The world of Timeline Game, as we find it during the conflict depicted in the game’s cards and story, is at the precipice of a great conflict. For years a delicate balance has existed in a secluded part of the world, around a great forest. The “Forest Kingdom” is the name for the ruling faction in the forest, a contemporary name for the modern form of the Kingdom which was once known best as the Kingdom of the Long Sun. This Kingdom, ruled by Apes in a militaristic, ancient form for centuries, is in flux when we find them in Timeline Game. This wiki post gives a brief introduction to each faction.
Forest Kingdom - Apes, A.R.C.
The Forest Kingdom faction initially was made up of talking Apes and Pandas with a primitive society, performing typical hunter-gatherer type functions. There was no real economy or advanced phenomena taking place. The alliance struck between Apes and Pandas combined the strength and structure of the Apes with the Panda’s aptitude in the magical arts, and the Panda Mages became a steadily more integral part of the society. Over time, smaller creatures were accepted into the center of the Kingdom, cats, otters and the like, to serve unique roles.
However, this balance has been upset when we find the Kingdom in Timeline Game. A faction known as “The Coven”, which we will discuss in slightly more depth later, have introduced technology to the Apes. This technology creates great upheaval within the Apes society, in a much more severe way than technology has in contemporary society in the real world. While we grew in tandem with technological advances, the Apes of the Forest Kingdom find themselves confronted with the technological equivalent of going “zero-to-sixty”, being granted a version of the internet, electricity, and a basic form of AI which rapidly is becoming sentient and reshaping the Kingdom from the ground up.
With these events, the calculus of the world within and around the forest has been changed. Alliances that were fragile have become suspect at best, while different factions respond to the development of the Ape Kingdom. Even within the Ape Kingdom there are those alienated by these rapid changes, including the A.R.C., the Ape Resistance Coalition, who use whatever is at their disposal to fight back against what they see as alarming forces taking control of their home.
Network - Kali Labs
The Network faction was toned down for the original release of Miladys vs Apes, so as to keep the set on a coherent theme and not let it sprawl aggressively. Network manifestations live online or are otherwise very technological in nature, and for the context of Timeline Game’s initial release, many of them are tied to the burgeoning “Kali Labs”, an autonomous faction within the Forest Kingdom which is governed by A.I.
Kali Labs has one main building which serves as a hub for scientific innovation, at first building new armor and weaponry for the Forest Kingdom’s Apeguard, before expanding to all sorts of developments. Network is a faction which will will act as a major antagonist in a follow-up set, although it’s influence is seen throughout OG Timeline Game with the Mech cards such as Mechape Enforcer and Mech Prototyper, the NFT cards as well as the A.I. cards such as Ex Machina and Cube Man’s variants.
Milady Village
Milady Village, in Timeline Game, is a decently-sized village just outside of the Forest that the Apes and others call home. The Miladys and the Apes have maintained a strained relationship and generally keep to themselves. However, with the changes in the Forest Kingdom, the Apes have begun to expand aggressively and in doing so threaten the peace between the two factions.
The Miladys have long ‘adopted’ some creatures from the forest and surrounding aras, including Otters, who help them fend off roaming critters and with other tasks. They also have an understanding with the Spirits and Elementals of the surrounding areas, who are also disturbed by the developments within the Forest.
Spirits + Elementals
The Spirits and its related Elemental faction are ancient primordial spirits which exist within the world of Timeline Game. The Spirits are generally aligned with the Milady faction, as there are numerous synergies - namely the Elemental Miladys, which require a Milady to fuse with a spirit of a corresponding element to manifest. Flame spirits are a major element of Timeline Game, they represent loosely the spirit of conflict which is breaking out in the world, and thus are very strong. Everything from “Ember” to “Flame Avatar” and the mythical Volcanic avatar (Rå) Vulkanrå embody the Flame element within Timeline Game.
The Coven
The Coven is the smallest faction in Timeline Game. Little is known about the mysterious Coven, who are believed to be witches that train and study magic within the Forest Kingdom. What is known is that some rebellious members of the Coven escaped to a distant land where they were exposed to advanced technology and brought what they had discovered to the leaders of the Forest Kingdom, kicking off the entire conflict facing us in Timeline Game.
The Royals
The Royal faction is conspicuously absent in Timeline Game, though alluded to by some cards, namely Remilio, Royal Knight, Lumomancer Initiate and Fairy Princess Pite. Like Network, the Royal faction was originally intended to be a larger faction, and was stripped from the original set for the purpose of maintaining cohesion. Whether we learn more about this faction and their role in the Timeline world in the future remains to be seen.