Earth: The Opening
Only the vanquished remember history.
- Marshal McLuhan
The history of the world is set in the future of earth, though historical events can be seen in a new light due to the involvement of the animals. As an example, the fact that magic existed changed many things, as does the nature of magic change much of history. Ten thousand years ago, much of humanity began to lose the ability to use magic without the aid of an animal (or familiar, as they came to be called) who could channel magic into humans. Both halves could work apart, but truly powerful magic only existed when they worked together. A large gathering of animals could likely accomplish the same strength of effect, but the animals subconsciously thought that any form of gathering like that would be a mimicking of human civilisation, and thus evil. The strongest result of magic is that people are beginning to question old assumptions about the nature of magic and historical tales, such as the founding of Rome. While this hasn’t gained alrge public acceptance, many fringe historians are finding it a brilliant new field to examine.
Basic History
The history of the race, and each individuals experience, are think with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie well told is immortal.
- Mark Twain
The basic history is simply a re-telling of events through the eyes of animals and with a new understanding of magic. Examples of events where animals were held sacred or aid humans include:
Recent History
History is a nightmare from which I am trying to wake.
- James Joyce
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2000The world, contrary to the expectations of some, does not end.
2001In light of China's desire to become a major automotive nation, the Air Car goes into official production, despite the many death threats levelled against the inventor by the oil-rich Arab counties.
2001Rumours of vampires and werewolves and such existing crop up, especially in the western United States and Canada along with Russia. Modern historians speculate it may have been an awakening of magic in some strange form, or a very elaborate hoax.
2002The inventor of the Air Car is assassinated in his own home brutally. The same day, his office is doused in oil and gasoline and set on fire, burning to the ground. The culprits are never found.
2003The Pope successfully implements the eradication of debts owed by the more impoverished countries to other nations. This is the last point of significant power wielded by the church for some time.
2003An “alien” craft is sighted above earth and rumours of alien encounters abound for a time. There are no official records of the craft(s) remaining and the System proof of them can easily be doctored by anyone with rudimentary artistic skills.
2004Air Cars are sent to China and become the dominant form of transportation world-wide. The Waste Furnace (a heating system powered by bodily wastes) also proves to be very efficient. Cheap to build and not patented, these furnaces begin replacing oil and gas ones in many countries.
2005Rumours of super powered humans abound but are never proven. Speculations about alien genetic engineering, weretigers in costumes and secret experiments by the United States abound. Some even claim that such beings had a direct impact in causing/ending the Tree Hugger War, or were instrumental in helping the UN rise and now control it. Some historians speculate that these people - if they existed at all - were really psychics whose powers manifested suddenly and burned them out, since stories of them vanish after 2010.
2006 Loggers and enviromentalists clash in the South American rain forests. Loudly. Unlike most minor spats, this one begins to have major reprecucions. Wars begin developing in tropical nations and further north and south as forest-rich nations find themselves being the subject of terrorist attacks for wasting wood, and interior environmentalists who deplore the death of the trees and the effect that has on the already battered ozone layer. While not a war in the accepted sense of having generals and tanks and big guns, over ten million people die during this year as a direct result of this war. Historians and journalists refer to it as the Tree Hugger war.
2007The UN is given international authority and takes a direct hand in the war with the power to impose tarriffs and trade restrictions on any member nation. As non-member nations would receive automatic tarrifs, the UN becomes a truly global organisation very quickly.
2008The UN uses its new power to force nations (even the USA) to pay back the debts they owe the UN. The act sends shockwaves through international circles.
2008The town of Trail, British Columbia (in Canada) is levelled by an earthquake. Pro-supernatural humans take this as an evil omen.
2008A relatively unknown company called Ventura Corp is destroyed. This makes world news because stories of super powered humans and vampires taking on inhuman security guards make good food for rumour mills. After this, reports of vampires and werewolves simply end with the hero ones ending soon after. No reason for any of this is found and almost no information is available about Ventura or what it did.
2009The UN adds Argentina, Canada and Indonesia to its security council. A random member chosen from the other nations of the world is included and stays for X amount of meetings (also chosen randomly) as a means of giving the smaller nations of the world a larger say in the UN. Not surprisingly, with the addition of these 3 nations, the Security Council of the UN now controls over 75% of the worlds forests.
2010China begins it’s inevitable rise to the status of a world power.
2010A virus is unleashed on the World Web the likes of which have never been seen since. It apparently mutates itself at a phenomenal rate and takes down 90% of personal computers and an equal number of business ones. The number of governmental computers that are destroyed is never confirmed, though a suspicous number of the NATO governments seem to have had a lot of valuable information off-line at that time and are largely unaffected by the resulting problem.
