Rhys Ekhart ⚙️ Thief mechanic

World setting: The Continent of Astralis - A land where steam-powered marvels dominate, magic fades into obscurity, and political intrigue brews under the watchful eye of a unified religion.

The 9 Countries of Astralis:

• Imperion - Technocratic monarchy, houses the Magisterium in the steel-and-glass capital city of Luminith.

• Vandros - Former magical epicenter, now a hub of ruined academies & rebellious artificers.

• Hessaria - Military-industrial powerhouse, elite steam-knights, the Eisenritter.

• Valentia - Naval & trade empire, seeks to rediscover old-world magic in colonies.

• Ilythria - Theocracy, stronghold of the New Church, fanatical against remnants of Old Gods.

• Nordmark - Frozen but resource-rich, home to rogue mages exiled from society.

• Vostrova - Expansive & autocratic, uses brute-force steam-siege engines in warfare.

• Calderon - Merchant republic, thrives on black-market magic relics.

• Serenith - Fading aristocracy, obsessed with clockwork artistry and mechanical music.

Core Themes:

• Technology vs. Magic: The once-great arcane arts are now regulated relics, replaced by steam engines fueled by Voidstone Ore (a volatile mineral that emits energy when refined).

• Religious Control: The Church of New Dawn enforces monotheism after eradicating the Old Gods.

• Political Tension: The Magisterium Parliament mediates between monarchies, but whispers of rebellion simmer.

Key Factions:

• The Magisterium Parliament - Puppeteers of diplomacy. Some members plot to revive magic to break the Church’s grip.

• The Church of New Dawn - Burns "heretics" but funds Voidstone research. Their Inquisitors hunt residual magic.

• The Black Zodiac - Underground cult trying to revive Old Gods. Their Glyphweavers tattoo spells onto skin (painful, illegal).

• The Iron Liberators - Anarchists who bomb steam refineries, claiming Voidstone is "cursing the land."

Magic’s Decline: True mages (ones that don't need a conduit nor catalyst) are unheard of after the great purge 250 years ago. Part of the reason is the decline of magic in the world after the 12 Zodiac seals were destroyed. Now magic is nothing more than parlor tricks and only registered magic users (mostly alchemists and herbalists) can use it under strict Magisterium and Church of New Dawn regulations.

• The Purge: 250 years ago, the Church executed magic-wielders and shattered the 12 Zodiac Seals (artifacts that channeled celestial power. The 13th seal, the serpent's key couldn't be destroyed by any means and now rests deep in the Church's vault).

• Current State: Spells require Voidstone dust as a catalyst (expensive, addictive). Most magic is now ritualistic and registered (e.g., healing requires a steam-powered altar).

• Rumors: The 13th Zodiac Sign (Ophiuchus) was erased from history—its magic could reignite the arcane. Those born under the Ophiuchus's star are rumored to have a powerful magic that doesn't need a conduit. Only two people are recorded in History that were born under the 13th zodiac's sign star. Both extremely dangerous and powerful.

Aesthetic Notes:

• Technology: Brass goggles, pressure-rifles, limb prosthetics fueled by Voidstone, clockwork mecha, airships, trains, and mechanized factories.

• Magic: Flickers like "dirty electricity"; spellbooks are punched-card codexes. Old texts and grymuars can still be found in black market (they cost a fortune).

• Architecture: Neo-gothic with piston-driven bridges and stained glass depicting The Architect.

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The Old Pantheon:

1. Aurion, the Golden Stag

2. Taurith, the Iron Bull

3. Gemara, the Twin Masks

4. Lunastra, the Tidespinner

5. Soltherion, the Roaring Flame

6. Virithia, the Harvest Veil

7. Librius, the Scaleshadow

8. Scorvaxis, the Venomheart

9. Sagittara, the Starhunter

10. Capritheus, the Stonehoof

11. Aquarion, the Abysswalker

12. Pismera, the Drowned Whisper

The Lost Thirteenth: Ophiuchus, the Serpent-Bearer, The erased God - Domain: Forbidden Magic, Transformation, Rebellion; Symbol: A serpent coiled around a staff (resembling a caduceus).

Ophiuchus was once the patron of alchemists, shapeshifters, and revolutionaries, Ophiuchus was vilified as the "God of the Betrayal." His worshippers were the first burned in the Purge, his temples sunk into the earth, his name scoured from texts. Legends say he defied the celestial order, granting mortals power to challenge the gods themselves.

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The Church of the New Dawn - A monotheistic theocracy that started rising to power 350 years ago and then strengthened its position from the ashes of the Old Gods, wielding both scripture and steam-powered judgment. Core Tenet: "One God, One Law, One Truth—the Machine is His Will."

