Dural:Ardmor

Today's nation of Ardmor is only a pale shadow of the once powerful empire that spanned most of Dural. It has been at the root of conflicts which still influence the atmosphere between the nations of the present.

Introduction

Ardmor is a nation of scholars, tinkerers, and adventurers. The nation is comprised of two major cities and two small towns between the coast and the mountains. The people are wary of strangers, and guard their technological discoveries closely. Ardmor has realtively small numbers, and a very small military. What they lack in numbers they easily make up for in technology, however.

Overview of Changes from Original Design

• Name Changes/Additions
  • Ard - Didn't like the overall simplicity and crudeness of 'Ard' for such a society. Now known as Araed (the original name remains in the history of the city.) See the Founding of Araed.
  • Neraya - Originally a 'lost town' of Ardmor, now the name of the kingdom of origin for Ard. See the Founding of Araed.
  • Mirtha - Another 'lost town', now converted into the mother kingdom of Mostice. See the Founding of Mostice.
  • Goug/New Goug - Two new cities created from mine own head (and some inspiration from Final Fantasy Tactics..) See the Founding of Mostice and the 150 Year War.
  • Thasqwasd - Originally a 'lost town', now promoted to a 'real town'. However, the 'qwasd' part of the name seems a bit strange to me. So the name has been changed to Thasin.
• Slavery - The original concept focused quite heavily on the concept of non-human slaves. I felt this was a bit too industrial and unscientific for the theme of the city. Thus, rather than enslaving non-humans, Ardmor is simply historically all human.
• Industrialization - Like above, there were also some references to assembly lines and such in the original design. This has been changed to more of a nation full of scholars, inventors, and tinkerers. Almost all of the technical items in the nation are hand-crafted, and none are exported to other nations.
• Mostice vs Ardmor - Originally, Mostice gained the upper hand in the 150 year war by some unknown method of treachory. Changed this to Mostice gaining a technological advantage over Araed. See the 150 Year War.
• Religion - Originally Ardmor is described as very atheist. This has been changed slightly to include common daily references to Ahuran.

Introduction to Ardmor

Ardmor is a nation of scholars, tinkerers, and adventurers. The nation is comprised of two major cities and two small towns between the coast and the mountains. The people are wary of strangers, and guard their technological discoveries closely. Ardmor has realtively small numbers, and a very small military. What they lack in numbers they easily make up for in technology, however.

The History of Ardmor

The Founding of Araed ('air-e-ad')

In ancient times the Northern Kingdoms of Neraya and Mirtha were locked in bitter war. Hoping to gain the upper hand, Neraya sent forth explorers in all directions to expand their empire. One such party travelled far into the south. There they built a small outpost on an island near the coast, they named this colony Ard.

As the years passed, Neraya's power faded, and Ard became a free city of it's own. In an effort to solidify this independence, the people elected to re-name the city. A council was called, at which 50 representatives of the people gathered. They re-named the city Araed. To this day, a council of representatives meet regularly.

The Founding of Mostice ('most-ice')

Few records exist of the ancient war between the realms of Neraya and Mirtha. One thing we do know is that in the end both nations were completely destroyed. Forseeing this fate, Mirtha sent most of its populace away from the cities. Some of these people, from the Mirthian city of Goug, went south along the mountains until they reached the sea. It was here, at the edge of the river Nordgast, that they built the town of Mostice. But even then, the island town of Ard was growing, and the founders of Mostice recognized Ard's Nerayan origin. Thus, they watched Ard with great distrust and a secret hatred. It would be generations before they had the military might to attack...

The One Hundred and Fifty Year War

While Mostice was all too aware of Araed's origins, the Araeds were blissfully ignorant of Mostice's roots. Thus it was that Mostice built up an army within sight of Araed's watchtowers. It was not until the first Mostice troops landed on the isle that Araed defenders took the city's walls. While Mostice had the early advantage of surprise, they greatly underestimated the defenses of that ancient outpost, and the defenders won the day. However, the people of Mostice were fighters, and far more prepared for war than the scholars that accounted for most of Araed's population.

The war dragged on for generations. Slowly Mostice conquered other small towns and villages along the coast. Meanwhile, Araed launched continual naval bombardments on Mostice, as well as raiding and plundering any foreign ships its navy spotted. Yet, for all their efforts, both armies remained equally ineffective. Mostice, however, was brewing a new weapon of war.

