Gilarah93

Well it's been a while, hasn't it? Two years...two whole years since I revealed my plans to make Days Of Dikorus into a book series. Things have been pretty quiet on that publicly, but I think it's time to give a big and proper update.

For one, the "Book" isn't happening. Since my decision to rework DOD from the ground up I've come to realize that the setting isn't set up for a book. It just isn't. Books require a concise and focused plot; a beginning, middle, and end. DOD doesn't have that. I feel that DOD is more a place where stories can be told than a story in itself, an empty sandbox where I can exercise whatever kaiju-centric ideas I come up with. To that end I've come to refer to the project as "The Reboot" instead, which would be more accurate. Thus correctly rebranded, what's been happening with the new and improved DOD?

Honestly...a lot.

=====

On the art end I've been slowly working my way through a roster of kaiju, which includes a lot of classic characters as well as plenty of fresh new faces. This go around I'm drawing mainly kaiju that are important to the setting, as opposed to just making them up at random; after the core material is done I will go back and flesh out the lore with additional monsters. The art quality has..."improved" and, once I get a new computer, I would like to learn how to color digitally. Here's hoping! The character descriptions will also be getting an ovedhaul, adding more information in a clear and concise manner.

As for the worldbuilding...comparing DOD old and new, what a difference there is. Between a lack of a viable computer and being old-fashioned I've been writing all of my stuff down in notebooks, and already I've filled up two and made a pretty good dent in a third! Not to spoil anything, but there's a lot of good stuff here. Everything just...works. It all fits together so well and I'm extremely proud of it. A rich and interesting setting is something I would like DOD to be known for, and so far this is a very promising start.

Writing stories for the new DOD has been perhaps my greatest challenge. I will never claim to be a good writer, but it's the joy and entertainment it brings me that matters, not the quality. Regardless my abilities have improved greatly over what we're seeing in current DOD (really high bar, huh?) and I have already laid out the groundwork for about twenty separate stories...and that's just the main stuff. Even more supplemental content will be added in later, fleshing out the world. I'm currently working through the second story arc, but plans exist to keep going to five, six, or even seven arcs. So much to do, so little time....

So where will this content be? Probably here on DA, or on a website of its own. Not sure yet; I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get to it, see what works best for me. The general plan is to post stories first and relevant content after; Dikorus for example will have his origin story shown first, then his artwork and character description after.

One last thing I feel that needs to be added. Once the Reboot goes live, the current iteration of DOD, the one I'm still posting even now? Gone. Deleted. Removed. Keeping it will only cause confusion and by then frankly I'll be tired of looking at it. I'm sorry if you think this is me being harsh on myself, but it's the truth. My kaijuverse can be better than what it is right now, and I intend to prove it.

=====

Those of you that have stuck it out with me through all these years, I cannot thank you enough. Knowing that this silly thing I do for fun brings joy to anyone but myself fills me with a happiness I cannot easily describe. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!! If you're excited for what the future has in store for Days Of Dikorus, let me know!

I have been keeping this under wraps for a good long while now, but I suppose now's as good a time as any to come clean. I'll try to keep this short.

I am in the early, early, EARLY stages of making Days Of Dikorus into a book series. Everything I've learned in the past ten years about world-building, character development, and story writing will finally come into use...for comparison, everything you've seen from me here on DA is but a trial run. Now I'm playing for real. If even half of what I have planned works out, it's gonna be amazing.

=================================================================

Thing is, I think it can be done. I really do! In my decade of working with DOD I've discovered just how much the setting has to offer, and I think I'd be doing kaiju fans everywhere a disservice if I didn't try to expand on the world as much as I can. Even if the actual "book" part fails and I can't get my work published even digitally, I'll still post it here for all to see. Consider it my little gift for putting up with me all these years.

