Fantasy Rifts: Cataclysmic Twilight - Lore

[Kirito Kei]

Lore
This is where I will keep a record of all the things that the party may learn. Be sure to check back here often as it is constantly updating with information about people, places, and even creatures that the party has faced.

 

[Kirito Kei]

The Coalition States

'Old Style' and 'New Style' Coalition body armor.


The strongest governing power in North America is the Coalition States (commonly known simply as the Coalition or CS for short). The governing body of the Coalition States is based in the arcological city of Chi-Town and lays claim to northern Illinois (the southern part being controlled by the "Federation of Magic" but more on them later) and all of Iowa. Other member states consist of "Lone Star", formed from the Texas Panhandle, who specialize in mutating animals into talking servants considered by many people as cannon fodder when in fact they are one of their primary weapons against the supernatural; as without them they would have to rely solely on human psychics. The Coalition States are most often described as technologically advanced fascist human supremacists with a totalitarian government, restrictive internal media, restrictive education (such as enforced illiteracy), and a massive military. The Coalition is ruled by Emperor Karl Prosek, who is genocidally opposed to all aliens, D-bees (Dimensional Beings), human mutations, and magic. There have even been tales of CS troopers being sucked up by a rift, only to somehow return and get 'detained' by their former comrades. Karl Prosek's ultimate goal is to control the Earth by humans and for humans, and do so by attacking anything and everyone that is foreign to Earth as it was before the cataclysm. Nevertheless, Prosek allows some of the less threatening non-humans to live alongside lesser-privileged humans in the burbs surrounding Chi-Town. Most of these poor souls think that they may eventually gain citizenship so they can live within the protective walls of the arcology.

 

[Kirito Kei]

A World Overview

What follows is a brief world overview, excerpted from the famed historian’s most recent book, Our Changing World, published shortly after the fall of Tolkeen, 109 P.A. In many respects, it is an updated version of her provocative, best selling title, Traversing Our Modern World. Ironically, Traversing our Modern World, published in 100 P.A., and which branded her an enemy of the Coalition States, was an unauthorized collection of letters and notes from Erin Tarn to various colleagues, and conversations with Ms. Tarn recounted by third parties. This new book is actually written by Tarn and touches upon many of the people, places and issues raised in the previous book. The information and observations span more than four decades with a focus on the dramatic changes of the last.


Without a doubt, it is the most accurate and inclusive journal/atlas of Rifts Earth available on the Black Market. Unfortunately, even the intrepid adventurer and historian Erin Tarn has vast gaps in her knowledge of the world at large. It is this lack of complete knowledge that made her refuse to write Traversing Our Modern World herself, or personally endorse the much sought after publication. However, she has since come to realize that people don’t mind the holes in her knowledge and simply want to get her views and observations because she is a


trusted voice in an uncertain world. The excerpts which follows are only a tiny part of a much larger volume.


Our Changing World, Traversing Our Modern World and all of Erin Tarn’s books are forbidden in the Coalition States and affiliated CS territories. They currently rank number one and two on the list of outlawed books, with all of her other books among the top 20. The Coalition officially denounced the aging matriarch of history as a criminal of the Coalition States back in 100 P.A., and there is an open bounty of one million credits on her head, dead or alive. Among people everywhere else in North America (and secretly, even among some of the elite citizens of the CS), Erin Tarn is regarded as a voice for truth, learning and idealism in an era where the greatest power in the land discourages such virtues and uses fear and ignorance to keep the people under the government’s control. Although she has never sought fame or riches, Erin Tarn is known within the scholastic community and by practitioners of magic around the world. In the New German Republic (much to the Coalition’s chagrin) she is considered the voice of America and practically worshiped by NGR citizens as the greatest hero in North America (perhaps the world!) — one small woman willing to defy an empire to inspire learning, truth, imagination, freedom of speech, and tolerance for all people even in the face of death. The German peple love her, as do millions of others, humans and D-Bees alike. The bounty on her head means she must keep her whereabouts secret. She is known to consider the city-state of Lazlo her home, but even at the age of 72 (she looks fifty-something) she continues to explore the world around her, meet new people and seek out new ideas.

