Eternal Gardens

Eternal Gardens

District Eleven is home to thousands of individuals and is comprised of substantial amounts of Dionae due to the presence of the Eternal Church. The Church has played a fairly large part in shaping parts of the district - both in infrastructure and culture. Due to the overwhelming presence of Dionae within the district, it has oftentimes been referred to as the “Eternal Gardens”. While the name might confuse people into thinking it is a rather serene district, nothing could be further from the truth. It fights both District Nine and District Six for claiming the title as the worst district and is riddled with crime, mostly as a result of it being zoned for low-income housing.

History

The Eternal Gardens weren’t always encompassed by the presence of Dionae, and early on in its development, it was previously thought to be an “up-and-coming” district that would overtake Abaster Fields in high-income residential zoning. Unfortunately, rather early on during its expansion, a corruption scandal was unveiled, with most of the funding having been siphoned from the development scheme for District Eleven. With what little was left, the Eternal Gardens were eventually completed - propped up by shoddy low-income apartments and inadequate access to necessities such as power and water. Still, there were substantial stretches of the district that were not built upon and were sold for relatively low prices compared to elsewhere within Mendell City.

It wasn’t until 2362 that the Eternal Gardens began to develop into what it is today with the purchasing and commencement of the construction of the Eternal Temple by Connected To The Blossoms Beyond and several other gestalts that had managed to pay off their debt to the Solarian Alliance following the Ophion Tragedy. Slowly, the Eternal Temple found itself being completed, having eventually stood tall on its own in 2431 after sixty years of construction. During its formative years, the Eternal Church was instrumental in uplifting residents of District Eleven through various charitable efforts, which included repairing the decaying urban infrastructure and expanding accessibility to both power and water - however, closer to the proximity of the Temple, leaving those towards the outer edges of the district wallowing in their own decay and a rather significant point of conflict between the inhabitants.

While the Eternal Gardens still suffers from heavy crime, as well as urban decay, it has seen an improvement since the Eternal Church began expanding within the district - using what little influence they have outside of the Gardens to improve the lives of those within, Dionae and non-Dionae alike.

Demographics

Since commencing construction of the Eternal Temple, Dionae have become one of the largest percentages of the populace present within the Eternal Gardens which only increases steadily as the Eternal Church expands, however, humans are still the largest demographic in the district. Due to some beliefs present within the sects of the Eternal Church, Synthetics are a somewhat small demographic within District Eleven. This is due to followers of the Iron Eternal sometimes offering repairs - with the quality of such usually being inferior as to what can be found within District Fourteen’s Trinary Perfection Church.

Culture and Society

Core - Inside the influence of the Temple

The Eternal Gardens is quite varied in its cultural and societal norms, depending on the origin of its populace. However, the way of life within District Eleven is usually in one way influenced by devout Dionae or the greater Eternal Temple. This includes the charitable efforts of the organisation in uplifting and supporting the district, with an example being their refuse initiatives, the Eternal Church collects the garbage present within the Gardens are then recycles them into useful materials that can either be reused or recycled by gestalts and nymphs present within the Temple. This has become the primary source of devout Dionae obtaining resources to create mesh-weave.

Dionae not followers of the Eternal are still supported by the Temple, however, not as much as their devout counterparts. Non-believers typically find themselves hosted within close proximity of the Temple, within the “uplifted” regions of the district. While some have gathered this as a method for the Church to keep a close eye on non-believers within the Eternal Gardens, these Dionae are largely left to their own devices however are frequently encouraged to volunteer themselves to assist the efforts of the Temple.

While most of the population of District Eleven are employed by the megacorporations, there is not much of their presence within the Eternal Gardens, besides owning the odd apartment building here and there. Due to their “weak” influence, the Eternal Church has taken advantage and used it as a means of encouraging an informal economy that operates as a bazaar of sorts within the walls of the Temple. These stalls vary in what they sell, some even selling trinkets from other interstellar factions such as bootlegged Federation Holographic Displayers. Regardless, the bazaar is known throughout the Eternal Gardens and supported by the locals.

Outskirts - Outside the influence of the Temple

Poverty has affected the way of life of almost every individual living in the Eternal Gardens, a cultural cornerstone to some. The decaying urban environment of the district is often the cause for health conditions that develop as a result of materials that have since been phased out of usage - and with little maintenance being done to prevent further deterioration (due to the inability to afford such maintenance) the district continues to spiral into the status of being a scrapheap. Crime is often considered the most viable method of escaping the clutches of the Eternal Garden’s ruination and is rampant.

Abandoned buildings are a common sight within District 11, and have become breeding grounds for transients, homeless individuals, Dionae and ne’er-do-wells who often use its general decay as a means of hiding their criminal activities. The derelict facilities on the outskirts that aren’t yet captured by criminal syndicates are often the best examples of interspecies cohabitation. Dionae expand themselves within these derelict facilities, oftentimes their biomass growing over structural conditions - such as holes in the walls or the roof, sometimes even creating structural integrity that does away with the worry of the building collapsing. Other individuals within the district then use this to their advantage, moving into these “repaired” facilities and surviving with the organism that keeps the building standing.