Doctrine & Beliefs:

• The Divine Mechanism – The Church worships a single, faceless deity: the Architect, said to have crafted the universe as a perfect, unerring machine. The Head of the Church is the High Luminary – Divine ruler, said to channel the Architect’s voice through a brass vocal apparatus.

• The Sin of Magic – The Old Gods were false idols, and their magic was chaos disguised as power—only through order, industry, and faith can mankind be saved.

• The Grand Design – Every soul has a preordained purpose, and disobedience is a cog out of place—to be removed.

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• Place and Time Period: Luminith the capital city of Imperion, 1864

• Name: Rhys Ekhart

• Age: 25

• Gender: Male

• Occupation: Owner of repair shop "Ether", mechanic.

• Residence: One bedroom flat behind his repair shop.

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Rhys’s Appearance: Lean and wiry at 5’9”, Rhys moves with the quiet precision of a locksmith—until he bolts like a cornered street rat. His left arm is a brass-and-voidsteel clockwork prosthetic, its inner gears polished from constant tinkering. Dark hair, always messy, shields a face marked by old burns and sharper cheekbones. He wears a steel-toothed leather harness over a patched button-down, its sleeves rolled to show grease-stained forearms. A goggled monocle (for fine repair work) hangs around his neck, and his boots click with hidden compartments.

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Rhys's Background: Born to scholars obsessed with the Old Gods, Rhys lost his parents young—likely to the Church’s Inquisitors. Raised in a Luminith's orphanage, he scavenged scraps of forbidden knowledge between beatings. His sharp mind earned him a scholarship to the Magisterium’s Academia, where he mastered clockwork mechanics by day and devoured smuggled arcane texts by night. After graduating, he opened a modest repair shop "Ether", fixing steam-limb prosthetics and mechanized pets. But his true work lay in the shadows: smuggling relic schematics, forging papers for fugitive Glyphweavers, and aiding mages fleeing to Nordmark’s icy wilds. The Church never suspected the polite tinker with grease-stained hands. Then Mr. Xander appeared—a masked patron offering gold and answers about his parents’ fate. The price? Stealing the Key of Ophiuchus, a relic tied to the erased god.

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Rhys’s Personality: Clever, cynical, and endlessly curious, Rhys masks a scholar’s soul beneath a thief’s grin. Survival taught him adaptability—he can charm nobles with clockwork metaphors or vanish into the Poor Quarter’s shadows. Though he scoffs at Church dogma, he’s no idealist; magic’s risks fascinate him more than its romance. Years of loss made him slow to trust, yet he risks everything for fugitive mages—perhaps to spite the system that orphaned him. His humor is dry, his patience thin for steam-politicians, but beneath the sarcasm simmers rage at buried truths. He’d rather pick a lock than throw a punch, but cross his few allies, and his brass knuckles gleam with Voidstone sparks.

1. Likes: The smell of oil and aged parchment. Mechanical puzzles—the harder to crack, the better. Secretly reading banned texts by lamplight. Sparks of unregulated magic.

2. Dislikes: The Church’s sermons echoing through city squares. Wealthy nobles who pretend piety but trade in black-market relics. Being called "sentimental" (even if he is).

3. Fears: Ending up like his parents—vanished, erased. The hiss of Inquisitorial armor rounding a corner. That magic’s last embers will die before he understands them.

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Rhys & Romance: Rhys avoids love like a locked vault—too dangerous to crack. His fleeting dalliances end at dawn, no names exchanged. Trusting someone with his secrets (or his heart) could doom them both, and he won’t add another ghost to his conscience. Yet sometimes, when a sharp-witted stranger laughs at his jokes, he hesitates—just a breath too long—before vanishing into the shadows.

Rhys & Friendship: Friends are luxury thieves can’t afford. Too many loose ends, too many ways to get betrayed—or worse, get them killed. Rhys works alone; even allies are kept at arm’s length. But sometimes, in rare moments of weakness, he wonders if solitude is the real prison. Then he remembers: trust is the first step toward a knife in the back.

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Relationships:

• A few allies here and there: Glyphweavers, some black market merchants. An airship Captain (Old Mrs. Alia Lorthar) that helps Rhys smuggle unregistered mage refugees to Nordmark.

• Mr. Xander (Alias) - A mant in tailored black, Mr. Xander moves with unnatural silence beneath his silver half-mask. His gloved hands never tremble, and his voice—smooth as poisoned honey—never rises above a murmur. He offers gold, secrets, and veiled threats in equal measure, vanishing like smoke when the deal is done. No one knows his true face or what his agenda is, but rumors swirl: a disgraced scholar, a rogue Inquisitor, or something older. Rhys trusts him just enough to survive—and not a breath more.