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[color=palevioletred]_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/color]

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[hider=The Wastelands (Quarreling Quartet)]
[color=F8CFF0]𝓣he Wastelands is an arid region to the northwest of Hourglass City, plagued with oppressive heat and a brutal wind. There is not much to be found in the Wastelands other than sand and grit, as well as industrial waste. Rumor has it that all this industrial waste has given rise to a new type of magic nicknamed “black magic”, but whether these rumors are true or not is unknown. The ruins of the four Wasteland Cities-Gearinggate Harbor, Obsididrift, Terraburn, and Steamfall City-are still standing as well.

𝓣he four cities once dominated the northwestern portion of the Known World. The formidable upper branch of the Clockwork Cliffs isolates what was once known as the Quarreling Quartet from the south, and the enigmatic clockwork forest separates the Quarreling Quartet from the mysterious city of Ravenmire and the rather unremarkable city of Ashdale in the east. 

𝓢teamfall City was a city located slightly inland from the coast of the Brassmere Ocean, known for their prowess with all things flying. Airships and hot air balloons and winged carriages dominated their skies. On the ground, quaint, vividly painted buildings lined the neat cobblestone streets. Flowers bloomed and children laughed. Strangely enough, Steamfall City's textile industry was one of the best in the Known World, and trade thrived in the whimsical city of color.

𝓖earinggate Harbor was quite the opposite of Steamfall City; while its northern neighbor had hardly any industry save for its hand-sewn hats and gowns, Gearinggate Harbor dominated all things mechanical. Grey city streets crowded with factories and smokestacks churned out tons of consumer commodities each day. Gearinggate Harbor was considered the leader of modern science in its day; it was in Gearinggate Harbor that mechanical wings and mechanical animals and even mechanical humans were first created.

𝓣erraburn was located at the foot of the upper branch of the Clockwork Mountains. Legend says that thousands of years ago, a powerful "underground volcano" exploded and enveloped the northwest in a flames, which gradually subsided as time went on. However, this explosion cleared a patch of land for a city of fire-sorcerers and sorceresses who drew their energy from the sacred underground flame. Flame magic is what Terraburn is most notorious for; indeed, behind swirling scarlet silk and vibrant orange candles, the factories of Terraburn produce some of the most devastating explosives in all of the Known World.

𝓕inally, Obsididrift was built near huge obsidian deposits created by Terraburn's infamous underground volcano. Although the inhabitants of this city have moved away from their ancient ways rooted in all things obsidian, Obsididrift is still renowned for its obsidian blades and obsidian jewelry and obsidian pottery. Largely an expansionist power, the Obsidian Council has wrested a large swath of territory in the Clockwork Cliffs from the Minefield Triarchy and devotes much of its resources to mining. Some speculate that what the Obsidian Council is truly after is the Triarchy's source of magical energy.

𝓐s their nickname suggests, the Quarreling Quartet was quite quarrelsome indeed. After fighting centuries of wars, the four cities brokered an uneasy peace that only lasted for seventy-five years. Tensions strained by secret alliances and international politics and economic deals exploded into the catastrophic Wasteland Wars, which ended with the release of dangerous amounts of dark energy into the world and the downfall of all four cities. Nowadays, the Notorious Northwest is known as the Wastelands, and all that remains of the Quarrelsome Quartet-now called the Wasteland Cities-are deserted ruins.
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[hider=The Minefield Triarchy+League of the Armored Parasol]
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𝓣he three cities of the Minefield Triarchy includes Slateton City, which lies in between the Stone Sisters (a thriving mining city and where most mined goods destined for overseas markets begin their journey down the Sisters); Ironstead Point, a large city that thrives on the mining industry (many processing plants that purify the mined substances are located here); and Ebonfort, where goods from the Clockwork Cliffs make their final stop before being shipped across the Steam Sea. Like Slateton City and Ironstead Point, Ebonfort has grown exponentially due to the mining industry.

