SETTING

[vivalamods]

SETTING

THE WORLD OF ESTHERE

The world of Esthere is a planet of endless Ocean, above which floats enormous continents. Held aloft by an abundance of Ether Stones, crystallized magic in the form of gemstones, this Ether-rich land is a place of magic and wonder, where monsters fly the skies. The bounty of Ether has been tamed by mortals, who now use the power of Ether and the stones beneath the earth to sail the skies.

The Ether, however, is not limitless. As mortal demand for Ether Stones and the wonders they bring grew, so too did their consumption. Whole continents have since fallen back to the Eternal Ocean, depleted of their Ether reserves due to the aggressive mining.

Today, Esthere languishes under the rule of the Empire. Its resources are mined mercilessly to fuel airships and weapons of war. Those unlucky enough to be born of noble houses languish in oppression and toil. The very gods who once governed and balanced the world now walk among the mortals, working desperately to continue their duties in a world that has all but forsaken them. It is in this era that the people cry out for relief - and heroes rise up in the name of liberation.

THE PEOPLE OF ESTHERE

There are a number of races that inhabit the lands of Esthere. Many have unique characteristics or abilities, but under the auspices of the Empire all live under a single banner and society. There are no rules governing marriage, and all races are capable of producing offspring together, these offspring often take on characteristics of both their ancestries. Under the Empire, there are increasingly more mixed-race peoples who have traits from several different races. In general, the races as presented here are to ensure we can accommodate just about any character concept that wishes to AU into the setting, but are otherwise not intended or expected to have enormous influence on a character's day-to-day life.


HUMANS
Humans are a race of peoples characterized shorter lifespans but astonishing growth. Humans usually live about 50-60 years under the Empire, although the powerful and well-connected can sometimes even top 100. Humans are known to learn quickly making them some of the most prodigious growth of any of the races at their chosen field.

ELVES
Elves are a long-lived race of people known for shorter heights, slender builds, and an affinity for magic. They are known to live to about 200-250 years old under the Empire, with powerful and well-connected Elves easily living to 350 or even 400 years old.

DWARVES
Dwarves are a hearty folk, short of stature but bursting with vitality. While not comparable to elves, Dwarves under the Empire can often live to be 100-150, with the oldest and most powerful Dwarves living to 200 or 250.

BEASTKIN
Beastkin is a catch-all term for a race of peoples who have the aspects of animals, along with some of their abilities. Beastkin can come in just about any form from mammals to lizards to even fish. Although all Beastkin are most adapted to land, aquatic Beastkin have adaptations to exist comfortably in water. Beastkin in the Empire live to be about 40 years old, but if they have resources to live comfortably they can easily live to 80.

HALFLING
Halflings are a smaller race, shorter even than the Dwarves but known for their keen eyes and nimble movement. Halflings in the empire live to be about 40 years old, but powerful Halflings can reach 80 years.

PLANETOUCHED
Planetouched, or more colloquially, Godtouched, are people who have visible ancestry connected to the servants of the former gods. Depending on the aspect of the god, this can take any number of forms, most commonly angelic or demonic features but other variants such as those with heavy elemental aligned features exist. Planetouched in the empire live to be about 100-150 years old, with the most privileged living to be around 250.

GOBLINOID
Goblinoid is a catch-all term that includes a number of formerly displaced races such as orcs, goblins, bugbears, and gnolls. In prior societies they'd been driven to the fringes by kingdoms past, but Imperial policy brought them under the heel of the Empire just as all the others. Goblinoids live 50-60 years under the Empire, but those in high positions can live as long as 100 years.

DRAGON
Dragons were once the mightiest of beings on Esthere, soaring the skies and ruling their own domains. When the Empire rose, the age of Dragons came to an end, as the Empire unleashed a long, bloody campaign that saw every dragon put to the sword. Officially, there are no more dragons, but a few do remain. Most are reclusive and take on mortal form to avoid detection, and many have sympathies with the Crimson Corsairs as a means to strike back at an Empire that brought so many of their peoples lives to an end. Dragons are known to live 300-350 years under the Empire, but the eldest of Dragons has been known to surpass 500 years, although there are no known cases of this having happened ever since the Empire took power.