During the war, Mostice occupied a small Dwarven mining town north of Mostice. Being that all of Mostice's citizens were and always had been human, all of the Dwarves in the town were executed, and the town was re-named New Goug. The new inhabitants who came to work in the mines eventually discovered a strange liquid in one of the caves. They called it Paith, meaning 'incinerate' in the ancient Mirthian tongue, for that is what it did.

When a contained of Paith was smashed apart, the liquid inside would ignite and flare up intensely. This fire would last only a few moments before the Paith would be entirely consumed, but the fire burned incredibly hot during that time.

It was with this new weapon that the armies of Mostice were able to invade Araed, and put an end to nearly 150 years of warfare. Immediately, a council was held in Mostice. It was nearly unanimously voted that Araed be utterly destroyed, when one of the councillors suddenly spoke out. His name was Irlis, and he one of Mostice's few scholars. He recounted the mutual destruction of Neraya and Mirtha nearly 300 years earlier, and cautioned that history often repeats upon itself. Details of the rest of the council have been lost with time, but we do know that the very next day another council was held. This time, the Mostice council was joined by the surviving Araed leaders. They eventually decided to merge their two nations, and therefore double their strength. Thus was the 150 Year War ended through technological superiority, and the nation of Ardmor created. Ardmor citizens still celebrate that day, as the national holiday of Durma.

Map of Dural 400 years ago

1. The original nation of Ardmor, consisting of Ard and Mostice and a small area around Mostice.

2. The area of today's Moraf. The cities in that region were taken during the first years of Ardmor's expansion.

3. The Farlack Defense. Named after senator Farlack, who initiated its construction, this line of fortresses protected Ardmor's western flank from orc raiders coming down from the mountains. In addition it discouraged Levbolne from attacking.

4. The region north of Sabar. The two cities Mirtha and Thasqwasd are symbol for the greatest failure of Ardmor: Its inability to defeat the city alliance of Sabar and the Earldom of Falklow. Both cities, especially the newly founded Thasqwasd were under constant attacks from Falklow and Sabar in the first decades of ardmorian occupation. After some time a shaky cease-fire was established, but Ardmor tried in vain, even as it had started to disintegrate to gain a stronger foothold in the region.

5. The Silver Sea. Except the eastern coast, which was controlled by Sabar, Ardmor's naval fleet ruled the sea. The independent settlements on the isles were conquered shortly after the northern regions and served as bases for Ardmor's navy. The vessels of Ardmor ruled the waves and even in the near of Levbolne's coast ships were not protected from being captured by the Ardmorians.

Another history

Ard and Mostice are dissimilar in a number of ways since their beginnings. The older Ard was envious of the economical succes the newly sprung up Mostice had in that time. On the other hand Ard controlled the regional sea angering Mostice, which was hindered in the development of its naval fleet. Having two cities that powerful that close together always creates the potential for war, but apart from occasional clashes the rivalty was kept under control. The shaky peace lasted until the whole region became engulfed in economic decline. To secure their political future and to divert the people's attention away from their inability to cope with the economical crisis, Mostice's council decided secretly to go to war with the hated and seemingly weaker Ard. Having decided this, a minor diplomatic incident triggered a war, which lasted for one and a half centuries. Only six major battles were fought in that time. Each city won three of them and the situation remained unresolved until Mostice lured Ard into believing they wanted peace. After a treaty had been signed and Ard had started to decrease its army's strength Mostice seized the opportunity and attacked. They distracted Ard's fleet by attacking one of the isles in the Silver Sea occupied by Ard with a small force and landed their troops on the shores of the Isle of Ard. Without its fleet for defense and a Home Guard decreased in strength Ard was conquered swiftly. Having broken their foe's resistance the council of Mostice took a decision, that changed the face of Dural.

It was common that a conquered city would be razed completely and its inhabitants driven away or slain. Looking at Dural's map of those days however, the council of Mostice decided otherwise in a heated debate. In those days most of Dural was governed by city states, except the Kingdom of Levbolne and the Earldom of Falklow. Most of the city states were weak and would barely have been able to withstand an attack from Mostice alone, but would certainly fall if attacked by combined forces of Mostice and Ard. So Ard was offered a permanent unification with Mostice and since the council of Ard had no other choice, they accepted. So both cities joined to form Ardmor. The new state waited a few years to rally it's forces, but then started a conquest unlike anyone seen before in Dural.

