The Flotilla

The City Of Flotilla

The City of Flotilla is a massive amalgamation of airships, pieces of ruined floating city, levitating platforms and other, stranger craft. Twenty years on from the Cataclysm, the city has settled into a much more stable existence. In the centre of the city-fleet stands the building that used to be the Imperial Bank. Immediately surrounding it are what used to be parks, now long since converted to farmland as one of the few sources of fresh food. Many airships and chunks of terrain are lashed around the central island, connected by rope bridges or wooden walkways.

Naming Conventions

Oldworlders tend to have “traditional” fantasy names - old or fantastic-sounding but relatively plausible names. Daxos Renarin, Briar Halfsen, and Jelha Adelmust might all fit this category.

Shipborn tend to have a birth name that’s similar to an Oldworlder name, but in practice, they go by a use-name that’s a nickname based on their deeds or reputation in place of a family name. Shipborn that are from traditional or noble families might conspicuously avoid this practice. Irren-Steel-Arm, Kali-Wing-Walker and Rash-the-Storm are all examples of this kind of name.

The Recovered tend to have unusual names. Having been trapped in the Great Storm, the name is one of the first things to be stripped away by the soul-flaying energies, and they are encouraged to choose their own names. Some choose strange-sounding combinations of letters because they “feel right”, and others choose a word that they heard and thought sounded nice. Jeqixoz, Glibmrthp, Sunbeam, and Barrel are all plausible Recovered names.

Governance

Each ship or chunk of land has a Captain, decided by its residents, and each of those Captains has a seat in Flotilla’s Council of Captains. The Captain is both in command of and responsible for the actions of their crew.

The Council of Captains is headed by the Admiral of Flotilla. As of autumn in the 20th year post-Cataclysm, the Admiral is Veltha Barrington, an oldworlder who used to be the head of the Rathmore City guard. She is known to be fairly conservative, prioritising keeping people safe above everything else.

Prominent Captains

• Ramm Smithson and Jack-Four-Knives are the co-captains of the Bleak Endeavour, a large cargo-ship that they’ve refitted as housing. They’re known to be liberal voices on the Council, generally against cracking down on liberties and crime on the grounds that captains should be left to run their own ships. Ramm tends to be the more moderate voice, having had to hold his husband back from violence in the Council hall more than once.
• Korvessa Icehold was the baroness of Icehold before the Cataclysm, and she is now the captain of the Butterfly, which used to be a message-runner for the barony. She is one of the strongest voices for the Noble’s Alliance, demanding that projects and expenditures are properly managed - by which she usually means by her people. Her husband, the baron-consort Drisas Icehold, died in the Cataclysm, and she has officially been in mourning ever since.
• Jamise-Hidden-One is a cleric of Enso, and in charge of the Archive as the captain of the Archmage’s Rest. They maintain that the best way forward for Flotilla is to seek an understanding of the Sky, and to grasp the Sky’s treasures. Their face and indeed gender is unknown, as they always come masked and hooded to Council meetings, an affectation that has drawn ire from some other Captains and amusement from others.
• Urbis-the-Hammer is the captain of the Honest Toil. He’s a card-carrying member of the United Workers, and has drawn criticism for suggesting that the Council should pass laws conscripting people for a certain amount of maintenance work every week.
• Cumulus is one of the most fervent advocates of the Argent Order, and captain of their ship-fortress the Bastion. She was a member before the Cataclysm, and whatever experiences she had in the Great Storm, they don’t seem to have dulled her edge. She is convinced that the demons are making plans against Flotilla, and wants more stringent checks against possession and demonic pacts. Her squad, the Bluecloaks, have been accused a few times of excessive vigilance.
• Shanti-Ever-Song is one of the closest things the Revellers of the Night have to a leader. She’s a famous musician and quite a celebrity, which lets her get away with things others might not in the name of preserving morale. She’s mainly used this to get away with minor offences of disturbing the peace, but she’s also been implicated in the sale of illegal alcohol and drugs - although nothing has stuck.
• Huvall Rathnison is a one of the Luminaries of the Reconstructionist Society. Although they project an image of a posh twit, their mind is as sharp as a whip. They’re known to turn up at the Seeker’s Guild occasionally, sometimes looking for a good project to bankroll and sometimes looking for a donation for a good cause. They’re known to have both a husband - Ivor Rathsmane - and a wife, Helga Varrisdottir, both of whom are also Society members and have been known to act as agents for Huvall’s estate when he’s busy.
• Razkvix is a Returned who has risen to be the Guildmaster of the Farmer’s Guild. He’s known to be a Preserver of Nature as well, and under his leadership the Guild and the Preservers have grown closer and closer - some say too close, and that he’s letting the desire to preserve more samples of plants get in the way of growing the food that Flotilla needs.
• Korvath Firemane runs the Seeker’s Guild, and were elected in 18 A.C. No-one expected him to win but in a surprise landslide the Oldworlders backed Korvath instead of Calhoun. Due to having little experience most expected Korvath to cave and be a figurehead puppeted by the Oldworlders, but with the support of his mentor and sheer stubbornness he seems to have held his own. The Seeker's guild is… unconventional in the way its run, but it seems to be managing and Korvath gets stronger each year.

The Guilds

A lot of the work required to keep the city running is the responsibility and purview of one of the Guilds - the Seekers, Masons, Carpenters, Smiths, Magewrights and Farmers. Each Guild Master has a seat on the Council of Captains as well. The Guilds are known to jealously guard their privileges.

The Seeker’s Guild (which all player characters are members of by default) is responsible for organising expeditions to raid the chunks of falling land that drop from the Great Storm to bring back resources - chiefly among them mana crystals and material reagents to be used powering the arcane engines that keep Flotilla aloft. They maintain a fleet of smaller seeker ships that are used to mount these expeditions, as well as training pilots and mechanics to keep the ships flying.