Story-wise, everything will be far more honed and focused than it is now; as much as I love what I've done with DOD thus far, I will be first to say its foundations are made of sand. Finally - Dikorus will have a reason to be a Defender other than "I said so"! Finally - Sunset Blade will (hopefully) be a believable company! Finally finally finally - the Tyloban Empire will be a fully realized civilization, complete with backstory!! I will be pulling inspiration from all of my sources to make Days Of Dikorus into the fascinating, cool, scary, weird, and above all unique setting I've always wanted it to be...and that list of sources is growing.

But what can we expect from this book series?

For starters, it won't be a series of novels. Actual stories will be a part of it, yes, but each book will be dedicated to a topic, with sections of stories and in-universe information mixed in as needed. Once the setting is fully established in "world books", some novellas will follow for big events like the Human-Tyloban War and the Titanomachy, as well as anthologies for unrelated short stories. There will also be a book dedicated to the DOD bestiary...hopefully fully illustrated.

As for the books themselves, we have so far...:

- Field Guide to Post-Cycle Earth
The introductory book to the setting, featuring Earth itself. Includes info about The Cycle, kaiju, and any other major component of DOD. If I was new to the setting, I'd start here.

- The World Factbook
The main world-building book, featuring a full list of nations both extant and collapsed. Unique locations like the Fire Swamp will get additional coverage.

- Kaiju: Children of The Cycle
Covers the kaiju of the setting in three segments: an introduction; short fiction; and an encyclopedic listing.

- The Tyloban Empire
Covers the mighty Tyloban Empire, their history, culture, and technology.

- Secrets of The Cycle
Covers alien worlds and their Cycles, and their history regarding Tyloban visitation. Includes an extraterrestrial bestiary.

- The Inner Earth
Covers the vast caverns beneath the Earth, their history, and the features unique to each.

- Creatures of Post-Cycle Earth
A bestiary of post-Cycle flora and fauna, presented alphabetically and maybe by continent.

- People of Post-Cycle Earth
Covers the people and organizations of the setting, including Sunset Blade.

- Tales from Post-Cycle Earth
A collection of short stories taking place in the setting. May get multiple volumes.

- The Tyloban Invasion
Covers the Human-Tyloban War in a novella.

- Titanomachy
Covers the Titanomachy in a novella.

- There's more, but no spoilers!

=================================================================

So...there it is. My plans, my hopes, and my dreams for my kaijuverse lain bare for everyone to see. Here's to a bright future for Days Of Dikorus - I'm looking forward to every moment of it.

(Correct title: ATI: The K’iche’ States)


For decades it was believed that no large preindustrial civilization could survive alongside The Cycle. The K’iche’ States – the greatest anthropological discovery of the century – has defied this assumption, for miles beneath the crust of South America their civilization not only survives, but thrives.

=================================================================

Overview:
— Descended from a subgroup of surface-world Mayans, the K’iche’ are a brown-skinned, dark-haired race physically similar to many Central and South American peoples. They reached the depths of Xibalba hundreds of years ago and, in spite of the odds, have developed a thriving civilization that encompasses a territory nearly as large as Brazil. They are the only civilization known to inhabit any World Below cavern.

History:
— Whatever force drove the K’iche’ out of Guatemala and into Xibalba proved too sudden for them to record their histories. In the early 1500s the surface-world K’iche’ were conquered by the armies of conquistador Pedro de Alvardo, an event which many anthropologists believe spurred a massive movement of refugees southward; from there some of the survivors likely came across hidden entrances to Xibalba and, finding no oppressors or competition, they swiftly moved in. How the first K’iche’ interpreted the cavern remains unknown, though if they had any spiritual or practical reservations about it they no longer hold them.

Society:
— The K’iche’ people have no centralized government. Each settlement or “state” governs itself and maintains close cultural and economic ties with its nearest sister states. States are loosely defined, with some being large cities home to tens of thousands of people; most are smaller villages of a hundred or less that farm, hunt, and fish to support themselves. Even smaller groups are found all throughout Xibalba, including nomadic bands of hunters, trade caravans that move goods between states, and wandering priests who travel the land to perform weddings, funerary rites, and other spiritual duties.

