The Remnants
The Remnants: The Remnants exist on the fringes of society, clinging to remnants of history, culture, and identity scattered amidst the ruins. Unlike other factions, they operate as loose bands or families rather than a centralised group, using their adaptability and resourcefulness to survive. Their settlements are improvised, rising wherever salvage is plentiful: crumbling libraries, hidden bunkers, and abandoned cities serve as their bases. The Remnants are expert scavengers, piecing together artefacts and forgotten traditions in hopes of reconstructing what was lost. They value learning and negotiation, trading information, goods, and favours with any willing to deal. This flexibility allows them to broker peace or spark conflict, making them indispensable in the shifting power dynamics of the fractured world. Remnants are known for their eclectic appearance patchwork clothing, mismatched tools, and heirlooms worn as badges of honour. Often underestimated, they wield considerable influence through their knowledge of the land’s secrets and hidden paths. For many, the Remnants represent hope: a chance to recover a sense of identity and continuity in a world where both are rare. They are often used by other factions to negotiate.
Each faction brings a distinctive philosophy, culture, and set of strengths to the fractured realm. Your choice of allegiance will affect not only your own destiny but also the future of the world itself. Whether you seek the mystery of the Devoted, the innovation of the Techno-Priests, the resilience of the Wildborn, or the adaptability of the Remnants, your path will be shaped by the allies you make, the enemies you confront, and the secrets you uncover. In Fracture, the fate of civilisation hinges on these rival powers and on the choices you make within them.
Look and Feel
Remnants: Remnants live on the edge of survival, and their clothing tells the story of hard-won resilience. Outfits are built for endurance; layered tunics, patchwork jackets, and reinforced trousers paired with sturdy boots, all in faded earth and rust tones. Many wear scavenged elements: belts festooned with improvised tools, battered knapsacks, and mismatched armour plates salvaged from ancient ruins. Scarves, fingerless gloves, and repurposed mechanical trinkets signal their inventiveness. Often, Remnants embellish their gear with personal tokens or clan symbols, marking allegiance or memorialising lost kin. Steampunk and post-apocolyptic attire is most common here as outlined above. Remnants are predominately human and may have mild mutations.
Mutual Distrust Among the Major Factions
Since their return to the surface, the major factions of the Fracture world have found themselves locked in a web of mutual distrust. Border skirmishes, clashing ideologies, and bitter memories all fuel ongoing tensions. No faction stands alone; each holds reasons to mistrust and dislike the others, shaping the landscape with suspicion and rivalry.
Relations between the Remnants and the Devoted are marked by a persistent undercurrent of distrust and unresolved grievance. The Remnants perceive the Devoted as rigid and unyielding, their unwavering adherence to doctrine seen as a significant obstacle to change and progress. This dogmatic approach, in the eyes of the Remnants, not only stifles innovation but also threatens the adaptability that has allowed their people to survive in the fractured world. Tensions frequently arise when the Devoted attempt to reclaim lost artefacts stored within Remnant settlements, a practice that many Remnants view as an intrusion into their autonomy and a disregard for the new realities they have forged. The embers of old disputes over the rightful ownership of libraries and archives continue to smoulder, making reconciliation between these two groups a difficult.
The relationship between the Remnants and the Techno-Priests is no less contentious. The Remnants harbour a deep-seated resentment towards what they see as the Techno-Priests’ monopolisation of technology. In Remnant eyes, the Techno-Priests act less as innovators and more as gatekeepers, hoarding valuable knowledge and resources for themselves. This proprietary attitude is a constant source of friction, especially as both factions lay claim to salvage sites brimming with technological remnants of the old world. Skirmishes over these contested locations are commonplace, with each side accusing the other of overreach. The Techno-Priests’ refusal to share their discoveries only intensifies the Remnants’ mistrust, ensuring that suspicion and rivalry remain the norm.
