Here's yet more details from my upcoming novel. This covers some of the major-player groups that can be found in the world, and even how they relate to one another. To set this up, there was a global empire that existed before the timeframe of the novel, known as the Vizier Empire. The Vizier themselves were, effectively, wizards. Their power was unchallenged until the invention of the Airship, and a literal Industrial Revolution that rose up to destroy the reign of the Vizier.
After that, came a man known as Absalohm the Enlightened, who showed all the hallmarks of genius even from a young age. He perfected the existing airship technology and the sciences that surrounded the art. His works pushed the world of Calopa into a renaissance of progressive advancement in nearly all scientific, communication, and creative disciplines. Then, seemingly without warning or preamble, Absalohm launched a devestating series of attacks across the world that nearly brought it to the brink of collapse. Absalohm the enlightened was then known by many unkind names, none of which so appropriate as Absalohm the Betrayer. His flagship, the Golden Aegis, was the pinnacle of innovation and unrivaled in the skies. The novel takes place after his defeat, and the detruction of the Golden Aegis itself.
The Mechana Templaris
A paramilitary group only loosely associated with the Admiralty, The Mechana Templaris are a group of warrior-engineers who are equal parts vigilantes, mercenaries and renowned heroes. They augment their bodies by utilizing mechanical limbs, powered exo-suits, and other inventions to overcome personal injuries or simply give themselves an advantage. They ally themselves with no particular group, choosing instead to fight for whatever they perceive to be the most noble cause (or contract) at a given time. They are located mostly on land, but maintain a small group of sizable airships to allow them to take their fight to the skies.
Their motto is: A posi av esseh - from Old Common, meaning "From the imagined to reality". The group also includes ambulatory constructs known as Wardolls, that are used on ground missions.
Arithnomancers (Church of Sums to detractors)
"The Grand Ordered", as initiates refer to the group at large, is one of the splinter sects of the original Vizier Empire, and the only one to maintain any manner of influence and funding among the governments of Calopa. Members of the order all have retained the hereditary trait of being able to affect probability, and possess keen insights into the mathematics that make up the world around us such as it relates to physics, architecture, meteorology, biology, and limited precognitions based on probability. They maintain a guild-structure, with adherents being bound by a strict code of conduct, and all disciplinary measures being effected in-guild. Outside of the Guild, it's members are held to Admiralty Law; a Guild member must be present on any ship as crew or brought aboard before said ship is allowed to dock with any Admiralty or Sha-Mercantile Skyhold. This eliminates the natural dangers that are ever-present for at-altitude operations, and greatly reduces the chances of mid-air disaster.
Other laws and strictures include: Arithnomancers can not hold political office, preside over mercantile services, nor are they allowed to captain a vessel themselves. Moreover, any person that is identified as an Arithnomancer must submit themselves to the Guild for membership, or be declared anathema. Rogue Arithnomancers rarely enjoy freedom for long, as both the Guild and the Admiralty take all measures to hunt them down before they can wreak lasting harm with their unique abilities.
Theurgists
Another splinter group of the original Vizier Empire, the Theurgists are considered the most rare, but least dangerous branch of the Vizier bloodline. Because of their limited numbers and less dangerous powers, Theurgists enjoy personal autonomy, and do not organize themselves into any kind of larger group structure. Depending on the nation you find them in, they are referred to as Witch-fey, bone-throwers, glamourists, sages, lokir, shamans and wisepeople. They can speak with the dead and elemental spirits; create minor visual illusions; but their chief strength comes from their ability to heal the sick and wounded through apparently entirely magical means.
It's this unique ability that convinced The Admiralty to employ a group of Theurgists who aid in medical matters aboard Admiralty ships or at Skyhold hospitals, and who can also provide limited illusions for defensive or offensive means. World-bound Theurgists tend to revile these Admiralty ilk, referring to them as Hollowmen, and seeing their loyalty to The Admiralty as a sign of sickness and betrayal of the “natural order”.
Augir
The Augir are the most mysterious and therefor feared branch of the original Vizier Empire bloodline. Their talents lie predominantly with elementalism, spell-craft, and awe-inspiring displays of destruction when they feel threatened. The Admitalty clearly remembers the war of attrition that brought the Vizier empire to an end, and how the powers of the Augir were largely responsible for the vicious nature of the fighting. To that end, persons born with this branch of the bloodline are deported to the southern land of Ahmshere, where the Augir have formed into a separate nation. Ahmshere maintains an uneasy truce with the rest of the world; agreeing to take newborn Talents into their care, in exchange for diplomatic and economic relations as overseen by the Sha Mercantile. Such a truce ensures that the purges of old will never be necessary again, and that the Augir themselves can not raise the Vizier empire from the ashes. The Augir possess no airships and no sea vessels, relying only on the trade lines from the Mercantile for any imported goods and services.
However, the main harbor into Ahmshere (called simply The World Gate), is heavily defended, and no ship of the air or sea is permitted to enter without clearance. To that end, the nation of Ahmshere is considered a no-fly zone, and the Admiralty will not prosecute cases of wayward travelers vanishing in Ahmshere waters or airspace.
