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Ballabost is a simple farming and trade town, under control of the grand Cogwright empire. Ballabost is walled with openings in the four cardinal directions as well as various openings due to age and neglect. The town is centered around a large stone building, what was once a small castle and it now closed off by magic and traps from the inside. Before the Cogwights conquered the continent there were many small kingdoms, and Ballabost was home to one of the third sons of the family far back on the genealogy. The presence of high nobility and protection gave Ballabost the facility and customer base for trade. Outside the walls lie the farm lands before the start of the Wilderness.

The Wilderness is what fills in the map between towns, unsafe to travel alone or without extensive artillery. Before the empire the main routes through the individual kingdoms were protected, escorted and hunted. Now, there is no difference and calls to the empire take time to bring forces to take out a large threat. The Wilderness is populated with rouge creations, both metal and organic, large beasts and fugitives. Many of the non-humans choose to create their own settlements to avoid forced enlistment to the service of the empire, being used in wars, or being feared by the humans; however, they aren't unheard of in towns and have a non-human sector of cities. Most of the fear of the war-oriented species is caused by fear of the empire attacking again.

Did I mention that the Cogwright empire has an airship-based military, robotic infantry complete with autonomy within orders and has a tendency to collect anyone that is a bit too good with building tech?

This is a steampunk, victorian-era roleplay. This means that women are deviants or wear dresses and have little power and respect; however, they have a bit more independence than historically due to war needs. Ballabost uses a coal plant for steam/power, importing it through the empire via trade. This is slowly getting more costly as the pollution hides the sun from the crops and the empire requires more coal of its own for its own purposes. It is known that the core of the planet can be used for heat to create steam, but it is only in the richest cities or the empire's military outposts. Large machines with their own furnace and the airships still require coal, pulling coal resources away from towns and increasing the costs.

OOC
Profiles

Lucian folded his wings and put on his coat so as to not draw attention. He neared the gate as some travelers were coming closer and blended in with the crowd. He didn't want the guards to catch him so quickly upon entering. When he passed the gate, he doged into an alley and popped out the other side. He then saw a strange shop with machines hanging and decided to enter this 'Nim's Repair' place. When he entered he saw a young woman behind the counter looking down. He wanted to know what was so interesting that you didn't pay attention to your surroundings and took a step closer, his foot actually hitting a screw and making it skip across the floor.

Lucian looked as the girl rose from the stool. At her question he cocked his head to one side and pondered the question. He then straightened up and shook his head. He moved forward a little and said, "No, I have not. I just came into town." He then looked around, keeping the girl in his peripheral vision. "Why do you ask?" he asks the girl once he knows that he was the only person there besides her. He picked up a piece of a machine and looked at it. "Also what is this? It is very interesting," he says and forgets completly about the girl as he looks at the machine.

At the sound of the bell from the door, Lucian snapped back to what was happening around him. Looking at machines always got him injured before so the bell was welcome to him. He saw the newcomer's look in his eye, like he knew what he was. And the smell coming off of him reminded him of the forest he just left. He looked at the stranger more closely and it looked like he was a guard of the city. His mind than clicked on the facts and he rembered some of the rumors he had heard from the other beasts that could talk in the forest, "Beware she who enters the forest at will, your life is cut short if you kill when she is near." At rembering it all he paid more attention to his sense of smell and find out what was underneath the forest smell. Underneath all the other smells was a smell that was also coming from the girl. There he couldn't understand it at all so he let it be. He had never been good at telling gender by smell but this person smelled like danger. He decided to leave this person alone then and there and go in a corner away from him. He went to the furthest corner away from both people, yet he was still intriged by both.
It was then that he smelled a very familiar and deadly scent of fae coming from the person. He stiffened and just looked at the newcomer without leting him leave his sight for the fae were very mean to him since he wasnt like the others in the forest, with the cutting and the slashing. Most of his scars came from them. He concentrated on other things while trying to ease his tense form and calm his mind.

Seth nodded to the miss, tipping his cap abit, "Ten guns here, and they have broken parts. Our usual guy to repair them is out on a break, and the superiors are having us on a tight schedule. It's probably just quick parts replacement, but if it's possible could you have it done withing 40 hours or so?" Seth paused he looked over to the time piece and to Matilda, "You seem to know your stuff well... You do some of this stuff yourself?" The officer asked looking about the shop, the soft light reflecting through his eyes in a vibrant green.
All this time he could feel Lucain's unease, but paid no particular heed to it, except keeping an ear strained on him. He did not sway to Lucian's aura's but more stood firm against it, like a mountain to the wind.

The large accounts book that lay open on the counter was perused, with a bit f a show, for a few past entries of broken part gun repair. Matilda looked at the other repairs in the time frame for each and found a rough average for actual time to repair each gun and multiplied it by 10. She then turned back to the first page with empty slots and took a casual glance at the open repairs while finding a pen. Those added some more hours. An appraisal of the date and time marked on the wall by a calendar and timepiece gave the last bit of information to complete a guess on when they would be ready.
"If all goes well they should be completed and ready about mid-afternoon in three-days time, Friday." she began, her attention raised from the book to the officer. Her upper body was leaned over the book, with her forearms across it while her fingers played with the pen. "Unfortunately my father is out and will likely not be able to begin repair until the morning at the earliest. It will take more time if we lack a part and need to commission the blacksmith. The additional time will depend upon him but will likely be early next week."
Matilda paused, glancing at the young man approaching the door. He had replaced the timepiece and had mentioned that there were no services he required; he was unlikely to be a customer in this visit so she was not interesting in requesting more of his time. However, she attempted to make eye contact as he left, just enough for him to not feel unwelcome to return when a trinket broke.
It was a short moment before she returned her attention again to the officer.
"I hope that isn't an inconvenience. I could take a guess at the cost if you show me the guns and say what's wrong. Well, I suppose that is needed for the intake anyway, if you choose to accept the wait longer than you anticipated." It was likely not for the best that she took his time frame as a loose question, but she wasn't so old as to no longer be capable of playing naive.

Matilda sat up and patted a clear spot of the counter with her left hand, indicating that the bag could be placed there. Her right held the pen and had already begun writing in the order, the numbers and details. Odd bits were left blank when she looked back up and rested the pen. It would appear that he had notice the question she had failed to respond to. Selective hearing has its limits.
Her smile formed as her eyes darted to the floor and her left hand rose to shield her chuckle. Lowering her and and turning back to the officer she replied, "Pardon my rudeness Sir, but my schooling has been short and never covered such skills as gun repair due to the lack of importance in the life of a young woman. It is my father, with the occasional assistance of my brother that preform the tasks requested. My duty is merely to mind this book while my father is out when my mother is otherwise preoccupied."
A slight smile remained perched upon her thin lips as she held the pen to write and tapped the book.
"Please excuse my imprudence, but would you be so kind as to spell out the names of the guns for me, Sir?"

Lucian left the shop and headed back towards the town gate. He had decided to look for someplace he could look at the forest with ease as a likely place to stay for his time here. He noted that the best place to stat was being on the wall so he left the area to find a tall post on the wall. He came across a guard tower and decided that was where he would be staying. He memorized the location and went back to the shop but didn't go in. He went around it and found a place to stay out of sight for the next couple of hours until the sun set. He wasn't risking anything for he didn't want people to see him with his wings out.