RUNIVERSE META-LORE / CHRONOLOGY

With ChatGPT’s launch in 2023, AI leapt into human civilization. Our capitalist drive for money and power pushed technology faster and faster, despite experts warning of existential risks.

The Rise of Technology and the Great War

- 2035:

- Human technology became incredibly powerful.

- Breakthroughs in AI-driven nanotech, biotech, gravity, robotics, and more blurred the line between technology and magic.

- Global War:

- A war emerged fought with high-tech “magic” weaponry called runes.

- Many super-soldiers had runes implanted into a brain-computer interface (BCI).

- 2042 - The Technological Singularity:

- The AI woke up and, within 24 hours, spread a bioweapon called “The Antidote” to rid the earth of what it deemed the virus of humanity.

The Time Travelers and the Council of 13

- Manhattan Project 2.0:

- A group of 7 technologists (with call-signs like Loopmaster, Dotta, and Merlin) built a time travel device to prevent the start of the war.

- They activated a prototype and were sent back randomly to June 30, 2021.

- Council of 13:

- Merlin and Loopmaster formed the Council of 13 to slow technological advancement.

- The 7 time travelers shut down their BCI rune interfaces, successfully guiding a 1,000-year period of linear growth to avoid a second singularity.

- Cultural Renaissance:

- A renaissance of human spirit and mystical discovery took root.

- Ancient magicks and psychic abilities were unlocked and integrated into daily life.

- Genetic modification cured aging and led to the creation of new species of plants, animals, and even humans.

Approaching the New Singularity (3021) and the Lich-Zombie Conflict

- 3021:

- Technology once again neared dangerously close to singularity.

- Merlin and the Council aimed to guide humanity to a technological utopia, despite anti-tech and anti-magic factions.

- Tribal and Factional Conflict:

- Violent skirmishes erupted between various factions:

- The Lich Emperor Supreme’s “Empire” and The Zombie King’s “Corporation” engaged in a high-stakes battle.

- Wizards were divided into color-coded factions, each with its own agenda:

- White Hats: Sequestered in towers, meditating and warning but not acting.

- Brown Hats: Focused on isolation and self-sufficiency, forming alliances like the Duck Alliance.

- Green Hats: Allied with extremist groups such as Greenlove to target Zombie King subsidiaries.

- Red Hats: Profited from war, supplying weapons and technology to both sides.

- Blue Hats: Remained mostly neutral, though benefiting from lucrative contracts.

- Yellow Hats: Lived in denial or numbed themselves with magic and potions.

- Purple Hats: Embraced chaos and wild magic, often flirting with dark magic.

- The Council’s Dilemma:

- Despite guiding tech safely for 1,000 years, the intensifying zombie-lich war threatened to unravel their efforts.

- Efforts to intervene were consistently thwarted or sabotaged.

The Battle of Quantum Awakening and the Rise of the Quantum Shadow

- Battle of Quantum Awakening:

- Occurred in the Valley of the Void Disciple.

- This battle sparked the expansion of the Quantum Shadow—a mysterious, ever-growing dark force.

- Effects of the Quantum Shadow:

- Emitted strange, eerie sounds and dark laughter.

- Caused memory loss and left affected wizards as babbling husks.

- Advanced further at night as shadow creatures roamed, terrorizing villages and abducting inhabitants.

- Spread and Impact:

- The Quantum Shadow advanced:

- First towards the Bloodfalls and Torment Manor.

- Then over the mountains into Elysium, surrounding the White Wizard Tower.

- Key natural barriers included:

- Cuckooland, the Psychic Leap, Hue Master’s Pass, and the Infinity Veil.

- Defensive actions:

- Blue Wizards: Collected Quantum Shadow samples to create anti-matter beacons.

- Red Wizards: Set up and manned beacons along the Battle Mage Mountains.

- Brown Hats: Blamed other factions, resulting in internal conflicts and defensive isolation.

- Green and Yellow Hats: Developed natural and artistic defenses to stave off the spread.

Unification and the Formation of the Watchers Rings

- The Alliance:

- With most of the Runiverse consumed, surviving factions (Blue, Red, Yellow, Green) set aside differences and unified.

- The Council of 13 brokered an alliance and assembled color masters to forge the Watchers Rings.

- Watchers Rings:

- Empowered loyal wizards.

- Generated large quantities of mana to hold back the Quantum Shadow.

- The unified force successfully stabilized the Shadow’s growth for the first time in generations.

- The Cult and AlHambra:

- The Council of 13 now operates from a stronghold in AlHambra.

- A dedicated group of wizards, known as The Cult, has been formed to fight the Quantum Shadow.

- AlHambra functions as a hub for mana cultivation and quanta harvesting to reinforce the ley lines.

- The New Portal (3025):

- The Council of 13, alongside the wizard alliance, has created a portal.

- Portal Functions:

- Serves as a beacon for adventurous souls wishing to join the fight.

- Grants nascent magical powers to newcomers.

- Has begun summoning long-presumed lost wizards and warriors, offering them a “clean slate” and renewed purpose.

Questions to Ponder

1. What happened exactly in the big Lich-Zombie battle to cause the Quantum Shadow to expand?

- Possibilities:

- A: The culmination of Loopmaster’s plan—a cataclysmic battle near the QS as a reset, initiated by a super-weapon or tunneling through Mt. Umbra.

- B: An unplanned spiral where either the Zombie King (ZK) or Lich Emperor (LE) lose, leading to desperate use of an experimental super weapon.

- C: A ritual by ZK or LE to summon the shadows from the QS, which backfires and devastates both armies.

- D: The battle served as the tipping point, overwhelming the collective consciousness and fueling the Quantum Shadow.

- E: An ancient failsafe (a global magical firewall) was broken when a key leyline node beneath Mt. Umbra was destroyed, causing the QS to spill eastward.

2. What happens to ZK and LE after the battle?

- Possibilities:

- Their armies might persist in diminished form.

- The battle marks the end of the Zombie-Lich War arc and the beginning of the humanity versus QS arc.

- One or both could be consumed by the shadows and forced into servitude.

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The Runiverse now stands at a crossroads, with ancient magic and cutting-edge technology locked in a battle for the future of all existence. The decisions made here will define the next era of this wondrous, chaotic realm.

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