On June the 6th 2018, the United Kingdom saw its last sunset. It was a night of roiling fog, cloying blackness and inexplicable thunder, all the way from Land's End to John o'Groats. And it didn't end. The thunder subsided, the fog cleared, but the darkness... only gave way to illumination from a grossly large, stationary, red moon; the glow of a million unfamiliar stars; the half-light of the end of time. The sun was never seen again. The fog remained, squatting on the sea all around Great Britain, Ireland and their surrounding islands. Any ship or aeroplane that entered it would vanish, only to wash up on the shores some days later devoid of all inhabitants. In the crimson light of the moon, the people wept at what they were sure were signs that the apocalypse had arrived... and the troubles had only just begun.

A few days later, London was destroyed. While survivors of the disaster have now spread across the entire nation in their thousands, the full extent of the various catastrophes that occurred are still far from agreed-upon. Most agree that great gouges appeared in the earth, from which scorching flames erupted, laying the bridges and buildings of the capital low. At the same time, a dizzying hurricane shattered windows and knocked people off their feet, while some even report a tidal wave crashing down through the city along the Thames. But "natural" disasters are far from all that were witnessed. Many make reference to the colossal, destructive lizard that crashed through the city streets, while yet others speak of huge, grotesque humanoid monsters picking off fleeing citizens to devour them. Some even mention, with fear in their voices, a terrifying unseen creature that hung in the shadows and could steal the life from a person in a flurry of horrible wings. The event came to be known as the Second Great Fire, and from that point on the name of London was spoken only in hushed tones by those still cowed by the nation's shared tragedy. More often, the whole metropolitan area has come to be known only as the Smoke.

In a matter of hours, the most populous city in the United Kingdom and the seat of the government had been annihilated. Over the next few days cities including Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester and Birmingham met similar fates, as well as Dublin and Cork across the Irish Sea, but none of them with quite the apocalyptic terror of London. And it was not only the largest urban areas that were threatened, events involving bizarre climate, tectonic upheaval and the appearance of deadly, unnatural monsters occurred all across Great Britain and Ireland. Even urban areas that weren't completely destroyed often became too dangerous to be habitable due to environmental changes and the presence of dangerous lifeforms seemingly appeared from nowhere. And it wasn't just the land that was changing. People, too, were mutating in strange and unholy ways, turning into beings not-quite-human or developing supernatural and unbelievable powers. The people of the two nations were trapped between the new, bizarre dangers of the land and the impassable fog surrounding it on every side. It was, for a while, anarchy.

Confronted by unearthly horrors threatening their lives on every side, the people quickly turned on the overwhelmed police seeking their weapons and resources. The army maintained a semblance of order for a while, desperately dispatching assistance across the nation wherever they could. But they were spread far too thin, and surrounded by the chaos they were experiencing it wasn't long before the existing hierarchies broke down, forming new factions with wildly differing objectives. The previous cities were largely abandoned in favour of new settlements spread across the nation, located simply in those places where the monsters and other hazards had their weakest presence. Pounds and Euros became worthless, replaced with a system of basic trade and bartering, with the teeth of the prolific and deadly Hellhounds becoming a new form of currency. Power fell to those with the means and desire to seize it. In many of the remaining towns and inhabited urban areas, remnants of the British Army took control, especially in the South of Britain and around Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire. In other settlements, those who rose to the top were usually those adaptable few with the quick wits, ambition and sheer heartlessness required to exploit the breakdown of society. In many places this lead to settlements led by callous but intelligent authority figures focused on establishing themselves as reliable leaders and gradually expanding their power base in line with the mores of Old Society. In others it led to areas run by mindless and violent dictators, usually with a very high level of turnover given that rulers with nothing to offer aside from hatred and abused power are usually quickly replaced.

Ten years have passed since the Sunset, the Second Great Fire and the Changing. In most places across what used the be the UK and Ireland, society has regained a degree of normalcy. The people have adapted to their new environment, learned to survive or avoid the monsters which stalk the land, and to live alongside the mutated humans in their midst. Thanks to the appearance of prolific plants and animals such as bloodlemon trees and breadbeasts, food is plentiful almost everywhere, and therefore it is only goods such as Old World luxuries, weapons, artifacts and alchemical humours which are in high demand. Those who venture out into the Badlands (the areas of the old cities and the countryside where monsters are common and dangerous) in search of these goods are known as Questers. But it is a dangerous profession not only for the monsters, but also because it often puts them at odds with the local authorities or the exmilitary. Danger is a common feature of life here, though. Even with ten years of experience, even in the most secure human settlements, even surrounded by powerful allies and faithful friends, no-one can ever truly consider themselves safe in the lands that have come to be known as Pandaemonium.

WORK IN PROGRESS