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Welcome to Lumen.

Some of you may not have heard of this city. If you haven't, don't be surprised: it doesn't exist. Not in this world, at least, but one very much like our own. There's cars, people, brand names, cell phones and politics. There's dogs, cats, birds, there's fish and reptiles. In fact, it's exactly like this world that we live in. So why should you take interest in a city, from a world like ours in just about every aspect, that seems like any other out there? Because it's not the city; it's the story it has to tell. Or, to be more specific, the people within. Let's begin with the beginning of the city: The town of Lumen almost didn't exist to begin with. It was one of the first areas of the East to be inhabited by White man and the journey as it was had left the travelers very weary to begin with. These travelers were led by Daniel Davey Brooke, a European explorer who'd yet to really make a name for himself. Sure, he studied Latin, he was well versed in many languages and was a great hunter and tracker, but he was considered overly ambitious in all of his treks. But his group were just as ambitious as he, and they made at least a somewhat memorable name for themselves in their speed at travelling the continent.

They made their way quick-smart and found themselves at a gargantuan river: its breadth was almost a full mile wide, but the waters were impeccably clear, albeit a mild green tint. You could almost see the bottom at the very deepest point. They set up camp and Daniel Brooke, while wandering the shore, noticed something in the water: fish. Not a small margin of fish, either: thousands. Tens of thousands. It was incredible to see, and everyone was astonished. This was soon to become a town in its own right, just because of the sheer amount of fish. They wanted to set up more permanent dwellings as soon as possible and turned to cutting down some of the dense forest... but discovered that the trees were very sappy. And volatile. The sap paralyzed the people in just a few minutes, and those who managed to get drenched in it had their hearts stop. The entire group was put down to half its workload ability within an hour, and no-one wanted to go near the forest, believing that the area was cursed in some way by the natives.

Not deterred, Mr. Brooke made some of his men return to the other settlements and gather wood from there, and from that point onward they'd waited quite a substantial amount of time for the supplies to arrive. Much longer than it should have taken. The times were hard enough waiting for them while living in their own tents: wolves and bears frequented the campsite from the strong, sweet aroma of the newly discovered fish, now named Daniel Brooke Trout. Soon, the men started to name it 'Demon Trout' and began to start thinking twice about the entire ordeal. They'd waited three weeks longer than they should have, and began to think of mutiny, right before the caravan of 50 strong wagons of supplies rolled into the area. From this point on, the Wolves and bears went from predator to prey, and the entire area was wiped out of all dangerous animals within a month. The effort to remove the trees became a very time consuming, but rewarding effort, as the sap became a powerful pain-killer after someone discovered boiling the pure sap destroys the dangerous neurotoxin and turns it into a drinkable syrup. And with the vast, seemingly limitless supply of fish, the town began to grow exponentially quickly, and has become one of the industrial giants of the world.


Fast foreword to today, and the cities wealth shows very well: User Image
Skyscrapers, beautiful riverside homes, boats of all kinds dwelling the waters, the city is truly a modern marvel. But don't start thinking that it's all 'out with the old and in with the new', because there is a rich heritage in this city that everyone is proud of. Many of the old buildings are well maintained on the cities budget and the central museum is a hub of everything the city has achieved over the centuries. In fact, it's considered one of the wealthiest cities on the planet, even with the economy America has. But it's main industries are in Both the fisheries and pharmaceutical markets, specialising in fish oil and painkillers. And they've also found a way to harvest the once volatile wood that births the sap they've so desired, so the timber industry is becoming a major part of the cities wealth. That said, even though Lumen is very prosperous, the city, and the world, will soon become a battleground...

Modern medical research is discovering very many new and dangerous viruses, bacteria and parasitic infections from the world over, but two have caught the eye of the media. The first is the one that will be most remembered: The 'Immo' bacteria. It was discovered in the city by a general practitioner looking for signs of an STI within a 12 year old girl, stabbed by a drug addict. While there were no signs of any of these diseases, he did notice a group of proteins in her blood that were unidentified. Upon further examination, her blood was riddled with it, but her body was remarkably healthy. Deciding to perform further research, he requested random and willing patients to provide blood samples as a research project in the Lumen Central University, and found that everyone tested had this unique bacteria in their blood. The most confusing part? All of them, no matter the age or race, had this bacteria riddled through their entire body and were incredibly healthy. Deeper testing and examination found it acted as an immune system booster, a 'test' bacteria, and it was in all of the fish. However, this was only if the fish was freshly caught, freshly cooked and eaten within a few days on a constant basis. Everyone within the city, and a couple hours out of the city, fell into this category, meaning that everyone had the Immo bacteria within their blood.

The second infection? the Necroa. Discovered in south america, this was a new form of infection that had never previously existed until recently. It's had its share of media attention for its ability to produce once dead lab rats back to an original life, memories and all. However, once introduced to humans, it simply did nothing. So many pharmaceutical companies, including Lumen Drug Research and Production Co., began researching ways to implement the virus into humans. All of these companies chose the most obvious route and began reverse engineering it in a pure chemical form. What was the result? Well, if you came here to read a horror story: you found it.