There will be at least one more, maybe two parts of the timeline, before I switch off and start discussing the new races, gods, and other stuff. Til then I hope you enjoy this second posting. Oops almost forgot, In the time line I am only talking about a few of the new creatures in the world. If you wish to add more, I would suggest using the rifts d-bees of north america, the conversion book, and the FRP monsters and animals book to fill out the wildlife of the world.
1795 A.D.:
For the past 2 years many representatives from the federal government had been making several trips back or forth from the Ohio Territory. Rumors suggested that a new race was discovered there and was in negotiation with the United States about becoming a new member.
The rumors turned out to be true and the race was unlike anything, anyone had ever seen before. These people were known as the Chasseur Vert, and they were a plant based life form. Ever the Elves and Vixen had never been exposed to such a unique race and were quite excited by this discovery.
This new race seemed to exemplify the new American way of life. They were free thinkers, passionate debaters, and had a respect for all life forms. They also hated slavery in all its forms.
This pleased the northern states the most. A new free state were further “stack the deck” against the southern states.
Gaia was also quite pleased by the appearance of the Chasseur Vert. They were a race that had travelled back and forth through several worlds and dimensions. Their presence here could only enhance this world in her opinion.
Statehood would be held off for a while though, in order to give the southern states a chance to “cool off” so to speak. There were rumors that many people did not want to give citizenship to a plant, and further rumors suggested that a new free state might drive the southerners to secede from the U.S.
So for the time being the Ohio territory would be a colony of sorts of the U.S. It was not a state, but not a separate country either.
1796 A.D.:
Tennessee becomes the latest member of the United States and becomes a slave state, which seems to lessen the increasing hostile attitude of the previous slave states and increasing the possibility that the Ohio territory will soon become a new state, “plant people” and all.
This year also sees the creation of the smallpox vaccine which greatly reduces the spread of this horrible disease, and opens a whole new area of medical study in the process.
The Vixen are fascinated by this as they had never considered using a weakened disease to fight an active one. It really wasn’t needed thanks to their race’s abilities.
Even so many Vixens began to study these areas of research as much as they can in order to help out others.
1797 A.D.:
The territory of Ohio is finally admitted to the Union as a free state and many other citizens are now beginning to become familiar with the state’s more unique residents.
1798 A.D.:
Gaia decides it’s time to check up on her daughter Luna’s exploration of the world and how it could be helped, and finds out that Luna has done too good of a job.
Where most deities would try to guide a civilization in small ways behind the scenes, Luna went for the direct approach and physically appeared before many different groups of people, human and otherwise, and asked them what they needed, then provided it. She has also been teaching them magic at an accelerated rate.
(In Game terms Gaia would have preferred humans to be restricted to 1-3 level spells. Luna had been teaching her followers up to level 6 spells.) At least the other gods had been more discrete.
Luna now had large groups of worshippers all over the world, with the exception of North America and Europe. They were next on Luna’s list.
Of course a god’s power increases with the number of her worshippers and Luna was definitely growing in power. This wasn’t a problem. What could be a problem was how the present major religions of the world would view this up and coming religion. Religious tolerance was a tricky thing for humans to handle and Gaia had a sinking feeling that problems would arise in the future.
1799 A.D.:
Gaia now knew what was causing the strange increase in Earth’s magic levels, and it was something that was not supposed to happen for another 1000 years at least.
Billions of years ago the titans lived in another galaxy that was destroyed by their leader Chronos in an accident when he tried to investigate what existed before this present universe. As he opened a portal to the “before times”, a shockwave shot out from the portal and scattered the titans to the four corners of the universe. Chronos however did not survive the explosion. Lesser species were also not so fortunate. The shockwave destroyed the Titan’s galaxy and continued outward in all directions.
When it encountered a world the shockwave would affect the magic levels of the world, sometimes in small ways, and other times the world would buckle under the pressure and explode.
This shockwave was now approaching Earth and Gaia needed another Titan to assist her in shielding the Earth from the worst of the affects. The only titan that Gaia could sense nearby was Aphrodite and the both of them did not exactly get along at times. Aphrodite always wanted payment of some sort whenever she provided someone with “help”.
1800 A.D.:
On January 5th the fun began in earnest. The ley lines, which had been getting brighter day by day, since the 1st suddenly became visible during the day and portals started to open worldwide on various nexus points except in Australia which had no activity whatsoever.
Gaia, Aphrodite and the few gods that were present managed to block off all access to the infernal realms as well as the Nightlands permanently. As far as Gaia could tell, there were only 5 Nightbane and 1Night Prince on the planet, and he seemed to be behaving himself…..most of the time.