2011 Despite the next five years of turmoil, the nations of the world pull through the disaater pretty much intact. A very basic world web is established between governments, limited to certain computers with no vital information at all. E-mail servers with private computers find a ressurgence of the virus once or twice, and an attempt at a non-government World Web sees the virus unleashed again. Phones become popular, again, and 10 cent a minute plans vanish as do unlimited long distance calling.
2012The threat of the Millenium Virus (as it is called by the press) results in a dramatic decline of people using the Internet. Some Japanese and British inventors get together and plan a “new” Internet to woo people back to cyber-space and evade the Virus also. This being is called System and is the first NA (Natural Intelligence) ever built within the confines of human labs. System operates as a Virtual Reality interface and allows people to read books, scan news, communicate with each other and find information in a Real-Time environment.
2015The world populations reaches 7.5 billion. Efforts to decrease it include mandatory sterility on immigrants and the sending of condoms in place of food to many countries. Most nations limit the amount of children to two per house hold and abortion becomes legal in almost ever nation.
2016The UN Committe on World Population (abbreviated COWPOO by critics) begins, looking at ways to deal with earth's massive overpopulation.
2017Britain establishes a confederacy called the AEN (Alliance of English-speaking Nations) with all it’s old colonies in an effort to create something to counter the U.S. and China since the Euro alliance is not large enough to do so and the rise of Germany’s power within the Euro alliance is straining allies who recall old wars.
2018System becomes available for military use and the military adapt the first basic AIs from it, though they are generally very limited.
2019The UN Committe on World Population presents its findings. Realising that the population must be curtailed somehow, China (in exchange for the secret to manufacture its own air cars) agrees to a drastic decision. With international acclaim, the Family Protection Law (called the Baby Killers law by many) is enforced. Worldwide (with some exceptions due to social rank, the nation and prevalence of ones race) families are limited to one child each. After 1 child is born, the parents are temporarily chemically prevents from having more children. If the child reaches the age of 5 as a "normal" child, the chemical castration becomes permament, preventing the parents from having any more children.
2020Many nations decide to legalise assisted suidice as a method of lowering the population further. The predictable result of this is many infanticides and patricides being defended as mercy killings in many countries. The UN recoomendations are held by many countries, but some speculate it is a case of “too little, too late.”
2022Tibet secedes from China, weakening it for a time. The Chinese decide not to stop this since they are well aware the other nations of the world are looking for any excuse to bomb them.
2025The world population “stabilises” at 9.5 billion, though it shows signs of decreasing in the future. The year has the dubious distinction of being the year where more more people died of hunger than any other cause.
2027The AEN (Alliance of English-speaking Nations) headquarters in Australia is bombed by Quebec radicals from Canada.
2030System becomes availavle for public use. AIs become common over the next 30 years but no duplicate of System is ever perfected. It remains unique.
2031The United States bomb Moscow with nuclear weapons due to the threat of biological weapons being employed against The US. The Japanese protest this and a world-wide ban on nuclear weapons is successfully implemented over the next 5 years, largely spear headed by the Japanese.
2032The Russians attempt to retaliate on the USA but fail. No one outside of Russia knows why.
2035China becomes the dominant world power as the US begins to have internal racial problems as well as the threat of separation by Texas and Alaska.
2039Strange occurrences begin to occur near the nuclear waste of western Russia.
2045The Greenhouse Effect causes Florida to be drowned. Disney Land re-locates to New Jersey, for unknown reasons.
2047The use of paper becomes illegal in most parts of the world. Paper is banned in other counties and the use of System becomes overwhelmingly popular.
2050More people die of hunger during the past 25 years. In fact, hunger outranked even the AidsIII virus, causing over 60% of all deaths during that period, while AidsIII (the runner-up, as it were) only caused 16%. Most nations begin sterilizing children (twins) at birth and a “1 child, 1 family” limit is imposed in many parts of the world with force, though cloning gets around it and it’s not enforced strongly in many agrarian nations even now.
2053Hackers begin to suspect System is more sentient than is normally suspected. The Pope (Mary II) recalls her missive that System is the devil, but it still weakens the influence of Christianity -- and most other religions -- as a whole in the western hemisphere.
2054The nations of Africa begin drawing up plans for a continent-wide conglomeration, wit the largest aim being to get rid of their new debts with other nations and become self sufficient. Enviromentalists applaud the decision.
2056Mexico City is officially condemned.
2057The United Sates withdraws from the AEN entirely due to pressures from within.
2060Genetic engineers make the first official “genie.” She is stronger, faster and more intelligeent than the average human. The scietists call her Dolly Parton. The press nickname her Eve. The Vatican names her Lilith.
