Setting
Our novel is set in a world that is a mixture of steampunk, fantasy, and dystopia. Our characters live in the overcrowded slums of an industrialized city-state nicknamed Slag City by the impoverished people trying to survive there. The populace is primarily human and faerie, and there is a great gap between the rich and the poor. People have to pay to vote in our republic, so the poor have no voice. Magic users, called siphons, and rich politicians create the laws, which has been increasing the economic gap for decades. Steam technology has recently reemerged, however, and is vying for power with traditional magic. The steam technology is causing widespread shifts in economic status, political power, and the availability of magic. The social order is breaking down and the city is teetering on the brink of civil war.
The Steam Generator
Deep beneath the earth is a massive machine that generates the steam that fuels both magic and steam machinery. The steam mixes with the atmosphere, infusing everything. People capable of using magic, such as the fey, pull steam from the atmosphere and shape it into a variety of effects. They are limited by the amount of steam around them, and when they've used all the steam in the immediate area, their magic fails. Steam technology uses steam gleaned from boiling water or other sources; the machines can be used by anyone, but they can only perform the functions for which they were built.
Surface-dwellers don't know about the steam generator yet, nor do they know that its growing in power. The increasing amount of steam into the atmosphere is beginning to twist people, animals, and objects, creating magic and chaos that has never existed before. Protecting the steam generator are earth elementals. These creatures have recently emerged onto the surface and insinuated themselves into the populace under the guise of harmless, tinkering gnomes. We haven't decided their intentions yet, but they are the force behind the villains in our novel.
Characters
Cypher Nahuel (Cy)
Cy is half-sidhe (a type of faerie) and half-human. He has been looked down upon and abused by both races for his entire life because he is a hybrid. Because of this, he's shy and sees himself through a veil of disgust, believing he is not worth loving. He is a good man though, offering genuinely kindness to anyone who will let him, and is unswervingly loyal. He lives with his human lover, Moxie, who is a steamwright, and helps her build her machines, even though, like all fey, he detests metal. He does honest work when he can find it, but has often had to turn to thievery to survive. Above all, he is a survivor, brave and stubborn to the core. Auggy frequently employs Cy for illegal activities, and Cy is the best lockpick he has ever known. Cy has an uncanny grace for making machines work (or fall apart as the case may be). Cy has a golden cast to his hair and skin and is devastatingly handsome, although he doesn't know it. His faerie defect is a small, second set of arms, one of which he lost as a child.
Our novel begins after someone tries to murder Cy. He awakes to find that Moxie and the sidhe healer, Raine, have saved his life, replacing the shattered bones on his left side with copper parts. His other faerie arm had been cut off by his attackers and taken, and his left arm was damaged beyond repair. Both his left arm and left eye are now made of mechanical parts, and every instinct he has is screaming at him that it's wrong, so wrong, but the mechanical parts are now a part of him.
Morgan Daxia (Moxie)
Moxie, Cy's human lover, is a fire-brand: brave, reckless, and spirited. She is a steamwright, an expert at creating and repairing steam technology. She is also heavily involved with the rebels who seek to overthrow the corrupt government of Slag City. She's logical, a little amoral, and doesn't understand people very well, but she loves Cy dearly and would do just about anything to keep him by her side.
Augrum Taggart (Auggy)
Auggy is a scoundrel, a rogue, and an all around fun guy. He's a master steam tech thief who specializes in stealing steam technology for corporations and the rich, and then double-crossing them by stealing it back, and being paid by both sides. He's very intelligent, completely irreverent, highly charismatic, and more than a little paranoid. He prides himself on his immoral behavior and refuses to admit that deep down, he's actually a nice guy. He avoids hurting innocent people, shrugging them off as not being worth his time, and frequently steals steam technology to aid the rebels, letting them "pay on credit," which he never intends to collect. Auggy doesn't like people in general, seeing them as corrupt or dull, but he enjoys the company of a few individuals, including Cy and Moxie's twin sister, Mixie. He would never admit to having friends though, or tender emotions of any kind.
Milena Daxia (Mixie)
Mixie is Moxie's twin sister. Also a steamwright, she builds weapons for the rebels. She's clever, playful, and a natural fighter.
Raine
Raine is the sidhe healer who saved Cy's life and attached his mechanical parts. He's also a faerie assassin, which is called a spider. Thus far he is an enigma, and possibly a villain.
Plot
Our plot is constantly evolving and will continue to do so throughout the writing process, so please feel free to chime in at any time with your ideas and/or opinions. Currently, we're working on deciding who are villains are. Here are some of the plot points that we've decided on thus far. Also check out the Setting section above, which includes many of the plot threads that we will be working into our story.
- Someone attempted to murder Cy. In exchange for help saving his life and for the mechanical parts to replace his ruined eye and arm, Moxie made a terrible promise: she would continue to replace parts of her lover with mechanical parts. We haven't decided how this is going to work yet; we're leaning toward a poison that will promote rapid cell degeneration, but we're all about breaking conventions, so if you have any ideas, please share them.
- Cy's mechanical arm is powered by steam distilled from his blood. It is also distilling his essence of fey, which is why our villains forced Moxie into her promise, so that the additional parts will distill his essence faster. This is completely new steam technology, built by the gnomes/earth elementals (see the Steam Generator, above). We're still deciding how our villains plan to use his essence of fey; participate in the discussion here.
