[note](http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/surreal-fantasy-infrared-railroad-tracks-fall-nature-kathy-fornal.jpg)[/note]
All Aboard!
[ooc]Please don't post in here, I have a discussion thread.[/ooc]
The seven kingdoms of Anolon have been through great ages of war and peace. still the one thing that often brought forth the peace parts were the ages were trade was prominent. So the kingdoms decided to set up a trade route that connected all of the kingdoms. Many a wagon has crossed over the trade route and made imprints in the land.
Anolon is a land of many magical creatures that live besides the seven human kingdoms. And as one can imagine, not all of them like humans. But no one hates the humans as much as dragons do. Humans are noisy, they keep trying to kill dragons and take their treasure, and they have a distinct scent that drives dragons absolutely batty. However not all dragons are out to kill. They just sit in their caves and want to be left alone. Plenty of Dragons however, are quite active in their hatred. For eons they've been attacking the trade routes, instigating chaos, and have been causing wars.
Anolon is also a land of great magic, and it manifests itself in many different ways. Giants used it for crafting big swords, the dragons... will the dragons don't do much, but the humans probably found the most ingenious and practical use for magic of all. Oh sure humans have been abusing magic for eons, but one day an artificer named Mart Harcly came up with an idea. Why not create a big vehicle that can do the work of a hundred horses? Will it went through a few phases (i.e. it blew up in his face, quite literally a few times), but eventually he came up with a new type of magical device called a "locomotive". The problem was that it was quite difficult to steer... But a solution was brought forth, a rail system was devised, and now in this day and age there is a railroad connecting all seven of the kingdoms, and magical trains run all across the land.
Well the dragons hate it even more now... Somehow the humans have managed to become even more obnoxious than they already were. A feat which some dragons were impressed by. Of course they would be the ones to invent a big, loud magical machine... Now the dragons have doubled there efforts; burning railways down, engine tipping, the works. But humans aren't going down without a fight. It took a lot of manpower to get this big nice system that brings us stuff...
Anolon
[note](http://macenstein.com/default/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Dragon_attack.jpg)[/note]
The land of Anolon is a large land area surrounded by a ring of mountains, some of which are volcanic. It has a primarily temperate climate with forests spanning as far as the eye can see... Or at least as far as the eyes are away from a dragon hot spot. The winters there are fairly brutal but the rest of the seasonally periods are actually pretty nice... When you're not in a dragon hot spot.
And of course there are the seven kingdoms:
Across the land are a disparced group of feudalistic kingdoms that have been around for almost 1500 years or so. They have been fighting with each other for roughly 75 to 80 percent of that existence. Still there are those rare periods of peace that occur. Now we all want to believe that deep down those periods of peace came about from a deeper understanding of one another and a harmonious occurunce of brotherly love... But let's get real here. It always boiled down to one word... Stuff. We like stuff. I like stuff, don't you like stuff? That's the whole meaning of life isn't it? Getting stuff, and trying to find a place for it!** [note][ooc]**Gosh I miss George Carlin... Speaking of magical railways he was one of the narrators from Thomas the Tank Engine[/ooc][/note] So naturally a system had to be set in place between kingdoms to get each others stu_ I mean between kingdoms to set up a harmonious beneficiary interaction. So trade routes were set in place between the seven kingdoms. These trade routes would eventually become the current railways just for the record. But of course we must remember the dragons. One of the best tactics that dragons ever used was that a bunch of dragons would get together play a little game, and the loser had to go off and attack a convoy... Then when he got back they would sit back and watch as the humans that survived the onslaught would just look at each other... and then begin to bicker. "It was clearly the fault of the warriors" said the members of the trading outfit. And the warriors would blame the lofty instincts of the trading outfit. Then the real fun began... In one of the out coming wars between two kingdoms, a surviving warrior made an account of being injured on the battlefield and as he was looking out at the mountainside he swore he saw a group of dragons with long tree branches with what appeared to be roasted deer jabbed on them, and they appeared to be pointing and... laughing at the battlefield.
The Seven Kingdoms
Arkan: Arkan has been the center of the trading system for almost 150 years. The longest it's ever been at the center of anything. Since it's incarnation the city has been a center for arcane research and development. Still magical items were ultimately commodities, and it paled in needs of medicine, wood, warriors and of course food... Plus the fact that supermagic ain't cheap. Still the artificers have always tried to make themselves out to be more important than they actually are. But as it turned out they would find a purpose. Mart Harcly was... will some people described him as "off", while others thought of him as a dedicated misanthrope, who was born about 178 years ago. A brilliant, if exuberant artificer who had an idea after looking at a train of horses carrying goods from the kingdom of Merda. Why not build an eldritch machine than can do the work of many horses? Will after years of work, trial, error, and blood (mostly blood), the first locomotive was built and tested. The railyways were built after that and afterwards Arkan became the railroading center of Anolon. The go to place for locomotive construction and repairs. And ultimately the railways do run on trains, and you know the golden rule, quite literally actually.
Merda: The kingdom of Merda is a medicinal wonderland. So many herbs, syrups and wonderful healing methods. The go to place for the sick and injured. Of course you'd better be insured...
Undr: Undr is the capitol of woodworking and logging. Their lumber goods are the finest in the land and share a particularly strong relation to the Kingdom of Gare as Garians are the fines craftsmen in the land.
Bors: The kingdom of Bors is a mining community and have a really strong tie to the railways as it's been the best methods of getting ores and coal to the rest of the land than by horse carriage.
Gare: Gare is a land of craftsmen. They create furniture, housing goods, wagons, anything that can be carved and shaped can be found here.
WIP
Magical Magicalness
And now we get to the trains! But first we have to talk about magic.
Magic comes in two distinct flavors. The natural magic that flows through the world, or the magic that is artificially assimilated into objects. The latter form of magic has been the only one utilized by humanity possibly due to the fact that they can't utilize the former, and has manifested itself in the railways. Arkan (for the record it's not known if Arkan came from arcane or the other way around) is the center of Arcane research in the land. Dragons are capable of using arcane magic in the form of their fire breathing ability however, and it's been noted that humanity and dragondom are the only two known species to have been able to utilize magic on a grand scale, and that is where the real hatred comes from. Still this falls apart once you take into account that giants have been using artfice to forge swords for eons. So yes, it probably all has more to do with human stank.
Now that that's out of the way....
Trains!
(http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6141/matthews05.jpg)
[ooc]For the record you don't get anything this cool[/ooc]
Trains come in three... You want more background? What was the past 3 posts for? Oh you want more background on the trains? Ok, hang on...
The first question that comes to mind is when do i get my train? Second is how do they work?
Well a locomotive in this world is technically a magical item, but in principle it's not all that different to how a steam locomotive works. While a locomotive is enchanted with animated effects it takes fuel to power the effect. A magical stove that's known as an "Arcane Furnace" is put in a cab where the engineer runs the locomotive. Essentially a locomotive is powered by magically embued fuel sources such as enchanted coal, magical wood, anything that's been enchanted and can burn could work. Still some fuel sources work better than others for many different types of locomotives and it all depends on the train.
Okay now that that's over with....
Trains come in three distinct types:
General Use
(http://www.ntm.cz/sites/default/files/imagecache/nahled_exponat/exponat/5477_i.103_kladno.jpg)
The general usage category has the largest assortment of small locomotives. These tend to be popular among small companies and cities because their mobile, and relatively quiet. Still they're not powerful, and tend to become angry dragon play toys. Still they have their uses, and are highly fuel efficient
.