ayzrules

🎀 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻 . 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 . 𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 . 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 . (a steampunk RP of petticoats, poison, and propriety)

@TwilightShadow awesome! glad to hear

✢ Affairs of the Court ✢

Okay, great! I'll type up some info and put it up ASAP

Also, I know I keep changing (ahhh sorry) but I think I'm going to do king+duchess of Euhijan

🎀 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻 . 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 . 𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 . 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 . (a steampunk RP of petticoats, poison, and propriety)

𝓗ourglass City is reminiscent of Victorian London; think big, poofy dresses and cravats and teahouses and factories. However, it should be noted that Hourglass City is a totally made-up steampunk city-the aesthetics are more brown/copper than grey/black. Hourglass City is ruled over by the Council, a shadowy group of five individuals that reign supreme over the city. Nobody really knows how they are selected, they are just always there. The Council then hand-picks five Ministers to run the day-to-day affairs of the city, and these Ministers are considered the leaders of each Guild.

𝓐lthough not everyone in Hourglass City is formally initiated into a Guild, everybody is born with a gift (essentially a special ability/superpower) that usually dictates which Guild one will join. Intermarriage between Guilds is allowed, and theoretically, what gift one is born with is random (however, children tend to have gifts related to those of their parents in some way, shape, or form). These gifts are derived from magical energy emanating from a chasm deep underneath the city (up until twenty or so years ago, anyway. But shhhhh). To officially become a part of the Guild, applying for initiation is required, and usually granted automatically once someone has completed their education.

𝓝ote that just because somebody is born with the gift of healing, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that they will go on to join the Apothecary Guild; everybody has the freedom to choose which Guild they join. Guilds are usually comprised of the well-to-do, though there are certainly people of common birth who are able to join. However, most of the poor and commonborn are never initiated into a Guild because it requires that one go through many years of education and official training. Graduates of Madame Geraldine's and the Polytechnique Institute are automatically granted admission to the Guild of their choice after they finish their schooling.

𝓝obility exists, loosely (think ASOIAF-style); there are lords and ladies and such, and Ministers are automatically elevated to nobility once they accept the position.

The Guilds (typical powers in brackets)

𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓐𝓔𝓡𝓞𝓝𝓐𝓤𝓣 𝓖𝓤𝓘𝓛𝓓 {enhanced physical abilities}
The Aeronaut Guild serves as the police force and military of Hourglass City. They run the police station, patrol the streets at night, and protect the inhabitants of the city from any outside invaders. Being a member of the Aeronaut Guild is essentially being a soldier; Aeronauts are trained in various forms of combat, taught how to skillfully pilot airships, and are given military ranks. The basic premise of their gift is enhanced physical abilities; this manifests itself in Aeronauts in many different ways, such as super speed or augmented senses.

Being born into the Aeronaut Guild does NOT mean that someone is automatically going to join the military. It just so happens that most people who are born Aeronauts decide to be formally initiated into the Guild, then pursue a military/police career. Some Aeronauts also serve as investigators and tacticians for the military as well. A few branches of the military include ground patrol, air-navy, and reconnaissance/espionage.

𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓐𝓟𝓞𝓣𝓗𝓔𝓒𝓐𝓡𝓨 𝓖𝓤𝓘𝓛𝓓 {healing}
The Apothecary Guild is composed of the healers and medicine-makers of Hourglass City. They run the apothecaries, the sick houses, and hospitals located in the city. Members of the Apothecary Guild have the gift of healing. There are two classes of healers: Pathocura (disease-healers) and Meracura (wound-healers). Patho-healers’ hands glow a fiery red color as they infuse healing properties into medicines, and they also are very good with plants and herbs. Mera-healers shoot amber sparks from their fingertips as they directly heal wounds. A highly-skilled group of healers are assigned positions in the emergency response team, which partners with the ground patrol branch of the Aeronaut Guild.

𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓒𝓡𝓐𝓕𝓣𝓢𝓜𝓔𝓝 𝓖𝓤𝓘𝓛𝓓 {metal "bending"}
The Craftsmen Guild is made of the artisans of Hourglass City. They make everything from clockwork toys to silk petticoats. It is the Craftsmen Guild that designs cybernetic parts, especially mechanical wings for the Pirate Guild. The Craftsmen Guild frequently teams up with other Guilds in order to implement the mass-production of their designs. They are generally considered to be the most creative and innovative of the five Guilds. The Craftsmen are gifted with the ability to manipulate metals. They are usually clock-makers, tailors/seamstresses, toymakers, mechanics, and the like, though there is certainly a wide variety of occupations that a Craftsman can have, ranging from running a munitions factory to sewing and painting.

𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓟𝓘𝓡𝓐𝓣𝓔 𝓖𝓤𝓘𝓛𝓓 {communicating with machines}
The Pirate Guild is primarily made up of the air-merchants and the airship crews of Hourglass City. The members of the Pirate Guild are responsible for maintaining the flow of goods going in and out of the city. They are also experts with hot air balloons and airships. The pirates run the airship docks and the marketplace, as well as the tavern, since many of their imports include alcoholic drinks. Their gift is the ability to communicate with machinery, and like the Aeronaut Guild, this ability manifests itself in Pirates in various different ways. Only Pirates are capable of using mechanical wings because of their connection to machinery. Pirate crews will swear loyalty to an airship captain, and if this vow of loyalty is broken, the offending crew members are put on trial.

𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓢𝓒𝓗𝓞𝓛𝓐𝓡 𝓖𝓤𝓘𝓛𝓓 {enhanced mental/cerebral abilities}
The Scholar Guild is made up of intellectuals and scientists. There are record-keepers, writers, accountants, mathematicians, inventors, engineers, and mechanics that all belong to this Guild. Scholars have enhanced mental abilities (such as natural photographic memory or computer perception) and abilities relating to the brain and mind (some rarer ones include basic telepathy and sensing emotions). Scholars are historians, paper-shufflers, tax collectors, judges, researchers, custom officials, and innovators, just to name a few. The Scholar Guild is the largest Guild in Hourglass City.

Districts

𝓣here are six major districts in the city, and each district is devoted to a specific Guild.


𝓒𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓽𝓮 is the district that houses the apothecaries and sick houses of Hourglass City. The Apothecary Guild also conducts medical research and creates new medicines in a large research facility near the center of the district. The architecture of Cindergate is very quaint, and there is evidence of an Oriental influence in its buildings, which can be explained by the fact that a lot of the medicines used by healers were adapted from Eastern concoctions. The layer of smoke is at its thinnest in Cindergate, and as a result, most buildings are not more than four or five stories high and walkways stretching across the spaces in between buildings are relatively rare.


𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷 is the domain of the Society of Science of the Scholar Guild. Opulent meetinghouses and shadowy laboratories mix freely with gritty factories that pump smoke and steam into the polluted air. Automahaven is where the layer of smoke is at its thickest; anyone and everyone who can afford it avoids the streets like the plague. The factories manufacture everything from airship parts to cybernetic enhancements.


𝓝𝓮𝔀 𝓣𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓱𝓪𝓶 is where the Pirate Guild lives and works. In New Toppingham, airships are more commonplace than coaches, and there are more people flying with cybernetic wings than there are people walking. New Toppingham is the place to go if you want to spend the night getting drunk or browse the diverse and expansive marketplace. Airships and hot air balloons can be seen taking off and touching down at all hours.


𝓖𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽 is the Craftsmen Guild’s territory. Here, one can find tailors, seamstresses, and hat-makers; artisans, potters, glass-blowers, painters, gadgeteers...the list goes on and on. Colorful, whimsical buildings line the streets of Gearsport, and it is possible to just get lost in the maze of clockwork toys and hand-crafted jewelry and delicate metallic flowers.


𝓡𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓭 houses the city's public library, known as Raven’s Watch. The Scholar Guild is tasked with running and maintaining the extensive library and archives. The streets of Ravensford are filled with buildings with a Gothic, medieval touch to them; large, arched windows, towers, spires, and flying buttresses are all commonplace in Ravensford. Out of all six districts, the wealth gap is the lowest in Ravensford.


𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓽 is the sector housing the barracks, training facilities, hangars, and offices belonging to the Aeronaut Guild. This is perhaps the most organized and clean district of Hourglass City due to the strict Aeronaut discipline. All the buildings are in good repair, and the walkways that stretch over the streets are uniform in style and design. The architecture of Peripoint features symmetry and straight lines; there is little to no deviation from geometric shapes in the district.

Madame Geraldine's Finishing School For Young Ladies of Quality

_{"Ut acerbus terminus" (To the bitter end)}

𝓜adame Geraldine's appears to be a normal finishing school, but a select group of families/officials know that it is, in reality, a school to train future spies, assassins, ladies of high society, and housewives. Girls who attend Madame Geraldine's are taught all the finer points of both etiquette and espionage; whether you aspire to be an assassin for the Supreme Commander, spy for the Council, or simply conquer the western portion of the Known World, Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality prepares graduates for for a wide range of career possibilities.

