ShadowProjectEast:About

**In the grim darkness of a war-torn world, only one city shines.
 Technology marches on, but to miserable ends.
 Humanity is ruled by the mysterious Youkai, and only a bold few fight back...**

## Summary

Shadow Project East (SPE) is an Alternate Universe of Touhou set in a Post-Apocalyptic/Cyberpunk world.

SPE does not share any of the history, timeline, characters, or RP mechanics of the Prime RPVerse. Canon characters from Touhou exist differently within SPE, adapted to the setting and with different roles then is traditional. As well, Gensokyo is a completely different place, locked within its own realm by war, rather when within an actual barrier.

*see also: Primer*

## Gensokyo

Gensokyo is the realm in which Shadow Project East exists, but it is more common to use the name of the sole city that encompasses the entirety of the realm, **Humanis**.

**Humanis** is a sprawling metropolis built over the war-town ruins within the Yatsugatake Mountains, isolated from anything else that might have once found them, though it is unlikely now that anything ever will.

Surrounding Humanis is the Weather Barrier, which provides the the city with clean air and sunlight. Outside the Barrier, only a wasteland of ruined buildings remain, where few survive, and the few who do suffer daily assault by vicious, rabid monsters.

While the outer ring of Humanis is mostly filled with housing, the innermost part of the city is a commerce empire, with skyscrapers filled with offices and government dominating the heights above, while factories and markets choke the land below. At the top of it all resides the corporate entity responsible for controlling the whole of Humanis: **Yakumo Industries**.

*see also: Locations*

## Technology

Within Humanis lies a technological paradise, where the cutting edge one month is readily available by the next. Where the rest of the world's technology burned and fizzled, within Humanis, it flourishes. The most notable recent inventions have been cheap, self-driving electric cars, laser-based weaponry, and advanced, automated farming and horticulture techniques that have reduced land use a hundredfold.

### Food

Current food production technology means a variety of food is still available today. Of course, the poorest still eat what is essentially fortified rice gruel, but those even in the lower living brackets can get access to at least the very basics of grown foods.

### Health

Health care is, in fact, better then it's ever been. While people still have a nasty habit of dying in unfortunate and unforeseen ways, you can be rest assured that whatever didn't kill you can at least be fixed, replaced, or improved. As long as you have the money to pay, of course.

### Power

Humanis, while supplemented by a multitude of natural energy sources above, has power stemming from the earth, in a large geothermal power plant far below the city. There's enough power where most electronic things can be charged just through a wireless connection using induction.

## Youkai

After the Last Earth War, humanity was desperate for anything that could help them. They prayed to the gods, and in their place, the youkai appeared. Beings that were powerful, yet matched the legends of the monsters of yore. They offered humanity protection, but for a price: servitude.

With the aid of youkai, Humanis was built, but built first and foremost for the youkai.

The Youkai make the upper and ruling class of Humanis. They are stronger, faster, and often smarter then humans, and many easily wield strange powers or magic that make them even tougher threats.

However, Youkai do have a single Achilles Heel. Though they lack the need for food or sleep, they do, however, have one thing that sustains them. F.E.A.R..

### F.E.A.R.

Thought to be the most important reason that youkai rule over humans, instead of just wiping them out. Little is known about this substance aside from what follows, and the rest is a closely guarded secret by youkai of all kinds (assuming more then the top of the food chain even knows anything).

F.E.A.R. is an extract that is only known to come from humankind. It's extracted straight from the blood (and illegal to give a youkai a dose in this way) or through F.E.A.R. clinics throughout Humanis. Weekly visits are mandatory by law. Clinical extraction is purported to be harmless, but many don't like to talk about it, and those who do say it's actually mentally traumatizing...

A youkai requires a dose of F.E.A.R. once every few days to sustain themselves. Apparently, obtaining a regular dose is completely free for youkai. Youkai can pay to have more regular doses beyond the normal amount.Taking doses more often then normal seems to slowly strengthen a youkai, making it stronger, faster, and generally more powerful.