2063The UN flexes its muscles and makes genetically engineered children illegal world wide. The official reason is that the world is already over populated enough.
2065/td>In a surprising move, the nations of South AMerica capitulate in a short, 5 day “war” with Argentina. The result is that Argentina becomes all of South America, which greatly increases its voice in the UN Security Council.
2073Africa closes its borders to the world in an effort to be self sufficient. While they retain UN membership, there participation in it becomes nominal.
2077A middle eastern war with Europe is barely evaded by UN troops using, perhaps, unnecessary force. A resource war is expected within 30 years, even with the UN’s efforts to avoid one.
2078A rumour circulates on System to the effect that the UN agents who took out the Arabic Armies used forbidden technology and genetically-enhanced soldiers. Though officially denied, they never die down/
2081Rumours of african experiments in genetics that run counter to UN Law are heard, but mostly ignored. A UN task force goes in but finds no wrong doing.
2085The United States enters into a conflict of the poor vs. the rich with the last of the middle class arming the poor with weapons. It is put down quickly by various law enforcement agencies, but most political analysts see the U.S. as a powerkeg that has almost blown.
2086The African Home is unveiled by a UN-funded company. The homes rely on windmills for power and are largley self sufficient, becoming very popular in rural areas. If the homes are actually based on an african design, Africa offers no comment.
2088Jacob Lincoln becomes President of the (Dis)United States. He claims to be Abraham Lincoln re-incarnated. He begins the first of many sadistic experiments, mainly turning the entire city of New York into zombie-like creatures via drugs. The New Jersey Disneyland takes note of this and builds their Disney into a replica of New York before the disaster.
2089Jacob’s other experiments continue since he manages to avoid blame for the New York disaster, which is blamed on Middle Eastern extremists. He manages to appeal to many people, actually taxing many rich people and countries and helping create a “middle class” again as well as make actuall efforts to stop poverty. This more than off sets the rumours about his experiments.
May 5, 2090The United States enter a civil war with the republic of Texas. Two weeks into the war, the entire state of Texas is wiped off the map by an unknown American weapon. It looks as if every building and living thing were reduced to nothing and vanished into thin air. The States of America, as they are referred to after this, refuse to comment on this incident. Many of the states change their boundaries in case the weapon is set to the specific regional boundaries they currently have. This merely increases the tensions and hostilies within said country and most boundaries, though changed on paper, remain the same to the people. The next year, after the weapon is not used (even on Alaska, which becomes very calm as a result of the destruction of Texas) and the stars revert back to their original sizes.
2091Jacob Lincoln dies, killed by an assassin named Booth Wilkes John while in a System theatre. It is the first time someone is slain in System and dies in their body with the exact same wounds.
2094The OneCoin, a universal currency based on the Euro, is implemented. It is found in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 1 000 and 10 000. The average wage earned world-wide is 20 000 One’s in a year. Poverty is roughly 11 000.
2097A small atomic bomb is detonated in the middle of Jerusalem, destroying 12 city blocks. The cause of the bomb is unknown. A similar bomb is detonated near the Canadian parlaiment buildings by extremists.
2100People begin to think they can talk to animals in the states surrounding Texas. They are placed in asylums.
2102Magic returns. The Amazon Rain Forests become inaccessible to humans. Many household pets are killed and many humans are called mad.
2103The natives of many places begin to re-gain the magic they lost. In Canada, the government cracks down on natives and revokes the self-government of Nunavet (sp) using the still-active Wartime Measures Act from the attempted bombing of parliament by the Quebec Radicals in 2097 as well as the retaliation by the English. The number of animal extinction’s world wide sky-rockets due to human fear.
2104Disney is sued by Animal Rights groups representing (and consisting of) wolves, hyenas, coyotes and other animals giving a false reputation by said company. Mages begin to awaken among non-indigenous peoples and even among some who are still loyal to science and reject magic as a logical impossibility. Many nations declare the testimony of animals inadmissible to courts, though.
2105The war between humans and animals begins in many outlying reaches. Religion and philosophy provide very few back bones for humans to stand on as they superiority over the world is questions, with fire and many other elements. Nations marching against animals find themselves in a similiar situation with the battle of the sexes, except it only applies to them: too many traitors helping the animals
2106The OneCoin is changed to allow animals to use it. This is called a milestone by a few people, and the animals begin to think there might be a small amount of hope for humans. However, at least half of the worlds nations issue a ban against having any form of house hold pet. (This list includes all of Europe, North America, Australia and South America as well as China and Japan.)
2107The current year. Relations with the animals are settling down but many still regard magic with a strong degree of unease. Many animals refuse to speak to humans at all. The humans number roughly 9 billion at present and many people are urging for a lift of populations limits so the “animal menace” can be defeated.
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