Timeline

The following timeline is a brief history of the Terran races from present day through the start of the campaign (2299). For a history of events from 6,000 B.C. through 2,000 C.E., see the ancient history page.

2001: A strange radio station is discovered that seems to be broadcasting on the same frequency all over the world, although no one is able to pinpoint from where, exactly. Amazingly, people also can’t seem to agree on what the station is broadcasting – some hear one kind of music, some hear another, even when both are standing next to each other listening to the same radio. Soon, the radio begins talking to people individually, calling them by name, and occasionally predicting future events, warning people, or giving them general advice. Although the station never identifies itself, many people quickly take to calling it the "Voice of God."

2003:

  1. US Hegemony
  2. Middle-east conflict

2005:

  1. Assassination of Bush (blamed on terrorists)
  2. Cheney takes office
  3. Afghan, Iraq, Syria & Iran taken over by U.S.
  4. Patriot act is permanencied due to assassination

2006:

  1. India/China/Russo Pact (in response to U.S. power increase) – three major powers in the East agree to work together to oppose the growing US imperialism
  2. The Second Cold War begins

2008:

  1. Cheney doesn’t run, for health reasons
  2. Jeb Bush runs, but is a dramatic failure during the next four years

2012:

  1. Democratic control begins
  2. Russ D. Feingold takes control of the office
  3. Feingold often opposes freedom-limiting legislation, but can’t stand against the legislative branch
  4. But the people still love him as the "last bastion of hope for this country"

2016:

  1. Increasing Cold War pressure allows passing more laws restricting personal freedoms & empowering governmental agencies & corporations
  2. Cold War situation allows retraction of two-term presidential limit

2020:

  1. Feingold’s third term
  2. Huge increase of large corporate power
  3. Government Efficiency & Reduction Act of 2020 – many government functions handed over to corporate contractors, and many monopolies arise (antitrust issues are largely ignored, in the name of efficiency):
    • StratCo is contracted for the military
    • Magitech contracted for infrastructure
    • Time Warner takes over FCC & media infrastructure duties
    • NSF & NIH are eliminated in favor of private corporate grants from companies like Microsoft, IBM, etc. New technologies are patented/copyrighted by the companies that gave out the grants for it.
    • The IRS is outsourced as well, to a company called Money Management Solutions

2024:

  1. Feingold’s fourth term
  2. His health is waning
  3. Disease sweeps Asia
  4. Natural disasters are becoming much more common, as well as "unnatural" ones

2026:

  1. U.S. officially imposes travel embargo to Asia
  2. Feingold’s public support is almost gone because of disasters that he can’t seem to prevent

2028:

  1. Magitech begin work on Pax Artificium
  2. Feingold runs again but loses to William Norman (part of the "liberal Republican" party)

2030: Magitech builds Pax Artificium in six months behind concealing walls – but it took designers, engineers and architects two years before the actual construction to plan the city, create blueprints, and build the technology; it was built in the middle of Death Valley, California, converting the unlivable desert into a verdant paradise of a city (at least geographically)

2031: StratCo soldiers are deployed to protect the city, as it seems unnaturally prone to disasters & attacks

2032:

  1. People are sick of the Cold War, and want change
  2. Reunification & disarmament talks, more progressive stance on foreign policy
  3. Give power back to the people, by encouraging more pure capitalism/competition instead of monopolies
  4. Limited term contracts that are open bidding process, with a voting repeal potential

2033:

  1. By this time, Asia has become much more fascist, controlled, authoritarian (rather than communist), the countries there have become more of a confederation, with one single leader – a council head over the Council of Four (the other three being the leaders of Russia, India & China)
  2. Pax Artificium, first half: A group of adventurers discovers that magic is leaking back into the world, and that the leaders of the East and West are actually a pair of gnomes scheming against one another in some sort of twisted game; many of the drastic changes over the past 30 years have been due to their influence
  3. The gnomes are ousted from power, the India-China-Russo Pact is dissolved, the East falls into chaos, and the U.S. travel embargo is lifted

