The Glyph Saga: A History Lesson

Before the year 2098 SF, scientific meddling led to several natural disasters, and the Earth's landmasses changed drastically. Some countries were partially lost underwater, forming new countries with new borders. How did that happen?

It all started in the year 2072 AD, when a group of ambitious scientists began secret experiments around the frozen landmass known as Antarctica. There was very little public information about their work, except that it involved toxic and explosive materials, and it was possibly dangerous. Many conspiracy nuts held a firm belief that the experiments had something to do with warfare, and a new energy source. The scientist's strong justification for testing there was the lack of populace. Scientists of many nations released all sorts of toxins there, feeling they would have no effect on the rest of the world.

As if the ongoing pollution steadily drifting upwards from Antarctica was not enough, by the year 2102 AD this same group of scientists accidentally released a massive radioactive bomb into the ice. The volatile explosion melted many of the glaciers on contact, pummeling the world with a horrible flood for which no one could have prepared. This event in history was The Big Melt.

The flooding caused a chain reaction of harsh weather conditions that plagued the planet for many years. Immeasurable amounts of human and animal lives were lost. The water devoured many great cities and countries, and immense amounts of ancient history vanished into the deep, raging waters. After the flooding settled years later, the planet was in chaos. The Earth was in grave jeopardy of destroying itself due to economic, social, racial, political, and environmental strife.

Four groups of observing aliens from a nearby Constellation made official contact, for the first time in history. Initially, they wanted the excess water for their own dying planet. However, after several communications, they expressed a genuine concern for the primitive, young planet, and wanted to help in any way they could to restore order from the chaos. The few officials trying hard to govern during those tumultuous times accepted the offer-water for help. They dubbed the aliens Hospites Nostri, or Our Visitors. This Restoration began a new era in time, known as SF. Most people regarded SF to stand for since the flooding, but it actually stood for secundum frequento, which loosely translated to according to the visitors.

As their first order of business in the year 1 SF, the Hospites Nostri separated the Earth into four Regions, Panga, Maurasia, Guandaland, and Zilfrinia. They also unified the languages (Universal Languages, or UVL), currencies (Minaries), and cultures (Humanitas) of all the many different people forced together by flooding. At the same time, humanity created a Glyph System of icons and symbols, similar to the aliens' native tongue, to help them understand the importance of the many foreign concepts of Earth.

After they received their water payment, the Hospites Nostri set their advanced sights on curing the rampant radiation poisoning in the lower half of the world, an event called the Quick Cleaning. It was already too late for those most severely hit, and a condition called Radianism quickly evolved. The people afflicted with Radianism, dubbed Homo radians, typically developed a pastel discoloration of the organs, hair, nails, and teeth. From the initial swelling of the tongue, a second language called Thu Langve evolved. In addition, the Homo radians, and many of the remaining Homo sapiens, discovered they developed some sort of supernatural abilities. Those growing pains included an outbreak of ridiculous super villain and superhero wannabes, and new form of hatred amongst humanity against the Homo radians.

Health or Cana Boards established around the world, with the help of the Hospites Nostri, in order to assure the remaining people of Earth had quick access to quality healthcare. People set out to rebuild the lost cities and countries using a mixture of ancient, modern, and alien technology. Despite some of the silly outcomes, the world appreciated the alien intervention, and they acted as mediators for the four Regions for a long time. After close to a century of helping the indecisive human race, they began to see the whole ordeal as a big game. They started instigating conflict between the four Regions to settle the trivial disagreements amongst their own people. Maurasia and Guandaland eliminated Zilfrinia in a major war, and divided the Region amongst themselves. Panga was next.