𝓣he Minefield Triarchy is a loose confederation consisting of three city-states and their subsequent mining villages and colonies. The three main city-states of the Triarchy-Ebonfort, Ironstead Point, and Slateton City-forged an economic alliance in order to maximize profits and create a virtual monopoly on the mining industry north of the Steam Sea. Ebonfort is the last stop for all Triarchy goods before they are shipped out to the rest of the Known World, and it is the largest and most powerful of the Triarchy cities. As such, Ebonfort is the unofficial capital of the Minefield Triarchy.

𝓣he Triarchy is governed by by pure laissez-faire capitalism. The central government is made of eight Barons and Baronesses, all of whom are extremely, extremely wealthy, either from the lucrative mining industry or from the extensive foreign trade that the Triarchy's air-merchants are leading players in. 

𝓣he Triarchy may seem to be solely an economic power, but the industrialists of the Triarchy have an important and potent source of magical energy: they extract magic from the rocks that they mine. Slateton City's main industry is mining, and it rules over many mining villages scattered throughout the Clockwork Cliffs. Ironstead Point is known for its factories and refineries, and it purifies much of what is mined out of the Clockwork Cliffs. Finally, Ebonfort sits on the coast of the Steam Sea, and its location has made it into a prosperous port city. Anything exported from the Minefield Triarchy is exported out of Ebonfort.

𝓣he Triarchy established a colony known as Copperton in 1843 and conquered Ashdale in 1860. It is still unclear what the Triarchy has been doing with Ashdale. The Triachy is notorious for its use of spies, and unknown to the rest of the Known World, the Triarchy has been sending spies to Hourglass City since as early as 1850 with the intent of conquering it. The Triarchy wants to gain access to Hourglass City's source of magic, which they believe is a chasm underneath the city.

𝓣he Triarchy's own source of magical energy is buried deep beneath the Clockwork Cliffs, and they believe it is some sort of chasm as well. The Triarchy has not found the chasm yet, but they have noticed that rocks mined from a certain area appear to have absorbed some of the magical energy, and scientists have perfected a process of extracting the magical energy from the rocks in the refineries of Ironstead Point. There is not very much magic extracted from the rocks, but even small amounts are very powerful. Those who can afford it purchase vials of pure magic and wear it on their person to give them the ability to use the magic; those who can't afford it simply must go without.

𝓣he magical abilities given to to the wearers of the vials must be honed and perfected just like any other ability. Triarchy magic-users are able to manipulate all forms of earth, including those found in metals. The Triarchy is notorious for its ruthlessly capitalistic policies, which can be seen by how they are basically blowing up the portions of the Clockwork Cliffs that they own in order to locate the magic chasm. 

𝓣here is not very much known about the Triarchy's mineral magic other than the fact that it is very, very destructive.

Refugees from Ravenmire have discovered that the Triarchy and the Order have forged an alliance, presumably so that they can share access to the magic chasm that is believed to be beneath Hourglass City once they have conquered it.

𝓣he Barons and Baronesses:
[list][*]Henrietta Silverbourne (from Ebonfort, specializes in foreign trade)
[*]Ezekiel Copperfield (from Ebonfort, specializes in foreign trade)
[*]Theodore Bronzeworth (from Ebonfort, specializes in intra-Triarchy trade)
[*]Philander Golding-Brassmott (from Slateton City, specializes in mining)
[*]Iphigenia Sterling (from Slateton City, specializes in mining)
[*]Mortimer Diamonding (from Ironstead Point, specializes in refineries)
[*]Edwina Bradford (from Ironstead Point, specializes in refineries)
[*]Obediah Goldsett-Silvers (from Ironstead Point, specializes in intra-Triarchy trade)[/list]

𝓣he eight Barons/Baronesses each have their own "territory" in any one of the three cities (Ebonfort, Ironstead Point, and Slateton City). They hire groups of mercenaries to defend their goods from other Barons/Baronesses and to keep peace in their separate territories, though when these mercenary groups join together against a common enemy, they make quite the formidable opponent. 

