Natural Laws

Eclipse Earth World Bible

Article Contributed by Silverlite_Sword

C: Authorial

In order to provide a common foundation for the world, some facts about the setting need to be established up front. These few facts about the world underpin everything on this wiki, and every submission to this wiki should keep these facts in mind. Submissions to the wiki that entirely break away from genre conventions and contradict the basic facts about this world will be suggested to be posted on a different wiki where those concepts are a better fit.

Superpowers

Eclipse Earth is a story about an alternate Earth where humans began spontaneously exhibiting supernatural abilities colloquially referred to as "superpowers" during an eclipse 31 years prior to the current day. Stories may be set at any point chronologically in the timeline, but the wiki will be kept at a "current date" that seems to best suit the needs of the wiki.
In this world, these superpowers have been observed to exhibit abilities that break the laws of physics as we the authors know them in our version of Earth. Namely, the conservation of matter and/or energy seems to not apply to superpowers, and superpowers seem to interact with the "mind" as distinct from the physical universe. Some superhumans can even exert force on objects at a distance, with no measurable physical force being transmitted in the space between the superhuman and the object. Other superhumans can read minds and communicate telepathically at a distance with no measurable medium of information transfer. While the exact nature is still being studied, it is clear to the denizens of Eclipse Earth that their universe is not merely physical, and that some "mental dimension" or "spiritual world" is interacting with their world in ways that are still misunderstood.
In Eclipse Earth, most superhumans received their powers during an episode of intense emotion or danger. This is colloquially referred to by some people as "breaking." It is believed that most people have latent superpowers within them, but have never had an experience that activated those powers. Some rare people, for whatever reason, are born with powers, and some unfortunate souls are completely unable to develop powers at all.
When people break, it grants them one core ability. While they might grow more proficient with it, superhumans have never been observed to have multiple distinct abilities. These abilities vary widely, but many are aggressive and destructive in nature. Some abilities, rather than being external to the body, enhance certain features of the superhuman, granting them speed, strength, super senses, or extreme proficiency with a certain talent or skill. While these abilities can be formidable, the overwhelming majority of superhumans are still vulnerable to conventional weaponry.

Geography

In addition to having superpowers, the world of Eclipse Earth is not quite identical to our Earth. Since the Eclipse, the amount and intensity of natural disasters has greatly increased, more than they increased in our timeline due to climate change. In addition, many cities and locations are different from our Earth. While the overall placement of countries should generally be assumed to be the same, contributors may invent new cities, lakes, and things, as well as small islands. In addition, events after the eclipse could alter the geography of Eclipse Earth going forward.

Technology

Regular people, whether superhuman or not, have approximately the technology that our Earth had in the 60's-70's. Gifted superhumans, however, have progressed technology far beyond that, even approaching 21st century technology and occasionally beyond. This creates interesting technological situations where someone might have access to tech that doesn't exist in our world, but also doesn't have access to some of our world's most common tech.
Generally, when writing, try to keep the neo-noir theme as a baseline, but feel free to give particular inventors or mad scientists more advanced technology.