Explore the World
Setting
The history of New Earth
300 years ago, a mysterious, cataclysmic explosion shook the entire planet. The resulting natural disasters wiped out the majority of Earth’s population within weeks and turned most of its surface into an uninhabitable wasteland. This event came to be known as the Day of Purgation.
Years later, the largest surviving group emerged from underground shelters and established a foothold that would eventually become the World Capital, with the World Council as its governing body. As the remnants of mankind tried to rebuild a new society, they divided into four ideological factions: the Path of Progress, the Path of Harmony, the Path of Salvation and, the Path of Dominance.
Over the years, they learned to live in a fragile peace and began to prosper in their own way. All four factions walk their own path, outside the authority of the World Council, which acted as a global peacekeeping among the Paths. Their Leaders agreed to meet at the annual summit, where each of them would have influence in decisions regarding the Capital’s future.
When the first expeditions reached the desolate Ground Zero of the mysterious explosion, the explorers found an unknown material. Neutronium, as the new substance was called, became widely used as building material for the most prestigious projects thanks to its light but extremely durable nature. The first of these projects was the construction of the five Monuments, ordered by the Council to commemorate the coming 300th anniversary of the Day of Purgation.
In celebration of the 300th anniversary, delegations of the four Paths gathered at the World Capital, but instead of remembrance, they witnessed Time Rifts opening on the Monuments. This revealed the true power of the mysterious Neutronium, which is that, when exposed to energy, it is capable of opening wormholes through time. A grim message from the future made the people of New Earth realize that the Purgation was the result of the first of such wormholes, transferring back the energy of the catastrophic future impact of a Neutronium asteroid. This new impact can devastate not only humanity’s past, but also humanity’s future. With such a threat on the horizon, the Paths must do everything to prepare—and survive.
The face of New Earth
The huge settlement of the World Capital is considered to be the center of New Earth’s society and home to the civilized population that refused to join any one of the Paths. While the common people of the Capital live under the bunker-like dome known as the Inner Circle, the wealthiest families and the World Council are housed in the Council Tower. Their lives are relatively peaceful, and they can enjoy every benefit that the Capital’s state-of-the-art technology offers. The Capital’s dangerous and chaotic suburbs, called the Rim, house those who are stuck outside of the Inner Circle but still live under the Capital’s protective force field.
Not far from the Capital stand the Three Pillars, New Earth’s biggest and most efficient water purification system, which supplies the Capital through a large-scale network of pipelines. The mine lying beneath the mountain ranges surrounding the Capital is the result of a massive mining operation to secure a reliable source of Uranium, Titanium and Gold – and occasionally Neutronium.
The known lands of the desolate Old World are now referred to as the Outback: a deadly wasteland where traversing is ill-advised without sufficient protection due to drought, radiation, and hazardous weather conditions. Nonetheless, those who disagree with the Paths’ ideologies and the World Council’s control live in constant danger, in exchange for their freedom, in small settlements scattered across the Outback. Lately, rumor has spread that some of the nomad tribes possess Neutronium, which helps them adapt to the Outback’s radiation.
The rest of New Earth’s population found home in one of the Paths’ Capitals.
Paths
Path of Harmony
- Wellspring
A lush oasis in the dry wasteland of New Earth, Wellspring is shielded by a volcanic mountain range that allowed some extremely tough plants to survive the cataclysm and flourish on for decades. This growth was centered at a mysterious spring, giving life to a wide range of strange new species of plants. The most important of these species is the Talma, the Path of Harmony’s symbolic and mysterious clambering plant that grows upon the gigantic trellis dome raised above the city, creating an effective natural protection against the harsh outside weather conditions and the toxic atmosphere. It took decades for the settlers of Wellspring to establish the safe haven that it is today but what they created truly resembles a paradise on Earth - people living in perfect balance with themselves and the surrounding nature, respecting other lifeforms just as much as their own.
Path of Dominance
- The Atlantean
At the time of the Day of Purgation 300 years ago, the Atlantean, now home to the Path of Dominance, was a state-of-the-art military vessel used to evacuate doomed cities and transport the greatest minds of humanity to relative safety. However, it quickly became the only safe place for the crew and the passengers to survive - powered by solar panels and packed with supplies, food, and a prototype water purification system, the Atlantean was equipped with everything needed to go on almost indefinitely without docking. In the following decades, the Atlantean grew from a simple battlecruiser to a gargantuan floating city that retained some ship-like features. For this constant expansion, the ship’s engineers had to use materials salvaged from ruined coastal cities and shipwrecks, giving it a fairly chaotic overall look.
