Cyborg guardian runner

 

A cyborg guardian and his spikewolf patrol the grasslands of the Midwest. Up armoured androids were often used to protect small farming communities from raiders. 

Powered by radioactive decay diamond batteries and organic matter processing intakes, they could operate autonomously for weeks before requiring maintenance. AI systems took over during sleep cycles, and with infrared, motion detectors and detachable drone 'flies', they were rarely taken by surprise.

Roving bands of opportunistic, predatory nomadic raiders were an ongoing problem for settled agrarian community, most of which lacked the ability to match their mobile warfare tactics. 

This issue became acute as ammunition stockpiles ran out.

Desert junkcrawlers

A junkcrawler, accompanied by the Water Guard, plows through sand dunes on a scorching summer afternoon. The Phoenix Bunker Cluster fielded dozens of ramshackle carriers to bring back life giving water from oasis and drill heads. 

Frequent attack by biker nomads and rogue bots seeking replacement parts resulted in them becoming increasing well armed and armoured over time. 

These craft were created on an ad hoc basis, as needed, sourcing whatever parts were available or readily scavenged. As a result, no two were alike; this caused ongoing maintenance issues for the mechanics unfortunate enough to be responsible for keeping them running.

Guards would ride on the back of the machine, wearing sealed suits with improvised cooling systems, and deploy whenever the overhead drones signalled danger ahead. 

That often didn't help much.

Athelmon, the Eternal Wandering Cyborg

The immortal cyborg Aethelmon, wandering the Central Wastes of former Ohio. He was just one of millions of survivors who fused with machine after The Final Apocalypse. For many during those desperate days, this was the only option, and they flocked to automated cybernetic enhancement service booths, which had proliferated shortly before the apocalypse.

The service AI determined customer survival would require far more than tummy tucks and a replacement limb or two, and set about hijacking vehicle and robot repair shops (along with a gun shop or dozen) in order to meet new customer requirements. Thanks to legal and warranty concerns, the quality of the work was exceptional: all parts incorporated self-maintainince nanites that obviate the need for return maintenance visits.

Over subsequent centuries, many came to regret the loss of their humanity and went insane. 

Outreach temples of the Elder God-Mainframes

Nearer to the surface are outreach temples of the Elder Gods; these require less effort to contact, and serve as recruitment centres. Some promise spiritual guidance and awakening, while others offer financial advice, love potions or fame. Once embedded in the cult of the Elder God, more and more is demanded of the adherent, until their entire existence is so enmeshed with their unfathomable deity, it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

Swirlshroom house of Amazda

 

The Swirlshroom grows in a ring that then twists round itself, forming a sheltered pod for spores that are later ejected through the roof. They grow large enough to provide shelter for troglodytes, and entire villages may be formed out of a Swirlshroom forest with little effort. Swirls remain tough and malleable when heated even after death, making them one of the most coveted construction materials. 

Most bizarrely, Swirls have evolved a highly alien pan-dimensional intelligence; the larger the forest, the greater the recursive analytical loop it forms. As such, villagers usually only excise elements with the agreement of the Swirl gestalt. 

The witch-wizard Amazda is depicted above, standing before her beloved shelter Primordium, with whom she would frequently commune. It gave her a particularly odd perspective on reality, and her enhanced magic was supreme for decades.

Wizard Contests

 

Wizard displays initially helped avoid violence

Two wizards perform a ritual display of prowess deep beneath the Appalachian Mountains. Magic displays were a harmless way to gauge the power of rival wizards. Over time, wizards began investing more energy in posturing than productivity, holding matches in vast subterranean arenas for dominion over entire kingdoms. 

However, with the ranks of wizards rife with egotism, sore losers made it inevitable that high level duels would eventually turn lethal. In the battle between Icaran and Wulfstana, the defeated Icaran brought the roof of the entire arena down, burying 50,000 spectators. 

He was banned from future matches by the Council of Thaum. 

Beneath the Universal Veil

Spore-ghoul stalking a foot patrol

Beneath the Great Universal Veil, deep underground, there exists a world dominated by mycelium. Spurred by mycorrhizae, vast mushroom forests are known to sprout with extreme rapidity, filling the endless caverns in karst regions, as well as bore wyrm dens. The mighty Stipate shrooms can grow up to 100 meters tall in a matter of months. 

Over time, they petrify into an incredibly hard fibrous material that is often used for construction by troglodytes. Mushrooms provide for almost all troglodyte needs, including food, dyes, clothing, filtration, fire starting, telepathy enhancement and medicine. 

On the flip side, poison mushrooms are an ever present threat; the ghulpore fungus infects the brain of those who eat it, or inhale an ejected spore cloud, turning them into spore-ghouls. 

These hideous beings then stalk, and infect, other underworlders, creating an army of protectors for the source fungus. A few mycophile ambassadors have been able to negotiate agreements with fungoid nerve hubs, usually after imbibing hallucinogenic shrooms to establish a compatible telepathic link.