Level 51 - "Hoofstad"

Hoofstad
One of the biggest city of the Lost era
Photography of the ruins of the former Schola Fengàri.
General Information
Level Number:	51 (M.E.G./G.P.D. classification)
Surface Area:	PLACEHOLDER
Environment:	Plains, and forests surrounded by mountains. Presence of two rivers.
Climate:	Mediterranean
Hoofish Civilization
Lifespan Estimation:	PLACEHOLDER
Estimated Demography:	PLACEHOLDER
Ethnicities:	Greek in the early decades, Greek, Roman, Sumerian, [precuscor of the lost suns (aztecs)?], Egyptian towards the end
Main Worshipped Deities:	Philia, Nirmaan (full list of their Pantheon accessible here)

Beginnings

Just like the Lost¹ is one of the oldest human cultures in the Backrooms; Hoofstad is one of the most ancient recorded settlements still around to this day.

When the Lost was formed at around 1025 BCE from Greek wanderers who banded together through their common culture, they were originally a nomadic coalition. Indeed, due to the rarity of resources even in early levels, as well as dangers they weren't used to yet, most humans back then couldn't settle in the same place for too long².

As their struggle for survival continued, their myths and beliefs shifted to reflect their cultural changes. One of these was a promise from Aphrodite³, who allegedly appeared in the dreams of Tikal, the soon-to-become ruler of the Lost⁴. Said dream involved the vision of a place where the nomads could finally settle in peace, with the divine sign taking the form of a flight of doves above a field of roses.

While the time between the creation of this prophecy and its fulfillment isn't clear, the prophesized environment has been confirmed to be Level 51, where Hoofstad was originally set up through wooden huts and fences. Thanks to the presence of two rivers and several small forests surrounded by a chain of mountains rich in ores, the nomads finally managed to settle down in a peaceful place, with an availability of food and water that would prove crucial for the city's development, as well as the creation of villages around the future capital.

Interestingly enough, the word "Hoofstad"⁵ meant "capital" in Hoofish⁶, similarly to the word "hoofdstad" in Dutch, despite ancient Greek not being a Proto-Germanic language. While paradoxical, this seems to indicate that the nomadic coalition was far more multicultural at the start than previously thought, hinting at a wider Panhellenism⁷ that would only grow as the culture developed.

While the Lost started creating other villages in other levels, starting with Nua in 1000 BCE, the status of Hoofstad as the first and most prosperous city quickly led to to become the center of the civilization's culture.

Societal Structure

Hoofstad, thanks to its size and peaceful nature, quickly became an exemplar of multuculturalism in the Backrooms. While Greek remained the main culture for long, I'll finish that eventually I swear but that will come later down the line

Religion

Much like pagan cultures of Earth, Hoofstad, in their attempts to understand the world around them, created many myths centralized around the unique reality warpers they met over time.

The novelty of Hoofstad as the "City chosen by the gods" led the civilization to diversify their religion by incorporating many other gods who embodied values or concepts the Lost believed was ruling the universe. Like most polytheist cultures, however, most of these figures remained shrouded in mystery, indulging fear into the hearts of the inhabitants who lived by the desire to respect said concepts in order to prosper. While all cities of the Lost followed an overall similar pantheon, none of them were as fervent as Hoofstad, whose temples and shrines quickly became renown even outside of the civilization for their magestic nature.

After the death of Tikal in 955 BCE, his youngest daughter Jane PLACEHOLDER faced conflits with most religious leaders of Hoofstad, threatening her already clunky sit of power. To avoid further tensions and assasination attempts, she relocated her court to Seli, a smaller town that would become the political center of the Lost empire. Due to this schism between political and religious power happening so early in the town's history, this allowed the different religous leaders to severely influence the political life of Hoofstad from now on, shifting its culture further into theocracy.

Cult Structure

A minor temple of Philia, surrounded by a garden.

Even after the political power departure, religious power wasn't centralized, meaning each worshipped being had different cult structures, not tied to any other and devoid of any higher authority.

