This is the ***OLD*** Waterdeep Timeline. Retrieved from the abyssal depths of the internet. There's been some typo, grammar and sentence reconstructing by Ror, but the story has remained unchanged. Enjoy.
It remains unsure whether this is canon or not. If it was, the current year (2013) would be 1280.
-[ Prehistory ]-
Airships - A technological explanation
Airships are sometimes confused with spaceships, or seen as something of high technology. Airships are in fact not advanced technology. There is no harnessed electricity in the Great Realms, nor are there devices like hydraulics. Airship technology would resemble something from the 19th Century.
At the heart of an airship are the engines. Makou Combustion Engines resemble an earthly diesel engine, a device made of iron with pistons inside that drive a crank shaft which powers the vehicle. The engine works on the same idea of a diesel engine which is compression. Fuel is placed inside the piston chamber and compressed. The air and fuel combination heats up under compression and explodes, driving the piston. Once the engine is started, it will run under its own energy and compression. These engines are started through a series of pulleys, cables, springs and weights. Original airships involve a key and lever system. A lever is pulled several times which tightens up several springs and raises several weights. The key is placed in what is known as the ignition, which in fact is nothing more than a secure triggering system. The key is turned which releases the tension of the springs and weights, which drives a series of gears and cables that turn the makou engines over. A newer system found on most modern airships involve only the key. The springs and weights for startup are drawn into position with a secondary system of springs and weights when the ignition key is turned to off. The off position includes another trigger which cuts the fuel to the engines, thus turning them off.
Airships have undergone several transformations in the devices used to levitate and float these ships. The original airships use a large blimp device which is filled with Makou Gas #2. These blimps were built half metal and half canvas and was connected with the main airship. Shafts and gears ran into the blimp allowing engine propellers to be placed on the blimp itself, along with rudder systems. Battle Cruisers and War Cruiser Class Airships utilize this type of system. Flotation and levitation for any airship is a balancing act. It is said a perfectly floated airship can be lifted off the ground by a single dwarf. Cargo Airships on the other hand are floated. So without cargo, they would float away.
'Second Generation' airships as they are called use a totally different floatation system, such as the Highwind Class airships. These airships use a series of pipes and chambers built within their hull to float and levitate the airship. Without the blimp flotation device these airships prove to be much faster and have evolved into another class known as the 'Single Seaters'.
Not all races embraced Makou Technology in the belief that by using the lifestream as an energy source, they were possibly killing the planet. Such claims were mostly heard from the Blue Haven Kingdom, a government of the elven kind. The Stormchaser Class airships were designed using a more natural form of Makou, the crystalized Materia created by the lifestream. Stormchaser airships use materia for floatation and typically use natural or magical means to move, such as sails or magical spells. Ironically these airships were not possible until the creation of Makou Technology, as large quantities of materia was not common in nature, but form rapidly within the Makou Reactors.
At the heart of an airship are the engines. Makou Combustion Engines resemble an earthly diesel engine, a device made of iron with pistons inside that drive a crank shaft which powers the vehicle. The engine works on the same idea of a diesel engine which is compression. Fuel is placed inside the piston chamber and compressed. The air and fuel combination heats up under compression and explodes, driving the piston. Once the engine is started, it will run under its own energy and compression. These engines are started through a series of pulleys, cables, springs and weights. Original airships involve a key and lever system. A lever is pulled several times which tightens up several springs and raises several weights. The key is placed in what is known as the ignition, which in fact is nothing more than a secure triggering system. The key is turned which releases the tension of the springs and weights, which drives a series of gears and cables that turn the makou engines over. A newer system found on most modern airships involve only the key. The springs and weights for startup are drawn into position with a secondary system of springs and weights when the ignition key is turned to off. The off position includes another trigger which cuts the fuel to the engines, thus turning them off.
Airships have undergone several transformations in the devices used to levitate and float these ships. The original airships use a large blimp device which is filled with Makou Gas #2. These blimps were built half metal and half canvas and was connected with the main airship. Shafts and gears ran into the blimp allowing engine propellers to be placed on the blimp itself, along with rudder systems. Battle Cruisers and War Cruiser Class Airships utilize this type of system. Flotation and levitation for any airship is a balancing act. It is said a perfectly floated airship can be lifted off the ground by a single dwarf. Cargo Airships on the other hand are floated. So without cargo, they would float away.
