Post by Jona on Aug 22, 2006 21:37:43 GMT -5
The Setting:
Its 100 years in the future. Humankind enjoys a Golden Age of peace, prosperity and advancement. We’ve conquered most diseases, bottled the fountain of youth, extended our life span to 200+ years and our toys are nanotechnology and the genetic code. Our cities look like something out of a science fiction novel, complete with robots, androids and flying cars, think for a moment the movie I, Robot. Our future appears grand… then it all comes to a crashing stop.
Imagine if you will, the end of the world, something akin to the movies Day After Tomorrow meets Nightmare on Elm Street.
The world experienced a series of freak accidents, any one would have been tragic, any 2 devastating… taken together the world as we knew it died. In addition to the mass destruction and total chaos, lines of blue energy cascaded across the face of our world. Where 2 of these lines meet tears in space and time occurred. From these tears in space/time, from these Rifts emerged strange alien beings. Some seem mortal; as scared and confused as us. Others are demons from the very pits of hell. At other places along the lines, weird and alien wildlife appears overnight. People start to manifest magical and psychic powers, ancient gods appear and claim portions of the land, titans clash and the landscape changes. It is pure and utter madness.
New York City, the new technological center of North America, thriving and having grown to epic proportions. It’s estimated 23+ million population hustling and bustling along its gleaming streets. Happy, content and above all save in the canyons of megacrete.
A few days before Christmas the entire world imploded. No level of technology could have predicted it. Only compassion and tolerance might have prevented it. In its wake, New York City and the new Jersey coastline were wiped from the face of the planet... they had just enough time to scream once.
One moment the say was like any other winter day. Christmas songs streamed though the air and last minute shoppers filled the stores. The holiday cheer was interrupted by breaking news reports of devastating occurrence in south America. Reports were confusing and contradictory. Some told of a military engagement gone wrong. Others of a violent natural disaster of unknown cause and proportion. Minutes later New Yorkers experienced the most powerful earthquake in its history. Damage was minimal and was followed by several smaller quakes. People froze in prayer and horror slowly dawned as news that the Yellowstone Super-Volcano had erupted. In fact, the news reported a yet unknown number of other volcanoes in the Ring of Fire along the Pacific tectonic plate line were all erupting. Contact with the West Coast was lost shortly there after. Earthquakes ravaged a continent and reports of blue lines of light erupting from the ground filled the airwaves as frightened workers and Christmas shoppers began to make their way out of stores and workplaces to go home to their loved ones. Ironically enough, the desire to be with their loved ones would seal their fate.
A moment later, the first and most devastating tidal wave crashed into the island of Manhattan and the entire Eastern Seaboard. Most would never survive to see the raging storms, blue lines or the tears in the skies that came afterwards.
Long Island saw it first. A massive 300 foot tall wall of water traveling at an impossible speed of 500 miles per hour screamed down upon them. The wave continued down Long Island Sound which unfortunately acted as a focusing channel for the aquatic fury, destroying the entire coastline as it went. When the wave opened into New York Harbor it smashed through the monoliths of steel, megacrete and glass that would have resisted a bomb blast, in the time it took the people of New York to scream, they were already dead. Millions were killed instantly, the death toll was nearly 100%.
And the waves kept coming.
Then, came the Collapse. With a rumbling heave that sounded like the end of the world, the earth thrust the island of Manhattan and the western edge of Long Island almost half a mile into the air and then crashed back down. Survivors would describe the sight as if the earth itself was screaming in torment.
Builds made of the new megacrete which had survived the first tidal wave and still stood intact, twists and broke like so much candy. Less sound structures that had survived simply imploded into piles of steel and red shattered stone. The earth continued to convulse knocking down even more buildings and shifting the massive piles of wreckage, collapsing tunnels, rupturing pipes and wiping out all life that remained. New York City, once the shining symbol of the future was now home to only the dead.
Even those up to 200 miles inland were not spared. Within 30 minutes of it starting the loss of life was over 90% and close to total in many areas.
Then came the fires, the smothering ash, snow, winds that could freeze an unprotected man solid and a winter that would last for a generation. Unfortunately, these occurrences were not the worst of it. No, not long after the Collapse the Freak Storms, alien invasions, demonic plagues and all manner of other weirdness would begin.
The few that survived the first ½ hour fled inland by any and all means possible, scurrying through the ruins of one city after another, searching for food, clothing and whatever they could get to survive and protect themselves and their loved ones. Humanity was in for the fight of its existence.
Soon, a new Age of Darkness would be ushered upon mankind.
Fast forward 300 years.
It’s the planet Earth, but one that you would barely recognize. It has been transformed into a patchwork of a thousand different alien worlds with doorways into infinite realities.
