Void Engineers



The Sons of Ether are a group of Scientists nominally aligned to the Technocratic Union. The Void Engineers pursue a special brand of science they call Technology (with a capital "T"). Unlike earthly technology, Technology is suffused with a sense of wonder and possibility. This is not to say that all Technology is shiny and covered in blinking lights; scuffed paint, worn cables and patched hulls are just as common, but all Engineer equipment is fantastic, even if it looks more like Star Wars than Star Trek.

On their ships and in their Realms, Technology blends into a seamless whole of mundane technology, apparatuses and devices, many of which do not require an Enlightened user to operate. Most Technology is extremely vulgar on Earth, and when visiting the "mudball," many Engineers use the subdued, hidden equipment common to other Conventions. Void Engineers who have lived too long in space often forget what is and is not acceptable to static reality, and for that reason, they carry small devices that warn them if they are about to overstep reality's safe limits.

Origins
By the time of the Roman Empire, organized guilds of explorers had formed in the port cities of the Mediterranean. They preserved and codified the arts of their forerunners, expressed in symbols of power drawn from their profession: the rope, the sail, the wave, the wind, the map and the naming of the unknown. The fall of the western Empire crippled their vitality for a time, as even the Byzantine provinces suffered from a decline of sea trade. During the later Middle Ages, however, the guilds began to grow again, aided by the mercantile culture of Italy and the cosmopolitan markets of the Islamic city-states. Increasingly, these guilds worked together to strengthen their mutual interests, in time becoming known as the Void Seekers.

In 1851, the Celestial Masters, the Void Seekers, and the larger Order, underwent reorganization and emerged as the Technocratic Union. The Masters and Seekers were combined and re-christened as the Explorators. This lasted until the later years of the 19th century, when the Union overhauled itself yet again. The Explorators became the Void Engineers.

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