'Second Generation' airships as they are called use a totally different floatation system, such as the Highwind Class airships. These airships use a series of pipes and chambers built within their hull to float and levitate the airship. Without the blimp flotation device these airships prove to be much faster and have evolved into another class known as the 'Single Seaters'.
Not all races embraced Makou Technology in the belief that by using the lifestream as an energy source, they were possibly killing the planet. Such claims were mostly heard from the Blue Haven Kingdom, a government of the elven kind. The Stormchaser Class airships were designed using a more natural form of Makou, the crystalized Materia created by the lifestream. Stormchaser airships use materia for floatation and typically use natural or magical means to move, such as sails or magical spells. Ironically these airships were not possible until the creation of Makou Technology, as large quantities of materia was not common in nature, but form rapidly within the Makou Reactors.
A history on airships
Until recent times, Airships were a rare creation in Toril. Legend and lore of the Faerunian Continent speak of enchanted flying vessels built by the elves, or the flying machines of the dwarven kind. Several attempts would be made on the Great Realms Continent, especially by the Vectorian Kingdom in the 8th century. Inventors of steam technology and the steam engine, they attempted to make a flying vessel out of a watership (which were now using the steam engines to sail), and using a blimp filled with the rare gas helium to levitate it. This attempt was declared a failure due to the rarity of helium and weight of the steam engine system. The weight of the boilers, water and coal fuel causted the ship to be too heavy to be lifted by the helium. An airship would not be attempted again until the 12th century.
Makou Technology is the process of creating a burnable gas using the planet's lifestream, a liquid energy that flows deep within the planet. Sid Deadwillow of the Tripower Kingdom discovered that a burnable gas could be created when the liquid of the lifestream was compressed with steam, and various forms of this fuel could be created. Most common is Makou Gas used in such applications as street lamps and housing lighting. The invention of the airship would be made possible by two other forms of Makou Gas and one vital creation, the Makou Combustion Engine.
Makou Gas #2 is a lighter than air gas, which unlike the two other forms of Makou Gas is not combustable. Makou Gas #3 better known as Makou Fuel is a sludge like liquid form of regular Makou Gas (Makou Gas #1), and is used with the Makou Combustion Engine. These engines are much smaller than the Vectorian Steam Engines and produce more power. Together with the now readily available lighter-than-air Makou Gas made airships possible.
The Tripower Company is a business with no official ties with the Tripower Kingdom Government. Created by Sid Deadwillow in 1254 as a corperation, it bares the Tripower name due to its three business owners (who also happen to be the founders of the Government). The Tripower Company would regulate and maintain the Makou Reactors and sale of Makou Gas, while also creating inventions which used the technology. Its first item for sale was the Makou Airship. They would utlize and use a new industrial technique known as mass production to create these airships. This onslaught of airships would cause a major shift in the Realmism Stock Markets and Corperations as airships were faster than the commonly used Locomotives and Waterships, demand for these ships would climb, and the continent itself would change.
Airships are an everyday sight in the Great Realms and with the public sale of Makou Technology, various classes and types can be found in the air. The continent is no longer as large as it once had been, a trip from Westbridge to Figaro once took months of travel was now reduced to a seven day flight. And this was only good for a continent built on centuries of business and trade.
Makou Technology is the process of creating a burnable gas using the planet's lifestream, a liquid energy that flows deep within the planet. Sid Deadwillow of the Tripower Kingdom discovered that a burnable gas could be created when the liquid of the lifestream was compressed with steam, and various forms of this fuel could be created. Most common is Makou Gas used in such applications as street lamps and housing lighting. The invention of the airship would be made possible by two other forms of Makou Gas and one vital creation, the Makou Combustion Engine.
Makou Gas #2 is a lighter than air gas, which unlike the two other forms of Makou Gas is not combustable. Makou Gas #3 better known as Makou Fuel is a sludge like liquid form of regular Makou Gas (Makou Gas #1), and is used with the Makou Combustion Engine. These engines are much smaller than the Vectorian Steam Engines and produce more power. Together with the now readily available lighter-than-air Makou Gas made airships possible.