As a state grows larger, social stratification becomes more apparent. The smaller states are more evenly distributed when it comes to power, with all adult residents offering their thoughts and opinions to a leader figure, typically an experienced elder. The larger city-states are more typical of ancient Mayan societies, with a ruling king and royal court, a well-off middle class, and a poorer lower class that makes up the bulk of the population. The king of a state holds a semi-divine status and is often associated with gods of wealth and fertility; K’iche’ kings are all identified with the same god/s, though they have no problem with the idea of a single god manifesting as multiple kings. Alongside the king and queen is the royal court, which is made up of high-ranking military leaders, merchants, nobles, and priests that can afford their own temples. The middle class is home to skilled artisans, lower-ranking (travelling) priests, merchants and traders, prestigious hunters, entertainers, and warriors. The lower class includes farmers, servants, laborers, slaves, and the majority of hunters and fishers.

There is no defined K’iche’ currency. A wide variety of valued items are used as money when K’iche’ make purchases, including cocoa beans, polished stones, salt, honey, chert, colorful shells, and bird and dinosaur feathers; more expensive purchases are made with gold, silver, gemstones, slaves, and copper. The value of most of these items is fluid and tends to vary with location.

While the K’iche’ claim a vast amount of territory, they are by no means in control of it. Xibalba is still home to massive herds of game, huge predators, and other hazards that hundreds of years of cohabitation and human innovation have done nothing to diminish, so the K’iche’ are in constant danger once they leave the safety of the larger city-states. Their major roads are patrolled by warriors dispatched from the larger states, performing double duty as they both clear away obstacles and keep travelers safe from wild animals and bandits.

Culture:
— The K’iche’ are an artful and creative people. Being surrounded by so much natural beauty and peril, much of their artwork is inspired by Xibalba itself and the creatures that inhabit it; sculpture, gardening, rock carving, scrimshaw, painting, and even a form of taxidermy are common recreational practices in the larger states, and the smaller settlements are not devoid of artistic expression either. Many families display the artwork of even their youngest members proudly.

Sports are few but popular among the K’iche’, with the most beloved being a ballgame where wooden paddles, bats, and the players’ hips are used to keep a hollow rubber ball in play. The game is played by two teams of five, and the goal is to knock the ball into the opponent’s stone hoop that protrudes from the walls of the ballcourt. The ball is made by pouring liquid rubber over a smoothed stone, left to cool, and then broken in half and resealed without the stone inside, resulting in a light and hollow ball that’s safe for players to use. This game bears many similarities to the long-lost Mesoamerican ballgame of the surface world, but has since diverged into its own unique sport.

Unlike other Mayan groups, the K’iche’ have developed close relationships with animals, be they for commerce, war, or entertainment. Save for the pugnacious toxodon, the large notoungulate mammals of Xibalba as well as its dinosaurs have all been domesticated by the K’iche’, pulling plows through fields and carrying goods in trade caravans. Small birds and pterosaurs are trained by the royal court to carry messages between states; zipacnas (giant caimans) are kept almost as pets in the City of the Sun, drifting through the canals to be fed by passersby before heading back out to the river. Some of the braver priests keep jaguars as status symbols and temple guardians. The most affluent merchants buy enormous brontosaurs as pack animals, using them to carry shiploads of cargo overland. Scouts ride astride Xibalban llamas and warriors are seated upon predatory dinosaurs clad in ornate armor, though some prefer travelling light with a hunting pack of monai to keep bandits off the roads. The K’iche’ even have their own native dog breed – a midsized, dark-skinned, and mostly hairless animal akin to the xoloitzcuintli of Mexico.

The K’iche’ people speak and write their own unique language, K’iche’.

