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Days of Miracle and Wonder

An age of brass engines, impossible inventions, lost continents, masked avengers, gentleman scientists, sky pirates, occult conspiracies, talking apes, and men and women who refused to believe that the impossible had any right to remain impossible.

Days of Miracle and Wonder is a world of high adventure spanning two great ages: the Age of Steam and the Age of Diesel. It is a world of forgotten kingdoms, aerial armadas, scientific marvels, occult mysteries, masked crimefighters, and explorers whose names appear regularly in newspapers, police reports, diplomatic cables, and the occasional ancient prophecy.

Here are gathered the exploits of such figures as Dr. Blaze Cartwright, Sparkplug Malone, the Actuary, the Satin Specter, and countless other adventurers whose lives seem determined to embarrass conventional historians.

Editor's Note: Dates in this archive should be approached with caution. The chronology of Days of Miracle and Wonder is notoriously unreliable. The year is often recorded as 193X and, according to some authorities, always has been.

The Setting

Days of Miracle and Wonder is a world where scientific progress races alongside ancient mysteries, where explorers routinely discover lands omitted from respectable maps, and where every advance in civilization seems to reveal a new secret waiting beyond the horizon.

Steam locomotives thunder across continents. Airships cross oceans. Diesel-powered flying wings prowl distant skies. Strange energies lurk beneath forgotten temples. Newspapers report wonders so frequently that most readers have become almost accustomed to them.

The setting is divided into two broad eras.

The Age of Steam

The Age of Steam is the era of explorers, inventors, imperial adventurers, scientific expeditions, electrical marvels, spiritualist scandals, lost cities, and impossible voyages. It is the age of brass machinery, expedition journals, great discoveries, and mysteries hidden in the blank spaces of the map.

1. 1. 1. Notable Themes

• Exploration
• Scientific Discovery
• Lost Worlds
• Airships
• Secret Societies
• Occult Mysteries
• Victorian Adventure

The Age of Diesel

The Age of Diesel is the age of masked crimefighters, globe-trotting adventurers, sky pirates, secret weapons, art deco cities, impossible scientific devices, criminal masterminds, and newspaper headlines that seem increasingly difficult to believe.

This is the era of Cosmopolis, of roaring aircraft engines, hidden kingdoms, death rays, mysterious islands, and heroes larger than life.

1. 1. 1. Notable Themes

• Pulp Adventure
• Masked Heroes
• Weird Science
• Crimefighting
• Lost Kingdoms
• Air Power
• Globe-Spanning Intrigue

Major Figures

Principal Dossiers

• Dr. Blaze Cartwright — Explorer, scientist, horseman, adventurer, and occasional cause of international incidents.
• Sparkplug Malone — Aviator, mechanic, adventurer, and champion of Cosmopolis.
• The Actuary — Mathematical prodigy whose calculations frequently make the impossible appear practical.
• The Satin Specter — Elegant masked crimefighter and rumored Hermit of Merrywick Hall.
• Drake Cartwright, Esq. — Adventurer, memoirist, raconteur, and perennial scandal.

Places Of Note

• Cosmopolis
• Lemuria
• Merrywick Hall
• The Devil's Triangle

Themes And Tone

The Rule Of DMW: A character should never be merely a profession. An airship captain is not enough. A detective is not enough. A scientist is not enough. Every major character should possess a legend, a mystery, a reputation, a signature accomplishment, and at least one unbelievable story that later turns out to be true.

Days of Miracle and Wonder celebrates extraordinary people living in extraordinary times. Its heroes are explorers, inventors, masked avengers, daring pilots, scientific geniuses, globe-trotting archaeologists, brilliant rogues, and larger-than-life adventurers.

The impossible is common, but never ordinary. Wonders should astonish. Villains should be memorable. Heroes should be the sort of people whose names become headlines.