Steamlords (Sci-fi novel concept)

Here are some new components to the series back story behind the modern automaton trade.

In the modern time (1910's) there are approximately seven major Automaton manufacturers in the world, along with various party's and sub-manufacturers that are contracted beneath them. Each manufacturer is generally based in one part of the world, though its factory's may be spread out to other locations. A common goal among all of these and their partners is to find Automaton relics or runecraft components that date back to before the end of the civil war. The following are the names and target objectives of each major company:

Alphagate: The original patent holder to all Automaton designs, and run by the City of Steam. With the expiration of the their patents, Alphagate has focused primarily on producing generic Automatons that are marketable in any part of the world. A feat that is made far easier as they have direct access to many of the relics of the City of Steam.

David's: Founded by a private family of inventors, Davids is responsible for creating the more "human" automatons. In most circumstances, the automaton structure is mass produced, then followed by a handmade finish. Davids has little access to advanced relics, however they do well thanks to dedicated employees. (Of all the major manufacturers, they have the friendliest relations with the Steamlords)

The Grauson Corporation: Founded by a former clan of the City of Steam, The Grauson Corporation now consist's mostly of businessmen and engineers. Developing automatons across the board, they focus primarily of out performing relative Automatons made by other companies. They aggressively seek Automaton relics, and will often engage in the shadows to procure them.

The Robotech Foundation: Founded and based in Columbia, the Robotech Foundation is dedicated to making medium to high quality automatons on a world wide scale. They are in direct competition with the Grauson Corporation. Over the years they have acquired several relics, and will often offer a high price to procure another.

Gigaware: Gigaware primarily focus's on military grade automatons, however they also control a small section of the civilian market. They have little interest in relics, focusing primarily on non-sentient Automatons. They are based in Albion.

Gyre: Based in Orenthia, Grye is one of the newest Auto-ware developers. They focus primarily on on luxury brand models. Choosing to improve or imitate existing designs rather than produce new models. Relics are a minor interest to them.

Automato: Originaly based in Orenthia, Automato now has an operating base in most major nations. The focus primarily on developing new models that are affordable yet functional. Their interest in relics tends to change along with their projects.
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Fun fact: While Alphagate, Davids, Gruason, and Robotech were originaly devised from a pure story requirement perspective, Gigaware, Gyre, and Automato are a parody of existing real world companys
(Can you guys who )

here is some more concept art I drew for the project:




Feedback please

*Waits for feedback or questions*

Still working on the 3D rendition of the Organ Chamber, ill post updated screenshots when it is finished.

In the meantime here is some information.

Slight Concept Update: Automaton Cores: Nova:

Much like all "living" creations, Automaton cores are known die or burn out after long periods of time or if placed under enough stress/damage. Most automaton cores that burn out will do so slowly, however many of them might experience a "Nova" right before overloading. During the short time span of an Automaton Nova, the intelligence and sentience of an Automaton is raised exponentially. This means that even low level automatons can still experience a true form of identity at some point in their life (Even if it is at the end of it)

As far as the story integration goes, this could be used to "save" some corrupted automatons, reveal new information, and add another element of humanity to the often robotic characters of the novel.

Waits for feedback...

...

Damnit.

Lets try this again:

Here are the basic ideas behind a couple mini arks that I have thought of, though I have left most character roles and some other aspects blank so that they can be incorporated at a later date, either to fit into the main story or become a standalone chapter.

Albion Grand Prix:
Held every X number of years, The Albion Grandprix is in held in the stand in location of London and its surrounding regions. Sponsored by various tech company's (Ranging from all fields of mechanical interest, sometimes even the Steamlords) the Grand prix is a race for and showing of various new engines, vehicle designs, and mechanical components. (What better way to see what is really the best thing to invest in than to pit these machines against each other in a friendly race?)

In this story section, Rust and company (either master or apprentice) are sent to Albion for two primary reasons: First-To examine the inventions any new break through that would be worth investing in along with potential inventors who might meet Steamlord employment criteria. Second-to give first hand experience and understanding to the current apprentice as a form of education.

Arriving around a week before the race, they encounter several inventors and new machines that are being prepped for the race. Eventually they come across one particularly talented group of inventors and their ingenious, yet somewhat incomplete engine design. Master interested in the inventors and student in the design, they agree to help the group (2-4 people) finish the engine before the race. At the same time, another inventor (or group of inventors) are working to steal or sabotage other competitors in the race to guarantee their own funding afterwards, possibly even working with one sponsor in particular to perform these actions (Grauson perhaps?)

The events leading up to race tip the current master off, while apprentice remains hellbent on assisting (And riding with) the new automobile. Thwarting or repairing one or more sabotages before the race, The master in question then moves to aprehend the offenders during the race itself, At the same time the apprentice acts as the co-rider for vehicle in the race: Assisting in on scene repair in the event of (Inebitable) mid-race breakdown or sabotage.