Beliefs:
— Like the Mayans that came before them, the K’iche’ have a rich system of spiritual and religious beliefs. They have an immense respect for nature: the K’iche’ believe that the natural world cannot be controlled or tamed, but when they live in harmony with the wild they are made stronger for the experience. This reverence shows most profoundly in their states, in which even the largest and most urbanized are lush with decorative vegetation and fruiting trees available to all residents.

K’iche’ priests look to the Xibalban sky – its rocky ceiling – to portend the future, reading the shifting lights of the luminous bacteria that light the cavern in order to foretell events, bestow blessings, and interpret the will of the gods. Many of the classic Mayan pantheon is present among the K’iche’, though some have been visually influenced by the strange animals that inhabit Xibalba; the “hero twin” Xbalanque is depicted with traits of both jaguars and the Xibalban smilodon, while the earthquake god Cabrakan is often shown riding astride (or with the legs of) a brontosaur.

The K’iche’ are notable for owning a complete text of the Popol Vul, the Mayan creation story. The text is still being translated.

Technology:
— While the K’iche’ are technically still a Stone Age civilization, they have advanced greatly in other ways.

Their time spent in tropical Xibalba has made the K’iche’ masters of water. They utilize counterweights, draft animals, and the principles of water displacement to move heavy loads; the K’iche’ have dug out great canals to move ships between bodies of water, and they have even devised a system in which they drag and lash cargo ships onto the backs of submerged brontosaurs, which then leave the water with the ships in tow. The larger states have working plumbing and a fully functioning sewage system, and water mills are used to grind up crops from the fields. Even the smallest settlements collect rainwater in vats for drinking and other purposes.

The agricultural practices of the K’iche’ are equally impressive. Mindful of the land and its resources, K’iche’ use terraced fields to minimize land usage and rotate between fields to ensure no one field is ever depleted of nutrients. One of their favored crops is the rubber tree, from which they create a wide array of rubber-based products. The K’iche’ are also skilled at mineral usage and mining, allowing them to exploit rich ore seams and mold, shape, and bake bricks from clay. Metallurgy is an important but relatively rare skill used mainly to forge decorative pieces, armor, and structural supports for the larger buildings.

Architecture and Attire:
— K’iche’ architecture is similar to that of surface-world Mayans, but has since diverged into its own unique styling. Their stone- and brickwork is almost mathematical in its precision, overcoming all but the roughest terrain as it spreads through the jungles and plains; much of their buildings are just roofs supported by columns, and only occasionally are actual walls constructed. Isolated totems and shrines are scattered throughout the jungle as way markers and religious sites. K’iche’ architecture incorporates intricate patterns and carvings of ideas and events, and many structures sport life-size carvings of Xibalban beasts in the traditional Mayan style. Gemstones and plates of precious metal are often hammered into the sides of important structures; the City of the Sun’s temples, for instance, are clad almost entirely in silver and gold paneling that gleams with the light of the ceiling above.

Geometric designs, feathers, shining stones, gold, and bright colors suggestive of nature and vitality are all common aspects in K’iche’ décor. In their day-to-day life K’iche’ dress simply and comfortably to suit their tropical cavern home, but on holidays and other special occasions even the plainest peasant can be found wearing some seriously extravagant attire.

The City of the Sun:
— The City of the Sun is the largest and most populous K’iche’ State. The closest thing the K’iche’ have to a capital, the City is built up against a colossal stalagmite that reaches so high into Xibalba’s skies that its apex is permanently clouded in mist; a large river cuts through the surrounding plains and marshes, providing the K’iche’ with potable water and a power source for the great water wheels that dominate the landscape outside the City’s walls. The river splits off in places to thread through the City, flowing into canals and under ornate stone bridges before filtering into the fields and farmlands that encircle the state. All but the poorest K’iche’ live above the ground in stacks of stone lodges carved into the stalagmite, and despite the population reaching well over ten thousand there’s plenty of room left for expansion.