Our World - Circa 109 P.A.Through the Eyes of Erin Tarn
So much has changed over the last ten years, especially in our own backyard, that it makes me shake my head in disbelief. I can scarcely believe that Tolkeen is gone or that Free Quebec has broken away from the shackles of the Coalition States. All proof that our the world around us is ever changing and that we humans are often the architects of our own fate.


Before I get started, I want to remind you that my knowledge is limited. There are many places, some on our own continent, that I have yet to visit. As a result, I must rely on hearsay and rumor or pure speculation. I will, of course, trv to be as accurate as I can, and I will devote the largest chapters to places I have visited and the things I know.

Distant Lands
Since my being branded a criminal by the Coalition States for the publication of my book. Traversing Our Modern World, I have visited England, Africa, the New German Republic, Russia and parts of Europe. Like our own lands, much of the rest of the world remains a wilderness pockmarked by little towns, villages, and outposts. Large cities and thriving kingdoms are uncommon. The environment, regardless of the level of technology or magic, is typically feudal-like, with kings and kingdoms rather than the democratic rule of cities, states, provinces, or nations. If you can believe it, the level of violence, ruthlessness and terror surpasses anything we have endured in North America, and we should count our blessings for it.



England is an enchanted place with forests and Faeries, flowing grassy hills, and ocean winds. Herbology is a mystic art and Druids have returned to nurture the land and guide the people. One of the most memorable experiences of my life will be the majesty of the Millennium Tree. Imagine a giant oak tree as tall as a mountain, its leaves the size of blankets. People actually live within its boughs and Faeries flitter among its highest branches. We spent three days under its comforting shadow where I had wonderful dreams and was at peace and worry free. I even awoke one morning covered in one of its green leaves, veins of gold running through it, and rather than being cool to the touch it was warm. I was told it was a gift and a great honor bestowed upon me by the tree itself. As the Druids fashioned my gift into a cloak of protection, they explained how the tree was a sentient being and a force for good. It was amazing.


I fear there is a secret, dark underside to this beautiful green land, and wonder if the Millennium Tree has chosen to take root there to thwart it. Our stay was short and pleasant, but I left with a sense of dread and apprehension that l could not quite put my finger on. Perhaps it was the ley lines. They are everywhere. So pervasive that it made me fearful and uncomfortable, especially in New Avalon. I couldn’t stop wondering about what dark forces might draw upon their power or what abomination might climb out of a Rift, and wondered why it hadn‘t happened yet. Sir Thorpe felt it too, and although we were treated with kindness during our stay, I think we were all glad to leave the sweeping green of the British Isles.



The New German Republic, home to the arms manufacturer, Triax, is a wonder of technology and the bastion of culture and civility. The people are amazingly cheerful and full of enthusiasm for life. I say amazing, because they are quite literally surrounded by an ocean of monsters. Gargoyles and the wingless Gurgoyles, as well as Brodkil and other monsters, have gathered by the millions to claim Germany for their own. They call themselves the Gargoyle Empire and their goal is to destroy the Republic and enslave humankind. Only the advanced technology, weapons and robotics of Triax and the courage of the Ger- man people keep the monsters at bay. The technology surpasses even that of the Coalition States and the people are educated and literate, but they too are human supremacists who turn their backs on the D-Bee population outside their cities. Unlike the CS, I am a celebrity in the NGR. Something ofa cult hero on the level of a pre-Rifts rock star. My books are everywhere and my face plastered in advertisements and billboards. There is even a popular television series with a computer generated version of me in my younger days. It was very surreal and rather embarrassing. Quite a unique and rather unusual experience compared to my life in America.



Poland to the east is in even worse shape. While Germany, like the CS, has humanity safely tucked away in great fortress cities, Poland is a land of feudal kingdoms where technology and magic push back the disorganized bands of Brodkil and Gargoyles that threaten their lands. The Brodkil, following the lead of the Gargoyles in Germany, have dubbed themselves the Brodkil Empire. Fortunately for the humans and D-Bees of Poland, they are a disorganized rabble.