Too much, however, results in addiction... A F.E.A.R. addicted youkai eventually goes insane from the addiction, regardless of if they can upkeep the addiction or not... Insane youkai are labeled 'feral youkai' and are driven out of the city, by force or death if needed. This is why F.E.A.R. is tightly regulated.

*see also: F.E.A.R.*

## Incident Teams

Incident Teams are groups of rebels, anarchists, and freedom fighters aligned against the Yakumo Industries and the current state of humanity in the youkai-controlled society. The singular form is Incident Breaker (for 'Breaking Out' or 'Breaking Through' incidents), but are most commonly referred to in groups.

Incident Teams come from all types and classes. Humans, Youkai, Fairies, anyone with a cause to fight for or a penchant for chaos can join or form an Incident Team. However, it's dangerous business, and often deadly. Many don't survive long in the new 'profession' of Incident Breaking. Beware, even being *associated* with Incident Teams can net you a free death penalty, courtesy of Yakumo Industries, on the site of arrest. With a High Threat Response team.

Aside from general revolutionary 'war' against the elite of Humanis, There's also lucrative money-making opportunity to being part of an Incident Team. Incident Teams can be called upon to do work of all kinds, from odd jobs to mercenary work to full out infiltration against corps and organized crime alike to kill, smash, and/or steal. The riskier the job, the better the pay, naturally, and you can find such work with anyone. Even Yakumo Industries itself is known to call for... deniable assets from time to time... (sometimes only to dispose of them later, watch out!)

## Security in 2080

Of course, you can't expect to just walk in anywhere and take what you want without a fight. The arms race between those who break the law and those who uphold it have been an age old fight that never stops advancing..

### Security Levels

The Security Level of an area is a combination rating of the Physical, Digital, and Magical defenses protecting the place, keeping crime low, and repelling intruders. While all three are taken into consideration, more of one security type can supplement a lack of the others in some cases.

* **Omega:** The highest security level, this is typically reserved for the most secure places in Humanis, like the Corporate Headquarters of Yakumo Industries. Expect the best you can pay for and the cutting edge of technology.
* **Alpha:** High Priority. Will have active security measures up 24/7, top-grade measures in place, and Police appearing in less then 10 minutes if you get caught. Much of the Inner City is protected by Alpha Level, if only because the GKY Headquarters lies within close proximity. Key buildings in the Outer City, however, have suitable defenses for Alpha Level as well.
* **Beta:** Medium security presence, often a lower priority for Police. The Outer City has many areas like this. Police response is usually at least 10 minutes, if not much longer. Expect the basic security types, but nothing too fancy.
* **Gamma:** Low level reserved for generally lawless areas. Police response time isn't "when", but "if". Gamma level security usually has its own makeshift protection maintaining a little order, such as a gang, or a booby-trapped house.
* **Zeta:** Locations with zero security presence and a police response time of 'never'. Usually, this means Outside City Limits. Feral youkai tend to be rampant in Zeta Level, so watch out.

### Physical

Defending your shit has gotten even more complex then ever in 2080. Security systems use multiple means of detecting and dealing with intrusion through various physical, digital, and magical methods.

Of the three, however, the Physical end of things is still the simplest compared to the other two.

Tactical gear is basically what you can imagine it can be. Meaning, if you can imagine it, it probably exists. If it doesn't, sell your idea and make some good money. Someone will make it. Weapons and armor are what's important, however. They don't call it 'Physical Security' for nothing, and being dead is the number one cause of retirement from Incident Teams.

Armor comes in three classes: Light, Medium and Heavy. Light armor looks just like regular clothing. it IS regular clothing, with protective weaves and materials. You can look fashionable and stay reasonably not-dead in day to day life. Medium and Heavy armors stand out MUCH more, however, and Heavy armor lives up to its name in weight and restrictiveness.

