SteamNES

One thing I had not realized before I started out on my journey east, was how much free time I would have. When we had first entered Rabiyya we had stopped at most of the major cities along our way, seeing if anyone had any knowledge of Appeleia. I had been, however, extremely disappointed. Not only did they not know of my destination, which I expected, but they proved to be utterly provincial, not worth conversing with at all. As a result, the further into Rabiyya we journeyed, the shorter our stays at the various cities along the route were. Now, all our stops were brief layovers, only stopping long enough to resupply for our journey. Thus, most of our time was spent in the air.

Very soon in our journeys, we begun to establish a set routine. Early in the morning, myself and Eques Publius Aper would meet for some light exercise. Naturally, since we were both well-borne (though of course he was only barely), we engaged in the traditional sport of the aristocracy, fencing. In this exercise, I found myself thrashed severely at first. Though, as was customary in my childhood, I was taught fencing, I had let the skill lapse since my formal ascension to my title. Eques Aper, on the other hand, as many of the minor nobility did, had devoted himself to the arts of war, and proved himself to be a quite accomplished fencer. Recently, under his guidance, I had begun to reclaim some of my old skill, so that the matches now were much closer, though even now I am dispatched with more ease than I would like.

After our morning lessons, Eques Aper and I would meet with Lady Collatinus for a light breakfast. Afterwards, we would part company, Eques Aper to do some more training with our complement of armed retainers, and myself to check on the engines and other machinery of the airship. To my great disapproval, Lady Collatinus would always go with her brother. It was not fitting either her station or her sex to mingle with our retainers, yet she insisted. After all, she claimed, we were going on a dangerous journey, most likely going past the edges of civilization. As a result, she needed to know how to handle various weapons so as to be able to defend her honor if needed. I remained unconvinced over her various arguments, yet, as with most things, she ended up getting her way.

The evenings, continued the Lady’s barbaric manners. After dinner, she positively refuses to leave the dinner table for Eques Aper and I to discuss serious matters, sticking around as if she were a man (and the way she quaffs her brandy as we sit around and talk would make me wonder if she were a man were not for her very feminine shape). These events have, however, forced me to reconsider my opinion of Lady Collatinus. Prior to this trip my impression of her was solely shaped by my interaction with her at the various parties she threw. She was, I thought, a vain, spoiled, shallow woman whose knowledge revolved around the latest fashions and the best wines. Now, though I still saw her as spoiled (to my great embarrassment she even gets her way with me!), I had to revisit my earlier impression of her being shallow. Through these after dinner conversations, I found out that she was extraordinarily intelligent, for a woman. She even proved herself a worthy opponent in our frequent after-dinner chess competitions (as opposed to her dolt of a brother, who seemed not to realize that a glorious, unsupported charge with his knights at the opponents king was not the best of strategies).

This routine, however, left me much time between lunch and dinner. On the rare days there was an actual mechanical problem on the ship, I could fritter away the afternoons working on the problem. More often, however, any maintenance that needed to be done could be finished in the morning, leaving me bored and restless. It was only for these reasons, and certainly not any interest in the idea itself, that I agreed to help out the Eques.

It was over dinner one day. We had just taken on supplies that day and Aper and his sister had gone wandering around the city, seeing if there was anything worth buying besides necessities. Though they didn’t find anything, they came back with several stories that they had heard from the various merchants with whom they had talked. Most of these stories involved overly fantastic war machines that various inventors around the world were supposedly building, or had already built. Naturally, these tales stirred the hot-blooded Aper, causing him to embark upon a patriotic rant about how great Magnatae would be if their army had similar fantastic weapons. Eventually, this led to questioning me over why I did not make instruments of war. I waved that line of questioning away. I did not invent war machines because to do so held no interest to me.

I thought that this blunt declaration would forestall any future questions along such lines, but that proved not to be the case. A while later, Eques approached me, asking me to develop some weapons for himself and his retainers. After all, he argued, I was currently doing nothing useful with my time and was obviously bored, so why not put myself to use? Of course I refused. It was bad enough his sister got what she wanted from me, there was no way I would take requests from him. He insisted that in order for our party to be safe, he needed a gun that could be carried by one person and yet penetrate any armored monstrosity we came across in our travels. I suggested a certain anatomical place he could shove his gun. Naturally this led to him bringing up the reinforcements, his sister.

