The 20th Century brought in an unprecedented era of technological advancement, transforming the future. Industry, transportation, communication, and healthcare were among the many areas that civilization pushed forward making huge changes. However, with the steady growth of advancement came a huge concern for the planet; the threat of global warming. Average global temperatures rose rapidly, the most significant warming occurred within two periods: 1910-1945 and 1976-2000. Early signs of climate change were often very small, from slightly elevated temperatures to extra rainfall; however in the second half of the century the world saw large noticeable shifts in climate patterns.

The main source of global warming was the large-scale burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, which released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Over time, this created a large blanket that wrapped around the planet which trapped heat and accelerated the greenhouse effect. This made it impossible to ignore any longer with the constant growing number of environmental disasters that devastated ecosystems and displaced communities. Increased air and water temperatures lead to rising sea levels, supercharged storms, and higher wind speeds, as well as intense and prolonged droughts, wildfire seasons, and heavier precipitation and flooding. The result of climate-related disasters tripled over 30 years. Between 2006 and 2016, the rate of global sea-level rise was 2.5 times faster than it was for the majority of the 20th century. Over 20 million people a year were forced from their homes, all due to climate change. The need for global action had never been more urgent.

With protests and riots breaking out on the streets, world leaders recognized the scale of the emergency and declared climate change as a global priority. In 2010, country leaders gathered together alongside scientists, politicians, and the greatest minds from corporations such as Watchcorp. Their international effort was to reverse the damage done to the planet. Together, they pooled all their resources and expertise to find a sustainable solution that would not only slow down the pace of global warming, but also reshape how humanity generates and consumes energy in the future.

By 2018, after consistent research and development, a breakthrough was achieved. Watchcorp unveiled the revolutionary project, Arclight. Arclight was a fusion array, humanity’s crowning achievement that promised a new age of fusion energy - a world free from fossil fuels, powered by limitless clean energy. Construction of the first operational site began that same year in the remote wilderness of Siberia, which had been chosen for its vast land, stable geology, and access to necessary infrastructure. In 2021, the site for Arclight took shape, evolving from a concept into a successful working reality.

What was once a concept of speculation, debated by engineers and environmentalists, Arclight quickly became the beating heart of energy worldwide in just a matter of years. It was spearheaded by Watchcorp, a private conglomerate turned public partner. The project was cutting edge, harnessing fusion energy and synchronized atmospheric feedback regulation. It was a huge technological leap that rendered traditional energy grids obsolete.

National leaders and governments rallied behind the vision of a post-carbon future. Fossil fuel power plants were phased out quickly as Arc Stations were positioned at geo-synchronized points across continents. They acted like neurons in a planetary nervous system, all linked up with the Arclight Fusion Array in Siberia. Part of Arclight, a colossal structure that orbited at the edge of the thermosphere, gained the nickname, “The Watch”. It monitored and modulated the Earth’s energy flow through quantum entanglement relays. To the average citizen, it was invisible, but its influence was substantial. With the real time communication, Arclight was able to monitor and adapt to regional demand surges, monitor weather fluctuations, and even assess geopolitical instability. Fossil fuels were once hoarded in anticipation of wars or disasters; now Arc Stations worldwide could respond instantaneously.

For the most part, though, the world looked forward with optimism. Cleaner skies, stable climates and a world free from disaster. The world entered a new era with all continents shifting to Arclight Fusion.

“Arclight - Powering tomorrow, today” - Watchcorp

The Arclight Fusion Array stood in the heart of Siberia, a massive monument to everything that could be achieved when united by desperation. Born to combat crises, only to become the biggest crisis humanity has ever known. History will remember the dream - a dream that very quickly became a living nightmare. They called it “The Arclight Cascade”.

It started with a storm. On October 3rd, 2026, the planet was struck by the most intense geomagnetic storm to ever be recorded. Solar winds battered the planet and satellites started to blink out one by one. Auroras lit up the skies and as the planet cried out, the Arclight went into overdrive.