Unlike other versions of Rift’s Earth it seemed that mainly varied numbers of intelligent races were brought to the world. One of the sentient races though were dragons, so they did to stand out somewhat, especially the Elder Horned Dragon that vaporized the Imperial Palace in Japan when the military there attacked it.
Poor Japan always did the worst trouble with giant monsters no matter what dimension they were in.
The small amount of dragons brought to this world were outright stunned to see not only gods but actually titans helping out members of the “lesser” species. Most dragons though are solitary and tended to avoid humanity. Contrary to popular belief, dragons get most of their nourishment from ley line energy, not eating virgin females.
The small species of fairy dragons got along with most “good aligned” intelligent species, except those with no sense of humor.
In the tundra regions of Earth actually wholly mammoths and saber tooth tigers were actually spotted, later leading some scientists to believe that an actually portals through time itself had opened.
Fortunately these large creatures were being held in check two large species of humanoids that also appeared in the tundra region. These species being the Mastadonoids, called elephant men by some, and the legendary Sasquatch, which seem to have an empathic ability to calm the mammoths and tigers when they are angry.
The Sasquatch are also found throughout the American and Canadian Northwest.
Across the Atlantic, France had a new problem on its hands. Several hundred kobolds had appeared and needed to be dealt with.
Now Kobolds are small doglike humanoids who are quite harmless in the physical sense. The problem is that the average Kobold has the intelligence and energy level of a five year old human on a sugar high. This can be frustrating to deal with after a short time.
Kobolds though were soon found to like being around the Grackle Tooth, who were now growing in number and quite accepted there.
More than a couple Grackle Tooth soon found themselves becoming quite wealthy because of their ability to control the little buggers and get them to be semi-productive members of society there.
Back in Americas’, a new pest had made an appearance. A race of large lizard like humanoids called Larmac had appeared. They were large, powerful, and lazy beyond belief. They are constantly searching for rich quick schemes so that they can retire. Retire from what though is anybody’s guess.
They aren’t needlessly cruel though, and on rare occasions will defend those that are weak and harmless and being picked on by bullies of one sort or another.
In years to come the Larmac with become quite prevalent along the Mississippi River basin as well as the western United States as saloon bums, gamblers, would be prospectors, and on occasion bandits and gunslingers.
In what would normally have been Idaho and Montana in the future the legendary race of centaurs appeared. They would soon come into contact with the growing Dark Elvin nation, which now occupied all of Washington and Oregon.
Centaurs will soon be discovered around the Greek mainland and islands, as well as the nation of Turkey which was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time.
Also, in the American South a species intelligent bears called the Bayou Ursines have appeared. These large and intelligent bear men are easy going for the most part and get along with the Larmac and Grackle Tooth who are common around the French colony of New Orleans. This makes the city a very interesting place to visit for those to experience different cultures.
The appearance of these races and later others initially causes the European powers to mainly withdraw from their colonies in order to better protect their homelands. The only notable exceptions are the British, who maintain a sizeable force in India, and the Portuguese, who maintain a large force in Brazil.
1802 A.D.:
As the level of magic energy and nexus energy is stabilized, Aphrodite decides it is time to call in her favor that Gaia promised. The favor being, that she and the gods now wanted to establish their own worshippers on Earth including North America and Europe.
1804 A.D.:
Something strange is happening in Australia. Well, even more than usual. The magic level of the country is starting to drop and appears to be flowing into the northern island of New Zealand.
A large nexus point is forming there and the magic level is rising to be about 4 times larger than the rest of the world, attracting dragons and other supernatural species to the location.
The rumors of short hairy footed demi-humans existing there are proven to be false though.
After a year there isn’t a single portal left in Australia and even the ley lines seen weaker than the rest of the world, causing the few non-human species that were there to leave the continent entirely.
The “super nexus” soon stabilizes and doesn’t seem to be causing any other problems for the moment much to Gaia’s relief. If anything its actually serving a useful purpose, by attracting those humans who would rather not be around non-humans and magic in general to find a home to be comfortable in.
Of course, a large group of those who dislike magic and non-humans in general couldn’t possibly cause any problems in the future for anyone, right?
1806 A.D.:
Luna decides the time is right to bring her religion to North America but is disappointed that the reception is lukewarm at best and even hostile in some places.
This opinion begins to change when one of the priests manages to bring the son of the governor of Virginia back to life after he is killed in horseback riding accident.