Vast wastelands and areas of devastation mark the sites of titanic battles in both Germany and Poland, and France as well. The rest of these countries, except for the fortified strongholds and cities of humans or D-Bees, is forest and mountain wilderness. A wilderness dominated by Gargoyles, Brodkil and other demons and monsters.


We did not visit France or the surrounding area, for we are told it is a hostile and dark wilderness, and the domain of Necromancers, Witches and Blood Druids.


Although it was not planned, we found ourselves magically whisked to Russia, land of cyborgs, gypsies, magic, demons and the self-proclaimed Warlords of Russia. Never have I ever seen cyborgs like these, war machines with scythes and rail guns, and treads and demonic visages that make a person step back and gasp. Some of these ‘borgs were as frightening as the demons they battle, and I was surprised at how cheerfully these warriors give up their humanity to become constructs of steel. The Warlords are divided into several rival bands and war with each other as much as the inhuman forces that share their vast lands. Feudal kingdoms protected by armored legions of ‘Borgs serve as strongholds for humankind and friendly D-Bees. The demons and monsters of Russia are like nothing I have seen in North America and seem more visceral and primordial than those of other realms. Technology ranges from the middle ages to high-tech, but the latter is reserved mainly for the Warlords, and bionics is the focus of tech and power in this gloomy part of the world.


It was during our detour to Russia that we heard many tales of China, and though I can happily report I have never been to China, I can pass along what we heard. China, they claim, has become Hell on Earth. Not just one Hell, but 12 or 13 of them. Demonic gods known as the Yama Kings have, via the Rifts and magic, linked their domains of Hell to our natural world and claim large sections of China and humanity for themselves. We are told the Yama Kings squabble and battle among themselves in a bid to become the one true lord of hell and Earth. Although I find this impossible to believe, everyone to the last man, woman, priest and warlord insisted it was true. The exact goings-on are a mystery, because China is shrouded in a perpetual white mist, and one must brave the mist to gain entry to China and the planes of Hell. The few who have taken the risk are seldom ever seen again.



India, I have heard, is the domain of warring gods and the forces of good and evil, and we mortals are pawns and soldiers in their battles.



Japan is another place I have not visited, but we did hear a number of conflicting reports about it while in Russia. Some say the people have returned to their ancient way of feudal life with magic and samurai warriors. The mountains are said to be the domain of demons and goblins who sometimes war with demons from Asia and China. Others have told us that there is at least one grand city that heralds from before the Great Cataclysm and is the pinnacle of science, literacy and technology. If it is real, I would love to visit.



The rest of Southeast Asia is said to be mostly wilderness and monsters, although we have heard stories to suggest there is at least one major technological kingdom as well as a handful of tiny kingdoms and possibly a few wandering tribes. I also have reason to believe that the Horune Pirates may have a base camp or an actual city hidden someplace in this faraway land.



Australia is said to be a shattered land where humans in the out- back live like savages and the two tech kingdoms shut themselves off from the rest of the world.



Africa is a land of contrast on almost every level. Parts of it are desert and sand, other parts forest and lush jungle, elsewhere are vast, open grasslands, and beyond them mountains or patches of scrub. The flora and fauna are a combination of indigenous life and alien transplants from beyond the Rifts. D-Bees different from any we have in North America share the vast continent with native humans. Although there are a few kingdoms and some technology, most people, human and D-Bee, have returned to tribal ways and magic. Here again, we see contrast in the lives of the people where poverty and hardship are common yet the people all seem happy and appreciative of each other and the little they have. In the north, which we avoided, a tyrant dragon king rules, and the Egyptian Gods of Darkness are said to walk the Earth. The Splugorth Savers and Horune Pirates also raid the coastlands of Africa as they do our own, and l’m told they have some connection with the evil Phoenix Empire in the north.


Regrettably, I have only dark and morbid memories of this continent, as my companions and I became embroiled in a battle against demonic forces. of unspeakable terror. More on that in another chapter.



