Background
Some thought that the calamitous collapse of the surface world and the subsequent retreat to the deepest places left to humanity would cause a veritable dark age, stifling creativity for generations to come. The citizens of Atha stand in defiance of that fear, creating new and profound works that celebrate life just as readily as they commemorate what has been lost. Making up the second tier of the city, the Arts District, formally named Atha, is a haphazard mismatch of architectural styles and public artwork clashing brightly and beautifully.
Music can be heard at all hours of the day, lilting through meandering streets covered tightly by multicolored stretched awnings. Those unused to Atha sometimes feel claustrophobic while navigating under the patchwork sky, unused to so much cloth directly overhead, but that feeling is quickly assuaged when encountering any number of plazas designed for public entertainment. The crossing of most major thoroughfares is marked by a bowl shaped depression ringed with seats, at the center of which musicians, jugglers, or tumblers ply their trade. Some of the plazas are instead marked by brightly colored cloth tents from which loud peals of laughter ring out.
In spite of the richness of humanities, Atha harbors a seething underbelly of cutthroat competition and greed. Primarily populated by service workers and creatives of various disciplines, most that live in this district are scraping out a living just barely above poverty. While the majority of the citizens would think twice, or maybe even three times, about bending their morals for a little extra cash, it isn’t uncommon to find shady business opportunities if one knows where to look.
Faction Table
Whenever an encounter prompts a roll on the faction table within this region, roll 2d6.
| Roll | Faction |
| 2 (1) | Waxer |
| 3 (2) | Alienist |
| 4 (3) | Starling |
| 5 (4) | Protectorate |
| 6 (5) | Order of Lost Innocence |
| 7 (6) | Protectorate |
| 8 (5) | Starling |
| 9 (4) | Protectorate |
| 10 (3) | Order of Lost Innocence |
| 11 (2) | Fetterer |
| 12 (1) | Waxer |
Faction Dynamic
Primary:
- Protectorate: Commandeered by Colonel Joan, the soldiers of Atha are appropriately flamboyant for the Arts District. The soldiers recent presence is easily noticeable from the acrid plumes of pastel colored smoke dissipating from their aerosolized toxin grenades or the hastily scrawled graffiti from their Acrylic Detonate. Ostensibly patrolling Atha to keep the peace, the soldiers are more likely to be keeping an eye out for rare or costly works of art to “appropriate” for Joan’s collection.
- Order of Lost Innocence: Clandestinely involved in approximately a quarter of the galleries in Atha, the Order of Lost Innocence operates an extensive and well hidden smuggling ring. Operating under the claim of preserving the arts, the Order sneaks artworks and objects of cultural significance out of the city in an attempt to bring them beyond the grasp of technological corruption. Anything acquired that is deemed unworthy of preservation is sold for profit to line the Order’s coffers.
- Starling Legion: Nearly always found where the disenfranchised rest their heads, Starling operatives hide in plain sight amongst the eccentric crowds of the district. They use Atha as a base of operations for recruitment efforts aimed at the marginalized and downtrodden. Small cells of three agents each operate out of Satiries, using their pirate broadcasts to convey information throughout the city. The cells always operate in isolation so that if one is discovered they can’t provide the identities of any other operatives.
Secondary:
- Fetterers: As savvy as ever, the Fetterers utilize the art market as they would any other business venture. Legitimate art dealers are duped into laundering money for the Fetterers, accepting dirty money in exchange for valuable works before buying it back at a markup after the artist gains popularity. Of course, the Fetterers are also in control of which artists actually do attain notoriety. They will often volunteer as patrons for unwary artists, indenturing them into their service and forcing them to create until they recoup their “investment.”
- Alienists: A recent arrival to the streets of Atha, the Alienists found fertile ground working for the burgeoning stars of the Arts District, plying their trade with the cabaret singers and runway models. They use their peculiar strain of flesh magics to alter the appearance of performers, sculpting their faces like they would a mound of wet clay. The cabarets claim they are always bringing fresh talent to the stage but there are persistent rumors that today’s stars are the same as last year’s, merely given a facelift by an Alienist.
