Roleplaying an Orien
While the Lightning Rail is the most grandiose of House Orien’s accomplishments, it is by no means the most well known, or even the most useful. Orien caravans and coaches criss-cross the continent, which while not as fast or luxurious as the Lightning Rail, is much cheaper and more reliable. Orien couriers carry letters and packages quickly, securely, and without question. And although the house was nearly crippled by the Last War and the destruction of Cyre, and with the competition that House Lyrander has brought to bear with it’s new airships, the name Orien is still synonymous with travel, at least over the land anyway.
As an Artificer of House Orien, there are many things that you could find yourself doing. The most likely charge for a full fledged Artificer is to help with the design and construction of newer and better lightning rail cars. However, with the rail being but one of many prosperous enterprises for your house, you are just as likely to find yourself working on coaches and caravan wagons as the Lightning Rail. Magically cooled cargo wagons that transport food don’t simply make themselves, nor do the Orien guards that protect the caravans have to make do with inferior weapons and armor. As an Orien Artificer, you would be expected to work on all of these, as well as researching new ways to make the process of transporting people, cargo, and information faster and easier, as well as safer.
As an adventuring Orien Artificer, you are likely to find yourself as the field expert in groups that have to deal with things related to the Lightning Rail, from the mundane task of maintaining the conductor stone paths, to recovering a prototype lightning rail engine from it’s testing facility at Metrol, deep inside the Mournlands. You may also be along for the ride in a caravan while you keep the guards stocked with freshly made alchemical items used to disrupt ambushes, such as tanglefoot bags and thunderstones.