The Army of Ardmor was equipped with superior weapons and thus the small forces in the region of today's Moraf and Denar were overrun in a matter of a couple of years, forming Ardmor's main body. At the same time Ard sent out its fleet and established its sea superiority in the Silver sea, in the process capturing the Isle of Neraya and several other independent settlements. After these first easy victories Ardmor turned on Falklow, but due to its excellent defense position Falklow's army beat back the attackers. Seeing that an easy victory against Falklow was impossible at that time and that a conquest of Falklow would not bear great treasures for Ardmor the leadership of Ardmor's army aimed at conquering the area around Town B. Successes came early as Mirtha and the old city near today's Thasqwasd were taken. At that time however the Alliance of Sabar had already been established and Ardmor's further advancement was stopped. This status quo was maintained throughout Ardmor's reign in the region.

The reason that Sabar and Shalkrin could maintain their independence was the fact, that Ardmor was unable to conquer neither Falklow nor the coast around Sentigen, despite several attempts. Thus Ardmor had problems sustaining their army in the region, because the only available supply line was the one over Mirtha, which was under constant attacks from Sabar and Falklow.

This deadlock continued for 300 years until Ardmor's senate decided to go to war with Levbolne to gain new ressources. Ard and Mostice set up a huge army, which would have undoubtedly crushed the defending Knights of Levbolne. However, the army had to cross the mountains seperating the two realms. Apart from the harsh environmental conditions up there, which cost the army about a third of its strength, the wandering orc tribes posed a serious threat. Orcs don't care whether they survive a fight or not, so the giantic Ardmorian Army, which was stretched out over several miles was suffered constant attacks by small orc raider troops. The army lost its people not only to direct killings but a lot of soldiers were simply driven into chasms by the orcs or by their own panicking comrades. When the army emerged from the mountains it had about a fifth of the strength it started with and the exhausted soldiers stumbled directly into the oncoming Knights. Faced with the choice of turning back and being defeated for sure or fighting the Army of Levbolne with a slim chance of success, the commanders chose the latter. The Ardmorian Army was defeated in less then two hours and at the same time Ardmor's supreme role was broken. Supported by Sabar and Shalkrin the defeat triggered a wave of rebellions, which Ardmor couldn't supress by force since most of its army was gone. In less than a decade all conquered cities broke free from the rule of Ardmor.

All that is left of Ardmor today are the two cities it started with: Ard and Mostice. Ardmor is shunned by the rest of the world and plays only a very minor role in politics nowadays.

Note:I think this history should be removed from the website and be put into IG books alongside the other histories when the game is released.

Minor Ardmor Towns

New Goug ('New Gouge')

Conquered during the 150 Year War, New Goug was originally a Dwarven mining town. It is located north of Mostice, where the river Nordgast first runs out from the mountains. Today very little stone or ore comes from the mines. The miners now search for Piath exclusively, and carefully ship the volatile liquid downstream on rafts to Mostice. Due to the dangers inherent in living above a large Piath mine, there are few occupants of the town who are not miners or city guards.

Thasin ('Thas-in')

Orignally founded by a city-state of Levbolne, Thasin was occupied by Mostice during the 150 Year War. Located in the foothills of the mountains, beside the river, Thasin marks the western limit of Ardmor. As such, it is partially independant from the Ardmor senate in Mostice. This makes Thasin a preffered trade center of the nation, as its laws are somewhat relaxed. A foreigner might just be able to get some Piath in Thasin, for the right price. Also, Thasin is known to have several secret bars and taverns, although authorities have yet to track down their locations. Much of Ardmor's agriculture comes from Thasin and its thermo-soil farms, where crops can grow year-round.

Map of Ardmor

1. The River of Nordgast. It serves as the main water source for Mostice and originates in the Wild Mountains northwest of the city. The river can only be crossed at three places.

2. A fortress belonging to Moraf. After Ardmor's defeat it was built to contain possible aggressions from the nation.

3. The Wild Mountains. These mountains are not part of Ardmor, because they are roamed by orc raiders. Until now every attempt of Ardmor to gain a foothold and exploit the natural ressources located there have failed due to the low number of soldiers Ardmor has.

4. Direct border to Levbolne. The defeat of the ancient Ardmorian empire could have been prevented if it's army would have crossed the border at this point. But there were several reasons for choosing the path over the mountains. First of all: Most of the army employed was recruited in the cities of today's Moraf. It would have taken the army longer to come down to Mostice and then cross the border, then taking the way over the mountains. Furthermore Levbolne was prepared to bounce an attack in this region. Their major army was located in that region and several fortresses blocked the way for Ardmor's army. Seeing the strength of their enemy in that region and reckoning, that besieging the fortresses would have cost months, Ardmor's generals took the fatal decision of trying to cross the mountains.

