Worldbuilding Wednesday #2

The story takes place in a land far, far away. A land known as <Londenium> . In the ancient tongue, the word means <wilderness>.
The majority of the ground is dried up and barren, and what little water or plant-life that is left is slowly fading away. The land of Londenium will soon have no future.
The cause of the phenomenon that created this wilderness and tore hope from those who live here is still uncertain, but one theory suggests that the first few cases appeared roughly 1000 years ago, when the Order of the Sacred Key was established… although details remain unclear.
Humanity is not only in danger because of the harsh environment they live in. Another calamity, born of the world’s distortion, threatens humanity. Anomalies.
Humanity has nowhere else to hide, but they’ve no choice but to cling onto hope for the world and keep on living.
Around Londinium are structures–evidence of the world before it began to decay. Ruins of a prehistoric civilization hide technologies and dangers once thought long lost.

The Order was established roughly a millennium ago, around the same time the world started turning into a wilderness.
With humanity falling from the top of the food chain, the Order tasks itself with how to unlock the future of humanity. They believe strongly in their mantra of cladding themselves in iron and shedding blood in order to achieve that goal.
Their symbol is a woman martyred for her beliefs — a sword saint — but in spite of this the Order is not a religious organization. They are, instead, the sole governing body for all of Londinium while it remains unable to maintain any sense of statehood/sovereignty/self-rule due to its decline.
And so they have come to be known as a World Governing Organization.
They help establish laws, build infrastructure, stimulate economic growth, and protect the peace. They also share technology to make life in the harsh world easier and lead armed groups to deal with the threat of Anomalies.
One of those groups are Knights of the Order. The other a guild that supports adventurers known as <Pathfinders>.

The Order also heads up research on ARMs, the weaponry that both Knights of the Order and Pathfinders use. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Order controls all the instruments of violence in Londenium.
From the cradle to the grave, the Order wants to govern over even life and death itself. The Order naturally comes to rule over the world with an iron fist, and there is no small amount of civil unrest about it.

ARMs are a secret weapon used by humanity in their battle against the Anomalies that roam the wilderness and dwell in the darkness of ruins.
ARM is short for <Aether Reaction Maximizer>, and is the name most people use to refer to them.
ARMs are machines that react to Aether (the source of magic within all living things), amplifying that power in order to drastically strengthen the user. They were created to give the user a way to deal with any threats that stand in their way.
There are six basic frames for ARMs: Guns, Spears, Staffs, Gatling Guns, Katanas, and Fist Weapons. They are created by the Order of the Sacred Key, and over roughly a millenium have seen constant technological advances.
The Order of the Sacred Key claims that ARMs include many hidden functions not covered in their manuals, as well as many black boxes installed during their creation, subsequently making it impossible to manufacture one outside of the Order’s development branch.
One would think, then, that all ARMs sold on the market would subsequently be under the control of the Order of the Sacred Key, and yet…
There have been reports of bootleg ARMs being created illegally and sold on the black market. The Order sees this as a problem they cannot ignore.
Not only are they easy for criminals and those with bounties on their head to get their hands on, but the bootlegs have their limiters and safety measures taken off. This makes them less safe, but boosts their output making them dangerously lethal.

<Pathfinders> is the name given to adventurers who travel across the vast wilderness.
They repel Anomalies, guard merchants, or search the depths of ruins for treasure or lost tech. They face danger for the sense of adventure and to keep their rations full.
Most Pathfinders specialize in a type of ARM in order to cope with the dangers of the wastes, so they typically belong to a guild of the Order to benefit from their support.
Pathfinder guilds offer aid to the Pathfinders, acting as an intermediary and mediator for quests, but are also tasked with managing and monitoring them.
However, Pathfinders, with their powerful ARMs, are considered by many to be just as dangerous to their way of life as Anomalies are.