Everything was finished.
As the smoke cleared from the final showdown of the Second War, the war of Demons and Titans, the Demon army stood victorious. The head of Doomulus, Lord of the End, lay severed, frozen in a pool of his own blood, his reign of terror cut short by a mighty blow of the legendary Chainsword. Wielded, of course, by none other than NED the Chainsaw Guy.
It was a great day for the demons.
But that was a very, very long time ago.
One event was destined to happen. Destined to reshape the entirety of the MULTIVERSE. An event so horrible, so foul that it would single handedly collapse the fragile balance struck between the mighty hordes of Demons in and around the city of Dis and the nigh inscrutable Demigods, emissaries to the very forces that shape the multiverse.
During the waning days of the Second War, an ancient magic was discovered, turning the tide of the war. The Mushrooms were discovered. When ingested, they allowed their hosts to transfer to any location in the multiverse where other such magical myconids grew. Once perfected, this so-called Shroom Travel revolutionized transportation to the point where it made all other forms of inter- (and extra-) dimensional travel obsolete. Launch pods and mystic rune-gates gathered dust in forgotten chambers, decaying into rot.
Under the auspices of the Shroom Council, the Demons flourished. Without the need for dated arcane rituals or overpriced tickets in order to travel between locations in the MULTIVERSE, the Demon empire grew at a frightening pace. Plus, it made for hilarious hijinks and shenanigans Relations with the Demigods improved; as they were no longer forced to commit themselves (or parts of themselves) to the drudgery of day-to-day Demon affairs.
Everything was awesome.
Until It happened.
A central cluster has been stolen from within the Shroom Council's main repository. Shroom travel has been suspended until the two main suspects in the case are apprehended. One is a Praetorian, SID. The other is an idealistic radical by the name of PILOT. Without Shroom travel, the fledgling Demon Empire has crumbled to a near dark age state. The multi-dimensional, nigh infinite Empire is reduced to islands of civilization, city-states swarmed with overpopulation.
Now everything went bad.
SID remains at the top of the Multiverse Police's MOST WANTED, MOST DANGEROUS, MOST ELUSIVE, and MOST DEVIOUS lists. Despite the MPs best efforts (and the epic bounties offered), the Praetorian has remained unseen and unheard of for decades. His most recent sighting has been in the dense forests of Gangria, where he reportedly walked straight into the skirmish line of what has been since dubbed the bloodiest civil war in recent Demon history (see article 24-G of this archive, "The Gangria Acendancy"). It is also rumored that SID was wearing his binding artifact. One may infer that SID is most likely working under contract, although under whose orders is still unclear. The Ministry has never issued a formal comment in regard to this and the MPs are treating any information in the still-open Sid case is considered highly sensitive and privileged. In fact, the only MP response since the initial leak of the SID case to the general media was from one Lieutenant Commander Juliet of the MP special forces, saying, "trust me, they're better off not knowing".
During the preliminary investigation, when questioned about SID, NED, who served as his C.O. during the final battles of the Second War, stated, "I guess he could've done it... that boy always had a little crazy in him. But hey, don't we all?"
Opinions on the SID caper are mixed. Many feel that the entire case is an expertly crafted conspiracy, orchestrated by Demigod separatists, aimed at either enslaving or exterminating Demonkind. The details of these tales, however, come in as many versions as there are tellers . Others still attribute the shroom theft to a shell-shocked soldier's last grasp at sanity in a world driven mad by the horrors of war.
One thing is clear. The Event is the single greatest contributor to the current schism in Demon society, a virtual tear in the fabric of civilization as brother Demons choose sides in the turmoil - those for the reinstatement of Shroom Travel and those fighting fervently to abolish it altogether. The point of the conflict is, however, moot. Should the two culprits not be brought to justice soon, all Hell will break loose. Literally.
---taken from the CHRONICLES of JACK THE FEARSOME VENDING MACHINE REPAIRMAN
