Darlarskin is a
world in the Undersphere, a break-off cluster of planets below the galactic
plane. Like all worlds in the Undersphere it is ruled by the godlings known as
the Underminsters and their servants, the Reborn. Darlarskin is a heavy
industrial world, buried under a thick blanket of multi-level factories. The
atmosphere is a toxic miasma of exhaust. Base line organic life struggles to
survive here; only the twisted imaginary life forms known as creeps thrive.
Creeps reflect the emotional character of their environment so here they are
stunted imp-like creatures with
grotesque biomechanical features. Their instincts drive them to ceaselessly
toil without intellect. They are the ones that built the factories and you can see the limit of their reason in
the strange and futile architecture. Most of the work that is done on
Darlarskin is pointless and absurd, an endless ouroboros of manufacturing and
recycling. Only in the domains of the Reborn nobles do human and Reborn
overseers bend the creep thralls into useful labors. Each noble aims to corner
a particular market niche, such as infantry weapons or amour.
Baron Valderash is the most famous sword smith
in the Undersphere (though an honest assessment would give the credit to his
team of human thralls). He is an ancient vampire, all gaunt with lipless fangs
and lidless eyes. His barony is in the upper reaches of Darlarskin, a realm of
crooked towers and gothic metal catwalks. Reborn corsairs come here to
commission cruel weapons. Valderash and his thralls know the secret of creep
smithing, the art of binding creeps into metal. These prison swords weep
strange venom and are willful in their owners' hands.
By Reborn custom a sword can only be given a
name after it has taken the life of a worthy opponent. Also by custom duels can
only take place with the consent of the local lord. Nobles picking up custom
weapons are often wish for a chance to name their weapons. Valderash maintains
a stable of aspiring duelists eager to win a noble title by defeating the
previous title holder. Which duelists challenges which noble is entirely at the
whims of Valderash. The hopeless neonates are thrown in front of valuable
customers while he holds the skilled back for nobles he would prefer to see
dead. When they aren't training or indulging in the horrible vices of the
Reborn, the duelists serve as the Baron's leg breakers.
In the darkness of
the lower manufactories is the realm of Baroness Gruvalda the creep smith. She
is a luneman. Her human form is overweight and she usually wears a lab coat
with a gore and oil stained leather apron. Her bestial tells are her predatory
gaze and her massive prehensile tongue. Her beast form is a jowely hellhound.
Gruvalda is the foremost creep smith on Darlarskin. She surgically alters the
lowly creep thralls into combat ready
forms, often by combining parts from multiple creeps. Her creeps aren't the
most deadly, resilient or terrifying but they are cheep. Currently she is
trying to challenge her reputation by making a single masterpiece creep.
Creatively she is at a dead end and is just stapling more creeps together. She
will pay handsomely for better building stock, or even some better ideas.
The ruler of
Darlarskin is Underminister Trevfarl. It appears as a verdigrised metal
skeleton forty feet tall. Leathery hoses give it veins and viscera. On it's
head is a blank rusted mask. It sleeps on a throne of pipes in the heart of a
busy factory. When roused two baneful yellow lamps shine out of the mask like
eyes and the hoses engorge with steam. Small ruptures bleed steam and slick red
oil before knitting back together. Before it attacks it roars like a steam
whistle then fixes its gaze on a target, causing their blood to boil. Like all
underminister it communicates its wishes through dreams.
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