- Waxer Cabal: Stalking the dark places of Atha, the Waxers slither unseen through the shadows until they spot their prey. Sometimes, a desperate youth staring at a cabaret marquee, dreaming of seeing their own name in lights. Elsewhere, an artist propelled to commit their vision to canvas spends their money on paints while their stomach goes empty. The Waxers jump on these individuals, offering to see to their needs, giving food or money in exchange for their yearning, their motivation, their creativity. Anything that makes one human the Waxer Cabal will see quickly plucked, cataloged, and tucked away for later resale.
Locations
Housing
- Cart Homes: Tiny homes made from modified rickshaw carts. Just large enough for a bed, covered and able to be moved with relative ease. Often congregate in small communities, but prone to scattering.
- Lofts: Single room studios located over other businesses, often discounted for the workers of those businesses.
- Modular Housing: Repurposed containers, stacked together in non-symmetrical structures. Each container is a rentable/purchasable unit. Multiple units can be connected to create multi-room homes. The buildings are often rearranged to accommodate new units. Narrow, labyrinthian hallways wind between the stacks of units, constantly reconfiguring as the units are shifted within the building
- Art Homes: Pieces of functional art, constructed to contain living spaces. The installations themselves can be moved to different parts of the district and often pop up seemingly overnight. No two art homes are the same and are made in a dizzying array of styles and out of a myriad of materials. Visitors to these home often experience abnormal sensations inside as the interiors are typically magically augmented in some manner.
Art Home examples (roll for each column):
| d6 | Design | Material | Augmentation |
| 1 | Menacing, sharp projecting spikes protruding at all angles | Luminescent chitin, any color or variegated | Unexpectedly large interior |
| 2 | Art Deco, stark geometric lines crossing the exterior, large windows, sense of opulence | Coarsely hewn stone | Temperature controlled interior, each guest feels the home is tailored to their individual preference |
| 3 | Futuristic, sleek rounded curves, a series of stacked bubbles | Multicolored cloth, seems to catch unseen breezes | Interior lighting emulates dawn, warm oranges/yellows cascading across the walls |
| 4 | Eclectic, riotous crash of colors and styles, as if five homes intersected in one | Wooly fur, any color, can be shaggy or curly | A dense fog roils throughout the interior, heavily obscuring sight |
| 5 | Crystalline, seems naturally grown from the rock below, can be cubic or angular | Glass, either clear or tinted/opaque | The interior is filled with the heavy aroma of roses |
| 6 | A single, large, spire that thrusts abruptly from the ground | Metallic, either old/rusted or new/shiny | Sound behaves oddly, some rooms completely mute conversation, others throw echoes wildly from the corners |
Industry
- Brewing: The major distilleries of The Trench. Large windowless structures loom at the back of the district, a tangled web of water intake and discharge pipes spider webbing over the edge. Water from the Lacrim is siphoned into the plants where the salt water is used to distill all manner of sugars derived from the local ecology. Skiasynthesic plants, bone grasses, root vegetables, fungus, and some animal components are all utilized in various alcoholic concoctions widely enjoyed both in Peccatu and across The Trench. Though not as refined or specialized as some of the artisanal brewers scattered about the wilderness, the potables created in these factories are mostly safe for human consumption and have limited lingering toxicity. Toxic runoff drips from discharge pipes, caustic ethanol and heavier-than-air fumes drifting down, carried by the Lacrim’s current.
Notable Place: Oasthouse East – One of the more popular breweries in Peccatu, bottles of their beer can be found at almost any establishment that serves alcohol. The workers at Oathouse East overhauled the filtration apparatus for their water intake system in the recent past, actively trying to move past the reputation that “every bottle comes with a prize.”
