Latest revision as of 16:59, 20 February 2017

Welcome to the WWAN page! This section shall detail major events that players may read in order to get caught up with the various events that have been affecting us. Rusted has an ever changing theme, and for those who are busy or new might need a place they can go to refresh with relative ease. It's encouraged for people to consistently add onto this page when major events occur so that it doesn't become out of date. After all, that is the main purpose of this page.

If there are any inaccuracies and such bellow, do try and have a nice and polite talk with the person who made the edit. Everyone makes mistakes, especially with a lore as complex as this one! Through solid community effort, we may can create a nice place for people to get caught up on the lore. Bellow are guidelines detailing what you probably should and should not add. Should a conflict arise as to what should be added or not, do not just edit things to your will. Do talk it out with your fellow players.

When adding on a new section to this page, make a new major header at the bottom containing the Rusted date and real life date for organization purposes. This way, we'll have a nice timeline of events. For example, adding a new header at the bottom of the page might read "As of June 7, 477 (2014)". And then under it you detail what important event that has transpired, such as "Blah blah blah, an assassination attempt on the king of Sweetwater was attempted by blah blah due to blah blah..." The first entry to this page is more of a primer than anything and shouldn't be used as a guideline for more entries. It is there to make sure everyone is on the same page and should hopefully be a good reference for new players to get refreshed.

What you should probably add

• Major thematic changes (The Shattering, some shadows becoming allies, spirits appearing, and such level events).
• Cultural shifts.
  • A major view and/or stance. Deep rooted political movements, mass outcries, major events brought about by actions of a large congregation of beings, etc.
• Political changes.
• Wars/major battles.
• New discoveries, inventions, or innovations that have a large effect on society.
• Major Creator activity (A Creator does something major, such as the arrest of Sinclair).
• Major spiritual activity (A spirit declares a firm stance/deceleration and/or makes a major action and other such things).
• Basically, anything that has a large impact on the thematic realm of Rusted. Things that would be very important to know if you were telling a new/returning player about the lore of this place.

What you should probably not add

• Minor battles or skirmishes.
  • A tussle with some well-known bandits, beating up a bunch of thugs, etc.
• Your average Freesword mission.
• Things that don't impact the theme at large.
• Basically, anything that you wouldn't tell a new/returning player, as it doesn't have much thematic weight on the world at large. Not that taking down a group of thugs isn't important, but things like that aren't what one might consider major in the grand scheme of things. If you are in doubt, please consider talking it out with players in a nice and polite manner.

Primer - As of June 10, 477(2014)

This section shall take you from the start of the theme, all the way to the date printed above. As there is a lot to cover, things shall be broken down into subsections for ease and organization. Because of this, things are bound to be forgotten, but hopefully the important parts will be covered. If you believe something was missed, please consider adding it. In addition, this first section shall also detail important things to know (such as how and why beings were created) to make sure everyone is on the same page. Think of this more as a primer. Future sections won't need this.

Creation and Settling of Promise

Many centuries ago, a company of humans created anthropomorphic animals (Henceforth known as beings) in a process called "uplifting". While it is usually quite clear what animal a being resembles, their similar bodily structure compared to humans (known as Creators to the beings) can not be ignored. They are not simply animals in a bipedal structure. In fact, beings are perhaps closer to human than one might think. Should one wish to know more about the subject of being anatomy, please visit this page.

Along with their lives, the Creators also gave beings the ability to use a powerful art known as mathemagic. While the name does have magic in the title, it is nothing more than cold, hard logic and expressions. With a liberal amount of studying, beings may learn about various mathemagic equations and such and use them to manipulate the world around them, generally in the school of earth, water, air, and fire. Beings do not understand the true logic and math behind these mathemagic equations. One could say they only know the very surface of the entire art. Basic math (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) is what most beings are capable of. Generally, anything more is a bit beyond their heads. While this powerful art has granted the beings many conveniences and ease of many things, it has also stunted their technological growth. Technology and advancement is usually brought about by necessity and/or the need to make things easier/faster/better. Why should someone invent a lighter when one could simply use a basic fire mathemagic equation to generate a fire? Perhaps the more correct term would be that technology on Promise is not stunted, but simply has taken a different turn.

The purpose of creating these beings was mostly for the job of terraformation and settling. In particularly dangerous areas to settle, Sacred Families (also known as dedications) were put into play to assist the process greatly, as they have the ability to mitigate poisonous areas, come back from major injuries with a burst of flame, and other such things. Scouting the planet of Promise, the creator company noted its resources and other assets and initiated a plan to terraform and settle it.

