[quote=@Zugzwang]
So, what is the approximate tech level of the setting? What is and isn't possible with Man-rocks?
[/quote]

Well, technology is based off of Maandike, as you pointed out. Anything that can be done with a steam engine is possible in this world, although not everything already exists. Most things I'll deal with on a case by case basis. 

Mechanized factories are everywhere in the Empire and the Livonian Federation, with more popping up all the time as the industrialization accelerates. Also, there are trains in this; the Empire is particularily fond of them, as it needs a very efficient network to transfer its armies from its distant fronts. 

About fifty years after Maandike started to be used for industrial purposes (50 years before this RP), cannons also appeared. The discovery of their functioning was by Conrad len Gothren, an intellectual under the patronage of the Rozarrian emperor. 

[hider=Discovery of cannons fluff]He was working on solving a problem that had confounded scholars for a long time: see, when Maandike is dropped into water, the water heats up drastically, but the Maandike just vanishes. 

Condrad's theory was that the Maandike split up into a dust of small parts, which were dissolved into the water the same way as salt would. He proved himself right when he managed to extract the Maandike dust from the solution. Having collected a sizable quantity of the dust, he decided to experiment with them, seeing if the dust still heated up in contact with water.

He barely survived the ensuing explosion. But the Imperial government saw the value of such a potent explosive, and ordered its weaponization. And so cannons were born.[/hider]

Guns don't exist, or at least any that I would recommend using. After the introduction of cannons, some attempts were made to design smaller, handheld cannons that could be carried by infantrymen into battle. But Maandike dust's lack of stability made it more likely that you'd just kill yourself by firing the gun. Armies have continued to use swords, pikes, and other more conventional weapons of war instead.

[quote=@Onarax]
Do I have to play a noble, or can I be like a butler just trying to help another char succeed?
[/quote]

Well, you could play a more minor character. The main problem is that I don't want everybody to be just random people; there needs to be enough players with important characters to keep the story moving. I'll deal with that on a case by case basis: Ask me again when (if) we get enough people to start.