Foetry Poundation

April 10, 2025

Marching through the ruins.

The Commander of the Compact Stars.

Lyrics

CAIN

It’s always a good day when I find somebody new
Who dares venture into these dark ruins and embrace what they find
Unlike the passerby who’d pick a fight and run when we don’t budge
It keeps happening to Donatello, whose station we were just in

CESARE

I’d be grateful just to have these ruins, away from the world’s ire
Y’all were lucky to survive the apocalypse by pretending to be dead¹
I can’t say the same for many others
I was forced to flee during that terrible time but now I have come back
My station being gone, I settled in Volkoff, slowly regenerating our common ground²

CAIN

Walking down paths littered with dead leaves
Passing under the shade of tombs in decay
Does it all feel like home to you in any way?

CESARE

Sadly no, I was not made to be a Saprophage
And just in time, we’ve made it to the unassuming rowboat
In a flash, we’ll be on our merry way

CAIN & CESARE

We are the Sects that you’ll never get rid of
This is the place where your principles meet their end
But we’re all over the world, across time and space
The most diverse and the undescribed
One day there’ll be a compact star parade!

CESARE

Outer sects, Inner sects, and all that’s in between
The first town in this new age is truly bustling

CAIN

Still, I have seen the stations frozen in history
Wandered and engaged with them like I’m back in the past

CESARE

Hold it dear for day by day it’s fading away
The other destroyed outposts all get lost to memory

Now we must march down to the South Barren Plains
Going west, to that land famously inhospitable
I’ve been undercover, for this I’ll show my true colors³

CAIN

I’m all good, I prefer to be discreet.

But wait, is that a Redwing uniform?⁴

CESARE

The four branches of the Redwings have distinct designs⁵
And this is not one of them, see the turquoise twill and golden twine
I’m just an auxiliary offering my support, planning and advising the front lines
Now turn your attention to your surroundings
Those are Redwings passing through
No stations nor buildings can be built in this place now,
We can only cling to control in distant realms.
You’ve only got a small window to talk to others here

REDWING II MEMBER

We’ll meet at Norn at noon in a week, yeah?⁶

CESARE

I’ll have new information to give to you then

Now we should head up north, to the side of the plains belonging to the Ichaemonids
To tell you the truth, I am from there but it’s just one segment of my sequence

CAIN & CESARE

CAIN

I watch as the rising sun sets the grass ablaze
The air is crisp and fresh, I feel the wind fluttering through my clothes
I’ve been carrying it all this time deep down inside
This is the part of me I tried to fight for, but was forced to hide

CESARE

To tell you the truth, I never come here except out of duty
The entire plain was scorched, just like before, no way for them to return
In the City of Lies, they persist
Now that’s a place where I’m embroiled in a campaign for the Redwings
The Ichaemonids have moved there too, they’re numerous and Recusant⁷
And I will never stand for that

CAIN

I’ve not had a presence in the City of Lies.
But I’ve heard stories about all you’ve said and more
Perhaps it’s for the best I stalk across these lands

CESARE

You’re not missing out on much, I can tell you that
And the mob fighting against the CoS is incredibly strong there.
It’s quiet here, we should cross the plains back to my station

CAIN & CESARE

Commentary

Despite having my own station⁸, Donatello’s station was still a central location to me, it being the reason why I came to the Land of Diverging Realities at all and him being the central force upholding the currently populated section of the ruins. I kept tabs on every individual I saw, everyone who was like me, the Bennetts, and the UAM believers who were on their crusade.

So when I saw someone new appreciating Donatello’s notices, I approached her and asked if she was a Saprophage. Cesare wasn’t--just someone from the wider Compact Star area. I’d only been there a handful of times, far less than the time I spent in Saprophage territory.

“Do you support the whole Inner Circle? From the looks of things, I can’t trust you lot to do that. I respect Donatello’s fight to maintain these ruins, but I do not like what he is saying about the Redwings,” she said.

To be honest, that irked me too. “Of course,” I replied. “That’s all I care about at this point.”

Cesare looked at me with a hint of satisfaction at my answer, but begins to question me again, “I haven’t seen you around in Volkoff, or the Barren Plains, or even Norn, or our once thriving towns...”

“I came here after the apocalypse.”

I see everything finally click in Cesare’s mind as she relaxes slightly. “So you’re new here. That makes sense. How about I show you around?”

And so we did, making our way into the common territory shared by all sects of the CoS, where towns were beginning to thrive once more. I told Cesare I’ve been there before, and so we continue our tour to the Barren Plains.

Back at Cesare’s station, I poked around more at her notices and found that she shared many of the same ambitions as me, mainly revolving around becoming famous and fighting for the CoS. As we talked, I noticed the Concrea flag draped against a wall. I mention witnessing its creation in the City of Gray and Blue, and Cesare tells me she saw it in an archives with its origin being labeled as “unknown”.

“Really, I always thought of it as four inner sects with them as the fourth,” I remarked. “They have uniforms too, and they’re persecuted like the other three.”

“Most of the Compact Stars agree that there are three sects in the Inner Circle. The question of uniforms and persecution is a difficult one--those things occur on a gradient and there are many other sects in Concrea’s position. But even our enemies speak of the three Inner Circle sects. The world has ontologically placed them together, and unless a huge shift happens, that is how these three sects in particular gain their elevated status,” Cesare said. I suppose it’d be easier to go with the consensus then.

Eventually we part ways, both leaving with a good impression of each other.

Notes

1 The apocalypse occured as a result of an administrative command that took effect on large sections of the Land of Diverging Realities, resulting in droves of people being wiped out and large swathes of abandoned ruins. As part of the apocalypse, sensors, traps, and alarms were introduced across the realm that prevented stations from being built in certain locations. This has made the Barren Plains uninhabitable. However, the Saprophages managed to fake their own deaths, aided by their mountains and forests. Once the attention was off of them, they moved back into what was left of their home.

2 I had been to Volkoff a few times before, but with the CoS common territory being the only home for all Outer Circle sects, they massively outnumber any Inner Circle presence. This association with the Outer Circle also means that the land is less targeted, making it the best way for the inner sects to stay in the Land of Diverging Realities.

3 Here, Cesare quickly changes her coat, hat, and gloves. She then offers me one of her decorations., which would signal my support for the Inner Circle. However, I merely pocketed it for now.

4 I had seen a Redwing (Type III) in a red, white, and silver outfit arguing with Donatello just a few days before this happened. I don’t know what was behind this wave of visitors from other Inner Circle sects. Perhaps it was just a sign of the land and community regenerating.

5 The four branches are simply called Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV. Cesare wears decorations for all four of them.

6 Norn is the town Cesare leads in a different realm. Without any adminitrative hostility, it is one of the main towns Redwings now flock to.

7 The Recusants are a group seen as heretical by the majority of the sects in which they have sprung up (including all the Inner Circle sects and some others).

8 My station isn’t in the Saprophage ruins. I’d say it’s a bit closer to the Coalition town.

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