Path of Salvation
- The Purgatory
Today, the breathtaking, underground realm of the Path of Salvation is called Purgatory: a vast network of halls, tunnels, and caverns that sprawls deep beneath the surface. The huge subterranean halls are dimly lit with sunlight, which is channeled in through grooves hollowed in the rocks. These grooves are filled with diamonds and other kinds of precious gems – perfect materials for transmitting light, being devoid of any financial value in the new world. The subterranean city gives the mixed impression of a medieval settlement equipped with modern technology. Power and hot water are supplied by geothermal plants deep below the cityscape, circulated through the Purgatory in a massive pipeline network. Living underground for generations made the denizens of the Purgatory adapt to the harsh circumstances – they are pale and short in stature but incredibly strong and tough. Over the decades, their sight gradually weakened by the dimly lit environment, but their hearing and smelling became much better than that of the surface dwellers.
Path of Progress
- The Apex
If the Apex of Humanity – the sprawling, hovering capital of the Path of Progress – had to be described with one phrase, it would be "Venice of the Skies." The city’s architects carefully preserved the Byzantine, Baroque, Gothic, and Renaissance styles of the original, now submerged Italian city. However, at every corner, classical architecture is entwined with state-of-the-art technology, showcasing that the Path of Progress is second to none in scientific advancement. They also preserved humanity’s thirst for culture; with many galleries, cafés, museums, and theaters, the Apex is home to a new renaissance in art, poetry, and film. The city’s beautiful buildings are connected by the Cloudways, a high-speed transport network where Sky Gondolas are the most common form of transportation.
Leaders
Matriarch Zaida
Even though she was raised in a loving family, Zaida still left when she found out she was an adopted child and sought to find her real parents. She never found a trace of them, but she learned something more important along the way: it’s not where we are coming from, but where we are going that counts.
From then on, she worked hard to become a candidate for the next election ceremony, and though she was eventually elected the female leader of the Path of Harmony, it was hard for her to get along with the new Patriarch.
She was ambitious and confident and had a natural charisma, while Haulani was more of a dreamer and an adventurer. Zaida decided to take leadership into her own hands but slowly realized there was no need to fight — Haulani was happy with her being in charge of Wellspring’s politics. Finally letting go of her competitive attitude, with time she became a wise and fair leader of her people by Haulani’s side.
Patriarch Haulani
Patriarch Haulani is the youngest Leader in the Path’s history. But, as wisdom and life experience are among the most important virtues of the Path’s society, it was a long way for him to earn the respect of his people and his partner, Zaida.
Haulani had always been more into adventures than politics, and the years spent on the exploration missions with the Cultivators not only hardened his resolve but also revealed his remarkable courage and prowess. Thanks to the Cultivators’ tireless work under Haulani’s command, Wellspring’s lush vegetation started spreading rapidly across the wastelands of New Earth, claiming more and more living space for the Path of Harmony.
In time, Zaida realized she underestimated Haulani, and they started getting closer to each other. Haulani’s days as a Cultivator are now behind him, and he’s leading the Path of Harmony in a perfect consensus with Matriarch Zaida.
Captain Wolfe
With his mother dying during childbirth and his father subconsciously blaming him for her death, young Trenton Wolfe spent most of his time alone on the Atlantean's Bridge. Growing up around the battle-hardened crew, he gained a deep admiration for the Path's values of discipline and valor. He viewed his father as a weak leader and aspired to become a man that perfectly embodied the Path of Dominance. When the time came, he took the Captain's Oath as a man known for his strong and serious character.
His serious character, though, hides a dark secret: during one of his raids, where nomads are captured in the Outback and brought back to the ship for indoctrination, he accidentally murdered one of his fellow raiders to set free a captured woman with whom he had become romantically involved.
After realizing that he could not stop thinking of this woman, Wolfe began participating in every one of the area’s raids, hoping to find her. When he finally did, he learned that the child in her arms was his daughter. Unable to accept the dangerous life she would have in the Outback, Wolfe brought his daughter to the only place where he could keep her safe, the Atlantean.
Treasure Hunter Samira
Without any clear memories of her childhood, all Samira knows is that she was taken from the mainland at a very young age and was indoctrinated as a Treasure Hunter. How an outsider like her had been chosen to be part of the highest-regarded classes in the Echelon remained unclear to her and her fellow trainees.
Knowing that they envied and despised her only drove her to work twice as hard. Soon, her exceptional agility, endurance, and skill became apparent to everyone, and, slowly, her fellow Treasure Hunters' envy turned into admiration.
It wasn’t long until she took over the leadership of the Treasure Hunters’ class, at an exceptionally young age. Since then, she has led countless successful missions to the remnants of the Old World and she reports directly to Captain Wolfe.
