Thousands of years ago, the world was inhabited by a people called the Ancient Builders.
In small huts, villages and some caves, they lived a peaceful life.
One day, one of them discovered something. Something that would change the world forever.
That was when all began to unravel.
It was a strange red substance that could be found deep underground as an ore. When touched, it emitted an atmospheric light.
The constructors were intrigued by it, and as time passed, more and more uses were found for the mysterious Red Stone, as they called it.
Not only was it able to respond in the form of light, but it could also be used to generate energy.
Within months, thriving cities were built with this newfound energy.
Skyscrapers were everywhere. The population exploded.
Space travel was invented, and huge rockets were built, packed with supplies and sent all over the Solar System.
They even built a kind of reactor which they could use for extra-dimensional travel!
Then the mass population took over. Food became scarce.
A civil war broke out over food. People formed groups and attacked in waves, each a few days apart.
Everyone pulled out old weapons like swords that hadn't been used for ages, unnecessary in a tech world.
Policemen and others who tried to keep the peace and distribute supplies evenly finally regained control and exiled to other planets or dimensions those who had participated in these so-called invasions.
That was the answer. End of problem. Or so they thought at least.
Only the toughest of them, those who still knew the old, primitive ways of survival, had been spared after a few years in these faraway places, in exile.
Surviving either on magic, such as potions, or on whatever food they had left, they began to plan how to re-conquer the world.
Some entered the Overworld, slipping through a rift between dimensions.
Most of them had been turned into zombies or skeletons, but some were still more unharmed, like witches who regularly drank potions to heal themselves, or creepers so overgrown with plants that you couldn't tell them apart.
Still carrying their old weapons, they regained control of the builders and slayed them all.
Living in caves and attacking anything humanoid that looked like a Builder, they returned to their old lifestyle without technology.
As time passed, the buildings began to decay, slowly crumbling and falling apart.
One day, the building that housed the reactor collapsed, causing the reactor to explode and contaminate the world with toxic radiation.
Except for some trees, all the vegetation was heavily contaminated.
Nearly all trees are extinct, only a few remain.
You have to find a way to collect resources to escape this wasteland of a world.