"๐y dear, you kill a man remarkably efficiently, but you simply must refrain from getting dirt all over your gown. It's quite unseemly, if I say so myself."
-๐ady Katherine Golding-Brassmott, an instructor of music and creative arts, intelligence gathering, principles of deceit, fundamental espionage, and rudimentary seduction at Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality, to the then-Miss Adrianna Kingsford
(๐nspired by Gail Carriger's AMAZING books; GM is @ayzrules and co-GM is @shylarah)
๐t's one thing to dance properly. It's quite another to dance properly while poisoning your partner and robbing him of all his valuables.
๐ฆhat is a young lady of quality ("quality" being a relative term) or a respectable gentleman ("respectable" also being a relative term) to do when they are summoned (by the Supreme Commander himself, no less!) to the heart of the city's military district in order to deal with "a matter of utmost importance?"
๐ancel all other appointments as swiftly as an ill-timed invitation throws the entire room into an awkward silence, I'd imagine, and immediately reply in an appropriately courteous manner. Some may argue that one should first discreetly dispose of the summons before writing a reply, to prevent gossipy siblings and nosy acquaintances from acquiring the sensitive information. Others may argue that penning a response can wait until after the Scholar Minister's ball, because it is going to be the event of the year, or perhaps it can wait until after one has stolen a small fortune from an arrogant air-merchant.
๐ut the truth of the matter is that our prosperous home, the thriving metropolis of Hourglass City, is in grave danger. Dark magic is afoot, rival cities are growing restless, mad scientists are becoming decidedly more mad, and you know what they say-if you want something said, you go to a man, but if you want something done in the politest way possible, you find a woman.
๐et's get to work, ladies and gentlemen. We've got a city to save (and refreshments will be provided)!
๐ฆar is coming.
๐ฃhe powerful Barons and Baronesses of the Minefield Triarchy has had its eyes on Hourglass City for a long time now, but they are finally beginning to act. Hourglass City's notoriously secretive Council, however, have been watching the Triarchy. And like it or not, tensions are about to explode in quite possibly the most impolite way possible.
๐ฃhe impeding war is not the only thing to be worried about, though. Indeed, a dangerous, corrupting form of "mind energy"-known as Myalo by scientists and as black magic by the rest of society-was released into the world thirty-some years ago, by scientists experimenting with automation. Although automatons have been widely labelled as dangerous and altogether unethical by the entirety of the Known World, for some reason, a scientist by the name of Lucius Elliot has decided to try his hand at creating them. There have also been a suspicious series of murders and robberies and disappearances...a coincidence? The honorable Captain Kingsford doesn't think so.
๐ighting the war is for soldiers. Winning the war will be up to intelligencers and mad scientists.
๐aptain Adrianna Iphigenia Kingsford of the Legionnaire Guild has been tasked with putting together a team to get to the bottom of the conspiracies and rumors and strange occurrences surrounding one mad scientist and his automatons, and of course, there is no one else she would go to besides her former classmates from Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality, also known (among a select few circles, of course) as the top academy for etiquette and espionage. And along the way, she has picked up a few respectable gentlemen graduates of the Polytechnique Institute of Arts and Sciences (a school for training evil geniuses, mad scientists, and maybe even the occasional productive member of society). No matter what happens, Captain Kingsford is determined to get the bottom of this...with all the courtesy and propriety expected of a lady in polite society, of course.
๐rmed to the teeth with fatal flattery, mutinous manners, and poisonous propriety, as well as a couple of well-hidden bladed fans and not-so-well-hidden weapons of mass destruction built in a suitably chaotic laboratories, the graduates of Madame Geraldine's and the Polytechnique Institute are more than ready to take on their foes. Getting this group of highly dangerous individuals to work together, however, is a whole different story.
๐aptain Kingsford sincerely hopes that her investigation has nothing to do with the war. But as she and her band of spies, assassins, and scientists delve deeper into the secrets of dark magic and treacle tart (perfecting the recipe takes more work than you'd think!), the threads start to become more and more intertwined...and as Captain Kingsford is quickly finding as they try unravel the stubbornly tangled threads of this mystery, nothing is at all what it seems.
๐ourglass City is reminiscent of Victorian London; think big, poofy dresses and cravats and teahouses and factories. However, it should be noted that Hourglass City is a totally made-up steampunk city-the aesthetics are more brown/copper than grey/black. Hourglass City is ruled over by the Council, a shadowy group of five individuals that reign supreme over the city. Nobody really knows how they are selected, they are just always there. The Council then hand-picks five Ministers to run the day-to-day affairs of the city, and these Ministers are considered the leaders of each Guild.
๐lthough not everyone in Hourglass City is formally initiated into a Guild, everybody is born with a gift (essentially a special ability/superpower) that usually dictates which Guild one will join. Intermarriage between Guilds is allowed, and theoretically, what gift one is born with is random (however, children tend to have gifts related to those of their parents in some way, shape, or form). These gifts are derived from magical energy emanating from a chasm deep underneath the city (up until twenty or so years ago, anyway. But shhhhh). To officially become a part of the Guild, applying for initiation is required, and usually granted automatically once someone has completed their education.
๐ote that just because somebody is born with the gift of healing, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that they will go on to join the Apothecary Guild; everybody has the freedom to choose which Guild they join. Guilds are usually comprised of the well-to-do, though there are certainly people of common birth who are able to join. However, most of the poor and commonborn are never initiated into a Guild because it requires that one go through many years of education and official training. Graduates of Madame Geraldine's and the Polytechnique Institute are automatically granted admission to the Guild of their choice after they finish their schooling.
๐obility exists, loosely (think ASOIAF-style); there are lords and ladies and such, and Ministers are automatically elevated to nobility once they accept the position.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท๐ท๐ช๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐พ๐ฒ๐ต๐ญ {enhanced physical abilities} The Legionnaire Guild, known colloquially as โthe Legionโ, serves as the police force and military of Hourglass City. They run the police station, patrol the streets at night, and protect the inhabitants of the city from any outside invaders. Being a member of the Legionnaire Guild is essentially being a soldier; Legionnaires are trained in various forms of combat, taught how to skillfully pilot airships, and are given military ranks after they are initiated. The basic premise of their typical gifts are enhanced physical abilities; this manifests itself in Legionnaires in many different ways, such as super speed or augmented senses.