2034:

  1. Pax Artificium, second half: An entity from another dimension known as Emmanuel is discovered to have infested the earth, and is learned to be the cause of the strange backlash effect tainting magic
  2. Gaia, the spirit of the earth, has been largely driven insane by the infestation
  3. The same group of adventurers overcomes the machinations of several conflicting groups, and helps a mystic named John Bishop to cure Gaia and cleanse Emmanuel by merging them into a gestalt entity known as the Caretaker
  4. On that day, January 4th, 2034, the Voice of God radio station goes dead as the obelisk sealing away mystic energy from the world is undone, and magic floods back into the world completely.
  5. A few days later, a mysterious, powerful voice (which people later refer to as the Caretaker) speaks directly into the minds of every sentient being on Earth: ‘‘"That which was sealed has been restored, and an age of change begins. Now more than ever, you are under my protection. Cherish your homes, embrace the future, and work with each other toward the betterment of all. When the day comes that you stray from this path, I will save you from yourselves."’’
  6. Earth undergoes drastic upheaval as magic goes from myth to reality. Millions are discovered to be "mystics," people capable of channeling the mystic energy that has been restored to the planet, accomplishing miraculous, impossible things. The gift does not appear to favor race, nationality, or gender, but does sometimes seem to run in families.

2035: At first, there is great discrimination and bigotry against mystics. Some governments are so afraid of them that they hunt down mystics, either banishing or imprisoning them. Other governments and corporations know they can use them, and take steps to recruit them into their ranks. Some people even believe that those with mystic powers have been chosen by God.

2040: The work of Canadian scientist Dr. Dirk Phoenix is instrumental in the identification, tracking and control of mystics (he had invented sensor technology for recognizing mystics and magical non-humans). Rogue Canadian agent Shawn Frederickson, though apprehended by Phoenix for treason against the Canadian government, had discovered a formula for temporarily enhancing a mystic’s capabilities at the expense of control (and at great risk to the mystic’s life). Canadian agent Brutus Baxter (Frederickson’s superior) passed this formula on to American general Christopher Carter, whose agents then discovered another compound (its inverse) capable of muting a mystic’s abilities temporarily, or even disabling them completely. Over the next few years, these drugs begin to be used by the Canadian and US governments against mystics who cause trouble, and eventually knowledge of the drugs spreads throughout the world.

2042: Confirmed to exist around this time are other sentient life forms besides humans: the dwarves and gnomes living deep beneath the earth’s surface. Though initially spurned, the gnomish-dwarven monarchy of Midgard is accepted into the United Nations–and eventually given a seat on the security council–when it becomes clear that they possess more rich natural resources than any other nation on Earth. It becomes known that some of the dwarves specialize in a secret "spellbreaker" technique that can combat mystics. Some governments make deals to train their military in this technique in exchange for undisclosed favors to the dwarven and gnomish peoples. Consequently, Midgard becomes even more powerful.

2046: Another race appears (literally–they are simply there one day, claiming to have been asleep for the past 2000 years): a group of friendly little people affectionately dubbed halflings by the other races. Unfortunately, while they had once lived in burrows in hilly terrain, there are no appropriate places left for them to settle in peace, so they are forced to integrate into existing human cities. Such a mass immigration causes difficulties, and the halflings are not often welcomed. Many turn to crime to support themselves and their families (they have found they have a natural talent for theft and skullduggery).

2048: Everyone (especially corporations) has discovered that keeping secrets is now very difficult. Not only can mystics use a techique known as divination to uncover hidden knowledge, but an algorithm discovered by numerologist Dr. Daniel Miller also unveils shocking truths on a variety of topics. Companies that wish to guard their secrets must employ mystics capable of using magic to cloud knowledge surrounding the company’s activities, even from divination.

2050: Magitech is extremely controversial – it is known that they employ any mystics they can find, and shamelessly promote magic as the path toward the future. Their technology is nearly all magic-driven or magic-derived. They have hired the majority of the mystics in the U.S. The government is unhappy about it, but can’t do much. Magitech does not involve itself in politics when possible.