In a Creator space ship known as The Ark 477 years ago, the beings landed on the planet of Promise and began their work to settle it. Within the ship contained various tools important for this task, some ordinary and others beyond most beings comprehension. Particularly complicated pieces of machinery given to us by the creators are typically known as Creator Technology, and how they function internally is a mystery to beings. While the technology of Promise is scattered, generally it falls along the line of the Renaissance era with muskets and single loaded pistols being examples of where we are currently in terms of advancement. Something like a mining laser would go way over a being's head, and they would only know that if a certain button is pressed, a dangerous laser would break through rocks. How? It's a mystery!

Eventually, through hard-work, sweat, blood, and tears of the beings, the planet of Promise became a hospitable place to live. With the planet terraformed and settled, the only thing left was simply... to live! Among the many things the Creators have given the beings is the First Text. Within it contains various guidelines written in what's known as the First Tongue that only those who have studied the language, such as Priests, understand. Numerous guidelines are written inside, and generally most find it quite agreeable. How one should treat others and act, guidelines for certain dilemmas, and other numerous things fill its pages. Thanks to this, negativities such as various forms of discrimination (Sexual, orientation, species) have hardly ever been a problem. It has dramatically shaped the beings' social and cultural structure and still does to this very day.

As time marched on, beings scattered across the land of Promise and formed nations with differing forms of government, culture, and politics. Sweetwater, the nation the players play within, and Cliffside in particular have been long term rivals for generations, sometimes even falling into war and other such battles. Shralesta is ran by the Grand Church, while Thera'dor is ran by a monarch much like Sweetwater. However, Sweetwater's succession is passed down through the Good family's bloodline while Thera'Dor's family heads elect a candidate for rulership. For more information about the politics of Promise, please visit this page to get familiar. In addition, various Noble Houses sprung up in a few nations, allowing those families to have certain special privileges.

For generations, Promise lived on. People went about their lives, kings lived and died, generations past, and everything seemed fine for the most part. Until...

The Shattering, Shadows, and Gifted

450 years after arrival, a terrible event struck the planet of Promise. For reasons unknown to many, a Creator ship rammed into the moon at light speeds, causing deadly chunks of lunar rock to rain upon the planet. The destruction was amazing, many unfortunate beings losing their lives in the complete chaos of such a sudden catastrophe known as The Shattering. Not only were people damaged, but also the environment itself. Eventually, the deathly torrent ceased, allowing the beings to recover and try to piece together what happened.

After further investigation, it would seem that the moon was something more than a simple satellite orbiting the planet. A curious and mysterious energy seemed to radiate within the small bits of moon dust (AKA Lunars). Many years later, the beings would learn that the moon was a prison housing corrupt spirits known as the Old Ones. For the moment however, something awfully curious claimed the world's attention. Babies were being born "empty", causing distress and fear to parents when they gaze into their blank eyes. This was later revealed by Doctor Sinclair to be a kill-switch deliberately built into the settlers, making them vulnerable to the next step of their Creators' plan. Scholars and mages banded together to research this curious phenomenon and called these empty children The Soulless. The fruit of all this research came in the form of soul gems and the soul pendent. One could imprint their soul within one of these gems and insert them into the pendent. When worn by a soulless, the soul within the gem acted as a surrogate of sorts, allowing them to function normally for the most part.

However, those gems provided the soulless with something more than a simple surrogate. They were able to use the memories and knowledge stored within these gems to their extraordinary advantage. Information flowed within their minds like a sponge, allowing them to become quite adept in a field in nearly weeks when it might take a normal being years. For example, if one used the soul of a mage, they'd be able to learn complex mathemagic many times faster than without this aid. Not only this, but they could switch their gems at any point, allowing them to adapt to many situations at a master's skill level in about a minute or so. This superhuman quality caused distrust amongst the general populous until the years went by. After some further research and the word of Good King Good, the soulless were then to be called The Gifted for something more politically and scientifically correct, as it was probable that these strange beings still have a soul, but have something mysterious missing instead. The gifted are usually quite easy to spot if their pendent is hanging around their neck, as not wearing one could bring about complications and various symptoms. For more information about the soulless/gifted, please visit the Soulless page.

