City of Thamesis

City of Thamesis (or Thamesis for short) is a digital animated series created by Ashram J Pure and produced by Ash Pure Studios Ltd. of Dalston, London. The series is currently in its first act ( [http://www.cityofthamesis.com/|"Volume 0"] ), introducing the main players and concept of the story. The Flash-based series can be viewed for free on the internet.

Story and key concepts

Backstory

Welcome to the city of Thamesis, capital to a kingdom divided....

The Thamesis series takes place in and around the eponymous city, a fictionalized but recognizeable analogue to London. Thamesis is the capital of the kingdom of Albion (analogous to the United Kingdom, but apparently including all of Ireland). The time of the story is difficult to determine, as the timeline diverges radically from that of history, but technological evidence suggests that the story is set in the latter half of the twentieth century, approximately twenty-five years after a long and devastating world war.

The war, fought on several continents against an adversary referred to only as "The Dictator", stretched on for more than quarter of a century. Albion's monarch at the time, Queen Eleanor of the Rose (seemingly a combination of Queens Victoria and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother), proved a strong and competent leader for Albion during the conflict, even when defeat seemed inevitable. Almost immediately (a few days) after the close of the conflict, Queen Eleanor abdicated in favour of her son, Richard, and as her final decree, granted powers of governance and state to the Britomart Corporation, headed by Dr Gwydion Jones, and charged with the task of rebuilding the kingdom utilising newly discovered technology.

Since then, the Britomart Corporation has grown ever more pervasive and powerful, such that its influence now rivals that of the monarchy. This influence comes about through the seductive technologies that Britomart distributes and controls and the quasi-transcendent and eutopic society that they have built in the Shining City. This influence is also highly divisive, such that people must choose either to be a citizen of Britomart or a subject of the Crown.

The City of Thamesis

Thamesis is the capital city of the kingdom of Albion and is located in the South East region on the shores of a majestic river. The city is officially sectioned off into 4 Wards: North, East, South & West. The city is not heavily populated and much of the outlying areas remain in various states of disrepair. It is home to the Britomart Corporation and the Royal House of the Rose. Unofficially the city is divided into 3 distinct zones, or sub-cities: The Shining City, Dirty City & Royal City.

The Shining City is the name given to the areas of Thamesis reclaimed by the Britomart Corporation, aptly named because of its gleaming glass & steel towers, interconnecting walkways and manicured gardens. It is home to Britomart Citizens and offers a quality of life unsurpassed anywhere else in Thamesis.

The Dirty City grows out of the areas neglected by the Britomart during the rebuilding of Thamesis after the Great War and decaying parts of the former Royal City. Over the years it has become home for the marginalised inhabitants of Thamesis, especially gangs of youths who roam the streets powered up on illegal pirate patches.

The Royal City is home to the Royal Palace and all property owned by the current monarchy, the House of The Rose. This zone is populated mostly by an older generation who remain loyal to the monarchy and a more traditional way of life that is slowly disappearing from Thamesis.

Techgnosis

Techgnosis is a psychic technology derived from the synthesis of extracts from rare psychotropic plants, which was discovered at the New Royal Society. When these synthetic extracts are combined with an electro-magnetic charge it can increase the psychic ability of any normal human being. A state of heightened physical and mental capability is also achieved. How long the effect lasts depends on the quality & quantity of this charge.

Brands

Epidermal Osmotic Transfer Swatches ("Brands" as referred to by Britomart, "Patches" in common parlance) are the technology used by citizens of Britomart to artificially expand and boost their natural abilities. Britomart has patented this Brand technology, in order to monopolise its production and limit its distribution to citizens.

Pirate Patches

Britomart does not, however, monopolise Techgnosis. "Pirate" Patches are essentially Brands which have been hacked by unlicensed technicians in the Dirty City. Many Pirate Patches have had their safety controls removed, increasing their potency but making them very dangerous to use.

