Waitingnomad
2013-06-01, 02:12 PM
Here we are: this is my homebrewed clock/steampunk world, for use in my own campaign of over-the-top dramatic swashbuckling, larger-than-life villains with twirling moustaches, airships and sky pirates. This provides information on setting, history locations and the major factions at play. Any advice on how to improve what I've got, what I could add or any other constructive input would be greatly appreciated. Will update as new stuff is added.
Setting: The City States of Ornys (and associated territories)
It is now the year 617; 617 years after the discovery of the Great Singularity Engine that spurred the rapid technological expansion now seen across the whole of Ornys. No one quite knows how it came to occur- perhaps the device was activated by a fated individual, whose name is long lost, or by the experiments of an unknown wizard, but 617 years ago, what is now the city of Caelestis rose from the earth, bound by chains of unknown origin. What is known is that the city was that to the knowledge of all, the city and its foundations were never there to begin with; the ground below bears no great chasm, and the chains holding it in place appear to descend into the earth endlessly. Archaeologists and investigative teams flocked to the floating rock in their masses to discover the origin of such an incredible occurrence; Arcane scholars have hypothesised that the city materialised from another plane; perhaps to escape from war? It is unknown. But deep within the city was found a vast device of clicking gears and intricate mechanisms- and in the centre of which lay a great brass sphere. This was the Singularity Engine; a device of seemingly perpetual motion and energy, somehow harnessed by an advanced civilisation to produce the energy needed to lift this giant rock. It is unknown who first discovered it; too many have laid claims to such a feat for the truth to ever be discerned, but as more and more people flocked to the site, a city was formed below; Luto.
Due to the huge traffic in the area, Luto developed trade and crafting districts to service the visitors, and at the same time having either discovered all they could, or driven away by the powerful houses vying for control over the site, the archaeologists dissipated. Pilgrims began migrating into the area, some seeing the rock as a sign from their god, and eventually something of a cult began to develop, in worship of the Singularity Engine, naming themselves the Cult of the Machine. These citizens gave the rock a name: Caelestis, the Heavenly City, or the City of the Sky. Powerful academic organisations attempted to suppress this new cult, whilst at the same time competing to construct observation centres around the floating rock to learn the secrets of the Engine. Rich aristocrats began constructing estates in its centre to display their affluence, and other rich and powerful individuals soon followed as it began to develop into a symbol of status. Trade organisations bought into Caelestis, gaining land of their own from which to study the Engine and develop their own technologies based upon it, and craftsmen and artisans came with them. The wealthy aristocrats, disliking that they were sharing the city with the Organisations and their merchants and craftsmen, constructed walls about their estates, sectioning themselves off from the others and creating what came to be known as the Inner Circle. After a time, the City of Caelestis was born.
At the same time, it was discovered that just as Caelestis had appeared, seemingly from nowhere and carrying incredible technologies, other colossal floating sections of land began to be sighted about Ornys, and they too soon found themselves colonised. Utilising the technologies of the Engines, new technologies entered development based upon them; airships were created, bearing smaller facsimile Engines. These newer Engines manifested themselves in many different forms, none able to match the majesty of the original but with new schools of thought developing around the best methods of replicating them. Some made use of bound elementals, tethered to the core of the ship to generate enough energy to drive the powerful steam engines fixed around the ship, whilst some preferred instead to utilise mechanical ships, managed by delicate clockwork mechanisms and powerful chemical batteries infused with magical energies, all reverse-engineered from the intricate clockwork servos found within the cities to power vast steam engines.
Completely lacking in any form of centralised government, the governing powers of Ornys are consolidated in the 5 Great city states. Each is effectively a country in its own right, with its own laws, traditions, customs and specialties. Ornys is in the midst of a technological revolution; engineering has reached its peak and shows no signs of stopping, with new and wonderful technologies being created and researched with each passing day.
The Trade Organisations
Much of the power in Ornys is held by the 4 great trade organisations, governed by the shifting tides of business and trade. These are House Escher, Lockwood Company, The Mortlock Group and The Greyfield Institute.
The Lockwood Company
Lockwood Company was founded on the back of Marcellus Lockwood, a shrewd hand at both business and the sword. His rich father disgraced and dispossessed by a jealous rival, he seized the estate back for his own using nothing but a blade and a razor wit. A powerful and charismatic character, he rebuilt the estate into a large business, and now the Lockwood Company stands as one of the largest trade entities in Ornys, with shares and holdings in manufacturing, engineering, arms trading and, of course, airships. A family business, the Company remains in the family line with Marcellus’ great great grandson Thaddeus Lockwood- the Lockwoods have always enjoyed long lives, and it is often said by any who’ve seen those of Lockwood blood that their genes must bear traces of elf.
