SSSS Fic ideas [general repository]

[dmeck7755]

Some time ago I was doing research for a story that would happen in Portugal but on the SSSS Universe, and I had fun finding places where survivors could settle. There's a huge number of suitable fortifications! Some are small castles, but there are a few very large ones. Évora is a 50.000 habitants city that has a large system of walls that date as far back as the romans.

Spoiler: show

I imagine that after a few years of cleansing and demolitions (to liberate áreas for agriculture) the central area of Evora, that now houses some 25.000, could be the home of 5 to 10 thousand survivors, that would also cultivate areas outside the walls, returning home for the night.

May I ask where do you live? Just the area/city, no need to write the full adress (postal code included).
Anyway, even on a plain area there's always something... probably a river. If you get a U shaped curve it's only necessary to create a small section of wall to protect that area. And than you also have water supply and some fishing, maybe even aquaculture.
If there's a lake building houses over stilts could also be a solution. There were several villages around the world using that solution. It's particularly good to protect from small critters, infected or not.

I would think Madeira would be a good place  also.  We went there years ago and hiked following the Levadas  (which were awesome BTW)  They are easily maintained.  i think they may still use them somewhat.  Also they have this huge desalination plan on the island .  This was one of the coolest place we visited   I do not remember which trail we did it was about 7km and there was this neat little grotto with a waterfall and little pools to splash in  One of my more lasting memories

[dmeck7755]

Don't you have offshore islands?

Nantucket and Martha's vineyard are hardly empty LOL

But during the winter they have way less people, plus there are lot of little uninhabited islands in ME which would suffice nicely

Castle Island and Deer Island are pretty empty also

[thegreyarea]

I live in central Oklahoma.  I don't have a lot of experience with the sort of river you're thinking of.  Our rivers generally consist of a shallow stream flowing through a lot of sandbars, though they can occasionally turn into a raging torrent.    We do have lakes and reservoirs, but I don't know how long those would persist without maintenance.

Well, I don't have a lot of info on the place, but this one seems nice, even if a bit small...

So you already know where to go when it all starts! Good luck!

(It's quite possible the reason for not being inhabited is the occasional flood... So building over stilts might be a good idea anyway...)

I'll try to find a place for you, dmeck!

[lwise]

Hmm.  I know some people down that way.  Maybe I should visit them and check out my village.

Do you see the sandbars in the river?

[thegreyarea]

I would think Madeira would be a good place  also.  We went there years ago and hiked following the Levadas  (which were awesome BTW)  They are easily maintained.  i think they may still use them somewhat.  Also they have this huge desalination plan on the island .  This was one of the coolest place we visited   I do not remember which trail we did it was about 7km and there was this neat little grotto with a waterfall and little pools to splash in  One of my more lasting memories

Since you liked Madeira so much (and I'm with you on that, it's an amazing place) I believe to have found a good location for your post-rash settlement...
Madeira don't have many "natural fortifications", because the island is basicaly one huge mountain. It's steep, but not enough to prevent trolls from climbing in most places. Unless you manage to keep the whole island clean and safe the best place would be on the Eastern tip of the island (see map below) where you could have two good choke points to fortify (A and B). A would be much better, giving you a small village (to be renamed dmecktown, of course) with a fishing port and some land to plow...


Another good option would be the whole island of Porto Santo. That also has, I believe, a desalination plant, a small hospital, a nice port and even an airport. The Desertas islands aren't a good option becouse they are mostly bare rocks, so one would have to rely just on fishing.

[thegreyarea]

Hmm.  I know some people down that way.  Maybe I should visit them and check out my village.

Do you see the sandbars in the river?

That's one nice idea (and a good excuse for a walk along the river on a nice day   )

And yes, I see them, and can imagine that if it rains a lot that area may very well be flooded. Therefore the suggestion to build over stilts, which is also good as protection for some small critter that might cross the river/fence.

[thegreyarea]

And now for something completely different...

After discussing with our fellow RanVor on the AO3 comments about how young Ensi would learn about magic, I had this idea for an AU story where Ensi learns magic from some dark origin.
Perhaps Tuonetar, the Queen of the Underworld, wife of Tuoni, would show up and teach her...
And then Ensi could (would?) grow and become powerful, maybe even too powerful. Galadriel's test, when she has the opportunity to have the One Ring, is what comes to my mind...

"And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!"

(that was, BTW, one of the most chilling and cool parts of the book and the movie)

That could be a nice starting point. And then, maybe, it would be up to her grandchildren to save Finland from her grandmother...

