Welcome to Gaia! ::

It's a cold world. It wasn't always like this. Every year, the diminishing human population huddles together, struggling to understand why their gods would do such a thing, wish such a punishment upon the devout. In a last grasp at survival, the people tried to right their wrongs and repair their damaged world as penance for their unnamed crimes.

It went completely wrong.

Instead of repairing the world, they opened a dimensional rift between universes and collapsed theirs. Their souls displaced, they were forced to flee into the new universe.

The year is 2007, but everything is different. The collapse of the previous universe at the same time of the opening of a dimensional rift had overwritten the initial conditions and physical laws governing our world. What was previously a mundane spheroid became a wonder of magic and technology, both advanced far beyond ours. Our history changed overnight. Religions were altered or erased and philosophies and discoveries were rewritten and rethought, all in the instant that this rift remained open.

Of course, fate has a sense of humor. No one knows that this happened. As far as they know, the universe has always been like this, with complex math being applied to the world in the form of fireballs and the advancement of technology accelerated much more than before. The changes to the physical properties of the universe occurred at its conception. Everyone thinks that the universe has and always will have magic, and that technology advanced as fast as it did, and from a four-dimensional perspective, they're completely right.

History's changes are interestingly simpler though. Where the world was previously covered in many tiny nations, Earth is now governed primarily by an Empire in the west, a Kingdom in the East, and a myriad of smaller neutral states banding together, consisting of Australia and the Pacific Islands and most of south and central Africa.

Magic
Magic is divided into three clearly distinguished categories, depending on resonance (residual, accidental magic effects that accompany the desired effects) and means of manifestation.


Rune Magic
Rune Magic is most comparable to classical magic as portrayed in typical high fantasy literature. It can only be used by bearers of magic runes.

Magic runes are found in crystalline orbs, naturally located in areas of high magical concentration. While this makes their locations limited, they are still fairly common, due to the ease with which magic condenses into an orb. The magic orbs are dormant until attached to a sapient life form, at which point the physical orb sublimates into a rune inscribed on the user. The nature of the rune and the powers bestowed upon the bearer vary depending on the properties of the orb. Most runes are associated with an element of nature (Fire runes will bestow the bearer with a command over the element of fire, Water over water, etc.) but a significant number have unusual effects ranging from amplification of ordinary attributes (Health runes can heal or amplify a person's physical attributes) to even stranger effects that defy a more obvious theme (ex: a hypothetical "blood rune" might harm the user in exchange for permitting superhuman speed or powerful magic effects.)

All runes are sentient, and the more powerful and effective a rune is, the greater its intelligence. Extremely powerful runes demonstrate self-awareness and, while possessing unmatched potential, will not use their powers to allow their users to perform actions to which they are morally or ethically opposed. Self-aware runes are capable of telepathic communication with their bearers. Self-aware runes are also capable of detachment from their bearers, although they will dissipate into nothingness if they do not immediately attach to a new host.

Rune magic produces no resonance, although the runes produce loud humming noises when used. The only magic effects that are produced as a result of rune magic are those that are desired by the user (and the rune, in the case of those that possess self-awareness.) Rune magic users are referred to as "Rune mages" or "Rune bearers."

Line Magic
Line Magic is less commonly used and is outlawed by the American Empire. Line magic requires no runes, but produce strong resonance that may be uncontrollable if the user is not experienced in the use of line magic. Because of this, even experienced users consider line magic to bed risky.

Line magic is most distinguishable from rune magic in that it involves the user physically grabbing invisible lines embedded into all matter and energy(referred to as "strings" in magic research) and manipulating them to desired effect, causing them to become briefly visible, emitting a bright colored light, for a brief period of time. It is seemingly unpredictable, as the movement of a line by a mere inch may completely demolish a building or simply cover it in the scent of fresh fish, depending in environmental factors ranging from location to the mood of the user. Learning how to manipulate lines to effect controlled, expected change is a process that can take years, if not decades, to learn, driving most away from the pursuit, but the master of line magic will find that the potential for both power and freedom is exceptional with line magic.

