Worlds: Harbinger

This is an empire of sky ships and floating cities. It is a world where the Mysteries hold sway. Students of Law, War, Thought, and Wind try to tame these secrets. Those who can, enter and enjoy the privileges of those living above. Those who can’t, remain in squalor in the Fells. It is a world where ghosts prey on the minds of the weak and the vulnerable.

Where even children are signed away through a deed of servitude. This is a world ruled by the Fitzempress family. A world that is about to change forever.

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Locations in Harbinger

Lockhaven

The capital of the empire and seat of power for the Fitzempress family. It floats about the masses living in the City below, a series of manors built on crags of rock which hover over the buildings and tenements below. Its shadow falls over the City night and day and is reached by the various sky ships that ferry up and down.

Character Archetypes

For more character archetypes View Glossary

Advocates

These are the experts of the Mysteries of Law. Their contracts (or deeds) can bind a person in servitude for their entire life. The prisons are full of those who have crossed them.

Doctors

Of all the Mysteries, the most difficult to learn are the Mysteries of the Wind. These are the alchemists, the surgeons, the ones who learn the properties of things and the anatomies of beasts and men.

Dragoons

These are special soldiers in the Ministry of War, the sharpshooters who ride in various sky ships and can hit targets from far away with their arquebuses.

Keepers

These are those chosen to run the manors that float on the air. They serve families for generations and run the household, protect the family, and preserve the traditions of the past. They are the most trusted individuals in the house. And sometimes the most dangerous to cross.

Vicars

When someone masters the Mysteries of Thought, they can become a vicar. They live in the clouds as well as serve those in the tenements. They bring peace after war and plead for honesty and civility in society.

Magic & Lore

The common people do not understand how the magic of their society works. Such knowledge is hidden from the ordinary and taught at special schools throughout the empire. It is referred to as the Mysteries. How can a cleft mountain support a manor in the sky? It’s a Mystery. There are the Mysteries of Law, War, Thought, and the Wind.

The Mysteries provide water for people to drink. They have created industries that make linen for people to wear, music that gets transported to the high echelons of society, and empower sky ships like sleek zephyrs or massive hurricanes to jet through the skies delivering messages, goods, or soldiers.
Only the wealthy and the privileged are allowed to learn the Mysteries. It was not always so. Things have changed over the centuries that the Fitzempress family has been in power. But it will take a force even stronger than the Mysteries to make change possible again.

Cast of Charcters

Cettie of the Fells

A young woman living in the Fells in an orphanage of sorts. She dreams of riding in the clouds and visiting places. Anything to escape the ghosts in the tenements.

Glossary

Advocate

someone authorized to practice the Law

Arquebus

a musket-like weapon that shoots balls at a distance without the use of gunpowder; officers in the Ministry of War cannot be shot by them

Bhikhu

a race of beings from another world that can float when holding their breath

Blackrock

a mineral that his highly flammable and used for heating in the tenements

Brigantes

those who operate outside the Law and steal from sky ships

Clavicembalo (cembalo)

a musical instrument similar to a piano in our world

Dolcoath

the silver mines of the Fitzroy family and the source of their income

Dragoon

a special soldier in the Ministry of War; a sharpshooter

Fells

the largest industrial enter in the norther parts; has a reputation for crime and disease

Fog Willows

a floating manor in the northern part of the land; owned by Brant Fitzroy and his family

Gimmerton Sough

a floating manor near Fog Willows, though much smaller

Governess

household position entrusted with the care of children before they leave to study the Mysteries at one of the various schools

Hove

a hangar for sky ships

Hurricane

the largest type of sky ship, reserved primarily for the military and large shipping concerns

Keeper

person entrusted to manage a household; may act for the master of the house

Landing Yard

places designed for passengers to board and exit sky ships

Mysteries

the magical force that controls the universe; study of it is divided into four different schools of discipline: Law, War, Thought, and the Wind.

Pavenham Sky

the floating manor of the Lawtons; an exclusive place to be approached only by invitation

Perch of air

a form of magical gravity that levitates manors and sky ships

Privy Council

co-rules with the emperor and can overrule decisions, if warranted; a check and balance on the power of the sovereign. Led by the Prime Minister who the sovereign appoints.