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by Kurokiku on Thu Dec 23, 2010 5:53 pm
The Steam City of Revelation
1. Schematics:
a) Revelation is a floating city, suspended a few miles above the desolate wasteland that was once earth. It is unknown how the large chunk of earth and stone the city rests upon became suspended in the first place, but it is now maintained by massive engines that run on solar power and wind energy. The mechanism of these engines is unknown to anyone but the scientists who design and maintain them, which is to say that if anyone likes coming up with awesome technical details or even mildly-plausible babble, by all means do so and it shall be included here. For now, we're going to say that the engines generate antigravity, which is the same way shyships manage to stay afloat as well.
b) The city is comprised of districts, which align in concentric circles. At the center of the city reside both the wealthiest citizens and the most noble occupations. It is here, in the Nexus, where one would find the royal palace, the Parliament building, the Marchfield Laboratories, and the estates of most nobility and their families.
The Nexus is part of District Alpha, which encompasses wealthy merchants, nobility of all kinds, some of the more renowned scientists' private residences, and the commercial centers that only such people might frequent. It is generally a quiet place, with many more lush, verdant gardens than one could find anywhere else in the city. Far from the more industrial sector, the residents of Alpha enjoy a generally smog-free existence, and have available to them every amenity that science can design or money can buy.
Beyond Alpha lies District Beta, home of the enterprising middle class. The streets of Beta are far more bustling than those of any other district, and it seems for all the world that the sector never sleeps. Entrepreneurs and Guildfolk alike make their homes and lives here, most never crossing into Alpha in the span of their entire existences. Those who run the city would have the denizen of Beta represent what all citizens should aspire to be (aside from themselves of course). Taverns and other places of relaxation and socialization are common sights in Beta, as most residents are well-off enough to enjoy such pursuits, but never quite so wealthy to buy their way into Alpha.
Gamma district is home to most laborers, the servant class, and those who do not hold steady employment, instead seeking to earn what they might by preforming streetside shows in the upper districts (occasionally with the assistance of accomplices, who will use the distraction to fleece those who are not quite generous enough with their donations). Gamma folk are not often well-regarded by others because of this, and some of the upper crust refer to their district as "the sector of charlatans."
If Gamma houses the crooked, Delta contains the dregs. Often referred to in common parlance as the Ghetto, Delta is a primarily industrial area that seems always to be covered with a layer of grime. The air is periodically treated to remove contaminants, but this does not stop a large portion of its residents from dying early deaths of lung ailments, especially since most of them cannot afford the wands or doctors necessary to ensure otherwise. Aside from the working poor and the homeless, Delta has recently been infused with the released magi, bringing both some relief in the form of magic for those who cannot buy it and also a good deal more unrest.
Outside of Delta lie the Agricultural Domes, specially-run greenhouses engineered to provide maximum crop yield from minimal space. The domes are climate-controlled and thus a variety of foods can be grown, and animals raised. The domes are run by a delegation of scientists, who have been trained to specialize in the maintenance of these most essential systems.
c) Transportation in the city is primarily by public train, the state of which is generally determined by the district of service. Special trains are used to ferry some employees (such as the Agricultural Engineers) across district lines, but for the most part, service is intra-district only. A few wealthy persons own small steam-powered craft of their own, which can run without rails. Skyships, capable of much larger-range expeditions off the floating city, are owned exclusively by the Crown, but have fallen largely into disuse of late.
2. Populace
a) Guilds: The economy of Revelation works on a system of Guild apprenticeships and trade alliances. Each Guild has one Guildmaster, a senior member who has proven themselves both a master of the craft and a savvy leader. Such people act as liaisons between their craftspeople and the legislature. A Guildmaster's task list is lengthy, and it is no overestimation to say that the success or failure of their endeavors have far-reaching consequences. These folk are supported by the upper echelons of journeymen, those who act as teachers and resources for the others. Newer or lower-ranked journeymen have the largest degree of independence from the Guild; it is they who most often run the shops and stalls that sell their wares, and they who make up the largest segment of any guild populace. At the bottom reside the apprentices, sent to Guilds either by their parents (with a fee suitable to the occupation) or else recruited on the basis of natural talent for the craft.
There is a Guild for just about every occupation imaginable, from smithing to weaving to assassination or medicine. Conspicuously missing is a Scientists', Magi's or Industrial Workers' guild, however, and not every merchant is in the corresponding Guild. These organizations are overall quite advantageous to belong to, however, as one of a Guild's many functions is setting prices which all members adhere to, and also negotiating business deals with the government, a source of many lucrative contracts. Non-Guild merchants are rare and don't often last long. Obviously, controlling all of this gives Guildmasters considerable power, but members can hold them accountable, since the leadership is an elective position.
Certain members of Parliament rely on Guilds for their own profitable enterprises and investments, and thus their lifestyles. It is not mistaken to assume, then, that there has been more than one occasion where a Guild affiliation has determined a vote by itself, and such ties are rarely ever entirely inconsequential.