I was determined that in this area, at least, I would not allow myself to be pushed around by her. Of course, this led to me isolating myself in my workroom after my maintenance duties were done the next day. With scattered parts of a rifle Aper filling the desk, I quickly started filling sheets of paper with various formulas and sketches. At first I didn’t think it would be much of a challenge, after all, my previous alchemic work had made me familiar with chemistry, while I picked up more than a little physics during the construction of the airship. And sure enough, it was pretty easy, if I wanted to make a gun the size of a cannon. However, my goal was to make it small enough for a single man to fire, and yet powerful enough to penetrate iron. An added difficulty was my previous ignorance to weapons of war, forcing myself to spend many hours learning about guns before seeking to improve them.

Eventually, however, I finished my model, of which I was pretty pleased. Naturally, I could not test the gun inside of the airship. However, Aper couldn’t wait until our next schedule stop, so we went ahead and set the ship down in the middle of nowhere. Under the direction of Aper’s yelled orders, a piece of metal, about thirty millimeters thick[1] was placed one hundred meters away from the ship.[2] I had given Aper some equipment to protect himself that I had developed during the course of my alchemic experiments, flame-resistant gloves as well as a metal mask that would protect most of his face in case my invention failed in a dangerous way. Taking the gun, which to this point had been slung over his shoulder, Aper took his position. Now as the gun was 162 cm long[3] and weighed 12.6 kg[4], I had attached a bipod to it, so that he could rest it on the ground as he fired.

With one last cheery wave at myself and his sister, who were observing the trial with the rest of the crew, Aper took aim and fired. The two men we had stationed by the target rushed over to it, inspecting it in order to see if the bullet penetrated it. After a moment, one of the men held up a white flag, our pre-arranged signal for success, provoking a round of cheers from the onlookers.[5] Since we were already landed, we decided to practice a little with the gun. Eventually, Aper became proficient enough with its handling that he was able to fire ten times in a minute, a rate which more than satisfied him.

Afterwards, once we had again lifted off, Aper approached me, no doubt, I assumed, to offer me congratulations. Secretly, however, I was slightly disappointed in the successful outcome of my project. Despite my continued grumbling, I had actually enjoyed working on the weapon, mostly because it kept me from being bored during the journey. Now, however, I had nothing to look forward to occupy my time. To my surprise, however, Aper did not congratulate me. Instead, he rather smugly informed me that now that our party could handle armor, he wanted me to invent something for our retainers so that they could have superior firepower, the “firepower of a regiment in a handheld gun.” Needless to say, I argued with him. This time, however, I decided to cave in before he brought his sister into the argument. After all, I rationalized, at least I wouldn’t be bored.


[1] A little over one inch
[2] ~109 yards
[3] ~5 feet
[4] A little less than 28 pounds
[5] It is indeed possible, even in our world, for a bullet to penetrate 30mm of steel at 100 meters from a properly designed rifle.

November, Year Two

Now in the employ of the Shah-en-Shah of Khur, Jeremy Sieko and his apprentice Rodia have completed the Cirrus, the world’s first effective heavier-than-air flier. Powerful and well-armed (though extremely short-ranged due to fuel requirements), the Cirrus is a deadly new addition to the armies of Shah Abbas.

Now armed with a small squadron of flying machines, Kalim Al-Bayyati’s buggies and Al-Shamdli’s Janissaries and Bombardiers, as well as the powerful standard army of Khur, Shah Abbas’ long-prepared and mulled-over war preparations began. A quick declaration of war was made, and the army, mechanical and human, poured into Mavadi. Several border forts were annihilated, along with a good portion of the Mavadan army. The Mavadans were unable to gain an advantage, and only a month after the war’s declaration, they are reduced to their strongholds in the delta, and a single pocket on the mainland.

Rowan Becket, the Anglian expatriate, is one of many trapped in said pocket, unable to escape due to the naval war (which is tilted strongly towards Khur) and the destruction of the bridges to the islands in the delta.