Despite this, the temple leaders, each referred to as a Presbiereus⁸ functionally governed the town together. By claiming to channel the will of the gods, each temple led the affairs related to the concept of their respective deity. The judiciary system was led by disciples of Justicias, while education was monitored by the priests of Fengàri, and so on⁹.

Presbiereuses were seen as the rightful envoys of the gods, being chosen to lead Hoofstad into prosperity. Early scriptures of the town mention each family of the oldest cults descending from the close friends of Tikal, who led the nomads of the Lost to Level 51, confirming their status as the chosen leaders. Furthermore, most reality warpers¹⁰ didn't mind or care about a specific town from a specific human civilization, meaning each elder priest was free to govern as they pleased by passing each decision as the demand of their deity. Naturally, it made their lineage succeed one another, keeping the power inside their family.

Presbiereuses mostly governed their field without consulting the others, instead relying on their advisors, and sometimes even personal servants for help. Despite this, all elder priests reunited for a day every start of a new lunar cycle to talk about the general state of the town and Hoofish geopolitics. The meeting locations changed every time, with each lunar cycle of the Hoofish Calendar being tied to a specific major god and therefore a specific temple lunar calendar to develop elsewhere? months = lunar cycles, one for each major god (the ones with a Presbynaós).

Despite jealously keeping their influence, Presbiereuses nonetheless governed with care for the city's stability and development, whether it was to avoid conflict with the real political power sieging in Seli or to not be cursed by their deity. While this doesn't mean Hoofstad's history was devoid of tyrants, most of them were either forced to step down or assassinated¹¹ when the established order was threatened.

Cult Locations

The main locations of the Presbiereuses were named Presbynaós¹², acting more as a political building than a prayer house. As such, citizens usually went to their local Naós Minoris¹³, as they were smaller and closer to their home or workplaces thanks to being more common.

While the Naós Minoris often varied in shape to fit inside their respective district, the Presbynaós all bear the same shape of a circle separated into four distinct areas something something it replicates the Pantheon logo but idk where/if I say it:

• The garden of the Presbynaós, featured plants and sometimes animals reminiscent of the deity of the temple, all taken care of by the temple staff. It was a place of peace and calmness open to the general public, functioning similarly to town parks, where peace was enforced.
• The outer layer of the temple, featuring the living quarters of the temple staff¹⁴. Similarly to monasteries of the Middle Ages, they were managed without exterior help. Unlike monasteries, however, exchanges with the outside world were common, with priests being able to leave and participate in the town's activities while the rest of the Hoofish population could enter to pray and seek guidance.
• The inner layer of the temple, much thinner, hosts the living quarters of the Presbiereus, as well as intimate prayer rooms for the wealthier people, as well as the temple library, often used as a meeting room by the elder priest.
• The Cella¹⁵, located in the middle of the temple. It featured no ceiling, allowing for direct contact with the god through the skies, and had its access restricted to the Presbiereus only, as well as their personal servants.

Philia

A Renaissance-era painting of Philia by Leonio Vaccarello titled "Delicate Love", currently property of the I.M.B.H.

The most important of these deities was Philia, an eldritch yet caring manifestation of love who guided the Lost as they started building their society in Hoofstad. As she was the one leading them to the level, she quickly became the most prayed-upon deity of their growing mythological pantheon, being seen by many as the patron of the town.

Unlike most other reality warpers worshipped by the Lost, Philia walked amongst the town she helped the civilization create, spreading her teachings of love and respect to her followers. Many pilgrims came from other Lost cities, or even from other Philia-worshipping civilizations¹⁶, in order to see the goddess, driven by their hope to get an audience with them where they could see for guidance¹⁷. Most of the time, however, these people could only interact with her priests, especially during the times when she was wandering elsewhere in the Backrooms.

