It is 1873, a point of panic in the world at large. The economic downturn known commonly as The Great Depression has just begun it's miserable lifespan. Unemployment drops to an unthinkable number in both America and Europe. This causes the middle class to all but disappear under the weight of such difficult circumstances. Food prices rise. The average income lowers. The working man is unable to sustain a family any larger than four in number without suffering moderate to severe starvation. Within half a decade, the downfall no longer belonged exclusively to America and Europe. It would eventually grow into a world wide phenomenon, affecting every continent, and every country. It would touch the lives of so many.

In the early beginning, the epidemic was not so dire. But as years passed, and attempt after attempt made by the governments of the world to resolve the crashing economy failed, some began taking action into their own hands. Unable to trust in the ability of their governing authorities, those who could not and would not accept their fates any longer would band together and separate themselves from the outside world. Often these groups would consist of small communities of people who had lived in the same town or city. These groups would then remove themselves from their city and travel to the most remote location they could secure out in the wilderness. This idea grew in popularity as no end could be seen in sight.

This event was known as the Separation Migration, which first began to catch fire seventeen years after the Great Depression's beginning. Migrating in this way was strictly illegal as it allowed citizens to live in their country without paying taxes or following its laws. For those who pioneered this endeavor, it was a very dangerous time. They would remain fugitives of their country, for all their lives. The movement became so vast and commonplace that it became apparent the migration could not be stopped. The empires of the world, however, refused to accept this. Without their citizens, there would be a lack of already dwindling resources. Every country attempted their own solutions. Most thought the only answer to prevent the continued loss of its people, was to make an example of the "filthy, UN-loyal migrants" by either driving them out of the country or much worse. It would prove to be a foolish decision, driven by desperation.

The persecution of the migrants pushed them to the very outskirts as far from the authorities as possible. But no matter how far the went, they were always unwelcome, and more importantly, illegal. Naturally, the migrants didn't feel this way. They only wanted peace outside of their now decrepit civilizations, where they could start over. It was this philosophy that drove a man named Edward Garrick to work towards a solution. Edward was sixteen when the depression began in his home country of Denmark, and just like so many others, his family was driven to destitution. His father, Otto Garrick, would become one of the first pioneering migrants.

Four years passed, and his migrant community had not stopped moving for more than a week or two at once since their inception. Denmark was considerably safer than some countries in which to be a migrant. This is to say, execution was not a threat. Imprisonment was however, and to keep from being captured, they would continue to move. Despite their relative escape from the problems of the world, times were still only getting harder. Food became more and more difficult to find in the cold weather of Denmark. But one thing that always remained in supply was fish. Fish was Denmark's main staple, and one of its few sources of consistent food. So Edward's group decided to straddle the coast as they moved. Now, why is Edward so important? Well it turns out he was a very bright fellow, and as he was fishing out on the coast of the Atlantic ocean, he noticed a sort of red, glowing rock on the ocean floor.

Curious, he swam down and managed to break off a small sample. He had discovered what would later be called neptunium, named after Neptune, Greek god of the sea. I could go on to thoroughly explain his fascination in the sciences, but that would simply take too long. What I will say is that his expertise in the use of electricity and mechanics, were extraordinary. The Neptunium he had discovered was glowing as a result of the energy trapped within it.

(To be continued cause I'm tired of typing )

To avoid conflicting with any official lore, I hope to write a series of short stories, each focusing on a different specialist. Any feedback would be much appreciated!