Britomart Knetwork

The Britomart Knetwork appears to be a psycho-technological network equivalent in function to the Internet, but utilising psychic and telepathic phenomena to improve reliability and security and to achieve infinite bandwidth. The Knetwork boasts the ability to seamlessly and instantly provide communications and streaming data services, but most importantly, claims to tap a "collective consciousness", allowing telepathic social networking comparible to but far in advance of services provided by the likes of MySpace or Facebook. As more people become Britomart Citizens and uplink to the Knetwork, its overall intelligence increases. Like a living organism the Knetwork is constantly evolving and becoming more complex. Every Britomart Citizen represents a node on the Knetwork and everyone's individual Aura contributes to the collective consciousness.

The Knetwork exists in the "Aurasphere" (analogous to a spiritualistic luminiferous æther). The Aurasphere surrounds and is created by all living beings, but exists below the threshold of everyday human perception.

Factions and Characters

The House of the Rose

Queen Eleanor of the Rose (abdicated)

Queen Eleanor of the House of the Rose ruled Albion during the great war against "The Dictator", which ravaged the kingdom prior to the events of the main story. She abdicated shortly after the war, allowing her son, Richard, to ascend the throne. She also commissioned the formation of the Britomart Corporation, granted it powers of state, and tasked it with the rebuilding of post-war Albion.

King Richard of the Rose

Son of Queen Eleanor, father of Prince Jonathan, and reigning monarch at the outset of the prologue. While his mother is portrayed as a monarch of the people and bulwark of her nation, Richard appears to be a much more weak and distant king. It is believed that his inaction ("stoicism" as he puts it) is what has allowed the power of the monarchy to wane in the face of the increasingly popular and powerful Britomart Corporation. At the beginning of the prologue, King Richard is on his deathbed with an unknown illness, but dies from poisoning at the hands of Malkolm of the Raven, leaving the kingdom in the care of his son, Jonathan.

Prince (later King) Jonathan of the Rose

Son of King Richard and grandson of Queen Eleanor. Assumed the thone upon the death of his father (mid-way through the prologue). Initially presented as something of a callow youth, Jonathan is determined to prove his worth as king by freeing his nation from the scourge of patch-crime.

The Britomart Corporation

The Britomart Corporation's "Do Right' mentality is founded in the principles of Transhumanism. The core belief is that people can use Brand Technology to transcend the limitations of their mind & bodies and become "Homo Illuminatus". Citizens are appraised on characteristics such as health, physical beauty, manual dexterity, athletic ability, intelligence and general psychic ability.

Doctor Gwydion Jones

Commissioned by Queen Eleanor to head the Corporation at its creation, immediately after the war. He is so far the only individual within the Britomart Corporation to be mentioned by name.

Malkolm the Raven

Weaselly, Machiavellian fop, and chamberlain in the service of the House of the Rose, Malkolm Weiko of the House of the Raven is directly responsible for the murder of King Richard by poison. It is known that he also works for the Corporation as their "man inside the palace", though it is unclear if he killed the King in this capacity. It is also not yet clear whether he is a Britomart employee, or merely their stooge.

Technomancers and the Pirate Patch Culture

Kendrick Garvey

Kendrick is a distributor of so-called "Pirate Patches", operating from The Compound in the North Ward of Thamesis. Dishonourably discharged from the Yeo Guard, he is now reputed to produce the strongest patches in Thamesis, and notorious for his ruthlessness.

Tyler K. Watts (The K.I.D, TK)

TK is a patch runner, tagger, and general hoodlum, originating from The Arch Way, in the North Ward. He is currently in the employ of Kendrick Garvey, who pays him in high-grade patch to deliver his product to all parts of Thamesis. Whatever he doesn't use himself, TK trades to buy medical patches for his ailing mother.

Other

The Lion

A former royal bodyguard and war hero who was exiled by King Richard for mistakenly killing Richard's queen. The Lion is famously impervious to psychic attack.

External links

* [http://www.cityofthamesis.com/ cityofthamesis.com] , official site
* [http://www.flashmagazine.com/1439.htm Interview with people behind Thamesis] , flashmagazine.com
* [http://the-k-i-d.livejournal.com/ KID's journal]