Flamepunk: People, Culture and Factions

The Church of the Holy Flame

The following sections compiled by Mock from posts by CasperLions, Asklepios, Daneel, Brousseau, and probably others whose names I missed!

Fire is life.

It gives us light, that we might see through the darkness. It gives us heat, that we might survive a winter's chill. It cooks our food, it powers our forges, our industries. Fire is life.

Fire purifies, searing away all that is unclean, reducing our flawed corporeal form, in death, to ashes. Fire is truth, and hope.

The way is clear to us, a blazing path illuminated by the Most Holy Flame, leading us away from our impure nature, teaching us. Saving us.

Fire is transformation, freeing us, making us holy. When the bodies of the righteous burn, all that is impure in them is rendered into ash, and they become sacred. Beings of Heat and Light, transcending into perfection.

In death, all shall burn within the Holy Flame. The virtuous shall rise up to Paradise, and the wicked shall be consumed, transformed, sent back to redeem themselves in service to the living as Elementals.

All praises to the Holy Flame.

--From the Collected Sermons of the Transcendent Flame

The Church of the Holy Flame is the primary religious force in (Name of World), and most people will - if only in secret - agree that it intends to remain that way by force, if necessary. The central tenet of Church doctrine is the worship of the Holy Flame, the spirit of the original flamebinder, the first person to ever call down fire from the heavens and bend it to her will. By this act, she transcended the crude ash of physical being and was purified to her essence.

So too is the destiny of all who embrace the light of the Holy Flame and believe.

Church Doctrines

Unto the Fourth Generation

The shadow of the parent is passed on to the child

--Path to Purity, verse I

The Church teaches that the sins of the parent are visited upon the child, and it is in the interest of every man and woman to live righteously, and seek to emulate the purity of the Holy Flame in all things, lest their children suffer for their selfish acts.

This can be seen in everyday life where the children of poor parents suffer the curse of being penniless themselves, and the children of rich parents have the blessings of wealth. Similarly, poor children are generally sicker, more likely to die young, dumber and uglier than rich kids.

The rich Guilds and powerful Hadar Families like pseudo-Divine Right because it provides a moral justification for their wealth, beauty, success, etc. The poor don't particularly like it, but the pseudo-logic evidence is hard to dispute.

Loyalty and Excellence

Obedience to those whose flame bears less shadow than your own is the key to purification

--Path to Purity, Verse II

Dogma further teaches that the only way to move up in life is to unquestioningly obey those with fewer shadows on their souls than you. The Church teaches constant loyalty, even to death, to those who are your betters. Finally, they teach Excellence in all you do, persevering against and overcoming the toughest challenges your masters place before you.

Often distilled down to the idea that "the Flame helps those who help themselves," this attitude can be seen in everyday life where those indendants who work very hard for a Guild can not only improve their lot in life, but also improve the lot of their children. With better education and medical care, their children are obviously prettier and smarter (on paper) than those born in the ash-slums.

The Guilds like the unquestioned obedience and working hard parts, but it's the Hadar Families that really like the unswerving loyalty and personal excellence; it's a bigger deal in a warring criminal organization than in a warring corporate environment. The poor don't particularly like this part either, but the pseudo-logic evidence is again hard to dispute.

Altruistic Tithing

He who provides fuel so that another's flame may burn brighter, shall be rewarded tenfold in the Realm of Purity

--Path to Purity, Verse III

Lastly, dogma teaches caring for those less fortunate than you, and it is here that the Church's true genius shows. Having their Missionary Hospices already in place, the Church argues that any other form of welfare are wasteful - only the Church, with their centuries of practice, can do it right.

This means that the Church is best placed as the sole source of handouts and medical care for the poorest people. This generates massive amounts of self-replicating gratitude on the part of the poor for the Church. Of course, hospices generally treat the symptoms, and not the problems. Similarly, they don't tolerate people who just want food doled out to them (the whole work hard attitude).

