Traction Era

The Traction Era, also known as the Age of Traction Cities and the Age of the Predator Cities of the West, is a period of time that was marked by the cities converting themselves mobile. It occurred some decades after the Black Centuries. This becomes common in use next to the pre-existing A.D. and CE epoch (as used before, at least from 3000-3500 to 4300).

It is the setting of the Mortal Engines quartet, the Fever Crumb trilogy, and the film.

Early Traction Era

Initially, the traction era started with mobile castles; the aftershocks of the Sixty Minute War were still making unpredictable weather; mini ice-ages and and devastating storms. Therefore, having a home that could run away from such events was a very convenient way of life.

After a while, for protection from pirate motor-and-baily castles (a parody on the [by-then, ancient] motte-and bailey castle) and other dangers (like wild animals, bad weather that could disable the moving house somehow, even small problems like individual people) bands of these traction fortresses formed, and eventually empires.

One such empire, called simply The Movement conquered London in 477 TE, and converted it into the first Traction City around 480 TE. This sparks the Second Traction Boom, with the likes of Paris, Hamsterdam, Bremen and other famous cities attempting to mobilize before London returns from it's Northern crusades against the remaining traction empires.

After this, the dreaded "Wheeled War" took place from 480 to 520 TE. During this time the remaining old traction empires, statics and new traction cities desperately fought over borders. When the Zagwans attacked, appalled by the new traction cities, and were beaten back by the united statics, cities and empires. After this, the Diet of Ulp conference was held in 520 TE between the major cities and statics, proposing the theory of Municipal Darwinism.

The other cities agree to follow the rules, and the Third Traction Boom begins (namely, with Ulp being eaten.)

Late Traction Era

The golden age of traction cities, where across Europe, Northern Africa, Nuevo Maya and later Australia, cities begin mobilizing. The Anti-Traction League becomes fully established and organized at this point. This era lasts from 600 to 800 TE, where is no shortage of prey and tractionism is dominant across much of the globe.

However, during the Iron Winter of 900 to 926 TE, suspected to be a mini-ice age, even the most proud of tractionists realize it's the beginning of the end; hundreds of smaller towns and villages die off due to being snowed in or engines being frozen up, and the shortage of prey in the summer does not help.

The Big Tilt, in London, was because of the shortage of prey and over population, a good example of the tough times around the 900s TE.

The Green Storm War from 1012 to 1026 TE absolutely marked the end of Tractionism, the war exhausting the traction cities, the Green Storm destroying more and more potential prey.

The End of Tractionism

The thousand or so years of tractionism finally came to an end around 1030 TE, often said to be triggered by Murnau settling down on a hill somewhere in central Europe, as well as a treaty between Oenone Zero and Kriegsmarshal Von Kobold to cease fighting forever. About a decade later the last cities either settled down or ran out of fuel, and the world returned to the way it had once been.

Shrike, one of the Stalkers who had spent centuries sitting down in a cave watching the buried bodies of Tom and Hester Natsworthy being reduced to nothing but dust (and grown out of by a forest) after their bones were scattered, tumbled and gnawed by foxes, woke up to the time as one of the Remembering Machines who remembered the Age of Traction Cities.