This is a thread for my current project to create a Dieselpunk fantasy setting.
Three great powers bestride the arc of the world.
From the far steppes of the West, and humid jungles of the south, to the frozen North stands the indomitable Serene Empire. An industrial powerhouse ruled from the sprawling city of Alantor, the Empire is fuelled by the resources of half a continent.
The Serene Empire is governed by a constitutional council drawn from the wealthy industrial magnates and the old nobility. The intrigue runs thick and deadly amongst the halls of the Bronze Palace. It fields the largest armies in the world and, is defended by the indomitable orders of knights equipped with their mechanized battlesuits. It is with a combination of martial prowess and slick diplomacy that the Empire expanded from just one of many states in Artios to a continent-spanning behemoth.
The United Tirannic Federation has formed recently in response the Empire's seemingly unstoppable growth. As the old nations of western Artios and Eressia succumbed one by one to Imperial force of arms and diplomatic pressure, those on the eastern coast banded together, first in a loose alliance and then later as a multinational state.
Though democratic in nature, the United Federation is torn between the competing interests of the old world western nations and the settler states of Borealia and Eosia.
Despite this, its wealth is significant, derived from powerful corporate combines, and the widespread colonies of the former constituent states.
The Federation's Aeronavy is considered it's most powerful military force, with which it can project power anywhere on the globe.
Lastly, there is the Concordat of Pharos. Centred on the ancient island city of the same name, in the middle of the Tirannic Ocean. It holds no great extent of territory and its military is in quantity smaller than its peers. Pharos however is the most technologically advanced civilization on the planet, capable of manufacturing goods and weapons with a sophistication far in advance of the Federation or the Empire. It is the Pharosi that first harnessed the power of Arkecite and fielded the first aerial battleships.
The Pharosi claim their city is the oldest in the world and that their ancient ancestors once ruled a vast empire before retreating back to their island home. Since then the Pharosi have become mostly reclusive, rarely venturing forth except to trade.
The other peoples of the world respect the power of Pharosi technology but regard many claims with scepticism. A common idiom among those that have encountered Pharosi merchants is that "The Pharosi claim much, but show little."
Today the Concordat is not an Empire, but rather a collection of states in Eosia and Helica that have sought protectorate status from the imperial ambitions of the Artosian and Esserian states. Examples have been made of those who have moved against Pharos in the past, and neither of the other great powers is eager to seek a repeat of those incidents.
Three great powers bestride the arc of the world.
From the far steppes of the West, and humid jungles of the south, to the frozen North stands the indomitable Serene Empire. An industrial powerhouse ruled from the sprawling city of Alantor, the Empire is fuelled by the resources of half a continent.
The Serene Empire is governed by a constitutional council drawn from the wealthy industrial magnates and the old nobility. The intrigue runs thick and deadly amongst the halls of the Bronze Palace. It fields the largest armies in the world and, is defended by the indomitable orders of knights equipped with their mechanized battlesuits. It is with a combination of martial prowess and slick diplomacy that the Empire expanded from just one of many states in Artios to a continent-spanning behemoth.
The United Tirannic Federation has formed recently in response the Empire's seemingly unstoppable growth. As the old nations of western Artios and Eressia succumbed one by one to Imperial force of arms and diplomatic pressure, those on the eastern coast banded together, first in a loose alliance and then later as a multinational state.
Though democratic in nature, the United Federation is torn between the competing interests of the old world western nations and the settler states of Borealia and Eosia.
Despite this, its wealth is significant, derived from powerful corporate combines, and the widespread colonies of the former constituent states.
The Federation's Aeronavy is considered it's most powerful military force, with which it can project power anywhere on the globe.
Lastly, there is the Concordat of Pharos. Centred on the ancient island city of the same name, in the middle of the Tirannic Ocean. It holds no great extent of territory and its military is in quantity smaller than its peers. Pharos however is the most technologically advanced civilization on the planet, capable of manufacturing goods and weapons with a sophistication far in advance of the Federation or the Empire. It is the Pharosi that first harnessed the power of Arkecite and fielded the first aerial battleships.
The Pharosi claim their city is the oldest in the world and that their ancient ancestors once ruled a vast empire before retreating back to their island home. Since then the Pharosi have become mostly reclusive, rarely venturing forth except to trade.
The other peoples of the world respect the power of Pharosi technology but regard many claims with scepticism. A common idiom among those that have encountered Pharosi merchants is that "The Pharosi claim much, but show little."
Today the Concordat is not an Empire, but rather a collection of states in Eosia and Helica that have sought protectorate status from the imperial ambitions of the Artosian and Esserian states. Examples have been made of those who have moved against Pharos in the past, and neither of the other great powers is eager to seek a repeat of those incidents.