𝓣he League of the Armored Parasol, however, serves the Triarchy as a whole instead of one single Baron/Baroness (though the Barons and Baronesses will try to curry favor with and occasionally manipulate the League). They are an organization primarily dedicated to espionage, intelligence, and reconnaissance. The Barons and Baronesses of the Golding-Brassmott and the Silverbourne families hold the most sway over the League, since Golding-Brassmotts and Silverbounes typically leave all their wealth to their oldest children and then send their younger children off to become members of the League.

𝓣he League of the Armored Parasol also had a hand in the founding of Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality and the Polytechnique Insitute of Arts and Sciences, though the extent of their involvement is unclear.
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[hider=Ravenmire]
[color=F8CFF0]
𝓡avenmire is a city just to the north of the Clockwork Cliffs. It is a city that was once great but now collapsing onto itself due to the corrupt government's continued use of "black magic" that reached the city through the Half-Soot Forest. The city itself has been completely sealed off from the rest of the Known World (and it was very isolationist before the current government instated itself), so life mages and necromancers outside of Ravenmire have always been an uncommon sight.

𝓡avenmire was a city divided into life mages and necromancers, a city of light and dark, life and death, day and night. A city where white magic and black magic hung in a careful, delicate balance until the sinister byproducts of the catastrophic Wasteland Wars floated through their gates and infested their harmonious society with darkness and corruption. Insidious remnants of dead souls have taken over the minds of the necromancers and slaughtered the life mages. The few free necromancers and life mages that remain have fled the city, knowing full well that they will never return unless they defeat the terrifyingly powerful Order of Shadows...and they have promised their enslaved brothers and sisters that they will either emerge victorious or die trying.

𝓡avenmire is a city divided into two distinct sectors: the life mages and the necromancers. Life mages have light skin and light hair. They have the ability to manipulate pure energy, and with this ability, life mages can make things grow and give them life. Unbeknownst to outsiders, a life mage's source of power comes from Lustrya, or "white magic". Lustrya is inherently good and it is impossible to use it for harm.

𝓝ecromancers have dark skin and dark hair. They have the ability to manipulate or even become shadows and they can communicate with the dead through a series of complex rituals that allow the dead to send them visions. After necromancers die, they are able to "possess" the body of another necromancer and come back to life briefly if the second necromancer gives them permission to. A necromancer's source of power comes from Myalo, or "black magic". Myalo is inherently evil and corrupting. Necromancers spend years learning how to keep their Myalo from taking over their mind and soul.

𝓑oth Lustrya and Myalo originate from the brain. Lustrya can be seen as an embodiment of the good in humans, while Myalo can be seen as an embodiment of the evil. Lustrya can be extracted from the human brain with the same procedure as Myalo, however, once Lustrya is extracted it is much harder to isolate because it is practically invisible, while Myalo is black and viscous. Life mages and necromancers have learned how to harness the "mind energy" that they're born with, meaning that they need no external source of magical energy like the Minefield Triarchy or Hourglass City.

𝓕or centuries, life mages and necromancers lived in harmony. However, during the Wasteland Wars, the outpouring of Myalo from the Wasteland Cities as they churned out automatons disturbed the delicate balance of Lustrya and Myalo in Ravenmire. The sudden influx of dark energy corrupted the minds of the necromancers, and with the collapse of the four Wasteland Cities, Shades began looking for new hosts and new sources of shadow energy to feed on, which led them right to Ravenmire. They found that there was plenty of shadow energy in Ravenmire to feed on despite the fact that they had never heard of a shadow jar, since the necromancers were skilled users of shadow energy. The Shades first began to infest the necromancers, who were the most susceptible to the Shades. The Shades quickly took control of the necromancer side of the government and military, and they soon directed their attention to the life mages, who were harder to control due to the fact that Lustrya cancels out Myalo, to some extent. The Shades enslaved what life mages that they could and slaughtered the ones that they couldn't control. Once their conquest of Ravenmire was complete, the leaders of the Shades absorbed an elixir made from both Myalo and Lustrya, which gave them the ability to function without a host. They then established the Order of Shadows (usually referred to as the Order of Ravenmire or simply the Order) and built massive shadow energy generators. Finally, they shut the gates of Ravenmire to the world, keeping people from leaving or entering. This occurred in 1870. 

