Prologue

Over a thousand years ago, the world was at its peak. Countries came together in peace, at the dawn of the new millenium. Already the world had collectively learned the horror of wars spanning the world. They already had had enough with two, and had participated in thousands of projects to combat such an eventuality from ever rising again. And from this, people all over the world came togather. For some, the boundaries of politics, rules and even geography did not halt their acceptance of all; for others, it was no different than before, but people were betraying the old ideas. These people were the last few who could not rid themselves of prejudices of all kinds. The rest of the world drew together and ignored their degradory ideals, brought together by advanced communication techniques and networks. As such, they led to awesome concepts, creations, and discoveries. Some of these drew on the powerful concepts of breaking apart or pushing together the basic building blocks of the universe, known as atomic technology. Much of the new creations used former weapons that were based on the principles of this atomic technology. Beings with metal bodies and plastic brains came forth, and mimiced people in many ways, since people had created them. Craft were built that resembled the ones made before the end of the millenium, but could do much more. People explored the rest of their world, and began to move beyond. The worlds nearby, and many places around them, were altered enough to allow people to live in these places. Nearby dreams of the peoples began to become realities, as they streched as far as they could.

All this happened in the span of a thousand years, and at the end of it, great things were done. People lived in cities in places that were uninhabitable before. What had once been dangerous was reduced to annoying or troublesome. People forgot much of the vices that had held until they had united, no longer of any use to just about anyone. Anyone could do anything they wanted to, and never interfere with someone else's life. The human race had gone from petty squabblers to unified peoples, far stronger than before. They had wars, but typically few, if anyone, died or were seriously affected by it. They had problems, but good people stepped up and prevented terrible consequences. The world had created a utopia upon the ashes of the countries that had existed a thousand years before.

But then disaster struck.

When the third millennium drew to a close, catastrophe arose from the ashes of the previous millennia. The terrible atomic weaponry from that era was sent into the sky and came crashing back on the world; for the world had built on the ashes of the former world without clearing away its remnants. The defenses and advances of the new people came into play, to halt this terrifying threat to the whole planet, and quickly built to the peak of ability. However, it did not stop the weapons, and the world was torn asunder. The entire planet became a patchwork quilt of ruined lands and utopian meadows that had been rescued from disaster by the selfsame defenses. They had been just enough to save half the world in piecemeal fashion. The other half was crushed beneath awesome explosions that could not penetrate their targets, or had no real target. And all of this happened in less than an hour, shattering the work of a thousand years too fast for anyone to recover.

That happened on January 1, 3000, beginning at the stroke of midnight. In the hundred and twenty five years after that point, the human race slid from their benevolent perch, going back to ways that were ancient, resurrected three thousand years after their time. Superstition reigned where science had ruled. Corruption took hold where purity had been. Hate crushed love into the ashes. Greed overtook kindness, and crushed it under its heel. Much of this was due to a strange combination of mist, fog, and radioactive fallout that produced The Blanket, a force of these merged together that covered the world. The rest came from the disturbing consequences of encounters with this substance. People went mad, or became mutilated horridly, or disappeared. All of these were never witnessed, but the change was definite, permanent, and it was never discovered how it happened. Some of those who disappeared wound up leaving something behind: After they left, pieces of what they wore and carried were found on fell creatures who were seen on the edge of the mist. These were greatly feared, and almost always avoided. As a result of the horrors created by the Blanket, anyone who was immune was typically regarded as dangerous and evil, and were often ostracized from their homes and ignored by their associates. The technology that was not destroyed petered out or died quickly. Those who could still use these machines were considered dangerous malcontents and treated almost as badly as those who were immune to the Blanket. And by 3125, civilization had dipped farther down than anyone could have ever conceived.

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