These gifted would soon become a wonderful way to fight back against Promise's next menace. What was a Creator ship doing so close to Promise anyways? Contained within said crashed ship was a deadly bioengineered weapon known as the Shadows designed specifically to eradicate life upon Promise. The original company who had uplifted the beings decided to initiate the next part of their plan. By dropping the shadows upon the planet, they would then eliminate all life upon it. Afterwards, the Creators would simply douse the surface with a specific type of radiation to purge the shadows and be left with a colonized and terraformed planet ripe for profit. Thanks to their mysterious crash, things did not go as planned. Shadows still survived the incident and ripped through many beings while securing and blocking off territory. Perhaps the worst part was their ability to possess beings and cause mayhem in that fashion. Immune to this possession however, were the Gifted when matched with a soul pendent. With their extraordinary talents and immunity to possession, the gifted managed to fight back these shadows and secure a foothold. The war raged on, but with the gifted in tow, the beings had a fighting chance. For more information about these bioweapons, please visit the Shadow page.

Brave beings and gifted fought hard against the Shadow menace, even infiltrating locations known as Shadow Hearts and Nests and destroying them with great effort. The beings of Promise stepped from their foothold and pushed forward, allowing them to reclaim some of their lost territory. Many lives were lost in the Shadow Wars, but something strange happened and put the battle in a standstill. Some shadows, within a possessed being, claimed they no longer desired to fight a fruitless battle. After much debate, a solution was created. Those shadows who desire to become the beings' allies would then be registered and forced to wear an easily recognizable shadow pendent that also locked them within their current vessel. Due to the Shadows being created by the Creators themselves, some of them revealed some rather shocking information to Beings. The shadows splintered, with some defecting from their original purpose, and while some territory is still lost, the war slowed down.

The Spirits

As the Shadow War simmered down, a new phenomenon took the limelight. Beings reported sightings of curious otherworldly figures known as spirits. Not only this, but some beings managed to make contact with them and even converse. They claimed that have been living upon the planet of Promise long before any of the beings touched foot upon its surface, and that they served a previous civilisation that existed before beings arrived. Spirits roused from their slumber, detailing what they stand for and believe, demonstrating their affiliation with a certain court. Each spirit falls into a court, such as the Life Court, Outside Court, Corrupt Court, and more, each having varying feelings about one another. With the release of the Old Ones from their prison (who had been trapped by the other spirits), the now shattered moon, they set about quietly gaining influence and power for the next two decades. Alarmed by the growing resurgence of their old enemies' activity, the spirit Kendrac roused the others and privately introduced three beings to his fellows. This has been met with varying degrees of acceptance, which is why many spirits have been slow to show their faces.

Despite what powers they may possess, it would seem they are unable to directly interfere with the beings' plane of existence for the most part due to mysterious rules that are likely due to the pyrrhic nature of any eventual victory by these means. Combat and conflicts are carried out by proxy through their followers.

Despite these rules, the beings are able to dedicate themselves to these spirits to become their callers. The callers would be required to uphold the values of their chosen spirit. They are also granted an ability and mark along with the ability to call upon their patron. Various events have shown the dangers the Old Ones may bring, such as the seemingly never ending horde of undead walking among Mossy Stone brought about by the corrupt Pyrrha. The true intentions of these mysterious spirits are a bit unknown to the beings, save the eventual prize of the game they play, at least in part, is Promise and its beings. New spirits still rise from their slumber on occasion, allowing beings to dedicate to them should they desire. What the future holds is unknown, but it is certain that the beings shall play a major part as the tensions rise between the spirits and corrupt court. If one wishes to know more about these spirits, please visit the Spirits page. One should also check out essays written by some player characters here and here.

Creator Activity

Between the time of arrival and the Shattering, there wasn't a lot of Creator activity. Years after the Shattering, Promise would see the arrival of a few of these humans. While initially there was excitement, their arrival revealed some curious facts that caused distress amongst the general population. Note that it has been many generations since the time of arrival. The Creators that landed upon the surface were not aware of the Promise detailed in the First Text, shocking beings that happened to catch wind of this information. Opinion was divided on how to handle such a reveal, but no matter what one thought, the seeds of doubt were already planted.

Eventually, even more Creators landed upon the surface of Promise, each curious about the planet's condition. One day, a Creator doctor by the name of Sinclair visited the beings. Being a rather studious and scientific type, she was eager to research and analyze the beings. For a period of time, she interacted with the population of Promise and lived within her ship along with a few others, including a Creator child. Both were quite curious about the nature of Spirits, perhaps never having seen something of that nature before. As time marched on, it was time for Sinclair and company to leave, but in a rather sneaky move, the doctor decided to stay on Promise despite not being authorized to do such. During her AWOL period, she was given a place to live within the Firmament palace to conduct more research.