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

LANGUAGE
The language of Esthere is what on Earth is considered to be Old English. It is a heavily Germanic language that is functionally unrecognizable to modern English speakers. A character who would be able to understand the language of Esthere would be able to read the original text of Beowulf in our world. Players bringing in characters from their original universe may choose the degree of language proficiency their character has upon apping. Servants are generally expected to learn the local language quickly, and are harshly punished for not understanding it or for speaking their native language.

CULTURE
This is a general overview of the culture of the Empire and what the expected norms are, along with any variations that occur within the Crimson Corsairs.


SANCTITY OF LIFE
Very low regard, although individual communities value the lives of their members highly. Only noble lives truly matter in the Empire, everyone else is varying degrees of expendable and Nobles will frequently hunt the lower classes for sport and take body parts (usually ears or even whole heads) as trophies to mount on their walls.

The Crimson Corsairs as a whole expect that they will give their lives for the cause, but they value each life highly, even that of enemy civilians. This is partially cultural and partially pragmatic - the Crimson Corsairs are trying to inspire the underclasses to rise up and join the rebellion so they save lethal force for nobility, priests, and knights whenever possible.

GENDER EQUALITY

The Empire trends patriarchal but is mostly equitable, as your gender does not prevent you from slaving away in the mines until you die. As men or women can easily have high capacity for ether, a person’s worth is more determined by their station and personal talents than gender although old patriarchal customs are still often observed in terms of manners and the like.

The Crimson Corsairs are much the same, but due to the eclectic nature of their organization they have even less adherence to old patriarchal social customs than those in the Empire.

CHILDREN AND CHILDBIRTH

One of the major tenets of the Divine is that the greatest honor in life is having a home full of children to carry on your legacy and give their lives in service of the Empire. As such, children are demanded by Imperial society and women are expected to have as many children as possible, one area in which the Empire continues to be socially patriarchal. Childbirth and pregnancy are respected and even serfs are not expected to participate in heavy work while with child. Childbirth is often celebrated within communities in their own way, with nobility having a lot of formal rules for a fancy debut while the underclasses tend to have more raucous parties.

The Crimson Corsairs celebrate but do not require children, and anyone finding themselves pregnant will be lavished with gifts by their comrades. Births are communal affairs in the Corsairs, and the grog often flows freely with each birth, similar in many respects to how the lower class communities that many Corsairs come from celebrate births.

Birth Control and Family Planning
Functionally nonexistent in the Empire, although most families have private home recipes they can use to get around this if they absolutely have to, although employing these methods is considered heresy and will get someone targeted by the Inquisition.

The Crimson Corsairs have developed and freely distribute birth control medicines, magic, and other protective equipment to any who might require it. Player characters wishing to engage in intimacy will find they are well protected against any unexpected results or diseases.

RELIGION
The Empire serves the Divine, a merciless entity that has laid out strict rules for society and social classes which, according to the church doctrine, are inherent rights passed by lineage (with the exception of Knighthood, where common folk who rise to Knighthood are said to be guided by the Divine). All citizens are expected to attend mass, even nobility, and the Church of the Divine is one of the major tools the Empire uses to ensure social compliance within its people.

The Crimson Corsairs revere the old gods, and are said to have actual contacts with the gods themselves, although they acknowledge in their religious traditions that the old gods cannot directly interfere with the affairs of mortals. They reject the doctrine of the Divine in its entirety.

