Casket Manufacturing: Building War Machines in the Ruins
"We scavenge the bones of giants and call ourselves builders. We're not creating...we're looting corpses and praying the spare parts fit."
-Forgemaster Durr, Dwarven Forge-Guilds
Can new Caskets be built in Year 437, four centuries after the Sundering? The short answer: yes, but not well. The long answer involves salvage operations, lost knowledge, resource scarcity, and desperate improvisation. Humanity can build Caskets...but they're inferior shadows of pre-Sundering originals, cobbled together from scrap and hope.
⚠ Manufacturing Requires TWO Components
Building a functional Casket requires manufacturing both the mechanical chassis and acquiring a Soulstone power source:
- The Chassis: Pilot chamber, limbs, armor plating, neural thread interface, hydraulics. This is the mechanical "body" that the living pilot straps into.
- The Soulstone Core: A bound soul trapped in crystalline battery. Cannot be manufactured...must be harvested from corpses via soul-binding ritual. Powers the chassis systems.
Bottleneck: Soulstone supply limits Casket production. You can build 100 chassis, but without 100 souls, you have 100 useless metal coffins.
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The Manufacturing Problem
Why Can't We Build Pre-Sundering Quality?
| Challenge | Pre-Sundering Solution | Year 437 Reality |
|---|---|---|
| Precision Engineering | Computer-aided design, laser cutting, nanometer tolerances | Hand tools, eyeball measurements, "close enough" tolerances |
| Material Science | Titanium alloys, carbon nanotubes, synthetic polymers | Scavenged steel, salvaged titanium (if lucky), wood/bone substitutes |
| Industrial Infrastructure | Factories, supply chains, quality control, mass production | Individual forges, scavenger networks, trial-and-error, one-off builds |
| Power Sources | Miniature fusion cells (20-year lifespan, mass-produced) | Scavenged pre-war cells (finite supply) OR soul-binding (ethical nightmare) |
| Technical Knowledge | Engineering degrees, research libraries, peer review | Oral tradition, trial-and-error, fragments of pre-war manuals |
The Fundamental Issue: Pre-Sundering Caskets were built by industrial civilization with unlimited resources and centuries of accumulated knowledge. Post-Sundering Caskets are built by scavengers with hand tools and half-remembered blueprints. The quality gap is insurmountable.
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Casket Types by Origin
| Type | Source | Quality | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Sundering Originals | Scavenged from ruins (Titan Industries, Prometheus Corp, etc.) | Excellent (if intact) | Rare (finite supply) |
| Ossuarium Refurbished | Original frame + replaced components + soul-binding optimization | Very Good | Uncommon (requires originals) |
| Dwarven Custom | Built from scratch using scrap metal and runic enhancement | Good (craftsmanship) but Inferior (materials) | Limited (slow production) |
| Faction Patchwork | Salvaged parts + jury-rigged repairs + prayer | Poor to Fair | Common (most field Caskets) |
| Amateur Builds | Improvised from scrap by untrained builders | Terrible (often non-functional) | Common (desperation builds) |
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Faction Manufacturing Capabilities
The Ossuarium (Industrial Leader)
The Ossuarium controls the world's largest Casket manufacturing operation, centered in the Boneyards...a massive salvage complex built atop pre-Sundering industrial ruins.
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| Production Rate | 12-15 refurbished Caskets per month (using salvaged frames) |
| New Construction | 2-3 new Caskets per month (inferior to originals, 60% durability) |
| Specialization | Soul-binding integration, power core optimization, mass production techniques |
| Workforce | 800+ salvagers, 200 engineers, 50 soul-binders (largest in world) |
| Key Advantage | Access to pre-Sundering industrial sites, technical archives, supply networks |
| Weakness | Quality declining as salvage becomes scarcer, no true innovation |
Process: Ossuarium Refurbishment
- Salvage: Teams scour ruins for intact pre-Sundering frames (months of searching per find)
- Assessment: Engineers evaluate structural integrity, replace damaged components
- Soul Core Installation: Bind soul to power core, integrate with hydraulic systems
- Testing: 30-day trial period (10% failure rate, soul released or Casket scrapped)
- Deployment: Successful Caskets sold or assigned to Ossuarium military
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Dwarven Forge-Guilds (Master Crafters)
The Dwarves are the only faction that can build functional Caskets from scratch without relying on pre-Sundering frames. Quality is high, but production is painfully slow.
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| Production Rate | 1 custom Casket per 3-6 months (artisan builds, not mass production) |
| New Construction | 100% from-scratch builds using forged steel, runic plating, hand-crafted joints |
| Specialization | Runic enhancement, modular design, extreme durability (outlasts Ossuarium builds) |
| Workforce | 50 master smiths, 200 apprentices, guild-based training (10-year apprenticeships) |
| Key Advantage | Can create new components without salvage, runic inscriptions add unique abilities |
| Weakness | Extremely slow, expensive (5x Ossuarium cost), limited titanium supply |
Process: Dwarven Custom Build
- Commission: Client requests Casket (typically nobility, faction leaders, heroes)
- Design: Master smith drafts blueprints, calculates stress tolerances by hand
- Forging: Chassis forged from scrap steel (or salvaged titanium if client pays premium)
- Runic Inscription: Every plate engraved with runes (structural enhancement, cultural pride)
- Assembly: Hydraulics, joints, optics installed over months of precision work
- Soul-Binding: Client's chosen soul bound to core (often pre-arranged contract)
- Blessing Ceremony: Finished Casket presented to client with guild honors
"An Ossuarium Casket is a tool. A Dwarven Casket is an heirloom. You can feel the difference when you pilot one...every joint moves with purpose, every plate was placed with care. It's not just a machine. It's proof that craftsmanship survives the apocalypse."
