Bechtlarite

Proud remnants of the Empire

Purveyors of Information The Bechtlarite are the final tattered remnants of the old world. The once opulent city of Armuund still stands as a testament of what once was. The spires and towers still rise above the walls in grand fashion, but a great deal of the old world mythical gleam is gone, and in its place is a bustling commerce hub filled with traders and vendors. The city also houses most of the world's greatest universities that boast some of the greatest minds and technological wonders of all the ages. The Bechtlarite people are proud and prosperous which has in turn allowed them to be well educated as well. They tend to be very shrewd and intelligent people, though some others consider them to be stand-offish and a bit pompous. They are generally very proud of their history, and feel that the great Sovereign, Daimus III, was manipulated by outside usurpers that used foul magic to twist his mind and cloud his judgment, leading to the events that caused the Blight. They do not find the same fault in these actions as other races do, and in fact place a great deal of the blame on magic users, the now absent gods for letting it happen, and are very suspicious of the Volrishtad due to their high priestess's involvement. Through decades of research, the city is now powered and lit by technological wonders consisting of great underground furnaces and null metal powered engines. The Bechtlarites still boast one of the world's greatest unrivaled armies due to this exact reason. The Hellfire Brigade, one of the most famous battalions, guard the city and watch over it armed with arquebuses and riding great constructs. They are also the greatest proponents of the laws against the utilization of magic, being the home base of the Wraith Guard, a specialized and secretive sect of the city's Intelligence Bureau that have been trained and outfitted to hunt down and destroy rogue magic users for the safety of the Bechtlarites and the greater good of all.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

• Bechtlarite
• Common

Culture and cultural heritage

Since, culturally, they seldom travel, many of them lose sight of the state of the world or tend to develop a purely academic take of the Blight and how it has affected the rest of the world.

Shared customary codes and values

• Within the Empire is a well defined caste system based upon the intellectual and skill value of the individual. There is a certain fairness to this, in that an innovative custodian who utilizes a high degree of skill in their duties will be just as well respected as a professor or inventor in what is often seen as a "higher" trade.
• To outsiders, the Becht present themselves as fairly friendly, if not a bit haughty and aloof, having a tendency to look down on less educated races and cultures. The exceptions to this are those that come to the Becht cities seeking education. For these few, the Becht holds in high esteem, recognizing that the strongest argument for intelligence in an individual is the desire to learn more.
• These Becht are an immaculately organized and efficient people who have grown accustomed to a wealthy and comfortable way of life.

Average technological level

• Steam Engine
• Firearms
• Black Powder 
• Void Compression 
• Hammerdrive Engine 
• Analytical Cipher Apparatus 
• Kaelian Repulser 

Common Etiquette rules

The vast majority of social interaction occurs within the halls of universities, coffee houses, tea rooms, and libraries, and generally consist of trading of information and rather large amounts of people trying to "one up' one another in matters of the mind. There are very few pubs and taverns in this culture, as drunkenness is frowned upon by the general populace, and to give in to those impulses is the domain of the uneducated.

Common Dress code

• Popular fashion currently trends towards many layered coats and vests paired with soft leather footwear and large utilitarian belts.
• Short hair is viewed as attractive in both male and female and it is not uncommon to wear jewelry associated with the wearer's educational institution and focus.
• The general populace favors earthen hues over bright colors, browns and whites accented with black and gold.

Art & Architecture

• The cities that they build are segregated between purpose and even the buildings tend to be built and presented in an organized manner. The shops and markets are all in one district, the universities and libraries in another, while foods and the like are kept separate and the industrial centers are as far removed from the domestic areas as possible.
• The streets are remarkably and impeccably clean, with a city wide maintenance service working around the clock to maintain it using a shallow series of tunnels and hatches to move about unseen and transport waste and refuse into the underlying sewage systems.

Foods & Cuisine

The Becht are very health conscious. They have their staples of bread, dried meats, as well as a variety of canned and jellied fruits and vegetables, and most houses have a small rooftop greenhouses that contain small gardens to provide fresh produce for the family consisting of hearty plants that can survive the lack of light and the limited resources such as turnips and potatoes. Blocks will coordinate within themselves to grow a variety and trade amongst themselves.  Most families start their day with a cup of black coffee or tea to energize them. A point of pride for the family is their starters. Most have a sourdough starter, some of which predate the blight that they bake and a signature vinegar composite that is used in their family's pickling.
Each greenhouse contains convex glass panes on the panels that actively magnify the little sun they do get and generate heat within the enclosure, as well as a specially designed cistern that heats up over the course of the day, purifying the water that it does catch and recycling it into the growing area following the distillation process. While this strips minerals out of the water, most of the Becht utilize a compost system as well to keep the soil nutrient rich, leaving nothing to waste. 
While the upper and middle class rely on this system heavily, the poorer members of Becht society garner their produce from the food stores that contain imports from The Greenlands Commonage . This system is very efficient however, with those that are able to grow food taking a great deal of strain away from the maintaining of resources and ensuring that all the citizenry are able to eat enough to be healthy. In some cases, this leaves enough surplus for even the poorest to be able to can and jar foods.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

• There are those members of this society that have broken away from societal norms and in turn cause havoc and distress. The jails stay full within the Empire and the legal system is harsh and unforgiving.
• Many Becht self-exile themselves rather than face a long term stay in the Bonescrap, a decrepit and defunct mine on the outskirts of Armuun that has been converted into a sort of prison where inmates are dropped in and left to survive in the depths below.
• Anytime they have guests, they hosting family will get a food from the market to try, typically a type of produce. The higher quality and more rare the item, the higher the family's standing.

