The world

The fall of civilization

2020-2040: the world before the fall

During the first decades of the 21st century, humanity reached an unprecedented level of development. Cities grew, communication became instant, and millions of people could travel from one continent to another in a matter of hours.

Everyday life depended on an enormous international network.

A car could contain parts manufactured in several different countries. Food traveled thousands of kilometers before reaching a store. Fuel was extracted in one region, refined in another, and distributed across the world. Electronic devices depended on minerals, factories, and specialists spread across dozens of countries.

The system was extraordinarily efficient.

It was also extraordinarily fragile.

During these years, almost nobody believed the problem would be a lack of technology. The real problem would be that every piece of technology depended on thousands of other pieces.

2041-2048: the first problems

In 2041, the first signs of a crisis began to appear.

Several agricultural regions experienced consecutive years of drought. Other regions were struck by increasingly destructive floods and storms. Harvests declined, and food prices began to rise.

Governments began protecting their own reserves.

In 2044, several countries restricted food exports. Others followed with restrictions on fuel and raw materials. Countries dependent on imports began experiencing shortages.

The global economy began to slow.

In 2047, another series of failed harvests caused an international food crisis. Millions lost their jobs. Protests spread across numerous countries, and several governments collapsed.

Cities, factories, universities, and large militaries still existed.

But trust between nations was disappearing.

2049-2053: the global crisis

In 2049, an energy crisis made every existing problem worse.

Oil production declined for several consecutive years. Fuel did not disappear, but it became significantly more expensive and difficult to transport.

Countries began competing for the remaining resources.

Trade routes became less secure. Shipping insurance became more expensive. Some companies stopped transporting goods to certain regions. Factories began closing because they could no longer obtain the parts they needed.

The problem became a chain reaction.

One factory could not produce engines because it could not receive components.

Another factory could not produce those components because it lacked reliable electricity.

Power plants needed parts that were no longer arriving.

Vehicles needed fuel that was becoming increasingly expensive.

And food needed vehicles to reach the cities.

During these years, the real collapse began.

It did not happen in a single day.

Every year, a little less of the world worked.

2054-2058: the resource wars

By 2054, several regional conflicts had begun merging with the economic crisis.

Major powers attempted to protect their own trade routes and energy sources. Governments began imposing export restrictions and taking control of strategic industries.

In 2056, one of several major international conflicts over resources began.

Military alliances fractured.

The fighting focused primarily on infrastructure: ports, railways, refineries, fuel depots, power plants, factories, and logistics centers.

There was no nuclear war.

That would have ended the story far too quickly.

The real disaster was much slower.

Every attack destroyed another small part of the machinery required to rebuild the world.

By 2058, large parts of the industrial world had stopped functioning.

Millions of people left the cities.

2059-2063: the disconnected world

In 2059, mass migrations began.

People abandoned cities that could no longer guarantee food, water, or electricity.

Governments still existed, but they had less and less ability to control their territories.

By 2060, many electrical grids operated only on a local level.

In 2061, several major technology companies collapsed. With them disappeared research centers, component factories, and maintenance systems.

This was one of the most important losses in human history.

Humanity did not simply lose machines.

It lost the ability to manufacture the machines.

An abandoned car could continue to exist for decades.

A factory capable of producing a new engine required hundreds of specialized machines, refined materials, stable electricity, engineers, technicians, transportation, and thousands of workers.

Humanity still had cars.

It no longer had an industry capable of producing them in sufficient numbers.

By 2063, much of international trade had disappeared.

The world was not empty.

It was disconnected.

2064-2070: the abandonment of the cities

During the following years, the great cities began to change.

Some areas remained inhabited for decades. Others were abandoned almost immediately.

Buildings remained standing.

Roads remained.

Cars remained in garages, streets, and stations.

But the system that kept them functioning was gone.

Without maintenance, roads began deteriorating. Railway lines were covered by vegetation. Gas stations were abandoned. Buildings began losing electricity, water, and heating.

Nature slowly reclaimed the spaces humans had abandoned.

Rural regions experienced something different.

Small communities had an advantage.

They could survive with less.

A village could grow its own food, collect water from a river, burn wood for heat, and keep an old engine running for years.

A city of several million people could not do the same.

For that reason, populations began concentrating in small communities.

2071-2078: the first outposts

During this period, the first permanent outposts appeared.

Some formed around old gas stations.

Others were built near water sources, agricultural areas, mines, forests, or roads that were still usable.

They were not cities.

They were small, practical communities.

One outpost might have twenty people.

Another might have a hundred.

Some specialized in agriculture. Others focused on hunting, vehicle repair, trade, or resource extraction.

A new trade network began developing between them.

One community needed things that could only be found in another.

One had food.

Another had medicine.

Another had tools.

Another had access to fuel.

Distance once again became a problem.

And with it came a new profession: the traveler.

2079-2084: the generation of the new world

Children born during these years grew up without knowing the old world.

To them, an abandoned city was not a fallen city.

It was simply an abandoned city.

A modern car was not an everyday product.

It was an old machine that someone might find and repair.

An MP3 player could become a strange and valuable object.

A radio could contain information nobody else possessed.

A computer could be useless if there was not enough electricity to keep it running.

Technology had not disappeared.

It had become a resource.

People learned to repair what remained.

They learned to reuse parts.

They learned to manufacture simple tools.

But rebuilding the old industrial system remained impossible.

2085-2088: the world of outposts

By 2085, the major political structures that had dominated the old world no longer controlled most territories.

Governments still existed in some places.

Elsewhere, only independent communities remained.

Outposts began establishing their own rules.

Some were peaceful.

Others charged travelers for crossing their territory.

Some traded with anyone.

Others distrusted outsiders.

Known routes existed between outposts, but no route was completely safe.

Animals had reclaimed territory once occupied by humans.

Forests had grown over old roads.

Abandoned buildings had become shelters for wildlife.

Rural areas had become increasingly difficult to cross.

Travel was still possible.

It simply was no longer something everyone could do.

2089: the world of Legacy of the Wilds

Decades have passed since the beginning of the collapse.

Humanity has not disappeared.

It has not rebuilt the old world either.

There are still thousands of people, but they are scattered across small communities.

Vehicles still exist, but every vehicle is a machine that must be carefully maintained.

Fuel still exists, but every liter has value.

Tools, weapons, radios, music players, and electronic devices manufactured decades ago can still be found.

Some still work.

Others exist only as sources of spare parts.

Roads still exist, but many end at destroyed bridges, forests, or abandoned cities.

Cities still exist, but most of them are dead places.

And there are outposts.

Small places where people still try to maintain something resembling ordinary life.

The world did not end.

It simply stopped functioning the way it once had.

Humanity survived by learning to live with much less.

Now every journey matters.

Every liter of fuel matters.

Every spare part matters.

Every person who knows a safe route matters.

And beyond the outposts lies a territory that few people truly understand.

That is the world in which Legacy of the Wilds begins.