The City of the Sun is unique for its high priest’s ability to accurately track solar movements, despite the City being several miles belowground. Some believe there is a great tunnel carved inside the huge stalagmite that the City was built into, allowing the priest or her servants to observe the surface from an isolated location. If such a tunnel exists it has not yet been found: the high priest is very protective of her secrets.

Once per season (as determined by the flowering of plants within sacred gardens) a council of kings gathers from all across K’iche’ territory to share information, debate important matters, and make big announcements. This get-together is marked by a huge festival to which all K’iche’ are invited, and includes feasts, ceremonial ball games, and parades of incredible splendor that wind through the streets.

Notable Locales:
— The K’iche’ claim a vast territory, and within that territory are many noteworthy locations.

Roughly twenty miles from the City of the Sun is a large but otherwise unassuming cave. Inhabited by several species of bats (some of them endemic to Xibalba) and the teeming swarms of invertebrates that feed on their guano, the cave is known to the K’iche’ as the “Bat House” and is viewed with much fear. All exploration there has been conducted via aerial drone, as all foot travel to the Bat House is forbidden. The K’iche’ claim adamantly that “the devil” sleeps there, but what exactly this “devil” is remains a mystery to outsiders.

The K’iche’ have to be getting their gold from somewhere. Geologists, treasure hunters, and prospectors all over post-Cycle Earth have shown great interest in the K’iche’, as their stories seem to indicate that their mines are dug into a mountain made up almost entirely of gold. These stories match the legend of El Dorado well enough to spur many an expedition – some legal, most not – into the depths of Xibalba to find it.

Cultural Interactions:
— The K’iche’ were discovered on December 13th, 2016 by famed British explorer Percival “Percy” Griffin, who was leading an expedition into Xibalba in search of biopharmaceuticals. The initial encounter was a surprise for both parties and it may’ve ended in tragedy had it not been for two of the expedition’s porters (themselves of surface-world Mayan descent), who stepped up and bridged the language gap well enough to diffuse hostilities. There has been a steady stream of anthropologists, archeologists, and other academics heading into Xibalba ever since, with most stopping off at the City of the Sun to study the K’iche’ at their most complex. The K’iche’ do not seem to mind the attention they’ve been getting and are more than happy to share their homes with their guests, and many young men now make a living as guides for surface-world expeditions. Stringent efforts have been made to keep the K’iche’ lifestyle unspoiled and unaltered, but already more than a few of these noble people have been spotted eating candy bars and trading their goods for cartons of cigarettes.

A group of miscellaneous topics in the Days Of Dikorus expansion “After The Impact” that I think are worth a mention. This Journal is pretty much a grab-bag of anything in ATI I want to talk about, so expect topical discontinuities!


=================================================================

Ashlands:
— The Ashlands is a mysterious (and inaccurately named) region located in the northwestern corner of Mexico. Strange and forbidding, this is a labyrinth of plateaus that are capped in sandy deserts typical of the region, while winding between them are interconnected valleys, tunnels, and paths that are shrouded in clouds of dust, leaving the ground below in a permanently overcast state. The Ashlands were created by a localized volcanic upwelling, which manifests on the surface as fumaroles that can grow as large as buildings, constantly pumping out steam and a strange blue-gray dust that coats everything in the valleys and gives the Ashlands its distinctive color; the composition of this dust matches no rock or mineral yet known to science.

From above the region looks like a dried and cracked lakebed in the height of drought, its barren sands crisscrossed with veins of floating dust. From the valleys the picture is much different: a dark, ominous place where the sun rarely if ever shines; its skies are a permanent deep gray and crackle with static electricity, while its rough terrain is inundated with blue-gray dust and scoured by harsh, sudden winds. Luminous algae live in the Ashland’s few lakes, tinting the waters a nauseating shade of green, while the dangling fruits of the region’s alien vegetation glow with a similar light. Save for the rumble of thunder and an occasional tremor, the Ashlands are unnaturally silent. It is all too easy to get lost in this shadowy maze, and to the untrained eye the often bizarre rock formations found here all look pretty much the same, making navigation extremely difficult. Nevertheless many explorers have come here in search of the Ashland’s geological secrets, seeking the source of its strange – and perhaps profitable – dust.

