London is hardly a world as picturesque as the paintings or poems of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood would suggest. But, an explanation of our times will now be provided for you to have a better understanding of our place in the Empire. We live in a world of dividing ideals that is simply a reality of the time.
But there are other entities that shall influence the characters’ daily lives... and your stories. Entities such as Groups, Guilds, Circles, Societies, and Criminalities.
Sons of Ned Ludd (S.o.N.L) continues the heritage of Ned Ludd, also called "King Ludd", but have expanded far beyond the automated weaving industry of the early 19th century. Be it by hand, their infamous hatches, dynamite, or by bludgeoning live targets with double hand sticks called "King Bludgers", this group has gained a reputation in no less than bloody, violent infamy in their opposition to progress. They recruit heavily in the rookeries and middle-air sections where those who work are not, as they say, rewarded for their effort. In an odd twist of fate, S.o.N.L is also known by a captured community of aerospace on the outskirts of London where they hover in aero-sailor gondola-like floating gypsies. Wealthier members fund supplies and orchestrate; trying their hand at bending S.o.N.L to their purpose for other reasons.
The Weaver Collective ( T.W.C) seeks to educate the populace through inspiring a new generation of college arts and apprenticeship. Deemed a peaceful organization relying on Speaker's Corner, markets, and political activity to rally their trade message, they have become popular with those who otherwise become disenchanted with making their living in factories, or trying to strike it rich in air adventures since inception in 1860. T.W.C does have those within it who join the S.o.N.L. on their bloody adventures. Weavers are dominantly women, retired men, or young fathers hoping to "inspire" the children around them. Some believe that T.W.C is often one more way for filtering the more passionate and persuadable into S.o.N.L. for the last five years.
Evolutionary Difference Society (E.D.S) was founded in 1843 to celebrate the evolution of difference based technology. It's membership was quite a celebrated thing upon inception among persons of math, engineering, and scientific interests. The base of its founding followed after the translation of a French article on the Analytical Engine by Countess Ada Lovelace. Her corresponding extended notes were a sensation among Engine enthusiasts as she predicted a use for engines far beyond mere computation. The E.D.S. lives to see the full realization of analytic computation devices, and feels that with the steam era in full swing, difference engine calculations used to program devices on a level of numbers, more can be done. E.D.S. suffered a blow after the 1851 Exhibition with the ruin of the one model of the Great Engine that was supposed to work. They tirelessly search for the missing components, Lovelace's punch cards, and work with what is already available to build small versions for themselves.
The E.D.S. has purchased stock in the manufacturing of advanced weapon and military, navigational, and other scientific commercial items. While it is said no terrorist cell in the E.D.S. functions, everyone knows that is not true. The assassination of multiple party leaders, participants, and business folk have been traced back to E.D.S members. Yes, many of them are participants for scientific purposes, but it does not carry the same proud seal as it once did.
Difference Divers - These groups or individuals are often found in separate social circles to fit their reasons for what they do in the first place. Difference Diving is the act of trying to build difference engines and analytic engines for the purpose of storing of information, it's transfer between devices, and device automation, commonly referred to as "programs". The heritage of Lovelace's mathematical formula evolving in to punch cards to be placed inside of machines for them to gather equations for solving has evolved in to equations for a set of commands. Rumors abound with these secretive people, that they have created amazing creations run by these engines, to the fact that different collectives have exchanged information across space. Difference Divers do not always work in tandem with E.D.S. Some are a part of the society, but to mostly be in the presence of the news. Some say the sounds of gears turning in the Crystal Palace to this day is due to their works. One fact is that the music that plays from the Centre Trenscept in the Palace from time to time is due to a Lovelace prediction of composition of difficult music from these machines. A difference engine powers the old pipe organ.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood WAS Founded by seven English artists, poets, and critiques in 1848, the first purpose of it was to despair against the Classical, Raphael influenced style of art for a pre-classic model. In 1870, not only have the participants gone on or continue to do such, but the induction of scientists as a craft within lends itself to the Naturalist idea of harmonium. At its core, the Brotherhood is truly a mixed batch, holding members of both Naturalist and Analytic mindsets. What ties them together is the idea of producing again, in harmonium. Pieces of art, poetry, and critiques have come now concerning man's relationship with machine, observations on factions and objectives, and a view of London that somehow romanticizes the smog as it condemns it.
