The Gilded

The most glorious Gilded, responsible for the great steam age that arbor now finds itself. They are the engineers and businessmen who through their great works have catapulted Arbor into a technological revolution. Their most important creation the Steam Engine is what powers most of Arbor's mighty machines, heats the peoples homes in winter and transports the citizenry from home to work. Truly this is a gift that cannot be understated or undersold and will likely bring Arbor to even greater heights of prosperity and growth the likes of which the world has never seen.

"Be careful around the machines, not just because the steam is dangerous but if the Gilded catch you trying to understand their tech you'll end up like them all cogs and wheels and no heart or soul to speak of"

Public Agenda:

In their Public face the Gilded only seek to improve and better their machines, always striving for more and more efficiency, more power and more steam. They are the key holders for the cities power and its new reliance on this technology is no accident but by careful design. They are the engineers that make wonders like The Inevitable, Steam Pistol, Steam Heating and many others possible so it is they that offer glimpses into the future for the citizenry of Arbor. f

History:

Like many great discoveries this started with an accident though not the usual kind where a kettle is left on a stove too long or not enough wood for a fire. But instead a tragedy a boy born with a heart too small and too weak to be of use, they were told would die before their 10th winter. None of the Physicker's could help the boy only offering a painless end. This was not good enough for their 2 mothers who were brilliant engineers creating Artifex for the The Iron Hands some of their best. They toiled for months spending every bit of their savings experimenting with strange properties of the tree eventually creating the first Clockwork Heart and to power it the first Steam Engine.
The operation to replace his heart was a great success and soon after they began the work of creating other wonders leaving The Iron Hands behind and quickly rising to prominence and wealth as everyone wanted a piece of this new and wonderful technology.

Attire / Common Garb / Quirks:

There are many things that mark a person as being one of the gilded; goggles, masks, or clothes, but none of these are as obvious as the clockwork heart and steam cylinders that they wear to keep the heart moving. Beating or pumping ever perfectly and replacing their living heart is a brass, steel and wooden heart visible under a pane of glass that replaces much of their ribs. Much of their other parts may or may not have been replaced as well sections of their heads, whole arms or legs but it's the heart that is truly a work of horror and art wrapped into one.

Notable creations, inventions and products

Much of what the Gilded create is for the public good and as such finds it's way into things like locomotives or heating homes. However like with all technology it is neither benign or malicious it just is so like the knife to butter bread so to can their creations be used to kill and hurt.

Clockwork Heart

Each one of these technological marvels is unique to its crafter. They are made only when an apprentice has proven they have gained sufficient skill to join the company fully, it is an complex and arduous process to make a heart, many will simply give up before completing the work and others still have been driven mad by the delicate and intricate work that it's creation requires. Once complete though a member takes the ultimate leap of faith in their work replacing their own heart with their new construction only knowing if they have succeeded if they wake up from the operation which is performed by the Clock Docs. Upon surviving the procedure they are officially inducted into the Gilded and become Gilded.

Clockwork Prosthetics

Once the heart was complete it wasn't long until replacement limbs became understood and available for those with the coin to afford it, as the founders were former members of the Iron Hands and though they never knew how the artifex were powered they didn't need that given their new power source, they had worked on the clockwork limbs utilized by the Artifex. These are much improved over the Artifex appendages offering parity or in some cases greater range of movement, strength and dexterity.

Steam Pistol

One of the first creations to come out of the Gilded labs that was not a body part or an improved engine, the Steam Pistol is an incredible weapon capable of hurling metal slugs at tremendous speeds. It has two main components that act as ammunition for the weapon. The first is supercritical fluid contained in a small ampule wrapped in brass etched runes which is placed inside the handle of the gun and locked into place. The second is the slugs that go into the chamber these can be of a mundane variety or be etched with arcane or divine runes in order to apply a number of effects.

Steam Rifle

A larger higher calibur version of the steam pistol and one capable of punching through several feet of stone. The rifle is a newer invention and one that few ever see. It operates much the same as the pistol though uses far more fluid per shot but has its own internal reservoir. It is however limited to a single shot per reload though it is very capable of ending most threats in that one shot, provided your aim is true.

These weapons are not supposed to be found in the hands of the general populace and are for the exclusive use of the The Green Cloaks, Seekers and The Gatherers however several have left dead man's hands at one point or another.

Written Description:

Walking down the boulevard in a resplendent top hat festooned with gears and pipes that occasionally let out a burst of steam, is a woman. Her gait is quick, precice and measured, not a single step is taken without meaning or purpose. Her clothes are neat and orderly not a thing out of place but it's her chest and the glass viewing window that truly catches your eye, behind which you see her clock beating heart.

Structure and Hierarchy:

The Gilded exists much as you would expect from a group of inventors, mad boys and mad girls. They seek only knowledge and the improvement of their craft caring little for the wealth that comes along with it though understanding that those gains are needed to further their own goals. They do recognize seniority though and each understands that if one of them went off on their own selling their secrets to any of the other companies it's likely the others would suffer. In that way they are almost a collective at least to those on the outside, each having an understanding and a willingness to do what is best for the group or the whole. There are some that say there is some kind of shared mind between them that by replacing their heart in the way they do some part of them is given over to a collective whole that they must all obey. Interactions with some of the more senior members would reinforce this act as often times the two leaders will finish each others sentences in near perfect rhythm which does unnerve some, on The Silver Council.
Their leaders though are the pair of women who first started this each with a clockwork heart that beat together.
Ava Isolde Sterling and Clara Maxie Sterling

Notable People:

• Ava Isolde Sterling Leader
• Clara Maxie Sterling Leader

Territory:

A newer organization though they do have need to be close to the production and refinement of Great Tree Sap into Star Light and have a need for refined metals they find themselves between the two Companies in the Second Ring

Notable Structures:

The Steam Works a massive building in the heart of The Gilded's territory, It produces steam power for the city that then gets piped either directly into peoples homes or into fill stations scattered throughout for the various people who need them.

All things made better through steam

Type

Corporation, Energy Industry

Notable Members

• Ava Isolde Sterling
• Clara Maxie Sterling