El Dorado:
— El Dorado (“The Golden One”) is something of a legend in the stalker community. It is described as being a gigantic cone volcano in South America that, as the name suggests, ejects and is largely made up of pure gold, tainting the skies around it with glimmering dust particles. While gold deposits are indeed often associated with volcanic activity, the idea that an entire volcano could be made of gold seems rather far-fetched, and yet the legend refuses to die, the reason/s for its lack of discovery changing with every teller. Some say that its summit is cloaked in jungle vegetation and impossible to see from the air; others claim that its existence is erased from all maps by a multinational conspiracy that seeks to strip-mine the volcano before anyone else finds it; and others still say that it is hidden belowground in Xibalba, the largest World Below cavern in South America.

Free Vladivostok Movement (FVM):
— The Free Vladivostok Movement is a growing political movement in the eastern reaches of Russia. Calling for the secession of the eastern half of the country from the west, the FVM was formed after the cataclysmic end result of the Titanomachy, which saw a Tyloban habitation ship larger than the state of Connecticut crash-land in the middle of Russia; mass fleeing of refugees, soured foreign relations, and an economic roller-coaster followed shortly after, leaving Russia a mere shadow of its former self. As a result of the west largely ignoring the plights of the east, activists in Vladivostok and other cities have demanded to be allowed to secede and found their own nation, the Republic of Vladivostok. Formal appeals have been made to the UN on multiple occasions, and the issue continues to divide the Russian people to this day.

Île de Marais:
— Île de Marais (“Swamp Island” in French) is a mid-sized island that sits just off the coast of Louisiana, and is a part of the deadly Fire Swamp. Covered in dense swamp forest and permeated by wide and sluggish rivers, the island is home to both people and a wide variety of wildlife, including one of the largest populations of cories in the Gulf Coast. Île de Marais is most notable for one of its nameless communities, which has somehow managed to bolt their homes to the backs of a herd of common behemoths, using the barge-like beasts as living transports; the island is also noteworthy as the home of bestselling nonfiction writer Jacob Lafitte.

Kitezh:
— Kitezh is a floating community of miners and salvagers inhabiting Lake Baikal in eastern Russia. Named (perhaps facetiously) after a mythical sunken city in Russian folklore, the community was a result of the Tyloban ship that crashed just to the north at the Titanomachy’s climax, leaving some of its debris to tumble into the lake’s depths; with the economic instability that followed, many of Russia’s more rural populations began migrating to find better work, some of them finding it as salvagers dredging the lake in search of valuable Tyloban materials.

The community of Kitezh is a tangled mess of ancient boats, creaking piers, and barnacled, multi-layered catwalks and decks, buoyed by empty oil drums and tied together via rope and chain. Crusty seadogs work its many cranes, while divers in crude attire plumb the lake’s black depths and wrap up salvage in nets and winches, tugging to alert the crane operators above that a catch has been made. Seaplanes service Kitezh night and day, bringing in supplies and hauling out the latest finds while also acting as spotters from the air, leading to the discovery of even more salvage. Kitezh is fully mobile and can be relocated (albeit slowly) to new sites of interest.

Ideologically, Kitezh is known to be one of the strongholds for the Free Vladivostok Movement, and it is there that the movement is believed by many to have gotten its start.

