The year is 2123. Mother Earth chokes under the weight of billions of human lives, born and extinguished every day as the struggle to sustain the unsustainable continues toward its inevitable conclusion. - In 2055, the last fossil fuels in the world supply were exhausted. Economies dependent on the black gold for their growth and prosperity collapsed, or were banished to geopolitical irrelevancy, reduced to impoverished backwaters with no potential future.
Those who had already made the transition away from fossil fuels were cushioned from the blow, but the collapse of the oil economy nonetheless triggered a chain reaction that would send the world into an economic depression.
Strife and conflict ensued. Governments were overthrown and new ones forged from the fires of revolution. Cultural, ethnic, and religious minorities broke free and cut out their own states in the world, backed by new emerging superpowers.
As the years went on, the rapidly expanding populations of the world's nations and the lack of economic growth suspended the Earth in a permanent depression, only worsening as formerly-common resources became scarce and climate change upended entire populations and completely destroyed entire countries.
The world's largest and wealthiest cities lie under sea-level, the only thing separating their millions of denizens from a watery death being a series of sea-walls and levies, many of which are in disrepair and ready to break.
The year is 2123. Many are convinced humanity's end is near. But some disagree - exploration of our solar system and the exploitation of its resources has long been ignored, and a few intrepid scientists and enthusiasts have always argued that the solution to our problems lies out beyond Earth, if only its world leaders were willing to take a leap of faith.
So far, no one has - after all, there are more important issues to focus on than some frivolous 'small step' for man.
-The intro to Dying Earth
Dying Earth is the first entry in the Dying Earth Universe. It was an alternate-history, near-future Nation Roleplaying Game taking place in 2123, a half-century into a global economic depression brought on by the collapse of the petroleum economy and the conflicts and crises ensuing from that collapse.
The player-driven events of Dying Earth would lead to the rise of the Solar System's prominent spacefaring nations, explained in its epilogue, and to the events of Children of the Void, where a fleet of seven generation ships embarked on an interstellar journey to the star system TRAPPIST-1.
An archived version of the original post for Dying Earth, including some nation-specific lore can be found below:
Dying Earth: A Near-Future Nation RP
Epilogue
The epilogue to Dying Earth explains the events leading up to Children of the Void:
In the 22nd century, the disparate nations of Earth scraped themselves from the jaws of economic depression, ushering in an age of unprecedented technological, economic, and cultural advancement, the likes of which the last century could have only dreamed.
This progress came at a cost - as new technologies began to revolutionize the world, their ramifications were also widely felt.
In China, citizens saw unprecedented rise in economic and social security as the technocratic directorate guided the way for the Peoples' Republic's expansion across the solar system. China oversaw the permanent establishment of a lunar colony in 2133, paving the
way for rapid economic growth back home. In the following years, China began to rapidly outpace other countries of the world in economic productivity as the country's market share for helium-3 and other vital resources ballooned.
Australia and Iran, with their ties growing ever-closer to China, joined them on the moon with the establishment of their own productive outposts, marking the birth of the intra-lunar economy.
A re-united Russian Federation, bolstered by mass mechanization of their workforce, established a permanent lunar venture, staffed overwhelmingly by droids.
Britain and Fennoscandia, on the cutting edge of outer-solar colonization, established a joint research base on the Saturnian moon Titan. Following the discovery of vast reserves of rare-earth elements on the moon, a permanent, self-sufficient colony was established in 2146 under administration of the joint North Sea Organization. The European Federation worked closely with NSO, providing logistic and scientific assistance as a prelude to a European colony on Europa (and later Enceladus), where large deposits of terrestrial resources were brought to light.
Korea and Japan, leading the way for fusion power, established colonies on the moon in cooperation with China's economic bloc.
In reaction to mounting American posturing and aggressive activity near Chinese-controlled lunar lagrange-points, China founded the first space-navy in history, citing a need to protect its strategic assets. The world was surprised when the Chinese announced that
military spacecraft had already been built and deployed as part of the new force
The revelation of the Peoples' Solar Fleet caused an international incident back on Earth as other nations scrambled to build and field their own solar naval forces.
Russia was the first to reply, forming and fielding a significant roster of unmanned military spacecraft and autonomous weapons.
The European Federation and North Sea Organization formed a jointly-led space force, the European Solar Command, boasting sophisticated ship designs and self-sufficient installations which would dot the outer solar system as part of a comprehensive
network to defend Titan, Europa and Enceladus.
