Post by Admin on Feb 5, 2018 19:34:37 GMT
WORLD HISTORY
THE DARK EVENT — The Machine
April 20th, 1945. It is Hitler's 56th birthday, and the mad Führer cowers in his Berlin bunker as Soviet shells rain down on the city. Far to the south, deep within the Black Forest, on the edge of Dunningen, white coated Nazi scientists gather round a massive machine, the likes of which the world had ever seen, nor will see again. It pulsates, valves beat like a heart, and it's haunting hum resonates through the surrounding landscape.
"THE MACHINE" as it would only ever be known, will forever remain of unknown origin. The scientists did not build it. The glistening black aberration was found deep in the earth, no doubt buried for good reason. On the auspicious occasion of their glorious leader's birthday they decide to unleash it's power and tip the scales in their favour! It's groan reverberates across the country, low and unearthly, it is obscured by the sound of the war. Then silently the wave washes across the world, igniting the telluric lines, then... nothing.
“The Dark Event” as it would become known, took a random quarter of the world’s human and animal populace. In the brief moment in which an inky blackness engulfed the planet, millions of people simply ceased to exist, vanishing without a trace.
It was believed that perhaps the Nazis had conjured the power of the Devil himself through their vile acts. Eventually the machine was found, it's smouldering remains at the epicenter of two kilometre wide crater that took part of the nearby town. A shallow impression that had reduced everything in it to black ash. Everyone in Dunningen was gone, whisked away like the rest of the people.
Where did they go? Were they dead? The question would weigh on the minds of those who were spared for decades to come.
Our story begins in the world where these people were transported.
The Machine had transferred one quarter of Earth’s human population into another dimension, another reality. It was Earth, but at the same time wasn't. It could only be best described as 'Shadow Earth'. A world that would become known as MIDION.
From the perspective of those taken by “The Event” they first believed that they were the "survivors". That three quarters of the populace had vanished, because in this new world, copies of everything existed. The buildings, the vehicles, all matter around them had been reproduced, but as time went on they would discover missing pieces to their puzzle. Some places were gone, as if they had never existed. Trees and fields in their places. The laws of nature itself had seemed to change. Their tools could not make fire, nor could any tried and tested method create it. The world had changed, or had it? Slowly, people began to piece together the truth, that they were the one's that had been taken, transported to another realm.
THE ARCANE REALM OF MIDION
One of the first anomalies people noticed was that anyone who appeared older than thirty suddenly appeared "thirty" again. As life spans increased, youth was restored. All older people had their biological clocks set back. This had a profound affect on society. People in their nineties were suddenly young again. They had to readjust, completely change their lifestyles and start over.
New people noted the laws of nature had changed. They were unable to start fires. No matter what people tried they could not ignite a spark, heat would not combust flammable matter and many began to resign themselves to believing that they may indeed be in Hell.
Radio signals no longer worked. The property of electricity behaved differently, people couldn't make sense of anything. All they knew, where ever they were, is that they had to come together if they were going to survive. More difficult in some places than others, considering that part of the Nazi forces had been translocated along with everyone else. They continued to fight the war, but without guns, explosive and their machines the fire in their bellies quickly turned to fear. They would flee, but not before many of those they tortured would have their vengeance.
THE AWAKENING
In the months that would follow, the vast areas that existed beyond the transferred constructs of humanity would begin to come to life. The animals that would come from what would people would refer to as "Earth Prime" were copied by the indigenous life forms of the realm, "The Faerie".
As it turned out, the arcane version of Earth was a repository of sorts, a collection of all the arcane myths of an archaic people. The Monsters were awoken from their slumber, and they were hungry for fear, desiring to rule again as gods over the beings that created them through imagination — breathed life into their forms, to one day take it all away by something as trivial as a lack of belief.
As FAERIE were reborn, taking their forms form the Earthlings, so to did the Monsters come into being, brought back to life by the return of imagination and dreams. Indeed then, people did believe they were in a Hell of sorts. It was the only way to make sense of it all. In time with the realization that myth was now reality it became apparent that magic was real as well.
SURVIVAL (1945 - 1970)
The first twenty-five years after the “Event” were the darkest days. Monsters of myth and malevolent Faerie-kind plagued humanity, desiring nothing more than to destroy them as if it was their soul purpose in life. Their forms varied from culture to culture but they were all the same. There would be no compromise. No peace. Only death.
It was during this time that DEMIHUMANS came into being, Faerie that became more Human-like, or Humans that became more Faeire-like. They were stronger, faster and allies. They became liaisons to the Faerie, helped Humans explore the power of magic and together learn the SPELL OF FIRE. Discovering how to magically create fire was biblical. It allowed people to modify their weapons and produce forms of projectile weapons to protect themselves. Next came more complex forms of magic, such as the production of food, the ability to transform vegetation into that which an omnivorous species desires... meat. In time, Humans regained their ability to protect and sustain themselves.
