The World of Promise of the Rose: Overview.

[Storyteller]

The World of Promise of the Rose

The World of the Promise of the Rose is based off 3 things. 1) Sailor Moon, 2) Earth and 3) a healthy imagination and a further deepening of plot that is only on this site.

So let’s start simple. Earth. Pretty, Round, Third planet from the Sun. Bunch of humans, and other critters live and die on its surface on a daily basis. Humans approximately began appearing 250,000 years ago. It was a pretty rocky beginning for normal humans. To give you some perspective the pyramids were built approximately 4,500 years ago. To try to go into an extensive ‘history’ of the world would take something to long to read. Suffice to say the world you live, eat, breath and exist on is the Earth we’re talking about.

Now let’s put on a new layer of things. The world of Sailor Moon. In Sailor Moon there was a magical Kingdom on the Moon, where a princess would fall in love with a Prince of Earth. A Forbidden love that would bring both kingdoms, Earth and the Moon- as well as the surrounding worlds- into collapse. There was love, there was passion, betrayal and murder. This kingdom would have existed about 6,000+ years in the past, watched the Pyramids rise and kingdoms fall.

But more importantly, Sailor Moon brings in different ideals and magic. It brings in forces for good, and forces for “evil” or- as Sailor Moon likens it, “Chaos”. There are monsters that go bump in the light and lands hidden on earth accessible only to those who hail with a magical heritage. In Sailor Moon, a lack luster fourteen year old klutz inherited a reincarnation of a princess, threw her tiara at monsters and inspired, not just her close friends and guardians—but people on version of earth.

Love. Justice. Friendship. 

Sailor Moon has multiple “universes” from the original Manga (Sailor Moon and Sailor V) to the first anime in the 1990s to Sailor Moon Crystal, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and, yes, even staged musicals. For the points and purposes of our game we’re going to be standing mostly on the Manga. The two Anime both draw on the manga material pretty well, and the musicals do the same. For those who watched the live action- well frankly you probably know the other material too. 

They had many a fine battle (you can see any Sailor Moon!) and while the “details” may change depending on who you talk to, our game starts in an era far beyond, so that even the legends of sailor moon are just that, legends. The stories have grown and changed and no one is quite sure “Exactly” what the “Truth” is, suffice to say it’s entirely possible that ‘anything’ is possible (but if we’re clinging to the Manga).

In Crystal, the Girls were born in 2000 or so, in the original series, they were born in 1980, or so. Because our “game” doesn’t recognize “one truth” we’ll Ball Park figure the girls “somewhere between 1980 and 2000 the Super Heroes were born.”

In that same “idea” the great ice age began somewhere between 2003 and 2025. If you’ve seen sailor moon you know that “some great cataclysm” happens at some point after Usagi is 21-23 and the girls are about the same. This “ice age” is part of canon. It has no explanation in canon- only that it was “a horrible thing” that coated the world in ice (or crystal) for 1000 years until the Silver Crystal gained enough stored strength to reawaken the world. Neo-Queen Serenity and Neo-King Endymion took control over the area known once as Tokyo and with a large crystal palace, began ruling over earth. At some point they have Small Lady Serenity Usagi Chiba (or Chibi-Usa). And, at some point about 900 years later, there is an attack from the Black Moon Clan and Nemesis that, temporarily pretty much nukes crystal Tokyo and all surrounding areas until Neo-Queen Serenity brings it all back to life. That takes us about 3903- 3925.

By this point, all the history of the world is pretty much nill. Everyone speaks some “futuristic” Japanese (that for the game’s points of view, is our English with a smattering of “Hai” and “Iie” and polite culturalisms like calling people by their family name (or last name) with –sama, -san, -kun, -chan, etc. IN the Manga, Chibi-Usa only knows about sailor moon because her dad told her about the mythical heroine- but she knew who the Sailor Senshi were.

That’s Canon, pretty much “straight fired”… So here’s where our game differs.