C.L.A.D is a society titled after the top naturalists in the world... Cuvier, Leclerc, Audubon, and Darwin... whose members consist of competent, supposedly *ethical naturalists* that seek to increase the environmental care acts in parliament as it relates to the well-being of people and creatures. They are preoccupied with the cause of cleaner energy practices, reducing fear of "Grand Smogging", and utilizing technology to better understand the advancements and limitations on life form.
Filled with Botanists, mathematicians, horticulturalists, biologists, and anthropologists, C.L.A.D is also said to house a drastically dark, righteous-seeming underbelly. Strange smoke bombs, poisons, and drugs have been allegedly traced to many C.L.A.D. founding members. Some draw on assistance from the criminal alliances around the city to spearhead their product, or take their ideas for "improvements".
Mechanical Engine, Clockwork, and Electric Masters Guild (M.E.C.E.M.G) - This group is not claimed by any respective faction and attempts to induct them in, presently, with any specific present or rising party, are always turned away. The members of this guild pride themselves on induction in to a society of fellow men and women who pride themselves on field advancements. Induction requires petitioning, an interview, and work display to the current governing board. The guild was founded two centuries ago, with a division for Electro-light study in the last seventy years. Politics are alleged to vanish at the door. You can find a guild member in most major businesses, laboratories, and educational facilities of London. It is because there is no political affiliation in the public domain that many try to court a guild member to their advantage. An expert with no agenda who can be balanced while participating in an unbalanced activity leads no trial. Subversion is not found by many, but it doesn't mean it doesn't live.
The Guild of the Every-Man (G.E.M) - This group strives to preserve crafts passed down through teaching. While it touts an *Every-Man* title, it is most popular with the poor who cannot find admittance to groups requiring a fee, or the middle-class man who may feel he is ignored by other contemporaries. Like many of the groups holding to craft-over-politics ideals, it features both genders equally in its membership and a diverse area of vocational and artistic studies. One philosophy the Guild espouses is the chance for education to the unfortunate, placement in secure employment, and assisting its members when need arises. Some have fallen from the *Every-Man* in to other areas when captured on the right day of the week, featuring a tragic tale of a member who became an unfortunate casualty of a S.o.N.L. activity in Regent's Park, where a shoot-out took place *for a dismantling of steam-craft* gone wrong. This member was recruited to lead the front line of the S.o.N.L. assault, resulting in him being known as "Hol-e Mark” for the fact the Bobbies riddled him with holes from an airship-mounted Howitzer multi-chambered, rotate-action machine gun.
Below is a list of trade union guilds:
-- Stonemasons
-- Drivers, Pilots, and Sailors Alliance
-- Chemical, Metallurgical, and Mining Guild
-- Textiles Clothing, Footwear Needlecraft Syndicate
-- Steam Engineering and Manufacturing
-- Steam Fitter’s Union
-- Mechanical Union
-- Building and Construction Combine
-- Printing Union
-- Food Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering Affiliates
-- Artistic Crafts and Furniture Associates
-- Machinist and Smith Guild
-- Tinman Guild - This guild researches new methods of curing people of injuries and/or replacing limbs with mechanical parts. People who are injured can get replacement parts. The new parts are somewhat expensive, but the guild can make a profit and help people afford the treatment by giving them low-interest loans and seeing that they get work in various businesses. Also, the new parts are somewhat modular so if a person with a mechanical limb dies then the mechanical part can be preserved and brought back to be repaired. Building nonhuman constructs is also part of their business. The Tinman Order works to eliminate bias or violence against people with replacement parts. They also work with businesses who have repetitive, strenuous, or dangerous jobs who could use workers who are modified to operate in those conditions.
