The Outbreak[]
In the year 2107, the planet Earth is engulfed in chaos and bloodshed as an all-consuming alien plague ravishes humanity. This fungus-like organism spreads with horrifying speed, corrupting living things and covering the earth in a bizarre variety of nightmarish forms. Each form shares a few traits in common: viscid grey flesh, orange glowing eyes, and corruptive psychic abilities. It quickly becomes apparent that they seem to share a some kind of singular consciousness - a hive mind. After mere weeks the human population is decimated, leaving only small pockets of civilian survivors alive and a handful of the most heavily fortified military bases intact. Humanity enters a dark age unlike in history, and the few remaining struggle desperately to survive.
Within a year of the initial outbreak, however, a glimmer of hope begins to spread. Nomadic survivors spread rumors of an entity fighting for humanity - a deity, birthed by the universe to save Earth. It's name is Keo-Nen, and it is said to stand 4 meters tall and possess unspeakable power. After facing near extinction, many of the survivors who hear these rumors leave their refuges and risk their lives to seek out this "protector".
A squad of Unum Vires troops on Hados, 3044
The Great Crusade[]
Over the next 600 years, Keo's forces grow exponentially. Masses of makeshift soldiers organize into a new military force: the "Unum Vires", also known as the Fists of Keo-Nen. With Keo leading the charge and protecting them from psychic corruption, these forces liberate city after city, and humanity begins to rebuild from the ground up. It is an age of remarkable growth and development, described by later historians as "The Great Crusade." With the help of Keo's unfathomable intelligence, humanity is able to once again conduct research and develop new technologies. The alien plague is officially classified as "slag", and the scientific field of slagology begins. Learning how slag operates enables Unum Vires forces to develop technologies and strategies for destroying it, which inspires the official motto of the Keonic Slagology Division: Conscio Exterminatio - informed extermination.
A painting of Keo made during the early years of the Great Crusade. The artist's name has been lost to time.
The Unum Ceres and Unum Vires[]
During the establishment of the Unum Vires, Keo begins to seek out humans with psychic potential and teaches them how to develop powerful protective and offensive abilities. Over several generations this leads to the founding of “Channeler Academies,” schools intended to train natural-born psychics to weaponize their abilities. A coalition of powerful psychics emerges and are named the “Unum Ceres,” or "The Channeler’s Ring".
The Unum Ceres and the Unum Vires become deeply intertwined; much of the military machinery requires channeler abilities to operate, and the soldiers have to be psychically guarded from powerful and infectious slagic “fields” which can corrupt from a distance. The vulnerable channelers, in turn, require heavy protection by the U.V. troops during combat.
The Apostles[]
The sigils of various known or speculated channeler abilities, as well as the Apostles who possess those abilities.
In the 24th century, after decades of combat using channelers, a few individuals begin to stand out as exceptionally powerful. Realizing their potential, Keo develops the Revelabis, an unusual and somewhat mystical device that can fully engulf a human and transform them into an enhanced bio-mechanical being. The device, only operable by Keo himself, is used to transform the most powerful and pious channelers into "Apostles" - Keo's immortal holy warriors. A total of 7 Apostles are created over time, and with them each leading their own forces Earth is declared slag-free in the year 2691. Keo himself develops a multitude of artificial intelligence systems specifically intended to rebuild societal infrastructure, and humanity thrives once again. Nations rebuilt with these systems are established as Keonic nations, and Keonism becomes a universal religion and belief system.
Port 1: the original and oldest port, which connects Earth to all the other planets in the Multiplex
2699: Wormhole Expansion[]
With Earth finally freed from slag, Keo fully commits himself to developing the technology and infrastructure for Earth’s next stage of development: taking to the stars. The Apostles warn that slag will never cease its relentless spread across the universe, and that it is the duty of humanity to protect as many life-bearing planets as possible. During these years, a famous line by the Apostle Dilgan will define the the entire age of slag as “The Void War”:
“Humanity will be a beacon in the dark, a breath of life and hope to each planet we embrace. These new doors will clear the path for Keo to extend his reach across the void and smite the slagic threat wherever it dares to crawl or slither."
The “doors” Dilgan refers to are wormhole-generating portals designed by Keo. Each of the lunar-orbiting portals are specifically designed to provide pathways to solar systems containing at least one habitable planet. The first of these "ports" becomes operational in the year 2699 and leads directly to the planet Hados. While Hados itself is fairly barren, the success of the port quickly leads to the creation of several others, and by the year 2931 four new planets are discovered and colonized: Hados, Kynon, Loros, and Heptin. Together with Earth, this web of colonized planets becomes known as "The Multiplex."
Planet banners from left to right: Hados, Loros, Heptin, and Kynon
3044 - Present Day[]
The canonical "present day" of The Void War is the year 3044. Slag continues to appear on nearly all the planets and humanity is in a constant battle to contain the spread. To make matters worse, some of the spread seems to be instigated by humans. One of the greatest human threats to the Multiplex is the existence of "Immonism", the belief that slag is meant to be the means through which all existence will be unified and suffering will end. At one point believed to be a dead religion, recent evidence shows that Immonism continues to survive in pockets across the Multiplex. Several major outbreaks have been linked to Immonist cults, and it is speculated that many other outbreaks were likely perpetrated by Immonist believers. Major events taking place in the Multiplex during the year 3044 are depicted through the "Void War Trilogy", a movie series by Twisted Bricks.