Atlantis has reappeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, be- tween Bermuda and the Azores Islands. The eastern tip of Atlantis protrudes into the Demon Sea, a zone of dimensional energy, sudden storms and strange vanishings our forefathers called the Bermuda Triangle. I can report that the Demon Sea is the most dangerous and unpredictable body of water in the Atlantic. A triangular pattern of ley lines along the ocean floor (one off the coast of Florida, a second off the coast of the now submerged island of Puerto Rico, and a third off the northeastern tip of Bermuda and right off the coast of Atlantis) is the cause ofthe disturbance. This portion of the ocean glows an eerie pale blue, night and day, and is the scene of countless supernatural spectacles. The triangle is effectively a giant dimensional gateway that opens and closes without warning and to varying effects. I have witnessed the sky suddenly change color from the natural blue to green, yellow, violet, and red in the blink of an eye as if the entire area suddenly D-Shifted into another world. Rifts suddenly appear in the heavens or above or below the waves. Sometimes the Rifts are accompanied by terrible storms, while other times the ocean remains serene. The waters of the Atlantic Ocean, especially in the Demon Sea and around Atlantis, are also brimming with sea monsters.


Atlantis itself is suspected to be a source of great mystic energy with more ley lines than England or the Magic Zone, but to my knowledge, nobody knows this for a fact.


I once visited the Dimensional Market in the city of Splynn and can attest to claims that the continent is inhabited by D-Bees from countless worlds. Here you’ll find people, animals and monsters you’ll not find anywhere else on the planet. The evil Splugorth, the terrible Alien Intelligences that rule Atlantis, are inter-dimensional slavers who traffic in every life form you can imagine, including humans. They also cater to every vice and offer terrible forms of augmentation and the products of dark magic best left on the bottom of the sea. There, the streets are packed, but not with humans or any D-Bees we know, but aliens, demons, dragons and beings I had never even heard about. All manner of exotic animals and humanoid slaves are also offered for sale or decadent pleasures. It is said that anything a person may desire can be found in the Splynn Dimensional Market, and of that I have no doubt. In my youth, I‘m sure I would have found Splynn fascinating, but in my old age, I found the place abhorrent. Not just because of the sin and vice, but because of the festival atmosphere and callousness of the majority of creatures around me. These were beings blind to the suffering and sorrow of those around them. They laughed and bellowed and cheered at the agony and degradation of others. I-low vile must these Splugorth be if this is their playground and home.


The Splugorth are known to capture humans and all interesting lifeforms, including supernatural creatures, to be sold into slavery. The master of Atlantis, Lord Splynncryth, has a lucrative slave trade around the world and throughout the Megaverse. Here on Earth, they use the hideous Horune Pirates as subcontractors and go-betweens, and send out their alien minions to hunt, capture and sell new slave stock. Invading Slave Barges and armies of Minions have been known to raid entire cities and have been sighted on the east coast ofthe North American continent with increasing frequency. Since the fall of Tolkeen, the Minions of Splugorth have been seen as far inland as Wisconsin and Minnesota, scrounging for Tolkeen’s Techno-Wizard secrets and capturing both mundane human and D-Bee slave stock as well as exotic creatures such as the monstrous Daemonix, Zembahk, and others. I personally witnessed the passage of a Slave Barge lined with beautiful warrior women and followed by a company of goons in search of slaves and exotic animals in Dinosaur Swamp. Retracing their steps days later, we found several villages destroyed and devoid of life.


The two things that scare me most about the Splugorth and their wicked henchmen is that they have no compassion for other life forms, and they utilize a sort of Techno-Wizard-like magic that uses living beings as its power source to create magic weapons and machines beyond our comprehension.



South America, also known as the Land of a Thousand Islands, is a mystery to us in North America. Cut off by the Vampire Kingdoms of Mexico, the only way to reach the continent is to either brave the shadow lands of Mexico and pray you don’t get caught, or travel by sea, which is just as dangerous as traveling through the Vampire Kingdoms. l can tell you this, the Amazon River is bigger than ever and has dozens of new branches that have fractured the land into a thousand pieces. The terrain is one of three things: swamp, rain forest, or mountains. Only a few pockets of human civilization remain, most notably in the old territory of Argentina. Brazil is all forest and primitive tribes. Argentina offers several cities and a handful of rival kingdoms. Glitter Boys, Juicers, Crazies, and 20th Century technology are present and used in war and defense. There is a kingdom of dragons, a kingdom of lizard-men, and numerous tribes that include feline mutants and jaguar-people. Strange magicks are afoot, and the region is alien and hostile for humans.