2052: Dr. Dana Arthur of Magitech transfers her consciousness into a robotic body, and becomes the first totally robotic human. Over the years, she improves this technology, building more and more realistic human robots.

2053: Over time, the Internet evolves into the VRNet, a virtual universe with many useful properties. Neural interface technology continually improves, with humans and computers becoming more and more intertwined.

{img src="images/roadswim.jpg" width=300 height=342 align="center" desc="In VR, anything is possible"}

2065: Mystics are responsible for technology advancing faster than before, including a quantum leap toward genetic engineering, and the deployment of fusion reactors for clean and efficient power.

2078:

  1. The children of the Arcane Order do not share their parents’ paranoia and isolationist dogma. A group of these children are rebellious, and decide they want power. They concoct a plan to interfere in world affairs and take over various countries.
  2. There are seven. They begin assisting various countries in mystic weapons programs: US, Germany, China, S. Korea, N. Korea, India, Pakistan.
  3. Their plan is to lend their "services" to South Korea to develop tactical mystic tools, provoke world conflict, and seize power in the confusion.

2091:

  1. The Miller algorithm predicts an increase in N. Korea’s threat level. As a result, S. Korea builds and tests a mystic weapon off their coast.
  2. In response, North Korea panics and launches nukes. India is induced to nuke N. Korea. Pakistan responds, Russia responds, and World War III, the first truly nuclear war, begins.
  3. Given the conflict, the U.S. makes vast concessions to Magitech in exchange for new mystic technology. Magitech becomes even more powerful, becoming the de facto controllers of the moon.

2092:

  1. The first practical quantum computers are perfected, and used to defeat classical encryption schemes. Divination wards are invalidated as secret information is leaked onto the VRNet. Banks and other companies dealing in sensitive information scramble to adopt new, more secure quantum encryption schemes, while governments put a moratorium on quantum computers until the algorithms have been widely deployed.
  2. Research into energy weapons yields the first laser- and plasma-based prototypes useful in combat. These devices are powered by portable (miniaturized) fusion generators known as "fusion batteries."

2093:

  1. While Magitech is stripping the U.S. of its power by keeping its technological and mystical secrets close to its chest, the people of Midgard have been sharing their technologies and mystic (and anti-mystic) techniques with Russia and other Asian countries, fueling new innovations there.
  2. Though Pax Artificium remains a haven for mystics in the U.S., its reputation is now matched by the city of Xanadu, the "surface city" of Midgard, located in the heart of the Himalayan mountains. Those few humans have been there, Valhalla, the capital of Midgard, is also said to be quite amazing.

2094: An elite mystic unit led by a "superhero" known as Speed Demon, through a series of heroic actions, stops several potential nuclear disasters from occurring, ending the war, and puts an end to the Seven’s diabolical scheme.

2096: Bolstered by the fact that mystics saved the Earth during WW3, the mystics form the World Mystics Guild, a major step toward their worldwide rise to power.

2098: Fusion batteries have become the standard power source, replacing hydrogen fuel cells. Wireless power technology makes it possible to carry a fusion battery that powers all nearby electronic devices, although high-energy devices such as plasma weapons still require an internal fusion mechanism (a wireless power source putting out that much energy would generate dangerous levels of radiation). After approximately one year of normal use, a fusion battery requires a helium refill (helium-to-carbon fusion was chosen over hydrogen-to-helium as a safer alternative). Old fusion batteries can be traded in to reduce the cost of new (recharged) ones.

2100:

  1. By the turn of the century, Russia appears to have won the mystic tech race, becoming a more dominant world power than the U.S. with a higher standard of living, although Magitech is still a world leader in mystic technology.
  2. Meanwhile, Strategic Improvements Corporation and other European companies have ensured that the European Union remains a major world power.