LGBTQ+
The Empire as a rule requires the constant production of children and as such demands heterosexual relationships in its citizens. Expressions of same-sex attraction are considered heresy punishable by execution, but most nobility are able to find ways to engage if they are so inclined. The common folk have been known to find ways as well, as they are often under less observation. Serfs are perhaps the most open to same sex relationships, they just don’t let the local priest find out but since they’re usually left alone unless the nobility wishes to hunt them for sport they can get away with quite a bit. The Empire does not have any transgender care officially available, although it’s said some nobles have managed it on rare occasions although it isn’t really talked about.

The Crimson Corsairs are fully open and accepting of all LGBTQ+ expressions and identities, and have independently developed robust transgender healthcare through a combination of magic, medication, and surgeries. Any transgender characters will have their healthcare needs fully met while within the Crimson Corsairs.

WORK AND MONEY
The Empire only sees value in productive citizens, and citizens are expected to be working or having children at pretty much all times. There is no real concept of weekends, although the common folk and serfs often have holidays and festivals as ways to rest and relax. The winter months are often spent indoors working on crafts and other things while snowed in. Nobility have considerably more leisure, and while they do have official duties related to their lands and holdings they are often socializing, having parties, and plotting assassinations. Money is next to useless for Serfs who exist on a tithe system where they must offer a portion of their production to their lord or face execution, but anyone from Free Commoners and above value money highly. It dictates a great deal of the power and influence of any person, even among the nobility, and higher-ranking nobility tend to have a great deal of accumulated wealth.

The Crimson Corsairs value contribution and work hard to place people within roles that fit their needs. The work within Crimson Corsairs is hard and everyone is expected to do their part, but the Corsairs focus far less on constant unending work and instead on achieving concrete tasks and missions. There’s a great deal more respect for the need to rest in the Corsairs, hard as that is with the perpetual lack of manpower. The Corsairs do have some funds and generally exchange money for goods and services, but bartering is also common since basically everyone in the Corsairs is poor - money doesn’t really tend to trickle down to the Eternal Ocean outside of places like Elysium, which is the most money-rich of the three factions.

EARTH-BLINDNESS

Due to the nature of the Empire situated as it is on the Isles Above, the Empire exalts the sky and structures that reach toward the heavens. Imperial building standards always strive to go higher, they favor towers and massive, tall-standing homes as signs of wealth and status. Because of this, the Empire as a whole does not logically conceive of the idea of building into the Earth, where space is limited. Empire homes do not have basements, and while they may mine from the earth for resources, being underground is seen as a punishment for the lesser classes for the crime of being born to a lower station, it does not befit anybody to willingly choose to dwell underground.

The Crimson Corsairs have found that building underground has afforded them incredible safety and mobility. They are skilled at the construction and maintenance of tunnels and underground structures, which are heavily used in the construction of The Vault and used on a smaller scale for Elysium's rebellion headquarters. The Corsairs closely guard this secret, and if there is ever a risk of the Empire finding out about their tunnels they would rather a mission end with all of the participants dead than have this leak.

THE CRIMSON CORSAIRS
The Crimson Corsairs consists of three major factions that all seek to usurp the Varschein Empire’s dominance over the world. Although not always unified in goal, they are united in their drive to free their world from the autocratic rule. Fighting with superior numbers, a ferocity borne of desperation, and any major salvage they can find, the Crimson Corsairs are ramping up their efforts to bring the empire low.


FLOTSOM
Flotsam is the eyes and ears of the Crimson Corsairs. Highly mobile, diverse and eclectic in population, the people of Flotsam make up the main salvage and combat forces of the Corsairs. Their secondary mission priorities are typically around recovering anything that isn't bolted down. Flotsam is skilled at making something from the most unlikely agreements - it may never be pretty, but Flotsam makes it work.

THE VAULT
The Vault is the development arm of the Crimson Corsairs. Using the spent munitions they recover from being situated directly under the weapon test site for the Empire, the Vault develops and refines Crimson Corsair technology to give them some semblance of a fighting chance against the Empire. Their secondary mission priorities are typically around recovering technology and Ether stones for use in their research and development.