Notable NPC: Burton Snatch – Head brewer at Oasthouse East, Burton Snatch (overworked, unpleasant, sulfurous) has a polarizing reputation, depending on who is asked. Peccatu locals are likely to recognize his work and glowingly refer to his beers and ales as bottled ambrosia, willingly overlooking the decidedly not beer contents rattling at the bottom of the bottles. More discerning imbibers who have tried the artisanal breweries scattered throughout The Trench use a different word to describe Burton’s concoctions… Swill.
Wants: A vacation, but would settle for a single day where nothing broke down and no one found a Festerling tail in their brew
Reward: One of the last bottles of Oasthouse West Red Blend (1 Slot), salvaged after the explosion that destroyed the sister winery that was located in the Star Fields. The wine has likely matured nicely after so many years, could have value to a wine enthusiast, an antiques collector, or can be used as a textile dye, worth 4 Treasure to the right buyer.
What’s in the bottom of an Oasthouse East Ale bottle?
| d20 | Contents | d20 | Contents |
| 1 | A Festerling tail (gain Void Fever infection) | 11 | A bent bottle cap |
| 2 | The tip of a finger, possibly a pinky? | 12 | Nothing in the beer, how unusual! |
| 3 | An intact bullet, looks Protectorate make | 13 | A shard of glass, same color as the bottle |
| 4 | Nothing in the beer, how unusual! | 14 | A canine tooth, too pointed to be human |
| 5 | Half of a fingernail, looks recently painted | 15 | Iridescent fish scales, eye catching! |
| 6 | Several loose hairs, long, straight, black | 16 | Nothing in the beer, how unusual! |
| 7 | A fine layer of dirt | 17 | A six sided die, rattles gently |
| 8 | Nothing in the beer, how unusual! | 18 | A small round rock, has pretty striations |
| 9 | A bent and rusted metal nail | 19 | An unbent bottle cap, how’d this even fit? |
| 10 | A hunk of soggy bread | 20 | A gold molar (worth 2 Treasure) |
Note: If the PCs assist Burton Snatch in cleaning/repairing the equipment over the course of a day, or if they complete the Encounter in clearing clog in Oasthouse East’s intake plumbing, then contents 12-16 should become “Nothing in the beer.”
If the PCs perform both tasks, then contents 4-16 should become “Nothing in the beer.”
- Textiles: Mill factories where various cave ecology is held and harvested to manufacture fabrics used in all manner of applications throughout the city. The mills of Peccatu are the source of most raw fabrics and completed cloth goods in The Trench. Crystal moths have their delicate cocoon fibers unspooled, catching light and tones in equal measure to create fractal displays of beauty for the ultra wealthy. Striking crayfish are held in vats, their carapace casings harvested and chemically welded together into semi-flexible plates both light weight and bullet resistant for military applications. Giant bats from the Rock Sea are fed bloody runoff from turf wars, their coarse coats harvested while they sup, the fibers spun into a sound dampening wool. Certain fungus varieties are cultivated here, their fibrous growths woven together like hemp, though the fabric occasionally grows into the skin of the wearer. On occasion natural cotton grown in the Greenbubble makes its way into the mills, an exceptional luxury of a bygone age.
Notable Place: Atha Alnage – Somewhere between a farm, a private zoo, and a factory, this mill produces a wide range of woven goods that are used in a variety of products. Despite claims by the owner that all their animals are provided with specialized care befitting their needs, protestors reporting rampant neglect and abuse are a regular sight outside Atha Alnage.
Notable NPC: Josephine Walker (imperious, unempathetic, ambitious) inherited Atha Alnage from her late father and has since turned it into a powerhouse of production. Her ambition seems boundless and she has recently tied herself to Walther Walker (unassuming, bullied, introverted) through marriage. Walther Walker is the heir apparent of the Walker’s Wearables empire, which provides general workwear for the majority of the workers in the Undercity and Outskirts. Some are concerned that with the luxury fibers Atha Alnage currently produces, Josephine’s stake in Walker’s Wearables will lead to a near monopoly in the industry.
