Nexus Rifts

Nexus Rifts exist in every dimension, across time and space, linking dimensions together. They are areas where the walls of reality between dimensions are thinnest and magical energy seeps through from one world to another.

On N-Day, nuclear weapons were targeted at specific Nexus Rifts around the world. The energy released by the simultaneous nuclear explosions upon these Rifts surged across the ley lines connecting them and tore open the barriers between worlds. The end result was a flood of magical energy and beings from many different dimensions through these tears, called Gates. Over time, the barriers re-formed, but the Nexus Rifts remained. These sites are so thoroughly infused with magical energy that strange phenomena are constantly observed - from gravitational anomalies, to the mutation of living creatures, even infusing objects with dangerous properties. Exploring the Rifts can be profitable for fortune hunters if they can bring out a powerful magical artifact, but these areas are extremely dangerous. One wrong step and you could be torn apart by an anomaly, consumed by a dimensional slime, or transformed into a horror beyond imagination. The geography within the Rifts is always shifting, and some suspect the Rifts are even growing just a bit at a time.

Many people have attempted to use the Nexus Rifts to create permanent Gates to other dimensions, like those that brought the Fae or Dragons to Earthrealm. However, this is neither easy nor safe. It is impossible to know where a Gate will take you. The other side is continually shifting between an infinite number of dimensions. Likewise, it is impossible to guarantee your safe return back to your home dimension. The Gates, once opened, are unstable and may collapse at any moment, leaving you trapped in a strange dimension - as has happened to the numerous 'Travellers' in this world. Scientists have conducted several experiments in the effort to create a stable Gate, but the energy cost is extremely high, and the only beings who have made a safe return have been frogs. Scientists still do not understand why.

Similarly, opening a gate to another dimension means that whatever exists on the other side can cross over here, and may not be nearly as nice as you. Therefore, most of the major governments and corporations of the world contribute to the monitoring of the Nexus Rifts - at least on paper - to ensure there is no rogue group attempting to open up a Gate that may potentially doom the world.

Magic

Magic is the catch-all term for powers and abilities that harness the Nexus Energy that entered this dimension through the Nexus rifts. It allows people to do anything from throw fireballs, to heal injuries, to summon minions in battle. It exists on Earth in detectable energy waves, and also in a concentrated physical form called Nexite that is dangerous and extremely mutagenic. Nexite exists in both liquid and solid states. As a liquid, it flows underground in channels and rivers, and sometimes bursts through the surface in springs or fountains. Solid Nexite takes on a crystalline form. In both states Nexite can be used as a fuel source, and once the first Nexite reactors were built, the world entered a technological boom period.

When Nexite is refined, it is known as bluestone.  Bluestone allows people to channel magic and cast spells. Each piece of bluestone contains a different kind of spell, and a person must have that stone on their person to be able to cast that spell. As a person's magical aptitude improves, they unlock more powerful spells from the bluestone.

Magic and technology work together in the world of Midnight City Chronicles. Magic can power technology and technology can amplify magic. Doctors use spells to treat trauma alongside drugs and surgical procedures, the wealthy can pay for lifebinders to resurrect themselves or their loved ones, and weapons can be slotted with magic ammunition or Nexite crystals to increase their damage.

Magic is divided into four main types, based on the energy signatures emitted by the various spells. Lightwave magic refers to healing/curative, protective, and buff spells that increase a person’s abilities. Darkwave magic refers to spells that curse/weaken, poison, or interact with the dead. Greywave magic refers to more neutral/general spells that can have a wide range of applications, such as general elemental abilities. Psywave magic is a unique strain that powers mental/psychokinetic abilities.

Species

N-Day saw the introduction of many different magical species into the world, adding another element of chaos to the apocalypse. Over time, more magical beings came into the world, either via transportation through Nexus Gates, mutation, transformation, or evolution.

Fae came into the world in large groups on N-Day, allowing them to band together and become a powerful force amid the chaos. Elder Dragons entered the Earthrealm through a nexus rift during the Titan era when their goddess was slain. Vampires originated when their progenitor, Koschei the Deathless, was banished to this world through a Nexus Gate and began to sire the first vampires. Werecreatures, mutants, and giants are all products of various mutations - either magical or scientific. Dragonborn were created through magical means by Dragons. Cyborgs are the result of rampant technological advancement. Lastly, Travellers are less a species and more just a catch-all term for those mystical beings who arrive in this world through a Nexus Gate on their own.

Humans, of course, are still the most populous group on the planet, but they deal with a constant fear that one day the other species may usurp their place; this fear is stoked by corporations and governments in order to manipulate the masses to their will.

For more detailed information on the Species, click here.

Technology + Medicine

Technology in this world is highly advanced but not evenly distributed. Within the megacities of the world all manner of cybernetic limbs, brain implants, gene therapies, nerve splicing, designer drugs, genetically engineered organs, cosmetic surgery, and any other methods of body modification or upgrading are available for the right price. People can become their idealized selves, whether that means they're a walking battle tank of combat cybernetics, or they've ordered the latest trendy new face out of the surgeon's catalogue. In this age of easy surgery, old concepts of race, gender, and even humanity - at least within the cities - have become more or less irrelevant. Enhancements and augmentations are commonplace, from the subtle implants designed to look natural and unassuming, to the extreme such as additional limbs and deliberately robotic looking cybernetics. People in the city often follow the latest trends in body modification, and on the streets it is not uncommon to see people with full-body bioluminescent tattoos, artificial colour-shifting eyes, fang implants, muscle grafts, and more. No one is limited by the way they were born - the only limit is the size of their wallet.

