Magic and Machinery: A Steampunk "Anthology"

Welcome to Hourglass City-a thriving metropolis a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Steam Sea and the Brassmere Ocean and all the cultures of the known world. On the surface, the wise Council and the Ministers of each Guild rule fairly and firmly, ensuring that everybody has an opportunity to hone their natural gifts, join a Guild, and lead a prosperous life. Other city-states of the same era have succumbed to war and internal strife, but Hourglass City has risen above them all.

With the different components of society coming together to allow Hourglass City to function like a well-oiled machine, life is as structured and as predictable as clockwork. However, behind the gears and parasols and mechanical wings, a more sinister force lurks; unseen, unheard, and unsuspected.

Welcome to Hourglass City-a city of scones and sorcery, corsets and conspiracies, airships and alchemy, ball gowns and betrayal; a city of magic and machinery. A city filled to the brim with the stories of its plots, ploys, and people.

When life is like clockwork, something is bound to go awry. But when, you ask?

That, my friend, only time will tell.

*Based on a roleplay created by @itsnotsocomplicated and I*
((This story is my 2016 NaNoWriMo project. It is an "anthology" of interconnected short stories set in the same world. Theoretically, one could read each of them independently and in whatever order one wanted, but I recommend reading each story in order to get the full picture.))