Terrible Secret: All the mechanical parts they create can be used to spy on or influence those who use the parts. They plan to make lots of money by having profitable businesses that mainly hire people with enhanced limbs, thus poor people may need to get new limbs to get decent jobs and then pay them off over time. The disenfranchised may find themselves with a choice between going hungry or getting 'upgraded' into tinmen who gradually have their body parts replaced to increase efficiency for their jobs.
[align=center]SOCIETIES
Royal Acclaim[/center]
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge (Royal Society) - Established in 1660, the moto of the Royal Society is "Nullius in verba", or "On the word of no one". A group of physicians and natural philosophers has grown in to a variety of persons studying the entire gambit of scientific study. A unique resurgence has happened in the Society where it was on the decline. The various factions and private studies have resulted in larger societal studies, essays, and viewpoints on the preservation of old sciences, theories of study, and application for findings. Induction in to the society is considered a prestigious enough honor for Queen Victoria herself to preside over it at Buckingham Palace. An internal query within the society is debating the allowance of women, primarily with the first induction being Ada Lovelace.
The Society for the Study of Science Arts (S.S.oS.A) - A favorite with scientists of every classification, and often abbreviated SSoSA, this is the everyday man's answer to being given royal acclaim. SSoSA is populated by mostly upper class and aristocracy, but it is not uncommon for a self-made man, or woman for that matter, to rise in the ranks. Academics enjoy their meetings with their fellow members a great deal.
The Parallelogram Society (T.P.S)- The mother of Ada Lovelace, Anne Milbanke, was herself trained in mathematics, a curious thing for a woman of the times. Her husband, the esteemed Lord Bryon, referred to her as his "Princess of Parallelograms". Following this tradition, a meeting of polite, gifted, young ladies gathers regularly for discourse on mathematical subjects, puzzle solving, and number tournaments. Reaching the rank of "Enchantress of Numbers" is considered especially honored. This was Babbage's name for Ada Lovelace herself. For social turns, the 'Princes' will gather with the 'Princesses' for monthly 'Regal Bouts' of math quizzing, tea, and a book club.
Mayfair Marvels of Ghostly Wonder, dubbed Mayfair Marvels (M.M), for short - this group espouses a mixed batch by way of station, gender, and even race as they move to explore the wonders of ghostly London on a paranormal amateur status. Some have thought that admission in to the Mayfair Marvels will assure them a place in the supernatural sciences division of Scotland Yard (if such exists) or government service (which no one can attest to, but everyone swears is as real as the ghost of a headless Anne Boleyn on the Tower Green)
Spiritualism Practitioners Tea Circle (The Tea Circle) - Literal as it sounds, a group of spiritual mediums and other practitioners attend seemingly innocent teas to discuss subjects, rallies, and societal issues related to the spiritualist cause. It has been reported that things have levitated during meetings, table knocking is common, and a ghost may materialize for a scone. Given its genteel placement even if the subject is taboo, many from the aristocracy come to this place in order to screen the services of a medium. Each member is tested for his or her skills if a medium, while each participant is expected to sign a code of conduct. It is what divides The Tea Circle from being merely a hobbyist activity.
Scotland Yard Metropolitan Police - Scotland Yard is comprised of police, hundreds of them, on foot, mounts, and air patrol to insure the safety of the citizens of London. Joining the lot at any rank is considered an honor, for the most part. But their numbers are not enough to keep up with all that occurs in the London jurisdiction. The honorable are just as many, if not slightly less, than the crooked however; they war within themselves as much as they wage war on crime.
The Society of None (S.o.N)- What? What do you mean the Society of None? It isn't real, not written about on any piece of paper. Therefore, if it isn't real, its members possibly can't know everything about everything in the Empire. Unless, that is, you've been called upon by Queen Victoria, one of her knowing-unknowing officers, or The Great Exhibitor... who like this society, is a myth.