ELYSIUM
Elysium maintains the diplomatic and espionage operations for the Crimson Corsairs. Ostensibly a colony of hedonism for the Empire's rich nobility, in truth Elysium operates by feeding intel and resources into the Crimson Corsairs so they can work to overthrow the Empire. Elysium operatives have a strong sense of duty and are willing to engage in some of the foulest acts demanded of them to ensure even a scrap of information makes it to the Corsairs. Their secondary mission priorities are usually intel-based or ways to ensure the safety of their community. Elysium will prioritize not compromising their cover over anything else, including the success of a mission.

THE VARSCHEIN EMPIRE

The dominant force in the world, everyone lives in some respect or another under its autocratic heel. The Empire controls the flow of resources across the world, with the upper crust of society living in luxury in the skies while those below toil for scraps. The Empire has intricate social structures and customs. Below is a primer on how the Varschein Empire's society is laid out and what to expect when dealing with them.


SOCIAL CLASSES
Social class is extremely important to the Empire. Only the nobility are considered to be actual people of living worth within the Empire, all other classes are disposed of with varying degrees of ease.


Nobles
The Nobility of the Empire are the only ones truly considered people. Their lives are valued enough that killing them is considered to be a major crime (although nobles will frequently murder each other - they just have to find ways not to be caught) and the levers of the state are turned toward their enrichment and the preservation of their privileged lives. Nobles have six different classes, with the Royal family standing at the top, followed by Dukes, Marquesses, Counts, Viscounts, and Barons. The title of the household head is conferred to the entire house and family, but only the head of the family is addressed by the formal title. All others of the family are addressed with the prefix Geliebt von, so a Count’s husband Felix might be addressed as Geliebt von Count Felix, whereas his wife Constance would simply be Countess Constance. The Nobility receive the full benefits of society and are fully literate, and have access to the widest range of normally banned literature and art.

Gallants
While not technically nobility, Gallants exist in the space adjacent to Nobility and are treated with much the same honor and fear by the common folk. Gallant refers to the class of people who have been given knighthood by the Emperor, as well as their families. Knighthood is hereditary but can be earned by a lay citizen who performs feats of great import on behalf of the Empire, which will in turn elevate their family’s status within the Empire. This honor is rarely bestowed upon the lower classes, but families of Priests and Merchants might be able to win it on rare occasions. Gallants are the enforcers of the law, commanders of the armed forces and the sword arm that keeps the Empire’s tranquility. Their primary duty is the commanding of troops and, in this era of what is considered peacetime, the eradication of dissidents. Gallants employ the mannerisms of nobility as a veneer of honor, but are known to common citizenry to be among the most brutal and vicious of the upper classes. Gallants are literate, but do not have access to forbidden literature or art as that could lead to subversive thought.

Priests
The rise of the Empire heralded a new faith - the Church of the Divine - which posits that a singular god rules over the land and all of the gods worshiped prior were pagan usurpers leading humanity astray. According to the Empire’s official history, the blessing of the Church of the Divine is what enabled them to assume control over the whole of Esthere, where their reign has continued into unprecedented prosperity and wealth for all citizens. Priests serve as the functional ministry of propaganda for the Empire, they have status just below that of the Gallants and are thus considered nobility adjacent, but they integrate with the lower classes. Priests exist in every village and farming town, and all villagers know that failure to attend service, pray, and behave as the Divine dictates will lead to the summoning of the Inquisition and the summary execution of themselves and their families. Although they rank lower, the Priesthood is responsible for ratifying any elevation to Knighthood, as they are the ones who verify that the Divine has chosen a Knighthood candidate which in turn justifies the elevation in status. The Inquisition also works closely with the Knighthood, and will often carry out purges in coordination with the Knighthood. Priests are literate, and are charged with the destruction of forbidden literature or art so they are the ones most commonly in possession of such items as they are the ones who burn them.