Imagine, if you will, each State, Province and Country is an alien environment. One place may be beautiful woodland, another is an alien jungle, another is dominated by humanoid insects, and another is filled with dinosaurs. Over there is the land of faeries and dragons. Over here is a place at war with itself ripping and stabbing at itself even as you watch. Some lands shift and change daily, while others straddle two or three different realities at the same time.
At one location, people thrive locked away inside a massive fortified city of technology. Robots and black armored sentinels patrol its streets and strike down anything that isn’t human. At another location is a city of magic and wonder. Dragons and a hundred different alien races live in harmony with human beings and share the secrets of magic and alien science. Across the sea is a land of wonder, magic and monsters that trade in alien technology, dark magic and human life.
Elsewhere are vast reaches of forested wilderness. Within its shadowy confines are barbarian tribes, aboriginal people, aliens and monsters. Another stretch is dominated by dinosaurs and elsewhere, castles in the sky drift over grassy plains and bands of monster riders charge into battle below. Beyond the haunted mountains… who knows?
The lines of blue energy have calmed down and the Rifts are no longer a daily occurrence. Still, they open at random intervals throughout the year to unleash new alien beings or monsters into our world or serve as portals to a thousand planes of existence waiting to be visited.
Some people have come to accept and embrace magic; some wield superhuman psychic abilities, while others rely entirely on advanced or even alien technology. To cope with the harsh environment, humans have rediscovered some of the wonders of the Golden Age and make use of bionics, suits of power armor, giant robot constructs and chemical augmentation while others have turned to magic and other means to turn themselves in supermen or worse, into yet more monsters.
Now imagine being able to travel to countless alien worlds and civilizations. Not in a starship, but by simply opening a Rift in space and time and stepping through it.
Welcome to Rifts Earth, an intersection to the infinite Megaverse, this is the bus stop where dragons, gods and dimensional travelers come for a pit stop, to find or create another dimensional door to wherever it is they want to go or even to have a little fun. A nexus to the Megaverse like Rifts Earth is a rarity. So rare that the God-like powers and galaxy conquerors have all, unofficially of course, taken a hands-off policy, leaving humans and other displaced alien people to fend for themselves.
Thus, humans struggle to reclaim their world, battle against aliens, magic and supernatural forces and learn to live with displaced alien people as mortal, frightened and vulnerable as they are… well, almost.
Its 100 years in the future. Humankind enjoys a Golden Age of peace, prosperity and advancement. We’ve conquered most diseases, bottled the fountain of youth, extended our life span to 200+ years and our toys are nanotechnology and the genetic code. Our cities look like something out of a science fiction novel, complete with robots, androids and flying cars, think for a moment the movie I, Robot. Our future appears grand… then it all comes to a crashing stop.
Imagine if you will, the end of the world, something akin to the movies Day After Tomorrow meets Nightmare on Elm Street.
The world experienced a series of freak accidents, any one would have been tragic, any 2 devastating… taken together the world as we knew it died. In addition to the mass destruction and total chaos, lines of blue energy cascaded across the face of our world. Where 2 of these lines meet tears in space and time occurred. From these tears in space/time, from these Rifts emerged strange alien beings. Some seem mortal; as scared and confused as us. Others are demons from the very pits of hell. At other places along the lines, weird and alien wildlife appears overnight. People start to manifest magical and psychic powers, ancient gods appear and claim portions of the land, titans clash and the landscape changes. It is pure and utter madness.
New York City, the new technological center of North America, thriving and having grown to epic proportions. It’s estimated 23+ million population hustling and bustling along its gleaming streets. Happy, content and above all save in the canyons of megacrete.
A few days before Christmas the entire world imploded. No level of technology could have predicted it. Only compassion and tolerance might have prevented it. In its wake, New York City and the new Jersey coastline were wiped from the face of the planet... they had just enough time to scream once.
One moment the say was like any other winter day. Christmas songs streamed though the air and last minute shoppers filled the stores. The holiday cheer was interrupted by breaking news reports of devastating occurrence in south America. Reports were confusing and contradictory. Some told of a military engagement gone wrong. Others of a violent natural disaster of unknown cause and proportion. Minutes later New Yorkers experienced the most powerful earthquake in its history. Damage was minimal and was followed by several smaller quakes. People froze in prayer and horror slowly dawned as news that the Yellowstone Super-Volcano had erupted. In fact, the news reported a yet unknown number of other volcanoes in the Ring of Fire along the Pacific tectonic plate line were all erupting. Contact with the West Coast was lost shortly there after. Earthquakes ravaged a continent and reports of blue lines of light erupting from the ground filled the airwaves as frightened workers and Christmas shoppers began to make their way out of stores and workplaces to go home to their loved ones. Ironically enough, the desire to be with their loved ones would seal their fate.