Thanks to her direct contact with her priesthood, allowing her to directly transmit her values of love and selflessness, her Presbynaós and Naós Minoris were some of the most frequented public spaces in Hoofstad. Acting like hospitals, her priests were able to help the people in need using a rudimentary yet effective form of medicine, using anomalous plants from across the Backrooms.

Furthermore, temples dedicated to Philia also acted as sacred grounds, where anyone could seek shelter if they needed it¹⁸. Followers of Philia were trained to help anyone in need, ranging from people going through abuse to slaves or war prisoners on the run. Acting both as guards and confidantes, they accommodated the person in the living quarters of the temple. Even law enforcers were powerless to disrupt the sheltering, with the fate of the person and their situation lying in the hands of the Naós Minoris main priest, Philia's Presbiereus or the goddess of love herself.

Due to the unique status of her cult, not everyone seemed to appreciate Philia's active presence within the city. Records from some Presbiereuses depict her as a naive yet powerful obstacle to their politics, hinting at the fact the goddess' values often clashed with the more selfish views of the high priests, who wished to preserve their power and wealth status rather than give too much to the general population.

Despite these political struggles, the few hostile Presbiereuses were unable to exercise their authority, let alone neutralize the deity, as this ultimate heretical move would have been quick to raise the city's forces against them. As such, Philia's influence, although not hegemonic, shaped the town's history until its very end, ensuring a power balance keeping the humans in check.

Calendar System

Hoofstad's calendar, and the Lost's calendar in general, follows the Lunar cycles of Level 51. With the town's religion revolving around twelve major gods IMPORTANT, the hours, days and months revolved around this sacred number¹⁹.

Like the lunisolar festival calendar of ancient Athenes, the Hoofish Calendar, called fengàpiôs in honor of the moon god Fengàri, posesses twelve months, one for each major diety of Hoofstad. Each one was cut into 28 days²⁰.

Thelò, the Season of Cold

• Il'thliniōn was the last month of the year. Following the month of harvests was the start of the Hoofish Winter, a short season where temperatures made the level a deadly place. Named after the god of death, it symbolized a rough ending of the year and the biggest trial before the new times.
• Fengàniōn was the first month of the year, symbolizing rebirth and change near the end of the Hoofish Winter. It was celebrated on the first day during the Fengàri Festival, where each citizen was incentivized to set goals for the years, try new experiences and undergo self-introspection²¹
• Nirmaaniōn was the second month of the year and the end of the Hoofish Winter²². Although the cultures of Lomos still couldn't grow until the Fengàri Secondi of the month due to the plant growing in warm to hot temparatures, the name of the goddess of creation showed the will to make life bloom, whether it was agriculture or children.

Nirmò, the Season of Warm

• Justiniōn was the third month of the year. With the Season of Warm starting, people started to work again, and the god of order and justice gave its name to a month dedicated to effort and contribution to the town's well-being.
• Nunnōn was the fourth month of the year and the first big harvest of the year. It was a time of joy and feasting named after the god of humor Nunca. Due to the deity's age, Nunnōn was also known as the month of youth, with a three-weeks long holiday devoid of any class for the youth to enjoy Nirmò.
• Philnōn was the fifth month of the year, and one dedicated to the patron of the town Philia, supposedly born during the month. As such, the month was believed as one of fertility, with a lot of couples conceiving their children to grant them the protection of the goddess. In addition to this, a three-day festival was held each year right after the Fengàri Secondi, celebrating love in all its forms. Workers were usually given the three days off, allowing for them to see their families, friends and lovers to spend time with them by baking and eating a Philios, a strawberry-based pasty using lomos as flour, as a way to express their love and care for each other.

