A World Beyond the Fall Setting Overview
The arrival and the Fall of the moon-sized Abyssals brought immense change to the world, even if their bodies only partially existed within our reality. Stories are told of dust clouds that covered the earth for several days and nights, leading most humanity to believe that the end of all days was upon them.
The truth was crueler, of course -- even after their attack on the planet was halted, the impact of Abyssals’ shattered bodies levelled mountains, buried cities, and drowned coastal regions in tidal devastation. Magnetic mana-storms (sometimes called Magna-storms) ravaged the planet, destroying all digital and electronic technology and plunging the remnants of humanity into isolation and lightlessness. Erstwhile, virulent diseases and supernatural curses spread across the survivors, killing approximately one third of the global population.
Worse yet, wayward nuclear missiles blasted parts of the world and, suspiciously, a few capitals into ever-burning hellscapes. Many cities and towns faced similar, smaller infernos as the infrastructures meant to support and protect them collapsed. The nations and states of the world have lost communication with each other, their separation made vaster by a far more dangerous planet.
Earth and Sky
Rivers have changed courses, mountains have disappeared, and cities are quiet graveyards or hellish effigies to a murdered civilization. What remains of humanity huddled behind hastily constructed defenses that would eventually become fortified villages among the less dangerous areas of the landscape.
There are vast hazard zones in startling varieties. Oftentimes, an area is bathed in radioactive energies, poisonous essences, or eldritch auras that obliterate intruders in a matter of minutes. Even the sky can spill forth its wrath -- magna-storms, “blood-rain”, and other new weather patterns exist alongside mundane lightning, heat, and cold. Protection against these hazards vary in attainability and in cost, though some hazards are deadly enough to penetrate any defense that technology or sorcery can muster.
Some areas are dangerous because of what haunts them, be they the restless vestiges of the dead, a hungry pack of para-natural predators, or some abominable horror visiting from a hateful dimension. Strange new entities are said to lurk in the desolate places of the world as well, wandering the deserts and the caverns of the earth. The worst examples of these are those locales warped by a “death-stone” -- these exude deadly energies and turn corpses into ravenous monsters. A Shroudland is another such instance, wreathed in shadowy magics and visited by extradimensional horrors.
Flora and Fauna
Those that dare to travel tend to follow the ruptured and overgrown roads and highways of the old world when they can. Despite the devastation wrought upon the planet, marshlands, forests and jungles have taken back their old domains. Unless a route or road is regularly maintained by the locals or well-traveled nomads, travelers must wend and weave their way across artificial and natural obstacles alike.
Beyond the bunkered communities and these rough roadways, nature and the eldritch have melded to create a deadlier landscape for explorers, hunters, and travelers alike. Especially in the Mid-Atlantic region of the North American continent (New England to Tidewater), venturing far and alone outside one’s community or tribe is considered a death sentence. Not even the most ardent of survivalists can contend with the sky weeping acid or with entities that hunt you through your dreams.
Lurking among underbrush and among tree canopies are mutated and/or eldritch para-fauna, such as the mantid wolves, the deep crow, or the flame scarab. No longer afraid of humanity, even just one of these can easily eviscerate a single traveler or prove a challenge for a group of warriors. This is in addition to otherworldly horrors that resemble nightmares and myths rather than any terrestrial origin.
The plants of the World Beyond the Fall are similarly changed, with many varieties growing in size and scope than their pre-Fall counterparts. Worse yet, some have acquired a taste for blood and the ability to walk, becoming as fit at predation as the para-fauna. Though not plants, fungal blooms occupy entire landscapes as well, making “fungal jungles” of their own.
It is said that the seas are even worse, with gargantuan leviathans and tentacled terrors battling each other in the depths… or plucking a ship from the surface with little resistance. Even with their hunting and usage of “Abyssal Wax” from massive leviathans, the Illustrados Union cannot venture overly far from land for fear of the entities that dwell below.
Demographics
Just as the world has changed around them, so too has Humanity. The people of the World Beyond the Fall are hardier than their ancestors, surviving debilitating injuries and virulent diseases.
