Clockwork Enigma: A Ballad of Despaire

In the mysterious city of Neo-Victoria, follow Lillian Thorne and her companions on a journey of intrigue!

*Light Spoilers Below*

I started working on the worldbuilding and story back in May of this year. The idea started with  a question of "what if the world was powered entirely by Tesla Coils?" and is a fictitious narrative. Historical figures are used, with loose references to real events. Our story takes place in a steampunk fusion of New York City and London.

The protagonist, Lillian Thorne, is an orphaned dealer of the technology known as Clockwork. It's a mechanical technology that allows you to steal, emulate, and replace emotions. Lillian deals in black market clockwork, and has done pretty well for herself. She steals, kills, and fights to survive.

This chapter in the story begins at the end of Act II, right before a big heist. The stakes aren't world-ending. Neo-Victoria is on the precipice of total oppression from the aristocratic regime, the Iron Interregnum. The Gearwatch Brigade is a group of brutal militant contractors that enforce martial law. Ever since the death of Nikola Tesla, the city has been at the whims of various corporate interests. Clockwork companies compete for maximal financial gain, using the people of Neo-Victoria as the lab rats for the latest way to cut costs and undercut a competitor's profits. Legal battles abound in the Patent War, at the expense of the common folk. Each company, from Nikolatek, to Edisonic Works, seeks to  wrest collective control from the others.

The city is powered by Tesla coils known as "Arcane Dynamos". They are powerful, abundant, and dangerous. Approach them at your own risk, Dynamo-related fatalities are frequent.