The Luminforge Syndicate
You shall—I question not—find a way to the top if you diligently seek for it; for nature hath placed nothing so high that it is out of the reach of industry and valor.
Overview
Product is everything. The people residing within the Syndicate—a nation forged by guilds, Barons of Industry, craftsmen and engineers—witnessed the rise of manufacturing and industry save them from from ceaseless darkness. As a result, citizens of the Syndicate are pragmatists, people of physical answers and hard truths. One such truth is this: what someone can provide, make, or construct is everything, and one's worth is weighed by the state of their résumé. Another being that law and order is absolute under the ever-present Wrought Watch, and dissent against the governing body of tight knit, influential and wealthy guilds—The Capstone Authority—is met with appropriate, “proportional” measures.
Open the valves. Hiissssssss! Ignite the forge. Whooosh! Stand back to keep your eyebrows. “Shiiitt....” A routine so mundane even the Soul Forger would groan at having to repeat it. Turn the hatch winch. Squeek-eeeee, clunk! Pull the stamp lever. Guh-dung! Watch the ingot roll down the belt to the next room, where some other poor sap is stood alone in a similar room to his own. “Seal above, why did I apply to this job...” As if to answer his grievances, an envelope jingled down the chute next to Roland, stopping on his level—his weekly compensation of old copper slag and a single silver stamp.
Centered around the Elysian Bastion known as Stahlrest and its three major rings, there is a structure to the Syndicate in all manner of things. The people are separated by social classes—or estates—with the Stains being the lowest rung on the social ladder. These individuals have been deemed failures by everyone, including themselves, and are not permitted to go further into the Bastion than the outer ring. Two steps above them—over the decentralized Dredgers—are the Cogmen and Foremarks, the working class of the nation who are able to enjoy life in the cleaner, more prosperous central ring. Looking ever upwards, one can find the Luminaires, the upper crust of society; this class mostly consists of engineers, executives, and innovators within the inner most ring, directly beneath the city's Solar Anchor
Even in a world where every gear has its place in the machine, some still resist the grind of the day-to-day. Hiding within the dilapidated tenement houses and smog-choked alleys, a slow burning uprising grows—the Brass Finger, a clandestine movement that welcomes Stains, fallen Cogmen, and factory workers turned saboteurs. When forges fail or a steel mill grinds to a stop, it's not uncommon to find a single digit of brass cast in the shape of a human finger jammed into its heart—a calling card that tells the nation “It's the smallest of pins that can stop the press”.
Structure
Fight hierarchy and bureaucracy as hard as you possibly can. Don't ever let it become the master; always remember it's the servant!
Nothing is possible without the people of the Luminforge Syndicate—that's why every person has their place in society. Some are born into a life of wealth and opulence, some into a life scrounging copper slag from factory floors to pay for leftovers. The Estates—and subsequently Stahlrest's rings— were made in such a way to maintain that balance. Few are able to break the glass ceiling to progress socially and economically, but those that do are held as glowing examples to the rest of the populace that anything is possible given enough grit.
There are three distinct Estates within the Syndicate: Gutter, Gasket, and Golden; these three are often referred to as the Three G's of society. At the bottom are the lowly Stains and Dredgers, often lumped into a single class of people in the Gutter Estate. Up one rung on the societal ladder is the Gasket Estate, comprised of Cogmen and Foremarks—skilled workers, craftsmen, and supervisors that run the day-to-day of the many factories in Stahlrest. At the very top in the Golden Estate, one can find Luminaires and Barons alike; engineers and business magnates that look down their nose at those below.
Culture
Education & Vocation
Knowledge is prized second only to ability, so it has been ordained by the Capstone Authority that public schools be erected within the various rings of Stahlrest. Children of all Estates are mandated to attend school for at least six years, from ages six to twelve. At the end of their schooling, an exam known as the Vocational Assignment Examination, or VAE, (colloquially referred to as the First Casting by the general public) is taken to rank a child's interests, skills, and ambitions. Depending on the outcome of this examination, children are placed under the watchful eye of master craftsmen, laborers, engineers and artists to further hone their interests and skillsets.
Once a child has reached the age of seventeen, or at the end of their vocational training, a second and final exam is taken. This exam, officially known as the Bracketing Review (colloquially referred to as the Worthing by the General Public), ranks their progress on the Worth Index. This index is an enigmatic collection of merit-based scales that measures an individual's aptitude on any given subject. Every Bracketing Review is unique, with no two people undertaking the same exam. Those that pass are given the privilege of living and working within the central and potentially inner ring of Stahlrest. Should a student fail their Review, they are removed from their position and are barred from entering further into the city of Stahlrest beyond the outer ring—not quite a Stain, not quite a Cogman.
Section Under Construction
Two Mints, Two Systems
The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.
There are two official mints, both with the backing of the Capstone Authority: Standard Mint (SM) and the Forge Reserve (FR). While both have the full endorsement of the Authority, they are not created equal. SM produces precisely manufactured geometric shapes stamped from gold, silver, and copper, which are the tesserae, spheres, and prisms respectively. FR, on the other hand, takes the waste products from the original minting and remanufactures them into golden clips, silver stamps, and copper slag chips.
Like with many things in the Syndicate, there are divisions on who uses what based on what Estate one should find themselves in. Golden citizens only use currencies minted by SM, whereas Gutter denizens only trade in FR coinage. Only those in Gasket use a mixture of both, and depending on how affluent one is they could favor one mintage over another, though both are generally accepted as legal tender.
Wrought Worth is True Worth
Rustweld Bloc [Derogatory]
Lumian [Modern]
~2.48 Million (Outside Bastion Pop.)
Silver Spheres
Copper Prisms
Silver Stamps
Copper Slag Chips
Wrought Watch
Gearwright Collegia
Spindlecourt
Brass Finger
The Weightless
Rivet Line
Codex of the Broken Hand
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