The Assassins' Guild is the single most powerful Guild, and the Guildmaster is as formidable an opponent as one could ever hope to meet. In popular parlance, this Guild is referred to as the Minstrels' Guild, or simply "the Guild." What it actually is and does is an open secret; there are few who do not know, but fewer still who would dare to speak the truth aloud, for fear of inviting death to their doors. In effect, the Guild members serve not only as hired killers, but as spies, thieves, and Revelation's police force. Assassins are employed by the Crown to rid the city of criminals swiftly and silently; petty criminals and those with nonviolent offenses are exiled to the outer districts, and anyone else is much more literally 'disposed of.' Oddly enough, the Assassins are concerned enough with keeping up their front that each member is required to have some degree of musical skill, and occasionally they do take jobs as actual minstrels. Their business is booming; being a member of the nobility necessitates endless uses for someone who is skilled in the manner of the Assassins, and though careful laws and agreements prevent one from taking out a contract on someone of high status, there is still much spying and thieving to be done if one wishes to maintain one's own power.
b) Nobility: The nobility usually becomes that way by heredity and more importantly money, but they only ever stay in their positions of prominence if they are smart, cunning, and charismatic enough to do so. The royal family is the only line that works on heredity alone, and whether or not the heir has these qualities often determines the strength of the Crown versus the Parliament in any given generation. The current Queen is having some difficulties, but she is far from incompetent. In the past, Kings and Queens both benevolent and tyrannical have reduced Parliament to a ridiculous show, and the less apt have transformed their crown into little but a symbol.
The monarch serves as head of the city's church as well, though with the advent of a scientific worldview that is becoming ever more popular, the utility of this role is decreasing, and has become secondary to the Crown's function in the political arena. Though things are constantly shifting about, for the most part Revelation has a constitutional monarchy, the constitution itself granting certain rights to both Parliament and the Guilds. Some basic things are afforded to citizens as a whole, but magi and convicted criminals are conspicuously absent from even the most basic of considerations.
Parliament itself is a notoriously esoteric, often underhanded affair, and at any given time, actual duties of the legislature per law encompass only a small part of its dealings. Members are often assured of their personal fortunes by involvement in Guild investments, research funding, and the like, and no member is a completely "objective," self-contained vote. Those noble children who will not inherit their parent's fortunes are often employed in these very same occupations, further strengthening the connections. Needless to say, this leaves some groups of people quite far out of the loop, and competing interests are often dealt with by outside means, notably the employment of assassins.
Noble children who present magical inclinations are almost always immediately disowned, and they are never allowed to inherit.
c) Scientists and Engineers: Scientists are the backbone of Revelation. These highly-educated, technically-gifted individuals design and maintain the engines that keep the skycity afloat, as well as the trains and skyships that serve for transportation, and dozens of other minutiae of infrastructure. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the scientists, though, is the manufacture of a synthetic version of the magical energy that magi are born with the ability to control. Depending on the individual aptitudes of the student, a fledgling scientist may choose to specialize in any one of a number of subfields.
i: Agriculture- One of the most necessary subfields is that of the Agricultural Engineers. These vital technicians are responsible for the design and maintenance of the climate-controlled domes. Much of their work is fairly day-to-day, and they must have both good working knowledge of their systems and the troubleshooting ability to deal with unforeseen problems.
ii: Transportation- Those that work on Revelation's transport most often deal with the trains and track infrastructure, and as such they generally have the greatest mathematical skill among their peers. Still others work in design, mostly of the steam-powered smallcraft owned by nobility. A select few are in charge of maintaining the fleet of skyships the Crown retains. a small subset of these folk deal with the city's antigravity engines.
iii: Manatechnology- This highly-theoretical field contains perhaps the largest mix of personalities. Some Manatechnologists are highly-respected, and the head of Marchfield Laboratories is one such person. However, the discipline also contains the less-reputable sorts: eccentrics with strange obsessions or the truly "mad" whose theories have gone too far over the thin line dividing this sort of science from magic itself. Scientists are not magi by any means, but Manatechnology is the field dealing with a more systematized explanation of magical phenomena.
iv: Weapons technology- This field most often includes the truly innovative minds, and though they do indeed often specialize in weaponry, the name is something of a misnomer. Anyone who focuses their attention to creating new ways of doing things is lumped here, unless they deal with Manatech. These inventors have recently discovered the mechanism for firing small balls of lead from reinforced metal barrels by producing a powerful but small combustion reactions, for example, but it was also a "Weapons tech" who invented the current water treatment schema.
As with Guilds, the power of scientists over the lifestyle of Revelation's citizens grants them some sway with Parliament, though the connection is a bit less direct.
d) Mages: Magi comprise a tiny segment of Revelation's total population: less than 1% all told. In the days when the Earth was whole, it is said that the magi brought it to ruin through their vainglory and presumption. Legend has it that they angered the gods, and the whole world was punished. When the genetic trait of magic began to show up in the population of Revelation, then, the magi were all removed from the city, contained in a place known simply as the Facility. There, they were allowed to learn the control of their abilities with the understanding that they would never be allowed out of the square mile or so that made up the Facility. Fifty years ago, the last King decided that this treatment was inhumane, and managed to bully Parliament into banding with him to see the magi released, and the Facility converted into a school. Most of the magi had long been disenfranchised, though, and have been forced to take up residence in the poorest quarters of the city. Their abilities have brought relief to the people there, and their less downtrodden spirits have in some cases taken to flagrant 'rabble-rousing'.
Last edited by
Kurokiku on Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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