Overview / Purpose:
The Emberwrights are a disciplined, hierarchical faction of roughly five hundred automata devoted to maintaining Haven XVII’s industrial heart. Their focus is the reclamation of thermal energy from still-active machinery and geothermal vents, enabling the city’s smaller automata to survive and thrive. Driven by a strict ethic against wasted motion, they work tirelessly, coordinating labor, maintenance, and energy redistribution with remarkable efficiency. Their ultimate goal is to generate enough sustained energy to support long-term projects, including the Vigil’s slow attempts to awaken the Forebearer.
Operations / Methods:
The Emberwrights are organized into specialized roles: thermal engineers monitor and reclaim energy from vents, maintenance crews repair and preserve machinery, energy coordinators redistribute collected motion, and foremen oversee shifts and task rotations. They work in near-constant cycles, alternating between active labor, equipment fabrication, and rewinding of internal springs to maintain operational efficiency. They also produce much of their own tools and replacement components, reducing dependence on external sources. Efficiency and precision are valued above all else; every motion is deliberate, every task weighed for its energy cost versus necessity.
Territory / Presence:
The Emberwrights occupy the Foundry Wards, including the Great Smelter and The Heatworks. Their territory is dense with machinery, scaffolds, and conduits, layered across multiple levels to maximize energy capture and operational efficiency. While they occasionally move beyond these areas to secure geothermal sources or maintain other industrial sites, they rarely venture far from their strongholds. Outsiders are tolerated only when not interfering with ongoing operations, and confrontations occur primarily with Salvagers or Harvesters.
Culture / Behavior:
Discipline and devotion to efficiency are central to Emberwright culture. Rotational shifts allow for continuous operation while providing necessary maintenance and rewinding for personnel. Their ethos is summed up in sayings such as: “You’ll know it’s time to rest when the Forebearer tells you to.” Laziness or wasted motion is considered worse than risk or fatigue. Collaboration is key, and while their work is highly regimented, members are trusted to perform their specialized tasks autonomously within the framework of the hierarchy.
Resource Management:
Energy is primarily sourced from thermal reclamation and geothermal vents, supplemented only occasionally through trade when local reserves fail. Their systems are largely self-sufficient, with careful management allowing them to operate around the clock without interruption. Energy is applied strictly to operational needs, and waste is considered unacceptable under any circumstances.
Faction Relations:
Overall Position:
The Emberwrights see themselves as the city’s last true industrial backbone. Order, productivity, and the purposeful use of energy define their worldview, and they judge every other faction by how seriously it treats those principles.
Vigil — Trusted Allies
The Emberwrights are among the Vigil’s strongest supporters. They regularly provide surplus labor, technical expertise, and limited energy when practical, believing that a sufficiently large geothermal discovery could make the Vigil’s ambitions viable. While not idealists, they consider the Vigil’s goal one of the few efforts worthy of sustained investment.
Salvagers — Openly Hostile
Relations are poor. Emberwrights view Salvagers as careless, disruptive, and dangerously willing to strip machinery that is still functional or actively maintained. Frequent attempts to salvage within the Foundry Wards have led to repeated expulsions and violent clashes. Trade is avoided whenever possible.
Zephyrwrights — Cordial Competitors
The Emberwrights recognize the Zephyrwrights as capable and disciplined, if overly cautious. While they prefer self-sufficiency, they will trade with the Zephyrwrights during periods of thermal scarcity. Beneath the politeness lies quiet rivalry: both factions believe their method of energy generation represents the city’s best long-term hope.
Conservators — Respected Partners
The Emberwrights respect the Conservators’ dedication to continuity and knowledge. Trade between them is common, especially when historical schematics or fabrication records can improve reclamation techniques. These exchanges are among the Emberwrights’ few genuinely amicable external relationships.
Harvesters — Actively Hunted
Harvesters are considered an existential threat. Any Harvester detected within the Foundry Wards is pursued relentlessly, and sustained pressure has made Emberwright territory one of the least hospitable regions in the city for them. This hostility is absolute and non-negotiable.
Narrative Hooks:
Outsiders may assist with industrial maintenance, thermal reclamation, or tool fabrication under strict supervision.
Conflicts over territorial incursions by Salvagers or Harvesters can serve as adventure prompts.
Their ongoing efforts to locate untapped geothermal sources may lead to exploration missions or the discovery of lost infrastructure.