The worship of Janus is common among the Vixen and Dark Elves, and gaining some support amongst small groups of humans.
The titan of beauty is gaining followers amongst the “rich and beautiful” people, with Athena becoming popular around the world with scholars and “free thinkers”.
1808 A.D.:
In Tennessee, the Church of Divine Providence is formed with the stated goals of preserving the morality and achievements of the human race, while also advocating separation between not only nonhumans, among those who are not of proper moral character. Take that as you will.
Many are suspicious of this church and its goals after several younger members are found guilty of vandalizing several nonhuman and non-Christian homes and businesses.
The church denies any involvement and proclaims that these youth are misguided and in no way represent the values of the church as a whole.
Also, during this period, the increase of magic around the world is also causing more individuals to develop psychic abilities, with one young lady in Georgia developing abilities similar to that of a Burster, which unfortunately are not quite under her control. Strong emotions cause her abilities to run wild.
She is killed in the end by members of her own family so that they could “feel safe” after eliminating the “devil child” in their midst.
1810 A.D.:
The French government offers to sell the U.S. their Louisiana Territory at a discounted rate if the U.S. also takes the growing Kobold population as well.
The U.S. agrees and soon kobolds and more Grackle Tooth are turned loose to explore the new vast areas of North America.
It should be noted that although Kobolds can be annoying, their birth rates are quite limited for a small mammalian species, producing only 1 or 2 young every 4 to 5 years. Given their life span of only 50 years, this is not exactly a problem.
The Kobolds originally came from a practically predator free environment, which explains their low birth rate.
Also during this year the Dark Elvin and Centaurs decide to join their two nations into one and to allow all races to live there so long as they are peaceful. This new nation occupies what would be the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
This also includes the small amount of native Indian tribes that also live in that area.
In California, the Spanish are leaving the state to return to their home, and the future state is now being handed over to Mexico including the growing city of Los Angeles, and the presently small town of San Francisco.
1812 A.D.:
The first college of magic opened by the Church of Luna, for everyone not just worshippers, in Massachusetts. It is an immediate success, attracting students from all over the colonies, and it is staffed by several Dark Elves from their west coast nation.
Not to be left behind, Harvard, Yale and Princeton soon follow suit. This causes an uproar among the more conservative members of the country who feel that such schools are not Christian, with the state of Tennessee going so far as trying to forbid it citizens from attending the new schools.
The Church of Divine Providence goes so far as to send groups to the three schools to protest. The Dark Elves find this to be quite amusing and a little annoying. Magic was a fact of life in the multi-verse, and not controlled by some sort of demon or devil as the CDP seemed to think.
1814 A.D.:
In order to help maintain the balance between the Northern and Southern States, two new states are admitted to the union at the same time.
The new state of Indiana is admitted as a free state and the new state of Mississippi is admitted as a slave state.
There are a few isolated incidents of the residents with the new southern states fighting with the residents of Louisiana. There have been rumors of Kobolds being kidnapped by the residents of Mississippi for use as slaves. If true this is in direct violation of the constitution, as no non-humans are allowed to be used as slaves.
The Bayou Ursines are known to have a particularly dim view towards slavers and some think it’s just a short time before all out fighting happens between the residents of the two states.
In June of that year a family group of 24 kobolds is found near death in a barn belonging to the senior senator from Mississippi.
Congress asks the senator to report to Washington to explain himself. He refuses and the governor of the state says that the matter will be handled on a state level. This fools no one as the governor is well known on how he feels about non-humans.
Congress never gets the opportunity to question, the senator. One week later, while holding a meeting with several prominent members of The Church of Divine Providence, his home is destroyed in a rather spectacular fashion, killing everyone inside.
Witnesses to the event claim to have seen several large fiery rocks rain down from the sky and strike the Senator’s home.
When the incident is investigated the only piece of evidence found is a small bronze plate with the initials N.H.A. engraved on it.
New York offers to send part of its mage special forces to investigate, the governor of Mississippi refuses, saying that he will not allow such “ungodly” creatures into his state.
Meanwhile the border between Louisiana and Mississippi becomes an armed camp with both states militias facing each other down, which will unfortunately last for years.
1816 A.D.:
A “new” form of magic seems to be appearing in the world. Elemental Elders from the inner planes are appearing and teaching humans and other races the secret of warlock magic, which is the ability to control the elements and “lesser” elemental beings. Why the Elders are teaching humans and other to control their weaker brethren is anybody’s guess.
