Editing Degenesis (section)

==History & Setting==
In 2073, a large swarm of asteroids hit Earth. The immediate consequences were nothing short of catastrophic. Tsunamis, earthquakes, and absolutely massive tectonic shifts completely overthrew the old way of life. But that was only the start of things. Most of the western nations were quite highly advanced at the time, and by and large managed to deal. The real trouble started afterwards.

Over the next several hundred years (the game is set in 2595), there was a major shift in climates. The northern and southern ice caps expanded massively, rendering much of northern Europe inhospitable. At the same time northern Africa ended up getting much more rain, transforming it into a verdant and lush tropical zone.

More importantly though is that the asteroids that caused all this brought something with them, called the Primer. Nobody exactly knows what precisely it is, but in effect the Primer is a kind of catalyst for hugely accelerated evolution. In Europe, it produced a fungal infestation called Sepsis. Sepsis (which seems at least somewhat sentient) creates great mother fields of fungi that periodically release great clouds of spores to permeate itself. These spores will infest humans and embed themselves in their system. In small doses it's not a significant problem, but the more severe the spore infestation the more the victim will lose its mind as it gets more and more in tune with the hive mind of the Sepsis. Much worse still, if humans are exposed to these spores in childhood or in utero, they will eventually undergo a violent, severe mutation later on, transforming them into a new form of life: Homo Degenesis. The effect of these mutations varies depending on the particular strain of Sepsis (there's one spreading out from each asteroid impact sites), but they're all bad news. Some of the Degenesis seek to subjugate humans, some cooperate with them, but always at a price.

With all this shit happening, it's little surprise that most of the civilisations in Europe crumbled and fell apart, in places even devolving down to essentially stone-age level. Instead of governments or nations, there were only Clans left scattered around the countryside. The force that finally brought them back into a semblance of order were the Cults: Groups of people devoted to a particular idea or way of life. There are for example the Spitalians, leftovers of a pre-apocalyptic Red Cross turned militant, with their sole aim being the eradication of the Sepsis. Or the Chroniclers, who are obsessed with gathering information and with the eventual goal of recreating what's essentially an Internet.

Down in Africa they don't have any Sepsis, but instead have to deal with Psychovores. These are incredibly fast-growing and aggressive plants that are highly poisonous and actively hostile to humans coming into their vicinity. They have formed an impenetrable belt that entirely cuts off central Africa and the Middle East. Still, it's not as actively spreading as the Sepsis, so the Africans are by and large better off and have more time focusing on internal affairs.

As if all of that wasn't enough, there are a number of other assorted dangers to be found around the world. There are Marauders, seemingly immortal and highly powerful individuals dating back to before the fall. One of them has just recently made himself leader of a number of primitive eastern clans and launched a giant invasion towards Europe's heartlands. There are also the Sleepers, cryogenically preserved gene-modified soldiers hidden in bunkers who are periodically awoken and sent out into the world to work on some impenetrable grand scheme.

All of this is really just scratching at the surface. The setting is really fucking dense with all kinds of stuff, and you can easily run campaigns focusing just on any one of them without ever really running into most of the others.