Peter Williams, pulling the strings of civil war from afar, sent three recently-constructed airships back to Anglia, armed with deadly explosives. Williams’ lack of expertise in airship construction was clear, as two were downed as they attempted to assault Oxford and Blacktyde Manor respectively. The third, however, went on a rampage through Scota, annihilating several rebel strongholds before being destroyed while refuelling in mid-July.

Oxford has developed into, quite possibly, the most industrialized city in the world, thanks to the tireless efforts of the locals, and their de facto leader, Ryan Amedeus. Its military forces and formidable defenses/resources have kept the city free of the new government’s control, despite multiple (admittedly small) assaults.

Meanwhile, Kate Aylor (under a fake identity) has been producing airships to provide aerial defense (and possibly offense) for the forces of Oxford. However, she (as her gender has only recently been revealed to the populace) and Amedeus remain the only two people adept at piloting said airships.

On Hallowe’en night in late October, Lord and Lady Blacktyde traveled to London in the Sea Turtle. A raid into government facilities facilitated by chaos caused by several powerful (and rather sadistic) machines led to the capture and execution of Prime Minister John Wilson, and the capture of several members of parliament. The raiding force was driven out of London, but the blow to the government’s prestige is tangible.

Eiria has become completely independent from Anglia’s weakening control, though it has yet to set up a government of its own.

The Samurai-led rebellion in Nihojon has been methodically annihilated. The governmental forces are forever indebted to the inventions of Doctor Akira Light. Some say that the War Armour and the Steam Soldiers (despite numerous mechanical difficulties and accidents) could have won singlehandedly. On another note, however, the Rossovayans are growing uneasy about the large, advanced Nihojonese force near their border- though the force claims to be staying in the area to calm the population and stamp out the last embers of rebellion, Rossovy has learned from past experience that few of its neighbours are to be trusted.

Doctor Light has also continued his work on domestic farming machinery and ‘electro-magnetism’, a concept similar to the Lightning Magnets used by the late Professor Isaac Hayden.

Cid Hibiki’s Stargazer-Class Airship has become the first vessel to aerially circumnavigate the globe. While this is an incredible achievement, regrettably little mapping was possible due to the difficult nature of the trip and the high altitudes typically involved.

Improving on the Griffon’s weapon design, he has created an explosive dramatically named the ‘Steam Vortex Warhead’. A single one has been tested, proving it to be an excellent antipersonnel weapon.

Hibiki has also begun researching more efficient fuels. His ‘Black Ice’ or compacted coal, is proving to be a useful fuel, though it is considerably more expensive than regular coal. Most customers would prefer to stick with unrefined fuels, though there are still enough purchases to make Black Ice a profitable product. The liquid and rather explosive fuel codenamed ‘Juice’ has failed to function effectively in engine systems.

Coup in Pjolaka! Octavian Germanicus’ Robotic Forces have assaulted the capital at midnight. Most of the government was captured, and given the choice of signing a charter recognizing Octavian as King, or dying (with the implications that those who they loved would suffer similar fates). Crowned as King Octavian I, he is now contending against all of the nobles who survived and are not currently incarcerated. Much of the country is up in arms against him, though Octavian, his personal army, and the army serving the previous king may be enough to secure the country. However, the threat of foreign intervention is there- both Rossovy and Allemany have claims to Pjolak territory.

Malik Al’Safwani, continuing his battle against the forces arrayed against his faith and country, attempted the assassination of King Carlos II of Espan. The motives for this attack are unclear, as Espan has not fought Rabiyya for over a century, and Father Leonardo, who is so hated in Rabiyya, was personally banished by said King. At any rate, Espan has no idea who attempted to murder their beloved Monarch, so questions of motive are not asked anyway.

A threatening letter which arrived in Leonardo’s hands has still not moved the aging Espanic man away from his goals of the destruction of enemies of his faith. However, he has cut off his attacks since rebasing to the mountains northwest of Maqqar.

Julius Magnus continues his journey through Rabiyya, though he is starting to despair for lack of leads in the voyage to Appeleia. He has taken to designing weapons for one important passenger, Eques Aper. So far, the result has been a single, relatively small anti-armour gun. More designs will likely appear in the future, as Julius has an excess of spare time on his hands for the time being.