The Tripower Company is a business with no official ties with the Tripower Kingdom Government. Created by Sid Deadwillow in 1254 as a corperation, it bares the Tripower name due to its three business owners (who also happen to be the founders of the Government). The Tripower Company would regulate and maintain the Makou Reactors and sale of Makou Gas, while also creating inventions which used the technology. Its first item for sale was the Makou Airship. They would utlize and use a new industrial technique known as mass production to create these airships. This onslaught of airships would cause a major shift in the Realmism Stock Markets and Corperations as airships were faster than the commonly used Locomotives and Waterships, demand for these ships would climb, and the continent itself would change.
Airships are an everyday sight in the Great Realms and with the public sale of Makou Technology, various classes and types can be found in the air. The continent is no longer as large as it once had been, a trip from Westbridge to Figaro once took months of travel was now reduced to a seven day flight. And this was only good for a continent built on centuries of business and trade.
Loners - a description
Loners are those who are either seeking to join a clan or have been outcast by their previous one. Unlike outlaws, loners will follow laws and rules set forth by the clan they are in, or of the country they pledge to.
Outlaws - a description
Outlaws are individuals who do not pledge themselves to any country and typically follow their own rules and laws to life. There is no central organzation within their own, they may form small groups to travel together but form nothing that can be seen as officials. Makou City in the eastern region is known as their capital city, but in fact this is only due to the high population of outlaws which make it their home. The city itself is ran by a small district organization of elected officials of the towns people.
Thieves, mercenaries and bounty hunters are highly associated with the outlaws, as outlaws tend to take jobs in those fields. The bounty hunters are an organized group within the outlaws and at least one master list of the wanted is kept between them. There is typically one bounty book in each major town, typically found at the local bar.
Thieves, mercenaries and bounty hunters are highly associated with the outlaws, as outlaws tend to take jobs in those fields. The bounty hunters are an organized group within the outlaws and at least one master list of the wanted is kept between them. There is typically one bounty book in each major town, typically found at the local bar.
The Hoard - a description
Imagine if you will, stepping into a world, that just isn't your own. A world devoid of the mundane. A world where thieves, whores, liars, murderers, wise men, scholars and bankers are all intertwined in a macabre dance of debauchery.
A world where freedom is tantamount to success, where lust is tantamount to excess, and GREED is the paramount emotion. A Greed for wealth, a greed for secret knowledge, a greed for that next hit or a greed for carnal knowledge beyond most moral and traditional standards. In the world of The Hoard you will find all of this and much much more. Gone now are the noble intentions and misguided traditions. We do not seek our fortunes and our pleasures only to be taxed and burdened. We are above such laws and justices which seek to reign us in. What is ours is ours. What is yours... Just might become ours if our whim decides. Already rumors abound. Strange stories of deranged howls piercing the night, children plucked from their beds, stores of liquor gone missing and mysterious bright fires sprouting up across the lands. The good folk are refusing to acknowledge these stories, to do otherwise would be admitting that the world just isn't as sane as they once thought.
A world where freedom is tantamount to success, where lust is tantamount to excess, and GREED is the paramount emotion. A Greed for wealth, a greed for secret knowledge, a greed for that next hit or a greed for carnal knowledge beyond most moral and traditional standards. In the world of The Hoard you will find all of this and much much more. Gone now are the noble intentions and misguided traditions. We do not seek our fortunes and our pleasures only to be taxed and burdened. We are above such laws and justices which seek to reign us in. What is ours is ours. What is yours... Just might become ours if our whim decides. Already rumors abound. Strange stories of deranged howls piercing the night, children plucked from their beds, stores of liquor gone missing and mysterious bright fires sprouting up across the lands. The good folk are refusing to acknowledge these stories, to do otherwise would be admitting that the world just isn't as sane as they once thought.
Log: 30032013 - Ror & Zazza
This teaching session in essence: start from the basics and work from there. Once your character background is known to you, it becomes easier to write your descriptions and notes.
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