Being born with the abilities typical of the Guild does not mean that someone is automatically going to join the military. It just so happens that most people who are born with enhanced physical abilities decide to be formally initiated into the Guild, then pursue a military/police career. Some Legionnaires also serve as investigators and tacticians for the military as well. A few branches of the military include ground patrol, air-navy, and reconnaissance/espionage.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐น๐ธ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ช๐ป๐ ๐๐พ๐ฒ๐ต๐ญ {healing} The Apothecary Guild is composed of the healers and medicine-makers of Hourglass City. They run the apothecaries, the sick houses, and hospitals located in the city. People who usually join the Apothecary Guild have the gift of healing. There are two classes of healers: Pathocura (disease-healers) and Meracura (wound-healers). Patho-healersโ hands glow a fiery red color as they infuse healing properties into medicines, and they also are very good with plants and herbs. Mera-healers shoot amber sparks from their fingertips as they directly heal wounds. A highly-skilled group of healers are assigned positions in the emergency response team, which partners with the ground patrol branch of the Legionnaire Guild.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท ๐๐พ๐ฒ๐ต๐ญ {metal "bending"} The Craftsmen Guild is made of the artisans of Hourglass City. They make everything from clockwork toys to silk petticoats. It is the Craftsmen Guild that designs cybernetic parts, especially mechanical wings for the Merchant Guild, and the Craftsmen Guild frequently teams up with other Guilds in order to implement the mass-production of their designs. They are generally considered to be the most creative and innovative of the five Guilds. People who usually join the Craftsmen Guild are gifted with the ability to manipulate metals. They are usually clock-makers, tailors/seamstresses, toymakers, mechanics, and the like, though there is certainly a wide variety of occupations that a Craftsman can have, ranging from running a munitions factory to sewing and painting.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ฝ ๐๐พ๐ฒ๐ต๐ญ {communicating with machines} The Merchant Guild is primarily made up of the air-merchants and the airship crews of Hourglass City. The members of the Merchant Guild are responsible for maintaining the flow of goods going in and out of the city. They are also experts with hot air balloons and airships. The Merchants run the airship docks and the marketplace, as well as the tavern, since many of their imports include alcoholic drinks. Their typical gift is the ability to communicate with machinery, and like the Legionnaire Guild, this ability manifests itself in Merchants in various different ways. Only Merchants are capable of using mechanical wings because of their connection to machinery.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ต๐ช๐ป ๐๐พ๐ฒ๐ต๐ญ {enhanced mental/cerebral abilities} The Scholar Guild is made up of intellectuals and scientists. There are record-keepers, writers, accountants, mathematicians, inventors, engineers, and mechanics that all belong to this Guild. Scholars usually have enhanced mental abilities (such as natural photographic memory or computer perception) and abilities relating to the brain and mind (some rarer ones include basic telepathy and sensing emotions). Scholars are historians, paper-shufflers, tax collectors, judges, researchers, custom officials, and innovators, just to name a few. The Scholar Guild is the largest Guild in Hourglass City. The Guild is split into two sub-branches; the Scholarly Society (led by the Head Archivist) and the Society of Science (led by the Head Scientist).
๐ฃhere are six major districts in the city, and each district is devoted to a specific Guild.
๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ช๐ฝ๐ฎ is the district that houses the apothecaries and sick houses of Hourglass City. The Apothecary Guild also conducts medical research and creates new medicines in a large research facility near the center of the district. The architecture of Cindergate is very quaint, and there is evidence of an Oriental influence in its buildings, which can be explained by the fact that a lot of the medicines used by healers were adapted from Eastern concoctions. The layer of smoke is at its thinnest in Cindergate, and as a result, most buildings are not more than four or five stories high and walkways stretching across the spaces in between buildings are relatively rare.
๐๐พ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ถ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ท is the domain of the Society of Science of the Scholar Guild. Opulent meetinghouses and shadowy laboratories mix freely with gritty factories that pump smoke and steam into the polluted air. Automahaven is where the layer of smoke is at its thickest; anyone and everyone who can afford it avoids the streets like the plague. The factories manufacture everything from airship parts to cybernetic enhancements.
๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฃ๐ธ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ถ is where the Pirate Guild lives and works. In New Toppingham, airships are more commonplace than coaches, and there are more people flying with cybernetic wings than there are people walking. New Toppingham is the place to go if you want to spend the night getting drunk or browse the diverse and expansive marketplace. Airships and hot air balloons can be seen taking off and touching down at all hours.
๐๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ธ๐ป๐ฝ is the Craftsmen Guildโs territory. Here, one can find tailors, seamstresses, and hat-makers; artisans, potters, glass-blowers, painters, gadgeteers...the list goes on and on. Colorful, whimsical buildings line the streets of Gearsport, and it is possible to just get lost in the maze of clockwork toys and hand-crafted jewelry and delicate metallic flowers.
๐ก๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป๐ญ houses the city's public library, known as Ravenโs Watch. The Scholar Guild is tasked with running and maintaining the extensive library and archives. The streets of Ravensford are filled with buildings with a Gothic, medieval touch to them; large, arched windows, towers, spires, and flying buttresses are all commonplace in Ravensford. Out of all six districts, the wealth gap is the lowest in Ravensford.
๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐น๐ธ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฝ is the sector housing the barracks, training facilities, hangars, and offices belonging to the Legionnaire Guild. This is perhaps the most organized and clean district of Hourglass City due to the strict Legionnaire discipline. All the buildings are in good repair, and the walkways that stretch over the streets are uniform in style and design. The architecture of Peripoint features symmetry and straight lines; there is little to no deviation from geometric shapes in the district.
"Ut acerbus terminus" (To the bitter end)
๐adame Geraldine's appears to be a normal finishing school, but a select group of families/officials know that it is, in reality, a school to train future spies, assassins, ladies of high society, and housewives. Girls who attend Madame Geraldine's are taught all the finer points of both etiquette and espionage; whether you aspire to be an assassin for the Supreme Commander, spy for the Council, or simply conquer the western portion of the Known World, Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality prepares graduates for for a wide range of career possibilities.
๐ขtudents usually attend the finishing school from the ages of 13/14-17/18.
Teaches music and creative arts, intelligence gathering, principles of deceit, fundamental espionage, and rudimentary seduction
Related to the Minister of the Pirate Guild
Rather frivolous
FC: Charlize Theron, Affiliation: (unofficially) the League of the Armored Parasol of the Minefield Triarchy
๐r. ๐onstance ๐arwood
Head of household management at Madame Geraldine's; teaches medicinal cures and poisonings and encrypting with flower arrangements
Related to the Minister of the Apothecary Guild
Gentle and kind (but she does love her poisons something fierce)
FC: Paz Vega, Guild: Apothecary (Pathocura)
๐rofessor ๐ฅivian ๐eggley
Teaches modern languages, weaponries, modern inventions, and truth extraction
Severe and intimidating
Loves machines
FC: Lucy Liu, Guild: Pirate
๐rofessor ๐ฉylphia ๐ฆrayburn
Teaches history, deportment, manners, etiquette, and genteel dress
Very dignified
Fashion is everything
FC: Kerry Washington, Guild: Craftsmen
๐eneral ๐ฅictoria ๐ขeward
Teaches fighting and "finishing"
Strict
More knowledgeable about the Council than she should be
FC: Michelle Fairley, Guild: Legionnaire
"Oderint dum metuant" (Let them hate, so long as they fear)
๐ฃhe Institute, like Madame Geraldine's, appears to be a normal boys' academy, but it is known among select circles as the top school for training future evil geniuses, mad scientists, and the occasional productive member of society. They teach young men how to be evil geniuses, encouraging them to cause mayhem and build sinister gadgetry.
๐ขtudents usually attend the academy from the ages of 13/14-17/18.