Armor can be customized to protect more or less against the three types of weaponry you're liable to be killed with, though standard armor protects against everything more or less equally:

Of the three types, there's Brute weaponry, weapons people run up and bash you with. In this day and age, you shouldn't be surprised there's still thugs with bats, or crazies swinging swords and axes at you. The next type is Ballistic weaponry - meaning guns. Ballistic guns are less common, and ammo is rare and expensive, and not very effective against youkai, unless you happen to have enchanted or exploding bullets (which are even more rare, and more illegal...).

The final type of weapon is a bit newer. Energy weapons (which don't include tasers) use laser technology. Lasers have gotten exponentially more powerful in 2080, and can be both non-lethal and quite lethal. Lasers also prove very effective against youkai and ammo is literally just rechargeable batteries, making it the ideal choice to carry and use for Incident Teams and police alike.

### Digital

When the net went down before the war, it seemed like humans had been brought back 200 years technologically. However, in Humanis, it has been recreated in a different way. With the advent of technology, virtual reality has become the new norm, and thus, the R.E.A.L World has become the new standard upon digital network connections. All REAL World functions are accessible simply with InfoTech, which is today's computers. Most people rely on handheld InfoTech devices to get through their daily lives. Though more powerful Floor Bricks are available to use at home, there is often little need for one unless you are in need of the processing power for your own REAL Land - a hosted space.

Of course, while the REAL World is closely monitored and most everyone needs it for their work and daily lives, this also invites people to exploit the systems and hack in to anything and everything. Incident Teams often have a hacker as a standard. Having control of the digital space goes a long way into keeping control of the physical space.

Some humans are capable of feats of hacking above and beyond the norm, not even needing InfoTech to access the REAL World. These sorts are called CyberMages. Though, they're incredibly rare to find, some of the most powerful hackers are often CyberMages.

Particularly clever Incident Breakers have managed to create a hack network of peer to peer connections, forming a new online haven for Breakers called ILLUSION. Here they can discuss the world at large from an uncensored point of view. Due to its modular nature, everyone who participates in ILLUSION runs a piece of the network through their own InfoTech, making the network impossibly to fully hijack or remove.

### Magical

With the return of youkai came the return of the mystical and magical. Old lore and superstition has never proven to be more true, and rituals just thought to be religious tradition now seem to be having more of an effect then once thought...

Magic is the ability to bend the laws of physics and reason ever so slightly to achieve a desired result. You can mess with ions and static in the air to give someone an electric shock, direct force to punch someone from far away, bend light to make illusions, spur someone's immune system to heal them faster, make your words sound more convincing with subtle manipulation of mood, there's a lot of different things and options to choose.

A second type of magic - spiritual magic, also exists. Shinto rituals and techniques, often used to ward off bad spirits and impure energy - the kind of techniques perfectly suited to warding off or harming youkai.

There's lots of different ways to cast magic. The simplest way is often to channel it directly, though it tends to be obvious when one is doing it. Magic spells can often be prepared in advance, however, through the use of alchemy and engraving, meaning magic spells are carved into an object, and the spell is triggered by an effect or key use of the item, be it a code word or contact with an intended target. Engraving and alchemy are often very time consuming and also expensive as you need special supplies to prepare such magic, depending on the type of magic, power of the spell, and magical background (pagans or shinto).

Youkai are often the type to use magic. They tend to be quite skilled at it, among those that are capable. Of course, this mostly owes to the fact it's a lost art. Of course, that doesn't exclude humans entirely. Those that come from long bloodlines - witches and shinto priestesses - found that the things they'd studied for years suddenly had an actual effect. Perhaps owing to the fact the supernatural was once again a reality. Naturally, youkai don't like the fact humans can be powerful too... so of course, magic is banned for humans. Especially the Shinto magic, for the obvious reason it's harmful to youkai.

## Further Reading

* Races of Shadow Project East
* Characters in Shadow Project East
* Stories and other Reference Material
* Dangers of Shadow Project East