𝓜adame 𝓖eraldine 𝓔therington

• Headmistress; teaches dance, dress, and diversion
• Pronounces "quality" as "quali-tay"
• Loves her girls to pieces
• FC: Poppy Montgomery, Guild: Scholar (Scholarly Society)

𝓛ady 𝓚atherine 𝓖olding-𝓑rassmott

• Teaches music and creative arts, intelligence gathering, principles of deceit, fundamental espionage, and rudimentary seduction
• Related to the Minister of the Pirate Guild
• Rather frivolous
• FC: Charlize Theron, Affiliation: (unofficially) the League of the Armored Parasol of the Minefield Triarchy

𝓓r. 𝓒onstance 𝓓arwood

• Head of household management at Madame Geraldine's; teaches medicinal cures and poisonings and encrypting with flower arrangements
• Related to the Minister of the Apothecary Guild
• Gentle and kind (but she does love her poisons something fierce)
• FC: Paz Vega, Guild: Apothecary (Pathocura)

𝓟rofessor 𝓥ivian 𝓑eggley

• Teaches modern languages, weaponries, modern inventions, and truth extraction
• Severe and intimidating
• Loves machines
• FC: Lucy Liu, Guild: Pirate

𝓟rofessor 𝓩ylphia 𝓦rayburn

• Teaches history, deportment, manners, etiquette, and genteel dress
• Very dignified
• Fashion is everything
• FC: Kerry Washington, Guild: Craftsmen

𝓖eneral 𝓥ictoria 𝓢eward

• Teaches fighting and "finishing"
• Strict
• More knowledgeable about the Council than she should be
• FC: Michelle Fairley, Guild: Aeronaut

The Polytechnique Institute of Arts and Sciences

_{"Oderint dum metuant" (Let them hate, so long as they fear)}

𝓣he Institute, like Madame Geraldine's, appears to be a normal boys' academy, but it is known among select circles as the top school for training future evil geniuses, mad scientists, and the occasional productive member of society. They teach young men how to be evil geniuses, encouraging them to cause mayhem and build sinister gadgetry.

𝓛ord 𝓝athan 𝓗alverson-𝓚ipps

• Headmaster; teaches the philosophies, comportment, and mannerisms needed to become an evil genius
• Cultivates a dark and brooding air but is in reality quite jocular
• Doesn't take too kindly to Madame Geraldine's girls posing as men to attend his academy
• FC: Christian Bale, Guild: Craftsmen

𝓓r. 𝓓emetrius 𝓑owles

• Teaches mathematics, physics, the theoretical sciences, and the life sciences
• Has a passion for outrageous fashion statements
• Very sparkly in a strangely malicious way
• FC: Godfrey Gao, Guild: Scholar (Society of Science)

𝓒aptain 𝓙ulius 𝓟layfoot

• Teaches mechanical and aeronautical engineering, piloting, and airship-hijacking
• Notorious for his deadly gadgets and gizmos
• Strict but charming
• FC: Taye Diggs, Guild: Pirate

𝓟rofessor 𝓣haddeus 𝓗eaton

• Teaches history, methods of plagiarism, rudimentary espionage, and the art of going insane
• A bit absentminded
• Hates the Council for keeping secrets
• FC: Farhan Akhtar, Guild: Scholar (Scholarly Society)

𝓓r. 𝓡oderick 𝓞swald

• Teaches chemistry, poisons and potions, maintaining a mad laboratory, and botany
• Will not eat anything with powdered sugar on it (cyanide is too easily disguised as it)
• Paranoid
• FC: Jake Gyllenhaal, Guild: Apothecary (Pathocura)

𝓜ajor 𝓒alvin 𝓞sborne

• Teaches basic self-defense, weapons development and use, and hiring henchmen
• Loud and commanding
• Supreme Commander Phillip Osborne's estranged brother
• FC: John Leguizamo, Guild: Aeronaut

🎀 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻 . 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 . 𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 . 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 . (a steampunk RP of petticoats, poison, and propriety)

𝒜 𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓅𝓊𝓃𝓀 𝓇𝑜𝓁𝑒𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑜𝒶𝓉𝓈, 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓅𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓉𝓎

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


"𝓜y dear, you kill a man remarkably efficiently, but you simply must refrain from getting dirt all over your gown. It's quite unseemly, if I say so myself."

-𝓛ady Katherine Golding-Brassmott, an instructor of music and creative arts, intelligence gathering, principles of deceit, fundamental espionage, and rudimentary seduction at Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality, to the then-Miss Adrianna Kingsford

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(𝓘nspired by Gail Carriger's AMAZING books; GM is @ayzrules and co-GM is @shylarah)

𝓘t's one thing to dance properly. It's quite another to dance properly while poisoning your partner and robbing him of all his valuables.

𝓦hat is a young lady of quality ("quality" being a relative term) or a respectable gentleman ("respectable" also being a relative term) to do when they are summoned (by the Supreme Commander himself, no less!) to the heart of the city's military district in order to deal with "a matter of utmost importance?"

