The Planar Records was a phenomena of unknown origins that appeared just over 8 years ago, initially causing mass panic among the population of earth at the time, especially among the younger generations who thought it was the beginning of some apocalyptic event as seen in some media. However the awaited apocalypse did not come, no mysterious portals appeared with monsters surging out of them, no sudden transportation or the population to an unknown world, only a strange coloured shape appearing on peoples hands or forearms and an ethereal voice whispering in peoples minds whenever they do something 'notable' or defied the expectations of onlookers.
Earth fell back into peace until not a year later in Berlin a young musician experienced something unheard of. Normally when the Planar Records 'spoke', it would be along the lines of:
[The Planar Record bares witness to your achievement. Your budding Legend continues to grow.]
But instead it said:
[The first act of your Legend has bloomed, you seek to entertain the masses and sow joy through your art]
[You have awakened your Edict]
The small dot on his arm began to grow, transforming into a tattoo like image of a silhouette holding a vaguely instrument shaped object. Surrounding this image was a multitude of symbols, now termed as a Sigil, that apparently described what the Planar Records termed as an 'Edict'.
The boys Sigil apparently read
[Name: Rowan Schreiber]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Human]
[Edict name: ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮]
[Edict type: Bard]
[Aspects: {Instrument Proficiency},{Timing},{Improvisation}]
{Instrument Proficiency} - You can play anything classified as an 'Instrument' to a competent standard, regardless of if its your first time using it.
{Timing} - Your sense of timing is better than most allowing you a subtle idea of what is to come next in an interaction.
{Improvisation} - You can act confidently and effectively in any and all situations, even when out of your element.
[Relics: ]
[Legend: {Act 1: complete},{Act 2: ▮▮▮▮▮▮}]
[Act 1: {The beginnings of a Musician},{A budding confidence},{A growing fame}]
In the following months, many others had similar experiences of suddenly awakening super-human abilities. The term that eventually came to be adopted for these people was the Ascended. They were referred to as such as they ascended past the limits of normal humans to become something greater and were categorised by the Act of their Legend and their Edict type in a global registry in order to keep track of these potentially dangerous people.
The variety of peoples Edicts was vast, there were no two which were identical but there were only a limited number of Edict types. The currently known types were: Artificer, Artist, Bard, Blacksmith, Cleric, Contractor, Cook, Druid, Esper, Fighter, Hero, Mage, Magician, Monk, Mystic, Paladin, Psychic, Pugilist, Ranger, Rogue, Scholar, Scribe, Sorcerer, Summoner, Wanderer, Warlock and Wizard. These Edict types are only for Act 1 ascended, some Edict types have a tendency to change as one's Legend progresses.
Soon after the advent of the ascended came the first Relics: items that could be held within an ascended's Legend to be summoned at any time and could repair themselves within said legend so long as they weren't completely destroyed. They also were acknowledged by the Planar Records by the means of text accompanying the Relic termed lore, a brief description of the Relics origin and notable acts. They mostly took one of three origins: once mundane objects that, after becoming a part of an ascended's Legend, became a Relic; items found in auspicious or cursed places, assumed to be created due to peoples faith or lastly those spawned from the corpse of other ascended. The later two types could be transferred between ascended given that they were not included within said ascended's Legend but would be unable to be repaired until they had a Legend suitable for them to reside in and draw strength from. All Relics have Enhancements, giving them unique properties and abilities, like pens able to draw in the air, boots that made you faster, clothes that could change their shape and form, items able to change their weight or weapons with a variety of mystical properties.
New fields of Science opened up to study ascended and the abilities that they possessed as well as the lore of other asceded's Relics, notably: people with the Scribe Edict type had the ability to read and interpret the records of other ascended from their Sigil and if the energies that different Edict types used were collectable through machinery to be used as energy sources. Surprisingly, under some specific and circumstances equally unique to each ascended, it was possible for ascended people to return to being ordinary humans and after this, create a new legend and in turn gaining a different Record. Relics were also heavily studied, with many studying the conditions for their creation and the various enhancements they possessed.
It was also assumed that the Planar Records could not create new information and only put into words what was known by a persons subconscious or a Relic's remanent will, a kind of lingering spirit theorised to be a combination of the legends created with the weapon and its wielder and that several famous people and heroes in Earths history and mythology were in fact were also likely to be ascended without knowing it due to the supposed absence of the Planar Records during those eras.
5 years after the advent of the Planar Records, humanity was once again at peace and around the time that 5% of the total population had become Ascended. It had been declared to be an age of progress with second generation ascended, the name given to children born to least one ascended parent, coming into existence, eventually leading to the discovery of Legacy, a child having the option to inherit an aspect of an ancestor's Edict at the cost of being unable to follow an Edict type other than the Edict type belonging to one of their ancestor's.
In August of the same year a chain of natural disasters began to ravage the planet, beginning with storms and minor earthquakes. Many ascended rose to the occasion but as the disasters gradually became worse the governments of the world, now united under a single name, could reasonably attempt to minimise damage due to emerging mystically natured weather and geological patterns. This came to a climax in November with the total death toll assumed to be in the hundreds of millions with some estimates in the billions and the entire continent of Oceania being evacuated due to a super volcano and a huge tsunami caused by a nearby category 8 earthquake that had mysteriously been ongoing for several hours. Then one morning, specifically the 17th, space itself let out a harrowing scream, The Shattering had begin.