The Long Twilight: A Twilight Earth

The Earth has changed over the last two hundred years. Before, some savants believe that mankind had tamed the world, arranging its climate and weather to his own desires. Others believe that the fragments talking about geoengineering and climate change were actually talking of desperate attempts to bring a world that had fallen out of balance back into balance.

What is known is that in the time just before the Last Sunset, mankind had covered much of the world with forests and growing things, even as the oceans continued to rise. After the Last Sunset, some of humanities technologies stopped or were turned off. The oceans have continued to rise, although the rise seems slower, and the world is, gradually, cooling.  Most of the coastal lands of the 20th and 21st century are still underwater, the remains of the great coastal cities poking out of the water here and there.

However, the earth itself is full of life. Endless forests, plains and steppes cover the continents, while the oceans team with life.

But not the same kind of life as the people of the past would have seen. The Earth has been forever transformed, and that includes the living beings that call it home.

Flora:

Much of the Earth is covered by vast forests, endless plains, and thick, hot jungles. Something had been done, or is believed to have been done before the Last Sunset, for some of the stories recovered from libraries tell of a world that was dying in the past. Droughts, hot temperatures, animals and plants withering away from a thousand forms of pollution.

But nothing at all like the world is today. The world today is, with a very few exceptions, rich and fertile, a place where most farmers can easily raise a crop to sustain their families and towns, especially with the aid of magic or technology. The Children of the Gift know why, while others wonder if this was simply the work of the old world attempting to remediate the damage done before the Last Sunset made such questions moot.

Glow trees:

One of the more unusual plants, glow trees have fruit that, well, glows. Depending on the age and strain of the trees, the fruit can give off anything from a dim glow to a light brighter than most lanterns.  When picked the fruit can last for several days, before it dims and goes out, during which time it can illuminate homes and yards. Lastly, individual glow trees will provide fruit that glows in different colors, often turning a grove into a wonderland.

Today, many settled areas plant glow trees along their roads, and even seldom traveled paths may have straggly glow trees along them, providing illumination for the odd wanderer.

Water Vines:

A modified plant, possibly related to kudzu, the water vines have roots that dig deep into the earth, down to the water table and suck up the water into large bladders. This water is purified, and can be used for a variety of purposes, most notably drinking water. Many settlements cut holes in water vines that have been guided to grow up and around a house or other structure, and place valves in those openings so that locals can drink safe water when they desire. Drinking too much water can sometimes harm the vines, and so “drinking the vine dry” is a slang for someone who doesn’t take care of their property.

New (or old) creatures.

Among the lions and tigers that stalk the forests of  North America are other creatures, from a different time. Velociraptors, smilodons, and other ancient, once extinct animals wander the world, apparently having escaped from zoos that existed before the Last Sunset. In many cases, they are no longer associate mankind with danger. Some will scavenge at the edge of camps, while others will hunt the lone human or small groups.

They make the world dangerous, but they are animals, albeit potentially lethal ones. Travelers who understand their habits can generally avoid them, and even the greatest animal is vulnerable to weapons or magic. Some hunters make their living off these creatures, selling their meat, bones and teeth in the villages, but the endless numbers of mankind that once threatened so many creatures with extinction no longer fill the earth. For every herd culled by a hunter, there are a hundred more.

Hunters:

One of the most dangerous creatures in the Twilight World are the hunters. They appear to be animals, but are actually one of the creations of the old world. Robotic or engineered creatures, hunters were designed to give human hunters a challenge or in some cases to keep animal populations under control. Today, many of these hunters follow their old programming, only now it’s giving lone wanderers a challenge as they enter the long-forgotten hunting ranges. A few of them have ceased to recognize the limits of their old hunting ranges, and thus can pop up anywhere. Depending on the challenge the hunter was intended to present, it might only be a little more dangerous than a normal animal, while others are nearly unstoppable creatures that exhibit a terrifying cunning.

The one good thing about these creatures is that it appears that none of them can naturally reproduce. Every hunter slain by a band of heroes is one less hunter in the world.

It is rumored that some hunters have actually bonded with a spirit. Such beings would be extraordinarily dangerous, but might also be sapient.