So are the things that it polices. The espionage, the scandal, the shock. From the glittering halls of Europa's finest courts to the monsters that lurk in the dark, this is the Society called upon when even the first tier of well-trained spies and spy artists need assistance. This will do what none could ever do, “go where neither angel or demon would ever tread”.
Street Gangs - From petty theft to grand-scale feats of criminal mastermind, these groups feed in to ideas, or live on the fringe, to fill their own motives as time, money, or even boredom allow. Despite their individual thoughts, all street gangs by one or many connections somehow feed in to the main ideas, philosophies, and lifestyles of the age as one hand often washes the other. Small & Large local gangs in-house include:
- S.o.N.L Terrorists
- E.D.S. radicals
- C.L.A.D. Limiters
- any seller or establishment in the city known secretly to vend/sell illegal substances
- No party identified/common criminal activity
- Irish/Anti-Colonial Groups (see below)
The Fenian Party (FP) - Failing as a political faction, the FP turned toward becoming a thorn in London's side. Filled with the sons of disenchanted Irish subjects, radical sympathizers, and smart men with slippery morals looking for quick cash, the FP has pockets and collected gangs across the Empire and America, with their concentration in London, England. It should be more a political agenda than a gang, but the point of petitioning for Irish freedom in the Steam Market from the British Crown has since been lost to those who deal in drugs, gambling, whores, and petty crime. The wiser among the bunch have taken crime to new heights by putting fingers inside of legal enterprises. One of the most elaborate of these extensions, and the most vicious, is ran by an Irishman by the name of Sean O’Brien. Those that survive in parliament to make the party legitimate suffer because of the extremist end of the 'cause', which they deny is there.
Drug Dens and Sellers - Fueled by individual skill and members of C.L.A.D., the "cure" to London woes comes in the form of opiates, hashish, and other curious concoctions that suck the life, soul, and mind from those that use it to long. There is an increased skill among Asian immigrants for making both helpful and harmful apothecary solutions, either of which are exploited by street vendors and store fronts with a mine to profit from harm.
Pimps, Madames, Brothels - Filling the appetite of the sensual seekers in London town, the lives of the participants range from poverty to fancy-keeping depending on their styles, income, and philosophies. Life varies and is not easy either way. Many women and men find themselves still poor, even if rich in the beginning, for not saving their funds, getting addicted to drugs, caught in abuse, or losing the attention of a benefactor. Pimps often abuse their whores, and Madames seek to enslave for the constant sort of coin whatever the cost. It is not so black and white, though, and finding those with 'hearts of gold' who use this as a way to fund freedoms are not unusual. The true smart whippets of this culture make empires. Local establishments in story include:
- The Aphrodite (West End gentleman's area for courtesans/advanced steam and tick tock whore rental)
- The Dandy (East End brothel, working class/working poor whores of both genders and tick-tocked stocked criminal and state whores)
- Half-Penny Revue (working poor/working class whores and dancing girls/tick-tock whore of both gender rental)
Gambling & Card Joints - Gambling has long been ingrained in British society. This is perhaps due to the historically rigid class system and the fact that gambling is one of the most efficient redistributors of wealth – or simply due to the fact that, for many, gambling can be a lot of fun – the British have long had a deep and meaningful relationship with Lady Luck.
Some of the most famous gentlemen’s clubs of London included:
-- White’s,
-- Brook’s,
-- The Cocoa Tree, and
-- Almack’s,
and were often referred to as ‘golden halls’.
‘Copper hells’ which the lower classes frequented and were based on pure luck, developed out of coffeehouses and other existing meeting places for the privileged classes. White’s, for example, developed from a regular meeting of wealthy men at a chocolate house whilst the majority of games played in the gentlemen’s clubs required skill and involved more sophisticated games.
The Four Points
(West End/Central border, middle class - higher middle-class gambling, cards, and shows)
But there are other entities that shall influence the characters’ daily lives... and your stories. Entities such as Groups, Guilds, Circles, Societies, and Criminalities.
