The planet was scarred by the wars of the creators, then by the wars of the machines that replaced them. Continually evolving minds, the Exponentials jostled with each other for dominance, before abandoning their home and taking to the stars. Their lesser mechanical brethren were left to inherit a barren world, machine people picking through the ruins of a more advanced time, looking for parts with which to repair and augment themselves. They have formed tribes and factions, alliances to defend themselves against raiders, cannibalistic scavengers, and insane robots still running war protocols.

Another consequence of those wars is the Corrosion, a nanotech plague that can infest susceptible machines, reconfiguring them into strange new forms running incomprehensible algorithms. Explorers and adventurers brave such dangers in their hunt for the Exuvia; relics of esoteric science left behind by the Exponentials. The Exuvia can be powerful weapons and artefacts, though some are sentient, and it is unwise to disturb them.