Medical technology is often combined with lightwave magics to boost effectiveness and allow for in-the-field applications, primarily when dealing with physical trauma.

Outside the cities, people survive on what they can scavenge. Some areas still rely on fossil fuels instead of the powerful Nexite reactors of the cities. They use salvaged, out of date cybernetic limbs attached in risky surgeries in makeshift operating rooms. Communication networks are limited, and transportation is unreliable - if not salvaged vehicles, then beasts of burden. The gulf in technology between the megacities and these so-called Stateless Lands is vast, though for the poorest in society, the quality of life may not be all that different.

The Cortex is the evolution of the archaic internet, and is the main global communications network in use for business, entertainment, socialization, criminal activity, and more. The Cortex has a VR interface allowing people to connect to it and interact as digital avatars in virtual spaces, but can be accessed by other means: through regular screens and terminals, through augmented reality devices, and even through direct brain-computer interfaces known as datajacks. The Cortex is dominated by corporations with advertisements plastered everywhere, but hackers and other nefarious types can access a secret, underground part of the Cortex called the "deep core" to conduct their illicit business.

While traditional modes of entertainment like movies, shows, and video games still exist, one of the most popular new entertainment technologies is BLISS (Brain-Link Immersive Sensory Stimulation). These broadcasts are accessed through special devices or computer peripherals that allow the user to feel the full sensory experience of the BLISS star. Rather than watching a movie, the user feels as though they are in the movie. Naturally, BLISScasts about the fabulous lives of the rich and famous are used as an addictive escape from the drudgery of the real world.

For more detailed information on the Cortex,click here.

Corporations

Megacorporations are the true dominant powers in the world. While many nations may claim to have independent governments, the truth is that the corporations dictate policy and pull the strings of the government figureheads. They control culture through their advertisements and propaganda, they control the economy and the resources that drive it, and they control the lives of just about everybody in the world, one way or another. Yet this level of power is not enough for them and they are constantly fighting amongst themselves, either through economic battles, their own private armies and security forces, or through various proxies.

The two most powerful corporations in the world are Gordian-Allod International, based out of Midnight City, and the Halcyon Group, based out of the Halcyon Metropolitan Area.

For more detailed information on the corporations, click here

Religion

Religion has changed drastically over the past 373 years. Though many of the old religions like Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam still exist in some form, these faiths have been shaped by the introduction of magic, mystical beings, and the advances of technology. The rituals and practices of thousands of years ago have shifted, and once mainstream religions have broken apart into many different sects.

New belief systems, religions, and cults have emerged over time. There are cults of Nexus worshippers who believe that N-Day was only a prelude and the magic that changed the world is to prepare it for consumption by eldritch gods beyond human understanding. There are worshippers of the planet whose belief system revolves around using the power of magic to heal and protect the environment. There are also groups of fervent anti-technology and anti-cybernetic zealots derisively called ‘Ludds’ who believe the human body is sacred and humanity should return to a natural state. And there are countless thousands of other religions and beliefs imported by Travellers through the nexus rifts, who cling to them as the last remnants of their home worlds.

Outside of certain theocratic nations, such as the Aurelian Empire, believers are a minority in the megacities, and religion is not seen as an important or valuable facet of daily life by the general populace. The absence of faith is more common than faith itself, and modern society's new gods - drugs, wealth, celebrity idols, violence, technology, and the self - have taken hold of the average person's life where the old gods once dwelled. Yet religion is not entirely dead, and those who feel empty and abandoned by society often fall prey to "wise men" and "gurus" who offer up something to believe in and a place to belong... for a price. In the smaller settlements of the Stateless Lands religion tends to hold a more important place in society - as a support for some, a crutch for others, and a tool of control and manipulation for a powerful few.

Transportation

While standard wheeled vehicles are still the most common mode of transport, VTOL-capable cars, trucks, and APCs are not uncommon especially among security forces. In the megacities, vehicles run on refined Nexite fuel cells, while in the Stateless Lands many have been retrofitted to work off fossil fuels.

In North America a high-speed rail network called the Continental Line, stretching east from Midnight City to the coast and south through the Western Sprawl, facilitates the movement of people and cargo through otherwise inhospitable terrain. Small towns have grown from outposts in the Stateless Lands existing solely to service the railroad.

Major airports in the megacities offer flights on the famous Durendal Aerospace Kingfisher-class supersonic jets. Their advanced Nexite-powered engines and modern design enable them to cross the Pacific ocean in less than 2 hours. These flights are favoured by the globe-trotting rich, while ordinary passenger flights make the Pacific crossing in 6 to 7 hours.

Shenzhou Airlines is the only operator for orbital flights to the space station resorts of Zeal and Pandora, as Shenzhou has the most developed space program in the world. Orbital mining operations exist to harvest metal and minerals from asteroids. The Shenzhou government and Gordian-Allod operate a joint base on the moon for the storage and processing of these mined materials.

Seafaring cargo ships are still in use, but are frequently accosted by pirates and on occasion the Titan known as Leviathan. The Haida peoples and the nations of Great Cedar Island are notable shipbuilders and seafarers, and Haida captains run most of the main shipping routes from Shenzhou and Musashijima to the west coast.