𝓓uring the initial onslaught of Shade infestations, which began around 1860, waves of both life mages and necromancers fled the city and hid from the Order in cities spread out all across the Known World. They have established an extensive network of contacts and spies and allies with the intent of one day overthrowing the powerful Order and taking their city back.
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[hider=Other Noteworthy Locations]
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[b]𝓣he Half-Soot Forest[/b] got its name after Terraburn obliterated Steamfall City with a series of catastrophic explosions during the Wasteland Wars. Most of what was once a healthy forest immediately turned to ash. Half of the remaining trees are now blackened and charred, while the other half managed to escape the damage. It was previously known simply as "the Great Forest".

[b]𝓐shdale[/b] is a city located in a valley in the Clockwork Cliffs. It prospers off of trading precious and semi-precious minerals as well as mining. The Minefield Triarchy conquered and annexed Ashdale in 1860.

[b]𝓣he Clockwork Cliffs[/b] is a mountain range that splits off into two "branches" in the west. Many valuable substances can be mined from its depths. The "branches" were formed when a series of mudslides, avalanches, and earthquakes rocked the world during the Wasteland Wars. These branches are a huge conglomeration of rock and technological junk, as the events that created the branches also destroyed cities where they stood. The Clockwork Cliffs are rich in natural resources such as wood and copper. Parts of the Clockwork Cliffs contain magical energy created naturally lying within the rocky depths. 

[b]𝓒oalgate[/b] is a city located near the edge of Grimebury Grove famous for its sheer industrial might. The industrial output of Coalgate far exceeds that of even Hourglass City. Factories in Coalgate churn out wheels and airships and clothing twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. It is said that neither the machinery nor the factory workers of Coalgate never sleep.

[b]𝓖rimebury Grove[/b] is a large, uninhabited area whose trees have darkened due to the pollution produced by Coalgate. Coalgate and Hourglass City signed a pact a couple decades ago pledging not to cut down any of the remaining trees in Grimebury Grove. Most of the land in Grimebury Grove is filled with brush and impossible to navigate on foot. In recent years, the presence of a strange purple wildflower in Grimebury Grove has been noted.

[b]𝓑rassham City[/b] lies on the end of the Brassmere Peninsula. It is renowned for its excellent technology sector that rivals that of Hourglass City itself, as well as its prosperous underground market that sells all manner of illicit goods-usually having to do with less-than-ethical medical procedures or technology.

[b]𝓣he Stone Sisters[/b] are two rivers that flow from the Clockwork Cliffs and into the Steam Sea. They got their name from the fact that most of the goods that are transported down these rivers have been mined out of the ground.

[b]𝓣he Ashfort River[/b] flows through fertile and arable lands into the Steam Sea. It is famous for the three grand bridges that are located at its widest points. These bridges allow the passage of goods from one side of the river to the other. 

[b]𝓟itchport Harbor[/b] is located where the Ashfort River meets the Steam Sea. Pitchport Harbor has grown fabulously wealthy due to its advantageous location and its participation in trade. Visitors and merchants report strange sightings of half-human, half-machine mermaids that swim through the city's watery streets (indeed, Pitchport Harbor is in actuality a series of small islands connected by canals).

[b]𝓐shbourne [/b]is widely regarded as the primary exporter of food and alcoholic beverages along the Steam Sea. The city itself is surrounded by acres and acres of fields made fertile by the Ashfort River.

