The continent of Alsus is periodically ravaged with nano-plagues from the Settler's War, and the always present danger of Viper Cats, a gengineered breed of jaguar with the speed of a low-flying plane in full charge, venom that has more in common with sarin than rattlesnake toxin, and a disposition that starts at 'Kill everything' and gets progressively nastier as it gets hungrier.
In an effort to escape the insanity brought on by the Hopeful Ones, the Grim Folk, their erstwhile servants set out in boats for the summer cottages on the island chain, the Seventy Spires off the coast of Alsus. Upon arriving, they knew that the Hopeful would follow them if they could, and use the boats inbuilt computers to draw the boats back, so they sunk all the boats in deep water.Then they let the various factions of Hopeful Ones kill each other off.
The plagues and the Viper Cats are some of the things the Hopeful Ones left behind.
Now, the Grim Folk were called such because they had a view of the tragic nature of life, and didn't believe in Utopias or Glorious Futures. They were also called that because they had a strong tendency to be the hewers of wood and fetchers of water to the more politically connected Hopeful Ones, and thus they felt a little put upon and grim. Some might think the Grim Folk were the ones who did most of the actual work for little of the actual pay or respect.
But once they got to their separate islands, for they were not city-loving folk, and so they scattered, they found they needed trade. At first it was doctors, and then engineers. Later it was merchants.
The largest island, Calanth, has four Spires, or mountains above four thousand feet, and a total size of ten square miles. This is typical, except most islands have only one Spire. There is very little flat land to farm.There are a few poor ports, but most are rocky and hazardous, and prone to the occasional volcanic laval interruption.
So when one of the Grim Folk re-invented from a historical text the Hot Air Balloon, it was a revolution. That first five years had been very rough, but the Balloon started to ease things. From there, it took about twenty years to get up to the point where there was a fleet of Zeppelins servicing all the islands on a schedule. And where there were other Zeppelins to be had for hire.
And of course...Air Pirates.
Its a rough life, but with the hydrogen from the volcanoes, and the Zeps, and goats that climb the near vertical slopes in search of food, and the balloon fishers who go out from some islands to net fish, the Grim Folk get by.
Each Spire is independent politically, but there is the Grand Moot where all meet for two weeks once a year, and where various deals get hammered out, and duels are settled, and new Zeps bought, and pretty girls meet handsome air pilots. It is of course, on Calanth.
And there you go, O7, a Zeppelin world for your use...
