The End and The Beginning – Prologue

Earth (2050):

Time had not been kind to humankind over the last few decades. No, perhaps it would have been wrong to put it that way. Humankind had not been kind to itself over the last few centuries. If you asked when the end began you would probably be told it was the Industrial Revolution of 1760 that sealed the fate of mankind, whilst also propelling it to a star-like glory. Pollution and technological advances enabled the human race to develop cities, nations and empires. Wealth gathered at the top - at the cost of the poor - whilst the atrocities of Man were covered by positive thinking and false empathy - closely married to hypocritical ethics and ignorance.

Political instability sparked the Great World War of 2020, which was in fact THREE Great Wars. North America clashed with South America over immigration, American prosperity and the protection of its citizens. The result was a continent brought to its knees and a new status quo where South American citizens were treated as neo-slaves.

Europe clashed with the Middle East, resulting in a nuclear fallout. Neither side could really be called victors but the Middle East were definitely the losers.

All the while North Korea and South Korea avoided a nuclear war, however, they did not avoid a full-on frontal confrontation which was swiftly brought to an end through Chinese intervention which took the opportunity to expand its territory by engulfing the two nations.

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Cold. Wet. London’s inhabitants comforted themselves, knowing that at least one thing had maintained its reliability over the last 30 years, the Great British weather. The UK, as a group of islands, had fortunately managed to avoid any major damage from the Great World War, albeit it had not escaped unscathed from the aftermath.

The planet had become a bleaker place, perhaps even post-apocalyptic, but wallowing in the past would not solve the problems of the present. Whilst most people could make a decent living before the War, life was now much harsher.

Most unqualified work had been automated and was now carried out by computers or machines. Competition for qualified jobs was fiercer than it had ever been, requiring endless studies and to add insult to injury most jobs asked for prior experience which could not be obtained unless one had ‘personal connections’.

Science had come to a standstill over the last 3 decades, minor advances had definitely been made and science had definitely been nearing the point where major breakthroughs were to be achieved, however, due to new military priorities and the focus on rebuilding what had been lost, science funding had been cut to practically nothing, stagnating the ‘scientific waters’ – inevitably meaning that quality of life for citizens across the globe actually decreased extremely fast.

Diohel (15,246):

The Plane of Diohel. A vast ‘planet’, very different from what the humans of Earth would be able to comprehend, not because of a lack of scientific knowledge, not at all. In fact, Earth was very far ahead of Diohel in terms of comprehension of the laws of physics, biology and chemistry as well as the wonders of mathematics. No. Diohel was a wondrous place. An arcane place. A mystical place. Diohel had no need for science, because it revolved around a higher power – Magic.

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The inhabitants of Diohel did not call the phenomenon ‘magic’. They called it the Deity’s Essence, in other words, borrowing the power of the Gods. Life was very different from life on Earth. It was no less difficult, in fact, life on Diohel was eons more ruthless than life on Earth but there was one major difference. Inhabitants of Diohel had the opportunity to fight for their destiny and fight for their future by learning to control Deity’s Essence. Through the power of the Gods humans could stand tall and fight their way to riches and glory. Legend had it that humans could, at the pinnacle of power, become Gods themselves and wield the capability to cleave mountains and split seas, create and destroy worlds, all to their will.

Diohel was split into two major continents along with a variety of smaller continents and isles. The first continent was the Western Continent of Sages. The Continent of Sages was prosperous, wealthy and abundant. The Continent of Sages is where mages, sorcerers and clerics cultivated the power to yield Deity’s Essence outside the body to create ‘spells’. The centre of the Continent of Sages was God’s Haven, the city harbouring the Royal Bloodline. The Royal Bloodline was – in essence - just a lineage of mages with a long heritage, who wielded great power and governed the Continent of Sages as well as protecting it from the dangers of the Northern Netherlands. The Northern Netherlands were a forbidden land directly attached to the Western Continent of Sages and separated by an ancient barrier.

The second continent of Diohel was the Eastern Continent of Warriors. This continent was much more barren and bred fighters and barbarians who cultivated the use of Deity’s Essence inside the body to refine powerful bodies capable of great strength and speed as well as enhanced senses. The Eastern Continent of Warriors was also much larger than the Continent of Sages and fraught with many more dangers to the average joe which made life of normal citizens a nightmare. Warriors were held in contempt by Sages as they were made out to be animals who knew only brute strength and had no intelligence or finesse.

Both major continents were separated by the Zether Sea. The Zether Sea was by no means boundless or huge. It was however, extremely difficult to traverse with storms and magical beasts making the journey extremely perilous. The physical separation along with the animosity between the continents meant very little exchange, trade or communication occurred between continents.

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END OF PROLOGUE