The city of Volimire, the centre of a country powered by steam. Mercenaries, merchants, socialites, blacksmiths and more live and work in the industrial cities. And all are overseen by a Council of Elders, each having their own district and sub-council, headed by a Consul. While things are mostly peaceful, to say that there aren't any enemies to the Council - or, simply, those that aren't particularly fond of them - would be a lie. Enter Dr. Emil Lazarus. A famous scientist and inventor, once revered and loved, some of his inventions - such as his record player that can switch between three records without the user needing to manually switch them, and particularly his work in creating mechanical replacements for limbs that have been lost or badly damaged - still in use today. No one is quite sure what made him change - perhaps it was the constant unappreciation for his efforts, or a chemical experiment gone wrong - but what is known is that Dr. Emil Lazarus has published paragraphs of rantings about how he could run the country better than the Council, how there are conspiracies that the public aren't being told, and that everyone will find out sooner than later that he has been sent to rule over the people because of his superior intellect and creations.
Most of it went ignored, dismissed as being harmless ramblings by a disillusioned scientist, whose fame and reverence went to his head. That was until he started kidnapping people, transforming them into a half-clockwork robot, and making them a part of his own half-mechanical army. Sending out his clockwork army to kidnap more people to turn them into new members of said army. What started out with lower class citizens and the homeless - people that would go unnoticed if they went missing - has escalated into higher class people going missing, only to be spotted a few weeks later as one of the half-mechanical soldiers. And so, the Council of Elders have decided to recruit a group of adventurers, to find Dr. Emil Lazarus and put a stop to his plan, prevent even more people from being kidnapped and hopefully liberate the clockwork army that is under the scientist's control.
Enter the rag-tag team of eight would-be adventurers. They don't know each other, but they're about to quickly find out. And given they were the only eight brave enough to sign up, even with the very generous reward money, they're what the Council has. Given an airship, supplies and instructions to find all of Dr. Emil Lazarus' laboratories - five in total - as well as incapacitate any members of his army (whether that's saving them or destroying them, the Council do not care) that they may come across, in the hopes of finding the scientist, and bringing him to justice. Well, bring him to the Council.
So gear up - it's time for an adventure.