Jun 15, 2025 3:57 am
476 AD: after decades of fighting shamons and the mystery cults who summoned and dealt with them, the Western Roman Empire finally falls. The following centuries were dark ones, where European people struggled to survive in the harsh and shamon-filled lands.
800: Charlemagne is crowned Emperor of The Romans, he spends his life in an effort to unite Central Europe and make it safe and prosperous; his efforts yielded great results, his lineage among the most prestigious ones. During his life, he kept close relations with the Byzantine Empress Irene and Al-Mansur, founder of Bagdad; they formed the first Holy Pact against the shamon threat.
1096: the crusade is called to defend the Eastern borders of the Byzantine Empire from the shamon hordes, it's victorious.
12-14th centuries: Europe is blighted by the appearance of many strange sects linked to the shamons, similar to those that ended the Roman Empire; A great hoard starts forming, centered on France, bringing plague and destruction. Among the heroes who battled them, stood St. Joan d'Arc, becoming a model of bravery against the forces of darkness.
1450s: A huge rift (from where shamons come from) opened on the Black Sea, devastating everything from its eastern margin to the Volga river and Asia Minor. The western margin was bravely defended by Count Vlad Dracula in the north and Emperor Constantine IX in the south, on the now heavily reinforced Constantinople by most of the western powers; even then, they barely won the war, later known as the Demon-Sea War.
Renaissance (15th-16th century): alarmed by almost facing total annihilation, this age was marked by humanity's effort on progress, fueled by the desire to get stronger against the shamon threat. The art of mysticism saw great advancement, along with technology.
Christopher Columbus, inspired by the mystic called Pierre d'Aily, who divined that great assistance against the shamons could be found on an island empire on the far east, set sail on the Atlantic sea. At the end of the 15th century, he discovered land, but unfortunately not what they were looking for.
1540s: only some 60 years later, in a Portuguese voyage lead by the mystic St. Francis Xavier, did they found the prophesized land, Japan. That foreign kingdom was currently being ravaged by a shamon hoard; with the adventurer's direct help, specially with the introduction of firearms, they were able to defeat the monsters. The mystic who lead the voyage later noted how this seemed to be the land foretold decades earlier, that people had very advanced mystic arts of their own, rivalling the western ones, and their ingenuity was tested as they quickly reverse-engineered the matchlocks and fabricated an incredible arsenal of their own just as quickly. Besides that, they had an unique deposit of tamashishi, a rare ore that would later prove to be of great importance.
The Japanese kept good relations with the European powers since, specially with the Portuguese and later the French.
17th century, the Great Demon War: this century was marked by a war of apocalyptic proportions inside the borders of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany); armies and mystics from all of Europe, and with even assistance from Japan, united to fend-off the horde, formalized as the Second Holy Pact. It result in the loss of half the Empire's population and a general war exhaustion of the powers.
In contrast, the following hundred years were of peace and prosperity, shamons seemed to halt in their advance.
Late 18th and early 19th century: France suffered once again at the shamon menace, with the first great invasion since the Great Demon War more than a century early. The desolate France endured devastation for years, until the year of 1802, where the two royal princesses, Marie-Therese Charlotte and Sophie Helene Beatrice, only 22 and 14 years old respectively, fought until martyrdom to save their people. Rumors spread that they wore special tamashishi-powered armors, which greatly increased their power and allowed their victory, which would come from them overexerting themselves.
Again, the rest of the 19th century was of peace and prosperity, nicknamed as the 'Belle Époque'; but fear was quietly cultivating on those who still remembered history, apprehended that this was just the calm before the storm.
1914: The terrible year of 1914, where the Second Great Demon War started. For the first time, the invasion didn't concentrated on a single place, but the non-stopping hordes coming from the rifts on the Black Sea and North Atlantic instead invaded everywhere. A Third Holy Pact was sworn by the world's powers to defend against the threat.
The sanguinary conflict cost many lives. In Japan, the Imperial Capital of Tokyo suffered immense devastation by the shamon army.
1918: Humanity finally, after much suffering, turned the table. In Japan, Empress Kiyomoto heroically died to save the Imperial Capital and the nation; a demise not too different than that of the two French princesses a century earlier, and even with similar rumors behind it. Her younger sister, Empress Shirayuri, at the age of 12, inherited the throne, starting the Zuiwa era.
On the western front, quick technological development, aided by the Japanese, and with the help of 3 great and young Portuguese mystics, the war was won too.
1923, 5th Year of Zuiwa: The current times; the world's powers are militarily exhausted, while their populations focus on the almost finished reconstruction projects, things seem well and hopeful. But kept secret from the general populace, with the aim to avoid alarmism and despair, shamon activity in the world seem to be increasing again, much faster than the hundred-year old intervals from previously.
Because of that, the Japanese Empire military started the Steel Petal project, to protect the glorious Imperial Capital and rest of the nation!
Main world powers:
Japan: a world power to rival any other; its technological development and industry are unmatched, currently sporting the greatest navy of the whole world. After the Second Great Demon War, it turned its eyes inward, focusing on reconstructing its capital and increasing the prosperity of its people, trying to avoid the most any feeling of discomfort brought by the tragic war. The nation is still mostly a rural one, with feel cities which themselves are dwarfed by most European capitals, but their growth-rate is astonishing.