Lake Parime:
— Lake Parime (named after the lake where the mythic city of El Dorado was supposedly founded) is an underground sea that stretches in fits and spurts throughout Mexico, but is at its largest along the western coast, adjacent to the Humboldt Sea. A sunless sea rich in strange life and towering salt monoliths, its walls encrusted with giant bivalves, Lake Parime is rumored to be home to rare minerals and gems as well as harboring hidden sunken labyrinths and hibernating SGOs as-of-yet undiscovered; some even claim it contains the home base of the Federación, a notorious union of island-hopping pirates and mainland cartels that prowls all along the Pacific coast, only to disappear when the authorities arrive. A number of crude naval mines found chained around the seas’ entrances seems to confirm the Federación’s presence.

Scramble for Antarctica:
— The so-called “Scramble for Antarctica” is a exploration campaign being waged in the frozen bowels of the South Pole by at least ten different nations, among them the USA, Russia, China, France, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. Recent developments in non-intrusive salvaging technologies as well as advancements made on the back of salvaged Tyloban tech (some of which has also landed in Antarctica) has allowed for the White Continent to be exploited with minimal risk to the land or its ecology. Still, the continent is off-limits to such activities on paper and in the public’s eye, which has forced the nations involved to quietly defy treaties and take part in deceit, espionage, and sabotage to both assist their allies and undermine their enemies.

Antarctica itself, however, seems to want no part of this and almost appears to be fighting back against the invaders. Between the freezing climate, horrendous weather, unpleasant wildlife of Vostok Prime, and each other, the nations involved in the Scramble certainly have their work cut out for them. That’s not even taking into consideration the “mysterious disappearances”….

Sögwen’s Spine:
— Sögwen’s Spine is a newly-formed volcanic mountain chain in Canada, bordering the western edge of the Hudson Bay. The Spine isn’t exceptional in terms of its size (not yet), but rather for being made up of Earth’s first recorded cryovolcanoes. The rugged slopes of Sögwen’s Spine see the regular passage of freezing ice floes, deadly blizzards and hailstorms, dense fog banks, and even the formation of fast-moving glaciers that scour its rough sides glassy and smooth…at least until the next seismic shift. The range continues to grow in size to this day.

The regular upheavals of the range lead to large amounts of deep-earth minerals being exposed, making the Spine an invaluable place for geologists and prospectors alike. It is also home to a number of Skrag tribes who, depending on the attitudes of their chiefs, may welcome outsiders either with trade or raised spears.

Sri Lanka:
— Sri Lanka (known locally as Haritāgāra, Sinhala for “greenhouse”) is a collapsed nation that exists not far off the southeastern coast of India. Once a thriving nation rich in culture and natural beauty, all that was swept away come the end of the Titanomachy, when an escape pod belonging to the downed Tyloban habitation ship crash-landed on the island, freeing its alien cargo. The cargo, a selection of alien flora evidently unique in the Empire’s collection, proved virulent enough to take over the island within weeks of its arrival, transforming Sri Lanka into a tangled jungle of vegetation seen nowhere else on post-Cycle Earth.

The coast of old Sri Lanka is surrounded by several protruding rock formations, each occupied by a thousand-eyed living lighthouse that emits bright lights and foghorn-like bellows to lure in its prey; these are in fact the sessile females of a species found deeper in the island, represented there by a fairly small flying male. The jungle itself is a twisting, ambulatory, green nightmare unmatched by any other place on Earth, and in this jungle everything in it seems to be eating everything else. There are no mammals left and very few birds and reptiles remain, leaving insects the largest animals for much of the island. Satellite reconnaissance indicates that the only remaining site of human habitation is atop Sigiriya (Lion Rock) in the center of the island, a last bastion that has seen several rescue attempts by the Indian Coast Guard…all of which have failed.

The one saving grace of nations beyond Sri Lanka is that many of the plants living there are, for whatever reason, highly intolerant of saltwater, restricting them to the land. There are, however, rumors of some flying species migrating to the jungles of India and old Bangladesh, and where they go they may very well be carrying the seeds of other species with them….

