Cybermage:Main

In the medium-distant future (2312 AD), humans have expanded freely into several nearby uninhabited solar systems. Most of the planets are relatively harsh environments, but about one hundred thirty years ago, humanity explorers found a new earth-like planet, Ternati, that was inhabited by many other alien races. Most of these races were bipeds, indicating that perhaps bipedalism is not uncommon in the universe. The races have names for themselves in their own languages, but to humans, these races hearkened back to old stories from ancient Earth history. Dryads, Nyads, Elves, Orks, Gnomes, Dwarves, Minotaurs, Trolls, and many other supposedly fantastical races have been found here. Most of the races had very little technology, but they did have something that the colonizing humans did not... Magic.

In 2210 AD, Humanity, Inc, one of the largest corporations of the human empire, was the sponsor of the expedition sent to this planet and thus claimed all planetary resources for its own. There were some legal battles as well as protests around the empire, but Humanity, Inc won out through appropriate bribery and threats where necessary. The corporation sent in a large contingent of colonists and security forces to settle the planet (a 26 year voyage), landing in 2241, and started gathering its valuable metals and materials. Fairly soon after colonizing, Humanity started infringing on the borders of the existing races (The Red Dwarves, in particular, but also Western Ornwar). Humanity, Inc initially tried to negotiate treaties that would restrict the native races to reserves, but the natives unanimously refused the "offer". The corporation had planned for this, however, and had the leaders that had attended the treaty negotiation assassinated in the hopes that their people would lose heart. The tactic didn't have the desired effect.

Three weeks after the assassination of the native leaders in late 2242, a massive storm gathered overtop Humanity, Inc's headquarters on the planet. Earthquakes shook the area, dozens of tornados touched down, baseball- sized hail blasted the buildings, huge balls of fire and lightning strikes hit, destroying the entire complex and along with it, tens of thousands of inhabitants. Humanity investigators discovered that a group that calls themselves the Resistance had performed an ancient magic ritual to create the storm, several of their mages dying in the process. Huge battles ensued as the corporation of Humanity, Inc. tried to establish a foothold in this incredibly valuable planet. Many people died on both sides as the war raged on for ten years. Finally, an assassination attempt in 2252 was successful on the COO of Humanity, Inc. by an unknown assassin presumably hired by the native races, and the Corporation seemed to lose its will to fight for this planet. Their forces retreated back to the Colonies and over the next three years prepared to leave. Many of the colonists were airlifted to the mothership in high orbit around the planet, which then left in Earthdate 2255. The Colonies left on the planet were now no longer defended by Humanity, Inc. More war ensued between the colonists and the natives, and the colonists were losing badly. Most of the remaining colonists eventually surrendered to the native races, much of humanity becoming slaves to the natives, particularly Stellios. However, there remained several colonies located in Western Rotorus that were able to hold off the natives as they seemed to have a source for weapons and technology, and had apparently created some defenses against the magic of the locals. These colonies did not expand much, but held their own and carved out their niche on the planet.

Years passed, with some military conflict between the Humanity Colonies and the natives, but some human towns now trade with the natives and allow access, as well as vice versa. There are still native towns where there is residual resentment against the human invaders, and there are still human towns that resent the natives. The other factor that causes dissent between the natives and the newcomers is magic vs technology. Originally, in most native cultures, those that understood magic held the political power. With the coming of humans, those natives that didn't understand magic could hold the power of technology. This caused internal conflict in many native cultures; with their newly gained power, many technologists rebelled against the existing infrastructure of magical power. The largest rebellions happened against the Elven culture by the Dwarves. Very few Dwarves understood magic, but they took to technology very quickly. Whereas the Elves had traditionally dominated Dwarven culture (in those places where they clashed), the tables had now turned and large battles were fought, and Dwarves won their independence. As expected, many Elves have a problem with technology, and hate those who use it. However, some Elven communities that were less magically powerful have integrated technology into their way of life and made it uniquely Elven. For instance, the Elven Laserblades are a technology unmatched by any other culture, including Humanity. Some Elven communities have PowerBows, which either use the mana of the individual to fire energy bolts instead of arrows, or they have an internal power source. (Some PowerBows and LaserBlades are not really technological, they are Magical, and are properly named ManaBows and ManaBlades. They ease the learning of Magic by using an object that most Elves are familiar with. As well, they allow magic- using Elves to use these weapons.) So the situation now is that most of the native races have their own borders around their cities and towns, but there is still much unclaimed land on the planet. Slavery of humans (and other races as well) is rampant, especially by certain Elven tribes, and almost all Orkish tribes. Dwarves do not have slaves, and have a deep bitterness against anyone who does, largely because of their past history of being dominated by the Elves, but also because of their own work ethic and belief in independence. Humanity, Inc. is a shell of it's former self on the planet, having only a few dozen colonies left. Also, some human colonies have declared independence from Humanity, Inc., and have tried to integrate into the planet.

There are some countries, but many civilizations are just city- states with some land around them used for food. A few more powerful civilizations exist, in particular the kingdom of Ornwar, the Lizardmen, the Elves of Leitan, and the ancient humans of Suma. A new power is rising in the southern seas, a naval power stronger than any other. The Slyth, a race of Lizard people, have always been known for their massive ships, but until recently, had no way to battle the technology that Humanity, Inc brought to the planet. That has changed, and their great ships are able to fend off air and naval attacks deftly. The Slyth Emperor has commanded his navies to start moving north, apparently toward the main continent of Rotorus.