Prologue.[]
16th July, 1342. Dartford, England.
There was a large scale operation going on. There were rumors of a new disease in the area. They say it had come from the French, or the Germans, or even the Irish. It struck down those it infected with a rotting of the skin on the hands and legs, a splitting headache, and a high fever. None of the 58 people infected with the disease in the night survived to see the sunrise. It was spreading fast, as the nurses who had cared for the people were now desperately seeking help themselves. The lord had sent knights do deal with the problem, but it was too late. Dozens more were now infected, and there was now a large riot that needed containing. A brutal attempt at a crackdown ensued, with 38 of the 40 knights sent to contain the problem dead. This was the beginning of the Black Death plague in England, in which 88% of the population would be killed, Europe would be almost irrevocably damaged, and the chain of events began, the chain of events which would lead to the Great War I.
22nd January, 1841. Limoges, France.
Almost 500 years after the Black Death, the next large war was starting. The German nation-state of Stuttgart was pressuring the French living across the border to funnel arms and money, so that they could overtake their superior rival, Cologne. Since they would not do so, the Stuttgart council were considering sending agents into France to cause mass chaos. The agents massed in the town of Kehl, were they went by steamboat over to Strasbourg. They were caught however, and a firefight began. The town guards were overrun, and the plan of a covert terrorism operation was abandoned, in favour of brute force being used to take the whole of Eastern France. Cologne, however, seized the opportunity to take Stuttgart and strongly reinforce their position in Germany. A mass slaughter ensued, with Stuttgart, the pride of the nation-state for which it was named, burning in the night. The nation-state of Cologne, now strengthened by the conquest of Stuttgart, went on to take control of all of Germany.
29th February, 1841. Sheffield, England.
A month after the destruction of Stuttgart, Cologne had become the principal power in Germany, and was on its way to become the only power in Germany. The power struggle in Germany, and later, Europe, had greatly shaken Britain. Radical movements such as the British Communism Movement, were quickly gaining momentum. The BCM's main power base was in Sheffield and Manchester, but they had growing power in the south-west as well.