There's a world so old, the passage of time has become meaningless.
There's a city that's existed for so long, no one remembers its name. Alone in the midst of a world reclaimed by nature's embrace, the perpetual emanations of life have grown weaker and weaker in the most recent centuries of its seemingly eternal existence. Unnoticed by its inhabitants, the vitality that once gave rise to a globe-spanning society has ebbed away leaving nothing but a dull husk, a shallow parody of it's former vibrance and glory. Darker things than have ever made themselves felt in the corporeal world have begun to take root in the heart and spirit of this place, poisoning the flesh of the society and corrupting the peace of mind once cherished by the denizens of this dying world. So slow was this encroachment that it has gone on unnoticed for years, bleeding the stuff of life from anything it touched. This city, this last bastion of sentience in a savage world, is dying. For the first time in its eons-long existence, its life is spiraling irresistibly towards conclusion. This city is Bedlam.
The inhabitants of this ancient, always changing metropolis continue to reenact hollow scenes day to day, meaningless lives drifting through a decaying existence, seldom if ever making the kinds of connections to each other that would serve to inject the spark of life back into their society. So long have they been removed from conflict, from the strength drawn from struggle that their surrender wasn't even a conscious decision. If any one of them had ever thought to consider it, they would have realized there was a pervasive feeling that things had always been this way, this unremarkable, stagnate gray excuse for living. It would seem like pure fantasy for them to imagine a time when their people thrived, when their city had been a globe-girdling life form teeming with innovation and energy. If they had the drive left for such introspection, that's how it would seem. Unfortunately, that capacity is buried so deep it's been lost and forgotten.
But not by everyone.
Outside the city walls, cloaked in the embrace of the untamed natural world that now rules this planet, a few live who fight the disease of apathy that permeates the spirits of their kind. Refusing the city and its false security, the instinct-dulling monotony and hopelessness it offers, they make their dwellings deep in the Foreverwood, the primal jungle that now owns every square inch of the planet outside The City. The natural world ignites and feeds the fire in their souls, hones their instincts and natural rebellious inclinations that lead them to fight against the smothering stagnation, the pointless conformity that's been unknowingly adopted by their kin. Gravitating towards each other in small groups, they strive to awaken the sleeping essence of individuality and spirit in those that still live in The City, to open their eyes to the world around them and the infinite possibilities it offers. They call themselves X's.
The X's remain unaware that the slow death infecting The City has taken on a darker influence, a sentience of its own. This evil has not failed to notice them, however, and the threat they represent to its purpose. It does not desire sustenance, companionship, or any of the basic necessities of life. Its only desire, indeed, the entirety of its being, is the complete and total cessation of all conscious, sapient life. It cannot be reasoned with, and it cannot be changed. It is the raw, unadulterated embodiment of evil, and its collective aspects employ a vast, cold and unfeeling intelligence. It preys on the negativity and apathy of all sentient life, and The City's lost residents and their atrophied souls feed it, giving it's strength a bottomless well to draw on. Patient and analytical, this force has fragmented its essence, each jagged necrotic piece forming a personality of its own, networking together into a shared consciousness. Slowly they prepare for a bloody and uncontested assault against the X's, the only threat to their dominion on this planet.
It would seem that the crushing, necrotic hand of death is prepared to wring the life from this world uncontested.
Can the X's survive the coming onslaught?
But not by everyone.
Outside the city walls, cloaked in the embrace of the untamed natural world that now rules this planet, a few live who fight the disease of apathy that permeates the spirits of their kind. Refusing the city and its false security, the instinct-dulling monotony and hopelessness it offers, they make their dwellings deep in the Foreverwood, the primal jungle that now owns every square inch of the planet outside The City. The natural world ignites and feeds the fire in their souls, hones their instincts and natural rebellious inclinations that lead them to fight against the smothering stagnation, the pointless conformity that's been unknowingly adopted by their kin. Gravitating towards each other in small groups, they strive to awaken the sleeping essence of individuality and spirit in those that still live in The City, to open their eyes to the world around them and the infinite possibilities it offers. They call themselves X's.
The X's remain unaware that the slow death infecting The City has taken on a darker influence, a sentience of its own. This evil has not failed to notice them, however, and the threat they represent to its purpose. It does not desire sustenance, companionship, or any of the basic necessities of life. Its only desire, indeed, the entirety of its being, is the complete and total cessation of all conscious, sapient life. It cannot be reasoned with, and it cannot be changed. It is the raw, unadulterated embodiment of evil, and its collective aspects employ a vast, cold and unfeeling intelligence. It preys on the negativity and apathy of all sentient life, and The City's lost residents and their atrophied souls feed it, giving it's strength a bottomless well to draw on. Patient and analytical, this force has fragmented its essence, each jagged necrotic piece forming a personality of its own, networking together into a shared consciousness. Slowly they prepare for a bloody and uncontested assault against the X's, the only threat to their dominion on this planet.
It would seem that the crushing, necrotic hand of death is prepared to wring the life from this world uncontested.
Can the X's survive the coming onslaught?
The Trailer
At one point, partly for fun, and partly because I was deluding myself into believing my resources were not woefully lacking what I needed to produce an actual comic book, I put together a sort of promotional video for YouTube. Although for time being the comic itself is on hold, I still thoroughly enjoy vacationing in the Foreverwood and meeting all the new characters it has to offer. That's what this page is about. Hopefully at some point in the future, I'll find myself in a position to do this universe and its inhabitants justice on paper.
Here's the complete trailer, if you're interested.
Here's the complete trailer, if you're interested.
Audio track for The Trailer copyright Pendulum and Warner Music UK. Breaking Bedlam, logo, characters and all other content contained herein are copyright this site's owner and may not be duplicated or distributed in any way without permission.