The Forge

Overview

The Forge is the Talarq foundry guild. It is based on Tal, the Talarq homeworld. It builds reactors, engines and heat-proof parts, and its master smiths set the rules for how those parts must be made. A part with the Forge mark stamped on it will not blow up on you. Fake Forge parts are a big black market, and they do blow up.

Tal and the Grand Crucible

• Tal is a hot world covered in foundry cities. Smoke stacks fill the skyline and melted metal runs in open channels.

• The Grand Crucible is the Forge's great hall in the middle of Tal. Its leaders meet there, and it keeps the record of every Forge mark ever stamped.

• The Talarq worlds Scoria and Obsidian Reach supply the Forge with heat-proof bricks and test reactors.

Who runs it

• Guildmasters head each branch of the trade, such as reactors, engines or piping.

• Masters run the foundries and train the workers.

• Inspectors travel to ports and shipyards, test parts, and stamp the Forge mark on the good ones.

• Apprentices do most of the work and most of the complaining.

How it holds power

• The Forge mark. Ports and shipyards trust it. Most Core ports will not install a reactor part without one.

• Rare metals. The Forge controls the heat-proof metals that reactors need, and it decides who gets them.

• Cutting people off. Anyone caught selling fake Forge parts is cut off. No Talarq shop, foundry or engine tech will work for them again.

Across the Drift

• Core. The mark is required by law. Big companies buy only Forge parts.

• Mid. Real parts and fakes sit side by side in the same markets. Inspectors are busy.

• Rim. Most parts are salvage or fakes. Crews still try to get at least a real reactor, since a bad one kills everybody on board.

Weak spots

• Fakes. Syndicates copy the mark and sell cheap parts. A fake reactor casing looks fine until it cracks under load.

• One home. Most of the best work happens on Tal. Trouble on Tal is trouble everywhere.

• Slow to change. The Forge takes years to approve a new design. Some young Talarq engineers leave for the Rim to build what they want.

• Cost. Real parts are expensive, and that keeps the black market busy.

What it means for a crew

• Buy real parts for the reactor and the engine. Save money somewhere else.

• A cheap reactor part from a Rim pawn shop is probably fake.

• Hunting down a fake-parts ring is good work. The Forge pays well for it.

Reputation

People see the Forge as stiff, slow and expensive, and they still buy from it, because its parts do not fail. Syndicates hate it. Engineers grumble about it. Nobody wants to fly with a reactor that does not have its mark.