Later on, Churches receive information regarding what the future of Promise could hold. For one, the Creators were offering some reparations in the form of Creator currency due to the awful treatment given to the beings from the company that uplifted them. It was revealed that said company would no longer ever be a problem. Debate sprang forward and caused tension between the nations on who should get how much and what they should do with the money. With this currency, a nation would be able to purchase certain creator technologies in authorized stores. Next, the message detailed that Creators were able to visit Promise should they file the correct paperwork and do no harm to the population, else face dramatic punishment. They must also not interfere with the population's development (For example, telling the beings how to refine oil and create a combustion engine) or reveal certain things about life back at their homes. The beings themselves have rules as well to follow. Harming Creators would not work out well for the beings. Instead, they are told to restrain any disruptive Creator with non-lethal force so that they may get picked up and sent to trial back home. Finally, the last piece of the message claimed that a Creator would come down and evaluate the planet and its current situation.

With the floodgates released, curious Creators couldn't help but give the planet a visit. Not long after the message, a few disruptive Creators managed to cause quite a ruckus with the population, but they were dealt with swiftly and sent back for punishment. People of all different types interacted with the population of Promise, one even filming a documentary. A merchant has also decided to, with various restrictions on available merchandise, set up shop on Promise as an intermediary between the planet and the stars. However, not all went so swimmingly. The Creator doctor Sinclair was eventually arrested and forced to return home for trial. Her current situation is unknown to the beings. Creators show no signs of stopping their visits, and how it shall affect the beings' situation and culture is for the future to decide.

Timeline

Distant Past

• 67 SA: Firmament is settled.
• 131 SA: Sandra Good assumes rulership over Firmament and Sweetwater.
• 428 SA: Reginald Longtail attempts to overthrow the Goods in a civil war; he is defeated and the Longtails lose their honour and titles.
• 450 SA: Creator ship exits lightspeed at the wrong coordinates and crashes into Raquestia, releasing both Old Ones and Shadows. Fragments of the shattered moon begin raining down on the planet, both in chunks and (far more commonly) dust; these pieces possess immense power.
• 450-475 SA: Mossy Stone falls to the shadow. Once the shadow depart, the villagers are consigned to undeath by a yet-unknown force. All lands north of Silvervein Pass and south of Northwarden Canyon are taken by the shadow. Sweetwater fortifies Silvervein Pass from the south, while Thera'dor fortifies Northwarden Canyon from the north, hoping to keep the shadow contained in the valley.
• 450-475 SA: The Blackbacks invent the soul pendant with all the wonders it entails.

SA 475

August

• Sally Solacious returns from Shralesta to found the Lightbringers' Unit.
• Kilsa discovers the berserker soul gem and is declared Lady Ironsoul.
• Gifted jailed are decreed to be given parent soul gems for the period of their imprisonment.
• Ironsoul orphanage is founded.
• Owing to the power of lunars, some old Creator devices are revived, bestowing the sacred families upon beings once more.

September

• A message is received from the Creators, but something is wrong: the date of their return has come and passed without incident.
• The Good King declares soulless renamed soul gifted.
• Shadows wish to examine the ark and are alarmed at what they find.

October

• The first successful destruction of a shadow nest occurs.

November

• The shadows reveal they were under orders to exterminate all settlers on Promise.
• Windrunner clan arrives in Sweetwater, bringing their knowledge with them.

December

• The ship that will bear Sinclair makes contact with Promise.
• Various Shadows declare that they intend to defect and turn to peace. The Good King accepts them as tentative citizens.
• The Old Ones make their first overt measures known at Kindcraft Mining Operations, enthralling many of the workers.

SA 476

March

• The Shadow reveal that the Creators who sent the settlers to Promise may have had nefarious intentions from the outset.
• With the invention of the shadow pendant, shadows are allowed to be full-fledged citizens of Sweetwater and can walk safely amongst beings.

June

• Creators land on Promise in Shralesta, later relocating to Firmament.
• Alarmed by the return of the Old Ones, Kendrac brings a handful of beings to the other spirits for examination.

July

• The Spirits make their first public appearance.
• Sinclair reveals that Promise is up for sale, although the inhabitants cannot be killed or evicted.
• Word of Promise gets out amongst the Creators, with mixed reactions.
• The Puzzler makes his first open appearance.
• Olg'ish makes his first open appearance.
• Shaila and Kendrac make their first open appearances.

