Disaster Manipulation

Part 1.

What makes people special is their ability to grow and evolve rapidly, not in a literal sense, but in an aspect where beings like humans are faced with obstacles and circumstances and have the potential to overcome them. There are times however when individuals can’t do that, and can succumb to failure that can sometimes influence them for the worse, resulting in detriment of oneself and others around themselves. Such circumstances come from a variety of reasons, and one of the most difficult to overcome is trauma. Why is this important? Because there are times in a world when people will have to face conflict, loss, and fear, stemming from natural disasters, war, or even among each other. Only in the rarest opportunities will these dark times end, but there will always be great loss and changes afterwards. In one world that was like others, such events caused unpreventable tragedies that it was never the same after.

| The Darkest Times |

For every world thriving with life in a universe, there are the living beings who have sentience and will, developing civilizations and communities of varying rules and systems. In the Earth-like planet named Spectra, even with some differences this main idea doesn’t change; beings called humans have towns or cities to care for, and there are even other races thought only possible in fiction existing in this world, whether it is the hybrid races, mystic humans called the Magicians, among certain others had their own development and systems to follow. Spectra was a unique planet with plentiful life and variation, but even this world would eventually fall victim to catastrophe, although it was caused by something…otherworldly, beyond the planet itself. This took the form of a malefic force unnatural to Spectra, although some beings and races viewed it far differently; it could have been a supernatural natural disaster coming from the cosmos itself, an entity originating from a higher source that sought to harm the planet and natural life, or even a metaphysical influence brought by a higher calling signifying disaster(due to theology and certain belief systems found in Spectra and certain cultures). Despite the vast contrast to what exactly this “malefic force” was and the capabilities it had, it once began on a single day where the sky had “tints of the cosmos itself” and suddenly began the spark of natural disasters in different locations of the world, varying from hurricanes and storms, earthquakes and tidal waves, even pandemics and other events that caused discord to not only civilizations but even the lands of Spectra. This was called “The Darkest Times” and was considered a sign that the world was slowly destroying itself, and not just because of natural phenomena.

As the name suggests, the phenomenon that happened all around the planet simultaneously lasted for decades, and was interpreted by races and cultures as signs of calamity striking Spectra, while some others were attempting to look into what exactly caused the disasters to happen so abruptly and then spreading worldwide, using all what they had to barely suppress more casualties from happening. It’s actually because of beings having different viewpoints on trying to prove which side was right that the reasoning why and how the disasters happened became an unsolved mystery. As for the natural life outside of sentient races, some species adapted and managed to survive the disasters, while others became critically endangered, with both beginning to become at risk of extinction when natural resources were becoming scarcer than ever. This was a global concern that forced conflict among beings to claim things for survival, as everyone and everything was now vulnerable and at risk of even greater loss and casualty. There were many things going on that warranted the attention of beings to try and mediate order in a time of great need, such as some civilizations using what they had to conserve resources and natural life, others going into wars and fighting among each other out of desperation for newer lands to settle in, or even relying on each others own abilities as a means to survive and help those around them. While there were attempts to save certain things, more was becoming lost as time passed, not just resources or species, but even the civilizations and culture that have existed for a long time before the Darkest Times.

It may have been because of this that there was a new system made that would allow beings who had supernatural abilities to go around areas of Spectra in the attempt to collect resources, save beings, natural life, and environments, or negotiate with other races and offer their own goods in exchange for others; this was called the “Traveler System”, which provided a minimal solution to the conflicts spreading around the planet while preserving things lost, which was effective enough that the Traveler system was adopted by some beings around the world. This didn’t necessarily stop the losses, but it made some things slightly manageable as beings with certain abilities could help in causes. While the world was seemingly about to recover from a time that would cost everything, there were signs that the “Malefic force” was about to strike again, and so everyone had to preserve things of importance(whether it was resources, other living beings, records, etc.) and prepare for the next disasters. The sky had tints of the cosmos again, this time preparing for a disaster suspected to be even greater and more dangerous than the previous…but then there was a bright light, one that was claimed to be seen from different sides of Spectra, covering the tinted sky signifying disaster into a light that turned even the darkest night into brightest day. This lasted for hours until the light had slowly dimmed and reverted the skies to twilight, a strange event where no one knew what had happened, but fortunately the disasters had not happened after. This occurrence allowed Spectra to recover, where some civilizations could be rebuilt and lands could be seen to grow life again, albeit slowly. This isn’t to say things were back to normal, however. Ever since the Darkest Times happened, many things were taken from the disasters and internal conflict among the races, as important records of culture was lost or destroyed, natural resources became more at risk of depletion if not rationed or managed carefully, even some species and races either became less common or endangered, extinct, or even isolated from the rest of Spectra.

What was the most notable result of the Darkest Times however was just how much the world had changed, where what was once considered normal like unique gifts and supernatural events now being looked at with worry and caution, or how things lost being forgotten as beings move on and develop new innovations while losing touch of what brought them there in the first place. Overall, the Darkest Times was an event in Spectra that changed everything during and afterwards, whether it’s the old generation trying to come to terms and move on or the new generation experiencing a new world adapting to changes, or even stranger, the occurrence of “newer” changes.

Ideas for this go with chaos manipulation. Portals that possibly displace things uncontrollably. Fire manipulation variants. Diisaster manipulation. Darkness manipulation.