Designed by the greatest minds, it was supposed to be fully controlled, yet under chaos, it failed. Scientists couldn’t control it as surge suppressors, the safety frame of the Arclight, began to collapse. Cooling systems overloaded and containment failed. Four minutes is all it took for the core to cascade. An unstoppable devastation of particles and radiation, which had never been seen on earth before, was released into the atmosphere. Arc stations around the globe went into panic as the main station was lost. For how great the invention was, the creators of Arclight hadn't accounted for a backup plan should the Siberian Arclight Array fall. They simply thought the Arclight was indestructible. Scientists and engineers tried everything within their power, but time was against them. In a matter of days every Arc station on the planet had succumbed to a similar downfall.

Weather patterns collapsed, radiation drifted and settled into the soil, even the water became impotable. Global agriculture failed in under a year. Cities that had stood for centuries vanished, buried in radioactive dust or flooded by corrosive rain downpours. Within the first 2 months, three billion people became husks of their former selves in constant agony barely human anymore, yet still somehow breathing. What was supposed to power the future instead broke the biosphere.

Governments tried to respond and emergency protocols were enacted. Quarantines, relocation camps, global aid networks. but nothing held. It didn’t take long for government systems to fall as political leaders and the greatest minds escaped to bunkers and vanished. They gave up on the remaining people, choosing to protect themselves underground in the hope that one day Earth will heal itself from the radiation and humankind could rebuild. With non-existent governments, borders vanished, and supply chains disintegrated. Wars started within the last remaining pockets of unirradiated sanctuaries; societal collapse happened. These pockets grasped at any normality they could. They defended their own and took from others. Nuclear arsenals vanished into rogue hands and warlords rose to power. Nearly all alliances formed had broken. Unthinkable things happen to mankind when life is balanced on a knife's edge.

The true horror came after.

First, it was the sickness. People near Hot Zones began to suffer strange symptoms - tremors, hallucinations, sudden aggression and decaying flesh. Their nervous system failed and their minds began to slip. They became detached from reality. Medical professionals assumed radiation poisoning, but it wasn’t just that. Victims became whispers of their former selves. They stopped speaking and they forgot who they once were. They moved like animals - or worse - like something pretending to be human.

Survivors referred to them as “Husks”. Were they parasites? Mutants? .. Zombies? Scientists confirmed the worst: they were still alive, trapped in such unending, unbearable pain, that they lost their minds. That same pain was seen in their violence as they attacked anyone that got near. Through the pain, they leaned on other Husks for support, co-ordinated in their anger in droves. They wear the faces of their former lives - mothers, brothers, soldiers - only now they are twisted and decayed. Most walk upright, some on all fours, some still look human… Some are so deformed they could be described as monsters. They scream in constant pain, loud and unnerving. Some… just watch. Whatever they are, they’re spreading and somewhere in the Hot Zones, the whisper grows louder.

“It wasn’t normal radiation. It whispers. It learns. It grows inside you if you listen too long.” - Lyra Chapman

(Present year: 2030, 4 years since Cascade)

Now, the Earth is divided into three kinds of land.

Hot Zones - These are the areas which are closest to the Cascade impacts. Former cities which have been turned into radioactive graveyards. Nothing will grow here, nothing sane survives. The air itself will kill you without the proper protection. And yet… people claim to hear whispers in the ruins. See lights that defy reason and feel … watched. Most who enter these zones do not return and if they do, they will never be the same again.

Green Zones - Narrow pockets of marginal land which have been spared from the cascade. Here, the remnants of humanity cling to survival. These areas each hold their own unique law and order. Fighting to take residence in these areas is a constant; nobody ever feels safe. Strong carve out peace with bullets and barter. Esseker is one of these zones, a half-broken landscape steeped in history and bloodshed.

Pale Zones - Also known as “The Pale” this is no-man’s land. It’s not quite dead but far from safe. While people can traverse through here with minor protection, settling is not an option. The soil is poisoned and heavily radiated. Here husks and unthinkables roam in abundance. The Pale grows wider, collapsing more Green Zones every year.

