#cydanasks

-There used to be a robust trade network between the Nether and the Overworld. Humans and Piglins came and went between the dimensions, exchanging goods and services.

-Piglin culture is less community-oriented then ours. Piglins lived in Bastion strongholds which acted as super-condensed towns. These towns were connected by long bridges, what are now Fortresses. The Fortress interiors were used as forts or rest stops.

-The Nether was on the cusp of a Golden Age with the discovery of Netherite, a complex alloy that allowed for the development of unprecedented technology. Soon Netherite could be found used near everywhere in the Nether.

-That is, until the harmful radiation the alloy gave off was discovered too late. Those who were exposed for too long became sick and died... before rising again in undeath.

-Efforts were made to stop future exposure. All netherite objects were compacted into rough cubes and quickly buried deep below the surface, roughly spread apart to not have any single location of high toxicity while waiting for their radioactivity to slowly, slowly decay.

-The bridges between Bastions were broken to eliminate any accidental transport of unregulated netherite between towns. Many human and piglins guardsmen were left stranded in the remaining Fortress interiors, slowly dying to sickness. Desperate, they ate blaze powder, immolating themselves from the inside and leaving their undead skeletal remains charred and blackened.

-Finally, the unafflicted humans and piglins escaped to the Overworld, breaking the nether portals behind them. However it was impossible not to bring the disease with them, which was able to afflict the piglins rapidly in the lowered temperature. The surviving humans were able to develop a cure in time to save them all, but the undead plague remains to this day. This is where all undead mobs come from.

-Back in the Nether, those who were near death were banished from the Bastions. They died in great valleys, their souls trapped in the sand below and their skeletons wandering aimlessly above. I haven't decided what the giant skeletons belonged to yet.

-Without apples in the Nether there is no cure, only prevention. Gold is worn at all times to protect oneself from the disease. Those without gold are inviting the sickness upon themselves, and it's good practice to kill and throw them into lava on sight to prevent future spread.

-Over many years, society collapsed in the Nether. Piglins now roam in packs or on their own, living semi-nomadically. They journey around small territories, hunting and gathering as they do so. Some larger gangs can secure a broken-down Bastion to squat in, but they remain in disrepair as hunting for food and gathering protective gold take up most of the time and energy.

-Gold is the main currency, though it is hardly regulated. The main rule is that gold is exchanged for some survival resource, and survival resources are traded for gold. If you hand someone a gold ingot, they will judge it's worth before giving you an equivalent item in return. In game some of these seem useless. But bottles of drinkable water are especially valuable (I headcanon that warped fungus trunks can be tapped for water as well, but all the same it is difficult to gather at all), as well as rare iron nuggets scavenged from old Overworld items, the buckles off of belts and the nails out of tools.