Thermò, the Season of Hot

• Xalnōn was the sixth month of the year, named after the god of chaos. This period was defined by its unpredictible weather that can range from heat waves to heavy storms and even blizzards in some occasions. Nicknamed "Kirai's Business"²³, this weather phenomenon could make or break the second harvest supposed to happen in the following month. As such, prayers to the god of chaos were common so as to garantee tame weather and make crop growth possible.
• Y'nōn? was the seventh month of the year and the second harvest of the year, longer but also more bontiful due to the high temperatures. PLACEHOLDER
• Mornōn? was the eigth month of the year and the hottest one by far. Due to Hoofstad's ecosystem being warmer than on Earth, the temperatures in the town could prove fatal to the frail or elderly. As such, cool areas like temple gardens or the Morphen Thermae²⁴ were particulately visited during the month, whether they were workers taking a break from farming or simply citizen enjoying these chiller social hubs. Singularis instead? god of destruction

Prosthò, the Season of Dusk

• PLACEHOLDER was the ninth month of the year and the start of school for most children in the town, with temperatures slowly but gradually lowering during the broader season. Although Lomos cultures could be planted and grown during the previous month, farmers usually waited until PLACEHOLDER to do so to avoid overheating and exhaustion at work, which could prove fatal.
• Augustōn was the tenth month of the year. Named after the god of war, it commemorates the Lost's victory against the Kengir and the storming of New Bāl, their former capital. Milirary parades were common during the week-long Augustus Festival, which served both as a way to entertain the patriotism of the population as well as a showcase of power towards other civilizations of the time.
• Protasheniōn was the eleventh month of the year, and the last one before the rude Hoofish Winter. Named after the goddess of agriculture, it was the last month of harvest, where recolts were taken by the farmers. With the last gathering of the year came the Harvest Festival, a time where the Hoofish feasted to prepare themselves to Thelò.

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• they can't die of old age in Hoofstad? "cérémonie d'élargissement"? RETCONNED

To Do/To Fix List

Beginnings

Religion Nature and Impact

• make a religion section with the way hoofstad interepreted the existence of avatars + powerful beings as gods who ruled the universe
• political system (priests and all, how they are designed and how they manage the city, system inspired by athènes? -> monarchie parlemantaire en gros?).
  • Structure des cultes : hiérarchie, rôles (actuellement que Presbiereus d'expliqué, avec ses conseillers et serviteurs mentionnés. Quid du reste du "clergé"? Il y a des prêtes c'est sûr, mais quelle hiérarchie?
  • Mise en place : Religions can justify the power dynamic in place. How would the Pantheon mythology explains the existence of the priests as the rulers?
• Religion utilisé par the Lost comme arme culturelle pour gagner du pouvoir sur les autres civilisations (un peu comme de la guerre ou du commerce), Fondations-Asimov-style (des gens feraient des pelerinages à Hoofstad, s'y installeraient pr être dans la ville choisie des dieux…). Probablement pour ça que les autres civilisations du temps avaient souvent des dieux similaires, ils les prenaient de Hoofstad. Dans partie sur Philia? Présence d'une déesse donnerait probablement envie aux gens d'y habiter
• Les dieux se fichent de comment leur leur pensée est interprétée ? (probablement pas Philia en tt cas) Ne s'intéressent pas à politique ? Pas sûr que ça marche pr tous… besoin de liste des dieux présent en physique, la moins longue possible -> partie sur l'intérêt des dieux pour ladite ville/civilisation

• Accent on Philia as main patron, then Nirmaan as a generally popular god

Food

• Agriculture (les cultures anciennes sont typiquement développées autour d'une céréale. Laquelle pour Hoofstad? En créer une ?) -> Lomos, almond-flavored cereal derivate from wheat, can be grinded into flour used as food base
  • Lomos, pousse très bien dans Hoofstad car s'accomode aux climats tempérés tiède à chaud, qui convient bien au climat souvent chaud de Hoofstad. Grows in 1.5 to 2 months
  • parler du calendrier ici? mentionné dans partie sur les prêtres qui se rassemblent parfois, mais le calendrier rythmerait les récoltes donc pourrait être mentionné ici avec sa structure et surtout ses applications pour les récoltes
• Fishing
• Hunt/élevage animal

Economics

• Jobs putting there?
• money, trading system (refined firesalt coins? troc? debt system?) (ont-il popularisé l'utilisation de l'argent? Chaque ville utiliserait sa propre monnaie peut-être ? Et le trading inter-ville se ferait
• relations with other levels (trading routes? Attacks from other wanderers? clash of culture with like aztecs or something would be cool) (trucs comme trève olympique peut être cool)

SPORT (=entertainment?)