Free Commoners
Free Commoners make up the middle class of the Empire. Typically living in major towns and cities, free commoners work in any number of trades such as the crafts, administration, or mercantile ventures. Free Commoners are the lowest class truly eligible for Knighthood, although the Empire insists the honor can be bestowed upon even the lowliest of serfs. Free Commoners might have some interaction with nobility through mercantile pursuits, but generally try to avoid the nobility as they can be killed on a noble’s whim and nobles are well within their rights to steal a commoner’s entire holdings if they so choose. The bold few who deal with nobility employ a number of safety measures such as binding contracts with blood oaths to enforce them, and those nobles that deal with Free Commoners typically recognize if they want to truly obtain what the Free Commoners have to offer they will need to play by some modicum of rules. Free Commoners are occasionally literate depending on the jobs they do, but most of them struggle. Free Commoners might be able to get their hands on forbidden literature or art, but if they’re caught with it they and their families will be immediately put to death so those who possess it know to hide it well. Free Commoners are generally not the targets of hunts, but if a town is known to have dissidents or Corsairs hiding within it some nobles may organize a hunt to teach whoever survives a lesson on ferreting out traitors, assuming the Inquisition does not get to them first.

Serfs
Serfs are the lowest of native-born citizens. They are bound to the land they are born on and are considered property of the ruling noble who can do with them as they please. Serfs live under harsh conditions and are required to perform hard labor for most of their lives, be it farming, mining, manufacturing, or other undesirable jobs. That said, they enjoy a certain degree of freedom in that so long as they perform their jobs and pay the expected tithes to their noble, nobody cares enough about what they do to investigate them. Serfs are widely illiterate and make up a majority of the populace. Serfs are the most common target of hunts, as nobles delight in venturing out into the rural wilderness to murder people for sport. Most serf villages maintain small memorials to the lives taken by nobility, but these memorials are often destroyed whenever another hunt comes through.

Outlanders/Servants
Outlanders, or Servants as they are known in the Empire are people called from another world through the Servant’s Gate. They are immediately enslaved and considered property of the Empire, lower even than Serfs. Servants have no rights, no citizenship, and no expectation of any kind of life except to work until they die. Some Servants might have extraordinary abilities that earn them some measure of prestige within society - nobility can take in talented Servants as personal guards. All Servants are outfitted with Suppression Bands, with a remote control being held by the head of the household. Usually, when interacting with a Servant the master will often increase the restrictions of the Suppression Bands for their safety, although there have been stories of Servants becoming like trusted members of the family. There are, however, also stories of Servants earning their master’s trust only to slaughter them and make off to join the Crimson Corsairs, so most nobles are quite wary of even a supposed trusted Servant. Servants may be literate from their home world, but they are not taught to read and write the language of Esthere unless adopted by a noble who sees value in doing so.

THE DREAM OF FLIGHT

Flight is a critical technology for those living in the world above. It is flight that helped unite the continents, and flight that brought them to heel under the Empire. There are several ways to harness the winds and achieve flight - or some semblance thereof.

AIRSHIPS
Airships are the safest way to fly, although they are quite expensive and are mostly under control of the Empire. While the Crimson Corsairs are able to salvage and repurpose their own, development of flight-worthy steam engines is still ongoing and the dearth of Ether stones in the Eternal Ocean make it hard for them to achieve flightworthy vessels.

MONSTER MOUNTS
A number of Monsters have been tamed for use as riding beasts. Most notable are the Pegasi, Wyverns, Rocs, and Griffins, who have temperaments that make them easy to domesticate. More exotic mounts such as Manticores and Lamassu can also be found in Noble Houses, especially those that favor aesthetic over not being murdered by one's mount.

GLIDERS
Commonly used by the Crimson Corsairs, Gliders allow the harnessing of the wind to glide through the air. While not allowing true flight, Gliders are often used in raids to land on ships in order to capture them.

MAGIC AND TECHNOLOGY

ETHER
Ether is the ambient magic of the world. Ether crystallizes into gemstones that form underground. Their power is such that they cause the continents to rise into the air. Ether is the form all magic within the world takes.


