Rylander Steamtech
Ain't no different from what good Ankharan know-how is capable of. Maybe a bit cleaner sure. Maybe it can run all night without much overlookin, if that's your thing. Aye it works its wonders without a flake of manacite. Reliability is the baby's bottle for amatuers! Real experts know their way around a good hammer, they don't bloody install it in their arm!Tairos is home to many strange forms of technology such as Reaping and Drekh Organic Technology but known are so ubiquitious... and in some cases visually disquieting, as Ryland's. It's well known that Rylan was once a hub for the worship of Ssambrae The Clock Maker, it even housed the deity's primary temple on the mainland of the continent. Because of their worship of Ssambrae the city always had an accumen for technological advancements. Unfortunately, with the Silence of the Gods, this meant they like all of Tairos were cut off from their patron. Rather then beg Melanthris for Manacite or squabble over the last reserves from College of Magic storehouses they instead embranced science to its fullest extent. They studied the remains of old gnomish machines left behind during the fall of Carda. They disassembled Dwarven forges and boilers, blunderbusses and pistols. They even sought out Halflings heaters and chillers. They assimilated every bit of engineering they could and weaved it all together into a new science, one that relied on steam rather than manacite. From their ingenuity came Steamtech. Temples to gods were torn asunder with righteous fury as the Rylanders came to believe that the pantheon hid this science from them so they could be controlled. Small workshops in Rylan began growing and merging into massive organizations centered certain industries such as ship building, logging, heavy machinery, weapons, armor, and farspeakes. In fact, many of the old temples in and around Rylan have been broken down into construction material or hollowed out completely to make room for company headquarters. Company and coins are the new gods of Rylan. The actual term, Steamtech, is a catchall for the bizarre technology that comes out of the seculed nation. Much of it revolves around power sources that produce steam to turn vital components or activate key bits of machinery. The steam itself will be generated a number of different ways though the burning of fossil fuel or coal are the two most popular. It is why many of Rylan's inventions come with large boiler units that act as the core source of energy. Such machinery is often loud, hot, and smells heavily of soot. Common examples of such tech range from massive logging machines, titanic waterships that are everything from vessel to factory, and even weapons capable of firing deadly shells at high velocity. Some of the technology is precise that it is capable of self-management and diagnostic, usually by specialized punchcard-like objects that when inserted into the machine allow it to run very basic functions on its own. This functionality is impressive but it pales in comparison to the intellect a Clanker is capable of, something that many Rylander engineers are deeply jealous of. Another key example would be their technology at work is farspeakers. These are communication devices generate spark similar to much of Tengu technology, usually doing so with the aid of a small coal furnace or boiler. The spark generated helps to power a bizarre collection of wires and emitters that all work in unison to cast one's voice across great distances and into the receiver of another farspeaker. While the range is limited by the size of the farspeaker (usually they are mounted in ships or inside key structures) it allows for instant communication without need for a wizard or manacite. There are even extremely limited-range versions that can be carried by individuals. There is of course one other way this technology manifests. Augmentation. This is what most outsiders tend to thing of when they imagine a Rylander. Rylander science has advanced to the point where they are able to blend certain elements of their technology into the human body. This often takes the form of mechanical limbs, binocular eyes, metallic plating, and other such general augments. However; many of Rylan's premier artisans will replace parts of their bodies with specialized tools. Loggers may have saw blades attachements for their arms. Hunters or soldiers might have aim-assisting lenses for eyes or steading bars build into their arms. Physicians will replace their hands with mechanical augments that house surgery tools. Rylander science also excels at pain management almost to the point of non-existence, this allows for constant augmentation and upgrading. The raw flesh around new parts will look particularly painful and gruesome to outsiders but for the Rylander, they barely feel a thing. All these augments do come at a price though, several in fact. First, they are generally very expensive and are often partially financed by the individual's employer on work contingency. In some cases employers will own augments entirely, leasing them out to dutiful workers and forcibly reclaiming them from poor performers. Secondly, the physical toll. While Rylander medicine is adept at keeping the body functional and free from rejection-related complication, these devices are cumbersome in the extreme. They're loud, their attached power sources belch smoke or hiss steam, and a variety of tubes connecting to anti-inflamatory drug regiments dangle about. Finally, they're very difficult to repair so should damage impact these augments the owner will often have to seek out specialist attention and be willing to pay a premium. Simple mending spells can suffice for the most basic of maintenance but severe damage is beyond magic's reach, save for the most powerful of castings.
Manufacturing
All of Rylan's steamtech is built by the corporations that make up the governing body of the nation. Their factories are filled with highly specialized tech and equally specialized artisans. The means for making most of this tech is contained within these factories and any attempts at reverse engineering it elsewhere are largely futile.
Social Impact
Outsiders would say that steamtech has transformed Rylan into corporate hellscape and that augmentation especially has degraded the nation's concept of humanity. For Rylanders, science has been the ultimate catharsis in the face of divine abandonment. Rylanders see the rest of Tairos as clinging to systems of faith invented by gods to control them, and in the absense of the divine they do so because they don't know any better.
Access & Availability
The many companies that control Rylan are always looking to sell or lease their tech to foreign governments, organizations, or wealthy individuals. The tech itself is often too complicated to use and to maintain for it to be found in market for general consumer use
Complexity
Extreme. Tairos has a long history of reliance on magic. Many of the ammenities that places like Ghal Pelor rely on such as running water ultimately come from systems that require steady supplies of manacite and magician maintenance, two things that are in decreasing supply. None of these systems have the expertise needed to operate Steamtech without the aid of Rylan
Discovery
Rylander scientists in the years just after the Queen's Rebuke. Steamtech is a constantly evolving science and as such new discoveries are made every year
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