Steampunk Setting ("New Setting, Which To Choose")

#1

I have a couple new ideas for settings, not real detailed yet, but which one do you all think is the most interesting and workable?

-A pseudomedieval steampunk setting, somewhat along the lines (okay, basically my own version) of Moon's beloved Iron Kingdoms. Steam-armored knights with electrified stormswords battle a Renaissance-Italy style sinister Merchant's Guild, with horrible mechanical-undead monsters and dark magic.

-A world where humans are trespassers from through the Wondrous Door; many bizarre races, places, and things; doing my own version of a high-magic fantasy. Influenced heavily by Spira from Final Fantasy X.

-A world forsaken by it's gods, who once dwelt upon it's surface. Leaving the City of the Gods empty and abandoned, they vanished, leaving human beings to live upon their own in the strange and terrible places of the world. In addition, the world is dying, losing vitality, the once-verdant plains becoming fields of grey dust, the forests sagging into dark, rotten swamps. In addition, beaches of rusting machinery on an ocean of oil, dark metropoli of gothic skyscrapers and insane, decadent people, et cetera, et cetera.

-Something else. You make a suggestion on what I should do.

So, what will it be?

Centas Development and Ideas

#2

How about a world so diverse that it has elements of all three?

Centas Development and Ideas

#3

The first option

Centas Development and Ideas

#4

The first option

What he said. I'd prefer that anyway.

Centas Development and Ideas

#5

I voted Forsaken World. More my style. Then again, I enjoyed Waterworld.

Centas Development and Ideas

#6

Medieval / early Renaissance Magi-Punk or Steam Punkish games are a current facination for me. What a suprise for the way I voted.

People say, "Magic prevents technological change." To that I say, Bshit. Magic is normally kept in the hands of a small few and is not powerful enough that these people are In Charge. I mean, in few games or worlds are the nobles the possessors of Mystical powers. So if magic is not that powerful or important, how could these people prevent technological advance? Magic can slow it down slightly, as magic could recruite people who would advance technology. Yet at the same time, there are people who will be looking for a way to do things without magic, so they don't have to pay the mage. It might push technology into different directions, but it won't stop the advance.

Some people look at the middle ages and say, "See technology stopped." Technology only stopped because Europe became a tradition orriented society, ruled by fear of huns/ goths/ viking. Without an ALL POWERFUL CENTRAL CHURCH, enforcing tradition and focusing people on the next world, not this one, there would of been no five plus century dark ages, a generation or two at most. Most gamers do not want a Christian/ Catholic church (what are they, afraid the Pope will come and smite them... or that they might offend someone). Without such a central anchor, focusing people away from the material world and this life, material life will move on.

Just some thoughts

Centas Development and Ideas

#7

I voted for the steampunk world. That sounds the best one to me. :D

Centas Development and Ideas

#8

I voted Forsaken World. More my style. Then again, I enjoyed Waterworld.

You know, there are therapy groups for people like you. Waterworld.... my head shakes. After viewing it, my opinion of Beast Master actually improved.

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

ARRRRGGHHHHHH!!!! FLASHBACKS....

Centas Development and Ideas

#9

:)

Wondered how that went uncommented on for so long. Beastmaster...haha

Since It Looks Like Steampunk...

#10

Here are my ideas for a steampunk setting. Please note that they'll probably be heavily influenced by the books of China Mieville and the Iron Kingdoms setting...

-Small city-states (possibly formed in the breakdown of a large empire) scattered throughout wild territories. Almost all of the city-states are at war or hostile, while some form petty alliances which are as soon broken as made.

-The technology is based on steam, clockwork, and highly mystical, alchemical science-magic. For instance, warriors clad in steam-powered armor, with electric stormswords powered by Rhugoth coils...
"Elyctric particles and thaumaturgons in the air are drawn in by the sciomagnetic vortex of the Rhugoth coil. They are compiled and compressed together in the energy index of the engine, and then pressurized through the anaxamantic line into the stormsword's conductor chamber as a mass of thaumaturgic elyctricity."

-The undead are one of the main threats. They are hideous blendings of corpse and machine, their bones and dry flesh painted with dark necromantic sigils and tattooes; undead warriors are towering, black skeletons encased in steam-armor, while zombies are corpses inlayed with engines and pipes, with clockwork joints. Liches are incased in huge necromantic rigs. (They also need some sort of dark leader)

-Steam-powered air-craft and spider-like vehicles are not uncommon, as well as trains- the railways are extremely important and bridge every possible region. Each city-state has it's own network of rails, which frequently run side-by-side; wartrains and locomotives full of soldiers frequently clash in the midst of the snowy mountains or what have you.

-Possibly steam-mechs, though I'm not sure if I want to go that close to Iron Kingdoms

-Firearms are common, but so are good old swords and axes. Alchemical rockets and good old fire arrows (made of metal and coated in oil) fly side-by-side at the attackers; the walls are breached by huge thaumaturgic charges.

-Firearms are flintlocks and the like- some have developed rapid-fire pistols, like six-shooters. The favored weapon of the adventurer is a flintlock. Imagine a man in thick armor of leather with plates of metal, wearing a heavy helm, carrying all manner of small packages and bandoliers on his belt, cracking off shots with a flintlock and then ducking for protection behind a shield.
Imagine a man with a bow (or crossbow) which fires clockwork spring-arrows which spring out extra blades and spikes, or fires spinning sawblades.

