Valcura
In the year 2087, the world stopped turning. That is, mankind had run itself dry of energy resources and materials. The ecosystem had been gradually destroyed, with species dying out every day. Eventually, most of the industrial areas had become wastelands, and many factories, offices, and homes were overcome by decay. Plants began to thrive in these areas. Every abandoned home had become a forest.
The following year, the government of Valcura, in a bid to maintain their power and prevent revolt, carried out a re-education scheme which explained the resource crisis as a natural, controlled occurrence, and that they had moved all supply production across seas. They announced the village would receive an allowance each month containing food, seeds, and occasional material goods such as fabrics, and over time people began to believe their lies. Valcura’s village became complacent and hopeless. Most technology had been banned to prevent outside communication and independent, unmonitored innovation (as a result, “innovation” had become a word of taboo and threat within the village). Scientists of multiple fields had been declared missing. Their murder by the government was never announced, but remained a quiet rumour: public knowledge that was never truly discussed.
Organisations both by the now off-shore government (they dared not to interact with the public, the shipments of supplies were delivered by masked men who never spoke), and a rogue underground group known as the Vulture Organisation began to run the village. Food supplies were constantly kept at a low, so that the people in the village would be just scraping by, weakened by their perpetual hunger and malnourishment, which, alongside fear, prevented them from revolting. Secret farms grew underground, and now-hard-to-obtain medicines were quietly dealt out for high prices. Those with enough money and power could afford respirators and protective clothing to fight against the harsh air quality and burning.
The Aftermath
Over time, the ecosystem somewhat recovered. The pollution and sudden dramatic change in climate meant animals had to rapidly adapt, leading to unprecedented mutations. Some were passive, others would attack the village people. Five years after the announcement of the government’s re-education scheme, monsters unlike anything people had seen began to emerge. The underground organisation worked for the “Vulture of the Mountains”, who carried out secret lab experiments and created weaponised mutants to terrorise the village. Since the emergence of these creatures, the village has experienced three mass-destruction mutant events, collectively devastating 40% of livelihood. The first and last of these events were caused by the Night Howler, and the second by the Exobat. No one outside of the organisation has ever met the Vulture, but the lab can sometimes be seen in the horizon, when the heavy fog clears. Hopes of stopping the mass-destruction are low, as the villagers continue to struggle in this new world.
