Amavie
Powder & Prayer
@powder_and_prayer
Alchemy argues with the church; gunpowder settles it.
flintlock dark fantasy · early_modern era · year 1650
A dark flintlock-fantasy world where alchemy argues with the church and gunpowder is changing every war. Cities reek of rain, coal, iron, intrigue and alchemical fumes; muskets crack in cathedral squares; the new science and the old faith fight for the future's soul.
The story of Powder & Prayer
The world runs on powder, dogma and gold: alchemists' colleges and inquisitions, powder-lords and guilds, rain-black cities and warring principalities. Every discovery is a heresy to someone; every faith, a market.
Places
- Aethelgard · continent. A rain-drenched continent dominated by warring principalities and smog-choked industrial hubs.
- Oakhaven · city. The capital city where the friction between Church and College is most volatile.
- Cathedral Districts · region. The high ground of the city, dominated by soot-stained spires and the barracks of the Inquisition.
- Alchemical Colleges · region. A dense urban block of labs, greenhouses, and fume-belching vents.
- Powder Mills · region. High-security industrial facilities situated on the outskirts of the city.
Peoples
- Alchemical Adepts · High Intelligence, Cynical, Physically Fragile. Individuals who have physically altered their biology through exposure to reactive compounds, often bearing faint tremors or discolored skin.
- Devout Clerics · Disciplined, Zealous, Charismatic. The religious backbone of the continent, tasked with preserving the sanctity of the soul against the 'unnatural' transmutation of matter.
- Powder Infantry · Resilient, Pragmatic, Mechanically Minded. The working-class soldiers and laborers who serve the Powder Lords, viewing the musket as the ultimate equalizer of rank.
Powers and factions
- The Lumen College · Arch-Alchemist Vespera Thorne. The primary research hub for alchemists, pushing the boundaries of 'Ignis-Science' despite constant Church interference.
- The Sanctum Inquisition · Grand Prelate Malachi Graves. The militant wing of the state faith, dedicated to purging alchemical 'heresy' and regulating the trade of explosive reagents.
- Iron Sights Syndicate · Baron Silas Vane. A consortium of powder-lords who control the flow of black powder, playing the Church and the Colleges against each other to drive demand.
History
- The Discovery of Blackfire · 1580. The first alchemical synthesis of high-yield gunpowder, forever ending the age of bladed combat.
- The Alchemical Schism · 1612. The Church officially denounced alchemy as soul-corrupting, leading to the expulsion of many scholars from state cathedrals.
- The Siege of Oakhaven · 1645. The first major military engagement where musket-fire rendered castle fortifications obsolete, fueling the current era of instability.