These are the ideas I have right now. Can anybody give me some more ideas or pointers (Moon, I'm looking your way)?

Centas Development and Ideas

#11

Should I have other races in this setting? Possibly add in the alien elves I talked about a long time ago?

Centas Development and Ideas

#12

Tentative name for the setting- The Hundred, or, possibly, the Thousand. Something like that. The Hundred sounds most poetic.
References the hundreds and hundreds of tiny city-states.

Religion: I like the idea of a monotheistic religion for once, perhaps, but as is my wont, if I did do so, it would be a mystical and esoteric religion, with heavy use of ritual, with masked priests and secret hymnbooks and such.

Another idea is using the Enlightenment Deism- a god who created the universe, and then walked away- a distant, unknowable creator, so distant, in fact, that it might as well not even matter.

Or, I could do something stranger- a Buddhism-like religion, or something syncretic and highly localized, like the spirituality of China.

But in regards to religion, I want to stay away from the same old pantheism.

Centas Development and Ideas

#13

I like the idea of having other races in this setting. Perhaps we could all come up with one,eh?

Centas Development and Ideas

#14

Would there be a disparity between the various city-states,regarding technology? And how would religon and a conservative clergy thrive in a world where science flourishes?

Centas Development and Ideas

#15

Of course there would- there would be some notably powerful cities, and some which would probably fall under the control of one of those powerful cities as a hegemon.

Perhaps that is one of the world's conflicts- the Church against the Mechanists or what-have-you. However, in a fantasy world, the conflict might not be there- the existence of steam technology does not preclude the existence of magic in this setting, and neither do the sciences necessarily reveal anything about the universe which contradicts the teachings of the Church; or perhaps they do, but the Church has not {like the Catholic Church during the Enlightenment} billed itself as the ultimate arbiter of all truths, and thus is willing to acknowledge that there are some things about the world that it has not percieved correctly.

A very few of the Hundred

#16

Here are a very few of the Hundred; these are city-states of greater or lesser power. Some, like Simblios, are hegemons who rule in all but name much of the surrounding area and surrounding cities. Others, like Peklichr, are powerful on their own.

Xhiklus
The legendary Metal City, Xhiklus lies at the nexus of a great network of railways amidst the Oxhidaizen Plains. Xhiklus is an ancient city, and has the distinction of having been constructed entirely of metal, at least for the most part. The elder districts of the city are known as being among the most beautiful and strange architecture in the world, while the New Districts (those not constructed from iron) are known to be incredibly populous, and a place to find any product imaginable. A large part of the workforce of Xhiklus is occupied in keeping the Iron Districts clean, shiny, and free of rust, which is a constant job.
Xhiklus maintains a large standing army which answers directly to the Diktator of Xhiklus. A new Diktator is elected every ten years by the army, and is generally chosen from the ranks of the High Kommanders, though there are several instances of influential civilians being chosen.

Peklichr
Peklichr lies on the coast of the Heavy Sea, with the rugged Pangloss Mountains above it, and has grown fat off the bounties brought it by trade. Peklichr is connected by the Heavy Sea to the rich states of Mehmoriumh and Rehmnisenz on the opposite coast. Peklichr is known for it's vast industrial sector, and is often called the Smoky City for the clouds of smog and ash which roll across the skyline. Peklichr, in it's far past (roughly a thousand years ago), was once a city in the Ugromantic Dominion, and still retains in it's architecture and (somewhat) in it's language traces of those ancient people and the worship of their strange pagan gods.
Peklichr is ruled by an oligarchic Council of Eleven. Each Councilor sits on the Council for a life term, or until they resign. At some point during their term (generally near the end, though there is no set time), a Councilor designates an heir to take their seat on the Council. Peklichr's Council is highly elitist, and there have been only a very, very few Councilors in it's history which were not of the city's upper classes.

Simblios
As ancient, if not older, than Xhiklus, Simblios is known far and wide for it's incredibly intricate, baroque, and ancient architecture, it's monumental towers and fortresses, and it's huge size. Lying on the great Thadar River (which flows into the Black Gulf), Simblios has the huge and fertile farmlands of the Tar Epar Van to the north, the swamps of Shavpek on the south, and the Black Gulf and Mr. Krahn's Sea on the east. It is also known for it's crime, it's pollution, it's Byzantine corruption, and the despotic, immortal rule of the Emperor of Simblios, a man who has held the title for 400 years. Simblios is the largest of all the cities of the Hundred, and it's influence matches it's size- it is the leader of a hegemony of satrapies, client states, "advised" cities, nations "indefinitely occupied", and a host of states so frightened of the vast power of Simblios and it's truly awe-inspiring army that they follow it like a flock of frightened sheep. In all but governmental acknowledgement, this is the Simblian Empire, and most cartographers note it as so, though officially, there is no such country.
Simblios maintains a vast, powerful, and highly advanced army, including a war-fleet, an air-navy, and numerous small mercenary groups kept on constant payroll. Simblios is always working on the "next big project", and espionage from other states into Simblios frequently involves the crippling or halting of the Empire's next secret weapon or great ritual.

