welcome newbie! i see that you've chosen ____(whatever guild your oc belongs to), a very interesting choice! my name is mr.fortuna and my job is to make you more familiar with this ruined world of ours. so without wasting anymore time let's start shall we?

1. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐒𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐌

ah yes our main characters and their related organizations are at the top as always. well, did you know that this story takes place in the now ruined city of san francisco? (despite the author having no knowledge on the city itself and simply relying on their imagination and some google images hehe-) well i wouldn't call it a city considering that now it's all but devoid of any humans and completely ruined. infact it was one of the first cities to be bombarded with nuclear missiles during the beginning of the war and has thus turned into a wasteland. a highly radioactive one at that too. the city has been divided into two halfs inorder to accommodate the two major guilds (i.e. genesis and diablos) as shown below; (ALSO DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH AT THE SHITTY OUTLINING-)

and if it wasn't obvious earlier the black outlines are for diablos and white for genesis. however despite having a territory of their own to take care of conflicts are quite frequent between the two guilds. any genesis guild member who happens to trespass the diablos territory will be shot dead on sight and the vice versa. and not only that there are other guilds around as well (now don't tell me that you thought we are the only ones having giant groups) though they aren't in the same area as ours, each has a separate territory of their own to prevent any conflicts for land and resources, there are guilds which are smaller than ours and some which are way bigger and complex. in short we are surrounded by enemies.

there have been even instances which members from other guilds have tried trespassing into their neighbours lands and deliberately provoking them leading to an all out battle known as guild wars. if you haven't played any open world games or read any fantasy novels then maybe you are foreign to these terms. in a nutshell guild wars are something quite similar to their large scale cousins where people fight with eachother over a particular resource(or maybe they want to seize their neighbours resources due to some sort of shortage) well no need to beat around the bush, point is, things aren't as they used to be before.

as war began internet was one of the first things that disappeared, and with no internet the world practically fell into chaos as humanity was instantly revered back to its primitive state from a few centuries ago. gas stations closed down soon after and petrol and diesel had become the new luxury items along with medical items. electricity as well. food and water along with weapons and clothes became the most crucial items leading to active riots and fights between people. and the ones who had hoarded(read monopolized) a majority of these items came to become the founders of these notorious guilds. people flooded these organizations in hopes of surviving and were willing to give up everything they had just to have a bite from the piece of stale bread. with the government no longer in power these individuals became the new rulers of these barren lands. those had the most of these resources became the guild leaders and their most loyal steads were given the top spots as rewards.

monopolization of valuable resources, weapons, batteries and etc are a common practice in these organizations for the sake of staying in the top. they say power dulls the human senses and rightfully at that too, after all who dosen't like being worshiped like a god and having absolute control over people? and because the guilds are the only hospitable places in these barren lands where radioactive wastes have accumulated over the years to form deadly areas it's natural that people are drawn towards them where they have the hopes of living at the very least.

therefore in a nutshell these guilds are like the kingdoms and empires we are used to seeing and reading about, they're a whole new and different world of their own. just like our ocs organizations. the guilds have a whole different system of their own with the strongest staying on the top to rule over the much weaker and lesser guilds. they stay on the top of the food chain, struggling to keep their title as the king. and those who are unable to keep up with the pace will be devoured instantly, after all it's the only rule of these wastelands is the survival of the fittest.

2. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐘

since i suck at explaining let's take a look at this crude diagram i made here i make things easier for us to understand.

with the rapid and sudden change in our world the people who were the least suspecting were struck first, they can be considered the 'neccessary' sacrifice for the sake of the war and its victory. and as i have stated before the people who were the quickest to adapt to these sudden changes are the current head of these notorious guilds.

on the top on the food chain we have the guilds, who have monopolized a majority of the valuable resources, they are the 'rulers' of these wastelands. i wont go into much detail cause i've already explained a ton before.

