Eltiel

“Through our preparations we ensure the continuity of the high quality of life enjoyed by all the citizens of Eltiel.” This motto is followed by the Eltiel military who lead their mountain bound nation. When approaching any of the seven major cities of Eltiel, the first thing that calls to the eyes are the skyways, transportation hanging from massive cables that are strung between the cities and even travel through permanent Thresholds. As you get closer, the construction of the cities become apparent.Defensive emplacements surrounding the city are patrolled by the finely dressed soldiers of the Eltiel millitary, in their long coats and high collared shirts, resplendent with buttons and braids. Once past the walls the cities are prosperous, filled with people involved in commerce and arcaneering and tinkering devices liberally used throughout everyday life.

The second thing noticed by many people are the periapts carried by each citizen. These are amulets, badges, sheaths, buttons, dolls, or some other unique and precious item that is always carried. Upon coming of age, or naturalizing into the culture, each citizen takes part in an arcaneering  ritual that enshrines some of their essence within an object. They call this essence Vulder, and it is always kept close within a periapt as the relationship between the spoken self and the unspoken self is important in the Eltiel Culture.

Around the continents, Eltiel is known for their goods crafted of skystone and cloud metals which can only be found high in mountainous regions. The arcanological and tinkered goods they export, while commonly available in Eltiel, are seen as sought after customizations from other regions. Eltiel has no cities directly on a known threshold, making it a requirement to travel the SkyWays to visit any place within the lands. Their military is thought to be second to none in the world, but no one knows as they have never left their cities, only ever remaining to keep the citizenry safe.

### Geography, History, and Climate

Eltiel is located in the middle of the northern continent, south of many unexplored regions. The kingdom is made up of seven great cities and many smaller towns across the country. The SkyWays are a set of massive cables that criss-cross the kingdom, providing transport for people and goods in a region that is bereft of many thresholds or even connections to the Lattice. The capital of Eltiel, Kornos, sits upon the highest peak in the whole land of mountains and was also the first city of the kingdom.

Eltiel was founded by the guards of the heirs to the kingdom of Rappnos. When Rappnos fell in the time of the Fall, the guards retreated into the mountains to keep their charges safe. They built a camp in the most inhospitable peak they could find and their need to survive drove them to build some of the most unheard of creations in both Arcaneering and Tinkering to survive in the peaks. As they grew beyond their first city, they connected it to outlying towns via a set of rope bridges, to ensure that should anyone ever come to hunt the descendants of Rappnos they could cut the bridges and ensure their safety. After hundreds of years of invention and improvement these bridges changed into the massive SkyWays that now crisscross the land. Another evolution driven by time were the heirs. As the years went by, almost all the people of Eltiel could trace their ancestry back, at least in part, to Rappnos and instead of protecting a small group, the military focused on protecting everyone.

### Politics, Government, and Economy

The nation of Eltiel is run by the military. The court of officers act at the highest governing body in the country, being made up of the Six Majors in charge of transportation, supplies, defense, invention, commerce and foreign relations. In the case where the court cannot agree, the major in charge of military intelligence casts the deciding vote. Each division of the military has governing responsibility for that sector. For example, the supplies division oversees proper farming and mining as well as forestry and other hunting and gathering activities. Similarly, the Foreign relations division handles trade and negotiations with other nations.

Oddly, for many in Eltiel the military is unseen even though it is their government. The military deal with the big things in the country and ensure that no internal activities create a threat to the country. As long as activities within the towns and cities don’t grow to a threat, the military doesn’t involve itself. This leads to many small groups, families, or individuals having significant secular power, but knowing how to ensure that their actions don’t rise to the level of a threat. The military hold all the positions of higher power within the country, but as long as the lower positions work, the military does not spend the time to investigate how it is run. This has also led to some dubious individuals gaining power in Eltiel, running manufactories that employ children or underpaid workers. Villains in these enterprises have developed methods for staying out of sight of the military.

As a mountain nation who has invested in significant transportation infrastructure, Eltiel’s largest export is manufactured goods. They take the wood, metals, and other raw materials exported from other nations and transform them into useful goods via the application of their Arcanological and Tinkered processes. While they do export many of the Arcaneering and Tinkered goods, they don’t export the core manufacturing equipment, thereby keeping a lock on the production. In the past there were attempts to export the designs or examples of the manufacturing equipment, however, that was declared a risk by the Court of Officers and stopped. One such export found to be surprising to the world is clothing. Eltiel does not mass produce clothing, but their fashion is considered highly sought after as their stitching and quality is far beyond the simple hand sewn garments of the other nations.