Ala Spirult
This young city lies within the Spirult Valley, amidst the vast Towering Forest. Ala Spirult gained it's industrial technologies and factory functionality largely through underground dealings with Mundrung, with which it maintains a cordial relationship. Ala Spirult has very little in the way of monumental or beautiful architecture- it is a well-planned, clean, neat, but uninspiring town, with an industrious, hard-working populace. Ala Spirult is know for having the finest trainyards north of the Pangloss Mountains.
Ala Spirult is ruled by the Democratic Council, a group of 40 representatives (one from each neighborhood of Ala Spirult) who meet twice a year to produce laws.

Mundrung
Mundrung lies in the cradle of the north, amidst dark, chilly pine forests, where the sky is always overcast, and the craggy mountains roil with mist. Mundrung is a large city (it is often fancied "the Giant of the North") who's culture is a synthesis of old and new- much of Mundrung's populace is part of the Anteknophelii, a philosophical movement which rejects much of the technology and machina of the world. Thus, Mundrung is home to both huge timber halls and great clockwork towers, bearded mountain men and goggled alchemists, and has a reputation as a wild and somewhat lawless city. Mundrung is the unofficial leader of a small group of northern states, and has the largest rail network of any of them (though in the lawless north, train robberies are a frequent problem).
Mundrung is currently ruled by King Agrul II of the House of Viblust. The Viblust Dynasty has ruled Mundrung for a very long time, and many anticipate that, as Agrul still has not produced an heir with his chill and fruitless wife (a woman of the South), he will be the last of them.

CREATE A RACE!

#17

Maggot, I'm stealin' your idea!

I invite everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, to create a new race for my steampunk setting.
But wait before you post, because I have guidelines.

The GUIDELINES!

1. It Must Be Strange, But Not Too Strange
This seems contradictory, but let me explain: I want new, unique, strange stuff that will make people say "Hey, cool, that's new." I want stuff that's unusual- tall fly-men with human bodies and faces but with compound eyes, fly wings, and long probosci; worm-people in which the males are just giant grubs with human faces, while the women are human-looking but with bizarre genitalia; vine-folk with long, thin bodies made of thorny vines; feathery, humpbacked crow-folk; two-faced (not two-headed) beings... These are the kinds of things I want.
But keep in mind, that nothing too strange- I don't want any walking spiky barrels, or giant tentacle bundles. Nothing psionic, or two-bodies-one-individual types, and I don't want any repackaged lizardmen or anthropomorphic types. I can do that on my own.
As for the race's origin... Nothing extradimensional. Aliens, I could probably work with. But nothing from "the Ethereal Plane" or what-have-you.

2. It Must Fit
It can't be something that is something really out-of-sync with the rest of the setting. It has too fit in, at least somehow, in some way. This ties in with the above.

3. Not Too Powerful
Not too many crazy powers. It's fine if the race can see in the dark, crawl on walls, fly short distances, breath water (I'd enjoy aquatic races), talk with their minds maybe, other stuff of that nature...
No superhero-ish powers, no psionics (like I said), no supermagic, no instant killage.

4. I Have Final Say
I have the final say on your race- I will decide whether or not to include it, and if I want to keep the race but change a detail or two, I'll do it (unless you object stridently and give me a good reason).

So... If you're hankering to make a race, why not submit to help me out?

Centas Development and Ideas

#18

Just a few scattered ideas:

Is technology inherently separate from magic, or are they seen as parts of a greater whole? That is, technology can be seen as a type of magic (as in Midian), or magic can be a type of science (as in Full Metal Alchemist).

The church need not be opposed to technology. In the Meat World, the survival of older knowledge through the Dark Ages was in large part to the preservation and study of priests and monks. Granted, things got a bit wonky in that respect later on... However, traditionally the Catholic Church has supported the study of science, and was (and still is) aiding scholars and scientists in their studies. Any monotheistic religion that believes it's deity created the universe is likely to see the study of science as learning more about their god. In this setting, that could mean that the church has many brilliant inventors and scientists, and a cadre of the best mercenaries donated money can buy.

As for what weapons to focus upon, look to the pc's. Here is where munchkin players have a vital role as fleshing-out agents in game design. If they all gravitate exclusively towards big mecha, you don't need to worry about personal weapons as much, or you should scale back the power level of mechs. Similarly, if you want swords & axes to still be viable weapons--and the munchkins use those only as back-up weapons, then you need to rebalance things.

For a race, I propose aquatic people.

The first species is vertebrate and humanoid. They are friendlier and more likely to trade with other city-states. In appearance they are tall and lanky, with light greenish-grey skin, webbed digits, and dark, sunken, unblinking eyes. Large gills frame either side of their long necks. They are exclusively aquatic, and will "drown" in air. They utilise special sealed armour that holds and aerates water. As an alternative, a harness or even implants can serve the same role. In personality, they are known as a laconic and frustratingly patient people. Terse replies and long pauses are the norm for them.