House Escher
House Escher is another of the 4 great trade organisations of Ornys, and one of the only surviving High Houses of the Old World. Many of the old great noble houses found themselves destitute as the value of their lands degraded into worthlessness, with nautical shipping routes and trade caravans sinking in financial viability with painful swiftness as airships became more commonplace and technology developed; not House Escher. They adapted with a capability unknown to the rigid and traditional noble houses, and quickly found themselves rising in influence as they funded the development of new innovative airship designs, and leased ships to traders and Windwright Captains for expeditions to ancient ruins and exotic lands to bring in trade and patent revenue from across the entire continent. They have built the backbone of their company on the loaning of ships to private enterprises, taking a cut of revenue for themselves, and are always willing to fund an expedition if they see profit in it.
The Mortlock Group
The Mortlock Group are based in the nomadic city of Nün, and are formed of an old family of Gnomic engineers. They have championed advancements in airship technology, and brought forward the first viable patents for the mass-production of firearms, bringing with it vast revenue in patents. The development of cheap and exploitable technologies for trade and sale has consistently remained the core of their business ethic, and they are widely known as the go-to source for inexpensive and reliable firearms and other such equipment.
The Greyfield Institute
Established in the city of Caelestis by the Schola Mechanicam in an effort to produce the most cutting-edge of technologies before any other, in the name of knowledge and progress (and of course, to bring glory to the university), The Greyfield Institute has been responsible for some of the most important breakthroughs in engineering and mechanics in the entire continent. Much of their revenue is spent funding expeditions to newly discovered sites thought to contain material for new technology, so that they always remain on the cutting edge. They take only the best, and their products, whilst expensive, are renown for their incredible quality of craftsmanship and are guaranteed to be far ahead of their competitors.
Locations
Caelestis (City of the Sky)
Situated above the city of Luto, and is now home to aristocrats, wealthy merchants and artisans, universities and other relatively well-off members of society. Has two tiers; the upper circle which is home to the great universities and the estates of the aristocracy, and the lower circle, which is home to merchants, traders and artisans. Caelestis is held in place by gargantuan chains, reinforced with magic, and relies on Luto as a source of cheap labour and food. As the home of the Schola Mechanum, and the very first city in which an Engine was discovered, Caelestris holds a place as a pinnacle of progress and high society, possessing very strong ties to the Greyfield Institute.
Luto (The City of Dirt)
Populated with the lower classes, and home to common labourers, factory workers and poorer artisans that cannot afford to migrate to Caelestis. Luto is dark, dirty and crime-ridden; cast in the shadow of the city above, the wish of all citizens of Luto is to eventually reach the great city in the sky. Many harbour resentment towards the denizens of Caelestis, and such people rarely visit the city below for fear of being attacked and robbed. However, Luto is still host to many fantastic engineers and artisans, and you can be sure to find a bargain there wherever you look, though be wary of shifty salesmen. Whilst not a city state in its own right, it comes under the domain of Caelestis.
Brae
The city of Brae has seemed to go down a very different path to the other cities; they began as the others did, flocked with archaeologists and pilgrims, but without the influence of the Organisations to suppress religious worship of the Engines, the Cult of the Machine soared in influence. Originally composed of harmless pilgrims, the Cult descended into fanaticism when a mysterious individual by the name of Mortimer Gladwick started to preach within the city. Naming himself Patriarch, he closed the boarders to any by the faithful and established a hierarchy of Cardinals within the Cult, renaming themselves the Order of the Great Machine. Turning against progress, he declared that the use of Engine Technology, and the study of the Engines by anyone other than the church was heresy. Because of this, the common people of Brae are significantly behind the rest of Ornys whilst the Bishops and Cardinals enjoy lives of luxury in the High City. Groups of Servitors, mechanical humanoid warriors developed by the church, patrol the streets with Inquisitors searching for signs of heresy, executing any they find ‘defiling the will of the Great Machine’. From what can be gleaned of their doctrine, their ultimate aim is to return the city to the dimension from which it came, and thus ‘ascend into the arms of the Machine’. Due to their abhorrence of technology in the hands of those outside the church, they shun association with any Organisation.