𝓒ancel all other appointments as swiftly as an ill-timed invitation throws the entire room into an awkward silence, I'd imagine, and immediately reply in an appropriately courteous manner. Some may argue that one should first discreetly dispose of the summons before writing a reply, to prevent gossipy siblings and nosy acquaintances from acquiring the sensitive information. Others may argue that penning a response can wait until after the Scholar Minister's ball, because it is going to be the event of the year, or perhaps it can wait until after one has stolen a small fortune from an arrogant air-merchant.

𝓑ut the truth of the matter is that our prosperous home, the thriving metropolis of Hourglass City, is in grave danger. Dark magic is afoot, rival cities are growing restless, mad scientists are becoming decidedly more mad, and you know what they say-if you want something said, you go to a man, but if you want something done in the politest way possible, you find a woman.

𝓛et's get to work, ladies and gentlemen. We've got a city to save (and refreshments will be provided)!

𝓦ar is coming.

𝓣he powerful Barons and Baronesses of the Minefield Triarchy has had its eyes on Hourglass City for a long time now, but they are finally beginning to act. Hourglass City's notoriously secretive Council, however, have been watching the Triarchy. And like it or not, tensions are about to explode in quite possibly the most impolite way possible.

𝓣he impeding war is not the only thing to be worried about, though. Indeed, a dangerous, corrupting form of "mind energy"-known as Myalo by scientists and as black magic by the rest of society-was released into the world thirty-some years ago, by scientists experimenting with automation. Although automatons have been widely labelled as dangerous and altogether unethical by the entirety of the Known World, for some reason, a scientist by the name of Lucius Elliot has decided to try his hand at creating them. There have also been a suspicious series of murders and robberies and disappearances...a coincidence? The honorable Captain Kingsford doesn't think so.

𝓕ighting the war is for soldiers. Winning the war will be up to intelligencers and mad scientists.

𝓒aptain Adrianna Iphigenia Kingsford of the Aeronaut Guild has been tasked with putting together a team to get to the bottom of the conspiracies and rumors and strange occurrences surrounding one mad scientist and his automatons, and of course, there is no one else she would go to besides her former classmates from Madame Geraldine's Finishing School for Young Ladies of Quality, also known (among a select few circles, of course) as the top academy for etiquette and espionage. And along the way, she has picked up a few respectable gentlemen graduates of the Polytechnique Institute of Arts and Sciences (a school for training evil geniuses, mad scientists, and maybe even the occasional productive member of society). No matter what happens, Captain Kingsford is determined to get the bottom of this...with all the courtesy and propriety expected of a lady in polite society, of course.

𝓐rmed to the teeth with fatal flattery, mutinous manners, and poisonous propriety, as well as a couple of well-hidden bladed fans and not-so-well-hidden weapons of mass destruction built in a suitably chaotic laboratories, the graduates of Madame Geraldine's and the Polytechnique Institute are more than ready to take on their foes. Getting this group of highly dangerous individuals to work together, however, is a whole different story.

𝓒aptain Kingsford sincerely hopes that her investigation has nothing to do with the war. But as she and her band of spies, assassins, and scientists delve deeper into the secrets of dark magic and treacle tart (perfecting the recipe takes more work than you'd think!), the threads start to become more and more intertwined...and as Captain Kingsford is quickly finding as they try unravel the stubbornly tangled threads of this mystery, nothing is at all what it seems.

---

If you've read all the way down to here, then I'm guessing you might be at least a little bit interested :D Basically, this is a roleplay about lady spies/assassins/etc ("intelligencers") and mad scientists, evil geniuses, and maybe even the occasional productive member of society, with a touch of black magic and a ton of silly, dry humor

I've put some of the lore in the next post; feel free to read it if you would like to know more

And yeah! That's about it; feel free to hit me up with any questions that you have :)

✢ Affairs of the Court ✢

@Congee do you have anything already written about king/queen of euhijan? or are we allowed to come up w ideas for them ourselves

🎀 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻 . 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 . 𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 . 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 . (a steampunk RP of petticoats, poison, and propriety)

@KZOMBI3 glad to see another PV'er!!! <3 <3

@Scallop yay!

🎀 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻 . 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 . 𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 . 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 . (a steampunk RP of petticoats, poison, and propriety)

@FallenTrinity go for it!

(Sorry if it takes me a while to respond, am about to sleep)

@shylarah *waves back*

✢ Affairs of the Court ✢

ohhh also sorry for last minute fyi but i'm going to change from princess+duchess of euhijan to duchess+general, if that's alright

🎀 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻 . 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 . 𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 . 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 . (a steampunk RP of petticoats, poison, and propriety)

Umm all of the hells yes. I need this rp in my life. Count me in.

@Avanhelsing

Lit!!! Glad to have ya

✢ Affairs of the Court ✢

HI OKAY so i'm writing my characters' bios and i have a ton of ideas on euhijan history but since there's more people than just me playing chars from the kingdom, do we want to set up a group PM or something just so we're all on the same page ???