(Side note: depending on where this is placed into the story, this could be substituted as the introduction of Johnathon as one of the car builders, where as after the race Rust takes him on as an apprentice)

Adam's Automatic Bakery:
Adams Bakery is a family owned "Brand name" cooked food supplier, owning a medium sized restaurant and selling the majority of their goods via market and shipment distribution. The bakery itself is as its name implies, an automatic bakery. A factory run by machines and automatons, lead by a head chef that works under/with Adam.
The mechanical components of the bakery (Robotics, not automatons) are advanced, and custom made. (Possibly built by a contracted Steamlord) working to produce food quickly and at the same time maintaining the quality you would get from a home cooked meal. For obvious reasons, this puts Adam's bakery at an advantage over other mass produced foods companies. (However, the custom nature of the machines mean they can not be simply replaced or repaired)

Depending on how we write this, Rust or Silver will either help to original design these components, or repair them at a later date (Or maybe both)

Before: After scrapping together the money to afford a contract, Adam would approach Silver (He may or may not have rust as an apprentice at this point, if not this would be considered a backstory segment) and plead with him for a contract to construct the automatic components for his bakery to save his business, and help his friend (The chef)

After: Rust and company is either approached by Adam again (or one of his family members) or check in on him to see how things are going. Either by age, sabotage, modifications, or all three; The machines are running awry, and its up to our favorite mad scientists to get to the bottom of this debacle find the source of these problems, and repair the damage done (If a villain is involved, add tracking him or her down or identifying them)

Here is another scrap for a character I have been working on.

Sarah Rhyes - AKA, Maestro.

Mastro is roughly around the same age as Rust, a talented musician, and skillful with machinery. She leads a a small group of Automatons that she repaired and re-purposed in the musical arts. She performs in the street and for those willing to have her services (Restaurants, Taverns, Events and the like) She is a a cheerfull and upbeat person looking at the more positive things in life, but she also has fierce temper that few can match (Though she is very slow to Anger, so she is not going to make you suffer unless you REALLY deserve it, and maybe if she has had a very bad day...)

*Her background is still under construction*

Sarah's skin tone is a light tan. She has long brown hair that curls slightly at the ends. She is average height.
Maestro typically wears a jet-black dress-suit, dark brown boots for stability,and a red cravat for contrast. Despite the business like appearance this presents, she holds herself so that she appears graceful rather than stern. (Also a bit of her "joyfull attitude seeping through) She wears a black caviler hat with several custom designs of her own built into it in order to aid her conducting work with the Automatons (Visually, a Radio tube, headphone set, and curled telephone wire can be seen) Her final touch is that she conducts her band with wireless wand that is slightly bent at the end (She can use this to conduct her partners without them actually facing the wand)

Time to share some more concept art~





This character is a robotic puppet created by the Steamlords for a reborn AI (Once human) the puppet body can emulate (And often exagerate) emotion and stature.
As the AI's sentience is restored towards its former human self, the lines around its eye increase in number and decrease in size to reflect the complexity of his mind.

The Monument Clock Tower:


In the very center of the City of Steam is a massive clock tower, which was built near during the original construction of the city. In fact, much of the original city was built around the clock tower in a orderly and artistic fashion (Similar to the Washington monument) The clock tower was built as a monument and commanding timepiece to the groups and guilds who either helped found the city or were a crucial part of its daily life (Steamlords, Monarchs, Tradesmen, Black Smiths, Military, Law, etc) For each hour of the day the bells are rung an equal number of times to that hour, followed by a specific short theme dedicated to that hour (Some of which change according to the day of the week, month, and year) Their are twelve basic themes in all, which a several variations of each for specific events or days around the year. With only a few exceptions, the themes are only played inbetween 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM, essentially setting a rhythm for day, as it both begins and ends with a short musical theme. (On daily basis 12 songs a played, one of which is played twice to begin or end the day)

(Though in the part of the final plot, a hidden mechanism triggers a "13th" song which does in fact play a crucial role for the endgame plot)

The Clock Tower Stands roughly 750 ft tall, and is built mostly of a volcanic brick frame bolstered by an embedded steel frame. The first section of tower is split into three towers that combine in mid-air to form a hexagon. Above the hexagon is an artificial mesa. The second (Now for sided) half of the clock tower is built on this mesa. On top of this tower is the four faced clock itself (Similar to the Elizabeth tower) On top of the clock section is a monolith that acts as a mass lightning rod and decorative point (And it also plays a role in the final plot)
((While it was not my original intention, the clock tower looks like a black-stoned combination of the Eiffel tower, Elizabeth Tower, and Washington Monument))
The first level of the tower acts as a focal point in the Steamworks that run throughout the City, as each of the three towers has a main Steam-pipe running though them. These pipes cross in the mid-air hexagon center and are re-pressurized while steam that has returned to liquid form is siphoned out and drained into a fountain that runs below the tower. The steam that runs through this section is also used in part to "wind-up the clockwork mechanism's in the tower.

