From the Tales of the Seer wrote:They say 'we won', like that means anything. Won what? A ruined world. Isn't it wonderful?
The warlords call this the post-human society. To be perfectly honest, humanity picked a fight that they couldn't hope to win. They outnumbered us quite handily. It looked like it might be easy to destroy us. Very few miscalculations in this conflict were greater than that first one.
It started in the Southeastern United States when the state of Alabama expelled all mutants from their borders. The other southern states followed suit, expelling those mutants who would leave and arresting those who refused to go. X-Corp objected, but the United States government declared X-Corp to be persona non grata in their borders and seized the corporation's holdings in US territory. It went downhill from there.
Without X-Corp's overt presence, the persecution picked up speed and people did what people usually do when backed into a corner, they started fighting back. When mutants fought back, it often made for good, if shocking, TV, so the whole world got to see the hellhole that the US rapidly became. Canada and Mexico were next, eaten up in the fever of their influential neighbor. The superhero teams tried to do what they could, but they were just as often having to choose sides and sometimes splitting along the conflict lines in the process.
By the time the insanity hit Europe, not even the conviction of Captain *bloody* America as a terrorist was enough to give people pause and stem the tide into what would eventually become a world wide conflict. The European Union disintegrated, each country trying to handle a riled up mutant population in their own way. Their inaction on the "American problem" had sealed their fate. No concession was enough and heavy handed tactics were met with the strongest opposition.
In a bold move, worthy of the days of the USSR, Russia made a play to pick up the pieces of the disintegrating Union and moved military units into Eastern Europe. They promised sanctuary for all mutants as well as homes and food. They got as far as Berlin before their nationalist super team, the Supreme Six, turned on the country's president and assassinated him in front of a crowd of shocked onlookers.
The losses on both sides were staggering. Mutants and humans alike were displaced on a grand scale. Predictably enough, China held out the longest before sucumbing to the madness. My, admittedly meager, investigations lead me to believe they are the ones who pushed the button first. I don’t know for sure. I was kind of busy at the time.
At least one missile hit the United Kingdom. The resulting environmental damage drove one of my friends insane. She was a weather mutant and intrinsically tied to Mother Nature. The proximity of the damage broke her and she called down the wrath of Gaea herself on London. As the city was rapidly reclaimed by nature, I fought her through the streets and in the air. Why did I not see this coming? The number of visions you get when the end of the world starts can keep you a little busy. Sue me… if you can find a court. I was unable to save London. It just isn’t in my power to undo what she’d done. I did manage to finally bring her down and I’ve looked after her ever since. Her mind has never been the same. I keep trying to repair it but.... enough about that.
Society in the United Kingdom has disintegrated. The island was not prepared to feed the population that still called it home. Those who could escape to the mainland did so. Many of us remained behind for our own reasons. Humans are few and far between now. They didn’t adapt to the changes caused by the bombs as well as we did. I guess we were superior in that regard.
We lost a lot too. Many good people died who should not have. Our response to the crisis was fragmented by ambition and hesitance. I’ve heard that Magneto and Polaris saved New York City from annihilation. New York City made Magneto their ruler, if what that itinerant German teleporter said is true. I’m not sure where Mum and Mom are. They were away when the transportation networks began to collapse. So I scavenge in the ruins of London, fighting the overlap of Alfheim with some crude magics of my own. Bastard opportunistic elves…
The time is about five years from the “present”. The world is in shambles after the human-mutant conflict went nuclear. London wasn't wrecked by a bomb though. An unknown mutant triggered a natural apocalypse with rapid plant growth turning London into a true “urban jungle”. What buildings are still intact were cut off from essential services like power and most of the roadways into town were ripped apart.
Several warlords have tried to claim the ruins, but all so far have died and are buried outside the city limits. Word holds that a mutant calling him or herself the Seer lives in the ruins and that no one will take control of the city without his or her approval. Some mutants do call the ruins home and even seem to be forming a small community, but none has come forward as the Seer.
Big Ben still works for some reason, keeping the time perfectly and chiming as it always has.
Complicating matters for London is that the sudden natural explosion drew Alfheim close to Midgard, allowing raiding parties of elves to cross into the city. This proximity also allows strange, fantastic creatures to enter into Midgard. The sudden shift also woke some of Midgard’s own fantastic beings and sightings of water spirits along the Thames are becoming more common. There’s even rumors of a unicorn in the vicinity of the Lambeth.
The University at Maldon might still be standing, but no one has heard from them since the bombs dropped and no one has ventured there because reality in that area has proven to be treacherous.
In the post-bomb environment, there are two kinds of mutants. “Pre-cat mutants” were exhibiting mutant abilities prior to the bombs. “Post-cat mutants” had their abilities wakened during or shortly after the bombs. Post-cats exhibit a higher incidence of visible physical mutations. Otherwise, how the distinction matters is entirely dependent on the community.
