History

The Age of Shadows – Pre-History to 1870

Supernatural kind existed since the dawn of civilization. Magic existed in everything and everyone, woven throughout the world. When the Old Ones fell from the stars and walked among the world, supernaturals were not shrouded in secrecy. The Old Ones mixed with humanity creating the Daemons, and it was thought through the teaching of magic to humans that they created the Vampyre. These are only legends, passed on as stories around the fire before language was written.

It was the great human uprising that changed everything. The Old Ones could bleed and die. Humanity, be it through greed, jealousy, or fear, killed them all, and then turned upon their Witch followers and the blood drinkers. Humanity's sheer numbers gave supernatural kind cause for concern, and they stepped into the shadows in self-preservation, where they tried to remain ever since.

For Vampyres, the reasoning was easy. Vampyres were immortal beings that fed on the blood of humanity for survival. The shadows better served them in their hunts when mortals were less suspecting. To be thought of as nothing more than legend, a dark bedtime story, allowed them more freedoms to roam the world, grow, feed, and live unbothered. Over time, Vampyres developed laws to perpetuate their survival, policing their own to ensure that the liberties they held were not taken by the foolishness of another. So long as they continued to move around every ten to twenty years and were cautious in their hunts, they blended into society seamlessly. They assumed new identities, claimed inheritance through carefully forged documents, and inserted themselves into the fabric of mortal society with practiced ease. Some even established themselves in prominent positions of power and wealth, accumulating fortunes over centuries that gave them influence mortals could never match in a single lifetime.

Witches did not have such great luck. Unlike Vampyres who could disconnect from humanity, Witches were human themselves. They still acted as healers and wise ones of villages, using their magic to deal with problems that ordinary medicine and wisdom could not touch. This choice led to dozens of witch hunts both small and large throughout history. When crops failed, when illness struck, when misfortune visited a community, the healer was often the first accused. Their presence was in a way always suspected—a cure that worked too well, a wound that closed too quickly, knowledge that seemed impossible for one person to possess. While many witches watched helplessly from the sidelines as brothers and sisters were carted off to be imprisoned, hung, or burned alive, they persisted. The need to help, to heal, to use their gifts outweighed the constant danger. Their numbers dwindled considerably since ancient times, each generation smaller than the last.

Daemons had been fickle throughout history, blending in among mortals human and Witch alike. Some made their presence a shadow, living quiet lives that drew no attention. Others could not resist causing trouble, their nature driving them to mischief or malice that left marks on history. These actions led to religious wars fought over demonic influences, to exorcisms and burnings, to centuries of doctrine built around the corruption of souls. Daemons perpetuated mortal folklore and superstitions more than any other supernatural kind. When a Daemon was caught and killed, the mortal witnesses saw only what they expected: a poor soul possessed by something demonic, not a separate being entirely. This misunderstanding served Daemons well, as humanity always looked for unseen forces rather then the dangers that lived as their neighbors.

1870s to Present Timeline

There is a massive amount of history. Here is something more bite size, if you have further questions, please ask staff.

1870s–1913 – The Brink of Discovery

• 1870s Photography creates permanent records. Immortals photographed in 1875 looking thirty raises questions when the same face appears unchanged in 1895.
• 1880s–1890s Police fingerprinting and systematic documentation connect across borders. Industrial cities concentrate populations while gas lights shrink the shadows leading to more witness accounts.
• The Edwardian era, the "Gilded Age". In Britain. begins as a time of peace sandwiched between the Boer War (1899-1902) and the First World War(1914) ; King Edward VII reigns from 1901 to 1910 but the era extends to 1919.

1914–1918 – The Great War (World War I)

• August 1914 The Great War begins. Trench warfare and aerial bombardment create unprecedented carnage.
• 1914–1918 Supernaturals cannot hide amidst mass slaughter. Vampyres rise from fatal wounds. Witches cast magic in desperation. Captured supernaturals are examined in laboratories. Starved Vampyres go feral and break free. Daemons vanish from locked rooms after capture and kill observers. Military records, medical reports, and photographs document everything.
• Air raids: German Zeppelins and Gotha bombers carried out attacks on British cities starting in 1915, resulting in civilian casualties and leading to blackouts and air raid defenses.
• November 1918 The war ends. Soldiers, medical personnel, and officials return home with undeniable stories.

