Those Who Survived

Communities who have made preservation their defining purpose. They record everything — what existed before, what changed during the Breaking, what was lost, what adapted. Their methods range from oral tradition maintained with ritual precision to sophisticated archiving systems that rival the old world's. They are sometimes accused of worshipping a past that was itself flawed. The accusation is not entirely wrong, and the better Rememberers know it.

Those who reject the past entirely and build only forward. Pragmatic and sometimes ruthless, they are the fastest-moving culture in the post-Breaking world — the most willing to experiment, to discard what doesn't work, and to make trade-offs that other communities find unconscionable. Their settlements have the highest rate of both spectacular success and catastrophic failure. They consider this an acceptable ratio.

Survivors who refused to settle into any fixed community or identity. They move between territories, trade information and material, and answer to no faction, leader, or community standard. They know more than almost anyone about the actual state of the post-Breaking world, because they have seen more of it. They trust fewer people than most, for the same reason.

A substantial portion of post-Breaking humanity does not identify with any cultural group, faction, or movement. They live in settlements, work at survival, raise children, and have varying degrees of interest in the larger forces shaping their world. Both Verve and Whorl refer to them as potential allies, constituency, or the people they are fighting for. Almost none of them have been asked what they think about that.