The General stood on the bridge of his flagship, looking out into the murky depths. He could only see a few meters in front of the nose of the submarine; everything else was a mystery to him. In fact, he could be heading straight into the rocks if his orders had steered him wrong. That was fine by him, though. As a rule, he lived his life in the moment. Anything else was irrelevant.
A young man approached from behind, his face illuminated with the blue glow of the shipboard lights.
“What news from the queen, officer?” the General inquired.
“A counterattack has been launched from El-Farolito. One submarine, carrying 40 drillers and an assassin,” came the reply.
“Tell the queen that I strongly recommend we send the Intelligence Officer to Ran to repel the invaders. I will give him orders upon arrival.”
“But sir, the assassin –“
“Did I ask for your opinion, soldier?”
“No, sir.”
“Then get back to your post. I want that message sent back to the queen immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
The General turned back to the viewport with a sigh. The young Navigator was brilliant at his craft, but he still had much to learn of war. The Intelligence Officer was sure to die, yes. But, with the General’s instructions, his sacrifice would surely be enough to hold the key border outpost. There was no use dwelling on such things, and eventually the Navigator would learn to block these things out. The General had high hopes for the young man’s future, and fully expected him to achieve the rank of Admiral before long. In the meantime, however, his lack of determination was an impediment to his career. Once a decision was made, an officer did not question that decision, but saw it through to its conclusion, regardless of the cost.
The submarine continued to hurtle through the icy blackness. Nothing would stop its progress.
They were destined for Tangaroa, a mine near the border of their great empire. It had been a surprise attack, intended to take their former ally off guard. Indeed, the mine was virtually undefended. Why they had decided to attack their ally, however, was beyond the General. He didn’t like to ask questions. It wasn’t his place.
“Status report,” the General said. His voice echoed in the otherwise silent bridge, and he smiled a little to himself, pleased at the authority in his voice.
“Arrival in 2.6 hours, sir. An enemy submarine just appeared on our sonar, headed towards Tangaroa. 15 drillers only, sir,” was the dutiful response.
Yes, he loved this. War was naught but a game of chess, and he was the brave knight. And since the world had begun to use drillers for combat, war was no longer “morally reprehensible,” as some weak-minded politicians had once shouted. The leash of morality had finally been removed, and he was free to pursue his passion without argument.
Dark shapes began to materialize out of the darkness. These were only rock formations, but their arrival showed that the submarine was beginning to descend towards the ocean floor.

“Arrival in 20 minutes, sir. Shall I ready the drillers for assault?”
“Do it. And call up the tactical map.”
“Yes, sir.” The General smiled again. That answer never got old.
The Navigator suddenly looked down at his control panel again. “Sir, a report is in from home.”
“And?”
“Sir, we are ordered to change course and head back the way we –“
“What!”
“Those are the exact words, sir. The transmission goes on to explain that –“
The General dismissed the rest with a wave of his hand. “Change course,” he spat. He didn’t need to know the reasons. All he knew was that he had been mere moments away from the one thing he desired most in the world. He felt like a starving man who had had a plate of food taken away from in front of him. He could almost smell the sweet odor of battle, and had been turned away.
A deep breath in, and a long breath out. Another day, it would come. It was not his place to question authority. He turned and looked out of the rear viewport. The vast mine which was now behind his ship sank back into the darkness. The General was sure that a peace accord had been reached. He winced at the thought, then turned and went back down into his quarters.

Any future additions I'll post in a separate thread (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1392). Don't want to clutter this one up or interrupt the flow of anyone else's writing, if they do it in installments.

Everyone important had been safely moved into the soon to be underwater outposts for thier saftey. People put their faith in thier monarch to protect them from the everlasting flood. Every day the water level rose a few feet higher until it finally ingulfed all the outposts. However the royal families had overlooked one thing. They would not have enough power to run all of thier outposts energy shields. They had a choice to save the lives of thier thousands of citizens or themselves. Obviously the Monarchs chose themselves but as one queen wrote down in her journal "our children shall know if the ends justified the means". Obviously you wouldn't want the world to be run by a bunch of undapper anarchists. But as big of a choice as it was all of the Monarchs saved themselves and thier closest outposts. Years went buy of being unable to communicate with the other royal families and this in the end polarized the Monarchs. They lost all relations with all of the neighbors which led to relations as cold and dark as the water that engulfed them. To be continued...

I am really enjoying writing for this. I played a bit of DnD and I fell into the role the felt the most natural for me wich happened to be the DM. I enjoy writing large overarching plots and schemes that were really interesting. I am really enjoying doing this again. If you are curious about what some of my dnd play was here is a summary. The players start in the large Capitol city of kraven (I know I am not the best with names). They started off with a normal quest that had them save a bit of the town from shades. The duke weasly took note of thier chivalrous acts. He offered them a chance to go and murder a group of revolutionaries in the planes of westerton. However the players soon found out that they didn't want to kill the innocent people so they walked in and did some talking. They found out the duke was a mad man corrupted by some mind flayer artifacts wich he wielded. A staff of telekenisis and a ring of control. These removed the goodness from his heart and he went mad and was obsessed with powerful artifacts to fight of the growing presence of goblins and orcs. But the quest for artifacts soon overshadowed the whole point of the artifacts and he devoted all of his time to the search for artifacts. The heroes learned that the revolutionaries were actualy on the Dukes court but he banished them over petty things such as a lack of hastieness. The players joined the revolution as I planned. The rest of the story involves overthrowing the duke but I don't have enough time to explain the rest. Sorry if this seems a bit out of place for this forum but I couldn't resist the opportunity to share this because I thought the story turned out well. I guess you only know the first part but you can take my word for it. . I forgot why I even wrote this post. Hmm...

Im going to set up a wiki area for this. Much easier to read, store and edit.