The second species is an aquatic vegetable. Their form is completely non-humanoid, and a human not familiar with them may not even realise that they are sentient. They are not an industrially gifted people, but make delicate and artistic--if strange--artefacts. Even common tools are oddly attractive, with visual motion--it "flows"--in whatever direction force is applied via that tool. What they lack in heavy industry, they make up for in long study. Their mages have decades-long apprenticeships, with the master-apprentice bond never fully broken.

Centas Development and Ideas

#19

Just a suggestion,Kinslayer,but you might want to move your ideas for a race to a similar thread in the Flesh It Out section where the other race entries have been submitted.

Centas Development and Ideas

#20

Religion: I like the idea of a monotheistic religion for once, perhaps, but as is my wont, if I did do so, it would be a mystical and esoteric religion, with heavy use of ritual, with masked priests and secret hymnbooks and such.

Another idea is using the Enlightenment Deism- a god who created the universe, and then walked away- a distant, unknowable creator, so distant, in fact, that it might as well not even matter.

But in regards to religion, I want to stay away from the same old pantheism.

okay
Lets take a couple of things and put it together.
-A pseudomedieval steampunk setting, somewhat along the lines Steam-armored knights with electrified stormswords battle a Renaissance-Italy style sinister Merchant's Guild, with horrible mechanical-undead monsters and dark magic. And Undead are the major bad things...

This should bring us to :
An old church... with a deep and mysterious single deity. He who created everything. His twin is the balancing force of the universe. (Hmmm. How Mithric...) Things should follow his plan... the way things always have been.

The One Grand Church: It will have tons of history, ritual, and mystery. So each day is a saint's day, there are various ritual seasons, tons of obscure holidays and a few regular ones. (masked priests and odd languages inserted here.) There are various sects inside the church, just like there was various order inside the Catholic Church. Sects all have similar beliefs, but differ on quibbling points and emphasis of certain matters of philosphy. Rather than having Reformation, there are various sects of the Church whos popularity ebb and flow. (So there will be strict sects, their will be liberal sects, there will be sects inbetween).

The church also supported the Divine Right of rulership. That those that had the Mantle of Heaven were required by The Deity to be rulers. When someone was unworthy, it was the right, nay the responsibility of the choosen to take the Mantle from those that had it before. So until recently, they supported the Kings, nobles, and feudal-esk system. (In many ways they still do)

Remember that their may be nobles who rule, but the merchant houses have the money... thus the real power. Nobles play the houses off each other to improve their own power.

The dominant (old) view: Deity and his plans were unknowable to material beings. We simply had to have faith that The Deity's plan is good and just.

Of course, the Deity's twin is his opposition. Without the Dark surrounding it, there is now way for light to exist. So without his twin, there is now seperation for him to create with. The Deity was trying to help his twin to achieve an equal skill in making and give the twin knowledge of way of the world, but his twin is rejecting that help to "do it on his own". He is jelous of his brother's brilliance and people's adoration of him. So he created his own elements to place in the brother's universe. These are dark elements, lesser corruptions of what The Deity made. He is the source of demons, monsters, and broken things.

Hubris is now a serious sin in most sect's view

There was probably a sect of "balance" inside the church, worshiping "The Dark Twin" equally. It became a large and powerful sect. That sect probably fell to corruption. It started the Dark Wars, which lead to all the zombies and undead.

A few people probably received the Dark One's Gift. These Thanes, uberpowerful magic users, set themselves up as lords.. taking apart the existing kingdoms and making their own landscape. (In fact they had taken up the Mantle of Heavens.) In the begining this seemed very "in line" with The One Grand Church doctrine, especially since Sects of Balance and Dark Twin were popular. Thane rule fell into madness (as each one seeked to fufill their own depraved needs), thus changing the world to fit their desires, and paranoia of the other Thanes. Big War between the Thanes. This provided the motivation for people to rebel. Since straight magic was the providence of the Thanes, other applications were needed. This lead to the steam powered technomagic which has lead to the revolution. The Power of the Thanes is broken. The Dark Twin is now seen as the "bad guy"/ poor relative he used to be. and the church trundles on.

There are still those that venerate the Dark Twin, hoping to be granted Thane or subthane status. They just do such in secret.

Most Sects are still Old View. They oppose all this change and technology. They want things back the way they were, as technology reminds them of the Dark Thane Wars.

The new view is similar to The Enlightenment's Clockwork Deity. God was seen as creating the universe with specific laws and intricately put together parts, winding it up, then just watching it from there. Involved in the begining, knows what should happen, but is not involved in the day to day happening. The things of his twin are the dirt in the works, resistance, wear of the parts, etc. The Deity will occasionally fix these things.

The church is having a schism between these two views, and the churches general anagonism to technology and change.

Your thoughts?

Centas Development and Ideas

#21

Kinslayer:
Your races have officially been stolen, and will fit in nicely with Maggot's up-coming snapping-turtle-people.
The humanoid ones are smooth-skinned and lack nostrils, and their gills fan out around their necks like widely-flaring, wing-looking collars.

I find both the science-as-magic and magic-as-science interesting ideas, but I think that having science considered magical is something that fits better in Ageratos than in this setting. So for all intents and purposes, sorcerors in this setting are scientists.

I'm getting to Moon's right away, but it seems like I'll probably yank his ideas.