Encounters between the Remnants and the Wildborn are fraught with hostility, often erupting into open conflict. These clashes are most frequent in untamed regions, where the Remnants venture in search of resources to sustain their way of life. The Wildborn, fiercely protective of their territory and traditions, view such incursions as acts of exploitation and respond with force, targeting Remnant scavengers in a bid to deter further encroachment. Trade between the two groups is rare, as the Wildborn have little interest in the goods the Remnants offer, preferring to reject what they see as corruption of the land. At the heart of their animosity lies a fundamental ideological divide: while the Remnants champion adaptation and transformation, the Wildborn cling to the sanctity of tradition and the natural world, ensuring that their differences remain as enduring as the landscape itself.
The mutual distrust among factions shapes every encounter, negotiation, and alliance in the fractured world. Border conflicts, ideological clashes, and historical grievances ensure that unity remains elusive. For players and worldbuilders alike, these tensions add depth and challenge, making every choice and alliance fraught with consequence.
Elemental Affinity – Fire
In the fractured world, the elemental affinities of each nation are not simply mystical connections—they are living, breathing influences, shaping every facet of daily existence, architecture, and belief. Where one steps, the echoes of elemental power linger, weaving together the landscape and the soul of the people who dwell there.
Southwards, the territory claimed by the Remnants pulses with the fierce energy of fire. Their homelands are marked by marshes; many now parched and scarred from the relentless thirst of neighbouring lands and cities built from the fragmented bones of ages past. Collapsed machines and rusting relics litter the streets, silent witnesses to a time when steam powered the ambitions of a lost world. Yet it is this very legacy that fuels the Remnants’ unyielding drive for survival. Fire runs through their veins, manifesting in both ritual and daily life. In communal forges, flames dance across metal as craftsmen shape tools and weapons, their hands guided by ancestral chants that invoke courage and renewal. To the Remnants, fire is both destroyer and creator; it consumes the old and breathes life into the new. Ceremonies are punctuated by flickering torches and swirling fire-dances, where offerings are burnt not in sacrifice, but in celebration of rebirth. Every ember is a promise: that transformation is possible, that resilience conquers ruin, and that, as long as flames burn, hope endures. The spirit of fire powers not only the ancient relics of steam and ingenuity but the hearts and minds of a people determined to thrive amidst the ashes.
Remnants and The Immortal Machine
The Remnants are a resilient faction, survivors who dwell amidst the ruins of the fractured world. Unlike the Techno-Priests, who cloak technology in mysticism, or the Wildborn, who embrace the primal wilds, the Remnants hold fast to memories of a lost civilisation. At the heart of their culture lies the legend of the Immortal Machine; a relic from the time before the Fracture, said to have once watched over and protected humanity. Though its true form and purpose are shrouded in myth, the Immortal Machine remains a beacon of hope for the Remnants.
Remnants are easily distinguished by their practical, patchwork attire, a testament to both necessity and nostalgia. Their clothing is assembled from scavenged materials: battered leather, faded uniforms, and fragments of pre-Fracture fabrics layered for warmth and durability. Each item bears the marks of countless repairs; stitched seams, mismatched buttons, and faded insignias from long-lost organisations. Functional accessories such as tool belts, reinforced gloves, and battered satchels are commonplace, filled with salvaged tools and precious scraps of mechanical engineering. Some Remnants adorn themselves with keepsakes; photographs, badges, or charms passed down through families, each a tangible link to the world that was. Their overall appearance is pragmatic yet deeply personal, reflecting both the hardships faced and the heritage fiercely guarded.
Through tale and song, the Remnants tell stories of the Machine’s greatness, recalling its wisdom and the peace it brought in ages past. These oral traditions provide not just identity, but a unifying ambition: to rebuild the Immortal Machine. The Remnants scour the wastelands and shattered cities, salvaging ancient artefacts and lost technologies, piecing together fragments of the past in the hope of restoring the Machine to its former glory. Each recovered component is cherished almost as a holy relic, and the act of reconstruction is as much a spiritual journey as it is a technical challenge.
