Supocalypse Now: Prologue

==Introduction==
A deliniation of the timeline of the world of Supocalypse as it potentially could be seen.  Events, people, and places in North America remain largely the same, and more emphasis is placed into fleshing out the state of the rest of the world.  While these figures can be regarded as facts, the quantitive outcome, it is unknown how these figures play out specifically.  It is up to the individuals in each case to figure out and tell the story of how they got to where they are, and where they will go from there.
===2013 [Where]===
The year 2013 for some felt like a time of change.  Social and economic unrest, growth and movements that some supported and some fought against, and transformations, however slight, in political systems. It seemed like change was underway, though any historian (or anyone outside of America), might have agreed that no more change was going on than usual. Until the time came that change was the norm.
It was hard for anyone to ignore the rapid days of change that would soon follow; not just for those in America, but outside of it as well.  The historians most of all understood its significance, whereas scientist were baffled by its occurrence.  No one, however, seemed to know why what happened happened. And very few even understood what it was that was happening.  But regardless of what man knew or thought it knew, it happened.
From all over the world came reports of strange occurrences.  Of matter displaced and time erased, of buildings exploding and people burning, animals growing and changing, people disfigured and mutilated.  If any law were observed, those of man or nature, mankind would have felt some sort of security, some sort of reprieve from the utter chaos that ensued.  But nothing was sacred in that time. And that time seemed to last forever.
When it first began it was believed to be isolated.  And when the reports spread they were seen as coincidental.  And when connections were made they were seen as temporary.  But as time went on it only grew, spread, and became increasingly worse.  And when the leaders, the richest, the most powerful fell, it became certain that no one was safe, that times were changing, and that nothing would be the same again.
When everyone became subject to this disease, this curse that spread across the planet, then wars would cease.  Not only were beliefs shattered but the capability to continue fighting would be stunted as person after person died and vanished, eradicated by unforeseeable and unstoppable catastrophes. It appeared as if life on the planet was breaking down, and there was little reason for war when neither side had anything to fight with or for.  While cooperation was still a far off notion, the conflicts that did more harm than good would begin to fade away.
When enough time had passed and those with the knowledge to know what was happening finally understood, it was too late.  Too late for some of those persons, as they fell to the focus of their studies either first hand or as a casualty.   Too late for anyone to be notified, as the structures of mankind had fallen, crumbled by damage, by lack of workforce, and by rampant chaos.  Every man was left to his own devices, and those of his neighbors for those lucky enough to survive with others and commit to some sort of cooperation. And mankind itself was left to its own devices, as nature had turned a blind eye not only to man, but itself.
As man began to realize what this change held, it was too late for some, for many.  In the aftermath of destruction, from those self-inflicted and those caught up in others'; in the toll that nature took on mankind, in the disease and famine brought by the collapse of civilization, only .1% of the world's population (7,108,000) remained.  Some places were more fortunate than others.  The more difficult it was to live in a location, the more and faster the casualties increased.  The homes of the most dangerous species of animals fell even quicker as those species became more dangerous, more powerful, more aggressive.  In those areas where turmoil long rocked the region before the onset of this world devastation, lack of cooperation lead to even greater desolation.
Australia and Africa, covered in terrain and climate difficult to live in, and populated with many a dangerous species, received a great deal of damage in terms of population.  Under .001% of the population (223 and  10,330 respectively) remained on those continents after the first year.
Areas around the most dangerous parts of South America, such as the Amazon, had their populations nearly completely wiped out, whereas other parts were a bit more fortunate.  Overall, around .01% of the continent's population (38,750) remained, building their lives around the dangerous, but generous bounties of the continent.  
Asia in its high population and varied landscapes and cultures had a high variance in survival rates.  The already turmoil riddled Middle East suffered high mortality rates, leaving small groups of negligible numbers and single individuals of high means as its only survivors.  High density areas suffered great causalities due to the nature of the destruction, and areas already suffering from difficulty in maintaining resources suffered as well.  Overall, less than .001% of the population (41,400) of Asia survived.
The European continent suffered a mix of difficulties that exacerbated its own mortality rates, including an already shaky economy, the increased difficulties islands and coastal regions faced in the changing world, and waning agricultural biodiversity.  In Europe .005% of the population (36,960) remained.
The North American continent was the most fortunate.  With fewer natural threats compared to other continents, a fair amount of unity, a decent amount of biodiversity, and a manageable landscape, North America retained around 1.32% of its population (6,980,337).
These survivors were left with little civilization to cling to, little of their old lives and little in the way of what would constitute their new lives. They were now pioneers in a new era for mankind.
===2014 [What]===
In the year following the catastrophe the survivors began to come together.  They formed groups in order to increase their odds of survival against nature and other groups of people that deemed their own survival more important and resources too limited to share.  Once again the seeds of war were sown as the beginnings of a new society was constructed by a people who had once again become stable, stable at least when it came to understanding themselves.
In that year following the catastrophe, people began to make the connections not seen in the chaos before.  Originally the disasters were seen as forces of nature, natural destruction brought on by the planet such as major shifts in weather, earthquakes, and the occasional spontaneous combustion epidemic.  As the chaos quieted mankind began to see the true nature of these disasters, that nature being man itself.  
