NBx Any Windswept Hearts (World of the Wind Empress)

[CasualVelociraptor]

Welcome to Gran Metro, home of my newest obsession- the steampunk World of the Wind Empress. I am currently working on a novel set in the Metropolitan Empire called The Wind Empress: Darkblight heavily influenced by the First and Second French Empires, but will be eternally grateful to anyone who wishes to play in a completely separate plot in this admittedly very complex universe while I do so. My preference is for women (or people wanting to play a woman) since I haven't had very much success with finishing lesbian RPs but I will accept any character that's well-sketched. (For this NB version of the thread, I will play any otherwise femme or masc coded character listed below as NB.)

I tend to do better with worldbuilding with my own nonlinear thinking, while leaving plenty of room for my writing partner's imagination, than laying out every single potential detail, but if requested I can provide all the background information you require.

However, while I am going hard to bat for the realism of my morally grey world in my novel even my villains are probably gonna be a little too…understandable, trying as I am to make a deeply themed novel.

I don't how know to write people so wealthy that they have no qualms about taking anything or anyone they want. That's where YC can come in. You can make a different version of this world for just us (though I reserve the right to take my side of our writing and rework it for my novel, I will NEVER take any of yours).

This would be set after the sudden ascension of Empress Endrelle I de Constanci (topmost image- full commissioned image coming soon!). She has returned home at 25 from being Wind Commander during the War of the Twin Valleys in which she was victorious over Gerrasam, to give up the power of ruling by decree with Uzmaks in emergencies that made her father so hated, and set up a representative constitutional government that opens up more political, economic, and social opportunities for ambitious and/or civically-minded tholk (people) than under the Absolute Emperors and even Empresses of the past.

Endrelle came to power after her father Macusar III de Constanci died to a Gerrasami waterfoot cannon in 679 along with Crown Prince Rogridde I after an ill advised pursuit of the fleeing enemy via terrabird cavalry charge into the muddy and rained on Sanctuary Trench where the Gerrasami Earthriders and Cave Divers had the advantage. (Magic is tied to one's body water, like sweat in exercising, or is done through steam machinery or biologically symbiotic plants or minerals such as gripkelp in Baharea, glidepalms in Mifumwanga, and condemnation mud in Gerrasam; primarily in the Condemned Desert but also in Gerraterrini. So imagine Harlem Helldivers attacking you by swimming through mud…poor Endrelle could only watch from her plane.)

He had ordered Endrelle to massacre many of his political rivals before now, so she made sure to give people a lot of ability to be stakeholders in the new regime over the year to assuage fears while she fully consolidated her rule to compensate. This leaves her and her family straddling many competing interests and possibly bedrooms while multiple power brokers jockey for their piece of the new order. One of the new laws allows for two marriages and two courtiers (unwed partners who you are nevertheless economically responsible for), so therefore there's a lot of opportunity there for harems, for instance.

Consider the constitution, then, your ambitious character's charcuterie board of potential allies, love interests, or rivals, and those who wield money whether through bribery of the Tribunate for a particular outcome or the purchase of fine food for a key Director to push one's agenda, along perhaps with public infrastructure investments and patronage of the arts, will gain great favor in the embryonic government. The Empire had its treasury depleted by war, and is still rebuilding the tax base and its vaunted Porta Dori and Boardwalk markets in Gran even with the jolt that control of Gerraterrini brings to the economy. So a hefty donation would not go remiss, even with elections supposedly being democratic.

Potential Positions for YC:

Business Owner: Advantages include flexibility in how you want to define business owner, what Guild you belong to if any (but you cannot sell more than 10,000 notes- pegged to the value of the franc in 1914- per transaction in a non-Guild business and even after being weakened the Guilds are powerful opponents, especially the Newscriers Guild whose Chairtholk is a Director by Right that certifies and self-censors the dozen Guild newspapers in Gran) and choice of who among the equal or lower classes you can make into your dock ladies as it's called on the Boardwalk in Olloia by Stormaway Beach.