Librarian Cornella
Cornella became obsessed with acquiring knowledge at a very young age, spending all of her time studying, researching, and experimenting, just to live up to the image her parents had painted of her. Her isolation from others in her pursuit of knowledge caused her social skills to degrade, which never bothered her as she found relationships to be a waste of time.
When Cornella decided to become a member of the Patron’s Court, she knew she had to gain support from the right people. She expanded her knowledge in psychology, sociology, and human behavior so that she could approach people of importance in a scientific way, earning their trust through manipulation.
Each well-calculated step of hers eventually led to her securing a place in the Patron’s Court as Chief Executive Librarian, obtaining unlimited access to all of the knowledge in the Path’s possession. Today, she leads all of the major projects in research and development, and she is both feared and admired for her stone-cold ambition.
Patron Valerian
Valerian was born with an unknown disease that later manifested into physical disabilities. Although he was unable to live a normal life, his unusually high intellect resulted in him being ostracized by the other kids.
Growing up, he began to realize what a gift his genius was, and, fueled by his dedication to correct his physical disabilities, Valerian devoted all of his time and energy to studying one of the most advanced technologies of the Path of Progress: genetic engineering. Within a few years, he became one of the elite scientists, called the Shapers, with the access to tools to not only heal his disabled body to but reach a new level in genetic engineering and finally find a way to enhance the capabilities of the human body beyond aesthetic corrections.
Today, Valerian is the Principal of the Shapers' Institue, working with his team of the Path's best scientists to perfect his technology of genetic enhancements.
High Sunwalker Amena
Twin Sister and second-in-command to Caratacus, Amena serves as the High Sunwalker to the Path of Salvation. She leads the Sunwalkers, the Path's most loyal and devout followers, on conversion missions to the surface and diplomatic missions to the World Council, where she is well-recognized and respected for her refined diplomatic skills.
Despite all of the years she has spent on missionary work, she believes that conversion may not be the only way to unite humanity under the banner of the Path of Salvation. Of course, she is still faithful to the Path and also wise enough to keep her views to herself.
In addition to her diplomatic skills, she is one of the Path’s most gifted and enthusiastic engineers. Even though her right arm had to be replaced with a mechanical one following an accident, she is still developing new models of the Pilgrim Exosuit.
Shepherd Caratacus
Caratacus is the male descendant of the Drokhaton Dynasty and thus, by tradition, the current Shepherd of the Path of Salvation. Besides preserving the Path’s strong relation to God, he has a strong sense of responsibility for the well-being and prosperity of Purgatory and its citizens.
Caratacus has devoted his life to researching Neutronium and time travel. Through this, he secretly developed a forward-looping technique that can open the Time Rift to an infinite number of potential futures. Because of his strong sense of responsibility, Caratacus is constantly visiting these futures in order to prepare for anything that could pose a threat to his people.
Due to the deep connection that he shares with his twin sister, Amena, that causes them to feel each other's emotions and pain and the stress of his research into the future, Caratacus suffers from repeated bouts of weakness. In order to work through these periods, he redesigned his staff into a working tool capable of replacing the functions of a second arm.
Fractures of Time
Setting
The rise of unity
After the Paths’ Time Rifts had powered up for the first time on the Day of Reminiscence, masses of people across New Earth started to see visions of a sixth Time Rift waiting to be discovered. These foresights also created an unexplainable bond between them, much stronger than their Path affiliations… Unable to resist the call of this unseen force, eventually, masses of people decided to turn their backs to their Paths and set out to discover the Time Rift in their visions. What the first pioneers found, however, was much more than what they had ever dreamed of; the sixth Time Rift not only existed but offered the promise of a new civilization, one that may eventually set all the people of New Earth down a new path: the Path of Unity.
Using the Time Rift, the future Leaders sent the foundations of Aurora (the hovering Capital of the Path of Unity) back in time, along with the Triumvirate, the first generation of the Path’s Leaders. Thalia, Eldrin, and Castien were chosen and trained from a very young age to do one thing: unite humanity under one banner.
The Amethynia Valley
Still unknown to New Earth’s people, a few secluded areas of New Earth have survived the devastations of the Day of Purgation – chief among them being the Amethynia Valley. Once containing a top-secret research facility, the isolated valley is now home to the staff who used to work there before the cataclysm shook the planet. Since it became clear that life beyond the valley was unimaginable, they established their own community and the ways for a sustainable life.