Traits of Ardmor

Currency

The sole unit of currency in Ardmor is the Unce, a golden coin. On one side of the coin the emblem of Araed is engraved, a single-masted ship crossing turbulent waters. On the reverse side is the symbol of Mostice, a sword crossed with a pen.

Considering that there is only one unit of currency, large purchases could become quite intolerable. So, the Ardmorian Bank was formed, with at least one center in each Ardmorian city. Through this national bank, citizens can easily write bank-notes for large purchases.

Language

The Ardmorian tongue borrows heavily from both the ancient Nerayan and Mirthian languages. It is, however, far more simplified than either language. There are very few synonyms, and rarely are metaphors used. While their language is quite simplistic, they are very particular about proper pronounciation, especially for names of people and places. An Ardmorian who mis-pronounces Irlis the wise's name is cure to be considered an uneducated fool.

Alcohol

Ardmorians look down upon anything that clouds the mind. As such, any form of alcohol is illegal and publically shunned. There are however some scholars who believe it helps them to think, or so they say. Regardless, there have arisen a small number of secret bars throughout the nation. Therefore, any alcoholic beverages are a treasured import, as long as the trade is kept out of sight of the town guard.

The Law

The formal law of Ardmor is quite leniant to prominant citizens, and is very harsh to newcomers and foreigners. If convicted of a petty crime (consumption/sale of alcohol, minor destruction of property), the guilty party is given a fine, and possibly sentenced to a short term in the nation's only prison, in Mostice. For all severe crimes (theft, murder, treason), the punishment is banishment from Ardmor. To ensure this banishment, each banished person recieves a brand upon their left shoulder. Should a banished person be found within Ardmor, they are executed. While the law may seem harsh and cold, it has successfully lowered Ardmor's crime rate dramatically.

Religion

Religion in Ardmor is virtually non-existant. The official religion pays homage only to Ahuran, the goddess of knowledge and language. Throughout the Armorian cities there are various shrines to Ahuran, and She is often cursed after a failed experiment. However, there are no religious services, and few truley believe in Ahuran. For most, science has become their true religion.

Trade

Ardmor exports only the most mundane of products. They fear to export any of their inventions, as they might be used against them someday. For example, it is highly illegal to sell resources such as Piath to outsiders. However, Ardmor does import large quantities of items. Mostly, Armor buys raw materials such as ore and lumber, as well as basic crafts like furniture, which most Armorians feel they are too busy to make themselves.

Race

Historically, Ardmor has always been comprised of humans exclusively. In recent years, well-known scientists and inventors from other races have been granted citizenship within the realm, but their numbers are still quite small. It is estimated that 94% of Ardmor's population is still human.

Technology

Ardmor was founded on the principles of research and invention. The use of Piath to end the 150 Year War showed them that through technology they could gain an immense advantage over other armies. Their never-ending quest for knowledge has led way to a vast number of inventions. They have developed a crude steam engine, which has been primarily used in the mines of New Goug. This steam technology has also allowed the construction of special fields near the town of Thasin that are heated from below during the cold months. The Ardmorians have also found methods of harnessing the power created by the river currents to power mills. Thanks to these advances, the Ardmorians enjoy a longer life expectancy than most human nations.

Weapons

Here is a list of some of the more common weapons the Ardmorians have created.