ETHER STONES
Ether Stones are crystalized ether that form underground in the shape of brilliant gemstones infused with magic. They form the basis of most all the technology developed within the Empire, and are mined at an incredible rate. These stones are what make the continents float, and several continents have fallen back to the earth once depleted of their stone reserves. The Empire uses up and discards Ether stones, but the Crimson Corsairs have developed means to recharge them using a person's own Ether which helps them utilize stones they find for longer.

MAGIC
Every living being in the world naturally absorbs Ether. In some cases, such as with monsters, it will mutate their bodies, giving them additional strength or features such as wings or poisoned tails. For mortals, it is said to define some of their features, such as extending the lives of elves and dwarves, giving beastkin animal features, and the like. Magic can be manipulated in any number of ways, and while it can be taught through specific arcane incantations and spells, most people express magic in a way that is at least somewhat unique to them. For most characters, an approximation of their canon power set is possible, with some caveats for particularly powerful or game-breaking abilities. For more information on what powers do and do not work, refer to the Abilities and Power Levels page.


TECHNOLOGY
The setting technology is magitek-based and runs primarily on Ether stones. The general setting technological feel draws heavily from steampunk and industrial-style series such as the Legendary Heroes series and Final Fantasy VI.


AIRSHIPS
Airships are the primary mode of major transportation in the Empire. Airships are boat-like vessels designed to soar the skies. They tend to have specialized sails that make them more aerodynamic, and use engines powered by ether stones, although steam engines have become more common within the Empire. The Crimson Corsairs usually have to work with airships they recover through salvage. The crew requirements mentioned here will mostly be NPCs for player-owned ships, but players are free to form their own crews together. Players are also welcome to man ships on extreme skeleton crews based only of PCs if desired.


Sloop
Sloop-class ships are single-mast ships meant for shorter excursions and smaller-scale engagements. They are crewed by 12-15 people.

Schooner
Schooner-class ships are two-mast ships capable of longer and more taxing missions. They are crewed by 17-19 people.

Brig
Brig-class ships are larger two-mast ships more capable of combat operations. They are crewed by about 22 people.

Bark
Bark-class ships are three-mast ships with considerable muscle and size behind them. Barks typically have auxiliary steam engines for emergency power. They are crewed by about 30 people.

Frigate
Frigate-class ships are three-mast warships that can accommodate heavier weaponry. Frigates have auxiliary steam engines for emergency power. They are crewed by about 36 people.

Galleon
Galleon-class ships are immense four-mast warships that stand at the pinnacle of airship technology. Galleons use multiple auxiliary steam engines which can keep it aloft even if they run out of Ether. They are crewed by about 50 people.


ARMORS
Armors are mechanoid suits that can be piloted by typically a singular pilot. Standing between 8 and 10 meters, Armors are powerful weapons of war that, combined with superior airships, allowed the Empire to conquer the world. Armors resemble suits of plate mail, with differences in the plating and armor style depending on the class and customization.

Armors have three grades - Soldier, Commander, and General. Soldier-grade Armors are made of steel and designed for use by conventional soldiers. While potent, they lack customizability, and their immense weight makes them unable to be outfitted with flight capabilities. Commander-grade Armors are made primarily of Titanium, and their lighter frame gives them the capability of having flight module customizations attached. These are typically used by higher-ranking pilots and are often customized to suit that pilot's specific skillset. General-grade Armors are made primarily of Mythril and their lightweight but strong frames make flight modules standard on all General-grade Armors produced. In most cases, a General-grade Armor is custom-made for a skilled ace pilot to use, but there are some generic models mass-produced as backups.


Schwert
Schwert Armors are the most basic and commonly-produced Armor. Their standard armaments include a sword and small shield, and they're built for balanced output. Reliable and easy to use, most armor pilots learn on a Schwert and they are the Armors most often seen in active duty.