For some folk, the changes are more pronounced and dramatic. They may be scaled or matted with fur. They sprout unnatural crystals or diaphanous wings from their bodies. The populace has taken to call these gifts, Stigmata. For Chimera, Psions, and Seraphs, such powers persist across Bloodlines and progeny, though their origins are the stuff of rumor and myth, rather than certain science.
And where some Stigmatas become visible at birth, others happen well after the cradle. For some, receiving a Graft is as easy as dying and refusing to do so they Rise again as a thinking, walking near-corpse. There are those, however, whose Grafts are the result of willful and knowing implantation, of technology or of eldritch Spore. The Risen, Metabionics, and Eidolons are artificial entrants into the new family of humanity, but their struggles and their contributions are no less respected.
Society
This sentiment of plurality is not a mere quirk of a world Beyond the Fall— it is a necessity. Disasters plague the land and monstrosities lurk in the shadows. To survive, humanity had to put aside their differences and recognize their fellowship against a new horrific reality.
Certainly more people meant more mouths to feed and more voices of dissent, but it also meant greater strength overall - in morale, in aid, and protection. Refugees fled their cities and homesteads for the protection of fortified villages and enclaves. The husks of less effective and less protected settlements litter the land as reminders for those who forget the need for allies and for vigilance.
Eventually these fortified villages are growing into fortified towns and then walled city-states, though much progress and many villages were lost in the Ember War. While the wilderness is still seen as a place of immense danger, the fringes of civilization and safety are growing yearly. The shadows between campfires remain dark as ever, but the campfires grow brighter as humanity adapts to the times.
In the Caribbean and the Pacific Northwest, there is even talk of new cities that have sprung up from the ruins of the World that Was. The Arch-Factions of the Illustrados Union and the Temple of the Shattered Mother have carved out civilization amid the carrion of the old world, unifying communities beneath banners of unity or faith. They have spread forth from their cradles, arriving at the Mid-Atlantic and other forsaken areas of the North American continent in search of allies and aid.
Technology and Reagents
The communities of the North American continent have returned to an early industrial technological level for the most part. The Scaver Caravans, Hellhounds, and the Illustrados tend to have more advanced technologies and devices because of their own studies and experimentations. More than a few communities are in the pre-industrial age of technology, with the Pack-Hunters being of the extreme cases of these.
This means that most items are handcrafted instead of mass produced. Printing presses and certain other simpler industries still function, though in a limited capacity due to supply and maintenance costs. Many other aspects of society, such agriculture, transportation, and industry, use a mix of handcrafting, machinery, and work animals (or para-fauna where possible).
Besides human ingenuity and preserved knowledge, one of the leading reasons for humanity’s quick technological leaps from what should have been the stone age and widespread famine are precious commodities called “Reagents”, “Reggies”, or “Components”. These are compact resources that can serve as ingredients, construction materials, or even energy sources for those with the skills to utilize them. Occasionally, even compact amounts of these could even replace greater amounts of resources such as mineral ores and the like.
The technological progress of the Illustrados, the Scavers, and the Hellhounds are due to the study of Components and their application to industry. Instead of using fossil fuel (which has been rendered impossible to retrieve by Pre-Fall practices), these peoples use Reagents to fuel and/or (in the Hellhounds’ case) cool down their engines and devices. Thus, Components or “Reggies” have become a form of universal currency across different cultures and values.
These innovations allow the Hellhounds to utilize their Howler ATVs and traverse miles in search of junk to bring back to their foundries. Similarly, these engines power Illustrados Corsario ships and the massive self-propelled wagons of the bigger Scaver Caravans. Most other societies have to function with old fashioned footwork, animal mounts, or the strange biological servitors and transportation spells used by the Temple of the Shattered Mother.
Magic and Beliefs
The arrival and fall of the titanic Abyssals and the harsh new reality that followed has allowed sorcery and spellcraft to exist. Those with certain Stigmata, disciplined training, and a powerful will are able to wield etheric energies toward their own ends and desires. Humanity quickly adapted to this sudden development, using old beliefs and new methods to fashion Traditions and study the workings of sorcery.