“The Arclight was meant to bring new light.
It brought whispers, shadows and ash.
Now, Earth is a dying ember floating in the dark, haunted by the mistakes of its brightest minds.
The stars are still out there.
But we are no longer reaching for them.” - Peter Kingsway

For centuries, Sweden and Denmark had been fighting over the region of Skåne. This region is a large lowland cradle nestled between the capitol of Denmark and Sweden. It has long stood at the fault line of Northern Europe's turbulent history. A large prosperous wedge of land, whose coastline cupped the Baltic Sea, where warships once lined the horizon and treaties were written, this was the very marrow of Scandinavian tension. Its fertile fields, rolling forests and strategic ports made it indispensable - and thus, overly contested. It was here that the ambitions of Copenhagen and Stockholm clashed most violently, not just with blades and bullets, but through centuries of shifting borders, language and identity.

To control Skåne was to dominate the Baltic connection. Trade routes from Lübeck, Riga, and Helsinki passed through these narrow waters, and any power that could claim the Danish Straits and Skåne’s coastlines would effectively control commerce across the North. Unsurprisingly, Denmark and Sweden waged war after war for it - from the Kalmar Union’s collapse to the Scanian Wars of the 17th Century, and through quieter but no less calculated diplomatic struggles of later centuries.

By the early 20th Century, a quiet, patient nationalism had begun to emerge in the region. The people of Skåne, long caught between crowns, had developed their own cultural temperament. In 1918, after the invasion of Åland and the widespread upheavals that followed the First World War, the region made a bold and unprecedented move. Skåne, including the eastern highland region of Esseker, declared itself an autonomous commonwealth state. This bold move reshaped political standing throughout the North. Initially dismissed under the impression it would be temporary, Skåne’s independence endured, aided by its economic pragmatism and geographical necessity.

Tensions between Skåne’s two neighbours continued, however, Denmark and Sweden now found it easier and more profitable to trade with the independent state of Skåne rather than fight over it and thus trade flourished. Ports expanded, railways connected rural districts with central cities. The region of Esseker grew into a vital hub of culture and commerce, merging rustic traditions and modern ambitions.

During the Second World War, Skåne’s neutrality was put to the test. Though lacking a major military presence, its location remained of vital strategic interest. Echoing the approach taken by Sweden itself, Skåne maintained a careful policy of defensive neutrality - offering aid to both sides, always only enough to avoid invasion yet never enough to forfeit their autonomy. Though the war brushed its borders and threatened its sovereignty. Skåne survived.

In the decades that followed, the region embraced its position as a neutral crossroads. Skåne’s military power was nothing to boast about, very akin to the Danish military, it relied on allies to keep its territories from outside influence. And so, Skåne officially allied with NATO. Contributing a modest but efficient maritime force, largely dedicated to securing Baltic shipping lanes. Its military policy remained defensive by doctrine, relying on the wider NATO umbrella - and the persistent balance between Sweden and Denmark - to protect its independence.

In the grand story of the north, Skåneland remained a paradox: a nation born not from revolution, but from resistance to being claimed. Neither warrior nor empire, neither king nor vassal. Just a place—resilient, prosperous, and quietly sovereign.

Skåneland became a place of quiet power with enduring identity. Its government is parliamentary and secular, a clear departure from its royal neighbours. Though respectful of the Scandinavian monarchies, the commonwealth of Skåneland maintained a firm civic identity, forged from centuries of negotiation, survival and subtle defiance.

Its landscapes are vast, full of flowing rivers, cultivated wide fields of barley and flax, old stone farmhouses, rivers that meander through glacial valleys. To the East of Skåneland is Esseker, it is more than just a region - it is the soul of a nation. In the deep forest wilderness the large river of “Pilgrims Flod” passes through, offering a huge trade route and links to other areas while still maintaining its wilderness feel. Steeped in fog and folklore, Esseker is where Skåne found its voice. Its wilderness attracted hikers, artists and scholars alike.

