People: Caliper Bravegear

"Do you smell that? Smells like... opportunity."

Caliper Bravegear (CR 258 Kla 18 – / AO -208 Rich 2 – ) is a gnome inventor and entrepreneur. He is notable for having been the first CEO of Coldlands Weaponry, is effectively the founder of the Technological field of atomics, and was instrumental in the formation of the Corporate Congress on Ganymede.

History

Caliper was born in Sharlyik (shar-LIKE) in the year CR 258. As with most gnomes of the era, he took to tinkering with gusto, and while not incredibly successful, he did earn himself some minor accolades, particularly for small innovations on firearms, a field of study that primarily interested halflings and few others.

In CR 328, he decided to strike out on his own and explore the world before settling down. Taking on something of a "gentleman explorer" aesthetic, he first ventured to Molandum, traveling through the Desert of the Unspoken and the Caurak Mountains, until he eventually came to the cities of the Magocracy in CR 336. There, in the city-state of Oronteressë (oh-ron-ter-ESS-ee), he heard rumors of a potential conflict in Ashkar, where - apparently - humans and other "shorter-lived" races were kept in effective slavery by the elves. The elves of the Magocracy found the practice distasteful, but were divided as to what to do about it, and the discussion had been started by rumors that an uprising was imminent.

Caliper decided that getting involved in such a venture would be an exciting prospect and make for a good story, and so he booked passage aboard a sailing ship soon thereafter from the city of Tiriostoldó (tie-rye-oh-STOLE-doe), and left for Ashkar, arriving in Elenteressë (el-en-ter-ESS-ee) in CR 338. The imminence of an uprising was apparently spoken of in the elven sense of the word, however, as when Caliper arrived, everything seemed to be perfectly in order. While he was treated somewhat suspiciously at the port for being Technologically-inclined, the elves of Elenteressë allowed him entry, with severe warnings about sharing any sort of Technology with the shorter-lived races who lived among the elves. "Duly noted," he replied, and went on his way.

It did not take long for Caliper to find himself among the humans and other "lesser" races of Elenteressë, living in what were effectively slums. The general mood was sour, but Caliper detected a hint of optimism among them - something was in the works, he sensed, and he set out to find it. In CR 339, he found Fortang Diaclo, who was ostensibly planning a revolution against the elves, and attempting to build firearms. Caliper was impressed with the human's work, but he understood that the human was attempting to start from first principles. Having seen the horrors of life under the elves, Caliper decided to throw his lot in with the revolutionaries, and began teaching Fortang the finer arts of guncraft. Over the course of the next year, he grew increasingly incensed at the treatment of the humans and other races under the yoke of the elves, and he decided that - when the time came - he would do whatever was necessary to help them gain their freedom.

In CR 340, he decided that - if the revolution were to succeed - they would need significantly more support. To that end, Caliper left the would-be revolutionaries and went back out into the world, seeking out the flying city of Urilaulri, hoping that his gnomish brethren there would be willing to lend their support. While they refused to unilaterally and outright support the revolution, some individuals in Urilaulri did promise to provide support and supplies, though not overtly: there was little interest in getting involved in a potential war. With this understanding, Caliper left Urilaulri, and returned to Elenteressë in the winter of CR 341.

The Diaclo Revolution

Having decided that the time was right, Diaclo began his revolution in the spring of CR 342.

Once the revolution was under way, Caliper served as liaison to Urilaulri, setting up smuggling of goods and coordinating drop points for supplies. Not much of a warrior himself, Caliper devoted himself to a logistical role, though he did take up arms over the course of the revolution on more than one occasion, usually in response to elven ambushes during smuggling operations.

Finally, in the summer of CR 343, the elves in Elenteressë capitulated to Diaclo's demands, and signed a treaty in which the entirety of the Coldlands Territory was given to the revolutionaries, on the condition that they leave at once, take all of their Technology with them, and a wall be built separating the two nations. While most of the remaining members of the revolution were overjoyed with the successful resolution of their revolt, Caliper sensed a degree of recalcitrance in the elves: being long-lived himself, he suspected that they would seek vengeance, and probably sooner rather than later.

The Coldlands Territory

Once the city of Mechanicus was established, Caliper and Fortang had long discussions about the possibility of another war, and most likely not in the far future. Agreeing with the gnome, Fortang founded the Coldlands Weaponry corporation, and gave full control over to Caliper, trusting in the gnome's technical expertise as well as ability to negotiate with external entities that may be able to provide support.

Caliper took to the job with gusto, establishing multiple workshops throughout the Coldlands with the aim of automating weapons production. The goal was simple: reduce the complexity of existing weaponry so that they could be easily mass-produced, construct enough manufactories to manufact sufficient weapons to arm the populace, and begin experimenting with new weapons that would assist the greatly-outnumbered citizens of the Coldlands should the elves strike. Under Caliper's guidance, these goals were reached easily within a decade, and by CR 360, CWI manufactories were producing rifles and similar weapons in mass quantities, more than enough to keep every citizen armed to the teeth.