• sport, mixte
• type de sport pratiqués : "classiques" + le nouveau ou faut que je trouve un nom grmblf
• hippodrome construit
• dans partie sport parler des jeux entre les civilizations (un peu comme la ville truc de vidéo) (panhellénisme)

Art

• Pottery, mosaic (decorative art)
• Jewelry, clothes (fashion art)
• Theater, dance (physical art expression)
• clothes (style?)
• REMEMBER TO TALK ABOUT NIRMAAN HERE, maybe for the artist inspiration
• also their art is used for cult stuff, like showing faith and all

Geopolitics

• Wars and with/against who
  • use of deathmoth toxin on weapons (see e4 article)
• relation with Macchina (did they have their victorian technology yet?), The Steel too
• fusing with the Suns at one point
• Trading
• Mention different other towns in different levels
• Mention the villages around main town too
• war against the Lost Kengir (sumerians/mesopotamians folks) which lead to the destruction of their new capital New Bāl (start of the multiculuralism? y'know, the slave thing)

Historical Devlopment and Fall

• Wars and slave import leading to multiculturalism (name some wars? Not develop those too much)
• hoofstad devient de plus en plus hétéroclite avec le temps (melting pot) notamment grâce aux météques, a l'influence du commerce et aux esclaves libérés transmettant leur culture
  • Assimilation des Suns à un moment, probablement une alliance plutôt qu'une conquête
• Yiliad Massacre
• the war
• that silly thing Zephyr did
• Decline
• Lunar Chimeras doing stuff to preserve it

Timeline

• Titanis Sepulcrum mentions the macchina war thingy happening at around -2700 BC or at least Zehuti's last battle was
  • maybe the mentionned Lost was the Kengir?
  • That or the 4729+ years since the last battle uses the Macchina calender, one that's not based on human stuff both in days number or year start (seeing they're a backborn species) best option so far
• Formed at around 1025 BCE, Hoofstad created around this date
• Nua is set in 1000 BCE
• War against the Kengir in 976 BCE, mention of Cursores Turricula from Level Keys
• Weird ritual Zephyr thingy in 476 AD

• To ignore: whatever weird date schulze gave in two-faced series

Misc

PITIE FAIT UN GLOSSAIRE MON REUF

prioritize the use of either entities/objects or god devlopment (god devlopment with link to other pages if possible
USE LIMINALITY SOMEWHERE PROBABLY

• I'm sure you can put some color theory in there, how the Lost percieved them. What was the color of death for example?
  • Pink would be lore, whether it is anachronistic or not can be touched upon
  • Blue was kinda frown upon and not really cared about by greeks/romans, so bounce from this? Blue is a cold color and could be tied to the harsh Hoofish winter
• Daetheos = Backrooms religion (prononcer "dé-théos" ou "da-théos" idk). "Pantheon" comes from "Pan/theos" meaning "all the gods". "Daetheos" means "gods of Daedos".
• NATURE DE HOOFSTAD SIMILARE A VILLE GRECQUE, ORGANISATION SIMILAIRE (en tt cas au début)
• panhellénisme: ce qui rassemble les grecs (what helped them get together, also what link them to other lost cities, even other cultures)
• defending against entities here?
• also how do they bury the dead???? Funeral rites?
• Marriage? You talk about the Philia pearl thing already, but that's important stuff in a Philia town.
• changement de Hoofstad à une autre ville ? Nom, Panklessios?
• calendar system ( * vacation day, honorer mort du mari de Nirmaan (au jour où il est supposé que c'est arrivé))
• education (tied to jobs probably. What abour scholars and philosophers?)
• craftmanship (forge by FINALLY USING HELIOS creating objects with stuff like firesalt probably, making clothe, farming and elevage, defending the village, praying, do I do slavery as well?) + using gods as patrons
• random idea - un écrit super cryptique et impossible à comprendre par M.E.G mais qui est juste une fanfic cringe d'un mec de Hoofstad x le keymaster

ne pas oublier de mettre les trucs à réutiliser/développer (genre esclavage) ou trucs susceptibles de changer (genre le "seulement douze temples [majeurs?]") en rouge pr pouvoir revenir dessus