August

• Freak weather causes a dip in the expected harvest. Cliffside agents led by House Wirefur attempt sabotage and resource denial tactics against Sweetwater. No official war erupts, however.

September

• Sinclair's team leaves Promise. Sinclair breaks Creator law to stay.
• Cliffside agrees to cease all covert hostilities.

October

• All missives from the Creators mysteriously stop.
• Akros makes his first moves on Promise.
• The manifestation of spirits gives the citizens of Sweetwater pause as to what to do with them.

November

• Ser'ther of the elemental court reveals himself.
• Akros' schemes are foiled by brave Freeswords and the Old One retreats to the swamps to lick his wounds.

SA 477

March

• A missive arrives from the Creators, stating that the ones of their number who sent the original settlers here had been found guilty of wrongdoing, and a sum of Creator currency was to be credited to the planet at large. There are those who do not think much of this offer.

April

• Flora Longtail invents the camera, and House Longtail is reinstated.
• A message from the Creators states that while Promise has indeed been allocated funds, the planet cannot be bought by its inhabitants because to do so would be irresponsible. A Creator named Mr. Jules Parson is assigned to evaluate and oversee the planet.
• Members of the Corrupt Court and their followers appear to be working with considerably more coordination and intelligence.
• The Spark formally reveals itself.
• Widespread protest of the treatment of shanty town denizens occurs, led mostly by shanty towners. Things get tense when certain Spirit cultists get involved and the situation nearly develops into a full rebellion and could have ended in the utter razing of the shanties, except for the intervention of some savvy Freeswords

May

• Creator Parson arrives in orbit above Promise, along with Creator visitors.
• Sinclair is arrested and taken off-world to be put on trial on unknown charges.
• Selena successfully reproduces a creator spell and documents her findings, proving the theory of three-dimensional Kevinscoping in the process and sparking further research into the process to make it useful to beings.

June

• A few Creators begin settling on the planet, being akin hippies or space Amish and giving up their technology.
• High Lady Longtail organizes a trip to Shralesta, where her lifebonding ceremony takes place. In addition, it seems LongTech Industries was there for diplomatic reasons, although the Grand Church has not issued any statements yet.
• LongTech Industries opens its first shop, which seems to be a success, so far.

"July"

• Things have gotten even stranger outside the fallen city of Mossy Stone. A strange mist has gathered and the dead endlessly reenact battles of the past, most specifically, the fall of Mossy Stone. The one, and only, foray into the mists has revealed that a Spirit of terrible power has taken up residence in the Gravefells. The Anima camp that once resided close to the city walls has been forced to fall back near the Griffin shrine.

August

• Parson's team issues a directive forbidding sexual relations between Creators and beings.
• Possibly due to a breach in security due to a traitor in Parson's team, increasing amounts of contraband are discovered on Creator visitors to Promise.
• Owing to the increased presence of Creator and drop in hostile shadow activity, the Lightbringers are dissolved and reformed as a special force dedicated to dealing with untoward creator activity.
• A mysterious plague with influenza-like symptoms originates in Shralesta, quickly spreading to Sweetwater and Thera'dor. Dubbed the Red Fever, it has a mortality rate of about 60%.

"September"

• LongTech Industries starts to make their move. Flora Longtail, the newly reinstated High Lady of house Longtail has big plans and starts to reach out to leaders in Shralesta and Thera'Dor over the adoption of intellectual property rights. No action on it so far, but certain parties seem interested.
• There is a sudden upswing in Spirit activity and several hitherto unknown Spirits including Olloch, The Scholar, Hephestia, Vasht, Zimla, and Heiour make themselves known.

"November"

• A new threat appears! The Spirits call these bizarre, draconic abominations the Craige. Once sealed away in another world by the Spirits and the long dead ancient inhabitants of Promise, these monsters have returned. Their initial attacks were fierce and mindless, but they seem to grow more sophisticated and more difficult to handle with each passing day.

SA 478

"June"

• As part of an arrangement to procure Spirit aid against the Craige, a representative is sent to the Creators to see if they can help and what it would cost. They refuse aid. "Your Planet, Your problem."
• Despite their obvious and terrible power, the Craige have vanished. There have been no signs of them since this last battle. One can only assume they are playing a long game.

"October"

• The Spirits proved to be very active while the Craige waged their war. Most conspicuous of the actions taken in their behalf was the rebuilding of the Church in Mossy Stone to honor Pyrrha, and the erection of a statue to her in the Firmament Graveyard. There have been no other signs of increased cultist activity.