Nün
Nün, the Nomadic city, floats freely through the sky and is sustained largely by trading with others. It is a free city, devoid of any real central rule and populated with airship pilots and sky pirates (who rarely make their home here, but stop off often to trade stories) and many, many taverns. Nün is also home to vast engineering district that trades in spare parts and airships, as well as constantly developing ways of improving them. Whilst the Mortlock Group holds the greatest power in Nün, all Organisations have significant presence here, and Nün is a veritable hub of trade with all other cities. It is where fortunes are made and broken, and a common destination for those seeking to gain work with the Organisations. The native population primarily consists of gnomes, with a smaller number of humans and dwarves who come to apprentice themselves to the airship artisans. Many old airship captains also make their home here after retirement, having grown to love the hustle and bustle of the free city, and can often be found in local taverns trading stories of
Ysor
Often called The City of Brass, Ysor is one of the greatest testaments to the craft of the machinist in all of Ornys. When it was discovered, a vast number of clockwork servitors were found with it, maintaining the mechanisms of the Engine. Their design and their tools were used as blueprints for the development of further devices for use in engineering Engine Technologies, and led to the creation of ServoSuits- clockwork exoskeletons that enhanced the strength of the wearer, whilst also providing incredible fine motor dexterity These creations allowed machinists to move heavy apparatus with ease, as well as manipulate smaller mechanisms and gears with greater precision. Machinists, inventors and engineers flocked in their masses to admire the fantastically intricate mechanisms of this cities Engine, and it soon became renown as a city of progress. The population consists mostly of those drawn to study the mechanisms of the Engine, and the creators and designers of new mechanisms- this is perhaps the most advanced city in Ornys, and residents enjoy an unusually high common standard of living- however entry is often restricted to those who have something to offer.
Praba
Praba is situated far in the south of Ornys, and concerns itself mostly with the study of the magical workings of the Engine. Sometimes called the Purple City, due to its strong ties to House Escher, Praba welcomes all who pursue knowledge and is home to many artisans and scholars. House Escher often funds expeditions from Praba to discover other potential sites of technology and artifacts, and have brought much prosperity to the city as a result. Because of this, many Prabans feel a strong affinity to the House and often speak highly of it. Praba is also home to the Academy of Artifice, an institute dedicated to the research and development of new magical devices, and educators of many of Ornys’ finest artificers. Praba also remains one of the last cities in Ornys with an interest in the arcane outside of its application to technologies, and as such is typically the point of origin for conventional spellcasters and battlemages. Such forms of magic have become uncommon in most of Ornys over the years, as mundane and magical technology has risen to replace the functions performed by spellcasting, and as such these Prabans can be viewed as a bit backward by the more technologically aligned northern cities.
Lockmoor
Perhaps the most unusual of the cities, Lockmoor is an entirely artificial city named after the original Lockwood Estate. Powered by over one hundred facsimile Engines all intricately connected by a network of servos, pistons and pipes to colossal steam engines keeping the city aloft. Whilst still gigantic, Lockmoor is nothing like the size of the other cities, and requires constant attendance by machinists and clockwork Servitors to maintain the systems. Lockmoor is the base of operations for the Lockwood Company, and a major trade hub between cities, housing important members of the Company, their greatest machinists and inventors, and perhaps most importantly, the Great Shipyard; a vast district dedicated to the construction and development of airships, all under the direction of Thaddeus Lockwood. Whilst a common stopping point for accredited airship captains, it is the stuff of legend for aspiring machinists and engineers hoping to work alongside the greatest minds in Ornys on the next series of airships.
Heroes and Famous Figures
Like any world, Ornys has its own fair share of heroes and mysterious figures of legend and folklore.
Bartholomew Clarke
The “High Caliber Consecrator”; a character so enshrined in legend that he is spoken about in hushed whispers to keep naughty children in line. Said to be the High Inquisitor of the Order of the Machine, merely the mention of his name brings cold shivers down the neck of any citizen of Brae- the bane of machinists and inventors, he is rarely found without a gun in his hand, wandering the streets of Brae hunting for heresy. Some say he was once the chief enforcer of Mortimer Gladwick himself, and even now still carries out ‘special missions’ in foreign cities, eliminating opponents of the Order. According to these legends, both he and Gladwick must be over 600 years old- no small feat for a human, and legends about his being half-man and half machine are traded in hushed whispers between the citizens of Brae.
Isaac Gaskel
A legendary machinist, he worked hand in hand with Marcellus Lockwood himself to produce the first ever airship to grace the skies. Now long dead, machinists to this day invoke his blessing over their craft, and statues of him can be found across all the great city states of Ornys, excepting, of course, Brae.
