Both Rapture and Columbia have spent the last few decades rebuilding, and while they've been very stagnant during their rebuilding processes, they've finally managed to recover back to state resembling civilization, but both are still under the control of dystopic totalitarian states (The Founders and the Cult of Lamb, respectively). Both societies are preparing for an attack on the surface world, with hopes of reshaping it in their image. However, as they look outwards, the two cities discover each other, and seeing each other as a threat, are now locked in war.
Meanwhile, since both cities are now operating on a larger scale, some entities on the surface world have begun to discover the existence and intentions of Columbia and Rapture, and some are even preparing to explore it.


(Obviously, we'll be deviating from canon by having Rapture and Columbia in the same universe)

Factions




The Founders:
The Founders are native to Columbia. Their ideals are loosely based on the Confederate States, but in practice are significantly more fascist in nature. They took charge of Columbia shortly after the city of columbia seceded from the Union, and have ultimately been in charge ever since.
After Comstock's death in 1912, the Founders struggled against the Vox Populi in a civil war that left the city in ruins. However, a preacher by the name of Daniel Robertson managed to take charge of the Founders, and eventually, they managed to drive the Vox Populi 'back into the Sodom below'.
While preparing for their invasion, they began to search for the SongBird's body with hopes of resurrecting it. In their search, they came across Rapture (which they like to call 'The Gomorrah Beneath That'), and it wasn't long before the two went to war with each other.
While Columbia's existence is common knowledge, its location is not. In fact, many assume that it crashed somewhere into the ocean decades ago.



The Cult of Lamb (AKA, the Rapture Family):
After Ryan's death, Sophia Lamb managed to take charge of Rapture, and set up her own cult of personality. Her goal was to create a collectivist 'utopia' devoid of selfishness. She attempted to turn her daughter into a 'utopian' through the use of brain washing and ADAM. However, a rogue Alpha Series robot came and put a stop to that. She hasn't been seen since.
The Cult of Lamb remains a very flat society, officially without leadership. However, it is possibly to have a de facto state of leadership simply by being charismatic and assassin-proof enough. They are a totalitarian communist democracy where majority vote is everything, and individual rights are meaningless. Like the Founders, they are planning on taking over the surface world, and have even begun harassing boats to some extent.
Unlike Columbia, Rapture's existence is not common knowledge, but instead a ghost story that nobody believes in. It's in their best interests they keep it that way until they're ready to strike.




The Government:
High-ranking government officials in the US and her allies are aware or the existence of Rapture and Columbia's location, but try to keep it a closely guarded secret. They don't have much intel on what's going on in either city at the moment, but they suspect ill intent, and are quietly preparing for an invasion.



((Sub-factions do exist, but these are the three ones directly involved in the conflict at hand))


Sub Factions:

The Children of Tennenbaum: A group dedicated to helping little sisters escape captivity. Founded by its namesake, Tennenbaum.

Sinclair Corporation: A Rapturian corporation with some presence on the Surface and even in Columbia. Dedicated to wealth creation everywhere.

The Fraternal Order of the Raven: A group of religious fanatic White supermacists based in Columbia.

The Vox Populi: A rebel group that still has some presence in Columbia. Allies with the Rapture Family.

The Flock: A quasi-religious organization that broke away from Columbia's church when they began to worship Comstock. Dedicated to helping disenfranchised groups in Columbia. They're non-violent themselves, but aren't above hiring mercenaries.

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Races:

Humans: Normal humans, like us. Well, ok, unless you're a very sophisticated spambot or an alien or something else. Humans are found everywhere, though many in Rapture have fallen under ADAM addiction. Humans are neither restrained nor aided by cybernetics or more extreme splicing.


Splicers: Commonly found in Rapture, Splicers are humans who are very dependent on ADAM. They aren't necessarily evil, but at the very least they are jumpy and will do quite a bit to get to their next fix. EVE Hypos also help. Some them are paranoid or hear voices. Most of them are ugly creatures, but if they are actually successful enough at getting their fixes this is reduced somewhat. In combat, they often have a suicidal overconfidence, but also a reduced sense of pain. There are several types as well, such as spider splicers, the boys of silence, and Houdini splicers.


Cyborgs: Humans with mechanical parts implanted. Or a human brain operating a machine. Big Daddies are technically cyborgs, but they get their own page. Examples of cyborgs include the Handyman, the Motorized Patriot Plus (A normal motorized patriot with a human brain), and the Fireman. Most cyborgs have trouble using plasmids, but there are exceptions, such as the Fireman. Some cyborgs can be hacked, if they have too many mechanical parts.


Gatherers: Female humans with an ADAM slug in their tummy. This causes them to work as ADAM factories. It also gives them superhuman regeneration powers, but as they grow older this is reduced somewhat. Most of the little sisters, and some of the big sisters are under mental conditioning to make them think that the world around them is invariably gorgeous. Among gatherers, the word "mother" is taboo. Unlike Big Daddies, Big Sisters can remove their suit.


Big Daddies: A type of Cyborg designed to protect Little Sisters. They have a powered diving suit grafted onto them, giving them super strength and invulnerability. Big Daddies are dependent on Little Sisters and usually try to protect them. However, they are not necessarily good. In fact, some of them even go insane and start attacking everything...even little sisters.


To sign up, here's the recommended CS:

-Name:
-Age:
-Location: (Where do you live now?)
-Faction: (You don't necessarily need to be in a faction at all; you also don't necessarily need to be in the faction related to your location. For example, you can be a founder stuck in Rapture, if you explain why)
-Race: (Human, Big Daddy, Splicer, Cyborg, Big Sister what? If you're a Big Daddy, I strongly suggest also making an LS character to go with them. Like Faction, you can be a displaced a little. For example, you can be a Big Daddy living in Columbia, so long as you explain)
-Appearance:
-Plasmids/Vigors: (If any. You should only have up to four plasmids and weapons. And by that I mean weapons and plasmids combined should equal four at maximum)
-Weapons: (If any. Things like remote hacking tools and skyhooks do count as weapons, by the way)
-Tonics/Gear: (Three or less)
-History: