Chapter Text
Following the rapid rise of sea levels around 12,000 years ago, a species predating ours called "Humans" went extinct, leaving behind nothing but bits and bobs of their past grandeur.
Their wars and endless conflicts seem to be the reason for their disappearance. They once had huge territories on dry, green lands and technology allowing them to connect with the whole globe… but that was not enough to satiate their egos. During what we believe was the fourth or fifth World War, a deadly error was made, sending a miscalibrated nuclear warhead directly onto the frozen pole of the globe, causing the near-instant melting of its ice.
In mere days, or weeks at most, countless places and lives were lost to the sea.
Our story takes place thousands of years later. The new kings of the world are creatures who evolved and emerged from the waters: the calamars became Inklings, the octopuses became Octolings, and the jellyfish… well, we still call them jellyfish.
Many different species of sea animals evolved to take humanoid shape, as if Life, mourning her children, tried repainting what little of the world was left into their colorful afterimage.
Of course, like any civilization, we have had our ups and downs, our conflicts and our peace. We also have our own history, and for a very long time now, we have been studying and piecing together the history of the Ancients, whose footsteps can be found everywhere, if one knows how to look for them.
Researchers collect relics from the past to try to learn more about who they were, because we know they were an impressively intelligent species.
Everyone knew from the start that an incredibly important scientific and historical event was about to take shape when the very first research expedition boat left port. Nothing could have possibly prepared us for how great of a discovery we were about to make.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The boat is still slowly making its way toward the ruins of a great Human city that was swallowed by the sea a long, long time ago…