Once its main goal was completed, however, Caliper had bigger dreams: specifically, he had begun trawling the Blue for any hint of more powerful Technological armaments, and had found accounts of Roywyn Folkor, a seemingly-apocryphal individual from the legends of the Ronkan Empire who had designed what she called "walkers," enormous bipedal machines of war (recall that at this time in history, Kotrit Wayveri's Blue Veil was still in effect, and thus the Ronkan Empire was considered legend, not fact). In coordination with Takuro Motors, a vehicle-oriented business out of Colianth, Caliper ordered construction of significantly larger manufactories intended for the mass production of vehicles of war, on a scale that had never been seen before, and by CR 372, the Coldlands had a sizable army of the enormous machines.

However, even with mass-manufacted guns and 'walkers at his disposal, Caliper was not certain they would be able to fend off an elven invasion. His time among the elves, and his knowledge of people like Kalrios Dilark, made him very aware of the potential power of Magic, and that such powers could almost certainly overwhelm his Technologies. In CR 373, Caliper initiated a secret research project, headed by himself personally, into what Technology was truly capable of in terms of destructive force. While many avenues were explored, the one that yielded the best results was the study of radiation, and thus the Technological field of atomics was born.

In CR 387, the Coldlands' spies and informants in the elven nation returned with grave news: the elves had a plan to retake the lands they had ceded to the revolution, and were preparing for war. Fortunately, such planning would take a few years, and so the Coldlands also ramped up production of weaponry and prepared themselves for the worst. Meanwhile, Caliper and his research teams worked long hours, trying desperately to find a way to use what they had found to build a weapon with which the elves could be repelled.

In the winter of CR 388, Caliper and his hand-picked team finally cracked the secret of the atom, and in spring of CR 390, tested a nuclear weapon in a cave complex deep below the surface of the Coldlands.

After examining the destruction wrought by the atomic fire, Caliper said only this: "Oh yes... yes, I believe that will do nicely."

The elves' declaration of war came the next day.

The Coldlands War

The elven offensive against the Wall was swift, and the defenses were overrun in short order: while the Coldlands military had ample firearms, those were unfortunately little match for a literal army of elven mages. Urilaulri was called upon for assistance, and this time, the call was answered - unfortuately, a literal crash into Naxx'rithal, coming from an alternate timeline through an enormous time rift, left the floating city heavily damaged, and caused it to crash into the continent near the eastern seaboard, rendering their assistance largely moot.

As the elves began their march into the Coldlands, Caliper was authorized to use the weapon he and his team had devised. Not trusting humanoid pilots, Caliper controlled the ornithopter carrying the payload himself, and drove it directly into the Wall where the elves had breached and were establishing a beachhead and command center for operations in the Coldlands.

It is not known how many lives perished that day in atomic fire, but what is known is that the force of the blast finally unraveled the magic put into place by Kotrit Wayveri nearly three centuries prior, and the eternal unnatural cold gripping the northern part of Ashkar was whisked away. In less than a week, what had once been endless snowfields became blistering desert.

In the meantime, the elves sounded a full retreat, not wishing to face such force again. For at least the next fifty years, while most of the physical Coldlands Wall remaining, it was instead a nigh-impenetrable barrier of radiation that kept the elves out of the - now horribly ill-named - Coldlands Territory, and even once the area became habitable again, the elves had apparently learned their lesson, and left well enough alone.

The war lasted all of two weeks, but the aftereffects would be felt for a very long time after.

In the aftermath, Fortang decided that the weapons and technologies Caliper had brought to bear were far too dangerous to continue researching or developing, and made an executive decision to seize all of CWI's assets related to the project. Caliper begrudgingly accepted this decision, but felt that Fortang - in his old age - had grown soft: these were exactly the sorts of technologies the Coldlands needed to focus on, to protect them from future threats. For the time being, however, he said nothing: after all, he would far outlive Fortang.

The Space Race

In CR 391, with uncertainty as to whether or not the elves had truly learned their lesson, Fortang made a decision: if the elves wouldn't leave them alone, then they would have to find a new home, preferably as far away as possible. To that end, he announced that the Coldlands would devote its industries to a new purpose: to explore space and find a new planet on which to settle. In response, Caliper and his allies in Takuro Motors shifted their manufactories towards that purpose, and the work was undertaken with great haste: with the war still being a fresh memory, many decided that if they were going to go, they should do so soon.

Caliper's interests in the project were more personal. If he could establish a research base off-planet, away from the prying eyes of the government of the Coldlands, he would almost assuredly be able to continue his nuclear research. Enabling space travel became his number one priority, and under that vision, the breadth of CWI expanded significantly.

