lore dump time!
I have a fantasy world called Peremnai. In Peremnai, there is a city called Titan’s Rising (it’s Peremnai tradition for cities and towns to have dramatic names like that. Villages are often unnamed, as they are considered not to be important enough for a proper name). Titan’s Rising is a famous and well-know king of industry city not only for their great economic success and lively culture, but for their title as being the origin city of Kalbash.
Kalbash is Peremnai’s national sport. Taking the ancient, giant metal monstrosities used during the war before the recent peace treaty, a group of inventors reprogrammed and renewed them. However, instead of fighting for war, these Animechs fought for sport. This sport, titled Kalbash as a reference to the sound of metal slamming against each other, quickly became famous and spread across the nation.
Each Animech has a crew of repairmen and a personal coach who stands on catwalks above the area with a headset to aid their automaton. Animech is a cross between the words “animal” and “mech.”
Animechs are typically fashioned after mythical creatures or animals such as lions, dragons, griffins, bears, chimeras, etc.. Animechs are typically powered by electricity or gas these days, but Titan’s Rising sticks to the classic coal and steam powered models. Electric ones are rarely allowed inside the city. Usually only Kalbash Animechs can talk due to help of a voice box, but some everyday smaller Animechs can speak as well.
The city is steampunk themed, prioritizing the aesthetic in every inch of the city. Everything runs like clockwork. It’s a safe haven with a lively, cheerful and adventurous atmosphere. Most shops and public spaces are located on the bottom floors and ground level, while families live in the upper floors. No blocky, gray, soulless architecture here. Buildings are wild and sprawling and covered in details, full of gold and bronze and brass coloration. The air always smells of coal and steam. The city is a maze of mechanics, with flying smaller Animechs and vehicles and flowing machines. It’s chaotic in an adventurous, wonderful way. Living in Titan’s Rising is not for the faint of heart, but the people are friendly and it’s a great place to live if you like adventure.
Jane Louis is a young adult/teenage girl of about 19 years of age, who lives with her widowed mother and four younger siblings (large families are common in Titan’s Rising). Her father was a mechanic/coach for a decommissioned Animech before his passing. She has coppery hair and a spray of freckles all over her, wears her father’s old mechanical goggles, roughened leather gloves and a coat with a big fur hood. She’s very adventurous and ambitious, happy-go-lucky and has a go-getter attitude. She smiles a lot. She’s tough, able to persevere even after her father’s death in an explosion, her mother’s growing depression over the incident, and the everyday struggle of handling four little siblings. She wants to be a Kalbash coach just like her dad. She’s very thrifty and can fix or make just about anything.
Rasco is an Animech. He’s an original, both steam and coal powered. He’s based off of a drake (a wingless dragon). He breathes fire and has astonishing strength. He has thick forearms and sharp claws and big teeth, thick horns and curious yet saddened eyes. His metal is a curious blend that the recipe for was lost during the war, said to be nearly indestructible. He has a voice box.
Rasco was in the captivity of an illegal Kalbash team for a long time, before the authorities arrested them all and he was left to rot under the ruins of the warehouse. His metal is immune to rust, but after he ran out of power plants grew over him and hid his from the world. He has trauma from the war, as he was there for a lot of it. He just wants to be loved after years of hardship with the war and illegal Kalbash team. He worries a lot. He’s very gentle and meek and doesn’t like to be yelled at, but he loves playing Kalbash. He’s 28 ft tall, which is exceptionally large for an Animech. His metal exterior is a coppery-gold color, and loves sitting and watching the birds in the city park. His name was Oscar during the war, but the illegal team changed it to Rasco to make him sound more intimidating during matches.
Jane frequently plays in the warehouse, adoring its rusted structure, piles of useful machinery and scrap, and overgrown look.
One day she finds Rasco behind the vines and saplings, and fills his coal furnace to try and turn him on. Later in the book they will form a Kalbash team.