Funerary and Memorial customs

The Becht funeral rites mostly consist of burning the bodies of the dead. Since they do not have the expanses of land that could be used to bury the remains of the deceased, cremation is the safest and most efficient means of body disposal. There are, however, halls of the dead filled with small vaults in the upper class wards of most of their cities, and some still have personal family crypts. The middle class have some limited access to the halls of the dead if the can afford it, while the truly poor may donate or even sell their dead to schools and hospitals. It’s all very practical while still paying respect to family lines. There is a small group that collect the dead and prepare it that is an offshoot of the Benevolent Order, morticians that specialize in recognizing early signs of reanimation and are skilled in not only halting the process, but preserving the dignity of both the deceased and their families should this occur.

Common Myths and Legends

There are many rumors and legends about a strange creature that lurks in the sewers and tunnel below the streets of Armuun that is supposedly the creation of a twisted Benevolent who was devoured by their own creation. There have been several disappearances of maintenance crews that support this suspicion, as well as The Works Of Airtam Morenthall .

Historical figures

• Sovereign Daimus III 
• Sovereign Jaimus Oraulicli 
• Sarah Oraulicli 
• Sovereign Jaimus Oraulicli II 
• Sovereign Margaret Effron 
• Prima Consort Joseph Ybarra Effron 
• Sovereign Zigmund Effron 
• Prima Consort Eleanor Effron 
• Candor Ralech 
• Lance Heathcliff 
• Geraldine Fulton 
• Barbara Graves 
• Milton Petal 
• Samuel Minkeur 
• Mauve Einstrahum 
• Thomas Einstrahum 
• Fomick Instein 
• Airtam Morenthall 
• Wilhelm   

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

The Bechlarite humans are slight and smaller than most, as a lifetime of study and urban comforts create a softer environment than most of the societies of Cairne. They are fairly varied in general appearances, but their hair ranges from predominantly reddish, chestnut browns to flaxen blonde. Their eyes tend to be of the darker hues as well, but the exceptions to this generalization are not uncommon. Popular fashion currently trends towards many layered coats and vests paired with soft leather footwear and large utilitarian belts. Short hair is viewed as attractive in both male and female and it is not uncommon to wear jewelry associated with the wearer's educational institution and focus. The general populace favors earthen hues over bright colors, browns and whites accented with black and gold. Intelligence is their most favored feature and viewed as the pinnacle of attractiveness.

Gender Ideals

The Becht are remarkably forward thinking in terms of gender equality. There is no job or field of study that is denied any gender.

Courtship Ideals

Romance in the Becht customs tends to be very literary in style and grace. Poetry and grand and often creative means of garnering the attention of the object of their affections are commonplace.

Major organizations

The ruler of the Bechtlarite lands and people still retain the title of Sovereign, though the former line was broken with the loss of Daimus III. The Sovereign acts as an emperor, but the Bechtlarite empire functions more as a constitutional monarchy now, with the Order of Objective Representation playing a key role in the day-to-day bureaucracy but still subject to the final word of the Sovereign in matters that are disputed. The Bechlarite Intelligence Bureau holds tremendous power within the mechanisms of power in every major city of the Becht. Under the current leadership of the Nonpareil, they maintain an ever-watchful eye on the Empire's interests, and an even more attentive focus on their enemies. The Wraith Guard, under their acute command, polices the physical and intellectual property of the Becht empire with extreme dedication and efficiency, able to work in the open and the shadows with equal effect. The Becht maintains a sizable army that is under the direct command of the Sovereign. This force includes a sizable airship fleet, battalions of mechanized armor divisions known colloquially as the Sovereign Dragoons, and thousands of ground troops. These forces are stationed throughout the Empire depending on the needs of the area. Among these, the battalion stationed within the capital city of Armuund known as the Hellfire Brigade, are the most well known. They are unique in that they are allowed to function autonomously under the direct orders of Commander Sumer Daivon. At five hundred they represent the finest marksmen, pilots, and specialists in the Bechtlarite military, and this notoriety is used often to bolster pride among the common people and as a recruitment tool.

Diverged ethnicities

• Hiversteadians

Encompassed species

• Dearg Due
• Human
• Tarrere
• The Deathless
• The Drowned
• The Graz

Related Organizations

• Daimus
• Oraulcli
• Order of Objective Representation
• Order of the Aberrant Flame
• The Bechtlarite Intelligence Bureau
• The Illuminated Order
• The Sanguine Epoch
• The Sovereign Empire of the Bechtlarites
• The Voice of the Empire

Related Items

• Beads of Evershatter

Related Locations

• Armuun
• Belarian
• Carrig River
• Carrig's Cross
• Caster's Folly
• Einstrahum Manor
• Erindall
• Gearbox Industrial Complex
• Gillelle
• Greyturn
• Hearde
• Janus Academy of Natural Sciences
• Maliciean Scientific Commune
• Mechanicum of Arktis
• Olive Branch
• Oraulicli Observatory
• Royal Botanical Repository
• The Bare Shelf Tavern
• The Bechtlarite Financial Depository
• The Bonescrap
• The Brass Cog
• The Hellfire Spire
• The Ocularium
• The Palace of Glass
• The Royal Observatory
• The University of Arcane Arts
• The University of the Lighted Way
• The Yerba Mate Cafe
• Troughfoy Military Academy
• Twilight Downs
• Wreckage of the Fettered Cloud