Iced Earth (name-in-progress) The same old fears

The Earth has experienced a mini-ice age after a global nuclear holocaust. Yet, man endured, like roaches scattered beneath the rubble of a dead civilization. From the ashes of the fallen world, new peoples emerged from among the surviving communities. People with the ability to manipulate their material world, and people physically grotesque yet hardy enough to survive the new world with ease. They became known as the Idles and Mutes, respectively.   In what was formerly the southern states of North America (the north had been turned into a permanent frozen wasteland), Idles swiftly came to be revered as demi-gods. A neo-pantheon of living, breathing deities soon established itself throughout the land, This created the budding semblance of a new civilization among the frozen ruins. In contrast, those unsightly creatures called Mutes were ousted, cast off to wander the wasteland. They, too, found and formed community among each other. Shunned by others, the Mute eagerly banded together, their curse adopted as a source of pride and a driving catalyst to reach a final, perfect evolutionary form.   But man is not one to stand in the shadows of their gods for too long. A violent uprising toppled the majority of the Idles, while some escaped certain death by fleeing into the frozen wilderness. This war was called the Fall of the Idles, and man, it seemed, had regained control of his destiny. After a couple generations, Idles and their offspring were hunted and enslaved and, subsequently, bred in captivity. Man became, once again, dependent on these evolutionary miracles, yet this time as their master. And with the powers of gods at their disposal, the enclaves of man thrived.   Now, the powers of the Idles has been diminished, diluted by generations of in- and cross-breeding. New, true Idles are rare. Nomadic tribes of their kind still roam the oppressive lands, evading slavers while manipulating the land for survival. Humans have established cities, outposts, and trade routes to and fro. Mutes have built their militaristic enclaves in the most inhospitable of places: the great cities directly destroyed by the End of the World.   Yet, the greatest change of all is also the most subtle. With each passing year, the ice has receded farther north. What was once permafrost is turning into cold swampland. Land exposed for centuries has begun to fall beneath a rising tide. Violent, storms from the sea have breached the shoreline with greater frequency. The Great Thawing is upon the world.