Generally they put those they're "helping" to work performing some Church or community service, like cleaning streets or caring for the sick and injured. If you prove yourself in these services, the opportunity exist to volunteer regularly as a hospice nurse, Church guard, Church "hostess" or one of dozens of other Missionary positions. These 'volunteers' are only paid in simple, bland food and a non-private spot on the floor in an unsafe and occasionally violent common room, but if you're down on your luck and starving to death...

The Guilds and Hadar Families don't particularly like this part of dogma, but they have very little choice in the matter, and realistically Tithing ten or even twenty percent isn't really all that much money to the richest. Over the years a type of blackmail system has sprung up where Church Paladins ferret out some of the less savory and shadowy secrets of the rich and powerful. Inquisitors then take the evidence of these actions and ask the individual implicated if he has any shadows on his soul he needs revealed to the Light. The Guild Sanctum Member or Hadar Mother/Father can then generally "buy forgiveness" for their sins by making a gift to the poor. The alternative is that the information leaks to where it can do the most damage: perhaps to a rival, or to your own employees, or even to the populace in general, inciting a riot. Time and experience has taught most not to screw with the Church of the Living Eternal Flame.

Of course, all is not bad, as especially generous or regular donations are noted by the Church: "This Eternal Flame Hospice opened with a generous contribution by Senior Sanctum Member Argus Pos'par of the Salamander Guild!"

Church Influence

The Church is a massive institution, and its presence is felt at all levels of society. Health services, the courts, municipal maintenance, houses of comfort (brothels) -- these are just some of the services that are managed by or performed directly by Church affiliates. Media, likewise, are primarily Church-owned (although there are independent media outlets which have come into conflict - sometimes violent - with the Church), and due to the combination of extensive public works, beneficial and/or popular public services, and masterful propaganda, are generally well-liked by the general populace.

Church Organization

The Church of the Holy Flame, like any good bureaucracy, has a number of semi-independent arms, all reporting to the central Church leadership. Each branch of the church handles particular tasks.

Ecclesiarchy

The Ecclesiarchy is the executive branch of the Church, composed of clergy, and forms the central leadership of the Church. Ecclesiarchs run the gamut from the low ranking Acolytes to supremely powerful and influential Bishops and Archbishops. The head of the Church is known as the Beacon, or sometimes as the Flamebearer.

Templars of the Burning Light

Soldiers for the Church, the Templars promote themselves as being the light in the darkness. They pupportedly protect the people by fighting against demons and rogue elementals that harass the fringes of society, and are well loved by the media. At street level they're exactly what they appear to be - fearless defenders of the people. On the other hand the Inner Circle knows the truth: the threats which the Templars fight are actually summoned and released by the Church, in order to give society an external threat to war against.

Paladins

Paladins are the Flamespace operatives of the Church. They're pegged as Templars for the "other place", and are almost as loved. As well as hunting rogue elementals they also work to knock down flamerunners who threaten the Church. They consider themselves the police force of Flamespace. Despite their name, Paladins are far from being paragons of virtue. Because their domain is out of sight, they act with greater license, happy that their indiscretions and brutal methods will never be known to anyone save for their flamerunner adversaries. They do a lot more black ops work than the Templars, and use Flamespace to manipulate the world.

Missionaries of the Sacred Flame

Church Missionaries are PR people, pure and simple. They set up hospices, run by mundane staff. They make speeches in the market square. They proselytise, and they sermon. Thanks to the missionaries, rebellious sorts are viewed by wider society as being nothing less than destructive anarchists. Missionaries also act as investigators hunting for subversion and heresy, most especially the Inquisitors of the Sacred Flame - specially trained missionaries who act as an investigative arm. Inquisitors are feared, yes, but not hated. Society respects them and believes in their righteousness. The players almost certainly know better.