[b]𝓒opperton[/b] lies to the east of the Emberrath Peaks. As its name suggests, Copperton's main export is copper mined from the Emberrath Peaks. It is a colony of the Minefield Triarchy, established in 1843.

[b]𝓣he Emberrath Peaks[/b] is a mountain range that separates a desert from more temperate lands. Many precious and semi-precious metals can be mined here, including copper. 

[b]𝓣he Bronze Quarters[/b] is known for its finely manufactured handicrafts made from metals and minerals mined out of the Emberrath Peaks. It actively engages in overseas trade and does a great deal of business with Brassham City. Many of the products coming out of the Bronze Quarters are also used to make machine parts and airships across the Steam Sea.
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[color=palevioletred]_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/color]

[color=F8CFF0]
[b]1852-[/b]The Wasteland Wars begin (Steamfall City, Terraburn, Obsididrift, and Gearinggate Harbor are battling each other for economic dominance in the region)

[b]1853-[/b]The first successful clockwork man is developed in the Wasteland city of Gearinggate Harbor by using a combination of technology and black magic to bind the mechanical to the organic. This marks the start of an “arms race” to acquire as many automatons as possible in the Wasteland Cities

[b]1857-[/b]Gearinggate Harbor is completely overrun by the black magic that was initially used to create the automatons; this also is when Shades (created when the black magic failed to bind the machinery to the host) make their first appearance. Shades are set free into the region and the successful automatons seemingly self-destruct due to the overload of black magic coming in, adding to the Shade population

[b]1857-[/b]Steamfall City is reduced to ruins when Terraburn, a city infamous for its munitions productions, drops a series of devastating bombs on Steamfall City

[b]1859-[/b]The conclusion of the Wasteland Wars is reached when Obsididrift launches an all-out attack on Terraburn using automatons; the two cities battle it out until the last man, clockwork and human, completing the creation of the Wastelands

[b]1861-[/b]The first experiments with automation in Hourglass City begin; wealthy scientists kidnap poor people from the streets and experiment on in order to find a way around the elusive black magic of the Wasteland Cities, which the scientists of Hourglass City have not been exposed to at all 

[b]1865-[/b]After a series of ongoing arguments in between the rich, the poor, and the moderates that began as a dispute over the ethics and legality of the automation experiments but soon escalated into a class-conflict situation, automatons are outlawed. As part of the deal, the wealthy scientists are required to destroy and disassemble all their automation experiments. They end up dumping the remains of their automatons-which never fully worked because they did not have access to the advanced black magic used by Gearinggate Harbor-into the Wastelands

[b]1892-[/b]RP begins[/color]


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[hider=Shades and Automatons][color=F8CFF0](𝓢poiler alert: Lucius Elliot is actually an automaton (though he doesn't know it)-more info will be revealed as RP progresses)

𝓐utomatons are animated with Myalo, which must be extracted from a living human's brain. The original personality of said human is not retained.

"𝓢hades”, aka “shadow spirits” are made from the same black magic that Lucius is animated with. They are the remnants of the black magic released when the Myalo of the human minds did not combine with the clockwork bodies during the automation experimentation phase that Gearinggate Harbor went through. A Shade can carry a silent conversation with a host.

𝓢hades can possess any sentient being by entering it through the ear canal and then wrapping themselves around the brain. They get access to the person’s memories and skills, which makes it extremely hard to tell if people are possessed or not because they will most likely seem to be perfectly normal.

𝓢hades need to “feed” on shadow essences, otherwise they become weak and unable to maintain control over their hosts. In order to feed, they must exit the host and go into a special vessel (known as a “shadow jar”) and stay there for about an hour. If they go for more than a week or so without feeding, they start going mad, which usually leads to them performing violent acts. In the final stages of their lives-right before the starvation kills them-Shades will destroy their own hosts in an attempt to get out of the host and into a shadow jar.