๐ord ๐athan ๐enderson-๐ipps
Headmaster; teaches the philosophies, comportment, and mannerisms needed to become an evil genius
Cultivates a dark and brooding air but is in reality quite jocular
Doesn't take too kindly to Madame Geraldine's girls posing as men to attend his academy
FC: Christian Bale, Guild: Craftsmen
๐r. ๐emetrius ๐owles
Teaches mathematics, physics, the theoretical sciences, and the life sciences
Has a passion for outrageous fashion statements
Very sparkly in a strangely malicious way
FC: Godfrey Gao, Guild: Scholar (Society of Science)
๐aptain ๐ulius ๐layfoot
Teaches mechanical and aeronautical engineering, piloting, and airship-hijacking
Notorious for his deadly gadgets and gizmos
Strict but charming
FC: Taye Diggs, Guild: Pirate
๐rofessor ๐ฃhaddeus ๐eaton
Teaches history, methods of plagiarism, rudimentary espionage, and the art of going insane
๐ฃhe Wastelands is an arid region to the northwest of Hourglass City, plagued with oppressive heat and a brutal wind. There is not much to be found in the Wastelands other than sand and grit, as well as industrial waste. Rumor has it that all this industrial waste has given rise to a new type of magic nicknamed โblack magicโ, but whether these rumors are true or not is unknown. The ruins of the four Wasteland Cities-Gearinggate Harbor, Obsididrift, Terraburn, and Steamfall City-are still standing as well.
๐ฃhe four cities once dominated the northwestern portion of the Known World. The formidable upper branch of the Clockwork Cliffs isolates what was once known as the Quarreling Quartet from the south, and the enigmatic clockwork forest separates the Quarreling Quartet from the mysterious city of Ravenmire and the rather unremarkable city of Ashdale in the east.
๐ขteamfall City was a city located slightly inland from the coast of the Brassmere Ocean, known for their prowess with all things flying. Airships and hot air balloons and winged carriages dominated their skies. On the ground, quaint, vividly painted buildings lined the neat cobblestone streets. Flowers bloomed and children laughed. Strangely enough, Steamfall City's textile industry was one of the best in the Known World, and trade thrived in the whimsical city of color.
๐earinggate Harbor was quite the opposite of Steamfall City; while its northern neighbor had hardly any industry save for its hand-sewn hats and gowns, Gearinggate Harbor dominated all things mechanical. Grey city streets crowded with factories and smokestacks churned out tons of consumer commodities each day. Gearinggate Harbor was considered the leader of modern science in its day; it was in Gearinggate Harbor that mechanical wings and mechanical animals and even mechanical humans were first created.
๐ฃerraburn was located at the foot of the upper branch of the Clockwork Mountains. Legend says that thousands of years ago, a powerful "underground volcano" exploded and enveloped the northwest in a flames, which gradually subsided as time went on. However, this explosion cleared a patch of land for a city of fire-sorcerers and sorceresses who drew their energy from the sacred underground flame. Flame magic is what Terraburn is most notorious for; indeed, behind swirling scarlet silk and vibrant orange candles, the factories of Terraburn produce some of the most devastating explosives in all of the Known World.
๐inally, Obsididrift was built near huge obsidian deposits created by Terraburn's infamous underground volcano. Although the inhabitants of this city have moved away from their ancient ways rooted in all things obsidian, Obsididrift is still renowned for its obsidian blades and obsidian jewelry and obsidian pottery. Largely an expansionist power, the Obsidian Council has wrested a large swath of territory in the Clockwork Cliffs from the Minefield Triarchy and devotes much of its resources to mining. Some speculate that what the Obsidian Council is truly after is the Triarchy's source of magical energy.
๐s their nickname suggests, the Quarreling Quartet was quite quarrelsome indeed. After fighting centuries of wars, the four cities brokered an uneasy peace that only lasted for seventy-five years. Tensions strained by secret alliances and international politics and economic deals exploded into the catastrophic Wasteland Wars, which ended with the release of dangerous amounts of dark energy into the world and the downfall of all four cities. Nowadays, the Notorious Northwest is known as the Wastelands, and all that remains of the Quarrelsome Quartet-now called the Wasteland Cities-are deserted ruins.
๐ฃhe three cities of the Minefield Triarchy includes Slateton City, which lies in between the Stone Sisters (a thriving mining city and where most mined goods destined for overseas markets begin their journey down the Sisters); Ironstead Point, a large city that thrives on the mining industry (many processing plants that purify the mined substances are located here); and Ebonfort, where goods from the Clockwork Cliffs make their final stop before being shipped across the Steam Sea. Like Slateton City and Ironstead Point, Ebonfort has grown exponentially due to the mining industry.
๐ฃhe Minefield Triarchy is a loose confederation consisting of three city-states and their subsequent mining villages and colonies. The three main city-states of the Triarchy-Ebonfort, Ironstead Point, and Slateton City-forged an economic alliance in order to maximize profits and create a virtual monopoly on the mining industry north of the Steam Sea. Ebonfort is the last stop for all Triarchy goods before they are shipped out to the rest of the Known World, and it is the largest and most powerful of the Triarchy cities. As such, Ebonfort is the unofficial capital of the Minefield Triarchy.
๐ฃhe Triarchy is governed by by pure laissez-faire capitalism. The central government is made of eight Barons and Baronesses, all of whom are extremely, extremely wealthy, either from the lucrative mining industry or from the extensive foreign trade that the Triarchy's air-merchants are leading players in.
๐ฃhe Triarchy may seem to be solely an economic power, but the industrialists of the Triarchy have an important and potent source of magical energy: they extract magic from the rocks that they mine. Slateton City's main industry is mining, and it rules over many mining villages scattered throughout the Clockwork Cliffs. Ironstead Point is known for its factories and refineries, and it purifies much of what is mined out of the Clockwork Cliffs. Finally, Ebonfort sits on the coast of the Steam Sea, and its location has made it into a prosperous port city. Anything exported from the Minefield Triarchy is exported out of Ebonfort.
๐ฃhe Triarchy established a colony known as Copperton in 1843 and conquered Ashdale in 1860. It is still unclear what the Triarchy has been doing with Ashdale. The Triachy is notorious for its use of spies, and unknown to the rest of the Known World, the Triarchy has been sending spies to Hourglass City since as early as 1850 with the intent of conquering it. The Triarchy wants to gain access to Hourglass City's source of magic, which they believe is a chasm underneath the city.
๐ฃhe Triarchy's own source of magical energy is buried deep beneath the Clockwork Cliffs, and they believe it is some sort of chasm as well. The Triarchy has not found the chasm yet, but they have noticed that rocks mined from a certain area appear to have absorbed some of the magical energy, and scientists have perfected a process of extracting the magical energy from the rocks in the refineries of Ironstead Point. There is not very much magic extracted from the rocks, but even small amounts are very powerful. Those who can afford it purchase vials of pure magic and wear it on their person to give them the ability to use the magic; those who can't afford it simply must go without.