The Faith

#22

The people of the Hundred refer to their religion simply as the Faith.
Simply put, the Faith is the worship of the Deity (or God; the Deity is favored in official texts, while God is favored in common discussion) as the principle of rightness (note that it is rightness, not necessarily goodness; the Faithful hold goodness as a quality of perception, while rightness is an absolute quality) in the world.
The Deity is opposed and reflected by the Shadow Himself (also called the Demiurge, the Dark One or Dark Twin, or simply the Shadow) who is the principle of wrongness (not necessarily evil) in the world (though worshippers of the Shadow see it somewhat differently).

The Deity (along with the Shadow Himself, who was the shadow cast by the Deity at the beginning of time) stood at the start of ages and observed the emptiness. Seeking to fulfill the emptiness within him, the Deity forged the world from the bone and flesh of his right arm. Mortals often percieve the things which God has made as good.
The Shadow Himself, seeing the Deity's creation, became jealous. He reasoned (correctly, some say) that he, as twin to God, was equal, and was as entitled to create. So he asked the Deity to show him how to create. God took the Shadow over the world and tried to teach him how to create, how to make rightness. But the Shadow didn't want to follow God like an emulator, and wished, instead, to do things his way. So the Shadow took the bone and flesh of his left arm and created his own elements, which entered the world, and which are often percieved by mortals as evil.

Centas Development and Ideas

#23

How's that for a start, Moon?

Adventure Log: The Sart

#24

I'm trying something new...
I'm going to store the info from my campaign here.
Right now, all they've done is create characters and then recieve a job, but I'm keeping you all filled in.

The Heroes
Thus far, there are two. Both are trained warriors with a small amount of previous adventuring experience. Please keep in mind that I am very open-minded when it comes to starting equipment, but don't allow very powerful items (clockwork or magical).

Bamph
Bamph is a quick warrior who fights to overwhelm his foes. Born in Little Baundero, a client-city of the great state of Simblios, Bamph left his home with his father in search of work in Simblios. While his father found work in a factory producing strange eating utensils for undersea races, Bamph went on to gain a minor half-degree in Combat Philosophy.
Bamph is tall, pale, and brown-haired with high cheekbones. He wears a suit of armor he likes to call his "fencing plate", a close-fitting leather suit with thin plates of light metal covering it. He wields a rapier in combat (it suits his bold style), and has a double-barrelled flintlock in store when he cannot get close enough (which is a rare occurence). He also possesses a telestethon, an combined telescope-listening-device tool for espionage.

Baudolino
Baudolino is a dead-aim gunfighter. Raised in the slums of Simblios, he has a very forward and abrasive manner (though some would say he was simply rude). He ran with a street gang until the age of 19, when he departed Simblios for 2 years to learn from the Flintlock Monks in the Pangloss Mountains, where he learned his amazing gun skills.
Baudolino is olive-skinned and black-haired, with a hawk nose. He wears a knee-length greatcoat and high leather boots which were both gifts from his gang upon his departure. He constantly carries his binocular goggles around his forehead. His armaments are many- his favored weapons are a dual set of flintlocks. He also carries his trusty throwing axe, and a heavy broadsword. On his wrist he wears a round shield reinforced with iron.

The Hook

Baudolino (returning for the first time to Simblios in 2 years) and Bamph (already searching for employment) were strangers, but met each other when both arrived at an interview with the Procurator of Security of the Simblios Guild of Business.
Striding in from the vast campus of the Business Guild grounds, the two adventurers eyed each other suspiciously as they stood in the ornate and baroque entry chamber.
The receptionist rose to greet them and queried them on their purpose in the Guild Security Office, to which both replied that they were here for the interview about the job.
The receptionist led Bamph and Baudolino into the depths of the Security Office, through ornately-decorated, gold-leafed halls, to a large and baroque dining room, with alcoves filled with pre-steam armor and strange sculptures, and a long mahogany table.
They were led to the opposite end (here left the receptionist), where they met their employer, Mr. Tunuestorm.
Mr. Tunuestorm was a truly digusting individual- if there had been a deity of Fat, this would be the man. Having at least eight chins, his entire bulk rippled as he spoke. As Bamph and Baudolino entered, he was, of course, eating (some sort of gravy-stewed monkey). He had a mirthful expression with small, piggy eyes.
Next to Tunuestrom sat a second man, dressed all in black. Even the lace at his throat was black; his buttons were black, his rings, and his collar and wristpieces, all black. His skin had a greyish pallor, his features severe and sharp, and his head was bald, and tattooed with swirling black and blue tattooes. He eyed the adventurers in a predatory manner.
As Bamph raised an eyebrow, and Baudolino looked on in open disgust, Tunuestorm said:
"Good day, gentlemen! It is good to see that such fine individuals have come for the appointment. Generally, those we hire are not as punctual as we would like. Your names?"
Baudolino and Bamph gave their names tersely.
"But in any case, allow me to introduce myself- I am Adholfr Tunuestorm. This is my associate, Professor Anz Breughlii, a scientist specializing in necromancy," Mr. Tunuestorm said, gesturing limply towards the pale, tattooed man.
"I suppose you should like to know the details of your employment? Well, then. The Shipping Clan (one of this Guild's more notable members) has recently recieved an extremely important and lucrative contract to transport a very secret object (and no, I shall not tell you what it is). The catch is, we cannot transport it by rail, nor by ship because our contractor requires it in an... unusual locale; and the contractor has forbidden us from taking it by air, for whatever reason. Thus, we must transport it overland by wagon; a vast bother.
"The area into which we are taking it is a wild area (dreadfully wild!) and is, unfortunately, rife with all manner of horrid beasts and probably bandits (those human rats).
"Thus we come to the point: we need guards for our wagon. And that is where you come in."
Mr. Breughlii passed a sheet of paper across the table. With a slight accent he said: "That will be your pay."
Bamph and Baudolino each looked at the paper. The olive-skinned man whistled appreciatively.
Thus began the journey of Bamph and Baudolino.

