Adventurers

The Adventurers are one of the factions and sects within the Sons of Ether.

## Nicknames

Cliffhangers, Field Scientists (polite), Doc Smith (referring to individuals)

## History

There have always been Scientists who wouldn’t stay in the lab. The Adventurers are not a formal faction, but every connected Etherite knows what the term means. The “Cliffhangers” are as renowned for their marginal contributions to Ether Science (since they’re usually too busy to publish) as they are for their disconcerting habit of saving the Tradition from certain doom (or at least inconvenience). Therefore, the history of the faction really consists of the individual stories that made adventuring such a famous — and notorious — part of Tradition culture. The moniker was first applied to Scientist Mathieu Hullebusch in 1909, when the Utopian tried to overthrow the colonial government of the Belgian Congo with flying automatons. The Sons of Ether were torn over his actions. Despite the cruelty of the Belgian regime, many Scientists shared the prejudice that the “primitives” of the continent needed Western leadership. To soften debates, polite Etheric society chose to refer to him as an “Adventurer.”

Hullebusch’s ornithopter was shot down near Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), but his companions transmitted his final battle on an experimental portable wireless transmitter. He was acclaimed as a hero, inspiring other Scientists to follow his example.

Since then, the Adventurers have always combined a sense of daring with a readiness to impose their consciences with force. Others joined Czar Vargo’s airship corps to stop the Great War. Doc Eon and Doctor Mondial fought the Nazis with flair.

Aside from their inconstant commitment to research, Adventurers have been derided for a certain laxity in their own Science. Doc Eon incorporated lore from the hidden city of Agartha into his inventions, and the flashy nature of the tools used by Etherites such as Jet Boy and the Insidious Doctor Fang leads serious Scientists to believe that these “Doc Smiths” just aren’t taking it very seriously. The truth of the matter is that an Adventurer’s travels often expose her to methods that are well off the beaten path, but they can be incorporated into Ether Science with a bit of open-mindedness and know-how. Thus, they contribute more to the Tradition than just their fighting skills.

## Science

An Adventurer’s Science is deeply idiosyncratic, portable and capable of being used in an instant. More than members of any other faction, the Field Scientists train their minds and bodies to reach peak performance. The wandering life introduces Adventurers to all sorts of strange technologies — so strange, in fact, that at first glance, they might be mistaken for base “magic.” In fact, these techniques are perfectly Scientific, even if their practitioners don’t know it! Walking up walls with Tibetan Akashic techniques? It’s just special muscular training. Shamanism? An effective way to contact extradimensional aliens. Adventurers prefer to cut out as much of the superstitious dross as possible, but they know full well that some superstitions come from a perfectly rational source. Nonetheless, the key is to interpret and refine according to Ether Science.

In this fashion, the Adventurers have discovered that amazing inventions and theories existed throughout history and that Science is as much discovery as innovation. Alchemy has its hidden gems, as do wonders that were first described in myths. Jet Boy’s own rocket pack used mercury propulsion techniques that were originally described in the Mahabharata. Pyramid Power is real.

## Organization

In rare cases, Adventurers jump directly into the lifestyle (or have been trained from a young age to lead it), but most of the time, necessity and fate brings out the heroic side of a Scientist to the point that other Etherites recognize her for what she is. Adventurers rarely work together. They’ll run alone or with a cabal of Tradition mages as they gradually adapt their methods to pursuits such as crime fighting or exploration. Realizing that injustice (and adventure!) are widespread, they prefer this diffuse organization, but when truly earth-shattering danger calls, they aren’t averse to teaming up. If these rare partnerships work well, they tend to last for a long time, as the Adventurer ethos exalts camaraderie.