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Alternia is the home planet of the trolls, located in Universe A. It has two satellites; a green moon and a pink moon, the latter of which seems to be accompanied by a much smaller pink satellite of its own.

Before the scratch it was known as Beforus.

Concept and creation[]

The Alternian text on the planet's placronymHS translates into Latin script as 'TROLLPLANET'. The name 'Alternia' was suggested by Toby "Radiation" Fox, and comes from the album of the same name. Of the meanings of the names Alternia and Beforus, Karkat Vantas has this to say:

ALTERNIA? AS IN, ALTERNATE? ALTERNATE TO WHAT. TURNS OUT IT IS THE *ALTERNATIVE* TO A PLANET CALLED BEFORUS! THE PLANET WHICH CAME *BEFOOOORE* US. HAHAHA! GET IT?[1]

Geography[]

Alternian meteors

A map of meteor impacts from Alterniabound, likely showing the planet's surface surrounding the homes of the beta trolls.

The terrain of Alternia's surface ranges from sandy desertsHS and rocky plateausHS to grassy plainsHS and immense forestsHS.

AlterniasiaHS is a region likely located on Alternia and presumably sharing some similarities with Earth's Asia, with an equivalent or similar area called East Beforus existing pre-scratch. Damara Megido hailed from these eastern provinces, across the seas from Rufioh Nitram's place of residence. [V]arious forms of exotic eastern theater presumably originated here, and EAST BEFORAN SCROLLs were written in mysterious runes similar to the Japanese characters used in Damara's typing quirk (though Damara's spoken quirk is referred to as a coarse lowb100d accent, rather than a separate language).

Maps[]

Alternia globe

A globe in Jake Harley's possession, presumably from his travels on Alternia.

In Homestuck, the surface of Alternia as seen from space is based on satellite photography of the coast of western Siberia, flipped upside-down with the Kara Sea and Novaya Zemlya visible to the south. Seemingly incongruous with this, Hiveswap introduces a completely new geography of Alternia, various maps of which can be seen throughout Acts 1 and 2, with one screen in a train station seeming to come the closest to showing the entire planet. These maps depict five larger landmasses roughly equivalent in scale to Earth's continents, with three around the planet's middle and one each dominating the planet's poles.

The map on Dammek's computer screen and on a weather forecast in Xefros Tritoh's home indicate that two of the smaller continents closer to the equator are where the events of Hiveswap take place. While the X on Pa's globe might be taken as indicating Dammek's hive is in the central region of the central continent, in the northern hemisphere, the weather forecast shows the southern region of the continent, close to one of its outlying islands.

Development[]

To date, the closest thing to an official detailed version of this map is in the form of concept artwork for Act 2 by M. Dyer; while not finished artwork, these maps closely match the geography seen in Act 1. Curiously, though the lines of geometry on this world map imply it is a al-Biruni globular projection, which depicts an entire globe in two circles, the absence of one of the three equatorial continents indicates it may be closer to a Vertical Perspective projection, which only shows the parts of a planet visible from space.

History[]

Main article: Chronology of Alternia

Alternia's histories across the scratch are defined by the appearance of a series of key meteors.

On Beforus, only one Frog Temple is known to have arrived, landing on the planet's pink moon. This meteor was followed by those carrying Feferi Peixes and the rest of her group of 12 trolls, who influenced Beforan society leading up to the arrival of Meenah Peixes and the rest of their descendants. Meenah and her teammates found the game Sgrub within the pink moon's temple, incidentally destroying Beforus in the Reckoning. These Heroes subsequently initiated the scratch, allowing Alternia's timeline to come into being.

On Alternia, two Frog Temples arrived, one in a desert and the other in an exposed cavernHS. One of these Temples contained the infant Doc Scratch, who went on to influence Alternia's history, such as through the outer god Gl'bgolyb and his time-travelling Handmaid, to create a violent troll race almost unrecognizable from those who lived on Beforus.HS Doc Scratch's meteor was presumably followed by Meenah's, who became his puppet and the tyrant of a galaxy-spanning Alternian empire, and then by those of the rest of the alpha trolls, who influenced Alternia's history in various ways up to the arrival of the beta trolls. Alternia, too, was decimated by the Reckoning brought about by a game of Sgrub, and the planet was erased forever when Snowman's death and the detonation of the Tumor caused Universe A's total destruction.

Habitation[]

Trolls[]

Main article: Troll
Meenah subgrub

A typical Alternian subgrub.

Pupated trolls live on the Alternian surface in house-like structures called hivesHS, separated into various rooms called blocks.

Other fauna[]

In addition to being the home planet of the trolls, Alternia is also home to a terrifying subterranean monster populationHS of lusus naturae. Its surface is populated by musclebeasts, which roam the planet during the night, and shadow droppers which crawl from the sand at sunriseHS.

