Pokemon Aetherium takes place in its own semi-anachronistic era. It is in many ways similar to medieval times, but the existence of Pokemon has skewed technological development significantly from the world we know. Though there are no pokeballs in Pokemon Aetherium, people are nonetheless able to bond with these amazing creatures, forming friendships that last lifetimes.
On an individual level, transportation technology has developed very little. People tend to either walk or utilize Pokemon for travel, extending to Pokemon drawn carriages and covered wagons. That said, mass transit has taken inspiration from varying Pokemon and has advanced in leaps and bounds. Trains are relatively common, often featuring imagery of steel or ground type Pokemon at their heads. Though they don’t reach every point on the varying continents, they offer simple connections between major kingdoms and common points of interest. For sea travel sailboats are exceedingly common, and most of them carry a group of water type Pokemon who are powerful enough to push or pull the craft in case of unfavorable winds. Airship technology has been recently developed in the form of massive zeppelins inspired by Drifblim. While an airship is expensive to ride and not particularly fast, they are unimpeded by most conditions and often luxurious in the extreme. That said, the cost of their production and maintenance is such that even most kingdoms find them prohibitively expensive, and as such the few that exist are currently in the hands of small organizations who subsist off of selling rides to those who can afford it.
Weaponry has made little advancement, with Pokemon being the preferred method of doing battle. Many people carry rapiers in case of a personal duel, with most people trained at least in the use of a knife or sword. In addition, basic front loading black powder muskets and rifles have made an appearance, though their rarity and expense to produce and use means that a blade is generally preferred. While it is not uncommon for a family to own a single firearm between them, such a device is generally only used for times of great need. Many large boats will carry cannons for defense against pirates, the massive cannonballs they fire being enough to threaten even the toughest of oncoming Pokemon if a shot can be lined up, but such defensive tools do not preclude the inclusion of defensive Pokemon. Black powder weapons are also fairly common on the battlefield, able to shred the tough leather armor that is all most kingdoms can afford to equip their common soldiers with. It’s ineffectiveness against plate armor and slow reloading time are the main reasons for the continued existence of bows and crossbows, which tend to be cheaper and faster to repeatedly fire once one is trained in their use.
Most people live off the land in some sense, generally farming, mining, or even breeding Pokemon for use or consumption. Though many people have claim over their own small parcel of land, most live on land granted to them by one of the varying nobles who have begun to move in. The land of Pokemon Aetherium is largely unexplored, and though the basic lay of the land remains constant, the influence of Pokemon tends to cause constant differences in the actual contents of any particular piece of land. Most people get their news by word of mouth, hearing from neighbors or from gossip. For news that can’t wait, even the most distant home is in possession of a small emergency radio from which they get news of things like dangerous weather, approaching battles, or other dire catastrophes. A more well-off home may have an actual radio, from which they get important news from distant places as well as entertainment in the form of music and radio dramas.
Pokemon take on a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but they seem to be particularly varied in the land of Pokemon Aetherium. This is largely due to the influence of The Myst. The Myst is a strange substance, a thick haze that rolls over land and sea alike. Banks of Myst can be differentiated from more common banks of fog or mist by the strange glittering of purple and green specks within the cloud. The Myst is and has been a constant phenomenon, and it tends to surround the known lands of the group. The Myst interacts strangely with both Pokemon and people alike, causing changes in anything that spends too much time in contact with it. The strange colors and patterns that many Pokemon can take are considered by some to be signs of minor influence by the Myst, but the main changes are more drastic. Both Shifted and Chimeric Pokemon are clear signs of significant interaction with the Myst, as the strange cloud adds to those Pokemon on the most fundamental level.
The group of people known as Myst-Touched are also easy demonstrations of the power of the Myst: people with Pokemon traits, in a wide variety of forms. Smatterings of fur, feathers, or scales; Pokemon ears or tails; additional or drastically changed limbs; horns or antlers; and even vestigial wings or fins are not uncommon among the Myst-Touched. Myst-Touched mutations, if they haven’t rendered the bearer sterile, can be passed down to their children. The mutations fade slowly between generations, normally disappearing all but completely within three or four unless the family line is exposed to additional Myst. While Myst-Touched show varying degrees of mutation, there is an upper limit as well. Why that upper limit exists is the source of much speculation. Is that simply as much as the Myst can change a person? Or is it that anybody who is changed further than that never comes back?
