On June 23, 1963, Summer Solstice, a strange event occurred. Some call it the
Unification of Worlds, others the Return to Old, and still others the Opening of the Gates of Hell. Most often, though, it is called the Unification. All over the world that day, gates to other worlds appeared. Some were secluded. A few opened in major cities. Some stayed
open, and others closed. The world had clearly changed, but there was no consensus about
whether it was for the better or the worse.
The gates themselves opened to several major worlds, and a few seemed to connect with
other minor worlds with nothing on them. The beings that came through the worlds were as
surprised as mankind with the situation. Eventually, brave human travelers returned from their
own trips into the other worlds and reported wondrous things. At first, a steady peace was
established with the strange denizens of the other worlds. Apparently, the “veils” between earth
and the other worlds had been diminished.
Another effect was the discovery that certain magical principles began to work. Old
religious rituals and so called black magic ceremonies resulted in obvious successful outcomes.
The ancient arts of alchemy started to work. The beings from a couple of the worlds also taught
their magical skills to humans who in turn taught them about technology and science, both of
which the other worlds were unfamiliar with.
World events proceeded along, though the non-Earth denizens and their magic were
included. Though the people of Earth would not know it or even think it possible, their history
has remained remarkably similar to that of an Earth without these events. That said, the new
factors contributed to the social and political turmoil of the times. There were issues with
equality for the otherworlders. Religion had often violent reactions to the appearance of those
that would confuse dogma and bring in immoral attitudes. Magic did not supplant technology,
but there were things that it did better, and there were things that technology did better.
Later, it became apparent that humans and some of the nonhumans could reproduce together. Children born of these parents would keep some of the powers of their nonhuman parents, only they were less pronounced. Still, they were more adaptable to the social norms of humanity and lacked many of the problems that seemed to plague nonhumans. Other children with no nonhuman ancestry began to show a few signs of powers, too. They could not do much to develop those powers, but they seemed normal otherwise.
Particularly religious people also developed their own abilities to frighten away magical
nonhumans and resist magical attacks. These abilities only emboldened religious fanatics in
their belief that all of the nonhumans were spawns of Satan