The Azure Admiralty
Initially formed in the twilight days of the Vizier empire as a mercantile guild to monopolize on the invention of airships and airship trade, the Admiralty quickly grew into a powerful military and diplomatic force that is credited as the key influence in bringing down the Vizier and restoring democratic rule to the world of Calopa. Since that victory, their power and influence has grown to such heights that they now oversee the greater portions of Calopa's air-travel, air-trade, and upper crust citizenship. They are funded through taxes collected from nations that are signed members of the Accord. In exchange for these tithes, Accord nations enjoy the protection of the Admiralty's sky-ships, and the Admiralty maintains the air-based ports, docking structures, cities and security interests. The Admiralty is considered a nation unto itself, with the unique quality of being a nation that is almost entirely based in the sky.
Admiralty citizens (often called “skyborn” or “pigeons” by detractors) enjoy unfettered access to all Admiralty holdings and comforts (which often exceed the quality of life of their land-based counterparts) without having to pay the nominal fees or taxes other nations must to utilize Admiralty holdings.
The Admiralty enforces the law of the air and it's influence over Calopa via the Grand Aeronaut Armada; a collection of airships outfitted for war and unmatched in the skies. Decades of development from lessons learned during the fall of the Vizier empire have produced the most effective and devastating weaponry and ship-building sciences to date, and all aspects of development fell under the Admiralty's control. That is, until Absalohm created the Golden Aegis.
Sha-Mercantile
Once the admiralty had secured it's hold on the skies, a few of the original guild members abstained, and created a world-wide merchants guild to bridge the needs of sky and earth alike, and to rebuild the shattered global economy and supply chains of Calopa after the fall of the Vizier Empire. Altruism aside, the shrewd masters of this new global guild set the odds in their favor to net a tidy profit while providing such services. Sha-Mercantile agents control the individual trade nexuses in the sky, and the Admiralty gives them autonomy (within reason) as the Sha-mercantile fulfills a necessary role that the Admiralty had relinquished responsibility over. The Sha-Mercantile itself is broken up into smaller guilds, with Scions leading them and representing the particular interest or trade they manage. As the Sha-Mercantile deals more with the world at large than the admiralty, they are more in tune with the political, geographical, spiritual and monetary needs and differences of various countries, and therefore often act in a diplomatic or advising role on behalf of the Admiralty.
The Unaligned Nation/ The Corsair Fleet
A growing group of malcontents and dissidents who have managed to gather an impressive number of sea and air ships, the Corsair Fleet call no single country home, and while the bulk of the Fleet is perpetually on the move one can find their holds hidden away in almost every major port of Calopa, including key Admiralty Skyholds (without their knowledge, of course). First emerging at the tail end of the war that ended the Vizier Empire, the Fleet was comprised originally of patriots who had fought in the war itself, and who pushed for a system of government that provided sovereignty not just for every nation, but for the skies above them as well. The rise of the Admiralty saw those dreams come to an end, as one group monopolized the air, and enforced their “blue rule” above ever country save for Ahmshere. Today, the Fleet gathers more and more support even though they are branded as pirates by the Admiralty, Sha-Mercantile, and most countries. The ultimate goal of the Fleet appears to be the breaking of the Admiralty's monopoly and hegemony; which the Corsair Fleet equates to the same level of oppression visited upon Calopa by the Vizier Empire.
The Stone Brethren
The stone Brethren are a fanatical group that has been labeled as a cult and terrorists, and outlawed in most countries. Their core belief is that any branch of the Vizier bloodline is demon-tainted, and that the byproduct of their reign (flight) is an affront to what they call the All-Mother; their matron deity. To that end, they will viciously attack any airship unlucky enough to have to land outside any Admiralty or Sha-Mercantile terra-hold (earth based docking platforms)., and will go out of their way to purge whatever land they find themselves in of any trace of the Vizier bloodlines. Recently, their numbers have swelled in the wake of destruction that Absalohm and the Golden Aegis rained down upon Calopa.
The Acolytes, Absalohm's Chosen, The Scions of Absalohm, The Illuminated Echelon
Known by many names, these were the most dedicated of the legion of followers that flocked to Absalohm's cause and helped him to build the Golden Aegis. Since the apparent defeat of Absalohm and the destruction of the Golden Aegis, they have largely attempted to blend back into society, though some operate openly in bids to co-opt the discoveris and inventions of Absalohm the Enlightened. The Corsair Fleet is rumored to be currently guided by the more even-handed and freedom-centric former lieutenants of Absalohm.
As Absalohm was tried in abstentia for his crimes against Calopa, there is a standing bounty for any and all of his officers, soldiers, scientists, or crew that served aboard the Golden Aegis. Those found face a swift trial followed by an execution in the manner of the Admiralty or sovereign nation's choosing.
More details soon, including a sneak peek at Chapter One! Stay tuned.
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