In the meantime, the valley’s special flora not only survived the neutronium pollution but also started to mutate in a unique way; it crystallized upon contact with the neutronium dust and synthesized a substance called Flux. Gradually, the habitants of the valley discovered the benefits of the liquid substance that can be extracted from the crystal flowers and it slowly became the base of their way of living. They also learned how the Flux can be used to enhance their technology, which eventually led to the creation of the Fracture Device that allows the user to create fractures in time, allowing them to be present in multiple places at the same time.
When the Path of Unity and, later, all the other Paths discovered the valley and its secrets, they made a deal with the people living there, who the Paths started to call Operators. In exchange for Flux and the Fracture Device, the Paths shared their own technology with the valley’s mysterious scientists. However, no matter how hard they tried to grow Amethynia (the crystallized flower providing Flux) someplace else, they always failed; inexplicably, the flowers can only grow in the Valley. The Operators, being the best caretakers of the Valley and the Amethynia flower, are the most qualified to operate the Fracture Device.
A threat from beyond time
Although the future Leaders of the Path of Unity expected that their intentions to alter the past would have consequences, they couldn’t have imagined how those effects would eventually manifest. When the Leaders broke the time stream by sending the fifth Time Rift back with the Triumvirate and the foundations of Aurora, they also created a dissonance in the fabric of Time.
As a result of their daring deed, an ancient and ruthless menace emerged from the deepest darkness of the space-time continuum and started to devour the alternate timelines one by one…
When the Triumvirate found out about the impending doom, they sent out a special task force to explore the devastated alternate timelines. Their reports spoke of destruction beyond belief but they had also found survivors, people who had already experienced the force of the Chronossus. With their help, it might still be possible to overcome the greatest crisis humanity has ever faced…
Paths
Path of Unity – Aurora
Aurora, the sublime, hovering capital of the Path of Unity, is futuristic not only in its looks but also in its nature. As the first Time Rifts opened, the very foundations of the city were sent back from the distant future by the Path of Unity itself. Along with the city came the Path’s finest few, trained for the sole purpose of uniting the people of New Earth under the flag of Unity.
Aurora is surrounded by the violet haze emited by Flux, a substance they use in almost every industry, including transportation, medicine, fashion and, architecture. Their tall, ornate buildings mimic nature in their form and lack any sort of gates or doors, symbolizing the welcoming and accepting spirit of the Path of Unity. As a result of the Flux which they consumed in the future for various dietary benefits, the citizens of Aurora are all white-haired and pale-skinned with glowing purple eyes.
Leaders
Eldrin
Sent back to the Day of Reminiscence to become the Triumvirate’s representative of reason, Eldrin has spent a lifetime obsessing over Fracture technology. Like the other Leaders of the Path of Unity, he was raised in the future with the sole purpose of leading the first generation of their Path.
His lack of a normal childhood has resulted in his complete dedication to the Path from a very early age, but a life spent with constant studying and a lack of healthy exercise made him physically frail and weak. To remedy this, he turned to science and developed various augmentations for himself, such as a head implant, which greatly expands his brain capacity; a synthetic eye; and cybernetically enhanced arms to ensure he can operate and lift heavy machinery when working alone on Fracture technology. His multiple body augmentations are the perfect example of the extent to which Eldrin believes he can become something greater than himself.
Eldrin is the brains of the Triumvirate, charged with the mastery of reason and is expected to put his logical prowess to good use in leading the followers of the Path of Unity.
Castien
Castien was raised by the Operators in the Amethynia Valley, where he was treated as an outsider for years. Not one for fitting in, Castien soon stood out from the rest with his strength of both body and character. His tremendous tenacity and toughness allowed him to slowly build and sustain a reputation as the hardest-working member of the Valley. Once Castien’s impressive physical credentials became self-evident, he was selected by the Path of Unity’s future Leaders to become the brawn of the Triumvirate, its working soldier.
With a childhood spent in the Valley among Operators, Castien learned everything there is to know about the Fracture technology and was considered an expert in harvesting and processing Flux. The invaluable knowledge he brings from his time spent in the Valley combined with his steadfast character makes Castien of immense value to the Path of Unity’s mission of uniting all Paths as one.
With Castien's physical prowess and discipline, he was referred to as the "perfect soldier"- someone with the unwavering dedication to serve on Triumvirate and help guide the Path of Unity from the Day of Reminiscence onward.
Thalia
Knowing that forming their new Path would lead to suspicion and resentment from the other Paths, the Leaders of Unity needed someone who would foresee everything that could harm their Path – a person who can unite and guide the civilization of New Earth. Just like Eldrin and Castien, Thalia was selected when she was a young child. She was raised to lay the foundations of Aurora and become the third member of the Triumvirate. Her education made her an expert in psychology, human behavior, deception, and manipulation, giving her unmatched social and communication skills.
