The World

All aspects of our current age have long been forgotten; there is no electricity,  no cars or computers – none of the technological advances we enjoy today.

But a new society has arisen from the radioactive ruins, one very much akin to that of our own medieval ancestors. The survivors of the Day of Fire have established not only permanent settlements but thriving towns, cities and kingdoms.

Organized guilds work together to maintain trade routes, agriculture is widespread and varied, and the martial arts continue in the form of sword, shield, armour and lance.

Society has begun to flourish since its humble reboot, binding itself to the world around it, learning to farm the prodigious growths of fungi and even domesticating certain species of insect.

Insects are harvested for raw materials. From weaponry to clothing, transport and food, the predacious creatures that have blighted the survivors of an apocalyptic war have become their most important resource.

The World

All aspects of our current age have long been forgotten; there is no electricity,  no cars or computers – none of the technological advances we enjoy today.

But a new society has arisen from the radioactive ruins, one very much akin to that of our own medieval ancestors. The survivors of the Day of Fire have established not only permanent settlements but thriving towns, cities and kingdoms.

Organized guilds work together to maintain trade routes, agriculture is widespread and varied, and the martial arts continue in the form of sword, shield, armour and lance.

Society has begun to flourish since its humble reboot, binding itself to the world around it, learning to farm the prodigious growths of fungi and even domesticating certain species of insect.

Insects are harvested for raw materials. From weaponry to clothing, transport and food, the predacious creatures that have blighted the survivors of an apocalyptic war have become their most important resource.

The Western Kingdoms

After generations of hardship and struggle, the tribes of the west received great aid with the appearance of the the Shyen-Mana; a nomadic sect of erudite telempaths. All records of the ancient past had long been destroyed and the population at large had forgotten even basic facts. The arriving missionaries re-educated them in matters of bipartisan communication and trade, aided the forging of new alliances with other tribes and, most importantly, introducing common laws and customs that would further a fledgling civilisation.

For two hundred years, the priests had pushed westwards from their distant home, braving uncharted lands and crossing steaming oceans, carrying to each newly-discovered tribe news from other lands, and reassuring each that they were not alone in this harsh world. They brought with them unusual goods, new forms of equipment, knowledge of how better to use the flora for clothing, herbs and shrooms but most valuable of all – maps! With their knowledge, forgotten trade routes were rediscovered. Bringing together the rulers and chieftains of the disparate places to assist one another in times of need culminated in the ‘Ancient Treaties’ – bonds of co-operation and unity which remain to this day.

The realms of the Western Kingdoms encompass Scanya, Germania, Franzia, Polskah, Saronne, Ital, Ostra, and Nederberl. The north-western islands of Iyland and Ing have now been claimed by the sea and no longer exist. Espan, a land south of Franzia, failed to recover from the Day of Fire and, despite aid from allied lands, is now home to barbaric tribes scrounging a living within its desolate domain.

– Signs of the Times –
The Calendar Year

A year has twelve months, each lasting five, six-day weeks and is divided into three periods called ‘Times’.  Times mark distinct changes in both human and insect activity, yet these are predominated by annual wet and dry seasons. In addition, an annual meteorological  phenomenon occurs each year that is not considered part of the standard monthly cycle; a period known as the ‘Long Dark’ in which weather and climatic norms are abandoned.

The climate has changed exponentially, presenting greater degrees of extreme weather.  Summers are markedly warmer and humid and even the most northern lands expect tropical storms between harsh winters.

The Time of Hope

The year begins with Hope, where the rigours of the past season begin to ease, the monsoons and tropical storms have mainly passed and the populace looks forward to drier weather.

The Time of Emergence

True to the saying “As winter arrives, so do the guests!”, the months of Emergence allow human activity to, literally, take great strides forward. With insect activity at an all-year low for a few months, traders, gatherers and travellers alike emerge from their residences and take to the road. Caravans transporting raw materials such as clay, metal and other goods set out for destinations far and wide, and building works are begun in earnest. Many in Franzia turn their attentions to Pari, for the grand tourney is held in that estimable city in the sunny days of Dessambre.

This is a busy period for those in the Hunter’s Guild, as they search for otherwise dangerous insects that now rest in a sluggish, diapausal state. As a result, insect lairs are located and cleared for many miles around roads and settlements.

The Time of Trial

The time of Trial is a period of struggle and hardship for many in the Western Kingdoms, as when temperatures and precipitation rise, so does terrestrial insect activity. In addition, the period brings an inundation of rainfall, causing rivers to break their banks and sometimes flooding low-lying areas. Monsoons are expected during early Trial, as humid air blows over the coastal regions and thunderstorms can break out with little warning towards the middle months.

The end of Trial is marked by the ‘Long Dark’ of Darkmun – an annual meteorological aberration wherein the sun is blotted by thick, ashen-grey clouds and only earth-shaking, thunderous lightning storms provide natural illumination. Temperatures and precipitation become wildly erratic, from the hot and humid of mid-season one day to the biting cold and snowstorms of mid-Erdmun the next. A fearsome period indeed.

Honours & Social Advancement

Social status plays an important role in many character’s lives, increasing and maintaining their quality of life and expanding the opportunities for their future advancement. From a minor celebrity in a small village to rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful of some distant court, the advantages that wealth and privilege bring are only limited by one’s ambition. As their words carry ever-more weight, so their influence upon others expands.