Wants: A breeding pair of Skentu, wants to hold them captive to harvest their feathers
Reward: Capturing a single Skentu, let alone two, is no mean feat, +2 Wealth and +2 Renown for whichever PMC can supply the beasts
Note: At the referee’s discretion, Josephine Walker’s request is repeatable, with different pairs of animals being required each time. More dangerous creatures should warrant a larger reward.
- Gunsmiths: Though firearms are manufactured en masse in the mills of the Undercity, the Arts District is home to a small cadre of specialized arms manufacturers. Accomplished metalworkers accustomed to working with high quality and technical materials to produce firearms of exquisite precision. Rumors of Mechanaturgy amongst some of these artisans swirl regularly, but given the clientele and unparalleled output of the shops here little is done to seriously look into these claims. Specialty ammunition, weapon modification, custom vehicle parts, perhaps even weapon enchantment can all be created by these craftsmen. They heavily restrict who has access to their shops, only operate on a cash basis, and require that all necessary materials be provided by the client. An in with or favored owed by one of these smiths is a valuable commodity.
Notable Place: Cantelo’s Corditery – Not marked with any signage, typically located through word of mouth or following the scent of acrid burnt cordite, greased metal, and sawdust from freshly lathed stocks. Low ceilings hover over tables covered with dozens of firearms in various states of disrepair, perused and prodded at by a bespectacled man with a neatly trimmed Van Dyke beard.
Notable NPC: Cantelo – Despite the questionable legality of his trade, Cantelo (blustering, conceited, very intelligent) does his best to make a name for himself as an artisanal gunsmith. This is partially through his habit of claiming inventorship of the prototype of any firearm that enters his shop. If he had only worked the kinks out, you’d be holding a Cantelo-gun instead of… Whatever it is you currently call that monstrosity you’re holding.
Wants: To study one of the Bastille’s sacred weapons made by Jephthah’s Armament Loom, located in Selaphiel’s Respite.
Reward: Willing to pay handsomely for such a weapon, +3 Wealth for PMC
Note: If Cantelo’s request is fulfilled then after 4d6 Days (approx. 2 weeks) have elapsed, all firearms in his shop gain an additional +1 Durability. Additionally, at the referee’s discretion, select weaponry gains the ability to ignore a single Bane from a push once a Day. Weaponry with this special quality should be priced commensurately.
Entertainment
- Art Galleries: Avant garde buildings where artists display their works in extravagant shows and attempt to sell their wares. Operates as a front for the laundering of illicit funds where artists and the gallery proprietors take a cut in exchange for clean money and the art itself.
Notable Place: Once Upon the Wall – An art gallery that specializes in sculpture, ranging from simple busts to full, free standing forms. The gallery makes no distinction between modern sculpture and classic pieces, displaying both and everything in between. The owner, Alaric, makes quick judgment of any pieces brought before him, often in silence and by simply running his fingertips over the artwork.
Notable NPCs: Alaric – The first thing one notices about Alaric (blind, imposing, softhearted) is how tall he is, the second is how gracefully he moves between sculptures on display at Once Upon the Wall. Years of proprietorship have built an intimate familiarity between Alaric and the gallery floor and he moves between displays as if performing the steps of a dance. Unbeknownst to all but a few trusted companions (namely, Sir Robsen, see Encounters), Alaric is a Knight in the Order of Lost Innocence. He uses his gallery to smuggle particularly fine pieces of sculpture out of the city. In doing so he, in his opinion, is preserving what little remains of human purity and creativity. A carefully hidden room (-5 Reconnoiter to detect) attached to the back office of the gallery stores Alaric’s Steelsbane greatsword and Slagplate Mail.
