The natural world of Mistbound

Mistbound’s world is one of great variety. A million square miles of land surrounded by mist that the sun never burns off. From green hills to snowcapped mountains, from scorching desert plains to the swampy wetlands, and from rivers with the occasional waterfall to deep forests. This vast island is stunning in its untamed beauty.

There is ample evidence that people have lived here for many generations. Scattered across the land, one will find old man made contraptions, abandoned machinery, rotted wooden fences, dilapidated houses, an occasional ghost town near an abandoned mine.

For centuries, people worked on and lived of off the land. It yielded more than enough. But it’s human nature to seek improvement, to want a better life, to make one’s work easier. People always want more...

Industrial blessing and blight

The steam engine was a fact, and it greatly increased work efficiency everywhere. Using steam machines enlarged the scale of mining multifold, which meant bigger profits. The land yielded its riches faster than ever before. Soon, there were other kinds of engines, and so efficiency increased again. The machines changed everything. Before long, the old ‘handmade’ economy was swallowed up by the new machine-driven one. The result was ever more efficient industrialization, on an ever increasing scale, providing comfort and lowering prices for everyone.

One day, in a certain sector, the ground caved in. The ground rumbled for weeks afterwards. Soon after, news arrived of the same thing happening in other sectors. Mines deemed at risk were abandoned, companies moved elsewhere. But then fissures started to appear between those accidental canyons, they became part of the landscape and earthquakes became a part of life. Some cracks continued to widen. In the mornings, mist rose from their cold depths. Populations concentrated on intact portions of higher land. But sooner or later, the cracks would catch up. Wherever heavy-duty industrial activity went, collapse would follow.

Choosing sides

As land, resources, and living space became scarcer, occasional conflicts erupted. Conflicts over valuable land, over community rules, necessary to keep life livable. Inhabitants began to split into opposing groups. Today, the deep rifts in the landscape are a poignant reflection of the gaps between the people that populate this land.

• The Empire: A great display of military power. Organized. Strict. Relentless. Maintaining balance by force, keeping peace by deterrence.
• The Cartel: A web of corporations. Excelling at pulling everything that’s valuable out of the earth. Fast. Efficient. Thoughtless.
• The Pirates: Travelers, merchants, mercenaries. They have found a lucrative way to support their decadent lifestyle, effectively trading resources and weapons between the Cartel and the Empire.
• The Freemen: Preservationists in a world divided by greed. All they want is to be left alone, to live in peace.

A profitable balance

There’s no one around anymore who can remember a time that the world was big. The island, the mist, it’s just the way things are. War has been a fact of life for many years now. At times, it’s a cold one, but sometimes it flares up.

The Empire accuses the Cartel of monopolizing essential resources. The Cartel on the other hand accuses the Empire of encroachment on its territory. The Pirates, meanwhile, are happy to benefit from trading weapons and resources between the Empire and the Cartel. The Freemen tend to shy away from industry and conflict altogether.

The war between the Empire and the Cartel may be the biggest opportunity of all. After all, it has only lasted this long because it’s good for the economy. Both parties are frantically looking for more land and a way to get off the island. The Empire shoots giant grenades into the mist, hoping to echolocate land. So far, they haven’t heard any explosions. The Cartel launches projectiles with miles of rope attached, but none of them ever hit anything but mist either.

Machines of war

What began as an industry to improve people’s lives, has turned into an economy based on war. No longer are the valuable resources spent on handy products and luxury items, the majority is used to feed the arms race and the ability to wage war.

Industrial developments first used for more efficient mining have found their way into military production, implemented to build machines of war. Fighting over land, only to strip it for resources, immediately being spent on more weaponry to fight over more land and more resources.

Tanks and walkers conquer and defend territory, while carriers transport troops and supplies through the sky. Some look like planes, some like zeppelins. Cannons with massive barrels are frightening displays of power. The military destruction man is capable of has become one more threat to the already crumbling landscape.