It is said that the last tree standing on the surface of the Earth was a great oak that fought hard to hold onto a final cluster of green leaves near the entrance to the underground community that was at one time called SummerGate. Legend tells of the final glance upon the withering cluster of botanical life as the sky turned dark and purple by refugees that made the harsh decision to seal the entrance and forever close their backs on the dying world of the surface. In truth, the last tree standing was a palm on the continent of Australia that died unnoticed in a storm that dropped acid from an angry sky. As that tree made its last stand and the face of a planet died, horrors of another kind were seen, horrors unleashed by man upon man. It was a time that began in violence that would become known in the history books as the Migration.
When the movement underground began, it was a slow effort, isolated to the wealthy that made their homes in posh synthetic locales alongside large corporations that found underground space at first to be monetarily favorable. Life above ground had grown difficult as a slowly dying planet began to expel deadly gasses while the atmosphere warmed and the protection against the rays of the sun eroded. Time and again news of fissures within the crust of the planet opening near to population were reported, while pockets of inhospitable areas formed and the deadly forces of nature unleashed storms of catastrophic magnitudes; all warnings of a changing environment.
The signs of nature’s transformation loomed heavily on the populace, though most at first turned a blind eye while others heeded the warnings. In this world a movement sprouted that chose the route of preparation, believing that fate had deemed the destruction of the Upperworld. That order, a group of people who called themselves Tai-Quira, labored to convince a staunch government that elements of the past must be protected and preserved for the years to come. Though their efforts seemed in vain for many years, a frightening hush fell upon the world when one of the greatest of the Earth cities fell prey to the opening of what became known as Grim Hole. The great fissure sprouted unexpectedly on the city of Paris, spreading a cloud of poison quickly into a fragile atmosphere which rained death upon the thousands who were unprepared, while the city and the miles surrounding her fell into a bleak state of darkness. As the leaders of mankind began to accept that fate had a dark plan, Tai-Quira was granted the rights to burrow deep in the ground just outside the city that was the great seat of government, Washington D.C., in a joint effort with the leaders of the North American continent who had come to realize the need for a move within a protected refuge. At the edge of the underground fortress that would eventually become known as the Washington Central Core, the Temple of the Treasures was constructed in unison with a great maze of complexes beneath a surface city that was doomed.
Violence began in the world as the underground citizens fought for each precious breath and the remaining masses from above stormed the sealed entrances of the various underworld complexes, forcing their way into underground salvation in search of asylum from a dying planet. Desperately in need of the food and water that was disappearing or becoming caustic upon the surface, the marauders waged war with those that had already migrated to a synthetic underground life. It was a dark time within a rapidly changing world where much blood was spilled in the ensuing hostilities over who would master the underground complexes dotting the american continent.
The result of the final surface war was a shattered nation where some underground complexes survived and others perished in the inability to successful continue the synthesis of the necessities of life. The surviving complexes fell into silence with no contact between them. As the time of the Migration came to a close, an age of silent survival sprouted and would define human existence until the passing of a century brought about the reunification of the Underworld Territories and the reestablishment of a single government.