Prologue: After and Before

In the time before time, on the Earth before Earth before Earth, there lived a young man, who played a game with his friends.

He faced many trials and tribulations, but I’m sure you’re all familiar with all of that already, you know his story and you know that this is *not* his story.

This is the story of his home, the story of Earth.

In the year 2422, the last vestiges of human life left Earth-B for good, and the planet fell into a deep sleep.

The remaining inhabitants, a small society of carapacians, awoke one morning to find that the dread that hung above their heads had vanished. The evil that once had the world in a stranglehold was gone, and this was to be the beginning of a new age.

The year was 0NC, in the New Calendar, and so began the Age of Exploration.

Citizens, finding within themselves a new lust for adventure, began to build boats and sail across the globe in search of anything they could find. Scholars noted the seas were slowly receding, with more and more land being uncovered, and remnants of ancient civilisations being found for the first time in centuries.

The homes of their gods were found, and converted into great cities and nations, the culture of the old world was excavated, studied, and frequently brought back.

Eventually the world found itself not populated only by dersites and prospitians, but by new trolls, humans, consorts, and even the occasional curious cherub.

It was an age of heroes and villains, of gods and monsters, of scholars, adventurers, thieves, kings, and discovery. Many to this day consider it Earth-C’s Golden Age. But even Gold will lose its lustre eventually.

The day was April 13th, 5000NC, and the sky split open. Figures descended from on high, figures who were depicted on the temples and in the holy texts, figures who were in equal parts venerated and feared. The Founders had returned to their world at last, and their world rejoiced at their arrival.

There was no year 5001NC, only 1AR, After Return.

The Founders brought with them one final boon, the sky was filled with new worlds, and the people flocked to them to explore and to settle. The Land of Heat and Clockwork proved a place for only the hardiest adventurers, the Land of Light and Rain became *the* place to be, the Land of Frost and Frogs developed its own tightly-knit communities, and the Land of Wind became a hub of commerce. The other lands were not settled, except by those wishing to study them more closely.

Which brings us to now.

The year is 65AR, the return of The Founders is now taught in history class, and though its aftershocks may be felt for a while, the game is well and truly over.

>New Game +

Of course, no game ever truly ends, does it?

It can always be replayed.

Across the Earth-C cluster, a group of young folk make their final preparations, and get ready to make the biggest mistake of their lives.