Eternal Temple

The Eternal Temple is a massive building located within the centre of District Eleven. Inspired by the stories of Babylon from a bygone era of Earth, the Temple was designed by Dionae that had repaid their debt to the Solarian Alliance following the Ophion Tragedy as a safe place for both young and old. Featuring hanging gardens that surround the entirety of the building, the Temple has stood testament to the ingenuity of the species as it continues to be a rather popular tourist destination for those who find themselves admiring the Dionae. Its architectural designs also included the ability to amplify the songs of those worshipping the Eternal, with the angelic choirs of the Temple being heard throughout the district. Sometimes, it is used to broadcast news that the Eternal Temple has deemed worthy of being distributed.

The area surrounding the Eternal Temple is considered the best within the district, as a result of the Church’s restoration and upliftment attempts - and is considered the most “desirable” of the residential zones. While the Temple does its best to expand its efforts into the greater Gardens, its impact is only significantly felt in close proximity to its “headquarters” and has been a point of contempt between the residents of the district. Crime is usually tackled quite effectively due to the overwhelming presence of Dionae, with several cases of the Hshh’shee and Hshh intervening in situations and even detaining criminals.

The Iron Eternal has a substantial presence within the Temple and has “life-rights” to the basement of the building - utilizing it for a variety of different operations usually related to providing assistance to synthetics within the district, but also as a prayer hall of sorts. A statue of the “Eternity Shard” can be located within the basement, and shines a bright hue of ultraviolet light capable of sustaining Dionae allowing them not to leave for large stretches of time.

Growing Chambers

Within the Eternal Temple there exists the “Growing Chambers”. Similar in appearance to vertical gardens, the growing chambers house the next generation of the species and provides them with a safe place in which to develop within their pods and eventually be disgorged when the time is right. The amount of Nymphs capable of being grown within the chambers depends on the reproductive cycle of the gestalts present within the Temple - occurring once every decade, with varying levels of successful seeds. The growing chambers are carefully tended by trusted members of the Temple, with round the clock supervision and hourly treatments of minerals, typically acquired through the Church’s refuse initiatives.

After Nymphs have been disgorged from their pods, they remain within the Growing Chambers until the “harvest” - a process that occurs every twenty-four hours to remove the pods that have successfully yielded a Nymph. While some within the Temple criticise this process - mostly regarding some viewing it as barbaric to keep a Nymph trapped for hours on end before being released - many are openly supportive of allowing the young to investigate their new surroundings and possibly form a gestalt on their own without intervention from the Church. Regardless of the backlash, the Temple has never publicly shown any interest in moving from this stance.

Schooling

Following being disgorged from their pods, and the process of the “harvest” has occurred, Nymphs are chipped as per regulations regarding their existence within the Republic of Biesel, and enrolled in a programme simply referred to as “Schooling” by both the Eternal Temple. This is displayed as an apprentice programme with the Eternal Church. Nymphs are congregated within the gardens of the Eternal Temple and are given the tools required to reach “base level sentience”. Once this has been achieved they are then allowed to mingle with other Nymphs and encouraged to form bonds and eventually form a gestalt. Once they have formed a gestalt or any other form, they are then allowed to select an apprenticeship to pursue in order to be formally educated as required by the Republic of Biesel and the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate in order to be employed. Apprenticeships aren’t required and attending Universities is encouraged, but the schooling provided by the Temple is for those who may not wish to leave the Church just yet.

Crime

Crime within the Eternal Gardens is quite severe when compared to other districts, amplified by the surrounding districts of Little Adhomai and Flagsdale. Criminals have proliferated throughout District Eleven, using the abandoned infrastructure and general decay as a way to hide their illegal enterprises. The lack of any enforcement officers only heightens their ability to grow their detrimental interests. The area closest to the Eternal Temple forgoes some of these woes due to the presence of the Hshh and the Hshh’shee - Dionae that are trained in engaging aggressive behaviour and putting an end to it to ensure their continued pacifism.

Despite their best attempts, the Temple struggles against wrongdoers filtering in from both District Six and Nine, and inversely, the more powerful culprits within the Eternal Gardens expanding their operations within these districts once they have grown too big to be content within District Eleven. Home invasions, drug dealing, and much worse is rooted within the Gardens, and without intervention from an outside force may become a cascading situation - getting worse as each day goes by. Despite this, the people of District Eleven has become more or so ambivalent to the crime they witness day in and day out, leading to a rather negative attitude regarding the Mendell City Police Department and greater enforcement agencies of the Republic.

Dionae that turn to a life of crime are often useful due to their ‘talents’ - extracting information and being able to destroy evidence thanks to their ability to ingest inorganic materials. There is no specific syndicate in which these criminal elements flock, but instead to a variety of the ones already present within the Eternal Gardens oftentimes exploiting their ‘talents’ for additional income while also holding a career with the megacorporations.