As the year 1700 approached, rapid growth propelled the entire Pangaea of Jocleon, a region of shared prosperity and diplomacy, in terms of advancement, wealth, and equality. With comparable technological and societal levels to the early 2000's in western society, Jocleon was, for the most part, developed or developing, and enjoyed many luxuries of life and democracy.   However, growth can never be permanent. The larger the bubble, the more explosive the pop.   Unchecked industrial outputs across the world caused the polar ice caps, which were directly connected to Jocleon in the north, to begin to melt. Organisms encased in ice for millennia now found themselves exposed, and it did not take long for humans and animals to begin getting sick. A viral disease, named Elsen Disease, after the scientist who discovered it, was quickly studied and a vaccine made. Various other research was conducted, and international committees found that all potentially dangerous organisms had been quarantined or adequately understood for sake of public safety. Yet, Hanging Disease managed to pass through the cracks. Society was doomed as soon as the ice caps melted. Hundreds of years of near linear advancement came crashing down in a matter of months, as a deadly disease swept each and every nation - the infrastructure hadn't been prepared to stop it, as if it could even be stopped once it reached the brain.