Map

The Call to Arms​

The RAS (Royal Anglican Ship) sailed into the harbour. On its deck was a man not seen in Anglica for a month. He'd made the rip in a record three weeks on the light sloop. Now, he had buisiness. Edwards was not as loyal as Wilson before him. It was time to use the philosophy. (If it doesn't go right, do it yourself!)

He stood before the House of Commons, and pondered how he gotten this far. This was the most crucial part in his plan.

"My fellow Anglicans," Williams yellled, "Our country has been crippled, by Lawrence, by Brown, by Wilson, by Blacktyde, by Amandeus, and countless others. All the time you beurocratic idiots have been sitting in in your country manors doing nothing! You put this country to shame!"

A few MPs looked at thier feet.

"We have a railway system! We have factories! We have damned near everything needed to crush Oxford and Blacktyde in one go! But you sit here drinking tea and waiting to be killed!"

"I'm not happy! London isn't happy! The whole damned country isn't happy! You lazy, moronic fools!"

"You have no right-"

"I HAVE EVERY RIGHT!" Williams screamed, "I AM A CITIZEN OF ANGLICA! I COULD JUST GO OUT THERE AND REBEL LIKE THE REST OF THEM! I DON'T, AND YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE I LOVE MY COUNTRY, AND THATS MORE THEN YOU PIGS WILL EVER DO!"

The house stared.

"Which is why," Williams said, calmly, "I'm taking control of the war effort."

Edwards looked at Williams strangly. but Williams pulled out a pistol and held it at him.

"You will remain in power, Edwards," Williams snarled, "But I will control our military..."

No one said a word.


Williams ordered the factories controlled by Anglica to produce Steamhulksd and Steamdestroyers by the ton, and ordered seven steamhulks and three steamdestroyers at Oxford.

delivered secretly Via Stargazer to Oxford

Greetings, Ryan Amedeus
while I can not directly involve myself into this civil war at this time, I can not let Mr. Williams effectively rule Anglian. he has repeatedly shown he is completely untrustworthy, especially with his recent coup of your military.
I also wish to see the expansion of the Production of black Ice. in the brown envelope delivered along with this letter are the formula and method of production of both black Ice and Sealant 23. the Sealant is fireproof, and tear resistant, greatly enhancing your airships ability absorb damage. black Ice offers up to a 90% reduction in fuel weight, along with hotter boiler fires.

If you can last until February, I will be able to assist you more directly, for that is when the Excelsior will be completed, along with my side project.
signed C.H.
P.S. please burn this note after reading.

Anglia splinters further... Many people are not happy with an industrialist who just fled the country returning and taking control.

Diplo:

From King Octavian I
To Rossovy and Allemany

I would like to caution you against moving against a nation in chaos, for assimilating a nation in chaos will no doubt cause your own nation to succumb into chaos.

Therefore I propose that you leave us alone so we can bring stability back to the world and in exchange your respective nations can each recieve 100 Legionairres for their own personal use.

Agreed?


OOC: Now that I have a challenge and this has brought my attention back, I have decided to keep playing for a bit longer. Also expect story soon.

To: Pjolaka
From: Rossovy
We accept your offer wholeheartedly.

To: Pjolaka
From: Allemany
Transfer the territories on the western bank of the Bistu River back to us, and we will recognize your government. These territories are historically (won by Pjolaka a little over a century ago) and ethnically (60%) Alleman. To improve on the deal, we will aid with putting down your rebels, if you wish.

To Rossovy
From King Octavian I

We are glad you see the light in our plans. Your robotic army is being built as we speak.

To Allemany
From King Octavian I

If we agree to your terms, will you allow the safe transportation of Pjolaka people back to Pjolaka lands if they so wish?
If yes, we accept. (We will not be needing your assistance in the rebellion, but thanks for offering.)
If no, we decline.


Story is in progress, expect it up in about an hour.

To: Pjolaka
From: Allemany

Certainly, if they wish to leave, we will not make any attempts to stop them.