For those that were scientifically inclined, the terms were more defined, though the means were still just as much a mystery as it was for others.  Humanity had become mutated.  Bodies changed, disfigured, warped, sometimes into different creatures completely.  But the most curious part of it all was the new aptitude some humans displayed, new abilities beyond any person or animal before.  And the fact that animals displayed these mutations too is what made the world so much more dangerous.  
In retrospect these new abilities were seen as the cause of these disasters.  As people mutated and gained these new abilities, some were unable to handle the shift, causing their abilities to go haywire, some going into overload and taking massive amounts of people with them, while others simply collapsed in on themselves, or removed themselves from existence.  It was as if humanity was undertaking a trial, and those who failed died, whereas as those who survived were stronger than ever.
In this new world constructed of these judged people that passed the assessment of this unknown and possibly bodiless figure, power became important, a necessity even, as the power and devices and all the constructs of man were lost through the planet's tribulations.  Mankind would have to start again from the knowledge it retained and the scraps left that littered the planet.  And with populations dwindling, taming the wild became an exceedingly difficult task, especially when considering the heights to which nature had ascended during the planet's change.
Through observation of themselves and those that they came into contact with, people soon began to realize the effects that the mutation of the living things on the planet underwent.  In most it appeared that two supernatural aspects had befallen them.  Abilities beyond the capabilities of man, where other cases were merely the abilities of man pushed to their limits through little effort.  Each case was just as unique as anyone would imagine an individual to be, making tracking it initially difficult.  Some abilities might have been so close in nature that it would appear that one individual had only one supernatural ability, and some were so complex that it seemed that one individual had a multitude of abilities.
As power came to be exceedingly important in this post-apocalyptic world, new groups began to form, some with hierarchy based on this new way to rank individuals, some imitating what their memories preserved of a now dead and gone society.  Some were even put to the test as loners, fighting the low odds for survival and all that nature threw against them through the use of their intelligence, luck of the draw in powers, or sheer force of will.  This new age of mankind consisted of those such people and groups.
===2015 [Who]===
Within two years of the fall of civilization new factions began to form.  Two of the largest factions of course formed where most of the world's population resided, within what was once the United States of America.  Around the world other small groups formed, mostly aimed at survival in their harsh climates, while loners, those of exceptional means or luck, embarked on their own journey of survival and growth.  With humanity down to such few precious numbers, one could imagine the impact that each individual had for the rest of society.
North America featured two major factions: The Dynasty and The Unified Society.  These two factions developed under different circumstances and eventually found these circumstances enough to come into conflict with one another.  The Unified Society is a democracy, led under a constitution in which decisions are made through the consent of the constituents.  The Dynasty on the other hand is a totalitarian dictatorship in which power decides a person's rank and contributions.  As these viewpoints greatly differ, conflict between the two factions escalated.
Amidst the shadows of the two major factions of North America was another organization, an organization shrouded in mystery.  Little was known about this organization, and those that did happen to come by any knowledge of it existing would know only that the group went by the name of Illuminate.
In South America groups would form around those that were able to extract resources from the dangerous but fertile Amazon.  The coastal regions were avoided, as like elsewhere, the sea life had grown to a horrific and monstrous level beyond the management of man.
In Africa most groups centered around the Southern tip of Africa where crop production was the highest.  Those with powers conducive to agriculture tended to the yield of crops, whereas those that were able to find and tame certain species of animals tended to that.  Many were devoted to fending off the more ferocious animals.
The surviving population of Australia and New Zealand was most likely a fluke.  Those that survived were most likely the roughest and toughest that managed to survive the unforgiving outback and its population of already dangerous creatures. Groups may form, and individuals may travel alone, but most of the time the populations remained mobile, ensuring they stayed out of the grasp of animals that viciously hunted them while avoiding the homes of other beasts.  It was likely that leaving the continent was the best option for survival, but that would mean braving the unforgiving waters.
The vastness of the Asian continent created just as many difficulties as it did benefits.  The areas with high population density such as Japan, India, and the Koreas suffered heavy causalities as one person experiencing catastrophic changes could destroy large amounts of the population.  For these areas loners and scavengers extracting resources from the leftover wreckage was common.  Areas where the land was more spread out, like Russia, accumulated high causalities from densely packed poor populations as well as the inaccessibility of food, security, and civilization for those that were more secluded from society.  Small groups in such areas were common, as well as loners of exceptional means in surviving alone.  Areas that were leaders in agriculture before the destruction of the world retained some semblance of civilization, developing communities based around continued crop yield; this occurred in countries such as China, Thailand, and Indonesia.  The Middle East, an already turbulent area of the world, let the rapture of the planet stall them for very little time when it came to destroying one another.  Poor economic conditions ravaged the populations, but those with the power and means managed to survive.  Groups here existed, but mostly organized around the same lines as existed before, though new ones did emerge.  The more groups formed in the area, however, the more they fought to wipe each other out.  Zealots of various causes were rampant in the area.
In Europe most of the causalities stemmed from the edges of the continent.  On the Eastern edge proximity to the violent regions of the Middle East caused problems for survivors.  On the Southern, Western, and Northern edges of the continent, proximity to the ocean caused further problems, especially for the islands of the United Kingdom and Ireland.  Europe is characterized by tight knit groups relying on scavenging and agriculture.  Ambitious loners have been known to make habitats of the coastal areas and islands.