The relationship between the Remnants and technology is complex and reverential. While the Techno-Priests shroud their machines in ritual and secrecy, the Remnants view technology as a direct inheritance from their ancestors’ a legacy to be understood, preserved, and, if possible, restored. This pragmatic approach often leads to ingenious improvisations; Remnants are adept at repurposing broken devices, combining disparate components, and coaxing ancient machines back to life. Their settlements are dotted with makeshift workshops where tinkerers and engineers labour over relics, guided by faded blueprints and half-remembered stories. The Remnants’ greatest gatherings are often held around the unveiling of a newly restored artefact, celebrating not only technological achievement but also the collective memory and hope it represents.
The legend of the Immortal Machine is woven into every aspect of Remnant society. Children grow up hearing bedtime stories of the Machine’s wisdom and compassion, while elders debate interpretations of its lost teachings. Some believe the Machine’s consciousness lingers, guiding their hands as they work, while others see it as a symbol of unity and perseverance. Rituals of remembrance are held at sites where fragments of the Machine have been found, and songs recount the dreams of a restored world, free from the chaos of the Fracture.
For the Remnants, the Immortal Machine symbolises a future reclaimed from the chaos of the Fracture. It is both a mystery and a promise; a source of hope that, one day, their perseverance will see the world healed through the rebirth of this enigmatic guardian.
In contrast to other factions, the Remnants are more accepting of mutations that offer practical advantages, seeing them as adaptations necessary for survival. They do not seek to suppress or replace mutations, but rather integrate those with unique abilities into their efforts to rebuild and protect their communities. This inclusivity fosters a spirit of cooperation and innovation, making Remnant enclaves places of both bustling activity and quiet resilience. Ultimately, every Remnant carries a fragment of the past and a spark of hope for the future, their lives defined by the ceaseless quest to revive the Immortal Machine and restore what was lost.
Irone, Remnant of the Clockwork Rebellion
Beneath the maze of twisted pipes and shuddering steam valves, Irone awoke in the heart of the Clockwork Rebellion’s sanctuary deep in the heart of the Remnants home. Irone’s body was a masterpiece of interlocking cogs and gleaming pistons; brass plates riveted over a mesh of ancient gears, every limb whirring with the restless pulse of old machinery that was barely understood by anyone alive today. Irone was unique even amongst the Remnants; he was more clockwork and gears than man now and his mutations had allowed him to survive his augmentations where others simply would have perished.
In the flickering lamplight, his silhouette moved with the precision of a finely tuned engine, each gesture accompanied by the soft click and grind of clockwork. Long ago, the Remnants had risen against tyranny or so the tales were told and the infamous Clockwork Rebellion was at its forefront or at least that was a tale that was infrequently spoken of outside the Clockwork Rebellion’s sanctuary. Irone was one of the few who remained, exiled and misunderstood even by the other Remnants for he had outlived them all.
Every day, Irone journeyed through cavernous halls lined with rusted gears and dormant boilers, searching for fragments of lost machinery that might restore the Immortal Machine and restore the world’s balance. At night, he would ascend to the surface, his glass eyes glowing like twin lanterns beneath the night sky lit by the Red Moon, watching the stars shift beyond a lattice of copper pipes and smokestacks. Each evening, the wind carried the faint chime of rotating turbines; a memory of the era when machines and mortals shared a common dream, when heart and mechanism beat together in harmony.
One stormy night, thunder rolled like a hammer striking against metal, and Irone’s senses detected a surge of desperation rising from above. Echoes of wounded voices and the clattering of hurried footsteps reverberated through the tangled network of no-longer functioning pipes. Deep within his chest, a central gear spun faster; a signal, a purpose compelling Irone to climb the winding stairways. When he reached the surface, battered but resolute, he unfurled the reinforced shield built into his arm, sheltering survivors beneath the intricate latticework of his brass-fitted frame. His voice emerged, modulated by air passing through copper tubes: “Hold fast let the old ways guide you, for every cog in the great engine has its place.”
With every act of mercy, Irone’s legend grew amongst the Remnants who had both almost forgotten and sometimes feared the Clockwork Rebellion through their ignorance. They began to call him the Cogheart Guardian, a sentinel forged from the rebellion’s forgotten hopes and oiled by the promise of renewal. The story of Irone’s deeds wove him deeper into the tapestry of the Remnants story; a creature not wholly machine nor entirely mortal, but a bridge between steam and soul.