Revelations - The Setting
The
setting of Revelations is in almost all respects identical to that of
real-world Earth...with the exception that the rise of sentience was
triggered by a megavirus that spread across the globe after a meteor
landed in Xiuyan, China more than 50,000 years ago. The airborne
version of the virus (Pandarovirus anthrosapiens) had a 50% infection
rate and a 95% fatality rate, and caused infected vertibrates during
pre-pubescent growth to develop more or less humanoid physiques.
There's still great variance in size depending upon the base
vertibrate species. As a side note, the virus was successful in
infecting approximately 0.00001% of invertibrate multicellular
life...and as such there are some species of anthropomorphic insects
and arachnids which typically live in hot, humid climates. Small
animals such as mice and birds are typically 4-5.5 feet tall and
weigh as little as 40 lbs, whereas large animals such as elephants
and whales stand between 6.5-8 feet and weigh as much as 1000 lbs.
Aquatic life-forms that were infected generally live in seaside
cities, or on small floating and submerged cities that dot the oceans
and lakes of the world. Because the airborne virus had such a low
infection rate, the vast majority of the uninfected species still
exist in their 'feral' or 'unevolved' form.
While
the airborne variant of the virus died off nearly 40,000 years ago,
it has thrived as a sexually transmitted disease (100% infection rate
male to female, 25% infection rate female to male). While, the virus
is usually (95%) fatal to those that are infected after birth, it's
possible for an feral animal to father evolved offspring on a evolved
mother, though such a thing is highly taboo (and illegal). Among
infected 'evolved' species, the virus only sometimes (~50%) causes
it's hosts to completely evolve, resulting in many of the base
species traits being partially or completely expressed such as
digitigrade limbs, hooves, wings (sometimes in addition to arms),
multiple breasts, or seasonal breeding cycles referred to as
'heritage traits' (or other names depending on region). The virus can
also cause partial transexualism (~3.1%) or full hermaphrodism
(~3.1%). In some very rare cases (~0.8%), the virus completely fails
to express the anthropomorphizing gene sequences, resulting in
non-anthropomorphic intelligent animals called 'throwbacks'. Another
small fraction (~0.8%) may fail to develop sentience and were
historically called 'brutes', functioning at about the same level as
a 3 year old. All these minority groups were historically
discriminated against and/or taken advantage of. Now brutes and
throwbacks are referred to as mentally or physically disabled, though
most people still use the non-P.C. terms or worse.
Oviparous
species sometimes still lay eggs, though this is always the result of
heritage traits in the mother's reproductive system. There is also a
trend among snakes to fail to develop legs, though this almost never
inhibits their mobility. Because of the viruses aggressive
chromosomal normalization (to exactly 23 pairs of chromosomes), many
cross-species hybrids are possible that would normally be impossible,
though unusual hybrids (e.g. reptile/mammal) are extremely rare and
usually sterile. There are even (unconfirmed) reports of hybrid
insect/mammal hybrids throughout history. One of the side effects of
the virus is a greatly reduced fertility rate. As such, prophylactics
and other anti-pregnancy measures are considered just an extra
precaution against a rare occurrence. Pregnancy is almost always
cause for celebration, usually on par with a wedding. Rates for
identical twins are about the same, though rates of fraternal twins
are about half. Sexual education includes methods of enhancing
fertility and optimizing chances of pregnancy as well as preventative
measures.
Society
otherwise developed much the same as Earth did. Historically, Large,
aggressive predators tended to become the ruling and warrior classes.
Large docile herbivores tended to be used as laborers and slaves. In
ancient civilizations, species closely dictated social status, and
still do in many of the southern and eastern asian cultures. In
northern europe following the fall of the Roman empire, much of the
upper class was dominated by canines and during a period of about 400
years developed info several dozen bloodlines that very closely mimic
those of modern earth dog breeds. Some of the old families still
greatly value pure-blood marriages, especially in the upper class.
Rates of vegetarianism are much, much higher (as much as 50% of the
population) due to the prevalence of herbivorous base species and
ethical/moral concerns, though all 'evolved' species are technically
omnivorous. Most of the real-world discrimination based upon gender
or race translates into species-based discrimination...though
religious discrimination is not unheard of. Additionally, there is
still discrimination against minority groups such as transsexuals,
hermaphrodites, throwbacks, and brutes, though modern disability,
housing, and employment laws to some degree protect them.
Many
religions have recently begun to adopt the position that the
megavirus (only discovered in the past two hundred years) is the work
of God, due to it's impossibly complex nature compared to all other
known viruses, and such theories are rapidly replacing the long-held
ideologies of creationism. Some religions (e.g. Scientology) have
even asserted that the virus is actually the work of an advanced
alien lifeform 'creator' race. Most scientists have adopted the
position that the virus was transplanted through meteoric activity
from another world, though nobody has as yet traced the virus to the
Xiayun meteor...if what landed there was a meteor at all.