Ahh
the Shifters World is what you wish to know about.. confused
eh? Well, I don't blame you. I didn't do enough explaining really
in the first few issues.. so here is the world in a nutshell.
( without giving away too much..) However, if you really want
to be surprised, you probably shouldn't read this.
In
the beginning, when the universe was created by the All-being,
there was balance in all things. There was dark for every light,
good for every evil and a job for every entity created in the
universe. These were the beings of the Divine cores. Gods, Angels,
Infernals and Dragons. In the universe 5 layers were created.
The Divine World, the Dream World, The Waking World, Purgatory,
and The Infernal World. Seeing the work was complete an all was
set in motion for the Experiment, the Allbeing shattered creating
the Spirit cores. This was all good and well an the Experiment
began. However, this was not to last.
It
is unknown what caused the breech, but the experiment became contaminated
by the primeval forces of the astral world from which it was birthed.
A new World formed within the Universe, the Astral world, a world
unplanned and unwanted, but undeniable. A plan had to be set in
motion to continue the Experiment and include this new world.
They had to Evolve. But how to do it posed a problem. The Astral
beings were unable to travel to the Waking World, and because
they were not of it, they were unable to subsist in that World.
There was much arguing and debating until a single dragon came
forward and volunteered to sacrifice herself to the purpose of
creating a world on which the Astral's could evolve. With the
acceptance of this proposal, the Divinities transformed the dragon
into the planet we know as Earth.
But
as was said earlier, all divinty is in balance. So as the good
dragon sacraficed her form to become a planet, her dark sister
too was changed into a world. This shocked and terrified the dark
sister, who was suddenly assaulted by strange and powerful instincts
of being a planet. She had to get to the Waking World. But how?
The
new Earth took to shaping life, and over countless years came
up with various creations and experiments in creating the perfect
host organism for the astrals. The many years of experimentation
eventually lead to the creation of Man.
Man
was the perfect creation. Maliable, powerful, intelligent and
moldable, Astrals found the form easy to adjust to and very suited
to their needs. Men bred and became numerous, so numerous infact
that there were not enough astral cores to occupy them all, and
so they became filled with spirits. Early Man of the spirit was
bound to and intune with the Earth, giving them special magic
granted to them by the Earth for her protection and to help her
beloved creations to survive. It was Eden, but again, it was not
to last.
After
much plotting and scheming Earth's dark twin found a way to breech
into purgatory and then out to the Waking World, determined to
displace her sister and take her rightful spot in the heavens
of the Waking World. With a single precision strike she slew a
god, both aspects at the same time in the same way, for that is
the only way to kill a god. With the guardian no longer holding
the way sealed, the Dark Star passed into the Waking World and
cast a hateful eye on her Bright sister.
Seeing
her sisters love for humanity and understanding they were her
primary line of defence she crafted a devious plot. In a bold
move, she attacked her sister outright, raining fire and brimstone
on the surface for nearly 7 days and nights, letting the stones
radiate their evil power upon the children of the earth. This
power tainted humanity, corrupting their innocence and instilling
hatred and destruction into their hearts.The lost their links
with the earth and so could no longer hear their god and source
of power. Then came the plague.
It
was sudden. Men who had taken an exceptional taint, who had become
violent and hateful of his fellow man suddenly grew pale, and
took an unnatural look in his eye. His ears would grow long and
his teeth would become fangs, for now his hunger, his thurst would
only be quenched by the blood of his fellow man, and thus were
vampires born unto the Earth.
The
Earth cried out to the heavens for aid in this assault which once
again threatened the Experiment, and so 12 dragons decended to
the Earth and fought against the vampires and darklings sent by
the Dark Star. Some humans resisted the taint and so retained
their link to the Earth and their power, also fought to defend
their world. The Astrals too did as they could. The Battle raged
for many months, all under the baleful watch of the Dark Star
which hung in the sky.
At
last the Dragons found a solution. They would create an a new
god from the most powerful spirit on the earth. The spirit could
be force evolved to become as powerful as a god and seal the breech,
forcing the Dark Star back into the Infernal world. They held
a competition among the remaining true humans, the Mages. This
competition was brutal and deadly. Each of the Dragons chose a
fighter they favored and they were pitted against each other in
mortal combat, giving birth to a ritual which would become known
as the Duel. These first Duelists would blaze the path to a tradition
which would span ages.
