</center> --Excerpt from the Essay, "The Invasion of Man"
Written by Adalia Schreiber in the Year 2298
Translated from its original Elvish by Theodore Finch--
Some of the greatest cities of the world, pillars of human "civilization," are now covered in nearly three centuries of packed earth upon bones. Some places have disappeared entirely. Kyoto is grassland. Much of North Korea is desert. Few people even remember these names. In July 2020, when World War III shook the world, there was global chaos to a degree that no one had ever known. Desperate, China turned to biological warfare, and the resulting Beijing Virus left hundreds of millions dead. Crops withered in the fields, livestock starved, and people collapsed where they stood. Sometime between 2057 and 2086—the Age of Darkness, as the humans called it—global population dropped to 100 million.
Human civilization seemed on the brink of extinction, until the last shreds of government in Europe created five commissions to solve the crisis. A trio of scientists from the group known as the Commission of God discovered the cure for the Beijing Virus; and, with humanity’s salvation in their hands, it was not long before the commission was given complete political power – not that many people cared about politics way back then anyway, I bet. That was before they became the Church for the Advancement of Humanity in God's Image. Slowly society began to crawl back towards order. Seeing their plight, our people, along with the other races – the vampires of Siberia, the fabled kitsune of Japan, even a handful of Chiruwi arriving out of Africa, and others to numerous to name – all of us, despite the cruel treatment of the humans that had forced us into hiding and near-extinction all those centuries ago, chose to leave the safety of our homes to help our once-enemies regain their footing in the world. We showed them our history. We showed them our technology. And, we showed them our Craft.
Many of the humans welcomed us with open arms, and before long they, too, were learning the long-forgotten techniques of their ancestors. But the Church, perhaps sensing a threat, banned the use of this "witchcraft" and attacked their saviors. We retaliated. And thus began the second hell—The Holy War. They declared humans with the gift of Craft "witches," and all of the nonhumans "demons," and fought us to their dying breaths. By 2161, most of we "sins against God" had retreated into hiding, living as we liked in the miles of uninhabited territory. Now the Church has the Inquisition and a whole Order of Demon Slayers to do their dirty work for them. Their people are recovering, and their population grows with each passing day, until we find them once again invading the land we call home. But the humans are not without their own problems. Universities are booming these days, and people are starting to ask questions again – and the Church is fighting back, banning all materials it finds heretical. They have even taken to executing scholars. If this is the "Age of Peace," why does it feel like we're on the brink of something bloody?
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