In 2889 the effect of the Unilateral Peace Accord of 2600, which had held the world together for nearly 300 years came to an end. Collapse of the global market, coupled with a drought lasting over 50 years forced border skirmishes to become commonplace. Skirmishes became battles, and battles lead to all out war.

In 2893, reacting to the occupation of a major port city, New Guardia launched Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) in retaliation. When news of this action reached the other nations of the world, and they too, unleashed nuclear weapons. On July 24th, 2893 the entire cumulative history of the human race was brought to an end over the course of 12 hours. The loss of life has been incalculable, although estimations run anywhere between 75% to 90% of the world's population killed through nuclear attack.

In the present year of 129, people have only just begun to re-establish themselves.With the demise of the vast libraries of information, mankind has been plunged into the technological dark ages. Always thirsting for knowledge however, some 50 years ago society became dependant upon archeologists to recover remnants of the civilization previous.

At the same time, with scant sources of food, fighting between the reborn city-states became commonplace. In order to fuel these raids, archeologists were made to uncover lost weaponry.

Now the city-states have been absorbed into one of two warring factions, the Empire of Guardia or the Unified Peoples Republic. Both drawing upon ancient technologies to fight the other.

The Empire of Guardia and the UPR are not, however, the only two nations in existence. A third, the Kingdom of Morgan lies to the south. Morgan is not a nuclear ravaged wasteland, it is also far enough south that it has escaped the notice of the Empire and the UPR. In fact the Empire and the UPR are unaware of Morgan's existence.

Technologically, Morgan is roughly on par with circa 600AD Guardia. Morgan does not make use of Archs. On the mainland, the war effort is the main supplier of jobs; mostly in the military or as archeologists or "Archs" as they're commonly referred to. Possession of a relic is considered to be an honor. Most relics are in the form of weaponry, but do occasionally include other small trinkets, tools, etc. Relics that require energy are even more prized and even more rare. Often, salvaged relics are not in working condition, so they are modified to work with current technology. Many times these repair jobs are less than safe. The black market and smuggling is also strong, since all official excavations are military sanctioned. Although there may only be two major warring factions, infighting is common. As is deceit, corruption, and a thousand other things.