RolePlay onLine

Deadly Nightshade

A Steampunk Romance set in a tiny, vaguely identified Balkan state called Jolanta. Once part of the Ottoman Empire, Jolanta became an independent principality in 1878 – the Grand Duchy of Jolanta, ruled by the Grand Duke Josef Konstantine – as a concession to the western criticism of the Ottoman’s army savage suppressions following the Bulgarian Uprising of 1876. The tiny kingdom on the shores of Adriatic, surrounded by mountains, seemed useless to anyone, a relief to shed. Until the discovery a year later of Molybdenum – an element essential in the production of the new alloy Cavorite.

Cavorite is a material that can negate the force of gravity. It was invented by an English physicist, James Cavor (see The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells) and rapidly lead to the building of flying ships that are even now changing the economy of the world in radical ways.

Twenty years have passed since Jolant gained its independence and almost overnight became wealthy through mining contracts with Great Britain. Much of the country is still the sleepy Bulgarian backwater it has been for thousands of years. But the capital city, Konstant, is a bustling, modern metropolis often compared to Paris. The main port city of Jolant, Achino, has become the second city in the nation, handling many millions of tonnes of shipping every year.

The main religion of the country is Eastern Orthodox, but there are pagan temples in the mountains that still light the old fires on the high holy days.

The Turks are still reeling from how closely they missed the great windfall of profit that came to Jolanta over the past two decades, and there are active plots to overthrow the Grand Duker and restore Ottoman rule. The British are keen to prevent this from happening, however, and there is a strong military and ambassadorial presence of Her Imperial Majesty in both Konstant and Achino. Nevertheless, plots and rumors of plots swirl constantly through the nation.

Camilla DuBois is the daughter of a shipping magnate who has come into immense wealth as the Molybdenum industry has built up very rapidly in Jolanta. Recently, however, he has fallen ill and his business is being mismanaged by his son – who seems to be steering the company into bankruptcy. Camilla’s mother has asked the young woman to return from Paris and help restore the fortunes of the family.

The setting is late Victorian (1898), light steampunk (flying machines and weird science with occasional personal devices), and heavily romantic. The storylines will involve international espionage, pagan magic, and dashing heroes.