Jeremy loved to fly. However, those who he had been ordered to train on his flying machines did not: they simply took orders and did what they were told. They lacked the spark; much like Jeremy had a spark for inventions, he had one for flying too, and he had yet to meet anyone else who had it. These poor men were terrified to fly, and were far from relishing it as Jeremy did. They often called his Cirruses "deathtraps," not because they crashed but because they couldn't seem to figure out why they didn't...

Today Jeremy was training a new pilot, another man sent to him by Al-Shamdli. He had run through several grounded test runs to show he knew the controls and had even shown a mild adeptness when it came to understanding how the Cirrus worked. He was being shown a working Cirrus for the first time, and he seemed struck with awe.

"Its so beautiful. Shiny new and efficient. It even has circles, the perfect geometric figure," said the pilot. He ran his hand on the glass at the top of the Cirrus while pacing around it.

"It is beautiful. However, I would save your attestations until you try flying it," said Jeremy. He rolled his wheelchair over to the nearest Cirrus and climbed up, strapping himself in. The new pilot was still admiring his Cirrus.

"What are you waiting for? It looks even better when it flies," said Jeremy. The man nodded his head, and climbed inside without saying a word. Jeremy saw him strap himself in and grasp the controls.

"Okay, lift off slowly to begin with, the Circles might not have much power just starting," warned Jeremy. The new pilot was not listening, and began to climb swiftly into the sky, faster than what was safe.

"I said slowly!" yelled Jeremy. Still at only half the altitude of the other Cirrus. Then, it started to tilt into firing position. Then Jeremy saw both barrels flash, and projectiles were sailing towards him...

Only his quick wrists and low altitude saved Jeremy from dying in the crash. One of the projectiles had crashed into the top of the Cirrus' glass, badly burning it and throwing the ship out of control, while the other flew far to the left as Jeremy strafed right.

As the Cirrus flew erratically, Jeremy saw another flash of the barrels from above. Both of these shots missed by a wide margin. But the first shot had done its job, and the Circles suddenly stopped working, sending the Cirrus hurtling towards the ground...

Jeremy woke up in his house, on his bed. He never remembered what happened, but was told later that Rodia had rescued him from the wreckage while this new pilot flew away with the Cirrus. It was unfortunate to lose such an important invention, but he doubted anyone could do much with it. His thoughts started to turn to other things, and soon he was drifting off to sleep, both real and deep...

Khur is having some serious issues with Sparks. Nice stuff!

Sounds of battle fills the air as Octavian woke up, he stood up and shook his head, he felt a pain in his head and raised his hand to the pain when it came in front of his eyes he saw blood. He tried to remember what happened but he couldn't so he motioned for Julius and asked him how the battle was doing.

"Excellent sir."
"Good, now go find me a general."
"Certainly sir." Julius stumbled off. Octavian smiled, he could see the capitol city, part of it was in flames but for the most part it was still intact and ready to recieve the new king.
"You asked for me, my lord?" Saluted General Jonathan Motos.
"How is the battle progressing?"
"Excellent sir, several of the leading nobles and the king have been captured. As we speak we are currently fighting several weak nobles who are what remains of the enemy. The more stronger nobles have fled the battle."
"Great job General Moto, keep up the fight, the city will fall."
"Yes sir." General Moto saluted again and rushed off.

Several hours later, the last army was routed or surrendered and Octavian with his bodyguards of 10 Legionairres marched into the Palace and saw several nobles cowering next to the grand fireplace and walked over to them,
"Sign this paper or die." Each of the nobles signed it and then asked Octavian what they signed.
"This paper that you signed gives me power over this kingdom, I am now your new King." Each Noble then stood up and save for one pledged their support to the new King. The one who did not was killed and a detachment of the King's army along with 5 Legionairres marched to his estate to kill the family. Octavian smiled, the kingdom was finally his.

The next day a wounded soldier entered the Palace and requested to speak with the King.
"Sir, I come from the city of Gilwice. I regret to inform you that the local barrack was overrun and the region west of the River Bistu is in open rebellion. As we crossed the river we saw a man that looked similar to one of the nobles on the previous king's cabinet."
"Thank you for bringing this news to my attention, you must have had a long and hard march. Clero, please take care of these men."
The soldier thanked King Octavian and left with Clero.

