Steampunk, the adoration of the industrial steam-engine, the aesthetic of retro-futuristic technology. We all can agree that’s what the genre is all about; this nostalgic semblance of anachronistic invention, a vision of the world that has seen no mutation or progress. Thus, I ponder my existence and ask myself: how does Warbound reimagine the 19th century? Where does Warbound diverge from 19th-century Victorianism? How does it balance the arcano-punk elements of Eberron?
Dear innovators, with this very post I present to you the final compendium, the ultimate atlas for Warbound’s infrastructure, the last entry in this war-torn diary. Come along this journey with me, and along the way take lift off into this vast array of steampunk technological concepts…
Communication ☏
Two seats were vacant in choosing the means of communication within Warbound. If you’re negotiating these same questions in your world, it’s time you become a thinker yourself and consider the following:
- Who handles deliveries and messages?
- What machinery is at their disposal to facilitates communication?
Ironically, the answer to these questions have already been provided and seeded in this very website. Meet just one of the dynasty of draconic sorcerers, the enterprise of magical birthrights: House Glossan!
With their inherited command over the miracles of the world, House Glossan can send letters or packages by way of courier, harnessing their magic through a series of interconnected analog radios and networks called message stations. Short messages pass from one station to another through this network spanning their central enclaves across the nation.
Transportation ☏
So if House Glossan is there to ring a phone, who’s there to help you with your baggage as you cross borders, fly the skies, and trundle down the roads? Well, innovators, let’s introduce you to the sister of House Glossan: House Dorian, the noble house of magical travelers, pilots, and conductors; the very sorcerers who carved the roads and paths of each nation!
“We specialize in speedy efficiency. We don’t need to know what we’re carrying, that you’ve already paid is all we need to know.”
Caspian d’Dorian
Consider the following prompts for your own world
- If there are automobiles and vehicles in your world, what separates them from a regular car powered by diesel and gas?
- What unique elements are present in your world that makes the tires turn, the wings soar?
As for the Dorians, you should thank them for linking the major cities in Khorvaire with their revolutionary locomotives and railroads. The railways use ichor-power to pull a train of carriages over a path of dragonshards, between which spout plumes of broiling steam.
If speed is an issue, you can book a passage on a House Lyzander aeroships, which uses their manipulation of the sky to hold a ship aloft and propel it through the air. This is almost the fastest way to travel, but also the most expensive. Aeroships are a recent innovation and are relatively rare; many cities don’t yet have docking towers.
What about Warfare?
It’s almost a comedy the way innovation always hits the battlefield before it does a home. The same goes in Warbound, as conflict is perhaps the most visited frontier for all inventions. Meet the magnum opus of engineering… the Warforged Titans. Ten-feet of pure steel automata equipped with the halves of tower shields, constructed to defend clashing vanguards from the spray of gunfire.
You can thank the hard work of House Tekton, the dwarven lineage of smiths and artificers made to invent engines of war and destruction. Because you got to admit, there’s always a market for war and destruction somewhere.
How’s It All Work?
Ichor-power is how. By chambering ichor inside the metal vessel of the invention and burning it with coal, the magic seeped and thick with deified blood releases and powers the whole machine. Ichor can oftentimes crystallize under exact conditions, which is similarly taken advantage of. This precise clockwork is how most countries operate; it’s how cities fly; metal breathes; and wars are waged.
And with that, fellow innovators, I have given you the tools of my workshop, the keys to my tower of imagination. What powers your world? What equipment manifests as a result of that power? Who has access to that equipment? These questions all burn in your mind as does ichor in the belly of a Titan, but fret not my innovators, for there is always a new horizon to reach.
Thank you for allowing this world to take root and flourish in your own imagination. For that, I declare it one last time: never forget to…