Philia stuff because she's the best character

• statues de philias dans des bordels? peut-être trop pour le site
• whenever couples marry in Hoofstad, they were offered a statue of Philia and were advised to make an altar with it and give offerings to "streghten their love" (better fertility, fidelity…). It was also common for couple trying to have a child to put a pearl under their pillow as an offering to the goddess of love

Image links

• https://unsplash.com/fr/photos/jardin-labyrinthe-_qXjdWm8YEo
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salamis_Ruins.jpg image hoofstad
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%CE%9D%CE%B1%CF%8C%CF%82_%CE%97%CF%86%CE%B1%CE%AF%CF%83%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85_4.jpg Philia temple
• https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%89douard_Bisson_-_The_Swing.jpg Philia painting

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12Mb1fOB0MFKmzU30eC0ZeyRiNuMTgTprVrreHsvmszg/edit?tab=t.0

Notes de bas de page

1. Most specifically what we nowadays call "The Lost Legions", as a way to separate them from other lost cultures.

2. Bellerose, Olivia (2012) Recovered Memories from the Concrete Garden, Database Omega

3. Believed to have been one of the earliest interactions of Philia with humanity.

4. Kelvin, Anthony (2017) Lost Empires, Promethei Bibliotheca

5. Pronounced ɦoːftstɑt.

6. The language of the Lost and the most widely spreadt backborn language across the Backrooms.

7. Denomination of "what unified the Greeks" in ancient Greece.

8. Can be translated into "elder priest" or "priest envoy"

9. A comparaison with current-day Frontrooms politics would be a council of ministers.

10. Apart from Philia.

11. The most well-known example being Akros Dominus, a Presbiereus of Argos, who was stabbed during a meeting in their own temple due to their violent methods of enforcing the justice system of Hoofstad. The expression "Serving to Akros" came from this event, meaning "giving someone what they deserve".

12. Literally translatable to "Religious center of the Envoy" or "Temple of the Envoy".

13. Meaning "Minor Temple", although the word was commonly shortened into simply Naós, meaning "temple" in both Hoofish and Ancient Greek.

14. Priests who chose to dedicate their lives and skills to honoring the god of their respective temple by protecting the place and keeping it in good condition.

15. "Chamber", both in Hoofish and in Ancient Greek.

16. Such as the Suns, who eventually fused into the Lost, becoming the Lost Suns.

17. Known examples include love advice, help to raise a family, or sharing shameful secrets for forgiveness.

18. Similarly to churches during the Frontrooms Middle Age.

19. Although never mentionned, it is possible another factor, like the calendar system in the Frontrooms, is the use of the individual's hands to count the hours, with each phalanx other than on the thumb indicating an hour.

20. The month starting with the Fengàri Novel, a new moon, with the Fengàri Secondi, the full moon, occuring in the middle of the month.

21. Although the priests of Fengàri weren't aware of his transmasc nature, the festival still represented the rebirth of the god as his true self, symbolizing life as a whole, with its ups and down. This cultural aspect of the fengàpiôs was most likelt created by Philia herself, as Fengàri himself didn't seem to ever appear physically in Hoofstad.

22. Although Fengàniōn was already far less harsh than Il'thliniōn, the last month of the year.

23. "Kiría" in Hoofish, a term that could also be used as slang to design someone capricious or with varying emotions, or directly as a name.

24. Hence the name of the month.