Once little more than a fortified trading post, the city of Esseker stood as the cultural capital of Skåneland. Politically, the region held unique weight. While the national capital rested to the west, Esseker was long considered the “people’s capital” - a center of progressive politics, academic achievements, and artistic experimentation. Many of Skåneland’s prominent political leaders had emerged from its institutes. The city of Esseker, is a blend of contemporary Scandinavian architecture that rose alongside timbered medieval structures, the streets were alive with the mingled voices of Danish, Swedish and a distinctly local dialect that had evolved into Skåneland’s own cultural signature. Due to the levels of tourism in the area, the majority of people within Esseker were taught to speak and read English, some choosing this as their main language. While Esseker society reflects a blend of regions, it was also something unmistakably unique: a certain independence created regional pride that does not declare itself loudly, but flows under the surface like the rivers feeding into the Baltic.

Tourism in Esseker is not accidental - It was intentional and elemental. The region’s landscapes alone were enough to draw in thousands of people. Glacial lakes, ringed with mossy pine forests, rivers that cut through gorges and feed into the Baltic, and long hiking routes many argued to see in a lifetime. It was the harmony of nature and human design that made Esseker so compelling. Villages are built with stone and timber, their walls painted in soft, earthen tones that faded naturally with the weather. Every bridge, boardwalk, and bench seemed purposely placed, as though the land were consulted in its making.

Despite its calm exterior, the city of Esseker became alive after dark. Its nightlife is both intellectual and indulgent. One can attend a philosophy lecture in a candle lit bar, wander into an underground jazz club hidden in the metro or dance until dawn at the waters edge.

Districts like all over Esseker were well known for their boutique bars, experimental art spaces, and a northern bohemia that drew in young creatives from all across Europe. There was no central “party location”, the energy was scattered, found in pockets and back alleys, on rooftop bars and hidden poetry readings in a strangers garden. A yearly highlight of Esseker was their cultural festival, “Natlys” - a week long autumn celebration of music, lanterns and fire sculptures that turned the cold months into something mystical.

The city of Esseker was home to Skåneland University of Esseker (SUE), widely regarded as one of the most innovative academic institutions in Northern Europe. The campus of “SUE” sits elegantly through the city’s eastern quarter, merging old and new. The university has attracted an international population of students and professors. It is known for its world-class programs in international relations, environmental science and modern design. Its research institutes, particularly the Esseker Nuclear Institute (ENI), have played a central role in Skåne’s geopolitical strategy and ecological diplomacy.

“The sky didn’t break, it was torn. Ripped open like paper by a god’s unseen hand” - Marisha Hansen

When the Arclight Cascade cracked open the skies, the world changed in a fraction of hours. The reactors were built so powerful and too fast, caved under their own ambition. Storms danced across the stratosphere. Radiation bloomed into monstrous clouds, drifting like ghosts across nations. Esseker watched on in horror as their skies lit up in vibrant colours and news outlets one by one started to go dark.

The Government in Esseker didn’t wait. Evacuations were swift and violent. Families were given mere minutes to pack. Roads became choked in panic. Citizens were not told where they were going, only that they HAD to go. Most people complied, but some stayed in hiding and chose to stay in their homes in the hope they could wait out this disaster. Checkpoints were quickly erected as local authorities went door to door forcing the majority of people from their homes and onto buses. Public access to the ENI institute was sealed off. Watchcorp had announced its purchase of the Institute mere weeks earlier, just enough time to raise eyebrows and conspiracy theories, but not enough time to act on them as the cascade hit. Workers of the institute sealed off inside as they frantically tried to come up with a solution to save the Esseker region but no public solution was declared. Authorities dared not approach the institute for fear of what had just happened to all Arc Stations worldwide, however numerous roadblocks were put up to stop entry to the area of Novi-Grad, stopping anyone else from being able to approach the institute.

Citizens turned to meteorologists for advice, however the university was stretched thin, scrambling for simulations to try and save the area. Scientists turned to prophets overnight, forecasting the death of ecosystems, loss of regions and the fall of cities. Citizens panicked, mass scale looting and violence happened as people frantically tried to grab supplies for survival. Esseker was doomed, scientists said the soil would rot and rivers would glow.