๐ฃhe magical abilities given to to the wearers of the vials must be honed and perfected just like any other ability. Triarchy magic-users are able to manipulate all forms of earth, including those found in metals. The Triarchy is notorious for its ruthlessly capitalistic policies, which can be seen by how they are basically blowing up the portions of the Clockwork Cliffs that they own in order to locate the magic chasm.
๐ฃhere is not very much known about the Triarchy's mineral magic other than the fact that it is very, very destructive.
Refugees from Ravenmire have discovered that the Triarchy and the Order have forged an alliance, presumably so that they can share access to the magic chasm that is believed to be beneath Hourglass City once they have conquered it.
๐ฃhe Barons and Baronesses:
Henrietta Silverbourne (from Ebonfort, specializes in foreign trade)
Ezekiel Copperfield (from Ebonfort, specializes in foreign trade)
Theodore Bronzeworth (from Ebonfort, specializes in intra-Triarchy trade)
Philander Golding-Brassmott (from Slateton City, specializes in mining)
Iphigenia Sterling (from Slateton City, specializes in mining)
Mortimer Diamonding (from Ironstead Point, specializes in refineries)
Edwina Bradford (from Ironstead Point, specializes in refineries)
Obediah Goldsett-Silvers (from Ironstead Point, specializes in intra-Triarchy trade)
๐ฃhe eight Barons/Baronesses each have their own "territory" in any one of the three cities (Ebonfort, Ironstead Point, and Slateton City). They hire groups of mercenaries to defend their goods from other Barons/Baronesses and to keep peace in their separate territories, though when these mercenary groups join together against a common enemy, they make quite the formidable opponent.
๐ฃhe League of the Armored Parasol, however, serves the Triarchy as a whole instead of one single Baron/Baroness (though the Barons and Baronesses will try to curry favor with and occasionally manipulate the League). They are an organization primarily dedicated to espionage, intelligence, and reconnaissance. The Barons and Baronesses of the Golding-Brassmott and the Silverbourne families hold the most sway over the League, since Golding-Brassmotts and Silverbounes typically leave all their wealth to their oldest children and then send their younger children off to become members of the League.
๐ฃhe League of the Armored Parasol also had a hand in the founding of Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality and the Polytechnique Insitute of Arts and Sciences, though the extent of their involvement is unclear.
๐กavenmire is a city just to the north of the Clockwork Cliffs. It is a city that was once great but now collapsing onto itself due to the corrupt government's continued use of "black magic" that reached the city through the Half-Soot Forest. The city itself has been completely sealed off from the rest of the Known World (and it was very isolationist before the current government instated itself), so life mages and necromancers outside of Ravenmire have always been an uncommon sight.
๐กavenmire was a city divided into life mages and necromancers, a city of light and dark, life and death, day and night. A city where white magic and black magic hung in a careful, delicate balance until the sinister byproducts of the catastrophic Wasteland Wars floated through their gates and infested their harmonious society with darkness and corruption. Insidious remnants of dead souls have taken over the minds of the necromancers and slaughtered the life mages. The few free necromancers and life mages that remain have fled the city, knowing full well that they will never return unless they defeat the terrifyingly powerful Order of Shadows...and they have promised their enslaved brothers and sisters that they will either emerge victorious or die trying.
๐กavenmire is a city divided into two distinct sectors: the life mages and the necromancers. Life mages have light skin and light hair. They have the ability to manipulate pure energy, and with this ability, life mages can make things grow and give them life. Unbeknownst to outsiders, a life mage's source of power comes from Lustrya, or "white magic". Lustrya is inherently good and it is impossible to use it for harm.
๐ecromancers have dark skin and dark hair. They have the ability to manipulate or even become shadows and they can communicate with the dead through a series of complex rituals that allow the dead to send them visions. After necromancers die, they are able to "possess" the body of another necromancer and come back to life briefly if the second necromancer gives them permission to. A necromancer's source of power comes from Myalo, or "black magic". Myalo is inherently evil and corrupting. Necromancers spend years learning how to keep their Myalo from taking over their mind and soul.
๐oth Lustrya and Myalo originate from the brain. Lustrya can be seen as an embodiment of the good in humans, while Myalo can be seen as an embodiment of the evil. Lustrya can be extracted from the human brain with the same procedure as Myalo, however, once Lustrya is extracted it is much harder to isolate because it is practically invisible, while Myalo is black and viscous. Life mages and necromancers have learned how to harness the "mind energy" that they're born with, meaning that they need no external source of magical energy like the Minefield Triarchy or Hourglass City.
๐or centuries, life mages and necromancers lived in harmony. However, during the Wasteland Wars, the outpouring of Myalo from the Wasteland Cities as they churned out automatons disturbed the delicate balance of Lustrya and Myalo in Ravenmire. The sudden influx of dark energy corrupted the minds of the necromancers, and with the collapse of the four Wasteland Cities, Shades began looking for new hosts and new sources of shadow energy to feed on, which led them right to Ravenmire. They found that there was plenty of shadow energy in Ravenmire to feed on despite the fact that they had never heard of a shadow jar, since the necromancers were skilled users of shadow energy. The Shades first began to infest the necromancers, who were the most susceptible to the Shades. The Shades quickly took control of the necromancer side of the government and military, and they soon directed their attention to the life mages, who were harder to control due to the fact that Lustrya cancels out Myalo, to some extent. The Shades enslaved what life mages that they could and slaughtered the ones that they couldn't control. Once their conquest of Ravenmire was complete, the leaders of the Shades absorbed an elixir made from both Myalo and Lustrya, which gave them the ability to function without a host. They then established the Order of Shadows (usually referred to as the Order of Ravenmire or simply the Order) and built massive shadow energy generators. Finally, they shut the gates of Ravenmire to the world, keeping people from leaving or entering. This occurred in 1870.
๐uring the initial onslaught of Shade infestations, which began around 1860, waves of both life mages and necromancers fled the city and hid from the Order in cities spread out all across the Known World. They have established an extensive network of contacts and spies and allies with the intent of one day overthrowing the powerful Order and taking their city back.
๐ฃhe Half-Soot Forest got its name after Terraburn obliterated Steamfall City with a series of catastrophic explosions during the Wasteland Wars. Most of what was once a healthy forest immediately turned to ash. Half of the remaining trees are now blackened and charred, while the other half managed to escape the damage. It was previously known simply as "the Great Forest".
๐shdale is a city located in a valley in the Clockwork Cliffs. It prospers off of trading precious and semi-precious minerals as well as mining. The Minefield Triarchy conquered and annexed Ashdale in 1860.
๐ฃhe Clockwork Cliffs is a mountain range that splits off into two "branches" in the west. Many valuable substances can be mined from its depths. The "branches" were formed when a series of mudslides, avalanches, and earthquakes rocked the world during the Wasteland Wars. These branches are a huge conglomeration of rock and technological junk, as the events that created the branches also destroyed cities where they stood. The Clockwork Cliffs are rich in natural resources such as wood and copper. Parts of the Clockwork Cliffs contain magical energy created naturally lying within the rocky depths.
