Werks of Wonder
Workings Of Wonders
Equipment weapons armor and vehicles:
The use of magic, technomancers and mechanics allows for the creation of many items not seen in normal Fantasy world. Wooden carts and draft horse may be seen sharing the roads with heavy trucks and cars, while overhead flying vehicles are a common sight in more settled areas and are vital in many areas.
Since Many means of manufacture are available and multiple means of powering an item or device it would be simplest simply to consider the properties of any item and then describe it I a way that suits your own taste or the concept of the character . Whether it is a parachute, collapsible wings or a feather fall ring it doesn’t matter if it stops you from falling to your death.
Advantages and disadvantages do separate the different forms of devices, while magic is far more flexible and has fewer physical restrictions on it. It tend to require long study and true magic is limited to a small number of highly trained and gifted people while Mechanics and technomancers are far more available to the larger population. In contrast Mechanics and technomancers tend to be more prone to failure, and require regular maintenance and repair while magic items can last decades or millennia without upkeep. In the end it is often that the form of device is often chosen more from personal taste and the requirements of the situation than any overall advantage or disadvantage.
On the practical and financial side over the generations means of producing all forms of device have become far more refined and inexpensive. The need for exotic material long arduous rituals and laborious manual labor have been reduced and the ability to mass produce many items has reduced the cost to a point that many items are available in large numbers and to any person who desires them. The day of spending a lifetimes wage for a magic item or machine has long passed and many once outrageously expensive items are in the hands of the common man.
Transports may range from simple sail driven barges and yachts to massive dreadnaughts driven by steam or diesel engines, arcane devices or even domesticated beasts that propel the ships easily through the air. The type of vehicle and the mode of powering it may depend entirely on the location culture or practical limits of the area. While a truck might be more powerful and faster in areas far removed from a supplier of parts and fuel it is impractical for the average farmer.
Armor is of great value to any one who ventures out of the safe and controlled realms of a kingdom or lives in regions where there is a lack of a strong military to keep raiders and beasts at bay. Manufactured from varying materials and techniques there is little practical difference between a steel reinforced chain mail vest and a vest of woven plant fibers and resins harvested from the Arboria forests. For this reason the style materials and manufacture of armor has little effect on it’s price or practicality. Only it’s protective qualities and price matter to those who need to keep sharp pointy objects from ruining their day.
Weapons, nothing is as comforting when facing a bloodthirsty beast or rapacious brigand as a means to make him go away, either running for his life, or bleeding out on the floor. Many types styles and means of creation of weapon are available to the folk of the realms. Whether magic, mechanical, or technomantic, a weapon is simply a means to an end. For this reason they are described generically and only their properties are listed. Whether a simple spring loaded bolt thrower or an arcane rod, if the weapon does the job, demand and supply will eventually bring them into a roughly equivalent price range.
The tools of the folk are many and varied, some forged from sweat and muscle others created by reshaping the reality of the realms by magic and will. While the strength and determination of A man or woman may achieve great things they occasionally need tools and weapons to achieve their goals.
The knowledge to build the machines of the realms is often recovered from the ruins of the great Empires of antiquity. Lost in the great cataclysm of war this knowledge has been gathered and relearned by Mechanicks, wizards, and technomancy alike. With the machines salvaged or built by the modern folk kingdoms have returned. And bold Folk unafraid of difficulty and danger seek fame among the open Skies once more.
Gearwerk: A series of cogs, gears, cams and shafts fitted together to perform some task. gear works are reliable powerful and simple to manufacture without complex alchemical, arcane or technomantic component. While skill and thought are needed to design truly complex werks they can be assembled in mass production fashion by workers with minimal education and skill.
Werks are broken down into three groups. Clockwerks, Stemwerks, and Manwerks depending on their source of power. Clockwerks use compressed springs for power, while Stemwerks use steam or internal combustion engines for power., and Manwerks use muscle power to provide their energy. Magikwerks do exist using some arcane or alchemical source of power for power and are relatively common in areas where arcanist, and technomancers are available.
Alchemy: Alchemy is the combination of normal chemistry and arcane energies. Through careful combination of elements and infusion of arcane energies surprisingly powerful substances. While the long search for transmuting base metals to gold and immortality has fallen into disrepute modern alchemist perform miracles in a bottle that exceed the potency of normal chemistry. With the advent of large scale alchemical distilleries and reactors fuels for powerful aircraft and medicinal alchemical preparations has become as affordable as plant and animal based oils and herbal remedies.
Arcane crafting: arcane werks are crafted from primal energy shaped and molded by mages into usable forms. Most werks are simple some even trivial. While Mechanicks and technomancy work within the laws of creation ( or mostly within) Arcane powers can alter and ignore the laws of creation to some extent. Truly skilled Mages can rewrite creation to suit their will in small areas, or instill typically mundane items with arcane energies to do so.
Using knowledge and forges recovered from ancient sites, these arcane energies are harnessed to power and form devices, medicines, and potions to allow normal folk to make use of the arcane powers in their everyday life and dangerous endeavors that might prove impossible without them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:37, Sat 22 Oct 2011.