A Guide to the 4th Era
This is a guide designed to give you as a player some idea of what life is like in the 4 th Era. This guide is written in mind with the knowledge that you can either gain easily or knowledge that you might otherwise be expected to know. Remember, this is a guide only on what you’ve been told – the truth maybe somewhat different. Introduction The game begins in the year 421 of the New Calendar. You know nothing about the world before the New Calendar, as no records exist that you have access to before that time. You live in what is known as the Empire. For as long as you and your parents (and grandparents) can remember the ruler of the Empire has been Empress Arraslithian. You have never seen her but her statues and paintings are hung everywhere. It is said that she is the most beautiful woman in creation who is blessed by the gods, hence her longevity, wisdom and beauty. Under her hand the Empire has reached new heights in power and technology although the Golden Age is about to come to an end as war in the East is looming. Land Mass The Empire is massive. It’s land mass stretches thousands of miles and its population is around 55 million. These are mostly situated around massive centres of population, cities that boggle the mind in their sheer size. Many of these are connected together with the new horses of the age – steam trains (more about technology later). The Capital (and biggest) city in the Empire is Gundabad. The city itself stretches across the massive Gundalk shelf and holds a population of some 4 million people. It is a sprawling beautiful metropolis set against the meeting of the two mountain ranges of the north. It is here that the Imperial Palace situated along with the many other seats of power. As well as being a land continent the Empire has many island nations, although travel to these can take many months. Most of these are situated on the far side of the planet (the colonies) but that is all you know about them.
The Empires land mass is divided into Provinces, Sectors and Republics which are ruled by Senators and Governors. Generally speaking, Senators control the political aspects of an area whereas a Governor is in charge of the military & security side of things. Government The Imperial Senate governs the Empire with the Empress as the figurehead and arbitrator. The Empress leads by example but has no real power and is subservient to the Senate. The Senate and the Supreme Imperial Senator control day-to-day domestic & foreign policy of the Empire. Once a week the Empress sits with the Senate and hears the voice of the people. There are over 200 Senators. Those that carry political rank in the Empire carry the white oak leaves as their badge of office. This usually takes the form of an insignia on their uniform or clothes. Law and Order The organisation in charge of the entire security for the Empire is known as the Imperial Security Bureau or simply the ISB. The ISB headquarters is known only as Central and its location is kept secret. It is rumoured that Central holds a file on every individual in the Empire. The ISB is a massive umbrella organisation for many others that operate under it, however the two that most concern you are: Imperial Security Corp (ISC) These carry out the day-to-day police duties in the Empire and deal with mostly civilians. They wear deep purple surcoats and skullcaps and most carry pistols. Imperial Secret Police (ISP) One of the more sinister organisations in the Empire is the ISP. They are the invisible eyes and ears of the New Order. The New Order COMPNOR – that is the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order, controls all information, newspapers, libraries and art within the Empire. COMPNOR also has a military arm known as COMPFORCE who protect the Senate/Senate buildings and other leading politicians. The Special Detachment (SD) A state within a state, an army within an army – these are the soldiers of the SD. Highly trained political soldiers the SD are the harbingers of the New Order. They believe that they are its seeds and from them will come a new empire and a New Order as the Emperor foresaw it. The SD does not swear allegiance to anyone save themselves and the Empress. They ALL have political rank meaning in effect that they can arrest anyone they choose. They themselves fall outside the normal laws, which govern the Empire.
The SD is the only organisation that can issue the dreaded Special Order No. 23 (SO23), which states that anyone maybe arrested without charge for an indefinite period of time. This privilege is also granted to the Secret Police as they may ‘request’ an SO 23. Thousands and thousands have disappeared at the hands of the SD – their whereabouts is completely unknown although there have been rumours that they are taken away to dreaded slave camps in the icy north to be worked to death. All SD troops wear silver oak leaves on their collars as a sign of the political rank. The Rebellion The Empire does not have it all its own way however. There has been a growing rebellion against the New Order, which has culminated in a number of attacks against military and political installations. Until very recently the Rebellion was regarded as a joke among the High Command but they now seem to have become better equipped and better organised. So far Rebel actions have been consigned to the Outer-rim territories where their support is at its highest.