Ponderings

#25

Ok I love the steam punk idea, and strongly encourage all of you reading this to go find Newton's Cannon or The Calculus of Angels both of which are part of The Age of Unreason by J. Gregory Keyes. And I would like to know which books (if any) you are reading for ideas along these lines. (and is this going to become a game on one of the forums???? Please????)

Centas Development and Ideas

#26

Books I have thus far used for inspiration:
Jules Verne books
Iron Kingdoms campaign setting

AND MOST OF ALL...
Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council, all by China Mieville.

Adventure Log 2: Night Train to First Ambush

#27

This next section of the adventure was, once again, a short section (cut short by sleepiness in all parties involved), but more interesting (I think) by far than the first section.

Night Train

On their way out of the Guild Security Office, Baudolino and Bamph are made to sign contracts (neither read the fine print). They are then given instructions and two tickets- they are to catch the departing 9 o'clock train at Heiblin Street Station.

They immediately head to the nearest pub (Baudolino's idea), a suspect establishment bearing a sign that reads: "The Pig and Stethoscope". Baudolino takes the first table, and proceeds to recoil from hitting on the hideously deformed barmaid, who has an extra eyelid on her forehead. Bamph, on the other hand, disassociates himself from the rowdy gunslinger, but in the process strands himself at a table bearing a crowd only slightly less rough. Grumbling in peasant speech, (OOC: I use British accents for Simblians such as these, so the rich and well-born Mr. Tuneustorm speaks with a fine high-class British accent, while the factory workers and lowborn sellswords who frequent this tavern have thick Cockney speech) they do not take to him until he purchases them a round of ales.
While Baudolino proceeds to become progressively drunker and drunker, Bamph drinks sparingly, and notices an old, faded heliotype on the wall, hidden amidst the wafting clouds of smoke. He goes to examine it. The picture is dated roughly one-hundred years back, and shows the wreckage of the structure which stood before the Pig and Stethoscope, a tall towerblock apartment building which was destroyed in a great fire. The heliotype shows crowds of people, among them the crossbowmen and city guardsmen of the Lord Provost, examining the ashes and toppled bricks of the towerblock. But what really attracts Bamph's attention is a figure, standing and facing sideways to the heliotypist in the picture, who bears an exact likeness to one Professor Anz Breughlii (previously encountered in the Security Office), down to all-black clothing and tattooed scalp.

Several hours later, both adventurers exit the pub into the busy Simblios night, the raging drunk Baudolino leaning upon Bamph. The streets are lit by flickering gaslight, and overhead, aerostats and zeppelins soar, highrails squeal along steel cords, and shouts echo from the tops of buildings. Pushing through the vast crowds (headed to night-shifts at factories or to night markets), the two arrive at Heiblin Street Station just as vast crowds of Blauphagn folk searching for work disembark from the train. Boarding, they are led to seats in the finest seating car. Baudolino immediately falls asleep.

The Carriage

At about midnight, the train reaches the tiny stop where the two are to disembark. It is a miniscule thorp in the midst of rolling hill-lands in the Tar Epar Van (the vastly fertile lands to the north of Simblios), all shut up for the night, and dark, a crumbling old village of medieval half-timbered, hay-roofed houses. Moving down from the old, rickety train station, the alert Bamph and the bleary Baudolino move towards the central square.
In the square, a carriage awaits them, half-shrouded in the darkness. A group of figures converse in low tones next to it. Horses stamp, echoing through the little square. As the two adventurers approach, a man comes close, a scarred warrior of nondescript appearance, and asks if they are the last of the mercenaries to arrive (they answer yes).
Their luggage (with exception of the case in which Bamph carries his special fencing plate) is loaded onto the back of the carriage. Baudolino, exhausted, climbs the steps of the carriage, and is about to get in, when the door swings open, and a man inside, heavily armored, clicks the hammer of a flintlock in his face.
"I'm sorry, my good man, but that is far enough. My employers state that none are to see the cargo," the man says, waving Baudolino off. The man then shuts the carriage door, leaving Bamph and Baudolino to ride on the front seat with the driver. Other mercenaries walk or ride alongside.

The ride lasts a very long time. Traveling across rolling hills, down highways between the boughs of deep, silent forests, and up into the rocky foothills of the mountains, the carriage rolls on.
As they travel, Bamph, the more aware of the two, sometimes notices odd echoes, and sounds of movement which the others don't seem to notice, off in the woods to either side.

