Setting and history

Setting and history

Here, you'll find the public-facing lore for the event and an official timeline of events that led to the creation of The Zone.

History - What is known to the public

In the most unlikely of places...
The region around Ljusdal in central Sweden, historically known for its serene forests, winding rivers, and a past of quiet mining activity, has taken an unsettling turn. What was once a tranquil landscape has become something far more... unpredictable. For decades, increased imports of heavy machinery and the establishment of new "mining operations" raised no alarms; locals simply assumed a new mineral rush. They were unaware that beneath the earth, something far more complex and dangerous was being excavated.

This secretive work, hidden somewhere southeast of what is now known as "the disaster site," involved highly experimental research. While the exact nature of these experiments remains shrouded in secrecy, their ultimate outcome was undeniable.

Echoes of a Cold War Past
Rumors and fragmented historical accounts whisper of clandestine Cold War-era projects in this secluded area. These weren't merely about conventional arms. There were whispers of attempts to influence the environment itself, perhaps even human minds. A significant part of the local railway network, seemingly just a branch of the main line, was reportedly repurposed into something far more than just transport infrastructure – a hidden, vast transmitter for unknown purposes.

These ambitious and highly classified programs, which also included the manufacturing of advanced and unstable weapon systems, continued in isolation for decades. But the secrecy, and the experiments themselves, couldn't last forever.

The Cataclysm: Birth of the Zone
In the early 2010s, a catastrophic event shattered the silence of the Ljusdal region. While official reports remain scarce and heavily redacted, it's widely believed that an experimental energy emission, originating from the disguised railway system, struck a freight train near Sveg. This train, later confirmed to be carrying dangerous, volatile materials – some say highly aggressive radioactive isotopes – derailed violently. The impact released an unprecedented wave of contamination, not only poisoning the immediate area but unleashing unforeseen forces.

What had previously been dismissed as local oddities or strange phenomena became undeniable reality. The combined impact of this energy surge and the subsequent fallout created an unprecedented chain reaction. The environment warped, familiar flora and fauna mutated into unrecognizable forms, and strange, unsettling anomalies began to appear. This was the moment the Zone was born.

A Treacherous Landscape
Today, the Zone is a testament to that disastrous event. It's a dynamic, ever-changing environment, where the very air can feel heavy with unseen energies. Radiation levels vary wildly, often fluctuating unpredictably, making any traversal perilous. But beyond the measurable dangers, the Zone presents phenomena that defy conventional understanding: spontaneous shifts in local reality, strange flora, aggressive mutated wildlife, and whispers of entities unseen.

The area is not unobserved. Unmarked, highly disciplined units maintain a constant, silent presence within and around the Zone. They are known for their efficiency, their ruthlessness, and their singular purpose: to secure the Zone and ensure nothing of its secrets, or its dangers, escapes. Even private military companies operating nearby know to give these anonymous enforcers a wide berth. For the general public, and indeed for those brave enough to venture in, the Zone remains an enigma – a forbidden laboratory where the consequences of forgotten experiments continue to unfold.

Timeline: The Zone's Unfolding History
This timeline provides a glimpse into the key events that shaped the Zone as we know it today. Much of this information is gleaned from fragmented reports, hushed rumors, and what little the authorities have acknowledged.

1950s–1980s: Seeds of Secrecy

• Covert Projects Begin (1950s–1970s): During the Cold War, highly secret government-backed projects began in secluded areas of Sweden. These included experimental research into environmental manipulation, advanced technologies, and even attempts to influence human behavior. A significant portion of the local railway network was discreetly modified to serve as a vast, hidden transmitter for these unknown purposes.

• Hidden Power Sources (1960s–1986): Small, concealed energy generators were built underground west of Ljusdal. These were intended to power the energy-intensive research facilities.

• Chernobyl Disaster (1986): While public nuclear projects in Sweden were paused, the clandestine research continued, largely unknown to wider government oversight.

1990s–2000s: Early Warnings and Escalation

• First Anomalies Emerge (1990s): Strange shifts in the environment and reports of bizarre wildlife mutations began to surface near the experimental sites. These were officially dismissed as folklore, industrial waste effects, or local superstition.

• Intensified Experiments (Late 1990s–Early 2000s): Research intensified, with a focus on using the strange energies for strategic applications, including weather modification and other high-risk technologies. The disguised railway system saw increased activity, silently transmitting unknown emissions. Freight trains often passed through, unknowingly carrying dangerous byproducts of these experiments.