• Cannons - The kingdom of Levbolne has been using black powder cannons for some time, but the Ardmorians have greatly refined the technology. They have been able to construct a cannon which can fire hollow 'shells'. This doesn't seem very useful at first, but one must remember that the Ardmorians have one of the only sources of Piath in their possession. By filling these hollow shells with Piath, they have created a weapon which explodes into a wide field of fire upon impact.
• Hand-Cannons - The Ardmorians have also developed a number of primitive hand-cannons. These handheld weapons can fire an extremely deadly metal slug, capable of penatrating most armors with ease. However, they have yet to develop a version which works well. Currently these 'guns' are incredibly inaccurate, even at close range, and have a tendency to backfire on the user.
• Telescopic Blade - One weapon which has been produced in great quantity in Mostice are Telescopic Swords. These swords usually measure about 2 feet in length. However, when one swings the blade, the motion causes the telescopic mechanism in the blade to extend, and the blade 'slides' out to a length of nearly five feet in the middle of the swing's arc. The sword then automatically retracts down to its original size in the latter portion of the swing.
• Flaming Blade - Some inventors have been experimenting with a special sword hilt. This hilt actually contains a small pouch that can be filled with Piath. Then, the user can squeeze down on part of the hilt, thus squirting Piath over the blade. As soon as this Piath-coated blade strikes a hard surface, the entire length of the blade erupts into flame. While the potential for these swords are great, there have been many problems. Sometimes the fires actually get so hot as to melt the swords somewhat, quite ruining the edge. There have even been a few cases of some of the Piath remaining in the pouch, leaving behind a very warm sword-wielder.
• Triple Crossbow - A crossbow which fires three bolts at once. The bolts fly perfectly parallel with each other, about a foot apart. These weapons have been very effective in defending the Ardmorian cities from attack (a tip for the wise archer: if using one of these crossbows against a wave of enemies, aim between two of the attackers. This way you are almost garunteed two good hits, and have a chance of a third.
• Auto Bow - The Ardmorians have developed a special kind of longbow. Attached to the side of the bow is a mechanism with two sprockets. These are placed approximately two inches apart, and have a ratcheting mechanism on the top of each. One then loads a special ammunition into the bow, really just a long string of arrows held together by a two-inch ribbon of thin paper that passes over the shaft of the arrows. When the bowsting is pulled taught, the sprockets turn, advancing the next arrow into position. One then sets the bowstring in the notch of the arrow, and lets the arrow fire. The strength of the bow easily shears the arrow out of the paper ribbon without affecting the arrow's aim. The ratcheting part then holds the next arrow in position, to keep the rest of the arrows from falling off the sprockets. Then one needs merely to pull back the bowstring and fire again, and the cycle repeats. Again, these bows have proven crucial in defending the Ardmor cities.

Foreign Relations

Ardmor is frowned upon by other nations partly due to its past and partly because of its utter disregard for the basic rights for non-humanoid races.

Moraf

Moraf started as an alliance of cities which rebelled against Ardmor's occupation. Apart from the resulting habit of regarding the remnants of the empire as arch enemy, the tolerant people of Moraf vehemently protest Ardmor's slave trading. Sometimes, especially during elections in times of economic decline, the public's anger and frustration turns on Ardmor. Until now, though, Moraf has been kept in check by its fear of concentrating its military forces in one point and thus offering its neighbours Falklow and Levbolne an opportunity to attack and easily sweep aside its weakened defenses. Furthermore, trade with Ardmor has reached a peak in the last few years.

Organisations

The Heralds

Official Name: Department of Ancestral and Coats of Arms Research (DACAR)
Location: Ard, Herlin Street

Scholars

The Heralds is run by a group of scholars, which are specialized in the research of information on persons, that died long ago. It is their way of life not only to research ancestral history, but also to share it with descendants of those persons. Some of them are also excellent artist, who research and design coats of arms.

Tasks

The Heralds keep track of family history of most important clans and families in Dural. Apart from recording the current family states, they also do research on the ancestral history of important people, or people who have earned themselves, or have been granted noble status only recently. In addition, the Heralds is known as the place to go, when you are in search of a coat of arms for yourself, for your clan or guild. The scholars at DACAR not only research and file known coats of arms, but they also design new ones if needed.

Services

The Heralds are offering you almost every service you can want concerning informations about your ancestry. If you want specific informations the Heralds charge no fee, because it is their philosophy to share knowledge on persons with their descendants. However, if you demand a detailled family tree or history you must be prepared to pay a small fee, to cover the scholar's expenses in material. As mentioned above, you can also apply for a coat of arms, which will be either designed for yourself personally or you are assigned one, which was used by someone familiar to you, whichever you like best. To obtain a coat of arms you or the institution which you are representing must have reached a certain social status in Dural. You can attain this, either by being declared a noble by a king or government or as a guild, by having reached a certain number of members. It is however not unknown, that the Heralds have given out coats of arms to business men, who donated quite a large sum shortly before...

Sources of funds

The Heralds is mostly dependant on donations, which are generally encouraged. The Council of Ard has also recognized, that the DACAR serves an important purpose and it receives quite a comfortable sum from the city's treasury.

History

The DACAR was founded by the scholars Ingrim and Urta, who were both devoted researchers of family history. They looked for means to distribute their knowledge and as they saw, that no institution of that sort existed, they started their own one. As the years went by more scholars with the same interests joined in and it became known as the Herlads at first throughout Ardmor, later throughout Dural.