A moment later, the first and most devastating tidal wave crashed into the island of Manhattan and the entire Eastern Seaboard. Most would never survive to see the raging storms, blue lines or the tears in the skies that came afterwards.
Long Island saw it first. A massive 300 foot tall wall of water traveling at an impossible speed of 500 miles per hour screamed down upon them. The wave continued down Long Island Sound which unfortunately acted as a focusing channel for the aquatic fury, destroying the entire coastline as it went. When the wave opened into New York Harbor it smashed through the monoliths of steel, megacrete and glass that would have resisted a bomb blast, in the time it took the people of New York to scream, they were already dead. Millions were killed instantly, the death toll was nearly 100%.
And the waves kept coming.
Then, came the Collapse. With a rumbling heave that sounded like the end of the world, the earth thrust the island of Manhattan and the western edge of Long Island almost half a mile into the air and then crashed back down. Survivors would describe the sight as if the earth itself was screaming in torment.
Builds made of the new megacrete which had survived the first tidal wave and still stood intact, twists and broke like so much candy. Less sound structures that had survived simply imploded into piles of steel and red shattered stone. The earth continued to convulse knocking down even more buildings and shifting the massive piles of wreckage, collapsing tunnels, rupturing pipes and wiping out all life that remained. New York City, once the shining symbol of the future was now home to only the dead.
Even those up to 200 miles inland were not spared. Within 30 minutes of it starting the loss of life was over 90% and close to total in many areas.
Then came the fires, the smothering ash, snow, winds that could freeze an unprotected man solid and a winter that would last for a generation. Unfortunately, these occurrences were not the worst of it. No, not long after the Collapse the Freak Storms, alien invasions, demonic plagues and all manner of other weirdness would begin.
The few that survived the first ½ hour fled inland by any and all means possible, scurrying through the ruins of one city after another, searching for food, clothing and whatever they could get to survive and protect themselves and their loved ones. Humanity was in for the fight of its existence.
Soon, a new Age of Darkness would be ushered upon mankind.
Fast forward 300 years.
It’s the planet Earth, but one that you would barely recognize. It has been transformed into a patchwork of a thousand different alien worlds with doorways into infinite realities.
Imagine, if you will, each State, Province and Country is an alien environment. One place may be beautiful woodland, another is an alien jungle, another is dominated by humanoid insects, and another is filled with dinosaurs. Over there is the land of faeries and dragons. Over here is a place at war with itself ripping and stabbing at itself even as you watch. Some lands shift and change daily, while others straddle two or three different realities at the same time.
At one location, people thrive locked away inside a massive fortified city of technology. Robots and black armored sentinels patrol its streets and strike down anything that isn’t human. At another location is a city of magic and wonder. Dragons and a hundred different alien races live in harmony with human beings and share the secrets of magic and alien science. Across the sea is a land of wonder, magic and monsters that trade in alien technology, dark magic and human life.
Elsewhere are vast reaches of forested wilderness. Within its shadowy confines are barbarian tribes, aboriginal people, aliens and monsters. Another stretch is dominated by dinosaurs and elsewhere, castles in the sky drift over grassy plains and bands of monster riders charge into battle below. Beyond the haunted mountains… who knows?
The lines of blue energy have calmed down and the Rifts are no longer a daily occurrence. Still, they open at random intervals throughout the year to unleash new alien beings or monsters into our world or serve as portals to a thousand planes of existence waiting to be visited.
Some people have come to accept and embrace magic; some wield superhuman psychic abilities, while others rely entirely on advanced or even alien technology. To cope with the harsh environment, humans have rediscovered some of the wonders of the Golden Age and make use of bionics, suits of power armor, giant robot constructs and chemical augmentation while others have turned to magic and other means to turn themselves in supermen or worse, into yet more monsters.
Now imagine being able to travel to countless alien worlds and civilizations. Not in a starship, but by simply opening a Rift in space and time and stepping through it.
Welcome to Rifts Earth, an intersection to the infinite Megaverse, this is the bus stop where dragons, gods and dimensional travelers come for a pit stop, to find or create another dimensional door to wherever it is they want to go or even to have a little fun. A nexus to the Megaverse like Rifts Earth is a rarity. So rare that the God-like powers and galaxy conquerors have all, unofficially of course, taken a hands-off policy, leaving humans and other displaced alien people to fend for themselves.
Thus, humans struggle to reclaim their world, battle against aliens, magic and supernatural forces and learn to live with displaced alien people as mortal, frightened and vulnerable as they are… well, almost.