Major Events

On March 2, 2016, Manta Carlos was hit by a tsunami. This was no ordinary tsunami, however - the island typically has wards and other powerful magics in place to prevent natural disasters from affecting the island. Early warning systems were in place, however, and the island's authorities got the news out that people should evacutate the city and flee to safety on higher ground. Everyone living on the island had three hours to evacuate. Several residents attempted to use their powers to stop the tsunami at the shore, and while this did not succeed, it is believed that their efforts prevented a large amount of damage.

The tsunami brought more dangers than the water. A horde of hostile merpeople came in along with the tsunami, attacking and killing as many islanders as they could. This was a tribe of merfolk who believed the tsunami was a sign from an angry god, whom they needed to appease with the blood of the islanders. They were beaten back during the rescue effots as the tide went back down.

Along with these merpeople, a rash of murders began on the islands starting hours before it hit and stretching into the rescue attempts following the tsunami hitting. A variety of theories have cropped up regarding the motivation for these murders. Some might have believed blood sacrifice would appease the entity responsible for this tsunami, influenced by the same forces as the merpeople. Others suspected a scouting force of hostile merpeople, or perhaps it was just opportunism from residents with homicidal urges. Evidence suggests a combination of the three were responsible.

The city has since rebuilt from this disaster. No word has come out what caused it, despite the Government's investigation. Residents can only take it on faith that the city's announced "commitment to improve the magic wards that protect us" could actually protect them from something like this in the future. Months later, a rumor spread around the island that a long forgotten god of the seas was responsible for the tsunami, and that a member of the island's divine community destroyed this god in an act of vigilante justice. Nobody has claimed responsibility for this and no evidence has been produced. The truth of the matter may forever remain a mystery.

In early August 2016 (standard Earth time) the Starlight Observation Station opened to the public. The grand opening was celebrated with a four day long event called "SPACEcon," which showcased new academic programs for Starlight Academy taking place on the station, job opportunities in space, and extraterrestrial cultural exchange. The convention was a great success, and is expected to repeat annually.

On the 22nd and 23rd of October 2016, a man known only as Old Man Jenkins laid a trap. He built a corn maze on his farm and announced a scavenger hunt, promising a valuable treasure to whomever could find it.

There was no treasure. Anyone who attempted to leave the maze would be prevented by powerful magic which seemed to bend space and time. Survivors report that the maze was filled with homicidal monsters, having either found the dead remains of fellow treasure hunters or having escaped the monsters themselves. A talking scarecrow tried to convince the treasure hunters that only one person could receive the treasure, and that would be the maze's last survivor.

A small group of treasure hunters found an underground tunnel leading to a complex ritual circle. One of them was Chloe Black, then known as the daughter of the controversial demonic business leader Gabriel Baltimore. Under Chloe's direction, the ritual circle was destroyed. This nearly broke the magic spell keeping everyone in the maze. In a fit of rage, Jenkins led an undead horde under his control to exterminate the remaining survivors, who banded together to survive and fight off the horde, including some individuals later identified as the maze's 'homicidal monsters.'

The spell finally broke when Chloe stabbed Jenkins to death. The precise details of this final showdown would later be discussed on the news and dissected by conspiracy theorists. In short: in order to prevent him from killing a girl he held hostage, Chloe offered him a deal. She promised that he would help Jenkins rebuild his circle and collect more human sacrifices in exchange for everyone's lives and freedom. When he reached out to shake her hand, she pulled him close and began stabbing him to death. He shot her in the abdomen with a shotgun, and she was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

This was considered one of the island's most horrific events in decades. Local news talked about it constantly for weeks afterwards. Some of the survivors were later identified as murder suspects, having participated in the homicidal rampages marking the middle of the two day incident. Most criminal charges against these individuals would later be dropped; the courts were swayed by the argument that they believed the only way they could survive was by being the last one standing.

Chloe Black eventually made a full recovery. When it was later revealed that Jenkins was trying to sacrifice a large number of sapient life forms so that a Goetic demon would grant him eternal life, conspiracy theories swirled around Chloe and her father Gabriel Baltimore. Baltimore and his daughter were known Goetic demons, and some Islanders believed the two had actually been helping Jenkins in some capacity.

These conspiracy theories, along with details about the undead horde Jenkins had at his command, led to a public conversation about the place of demons and undead in Manta Carlos society. An organization called Citizens Against Evil (CAE) received a surge in membership and organized a wave of protests demanding strict regulations on demonic rituals and portals to / immigration from hell. At the same time, there was a surge in hate crimes against the demonic and undead communities on Manta Carlos.