The First Ambush

The carriage begins it's ascent into the mountains. On a rutted track through deep forest, it rolls on. Bamph takes the time to strap on his fencing plate, while Baudolino catches much-needed rest.

Suddenly, as the carriage rolls up the mountain track, musket shots ring out, and steel balls fly from the eaves of the forest to the road's right. It is an ambush! The carriage is immediately and desperately forced to a stop and the mercenaries drop down into defensive positions, loading muskets and pistols. Baudolino, awakened by the shots, follows his first instinct and clumsily leaps from the coach-seat, falling to the dirt and rolling down underneath the carriage, while Bamph crouches in the footwell of the seat and loads his double-barrelled pistol.
Baudolino, utilizing his binocular goggles (the lenses roll on gears into place) picks out green-clad armsmen amidst the forest eaves, nimbly avoiding the returning fire of the guards of the carriage. Preparing a shot, he takes close aim, and fires a dead-eye blast which is spoiled at the last moment by a ducking movement on the part of the target. Bamph, shooting in the dark, as it were, fires the first shot from his double-barrel, blasting one of the ambushers from it's feet.
There is a ring of steel, and from the other side of the forest, green-clad warriors with broadswords and axes assault from the weaker-defended side.

Responding with absolute celerity, Bamph acrobatically flips from the coach-seat, landing and drawing his rapier with a flourish. He meets the first attacker with a wild slash across the throat, and the second with a proficient stab. Nearly missed by a chopping attack, he snaps his blade towards a third fighter, when, as if by an invisible signal, the green-clad attackers retreat, both gunmen and warriors, melting into the wood and leaving the defenders of the carriage to wonder what has happened.

Centas Development and Ideas

#28

Ideas percolating through the setting:

-Based on MoonHunter's idea of the Thanes and the Dark Worshippers-
The Faith has always had three basic sects: the basic, largest sect reveres the Deity, basking in his light and rightness; the much smaller Balance Sect believes that one must maintain a balance between the Deity's rightness and the wrongness of the Shadow Himself; and the Darkened Ones (as they are called by others) believe roughly the opposite of the main religion (though they do not "worship" the Shadow Himself per se). The original empire or kingdom which preceded the Hundred was dismantled by the (insert fancy name) Wars, in which the Darkened Ones, made much more powerful and influential due to great turmoil within the empire (chaos and turmoil causes humans to re-evaluate their views; take for instance, the shift from Hellenic to Hellenistic periods in ancient Greece), began to take over the empire, and the Light Ones fought back with force.
The war raged for about one-hundred years, until the power of both sides was broken. The Balance Sect decided that the Darkened Ones had caused too much destruction in their search for power, and joined with the Light Ones, driving the Darkened Ones forever from the empire.
The Darkened Ones fled across the Southern Sea to the harsh twilight land of which little is known, where they became worshipped as gods by the natives and created a Dark Empire which is still there (think Sith Empire from the Star Wars Expanded Universe; if you know nothing about it, look it up in Wikipedia).
Meanwhile, it was too late to stop the destabilization of the Empire, which collapsed into civil war. In order to safeguard their interests, each major city of the empire essentially became it's own state. Filling the power vacuum, there rose Merchant Guilds, fat from the business garnered by the long wars, both Light v. Dark and Civil (war is good for business, no matter what you might have heard).

Regarding the Darkened Ones...

#29

Things I want to save in this thread for later use...

"...Rivers of dark stars
Falling shadows dropping across
Stones of fearful ancientness
There fled the Darkened Ones
Fleeing light, fleeing visions
To dwell forever in shadows
Barren lands where they were upheld
By a thousand souls
And died
And were buried
But did not die..."
-The Book of Ages, Fourth History

Naytroch: the greatest of the burial temples which the people of the Dark Empire build for their masters

Thanes: Warrior/sorceror/priests of the Dark Order; think of them as Sith.

the Dark Lord; Lord of Darkness; Lord of Shadows: Traditional title which refers to the leader of the Dark Order. If the Thanes are Sith, the Dark Lord is (predictably) the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Nagruspech: The Dark Empire's language, a corrupted and twisted counterpart to Auruspex, the language of the Faith (and "common tongue" of the Hundred).

Auruspex

#30

Auruspex is the Holy Tongue, the language of the Faith, spoken by the masked priests of the Deity in temples throughout the Hundred, and also by the merchants, the commercial leaders, the travelers, the ambassadors. In many ways, Auruspex is root, master, and common tongue of the Hundred, one of many threads of culture which bind together the disparate city-states.

Linguistically, Auruspex is a dead language, which, in it's ecclesiastical form (called High or Classic Auruspex), is a highly complex, tonal language. It is a great skill to be proficient in the so-called Nine Tones of Auruspex, which are used to conjugate, create deeper meaning, tell words apart, and provide proper respect. Every word in a High Auruspex sentence is conjugated according to subject (subject conjugations are person, place, object, animal, concept), time (past, present, future), number of subjects, and the percieved social station of the one being spoken to. It is extremely difficult to learn, and much of the learning which young priests undergo within the Hieratical Academies is in learning this very formal and strange tongue. Classic Auruspex might be described as being similar to a mixture of Chinese, Latin, and modern Italian, with strange clicking noises mixed in, and a very nasal quality.
However, Common Auruspex (the common tongue of the Hundred), Vulgar Auruspex, the Merchant's Tongue, the Speech of the People, is a much simpler language, a broken-down, detonalized, phonetically-simplified version of High Auruspex, filled with loanwords and odd slang, a soup-pot of words which slowly changes through the years.