Cornelius Ellicott-Forscythe
Captain Cornelius Ellicott-Forscythe of the airship Windy Rose; a dashing figure of romance and swashbuckling adventure, subject of tales to make the ladies swoon and the young boys cheer. Feller of the seven-headed dragon priests, seducer of the of the beautiful and exotic Princess Samara, enemy of sky pirates and hero of the people, airship captains often swear by him. So many tales have been traded about his wild adventures that it is no longer known which are true and which aren’t, but his romantic adventures across the sky are loved, if not always believed, by all.
Esmerelda Nightingale
Elven pirate princess and enemy of the skies, if legend is to be believed then she has claimed more vessels than an entire armada for her vast hoard of treasure. He flag bears a black thorned rose, a parody of the Lockwood crest. Some say she was once in love with Marcellus Lockwood, but he tossed her aside for another woman and she forever vowed to hunt him from the skies in revenge, and her exploits are as legendary as those of Captain Cornelius.
Patriarch Mortimer Gladwick
The Patriarch of the Order of the Machine, and the one who transformed them from a harmless cult to a fanatical institution. Nothing is known about his history, but he is said to be older than Brae itself. His doctrines claim all the technology of the Engines for his Order, and his fanaticism has lead to the deaths of many potentially brilliant machinists.
Deities/Religions
All core deities exist within Ornys, but worship of them is very rarely, if ever, practiced. The Old Faiths have all but died out in Ornys at this point, and followers of these deities from foreign lands are often looked upon with suspicion or incredulity. The closest thing Ornys has to a national religion is the worship of The Machine.
The Machine
Domains: Artifice, Travel, Knowledge, Time
Worship of The Machine manifests itself in two primary forms; The Order of the Machine and the Cult of the Machine. The Machine itself is not an actual deity (although most of those who worship it believe it is), and as such cannot be communed with or contacted as can a conventional deity. The Machine can however grant domain powers, which manifest themselves through sheer force of belief in its deism, rather than though granting powers to devotees. The Machine is believed to have granted the Engines to man, and belief in The Machine is by far the most common form of religion, active or passive, in Ornys.
The Cult of the Machine
The oldest form of worship of The Machine, founded very close to the initial discovery of the Engines, placing it at approximately 610-615 years old. The Cult is a very passive religion, and lacks any centralised authority. Because of this, there are numerous different forms of belief within the Cult, linked only loosely by a shared faith in The Machine. The Cult of the Machine in all its forms is the most common religion in Ornys, almost to the exclusion of all others. Some see The Machine as an actual extraplanar deity, who actively works in the world and watches over machinists, engineers and similar. They believe that The Machine created the Engines, and delivered them to Ornys as a gift to mankind so that he may learn and grow closer to heaven.
Others believe that The Machine is a personified intelligence within the Engines- something of a shared machine spirit that lives within mechanisms and artifice. This is the most common form of faith in The Machine amongst artificers machinists and engineers, who will often invoke the blessing of the machine spirit over their work, and can often be heard thanking the spirit when their devices work, or apologising to the spirit when they drop or break mechanical devices.
The Order of the Machine
Founded by the Patriarch Mortimer Gladwick in Brae, the Order of the Machine provides a centralised, hierarchal institution surrounding the worship of The Machine, and followers of the Order’s way are often fanatical in their pursuits. Worship in this form is practiced almost exclusively within Brae, and is the second oldest form of worshiping The Machine, coming into force approximately 30 years after the discovery of Brae, placing it at around 590 years old. The Order is lead by Mortimer Gladwick, who is still believed to be alive, and his cadre of Cardinals and Bishops who rule from the Higher City. Established members of the priesthood are afforded special privileges; namely, the right to own and use machinery. As such, they often enjoy much greater standards of living than the general populace, to whom such technologies are banned; ownership and operation of technology outside of the Order is considered heresy, and is punished severely. It is not uncommon to see Inquisitors roaming the streets accompanied with Servitors to ‘sniff out’ illegal technology and destroy it, or claim it for the Order. Entry and exit from Brae is heavily regulated by the Order, and it is largely avoided by the rest of Ornys.
The Order holds that The Machine is the creator of all technology and machinery, having sent the Engines to Ornys to allow His faithful to ascend to heaven and join Him. As such, attempts to create machines of ones own, or to reverse-engineer the technology of the Engines is an act of defiling His holy creation if one is not of The Machine’s chosen. It is thought that the ultimate aim of the Order is to discover the home plane of the Engines, and construct a vast device that will transport the faithful to ‘ascend’ and join The Machine. Followers of the Order’s way are viewed with great suspicion outside of Brae, and are often thought of as untrustworthy, or as spies and members of the inquisition sent out to the other cities to gather information.
