The Changing of the World
"Twelve years ago in 1851 the most miraculous thing occurred. My esteemed collegue Mr Jonas Wildthorpe at the Imperial University in London made a discovery that would change the world. As everyone knows the invention of the steam engine at the beginning of this age has brought about the wonder of the age known as the Steam Engine. However the design of the engine has its limitations requiring many stops for water from the railside water towers. What was needed was a more efficient way to re-utilise the water to drive the pressure inside the engine without the need to stop the train every half and hour. The discovery of Aether is the single most important discovery in our age that has led to the most miraculous advances in steam age technology. The substance Aether is distilled from the air via a brand new process called Pro-Calcitrine filtration. On its initial filtering it is in a quite volatile state, and must be held in a special container that is resistant to its corrosive effects. The water that becomes steam to drive the engine is thereby now cooled by the Aether, which is a super-coolant and most of the steam returns to water via a channel in the mechanism. A much smaller amount is now lost as steam. Whereas many tanks of water were required to power a locomotive during the day, a train with a tank of Aether to supercool the water will perform the same function across the entire journey.
The use of Aether was initially used on the railways, but more modern developments have since allowed for the Aether engines to be used in the construction of Ballon ships that the common folk have named Dirigables. Although they are still in their infantcy they have started services last year between the Great European cities for the great and the good. Such luxury is not for the riff-raff, who must use the railways and the steamships instead."
Sir William Donaghue - "The Marvels of Aether"
Being a Proper Lady and Gentlemen
"All this change in the world is no excuse for poor manners and inproper behaviour. A Gentlemen today is expected to act as such and should in no way compromise the virtue of a Lady."
Lady Marcia Tynnbourne - "Manners Maketh the Man"
The Rivalry of the Great Powers
"Initially Britain tried to keep the discovery a secret, but agents from Prussia, Russia, Austria and France soon stole the technology for themselves and began to develop their own Aether devices. In the twelve years since its discovery things have changed greatly in the Victorian world and they are still changing. Last year the first British Aether powered submersible machine called the Nautilus was launched with an attempt at great secrecy to try and prevent the other continental powers from copying it. The fact that it was reported in the Times the next day completely ruined the secret nature of the event.
Rivalries continue to persist between the powers of Europe. In 1866 the Prussians went to war with Austria over their treatment of the people in Schesswig-Holstien with Italian support. The defeat of the Austrians in just 7 weeks came as a shock to the other great powers. They finally started to see that German inguenuity combined with their stolen technologies had helped them defeat what was seen as a great power.
Then in 1870, the Iron Chancellor Bismarck pulled a master stroke and managed to get the French to declare war against Prussia over dispatches showing King Wilhelm has dismisses a French ambassidor who had demanded that Prince Leopold (who had been offered the vancant and disputed Spanish Throne) give up his claim. The war, like that in 1866 was short and resulted in the defeated French and a unified German Conferderation was declared at the Treat of Frankfurt two years ago. The other major powers now looked at the new German confederation as an agressive threat in Europe and Britain strengthed its ties with both France (who were traditional enemies) and Russia (who Britain had warred with in 1851 in the Crimea) to help combat this growing threat."
Horace Stock - "Living in Auspicious Times"
The Age of Steam
"As a consequence the revolution of our industry has forged ahead at a rapid pace. New Aether Steam powered engines have made our train travel fast and efficient. In Britain this has led to the heads of our Railway companies becoming powerful figures in the country and are now collectively known as the Steam Lords by the general public. The trains are carefully segregated into three classes with the first class passengers in the rear coaches and the thrid class carriages up next to the steam stacks where they are liable to get the Aether vapours. The seven Steam Lords each run one of the railway companies that ensure our travel throughout the land and I have listed them below such that you remember their names if you should ever be fortunate enough to meet them.
| Railway | Owner / Managing Director |
|---|---|
| Great Western Railway | Lord Arthur Whitchurch |
| Great Eastern Railway | Lord Joshua Featherstone |
| Midland Railway | Lord David Harrington |
| South Eastern Railway | Lord Edgar Holmsworth |
| Great Northern Railway | Lady Megan Fox |
| Scottish Railway | Lord Alistair Bruce |
| London and South Western Railway | Lord Iain Killblaine |
Trains are not however the only miraculous devices that have brought about the advances of our wonderful Victorian Age."
Edward Fleague - "The Technology Age"
Religeon and Victorian Morals
"The Victorian society is a God fearing society and rightly so. Those that know they scripture and adhere to the moral tennets of the verse are those that are to be looked up and respected. Those that give in to their base instincts are those that need to be both educated and regulated to ensure that their base morals do not taint our society and disturb those genteel ladies of a delicate disposition.
Church attendance on a Sunday is compulsory and it is expected that families give up the day of the Lord to his worship. Those with money are expected to fund charity causes that help the poor educate themselves so they can read and understand the bible themselves.
Of course sometimes those of a high education sometimes get tempted away from the path of the Almighty and are led into the temptations of the sins of the flesh. Many of the less scrupulous Gentleman's Clubs that have grown up around the heart of London are to blame for this corruption of our noble society and if I had my way they would be banned. Course theatre, Gambling Pits and the crass drinking establishments of the lower order are also to blame, and many a normally respectable Gentleman has fallen to the temptation of these places."
Lady Victoria Westwood - "The Morals of a Modern Man"
The Undercurrent
There is something more however that you feel in your soul but cannot put your finger on. You feel that you have a great unlocked potential, but you don't know what it is or why you feel this way. This has been nagging at you for some time, but recently it has been getting worse.