GROUPS
Luddite Groups
Luddite Groups
Sons of Ned Ludd (S.o.N.L) continues the heritage of Ned Ludd, also called "King Ludd", but have expanded far beyond the automated weaving industry of the early 19th century. Be it by hand, their infamous hatches, dynamite, or by bludgeoning live targets with double hand sticks called "King Bludgers", this group has gained a reputation in no less than bloody, violent infamy in their opposition to progress. They recruit heavily in the rookeries and middle-air sections where those who work are not, as they say, rewarded for their effort. In an odd twist of fate, S.o.N.L is also known by a captured community of aerospace on the outskirts of London where they hover in aero-sailor gondola-like floating gypsies. Wealthier members fund supplies and orchestrate; trying their hand at bending S.o.N.L to their purpose for other reasons.
The Weaver Collective ( T.W.C) seeks to educate the populace through inspiring a new generation of college arts and apprenticeship. Deemed a peaceful organization relying on Speaker's Corner, markets, and political activity to rally their trade message, they have become popular with those who otherwise become disenchanted with making their living in factories, or trying to strike it rich in air adventures since inception in 1860. T.W.C does have those within it who join the S.o.N.L. on their bloody adventures. Weavers are dominantly women, retired men, or young fathers hoping to "inspire" the children around them. Some believe that T.W.C is often one more way for filtering the more passionate and persuadable into S.o.N.L. for the last five years.
Analytical Heritage Groups
Evolutionary Difference Society (E.D.S) was founded in 1843 to celebrate the evolution of difference based technology. It's membership was quite a celebrated thing upon inception among persons of math, engineering, and scientific interests. The base of its founding followed after the translation of a French article on the Analytical Engine by Countess Ada Lovelace. Her corresponding extended notes were a sensation among Engine enthusiasts as she predicted a use for engines far beyond mere computation. The E.D.S. lives to see the full realization of analytic computation devices, and feels that with the steam era in full swing, difference engine calculations used to program devices on a level of numbers, more can be done. E.D.S. suffered a blow after the 1851 Exhibition with the ruin of the one model of the Great Engine that was supposed to work. They tirelessly search for the missing components, Lovelace's punch cards, and work with what is already available to build small versions for themselves.
The E.D.S. has purchased stock in the manufacturing of advanced weapon and military, navigational, and other scientific commercial items. While it is said no terrorist cell in the E.D.S. functions, everyone knows that is not true. The assassination of multiple party leaders, participants, and business folk have been traced back to E.D.S members. Yes, many of them are participants for scientific purposes, but it does not carry the same proud seal as it once did.
Difference Divers - These groups or individuals are often found in separate social circles to fit their reasons for what they do in the first place. Difference Diving is the act of trying to build difference engines and analytic engines for the purpose of storing of information, it's transfer between devices, and device automation, commonly referred to as "programs". The heritage of Lovelace's mathematical formula evolving in to punch cards to be placed inside of machines for them to gather equations for solving has evolved in to equations for a set of commands. Rumors abound with these secretive people, that they have created amazing creations run by these engines, to the fact that different collectives have exchanged information across space. Difference Divers do not always work in tandem with E.D.S. Some are a part of the society, but to mostly be in the presence of the news. Some say the sounds of gears turning in the Crystal Palace to this day is due to their works. One fact is that the music that plays from the Centre Trenscept in the Palace from time to time is due to a Lovelace prediction of composition of difficult music from these machines. A difference engine powers the old pipe organ.
Naturalist Groups
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood WAS Founded by seven English artists, poets, and critiques in 1848, the first purpose of it was to despair against the Classical, Raphael influenced style of art for a pre-classic model. In 1870, not only have the participants gone on or continue to do such, but the induction of scientists as a craft within lends itself to the Naturalist idea of harmonium. At its core, the Brotherhood is truly a mixed batch, holding members of both Naturalist and Analytic mindsets. What ties them together is the idea of producing again, in harmonium. Pieces of art, poetry, and critiques have come now concerning man's relationship with machine, observations on factions and objectives, and a view of London that somehow romanticizes the smog as it condemns it.