Presumably also dwelling upon the Alternian surface is some varietyHS of mammalian animals with black fur and dark red blood, and nondescript flying animalsHS with multiple pairs of wings or finned tails soar its skies. Its aquatic life includes cuttlefish in various colorsHS and half-fish AQUATIC HOOFBEASTSHS, while black crab-like creaturesHS live on some of its beaches. Other black arthropod-like creaturesHS the size of small buildings have also been seen roaming the Alternian surface post-Reckoning.

Flora[]

Terezihome

A forest of huge Alternian trees

Alternian grass is mostly greenHS or blue-green. While some forests consist of immense trees with pink-purple foliage and blue-purple barkHS, other trees are of a more similar color and scale to common trees on Earth.HS A6I3HS displays other shrubs, bushes and trees of a similar green-to-blue-green coloration to the planet's grass.

In Hiveswap Friendsim (Dubiously Canon)[]

Alternian undergrowth is described by the player as evolved to ruthlessly purge the gene pool of the weak and the reasonable.[2]

In The Homestuck Epilogues (Dubiously Canon)[]

The Alternian grass replicated in Earth C's Troll Kingdom is sparse and gray in comparison to the grass growing in the Human Kingdom. Growing alongside the grass are bare, thorny bushes which grow yellow pustules in place of flowers, some of which explode into mustard-colored slime when touched.Candy

Her Imperious Condescension's empire[]

Military[]

Alternia's trolls are members of an empire that spanned to the edge of the galaxyHS by the time of the Reckoning. The Condesce personally leads the expansion of this empire on her perpetual journey away from the troll planet; she is responsible for making cordial first contact with alien civilizations, which are then brutally subjugated by any one of the lethal brigades under her commandHS. These are namely:

  • the Threshecutioners, the "DEADLIEST" of the Empress' forces, responsible for conquering MORE PLANETS THAN ANY OTHER IMPERIAL FORCE.[3] A flaysquad could consist of a broad band of blood colors, including green lowbloods and their blue blooded superiors,HS, and as their name suggests, they fight with sickles;HS
  • the Cavalreapers, the empire's dreaded jousting forces.HS The Summoner ranked high among them,HS presumably using his rare a8ilities of communion to control his steeds; the animal communion common among members of the bronze caste, like the aspiring Cavalreaper Tavros Nitram, likely makes them ideal for this role;
  • the Laughsassins, jovial stealth fighters known for sneaking up behind targets and snapping their necksHS and performing various circus maneuvers such as flying on a gRiEf tRaPeZeHS. Their clown-like antics likely meant purple bloods were chief among their number;
  • and the Ruffiannihilators, an elite legion of brute strength combatants likely suited for the higher, physically stronger castes such as the indigo caste.HS

Possibly the most noble echelon the imperial forces have to offerHS are the Archeradicators, warriors trained in the noble Alternian art of archery: however, as these are not listed among the brigades used by the Condesce to invade new worlds, their exact role in the Alternian empire is not clear.

All Alternians, while restricted to their home planet in childhood, are upon reaching adulthood scattered throughout Alternian space to prevent the fomentation of rebellionHS, and the vast majority of these adult Alternians serve some role in one of these legions for the purpose of expanding the empire.HS

Government and law[]

Her Imperious Condescension is the sole monarch of her empire, and the leader of the troll species' sea dweller race. However, through the threat of Gl'bgolyb, an immensely powerful outer god partially under her control and capable of psychically annihilating any caste lower than her own, the Condesce is able to delegate power down the hemospectrum, particularly to the highblooded subjugglators, who enforce her law among the other land dwelling members of her species.HS

The court of subjugglators further delegated down to the legislaceratorsHS, civil servants D3PLOY3D THROUGHOUT TH3 G4L4XYHS who were in the past usually employed with such petty expeditions as the delivery of seizure noticesHS but also sometimes tasked with gathering evidence, apprehending criminals and even overseeing the "trial" and execution. In Alternia's modern day, however, the role of the legislacerator has shrunk to solely within the courtblock, arguing cases before His Honorable Tyranny.HS

Some of the Condesce's will was also enforced by drones,HS though the exact difference in jurisdiction between the Condesce's various enforcers, if any, is not clear. One known role played by the empress' drones is that of the culling drone,HS which upholds Alternia's strict policy of eugenics through the extermination of the unfit and infirmHS, which can include the disabledHS and those found incapable of looking after their lususHS.