While the changes the Myst causes in Pokemon and people alike are not considered negative, few people are brave enough to enter a thick bank of Myst. There are too many tales of strange monsters living in such clouds, and far too many people and Pokemon have entered clouds of Myst and never returned.
Intrepid and foolhardy as always, people make use of the Myst. At great risk to themselves, some of the people of Pokemon Aetherium venture into those strange clouds and attempt to capture some of it. A jar full of Myst can fetch a fair price on the market, where skilled Alchemists can distill Aether from it in a process that is a fanatically guarded secret. This Aether has a great number of uses, from production of power to more amazing and eclectic uses, but the primary use is to augment a Pokemon. Aether can be used with other reagents to cause controlled and instantaneous changes in a Pokemon, rather than the random changes that direct and long-term contact with Myst would cause. These vials are often exported to distant lands as well, foreign kingdoms paying a king’s ransom for even a small amount of such a material.
While the whole world may see Myst on exceedingly rare occasion, it is a simple fact of life in Pokemon Aetherium, and has greatly influenced the local culture and idioms. Banks of Myst are carefully tracked for safety, and the action of “Sealing out the Myst” is known to every man, woman, and child born within the lands of Aetherium. Most buildings have a simple method of sealing the cracks in doors and windows, though for some reason the Myst seems to respect the sanctity of thick walls and closed doors.
Perhaps the most important group in Aetherium is the ever secretive Alchemist's Guild. Dating back to antiquity, Alchemists have been inventors and scientists dedicated to the good of all. Many advancements in technology and medicine have been attributed to the one Alchemist or another. In the past Alchemists would act alone or in small groups, normally working as apothecaries in service to varying nations. However a few hundred years ago one woman perfected the process of refining Aether from the Myst. This woman went from nation to nation. She recruited Alchemists from across Aetherium and formed the Alchemist's Guild, becoming its leader and the first of the Aetherists.
In modern times, the Alchemist's Guild is exceedingly powerful. They allow any who wish to learn to enter their ranks, and Alchemists are necessary to repair and maintain the varying Aether fueled devices that allow modern life in Aetherium to run as smoothly as it does. While most Alchemists can identify and repair Aether based tools, only a small handful are taught the deepest secrets of the Guild. These few are known as the Aetherists. Aetherists are exceedingly important individuals, often possessing a political power equivalent to the leader of an entire nation, and the necessity of Aether and Aether based devices means that few are willing to draw their ire. The Aetherists give their allegiance firstly and entirely to the Guild, and in exchange are taught how to create the blanks that become Tetras, and how to refine Aether from the Myst, amongst other things.
Only once in Aetherium's history has a nation tested an Aetherist's dedication to their secrets. The ruins of that nation, now known as the Alchemist's Rebuke, still burn as a testament to how far the Guild is willing to go to protect those secrets.
Player's may create Alchemists as characters for their nations, but may not create Aetherist characters or characters who have access to the Aetherist's Secrets.
The Legendary Pokemon of Aetherium are revered as gods by the people. They are tied into the land and the elements themselves, and are capable of exerting amazing and terrifying power should they choose to. Formal organizations have formed in deference to singular or groups of legends, forming places and methods of worship that are pleasing to their particular gods. While the gods are known to exist, very few of them are currently present in the land of Aetherium. Most of the gods have disappeared in the current era, having disappeared into the Myst long long ago and never returned. Some claim that they left to fight off some great threat. Others believe that they left to renew their power in some sense. A handful believe that they simply abandoned the people of Aetherium. Regardless of reason, the gods of Aetherium have left long ago.
Each of the worshiping organization have reacted in different ways to the disappearance of the gods. Some encourage more worship from their followers, claiming that their gods may need this worship to remain strong or to find their way home. Some say that the gods live on in their teachings and in the hearts of the people, and that we should simply abide by their wishes until they return. A rare few people have lost all faith in the gods, either leaving the churches entirely or taking advantage of people’s believes to attain power or money.
Legendary descendants exist to this day, and on occasion the child of a legend will appear. Many people take this as a sign of the god’s continued presence, as only a god can successfully sire a legendary child. In smaller ways, people claim that the presence and will of the god’s still remains, but to date the gods themselves have all but disappeared from the world of Aetherium.
For more detailed information on individual Legendary Pokemon and the practices surrounding them, see the Legendary Pokemon page.