A world created for freeform rules such as WoD
                         After The Global Heat
                          By Mark Ainsworth




                              INTRODUCTION


Woo… A cold chill snaked down my spine, I was becoming more aware of my bed and room. Oh No What time is it  I thought while I tried to suppress my bladder from feeling  full. My arm flopped off the bed and suddenly I was awake. I forgot about the atmosphere as I got up to fast,
After the Last Global Warming Shift was over The atmosphere Now is thick heavy gas like, anythinhing moving fast is dampened down to a stop, the faster something goes the stronger the effect. Normal movement at slow speeds is as it used to be but things like old fashioned cars or trains became like moving in glue, As the global warming got worse the atmosphere got thicker. One short term benefit was guns had become useless , it took three years for the military to develop thin swords as the new form of arms, it took skill to use as you needed to swing a sword cutting the atmosphere with its thin edge , if it was slightly tilted the sword stopped.


Travel from countries was reduced to walking pace, so all  Armies after the final warming disbanded, only skilled swordsmen remained as marshals .


                                MY TEST


After eating the gruel they called food for breakfast I entered the training building. I had been chosen as a candidate marshal , they recruited me from a food production point after my skill with a knife in food prep was noticed by a marshal.  I had no choice, swordsmen were so few.
My training involved using a blunt edged sword, the superthin edge swords were never used by marshal candidates except for a yearly test of skill against prisoners marked for death because of grave crimes, the prisoners entered tests by choice in the hope of freedom. If you killed four prisoners with machetties you gained  the marshal badge, Losing meant the prisoners going free sometimes the trainee marshals were killed.


Today was my First Test, My nerves were bad as the prisoners were brutal characters. I watched two skill tests before mine, the outcomes for the trainee Marshals was expected , they won, but they were on their third and fourth tests.


I was called to the centre arena, I could see the four mean looking prisoners as I approached , one made the sign of a cut throat . The Arena Lawgiver handed me the thin edge sword, it was light , very light. I swung the sword around for a while until I was commanded to start my test.


I walked into the combat zone and took up a defensive stance. We were taught to watch our opponents feet as it showed what part of their body was taking the weight of the attack. Two of the prisoners separated from the bunch and flanked me, the other two stayed together. We danced around for about a minute when one lunged at me, I easily beheaded him with one strike. Just as I struck the two prisoners that remained together charged me, but they went too fast the atmosphere slowed them as they came within range of my sword, I sliced across both their chests with a fast slice. The last prisoner panicked and ran out of the arena. I was applauded as the winner by the lawgiver.


                                MARSHAL LAW


After a day in the rest area I was summoned to the Lawgivers tower, Three Marshals witnessed as I swore an oath to uphold the law ,I was lectured afterwards that marshal law is the only thing between us and Hell, We few travel the wastelands settling disputes, and dispensing punishments. Then I was asked to blindfold, then My hands were bound, It went quiet , suddenly I felt the most intense pain on my back just before passing out.


I awoke what seemed like a full night's sleep but I was so groggy and I was in a strange building made of steel walls, there was a hummining and the sense of movement but so slow it was barely noticeable. I picked up a silk shirt laid out for me, it had the Marshals emblem on it, as I put it on my back felt tight, I turned towards the mirror to see what it was. I had the marshals icon burned and tattooed into my skin, but it was well healed. I must have slept for weeks for this to be healed so much. I put on the rest of the clothes and shoes, then I saw a sword and sheath on a stand, I picked it up , this was a beautiful weapon my name had been etched into the handle. I fastened the sheath straps around my shoulder and back and opened the door.


I was in a sort of hovercraft with a driver who also had a silk shirt like mine. He turned with surprise and beckoned me over. I asked him what was happening, he was happy to answer all my questions. He told me the hovercraft neutralised the atmosphere with filtered gas blowers enabling us to travel faster than any criminal, and  We were on route to the Marshal outpost known as crondal where we were to serve as lawgivers of the western lands.