Language The official language of the Empire is Imperia. Whilst local dialects still exist they no longer used in the Imperial Core and would be frowned upon. However, as one travels to the Outer-Rim many areas have kept their native language. Religion It is written in the sacred texts that God came down from the heavens in the form of a great eagle and spoke with the Empress when she was a young girl. He gave her wisdom, beauty and a vision to create a utopia for all mankind in the world. He also granted her longevity to guide the peoples of the world to their ultimate destiny. The Empire remembers that day well, for it bears the Imperial Eagle in reverence to it. The citizens for their part worship the one true god (and his appointee on earth aka the Empress) and all his churches are adorned with mark of the Eagle. Races As the Empire has grown many races have mixed and cultural differences have become blurred. The old nationalistic races of the past have been largely brushed over by the Empire. The Empire no longer recognises individual races nor cultures. As such, COMPNOR has re-organised the race table as follows: High Man Mixed Man Common Man Halfling Dwarf Elf Categories All citizen of the Empire are categorised depending on where they live. They are: CAT A – The Imperial Core CAT B – The Outer-Rim Territories
CAT C – The Colonies CAT G – Gundabad CAT S – Special Identification All citizens are issued with Identity booklets that they must carry with them. Identity booklets will carry information about you (height, birthmarks, address, category, etc) and will also have a picture of you plus a thumbprint on the inside cover of the booklet (or other finger should your thumbs be missing). This is the primary way in which you can be identified in the Empire. You must carry your booklet with you at all times. The Economy The Empire is built on greed. As such it has beyond all doubt the finest banking system anywhere on the planet. The Imperial Central Bank (ICB) is responsible for minting all coins and notes and has a branch in every city and nearly every town. Only coins minted by the Central Bank are considered legal tender in the Empire. All other coins must be exchanged at the bank. Bank A/C’s are the norm throughout the Empire and all persons who hold accounts also have an account book as proof so that they can withdraw funds (or deposit them) in any branch of the Imperial Central Bank. The account book is embossed with that persons present (and past) balances and also a picture & thumb print is on the inside cover – which should match the one on your identify booklet. The currency of the Empire is known as the Imperial Mark and is a silver based currency. It is as follows:Iron piece Tin pieceCopper pieceBronze pieceSilver MarkGold MarkMithril Mark Platinum Mark No longer minted and only used in the Outer-rim 10 IP make 1 TP 10 TP make 1 CP 10 CP make 1 BP 10 BP make 1 SM 10 SM make 1GM 10 GM make 1 MM 10 MM make 1 PM
Promissory notes have also become legal tender and promissory books are given to citizens who request them. They are guaranteed by the ICB up to a certain level (depending on the customer) and this is printed on the note itself. Industrialisation The Empire is in the grip of the Industrial Revolution, which although similar to our own, has it’s own uniqueness. At the centre of this has been the discovery of two very precious resources: Dwarven Coal: Dwarven Coal burns roughly 14 times hotter than normal coal and lasts 7 times longer. The results mean that Imperial Boilers can create more steam at lower tempetures for longer periods of time thus meaning the boilers can be smaller and lighter. This has meant the boilers can be fitted to many more modes of transport than could have been done in our Industrial Revolution. Metronian: The Dwarves first discovered metronian in small amounts in the second era. However, mining the strange metal made them sick resulting in many deaths. It was therefore not exploited until early in the fourth era when it was discovered in larger amounts somewhere in one of the Outer-rim territories. What was really
amazing though is that when the metal was treated with mined Uranium that it began to float and hover in the air. This has lead to major breakthroughs in transportation modes and has also allowed the building of the Endorian Palace – the Empresses Floating Palace. Unfortunately Metronian is extremely rare and is only thought to be found in once place in all the Empire, its location is obviously a guarded secret. Also, it is not known how the Empire currently mines this ore, as in its raw form it is causes sickness and death. Getting Around By land: The great age of steam has finally arrived and this has meant huge changes to the way people live and travel. Travelling long land distances is now done by train – especially as every part of the Empire can be reached by rail. For shorter distances horse is still an acceptable mode of transport although many of the bigger cities have banned their use. By Sea: Boats and ships have changed little over the years and these still remain the focal method of sea transportation. Industrialisation has meant the introduction of cannons onto many war ships and their size has increased. However sail is still the over-riding method of transport. However, the age of the Ironclad cannot be too far away. By Air: Air Ships Industrialisation and the discovery of new gasses has meant that the Airship is now a recognised mode of transport. However the expense of Dwarven coal has meant that the price for travelling by air remains out of the reach for most Imperial citizens. Sky Ships Much rarer are the sky ships whose achievement has been made possible with the precious metal Metronian. These as yet have been restricted to Military use but are much bigger than their Air Ship counter-parts. They also look much slicker and beautiful since they use sails to power them as oppose the boiler engine Air Ships. As yet the Imperial Navy has built 3 Mighty Sky Ships.
Weapons & Armour Pistols: Pistols are now available and are very common. These come in a variety of sorts, the most common be the flint and powder type. However, military pistols are somewhat more advanced and can be found with the new ‘bullet’ types (a recent breakthrough). At this time however both Muskets and Rifles have proved to be both unstable and too expensive to produce and so have not been mass produced (or indeed produced at all in some cases).
Repeating Crossbow: The Repeating Crossbow is the standard weapon of the Imperial Armed Forces (next to the broadsword). It is a light crossbow, which has a pump-action vice underneath the firing house. This can be pumped between shots to allow the bow to be fired every other round without penalty. However, there is also a half cocking mechanism that means the bow can be fired if necessary every round at – 30 penalty. The bow may hold up to 10 bolts before reload is necessary. A bayonet can also be fixed onto the bow for close quarter assaults. Auto-bow: The Auto-bow is a new age wonder. A steel pressurised canister that is fitted underneath the gun housing that allows the bow to fired every round without penalty. The bow itself may also be switched to automatic firing that allows a hair trigger fire mechanism and a faster reloading of the chamber. This in effect means that it may fire 2 shots off per round with a – 30 penalty. The bolt magazines hold 5 bolts each and each canister is good for ten shots before requiring replacing. The auto-bow is used among the elite regiments and Special Forces of the Empire. A short bayonet can also be fixed onto the bow. Heavy Repeating Auto-bow: A large back pack house the entire firing system for this awesome weapon. This is belt fed round to the firing handle which is hand held (looks similar to a flame thrower) and it is from here that it spews out an awesome amount of bolts per round. The backpack houses 200 bolts and it is fully automatic, meaning it can fire multiple mini bolts every round. A truly deadly weapon usually only used by Termination Units. Grenades: These have fuses instead of pins but operate exactly the same as your modern day counter-parts. Armour: This has all but disappeared in the 4 th era except by use with the Army. Most armour is based on fusing hard leather with metal strips to give protection without slowing down soldiers. Metal armour is used only for ceremonial purposes or for certain guard units but has virtually disappeared.