By CR 394, multiple successful missions had gone to and returned from Ganymede, and so Caliper requested permission to set up a CWI installation on Ganymede. This permission was granted, and a cadre of CWI employees made their way to the planet. This expedition was led by Frys Polyjammer, a fellow gnome and one of Caliper's most trusted researchers during the nuclear program; while Frys had the public mission of colonizing the planet, he also had a secret agenda given to him specifically by Caliper, to set up a research laboratory as quickly as possible and resume their nuclear research.

However, in early CR 397, the secret nuclear laboratory was discovered, and a communique directly from Fortang ordered a cessation of all work. Frys informed Caliper that he had to shut it down, and did so, though unlike with the shutdown in CR 391, the laboratories remained under CWI's control, albeit under governmental lock-and-key. This frustrated Caliper to no end, as the work being done with phazon had been proving to be incredibly promising, with projections indicating that they would be able to conduct experiments within a few years that otherwise would most likely have taken decades. Caliper made arrangements to travel to Ganymede himself, but in late CR 397, the unthinkable happened.

The Second Tyranid Invasion

Where they came from, no one was certain, but what was certain was that in the span of a few hours, the entire planet of Ganymede was crawling with Tyranids, alien creatures from beyond the edges of the Philomena system. While colonists scrambled to flee the invading menace, not all were able to escape, instead holing up and holding their ground against the creatures. Not all of these holdouts made it, with Frys being among those who perished in the onslaught.

Fortunately, the threat was ended relatively quickly, and within a year, the Crew of the Phoenix managed to defeat the Hive Queen, ending the Tyranid threat. In the meantime, however, the colonists' opinions of the Coldlands government on Adnez was abysmal: no aid or relief had come, and they had been forced to hold their own for the entirety of the invasion. Caliper was especially furious at the loss of life, and insisted that, if his nuclear labs had not been shut down, they could have ended the threat with little - if any - outside assistance. He angrily demanded that the CWI be given autonomy on Ganymede, to oversee defense of the colonists, and Fortang reluctantly gave it, apologetic for the loss of life but firm in his opinion that the "nuclear option" would have just made things worse.

That was the last time the two spoke in person, and in CR 399, Caliper left for Ganymede.

Formation of New Mechanicus

Having gained a level of autonomy, Caliper set about to the task of governance and setting up the necessary bureaucratic infrastructure to make it happen. Under his direction, CWI opened several new divisions, including provisions for military personnel, mining, and diplomatic relations with local governments. While Coldlands officials had gone along with Caliper to ensure a level of oversight, they were largely powerless, and instead attempted to offer advice, effectively serving as a political cabinet for Caliper.

As time progressed, Caliper grew increasingly frustrated with even the little amount of red tape he was forced to deal with, and in CR 411, declared the formation of a new nation, New Mechanicus, on Ganymede. This news reached Fortang, and while he was not surprised, he was upset by the move. In an attempt to salvage the situation, as well as rescue the Coldlands officials now stranded in what he presumed would be somewhat hostile territory, Fortang arranged for his people to be returned, in exchange for the Coldlands' recognition of New Mechanicus as a sovereign nation, and the establishment of a Coldlands embassy in New Mechanicus. Caliper agreed to the terms, on the condition that CWI offices in the Coldlands would be treated effectively as embassies in exchange; by this time, almost all CWI manufacting had been moved to facilities on Ganymede.

With both men agreeing to the terms, New Mechanicus became officially recognized, with Caliper its de facto head of state, as the nation had effectively been founded by him, and by extension, CWI. However, Caliper rapidly found himself at odds with his counterpart at Takuro Motors, who argued that - as the space missions had been joint ventures - Takuro Motors deserved some amount of recognition and participation in government. It took several years for the drama to play out, but eventually Caliper conceded the point, but that he was not yet ready to step aside: he wanted to further investigate possible options in terms of governmental structure. Takuro Motors agreed, and gave him until CR 425 to determine how best to structure the forthcoming joint government.

From CR 418 to CR 425, Caliper studied a number of ideas in terms of how best to govern the nation. During that time, due to the new nation's dependence on other organizations for imports, other corporations came forward and demanded participation. Eventually, Caliper had no fewer than seven other corporations, including Takuro Motors, barking at his heels for him to come to a decision, threatening all-out war on Ganymede.

The Corporate Congress

In late CR 425, Fortang Diaclo passed away. With his final link to the Coldlands Territory gone, Caliper made his decision: true government was not the answer. Corporations had been the key to the Coldlands' success all along, and were it not for the meddling of Diaclo's government, much more could have been accomplished. He thus announced the formation of the Corporate Congress, and in CR 426, New Mechanicus became a corporatocracy, avoiding unnecessary bloodshed in the transition by giving each corporation who had come to him in the past decade a seat at the table.