Sir Robsen – Whenever PCs visit Once Upon the Wall, there is a 1-in-6 chance that Sir Robsen (haughty, masked, quick to violence) is present to provide news of the Order’s recent movements to Alaric. Will leave with an artifact tucked under their cloak to smuggle out of the city.
Wants: If Alaric’s trust is gained (see Encounter table) or if he is confronted about his hidden armaments, then Alaric will divulge his purpose in the city to the PCs. Only after one of the two above events, Alaric will request a reliable way to transport artifacts out of the city, be it a trusted courier or a shortcut past Protectorate checkpoints
Reward: Alaric sends the assistants normally reserved for moving heavy statuary to assist in a project, +2 Manpower for PMC
Note: The PCs might enlist the help of Aloysius “The Incinerator” Green and his gang, The Carriers, located in the Outskirts. Alaric will be reluctant to accept this solution, as he doesn’t like the idea of the sculptures being transported with refuse, but can be convinced.
- Runway Shows: Venues where fashion designers display their latest clothing lines to the elites. These often operate as a front for the production of covert defensive clothing options, disguises, and other illicit clothing based productions.
Notable Place: The Quay – A naturally occurring fin of rock that extends some 60 feet beyond the tier of Atha, this promenade is frequently used as a runway for the various fashion shows held in the Arts District. Wide enough for three to walk shoulder to shoulder, two models are allowed to walk at any given time to avoid accidents with slipping from the unfenced edge.
Notable NPC: Ongo – One of the premier fashion designers in Peccatu, Ongo’s (opinionated, quick to criticize, eccentric) runway shows have been known to draw even the elite from the gilded reaches of the Heights. Ongo is secretly concerned they are running out of creative juice and thus, they are quick to bully any single individual who tries to dissent against their judgements on fashion. Conversely, Ongo lavishly heaps praise on anyone that seems fashionably dressed if the majority in the room seem to agree.
Wants: Strange and rare materials to craft new clothing from
Reward: Purchases rare materials from players at half of market value in exchange for name dropping their PMC as contributors to the runway show. Additionally gives +1-3 Renown for PMC, depending on the rarity of the material.
Note: Ongo’s request for new materials is repeatable. At the referee’s discretion, Ongo might require materials of increasing rarity each time the PCs try to interact with them.
- Cabarets: Clubs where people come to hear live music, drink, and host covert conversations hidden by the noise of the establishment. The singers act as go-betweens for exchanges, the clubs are neutral ground which the proprietors enforce with ruthless efficiency.
Notable Place: The Velvet Scarab – Owing its name to the massive taxidermied scarab carcass that hangs above the exterior door, The Velvet Scarab is known for its opulence and select clientele.
The scarab’s shell is painted in a different combination of luminescent, lichen based paint every night to signal who is taking the stage that evening.
Notable NPCs: Freda and Maurice – A cabaret singer by trade, Freda (charming, elegant, infectious laugh) has been making a name for herself amongst the club scene in the Art District. She is often tailed by her agent, Maurice (taciturn, observant, restrained), who assists with her bookings. In reality, both are agents for the Starlings, and are using the cabaret as cover for gathering information about Protectorate movements in the city from officials that frequent the scene to see Freda perform.
Wants: To smuggle a cache of information out of the city to the Starling camp in the Star Fields
Reward: Knowledge of a shortcut (1 Memory slot) from the Arts District to the Undercity that bypasses Protectorate checkpoints, in addition to +2 Intel for PMC
- Satiries: Small playhouses where groups craft biting comedies of satire and sharp social critique. Often performed with unconventional tools, such as marionettes, masks, and fans. Some of the few areas registered as official free speech zones, the designation does little to stop Protectorate raids should a Colonel decide a playwright has gone too far. Some Satiries push the boundaries of what’s allowed, hosting pirate radio broadcasts from their basements and back rooms, noting the movements of law and officials via coded numeric messages.
