1991. Against all odds, the world remains standing.
In 1898, Sir Ingel Langley accidentally uncovered the secret to the mysterious compound which littered the Earth. Coined Langium, the subsequent Langley-Milentroff Process was a means by which colossal amounts of energy could be harvested. His discovery changed the course of history, Langium-powered factories and power plants propelling the world into a bewildering age of technological and social advancement. Far more efficient than coal, oil, wind, or water, Langium gasification turned virtually any product into electricity, and jettisoned the world into an era of advancement. For a time, the progress seemed limitless. Langium dominated the global scene.
Then on a fateful day in 1961, the world stood still.
For only a few brief moments, They came.
They came unannounced, unceremoniously. Without warning nor hesitation, as if the world was Theirs to own. They came, stopped for only a short while, never once bothering for contact nor communication, and departed. In Their wake remained the lasting trace of Their existence, undeniable proof of a secret to shock the world to its core. Their visit confirmed a suspicion once thought to be the stuff of dreams: That Langium was of otherworldly origin.
They came and left, yet it was not in their momentary picnic which astounded the world. As with every vacation, the visitors left remarkable trace of their visit. As they departed, mysterious reports spread like a pox dots across the skin. Otherworldly materials reacted with Langium deposits, infecting machinery and nature alike with its eldritch influence. Incredible materials - dubbed New-Langium Compounds, or NLC's - were introduced to the globe...with drastic effects. In the wake of their reactions, hazardous anomalies spread throughout the world's zones in contact with Langium and NLC's, often without rhyme nor discrimination. Some places had gravity cease to be, its industries turning to colossal floating complexes that drift like schools of fish amidst the sea. In some places, rivers turned to a gaseous plasma, the waters which once ran freely convulsing like mist dripping along a sieve. Mysterious sea-green webs turned the hands of those who touched it into pure calcified bone. Metal molted to blistering temperature, yet always retaining their solid shape and form while their extraneous heat warped the world to a hellscape. Rusted iron bolts cured blindness to whoever touched it. These are but a few of the many effects the anomalies have had upon the world.
Yet, within the world's anomalous zones, mysterious compounds and otherworldly items were discovered, with miraculously potent effects. Dubbed artifacts, these precious things produced medicines and machines once thought impossible to create by modern science, yet within the zones they were found and thrive. Yet, even as these incredible artifacts took to the world by storm, it was quickly discovered that we lacked the understanding and capability to reproduce any of these things on Earth.
The shock of the Visitation was enormous, to say little of its full effects. In almost an instant, the Old Order of the world had the rug yanked from beneath its feet. The Old Order of Gods and World were stripped away, revealing truths of a universe far more alien than perhaps any could have known. Many governments struggled to maintain themselves in the chaos, and the Legacy of the Visitation has touched the world far greater than any war nor invention.
Yet, as the Old World gave Caesarean birth to the New World, the greatest legacy of The Visitation lay right above our heads.
It is faint, always visible, yet always distant. Its presence leaves a chilling radiance, a feeling apropos the soft, chilling light of a winter's full moon, equally brilliant in both its coolness and its luminescence. It hovers over the world, softly pulsating its alien light throughout the sky like the heartbeat of a lighthouse.
It is the New Earth Oracle, and it gazes upon the world as The Gods look down from Heaven.
It is infallible proof that we are not alone in the universe, that They exist and have knowledge which far surpasses our own.
And, perhaps if we wish to undo the calamitous effects of the Visitation and NLC's, the Oracle will have the answers we so desperately seek. Yet, if humanity wishes to leave its cradle, then of course, it would do well to ensure the cradle is without splinter nor rot, for even the tiniest splinter may give rise to the gravest of infections. There are plenty on Earth who wish to upturn the Visitation; Those who demand that humanity shut itself in, and those who suggest it be dragged kicking and screaming into a new era, by any means necessary.
In the year 1991, the course lie ahead, tenuous and arduous. To uncover the true nature of Langium and The Visitation, nations must combat threats both within, without, and beyond. The issues of the Old World have never gone away, and the troubles of the New World will push even the strongest to their limits. Terrorism, economic hardship, environmental disaster, and more plague the world. Yet as we all know, in every crisis lay opportunity, and in such infinite wisdom there is equal capacity to emerge with the advancement of all humankind.
F.A.Q.