The magic is being taught throughout Africa, South America, and in East Asia. It hasn’t quite made its way to North America, but that will probably soon change.
One of the Earth Elemental elders, who looks like an attractive human male, is rumored to be in consultation with the leaders of Egypt in regards to building an actual canal, dug out by elementals, that would link the Red Sea, with the Mediterranean Sea by way of the Gulf of Suez.
Slaves continue to disappear from the southern states, with a tall athletic women, who can turn into a tall bear-like demi-human, being the main suspect. She appears to leave the slave owners alone unless attacked. When that happened then she was seen killing a militia detachment over a dozen men. Georgia has issues a reward of over 4000 dollars for her capture or proof of her death.
1818 A.D.:
The states of Illinois and Alabama are admitted to the U.S. as a free state and as a slave state respectively.
Something odd though is happening roughly 5 miles north of the old city of Mobile Alabama. Anyone, human or nonhuman, who enters the area suddenly disappears and is often found up to 30 miles away from where he was originally. So far everyone has been found safe and sound on dry land. No one has been teleported to the ocean, yet.
In Northeastern Egypt, work is beginning on the canal to link the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. Even using elementals this is proving to be an expensive feat. The British government offers to “donate” to the canal if they are allowed to use it as much as they want. This is not surprising given that the canal will make the trip from England to India much easier and in a much shorter amount of time.
1820 A.D.:
Maine becomes the latest state in the union and established the far north eastern boundary with Canada.
Also during this year a group of 100 demi humans, calling themselves Gnomes, is rifted to the capitol city of Scotland. The gnomes claim to have been exiled from their homeland do to the fact that their inventions that they created worked to well and were less complicated than those of the fellow Gnomes.
Of equal strangeness, is that the gnomes somehow speak perfect English with a thick Scottish accent. So at least they chose the right place to appear.
The Gnomes turn out to be quite skilled at steam based technology as well as being quite skilled at producing pistols and rifles of a type that had yet to be seen in the world.
Instead of using hand loaded powder the Gnome’s weapons used sealed cartridges, which were used in their dual-action revolvers and lever action rifles.
On month later groups of gnomes appeared in the U.S., Italy, and Spain. Soon these countries and others were producing this new form of firearm, which would come in quite handy in the U.S. in contained the large rhino buffalo and furry beetle population that was appearing in the Western territories.
Said species, although quite tough, were S.D.C. creatures and about one half the size of their counterparts in other dimensions such as Rift’s Earth.
Within five years the Gnome’s steam technology would lead to the growing steam locomotive transportation networks, in Europe, the U.S. and in other parts of the world eventually.
1821 A.D.:
Missouri becomes the latest state in the U.S., but after it’s founding the state declares itself to be “neutral” in regards to slavery by neither allowing, nor outright disallowing the practice.
The state soon becomes home to both Northern and Southern citizens and militias, which makes the state quite a lively place at times.
Back in Egypt the new Suez canal is finished and proving to be quite popular with merchants from all over Europe. The British are also now using it to transport troops and supplies back and forth from India.
With the success of this canal many countries are now wondering if the elementals could be used to not only build canals, but other construction projects as well.
Towards the end of the year, the original group of Gnomes in Scotland produce the first of the large furnaces that burn hot enough to melt carbon and iron, enabling the large scale production of steel. It will take almost 10 years before this particular invention is exported to America and the rest of the world.
1826 A.D.:
Film photography is created and allows those who can afford a camera to record their lives and the changes taking place in the world around them.
This invention will also allow scientists and explorers to record what they had seen without needing to bring back a plant or animal with them from their native habitat.
One brave photographer uses his camera to capture pictures of gryphons and pegasi, which now inhabit the Rocky Mountains.
1830 A.D.:
Thanks to gnomish technology making its way to the U.S. steam powered railways are begin created in the northeast with plans to extend them further south and west in the future.
In Kentucky the Vixen population is noticing an increase of humans with psychic abilities and a few have shown potential to become master psychics, in particular psi-druids. The most promising candidate is a well known explorer by the name of Daniel Boone. Mr. Boone is not only an American legend, but somehow despite being both in 1734, appears to be no older than 35 years of age. How he managed to accomplish this impressive feat is unknown, even to him. His wife and 3 children also seem to be aging rather slowly.
1832 A.D.:
In order to finance their growing country the government of Mexico decides to sell off two of its northern territories.
The large territory of California is first offered to the Dark Elvin and Centaur alliance far to the north. When they decline an offer is made to the new American nation. The idea of a west coast territory is looked on quite fondly by the U.S. government because of how it is described by various Dark Elvin visitors over the years.
