THE CATACLYSM

They were wrong.

Moren Ezen… our world… could not sustain such arrogance.

It started slow. Anomalies, mutations. Sickness. Before anyone caught onto what was happening, it was too late. Newborns became increasingly rare, the world’s people able to give birth rendered barren. Cancer, disease, and illness took the young, the elderly and most curiously some of the strongest among them, but only those with a deep connection to their magic. Many began to blame magic itself, spreading theories, grasping desperately for answers, blinded to the reality that humanity's own greed and lust for advancement had caused its downfall. Mages, once respected and hailed as prodigies, were outcast, attacked, and shamed. Desperate prayers went out to the Guardians, but pride had shielded the revered beings from our hearts and mankind was lost. Unable to find a solution, populations began to plummet, panic spread, conflicts rose from the fear, and soon it was more than illness that was claiming lives.

Humanity grew divided in the wake of the Cataclysm. With many of the mages dead and the rest exiled, cities came to grinding halts. All over the world, power plants shut down, busy streets became gridlocked with deserted vehicles, emergency services went unresponsive. People abandoned their daily routines, gathering supplies and fortifying shelter, each passing day diminishing hope that the Guardians would return. Families lost contact with loved ones across continents, travel became impossible and cities closed their borders. Despair lead to restlessness, supplies ran short, and the looting began. People began to band together, raids growing more violent as groups fought for food, clean water and a safe place to lay their heads at night. The conflict drove nations to call together what was left of their forces; centurions, emergency responders, and military personnel forming organized defenses against the chaos in the streets. The more they worked to organize the public, the more the public resisted. Bands of people filtered into the chaos from lesser regions, only adding fuel to the flames. Word spread that every major city, suburb and town from Tra Tau to High Harbor had met the same fate. It didn’t take long before the streets were full of barricades, to keep people in… and keep people out. Civil unrest became a way of life. Years upon years of war bred ruin, distrust and hate. With the cities a crumbling shadow of their former glory, mankind no longer thought beyond individual survival.

With nothing left to fight for, the last remaining bands of people gathered their belongings and set off into the wilds. Horses, once a rare luxury, became more valuable than ever, providing transport, food and a means to hunt. Still wary and untrusting, survivors isolated themselves in the vast wild, dissolving the last contact between groups for many, many years. Slowly but surely, the effects of the Cataclysm faded. People grew healthier, new generations were born and people worked to re-establish themselves in their own corners of the world. Divided and segregated, these nomadic people created a unique new world order. Laws, hierarchies and morals varied as widely between all the tribes and settlements as the flora and fauna on which they thrived; from matriarchies to patriarchies, migratory bands to settled farmers, peaceful villagers to wild, dangerous raiders and everything in between.

Nature reclaimed much of the cities; the dunes of Kestrana overtaking Catatonia’s barrier walls, jungle growth spreading through Isolon… The world became unrecognizable. It was harsh and untamed, and yet the wild beauty of it all was undeniable. New generations were told stories of the Cataclysm, the meek skeletons of the once great cities giving truth to the tales. The Guardians faded into lore, magic became a whispered warning on the tongues of elders, another scary night story to frighten youngsters around the fires, and so with each passing generation history turned into legends.

Five hundred years passed us by, time easing old wounds and trade routes establishing. Peaceful groups merged together, sharing knowledge of their ancestors to rebuild settlements and farms. Though many chose to remain on the move, humanity was once again coming together. Trade drew people from far and wide, marketplaces became commonplace and friendly competition established races and events from Mastay to Kestrana. As people thrived, new tribes began to form and a council of respected elders was formed from bands across the world.

To help prevent incest, build stronger future generations, and track humanity's growth, the elders formed the Census, an event held once each decade. Officials assigned set locations, outposts where every unregistered person over the age of twelve can receive a unique ID number. As the years have passed, ID has become commonplace; engraved into metal and carried on oneself or even tattooed onto the skin, the Census is one unity among the now vast and varied people of Moren Ezen. It helps mark age and lineage, provides organization to large scale events and ensures identification of an individual for trade, union of couples, and the punishment of crimes.

The council keeps record of every registered ID, updating the logs every ten years. Those who choose to avoid the census have easily been able to ignore the gatherings, but unregistered adults are treated with caution and may find their presence in established settlements less than welcome.

Modern Day

Life goes on much as it has the last hundred years. War is just another tale, a warning to not repeat our ancestors' mistakes. Many now make a relatively simple, peaceful living by farming, herding and trading. The Cataclysm is far behind us now, nothing more than a story passed from generation to generation as a reminder of the past. The Guardians have become simple idols, collected out of fondness for the imagery more than any true belief, all remembrance of their influence on life had long faded from humanity's memory. Fear of magic still runs deep in our people, a taboo used to scare children and the superstitious. Any sign of magic in an individual, as simple and explainable as it may be, often results in exile. Natural disasters and unusual weather patterns spark panic, causing small tribes and villages to band together for safety.

And yet more often there are rumors being spread of strange anomalies; sightings of bizarre lights, unusual and deadly storms and even people claiming to possess inhuman powers…

Most think they are just legends and fairy tales, but there are some that have begun to believe...

...maybe the stories are true after all...