Holy Roman Empire: the Central European power; this ancient decentralized State have a rich history of many heroes and also it's fair share of tragedy. It currently holds most of the Germanic lands, it's South frontier being the Austrian archduchy, the current seat of the Emperor, while it's eastern frontier borders Poland, and it opens to the Baltic Sea up north. An industrial powerhouse, some may say it's metallurgy is superior to the Japanese. Its a heavily urbanized country with an intricate railroad system and one of the strongest land-armies.
Spain & Portugal: both Iberic kingdoms have been relatively unscathed by the latest conflicts, many praising them as blessed lands for how safe they are. Both are the strongest players in colonial enterprises, specially for Spain, who holds most of South and Central America's land, while Portugal holds many colonies in Africa and Asia. Losing their greatest colony of Brazil did hit its power status though, and currently it prospers mostly by international trade, using it's centuries' old good relations with Japan and it's successions of colonies around the world to dominate sea trade-routes.
France: the kingdom of France, as it's bordering brother, the HRE, has many great heroes to be proud of. Currently, its focused on reconstruction effort from the last conflicts, while most of its revenue come's from it's colonies in Africa and Asia, along with it's exquisite textile industry and its consolidated banking sector.
Italian States: in this timeline, Italy was never unified, mostly filled with city-states. The Serene Republic of Venice still controls most of the trade on the Mediterranean. the Papal States are the biggest player in here, controlling most of Central Italy, being the world's greatest trainer of mystics. Sicily on South Italy remains as a mostly underdeveloped idyllic countryside, similar to the Iberic lands.
Brazil: the Empire of Brazil is barely a hundred years old, being considered a 'young' nation. Its land is rich with natural resources and its soil incredibly fertile, the Brazilian people enjoy mostly a peaceful and plentiful existence. That being said, it enjoys many talented mystics and inventors among its people, being the cradle of such great inventions as the radio and the airplane. It enjoys amiable relations with Japan, inherited from its mother-nation. The recent discovery of what seem like tamashishi deposits in its territory caused quite the ruckus among the international community.
Russia: The Russians were on the short end of the stick throughout most of history. With the Black Sea rift opening on their faces, they spent a large part of the last centuries fighting to survive, at times disconnected from the European Mainland. As a result, Russia is a mostly rural and underdeveloped country, with current Czar striving to change that, and bring the nation to the front of the world-theater. On its eastern frontier of Siberia, it kept difficult relations with Japan on the past, as for the control of these lands.
800: Charlemagne is crowned Emperor of The Romans, he spends his life in an effort to unite Central Europe and make it safe and prosperous; his efforts yielded great results, his lineage among the most prestigious ones. During his life, he kept close relations with the Byzantine Empress Irene and Al-Mansur, founder of Bagdad; they formed the first Holy Pact against the shamon threat.
1096: the crusade is called to defend the Eastern borders of the Byzantine Empire from the shamon hordes, it's victorious.
12-14th centuries: Europe is blighted by the appearance of many strange sects linked to the shamons, similar to those that ended the Roman Empire; A great hoard starts forming, centered on France, bringing plague and destruction. Among the heroes who battled them, stood St. Joan d'Arc, becoming a model of bravery against the forces of darkness.
1450s: A huge rift (from where shamons come from) opened on the Black Sea, devastating everything from its eastern margin to the Volga river and Asia Minor. The western margin was bravely defended by Count Vlad Dracula in the north and Emperor Constantine IX in the south, on the now heavily reinforced Constantinople by most of the western powers; even then, they barely won the war, later known as the Demon-Sea War.
Renaissance (15th-16th century): alarmed by almost facing total annihilation, this age was marked by humanity's effort on progress, fueled by the desire to get stronger against the shamon threat. The art of mysticism saw great advancement, along with technology.
Christopher Columbus, inspired by the mystic called Pierre d'Aily, who divined that great assistance against the shamons could be found on an island empire on the far east, set sail on the Atlantic sea. At the end of the 15th century, he discovered land, but unfortunately not what they were looking for.
1540s: only some 60 years later, in a Portuguese voyage lead by the mystic St. Francis Xavier, did they found the prophesized land, Japan. That foreign kingdom was currently being ravaged by a shamon hoard; with the adventurer's direct help, specially with the introduction of firearms, they were able to defeat the monsters. The mystic who lead the voyage later noted how this seemed to be the land foretold decades earlier, that people had very advanced mystic arts of their own, rivalling the western ones, and their ingenuity was tested as they quickly reverse-engineered the matchlocks and fabricated an incredible arsenal of their own just as quickly. Besides that, they had an unique deposit of tamashishi, a rare ore that would later prove to be of great importance.
The Japanese kept good relations with the European powers since, specially with the Portuguese and later the French.