It took only 3 days for the evacuation to end. Authorities made final sweeps, some people took stands and fought in the streets, shedding blood to remain in their homes. The Government of Esseker pulled out, all remaining authorities and major personnel in the region joined the last convoys and left the region.

Survivors who chose to remain in Esseker reported static on every channel. Some said they heard a woman’s voice whispering in a dozen languages, none of which made sense. Some said they saw birds falling from the sky, bears running in fear from people. Nobody knows exactly what was seen but what was for sure was the reports of “things” that walked like people, but were not.

Humanity was being turned into husks, creatures filled with pain that remembered things - streets, doorways, names and yet they no longer communicated humanely. They weren't the undead of folklore, they were whispers of their former selves, echoes in flesh. People called them “Husks”, and Husks seemed to be evolving more towards the East of Esseker for reasons unknown.

A year passed before anyone dared re-enter Esseker. It was only when the global radiation maps were updated that something miraculous, and deeply unsettling, was discovered. Esseker was clean. Not just livable .. but nature was thriving here. The rain had missed it. The winds had changed, the radiation that was predicted to destroy Esseker had veered east towards the Baltic Sea. The initial forecasts had been wrong. Or so they said.

Some people didn’t buy it. The timing. The silence. They questioned where the ENI personnel vanished too. None of it added up. By the time it was announced that Esseker was a pocket greenzone, safe to return to. It was too late. Many who had left with the initial evacuation never returned, nobody knows where these people ended up. Are they still alive out there? Or did they succumb to radiation? Those who did survive soon realized that Essker had become a vacuum, drawing in survivors, factions, outcasts and with them came war.

A group that dubbed themselves The Poetry Society was quick to make its return. Quickly re-establishing their place throughout the main city of Esseker. These ex-civilians, scientists, journalists - free thinkers who all thought the Cascade was a created smokescreen for something even more large-scale and sinister. They built communes in the outer districts, refusing to recognize anyone claiming to be government authority. To them, the husks were proof of manufactured catastrophe… a test, or worse... a message.

They burned Arclight and Watchcorp logos wherever they found them. They dug tunnels near the ENI destruction to try and find buried vaults, which proved to be a futile effort considering the heavy radiation that had somehow settled around the institute. They had no weapons, just beliefs that proved dangerous. Yet through determination they aim to spread their thoughts with other like-minded people and uncover the truth.

The military warlords, composed of rogue factions of former army units - abandoned during the evacuation, posed a huge threat to Esseker. The leaders of these factions were people who had not left Esseker, but had remained behind and built the land to fit their ideal. They claimed hardware, hoarded drones and armored vehicles, stole biogear and claimed control of the region. To them, Esseker was a forward base, a new capital in the fractured continent.

The Poetry Society and warlords clashed heavily, turning the suburbs of Esseker city into open-air graves. While the warlords wanted control, the Poetry Society wanted freedom. Both struggled to exist side by side through constant fighting; the Poetry Society left the central city and were forced to live in the east flooded area, where nobody else cared to inhabit.

The Royal Unified Defense forces were the next faction to enter the region of Esseker. These were a royalist regime from a nearby green zone in Copenhagen. They were sent to the region to secure power and encourage the settlers in the region to produce mass amounts of food and resources to be sent back to the Capitol of Denmark. They came prepared, heavily armed and were a well structured military force that did not abide criminality or any disruption to the flow of supplies to the capital. Settlers in the area were ordered to swear fealty to the king, pay taxes in food and supplies and were treated well while providing for the crown.

The Poetry Society quickly saw a use for the RUDF and swore alliance with them, providing the food and supplies they demanded. In return the RUDF took a stand against the warlords. While the warlord faction had hoarded the supplies they needed to fight, they were no match for the swift operation of the RUDF. They were pushed out of Esseker city in a matter of weeks, the leaders were strung up from street lights as an example to those who oppose the RUDF.

