The Anthropologist Journal III

Now in the aftermath of the opening of the third Waking Ground the borders of the fifth-era countries made less and less sense because humans had to be moved and resettled every time a Waking Ground opened. A small number of humans chose to stay and live under the Waking Ground's customs and regulations but the majority of them preferred to live with their fellow humans. Although the majority of the humans showed a large amount of goodwill it was always a chore to have to move and resettle entire communities. So a more permanent and certainly a structural solution had to be devised especially taking into account that this probably won’t be the last time a Waking Ground opens.
A secondary concern of the coordination group was that their name would become unruly as more Waking Grounds opened if one was to follow the current practice of adding the name of each race to the already existing name. Because the group was for the majority composed of representatives of the so-called mythical races they elected to change their name to the Mythical Council group (MC group).

After lengthy talks with all races and especially the Elves (because of their long lifespan they had the most living history) it became increasingly clear that their ancestors had chosen hills and mountainous regions to establish the crystal-powered havens now known as the Waking Grounds. That way they could use natural cave systems as entry points and once everyone was inside they could simply seal the cave and ride out what has become known as the third era. And it would serve later on to also bridge the fifth era.

So if humans would take to the plains this should put a stop to the ad hoc resettlement of large groups of humans who were unaware of the past settled where a Waking Ground would emerge. Because this solution had the advantage that every person on the planet would have the choice where to live this was enacted as the plan to redistribute the world. The Humans would settle on the central plains where already existing urban centers were expanded and new ones established. The mythical races would settle in their Waking Grounds. The territory between them would be left open for autark settlements and homesteads in whatever population mix they would choose.

As Humans regrouped in these urban centers they grew and grew into what we now know as the mega-cities. Eventually even small groups of the other races moved to these cities and by forming their own enclaves also added to the growth of the mega-cities.
And thus the new reference points will no longer be the country borders but the Mega-City Or Waking Ground.

It’s now half a century since the Elf race first emerged from their Waking Ground and the mythification of the planet was a fact. In this timespan the world has significantly and irrevocably changed in rapport to the fifth era. So it was only natural that the organization of the world would reflect this. Thus in general consensus three decisions were made one significant and two rather symbolic though they too would have an impact on daily life.
The first was the founding of a joint governing body. So elections were written out in the mega-cities, the Waking Grounds and the autark settlements and homesteads. But because to reach the latter ones the entire elections would need to be held using the planet-wide computer network known as the Grid it was decided that this method will be used planetwide for everyone who wanted to cast their vote. So after a representative group was elected this new body was installed. Henceforth they shall be known as the Mythica Council.
This brings us to the next decisions they made. To reflect the new era we’re now in the planet shall henceforth be known as Mythica and timekeeping will start anew and the year of the first emerging will be known as the year 0 M from Mythica. Undoubtedly the level of magick was already rising way before that, ultimately leading to the openings of the Waking Grounds. But the emerging of the first Waking Ground was a measurable fixed point in time. Thus they chose that point in time to start the new timekeeping.
However a fourth decision that was initially not taken into account when the founding of the Mythica Council was discussed imposed itself. Now that the world had a joint governing body it was only logical it should also have a common currency. Hence the Shard saw the light of day with the underlying idea that everyone contributed for a part to the wealth and prosperity of the world.