The Inland Sea:
— The “inland sea” is a large body of water located in west-central Russia, formerly the site of the Kara Sea. Larger than its predecessor by nearly double, this unnamed sea is one of the coldest on post-Cycle Earth, despite its depths being warmed by mineral-rich geothermal springs. The inland sea is rich in mineral resources as well as fish stocks, but sees relatively few human visitors due to its remote location and hostile climate; Skrag instead have come to dominate the region, with some of the largest tribes in the northern hemisphere being found here. Also inhabiting the sea is a wide variety of plant and animal life, including a species of alien flora that thrives in the cold climate by using the salty water as an energy source.

Titanomachy:
— The Titanomachy was an intense, kaiju-borne global conflict that ranged roughly from mid-June 2015 to September 24th, 2015. An overview of the conflict is as follows:

A psionic kaiju, later known as Diaborus, sought to reclaim the world for kaiju-kind and somehow make The Cycle permanent, but to do so he had to eliminate the human threat. By luring susceptible humans into atom bogs over many years, he created millions of half-human, half-kaiju “myrmidons” with the use of his own blood, later setting them upon the world as he rallied the world’s kaiju against their human captors. With kaiju running amok and his loyal army marching into countless cities worldwide, Diaborus found it easy to reach Hong Kong as he searched for Goro Ukusagami, CEO of Sunset Blade, to make an example out of him.

Fearing their own people may be at risk from the myrmidon scourge, the Tyloban Empire decided to fight back against the “Horned Horde”, defending their capital from kaiju attack as well as sending in Skrag troops to fight on the side of humanity. Battles raged all over the planet as the Horde asserted itself, forcing much of humanity into hiding as kaiju clashed over territory and allegiance. Kaiju allies of Diaborus began converging on Hong Kong, though some like Indrike were intercepted and defeated – in his case, by champions of the Tyloban Empire – before they could arrive and stand at Diaborus’ side. Saurocyde and Nalhest, both escapees of Sunset Blade, made it to the city and went after Goro only to be halted and defeated by Genocyde, who’d remained loyal to Sunset Blade.

In time Dikorus ventured over from North America and into Hong Kong, soon coming into conflict with Diaborus, only to be defeated. On orders from the Tyloban Emperor, Cyberanha came to the city and fought Diaborus, aiming to cut the head off the snake, but he too was defeated by a swarm of myrmidons. Dikorus recovered and fought Diaborus a second time, while Cyberanha called in a Tyloban ship to drop a Glasscaster and annihilate the Horde, taking them and the city with it. Fearing a second Tyloban invasion attempt, the Chinese military intervened, crippling the Tyloban ship just after its Glasscaster killed both Diaborus and Dikorus; the psionic backlash killed much of the Horned Horde. The ship floundered and, after ejecting numerous escape pods (some of which the Chinese shot down), it eventually crashed in the middle of Russia, killing everyone still trapped aboard. It was nearly a week later that the survivors of the conflict began to rebuild.

The conflict proved to be the deadliest and most destructive since the Human-Tyloban War of the 1970s, and opened humanity’s eyes to threats which until then it had no idea existed. Many kaiju lay dead, including the majority of Defenders. With Diaborus’ death came the death of much of the Horde, though a few scattered populations still survive in remote corners of the world. The Tylobans were left weakened and demoralized, and have since been largely inactive.

Trans-African Railway:
— The Trans-African Railway is an multinational road project and, by current projections, is slated to be the most expensive public works project in Africa’s history. Stretching from southern Spain, across the Strait of Gibraltar, through Morocco, and southward along the western coast to Cape Town in South Africa, the Railway is meant to service the growing economies of the West African Republic’s member states; it is currently planned to support four civilian and shipping rail lines, a number of passenger stations and intermodal loading docks, and an eight-lane superhighway that runs in between. Construction started in 2010 and, with cooperation from over a dozen nations, is slated to be completed by 2018.