The Dark Elves have had a quite lucrative trade arrangement with the California Territory over the years. The climate in the territory is perfect for growing various crops and the shear amount of fish found both inland and off shore is impressive.
The native redwood trees though have as yet been untouched due to the protective nature of the Dryads and other fairy folk, who regard the ancient trees as if they were their children. There was also talk of some of the oldest trees actually moving on their own, but most think that is but a silly rumor.
An agreement is reached quite quickly between the U.S. and Mexico and soon the U.S. is deciding on how best to reach this new territory of theirs. After all, travelling long distance by ley-line is something only Dark Elvin and other wizards can do. The average man will need to find another way.
Mexico also agrees to sell off the smaller territory of what would normally be New Mexico to a private organization called the Neo Humanism Alliance. Not much is known about the organization except that they were founded 4 years after non-humans started to appear in force after the 1700 brief awakening of the ley lines.
According to a brief interview given to a reporter from Boston’s largest newspaper, the Neo Humanism Alliance is dedicated to cooperation with all non-human races in the hopes that humanity can learn and grow from interaction with as many races as possible.
They are also known to be anti-slavery and have engaged in several protest actions in Mississippi and Tennessee. They seem to bear a particular grudge against the Church of Divine Providence whom they consider to be little more than a front for terrorist activities against peaceful citizens.
With American citizens now so far out west they now become aware and meet a few new races that they had never seen before.
The first and most populous race they came across were the Fennodi. They are a peaceful humanoid race, who for many years, have helped out the native Indians and Mexican / Spanish people in both the farming and ranching professions.
When not working for someone else they tend to wander throughout the southwest with their own herds of cattle and sheep. Some family groups also herd flocks of Emu which have appeared in the region over the past 20 years.
Another race making its home in the southwest are the Cactus People. They are a plant based life form that are pacifists and travel in small family groups or work on their own small farms. They try to avoid violence as much as possible, but they will try and defend themselves as best as they can if attacked. They also are able to regenerate wounds and even entire limbs if they are destroyed.
They possess limited psionic abilities and can communicate telepathically with other life forms at a distance of up to 200 feet.
Appearing in both Western Europe and the United States a race of beings known as the D’norr are becoming quite the talk of the town in various literary and philosophical circles. The D’norr consider themselves to be teachers, scientists, philosophers, and artists.
In a few years they will also be quite common in the diplomatic corps of many nations.
1835 A.D.:
The telegraph is invented and tested in the United States allowing man for the first time to communicate over vast distances without using magical means.
A new experiment is being conducted on various small farms throughout New England. Warlocks from the church of Luna and Harvard’s department of magic are seeing if elementals and created wood and stone golems can be used to harvest crops and tend small animal flocks. If successful this would greatly reduce the need for farm labor except to supervise the supernatural creatures.
If successful this would also greatly reduce the costs of running a farm both large and small.
During the later part of this year, Arkansas becomes the latest state in the growing U.S. as a “neutral” state similar to Missouri when it joined the union. This new state does have a rather large Kobold population, who are definitely not exactly fond of slavery to say the least.
1837 A.D.:
Michigan joins the union as a free state and as settlers move into the area people begin to report seeing mermaids of all things. Children who find their way into the lakes often find themselves teleported back to land or nearby boats reportedly by the mermaids.
This is only one of the many sightings around the world. Most only involve one or two mermaids, but there have been reports of as many 30 mermaids gathering together near a small island between Australia and New Zealand.
The earlier experiment with using elementals as farm labor has proven to be a success and nearly all of the large farms are using them and from published reports in several journals are saving quite a bit on labor costs and lack of injuries. It’s hard to hurt a moving rock or hunk of wood after all.
The elementals also seem to be drawing nutrients from the earth elemental plane and causing crop yields to increase by 200% as well as being greatly resistant to disease.
1840 A.D.:
A horrible flood strikes the Mississippi River basin making travel along it, even by the new steam boats, quite dangerous. A former crop worker from New York remarks to the local press that its shame that the elementals that are used up north can’t be used to doing something about this and other floods.
The local press sends a telegraph message to the New York exchange asking if anyone there can help. The exchange contacts some local officials, who in turn get in touch with a local warlock.
After a couple hours of thinking it through he informs them that it might be doable on a small scale, but to prevent a flood on such a large river would take a LOT of elementals being guided.
