The Nations

At this time, the idea of Empire is at its height. Most of the globe is controlled by a few superpowers, extracting wealth from other lands to power their industrial might. The world is at the tail end of the Industrial Revolution. New inventions and ideas are discovered everyday, and all of humanity has benefited from this: More food, better medicine, and longer lives. This has come at a cost, however: as less and less people were needed to farm food because of the machines developed in the last century, this has allowed people more time to think. To see themselves as not just some cog in a vast empire, but as an individual whose needs and wants were just as important as the demands of the aristocrats of the world. This kind of thinking has led to unrest across Europe, as the ideas of nationalism and self-determination has already caused the fall of the French and Russian Empires. The introduction of magic has only caused to stoke the flames even more.

Now, the system used to maintain peace on the European continent is coming to an end. The Concert of Europe, as it is called, is a meeting of the Great Powers that was used after the Napoleonic Wars to ensure peace on the Continent. Whenever there was a dispute between Great Powers, a concert would be called, and the dispute would be mediated.Now, however, that system is starting to see it's first cracks. The great men of Europe who had seen it through decades of peace are starting to die. Even Otto Von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor of the German Empire, is seen to be just barely holding onto power as younger, more brash men attempt to assert themselves and their nations.

Now, the world stands at a knife's-edge, as any conflict in the world could be the spark the leads the world into a World War. The actors on this world stage are:

 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 

 The Twin Kingdoms of Austria-Hungary 

 The Ottoman Empire