All communities in the North American continent, particularly the Mid-Atlantic have at least one individual capable of spellcasting. There are many of these individuals in the World Beyond the Fall that are self-taught. However, a fair proportion of them do not survive the process or die to one of magic’s pitfalls. Most Arcanists and spellcasters are mentored by an instructor within their community or, in the case of the Illustrados and the Temple, sent to a learning institution for the finer points of sorcery within a safer environment. With the diversity of cultures and communities within the continent, these spellcasters run the gamut of Diabolists, Talismongers, and Animancers -- usually entangling their magic with the tenets of their Faith, whether it is the thunderous gods of the Hellhounds, the primal spirits of the Pack-Hunters, or any other faith that might find traction in a world that was ravaged by god-like monstrosities.
Of the two mentioned Arch-Factions, only the Illustrados have both secular and faith-based institutions of magical learning. Their secular academies instruct their students on the Talismanic and Animancy (Mentalist) Traditions. Be it with the Iglesia Solaar or the native faiths that have persisted, their faith-based schooling is similar to the instruction of the Templars and the Free Tribes, entwining their lessons with religious tenets and guiding students with the Animancer (Shaman) tradition and with Deotheurgy.
The Temple is both stricter and more lenient with their magical schooling. All types of Traditions and Theurgies are taught within their institutions, even Necrotheurgy and the Diabolic Tradition. However, becoming an Arcanist or spellcaster among the Templars also carries responsibility and expectations that must be fulfilled. With the Temple being a theocracy, a Templar Arcanist’s faith in their God-Empress is assumed and thoroughly reinforced.
Amidst the rest of the continent, Arcanists and other spellcasters are a welcome sight. While a rare few communities may look at them with suspicion and disdain, their talents are seen more as a special skill rather than an abomination to be shunned or slain. This perspective is especially reinforced by various leaders and cultural heroes being powerful Arcanists that protected and died for their people in times of great strife.
Death and Resurrection
Adversity, sorcery and monstrous horrors were not the only addition to the human experiences of the World Beyond the Fall. Humans have become so resilient that medical or magical treatment granted to them even after they expired resulted in their return from the dead. Not every human possessed this resilience and it was difficult to detect, but a significant portion displayed these remarkable “resistance to death”, “Revenance”, or “Death-Proof” characteristics (PCs are always “Death-Proof”, unless they choose otherwise).
Naturally, several factors altered the process, such as a person's drive to live, the time spent while "dead", and the skill of their healer. Especially aged individuals very rarely survived revival. In an infamous experiment by Doctor Lazarus Arfeo-Sairis, an inert severed head that was returned and grafted to their own body an hour later resulted in a living (but traumatized person). Subsequent experiments by the currently wanted Doctor revealed that there was an upper cap to the amount of times this could be done before an individual could not return to life.
Stranger yet, some individuals returned to a semblance of life even after they were dead and buried -- though these "Risen" or "Los Friyos" were greatly changed by their experience. The Risen could come from any place, culture, or background. The only conditions that could be ascertained was a driving will and the lack of any other Graft Stigmata, the latter is believed to interfere with the "Necromorphosis" process of becoming a Risen. Even the utter destruction of a body did not impede Risen.
In a famous case, the Cartel immolated a murdered named "Cutter Barnabas" with eyewitnesses to the body's utter destruction. Months later, an individual resembling Cutter was captured in a distant town. Tests showed that their bodies bore a similarity to the destroyed corpse, but also markings and characteristics from a different person -- Stagham Jane, a deceased local hunter. The Cartel ensured Cutter’s demise the second time, though they have not disclosed how.
However, the possibility of revival and resurrection deeply affected the lives, the cultures, and the criminal systems of a Post-Fall world. Some societies advocated imprisonment or exile for the criminals, while others tried to invent new ways to prevent the dead from rising (such as the Metabionic Prison or the Temple's Eldritch Crucifixion).
This also meant that the random accident or mishap had less of a chance to kill the average person, though the pain was immense and extreme. Instead of subsiding, the fear of death increased for most folk. Travelling alone without aid was a sure way to watch one's self be eaten alive by monsters over and over. Individuals were more likely to help each other out of terrible situations. With greater care and this greater resilience, longer lifespans resulted in many communities -- to the better morale of all.