C.L.A.D is a society titled after the top naturalists in the world... Cuvier, Leclerc, Audubon, and Darwin... whose members consist of competent, supposedly *ethical naturalists* that seek to increase the environmental care acts in parliament as it relates to the well-being of people and creatures. They are preoccupied with the cause of cleaner energy practices, reducing fear of "Grand Smogging", and utilizing technology to better understand the advancements and limitations on life form.
Filled with Botanists, mathematicians, horticulturalists, biologists, and anthropologists, C.L.A.D is also said to house a drastically dark, righteous-seeming underbelly. Strange smoke bombs, poisons, and drugs have been allegedly traced to many C.L.A.D. founding members. Some draw on assistance from the criminal alliances around the city to spearhead their product, or take their ideas for "improvements".
GUILDS
Ideals and Philosophic Groups
Ideals and Philosophic Groups
Mechanical Engine, Clockwork, and Electric Masters Guild (M.E.C.E.M.G) - This group is not claimed by any respective faction and attempts to induct them in, presently, with any specific present or rising party, are always turned away. The members of this guild pride themselves on induction in to a society of fellow men and women who pride themselves on field advancements. Induction requires petitioning, an interview, and work display to the current governing board. The guild was founded two centuries ago, with a division for Electro-light study in the last seventy years. Politics are alleged to vanish at the door. You can find a guild member in most major businesses, laboratories, and educational facilities of London. It is because there is no political affiliation in the public domain that many try to court a guild member to their advantage. An expert with no agenda who can be balanced while participating in an unbalanced activity leads no trial. Subversion is not found by many, but it doesn't mean it doesn't live.
The Guild of the Every-Man (G.E.M) - This group strives to preserve crafts passed down through teaching. While it touts an *Every-Man* title, it is most popular with the poor who cannot find admittance to groups requiring a fee, or the middle-class man who may feel he is ignored by other contemporaries. Like many of the groups holding to craft-over-politics ideals, it features both genders equally in its membership and a diverse area of vocational and artistic studies. One philosophy the Guild espouses is the chance for education to the unfortunate, placement in secure employment, and assisting its members when need arises. Some have fallen from the *Every-Man* in to other areas when captured on the right day of the week, featuring a tragic tale of a member who became an unfortunate casualty of a S.o.N.L. activity in Regent's Park, where a shoot-out took place *for a dismantling of steam-craft* gone wrong. This member was recruited to lead the front line of the S.o.N.L. assault, resulting in him being known as "Hol-e Mark” for the fact the Bobbies riddled him with holes from an airship-mounted Howitzer multi-chambered, rotate-action machine gun.
Below is a list of trade union guilds:
-- Stonemasons
-- Drivers, Pilots, and Sailors Alliance
-- Chemical, Metallurgical, and Mining Guild
-- Textiles Clothing, Footwear Needlecraft Syndicate
-- Steam Engineering and Manufacturing
-- Steam Fitter’s Union
-- Mechanical Union
-- Building and Construction Combine
-- Printing Union
-- Food Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering Affiliates
-- Artistic Crafts and Furniture Associates
-- Machinist and Smith Guild
-- Tinman Guild - This guild researches new methods of curing people of injuries and/or replacing limbs with mechanical parts. People who are injured can get replacement parts. The new parts are somewhat expensive, but the guild can make a profit and help people afford the treatment by giving them low-interest loans and seeing that they get work in various businesses. Also, the new parts are somewhat modular so if a person with a mechanical limb dies then the mechanical part can be preserved and brought back to be repaired. Building nonhuman constructs is also part of their business. The Tinman Order works to eliminate bias or violence against people with replacement parts. They also work with businesses who have repetitive, strenuous, or dangerous jobs who could use workers who are modified to operate in those conditions.
