Far beyond the age of fossil fuels, heavy pollutants, and resource exigency, the planet has done well for itself, a new energy source siphoned via a process of converting energy from various life sources developed by the leading power company, Aesir, has revolutionized the globe-walkers' existence as a whole. Virtually free of negative by-products, abundant and through the benevolent cooperation's distribution, the energy cells provided have helped not only purify the environment, but give rise to technological advancements and industrial booms in every corner of the teemed world. No given country is left untouched, all having converted to the new means of power, the days of black-smoke chimney factories and war over fuels long gone along with the technology that went with it. This great calm cannot, however, be entirely attributed to Aesir's promotion, but also to the global treaty which upholds peace among all nations, the Myrine Alliance.
All-inclusive concert for peace and amelioration was not, unfortunately, founded on the best of terms. Congruence to work for the better all mankind, versus individual gain did come about until a great struggle had been settled. Roughly sixty years prior, the country of Jung-ni, pressing to expand their own territories, invaded and engaged the weaker southern region of Feyl, intention to claim it and place it under the totalitarian rule of the day's leader, Desheng Zhuang. Insufficient in military might, Feyl was certain to fall, if not for the intervention of the northernmost country, Azguard, providing forces against Zhuang's throngs of hellish troops with no prior announcement of their offering. Spanned over two years, the civil war lead all over the edge of stability, stumbling down at hazardous celerity a slope at which the bottom a pit of ruin lie in wait. Were things to have persisted as they had been, the entire continent would have indubitably burned to ash, though, with the intervention of Malastare and Aesir's aid with weapons developed with the use of their energy cells specifically for the war, direction pivoted. It would be another two years before Jung-ni was finally pacified. Removed entirely of their martial assets, the initiator was left defenseless, and, though gradual, the continent began its recovery. From this, in efforts to prevent such tragedy unfurling anytime in the near future, the Myrine Alliance was established, committing each power on the globe's face to unity and, if it was necessary, civil dispute and never war.
Lunar cycles elapsed since would betray the recent past, recovery, though laggard in its beginnings, having flourished and erased much of the signs of conflict from the territories involved. Tensions will never be entirely erased, and though most of the generations involved are gone or aged, it has managed to pass on to more recent minds, ensuring the past will not be forgotten, and for some, never permitted to rest. Primary activity is around border regions of the eastern continent's countries, dark areas in which only resilient, proud, though simultaneously grudge-bearing communities survive, if only on their determination to come out on top of a struggle that, for the most part, the surrounding world has put behind them. Though contained, guerrilla troops, be it rebel or assumed branches of official military of any involved country, have strained both the land and its people, communities suffering economically and emotionally as attacks are unfurled any given day with no specific patterns that can ever be fully predicted and prevented. These men with blackened hearts, possessing mind only for themselves, seeking their own glory and fulfillment of revenge at the cost of another. They are the unforgiven, and, out of their enmity and the selfish blade in its right hand, the Zeitgeist were born.
Objective, vigilant, merciless. Subjection of their unique brand of justice comes upon any deemed dangerous, a hazard to peace and whatever unspoken ethics the pitch-roving forces have set for the world. Ranks of the Zeitgeist have no record of affiliation, no identified members, no excuse for the deliverance of their unique brand of justice. Sorted and broken down, the only real evidence encompassing the eventide squadron is their emergence shortly after violent disputes carried on following the treaty which should have silence all war, ending many rebel factions in fell sweeps, always done from the inside, no evidence left to mark the betrayers from the vigilantes. Speculation, since apparently no government has proven capable of spotting any substantial information regarding them, has lead many to believe this group is a secret guild forged from either the military or even possibly Aesir, though there has been no confirmation on this, only assurance that no country or company is in anyway involved with the force. In recent years, appearances of the Zeitgeist have dwindled, much of the squabbles dying down, leading most people to believe either things are getting better, or the shade-favoring members are dying off or losing heart.
Beyond the repair of decades old wounds inflicted, Myrine has blossomed in all respects. No hugely significant conflicts-none to lead to any war such as that Jung-ni had brought the hammer down to drive-and all countries have been on a steady climb, versus rapid dips in their economy thanks Aesir's efforts to equalize. Though still far from it, it is fair to say that the current balance is acceptable for most. Encouragement of any individual region's culture and assets continues on while, simultaneously, massive building projects have been undergone in recent years to interconnect the world further. More clean mokuma plants and research centers, expansion and establishing of grandiose metropolis, and a partially functioning train system based in Malastare and branching tracks clear to Gareiz to bring quick, affordable cross-country transportation between all major cities on the continent.
Though intention are wholly in the favor of the people, many have suffered on behalf of these constructs. Uprooted and witness to the destruction of their homes, many have been displaced, robbed of the comfort of familiarity as they were forced to to leave what they had been raised in and built up for themselves in exchange for land to support projects of either Aesir or their own government. From this strife, rancor-inspired rebellion welled to the brim until eventual overflow. The generally peaceable western stretch was splattered with flaring red lights to mark uprise, general citizens revolved reactive malcontents, sabotaging cites, protesting in various forms-some more effectual in both the negative and positive sense than others-and some simply acting out for they had been robbed of everything that had been of importance, nothing more to lose. Attempts were made to appease these disquieted individuals, new housing, communities built especially for those displaced, and many took up this offer-albeit many of the colonies fell to poverty shortly after their foundations were laid-though many would not be appeased, no salve provided effective in soothing their newborn aspirations. It was at this point which, as they had in the past, people began disappearing.
Secret forces established to silence those who would stand in the way of progress, the Zeitgeist, even reports of peculiar attacks from wild beasts arose to explain the sudden dissolving or obliteration of certain factions. The first theories were entirely credible until an unforeseen variable entered the pattern of disappearances: innocents were being targeted and the numbers of missing bodies rises with each strike. Bodies found, utterly mangled nearly beyond recognition as human, never mind their individual identities. Now, it's viewed as random, no logical answer to it provided, though conspiracies which fly from any lips inquired about the topic vary as widely as the features of the speaker. Popularity of one opinion or another wavers by area, many of the upper class cities generally unaffected, though minor towns spread farther in the country, those suffering in the recent changes have been the most vehement about uncovering and ceasing whatever has been the cause of these raids, for they have been those to suffer the greatest from them. Subtle control enforced by their own government, a cryptic statement by determined, if not lunatic, vigilantes, or perhaps fair advisory from nature and fate that, if the inhabitants of the realm proceed as they have been, however innocent or prosperous their aims seem on the surface, that their ambitions will, eventually and however hellishly, end them.