They just need rent money or a place to stay and so are not counted towards the partner total. For the moment, even the otherwise crusader Empress is leaving the Thieves Guild and smaller criminal organizations alone to focus on rebuilding and cementing her rule.

Utaginoli Duchies: Based on Italian city states and Swiss cantons. I have the outlines of the Five Families sketched out roughly based on vassalage, family history, territorial geography…you just tell me which looks good and you get a passport as a free agent Duke/Duchess to go anywhere in the world and make deals with anyone, with any negotiating tool.

Curia Observionale: If you want to marry any of the de Constanci Princesses, you can only pick one. They are too high rank to be legally allowed to be courtiers under Imperial law. No incest, period.

But princesses abound. Being engaged to one of them automatically grants you a voice on the Curiate legislature as a Grand Deputy which would allow YC to pass legislation by persuading the Observionals and either the Rivals or Provincials to vote with you. Grand Deputies who are NOT the de Constanci family are also candidates for Stewards of the Curiate and are automatically put in the List of Eligibles for election to the Tribunate.

Amelie Grace (24, Palait du Enchaunteressi) is the Grand Enchantress which means she is allowed to have the affliction of Darkness out in public, is a tough as nails mage, and leads the Darkness powered legion of super assassins called the Imperial Eye against all sorts of supernatural threats. She's also on the Directorate as the Director of Magical Administration so has a lot of influence there. If YC wants an Assassin Contract they will not be prolific but for the right price anyone in the capital of Gran Metro can be persuaded, steadily buying influence and women. YC would be chasing after elusive game, though, because Amelie can melt her body into and out of shadows quickly.

Chloe-Rose, 22, worked as a journalist during the Twin Valleys War, learning how to fly an airship she called The Leaky Bucket and lobbying for as much humanitarian aid to go to civilians as possible under the circumstances. She has Foresight (the Empress also has this) where she can see a blurry vision of a possible future for a few seconds while catatonic. These days she mostly reads and hosts parties but could be persuaded of a cause…

Typhinia, 18, just discovered she was a mermaid when she got stuck to her grimstone (immune to magic) bathtub with the suckers on her tail. Her twin brother died in childbirth along with their mother Serelie. She mainly likes to take long swims alone but since the discovery of her being a mermaid which would cause great scandal that has been confined to various lakes in the Royal Gargoul Forest. She

Declaring Intention to Court…the Empress!

For the tragic death of her mother, Endrelle's Darkness was blamed and she was kept far away in Flechdams- Spiral of the Damned- on the Barrier Islands. She has been in military training and then battle for a long time, and decisively won the Eastern Front's battle for air superiority against the Gerrasami Dragonriders. In other words she hasn't had much experience but YC could be there at times that matter.

Maybe to name one possibility YC hosted her while she found a free moment away from her duties as Wind Commander and tactics of leading from the front on her Initen Scout Model III. Or YC gave a lavish party to raise money for war bonds in her honor. Or got stuck in a heavy snowstorm with Endrelle where they just have to lie together for warmth. The possibilities are endless…

Endrelle is a very strong woman. One has to be to rule a quarter of the world, remake its government in her image, and create the first truly comprehensive Terragian security treaties since the end of the TSS Council. Her cunning, intellect, and adaptability have made her one of the world's greatest generals, on par with our world's Napoleon but with the ability to pacify enemies with this peace treaty and cement gains amid a strong desire by all for an end to conquest. The Empress is only 5 foot 4 though so the longer amount of time YC is able to work their spell on Endrelle, the more even the tactical genius who saved the Empire will be unable to resist.

YC can also be a stranger who declares an intent to court Endrelle at any time, as Endrelle pushed for a rule change so anyone at the Guilder class or above can do so. However, a special law was passed to minimize the chances of a disfavored marriage where Imperial courtships (apart from those offered by foreign powers, since that is an important negotiating tool for the Empire) need to be reviewed for suitability by the Honor Guard, the Chief Thurgs (Druid-like priests who are one of thirteen Directors by Right), the Observional Deputies and three Tribunes before being sent to the Empress for her signature.

I see lots of great storytelling potential here if we put our heads together. Looking forward to your PMs, where I suggest we keep this.