Empyrean:FactionsFrom Superluminon
BritishHer Majesty's Royal Airborne Forces are the largest in Europe. They produce a wide array of flying vehicles, from nimble short-range scouts to massive mobile command centers bristling with radio and wireless telegraph antennae. There is also a growing market in civilian air transport, as such vehicles are faster than those on land or on sea. Due to the incredible complexity of keeping their skyships airborne, the British also control many Analytical Engines, which are housed in special laboratories. Most of the gear-time on the Engines goes to computing the solutions to air resistance and lift equations, and the scientific field of fluid dynamics has become huge. FrenchThe inventor of the first skyship hails from France, and this nation stays on the cutting edge of skyship technology. However, their smaller industrial base keeps them from matching the numbers of the Germans or the rapid technological turnover rate of the British. France's skyship military is much smaller, and it is more focused on producing civilian craft, for pleasure and business. Their long-range cargo craft are renowned throughout the world, and are based on a secret design that the British, Germans, and Americans are desperately trying to copy. GermansFast approaching the size and power of the British sky fleet, the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Army Air Service) is funded more than the nation can quite afford, leading to a downturn in the rest of the economy. Diplomats fear that Germany may turn its might against other countries in Europe. United StatesAn emerging world power, they are at the forefront of nuclear technology. Much of their Supreme GuildBased in the Netherlands, the Supreme Guild is an international union with subsidiaries in all major countries. It is a guild of specialists that acts to control access to aerodrive and computational technology. It is also playing a large role in the development of atomic power. Composed of:
PoliticsThere is also an internal disagreement within the Supreme Guild as to which power source to favor; the Chemists appreciate fossil fuels, the Engineers wish to use solar stirling engines in vehicles and geothermal for steam, while the Scintillary Order is a proponent of nuclear power. Since hydrocarbons are already well-established, the Chemists, known for their skill in matters fiduciary and political (they are very much bourgeois capitalists), are quite powerful, and are quite happy with the way things are. They oversee mining facilities, petroleum refineries, and purification laboratories. Purification is their newest business, but it is also their most valuable. The Engineers are a guild of environmentally-conscious, forward-thinking individuals who, govern nearly all production of heavy machinery such as computers and engines. Using technology from the Scintillary Order and raw materials from the Guild of Chemists, the Engineers were able to create processes that catalyzed the production of heavy machinery to the point where analytical engines could be produced in an economically viable manner. They also produce the great stirling engines that drive the massive French cargo dirigibles. A somewhat mysterious and secretive force in the field of skyship engineering, the Scintillary Order produces Aerodrive technology, which is much coveted by world powers. Aerodrive relies primarily on radio and electronics technologies to produce what has been called 'Empyrean Locomotion', and these technologies are very difficult to work with due to scintillary impurities. They also have spies within national nuclear power projects, and have a vested interest in atomic pile technology. World governments usually lay their own airframes and keels, and construct their ships, contracting to the guild only for key technological componentry. PiratesWith homebuilt, grassroots technology, smaller ships |
