In Service

[Mynt]

Writing, but slowly. It's taking some time for my writing muscles to warm up.

[Quaddy]

Hey...so long as you're writing! I'm glad it's coming this time around.

[Mynt]

Quick! In Victorian England, is Lord a title earned from the Queen? Or is this a common thing for lower class folk to call upper class men?

[Quaddy]

Well, a title was, at one point or another, conferred upon a family. In Victorian England, you had to be at least a Baron to be called Lord. So, if Zeke were a Baron, he would be referred to as Lord Ezekiel Monroe in pretty much all cases except the most formal of legal documents, in which case he would be The Right Honorable Ezekiel Baron Monroe. If he were untitled, he would be Mr Monroe, despite his wealth. If he were a Knight (which he is not), he would obviously be Sir.

His teammates are on an informal enough basis to refer to him as Ezekiel or Zeke, although Abraham would probably insist upon calling him Mr. Monroe (even if he were a Baron, Abraham is not going to recognize such a thing and would call him Mister). People with whom he is acquainted would call him Mister Monroe, and strangers...let's just go with sir. Lower case sir, not upper case. Or the stereotypical 'guvnah'.

[Quaddy]

I doubt Ezekiel himself would have received his title, if he has one, from Victoria directly. It would be an older title. I pictured him as coming from a landed and wealthy, but not necessarily titled, family of good name.

[Mynt]

Haha, then I hope you won't be disappointed with my vision of Ezekiel.

What would servants traditionally call their master?

[Quaddy]

Were you planning on giving him a title? If so, no higher than Baron, else he would be too high-ranking to be allowed into the Mechs at all. Victoria wouldn't let him, and you don't do something the Queen forbids.

They would call him Lord Monroe, or perhaps sir. In reality, the only thing he would hear from them is "Yes, Lord Monroe" or "No, Lord Monroe". Only the butler and his valet (personal servant) would likely have actual conversations with them, and only then if he allowed them to (or, I suppose, if they had been with him since childhood and had that sort of close relationship with him), and perhaps the steward, though the steward isn't actually a servant but an employee in charge of running/paying the servants. If the Monroe family has a house in the country and not just a house in town, he would also have a Land Steward in charge of running that estate, as well, though again...not a servant, but an employee. Lower servants wouldn't only speak if spoken to, and would definitely not venture opinions or anything of the like.

So...sir or Lord Monroe.

[Mynt]

Is this supposed to be a light campfire?

(Btw, I'm not gonna make it in seven days, but it won't take me a month, I promise.)

[Quaddy]

It's Steampunk Ghostbusters. Yeah, it's meant to be pretty light. It's supposed to be a buddy cop story with a group instead of two cops, and crazy ghosts trying to take over the British Empire. Zeke was meant to be the comedic relief along with Charlie. His sort of quirky, foppish irreverence and Charlie's tendency to blow things up and be excited about it.

[Mynt]

Hm hm. Okay, seems like I'm on track then. At least I think he's kind of comic relief.

One more question, how would the Mech's contact him if they need/want him? (Oh, and also would he have electricity in his home...? Please none of this "not like we know it" but like a "yes but he'd have to turn on lights individually" or "no, he must burn gas lamps or light torches or something" )

[Quaddy]

They'd send a message. Normally, street teams have one member who's wired to receive communications, but Zeke is a special operative and isn't a street mech. If he's at home, I'd say he's wealthy enough to have a long-distance communication device, perhaps even a couple. Something like a telegraph for emergencies, as they're quite reliable and a more advanced device almost like a telephone for quicker communication. Actually, the telephone existed by this point, but it was ridiculously new and not widely available. I tend to call my steampunk telephones an aethograph, since it sends messages through the aether. If you want to use that, go ahead. These would be large and cumbersome, so that would be at home.

Now, if he's out and about, there are two situations. If he is undercover (which he can be on occasion), he has drop zones that he checks daily for messages. It would take an emergency to call him in from an undercover mission; something like Victoria getting attacked (which has happened already in the campfire). If he isn't undercover, he has a sort of...aethopager? I have no idea what to call it. It becomes warm when he is needed, and he is to check in upon receiving this signal, at which point he will receive the information he needs. Abraham would have something similar, though he practically lives at HQ.

As far as electricity in his house? No. No electricity. Steampunk is, by its definition, a world in which Edison and Tesla never harnessed the power of electricity. In this story, steam is used to create electrical charges to shoot at ghosts (the friction with the heat and whatnot...kind of like rubbing your feet in the carpet and shocking someone). So, we have automobiles running on steam like locomotives, clockwork robots running around, people with computers in their head (the manipulation of aether...kind of like an early computer/cyborg thing), etc...but not electricity light one's house. We're still using gas lamps. Though it is feasible that Zeke has a device by which he can flip a switch and light all the gas lamps in the room.

[Quaddy]

So that made no sense. Basically electricity, as far as it's understood, is only good for eradicating ghosts. We don't understand it enough to use it to light houses or power devices yet. And it's created (rather similarly to AC power) with a steam-powered turbine spinning and creating friction in the air that is then discharged using a weapon. It only works on ghosts. To humans, it feels a little like getting shocked after rubbing your feet on the carpet. Not a huge shock.

In the story, the group is probably going to harness that technology and make it bigger to trap Albert and destroy him. Maybe they'll realize that said technology could be used in a further manner and we'll develop electricity more.

