DeadlandsFactionCollegium

Distinguished Collegium of Interspatial Physics Ex Umbraterra, Scientia | Back to Main Page |

COLLEGIUM HISTORY A year after the founding of Gomorra, members of the "Distinguished Collegium of Interspatial Physics" began to arrive, trickling in pairs or on their own. They naturally began to collaborate and pool resources, knowledge, and funding from their patents. They built a grand building in the style of an East Coast University, and within a month had completely burned it down. The town authorities convened a meeting, and elected to kick the Collegium out of Gomorra. The Collegium acceded to their request - somewhat. Instead of packing up and leaving, they moved to an adjacent mesa, connecting it by suspension bridges and rebuilding their grand university. Two months later, an explosion destroyed the building and took of the upper level of the adjacent mesa. Doggedly undefeated, the Collegium ignored the dictates of common sense and rebuilt the mesa completely. This final effort considerably taxed the resources of the Collegium, not to mention the loss of contributing members in the destruction. The rebuilt mesa is a 'triumph of modernist architecture - ' making it look like a tangled junkyard from the City of Gloom. Thankfully, the Collegium has imposed new safety standards, and there have been no further incidents of destruction. In order to finance themselves, as well as provide a supply of ghostrock to study, the Collegium owns several mines. RANK Faction Rank Rank Title 1 Theorist 2 Dabbler 3 Inventor 4 Department Chair 5 Chairman IMPORTANT FACTION MEMBERS Chairman Oswald Hardinger Chairman Oswald Hardinger, Head of the Distinguished Collegium of Interspatial Physics Oswald Hardinger is a noted scientist, with several patents sold to Smith & Robards. A distinguished engineer, the steel-and-clockwork 'Island' the Collegium rests upon is largely of his eccentric design. Oswald traveled to America a decade ago, and was recruited by the Confederacy to build war machines on behalf of the Confederate war machine. He was sickened by the slaughter some of his inventions were responsible for in the Battle of Washington, and left Roswell literally days before its destruction. Seeking refuge from the possibility of his inventions being used for war, he traveled further west, joining the Collegium and quickly emerging as its leader; he was a moderate voice on many subjects, and dedicated fiercely to the protection and independence of his fellow scientists. While the Collegium has periodically provided mad science gizmos to Gomorra when the community's safety is threatened, he has made it very clear that they are not a 'weapons super store." He does not forbid their study or creation, only their distribution and mass-manufacture. That said, the Collegium is known to have a small arsenal of gatling pistols, flame throwers, and a 'gatling shotgun' was field tested to horrifying success during an invasion of Gomorra by pirates. Hardinger himself is a friendly man, reserved but often distant. He believes there are many geniuses within the Collegium who's intellect will eclipse or surpass his own, but he views it as his responsibility to be a shepherd for that intellect. While he still frequently works on his own theories, his research has fallen to the wayside in an attempt to recruit more scientists to the Collegium and ingratiate the scientists to the community. He zealously guards the members of the Collegium, and the few times he is anything less than logical and reasonable is when their safety is threatened. Oswald is currently dating the Chair of Astronomy. Department Chair Eric Zarkov, Department of Applied Physics Eric Zarkov, Chair of Applied Physics Susan Franklin, Department of Astronomy Susan Franklin, Chair of Astronomy Gunther Hapworth, Department of Biochemistry Gunther Hapworth, Chair of Biochemistry Gunther Hapworth is an extremely thin, sickly, hairless albino. He is rarely seen outside the Collegium, and never seen outside of Steam Alley. On his rare trips into Steam Alley during daylight hours, he walks under a large black umbrella held by himself or an assistant. Gunther is a man of means, born into a moderate degree of wealth, and his various innovations in the field of biochemistry have proven valuable enough to keep him well supported. Gunther is curt with everyone he doesn't consider an intellectual equal, and the number of people in Gomorra he considers an intellectual equal can be counted on one hand. Inventor Gerald Klippstein Gerald Klippstein, Inventor Marcus Perriwinkle Marcus Perriwinkle, Inventor Dabbler Fineas von Landingham Fines Von Landingham, Dabbler Dr. Wellington C. Wagor Dr. Wellington C. Wagor, Dabbler Theorist The Amazing Xemo The Amazing Xemo, Theorist The Collegium's Mesa The Collegium's Mesa has been destroyed - twice - and rebuilt. The first time only managed to destroy the Collegium's Ivy League styled College of Intuitive Sciences, but the second managed to take most of the mesa with it, leaving a single jagged talon of rock poking up from the sea floor. The Collegium rebuilt from the finger of rock, with Oswald Hardinger showing his prowess as an engineer as the Collegium constructed girders and reinforcements. Once, there was a smooth, cohesive designed to the Collegium's new mechanical mesa, but suggestions and improvements from other members of the Collegium left it a haphazard mechanical monstrosity, an eyesore that stands as a defiant representation of the Collegium's stubborn refusal to quit. The Collegium is connected by a mechanical bridge to the main mesa, the only bridge which retracts and boasts a sturdy support that animals are willing to tread without panicking. The Collegium also provides a key service to the city of Gomorra - anyone sentenced to imprisonment for a term longer than two weeks is sentenced to serve their time inside the Collegium's prison. There, they are subject to the Collegium's rehabilitation and prison labor program. The Collegium's mesa is north and east of the main Gomorran mesa, and visibly closer to the mainland than is Gomorra's own mesa. The mesa is roughly a fifth the size of the main mesa, noticeably smaller than the other four mesas, and covered with a metal skin. Ghostrock vapors are usually steaming up from its smokestacks at all hours. Collegium Attractions Automaton Factory Collegium Airstrip Gadget Warehouse Hydro-Accelerator Lighthouse Observatory Power Plant Prison Factory Scrapyard Secret Lab | Back to Main Page |