Setting: The City States of Ornys (and associated territories)
It is now the year 617; 617 years after the discovery of the Great Singularity Engine that spurred the rapid technological expansion now seen across the whole of Ornys. No one quite knows how it came to occur- perhaps the device was activated by a fated individual, whose name is long lost, or by the experiments of an unknown wizard, but 617 years ago, what is now the city of Caelestis rose from the earth, bound by chains of unknown origin. What is known is that the city was that to the knowledge of all, the city and its foundations were never there to begin with; the ground below bears no great chasm, and the chains holding it in place appear to descend into the earth endlessly. Archaeologists and investigative teams flocked to the floating rock in their masses to discover the origin of such an incredible occurrence; Arcane scholars have hypothesised that the city materialised from another plane; perhaps to escape from war? It is unknown. But deep within the city was found a vast device of clicking gears and intricate mechanisms- and in the centre of which lay a great brass sphere. This was the Singularity Engine; a device of seemingly perpetual motion and energy, somehow harnessed by an advanced civilisation to produce the energy needed to lift this giant rock. It is unknown who first discovered it; too many have laid claims to such a feat for the truth to ever be discerned, but as more and more people flocked to the site, a city was formed below; Luto.
Due to the huge traffic in the area, Luto developed trade and crafting districts to service the visitors, and at the same time having either discovered all they could, or driven away by the powerful houses vying for control over the site, the archaeologists dissipated. Pilgrims began migrating into the area, some seeing the rock as a sign from their god, and eventually something of a cult began to develop, in worship of the Singularity Engine, naming themselves the Cult of the Machine. These citizens gave the rock a name: Caelestis, the Heavenly City, or the City of the Sky. Powerful academic organisations attempted to suppress this new cult, whilst at the same time competing to construct observation centres around the floating rock to learn the secrets of the Engine. Rich aristocrats began constructing estates in its centre to display their affluence, and other rich and powerful individuals soon followed as it began to develop into a symbol of status. Trade organisations bought into Caelestis, gaining land of their own from which to study the Engine and develop their own technologies based upon it, and craftsmen and artisans came with them. The wealthy aristocrats, disliking that they were sharing the city with the Organisations and their merchants and craftsmen, constructed walls about their estates, sectioning themselves off from the others and creating what came to be known as the Inner Circle. After a time, the City of Caelestis was born.
At the same time, it was discovered that just as Caelestis had appeared, seemingly from nowhere and carrying incredible technologies, other colossal floating sections of land began to be sighted about Ornys, and they too soon found themselves colonised. Utilising the technologies of the Engines, new technologies entered development based upon them; airships were created, bearing smaller facsimile Engines. These newer Engines manifested themselves in many different forms, none able to match the majesty of the original but with new schools of thought developing around the best methods of replicating them. Some made use of bound elementals, tethered to the core of the ship to generate enough energy to drive the powerful steam engines fixed around the ship, whilst some preferred instead to utilise mechanical ships, managed by delicate clockwork mechanisms and powerful chemical batteries infused with magical energies, all reverse-engineered from the intricate clockwork servos found within the cities to power vast steam engines.
Completely lacking in any form of centralised government, the governing powers of Ornys are consolidated in the 5 Great city states. Each is effectively a country in its own right, with its own laws, traditions, customs and specialties. Ornys is in the midst of a technological revolution; engineering has reached its peak and shows no signs of stopping, with new and wonderful technologies being created and researched with each passing day.
The Trade Organisations
Much of the power in Ornys is held by the 4 great trade organisations, governed by the shifting tides of business and trade. These are House Escher, Lockwood Company, The Mortlock Group and The Greyfield Institute.
The Lockwood Company
Lockwood Company was founded on the back of Marcellus Lockwood, a shrewd hand at both business and the sword. His rich father disgraced and dispossessed by a jealous rival, he seized the estate back for his own using nothing but a blade and a razor wit. A powerful and charismatic character, he rebuilt the estate into a large business, and now the Lockwood Company stands as one of the largest trade entities in Ornys, with shares and holdings in manufacturing, engineering, arms trading and, of course, airships. A family business, the Company remains in the family line with Marcellus’ great great grandson Thaddeus Lockwood- the Lockwoods have always enjoyed long lives, and it is often said by any who’ve seen those of Lockwood blood that their genes must bear traces of elf.
