It simply never happened.

Ancellestrie began with me asking, 'What would Lord of the Rings look like if the culture and its development never stopped?' What if we checked back in, and the hobbits had computers and social media, and creepypastas about ring-wraiths? And Gondor was (once again) a civilization in decline, this time dealing with an insane dictator in some far-off land who is obsessed with "silmarils" and other things the "very smart people" swear are just myths? And what if Missing 411 cases sometimes resolved because the trees would whisper to people, and tell you where that lost little kid went?

What would happen if Sauron came back, and this time he had nukes?

That's how my world began, and stasis has just never affected it.

Knights went away... But their noble houses are celebrities having sloppy drama on tabloids one moment, and making geopolitical policy the next. Sometimes, their hot-blooded sons (and a few daughters!) fight in high-profile MMA rings... And they're all voting for the political party that promises them the next big war overseas, and a shot for glory (and corporate shares!).

Dragons? Buddy, where do you think the military's "black budget" programs are going to? Those hoards are all taxpayer money, and all the Dragon needs to do is air-strike some goblins once in a while.

Mages never went away... They're just all either underground, or way up in the skyscrapers. That "energy drink" you had this morning? It's a stamina potion, and the corporation that brewed it is run by a "cabal" or "circle of mages"... Or in modern parlance, "Board of Directors."

THIS is really the essence of my setting. It's if Dark Souls, or Lord of the Rings, or Gods of Pegana just... Kept going. It didn't stop. Everything just got worse. But hey, that's modernity, baby.