Technology

How Stuff Works
Although the technology on Aneos is reminiscent of a steampunk era, some of it is very advanced – even moreso when it is infused with magical properties. There is an abundance of magicians, but you will see just as many fighters using things such as muskets, flintlock revolvers, and sabers in their fights. Other weapons that are common are self-crank machine guns, shotguns, and more traditional weapons such as bows, axes, and greatswords. However, the most common form of weaponry and machinery in general that you will find is Thaummatech.

Thaummatech
When the radioactive energy known as Juice flows into a piece of machinery, that machine will become Thaummatech. No one has really gotten this transformation down to a science, but it has been known to occur in as short a time as a few hours. Inventors have been known to construct their workshops on large ley line sources to coax their creations into turning into something better.

A Thaummatech’s first mutation can be quite varied. Some machinery gains the ability to fire off elemental rounds, others can open portals to dimensions, and guns have even been known to start talking. In very rare cases, entire constructs become a magical, sentient being. These living Thaummatech beings are called “Cogs”.

Another huge influence on Thaummatech is its surroundings, namely the user. If a thief were to repeatedly use his Thaummatech flintlock during robberies and heists, the gun may end up naturally silencing itself, begin to coat its rounds in a magical sedative, and change to look slimmer and darker. Similarly, if someone just has a hothead personality and likes to engage in conflict, the gun may start firing off incendiary rounds, or change appearance to look more aggressive and jagged.

Personality is not all that affects Thaummatech, though. A Thaummatech piece of machinery left out in the sun for a long time may develop a solar-powered engine, or a Thaummatech weapon used most often when the sun is down may develop a flashlight apparatus at the tip.

NOTE: MACHINERY ENCHANTED BY SORCERERS IS NOT THAUMMATECH.

Other Technology
Thaummatech is incredibly common, but that does not mean there is not regular machinery as well. Aneos has mostly Victorian-era innovations, as well as some more advanced constructions that you will see around every so often.

There are a lot of clockwork inventions, as well as automatons, that you will see when walking around just about any major city. Some automatons have even made their way into the work force, and they work for dirt cheap, so there is currently a political uprising because everyone thinks these automatons are taking real people’s jobs and need to go back and work in the junkyard, even though the junkyard has terrible conditions and the real opportunity lies in real society.

A whole crapload of technology runs on steam. In fact, steam is the second most common energy source next to Juice. There are also all sorts of wacky flying machines in the world, and apart from this there are cannons, gatling guns, zeppelins, locomotives, motorboats, automobiles, motorcycles, and even time machines! Expect to see anything and everything your brain could possibly imagine!

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Glossary