House Escher
House Escher is another of the 4 great trade organisations of Ornys, and one of the only surviving High Houses of the Old World. Many of the old great noble houses found themselves destitute as the value of their lands degraded into worthlessness, with nautical shipping routes and trade caravans sinking in financial viability with painful swiftness as airships became more commonplace and technology developed; not House Escher. They adapted with a capability unknown to the rigid and traditional noble houses, and quickly found themselves rising in influence as they funded the development of new innovative airship designs, and leased ships to traders and Windwright Captains for expeditions to ancient ruins and exotic lands to bring in trade and patent revenue from across the entire continent. They have built the backbone of their company on the loaning of ships to private enterprises, taking a cut of revenue for themselves, and are always willing to fund an expedition if they see profit in it.
The Mortlock Group
The Mortlock Group are based in the nomadic city of Nün, and are formed of an old family of Gnomic engineers. They have championed advancements in airship technology, and brought forward the first viable patents for the mass-production of firearms, bringing with it vast revenue in patents. The development of cheap and exploitable technologies for trade and sale has consistently remained the core of their business ethic, and they are widely known as the go-to source for inexpensive and reliable firearms and other such equipment.
The Greyfield Institute
Established in the city of Caelestis by the Schola Mechanicam in an effort to produce the most cutting-edge of technologies before any other, in the name of knowledge and progress (and of course, to bring glory to the university), The Greyfield Institute has been responsible for some of the most important breakthroughs in engineering and mechanics in the entire continent. Much of their revenue is spent funding expeditions to newly discovered sites thought to contain material for new technology, so that they always remain on the cutting edge. They take only the best, and their products, whilst expensive, are renown for their incredible quality of craftsmanship and are guaranteed to be far ahead of their competitors.
Locations
Caelestis (City of the Sky)
Situated above the city of Luto, and is now home to aristocrats, wealthy merchants and artisans, universities and other relatively well-off members of society. Has two tiers; the upper circle which is home to the great universities and the estates of the aristocracy, and the lower circle, which is home to merchants, traders and artisans. Caelestis is held in place by gargantuan chains, reinforced with magic, and relies on Luto as a source of cheap labour and food. As the home of the Schola Mechanum, and the very first city in which an Engine was discovered, Caelestris holds a place as a pinnacle of progress and high society, possessing very strong ties to the Greyfield Institute.
Luto (The City of Dirt)
Populated with the lower classes, and home to common labourers, factory workers and poorer artisans that cannot afford to migrate to Caelestis. Luto is dark, dirty and crime-ridden; cast in the shadow of the city above, the wish of all citizens of Luto is to eventually reach the great city in the sky. Many harbour resentment towards the denizens of Caelestis, and such people rarely visit the city below for fear of being attacked and robbed. However, Luto is still host to many fantastic engineers and artisans, and you can be sure to find a bargain there wherever you look, though be wary of shifty salesmen. Whilst not a city state in its own right, it comes under the domain of Caelestis.
Brae
The city of Brae has seemed to go down a very different path to the other cities; they began as the others did, flocked with archaeologists and pilgrims, but without the influence of the Organisations to suppress religious worship of the Engines, the Cult of the Machine soared in influence. Originally composed of harmless pilgrims, the Cult descended into fanaticism when a mysterious individual by the name of Mortimer Gladwick started to preach within the city. Naming himself Patriarch, he closed the boarders to any by the faithful and established a hierarchy of Cardinals within the Cult, renaming themselves the Order of the Great Machine. Turning against progress, he declared that the use of Engine Technology, and the study of the Engines by anyone other than the church was heresy. Because of this, the common people of Brae are significantly behind the rest of Ornys whilst the Bishops and Cardinals enjoy lives of luxury in the High City. Groups of Servitors, mechanical humanoid warriors developed by the church, patrol the streets with Inquisitors searching for signs of heresy, executing any they find ‘defiling the will of the Great Machine’. From what can be gleaned of their doctrine, their ultimate aim is to return the city to the dimension from which it came, and thus ‘ascend into the arms of the Machine’. Due to their abhorrence of technology in the hands of those outside the church, they shun association with any Organisation.
