The setting of The Mortal Coil is not much different from ours. The same countries and conventions exist, and history proceeds in the same order with its Beatles, its arms race, its Google – up until the turn of the 22nd century, when the Paling is ripped away, the Magic is exposed, and the Supernatural is revealed to the light. From there, much diverges. The 23rd century is smaller, tighter; in a word, ‘rehabilitating’. We call it the Ichor Age.
Five key factors shape this timeline:
Global Warming: Responsible for the sinking of the Pacific Rim and the extinction of many plant and animal species, as well as a severe reverence for nature and emphasis on its preservation.
The Great Doxx: An ancient mass-glamour hid the magical world from view and kept it safe – with the details of this magic lost to time, the veil (called the Paling) could not be recreated, leaving Supernaturals at the mercy of their Human neighbors. Supernaturalists existed before the Doxx, but Naturalists (pro-Human, anti-Supernatural) were invented by it.
First Supernatural War: The war most people mean when they talk about “the war”. The result of a bickering Europe, per the history books, this war has ended; culturally, it is a wound that is still very fresh, and may never heal over at all. Children born during this century – called the Lost Century due to the intensity of the upheaval and violence, and due to the severity of the draft - are known as the Lost Generation.
Second Supernatural War: A predominantly cold war, known best for sanctions and political turmoil than physical altercation, although the few battles that occurred during this period – including the destruction of Paris – were great and terrible. Many people consider the Second War a chapter of the First War rather than a completely separate war.
The Ten-Year War: Residual tensions over post-disaster resources and Naturalist oppression boiled over again in Europe in 2209. Although the war was fought largely in the swaths of borderlands that now divide the continent, Supernaturalist alliances drew New Venice into the fray, eventually resulting in the country's first draft. The war continues to shape New Venetian politics after ceasefire: conservative backlash following the draft deepened the rift between Supernatural and Human citizens, and the government has implemented tighter regulations on magic.
One of the greatest changes in the last 200 years is physical – after sea levels rose and devoured the coasts, many nations shrank significantly or were lost altogether. The slow loss of California coincided with the sinking of the land bridge connecting North to South America. Water-locked populations were absorbed by the mainland; the populations of low-lying and water-locked regions of the UK, Portugal and Spain, Scandinavia, and maritime Asia have all folded into greater Europe and East Asia, where they have carved out sequel lives – a new London and Oslo, a new Tokyo, Seoul, and Manila.
Following the mass destruction of the First Supernatural War, even more of the landscape was altered. Cities are fewer and populations less dense; great tracts of land that grow nothing and serve nothing and are nothing but space compose much of the map, cut only by roads that connect one point to another.
Borders & International Affairs
Maps and place names were not all that shifted - the political landscape changed as well. The former United States of America collapsed partway through the First War, with the bulk of its territory ceded to the Native American tribes; much of the remaining land was then divided between Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, leaving behind a dusty, almost lawless parcel of earth with little political clout, a wealth of vestigial oil fields, and a reputation for breeding toughness and violence in equal measure: the woebegone Republic of Texas.
Similarly, while continental Europe still exists, the European Union is no more – many of its leading members, discovered to be Supernatural, were assassinated by radical Naturalists during the early decades of the First War. People who for generations had lived in the countryside fled to the capitals for shelter, creating fortified city-states that answered to themselves before they answered to lofty presidents or prime ministers.
Out of consequence, the majority of the globe has slid towards isolationism, with governments choosing to look inwards and recoup rather than engage too heavily in world affairs. Ties are tenuous and built on convenience. Border control is under heavy scrutiny and international travel is, for the most part, the domain of dignitaries and the moneyed. Trade is the main intersection, particularly for crucial staples like grain, metal, and dairy; rather than industrial strength, as it had been pre-war, the nation rich in agriculture is the nation with true wealth.
The current most prominent countries are as follows:
China, capital Beijing – agricultural stronghold, financial pillar of the East
Egypt, capital Cairo – technological powerhouse, leader in Supernatural Rights
Mexico, capital Mexico City – agricultural stronghold, heart-jewel of the West
Nigeria, capital Abuja – technological powerhouse, global center of commerce
Ironically, these were countries initially embargoed for their pluralistic and progressive views on Supernatural Rights. Supernatural influence accelerated their recoveries, making them quite literally the frontrunners of the 23rd century – which is not to say that they are perfect, only that they are the closest to regaining what widespread violence had cost.
The 21st century was the Electric Age, the 22nd century the Silicon Age – the 23rd, as mentioned, is the Ichor Age, defined by the role of Supernaturals in technological development. Magic is a factor now, as well as a burgeoning respect for nature.
Effectively, little has changed. Common, everyday technologies like cars, air travel, cameras, toasters, refrigeration, et cetera – the commodities of your real life – remain the same, albeit refitted to serve the environment rather than erode it. Water is a significant power, whether it’s steam-powered airships or hydroelectric cars. Virtually every powergrid in the world is fed by solar panels and wind turbines. Non-recyclable materials and single-use plastics are stigmatized to the point of comedy, while real wood, made scarce by climate disaster and deforestation, has become a material both sacred and mythic.
The loss of pollinators, among other animals, has also resulted in the loss of many foods like coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, et cetera. Genetic engineering has made it possible for these foods to return to the average table, although people old enough to remember such a detail remember fruits and vegetables tasting different - better - in their youth.
Portable music (vinyl, CD)
Publicly-available international communication
A variety of fruits and vegetables
Fossil fuels and derivative plastics
But the greatest difference is in the move away from globalization. Where once it was commonplace to have daily news of the planet’s far face alongside the local news, the tightening of borders has extended to information, as well; what we’d call internet no longer exists as a massive blanket encapsulating the earth, freely accessible, so much as a collection of islands to which you may or may not know the way. The more advanced the nation, the more stringently it controls access to its network - typically only diplomats or the staggeringly wealthy and well-connected have devices that work internationally.
With that said, the majority have access to technology that works within their specific city-state or country network, and although slower than texting, the international postal service is extremely reliable.