Haven
The most prominent of the Free Worlds. Here, in the sprawling city hubs, the Trade Union tries to impose some order on the bickering clans and factions of the Free Peoples. Slavery is outlawed here, so many ex-slaves make Haven their home.


The Free Words are 'frontier territory', as yet unharnessed by the Empire.  There are thousands of floating islands in the Free World territories.   Some have not been colonies yet, and some are so small as to not be worth the effort ... although lone squatters may have built themselves some solitary island home; an oasis away from the maddening crowds.

As one of the large rocks among the Free Worlds, many Haven had been colonised generations ago, and was now a thriving city-nation in its own right.   At approx 130,000 square kilometres*, the rock was dominated by its titular city: Haven.
Haven was home to a good 1.5 Million** citizens (about half the population of the Empires Capital at Ilysium.
          * about the size of Greece.
               ** about the size of modern day Milan, Munich, or San Diago ... but sprawling outward rather than building upwards.
Although, this number was bolstered by the regular flow of mercantile travel through the region.   Haven is pretty much the Gateway to the Free Worlds for any traffic coming from the Imperial Worlds.


As such, Haven can be seen more as a 'gathering of space ports' than a unified city.  The Trade Union was the closest thing to world wide government: but even it held sway only tentatively.  The Trade Union Code  (well, "They're more like guidelines anyway") was what constituted Law in Haven.
And the many Clans and Factions often controlled, openly or covertly, various ports and 'docking facilities'.

Haven was a mercantile world held together by a loose agreement between the clans to 'not ruin it for everyone'.


A Brief History of the Empire and the Free Worlds
Life in the Blue started on Olympia. As the world began to be choked with factories, people took to the skies. Long had man looked upon Ilysium’s bright color’s from afar, knowing for some time that it must be another habitable world, and not a large floating chunk of moldy spinach and cream. A group of enterprising businessmen realizing the turning of the tide and took strict control of Olympia’s helium production capabilities, effectively controlling early sky travel.
The earliest travel was achieved using heated-helium balloons with pedal-powered propellers. These businessmen became the Sky Barons, each ruling a collection of worlds and together ruled the Blue. During the time of the Sky Barons most of the worlds of the Blue were settled, with most of the Barons themselves making extravagant palaces

A series of developments followed, the precise order of which is unclear. The blooded emerged, the goblins appeared, the Stone Judges were uncovered, and heavier-than-air skyships were invented.
This combination spelled disaster for the Sky Barons. The Blooded noble houses replaced them on Ilysium (including someBarons who became blooded) wielding a new law announced bythe Judges. A regional governing of the Sky Barons was replaced
with the central authority of the Imperium centered on Ilysium.
At least as far as it could spread. Parts of the Blue were never quite fully settled, but became de-facto part of the Empire in what is now called the Imperial Expanse. Haven and a collection of worlds with it were able to resist the initial Imperial takeover.

Now the Free Worlds live in the precarious situation of being outlaws in their own sky. Imperials claim all the worlds in the Blue as their own. Practically, though, they make no attempt to enforce their rule. However, they do chase criminals into the skies of the
Free Worlds and will even occasionally land an extraction team on one of the less secure worlds. While the Free Worlds are equipped enough militarily to at least put up a fight against a full invasion, such losses of liberty have not yet caused more than a few potshots at the Imperial ships as they return from a successful mission. Sole Imperial cruisers are unwelcome, but tolerated.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:45, Sat 02 Oct 2021.

As The Owl made her way towards the 'Gateway to the Free Worlds',   I'd like each of you to please share your character's thoughts on the imminent arrival.


Vance, Kale and Snargle:  have you ever been here before?
Please, tell us something new about Haven (to add to the flavour and setting):   you earn yourself 1 exp if it is something that COULD cause your character problems.

Lady Blackbird:  How are you feeling about this place.  It stands as a permanent mockery of the Empire, snubbing its nose at the Order and Command that your family, along with others, have fought hard to establish over the generations.
You also know that Haven is the home to the largest collective of Sorcerers outside the Empire.
For 1 exp tell us about what you know of this.   And how does that fact make Natasha feel?

Naomi:  you must be ... excited?!?   Slavery is outlawed here, and many ex-slaves make Haven their home.
Surely you have a dream, one you never thought would ever come to pass, about what you would do if you ever made it here?

As you may remember:

Lady Blackbird is on the run from an arranged marriage to Count Carlowe.
She hired a smuggler skyship, The Owl, to take her from her palace on the Imperial world of Ilysium to the far reaches of the Remnants, so she could be with her once secret lover, the pirate king Uriah Flint.

As this episode starts, each character starts with a full Pool.
The Owl is  'Low on Fuel' {condition}
Naomi, while patched up, still suffers the {condition} 'Wounded'.

Once you make landfall in Haven, you are going to need to:
- Find a way to refuel the Owl
- Find someone who can tell you how you can find Uriah Flint ... "in the far reaches of the Remnants"
- get Naomi patched up by a trained healer?