Nün
Nün, the Nomadic city, floats freely through the sky and is sustained largely by trading with others. It is a free city, devoid of any real central rule and populated with airship pilots and sky pirates (who rarely make their home here, but stop off often to trade stories) and many, many taverns. Nün is also home to vast engineering district that trades in spare parts and airships, as well as constantly developing ways of improving them. Whilst the Mortlock Group holds the greatest power in Nün, all Organisations have significant presence here, and Nün is a veritable hub of trade with all other cities. It is where fortunes are made and broken, and a common destination for those seeking to gain work with the Organisations. The native population primarily consists of gnomes, with a smaller number of humans and dwarves who come to apprentice themselves to the airship artisans. Many old airship captains also make their home here after retirement, having grown to love the hustle and bustle of the free city, and can often be found in local taverns trading stories of
Ysor
Often called The City of Brass, Ysor is one of the greatest testaments to the craft of the machinist in all of Ornys. When it was discovered, a vast number of clockwork servitors were found with it, maintaining the mechanisms of the Engine. Their design and their tools were used as blueprints for the development of further devices for use in engineering Engine Technologies, and led to the creation of ServoSuits- clockwork exoskeletons that enhanced the strength of the wearer, whilst also providing incredible fine motor dexterity These creations allowed machinists to move heavy apparatus with ease, as well as manipulate smaller mechanisms and gears with greater precision. Machinists, inventors and engineers flocked in their masses to admire the fantastically intricate mechanisms of this cities Engine, and it soon became renown as a city of progress. The population consists mostly of those drawn to study the mechanisms of the Engine, and the creators and designers of new mechanisms- this is perhaps the most advanced city in Ornys, and residents enjoy an unusually high common standard of living- however entry is often restricted to those who have something to offer.
Praba
Praba is situated far in the south of Ornys, and concerns itself mostly with the study of the magical workings of the Engine. Sometimes called the Purple City, due to its strong ties to House Escher, Praba welcomes all who pursue knowledge and is home to many artisans and scholars. House Escher often funds expeditions from Praba to discover other potential sites of technology and artifacts, and have brought much prosperity to the city as a result. Because of this, many Prabans feel a strong affinity to the House and often speak highly of it. Praba is also home to the Academy of Artifice, an institute dedicated to the research and development of new magical devices, and educators of many of Ornys’ finest artificers. Praba also remains one of the last cities in Ornys with an interest in the arcane outside of its application to technologies, and as such is typically the point of origin for conventional spellcasters and battlemages. Such forms of magic have become uncommon in most of Ornys over the years, as mundane and magical technology has risen to replace the functions performed by spellcasting, and as such these Prabans can be viewed as a bit backward by the more technologically aligned northern cities.
Lockmoor
Perhaps the most unusual of the cities, Lockmoor is an entirely artificial city named after the original Lockwood Estate. Powered by over one hundred facsimile Engines all intricately connected by a network of servos, pistons and pipes to colossal steam engines keeping the city aloft. Whilst still gigantic, Lockmoor is nothing like the size of the other cities, and requires constant attendance by machinists and clockwork Servitors to maintain the systems. Lockmoor is the base of operations for the Lockwood Company, and a major trade hub between cities, housing important members of the Company, their greatest machinists and inventors, and perhaps most importantly, the Great Shipyard; a vast district dedicated to the construction and development of airships, all under the direction of Thaddeus Lockwood. Whilst a common stopping point for accredited airship captains, it is the stuff of legend for aspiring machinists and engineers hoping to work alongside the greatest minds in Ornys on the next series of airships.
Heroes and Famous Figures
Like any world, Ornys has its own fair share of heroes and mysterious figures of legend and folklore.
Bartholomew Clarke
The “High Caliber Consecrator”; a character so enshrined in legend that he is spoken about in hushed whispers to keep naughty children in line. Said to be the High Inquisitor of the Order of the Machine, merely the mention of his name brings cold shivers down the neck of any citizen of Brae- the bane of machinists and inventors, he is rarely found without a gun in his hand, wandering the streets of Brae hunting for heresy. Some say he was once the chief enforcer of Mortimer Gladwick himself, and even now still carries out ‘special missions’ in foreign cities, eliminating opponents of the Order. According to these legends, both he and Gladwick must be over 600 years old- no small feat for a human, and legends about his being half-man and half machine are traded in hushed whispers between the citizens of Brae.
Isaac Gaskel
A legendary machinist, he worked hand in hand with Marcellus Lockwood himself to produce the first ever airship to grace the skies. Now long dead, machinists to this day invoke his blessing over their craft, and statues of him can be found across all the great city states of Ornys, excepting, of course, Brae.