Unlike rune magic, line magic can only convert matter and energy. Creation or destruction of either is not possible. Line magic users are referred to as "outlaws" mostly, as the American Empire has outlawed the use of line magic.

Vulgar Magic
Vulgar magic does not use runes or lines, and is a phenomenon that puzzles magic researchers and theorists. It can produce extreme resonance, regardless of the skill level of the user

Vulgar magic can only be used by people who are "mediums" (see below) and is (like all magic) a product of the effects of an encroaching parallel universe upon the universe of Earth, albeit a much more significant and apparent one. Overuse of vulgar magic is associated with backlash, where a medium might suffer mental, emotional, or physical damage without any obvious stimulus, although data surrounding this is nonexistent due to official ignorance of vulgar magic's existence.

Vulgar magic is typically associated with a "trigger" that the medium must perform or emulate in order to cast, but this is generally something as simple as an ordinary phrase or perhaps even a specific emotion. There is no observed correlation between the difficulty of achieving or accomplishing a trigger and the power of the associated magical effect.

Technology
Technological advancements have universally been the product of research funded and directed by the American Empire. Human Technology has surpassed our own by a significant margin but allowing the entire world access to all new technology has shown that the advancement of science has far outpaced humanity's ability to adapt to it. Because of this, the publicly available technology is comparable to that of modern Earth (with conveniences like personal computers, portable music devices, the internet, and such.) The two most significant technologies follow.


ARMs
ARMS is an acronym that stands for "Agile Remote Mission Squad," the designation given to military units outfitted with this previously unnamed technology. The name "ARM" was bestowed upon the technology itself when it became prolific enough that its use was not limited to small, specific groups, and a single ARM is referred to without the S.

An ARM can be a weapon or armor or both. In its unactivated form, it is an essentially invisible cloud of nanobots contained within the user's body. Once activated, it makes its way outside the user and forms the appropriate equipment.

All ARMs are fundamentally the same, but what shape they take differs depending on the direction and nature of the user's training and the nature and demeanor of the user. Common ARMs range from lighter forms, such as handguns, rapiers, and torso-armor to heavier forms, such as explosives, large two-handed weapons, and full body armor. Ammunition for projectile weapons dissipates upon contact with a user-designated target and makes its way back to the user for reintegration with the ARM, although it will stop if prevented from doing so and moved away from the user by a distance of approximately 1 kilometer. This makes it unreasonable to possess an ARM that functions as a modern projectile weapon, as bullets are very capable of traveling beyond this distance.

ARMs are essentially indestructible and undetectable in their unactivated state, but come encoded with self-destruction (usually dissolving) code in the case of user death, as an ARM is useless to all except its designated user once it has combined with its user. A weapon or armor created by an ARM is noticeably heavier than its non-ARM counterparts, but comes with the obvious advantages of total concealment and essentially infinite ammunition.

The overuse of an ARM can result in unexpected behavior. Deactivation becomes impossible without extreme measures (death of the user) and the ARM mutates, invariably causing the user extreme pain, possibly causing rapid cell division and mutation in the user. An ARM that malfunctions in this way is referred to as a "Wild ARM."

Bioweapon
Bioweapons were the technology developed on Earth in lieu of nuclear weapons, though their effects are generally the same. A bioweapon takes the form of a large, winged, reptilian creature, typically capable of breathing fire, acid, or any number of harmful fluids (gas and liquid) or toxins. These weapons are heavily biomodified with obvious mechanical parts. They are designed to be launched from a distant location and stay in orbit for a brief time, until they descend upon their target and explode. The resulting explosion is identical to a nuclear detonation in every way, except that it also releases potent biotoxins and wild ARMs that affect every living thing within the blast radius.

Bioweapons render all the land and natural resources in the area of effect completely inert for centuries. The creatures naturally possess sentience, but are outfitted with a neural collar upon creation that dampens mental activity and prevents any action that is not specifically mandated by the controller.