Notable Place: Saturisus – While most Satiries employ an elevated, and sometimes caged, stage designed for the actors to make a safe, quick, escape when the Protectorate arrives, the Saturisus does the exact opposite. With a stage set in a low depression ringed by raised seats, the owners openly state that they will not be bullied out of their free speech rights by jack booted soldiers. Such open defiance of the Protectorate stranglehold on Atha has made the Saturisus one of the more popular Satiries in the District, which is good for the owners as they voluntarily cover their actor’s arrest fees, which are plentiful. Secretly houses a Starling pirate radio broadcast, accessible by a trapdoor (-6 Reconnoiter to locate) in a backroom that opens only to an alleyway.
Notable NPCs: The Playwrights – Tied in a complicated web that they themselves sometimes struggle to unknot, Horrato (clever, self-deprecating, quick with a joke), Juvenas (sarcastic, anti-authoritarian, prone to hopelessness), and Melipsea (meditative, tender, sympathetic) are rarely seen apart from each other. Living a drama that can only exist amongst citizens of the Arts District, both Horrato and Juvenas both declared their love for Melipsea on the same day. Unwilling to choose between the two men, Melipsea claimed that she would only marry a man who could write a better play than she could. Despite numerous attempts, Athan critics across the board have time and again recognized Melipsea as the highest rated playwright of the three, and thus, their love triangle continues.
Wants: The three playwrights desire literally any rumor or piece of information that might even have the slightest amount of significance. Will trade an equal amount of information back to the PCs.
Reward: Accepts nearly any piece of information that takes a Memory slot (Note: This does mean that the PCs lose the information that was being held in those Memory slots). In exchange, the playwrights will provide an equal amount of Intel to the PMC or will answer a single question the PCs pose, to the best of the playwrights’ ability. The playwrights have no interest in the occult and will not accept knowledge of spells, as they are not magically inclined.
- Buskers: Any street corner with ample room is liable to find itself populated with any manner of musician, artist, or entertainer looking to make some spare change. It pays to be wary as some artists merely act as a distraction so their friends can quickly dip their fingers into a stranger’s pocket.
Notable NPCs: Adrie and the Jaspers – A group of emerging street artists and buskers loosely organized around a violinist named Adrie (precocious, protective, young adult). Adrie actively recruits displaced youths from Hadrea and trains them in musicianship, tumbling, juggling, and other street arts. These youths are known as the Jaspers (stubborn, light fingered, preteen-teenager) and at any given time, 3d4 of them are involved in the busker collective. While mostly upstanding and just trying to get by, the Jaspers will quickly turn to pickpocketing the players if treated poorly or not appropriately tipped for their artistry.
Wants: Adrie desires a place to call home, where she can properly care for and train new Jaspers. Any unclaimed, recently deserted, place will do (Note: See Encounter table for suggestions).
Reward: Adrie allows willing Jaspers to assist constructing new PMC projects, +1 Manpower for PMC
Note: If assisted, Adrie and the Jaspers should become returning characters in the Arts District, with Adrie willing to offer refuge and the Jaspers willing to create distractions.
Soldier Saint Relic
Logistician’s Finger Stylus
Soldier Saint Relic
Item (3)
1 Slot
A stylus made from the fused index finger bones of the Logistician.
The stylus functions as a normal pen. The bearer can choose to have any writing they do fade to invisibility, only reappearing when either a specified code word is spoken or the stylus touches an object with its own invisible writing on it.
Additionally, the bearer of the stylus can expend a durability and tap it against an object or surface to reveal any secret messages and/or break any ciphers written on whatever was tapped.
“Reading the secrets of others is the highest form of intimacy. To sever the supply lines of the enemy is akin to slitting a vein. Bleed them for my pleasure.”