### Everyday Life

The residents of Eltiel typically live safe lives enriched by the nation’s innovations and resources. The architecture and businesses have benefitted just as much from the advances in Arcaneering as the defense systems have. Eltiel is beautiful in its complexity, and so advanced that it leaves many new visitors breathless and bewildered. Familiar locations such as bakeries and pubs are remarkable to visitors with their network of pipes and occasional automation.

As in any land, there are some villainous, selfish or greedy people in positions of power who have taken advantage of the nation’s trust. This has unfortunately led to some citizens of Eltiel being denied the safety and comfort that is the norm. Workhouses, sweatshops, and other such institutions are immediately shut down by the military and survivors of these terrible places make it clear that for as many as have been destroyed, there are still others hidden.

Each citizen of Eltiel has a periapt, a trinket that contains some of their essence, that they keep close to them in their everyday lives. The periapt is created as part of coming of age, and uses an Arcaneering ritual to pull some part of a person’s essence from within. It is not clear if this essence is spirit, soul, Purpose, or something entirely different. The Eltiel call it Vulder, or the Unspoken Self.

Some citizens enshrine their periapt and rarely interact with it, but it is far more common for the periapt to be a significant part of a person’s everyday life. Some Eltiel use their periapt to meditate, others treat it as a conversational partner, and still others as luck charm or soul gem.  Periapts can not be taken from the person whose essence they contain, but in some cases individuals will exchange periapts to show the strength of their relationship. In some rare cases, those who have broken the trust of the nation will give their periapt willingly to the military until they have atoned.

### Current Events

In the past 10 years Eltiel has seen three major events which have impacted their nation. First, a group who refer to themselves as the “Revenants of Rappnos”. These so-called citizens have been committing ever growing acts of terrorism, as recently as three months ago cutting one of the Skyway lines to Kornos, killing over a hundred people who were travling along that line. Smaller acts of vandalism and aggression have occurred all over the country, with the following always left at the scene “We will never forget how the oppressors of Rappnos treated our nation and we shall have our bloody vengeance”. The second was first seen as a stroke of good luck that turned into a horror. In one of the largest veins of Cloud ore, a new vein of metal was found, a substance now called Cloud Gold. Cloud Gold seems to have incredible magical, arcaneering, tinkering, and alchemical properties. While first seen as a new source of wealth for the country, it has turned into a new source of paranoia for the military; a not unfounded one, as many countries and organizations have begun to make aggressive overtures about how the Cloud Gold should be shared.

Most recently, there were always rumors that an undead lurked within the mountain valleys between the cities of Eltiel. Recently, there have been more sightings of these undead, and whole towns have reported assaults against them. Military forces have been mobilized, but the military has not seen fit to spread information about their findings.

### Notable People in Eltiel

Jermaine Vence, the Division Guardian in charge of Mining, was the one in charge of the sector where Cloud Gold was first discovered and is most prevalent. They are currently caught in a crossfire of interests from their own Major, as well as the Major of Foreign Relations, the Major of Defense,  and the Major of Invention.

Lillyth Mistlethorne is a Defense Division officer who specializes in the elimination of the undead threat. She was given a controversial dispensation to outsource for mercenaries to combat the problems in the mines, and has been making liberal use of it.

“The Brass Piper” is a mysterious do-gooder who has led to the discovery and destruction of several workhouses and shoddy factories that employed children. This figure is rarely seen, and is always masked. The pub rumor circulations suggest that the reason that the Piper is never caught is because they can turn into steam, and flow away through the pipes.

### Cultural Plot and Themes

Players who are looking at Eltiel plot will find a lot of invention and glowy pipe plot combined with a bit of military drama, mysticism, and some small scale shenanigans. While there will be some undead plot, it will be more of a zombie shootout than a vampire castle or lich’s dungeon. Individual family lines and private organizations don’t have much meaning in Eltiel, but service in the military or individual invention are prized. As with any large military, expect some exemplars who live up to the meaning of the military’s purpose to protect the nation and some who see it as a place to hide graft and personal gain.

### Costume and RP Themes

Eltiel costume mixes steampunk with 1800s western military uniforms. Lots of brass, goggles, buttons, braids, festooned with medals and decorations. Uniforms of a specific company are often tied together by a military patch or insignia worn on the uniform jacket sleeve, often in the shape of a mechanical crafted version of an animal or other natural object.