Outer Space is denied to us by forces we do not understand. That has made what was once called satellite communications (bouncing radio signals from satellites in Earth orbit) impossible. The most common theory is that one or more orbital, robot, “killer” space stations or satellites shoots down anything that reaches earth orbit.




Our American Homeland, 109 P.A.The Savage WildernessI want to spend some words on the subject of the wilderness, because our wild lands cover 90% of the continent. I imagine the word “wilderness” would mean something very different to the people of Earth’s Golden Age before the Great Cataclysm. For them, wilderness was a parkland set aside for vacations and zoological study; nature preserves to be kept, managed and appreciated. Our pre-Rifts forefathers had, for the most part, tamed the land, leaving less than 18% of the planet covered in true wilderness. Even then, the worst dangers within these wildlife preserves were the animal predators, wildfires, weather and human criminals who ignored the law and defiled the land for their own profit. The wilderness of our past, was nothing like the savage wilderness we know today.


Our ancestors would have to imagine their sprawling cities and highways wiped from the planet. Everything they once knew, gone, and replaced by chaos of Biblical proportions. Everything they once knew destroyed, buried or taken away so the planet could start anew. Only this time. the world would not require millions of years to change its face as it had in the past, but only a few decades.


The return of magic and the Coming of the Rifts first eliminated human civilization, then reshaped the surface of our world, repopulating it with aliens. D-Bees and monsters. True monsters.


As is the way of nature, the shattered skeletons of human civilization were swallowed in green vegetation. The great metropolises from the Golden Age of Man toppled and reclaimed by nature. Even in places where trees and wildlife should not have been able to grow, alien energy, magic and dimensional anomalies transformed the land into forest, meadows and jungle.


Meanwhile, the Rifts continued to writhe and disgorge an endless stream of alien creatures and reality-warping energy that changed the landscape into alien vistas from what it had once been. It also filled the new wilderness with every conceivable danger. As a result, our wilderness is a magical paradise inhabited by deadly dinosaurs from the ancient past, confused creatures from alien worlds, demons most foul, evil spirits and dark gods from across the Megaverse. Creatures of magic like the dragon, sphinx, unicorn and others attracted by the unbridled magic of the Rifts also make their home in the primordial wilderness, where we humans and our D-Bee cousins have become their prey, victims or playthings. For a long while, humanity teetered on the brink of extinction before crawling out of the darkness. Yet even now, our place on our native world is a tenuous one.


Here, in North America, we have seen a technological renaissance that has given birth to several new kingdoms, city-states, and dozens upon dozens of new towns and villages. A few of the largest even stand at the threshold of becoming true nations. Yet, for all their size and apparent power, the cities and towns of these fledgling nations are more akin to an oasis in a savage land than a dominating force.


Living inside even a primitive wilderness town, snuggled up to the glowing warmth of a fireplace or among the smiling faces of the locals, there is an illusion of safety and civilization. Surrounded by creature comforts and the company of other people, it is easy to forget about the unknown lurking in the wilderness only a few hundred yards away. However, the monsters are never far from the door and one must be ever vigilant or fall victim to treachery or sudden death. As powerful as the Coalition States may have become, its name is barely known to the people living in the distant east, west and south of our own continent. As unstoppable as the Coalition Army might seem, the CS still erects massive fortified walls around its cities to keep out the dangers and monsters of the pervasive wilderness.


No matter how large or powerful the kingdom, it is surrounded by the unpredictable and unrelenting wilderness. Travelers must go from one oasis of civilization to the next. The nearest farm, trading post or town may be a few miles down the way or through several hundred miles of hostile wilderness. Under the best conditions a journey may be marked by a dirt road or a footpath that’s barely recognizable as a trail. Under the worst, there is no trail to mark your way.