Though the Condesce's heiress, as the only other member of the fuchsia caste, is the sole rival to her throne, while among other juvenile trolls on their home planet, some heiresses enjoy a level of authority of their own. Trizza Tethis in particular commanded her own battleship and elite army of drones.[citation needed]

Culture[]

Thanks to the malevolent influence of Doc Scratch, Alternia is a bellicose world engulfed in class warfare and bigotryHS and perpetually striving for war and violence,HS intended to one day produce twelve warriors perfectly suited to playing and winning Sgrub with the utmost ruthlessness and efficiency. For this same reason, many other aspects of Alternian culture are also geared toward teaching its inhabitants the basics of the game: for example, all Alternian children are expected to design and build their own hives at a young age, with the intention of making them architecturally adept early on in their lives.HS

Possibly assisted by its encouraged rapid development, Alternia is a very old and technologically advanced civilization, having had film for THOUSANDS OF YEARSHS, though television is a relatively recent invention on their world. Most Alternian technology is grownHS from organic parts, with larvae being a common component. Alternian video games come in the form of game grubsHS; possibly frefiguring Sgrub's arrival, some if not all of these game grubs take the form of immersive holographic experiencesHS such as Flarp, which, like most Alternian pasttimes, can have real life or death consequences.HS

Trolls are also a highly superstitious people. Their quadrant-based romance system places a heavy emphasis on SERENDIPITYHS and romantic destiny, and the higher blooded castes among them believe that past trolls who shared their sign are their ancestors, and that the fates of ancestors and descendants are intertwined. Some lower blooded trolls, however, are more of the opinion that these kinds of superstitions were INVENTED BY HIGHBLOODS SO THEY GET TO FEEL EVEN MORE SMUG AND SELF SATISFIED THAN THEY ALREADY ARE.HS It should be noted that the signs assigned to trolls, of which there are multiple huge alphabetsHS, are presumably distinct from the 48 signsHS of the Alternian horoscope, though it is not otherwise known exactly how a troll's sign is given.

Through Doc Scratch and his other henchpeople, such as his Handmaid, Lord English has had an immense influence on Alternia's culture. The subjugglators who rule the land dwelling castes are his loyal followers, and their beliefs in such things as a Dark Carnival and Mirthful Messiahs ultimately stem from legends of the Angel of Double Death. Many other artifacts of Earth's culture, possibly also passed down through Lord English's influence, have a prominence in Alternian culture that may seem unusual to a human viewer. Art depicting muscular humanoid-animal hybrids, often erotically, is considered to be of high value by the Alternian aristocracy, and rap (called slam poetry in Alternian vernacular) on the topic of such musclebeasts or regarding clown-based activity (in the vein of the Insane Clown Posse) is considered one of the highest Alternian art forms.

References[]

  1. Openbound part 2.HS KARKAT: "BEFORE US?" GOD DAMMIT. I *JUST* GOT THAT.
    KARKAT: SEE? THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. MEETING YOU GUYS HAS MADE ME HAVE LITTLE INFURIATING REVELATIONS LIKE THAT ALMOST CONSTANTLY.
    KARKAT: LIKE, NOW IT CASTS THE NAME OF MY OWN PLANET IN A WHOLE NEW STUPID LIGHT. ALTERNIA? AS IN, ALTERNATE? ALTERNATE TO WHAT. TURNS OUT IT IS THE *ALTERNATIVE* TO A PLANET CALLED BEFORUS! THE PLANET WHICH CAME *BEFOOOORE* US. HAHAHA! GET IT?
  2. Aysha U. Farah and Geezey. Hmph. You came creeping along this footpath for safety. You should have known better. The undergrowth here is like most of the other life forms on Alternia: evolved to ruthlessly purge the gene pool of the weak and the reasonable. Hiveswap Friendship Simulator: Volume Fourteen. October 10, 2018.
  3. Openbound part 3.HS KARKAT: THEY WERE LIKE THE DEADLIEST SQUAD OF INTERSTELLAR FIGHTERS UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE EMPRESS. THEY HELPED CONQUER MORE PLANETS THAN ANY OTHER IMPERIAL FORCE. BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO MAKE THE CUT, BECAUSE OF MY BLOOD. SO I USED TO THINK OF ALL THESE ELABORATE SCENARIOS TO HIDE MY BLOOD COLOR. OR IN THE MORE RIDICULOUS FANTASIES, MAYBE I COULD EVEN PROVE MY WORTH AS A SOLDIER? LIKE JUST BE SO AWESOME WITH A SICKLE, THEY WOULD JUST HAVE TO MAKE AN EXCEPTION. MAYBE EVEN BE LIKE A FOLK HERO AND RISE THROUGH THE RANKS TO BECOME THE LEADER. HAHA.


