World building I.I

I'm still sorting out how often I'll post -- thinking three times a week will be adequate. I'll get it finalized later.

As for world building, I've had a bit of change of heart on the origin of the creatures and magic in the setting. My reasoning for this is the natural panic that such an even would bring would be far worse than the collapse of world-wide economies. I also want the period that the setting is primarily set in (the 1920's to 1930's) to really be focused on the criminal elements instead of the introduction of magic and weird creatures to the world. So, I'll be setting the origin back a little over a century, for now.

Currently I'm tying the resurgence of magic and monsters in with the finding of the Rosetta Stone. The stones (there are numerous 'Rosetta Stones' in this setting) are magical in nature and form the seals on the ancient magic and mythical creatures. Part of the reason they contain different languages was the use of ancient magic from around the Mediterranean together to form a powerful enough seal. The ancient languages, like the Egyptian Hieroglyphics, are still deciphered and translated thanks to these stones, but that is only after the seals had been broken.



Prior to the breaking of the seal was the discovery of the first Rosetta Stone. Much like our own history the stone was found near the town of Rashid in Egypt in the year 1799 by Pierre-Francois Bouchard, a soldier of the French expedition to Egypt. The difference here is that his discovery was not by accident or luck but fate. Bouchard was literally drawn to the stone and held a special connection to it, one that was not apparent to his fellow expedition members until much later. This connection lead Bouchard and his expedition team to uncover several more 'Rosetta Stones' over the next year. With each stone gathered Bouchard withdrew further and further into a state of recluse as he 'studied' the stones. While his team was worried about him their fear of him kept them from confronting or disobeying him.

It wasn't until 1801, when the British were poised to defeat the French in Egypt, that Bouchard fully emerged from his studies. Stones in hand he set out upon the battlefield while his comrades could only look on, curious of the sight before them. The British thought nothing of it and simply continued their assault, but when the ground around Bouchard began to ripple and the wind swirl about his hands, they began to wonder what was happening. Bouchard unleashed great torrents of power form the stones he held -- nothing anyone had ever seen before. The loudest cannon was muted by the shockwaves he projected. The very earth split under him -- fissures racing out toward the British lines, soon swallowing men by the dozen. Blades of air cut the flesh of all around -- British and French. A massacre occurred and neither side was left standing. Neither was Bouchard, though, as the power he unleashed consumed him entirely. It was the final eruption of force that caused him to disappear and it was that force that ripped the seals on the stones asunder, releasing all the magics and monsters they held back into the world.

It should be noted that, at this point, the amount of magic and monsters released was still fairly minor. The following years, however, saw the release of many, many more stones all over the world. How they were released is still a mystery.

And that's it, so far. I'm still working on the 1800's, researching major events that need to be changed. The Napoleonic Wars, especially.