๐oalgate is a city located near the edge of Grimebury Grove famous for its sheer industrial might. The industrial output of Coalgate far exceeds that of even Hourglass City. Factories in Coalgate churn out wheels and airships and clothing twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. It is said that neither the machinery nor the factory workers of Coalgate never sleep.
๐rimebury Grove is a large, uninhabited area whose trees have darkened due to the pollution produced by Coalgate. Coalgate and Hourglass City signed a pact a couple decades ago pledging not to cut down any of the remaining trees in Grimebury Grove. Most of the land in Grimebury Grove is filled with brush and impossible to navigate on foot. In recent years, the presence of a strange purple wildflower in Grimebury Grove has been noted.
๐rassham City lies on the end of the Brassmere Peninsula. It is renowned for its excellent technology sector that rivals that of Hourglass City itself, as well as its prosperous underground market that sells all manner of illicit goods-usually having to do with less-than-ethical medical procedures or technology.
๐ฃhe Stone Sisters are two rivers that flow from the Clockwork Cliffs and into the Steam Sea. They got their name from the fact that most of the goods that are transported down these rivers have been mined out of the ground.
๐ฃhe Ashfort River flows through fertile and arable lands into the Steam Sea. It is famous for the three grand bridges that are located at its widest points. These bridges allow the passage of goods from one side of the river to the other.
๐itchport Harbor is located where the Ashfort River meets the Steam Sea. Pitchport Harbor has grown fabulously wealthy due to its advantageous location and its participation in trade. Visitors and merchants report strange sightings of half-human, half-machine mermaids that swim through the city's watery streets (indeed, Pitchport Harbor is in actuality a series of small islands connected by canals).
๐shbourne is widely regarded as the primary exporter of food and alcoholic beverages along the Steam Sea. The city itself is surrounded by acres and acres of fields made fertile by the Ashfort River.
๐opperton lies to the east of the Emberrath Peaks. As its name suggests, Copperton's main export is copper mined from the Emberrath Peaks. It is a colony of the Minefield Triarchy, established in 1843.
๐ฃhe Emberrath Peaks is a mountain range that separates a desert from more temperate lands. Many precious and semi-precious metals can be mined here, including copper.
๐ฃhe Bronze Quarters is known for its finely manufactured handicrafts made from metals and minerals mined out of the Emberrath Peaks. It actively engages in overseas trade and does a great deal of business with Brassham City. Many of the products coming out of the Bronze Quarters are also used to make machine parts and airships across the Steam Sea.
1852-The Wasteland Wars begin (Steamfall City, Terraburn, Obsididrift, and Gearinggate Harbor are battling each other for economic dominance in the region)
1853-The first successful clockwork man is developed in the Wasteland city of Gearinggate Harbor by using a combination of technology and black magic to bind the mechanical to the organic. This marks the start of an โarms raceโ to acquire as many automatons as possible in the Wasteland Cities
1857-Gearinggate Harbor is completely overrun by the black magic that was initially used to create the automatons; this also is when Shades (created when the black magic failed to bind the machinery to the host) make their first appearance. Shades are set free into the region and the successful automatons seemingly self-destruct due to the overload of black magic coming in, adding to the Shade population
1857-Steamfall City is reduced to ruins when Terraburn, a city infamous for its munitions productions, drops a series of devastating bombs on Steamfall City
1859-The conclusion of the Wasteland Wars is reached when Obsididrift launches an all-out attack on Terraburn using automatons; the two cities battle it out until the last man, clockwork and human, completing the creation of the Wastelands
1861-The first experiments with automation in Hourglass City begin; wealthy scientists kidnap poor people from the streets and experiment on in order to find a way around the elusive black magic of the Wasteland Cities, which the scientists of Hourglass City have not been exposed to at all
1865-After a series of ongoing arguments in between the rich, the poor, and the moderates that began as a dispute over the ethics and legality of the automation experiments but soon escalated into a class-conflict situation, automatons are outlawed. As part of the deal, the wealthy scientists are required to destroy and disassemble all their automation experiments. They end up dumping the remains of their automatons-which never fully worked because they did not have access to the advanced black magic used by Gearinggate Harbor-into the Wastelands
(๐ขpoiler alert: Lucius Elliot is actually an automaton (though he doesn't know it)-more info will be revealed as RP progresses)
๐utomatons are animated with Myalo, which must be extracted from a living human's brain. The original personality of said human is not retained.
"๐ขhadesโ, aka โshadow spiritsโ are made from the same black magic that Lucius is animated with. They are the remnants of the black magic released when the Myalo of the human minds did not combine with the clockwork bodies during the automation experimentation phase that Gearinggate Harbor went through. A Shade can carry a silent conversation with a host.
๐ขhades can possess any sentient being by entering it through the ear canal and then wrapping themselves around the brain. They get access to the personโs memories and skills, which makes it extremely hard to tell if people are possessed or not because they will most likely seem to be perfectly normal.
๐ขhades need to โfeedโ on shadow essences, otherwise they become weak and unable to maintain control over their hosts. In order to feed, they must exit the host and go into a special vessel (known as a โshadow jarโ) and stay there for about an hour. If they go for more than a week or so without feeding, they start going mad, which usually leads to them performing violent acts. In the final stages of their lives-right before the starvation kills them-Shades will destroy their own hosts in an attempt to get out of the host and into a shadow jar.
๐n their natural states, Shades are like very concentrated wisps of black smoke that seem to move on their own accord through the air. In their natural states, they cannot see or hear, but they are able to sense where sentient beings are.
๐iscellaneous terminology (probably won't be relevant): Myalo is the scientific name for black magic (which was officially "discovered" by Isaac Silas, a man from Gearinggate Harbor), centri-filtration is a procedure used to filter out raw Myalo after the cerebral matter has been broken down by Chlrika (a mixture of substances that will break down the cells and stuff in the human brain), clockwork compatibilization is infusing raw Myalo with the โessenceโ of electricity in order to try to get the clockwork body to more easily accept the Myalo of the human brain.
