Steam Punks

When the Steam hits the Punk

The first steam engine was made in Nieuw-Gamoor, in 1812. It was designed to power a water pump, needed to stop the Iswater from drowning the city. From there, the engine developed into uses in industry and transport; the developers travelled to Ildritz to show their engines in the salons and in the Imperial College of Technics.
After the revolution of 1826, the technicians went to the University of Ciniz to study on further development of steam power. Ever since the death of his parents, Count Yzabrân of Ciniz emphasised the aspect of safety in the making and the use of steam power - the power of the future, according to him. Yzabrân was one of the few of the Dalethian elite who foresaw the possibilities of the steam engine and he encouraged his allies - Cinfer, Unvar, Gronbrunlar - to take a lead in the development of steam technics.

Meanwhile, in Ildritz, the steam engine was a gadget and was used for the joy of the elite. Especially when the first steam carriage, “The Hissing Carriage” was built by Master Elaud in 1839. The elite enjoyed the rides on it on sunny afternoons. The Hissing Carriage made it possible to travel in all comforts from the inner city of Ildritz to the outskirts of Lazulameir, or from the winter- to the summer palaces.

To work with steam, live and die with it

The man in the street was not in touch with the power of steam until the first industrial engines appeared in the early 1820’s. The engines were used to replace manpower or horsepower. Many people lost their jobs, and many others changed their jobs. More and more workers were needed to produce and operate the engines and to provide the energy sources in the form of wood, coal or oil.
The whole working society changed within a decade. To reduce the possibilities of a revolt, some elite members did do their best to give the workers a life to work for with better standards of living, education for them and their children, and better (safer, cleaner) working place standards.
Nevertheless, in Pyrallis it came to a revolt in late 1839. The slaves and prisoners were released from the mines by some good willing local leaders, but they started a revolt to free their kind. They burnt half of the city, closed mines, killed mine leaders, like madmen. The city was never the same again.

In the early days of steam power, and in the less educated ranks of workers, a new kind of mythology emerged. The Stoomspook (Steamghost), the Steel Dog and the Eisargasts came to life in the dark and damp industrial buildings, where steam hissed and roared through the pipes and escaped violently. The monsters of the steam era projected the fears the workers had for the large, hot, powerful hissing engines.
They also feared to get fired, and end in the slums of the larger cities, begging for their food. The work in the industrial steam powered factories was harder than in the horse- or man powered factories they had known before. It took a certain intellect to work, to manipulate the engines, to keep safe in the dangerous surroundings.

Some lived from the steam engines, other died because of it. The accident in 1820, in which the Count of Ciniz and his wife died, was not the first nor the last accident in which an exploding steam engine was involved. In the early years, half of the engines exploded in their first year. After that, the steel of which the engines were made of was stronger and less accidents happened.
Apart from exploding engines came the accidents with unexpected, destructing powers, hot steam spouting out of bad pipes, fires that spread across the factories, more and more accidents happened in the coal mines. Life became more dangerous than ever before - apart from the wars.

Human powers and politics

The bad side of steam power started some actions in the cities.
In Pyrallis, the revolt of 1839 triggered the Guild of the Refusers, a union of workers who refused to work with steam power or work for the sources of energy. The Guild soon got a massive following in Pyrallis, Altheizar and Ildritz. They claimed to be hand workers, but in Ildritz their following consisted of many non-workers: those who did not want to work with steam, nor anywhere else. Young artists stepped into the movement, angry, young and wild, just for the sake of it. The non-workers soon realised their mistake: without work they had no money, so they had no food. Those who have rich parents can still be found on the market corners of Ildritz and the Kungsfelthan, proclaiming their knowledge about the wrongs of steam. The handworkers gain their money with making things the old way, and doing it really good too. Some already made it to the Imperial Court.

Another movement started in the Weslanan with the involvement of Count Yzabrân in the safety of steam engines. After his death, his ideas were picked up everywhere in the Weslanan. Steam power should be safe to the users. Many laws regarding steam appeared in the courts of the Weslanan (The Code of Ciniz).
Those who worked in the less save parts of the steam (powered) industry got more money for it, to make up for the fear. The owners of the factories where forced by this loss of money to make the factory safer. This worked out well and less accidents are reported from the Weslanan.

All over Daleth, people start to worry about the workers and the smouldering revolts. The workers have gotten more influence on politics, and a few social laws make their lives a little better. With the dirty industry, the cries for a cleaner life became louder. More houses have got baths now, the bathing culture becomes normal in every household. Diseases are successfully fought and the hospitals can do better jobs.

The situation of the steam worker stays fragile. The worker depends on the goodness of the factory owner and the local politics. Workers are tempted to strike by the Guild of Refusers, or by the rivals of their bosses. Sabotage is not unthinkable. For many workers, the good times are still veiled by a cloud of dirty smoke and hot steam.