then we have the secondary class i.e. the bards and mercenaries. y'know who mercenaries are, and as for the bards, they are the living equivalents of newspapers. because they know they're gonna die sooner or later with the radiation poisoning(i will explain these later) so might as well have some fun. they are travelers who come from far away places, bringing in new tidbits of information as well as spreading them. and because the guilds and their members are unable to venture out of their respective territories because of the blood treaty(which basically states that no member of a guild shall trespass into another's territory unless it's some urgent matter, and should they violate this treaty a guild war could begin) these bards who count as independent individuals belonging to no organization they are considered quite valuable.

and now finally we have the third and probably the worst class to be in, the gangsters and homeless. they can be considered the outcasts of the society, those who were unable to adapt to their new environment and were not eligible by the guilds to be accepted in. these people will be the first ones to succumb to the radiation poisoning. they have nowhere to go and have therefore ganged up together and resorted to attacking travelers and the independent individuals like the bards knowing that they will face no resurrections. well, thats what they believe that is.

y'know the guildmasters(i replaced the leader with master) arent the good guys as they potray themselves to be. infact they were the ones who created these divsions between the parties so that they are unable to band together for a rebellion and try and overthrow them. they say that history repeats itself and indeed, never has there been an instance more true than the one here. by creating a rift between potential allies by potraying them as enemies to the other they are ensuring that no rebellion takes place.

its all the part of a big conspiracy y'know, dont you think that the guilds are strong enough to take care of these homeless runts? they are and they can destroy them with a snap of their fingers but choose not to, why? well because its not profitable for them, only for the second class. so what be better you may ask? you see, in a ruined world where medical facilities are nothing but a myth for the poor even having a small scratch on you is fatal, so obviously these helpless people who have no way of protecting themselves will ask the gilds for protection. the guilds will protect them till the end of their territory after being given a half of the poor fools materials as a part of the fees. and in a ridiculous turn of events these third class gangsters too have to pay a whooping 80% of their monthy resources like food and anything useful to the guilds as taxes for being allowed to stay in their lands and live. did you see what i did there? in the end the real bastards who profit will be the guilds, and this is a well known fact by everyone, but none are brave to speak out lest they do not value their life.

3. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

current year - 17th of april 2025
current location - san francisco
current weather - winter, well a nuclear winter more specifically. "it's been 4 years ever since we have seen the sun, i've even forgotten (these tilted non italic words are of the narrators) how the sun even looks like, the warmth and heat of that glowing ball of light now remains ingrained in my memories as nothing but a fantasy. the days are just as cold as the nights, with the temperatures dropping upto -10° sometimes."
the situation - "not good, the food supplies are running out quicker than expected and all the resources we can find in the city have been exhausted. some of the members have tried growing crops but to no avail, so far we have managed to make ends meet with the occasional fish, rabbits and mushrooms that grow in the basement, but how long can we go on like this? i cannot say myself. *cough* i can already feel the accumulation of toxic gases and radiation taking their toll on me, what a pitiful end for someone who prided myself for being a solider..."

with the mass bombing of nuclear weapons all over the world, the earth has been plunged into eternal darkness as a nuclear winter has befallen the remaining survivors. with temperatures dropping below -10°(and even more sometimes) and practically no way of recieveing any form of sunlight humans have fallen into despair. toxic gases dominate the atmosphere, just having a single breathe of fresh air sounds like luxury to countless people as the fumes take their toll on the weakest and elderly first. a grave famine has struck the world with all the remaining crops dying pitifully, the only sources of light being dirty lightsticks and candles that the hoards often find near ruins of hotels. it's been 4 years ever since anyone has seen the sun and now what remains of the lonely star is a mere picture of it ingrained in the minds of these dying people. sooner or later everyone is going to perish, that's for sure as the nuclear radiation deeply buried in the ground continues spreading its deadly rays. those who have received the heaviest dosage shall die within three months while the rest may continue to live for a few more years, a decade at most before perishing to their inevitable doom as well. oh what a pitiful end for the species that donainted the earth for over a thousand and million years, succumbing to their own worldly desires and greed. truely disappointing.

╰► feel free to me as many questions as you have here