FORTIFICATION (1970 - 1995)
Cities began building their walls and train tunnels.
As defences were steadily constructed the people of Earth learned all the ways they could utilize alternative energies and magic. As it turned out, some possessed an aptitude for the art of manipulating magic and an ability to generate their own mana. These people (Only Humans) were called “Mancers” and would prove invaluable. Magic more than tripled production and construction speed of all elements not involving metals. Alloys would always prove a hindrance to magic, and thus it was most effective when working with stone or wood.
In the beginning magic was viewed as the power that would save human-kind but as time went on and their technology grew that which was once their saviour became a hindrance to progress.
Magic had a profound effect on electricity as it did the natural property of combustion. It dissipated it, prevented it’s storage, thus eliminating the invention of batteries. Electrical power could only be generated and transporting it required heavy cables capable of staving off the effects of magic. With the invention of air pressurized and electricaly propelled PROJECTILE weaponry many people were pleased to be able to reduce the power of the Mancers. Wards and charms designed to nullify magic were implemented. Originally they were only meant to repel Faerie-magick but now they would also lessen the power of Mancers, but they could only hamper so much, thus “mancing” or magic-use was required to be used only when needed in order to assist in reducing the potency. This became a consistent theme anywhere in the world that desired to modernize and utilize electricity. Manners would now know how it felt to be like the benevolent Faerie upon which they had imposed the hindering power of charms and wards. The only magicks that seemed unaffected were the clerical spells practiced by religious orders.
MORTALITY
It did not happen quickly, the change occurred over the period of a decade but during that time in the parallel-world everyone realized that they were getting younger. Much younger. The ten year period was theorized to be biological adjustment to a new chronology as the aging process altered. People were not “immortal” but as their bodies adapted to their new environment their life spans increased to what was assumed to be an age of approximately 350 years. Middle age it seemed, did not began to wear down a person’s physique until their 250th year and after that it was a very graceful decline lacking the debilitation but with this long life, came nature’s method of population control. Sterility. Men and women alike were only able to produce children in their first fifty years, and in that time people were lucky to have four children, if any at all. For Humans the cycle of life had immensely slowed.
DEMI-HUMANS
Indigenous people all around the world who had suffered their societies being disrupted by European invasion inherited what would come to be called “Demi-humanism.” Demi-humans were people transformed by the myths and legends of their culture. In the case of North American First Nations Peoples they inherited and developed magical skills associated with the rich myths of their culture and their former connection to nature. Some embraced this lifestyle, some did not, but they all still received the abilities. “Demi-humanization” would have no effect on those people who had long abandoned the “old ways”. For countries that were heavily traditional the effect was transformative. Cultures like Japan and China became much more magical in nature than Europeans or those of the America who had long abandoned the old way and embraced the wonders of science. Modernization seemed to dull the intensity of magic in people.
A NEW WORLD
Almost a hundred years later, their defences established, and an understanding of the new physical laws understood, Humans once more asserted their presence in the world. Steam engines in the forms of trains and cars were popularized. Underground tunnels were drilled to link the cities, trains traveled safely below ground or heavily armoured versions laden with armaments railed across open ground. Flight with sustained propulsion would never be attainable. Even if an aircraft could sustain the weight the boilers necessary to power the engines or generators, the physics of the parallel Earth would not sustain the weight. The wings of an airplane would need to be so long and large that there was nothing light and strong enough to construct them with, nor generate the power for lift. Transportation would be limited to land and sea until Zeppelins were implemented.
PRESENT DAY...
Realistically the Earthling World of Midion is ONLY 75 years old. People live significantly longer, so many of those who first came are all relatively young due to the fact that their biological clocks were set back. This means that the mean appearing age is thirty, by Earth standards, though realistically they could be in their 90's. Everyone reverted the moment they came to Midion.
They still remember the Earth they came from, and all countries have made immense accomplishments considering the relatively short period of time in their new surroundings. Still, they know very little about their new world considering that most of their time has been spend fortifying and maintaining the world they knew.
Midion is a very different world from that of Earth-Prime. The co-existence of magic and electricity has, by the standards of our current technologically reliant society, handicapped the potential of the computer. Everything must be hard-wired, there are no signals, no radio. Communication over great distances is reliant on magic, specifically through the art of scrying, a skill only a very select few would ever be able to master. Magic will always be a part of the world despite how many desire to be rid of it. While the Faerie have declined it is still a significant part of the world and many parts of it remain unsafe for Human travel. Cities still maintain their walls and travel beyond is through tunnels both below and above ground, connecting the sprawling walled communities with tendrils of covered railways.