The Traveler's Light

The Traveler

• A Beautiful World

  Humanity and furre have always shared a checkered past, it made sense that the nations of Earth wanted to forget their ancestors and focus on new things. Long lost are the days of the cavemen and the dinosaurs, beasts of people that fought with club and stone, almost forgotten are the kings and queens in their sovereign halls or hosting their magnificent jousting competitions, the knights in their shining armor that once held the envy of the peasants were nothing but a mere toy for kids to buy. The races of Earth all shared the same space, but wherever you observed you would find someone with a different opinion and culture. When the countries of man and furre weren't at war with each other, they were rebuilding from natural disasters or shortages of major resources. Entire world wars were fought on that enormous green and blue marble. As beautiful as their home was some inventive people turned their attention to the stars above them... the ultimate frontier. Every major nation endeavored to make great strides in capturing the solar system, the furthest they ever managed to get was the red planet named aptly as Mars. At least... until the Great Machine arrived.

• The Gardener - The Machine

  This spherical being has known many names, met many different races, seen all manner of complex worlds. The Gardener, The Great Machine... The Traveler. The Traveler first came to human and furre attention when it appeared around Jupiter and terraformed two of its moons. Initially dubbed "Moon X", it quickly became the center of international attention. After finishing its work on Jupiter, it vanished for fourteen months, reappeared to terraform Mercury, vanished again for seven months, and then appeared again to terraform Venus. When Moon X was detected approaching Mars, a mission to intercept it was hastily organized. Initially known as Project Catamaran, the effort was renamed Ares One on the day of launch. The name "Traveler" may have been coined by one of the crew members. By the time the ship landed on Mars, the Traveler had brought the first rain to the desert planet Questions about the identity of Moon X abounded, and cults worshiping it emerged, some of which fell into conflict. Other cults held demonstrations calling for the unification of Earth's governments.
  
  "GIANT OBJECT FOUND: MARS NOT SAFE?"
  "UNKNOWN CREATION CLOSER TO HOME THAN IMAGINED"
  "WHAT IS IT? WHAT DOES IT WANT?"
  "UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: -WE MUST BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING-"
  
  The giant orb left Mars... and headed for the Earth. The nations of man and furre watched with fright and bewilderment as it arrived. Governments all across the globe strived to make contact with the stranger. Religions declared it the end of the world, protests built up in every major city... but the stranger never attempted to make contact back, it simply hovered above the planet, as if watching and waiting. It was called many things by many different people, but the official name given to it was a simple one: The Traveler
  
  

• The Golden Age

  Despite the fear and panic of the planet's populations, the Traveler began to hum with incredible power. Perhaps it was the way the Traveler terraformed the plants of the solar system, maybe it was the way it never armed a weapon, at some point the nations of Earth began to trust the giant orb, and the orb rewarded them in turn.
  
  It taught humanity new powers and mystical technologies that led to a Golden Age. Now that most of the system could support human life, and armed with the incredible new technology to reach beyond Earth, colonization of these worlds began. Many corporations and research groups existed during the Golden Age, such as Clovis Bray or the Ishtar Collective. The Exos were created during that period, and the Ahamkara appeared.
  
  Most of the new discoveries humanity made were geared towards the colonization of the system and other vital technologies such as AI or medicine. Other technologies, and Earth itself, developed more slowly. The technology of the Golden Age has not only attracted the attention of human survivors, but also the alien races who now occupy the system. The Fallen seek to loot Venus' grand Archives, the Hive sought to use Rasputin on Earth for their own purposes, and the Cabal intended to claim the Dust Palace on Mars for themselves.
  
  The Golden Age came to an end with the arrival of the Darkness, which began to attack humanity, and drove it back to planet Earth. The Traveler defended what was left of the human race, and through some means sacrificed itself to save humanity. The survivors of the conflict banded together and built a city underneath where the Traveler hung over the Earth. Humanity had been saved, but its golden age was over. Approximately seven hundred years from the present day, enough time has passed since the Traveler's final stand that many details about the Golden Age and how it ended, such as what, or whom, attacked and exactly how the Traveler saved humanity have been forgotten or have passed into legend.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• The Collapse - The Awoken

  The Collapse was a cataclysm in human history that nearly brought the species to extinction. Following the Golden Age after mankind had colonized the Solar System, the Darkness attacked humanity and pushed it back to its homeworld, Earth. On Earth itself, the Darkness overran the Knights stationed at Mumbai. Humanity would have been wiped out if not for the intervention of the Traveler. In a climactic battle, the Traveler drove the Darkness from Earth. However, the Traveler was unable to destroy the Darkness outright. Additionally, the Traveler was horrifically injured in the process and forced to enter some form of stasis. In an attempt to protect the still remaining humans, the Traveler sent out the Ghosts to find Guardians to protect humanity. The Traveler then entered stasis, coming to rest over the site that would become the Last City. In the aftermath of the Collapse came the Dark Age. Virtually nothing else is remembered of the Collapse, as very few survived.
  
  
  
  It is said the Awoken were born in the Collapse, descended from those humans who tried to flee its wrath. Something happened to them out on the edge of the deep Black, and they were forever changed. Awoken are standoffish and resemble baseline humans, with the notable exception of having pale blue, purple, green, or gray skin. They also have luminescent eyes with glowing irises. Beyond physical appearances, the Awoken seem to possess powers and abilities beyond their human ancestors.
  
  

• The Last City

  The Last City, also known as The Last Safe City, is the final bastion of humanity. Located somewhere on Earth, the City was built and is located directly under the floating Traveler to take advantage of its protective shields. The City was slowly built after the Collapse, marking the end of the Dark Age and the beginning of the City Age; most of humanity's survivors now live in the City as opposed to hidden enclaves throughout Earth. Countless wars were fought to keep the peace, and from this era of strife rose the Guardians. Surrounding it is a massive wall built by the first Titans to assist in keeping out enemies. The Tower formerly rested along the wall, which was the headquarters for the Guardians. They have defended the City for centuries.
  
  The City is inhabited by humans, Awoken and Exos, who worked together in the time following the Golden Age to build the city and its defenses. The City was once embroiled by a bitter war between the different factions of the City, until the Guardians stepped in and put a stop to the violence. Since then, it was ruled by a Consensus of the factions, with the Speaker as its head and the Vanguard taking on an advisory role.
  
  For a long time after the Collapse, humanity had been divided into various petty fiefdoms, with Guardians blessed with the Traveler's Light becoming petty kings or bandits that preyed on the weak. However, following the foundation of the Iron Lords, humanity began to unite. Underneath the Traveler, with the guidance of the first Speaker, the Last City began to take root. It started as a small number of tents, but as more Guardians and humans began to arrive in the area, the City began to grow, the tents turning into fully-fledged buildings and exploding in size as population increased. Even throughout various alien attacks such as Fallen raids, the City grew, until it reached its maximum extent and the Guardians helped to build the city's walls.
  
  The Last City has faced many challenges, invasions, breaches, internal conflicts, each time the Guardians rose to face the darkness and defend the people of their city. Certain laws were put into place that would prohibit all but the Guardians themselves from leaving the city's walls, as several alien races moved into Earth to scrounge for parts or hunt the human and furre survivors. This particular law caused a rift between the Guardians and their wards, many within the city believed they should have the right to come and go as they saw fit, while others were more than happy to remain in a relatively safe haven.