{"sf1_id":812592,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Revelations - The Setting","author":"IndigoNeko","words":886,"posted_at":"2015-01-28T07:39:00.000Z","tags":["IndigoNeko","Revelations","setting"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/812592-revelations-the-setting","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/812592","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=812592\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nThe\nsetting of Revelations is in almost all respects identical to that of\nreal-world Earth...with the exception that the rise of sentience was\ntriggered by a megavirus that spread across the globe after a meteor\nlanded in Xiuyan, China more than 50,000 years ago. The airborne\nversion of the virus (Pandarovirus anthrosapiens) had a 50% infection\nrate and a 95% fatality rate, and caused infected vertibrates during\npre-pubescent growth to develop more or less humanoid physiques.\nThere's still great variance in size depending upon the base\nvertibrate species. As a side note, the virus was successful in\ninfecting approximately 0.00001% of invertibrate multicellular\nlife...and as such there are some species of anthropomorphic insects\nand arachnids which typically live in hot, humid climates. Small\nanimals such as mice and birds are typically 4-5.5 feet tall and\nweigh as little as 40 lbs, whereas large animals such as elephants\nand whales stand between 6.5-8 feet and weigh as much as 1000 lbs.\nAquatic life-forms that were infected generally live in seaside\ncities, or on small floating and submerged cities that dot the oceans\nand lakes of the world. Because the airborne virus had such a low\ninfection rate, the vast majority of the uninfected species still\nexist in their 'feral' or 'unevolved' form.\nWhile\nthe airborne variant of the virus died off nearly 40,000 years ago,\nit has thrived as a sexually transmitted disease (100% infection rate\nmale to female, 25% infection rate female to male). While, the virus\nis usually (95%) fatal to those that are infected after birth, it's\npossible for an feral animal to father evolved offspring on a evolved\nmother, though such a thing is highly taboo (and illegal). Among\ninfected 'evolved' species, the virus only sometimes (~50%) causes\nit's hosts to completely evolve, resulting in many of the base\nspecies traits being partially or completely expressed such as\ndigitigrade limbs, hooves, wings (sometimes in addition to arms),\nmultiple breasts, or seasonal breeding cycles referred to as\n'heritage traits' (or other names depending on region). The virus can\nalso cause partial transexualism (~3.1%) or full hermaphrodism\n(~3.1%). In some very rare cases (~0.8%), the virus completely fails\nto express the anthropomorphizing gene sequences, resulting in\nnon-anthropomorphic intelligent animals called 'throwbacks'. Another\nsmall fraction (~0.8%) may fail to develop sentience and were\nhistorically called 'brutes', functioning at about the same level as\na 3 year old. All these minority groups were historically\ndiscriminated against and/or taken advantage of. Now brutes and\nthrowbacks are referred to as mentally or physically disabled, though\nmost people still use the non-P.C. terms or worse.\nOviparous\nspecies sometimes still lay eggs, though this is always the result of\nheritage traits in the mother's reproductive system. There is also a\ntrend among snakes to fail to develop legs, though this almost never\ninhibits their mobility. Because of the viruses aggressive\nchromosomal normalization (to exactly 23 pairs of chromosomes), many\ncross-species hybrids are possible that would normally be impossible,\nthough unusual hybrids (e.g. reptile/mammal) are extremely rare and\nusually sterile. There are even (unconfirmed) reports of hybrid\ninsect/mammal hybrids throughout history. One of the side effects of\nthe virus is a greatly reduced fertility rate. As such, prophylactics\nand other anti-pregnancy measures are considered just an extra\nprecaution against a rare occurrence. Pregnancy is almost always\ncause for celebration, usually on par with a wedding. Rates for\nidentical twins are about the same, though rates of fraternal twins\nare about half. Sexual education includes methods of enhancing\nfertility and optimizing chances of pregnancy as well as preventative\nmeasures.\nSociety\notherwise developed much the same as Earth did. Historically, Large,\naggressive predators tended to become the ruling and warrior classes.\nLarge docile herbivores tended to be used as laborers and slaves. In\nancient civilizations, species closely dictated social status, and\nstill do in many of the southern and eastern asian cultures. In\nnorthern europe following the fall of the Roman empire, much of the\nupper class was dominated by canines and during a period of about 400\nyears developed info several dozen bloodlines that very closely mimic\nthose of modern earth dog breeds. Some of the old families still\ngreatly value pure-blood marriages, especially in the upper class.\nRates of vegetarianism are much, much higher (as much as 50% of the\npopulation) due to the prevalence of herbivorous base species and\nethical/moral concerns, though all 'evolved' species are technically\nomnivorous. Most of the real-world discrimination based upon gender\nor race translates into species-based discrimination...though\nreligious discrimination is not unheard of. Additionally, there is\nstill discrimination against minority groups such as transsexuals,\nhermaphrodites, throwbacks, and brutes, though modern disability,\nhousing, and employment laws to some degree protect them.\nMany\nreligions have recently begun to adopt the position that the\nmegavirus (only discovered in the past two hundred years) is the work\nof God, due to it's impossibly complex nature compared to all other\nknown viruses, and such theories are rapidly replacing the long-held\nideologies of creationism. Some religions (e.g. Scientology) have\neven asserted that the virus is actually the work of an advanced\nalien lifeform 'creator' race. Most scientists have adopted the\nposition that the virus was transplanted through meteoric activity\nfrom another world, though nobody has as yet traced the virus to the\nXiayun meteor...if what landed there was a meteor at all."}