Julius entered and said, "Sir, you must speak with the people, they must know about the regime change. General Moto." Julius's recording ended.
Octavian muttered, "Now begins the life of a King." He walked to the Grand Hall where the local newspaper reporters were and he began to speak.

Ladies and Gentlemen, citizens of Pjolaka, I give you your new King.... a round of applaus....
Thank you General Motos, I am Octavian, I am a wealthy merchant from the north, I lived next to the city of Gydnia. After being raised by my parents whom I am grieved to say was killed, I have noticed that Pjolaka needs an overhaul in Education, security, infrastructure and trade. For the last few years, I have been watching the previous regime squander money and these rich nobles literally stealing the national economy from right under our noses! This stops now! I promise that I will change Pjolaka, I have secured peace with our neighbors, something the previous regime failed to do. My army is cheaper to upkeep than the regular army therefore I can guarantee that you will see your boys returning home and taking safer jobs as our military will become more cheaper and powerfull. With my ideas for Pjolaka our soldiers who have been discharged will have jobs working on roads, rails, shipyards and construction. I have begun construction of a grand University in Warsaw to train our citizens to become better teachers, better engineers, better everything! I ask that you put away any bad thoughts about me and join me in making Pjolaka great!

Octavian sighed, "I hope this will stop most of the rebellions around the nation so we can put these ideas to work." General Moto nodded.

The Kracken Class Ariel Destroyer.
Designed specifically for bombardment of Ground targets from approximately 500 to 1000 ft above the battle field. approximately Twice the size length of a griffin, and eight times the mass, they are a fearsome sight to behold, supporting 39 high pressure steam cannons on each side, and 29 Quad steam Ballista’s along it's keel. With six High pressure Boilers fueled by black Ice, and a 250 gallon reserve water tank, it has a huge amount of Power to supply its propeller and its weapons. Even its Blimp is specially coated to resist and absorb the impact of small arms fire. In Truth, It is an awesome sight to behold, and yet, it pales in comparison to the Excelsior herself...

@TerrisH: That's a pretty good drawing.

The Anchor class subsidiary airship.
The anchor class is a small, one person airship with high mobility, even when fully loaded. It also knows for precision in its movements, making it Ideal for its primary role, that as a flying crane, with a lift capacity of 500lb. I dose have a severely limited fuel supply, carrying only an hour's worth of Black Ice. During the expansion of the shipyard, over 100 of them were construction in anticipation of the Kracken, Eris, and behemoth class airships. And of course, the mighty Excelsior herself.

OOC: Iggy, anchors are not so much an airship, as a piece of construction equipment.
Also to note, the Drawings are to scale. Tomorrow, the Eris Class Cruiser (anti-air, with some ground support), and the Behemoth class cargo airship. After that, I’ll put up a size comparison, and then.. The Excelsior!

@germanicus- Nice story. However, about city names, the best idea would be to use obscure Polish city names, or slightly edit their names. Cities that are just variations of a nation's name aren't the best.

Awesome diagrams TerrisH. However, I think that you may be moving a bit too fast. You can only build these things so fast, especially as they're all prototypes working with a new and not fully-mastered type of fuel. Most of these will have to remain just as plans or prototypes for the time being.

I did not know what to use for the cities so I made them up, will use Polish cities as a naming platform next time.

Will edit the three in my story.

Pjolaki=Warsaw (capitol)
Pjoloko=Gydnia (Octavian's birth town)
Crusuant=Gilwice (city/region in rebellion, in story)

Is this acceptable?

One other little request- it would be really nice if people would use names normal for their nations to come up with name. I often find it odd that the Pjolak King has a Magnataean name, or every one of Hayden's acquaintances had an Anglian name, despite living in Vestlund.

Cheers to those who do use appropriate names!

the anchors are the only one I want in large numbers. the rest, are a slow build-up in forces. I only expect the Eris and the Kracken Prototypes to be completed. the anchors? they are background devices, employed exclusively in the shipyards. they are not something I expect to be listed.