Terrible Secret: All the mechanical parts they create can be used to spy on or influence those who use the parts. They plan to make lots of money by having profitable businesses that mainly hire people with enhanced limbs, thus poor people may need to get new limbs to get decent jobs and then pay them off over time. The disenfranchised may find themselves with a choice between going hungry or getting 'upgraded' into tinmen who gradually have their body parts replaced to increase efficiency for their jobs.
[align=center]SOCIETIES
Royal Acclaim[/center]
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge (Royal Society) - Established in 1660, the moto of the Royal Society is "Nullius in verba", or "On the word of no one". A group of physicians and natural philosophers has grown in to a variety of persons studying the entire gambit of scientific study. A unique resurgence has happened in the Society where it was on the decline. The various factions and private studies have resulted in larger societal studies, essays, and viewpoints on the preservation of old sciences, theories of study, and application for findings. Induction in to the society is considered a prestigious enough honor for Queen Victoria herself to preside over it at Buckingham Palace. An internal query within the society is debating the allowance of women, primarily with the first induction being Ada Lovelace.
The Society for the Study of Science Arts (S.S.oS.A) - A favorite with scientists of every classification, and often abbreviated SSoSA, this is the everyday man's answer to being given royal acclaim. SSoSA is populated by mostly upper class and aristocracy, but it is not uncommon for a self-made man, or woman for that matter, to rise in the ranks. Academics enjoy their meetings with their fellow members a great deal.
Societal Learning and Hobbyists Circles
The Parallelogram Society (T.P.S)- The mother of Ada Lovelace, Anne Milbanke, was herself trained in mathematics, a curious thing for a woman of the times. Her husband, the esteemed Lord Bryon, referred to her as his "Princess of Parallelograms". Following this tradition, a meeting of polite, gifted, young ladies gathers regularly for discourse on mathematical subjects, puzzle solving, and number tournaments. Reaching the rank of "Enchantress of Numbers" is considered especially honored. This was Babbage's name for Ada Lovelace herself. For social turns, the 'Princes' will gather with the 'Princesses' for monthly 'Regal Bouts' of math quizzing, tea, and a book club.
Mayfair Marvels of Ghostly Wonder, dubbed Mayfair Marvels (M.M), for short - this group espouses a mixed batch by way of station, gender, and even race as they move to explore the wonders of ghostly London on a paranormal amateur status. Some have thought that admission in to the Mayfair Marvels will assure them a place in the supernatural sciences division of Scotland Yard (if such exists) or government service (which no one can attest to, but everyone swears is as real as the ghost of a headless Anne Boleyn on the Tower Green)
Spiritualism Practitioners Tea Circle (The Tea Circle) - Literal as it sounds, a group of spiritual mediums and other practitioners attend seemingly innocent teas to discuss subjects, rallies, and societal issues related to the spiritualist cause. It has been reported that things have levitated during meetings, table knocking is common, and a ghost may materialize for a scone. Given its genteel placement even if the subject is taboo, many from the aristocracy come to this place in order to screen the services of a medium. Each member is tested for his or her skills if a medium, while each participant is expected to sign a code of conduct. It is what divides The Tea Circle from being merely a hobbyist activity.
Investigative Societies
Scotland Yard Metropolitan Police - Scotland Yard is comprised of police, hundreds of them, on foot, mounts, and air patrol to insure the safety of the citizens of London. Joining the lot at any rank is considered an honor, for the most part. But their numbers are not enough to keep up with all that occurs in the London jurisdiction. The honorable are just as many, if not slightly less, than the crooked however; they war within themselves as much as they wage war on crime.
The Society of None (S.o.N)- What? What do you mean the Society of None? It isn't real, not written about on any piece of paper. Therefore, if it isn't real, its members possibly can't know everything about everything in the Empire. Unless, that is, you've been called upon by Queen Victoria, one of her knowing-unknowing officers, or The Great Exhibitor... who like this society, is a myth.