Homestuck locations
Frog Temple Command stations
Earth
Egbert & Crocker home
John's bedroom
Jane's bedroom
Lalonde home
Rose's room
Roxy's room
Skaianet Laboratory
Strider home
Dave's room
Dirk's room
Pacific island
Jade's room
Jake's room
Calliope & Caliborn's room
Alternia
Aradia's hive Tavros's hive Sollux's hive Karkat's hive
Nepeta's hive Kanaya's hive Terezi's hive Vriska's hive
Equius's hive Gamzee's hive Eridan's hive Feferi's hive
Incipisphere
Skaia
The Battlefield
Prospit The Medium Derse
The Veil
Ectobiology lab
Trolls' meteor
The Furthest Ring
Dream bubbles
Heroes' Lands
Wind and Shade Light and Rain Heat and Clockwork Frost and Frogs
Crypts and Helium Pyramids and Neon Tombs and Krypton Mounds and Xenon
Quartz and Melody Sand and Zephyr Brains and Fire Pulse and Haze
Little Cubes and Tea Rays and Frogs Thought and Flow Maps and Treasure
Caves and Silence Tents and Mirth Wrath and Angels Dew and Glass
Caliborn's planets
Hiveswap Friendship Simulator
The Player Mspa icon MSPA reader
Befriendable Trolls
Volume One Scormini Ardata CarmiaArrius Diemen Xicali
Volume Two Sagira Amisia ErdehnGemrius Cirava Hermod
Volume Three Taurist Skylla KorigaVirus Bronya Ursama
Volume Four Liga Tagora GorjekTaurza Vikare Ratite
Volume Five Leus Polypa GoezeeSagimino Zebruh Codakk
Volume Six Scornius ElwurdGemnius Kuprum and Gemittarius Folykl
Volume Seven Scorgo Remele NamaaqLepia Konyyl Okimaw
Volume Eight Licer Tyzias EntykkTaurra Chixie Roixmr
Volume Nine Gemra Azdaja KnelaxCaprinius Chahut Maenad
Volume Ten Gempio Zebede TongvaLibittarius Tegiri Kalbur
Volume Eleven Scorist Mallek AdalovViriborn Lynera Skalbi
Volume Twelve Sagicer Galekh XigisiLiblo Tirona Kasund
Volume Thirteen Lelo Boldir LamatiLicen Stelsa Sezyat
Volume Fourteen Arittarius Marsti HoutekCaprira Karako Pierot
Volume Fifteen Leiborn Charun KrojibVirmino Wanshi Adyata
Volume Sixteen Aro Fozzer VelyesCaprist Marvus Xoloto
Volume Seventeen Virnius Daraya JonjetSagicorn Nihkee Moolah
Volume Eighteen Virsci Lanque BombyxCapriun Barzum and Caprimini Baizli
Supporting Characters Doc ScratchLusiiMother Grub
Locations AlterniaOutglutArdata's hiveBrooding cavernsOld WatchtowerClown ChurchDoc Scratch's tower
Related Concepts HiveswapPesterquestTrollTroll CallFriendsim Music
Volumes Volume OneVolume TwoVolume ThreeVolume Four
Volume FiveVolume SixVolume SevenVolume Eight
Volume NineVolume TenVolume ElevenVolume Twelve
Volume ThirteenVolume FourteenVolume Fifteen
Volume SixteenVolume SeventeenVolume Eighteen
Epilogue
Pesterquest
The Player Mspa icon MSPA reader
Pesterable Homestuck characters
Volume 1 JohnLogo John Egbert
Volume 2 RoseLogo Rose Lalonde
Volume 3 DaveLogo Dave Strider
Volume 4 JadeLogo Jade Harley
Volume 5 Cancer Karkat VantasVirgo Kanaya Maryam
Volume 6 Capricorn Gamzee MakaraScorpio Vriska Serket
Volume 7 Sagittarius Equius ZahhakLibra Terezi Pyrope
Volume 8 Taurus Tavros NitramAries Aradia Megido
Volume 9 Leo Nepeta LeijonGemini Sollux Captor
Volume 10 Aquarius Eridan AmporaPisces Feferi Peixes
Volume 11 JaneLogo Jane Crocker
Volume 12 JakeLogo Jake English
Volume 13 RoxyLogo Roxy Lalonde
Volume 14 DirkLogo Dirk Strider
Supporting Characters DadRose's MomCryptid McWhiskersDave's BroBecquerelLusiiBoldir LamatiKarako PierotMarvus XolotoDoc ScratchThe CondesceBrobotRoxy's MomThe Director
Earth Locations Egbert and Crocker homeLalonde homeStrider homePacific islandHalf-Harley Manor
Alternia Locations Karkat's hiveKanaya's hiveGamzee's hiveVriska's hiveEquius's hiveTerezi's hiveTavros's hiveAradia's hiveNepeta's hiveSollux's hiveEridan's hiveFeferi's hiveOutglutDoc Scratch's Tower
Related Concepts HomestuckThe Homestuck EpiloguesHiveswap Friendship SimulatorTrollPesterchumThe TreasureChumroll
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