An very small example of Auruspex:
I/Me: High- Apuen (tone 2), Common- Afin
You: High- Itdi (tone 1), Common- It
He/She: High- Tlogna/Tloi (tone 5/tone 3), Common- Telo/Telai
We: High- Aptaccits (tone 1), Common- Abtas
All of you: High- Itdimiu (tone 8 ), Common- Ityima
They/Them: High- Tlognanis/Tlois (tone 5/tone 3), Common- Telon/Telais

Yes: High- Tccaotsets (literally, "it is so"; tone 9), Common- Techos
No: High- Tccaotseim (literally, "not so"; tone 9), Common- Techom

Centas Development and Ideas

#31

RETCONS!
Retcons are fun. They let you weave together your world out of older mistakes. Thus, retcons!

Khossus-Pangloss Mountains
The previously mentioned Pangloss Mountains are the northern branch of the Khossus Mountains, which (like the Rocky Mountains of North America or the Alps) cross the continent.

Magic and Science
The border between magic and science must be better defined. Therefore:
Magic is the express domain of priests (and sorcerors, though these were mostly killed off during the war against the Thanes). It is complex, ritual magic, which is powerful but slow.
Science is the domain of scientists, alchemists, and others like that. It is science as we know it, but in this world it may achieve effects which we might call "magical"- a machine that bends time, a device for creating the undead, a giant steam-powered armor, an electric stormsword.

Centas Development and Ideas

#32

HELP ME!

I'm calling out for aid here. I know everybody's busy, and I know we all have other projects, but I'm floundering in ideas here, and I can't get anything together the way I like it, and I need somebody to give me a help-out. Moon, Echo, Maggot, anybody!

Centas Development and Ideas

#33

Well,Captain,I'd be more than glad to help you out,but what kind of ideas are you looking for exactly? I do have one,but I'm not sure if you'd like it.

Centas Development and Ideas

#34

Just throw it out there.
Anything, any ideas to give me some focus.

PENGUIN NEEDS FOCUS!

Centas Development and Ideas

#35

Ok,here goes:Ages ago,one of the surviving Dark Thanes of power was ousted from the ranks of his vile order when he sought to destroy the others in his bid to become strongest than the very Shadow itself. When defeated by the might of the Dark Lord himself,he fled to avoid the wrath of the other Thanes,and roamed the world in search of a new bastion from which he could launch another bid for unrivalled power.

Recently,in the city state of Cammart,there has been talk that the High Senator Haran will soon be elected as the head of the Senate by his fellow Senators sitting on the Council. Though widely respect for his agressive purges against those in the thrall of the Shadow and his shrewd counsel,he is something of an engima to the people,his orgins lost in obscurity. 50 years ago,he arrived at the gates of the city,begging refuge from foes out to slay him. Taking pity on him,the Council agreed to let him to become a resident. In the years that followed,he gained the trust of the people with his intelligence and courage,evantually winning the right to be a citizen,and with it,the ability to be elected to high office.

Meanwhile,something vast and evil stirs in the city's bowels. Summoned from a realm of darkness,it hungers to consume the one that has torn it from it's slumber. But while the power of the spell lingers,it can do naught but patiently awaite the command of the summoner..

(Just in case you got a little lost,Senator Harnan is the renegade Dark Thane. And he's also the guy who summoned the beast from that other realm.)

Centas Development and Ideas

#36

Interesting... Technically, you can't really be more powerful than the Shadow of God, but everyone can hope...

I like it!
So evil, even the Thanes are repelled... But what could he be summoning?

Centas Development and Ideas

#37

Well,think of it as an extremely maloveant thing of awesome power that is endowed with the ability to devour any of the Dark Thanes,even the Dark lord himself. The essence of Dark magik,nourishes it the way fresh meat does a starving dog.

As for what it is exactly,I'll leave it up to you. Your fertile imagination should be able to come up with something suitably Love Craftian.

Centas Development and Ideas

#38

Here's another idea:A powerful merchant guild,the Company runs its own army and state. Armed with the most advanced weapons anywhere,they will not hesitate to crush any who stand in the way of their ambition. Currently,the High Executive,elected by his fellow merchants of the Guild as it's chief official,has decided to construct a massive road running through most of the Towering Forest. This has angered the leaders of Arul Spirult who realize that the construction of such a road would mean result in a great loss of commercial travel on the railways they run. Woving to deal out a bloody nose to the Guild if it dares to go ahead with it's arrogant desicion,it has readied it's warriors for the evantuality of war with the armies of the Guild..

Centas Development and Ideas

#39

Interesting.
That's even better.
Good ideas, Maggot! :)
Did I ever tell you you were a genius?

Centas Development and Ideas

#40

Er,not until now,Captain,but thank you for saying such a nice thing I gotta admit that your compliment has left me a little amazed. Genius is a indeed a great honor,one for I which assumed I had a long way to go,in order to reach it. :)