Official investigations eventually found Gabriel and Chloe innocent. Furthermore, in response to the protests and hate crimes, advocacy groups received a lot of support in educating the public about their undead and demonic neighbors. By January, the rate of hate crimes on Manta Carlos had returned to its previous low level.

On March 4, 2017, an epidemic spread on the island. The disease was resistant even to magical cures. Island authorities identified the spread of the disease as an act of terrorism. The disease had several strains which seemed to target specific supernatural demographics.

For most of March, Starlight Academy was closed. Infected residents were brought to a quarantine hospital in the forests of Manta Carlos, far away from the rest of the city. The quarantine ended when a group of terrorists attempted to destroy the hospital and its occupants with bombs. Once the threat was identified, authorities and patients worked together to remove many of the bombs before they could detonate, and the patients were evacuated before armed terrorists could make an attempt to assault the hospital.

A company known as Blue Cross came out with an antiviral treatment which they believed could cure the disease, but it could only be produced in small amounts. The first batch sold out almost instantly, costing hundreds of dollars per bottle. This "cure" was later found to be ineffective, and all those who had taken the cure would later become even more sick than those who hadn't. The lead researcher involved in creating this cure, a mysterious "Dr. Holmes," disappeared before he could be reached for comment. Later investigations found that Holmes was likely responsible for creating the virus in the first place.

By the end of March an effective cure for the disease had been found. The government and Caduceus worked together to distribute the cure to the entire population. Some of those who refused to take the cure would die as the disease progressed into its final stages.

Even after receiving the cure, some of the disease's survivors retained permanent physical mutations caused by their strain of the disease. (More information about the event and the virus's different strains can be found in the March Virus event thread.)

Weeks after the initial cure for the March Virus was distributed, citizens from around the island began going missing. They were being taken by Holmes and a few of his supporters, to be experimented on to determine why the virus didn't work as intended. Citizens looking into the disappearances discovered Holmes' involvement, and subsequent release of this information led to his secret compound being raided by the police. Holmes and his accomplices had escaped, but the victims were able to be retrieved.

Months after the March Virus subsided, with Holmes still at large, magical creatures from a parallel Earth began appearing all over the city and wreaking havoc. A scientist from this other Earth appeared and agreed to help corral and hold the creatures, some of which were dangerous and protected in his world, until he could find a way back home with them.

The scientist in question was actually Dr. Holmes, having taken another form and using the creatures as carriers for a new, deadlier strain of the virus he had first attempted to unleash. With the threat of his ruse being exposed, he attempted to silence the people who knew his secret. However a miscalculation on his part ended with his gruesome death.

In August of 2018, twelve forgotten deities, all gathered together from all over the world, found their way to Manta Carlos as their surviving artifacts were donated to Manta Carlos' museum. Each of these gods took the name of a month and collectively as The Twelve, they made a simple offer: let them show the people of Manta Carlos what good they could do for them. If the island were to accept them, they would remain and spread their boons for as long as people believed in them. Otherwise, the lack of belief in them would cause them to cease to exist.

For the next year, each month was marked by each specific god's festivals and boons. These displays of power were showcases of just what they could do if they were allowed to stay on Manta Carlos.
A list of the Twelve gods and their general dispositions and boons can be found here.

In December of 2018, the god of December was mysteriously not present for his month. The Twelve feared the worst, that he had vanished from unbelief. Meanwhile, a magical snow began to fall all over Manta Carlos. The snow was not heavy, but it did not stop and soon enough the island as covered in several feet of snow. This continued into January.

Then, a massive tower of ice erupted from a home. People approaching it found it to be a portal of sorts, leading them into a dark, frozen world. These people fought their way through the forest and its bizarre denizens until they reached a massive crystal of ice in the center. As a team they were able to shatter the crystal, releasing December (the god) and two young boys in the process.

It was discovered that the boys had accidentally hurt December while he was setting up the snowfall that would give Manta Carlos a white Christmas, and in their panic had shoved him into a pocket space to avoid punishment. Eventually they had gotten pulled into the same space, and the growing freezing power is what caused the tower of ice to appear.

The Twelve remain as fixtures on Manta Carlos, though some hold more or less power due to their popularity. The effects they offer, found here, are available to anyone on Manta Carlos Island.