Prophets of Steel

Prophets of Steel is a sci-fantasy war setting where industrial power, relic technology, and fading faith collide in an age of endless siege.

Humanity no longer rules the world.

Instead, it survives.

🌍 THE STATE OF THE WORLD

The planet is fractured by permanent war zones known as the Wastes — ash-choked regions where landscapes have been reshaped by artillery, swarm incursions, and mechanized conflict.

Human civilization survives inside colossal walled megacities, each housing millions. These cities are fortress-states built for defense first, beauty second. They are compartmentalized into districts, layered with internal blast gates, turret networks, and redundant power cores.

Outside the walls:

• Cratered plains • Burned forests • Swarm-sterilized soil • Ruins of fallen bastions

Troops deploy via massive sky-carriers and armored dropships. Entire regions remain locked in constant warfare.

Humanity is not winning the war.

It is delaying extinction.

⚔️ THE PALADINS — “PROPHETS OF STEEL”

At the core of human survival stand roughly 10,000 Paladins across all megacities.

They are not superheroes. They are rare, mechanized war officers.

Each Paladin:

• Wears advanced arcane-industrial warplate • Commands 300–1,000 regular troops • Operates as a battlefield anchor • Has a support crew and maintenance division

Their armor includes:

• High-output chest reactor core • Reinforced exoskeletal frame • Layered ceramic/composite plating • Tactical sensor suite with multi-spectrum vision • Modular weapon hardpoints • Heat venting spine exhaust • Limited directional energy shielding • Anti-grapple microcharges

Paladins are force multipliers, morale anchors, and strategic assets.

Losing one is catastrophic.

🛡️ PALADIN SUBCLASSES Knight-Class (Vanguard Linebreaker)

Longsword + Tower Shield + Heavy Assault Rifle Designed to advance under fire, punch breaches, and create infantry openings. Acts as a moving shield wall and shock unit.

Bastion-Class

Heavy suppression platform. Anchors chokepoints.

Judicator-Class

Command variant. Battlefield coordination, drone control.

Rapid Response Units

Urban combat specialists.

Anti-Ironskin Units

Heavy penetration specialists for elite threats.

🦾 PALADIN MECHS (40 ft War Platforms)

Piloted only when situations collapse.

Industrial, angular, forward-heavy designs: • Rotary cannons • Heavy anti-mass rockets • Massive melee cleavers • Shield plating

They are battlefield reset buttons.

Deployment signals: “This front is failing.”

🏙 HUMAN MILITARY DOCTRINE

Human strategy is a mix of:

• Modern combined-arms warfare • Roman-style rotation discipline • Fortress mentality • Knightly command hierarchy

Defending Outside Walls

Layered kill plains Pre-sighted artillery Drone recon Rotating infantry lines Paladins reinforce weak points Mechs as final escalation

Urban Breach Response

Seal districts Activate blast gates Deploy internal turrets Establish choke corridors Paladins contain Mechs clear major avenues

Humans fight professionally — not heroically.

🟢 THE ORCS — WARFOUND CLANS

7–8 ft tall industrial warriors.

Not primitive.

They use:

• Brutalist heavy firearms • Exo-rig war suits • Rocket platforms • Siege walkers

Military Structure:

• Ravagers (infantry) • Ironhowl Gunners (suppression) • Breaklords (exo-rig elites, Paladin-level threat) • Siege Mammoths (armored assault platforms)

They understand siege warfare.

⚙️ THE IRONSKINS — ADAPTIVE COLOSSI

9–14 ft tall biological warforms with mineralized metallic hide.

Small arms ineffective.

They evolve in response to dominant weapons.

Castes include:

• Bulkforms (shock infantry) • Piercers (anti-armor specialists) • Siegebacks (gate breakers) • Crowned (rare intelligent commanders)

They are evolutionary countermeasures.

🌲 THE ELVEN SOVEREIGNTIES

Ancient bio-engineers.

Precision warfare specialists.

They grow structures instead of building them.

Units include:

• Lancers (fast assault) • Wardens (snipers) • Arbiters (Paladin-equivalent elite warriors) • Spire Architects (terrain manipulators)

They fight surgically, not in mass.

🟤 THE GOBLIN FOUNDRIES

Industrial scavenger engineers.

Experts in sabotage and mechanized improvisation.

Units include:

• Skitterers (explosive infantry) • Scraphounds (drone handlers) • Wiremasters (electronic warfare)

They win wars by destabilizing systems.

🩸 THE SWARMBORN — THE FLESH TIDE

Not undead. Not demonic.

A self-replicating biological mass event.

Possibly a failed bio-weapon or alien organism.

They do not conquer. They consume.

Units:

• Rushers (mass infantry) • Brutes (line breakers) • Spitters (corrosive artillery organisms) • Colossals (siege giants) • Harbingers (anti-Paladin hunters) • Carriers (spawn units mid-battle)

Swarm intelligence increases with density.

The larger the horde, the smarter it becomes.

After they pass: Land becomes sterile.

They represent extinction.

👑 HUMAN LEADERSHIP King Aurelian IV — “The Wall-Bearer”

Strategic ruler of Valdros. Believes survival may require compromise and evolution.

Grand General Varik Drae

Field commander of the Outer Legions. Pragmatic, relentless.

High Paladin Seraphine Vault

Leader of the Argent Order. Sees the war as divine filtration.

Archmagister Cyrion Hale

Morally grey arcane engineer experimenting with hybrid technologies.

Political tension exists between:

Survival Purity Annihilation Evolution

⚖️ THE BALANCE OF POWER

Humans are not dominant.

Orcs rival their industry. Elves rival their precision. Ironskins rival their durability. The Swarm threatens all.

Paladins win battles.

The war itself remains undecided.

🔥 CORE THEMES

• Industrial faith • Survival vs extinction • Militarized civilization • Technology as relic • Evolution through war • Steel as both salvation and doom