The Clock Tower needs a menacing orb of some kind floating above it, only makes sense.

...Are you reading my mind?
(Though I was thinking more a rift in time-space, but that is aside the point...)

But yeah, the big kicker is that the clock tower will be an important part of the final plot. The Alchemist who help build the city (and is still alive) built a secret function into the tower.

Koenig wrote:...Are you reading my mind?
(Though I was thinking more a rift in time-space, but that is aside the point...)

But yeah, the big kicker is that the clock tower will be an important part of the final plot. The Alchemist who help build the city (and is still alive) built a secret function into the tower.

Something big and menacing would look amazing, a rift in time-space is even better than a giant floating orb.

My main villains idea is basically this: "Where better to hide a time machine than in a giant clock?"

Anyone who tried to say the tower was a threat would just be laughed out of town.

Speaking of floating orbs, how about a decrepit clockwork moon? It's half destroyed like Cocoon from FFXIII, it holds a vast library of information.

I have been considering space exploratory components like that, however it would not fit the timeline in this story (Pre space race tech) That said, I could probably implement that in an extension/continuation of the story.

*Gears start spinning in head*
Ill get back to you on that.

So, did any thing else interested you so far?

The skyships and golems.
I'm a sucker for skyships, and I love the idea of automatons.

What in particular would you like to know more about them?

How exactly do the airships work? Other than using balloons,

Generally speaking, most airships (Or skyships) use a heavy combination of heavier than air technology. (Wings, blades, and vertical pressure engines)

Theoretically, some could be kept afloat by Runecraft or magnetic gyroscopes, but that all depends on how far the final plot has been pushed in regards to real-tech application (While fantastical, I want to keep most tech in the realms of realism or possibility)

Airships would be the term given to any short range flying vehicles (Cant fly the long distance over sea/and or stay in the air for extended periods of time) where as the massive aircraft that can stay afloat for weeks at a time would be called Skyships.

EDIT:
Some air/sky-ships could also use perfect vacuum to keep them afloat, though this is basically a version of a balloon. These perfect vacuums could carry 3x the weight of any hydrogen balloon, however any damage to the vacuum sphere would result in instant catastrophic failure.

I am considering dividing the series into two segments: One in written book-format in which the main plot with the Alchemist takes place, starting just prior to Rust's initiation as a Steamlord. The other segment would be an episodic story line in which Rust follows Silver around the world as he trains to become a Steamlord.

I am still not sold on the idea though, but I am considering it as it could help me focus on the main story while allowing for more mobility with secondary idea's that don't initially make the cut. Similarly, it would allow other co-authors to write their own story's without fear of contradicting the main story.
(By co-authors, I am referring to a few of my old forum buddy's who have expressed interest in the story)

it sounds really great love the idea of the mask

Thanks, I have been dabbling with that particular characters design for some time.

Proto-type chapter: the following is meant to be a self test of my own ability's to write a story within the that I am trying to create.

Shadow on the Serpentine-


Rust groggily woke up from his nap while feeling a constant sense of unease. Motion sickness from the constant swaying of the ship was something that he had expected, but he had not anticipated that it would bring along such a painful headache.

"Aaahg! I have no doubts in my mind that this is the safest sky train in the industry, but did you really have to build it so that it swung back and forth like a pendulum?" Rust stated in a fluster.

Silver smiled to himself and said: "Of course I didn't have to design it that way, but then it would not be any fun at all! Every journey should create a memory, and to that end I wanted to build a ship that was not only functional; but memorable as well. From what I have seen so far, it looks like you are sure to remember this trip quite well."

"I might agree with you on that, if I did not feel like rag doll" Rust muttered to himself. Looking out the window though, Rust silently agreed with his teachers insight on the matter. The Sky Train they were riding in was a wonderful machine (Not counting its intentional flaw of inducing motion sickness on those unfortunate souls that were susceptible to it) Soaring high above the clouds and stretching over 300 meters, the Serpentine was undoubtedly a memorable experience.

*Skipping ahead of the banter I am currently to tired to write*

Rust stopped day dreaming and came back to his senses as a shadow crossed the window he was sitting next to.
"Huh? What was that?" he stated to no one in particular. Looking up at Silver he then noticed a look of concern on his teachers face. Only a moment later, the Serpentine lurched violently.