2101:

  1. Magitech completes Luna, the first lunar city. The space elevator technology is improved, and several new elevators have been built in many of the world’s major cities. Luna is much more advanced than Pax Artificium, and much, much larger. Constructed with an artificial atmosphere and spanning over 700 square miles, Luna was designed to support 20 million people.
  2. It is known that magic does not function on the moon for some reason. Scientists studying the phenomenon say that the moon is not laced with mystic energy the way that Earth is. Many speculate that mystic energy is unique to Earth.
  3. Magitech begins research into a technique for funneling mystic energy from the earth to the moon.

2107: Dana Arthur’s research allows those dying of various causes to have their consciousness transferred into robotic bodies before death. This process is expensive, and at first only special cases and the wealthy can afford it. Magitech markets these robotic bodies as "soulmechs."

2116: Magitech deploys the mystic funnel technology in an attempt to infuse the moon with mystic energy, but it does not last. Scientists learn that a given body’s gravitational constant determines how much mystic energy is required to create a self-sustaining, magic-infused system.

2124:

  1. After further analysis, Magitech tries again, recruiting thousands of mystics to funnel magic into the moon. This time it works, and the moon reaches a state of mystic equilibrium. However, using magic requires more effort on the moon (mystic effects are 1/6 as powerful, since the gravity is 1/6 as strong).
  2. William Moss and Everlily Nyx, the leaders of Magitech, know the U.S. government is planning some kind of solidification of its presence on the moon, so they plant mystics all across the moon to ward the moon against portation as soon as there is enough mystic energy through the funnel to do so.
  3. Once this occurs, the U.S. is outraged and orders the wards taken down immediately. After diplomacy fails to get the wards taken down, the U.S. insists it will retaliate with military force. Other countries in Europe and Asia, who also have lunar colonies, warn the U.S. not to do so.
  4. But the U.S. knows they will lose the conflict if their bluff is called. The moon, they feel, is their last chance at keeping ahold of the vast empire that they have lost since the turn of the millenium. So they launch the missiles.
  5. Europe and Asia retaliate with strikes of their own against the U.S., and World War IV (some call it the First Interplanetary War) begins.
  6. The U.S. is seriously concerned about Magitech’s betrayal, but never predicted how far the corporation would go to protect its interests. Magitech teleports its home city, Pax Artificium, to the moon, completely withdrawing support from the U.S.
  7. Moss and Nyx are against the war, and move the city so that the U.S. will be defeated more quickly, minimizing loss of life. Unfortunately, after the U.S. is defeated, the rest of the world wants their moon back.

{img src="images/spacewar.jpg" width=337 height=260 align="center" desc="The First Interplanetary War"}

2125:

  1. Midgard announces that they have created antimatter reactors, capable of producing vast quantities of energy. But they are more dangerous, and thus only deployed in secure facilities used to power major cities.
  2. Before total war between the Earth and the moon escalates further, the Caretaker once again speaks directly into the minds of all those on Earth: ‘‘"You have strayed from the path laid out for you. This war you wage will destroy the very thing for which you fight. It must end. On this day, I send a scion, an emissary by the name of Seeker, to forge the terms of peace."’’
  3. Seeker negotiates terms to which all involved parties eventually grudgingly agree:
    • The moon is declared independent from all nations of Earth.
    • A galactic constitution guaranteeing new colonies their own governance according to intergalactic law is created.
    • Magitech, due to heavy mistrust from the Terran countries over the early events of the war, agrees to cease all business activities on Earth. Moss & Nyx disappear from view.

2146: Yet another race makes its presence known: a strange race living with the dwarves and gnomes, said to be of "royal blood," called simply "the Royals" by the dwarvish and gnomish peoples. Although one rumor says they are crossbreeds of dwarves and gnomes, they do not appear to possess a mixture of gnomish and dwarven features. Rather, they are taller and thinner than humans, and have bluish tinged skin and elongated fingers. The members of this race pursue science, and make progress toward genetic engineering goals as well as strides in artificial intelligence.