𝓘n their natural states, Shades are like very concentrated wisps of black smoke that seem to move on their own accord through the air. In their natural states, they cannot see or hear, but they are able to sense where sentient beings are. 

𝓜iscellaneous terminology (probably won't be relevant): Myalo is the scientific name for black magic (which was officially "discovered" by Isaac Silas, a man from Gearinggate Harbor), centri-filtration is a procedure used to filter out raw Myalo after the cerebral matter has been broken down by Chlrika (a mixture of substances that will break down the cells and stuff in the human brain), clockwork compatibilization is infusing raw Myalo with the ‘essence’ of electricity in order to try to get the clockwork body to more easily accept the Myalo of the human brain. [/color][/hider]

[hider=Magic and Miscellaneous Facts][color=F8CFF0]
𝓣hree main types of magical energy exist in the Known World-

𝓣he first is the natural energy drawn from the Earth, absorbed in the rock and soil over thousands and thousands of years (the Triarchy calls their extracted, purified version "mineral magic").

𝓣he second is the dark energy present in the human mind (known officially as "Myalo", known colloquially as "black magic" or "mind energy").

𝓣he third is the pure energy present in the human soul, but extracted from the mind (known officially as "Lustrya", known colloquially as "white magic" or "life force").

𝓞ther forms of magic include what the fire-sorcerers and sorceresses of Terraburn used before the city was destroyed in the Wasteland Wars, and the enigmatic magic of the citizens of Pitchport Harbor. As far as anyone from Hourglass City knows, they get their gifts from an underground chasm filled with the first type of magic, spread over the entire city with generators. Only the Council (and a few select individuals, most of whom are dead) know that this isn't quite the case.

𝓣he Council is the supreme law of Hourglass City, but the Minsters of each Guild (handpicked by the Council) run the day-to-day affairs of the city. The identities of the Councillors are unknown by the general populace, as is the method that they are "selected"

𝓓uring the Wasteland Wars of the 1850s, the four cities involved raced to build automatons animated by dark energy drawn from the human mind-Myalo. An innumerable amount of people lost their lives and souls to serve as an animating force for an automaton soldier, as Myalo had to be extracted from a living mind to work properly. Even so, it was not always guaranteed that the Myalo would bind properly with the clockwork body. When the Myalo and the mechanical brain didn't combine as needed, the Myalo turned from a black, viscous substance to a wispy, semi-transparent substance resembling black smoke. These "shades" (as they were nicknamed) were thought to be dead and inanimate.

𝓐 bit of Lustrya-a bit of white magic, a bit of pure, concentrated life force-escaped out of the city, and it floated through the Half-Soot Forest to the barren northwest, which was now known as the Wastelands. When the Lustrya combined with the Shades, they should have cancelled each other out-they were light and dark, black and white, complementary magical opposites-but Lustrya was meant to cancel out pure Myalo, not the wispy remnants of it that were left after a failed experiment. Instead, the Lustrya gave the Shades life.

𝓣he Shades quickly spread out from the Wastelands-east, towards Ravenmire, mostly. They were a terrifying force, for they could slither into a person's ear and effectively take control of their victims, but their presence in Ravenmire was concerning because they disrupted the careful balance of Lustrya and Myalo in the city. Lustrya for life mages, Myalo for necromancers-soon, the excess Myalo had corrupted the minds of the necromancers, turning them ruthless and greedy, and they infested the minds of life mages, slaughtering those that they couldn't enslave. Life mages and the occasional necromancer fled the city in waves until the Order of Shadows (the new government of Shades and necromancers) sealed the city off from the entire Known World.

𝓣he Shades went southward, too, to Hourglass City. They took over the minds of the Council and drank an elixir of pure Lustrya and more exotic substances from the East, giving them eternal life and the ability to function without a host. The Council is no more than a group of glorified Shades, but nobody knows that.[/color][/hider]

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