So are the things that it polices. The espionage, the scandal, the shock. From the glittering halls of Europa's finest courts to the monsters that lurk in the dark, this is the Society called upon when even the first tier of well-trained spies and spy artists need assistance. This will do what none could ever do, “go where neither angel or demon would ever tread”.
CRIMINALITIES
Street Gangs - From petty theft to grand-scale feats of criminal mastermind, these groups feed in to ideas, or live on the fringe, to fill their own motives as time, money, or even boredom allow. Despite their individual thoughts, all street gangs by one or many connections somehow feed in to the main ideas, philosophies, and lifestyles of the age as one hand often washes the other. Small & Large local gangs in-house include:
- S.o.N.L Terrorists
- E.D.S. radicals
- C.L.A.D. Limiters
- any seller or establishment in the city known secretly to vend/sell illegal substances
- No party identified/common criminal activity
- Irish/Anti-Colonial Groups (see below)
The Fenian Party (FP) - Failing as a political faction, the FP turned toward becoming a thorn in London's side. Filled with the sons of disenchanted Irish subjects, radical sympathizers, and smart men with slippery morals looking for quick cash, the FP has pockets and collected gangs across the Empire and America, with their concentration in London, England. It should be more a political agenda than a gang, but the point of petitioning for Irish freedom in the Steam Market from the British Crown has since been lost to those who deal in drugs, gambling, whores, and petty crime. The wiser among the bunch have taken crime to new heights by putting fingers inside of legal enterprises. One of the most elaborate of these extensions, and the most vicious, is ran by an Irishman by the name of Sean O’Brien. Those that survive in parliament to make the party legitimate suffer because of the extremist end of the 'cause', which they deny is there.
Drug Dens and Sellers - Fueled by individual skill and members of C.L.A.D., the "cure" to London woes comes in the form of opiates, hashish, and other curious concoctions that suck the life, soul, and mind from those that use it to long. There is an increased skill among Asian immigrants for making both helpful and harmful apothecary solutions, either of which are exploited by street vendors and store fronts with a mine to profit from harm.
Pimps, Madames, Brothels - Filling the appetite of the sensual seekers in London town, the lives of the participants range from poverty to fancy-keeping depending on their styles, income, and philosophies. Life varies and is not easy either way. Many women and men find themselves still poor, even if rich in the beginning, for not saving their funds, getting addicted to drugs, caught in abuse, or losing the attention of a benefactor. Pimps often abuse their whores, and Madames seek to enslave for the constant sort of coin whatever the cost. It is not so black and white, though, and finding those with 'hearts of gold' who use this as a way to fund freedoms are not unusual. The true smart whippets of this culture make empires. Local establishments in story include:
- The Aphrodite (West End gentleman's area for courtesans/advanced steam and tick tock whore rental)
- The Dandy (East End brothel, working class/working poor whores of both genders and tick-tocked stocked criminal and state whores)
- Half-Penny Revue (working poor/working class whores and dancing girls/tick-tock whore of both gender rental)
Gambling & Card Joints - Gambling has long been ingrained in British society. This is perhaps due to the historically rigid class system and the fact that gambling is one of the most efficient redistributors of wealth – or simply due to the fact that, for many, gambling can be a lot of fun – the British have long had a deep and meaningful relationship with Lady Luck.
Some of the most famous gentlemen’s clubs of London included:
-- White’s,
-- Brook’s,
-- The Cocoa Tree, and
-- Almack’s,
and were often referred to as ‘golden halls’.
‘Copper hells’ which the lower classes frequented and were based on pure luck, developed out of coffeehouses and other existing meeting places for the privileged classes. White’s, for example, developed from a regular meeting of wealthy men at a chocolate house whilst the majority of games played in the gentlemen’s clubs required skill and involved more sophisticated games.
The Four Points
(West End/Central border, middle class - higher middle-class gambling, cards, and shows)
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