2160: The fruits of science are ripe, with all fetuses conceived in first-world countries being genetically treated to eliminate defects. For a price, more intensive treatments can be done to "enhance" the fetus in various ways. However, despite our in-depth understanding of the human genome, science has not determined why certain people are born mystic and others are not. There is much frustration, since it seems very likely to be hereditary.

2180: Mystics are largely accepted and taken for granted, and thanks to the World Mystics Guild have become quite powerful. A class divide forms between mystics and "mundanes." Enmity between them increases, although the mystics are careful not to abuse their power enough to incite a revolt.

2200: Mystics have driven technological advancement for the past two centuries. Mystic energy has been used to invent and create the manufacturing technology necessary to produce other key technologies.

2210:

  1. Computer algorithms have become advanced enough that the machines outstrip humanoid intelligence. These superintelligent pseudosentient AIs have become a reality thanks to a royal scientist named Dr. Noonian Soong. His life’s work has been the development of a core ethical subroutine known as the Logical & Ontological Reasoning & Ethics (LORE) chip, a mind-bogglingly complex collection of algorithms governing an AI’s special purpose. So far, AIs have held up in testing as well or better than humans in moral tests (at least according to many peoples’ moral standards). Still, many fear the widespread deployment of AIs due to the homogeneous nature of the LORE chip, at its core. As a result, most militaries are composed of a mixture of humans and machines for several reasons (human paranoia, social and political factors, etc.) There are still mercenaries, often hired by governments or corporations that are not large enough to command their own military. Military mecha do exist, some of which are piloted by humans.
  2. No machine has been able to harness mystic energy, no matter how realistic its programming. However, Daniel Miller’s prophecy algorithm gives AIs who utilize it strange precognition abilities, and ever-growing bits of knowledge about the universe and its structure, adding to their already impressive computational abilities.

2220: Dana Arthur’s continuing robotics work allows the bodies of soulmechs and androids to be virtually indistinguishable from real humans.

2225: This generation of soulmechs combines many of the best attributes of androids and humans, such that human consciousness is brought to a new level. Some of the world’s most powerful mystics have transferred their consciousnesses into soulmechs, prolonging their dominance and further increasing their cognitive capabilities. No soulmech is quite as efficient as a pure AI, however, since it is impossible to fully integrate the artificial and natural intelligences into one consciousness.

2250: The AIs continue to push technology to new limits. With the help of the royals, many of whom possess mystic (or, strangely, "anti-mystic") abilities, they produce a device capable of manipulating gravity itself: the gravitic drive. These amazing devices can generate a gravity well within (a gravitic field) or near (a gravitic lens) them.

2255: Standard gravitic drives are powered by fusion batteries. But an antimatter reactor provides enough power to generate a stronger field, capable of compressing large quantities of mystic energy within a small core, for later release. It is now possible to carry enough mystic energy far enough through space to infuse Mars (approximately 1/3 Earth gravity) with magic.

2260: By focusing a powerful gravitic lens just in front of a starship, near-light speeds are possible. Ships are sent to colonize far-off worlds, carrying mystic cores with them. Though it might take years to reach a far-off colony, relativistically only a few days or weeks pass for the passengers within. Once magic has been infused on the target world, mystics can transport themselves back and forth instantaneously.

2265: Ships begin arriving at suitable colony points outside our solar system. These include low-gravity moons with little to no atmosphere that are ideal for mystic settlements, as well as the occasional planet. Once these locations are infused, mystics teleport back to Earth to report on the status of the colony. Supplies are transported back and forth as needed from Earth.

2275: Nanotechnology has advanced sufficiently that machines can heal themselves automatically, much as humans do, assuming they can find the correct raw materials to ingest. The applications of nanobots are countless.

2280: Mercury is infused with mystic energy and colonized.

2286: A group of reclusive druids known as Gaia’s Ancient Order offers to assist the various colonies in the creation of an arboretum on each colony. Each arboretum is enclosed in its own massive biosphere, with a "heart tree" at its center. This tree is heavily guarded by the druids of the Order.

2299: 265 years have passed since the world changed, and so much is different now: