We are introduced to this world by Capt. Tom Olam. A man of our own time and place who is summoned back and sideways to the land of Bayern to the court of Lord Auberon, King of the Seelie Fey at the behest of the great wizard Grey Morrolan's spell. With him he brought to their world a copy of a library book about Leonardo Da Vinci that somehow transmogrified into actual working schematics for the devices contained there in. This was an unexpected boon for Bayern and they have made good use of it. Capt Olam turned out to be an exceptional man and currently works as an agent of the crown of Bayern.
The fey are separated into 3 major factions: the Seelie, the Unseemly and the unaligned. Every fey is shown respect or fear as they are capable of almost any act either by whim or intent. The higher form of fey is addressed as Lord or Lady due to the enormous power they possess. They posses varied abilities including changing to ethereal form, placing charms and curses on people, shifting their shapes and many more. One major drawback is their inability to use magic. They are also affected in different ways by different materials. All Fey share a weakness against "Star Iron" which comes from meteors that fall to the earth. This weakness can kill the Fey and its severity ranges from a touch to a massive assault to completed final death. This normally depends on the power of the Fey. If a Fey is killed by mundane means they dissolve and reform in the "Veil." No one knows what the normal life span of a Fey is.
The Veil is the original home of the Fey. Creatures of energy they were formless until they came across their first earth. It was there that many Fey took on form. The Veil is where Fey live and it is where they return if they are killed by mundane means to "reform". This process normally takes 100 years. The Fey in question retains all of their memories and have been known to return after they reform to extract revenge on their killer's family.
The Seelie are the "good" fey. They are enamored by the ways of human kind and strive as best they can to emulate humans and their "society" in every way possible. They endeavor to bolster peace between the races and are led by the powerful King Auberon. The Unseemly are the "bad" fey. They live to indulge their every whim. They kill, lie, steal, and terrorize humanity whenever they can. Their ultimate goal is to enslave humanity for their own nefarious purposes. They are led by the mighty Adversary. The remaining Fey are neutral and try not only to stay out of sight but avoid being pulled into the politics and scheming of either side. The unaligned are rumored to include many powerful fey but very little is known about them.
A subsection of the Fey are the Dwarves. They are in fact no longer fey but a species all their own. Shortly after entering this earth, which is rumored to be the 5th earth of parallel dimensions they have visited, a section of the good fey went to the dragons and requested to be changed so that they would be able to work with metal and the dragons worked a secret ritual to change them. Dwarves are by far the best tinkers and metalworkers in the world. Dwarven made items are known to be of the highest quality and is much sought after. Dwarves live to be approx 100-300 years.
Dragons. Here there be dragons. But they are not as you see them in storybooks or the like. Here dragons evolved over millions of years from the earliest dinosaurs. They have an uncanny knack for magic. In fact dragons are so in tuned with magic they gain many abilities from birth such as breathing fire, shifting their shape and casting mighty magics. Dragons posses a racial memory that goes back to their beginnings and a hunger for collecting things that remind them of their past. Dragons are on the decline as fewer and fewer full female dragons are born. There are many more half and partial dragon/humans moving around the lands. Dragons live thousands of years.
Humans. Picture in your mind Europe. Now imagine a huge lake next to France, dragons flying thru the sky with giant war zeppelins and all imaginable inventions from Jules Verne's imagination around and you are getting the picture of New Europa. The lands are both familiar and alien. The new world is full of magic wielding free masons, zombies fill the New Orleans landscape, the Indians have their own empire there The world is a fascinating place where Capt. Nemo patrols the oceans and Dr. Frankenstein performs his experiments in a dark castle in the mountains of Bavaria. Human wizards form Cabals, or magic guilds, to aid in learning, for protection and to cast mighty rituals that change the face of the world. The average human life expectancy with magical healing available is 40-100 years.
So, are you ready to buckle your swash yet? Not so fast. The twist in this little story is the melodrama and society. In this game the villain often does get away to fight another day and the brave actions of a heroic character can still be disdained by high society as vulgar and rude. To put it mildly the average D&D type would find themselves in a sticky wicket in this game. You are placed in situations where common sense would dictate that you take some blaguard out and shoot him but society demands instead that you make polite conversation with him instead. For those of you who wish an example picture Will Smith's character in Wild Wild West talking with Kenneth Branagh's character at the party. They seem quite sociable but are in point of fact trading verbal barbs with each other.
Society not to your taste? Afraid you will use the wrong salad fork with dinner? No worries. You can play a non societal character. A doctor, a lawyer, a cop, a dockworker. Anyone who actually works and gets paid for it is not a society person. But that does not mean that you get out of being involved in society situations. No, it just means people expect less of you and generally treat you like hired help. But... that can be fun too. :)
This is a brief look at the world of Castle Falkenstein. I apologize to any if it seems abbreviated or if I left out anything of interest to you. Below I have listed the books currently available for this game. More info is available at Talsorian
- Castle Falkenstein (Main Book) - The Book of Sigils - Comme Il Faut - The Lost Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci - The Memoirs of Auberon of Faerie - Six-guns & Sorcery - Steam Age
Note: These books are out of print but are still available from EBay and used book stores.