The Guilds

Vustus gazed out across the colossal manufacturing floor, his dry eyes barely able to make out the far wall through the heat-mirage and smoke. He gazed impassively at the huge furnaces-class elementals, massive stampers, and ant-like moving workers.

Master of all I survey, he thought contentedly, each indentant like a brick in a wall. Well, not all quite square bricks, he mentally amended, his burn-scared callused hand loving stroking the flame-lash he wore on his hip. Some indendants need more encouragement than others. Other Fabricators preferred to focus on enhancing various elemental bindstones or finding better ways to do things, but he had always enjoyed ... motivating ... his workers. His excellent efficiency ratings set the bar for other departments within the Phoenix Guild.

"Fabricators Vustus," wheezed an overseer as he jogged up. He's got the black-lung sickness, sure enough, thought Vustus, eyeing the gasping man, but his quotas haven't been quite high enough in the past to afford a visit to a wellbeing Magus. If he doesn't clean up his act soon, he's going to end up demoted back to indendant.

"Yes, overseer?" rumbled Vustus, through his expensive ash-mask; he kept his quotas up.

"There's a problem with one of the cauldrons, sir," panted the overseer.

"What type of problem, overseer?" the Fabricator growled. Damn, I hate having to drag information out of an indendant!

The overseer opened his mouth to answer, when suddenly the twanging cry of over-stressed iron giving sang out across the manufacturing floor. Both men turned to face the sound just in time to see a one of the huge overhead liquid metal transfer cauldrons come off its rail and drop squarely into an equally large quenching vat below. Billows of steam sprayed out for a few seconds, scalding nearby workers, before the suddenly cooled cauldron shattered into a spray of iron shrapnel. Vustus watched impassively as the no longer contained viscous liquid copper flowed around the legs of the nearby steam-blinded indendants. All across the factory floor the sounds of human screams started up as random victims noticed burned off feet and sucking chest wounds.

A nearby gurgling noise drew Vustus' attention and he looked down at the surprised face of the overseer as lifeblood spurted out from where a piece of shrapnel had torn out his neck. Too coincidental for accident, must be some type of industrial sabotage, thought Vustus, probably the Salamander Guild, we've been outselling them in this market recently. Not my business, really, I'll let the Ursers deal with it.

What is my business is keeping this facility producing at top efficiency. Vustus sighed. He could see a lot of long days ahead cleaning up the mangled metal and contracting new indentants. At least I have a convenient scapegoat, he thought, grinning down at the now silent corpse from behind his mask. He won't mind, and this way he doesn't have to suffer through black-lung.

---

The Guilds are the financial heart of (Name of World), managing, organizing, and controlling commercial enterprise across the land. Naturally, this gives the Guilds immense power and influence, and they compete with each other for wealth and status as often as they contend with the Church and the Families.

Chances are that any person working in a legitimate job in any city on (Name of World) is a member of, or subject to the regulations of, one of the Guilds. In fact, the Guilds frown on individuals who set up independent operations, and frequently make their displeasure known in ways that are...unpleasant, to say the least. It is rare that an "independent" businessman needs a second visit from the Hellforged to realize the error of his ways.

Guild factories and businesses employ the bulk of the population, who spend long hours toiling in less-than-healthy conditions to scrape together enough pay to feed their families.

Guild Organization

Though the Guild responsible for any particular areas of enterprise - cindersmiths, or flamebinders, for example - may have slight variations in structure or use slightly different names for various levels of responsibility, the general structure of a Guild is a complex hierarchy based on business acumen, debt and credit, and sheer cutthroat ruthlessness.

Guildlords

These are the head of a particular Guild, and are usually possessed of an uncanny deviousness, political savvy, and a frighteningly calculating nature. After all, they lived to make it to the top.

The Sanctum

The core management of each Guild - like a Board of Directors. Each Sanctum directs the affairs of their Guild, aiming for maximum profit at whatever cost. Competition between Guilds is fierce, but rarely erupts into open violence. Some say this is because even Guilds must respect the law, but others suggest that there is a secret True Sanctum that commands the individual Sanctums of each Guild. These whisperers claim that the True Sanctum has a sinister agenda beyond pure profit, to which goal they are gradually guiding the guilds.

