Eureka

It is 1911 in Eureka, a port city on the Pacific coast of Northern California. The United States is beginning to incorporate the scientific advances of Testla, Curie, and Einstein while taking advantages of the inventions of Edison, Bell, and Diesel. It is a time of growing wealth and industrialization on the West coast. People are moving out of the country into towns and cities to work in factories and send their children to school.

Eureka is a boom town of three thousand citizens with a philosophical institute, a modern sanitorium, and thriving industrial sectors. Most of the streets are paved and many houses even have electricity, powered by the new Bradford steam alternators. On a typical day people move about town on foot, bike, or trolly while the skies spit rain.

The rain forests and mountainous terrain surrounding the town contribute to its seclusion. A single road leads out of the town, East toward Redding and branches South toward the mines. Migrants looking for work arrive infrequently but the road is dangerous and barely a month goes by without an attack by wild beasts or night terrors.

[Many aspects of Obsidian Reign are derived from Deadlands, including ghostrock and the undead. But Eureka is placed several decades later when civilization has finally reached the West coast.]

Society

All citizens are expected to be polite and gentle to all other citizens. The higher your social class, the higher the expectation.

Eureka society is partitioned into four social classes and movement between classes is very rare and viewed unfavorably.

Laborer

Laborers are employed by professionals and merchants to do hard labor: porters, miners, dock workers, servants, lumberjacks, factory workers, etc. They live in a boarding house and can barely afford food and supplies. The entire family works to put food on the table, even children who usually drop out of school as soon as they can lift a hammer.

Polite society has very little respect for common laborers. They are the dregs of society, uncouth and unclean. Law enforcement takes a dim view of the common folk and will land hard on them for any unlawful action or inappropriate behavior toward finer society. As a result they tend to deal with their own problems in their own way, with fists and knives in dark alleys.

Professional

Professionals are skilled professionals of a craft or service in the employ of a local merchant and live in a small house or a "flat" near where they work. They have sufficient income for food and clothing with enough for an occasional celebration but they don't own any property and have very few durable goods beyond their professional tools.

While the law isn't designed to protect professionals, it recognizes their value and will protect them with reasonable effort. As long as they aren't assaulting an aristocrat they can expect due process and a fair trial.

Merchant

Merchants are the bones of the economy. They own a factory, market, shipping company, or other business and make their living by managing that business. They live in a house and eat well with easy access to basic goods and clothing. Merchants are far better off than most of the people in Eureka and while they must still spend most of their time working they have plenty of time to enjoy the better things in life.

Judges and sheriffs are usually considered part of the merchant class and they protect their own. The law gives merchants the benefit of the doubt in any case that doesn't involve an aristocrat or irrefutable proof of guilt. Merchants in trouble can call on law enforcement for protection and legal services.

Aristocrat

The five aristocratic families of Eureka rule the city with extreme politeness. These families are the oldest landowners in the city and control great wealth and hold responsibility for all citizens. They live in one of the grand estates about the town. Every aristocrat follows a strict code of honor, which isn't always honorable but is always polite.

Aristocrats are generally above the law, because they made the laws. Even when they break the law, the judiciary turns a blind eye. But that doesn't mean the aristocrats are thieves and murderers. Eureka is their town and if the town burned so would the aristocracy; they are invested in the town and, generally, wish to see it prosper. The aristocracy polices itself through sanctions, duels, and hidden alliances. They maintain strict politeness, partially because it is difficult to know if they may be offending an ally or provoking an enemy.

Geography