The United States was one of the last to officially confirm a space force, having already boasted a large arsenal of space-borne weaponry since the 2120s. The US formed the United States Space Force at the same time as an international dispute with China and allies over reclamation of American sites on Mars and the moon, which were abandoned in the mid-21st century. A particular point of contention was the Californian colony on Mars, established in 2137 atop the abandoned US research facility. Negotiations fell through when
California and Texas refused to yield control of the abandoned facilities to American interests, as that would give the US access to sensitive infrastructure in the colony. China did, however, agree to repatriate abandoned infrastructure on the moon, which the US would
later use to establish its own full-scale lunar colony - a move not approved by the Chinese during those negotiations
Tensions between America and China rose to unprecedented heights in the following decades, but later cooling as the status quo of the solar system became more and more clear, and economies back on Earth flourished with the influx of resources from across the solar system creating demand for labor and supply for production unlike has been ever seen.
Then came the grey flu.
Little is known about the origins of the grey flu, except that the first victim of the deadly virus was a Chinese ecological researcher studying deep-cavern systems under the lunar surface.
On April 15th, 2181, the disease quickly spread across China's lunar colony of Báixīng, killing tens of thousands within a week. Within that span of time, the disease had spread across trans-solar shipping lanes and killed many thousands on every colony in the solar
system. Military fleets across the system mobilized to forcibly shut down spaceflight. Economic activity halted to a standstill as scientists scrambled to develop a vaccine or cure for the highly lethal disease.
On April 23rd, 2181, what is alleged to have been an illicit smuggling craft exposed dock workers in Shanghai to grey flu, kickstarting its death-sweep across the planet.
Despite world scientists' best efforts, grey flu took the lives of 1.2 billion on Earth and a further million and a half across the solar system before tapering off at the tail end of 2183, with China bearing the brunt of deaths.
In the wake of those two devastating years, numerous independent investigations on the virus were launched, culminating in a British report that the grey flu was a deliberately engineered biological weapon.
The Earth stood still. Everyone had someone to blame.
To the shock of the international community, The directorate came out and accused the United States of engineering and releasing the virus, and further declared to take unilateral action against the United States.
When lunar authorities declared an embargo of American facilities on the moon, with scientists and colonists on the moon facing starvation, the United States responded by deploying a small contingent of nuclear-armed spacecraft to break the embargo.
In a spark and a flash, Chinese lunar authorities chose to engage the American fleet, forcing them to retreat back to terrestrial orbit. Spurred on by ultra-nationalist sentiment and a hyper-authoritarian congress, America opened the recruitment floodgates and declared
war on the Peoples' Republic.
Soon, Californian, Texan, and Indian colonies on Mars came under threat from American nuclear arms, and the three soon combined their solar forces with the eminent Chinese fleet to form a bulkhead against USSF expeditionary forces.
The first year of what would go on the be called The War in Heaven saw large confrontations between China and the US in lunar and terrestrial orbit. The rest of the world soon began to spill into the conflict as opportunists began to take advantage of the disease-stricken solar system. In reaction to European materiel support of the Chinese war effort, America's Brazilian and Colombian allies sought a full scale embargo of European traffic across the asteroid belt - an action which would soon result in open conflict between
Brazil, Colombia, California, Texas, and the European Solar Command.
The war soon dragged on into 2188, with the odds tipping drastically in Sino-European favor.
The USSF, lacking trans-solar strategic installations, struggled to logistically support its expeditionary forces against a numerically superior and well-supplied Chinese fleet.
However, Russian entrance into the war marked a major turning point for American fortunes - much to the surprise of both sides, in fact.
As Chinese forces committed to pushing the Americans back to Earth orbit, Russian forces launched a massive surprise attack on Báixīng. The attacking force, composed overwhelmingly of military droids and autonomous vehicles built in secret using in-situ materials,
took colonial security force by surprise. Though the PSF had left a considerable garrison of reserves behind, these troops failed to maintain local superiority against a well-organized, AI-driven combined arms force. With its artery of supply cut off, the Peoples' Solar Fleet was forced between a hasty attack through dangerous US space weapons in terrestrial orbit, or retreating back to lunar orbit to retake Báixīng. Choosing the latter, the PSF pulled back, giving US forces much-needed ground.
At the same time, Californian and Texan forces on Mars capitulated to the Brazilian space command, removing yet another hostile front for the American allies to contend with. The European Solar Command, while self-sufficient, could not muster the military force to
break through the asteroid belt, and help from home would not come so long as conflict on Earth remained sparse.