Lanze
Lanze Armors are specialized Armors that favor physical offensive capabilities. Lanze Armors have three standard armament configurations, a halberd, a cannon, or a spear, both of which require both arms to wield. Lanze Armors are typically the offensive breaker units that will lead a charge.

Schild
Schild Armors are specialized Armors that favor physical defensive capabilities. Schild Armors hold massive tower shields, as well as a small sword or pilum-style one-handed spear in their standard configuration. Schild Armors form defensive lines to protect important facilities or other less-defensive Armor units.

Feder
Feder Armors are specialized Armors that favor speed capabilities. Feder Armors are either armed with smaller twin blades or twin pistols to permit fast and frequent attacks. Feder Armors are usually deployed as irregular units that can harass enemies and pick off stragglers.

Zepter
Zepter Armors are specialized Armors that favor Ether capabilities. Zepter Armors are capable of attaining levels of destruction even Lanze units struggle to achieve, but are highly vulnerable to attack due to the need to channel magic directly through them. Zepters have two major configurations, staves and wands, although neither are particularly useful for physical combat as they are foci to channel magic. Zepter Armors are usually deployed for coordinated attacks intended to leave naught but a smoking crater.


ETHER-NET
The Ether-Net is a special communication tool developed by the Crimson Corsairs. Using small Ether Stones attuned to a singular band and embedded in a small handheld device, the Ether-net allows near-instantaneous communication between people in the Eternal Ocean, so long as they're near a major receptor. Currently, there are receptors built in Elysium, the Vault, and a mobile receptor carried on several ships in Flotsam to provide redundancy in case of Imperial attack. The Ether-Net allows for text, audio, and visual communication between people. Even better, it uses the Corsair's own Ether to recharge, so even people who are incapable of casting magic can still infuse their device with Ether. The devices that connect to the Ether-net are called Ether-Net Connectors, or ENC's, and are issued to any Corsair who has gained the organization's trust and completed training (in this case - all charaters).

CRIMSON PORTAL
The Crimson Portal is a set of three large Ether Stones affixed with specialized machinery and placed at hidden locales within Flotsam, the Vault and Elysium. They are considered the pride of the Vault's technology and technological achievement. The Crimson Portal allows people of sufficient Ether to instantly warp between the bases of the Crimson Corsairs. This allows rapid deployment of elite reinforcements when needed, although it has a number of limitations and can only transfer a person, the clothes on their back, and a few smaller possessions or personal effects. In practice, it's most often used for members to transfer between bases for social calls and to spend time with friends in other factions.

SERVANT'S GATE
Servant’s Gate is a special magitek device crafted by the Empire to address manpower issues. Due to the Empire’s indifference towards the lives of subjects outside of favor or importance, as well as the nobility’s penchant for hunting people for sport, the Servant’s Gate was developed to rip people from across the sea of stars from their worlds and render them into the empire where they can be bound into service. The Servant’s Gate is constantly in operation, delivering thousands of people to the empire to be pressed into slavery under the empire. People who come from the Servant’s Gate have no legal right to citizenship but may raise their stature if they hold special skills that are of use to the Empire. Some people who come through the Servant’s Gate hold special powers, but anyone who comes through the gate will find their powers will conform to the natural laws of Esthere.

SUPPRESSION BANDS
Suppression Bands are affixed to all who pass through the Servant’s Gate, they suppress all Ether-based powers and can even physically paralyze the target’s body, including their vital organs if desired. Suppression bands can be adjusted at will to allow the Empire to control the amount of Ether a target can output, and are controlled from a remote terminal inside the Imperial Palace. Some Servants show great aptitude and loyalty to the Empire and will have their bands set to 100%, but bands are never removed. Suppression bands can also be set to higher percentages than 100 by pumping Ether into the host, but this can exceed their capacity and lead to serious injury or death. The Crimson Corsairs have means to remove Suppression Bands.

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