2010: The Cataclysm

• The Uncontrolled Surge (Early 2010): A large-scale energy test, originating from the railway transmitter, went catastrophically wrong. An uncontrolled surge struck a freight train near Sveg.

• Disaster and Fallout (2010): The train, secretly loaded with unstable hazardous materials (believed to be highly aggressive radioactive isotopes from weapon research), derailed violently. The released contaminants combined with the energy surge, triggering widespread, immediate, and extreme environmental warping and mutations.

• The Zone is Born (2010): What were once isolated oddities now spread rapidly and uncontrollably across the region, creating a permanent, highly dangerous, and unpredictable exclusion zone.

• Silent Enforcers Deployed (2010): Within hours of the disaster, highly disciplined, unmarked units were deployed. They swiftly secured the affected areas, detaining survivors and silencing those who witnessed the impossible. Military access was revoked without explanation.

2010–2011: Government Response and Secrecy

• Mass Evacuations (2010): Local villages, including parts of Ljusdal and Sveg, were rapidly evacuated. Civilians reported terrifying phenomena: reality distortions, strange electrical discharges, and aggressive mutated animals. These accounts were officially dismissed as "panic" but later classified.

• Infrastructure Lockdown: Major sections of the "Norra Stambanan" railway were immediately shut down, with parts of the line removed or buried. Road 296 was closed, and armed checkpoints established.

• Official Exclusion Zone (Late 2010): The government declared an official Exclusion Zone, publicly citing "uncontrollable nuclear contamination." Special military teams were deployed, but their findings were never released. Attempts to "turn off" or stabilize the Zone failed; no known method could halt its expansion or the anomalies.

• Information Blackout (2010–2011): National news initially reported a "nuclear accident," but within weeks, all reporting was heavily censored. Eyewitnesses who spoke of "impossible" events vanished or were discredited. Satellite imagery of the region became restricted.

2011–2012: The Government's New Frontier

• Establishment of the Laforsen Facility (Late 2010): A secure, government-run research facility was swiftly established near Föne, just east of the Zone. Operating under strict military oversight, its public purpose is to secure and study the strange objects emerging from the Zone, and ensure they can be handled safely.

• Artifact Control & Military Research (2011-2012): While containment is stated, rumors persist that this facility is also focused on weaponizing or finding practical uses for the Zone's anomalous objects. Despite heavy security, whispers abound of an illegal artifact trade and black-market dealings linked to its operations.

2010–2011: Chaos on the Perimeter

• Border Chaos & Early Explorers (2011): Following the disaster, the areas surrounding the newly formed Exclusion Zone became a chaotic free-for-all. Civilian scavengers, conspiracy theorists, and adventurers began bypassing the struggling military cordons.

• Emergence of "Freelancers" (2011): The term "Freelancer" (or "Lancer" for short) quickly spread, used to describe those who risked entering the Zone unofficially, seeking valuable artifacts or forbidden knowledge. Military patrols struggled to maintain control.

2012–2015: Fortification and Formalization

• Outer Perimeter Control (OPC) Formed (2012): The Swedish Armed Forces established the OPC to secure the outer edges of the Exclusion Zone (often called "The Borderlands"). Their mission: prevent unauthorized entry and escape.

• Hardened Defenses (2013): The OPC constructed barricades, roadblocks, and reinforced barriers, particularly along key access roads like Route 296. Automated sensors were deployed.

• Deep Zone Containment (2013): Simultaneously, deeper within the Zone, unknown entities established heavily guarded, secretive sites. Reports of elite squads intercepting intruders with lethal force became common.

• The Main Gate (2014): A single, controlled entry point was completed, allowing limited, legal access for licensed individuals and organizations. Entry requires official clearance, permits, and agreements on artifact taxation.

• Zone Intensifies (2015): The Zone’s interior became even more unpredictable. Environmental distortions, floating matter, and spatial anomalies multiplied. Freelancer activity increased, and reports of consistent artifact recovery began to surface.

2016–2018: Private Interests and The Base

• Arrival of PMCs (2016): Backed by multinational corporations, Private Military Contractors (PMCs) like "Black Rift Security" and "Cerberus Operations" negotiated access. They established small outposts near the Zone border, often clashing.

