Empyrean: Airships & Alchemy

Why is the world an eternal and endless sky? How did it come to be? It's a question you must have asked yourself a thousand times no? In Khamsin the Alchemist-Poets, the Sha'irs tell a story, a story of a Great War that once raged across the world.

The First Caliph, whose name has been lost to history had a daughter of unsurpassing beauty. But the Caliph was a cruel and wicked man and he locked the Princess away in a tower hidden within a secret oasis deep within the great desert where no man would ever see her. But what the Caliph did not know was that the oasis was the meeting place of The 5 Divine Princes of the Jinn, those Elemental spirits of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Wood which had formed the world and maintained its balance and harmony. On the night they met, the Princes heard the girl's mournful song and went to see who it was that sang with such beauty and sadness.

Upon seeing the Princess each of the 5 Princes fell in love with her, each one desiring the girl to be his own. They traveled to the Caliph's palace where each one demanded that the Caliph give over his daughter to them. Then the Caliph, vain and foolhardy and desirous of power declared that he would give his daughter to the Prince who proved himself the most powerful of the Jinn. Thus did the Great Elemental War begin...Air was the victor.

An Endless Skies Fantasy Setting for Fate Accelerated Edition

Worldbuilding Thread

Recruitment Thread

In Character

Out of Character

Dramatis Personae

Crew of Maria

• Captain Oda, played by Sabermane
• Ursalaine "Ursa" Galois, played by SimianNym
• Eli Ashrahai, played by gtroc
• Simon Greymarket, played by Commander Pulsar
• Naheil Dannen, played by Eled the Worm Tamer
• Nala Safaa, played by kitty voodoo
• Ghost, played by prankster_dragon

Maria

The Ship

Nations

Dory

A smaller, but growing, power. Dorian Alchemists are known to practice bio-alchemy, a practice commonly outlawed elsewhere.

Khamsin

An arid windswept realm that once was the mightiest of them all. But over millennia, the blistering winds and violent sandstorms have taken their toll and Khamsin is now but a shadow of its former glory as the islands that make up this once vast Empire slowly erode and crumble into dust.

Fūjin

An archipelago of temperate-to-subtropical volcanic islands full of lakes and rugged, but lush scenery. The feudal states battle among themselves vying to be the supreme warlord of the archipelago. Their battles and machinations, however, are constrained by the complex network of moral codes, loyalties, and traditions that must be maintained if one wants to maintain legitimacy as a ruler.

Fūjin has been heavily influenced by Vayu, from whom they borrowed much of their technology, and with whom they trade often (and engage in piracy oftener).

Factions

The Ancient and Respected Order of Alchemists

The largest Alchemist's Guild in the Sky, large and powerful enough to transcend national borders.

The Celestial Order of the Seraphim

A Messenger Guild, the largest currently active. Part religious order, part business. Messengers fly using alchemically grafted wings.

Regions

The Churn

The shortest route between Valia and Khamsin is through the Churn, a dangerous region of tricky winds, many small islands, and often thick cloud. Large ships are well advised to steer clear, but the possibility of saving weeks can be too great a temptation. Naturally, the Churn provides a haven of sorts for pirates and others who wish to avoid the navies of major powers.

The Blue

Also known as the Deep Blue, the Blue is a vast expanse of cloudless, empty sky located between Khamsin and Vayu. The region is infamous for its calm and generally windless conditions. Sky ships without an external form of propulsion can find themselves stranded within the Blue for weeks on end, especially during high summer when the doldrum like conditions are at their most severe. Sky Madness is a common occurrence for sailors trapped within the Blue.

The Firmament

Upper storm band

The Nether

Lower storm band

Airships

Ambergris

Produced naturally by Skywhales and harvested from their remains, Ambergris is the substance that allows airships to sail the skies. Smaller vessels sail on the Ambergris currents that follow the Skywhales. Larger vessels require greater lift and therefore carry their own supply that is used up as the vessel traverses the skies.

Alchemy

Bio-Alchemy

The practice of using Alchemy methods on living subjects to effect one or more physical changes upon the subject of the technique. Widely outlawed, bio-alchemy is now utilised primarily by two groups: Dorian Alchemists and the Seraphim.

Boltlock Pistol

A common sidearm amongst airship crews, Boltlock Pistols utilise specially prepared alchemical contraptions to create and direct electrical charges. Powerful but notoriously unreliable, most crew carry a sword or other melee weapon as a back-up.

Lightning Arquebus

The longarm version of the Boltlock Pistol, the Lightning Arquebus has a longer range and tends to hold a charge longer, but is more cumbersome to use in close quarters. Often utilised in the early stages of combat between airship crews.

Flora and Fauna

Skyders

Massive spiders that create the much used spider silk. They travel across the skies through "ballooning" by creating a parachute of spider silk. They often build massive intricate webs between small floating islands too small for humans to live on. These webs can become a serious navigation hazard.