17th century, the Great Demon War: this century was marked by a war of apocalyptic proportions inside the borders of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany); armies and mystics from all of Europe, and with even assistance from Japan, united to fend-off the horde, formalized as the Second Holy Pact. It result in the loss of half the Empire's population and a general war exhaustion of the powers.
In contrast, the following hundred years were of peace and prosperity, shamons seemed to halt in their advance.
Late 18th and early 19th century: France suffered once again at the shamon menace, with the first great invasion since the Great Demon War more than a century early. The desolate France endured devastation for years, until the year of 1802, where the two royal princesses, Marie-Therese Charlotte and Sophie Helene Beatrice, only 22 and 14 years old respectively, fought until martyrdom to save their people. Rumors spread that they wore special tamashishi-powered armors, which greatly increased their power and allowed their victory, which would come from them overexerting themselves.
Again, the rest of the 19th century was of peace and prosperity, nicknamed as the 'Belle Époque'; but fear was quietly cultivating on those who still remembered history, apprehended that this was just the calm before the storm.
1914: The terrible year of 1914, where the Second Great Demon War started. For the first time, the invasion didn't concentrated on a single place, but the non-stopping hordes coming from the rifts on the Black Sea and North Atlantic instead invaded everywhere. A Third Holy Pact was sworn by the world's powers to defend against the threat.
The sanguinary conflict cost many lives. In Japan, the Imperial Capital of Tokyo suffered immense devastation by the shamon army.
1918: Humanity finally, after much suffering, turned the table. In Japan, Empress Kiyomoto heroically died to save the Imperial Capital and the nation; a demise not too different than that of the two French princesses a century earlier, and even with similar rumors behind it. Her younger sister, Empress Shirayuri, at the age of 12, inherited the throne, starting the Zuiwa era.
On the western front, quick technological development, aided by the Japanese, and with the help of 3 great and young Portuguese mystics, the war was won too.
1923, 5th Year of Zuiwa: The current times; the world's powers are militarily exhausted, while their populations focus on the almost finished reconstruction projects, things seem well and hopeful. But kept secret from the general populace, with the aim to avoid alarmism and despair, shamon activity in the world seem to be increasing again, much faster than the hundred-year old intervals from previously.
Because of that, the Japanese Empire military started the Steel Petal project, to protect the glorious Imperial Capital and rest of the nation!
Main world powers:
Japan: a world power to rival any other; its technological development and industry are unmatched, currently sporting the greatest navy of the whole world. After the Second Great Demon War, it turned its eyes inward, focusing on reconstructing its capital and increasing the prosperity of its people, trying to avoid the most any feeling of discomfort brought by the tragic war. The nation is still mostly a rural one, with feel cities which themselves are dwarfed by most European capitals, but their growth-rate is astonishing.
Holy Roman Empire: the Central European power; this ancient decentralized State have a rich history of many heroes and also it's fair share of tragedy. It currently holds most of the Germanic lands, it's South frontier being the Austrian archduchy, the current seat of the Emperor, while it's eastern frontier borders Poland, and it opens to the Baltic Sea up north. An industrial powerhouse, some may say it's metallurgy is superior to the Japanese. Its a heavily urbanized country with an intricate railroad system and one of the strongest land-armies.
Spain & Portugal: both Iberic kingdoms have been relatively unscathed by the latest conflicts, many praising them as blessed lands for how safe they are. Both are the strongest players in colonial enterprises, specially for Spain, who holds most of South and Central America's land, while Portugal holds many colonies in Africa and Asia. Losing their greatest colony of Brazil did hit its power status though, and currently it prospers mostly by international trade, using it's centuries' old good relations with Japan and it's successions of colonies around the world to dominate sea trade-routes.
France: the kingdom of France, as it's bordering brother, the HRE, has many great heroes to be proud of. Currently, its focused on reconstruction effort from the last conflicts, while most of its revenue come's from it's colonies in Africa and Asia, along with it's exquisite textile industry and its consolidated banking sector.
Italian States: in this timeline, Italy was never unified, mostly filled with city-states. The Serene Republic of Venice still controls most of the trade on the Mediterranean. the Papal States are the biggest player in here, controlling most of Central Italy, being the world's greatest trainer of mystics. Sicily on South Italy remains as a mostly underdeveloped idyllic countryside, similar to the Iberic lands.
Brazil: the Empire of Brazil is barely a hundred years old, being considered a 'young' nation. Its land is rich with natural resources and its soil incredibly fertile, the Brazilian people enjoy mostly a peaceful and plentiful existence. That being said, it enjoys many talented mystics and inventors among its people, being the cradle of such great inventions as the radio and the airplane. It enjoys amiable relations with Japan, inherited from its mother-nation. The recent discovery of what seem like tamashishi deposits in its territory caused quite the ruckus among the international community.
Russia: The Russians were on the short end of the stick throughout most of history. With the Black Sea rift opening on their faces, they spent a large part of the last centuries fighting to survive, at times disconnected from the European Mainland. As a result, Russia is a mostly rural and underdeveloped country, with current Czar striving to change that, and bring the nation to the front of the world-theater. On its eastern frontier of Siberia, it kept difficult relations with Japan on the past, as for the control of these lands.