Normedra

Normedra was settled centuries ago. Few know exactly and even fewer care, only historians and philosophers in Yski who are lucky enough not having to worry about more basic worries such as food and shelter. No one is sure where the first humans came from, or why, all they know is that a huge colony ship landed and a town grew around it's erect structure, and that ship still stands today in the center of Normedra's capital and largest city, Yski. Now rotting and collapsing, it has become a sacred place to almost everyone who knows of it.

When Normedra was first colonized, the planet was warmer and terraforming gases were released to warm the planet even further, creating a climate similar to fabled Earth. Plants and wildlife where introduced into this world and flourished, and vast amounts of natural resources were discovered, ready to be exploited. Man spread across the surface with lightning speed and soon there were dozens of cities and smaller towns dotted across the planet, with new settlements being founded every month. All of this was led by the Kralka, the supreme court at Yski, a council who ruled that happened on Normedra's surface.

Over time however, these newer settlements, some on the other side of the world, wanted more freedom. They wanted to be free of the Kralka, which had grown bloated and unwieldy under the strain of managing a whole planet. At first they tried negotiating, but after being refused a say for years, many declared independence from Yski and formed city states, alliances and confederacies. Shocked and horrifed by the breakaways, Yski retaliated with force to bring the 'deviates' back into the fold.

What followed was a long, see-saw war between Yski and the various city states, some allied with Yski, some against it. The smaller states surrendered when the attacks began, but the larger states fought back bitterly to hold onto their new liberties. City turned on city, brother on brother, and for years each side raided the other, attacked and counter attacked, sometimes signing a truce for several years to catch breath before the fighting inevitably started again. Bigger problems were brewing for Normedra though.

The planet was cooling down. The atmosphere was slowly bleeding away, smog from the vast industries filled the air and chemicals and toxic wastes from destroyed processing plants polluted the planet. The scientists knew what was happening, but their calls for help fell of the deaf ears of the councilors at the Kralka, who were too busy with the various wars raging across the planet. By the time they finally took notice, it was too late.

All of a sudden, the temperature plunged and the coldest winter know by Man on Normedra gripped the world. The poles were covered in metres of snow, seas froze over and people fled the cities towards the equator regions and Yski where the weather was supposedly warmer, but many did not make it and froze to death in blizzards. The wars continued for a short time, but eventually both sides gave up as survival became priority and civilization was thrown down. Proud and magnificent cities were covered in snow and ice and crumbled down, and power stations and chemical processing plants leaked their products onto the tortured earth, mutating Man and animal, killing the lucky and horribly mutilating the unlucky. Some took shelter in bunkers or metro systems, the doors frozen shut as they waited for the worst to pass. After two years of apocalyptic weather, people cautiously left their shelters to look upon a new world,a world Reclaimed by nature and the gods.

   Normedra is a different place now. While not as cold as it was during the Reclaiming, it still snows a lot, and randomly as seasons have lost all meaning and the weather is a random element. The mighty settlements that once battled for supremacy were now sad ruins of a past civilisation, home to savage creatures and ice covered mutants who had managed to survive the storms. Yski had survived, but only just, and in the years that followed people began rebuilding what they had lost.

   Yski still claims world domination, an ancient ideology that has lost all meaning to those who try and pursue it now. But they do not have the means to go where their ancestors could once reach in a few days. Travel is hard and communication harder, but they still try. When they did manage to explore this new world, they discovered that people had been rebuilding the city states, who ruled themselves and scrapped a living from the wastes. While some had found some of their former grandeur, most are pitiful compared to those that existed before.

   Away from the settlements now lies what most people call the tundra, or the wastes. While not technically tundras in the geographical sense, that is the name they now have for they are massive and empty. Some people live as nomads, going from place to place, trading, hunting or raiding to survive. Others try to live as their ancestors did, or live in small villages and ranches, farming and raising livestock for a living. Out in the tundra, life is hard and crime and violence are common to some, especially the bands of bandits or roaming mercenaries that sell their services to those who still insist in making war even now.