[NightMareMage]

Going back for a second, for the discussion on what would have killed people early on, I don’t think anyone mentioned health care emergencies or any health condition that is primarily or entirely survivable only if you have access to modern medical care. Also, anything involving pregnancy and birth. So much can go wrong.

As for Ensi with dark magic, I love the idea. Though the LoTR references throw me off.


Edit: It throw me off (confused me) because I am not really familiar with LoTR. I realized that could of come across differently.

[angsttronaut]

Ensi using dark magic would be really interesting; perhaps she ends up a Kade through practising it for long enough? I also wonder if she would end up passing down any of her techniques to Onni and Lalli, and they might end up using some of what they learned to defeat her.

[dmeck7755]

Since you liked Madeira so much (and I'm with you on that, it's an amazing place) I believe to have found a good location for your post-rash settlement...
The Madeira islanda don't have many "natural fortifications", because the island is basicaly one huge mountain. It's steep, but not enough to prevent trolls from climbing in most places. Unless you manage to keep the whole island clean and safe the best place would be on the Eastern tip of the island (see map below) where you could have two good choke points to fortify (A and B). A would be much better, giving you a small village (to be renamed dmecktown, of course) with a fishing port and some land to plow...

Thank you Grey

[thegreyarea]

Going back for a second, for the discussion on what would have killed people early on, I don’t think anyone mentioned health care emergencies or any health condition that is primarily or entirely survivable only if you have access to modern medical care. Also, anything involving pregnancy and birth. So much can go wrong.

Agreed. Particularly in the beginning you would have a lot of old people that suddenly don't have access to the necessary medication and/or health care. Many current conditions (i.e. diabetes, hypertension, etc...) would go completely out of control and kill a lot of people. And the problem would only become a bit less relevant with time because the survivors lives would gradually become shorter. Birth associated deaths would become very common, almost as they were centuries ago.

As for Ensi with dark magic, I love the idea. Though the LoTR references throw me off.

Edit: It thow me off (confused me) because I am not really familiar with LoTR. I realized that could come across differently.

On LoTR Galadriel feels tempted to take the One Ring for herself. She already has one of the three Elven rings, and putting that together with the One Ring would make her very powerful. She could easily defeat Sauron... but she knows that all that power would end up corrupting her.
She would start by imposing peace, but that would gradually turn into submission. Her test is to be able to resist that temptation (and, may I add, also to be able to trust others can succeed in destroying the Ring and avoiding Sauron's victory, instead of taking the matter on her own hands).

[NightMareMage]

Thank you for the explanation.

For medical care, you would also have people dying because of medical emergencies. People being killed by things like accidents, assaults, and animal attacks that would normally be treatable.

Most people would not have extensive medical knowledge, and those who did would rarely have the proper resources.

[angsttronaut]

Mental health issues could also be a massive killer. With the stress of the apocalypse and no therapists or medication, a lot of people could be driven over the edge. Minor incidents like a small cut or wisdom teeth growing in also would have the potential to slowly turn deadly without medical care.

[thegreyarea]

Ensi using dark magic would be really interesting; perhaps she ends up a Kade through practising it for long enough? I also wonder if she would end up passing down any of her techniques to Onni and Lalli, and they might end up using some of what they learned to defeat her.

Yes, maybe that's how a Kade begins, by meddling with rash-related dark magic...
It's easy to see the usual tale where that knowledge begins looking harmless and seductive, allowing more power to the user, and slowly turns into something much darker under influence of personal traits (everybody has a dark side) and/or external influence (the classical Nietzsche quote "if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you"?)

[thegreyarea]

Thank you for the explanation.

For medical care, you would also have people dying because of medical emergencies. People being killed by things like accidents, assaults, and animal attacks that would normally be treatable.

Most people would not have extensive medical knowledge, and those who did would rarely have the proper resources.

You're welcome! I'm glad it was useful.

And I fully agree with the health care part. (more below)

Mental health issues could also be a massive killer. With the stress of the apocalypse and no therapists or medication, a lot of people could be driven over the edge. Minor incidents like a small cut or wisdom teeth growing in also would have the potential to slowly turn deadly without medical care.

That part too. It's easy to foresee a huge increase in suicides in the years after the Rash. Some would be immediate, driven by panic, and others in the following years, when people realized the size of their loss, and eventually gave up hope.

All those health issues, together with famine and conflicts between survivors, would probably end up killing more people than trolls, beasts and the rash itself. (the Four Horseman at full throttle...)
After all what allowed humanity to reach that huge number of 8 billion people (!) is Civilization, and what the Rash does in the SSSS universe is not only to directly kill a large number of people but also to break Civilization.