1920s The Roaring 20's

• 1919–1925 Word spreads through newspapers, academic circles, and government briefings. Governments study laboratory data and develop crude detection methods: cross-referencing old photographs, examining census records for impossible longevity, cutting suspects to test healing speed. Propaganda begins: encouraging citizens to report oddities.
• January 1925-1928 The North Americas begin in the Great Purge. Civil war erupts as sympathizers and Supernatural fight back. Police and military raid occult shops, private clubs, and libraries. Employment bans encourage mass reporting. Tens of thousands of innocent humans die alongside supernaturals. Refugees flee carrying tales of burned neighborhoods and camps. America close all borders. The United States becomes "New Nation"—silent, isolated, advancing in rumored occult technology. All trade connected worldwide collapses. Scrying spells reveal only pain and death.
• Collpase of trade with New Nation leads to a global great depression ecnomicaly. Food and fuel face scarcity.
• November 1928 The Depot—a commandeered steamliner carrying women, children, and refugees—escapes New Nation. After resisting recapture, it begins traveling port to port as a neutral matriarchal refuge.
• June 1929 A Daemon caught in a London raid takes control of captors' minds, turns them on each other, and vanishes. Radio and telephone spread the news across Britain in hours, across Europe in days. The British government drafts purge legislation to begin within the month.

1930s - The Great Depression

• November 11, 1930 The Prime Minister, Cabinet, and officials are slaughtered in a single night. Political buildings burn. All evidence turns to ash. The message: we will not go quietly. The incident is referred to as “The Night of Ashes”.
• December 1930 The royal family takes power and declares war on supernatural kind. London is renamed New London. Bounties for supernatural are authorized.
• Janaury 1930 - Vampyre existance is exposed. After months of study of captured and deceased specimens, an international announcement confirms Vampyres are real, causing the greatest public panic since the Great War. Clans continue to lay low, or begin to make moves in prediction of what is to come.
• March 1931 In the wake of Vampyres being exposed, the King authroizes the legalization of hunters. The Church steps forward exposing the The Knights of Judas, which establishes the Guild— accepting and training recruits to protect humanity. Construction begins on a massive wall around inner New London. The walled zone becomes known as Blackgate—supposedly purified, but immortals still manipulate from within noble houses.
• August 1932 Exposed Vampyres overtake the Isle of Mann, renaming it Manavia. It becomes a lawless black market hub.
• March 1933 Ireland declares sanctuary for Witches, arguing they are human and deserve protection. Witch refugees form Willow's Peak in the Wicklow Mountains.
• June 1933 Edinburgh, Scotland, declares sanctuary for Witches and benevolent Daemons.
• Late 1933 The Legion begins to form—the first organized supernatural military force. Witches, Daemons and Vampyres willing to fight side by side, establishing supply lines and strategic operations. Hubs begin to establish in sanctuary locations.
• 1933–1935 Countries throughout Europe begin implementing their own purges. Civil wars erupt in each as resistance fights back. Small towns declare neutrality. Underground networks smuggle people and goods. Infrastructure collapses.
• Spring 1936 Purge-supporting nations launch full military campaigns against sanctuary territories. Britain blockades Ireland. Germany attacks Scotland. Full-scale warfare with tanks, artillery, and aerial bombardment. Unusual creatures, monsters begin to emerge from the dark holes, and the spaces between towns and cities become more dangerious.
• 1936–1937 Sanctuary nations begin to retaliate against attacks with a mixture of armed forces, aerial bombardment and magic support from Legion. Magic casters in sanctuary cities maintain protective wards to protect what they can in draining and exhausting feats.
• July 1938 Britain begins conscripting all able-bodied men ages 18-40. The ranks flood with undercover supernaturals.
• September 1939 The Second World War officially begins—a global conflict over whether humanity will share the world with supernatural beings or eliminate them entirely. War comes from all sides.
• Fall 1939 Manavia withstands first aerial bombings through magical defenses. The Island roots itself as a Hesdquarter base of operations for the Legion to funnel intel through. Project BlackGate is fully constructed, including main gates of entry by land, the Thames, and transportation routes for controlled movement.

1940s - The On Going War between Humanity and Supernturatals

• March 1940; Legion and Irish forces seize Liverpool, offering a new sanctury for supernatural alongside humanity. The city remains unstable as humans begin espianogue and sabtage.
• Ongoing In sanctuary territories: air raid sirens wail regularly, Magister wielders cast defensive wards, resources dwindle, rationing for food and water is in place. War begins to feel normal, and daily operations continue between the air raids. Thousands have died. Thousands are still dying. Religion is rising once more. The spiritual forces push their followers to establish balance.