(๐lease note that this information would only be available to select individuals-primarily those who attended the Polytechnique Institute-and that it is not wholly complete, as there are parts that have been lost since the Wasteland Wars)
๐ฃhe ๐eneral ๐rocedure 1. ๐xtract cerebral matter; use the process of centri-filtration (addressed later in this section) in order to separate out the raw Myalo; takes ~3 hours
2. ๐คse a process known as clockwork compatibilization (addressed later in this section) to enhance the success rate of binding Myalo with the metal body; takes ~3 hours
3. ๐eave the metal brain and the clockwork-compatibilized Myalo in a shadow jar (see "Shades and Automatons" hider) together for ~5 hours so that the two can "bind" together
4. ๐nsert the clockwork brain into the body of the automaton
๐ฃhe ๐rocess of ๐entri-filtration 1. ๐pen a channel at the crown of the head with an abralye, which is a small blade-a cross between a needle and a scalpel-that can drill a hole into a human skull at a precise point without killing the person (thanks to a combination of ancient magic and runes); these are found in some archaeological excavations to the east and the south, and most are imported from Brassham City
2. ๐คse Chlrika, a mixture of substances created with ancient sorcery originating from the southern tip of the Known World, to degrade the cerebral matter by pouring it directly into the channel created by the abralye (~1 hour)
3. ๐ฆhen the Chlrika has fully broken down the cerebral matter, clear vapors will begin to emerge from the channel. At this stage, one should insert a thin tube into the channel and guide the emerging vapors and/or other substances into a flask. The substance in the flask at the end of this step should be a dark grey color, with the consistency of oatmeal
4. ๐คse a spiral filter, a device made of bronze and glass and powered by steam, to spin the contents of the flask at a high velocity in order to separate out the raw Myalo by density. The raw Myalo will be visible as a viscous, dark black substance at the very bottom of the flask/container once this step has been completed
๐ฃhe ๐rocess of ๐lockwork ๐ompatibilization 1. ๐ot very much is known about this
2. ๐evertheless, the basics of this procedure involve infusing raw Myalo with a certain "essence of electricity" in order to make it more compatible with the automaton brain and therefore increase the success rate of binding energy from the human mind with a clockwork body
3. ๐ขcientists have speculated that this "essence of electricity" is somehow derived from either lightning or magical energy from an underground source
4. ๐ote that Myalo that has been "clockwork compatibilized" is a light gray color, as opposed to the dark black of raw Myalo
December 19th, 1855
A study of the optimal methods to synthesize Myalo with the brain of a clockwork automaton By Edward Lightfeather, Wilhelmina Sullivan, and George Lenore
Background In the light of recent developments in the field of automation, the work of Astory and Brill1(1853) in synthesizing Myalo extracted from the human brain with the brain of a clockwork automaton is revolutionary, although not without faults. The method proposed by Astory and Brill, and subsequently employed by most scientists in creating clockwork automatons, has about a 63.1% success rate, as shown by statistics compiled by Paulsi2(1855). In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of a method known as centri-filtration and first used by Walter and Clarkson3(1854) and a new procedure known as "clockwork compatibilization" (CC).
Centri-filtration is the filtration of raw Myalo (MYA) from the human brain after the human brain has been infused with a mixture of substances (known collectively as "Chlrika") that will degrade the brain matter. After the Chlrika procedure is performed, which will naturally break down the cells and material that makes up the human brain, leaving it in its most basic form, the brain matter is separated out by density, which allows the raw Myalo to be filtered out from the other brain matter.
Raw Myalo itself is a viscous, pure black substance. However, if left over time, it gradually becomes less and less viscous. If it is left alone in a shadow jar (SJ) for more than a year, the raw Myalo will become gaseous, resembling black smoke, as discovered by Wolfe4(1855). The properties of gaseous raw Myalo are still largely unknown."
Clockwork compatibilization, which we refer to as "CC" in shorthand, is a procedure that we performed after the raw MYA was successfully extracted from test subject #21. The basics of this procedure involve infusing the raw MYA with the essence of electricity in order to make it more compatible with the clockwork automaton's brain and therefore increase the success rate of binding a human mind with a clockwork body. Myalo that has undergone the CC procedure is referred to as "CC-MYA" in shorthand.
๐ฃhree main types of magical energy exist in the Known World-
๐ฃhe first is the natural energy drawn from the Earth, absorbed in the rock and soil over thousands and thousands of years (the Triarchy calls their extracted, purified version "mineral magic").
๐ฃhe second is the dark energy present in the human mind (known officially as "Myalo", known colloquially as "black magic" or "mind energy").
๐ฃhe third is the pure energy present in the human soul, but extracted from the mind (known officially as "Lustrya", known colloquially as "white magic" or "life force").
๐ther forms of magic include what the fire-sorcerers and sorceresses of Terraburn used before the city was destroyed in the Wasteland Wars, and the enigmatic magic of the citizens of Pitchport Harbor. As far as anyone from Hourglass City knows, they get their gifts from an underground chasm filled with the first type of magic, spread over the entire city with generators. Only the Council (and a few select individuals, most of whom are dead) know that this isn't quite the case.
๐ฃhe Council is the supreme law of Hourglass City, but the Minsters of each Guild (handpicked by the Council) run the day-to-day affairs of the city. The identities of the Councillors are unknown by the general populace, as is the method that they are "selected"
๐uring the Wasteland Wars of the 1850s, the four cities involved raced to build automatons animated by dark energy drawn from the human mind-Myalo. An innumerable amount of people lost their lives and souls to serve as an animating force for an automaton soldier, as Myalo had to be extracted from a living mind to work properly. Even so, it was not always guaranteed that the Myalo would bind properly with the clockwork body. When the Myalo and the mechanical brain didn't combine as needed, the Myalo turned from a black, viscous substance to a wispy, semi-transparent substance resembling black smoke. These "shades" (as they were nicknamed) were thought to be dead and inanimate.
๐ bit of Lustrya-a bit of white magic, a bit of pure, concentrated life force-escaped out of the city, and it floated through the Half-Soot Forest to the barren northwest, which was now known as the Wastelands. When the Lustrya combined with the Shades, they should have cancelled each other out-they were light and dark, black and white, complementary magical opposites-but Lustrya was meant to cancel out pure Myalo, not the wispy remnants of it that were left after a failed experiment. Instead, the Lustrya gave the Shades life.
๐ฃhe Shades quickly spread out from the Wastelands-east, towards Ravenmire, mostly. They were a terrifying force, for they could slither into a person's ear and effectively take control of their victims, but their presence in Ravenmire was concerning because they disrupted the careful balance of Lustrya and Myalo in the city. Lustrya for life mages, Myalo for necromancers-soon, the excess Myalo had corrupted the minds of the necromancers, turning them ruthless and greedy, and they infested the minds of life mages, slaughtering those that they couldn't enslave. Life mages and the occasional necromancer fled the city in waves until the Order of Shadows (the new government of Shades and necromancers) sealed the city off from the entire Known World.
๐ฃhe Shades went southward, too, to Hourglass City. They took over the minds of the Council and drank an elixir of pure Lustrya and more exotic substances from the East, giving them eternal life and the ability to function without a host. The Council is no more than a group of glorified Shades, but nobody knows that.