In a combined confrontation improvised between American and Russian forces, the majority of the Chinese solar fleet met its death above the lunar surface, leaving a massive field of debris in its wake.
With nothing now stopping the Americans from proceeding past the moon, the USSF consolidated its forces and moved to join the Brazilian-Colombian fleet in a direct attack on Jovian space known as Operation Hurricane.
Upon learning of the planned offensive, the European Federation and their North-Sea allies threatened to escalate offensive operations on Earth - this threat, backed by advanced nuclear weaponry and an even more advanced defensive network (the abilities of which the Americans could not full determine) was serious enough to US SOLCOM that Operation Hurricane was halted until further notice.
It was at this time that Project DARKSHOT, Fennoscandia's 2120s project to create interstellar colony ships reached an accelerated, successful conclusion after being revived twenty years prior. Three large, self-sufficient ships were launched from Jovian orbit, containing European, British, Alanian, and Fennoscandian volunteers and refugees who, more than anything, were fleeing from what they perceived might be violent end of civilization.
The war had, at this point reached stalemate - the North-South American alliance had all but seized the inner solar system, while Russian automatons occupied (while rapidly reproducing) most Chinese lunar assets.
On Earth, fighting was relegated mostly to air combat in international waters and on the fringes of national airspace - constant testing for weaknesses, but far from open conflict. This situation would come to a head, however, as China launched a spearhead into Western America after having staged a considerable invasion force on the Texan border, assisted heavily by Anglo-Russian anti-satellite warfare which served to disable the American nuclear satellite network. It was finally, that the War in Heaven had come to Earth. Indian expeditionary forces launched naval invasions of South America, while China and the European Federation committed to a two-front attack on the American mainland. Unprepared domestically for mass infrastructural disruption, US forces were pushed back quickly, leaving militias and ultra-nationalist insurgents in their wake. When US strategic command inevitably retaliated with strategic nuclear weaponry, China's defensive networks were not robust enough to prevent every missile and glide weapon from hitting the mainland - Among cities devastated by American nuclear weapons, Hong-Kong was virtually erased from history, and Beijing suffered significant damage to its outskirts after Chinese military forces redirected, but did not destroy an American hypersonic glide vehicle. Among other cities devastated by American nuclear weapons were Berlin, Oslo, London, and San Francisco. Fearing the worst, China and its allies reacted disproportionately, retaliating by all means at their disposal. Chinese and European forces suffered disproportionate casualties as the American mainland was wiped from the face of the Earth - the Atlantic seaboard became the most bombed place in the solar system.
Following the nuclear exchange, Brazil and Colombia surrendered to the Indian army, submitting to a total restructuring of their government. The remains of Eastern North America and Canada, meanwhile, found itself placed under a strict Sino-European military
administration, and would remain this way for many years forward. Brazil was stripped of its Martian colonies, which were placed arbitrarily under Californian control at the discretion of Europe, while Colombia's assets on the red planet were transferred to Fennoscandia as part of reparations to be paid.
In the aftermath of the war, Russia came out more powerful than ever, and though Báixīng was eventually returned to the Chinese following ratification of the Lunar Disarmament Treaty, the diplomatic resolution largely favored Russia, which gained a majority stake of
lunar assets and territorial rights.
Despite the unfavorable conclusion of the war, progress towards utopian goals was greatly accelerated in the war in heaven's aftermath - it would be long before Sino-Russian relations would warm again, but when they did, comprehensive co-operation between Europe,
Russia, and China would see the creation of the largest economic bloc in world history. Surprising many, Alania, a small Caucasian country (and a fierce proponent of post-labor societal models) largely untouched by war and disease, and with a significant stake in the droid manufacturing business brought the three 'Solar Powers' together to establish the Solar Commerce Organization, because of which a 'global universal income' became a reality, and droids soon retired many to a comfortable existence supported by a comprehensive global welfare system.
Still, the damage had been done - it would be many decades before the world, and the solar system at large would recover from the devastation wrought by the 22nd century. Eventually, though, the war in heaven faded to a simple footnote in the history books - just
another terrible record in humanity's running list of atrocities. The world would go on, and the meshing of human society and technology would continue irreversibly. A smooth sail.
That is, until on one starry night in June of 2285, researchers at the Stockholm Observatory in Fennoscandia received a peculiar signal.