PF = Pre-Fall
AF = After-Fall
Scientists attempt to set in motion the planet’s healing, as well as preserve human knowledge so that one day humankind can return.
The world sits in turmoil for an untold amount of time. The Mossbound Scholars eventually refer to this as “The Waiting,” as though Bug-kin were waiting for conditions to settle for them to emerge.
Larger, more intelligent arthropods emerge, diverging from their ancestors. Some coexist, others dominate or cannibalize their progenitors. Many set out to forge their own paths. The average size of Bug-kin reaches 2.5 ft, towering over unevolved regular arthropods.
Over subsequent generations, evolution and mutation continue. Some unseen force shapes Bug-kin, honing them to survive a harsher Earth.
Evolution slows, and reproduction rates quickly follow suit. Where their ancestors birthed swarms, Bug-kin now hatch only a few at a time. Natural lifespans begin to stretch, although lives are often cut short due to a violent world.
Many Bug-kin now hatch fully formed, their larval stages erased by direct development. An adaptation for faster growth in a volatile world.
Strange crystals appear across the land, and grow within Bug-kin minds. The crystal-blessed hatch already wielding knowledge beyond their years, like basic language.
Great crystal structures form, resonating at such frequencies to drive away most predators. Bug-kin attempting to unlock the secrets of such structures are found babbling incoherently, driven mad.
“The Breach” form, trained to keep communities safe from infected or mutated wildlife and other dangers.
Beginning of the (spotty) historic record
A new kind of Bug-kin emerges, marked by abilities that set them apart (and sometimes above) their kin. Fearful of their power, others cast them out.
Relic-kin are hunted and enslaved by The Eon in pursuit of power, or slain in brutal crusades by fearful royal families, their existence deemed a threat to the world.
War consumes the land, its origins lost to time and government propaganda. Some whisper that Relic-kin were to blame, others that it was forbidden knowledge from the deep past. Ancient technology that should have stayed buried.
Determined to avoid history’s mistakes, the Mossbound Scholars are formed, sworn to safeguard what remains of knowledge and ensure its lessons endure.
c. 0 - 300 A.F.
The world is fractured. Civilization collapses into scattered enclaves, and warlords rise from the ashes of The Fall. Without central authority, survival is brutal. Old knowledge is feared or forgotten, and stories of the Relic-kin fade into myth.
c. 400 A.F.
After centuries of chaos, the first alliances form. Clans establish trade routes, city-states emerge, and rudimentary laws are written. The Mossbound Scholars gain influence, acting as neutral historians and keepers of fragile peace. “Bug-kin,” as a term is chanted to unite.
c. 908 A.F.
Settlements vanish as an affliction spreads, affecting memory and speech. Diving into the far past is outlawed to all but a few. Memory Vaults, where memories can be transferred by communing with crystals, are rumoured to be founded.
c. 1200 A.F.
Ancient Titans stir and suddenly migrate, their movements reshaping the land. Divine force, or a harbinger of destruction? A spiritual resurgence occurs. Bug-kin rediscover old rituals and forge new ones, blending myth with memory.
c. 1300 A.F.
The Whispering Plague laws waver, as ancient technology and relics are unearthed. Conflict erupts as city-states wage war with dangerous artifacts, causing devastation that rivals The Fall itself. The Mossbound Scholars intervene, declaring relic technology too dangerous to wield. They begin a systematic effort to hide, dismantle, or destroy what remains, further shrouding the past in mystery.
c. 1650 A.F.
A fragile, unprecedented alliance forms. The first widespread, cooperative governance is formed while new conflict brews beneath the surface.
1653 A.F.
