#jeebs

He's canonly jesus

Oh boy. This is a CAN OF WORMS but I will try to be succinct about it.

Sometime in the mid-22nd century, a whole bunch of shit went down all at once. I won't mention all of it here, since some of it is spoiler-zone, but the long and short of it is that after a 2nd cold war, a whole bunch of nukes went off at once and decimated the United States and most of Canada. The climate was already fucked and a nuclear winter didn't do anyone any favors. Fighting for limited resources on a dead planet, and for power in the vacuum left by the US, what was left of humanity fell into a brutal, centuries-long world war.

Construction on New London began in the 25th century. It was designed to be an enclosed, full self-sustaining synthetic environment (so, yes, a closed-off dome with air filtration and all kinds of great nonsense). There is a long story about how riders were sent out to all corners of the globe to find the last of humanity and bring them back that is actually pretty heart-warming. After 30 years, the dome was sealed off. The only time the door ever gets opened is for maintenance or when someone is exiled, because, well... it's still pretty shitty outside.

Logistically, New London is a 3-tiered city: Lower London at the bottom, Midtown in the middle, and the Heights at the top. The picture below is a VERY old concept work. Some things have changed, but the general idea is the same.

I don't think I've ever thought about how BIG it is, but it's... pretty big. There was a bit of a baby boom after the dome closed, since people felt safe and rations were pretty plentiful, so now there is a bit of a population crisis. There's some legislation being considered regarding household member limitations.

Heights is fairly small and Lower London is SPRAWLING, but the only map I've made is of Midtown. Not QUITE done yet, but I think the gist is clear. It's divided into districts, which were partly born when settlers came in and just started claiming areas. Small skirmishes when it started to get crowded lead to uneven area distribution and New Africa put up a wall because people tried to take their shit. Also, will probably change the names of the districts eventually. Placeholders for now.

Crown of Thorns Pod’rama Chapter 55—art by Jeebs

Image description:  A sketch in purple. Aziraphale and Crowley are seated at their kitchen table, framed against a backlit window. Aziraphale is pouring champagne into the flute glass Crowley is holding.