The Punctured Plane

"It began with a singular puncture, a tear into our plane from the plane of the Astral. This one tear began to grow and destabilized life as we knew it many years ago. The sky thinned, our foundations shook, and before we were able to understand what was happening, the ground split, lifting from its chains. We were horrified and cowered away once the air turned into the chill of death itself. We left the surface, hiding from the death above within dwarven under homes, the intricate webworks of the underhills crafted by gnomes and halflings, and even surrendering to those horrid Underdark residents. However, things have never stopped changing since; More passages to the Astral have been reported, the Underdark itself has been breached by countless fractures opening it to other punctures, and we have adapted to it all. As a mark of our grand defiance, the magical talents of the empire's capital have finally completed the Clockwork Sun, a bastion of hope that manages to warm the city where those outside their contained walls can survive. I fear what happens upon the next wave of change." ~Montgomery Harrison, a renowned conductor within the region of New Outerhaven   The skies are cold, with no reliable travel paths between settlements within New Outerhaven other than the locomotive. A layer of steel is all that protects you from the harsh sky and its cold embrace. Clans of marauders and bandits have taken to striking transports to steal their supplies and rob the settlements of their livelihood. The wildlife has been particularly disturbed and now lashes out at all things that stride too close. And to top it all off, the communication to Briarstone has failed along with the Travel-gate near the Outerhaven puncture.   Despite these hardships amongst the sky, people like yourself have enlisted with the Queens Royal Navy as conductors. These brave men and women come to serve their country, protect their region, and secure new footholds for research and survival, all while being rewarded with fame and fortune. Coming from local settlements, you, your fellow conductors, and the crew stationed upon your vessel will brave the dangers or the cold skies and bring peace to the new empire. May the Deadgods and Her Royal Majesty protect you, conductor.