Credits

Mail comments and suggestions to florian (sirsengir at gmx dot de).

Mostice and the Apocatharian Guild

The technology of Ardmor grew at in incredible pace over the last decade or two. As well as their advances with Steam and Steel, they also developed a very talented and powerful group of doctors. Their ability to work wonders of medicine on those willing to pay up has put the people in awe. However, much of their greatness comes from the medicines produced by a group of alchemists and herbalists called the Apocatharian Guild. Without their conconctions it would be impossible to perform the miracles that put the people in such awe.

The exact recipies for the plethora of new medicines are one of the most well hidden secrets of Dural. There are rumors, however, of where they find their ingredients...

The sewers of Mostice date back several hundred years. They are surprisingly well maintained, but they are also the most complex series of catacombs, passages and are rumored to lead to great limestone caves, if you know the right path. They are also controlled by a series of great mechanical devices that date back to well before Ardmor's current infatuation with innovation. Some say, in whispers, that the early people of Mostise were in league with dark forces, having given up their souls for the knowledge of stone-working and manipulation of metal. Some say that again these dark forces have made themselves known in present day Ardmor.

The Apocatharians are often reclusive, certainly much more than those who dispense their concoctions. Many work in anonymity in seemingly normal homes and crafts shops. The strange smells eminating from the Apparatus, cauldrons and braziers that are the tools of the Apocatharian trade often go unnoticed amongst the usual olfactory experience of fish markets, tanneries and the cooking of foreign food.

Those who are aware of Apocatharian activities, and live to tell stories, say that they are often seen out at night, seeking entrance to the sewer system of Mostise. While all known entrances are barred and locked, the guild members seem to have keys to some or all of them.

The inside word is that after two decades of experimentation by the contraption makers, the sewers are now full of all manner of strange and exotic materials, some of which can be found no where else in the world of Dural. These range from rainbow coloured fluids, dripping from the ceilings of the tunnels, to crystaline outcroppings where nothing could possibly be secreted, to pungent fungi and moulds of almost infinite variety. Certainly this sudden leap in technological ability has transformed this underground world.

There is a price for advancement, however. The enigmatic combination of fluids that eventually makes its way into the river Nordgast. Only the Apocatherians know what has become of the creatures (and people) who once occupied the world underneath Mostice. Perhaps only the medications of the Apocatharians will allow natural life down there. When the wildlife of the Nordgast come in contact with this effluent, there could be trouble...

Credits

Oliver White

The Sanitary Commision

For a while I was thinking of having an internal security force in Ardmor known as "the Sanitary Commision." Essentially, they would be nominally a body of doctors and medical professionals whose job it is to make sure that Ardmor is healthy and Sanitary. But of course, to Ardmor sanitary means magicless. The officers of the Sanitary commision would walk around in victorian doctor's costume, a black top hat and a sweeping black robe, and strike fear into the hearts of magicians and magical creature by their simple existance. The Doctors would be responsible for running the small island city of Nazareth, in actually nothing more than a Sanatarium, an Asylum for the mad -- and the magically inclined. Nazareth would be a fully functional city, but there would be very little traffic between it and the rest of ardmor aside from medical equipment and staples.

Now, the Doctors are so menacing because concealed in their top hats and beneath their robes are the most vicious of steampunk apparati, devoted to the 'correction' of unhealthy individuals. Medicines, serums, and drugs would be dispensed on the spot by these Doctors to those they determined needed treatment.

Now here's the catch: in reality, the Doctors are not so much an arm of the government as the brains behind it. You see, the Sanitary Commision is made up almost entirely of members of a secret society that claims roots in the pre dawn light of civilization. This secret society reveres an unnamable god that only the highest level members even know of. And all those in the society know certain spells and rituals, the more powerful they are the more rituals they are initiated into. The put a guise of science, of the 'bodily humors' over this magic to disguise it to the public and even to the lower order members of the society, who still believe they are lights of science and champions of a way of life untainted by magic.

Now this is not to say that all science has magic at root. Quite the contrary, only members of the Sanitary Commision are really allowed in Ardmor to practice magic; those unitiated attempting society rituals are removed to Nazareth for treatment.

This magic is what allows the Doctors to have such vastly superior technology to everyone else in Ardmor. They maintain the anti-magic air and fuel its flames in order to keep themselves hidden, and in control.