About The Secret World

## What is it?

The Secret World (or TSW) is an urban fantasy/horror MMORPG. In it, you play what's called a "Bee", a human that was chosen by Gaia in order to combat some very large supernatural threats to the world. The game itself takes on the motto "Everything is True", collecting a large variety of urban myths, legends, and folk tales to spin a story. The game itself focuses on a lot of world wide plots that connect together, and is very high power level. This game will hopefully explore more of what it's like for the other residents of the secret world, the people that these Bees run across as they go on their own adventures.

This is not to say that the Bees have the "right" story. They have the story as designated by the video game canon, which will factor into the setting of Dawning of the Fourth Age. But there is no "right" story; The events of Dawning will work in tandem with the game to produce a larger narrative.

## The Setting

TSW is an urban fantasy/horror game. It's set in the here and now, meaning that things will be happening in "real time". With the exception of certain things as noted by the Game Runner, all current day events, places, and tech are applicable to the game. This means you can have your sword wielding Alchemist running around with an iPhone, your vampire complaining about social justice, and your Bad Ass Mortal struggling to figure out how exactly one channels magic through a USB cord. Magic and technology work together rather than negate each other; The Illuminati in particular are quite fond of their tech.

While the setting is global, and even hints at some places beyond Earth, Dawning of the Fourth Age in particular is set in Ojai, California. All characters should have a reason to go there or be there already. You can find more information on Ojai (both the actual city as well as fictional, in game locations) here.

## "Everything is True"?

This phrase is thrown around quite a bit, but what does it actually mean? Well, it's actually pretty straightforward. Every myth, legend, folktale? They're all true. The conspiracy theories about secret organizations, about the Illuminati ruling the world? Technically true; they rule the New World, sure. The stories you used to whisper by campfires or at sleepovers? Not just tales to scare children. They may not be exactly like the stories - which can get subtly warped with each retelling - but they are true all the same.

There are plenty of examples, but to keep it short it works like this: if there's something you want to see or play around with, talk to the Game Runner. It's not that it isn't in the world. It's far more likely that the rules for it just haven't been written out yet, or that it's being utilized later on in a different capacity. Anything that is not written at game's start will be worked on based on what players say they want to see, so please keep your Game Runner informed of what you'd like to see, be it types of magic, creatures to run into or play, or just local legends you think are interesting.

## Other Information

There is a timeline of events in game canon. A lot of this is free flowing, as there aren't many set in stone dates of actual game events.