๐BSOLUTELY NO ANIME FACECLAIMS. IF YOU HAVE AN ANIME FACECLAIM I WILL BE EXTREMELY TRIGGERED AND PERSONALLY SEND YOU A PM IN ALL CAPS WITH NO PUNCTUATION TELLING YOU THAT YOU FREAKING SUCK (just kidding, lmao. But seriously-no anime). Realistic photographs/art is fine
๐f you can't post for a while, are dropping out, etc please just let us know! It's perfectly alright-RL is a bitch sometimes
๐lease first post character sheets in OOC; after you are accepted, feel free to move to CS
๐'m aware that there's a TON of lore. Please at least read through the "lore" section in first post; everything after that is not directly relevant and mostly just there for reference
๐haracters from other cities/who did not attend either school are allowed; please discuss your ideas with me and @shylarah first, though
๐ax of four characters, for now
๐nything R-rated should be kept to PMs
๐f you have other ideas/questions about the world and the lore, feel free to get in touch with either me or @shylarah! We're definitely open to new ideas and stuff
1. "Gaslight Romance" by the Electro Swingers (You're the cream in my coffee/You're the salt in my stew/You will always be my necessity/I'll be lost without you)
2. "The City" (Unwoman version) (I walk all around the city/To survey the damage I have done/Broken hearts on every street corner/And yours is the loudest one/Still I'll stay here in the city/If just to assert my right/I won't give up these willing victims/Not without a fight)
3. "Roundtable Rival" by Lindsey Stirling
4. "Mechanical Angel" by Sunday Driver (Some people bottle their lives/Whisper their words/Sharpening their knifes/In sorrow bound by her keep/Feeling my way/Who is ever really free?)
5. "When You're Evil" by Aurelio Voltaire (And it's so easy when you're evil/This is the life, you see/The Devil tips his hat to me/I do it all because I'm evil/And I do it all for free/Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need)
6. "Brass Goggles" by Steam Powered Giraffe (How'd you like to try pumping lead through your veins/Or have a heart so wet and cold it starts rusting/When the world ticks around you, voices tocking all the time/You live for feelings you've never felt, because you cannot feel/And what is this leaking affecting my eye?/Does the oil that is dripping mean this is a cry?/Will I ever be something with feelings to hide?/Or am I just a boiler with nothing inside?)
7. "Automatonic Electronic Harmonic" by Steam Powered Giraffe (I am not an unimaginable thing/My thoughts are tangible, though they're full of springs/I don't have the heart to send you untruthful words/My skin is cold to the touch and made from the earthรขโฌโน)รขโฌโน
8. "I'll Rust With You" by Steam Powered Giraffe (I'll rust with you, I'll rust with every one of you/Nostalgic nights/Have got me feelin' it's all gone (gone, gone) to rust/It's all gone (gone, gone) to rust)
9. "Clockwork Vaudeville" by Steam Powerd Giraffe (Boilers making steam (ah ha ha ha ha)/Metal gleaming (ah ha ha ha ha)/Songs with a good tune (ah ha ha ha ha)/That would stick with you all through the afternoon (Ooo, ooo, ooo who who)/Everybody's going to the clockwork vaudeville/Everybody wants to see the show/People clap and stop their feet and join in with the robot beat/While music and song fill the air)
10. "Lady Marlene" by Katzenjammer (Velvet and satin and puppets on strings/Everyone's dancing with Lady Marlene/Fear is the color of all that they wear/Mother-of-pearl palace cold like her heart of stone/Silently soliders dance till they fall/Icicle chandelier shining so cold/They are draped in dread in her masquerade)
11. "Black Spider" by Sunday Driver (Here comes the black spider/I feel the rage inside her/Stamp out the black spider/It's all ya do/She'll spin a web till ya can't get out/Make a thousand little babies to scurry about/You better send everyone ya love a long long way from here)
12. "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo (My creation, is it real?/It's my creation, I do not know/No hesitation, no heart of gold/Just flesh and blood, I do not know/From my heart and from my hand,/Why don't people understand/My intentions, ooh, weird/Weird science!)
13. "Coin-Operated Boy" by the Dresden Dolls (Coin operated boy/All the other real ones that I destroy/Cannot hold a candle to my new boy and I'll/Never let him go and I'll never be aloneNot with my coin operated boy......)
14. "Mechanical Menagerie" by the Cog is Dead (Wondrous sights/Will fill your eyes/A clockwork crow/That really flies/And metal monkeys/That climb trees/See tick-tock tigers/And bionic bees/Wind-up wombats walk the ground/Astounding works are all around/The Mechanical Menagerie/Is quite the place to be)
15. "Farewell Kabarista" by Vagabond Opera (The night we met you sang into my heart/My Cleopatra from the start/Donning lashes and a cane/For yards men buskers and bourgeoisie/You table danced a coup d'etat/While sipping pink champagne)
16. "Clockwork Tiger" by Sunday Driver (Doors are closed/In the dark, a ruby eye glows/Moonlight shines an golden black/I arch my back/See my teeth, see them gleam/Am I real or a killing machine?/Tiptoe close/Now, don't you shrink/I'll rip your heart out in a blink)
17. "6 Count Swing" by This Way To The Egress (Well, I guess I'll tell ya baby, there's a prize for every fight./The train is leavin' right on time, the city with no lights./It seems to me they got ya babe you bat your eyes so well/Your crimes don't feel so bad, when you're on that trail)
18. "The Last Steampunk Waltz" by Ghostfire (Legends spoken shall never fail/Every deed as hard as nails/She never speaks, she never smiles/The journey's end of a thousand miles/Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes/Music to haunt us she knows/As she goes)
19. "Supervillain" by Schaffer the Darklord (I come from a long line of this kind of people/I represent a third generation of evil/It courses through my blood/This love of chaos and killin'/So much more than just a criminal/I'm a super villain)
20. "Cup of Brown Joy" by Professor Elemental (I need a cup of the brown stuff, the shade of an acorn/Made warm by the same source that I take my cakes from/Using a teapot, a mug or fine china/Been hooked up to IVs, need constant supplies)
21. "The Mariner's Revenge Song" by the Decemberists (You may not remember me/I was a child of three/And you, a lad of eighteen/But, I remember you/And I will relate to you/How our histories interweave)
Hi! Is there still room in here? I'd very much like to join if there is!
Also, I don't mean to intrude or anything, but wouldn't "Aeronautic Legion" be a more fitting name?
There's definitely still room, and we'd love to have you!!
I'm going to page @shylarah for the second part-she was the one who insisted I change names, lmao
(But we agreed to take the "aeronaut" out because it was a bit misleading, since the guild includes all military branches, not just the air-navy/pilots)
So I was thinking an Evil Genius who is bonkers but oddly polite to the people that work for him. If he can find anyone willing to work for him.
But being impolite to the hired help just isn't done, of course ;)
๐๐๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ท๐ฌ๐ฎ โโโโโโโโโโ Unlike her father, a plump, yellowed man of a darker complexion, Elodie is gaunt, pale as a corpse, and angular as a shard of glass. To call her "bony" would not quite seem to do her features justice. Her elbows and knees, when bent, are more akin to blades than clubs, and her hands could be easily mistaken for those of one much older. There is no softness to a woman like her. From a distance, it is almost as if she were drawn by a talentless student, all straight lines and angles. Even her eyes, though undoubtably sharp, seem to have adopted the image of the puppet, and appear glassed over, as if covered by a thin film.
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ธ๐ต โโโโโโโโโโ Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality
๐๐๐พ๐ฒ๐ต๐ญ โโโโโโโโโโ Not Applicable
๐๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฝs โโโโโโโโโโ Elodie is a strong-limbed woman, and her fists have been known to split bricks. Her legs allow her to jump has high up as nine feet off the ground, and nobody yet has come out the victor in a bout of fisticuffs against her.
๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐พ๐น๐ช๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท โโโโโโโโโโ Elodie, having recently graduated from Madame Geraldine's, returned to the country estate owned by her father, in order to help him with his business. She and her family are a rather minor voice in the large world of the stock market, but do have enough old money to throw around. Her father had wisely realized that the capital economy was the future of wealth, and so has admirably thrown himself in with the Merchant's Guild. Elodie herself was not so quick to such action, but is often required to speak on behalf of her father to guildmasters and representatives of this new "corporation" concept.
๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐ธ๐ท๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ โโโโโโโโโโ Believes in the inherent superiority of the nobility Endlessly obedient Has a bit of trouble with thinking for herself Holds herself to a high standard Loves a good puzzle, especially when followed by a good scrap
๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ต๐ญ ๐๐ช๐น๐ฝ๐ช๐ฒ๐ท ๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ธ๐ท๐ฝ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฝ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ถ? โโโโโโโโโโ Elodie is certainly capable, with a wide variety of skills applicable to any situation. Perhaps there is a task that requires the silver tongue of a lady, complete with a bit of the flattery that inflates a man's ego and causes them to make fatal mistakes. Perhaps there is a later task that requires that same man to be out of the way, once he realizes he has been duped. Why spend all the effort to plant two agents, when one will do the trick? So long as Elodie has someone to handle the complicated nonsense of machinery and the magicks, she only need be there for her own little brand of magic to take devastating effect.
No doubt the school and its alumni are always seeking young talent. It is a well connected institution of the higher class, and churns out promising ladies with each passing year. Certainly, a woman of status, and yet no place, is no woman at all, and thus the cream of the crop must always be kept under watch, for when a situation arises that may require their specialties.
๐๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐น๐ธ๐ท โโโโโโโโโโ There is usually a small pistol in the folds of Elodie's skirts. In situations where that would be impractical, she IS the weapon. Her hands and feet seem to do well enough as substitutes for actual weaponry. At least, that seemed to be the reaction of anyone who made the mistake of testing it.
๐๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐๐ธ๐ท๐ฏ๐ป๐ธ๐ท๐ฝ๐ช๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท โโโโโโโโโโ As far as first impressions go, Elodie knows well enough not to ruin them. She puts on her best diplomatic face and voice and charms the target of her attention, right up until she may get close enough to send an iron knee or elbow into their nose. Rarely has she seemed to need the use of her pistol, but for emergency reasons, it is always nice to have a very loud backup plan.
๐๐๐ช๐ฟ๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐ช๐ผ๐ผ(๐ฎ๐ผ) ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ธ๐ต โโโโโโโโโโ Pistols and Petticoats, Discreet Deceit for a Young Lady of Quality, but most of all, Fashion, Firearms, and Fisticuffs.
๐๐๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ป๐ช๐น๐ฑ๐ โโโโโโโโโโ It is fortunate that Elodie had the privilege of being the daughter of a small noble. Were she of any poorer circumstance, she may not have survived her childhood. She was born sickly, and her father had often said that instead of crying, she coughed. Only through modern medicine and a dash of Lustrya was she able to narrowly avoid the scythe, and medicine was expensive. Her father's land, Stalpront Place, was waning in income, and the servants were becoming quick to seek employment elsewhere. In a moment of desperation, he threw himself into the world of the stock trade. Whether the decision saved the estate or prolonged its death is a subject of much debate among the common folk still living on it.
Still, the money was a good thing, and allowed an Elodie of fourteen years to attend Madame Geraldine's prestigious finishing school. Elodie found technology and aeronautics to be rather dull, but combat was certainly her cup of tea. She was an exemplar student, of good manners and attendance, and was never one to question lessons or break curfew. There was a single moment in which she found it necessary to discipline a fellow student . . . violently. This, incidentally, was the only time she had ever received a punishment in class. She took it in stride, however, and her punishment was cut short. She graduated with the appropriate honors, and returned to life with her father and their estate for a few (relatively) quiet years before receiving a letter from a decorated alumna under the name "Kingsford".
does that answer your question? not entirely sure what you mean by "denotes out lineage"
Sorry, typo, I meant "denotes our lineage". Basically like it says where our characters hail from, like 'Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell', which includes a title, name and place.
Sorry, typo, I meant "denotes our lineage". Basically like it says where our characters hail from, like 'Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell', which includes a title, name and place.
Ahhh okay no the title thing usually doesnโt include the place
@bloonewb The Legion includes more than just aeronauts, and there are a considerable number of aeronauts who are not in the Legion (pilots for merchant vessels, for ones that serve primarily as transportation, etc). It's terribly misleading to call it anything involving aeronauts, as much as I wanted a guild for them. =/ My guess is that being a ship captain or pilot confers a certain status separate from any guild membership, but there is no guild solely for aeronauts.
It should also be noted that "typical powers" is...well, not all that accurate. There's definitely squads of machine-winged Legionnaires; there's going to be people with machine powers that make clockwork toys among the Craftsmen, or serve as mechanics for the Merchant Guild. There are people with the power of healing who serve as researchers; there are people with intellectual gifts that make excellent tacticians or eschew guild membership entirely. A person is born with their gift, though it requires training to hone. Guild membership is determined later in life, by one's parents or oneself, and certain requirements must be met before a person is accepted. Gifts may influence schooling/training which may in turn influence capabilities and guild membership, but by no means are these hard and fast rules. There's always the person with gift A who just really loves profession Z, and goes in a completely different direction.
@bloonewb The Legion includes more than just aeronauts, and there are a considerable number of aeronauts who are not in the Legion (pilots for merchant vessels, for ones that serve primarily as transportation, etc). It's terribly misleading to call it anything involving aeronauts, as much as I wanted a guild for them. =/ My guess is that being a ship captain or pilot confers a certain status separate from any guild membership, but there is no guild solely for aeronauts.
So...anyone with the former "aeronaut" gifts would have to have served in the military now, whereas before aeronauts didn't have to serve? (I was in the original group, hence my somewhat strange question.) Or do non-military aeronauts still exist but are technically guildless, as they were never part of the military and thus NOT part of the Legionnaire? It seems more confusing this way, or maybe I'm reading it wrong seeing as it's 2:15 in the morning.
So...anyone with the former "aeronaut" gifts would have to have served in the military now, whereas before aeronauts didn't have to serve? (I was in the original group, hence my somewhat strange question.) Or do non-military aeronauts still exist but are technically guildless, as they were never part of the military and thus NOT part of the Legionnaire? It seems more confusing this way, or maybe I'm reading it wrong seeing as it's 2:15 in the morning.
No you got it right the first time; ppl who have gifts can choose which guild/if they want a guild at all. So technically someone with super speed COULD join scholar guild, but its not as common as someone w super speed joining legion
No you got it right the first time; ppl who have gifts can choose which guild/if they want a guild at all. So technically someone with super speed COULD join scholar guild, but its not as common as someone w super speed joining legion
So that's decidedly much different from last time, lol, where your gift determined your guild. Good to know. (not that it changes anything for my character but...)
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