Vade Mecum: Horrors of Arcanum Mechanica Windows game

The Story-

A History of Magick

Being
born to a specific astrological sign was an everyday occurrence, until,
society embraced the advancement of technology. Slowly, the phenomenon
almost completely disappeared. Then out of several famines came seekers
of knowledge that chose to pursue the art of the sciences over outdated
magick methods. For a short period, both were used in tandem, but
disagreements quickly festered. Arguments were constant, knowledge
seekers treated magick users as if they were diseased, and magick users
started to refer to the mechanical creations as “going against the will
of the stars.”

The War of Arcanum

Tensions
between the wielders of magicks and followers of science came to a
head. Aggression erupted throughout the cities in the forms of riots and
massacres. Two factions erupted from the constant carnage, The
Apothesis, which were a group of renegade magick users, and The Steam
Jockeys, brilliant minds that utilized hulking contraptions to complete
everyday tasks. The practice of enchanting moved to underground
locations, becoming a sort of illegal trade. As soon as the final Orrery
closed to the public, droves of magick users flooded to the streets in
protest. The Steam Jockeys were hired by the royal families to keep the
peace. Seeing the Jockeys at the front lines, The Apothesis, were
outraged and wandered into the deserts. Two years later magick users
returned with vengeance, causing tremendous natural disasters. The royal
families saw this as a declaration of war and sent thousands of
soldiers and machines to quash the rebel mages. The fighting lasted for
six years until the magick users numbered under one hundred. Many were
captured and sentenced to wear “Sealing Vestments”, which were made by
the very magick users that started the rebellion. Very few members of
The Apothesis escaped and haven’t been heard from or seen since.

Time of Silence

For
twenty-five years technology flourished and magick became a myth. Being
born to an astrological sign stopped at the beginning of The War of
Arcanum. The royal families used it as propaganda to state that magicks
were an abomination of nature and the world chose to snuff it out. All
of the various magick driven creations were sealed underground and were
thought to be lost to time…

…This all changes now.