The Husks changed. At first they were slow, wandering aimlessly around the derelict landscape guided by nothing but their pain and suffering. Shells of who they once were, but human nonetheless, these people ached for comforts of their old life, the familiarity of home, of routine. They would always stay close to what they used to know but they started to evolve.

They began to gather, not randomly, but deliberately. Nests formed around old telecom towers, beneath the bones of metro stations and in old apartment blocks.They became quicker, more coordinated, more aggressive to those who are not suffering alongside them. Observers claimed they were mimicking behaviours from their former lives: one group was seen marching in formation like a long forgotten military patrol. Another scrawled crude, spiraling graphs across derelict walls with symbols nobody can decipher. Scavengers told of Husk figures standing perfectly still in the middle of ruined streets, watching the sunrise with tears spilling from their distant eyes.

The Poetry Society wrote of it as “The Awakening.”

The RUDF attempted a purge, but every massacre only seemed to call more of them forth. Each cleansing brought another, bigger wave stronger and more strange than the last.

No one has dared approach the ENI institute in over half a year, not since some footage was leaked. Grainy and erratic, the clip showed an expedition of survivors deep below the facility ruins… and a Husk tearing itself open like a cocoon. From its body emerged something far worse. Something … born. Something that did not shamble. Something that watched the camera until the feed cut to static.

Esseker is a lie wrapped in truth.

The region endured, mostly untouched by The Cascade. It stands, almost pristine, a survivor in a world that was destined to bury it.

But it is not safe.

Esseker is a garden blooming over a mass grave. The beauty is real, but the sickness that twists at the root is deep, dangerous and unknown.

Those who never left Esseker speak in riddles and fevered whispers. They talk of sirens that wail in the twilight hours, of whispering voices bleeding through radios that were long thought dead. They speak of people hunted by people. Every day is a new nightmare.

Watchcorp fell silent. The suits vanished after the final evacuation. No one knows where they went or if they were ever really there to begin with.

“Yet, something still lingers in the heart of the institute.
It does not wish to escape.
It waits to be understood.” - The Poetry Society

World History

• Global Warming played a negative impact on the world
• Main source of global warming was from Fossil Fuels
• World leaders grouped together with scientists and engineers to think of solution
• The solution was “Arclight” , a fusion array promising cleaner skies, stable climates and a world free from disaster.
• The world all turned to Arclight to make Arc stations, replacing all fossil fuel power plants.

The Arclight Cascade

• October 3rd, 2026 a large-scale geomagnetic storm hit.
• As satellites went dark, auroras lit up the skies and the main Arclight station went into overdrive and “broke”.
• Arc-stations all over the world had a chain reaction and all fell
• With the fall of the Arc stations came severe radiation and collapse of weather patterns.
• Governments fell. People tried to escape “Hot zones” (highly irradiated zones)
• Some pockets of “green zones” (safe to live in) remained and humanity thought to live in these

The Whisper

• A radiation sickness infected a lot of people around Arc Stations, and spread worldwide.
• Still human but in a LOT of pain and aggressive people called them husks (ooc/ these are the zombies of our world. They are not undead.)

The Pale Earth

• Hot Zones - unlivable areas
• Pale Zones - no-mans land. Radiated but you can pass through it with protection.
• Green Zones - narrow pockets of livable area

History and Structure of the Region (Including Esseker)

• Sweden and Denmark constantly fought for power over Skåne (region in which Essker resides)
• Skåne becomes its own commonwealth “Skåneland”
• Skåneland uses NATO for support and protection

History of Esseker

• Skåneland is parliamentary (not royalist like its neighbours)
• Esseker lies to the east of Skåneland. Essker city is considered “the peoples capital”
• Tourism is abundant
• It's a university town with creative arts and science institutes (one institute to note is Esseker Nuclear Institute aka: ENI)

Recent History of Esseker

• Arclight Cascade happened, Esseker government ordered mandatory evacuation from the region
• ENI institute workers (owned by watchcorp) remained at their factory in Novi-Grad

Return to Esseker

• Esseker is a Green zone.
• The current year (in-game) is 2030, 4 years after the Arclight Cascade.