History (2004)

During the 2004 Holy Grail War set in Fuyuki, a catastrophe occurred near the end of that ritual. A Grail failed to produce a wish and there was no determined winner, resulting in the leftover energy produced by the defeated Servants to turn into thaumaturgical energy, also known as the ‘Grail Mud’. This mud spread across Fuyuki, devouring the entire city as it grew in size with each landmark, building or organism it consumed. As such, it wasn’t long until the rest of the world had to contend with the Grail Mud.

At its current rate, it was simply a matter of time until the mud consumed the entirety of the Earth. As such, Magi were forced to take the spotlight and defend themselves from this catastrophe via Magecraft and Servants of their own. This resulted in commoners finding out that Magecraft was real, gradually reducing the overall Mystery in the world and weakening Magecraft itself.

Unfortunately, not even the combined efforts of the Mage’s Association and several other Magi organizations could halt the mud’s pace. At best, it could be slowed down. Because of this, some Magi started to think about how to survive in a world completely corrupted by Grail Mud. This resulted in Magi working alongside scientists and engineers, which led to the creation of the nomadic cities. Unfortunately, their structure was deemed too weak to resist the potent curses of the mud.

At least, until one lone Magi appeared. They had no backing from any organization and no one knew their identity, but they had apparently been inscribing runes all around the world. Once they were done, they confronted the mud itself and activated the runes, resulting in a massive flood of purifying waters all around the globe. This dramatically stopped the advance of the mud, since the purifying waters seemed to oppose it somewhat.

The catch, however, was the fact that the entire world was flooded. Due to how sudden and mysterious the flood was, certain Magi organizations had no time to prepare at all and therefore, perished by the very flood that was supposed to save them. Only the Mage’s Association survived, albeit its numerous branches dwindled in size as it was forced to turn the Clock Tower into a nomadic city to survive. The rest of the world followed suit, using the nomadic cities as a way to live in the flooded world.

A century passed and the year is now 2104. Nomadic cities have become the de facto way of life as both commoners and Magi live alongside one another. Magecraft and Servants have become commonplace, resulting in the overall death of Mystery and the gradual erasure of Magecraft’s power. As such, Artificial Circuits have become commonplace, along with S.E.R.V.A.N.T. Mystic Codes to ensure the summoning of Heroic Spirits without a Grail. The mud still exists and is still a threat, but far less so than it was in the past. The world is slowly returning to something inhabitable…