The World of Little Burned Maiden

As a burgeoning creative, one my favorite outlets is the epistolary novel I write to a small, select group of trusted individuals. However, I've more recently realized I want to share the world of my epistolary world--titled, uninterestingly, the 12th World--with new people. Probably future employers but also, new friends and mentors and so forth. But it's very difficult to share a collection of 300-some letters with new people. Something else I wanted to be able to do--more than simply drawing or writing allowed--is show you the world. Have you be able to walk down stairs and say, "Ah, so THAT'S what Arlasaire's Manor looks like!" or have you choose which of the books to read in the great Library d'Magnia and learn about Rumateurs and the other continents with a great view of the mountains.

Because of this, that means I have WAAAAAY more world than I have game. So, I wrote up a very-official-sounding description of Nouveau Thuille--the city-state in which Little Burned Maiden is set.

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A Brief Overview of Nouveau Thuille
Nouveau Thuille is a dark city--literally and thematically--as it is under the Upper Continent. It does not get a lot of sunlight but is rich in minerals and the river valley is very fertile comparatively to other Northern cities. The air is smokey and feels thicker than it should for its altitude--the scent of the factories. It's always cold and snow perpetually graces the mountain peaks, and as such, it's a relatively quiet in the streets due to the lack of outdoor vendors or other festivities. Most outdoor noises are mechanical, though chickadees infest the city and their song has been the same for the last four hundred years. Common sights include greenish-blue streelights powered by a magical, dust-like substance which floats up from the Abyss, called Ysse, Ysse-powered trolleys that roll around the streets, and carts pulled by rumateurs. (Rumateurs being the large-nosed, conical-horned creatures which serve a similar cultural and economic function to llama in South America.)

Thuilleans, as the people are known, eat a heavy diet of grains, dairy products, and rumateur meats. Despite the weather, the people have a relatively sleek silhouette from their tightly fitted clothing--as most clothes fasten by magical means. They have no need to leave room for clasps or ruffles. Buttons are rare in favor of these magical fasteners, but they occasionally have decorative ties.

The buildings have steeped rooftops to ward off snow--the Upper Continent is high enough for weather systems to form under it--and many of the streets are heated with steam tunnels using excess factory power to keep the ice off. They ship put most of the north's magical weaponry. Nouveau Thuille was once the capital of Old Thuille but has lost influence due to isolationism and elitism.

The Mafia-like noble houses now all scramble for power in this cutthroat plutocracy. After the fall of Old Thuille, the city-state arose, secluded in the mountains and inhabited by the Noble Mages who carried on the legacy of Old Thuille. They did their best to advance in relative isolation from others in order to prepare for the return of their Emperor, upholding his power and throne. "For Thuille, the world." Or so they claim. However, quite often, their hubris gets the best of them and thus, there is a great deal of in-fighting, blackmail, and carefully organized crime--though in response, petty crime is low for fear of angering the Noble Houses. It has been four-hundred years since the Once and Future Emperor fell and many doubt he will ever be resurrected. Besides, the middle class is rising and the noble-way of life may not exist for much longer...