Cornelius Ellicott-Forscythe
Captain Cornelius Ellicott-Forscythe of the airship Windy Rose; a dashing figure of romance and swashbuckling adventure, subject of tales to make the ladies swoon and the young boys cheer. Feller of the seven-headed dragon priests, seducer of the of the beautiful and exotic Princess Samara, enemy of sky pirates and hero of the people, airship captains often swear by him. So many tales have been traded about his wild adventures that it is no longer known which are true and which aren’t, but his romantic adventures across the sky are loved, if not always believed, by all.
Esmerelda Nightingale
Elven pirate princess and enemy of the skies, if legend is to be believed then she has claimed more vessels than an entire armada for her vast hoard of treasure. He flag bears a black thorned rose, a parody of the Lockwood crest. Some say she was once in love with Marcellus Lockwood, but he tossed her aside for another woman and she forever vowed to hunt him from the skies in revenge, and her exploits are as legendary as those of Captain Cornelius.
Patriarch Mortimer Gladwick
The Patriarch of the Order of the Machine, and the one who transformed them from a harmless cult to a fanatical institution. Nothing is known about his history, but he is said to be older than Brae itself. His doctrines claim all the technology of the Engines for his Order, and his fanaticism has lead to the deaths of many potentially brilliant machinists.
Deities/Religions
All core deities exist within Ornys, but worship of them is very rarely, if ever, practiced. The Old Faiths have all but died out in Ornys at this point, and followers of these deities from foreign lands are often looked upon with suspicion or incredulity. The closest thing Ornys has to a national religion is the worship of The Machine.
The Machine
Domains: Artifice, Travel, Knowledge, Time
Worship of The Machine manifests itself in two primary forms; The Order of the Machine and the Cult of the Machine. The Machine itself is not an actual deity (although most of those who worship it believe it is), and as such cannot be communed with or contacted as can a conventional deity. The Machine can however grant domain powers, which manifest themselves through sheer force of belief in its deism, rather than though granting powers to devotees. The Machine is believed to have granted the Engines to man, and belief in The Machine is by far the most common form of religion, active or passive, in Ornys.
The Cult of the Machine
The oldest form of worship of The Machine, founded very close to the initial discovery of the Engines, placing it at approximately 610-615 years old. The Cult is a very passive religion, and lacks any centralised authority. Because of this, there are numerous different forms of belief within the Cult, linked only loosely by a shared faith in The Machine. The Cult of the Machine in all its forms is the most common religion in Ornys, almost to the exclusion of all others. Some see The Machine as an actual extraplanar deity, who actively works in the world and watches over machinists, engineers and similar. They believe that The Machine created the Engines, and delivered them to Ornys as a gift to mankind so that he may learn and grow closer to heaven.
Others believe that The Machine is a personified intelligence within the Engines- something of a shared machine spirit that lives within mechanisms and artifice. This is the most common form of faith in The Machine amongst artificers machinists and engineers, who will often invoke the blessing of the machine spirit over their work, and can often be heard thanking the spirit when their devices work, or apologising to the spirit when they drop or break mechanical devices.
The Order of the Machine
Founded by the Patriarch Mortimer Gladwick in Brae, the Order of the Machine provides a centralised, hierarchal institution surrounding the worship of The Machine, and followers of the Order’s way are often fanatical in their pursuits. Worship in this form is practiced almost exclusively within Brae, and is the second oldest form of worshiping The Machine, coming into force approximately 30 years after the discovery of Brae, placing it at around 590 years old. The Order is lead by Mortimer Gladwick, who is still believed to be alive, and his cadre of Cardinals and Bishops who rule from the Higher City. Established members of the priesthood are afforded special privileges; namely, the right to own and use machinery. As such, they often enjoy much greater standards of living than the general populace, to whom such technologies are banned; ownership and operation of technology outside of the Order is considered heresy, and is punished severely. It is not uncommon to see Inquisitors roaming the streets accompanied with Servitors to ‘sniff out’ illegal technology and destroy it, or claim it for the Order. Entry and exit from Brae is heavily regulated by the Order, and it is largely avoided by the rest of Ornys.
The Order holds that The Machine is the creator of all technology and machinery, having sent the Engines to Ornys to allow His faithful to ascend to heaven and join Him. As such, attempts to create machines of ones own, or to reverse-engineer the technology of the Engines is an act of defiling His holy creation if one is not of The Machine’s chosen. It is thought that the ultimate aim of the Order is to discover the home plane of the Engines, and construct a vast device that will transport the faithful to ‘ascend’ and join The Machine. Followers of the Order’s way are viewed with great suspicion outside of Brae, and are often thought of as untrustworthy, or as spies and members of the inquisition sent out to the other cities to gather information.