England also uses magick. The wiring in Izzy's head is a mixture of science and magick that allows her to tap into the Archives and receive communications at any point. It creates a telepathic link between her and HQ. The Mechs do not employ Occultists, however, at Victoria's command. They're...um...what's the word? Consultants. They're often called in for the Fay, and for particularly powerful ghosts, but their role wouldn't be big enough for someone to dedicate a whole character to...so no one is writing for one.

Thinking about it, there's a chance Zeke has gotten his hands on more magickally-powered lighting. Perhaps one or two Faerie orbs, or something. Not too many, though, as they're frowned upon by the Queen.

[Mynt]

Okay, thanks!

[Quaddy]

No problemo!

[Mynt]

Would it be common knowledge that Ezekiel works for the Mechs?

[Quaddy]

No. Especially since he's their spy, meant to infiltrate the higher classes of England and report back to the Mechs without their knowing. Often, anti-Victoria violence/politics stems from the blue bloods (the rich) and, typically, Mechs are too lower-class to get in on their parties and affairs, so the organization employs eccentric rich people (aka people like Zeke) to work for them. That's why Zeke isn't a street mech; his employment with the Bureau is secret. The only time he goes out is for Hyde Park patrol because no one in their right mind would be in Hyde Park at night, so there's no one to catch him.

As far as being part of this investigation, if he ever needs to go out with the group, he'd probably be paired with Abraham, whose cover is as a member of the American ambassadorial mission. People regard Abraham's tendency to carry his gun with him everywhere as very eccentric (and back water American nonsense), so the two posing as friends makes sense. Sometimes Zeke even brings Abraham to the parties, just to reinforce their cover. He would almost never be seen with Jonny, Izzy, or the twins, and absolutely never with them all together. Izzy could probably get away with it if she ditched the mens' clothing and dressed as a female. If they have to be together as a group, they find safe zones, and they travel separately.

[Mynt]

Okay.

Currently I've finished writing my introduction to Ezekiel. Now I'm reading over the additions to see if there is anything I need to include/edit.

[Quaddy]

Okie dokie. The only thing is the attack on Mayfair. Ezekiel would have been informed and ask to come to HQ.

[Mynt]

Gotcha. In that case, I'm aiming for it to be up tonight, tomorrow afternoon at the latest. I didn't have that detail in, I got a little editing to do. lol

[Quaddy]

Okie dokie! After this, we'll get to HQ and learn a little bit about the case and how the Mechs are viewed by the other policing organizations and whatnot. Hopefully, that'll put everyone a bit more at ease with the details of this world. Basically, the Mechs are the underdogs; the team no one trusts and no one thinks is worth anything at all. They employ cyborgs, whom are widely considered second class citizens, and use magick...which is majorly mistrusted. Only the Occultists are feared more, though there's also a fascination with what they do, so they actually enjoy a weirdly positive relationship with the public. At least they're human, right? They just learned magick from the Fay, is all. Victoria trusts them, of course, but Victoria's place in the psyche of her people is...well, strange. She is both above reproach and yet, quietly, people think she's not quite right. The lower classes tend to blame her advisers and especially the Mechs and the upper classes think she's gone cray cray because Albert is dead (and 'cause she's a woman). The Mechs themselves are some of her fiercest supporters.

I don't want to plan every detail of the story, but I do think details like this will help people understand this story and where it's meant to go.

[Mynt]

What would you rate the degree of magic in this world?

[Quaddy]

I don't do degrees, so I'll describe it.

No Mech has magickal abilities...except, I guess, Izzy/Connor and the others wired for telepathic communications. That's the product of spellcraft...the binding of purpose and physical object. The metal in the Mechs' heads is carved in spellwork (runes and whatnot), and that is bound to another machine that allows for communication. Izzy's Archival spell is different, and it connects her to everything in the Archives.

The Occultists have learned spellcraft from the Fay. They traded something (a child, years from their life, etc) for the knowledge. Their knowledge is typically contained in a grimoire of sorts, which contains spells and typically require quite a bit of work. The magick is NOT a gift; it is sympathy-based. They have to create a link between what they have and what they want. They can perform seances (and often do to pay the bills) using this sympathy; calling ghosts from the other side involves creating a link between the otherrealms and this realm. A lot of the time, this involves metals/herbs/flowers, etc that have properties in common; their grimoires are usually filled with notations of what works.

So...not much. The world is not inherently magickal; the Fay realms are, but not this realm. Any magick humans possess is a gift from the Fay, and is only the magick of linkages/sympathy. No one will be throwing fireballs.

[Quaddy]

A seance, for example...someone would bring an object that belongs to the dead person (usually something they loved/felt strongly for), which the Occultist would link it to something representing the Otherrealms (grave dirt, ectoplasm, etc), creating a bridge for the particular soul in question. This would bring the spirit. To send it back, they break the link. Sometimes this is by smudging the rune, or destroying the item...stuff like that.

[Mynt]

Far too wordy to say there isn't really magic.

[Quaddy]

As my college literature professor used to say, "Fuck that. Always use seven words when one will do." And I am not paraphrasing at all.

And saying there isn't really magick isn't quite true. There is magick; it belongs almost exclusively to the Fay, and to those humans stupid/brave enough to bargain with them. In fact, one can argue the Fay are beings made entirely of magick, and they exist in this world. I used a lot of words so you would understand that magick is an integral part of this world, even if it isn't an inherently magickal world.