1) 1000 years ‘before ‘the Silver Millennium was the Golden Millennium… which is so far out of history that there is very, very, very little known about it. The old Silver Millennium computers reference it as a “Giant Spaceship” that came from a star system “far away.” These “ancients” were the people who settled the planets and decided to save Earth as sort of a native-wildlife preserve. They were ruled by Queen Amaterasu, the Sol Queen. They lived on a planet that was between Mars and Jupiter – a name that’s been lost even in the old records. Queen Amaterasu had a guard of 4 Kings of their own right who were scientists and mages who originally set up the Moon and the other planets as living environment - even if it was just a castle that floated around the satellite to soak up the planetary energy.

This is where some of our “alternative” plotline comes from and fills in some of the gaps left in sailor moon. This is where there are four “Outer” Knights/Kings who are associated to different things, as well as a blacksmith and creator of the magic items.

2) The Shitennou were reborn in the Galaxy Cauldron. They were reborn to follow their queens and take their place at their side, and at Mamoru’s side so he was truly an equal in power to Serenity.

3) The Great “Crystal” age actually began when other countries, not Japan, experienced an outbreak of Youma… it’s not sure who shot the first nuclear device off, but that many countries followed. Endymion and the Shitennou were almost killed, and only were saved when Usagi used her silver crystal to encase the earth in healing crystal. It took 1000 years for the nuclear half-life to go back to livable levels for humans. The outer Senshi, including Saturn, kept watch over the 1000 year sleep from their planets.

4) There were Crystal Cities, and five magical points, for multiple locations on Earth where the Senshi and their Kings set up their own magical havens. However Youma and other monstrous creatures still walk and hide in the wildlands. IF the five crystal points are corrupted, the city falls to chaos and the magic lets chaos creatures in. Otherwise, the crystal cities keep the Youma out.

5) For simplicity sake for the survivors, 1000 years of being trapped in crystal was not counted on their calendars. The year of “rebirth” was marked as 2000.

6) The Death Phantom (and this is canon) was a murdering bad word who killed many people during the 900 years of Serenity’s rule. In fact, it was because of him, that Serenity put in her “be purified of your chaos completely or get off Earth…) in 2666. The Death phantom was sent to a special prison and those who didn’t want to live in the Sol System under the New Moon Kingdom, were sent to a far off world in the edges of the Sol System. It is a twist of chaos magic and the Death Phantom’s will that they land on what will become “Nemesis”. Generations of breeding will produce Prince Diamond and the Black Moon Clan. They attack in 2906. 300 years after Death Phantom and his people were banished not wanting to give up their free will to choose between chaos and good.

7) In the year 3000 Neo Queen Serenity gives up the throne to her daughter, Small Lady Serenity and retires out of the public eye to the Moon Kingdom. Over the next few years, the other Queens and Kings leave their crystal palaces to their daughters and leave as well. It’s said they went to the Moon Kingdom- but no one ever found out either way. They were never heard from again.

8) Neo Queen Small Lady Serenity rules for 300 years without a consort except for rumors that a masked man dances with her at all the various royal functions. She, like her mother before her, remain aloof from the day to day ebb and flow. She rarely imposed her will on anyone and let most of the cities live under their own power and thought process.

9) In 3304, Neo Queen Small Lady Serenity gives birth to a daughter, Serenity Yume Chiba.

10) In 3316, Neo Queen Small Lady is killed in an assassination. Yume, at 14 becomes the newest queen. Unlike her mother, she didn’t have any real training for the Silver Crystal. And without someone to power it, and other cities, the magic began to fail. Immortality became a thing of the past and the magic began to fade. Queen Yume spends her life trying to strengthen the failing magic. She dies at 40 protecting her daughter from a Youma attack.

11) Fast forward to “Modern Day”, the year is 4012. The line of Serenity has vanished except for distant cousins that claim they can trace their lineage to one of the crystal families. The current ruling family have one son, who is the heir to the throne.