On the eve of the Cataclysm in 1991, Germany was only a recently reunited nation. The fragility of its recovery from being split in two at the end of WW2 did not bode well for its chances at staying united when rift-surges tore through Earth, bringing monsters and magic into the world.
In the late 90s, all attempts to retain a unified German state ended when the legendary elder dragon Fafnir emerged over Berlin. The dragon declared the city his own private hoard. With its central government either trapped or killed by the ancient dragon, Germany fell into chaos.
Unwilling to let the chaos facing their country once again become another nation’s opportunity for occupation, the cities, provinces and motley polities of Germany declared their independence. De facto independence became de jure, and Germany once again became a nation of many nations.
As was the case with much of the world, Germany became beset by monsters, magical brigands and warlords. While more organised cities with strong leaderships were able to weather the storm, much of the countryside became dominated by trolls, orcish warbands, sorcerer gangs, vampires and even Krampus.
Witnessing the violence and chaos that beset their country, a collection of scholars, doctors and newly trained mages and wizards formed an organisation in Bavaria. Heiligslicht. Holy Light. While seemingly a religious organisation, the Holy Light actually referred to the purification magic that many budding sorcerers were developing and using to heal the sick and wounded, while purging demons and darkness from the world.
While Germany was divided, Heiligslicht became a unifying factor, sending out purifiers across the region and even as far as the State of Good Hope and the Shroud-blighted lands of Northern America.
As people became accustomed to the Cataclysm, city-states like Lubeck, Bremen, Frankfurt, Berlin, Colonge and Stuttgart flourished. Without a central state, however, territory at the periphery of civilisation became easily conquered by more organised states.
With divine destiny, Odin of the Scandinavian League began to claim increasingly more territory in Northern Germany, pushing right up to Hamburg and Lubeck, and taking trade settlements all across the northern coast – including Gdansk of the Neo-Commonwealth. The Netherlands also took advantage of Germany’s weakness, seizing territory right up till Duseldorf.
These decades of chaos and humiliation led up to the 2020s, where a man who has come to be named the Uberkaiser spread out from his territory in the city-state of Vienna, and began uniting cities under a new banner – revived from an ancient nation.
The Holy Roman Empire.
Tired of conflict and uncertainty, German states flocked to join this new empire, being joined by Austria and much of the Balkan nations. Heiligslicht welcomed the new Uberkaiser, viewing him as a force for stability and order in this chaotic region.
By 2024, all of unoccupied Germany had become a part of this new Holy Roman Empire. In 2025, Gabriel I is made Pope of Rome, and ushers in the Northern Italian States to join the Holy Roman Empire.
The new empire immediately came into sporadic conflict with the Scandinavian League, Hellenia and the Netherlands. The disparate dukes of France did not care much for the shenanigans of this new empire with their own problems.
But on the ground, life had become more peaceful for the German, Austrian, Italian, Croatian and many other peoples of this diverse empire. The Uberkaiser also incorporated many non-humans into the empire, granding orcs, elves, fae, vampires, werewolves, dwarves and many other otherworlders rights and citizenship.
Unused to tolerance and acceptance, these non-humans became adamant supporters of the Uberkaiser, filling his army and helping him defend the borders of his empire.
As of the 2030s, the conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and its neighbours has become tenser. Their ally in the Neo-Commonwealth has urged them to re-assert their sovereignty over Hamburg and Dusseldorf. And many of the orcs of the nation have demanded the right to avenge the slaughter of their people in Amsterdam pogroms.
Even the apocalypse couldn’t bring peace to Europe. And perhaps, it was inevitable that there would be a repeat of 1914 and 1939. But this time, perhaps, things will be different.
You will need to read Shadow Realm (Kat Drummond book 15) to find out what happens next!