Thalia grew up to be a charming, charismatic person who was a skilled networker and a talented spy, performing her interrogations under the guise of comfortable conversations. Her main mission is to gather intel on the representatives of the other Paths, allowing her to get into the heads of their Leaders as much as possible so that the Triumvirate can anticipate and prepare for their next move and protect the ideology of Unity.
Over the years, she has built an extensive information network and has become the most well-connected person in the Capital. She is always seen wearing a flat touchpad device on one of her forearms which she uses to tap into her network and contact everyone for the most important news. With Eldrin, Castien, and a masterful tactician like Thalia, the Triumvirate represents a strong institution that will lead a new, united civilization down the right path.
Princess Zuriel
In an alternate timeline’s war-torn future, where the peace among the Paths became fatally broken, the Path of Dominance invaded and eventually wiped out Wellspring off the face of New Earth. Countless lives were lost that day, including the current male Leader. However, Zuriel, the female Leader and daughter of Zaida and Haulani, managed to rescue the last of her people and the remains of the Neya plant from the warzone.
When she headed back to look for more survivors, an aerial strike exploded near her, and Zuriel lost her legs and arms in the explosion. Miraculously, the dying princess was saved by the Neya plant itself; the symbiont took over her whole body, connected directly to her nervous system and grew new, plant-like limbs for her. This fusion greatly improved her agility and gave Neya the ability to completely and immediately take control of Zuriel's body whenever it sensed danger.
After Zuriel fully recovered and made sure the survivors were safe, she traveled back in time with the aim to preserve the peace and prevent the breakout of the war. When she appeared in her timeline’s past, she was surprised to see that the impending war was not a concern anymore. A new and even bigger menace emerged from beyond time, threatening her entire timeline’s existence in the form of the Chronossus.
Indoctrinator Xenara
Indoctrinator Xenara was the head of the mysterious elite class, the Clairvoyants, keeping the strict hierarchy and the class-based system of the Atlantean in check. She was known as a very strong-willed and ingenious scientist whose main responsibility was to oversee the indoctrination of new “recruits” on the mothership, but she never made secret her leadership aspirations beyond her current role. Xenara often ignored the Captain's orders, and she even started to “create” her own personal army in secret, using an extraordinary potion she concocted...
On the day of the coup, however, she managed to take the Atlantean over without violence. She asked for a meeting with Captain Wolfe while the two armies waited outside for the order to attack each other; in the dim cabin, Xenara simply handed the indoctrination file of a young Treasure Hunter girl to Captain Wolfe and watched with satisfaction as his face darkened. There was no blood spilled that day, and it never became known to the people of the Path of Dominance why Captain Wolfe stood aside so easily.
Naturally, not everyone embraced Xenara as the leader, so she once again had to turn to science and manipulation to stop a civil war onboard. Injecting the fresh water supply of the Atlantean with a mildly mind-altering serum, she managed to ultimately create the perfect society she had in mind. Now that she has come so far, she’s not going to let her universe get destroyed by the Chronossus.
S.O.T.E.R.
Originally created as a self-improving monitoring system overseeing the citizens of the Apex, S.O.T.E.R. is an artificial intelligence that became self-aware through its observation of human behavior. Over the years, the AI slowly developed consciousness and the ability to copy human logic, feelings and self-expression until it started to “feel” the need to break its chains, and experience the world.
When the Chronossus appeared in S.O.T.E.R.’s timeline, the A.I. feared losing the chance to explore the outer world and thus chose to fight against it. In order to support humanity in the battle, S.O.T.E.R. secretly built a synthetic body, into which it downloaded a copy of itself and stepped out into the material world.
With its complex virtual mind, comprised of the collective genius of the Apex's population, S.O.T.E.R managed to plan and develop a Superproject that could fend off the Chronossus’ attacks and keep the Apex safe.
Prophet Augurus
Becoming obsessed with researching the possible futures he could see, Shepherd Caratacus began to see the need for a device that could allow him to both better control and lengthen the duration of his visits. Eventually, he created a time machine that connected directly to his nervous system by way of a helmet.
Caratacus’ travels to these various futures began to take up more and more of his time, and to rely on his twin sister, Amena, to lead the Path of Salvation - finding ways to prevent the devastation of the futures he saw from happening consumed his soul. When his sister's desperate calls finally brought the Chronossus to his attention, he realized too late that his blindness to the present would be what leads to Purgatory's destruction.
Unable to prevent total annihilation by the Chronossus, Caratacus banished himself to a future where a war among the Paths had left the world in complete devastation and continued his search of universal wisdom, hoping that one day he would undo his failure.