Encounter Table
Whenever an encounter prompts a roll on the Encounter Table, roll 1d6. After resolving the encounter, replace the rolled result with one of the other results, and cycle the previous encounter into the pool to repopulate the table.
| Roll | Encounter |
| 1 | The guns of a local gunsmith begin rusting before their eyes, falling into useless scrap one by one. The plague of rust jumps to any technology brought too close. An Order of Lost Innocence object is the source of the technological decay – but who wanted to sabotage the gunsmith (Sir Robsen, haughty, masked, quick to violence)? Perhaps the buskers (Adrie and the Jaspers) across the street saw something |
| 2 | A squadron of 2d6 Protectorate soldiers raid Once Upon the Wall at the request of Colonel Joan, who is looking to acquire a new piece of art for their collection. If the acquisition is prevented, gain Alaric’s trust. |
| 3 | An active assault on a Starling owned pirate radio station, 3 Starling operatives (grave, easily startled, lightly armed) are inside a secret backroom of Saturisis, besieged by 1d6 +1 Protectorate soldiers |
| 4 | A Knight of the Order (Sir Robsen, haughty, masked, quick to violence) is being confronted at a Protectorate checkpoint by 1d6 Protectorate soldiers. They claim the Knight is smuggling a piece of artwork out of the city. The Knight denies these claims but there is a curiously shaped bulge tucked under their cloak. If forced to disrobe, Sir Robsen will take offense and draw their Steelsbane hammer. If violence is avoided, gain Alaric’s trust. |
| 5 | A figure in dark glasses lurks in a gloomy alleyway, offering easy money to passersby in exchange for their next great idea. They are a member of the Waxer Cabal, as evidenced by their distended look, as if too large to fit in their skin. |
| 6 | An individual with a ghastly wound rushes into the street, screaming that they are being eaten alive. The individual points to a nearby clinic where an Alienist is found, mouth covered in blood and lost in reverie while reliving the individual’s memories. |
| 7 | A group of captive creatures breaks free from the Atha Alnage. They are (1) 1d3 Crystal Moths, cause NP damage while noise persists in area; (2) 2d4 Crayfish, lashing out at buildings and destroying the foundations; (3) 1d4 Giant Bats, attacking citizens to feed on their blood; (4) 1d6 +1 Sapient fungus, trying to colonize on the skin of nearby citizens |
| 8 | Salt water begins to pool around the feet of the PCs, and the nearby Once Upon the Wall is threatened by the waters, the sculptures within at risk. The water can be traced back to Oasthouse East, where it is discovered an intake pipe from the Lacrim is clogged and has begun to overflow. If the flood is prevented and no harm comes to the sculptures, gain Alaric’s trust. |
| 9 | Shouting is heard from the interior of a nearby gunsmith (Cantelo’s Corditery). When investigating, a Fetterer is discovered, who is pressing the proprietor (Cantelo, blustering, conceited, very intelligent) for repayment of a loan given and is demanding the gunsmith sign a contract of servitude to pay off their debts. Violence is apparently imminent. |
| 10 | A group of 1d6 Starling operatives are seen in an alley behind The Velvet Scarab. They are eagerly checking their weaponry and are openly preparing to assassinate a crew of 1d6 +1 Protectorate soldiers that are inside. |
| 11 | A crowd disperses rapidly from The Quay, screaming. They babble that one of the models is melting. They are. A squadron of 1d6 +1 Protectorate soldiers are moving to investigate, while an Alienist attempts to sneak away. |
| 12 | A new art home (roll for characteristics) is seen on a major thoroughfare. Everyone swears it’s always been there, but the PCs will be aware that they’ve never seen it before. A mage lives within, seeking to keep a low profile. They offer training in Level 2 Compulsion spells in exchange for money, discretion, and/or a specific object. The Protectorate are currently unaware of its presence but will look favorably on anyone that alerts them to the anomaly. |
Cryptid
Forthcoming.
That concludes our in depth look at the district of Atha. Next week we will have our usual Lore 24 entries and the fifth Faction Dossier.
We actively encourage comments, questions, and feedback; we’re excited to be sharing our work and would love to chat about it with anyone who’s interested!
Retreat to the Trench 
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