As many of you know, I have traveled and seen much of our land and the world at large, so I know of what I speak when I tell you this, whether traveling wooded wild lands or the open plains, you feel rather like the survivor of a shipwreck lost at sea and cast adrift in an ocean of green and flowing shadows. You are alone, save for your fellow travelers and whatever may lurk in the underbrush on all sides or sky above. It is a hostile environment that could harbor any manner of D-Bee, monster or weird magic.


A dozen miles (19.2 km) may seem like a hundred depending on the density of the woods or the difficulty of the terrain. Traveling a hundred miles (160 km) can sometimes feel like an eternity. You must work to maintain your direction, a task more difficult than you might believe. You must mark your own trail and take note of landmarks that, in our shifting lands, may change dramatically in the short time of a few weeks, sometimes overnight. Dimensional energies may cause plant life to respond oddly, growing more rapidly or larger than they should. Magic may be used to transform the land as well, and alien seeds from unnamed dimensions may take root and cover the land in a beautiful tapestry of color and wonderment that conceal old trails and harbor new dangers.


There have been times when my companions and I have traveled days without encountering another soul, let alone an entire tribe, hunting lodge or town. Strange and alien sounds may chime in the distance, or worse, just off to your side. Creatures both deadly and wondrous may move through the trees overhead or the underbrush around you. Some are mortal animals, others are menaces impervious to ordinary weapons. Still others may be demonic horrors, and any of them may see us as breakfast, lunch or dinner.



The eastern woods stretch from Virginia north into Canada, and west to the Allegheny Mountains or what we know as the Eastern Wall with a break. They are home to tribes of barbarians, Wild Psi-Stalkers, Shemarrian Warriors, Faeries, and the minions of Splugorth.



The Southeast is known as Dinosaur Swamp for a reason, and is inhabited by dinosaurs, swamp creatures, barbarian tribes, mutants and alien plant life. Even the dinosaurs are more than they seem, with a few exhibiting near human cunning and the ability to weave magic spells.



In the northern woods of Canada, Michigan, and our Midwest, the woodlands are less dense and broken by meadows, lakes and rivers. Here is the domain of the Fury Beetle, Xiticix, Loup Garou and Sasquatch.



In the Magic Zone between the Eastern Wall and the Mississippi River are more woodlands, lakes and meadows, but also ley lines and Rifts. The magic ofthe lines lures creatures of magic as well as mortal practitioners of magic to its embrace. Here there be dragons and a variety of exotic beings not found in other lands. They include the horrid Necrophim, Darkhounds, Sun Demons, Amorph, Dragon-Apes, Demon Dragonmages, Lanotaur Hunters, Psi-Goblins, and the shape-changing Zenith Moon Warpers, among others.



In the grassy plains of the West and Northwest roam tribes of Simvan Monster Riders, herds of dinosaurs, Worm Wraiths, Devil Unicorn, Giant Canyon Worms, Panthera-Tereons, Rhino-Buffalo and many other beasts and monsters.



The Midwest is a blend of woods, meadows, grassy plains, farm- land, lakes and rivers. Brodkil, Witchlings, Black Faeries, Gargoyles, Neuron Beasts, Xiticix, Rhino-Buffalo, Ostrosaurus, and Fury Beetles are among the most troublesome monsters in the Midwest, which is also home to tribes of Psi-Stalkers. One of the disadvantages of being centrally located is that all manner of D-Bees and monsters may pass through or wander over from the west, north, south and east, so we seen the occasional Demon-Dragonmage, Zenith Moon Warper, Lanotaur, were-beast and others, and even the occasional dinosaur and Minion of Splugorth.



The Southwest has many of the same dinosaurs and monsters of the west roaming is grasslands and thin forests, as well as the terror of vampires from the south.



Beyond the Rocky Mountains, also known as the Forbidden Barrier and Sharp Cliffs, who knows what waits? Tales speak of alien jungle and weird lands, but I have never been beyond the mountains. We know the Forbidden Barrier is home to Leatherwing, gryphons, dragons, Phantasms, Mountain Giants and Ogres, but there are tales that hint of other dangers and creatures. Of elemental beings and magic. Many of the Elemental Fusionists herald from the mountains, but few will disclose what they have seen.