Unknown to the U.S. warlocks such a task has already been accomplished in Eqypt to combat the yearly Nile floods. Not only that, but it has also been taken a step further. By using a combination of water and earth elementals Warlocks there have managed to create large artificial lakes by first using the earth elementals to dig out and harden lake beds, then having the water elements tap into the water elemental plane and use it to fill up the new lakes.
Given the much larger size of the U.S., more warlocks would have to be either trained or brought in from portals. So far only the Dark Elvin / Centaur kingdom has such an expertise.
1842 A.D.:
The governors of Virginia, Alabama, and North Carolina, and the rest of the southern states are invited to view the largest farm so far that is run mainly using elementals and golems. The Pennsylvania farm is hundreds of acres yet costs a small fraction to run compared to using traditional labor. The governors are first shocked at seeing the creatures, then stunned at the farm’s success.
While not illegal under U.S. law, magic is heavily frowned upon in the southern states, and even those with natural psychic and super abilities are either encouraged to keep their abilities hidden or to use them for the good of the state. There are rumors that Tennessee and Mississippi are training citizens with abilities to be part of a classified strike force to defend their state in case the federal government decides to infringe on their “states rights”.
Using the warlocks and elementals would be using magic in a less than subtle way. The problem would lie in using this new “technology” so to speak to benefit themselves and other wealthy land owners while convincing their constituents that they are the same “god fearing” righteous individuals that they claim to be. Well that was what most of the southern states wanted. Virginia and Alabama had other ideas.
Even since the son of the governor was saved by magic back in 1806, many in the state have been more open to magic and even other religions. Alabama has a similar attitude but they tend to be less vocal about it even since one of the sons of a large land owner ran away to Massachusetts to be with a young Dark Elven lady he met while attending Harvard.
Still though, slavery was expensive and if costs could be saved then it was worth the effort. After all this would not be the first time in human history when so-called morality was pushed aside for financial reasons.
Through small tests at first, then with the largest farms in the state, both Virginia and Alabama found labor and other associated costs down over 75% versus using traditional slave labor. Over the next few years this led to virtually all the farms, who did not mind using magic, to abandon the use of slave labor. Slavery was still legal in these states, and was still used for household servants for example, but not for large scale farm labor.
Most of the other southern states followed this practice within 10 years, the exceptions being both Tennessee and Mississippi, who took things ever further by not allowing visitors from their fellow southern states to bring any sort of mage or elemental with them even when briefly crossing their territory.
This did not last long for the rest of the states threatened to not accept any exported good from these two states if they continued this behavior.
After that magic “goods” could only be transported through but not sold in the two states in question. Psychic healing was still allowed, even if it came from the Vixen, so the two states were not completely dense to use of healing abilities.
1843 A.D.:
A series of portals opens up on the island of Espanola (Cuba) dumping numerous land based dinosaur herds, which quickly grow to be major problem for the small Spanish defense forces. Spain asks the United States for help in transporting refugees off of the embattled island. Ships are sent to the island as well as 3 temporary portals linking Cuba to Miami Florida which has been a territory since 1822.
Numerous medical and temporary housing is set up all over the “Keys” to deal with the refugees and to serve as military staging points to deal with the dinosaurs.
The one good thing about this “invasion” appears to be the utter lack of sea dwelling dinosaurs and the limited number of flying reptiles, which the American and Spanish forces soon become quite adept at using for target practice. Gnomish engineers are even hired to come up with large scale rifles to deal with the rampaging reptiles.
Also this year the first series of American settlers and cargo arrive on ships from the east coast of the U.S. It has been a long and dangerous journey with some injuries and 2 deaths. A quicker way in the future will have to be found to reach the west coast. Magic can be used to transport smaller groups, but not entire ships full of cargo and people. Perhaps sometime in the future a canal could be built to shorten the journey.
One particularly surprising find in California is a rather odd creature that looks like a cross between a horse and some form of reptile. The most common name for the creature is a Dinostang.
(Author’s Note: Looks in Rifts Bestiary Vol. 1, page 177-180, for a complete description.)
The beast is the size of a large horse, but with a much milder temper and is the riding animal of choice not only in California but in much of the western territories. The native Indian tribes and Fennodi are particularly fond of the animal.
Two notable traits of the Dinostang are its ability to run at over 40 miles per hours for over 3 hours at a time, and its ability to create a form of “energy bubble” around itself and its rider which serves to deflect projectiles and some forms of energy from hitting it.
Because of the Dinostang’s abilities the price and want for horses in the future will be quite a bit lower than they normally would be.
Hope you all enjoy this... Til part 3.