Orlando by Gaslight: Dreams and Nightmares

or, A Live-Action Steampunk Dramatic Entertainment for Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Mage: the Ascension, and Changeling: the Dreaming with Chronicle

Setting Support from Werewolf: the Wyld West, Vampire by Gaslight, Castle Falkenstein, and Deadlands: the Weird West

Venue Setting Document

The year is anno domini one thousand eight hundred eighty-seven. It has been twenty-two years since the end of the War of Southron Independence ended in the Confederacy's defeat. The city of Orlando, center of the Florida citrus industry and railway hub, is thriving in the Reconstructionist South, undamaged as it was in the Civil War. Not far to the southwest is the town of Bay Lake and the US Army outpost at Fort Wilderness.

Industry:In addition to several independent citrus growers, Orlando is home to a

branch of the Tesla-Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Corporation. Bay Lake is home to Pleasure Shipbuilding at Pleasure Island on Lake Buena Vista, and Tropical Amity Fruit Exporters in Bay Lake's Placid Palms neighborhood.

Transportation:The city of Orlando has an extensive street railway, recently electrified by

the Tesla-Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Corporation.Orlando and Bay Lake are served by several railroad companies, including

the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line, and the Bay Lake, Fort Wilderness, and Atlantic Railway.

Changes to Mundane History:Nikola Tesla completed several of his inventions – the induction motor,

broadcast power, and radio – years earlier in the Orlando by Gaslight universe than he did historically. Charles Babbage's Difference Engines and Analytical Engine were actually built between 1840 and 1850, and improved upon, with help from Ada Lovelace andPer Georg Scheutz between 1855 and 1860. Ferdinand Graf Zeppelin completed his airship in 1881, ten years earlier than in our history. The suffragette movement was much more successful in the Orlando by Gaslight universe than it was historically, leading to women pursuing careers which would normally have been closed to them.

Changes to the Supernatural HistoryGeneral: During the Civil War, the armies of both sides were heavily

demoralized as the dead of both sides suddenly got up off the battlefield and fought against the living, regardless of allegiance.

Changeling: The Resurgence in the universe of Orlando by Gaslight occurred

much earlier than in the standard World of Darkness canon – 1838 in the United Kingdom (brought by dreams of Empire in the days leading up to Queen Victoria's coronation, ultimately leading to Queen Victoria's Chrysalis as the crown was placed upon her head), and 1861 in North America (brought by dreams of independence, nationalism, and patriotism as the states which would form the Confederacy seceded from the Union). The results of the Accordance War (which occurred simultaneously with the Civil War) ended differently as well. Though the Union remained whole, Concordia was irreparably shattered. A young soldier from New York named David Ardry Chrysalised, recalling memories as David ap Gwydion, and in the wake of the Accordance War, David Ardry ap Gwydion was crowned Ard Righ (High King) of the Seelie Court of Concordia, while Meredith Gentry MacFiona became the High Queen of the Unseelie Court. Only the Kingdoms of Apples (the northeastern United States), Grass (the midwestern United States), and Pacifica (California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska) recognized their right to rule initially, forming the Concordian Union, though eventually the Kingdom of White Sands (Florida) also swore fealty to the High King or Queen, based upon Court, and joined the Union as well. The Kingdom of Willows (the southern United States) and the Kingdom of the Lone Star (Texas) actively oppose the Concordian Union as the Southron Confederacy. The Kingdom of the Burning Sun (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado), the Kingdom of Deseret (Utah), and the Kingdom of Buffalo (the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming) remain independent, largely in Nunnehi control, though these kingdoms may prove to be the ultimate battleground between North and South. The Kingdom of Northern Ice is a satellite of the Kingdom of Albion, while the Kingdom of the Feathered Serpent remains a mystery to much of Concordia, and is believed to be a client state of either the Kingdom of Neustria or one of the Iberian kingdoms.

Mage: When the Order of Reason was deciding whether to enforce the Ether or the Void, the Electrodyne Engineers (the Sons of Ether) managed to wield enough influence within the nascent Technocratic Union to keep both, and with the support of the Void Engineers, seized control of the Order of Reason. The Difference Engineers (the Virtual Adepts) did not find themselves under the same pressure which they faced in the regular Mage: the Ascension canon, and remained with the Order of Reason as well. The Tradition Council, in order to fill the voids left by the Ahl-i-Batin and the Solificati, recognized two Crafts – the Blacksmiths and the Wanderers – and granted a Master from each a seat on the Council of Nine; the Blacksmiths took the Seat of Matter, while the Wanderers took the Seat of Correspondence.