winter was coming at that time. The old tribes – Maykop, Uruk, Yamnaya – had moved their tents close to the Guild’s yurt (and to the Bar), where living conditions were the easiest. Only the Shanidar people were still living away from the center, at the edge of the forest and the fields. The newcomers joined their establishment and shared their conditions.
These days were full of action, although no open battle happened between the tribes. People plotted with and against each other, made promises and cheated, fell in love and betrayed. As it has been revealed afterwards, the main plots were leaded by two characters: Melok, the Maykop Old Engineer and Nyx, a young Urukian warrior.
The mutants were still around during the Fourth Migration, but in smaller numbers than years ago. However, one battle deserves a special note. Alistar, the Uruk General, was captured by the mutants after the construction of the Wall, taken to their hidden base outside Edinu and brutally tortured. A group of soldiers organized a night rescue expedition, which was ambushed on the Bridge (far away outside the gates) and slaughtered with no mercy. Some of them, though, proved themselves strong enough to survive, slay some of the aggressors and drive the others out to the forest. Alistar was carried back to Edinu, but died from fatal wounds during the night. The memories of him and the Heroes of the Bridge passed to songs that will last forever.Having come close to the last years of his life, the Old Engineer decided to finally take the risk to fulfill his dreams of a unified, rational, technology-driven country of Edinu. Feelings of unrest raised by the new migration constituted a positive setting for his actions. After the first day of the tribes stealing the fields from each other (which led to less food produced in total), the Council of Edinu agreed to his ground-breaking proposition: the fields and production were totally entrusted to the care of Maykop, the army and blacksmithing to Uruk, healing and herbalism matters – to Yamnaya.
Food was distributed not by the Guild anymore, but by the Maykop people (the distribution appeared to be almost equal). The economics of Edinu prospered. A training ground was also constructed, where members of all tribes could share skills with each other. There seemed to be no barriers, no limits to the rapid technological revolution. Before the day was over, a wall surrounding the whole winter-settlement was raised as a joint accomplishment of workers from all the tribes (Shanidar mostly). The Wall was constructed well enough to protect the people living inside against any external attacks (provided that there is a guard at the gate). Yet, it didn’t cover all the territory of Edinu. The Shanidar settlement appeared to be outside of the Wall, thus arousing the revolutionary spirits among the migrants even higher. Was it according to the Old Man’s initial plans or against them – nobody knows, as he died of old age just few hours later. His last words were “I am glad”.Since the beginning of the Fourth Migration, rumours and whispers were spreading of a secret illegal organization operating in Edinu, constituted of members of each tribes. Private investigations were carried on, double (or even triple) agents appeared. This is where Nyx took the shaping of modern Edinu to his hands. This 19-year old warrior of the Uruk tribe acted as the double mafia agent. Thanks to his trickstery mind and to the economic support from the Guild, he managed to spot most of the prominent mafia members in Edinu. During the night, when most of the inhabitants were gathered in the Bar, he used poisonous smoke to stun everybody inside. Nobody died, but when people came back to consciousness, some of them were missing. The missing ones woke up in the prison, guarded by Nyx and his friends. Social unrest went to the extreme, families of the captured were demonstrating. After a spectacular but unsuccessful jail-break, a trial was soon undertaken. And then the biggest surprise came…
The mafia leaders claimed to be not criminals, but social liberators. Actually, no witness and no evidence was found. No particular crimes were reported. The suspects called themselves “The Family”. They refused the word “mafia” to be labeled on them. Moreover, them claimed it to be Guild’s propaganda and manipulation. Accusations were exchanged both-ways, leading to a surprising situation that the suspects were released free while the Guild’s authority decreased in the people’ eyes.
The document of Edinu Constitution was written later that day by the previous King of Uruk (who had by then resigned from this position to join the Shanidar tribe). It was officially voted for and acclaimed by the most of the society. Shanidars, despite their unfortunate position outside the wall, were present. 8 Senators were elected to vote and decided about the inter-tribal law and taxation system in Edinu. No need to mention, The Family constituted most of them. In addition, a Councillor (Basted – the Yamnaya Chieftess) was elected to supervise and facilitate their meetings.
On this time, another group of the Shanidars, exceptionally wild and religiously furious, arrived at the gates, but this couldn’t stop the upcoming changes. After some time of exceptionally abusive culture-clash, the process of integration grabbed them as well. Edinu entered a new era, optimistically acclaimed as “The Republic”. Was it a triumph of the Family against the political supremacy of the Guild or was it actually the Guild pulling just another hidden strings – it is too early for a historian to announce his opinion.One final touch. The Chronicler should not indulge himself in affectional parts of the story, but in this case he decided that the love affair cannot be clearly separated from the facts.
The idea of a unified pan-Edinu was born in the head of a trickster Nyx after his courtship was rejected by Basted. Both loved each other to death, but the tribal ways were clear about this matter: a joyful night at Yamnaya ceremony is always welcome, but a marriage – definitely impossible. If the tribes will not allow to marry his love, well, let’s bring down the very system that divides people into tribes.
Was there a happy ending? You couldn’t be more wrong. The woman declined when asked officially. Tried to change her mind later, but too late – Nyx drank poison while others celebrated, with his mind clouded with despair he attacked and killed innocent people just after the major decisions were finally made.
And thus the Fourth Migration ended – with blood spilled upon the celebration of the new Republic. Is it a forecast of upcoming chaos that would consume the new system? Or maybe this blood is was a ritual sacrifice in the eyes of the old gods, performed to strengthen its foundations for the centuries to come? The Chronicler decides to leave this question open.