• Encounters with Unmarked Units (2017): Early PMC incursions into deeper Zone territory were met with sudden, lethal encounters from anonymous, unmarked squads, who warned them off with extreme prejudice.

• Establishment of "The Base" (2017): A neutral encampment began to form near a disused industrial complex southeast of the Main Gate. It quickly grew into "The Base," a self-regulated hub for barter, shelter, and uneasy truce.

• The BAR Opens (2018): A former aircraft hangar was repurposed into "The BAR," a neutral meeting point for freelancers, traders, and PMCs. After violent incidents, internal security (often just known as "Base Security") was formalized to enforce neutrality within Base territory

2019–2024: Rising Tensions and New Dangers

• "Broadcast from the Borderlands" (2019): A rogue radio station began broadcasting from within The Base, relaying uncensored Zone news, freelancer chatter, and live reports of anomalies and skirmishes. Its listenership grew rapidly among those outside official control.

• Rise of Bandit Activity (2021): As traffic increased, lawlessness surged just beyond OPC’s active patrols. Loosely organized bands of outlaws (often ex-soldiers, former PMCs, black market runners) began occupying abandoned outposts in the borderlands. They quickly gained a reputation for ambushing lone freelancers, extorting, or even masquerading as escorts before turning on their clients.

  • The Base remained safe, but venturing beyond its immediate reach became highly dangerous. The OPC refused to intervene, and PMCs focused on their own conflicts, leaving the borderlands a true "no-man's land." Rumors spread of hidden bandit forts and bounties.

• PMC Escalation (2020–2024): PMC operations intensified, expanding deeper into Zone territory. Conflicts over artifact caches grew frequent. Unconfirmed reports circulated of corporate sabotage, assassinations, and the deployment of experimental weapons in the field. Another PMC, "Grey Dynamics," arrived, often acting as a broker between rivals.

• Whispers of Experimentation (2023): Fragmented data and intercepted communications suggest a renewed interest in weaponizing Zone phenomena. There are chilling rumors of research into using Zone energies to influence living organisms.

2024–2025: Emerging Threats and Deepening Horror

• The Afflicted Emerge (Late 2024–2025): By late 2024, disturbing reports of unnatural behavior among former Zone inhabitants began to spread.

  • "The Scorched": Wandering, armed figures in torn gear, mumbling incoherently, their faces blank and eyes vacant. They appear to suffer from cognitive overload, perhaps from exposure to Zone energies or contaminated artifacts. They are unresponsive to reason, attack on sight, and move with a disturbing purpose. Some whisper they are failed experiments, or even weapons, unleashed by unseen forces.

  • "The Ferals": Once-human individuals who have entirely succumbed to primal, predatory instincts. They move in fast, uncoordinated packs, driven by hunger. Survivors describe brutal attacks where they swarm and dismember lone travelers, carrying remains back to hidden nests. Flesh-eating behavior has been confirmed.

  • "The Controllers": Not often seen, but their presence is felt. They are shadows, whispers, a presence behind the eyes of the Scorched. Patrols vanish silently. Entire camps are emptied overnight. Survivors speak of unseen entities directing the afflicted, implanting commands directly into their minds. Coordinated attacks by the Scorched and Ferals, once unthinkable, are now a reality. Watchtowers on the edge of The Base have gone dark. The Zone is actively reclaiming its borders.

• Suspicion of Human Experimentation (2024): The horrifying behaviors of the afflicted mirror alarming theories that were once whispered about in secret circles. There are growing suspicions of covert trials linked to areas of intense Zone activity and interference from the unmarked units.

2025–2026: The Net Tightens

• Increased Activity by Unmarked Units (2025): Sightings of the mysterious, unmarked units increase dramatically near The Base's periphery and in deep anomaly zones. They preempt PMC artifact recovery operations and eliminate suspected smugglers without warning.

• OPC Tightens Grip (2025-2026): In response to the rising instability, the Outer Perimeter Control enforces new, stricter access quotas and increases surveillance. Non-licensed individuals attempting to cross the border are now swiftly and lethally dealt with.

  • Despite this, artifact smuggling and black-market activity surge.

  • The OPC's chilling motto: "Inget in. Inget ut." ("Nothing in. Nothing out.") becomes a stark reality.

• Whispers of a "Phase Two" (2026): Unexplained construction noises, specialized containment units, and encrypted radio traffic suggest that the unseen forces behind the Zone are preparing a new, highly classified initiative deeper inside its heart.

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