Fabricators

Specialist guilders who focus on construction and tech-making. They are also pyro-scientists, and if there is a Guild research facility or factory its most likely run by a Fabricator.

Usurers

Financial experts who handle the money side of things. They usually rank lower than Guildlords and Fabricators, and are less respected, but no less vital.

Journeymen

Everyday guildsmen and -women, handling day to day guild business.

Hellforged

"Yeah, I've seen them. Loaded down with more brands, brass, and fireware than a whole flock of the Cardinal's guard. They can burn hot, but they aren't too bright. They've got hearts of ash. If you ever get close to one that still has human eyes, you'll notice that they aren't really human eyes anymore. More like a doll's eyes. Sure, when their sparks are stoked, they're full of rage enough to tear through anything. But when they're idling? They're hollow men. They've got the sinister purpose and all the personality of a knife blade."

Sometimes people need a little persuasion to come around to seeing things the right way. That's where the Hellforged come in. Guild Hellforged are little more than heavily augmented killing machines, loaded down with flamebindings, specializing in the use of steamtech exoskeletons, and covered with brands and subdermal obsidian core implants. They are fearsome warriors, but in exchange for near-unstoppable power, they have subsumed their will to the Guild.

Indentures

Low-ranking workers, they form the bulk of Guild laborers. Their contract requires them to comply with Guild restrictions and regulations.

The Hadar

The Hadar families are criminals whose power rivals that of the Guilds. With fingers in every pie and at every level of society, they are dealers in sin and blood without equal. The Hadar tattoo themselves with images of black flames; it is whispered that they have made pacts with dark elemental lords, who grant them the power to douse flames and shatter lights.

"The Hadar" is the collective name for a group of powerful families who are one of the supreme military forces on (Name of World). The Hadar are involved in society at many levels, and find themselves coming into conflict with the Church and the Guilds. Hadar enterprises are frequently street-level, but they are by no means "common crooks" or unsophisticated thugs.

All Hadar are honor-bound to never betray their Family, regardless of the potential benefit for doing so.

Hadar Organization

Though individual Hadar operate indpendently for the majority of their work, they are all fall into the following hierarchy.

The Families

The true power behind the Hadar, and the feudal lords of all who serve them. Some Families are truly caring for their communities, while others seek only power and influence. The Families are interlinked by a byzantine web of contracts, marriages, and debts, and so rarely go to war against each other. It is not uncommon for Family members to hold ranks in the Guilds or in the Church, allowing Hadar influence a foothold in those organizations.

Hadar Shadows

The Hadar Shadows are expertly-trained warriors who specialize in the use of smokecraft to accomplish their goals. They can bend smoke to their will, using it to create confusion, poison their enemies, and extinguish flame-based weaponry.

Hadar Ashwalkers

"You must be talking about the Ashwalkers, what they call their Hadarram. I don't really know how they do what they do, but they say that the Ashwalkers can somehow harness an inner flame. Even without brands or fireware, they can still manifest many similar abilities. Any blazer along the Wick or down in the Embers can score a set of flamebound knuckles or a firetongue, but Ashwalkers have been seen to catch blasts of flame with their bare hands and hurl it back at their attackers or mold the flame into a sort of lance or whip to lay waste to everyone around them. They can run across flying sparks. I've even heard rumors about real masters being able to sheath their whole bodies with a solid fiery aura that lets them stand toe to toe with an infernal engine."

The Hadar Ashwalkers are paragons of inner discipline, and have harnessed the very flame of their soul as a weapon and as a guardian. They can project searing heat from their bodies, see into the infrared, and guard themselves from the effects of fire. Together with the Shadows, they are the elite soldiers of the Hadar.