So I mentioned a while back thinking of a Lostbelt idea to go along with my Beast Watt sheet, and I finally felt the inspiration to write it up. Thanks to Koga and doncosaco for giving me some ideas for it.
Lostbelt: Urizen- Perpetual Engine, Steamwork Empire
Subtitle: Fantasies Of Endless Growth
Lost Depth: A+
Origin: 1775
Location: Britain
King: "Queen Victoria" (James Watt)
Fantasy Tree: N/A
History: After slaying the vengeful Celtic goddess Cailleach and absorbing her divine essence into himself, a newly insane James Watt set out on remaking the world into an empire of perpetual steam. With the aid of his factories and technology Britain went on to conquer far more of the world than the Panhuman History, but at the expense of turning into a(n even more) hellish caste-society. While the nobles and well-off live in luxurious tower-cities above the shroud of steam that permanently blankets the planet's surface, the lower class are literally reduced to machines toiling in factories to sustain his eternal empire.
Watt himself rarely intervenes directly in ruling the world he created, instead secluding himself in the eternal engine at the heart of his "utopia" while delegating matters of actual governance to its "Queen". He plans on eventually automatizing the higher castes as well and turning the whole world into a "perfect" mechanism of steam, but holds off for now due to recognizing the value of some of the few actual humans left.
This Lostbelt rests on an uneasy alliance between its Queen whose loyal to her country above all and suspicious of Watt's more extreme plans, and Watt himself who tolerates her reluctance because she's still useful in expanding his empire. Both of them scheme on betraying and overthrowing the other, and it's only a matter of who can enact their plans first. Meanwhile there's several actual resistance groups who oppose Victoria/Watt's vision of imperialistic "progress" and want to throw off the tyranny of machines altogether.
Note that because Watt's Lostbelt managed to stave off deletion by invading and plundering energy from neighboring timelines rather than through the aid of the Alien God, it lacks a Fantasy Tree to anchor it. Instead the engine at the center of his "Neo London" is the true core of this Lostbelt, being the "origin point" of Watt's Noble Phantasm.
Characters:
Loyalists:
James Watt (Beast V): Officially a councilor and court mechanic to Queen Victoria. In reality the true Lostbelt King, watching over his world from the engine that forms its "beating heart". Having sunken into madness following Cailleach's corruption and lost sight of his original ideals, he dreams of nothing more than expanding his steamwork empire as far as possible. Occasionally in flickering visions Watt recalls what he once wanted, to build machines that bring happiness to people, but those reminiscings quickly sink back into the oil-black blood that now flows through his veins.
Alexandrina Victoria (Saber): Official "Queen" of the Lostbelt; in reality a figurehead ruler who answers to Watt (but still has her own ideals). A stoical yet passionate woman who places Britain's glory and prosperity as her highest value, she's disturbed by Watt's inhuman nature but plays along because she can't deny the glory her country has attained under his guidance. Still she eventually plans to overthrow him and claim vengeance for every English life his reforms costed.
While her talents as an administrator and stateswoman are unrivalled, that's not the only area in which she's gifted. When forced to tread foot on the battlefield herself Victoria shows the side of a skilled warrior, wielding the synthetic holy sword Noble Phantasm "Curtana Solais" and a Mystic Code automaton forged in the likeness of her beloved dead husband Albert to smite all who threaten the order and security of her empire.
Ada Lovelace (Caster): One of Victoria's court mechanics designing new technologies for both war and improving the empire's infrastructure. A female scientist and mathematician famed for her role as assistant of Charles Babbage and her own work in researching the "Analytic Engine"- a "thinking computer" that could perform calculations like a man. Normally a woman of strong ethics like herself would never go along with Watt and Victoria's twisted ideals. However to force compliance she's been fused with the Phantoms of all great geniuses whose inventions were forgotten by history, stoking her resolve to complete the Analytic Engine into a fanatical obsession she's even willing to sacrifice her morals to fulfill.