Honours are gained for deeds done on behalf of the community or kingdom at large and are awarded by ever-increasing ranks of nobility, from a local baron to the monarchy itself. Acts of heroism are not often unrewarded, be they saving a handful of urchins from a house fire or roach menace, to placing themselves in harm’s way to protect a superior. Notable achievements in many fields of expertise also bring fame and recognition, be they furthering academia or the invention of some new solution to the daily trials the common folk endure. Philanthropic and civic works are highly respected, and those generous with their time or wealth enjoy the plaudits their endeavours bring.

The prized Silver Wing is just one of many honours a person may gain in return for acts of selfless duty.

Insects Great & Small

In the wake of the catastrophic ‘Day of Fire’, the toxins, bio-engineered plagues, and genetic viruses  that mankind used upon itself reaped a terrible harvest. Virtually all life was stricken from existence – leaving only insects to inherit  a poisoned, desolate earth. Bequeathed an environment in which to flourish, they became the dominant presence within only a few hundred years.

Long before the Day of Fire, life on earth was but a shadow of its former state. Outside the laboratory, few species survived the environmental destruction that overpopulation and global warming inevitably brought. The ever-dwindling, increasingly polluted resources were eventually destroyed during the wars fought to claim them. The extinction of many species passed below notice or thought amongst the people. After the apocalypse, the oceans boiled with undersea infernos as the earth split – fissures cracking open the surface of the planet – releasing trillions of tons of poisonous gases. The irradiated atmosphere, long since stripped of natural protection became infused with noxious ash which fell back upon the land in a millennia-long nuclear winter; a grey shroud for a dying world.

But beneath this veil, the embers of life had not completely fallen cold. Below the shrieking winds, other sounds did not completely cease. Once humankind had done away with itself, reduced to mere handfuls of blighted specimens desperately grubbing out a pitiful existence, the rising temperatures and scoured environment created an ideal ecosystem in which simpler lifeforms could not only survive but thrive.

Scuttling from melted rock to crumbling ruin, activity continued apace. Dashing between the sprouting flora of a now alien landscape, the cycle of life began to move a little faster, gaining a burgeoning strength through adaptation, evolving preternaturally due to the causes of the earth’s plight.

Nature has a means of survival and, having endured the toxins and artificial viruses that had lain all else to ruin, the extant life began to harness and incorporate such aggressive poisons as a fuel for growth. Thousands of years before humans had evolved beyond its stunted regression, the insects had risen to take their place within the new world, and they are now its lords and masters.

Evolved from the Devil’s coach horse beetle, the Devil beetle is a 20 feet-long carnivorous horror that roams the wilds alone, ceaselessly hunting prey to feed an immense appetite for destruction.

The Great Insects are the dominant life-forms of the Kytin Age, thriving in an ecosystem to which they are perfectly suited. Whereas humanity has required great adaptation to survive, the jeopardies of the planet have only propelled the insects’ evolution to new heights. Their behaviour has adapted to the new situation remarkably fast; each species has acquired its own niche role, re-occupying long-vacant positions in the food chain. Moreover, their social structures have undergone pronounced adaptation to accommodate their increased size, awareness, and formidable power.

Though the Great Insect Wars of the 1700’s ka somewhat checked their ascendancy in the lands known as the Western Kingdoms, the world remains their dominion.

Each Great Insect foe enjoys a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated description complete with vital statistics, daily and annual activity, weak points, lures and deterrents (if any). The various amounts of meat and armoured body parts which may be harvested from individual specimens make taking the fight to them very profitable for skilled hunters and the survivors of marauding insect menace.

Widowers

In addition to the threat posed by hungry insects are tribes of insectiles known as ‘widowers’. Unlike their civilised cousins, widowers are more insect than man, spawned of infected black widow spiders. They are frighteningly brutal and devoid of empathy. Compelled by their enormous, bloated queens, scores of widowers are driven from their ‘rathnas’ each night in search of fresh blood and victims with which to propagate.

Herbs & Shrooms

Surrounding and penetrating the countries of human population lies another kingdom,  one of abundant riches and countless surprises hidden in plain sight – the kingdom of Plantae.

The flora of the Kytin Age is like nothing seen before. Trees grow beyond 500’ tall, casting miles-long shadows.  The dense and jungle-like forests below may be vast underground grottos, so dark and dismal is the land beneath their vast canopy.

In clearings lit by sun and moon, swathes of giant ferns and lichens grow upon the forest floor, their humid demesne teeming with insects great and small.

Growing abundantly within, and even more so without, the lighted chambers of the woods and forests are the shrooms. More than any other life-form,  fungi flourish in the environment of the new world. From minute fast-growers to enormous decade-old ancients, the number of varied species is immeasurable. The largest specimens grow even taller than trees. It is even rumoured an entire town is built within a particularly gigantic specimen.  Conversely, it is not unheard of that forest travellers, upon waking in the morn, find tiny shrooms have sprung up in their ears overnight!

Though vast acres of land are covered with these sprawling fungi forests, there are miles upon miles of grasslands, heaths and moorlands.  Upon these open stretches lie pastures, plantations and farmland. Wide rivers flow through meadowlands and the cratered earth allows vast lakes to form in once arid regions.

In the scorched badlands, where nothing seems to grow, life continues.  Amongst rocks and rubble, the resilient and hardy shroom can yet be found if one knows where to search.

In all these biomes – forest, grassland, mountain, lake and desert an errant botanist may quench their thirst for discovery and acquire the fruits of the Kytin Age; the incredible herbs and shrooms.