- "'Vinto-Futurism?' What's that supposed to mean?"
"Vinto-Futurism" is a term I coined a little while ago when coming up with the best concept pitch for the setting of N.E.O.'s world. To break it down:
Vinto / Vintage -> "Classic in style, typically denoted to be at least 20 years of age."
Futuristic -> "(of a film or book) set in the future, typically in a world of advanced or menacing technology."
Vinto-Futuristic -> "A stylistic setting based off of what we believed the near future would look like from the perspective of the 1990s and early 2000s."
Futuristic -> "(of a film or book) set in the future, typically in a world of advanced or menacing technology."
Vinto-Futuristic -> "A stylistic setting based off of what we believed the near future would look like from the perspective of the 1990s and early 2000s."
Think of settings as seen in The Matrix, Half-Life, Metal Gear Solid 4, STALKER, and AKIRA as examples of what a Vinto-Futuristic setting would look like. Space exploration, the military-industrial complex, globe-spanning terrorist organizations, economic upheaval, and an increasingly digitized and sensationalized world are all core themes of a Vinto-Futuristic setting.
- "What does the technology of N.E.O. look like?"
For most of the world's average people, the technology of the world is reminiscent of that found in our own during the Early Information Age: Cell phones, computers, Personal Digital Assistants (Remember when these were a thing?), early unmanned drones, genetically modified crops, laser surgery, and the like are all features of the technological capacity. Of course, given the more science-fiction induced advancements of Langium in the world of N.E.O., power and energy is far ahead of our own world even now. Langium-based engines and turbines output levels of energy at greater efficiency than we have even now, roughly equatable to low-temperature nuclear fusion. Bio-engineering and biotechnology are also quite advanced, featuring genetic modification as one might see in 90s B-Movies.
- "What is Langium?"
The world is filled with a resource called Langium, which through what's known as the, "Langley-Milentroff Process", produces amounts of stable energy similar to plasma gasification, yet with energy output similar to the theoretical capacity of nuclear fission. In 1961, the world was shocked by a series of alien visitations which confirmed that what they knew about Langium's capabilities was just the tip of the iceberg for what it could possibly do. Langium can - under the right circumstances and with the correct catalysts - completely reverse or break the laws of physics as we understand them, but it seems that the chemical compounds by which this may occur are both not native to the planet and are seemingly beyond the current ability to reproduce artificially.
This, of course, means that humanity must leave its cradle if it is to unlock the true mysteries of Langium...and, perhaps, find Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.
- Are there aliens currently on Earth?
No. The Visitation of 1961 was just that; A visit. In the 60s, there weren't really a thing as security cameras on the scale we know of today, and eyewitness accounts tended to not be of much help. This had led to a huge resurgence in urban legends about why extraterrestrials came to Earth and introduced NLC's, but as of right now, everything is pure speculation. Humanity has yet to have direct contact with whoever came to Earth in 1961, but if one thing is certain, it's that they possess knowledge far surpassing our own.
- What about mutants? Can wildlife be affected by NLC emissions? And people?
Certain NLC's, byproducts, and emissions are reported to have mutagenic properties, though it is currently known that animals are more likely to undergo mutation if their DNA is more closely related to humans. Almost all primates, cows, cats, pigs, and mice are the most commonly reported animals to undergo NLC-induced mutation, though reports of other animals undergoing mutation have been recorded.
Likewise, the current understanding of the mutagenic properties of NLCs on humans is poorly-understood. Some NLC's are known to have medical properties, acting in a fashion similar to a rapidly-induced anabolic steroid with much less harsh side effects. There have been numerous attempts to use NLC products in order to modify human gene sequences, but due to the nebulous nature of NLC's, much of the bioengineering potential of NLC's remain purely theoretical.
The exact nature of NLC-induced mutation is incredibly multi-fold. Neurobiologists often note extreme changes in the frontal lobe and cerebellum of mutated specimens, often radically changing their behavioral processing. In the case of mutants deriving from domesticated animals, the changes are more often than not substantial enough to require behavioral reteaching, as in many cases, the subject undergoes significant neurochemical changes which often induces a trance-like form of limited psychosis. In most animals, skilled trainers have learned that reverting these processes is certainly possible, but making a mutant back into a domestic animal requires a skillset and approach in a completely different field from what is typical for that mutant's regular animal classification.
Discord:
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