-Pilot testimony, Dwarven Heavy Casket
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Church of Absolution (Repair & Consecration)
The Church cannot build new Caskets, but excels at repairing damaged ones and "consecrating" bound souls to make them more compliant.
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| Production Rate | 0 new builds (cannot manufacture) |
| Repair Capability | Excellent (field repairs, combat damage, soul stabilization) |
| Specialization | Soul counseling (reduces degradation), consecration rituals, morale maintenance |
| Workforce | 300+ Tech-Priests (engineer-clerics), 50 soul confessors |
| Key Advantage | Bound souls in Church Caskets experience slower degradation (spiritual comfort slows decline) |
| Weakness | Dependent on Ossuarium/Dwarves for new frames, ideology limits innovation |
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The Exchange (Brokers, Not Builders)
The Exchange doesn't manufacture Caskets...they buy, sell, and rent them. Think of them as weapons dealers for the soul economy.
| Service | Details |
|---|---|
| Casket Trading | Buy used Caskets from Ossuarium, sell to highest bidder (30% markup) |
| Soul Leasing | Rent Caskets for temporary use (military campaigns, construction projects) |
| Upgrade Financing | Loan money for Dwarven custom builds (interest rates 15-40%) |
| Repossession | Seize Caskets from debtors (including extracting souls mid-contract) |
| Key Advantage | Largest Casket inventory in world (warehouses full of "repossessed assets") |
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Other Factions (Limited/Improvised)
| Faction | Manufacturing Capability |
|---|---|
| Elven Verdant Covenant | Bio-organic hybrids (living wood chassis, vine hydraulics). Unique but fragile. 1-2 per year. |
| Nomad Collective | Patchwork repairs only. Scavenge parts, jury-rig solutions, pray it holds together. |
| Wyrd Conclave | Reality-warped Caskets (impossible geometry, phase-shifting). Unstable. Rare (1 per decade). |
| Vestige Bloodlines | Bio-mechanical fusion (grafted mutations, adaptive armor). Experimental. High failure rate. |
| Emergent Syndicate | Hive-mind coordination (chitinous plating, pheromone control). Grotesque but effective. |
| Crucible Packs | Explosive modifications (scavenged bombs, jury-rigged launchers). More dangerous to pilot than enemy. |
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The Salvage Economy
Where Do Components Come From?
| Component | Source | Scarcity |
|---|---|---|
| Chassis Frames | Pre-Sundering ruins, battlefields, buried industrial sites | Increasingly rare (finite supply) |
| Fusion Cells | Scavenged from intact pre-war equipment (irreplaceable) | Extremely rare (black market 5,000+ shards each) |
| Titanium Alloys | Aircraft wreckage, military bunkers, deep salvage | Rare (premium builds only) |
| Steel | Demolished buildings, scrap yards, melted-down vehicles | Common (but inferior to alloys) |
| Hydraulic Systems | Construction equipment, industrial machinery, older Caskets | Uncommon (can be rebuilt) |
| Optics/Sensors | Pre-war cameras, targeting systems, medical equipment | Rare (delicate, easily damaged) |
Salvage Hotspots (High-Risk, High-Reward)
- The Boneyards (Ossuarium territory): Largest salvage site, heavily guarded, requires permits
- Titan's Grave (North America ruins): Titan Industries factory complex, Void-corrupted, lethal
- Prometheus Ashes (Siberia): Prometheus Corp disaster response base, frozen, haunted by echoes
- The Drowned Cities (coastal ruins): Submerged pre-war metropolises, underwater salvage required
- Battlefield Graveyards: Sites of major conflicts, destroyed Caskets everywhere, claimed by factions
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The Future of Manufacturing
Can Innovation Happen?
Year 437 humanity is caught between salvage and stagnation. The question isn't "can we build Caskets?"...it's "can we build BETTER Caskets?"
| Approach | Faction | Feasibility |
|---|---|---|
| Reverse-Engineering Pre-War Tech | Ossuarium, Dwarves | Slow progress (missing 90% of knowledge base) |
| Bio-Organic Alternatives | Elves, Vestige Bloodlines | Promising but unstable (10+ years from viability) |
| Void-Powered Systems | Wyrd Conclave | Dangerous (high corruption risk, catastrophic failures) |
| Hive-Mind Integration | Emergent Syndicate | Effective but horrifying (collective consciousness, loss of individuality) |
| Return to Pre-War Knowledge | All factions | Near-impossible (99% of technical data lost with digital infrastructure) |
"We're not advancing. We're treading water in a sea of scrap metal. Every Casket we build is a pale shadow of what came before. And one day...maybe in 50 years, maybe 500...the salvage will run out. Then what? Do we forget how to fight? Or do we learn to build again from scratch?"
-Forgemaster Durr
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Explore Further
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Casket Technology Overview | What Caskets are and how they work |
| Casket Origins | From industrial equipment to war machines |
| Soul-Binding Mechanics | The process of binding souls to Caskets |
| The Ossuarium | The world's largest Casket manufacturer |
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