While
the Duelists battled, the animals of the world appealed to the
spirit of the Earth to grant them the power to help their fellow
man and defend their world against the invaders which perverted
and polluted their world. The Earth heard their warcries and granted
them this gift. They were given human forms to wear as well as
their animal gifts, giving them the best of both worlds, both
human and animal. This was the birth of the Shifters. Some of
the Shifters retained a powerful bond to their animal self and
so could call upon the spirit of their lineage, becoming the first
Shaman. The shifters fought bravely with men, espi and dragon,
proving their ferocity as warriors and nobility as selfless protectors
of the Earth. They fought with unparalleled skill against the
forces of the Dark Star, particularly vampires, whom they hated
above all others for the perversion of humanity they represented.
When
finally the Duel was won and the Spirit chosen, the Dragons combined
their power to evolve the spirit. This was the first Ascension.
It worked, and the Dark Star was dragged, kicking and screaming
back into Purgatory and out of the Waking World. But the damage
was done. Humanity was lost to the Earth for the most part, being
now Tainted of the darkness and lost. They began to become distructive,
warlike, creating technology and begining to destroy the earth
and all around them. The Earth's pain unfelt by humanity, they
continued the Dark Star's work unknowing of their part in her
ultimate design to destroy her Bright sister. The Shifters and
Espi were kept busy hunting down the remainder of her forces while
the dragons tried to figure out a better way to deal with the
renegade world. The spirit evolved would not hold forever, for
it was not a true god.
As
time passed Shifters managed to destroy most of the vampires.
Only the most crafty, calm, and cunning survived of the old generation.
They kept their numbers small, hiding in seclusion as Shifters
lived along side humanity in something of a golden era, protecting
them from any of the dark forces that remained and aiding to help
the people purge themselves of the taint that the Dark Star had
left on them. The Mages tried to regroup and established the Mage's
Order, which was essencially an ranking of power of the remaining
mages and an establishment of duty for future generations of Mages.
As
was predicted, the seal did not hold forever, and several more
times the dark star emerged and attacked the Earth, however it
was never like the first. The Mages now had the Duel well established
and were ready to do battle when needed. the Shifters provided
a good force against the usual resurgance of vampires which seemed
to always occur at the time. And this is the way it was for thousands
of years.
The
last recorded Duel occured in 1490, when the Dark Star was last
recorded to have appeared. Unlike other times she did not attack,
or did not appear to, however a new strain of vampirism appeared
at the same time in Europe. These vampires were unlike their predecesors.
Rash, agressive, virilent, these creatures spread like wild fire
across Eastern Europe, creating unease and indeed terror in the
Eastern world. These vampires were reported to be attacking remote
villages, especially those with shifter lineages. Infact, it seemed
they were attacking Shifters specifically, targeting their children
and families. Although they found them easy to kill, shifters
soon discovered the deadly nature of these vampires. A single
taste of their blood would render a shifter to a rabid state,
more than a taste could kill. And then, there was other problems.
Several youngsters who had never shifted, suddenly shifted when
infected by a vampire bite. These shifts were supremely violent
and their animal forms were of unprecidented size. They regenerated
as fast the vampires, moved like vampires, but shifted like Shifters
into animals. These creatures, at first, were a curiousity. Then
they discovered, that like vampires, they needed blood. Many of
these unfortunates were driven insane by their conflicting natures,
the inability to come to terms with what they had become. Something
neither Shifter, nor Vampire, but both and neither, a new creature,
a hated creature. It would become synonimous with misfortune and
a herald of Darkness, the abomination and the bane of all the
Veil world. The Kinsmir.
By
the year 1500, there were 15 reported kinsmir. By the year 1510,
14 had been confirmed killed by the Slayers. One disappeared,
and no one to this day knows what happened to it. Because of the
kinsmir, humans saw shifters as no better than vampires, and the
Slayers decimated the Shifter, Espi, and Mage populations. And
so the Veil was created to protect the remaining individuals and
alow time and safehaven for them to rebuild their numbers.
Fast
forward to the present. Early in the 21st century there was an
'accidental' and unprovoked nuclear incident between the Middle
East and North America in which the central part of the USA was
struck by a nuclear weapon rendering most of the central USA uninhabitable
for at least 25 years. Those not killed in the incident flocked
to the coasts, where the Megacity projects were initiated. One
such project was Shade City, initiated by Ashram Corporation and
12 other charter members. This city would be a model upon which
other would be built. Originally three levels high, it has expanded
to nearly 5 over the 12 year course of its development. It is
a very high tech city, the upper levels are fairly clean and relatively
safe.. however the lower levels are something of another story.
The city is also secretely very veil friendly, and so attracts
veil creatures from all over the world. As a result, Shade city
has one of the highest concentrations of Veil creatures in the
world. It has been nearly 500 years since the last appearance
of the Dark Star.
The
year is 2026. On Oct, 31, 2026, the Decendance occured at approximately
19:00 hours. Only two hours later, a Kinsmir was born....