Thanks to her sickly constitution Ada swaddles herself in an intricate suit of steampunk armor most of the time she interacts with the world outside her lab, taking cues from her once beloved mentor Babbage's incarnation as a Heroic Spirit. A seemingly taciturn and emotionless woman who becomes passionate as a schoolgirl when it comes to anything that ignites her interest, that personality of Ada's has been unaffected by her mental corruption.
Garnet Wolseley (Rider): One of Victoria's "elite guard" sent to crush rebels overseas who oppose the empire. Unmatched in war he gives the impression of a dignified general, unfalteringly loyal to his Queen's orders. Yet that hides the animalistic bloodlust simmering barely constrained beneath his surface, craving a chance to unleash itself in battle. His main weapon alongside rifle and sword is a steampunk lion Divine Beast fashioned for him by Watt, embodying the glory and ferocity of the British Empire.
Jack the Ripper (Assassin): The infamous killer himself. Pardoned execution for his crimes he was offered a place amongst Victoria's "elite guard", tasked with dispatching domestic threats. A different possibility of Jack the Ripper than his other Assassin or Berserker incarnation, this is a man who factually carried out the infamous murders attributed to his legend in Watt's Lostbelt. Since he's only a murderer rather than a fighter Jack has been fused with the Phantoms of all souls who died by machinery and industrial accidents to boost his combat-capability, giving him a variety of means to attack with by sprouting industrial blades and machinery from his body.
John Henry (Berserker): An African-American hero who proved the supremacy of man over machine at the cost of his own life. In the Lostbelt history he fought against the incursion of Watt's mechanized minions in America, only to be finally defeated and captured. Instead of killing him they decided his mighty physique had too much potential to waste and forcibly melded Henry with the strongest machine he destroyed, warping him into a grotesque man-machine hybrid.
In this form Henry is brainwashed to show absolute loyalty to the Urizen Empire's expansion, but occasionally glimmers of humanity surface separate from his programming. Near the climax he regains his original self, sheds his machine shell and surpasses his limits to deal a crushing blow to the empire before finally passing on in peace.
Rebels:
Arbre de Tenere (Gatekeeper): A spirit of the legendary tree which grew alone in the desert for hundreds of years, lending shelter and respite to countless travellers before finally being knocked down by accident. Arbre is a beacon of hope for those who oppose the Urizen empire thanks to her Noble Phantasm creating a zone blooming with life that repels Watt's technological scourge. Her territory is known as the "Oasis" and became a bastion for the rebellion.
Even aside from her abilities, Arbre's cheerful and sweet personality soothes the hearts of the often discouraged rebel forces, inspiring them that hope of a better world exists even as her own heart grieves the precious plantlife and biodiversity already lost. In the climax she sacrifices herself to restore life to the wasteland of Watt's empire.
William Blake (Caster): The famed poet (also secretly a Mage) who contributed greatly to the Romantic movement. An eccentric and impassioned man who believes greatly in human freedom and detests the Urizen empire's destruction of the natural world. His Noble Phantasm, Golgonooza
Spiritual Fourfold London
is believed the hold the key to overturning Watt's control of the empire, but unfortunately it is not "complete" and needs a substantial construction process to invoke.
"Captain Nemo" (Rider): A key figure in the rebellion, his modified submarine/skyship "Nautilus" serves as its floating base-of-operations. In reality he is the great science-fiction novelist Jules Verne, having embraced the moniker of one of his most famous creations to declare war on the Urizen empire. Possesses the Noble Phantasm Voyages Extraordinaires which allows him to manifest items and technology from any of his science-fiction works.
Okita Souji (Saber)
Vlad III (Lancer)
"Ned Ludd" (Berserker): Mysterious leader of a more radical branch of the rebellion known as the "Luddites", that wish to destroy all modern technology rather than just ensure it's used for the benefit of humanity. A brawny man garbed in animal skins who possesses a Noble Phantasm allowing him to seemingly shut down and destroy the empire's technology just by his presence. His true identity is the naturalist philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.