they conduct assassinations, and they take on Jobs just like every other
cartel that participates in the Arrangement. Some among the Wardens
are violent, though they might not have started out that way. Many were
idealistic and rebellious, but years of being crushed under the bootheels
of the Crown have ground the last remnants of hope out of them, leaving
them disillusioned and callous.
Urban Rangers
In the remote wilderness well beyond the borders of the city’s influence,
merchant trains hire scouts and rangers to see that the wagons reach
their destination safely. Within New Dunhaven, the Wardens of the
Night are the closest equivalent to those rangers. The Wardens believe
strongly that each person should be able to provide for themselves in
any situation, and as such each member is
trained to hunt, track, build shelters and
make fires, and also to steal food from
merchant stalls, find a warm place to
sleep under the eaves of an inn’s roof,
and chase a fleeing target
through city streets
without being seen.
More than just
urban survivalists, they
have learned to traverse the
streets, buildings, and canals
of the city with more alacrity
and grace than anyone else.
Athletic Wardens of the
Night run up walls, bound
across rooftops, bounce
between building corners,
and generally treat the
infrastructure of the city like
a playground. They leap like
daredevils and sail through
the air, swing on rope lines,
and slide down drainpipes
with enough panache to
make a Mummer blush.
199
A View Outside
Though a few cartels have roots outside New Dunhaven, most concern
themselves only with the happenings inside the city. The Wardens of
the Night are the only cartel with any significant presence and interest
outside the city. The Wardens keep tabs on the roads leading out of New
Dunhaven, and up the river that feeds into the city’s canal system. Most
of the highwaymen who rob merchant trains within two days’ ride of New
Dunhaven are affiliated with the Wardens of the Night in some way and
form part of the cartel’s information network. If any of the Right Kind
of People need to know about something happening on the roads, in
the client villages, or in the tracts of wilderness within a hundred miles
of the city, the Wardens of the Night offer the best chance of finding
that information.
The Wardens also maintain a continued relationship with the Hanged,
the remnants of the cartel that fled the city when the Spiders betrayed
the Arrangement. Their relationship with these bandits is amicable, to
the point where it might be called one of the only true alliances between
major criminal organizations around New Dunhaven. With no need
to compete with one another over turf or resources, combined with
similar outlooks on life in the wilderness, the two organizations share
information freely between themselves. Furthermore, the Wardens of the
Night provide a way for the Hanged to obtain goods only available to the
citizens of New Dunhaven, and the Hanged smuggle goods from as far
away as Westport to the Wardens.
Wardens of the Night at a Glance
The Wardens of the Night are recluses who control the city’s massive parks, the Reserves.
Core Desire: Revolution. The Wardens of the Night see the Crown as a tyrannical authority, and they seek
to undermine it with every Job.
Primary Business: Banditry, bounty hunting, assassination
Typical Appearance: The Wardens dress like hunters, scouts, trackers, and other rangers
Valued on Jobs For: Stealth, spying, tracking, fighting ability
Play a Warden of the Night if you want to . . .
• Play a Robin Hood-esque altruistic outlaw
• Play a character with wilderness and survival skills
• Play a sneaky and observant character
• Play a character who targets the wealthy, the Blooded, or the Spiders
200
Anarchist Plots
Though the degree of their zeal varies from member to member, the
Wardens of the Night seek to undermine the Crown and want to see
the regency (a vestige of the old monarchy) brought down and swept
aside, replaced by a purely democratic government. As such, the Jobs
that the Wardens of the Night broker are meant to harm the servants
of the Crown (including the nobility and Senators, who are pawns of
the government in the eyes of the Wardens) or otherwise bring them to
financial and political ruin. Where cartels such as the Vespers are content
to prey upon and profit from the aristocracy, the Wardens of the Night
seek to bring them down entirely.
Among the Wardens of the Night is a more militant wing of the
cartel that believes that bringing the Crown’s agents and toadies to
ruin is not enough, and that meaningful change cannot occur without
bloodshed. They believe that the only way to achieve the cartel’s goals is
to foment outright rebellion, and they constantly push their leaders to
take aggressive and direct action. These revolutionaries are frustrated by
the strictures of the Arrangement, and the Black Council has dispatched
more than one plague doctor to cool these firebrands’ ardor.
Attitudes Toward the Other Cartels
The Wardens of the Night have the following attitudes toward the other cartels.
The Circle: Understanding. The Circle members are rough people, but the Wardens sympathize with
how they got that way. They believe the Circle’s members were unjustly shackled by the Crown and have
every right to be angry with their situation.
The Family: Disgust. The Family enforcers as predators who prey on the common folk, and they are
almost as bad as the aristocracy they desperately want to emulate.
The Forgotten: Empathy. The Forgotten are the downtrodden, those who have suffered most under
the tyranny of the Crown. They should be helped whenever possible.
The Gravediggers: Neutrality. In the Wardens’eyes, the Gravediggers are superstitious but harmless,
putting too much stock in rituals when any hole in the ground will do.
The Mummers: Friendliness. Life in the Reserves can be isolating, so the ever-welcoming and friendly
faces of the Mummers is a salve to soothe a lonesome soul.
The Red Lotus Society: Respect. The Society is strong-willed, not letting anyone push its people
around. The Society takes care of those who live in its turf, which is respectable.
The Vespers: Disdain. The Vespers are toadies of the nobility, spending so much time rubbing up
against the wealthy that it makes them stink.
201
Thief Signs
One of the most subtle but useful means of communication between
the Right Kind of People, Thief Signs are a language of simple symbols
used to inform or warn other criminals about the nature of a person or
location. Commonly carved into doorframes, signs, fence posts, and even
the hulls of gondolas, Thief Signs allow criminals to leave a message for
any others of their kind who might come by at a later time.
Thief Signs are subtly placed, so that the average law-abiding citizen
(much less a member of the City Watch) doesn’t notice them. Thief Signs
let the Right Kind of People know if a shop owner is a trustworthy fence
of stolen goods, or whether he skims too much off the top; if a tavern
is under Mummer control and thus a safe haven; if the Captain of the
Watch on duty at the local precinct house during the day is susceptible to
bribes, and so forth.
Syntax
In Thief Signs, each symbol represents a single concept. There are
symbols for day and night, one for each cartel and major organization,
and a variety of symbols that represent actions (provide safe haven, fence
stolen goods), attitudes (friendly, hostile, trustworthy, corruptible), and a
small number of qualifiers for time and location (by day, by night, in the
back room, on the second floor).
Thief Signs use a single sign for negation, which inverts the symbol
that follows it. Essentially, the symbol means “not” or “no” and can be
used in front of any other symbol to give clearer shades of meaning; for
example, this symbol can be used to say “not hostile” where “friendly”
doesn’t quite get the truth of the matter across.
When carving Thief Signs, the order in which the symbols appear
matters, since they are read sequentially to convey precise meaning. For
example, the symbols for “fence stolen goods” and “the Family” could be
used right next to each other in two different ways. If “the Family” comes
first, it means “A Family member here fences stolen goods,” whereas if
“fence stolen goods” comes first, it means, “Someone here fences stolen
goods for members of the Family.”
Multiple symbols can be strung together to form complex ideas,
such as “Not friendly to Mummers by day, susceptible to bribes, black
market goods for sale at back door by night by someone hostile to
the City Watch.”
202
203
The Cant
The Cant is the language used by the Right Kind of People to
communicate with each other without the law-abiding citizens around
them understanding what they are saying. It is a combination of slang,
coined phrases, words taken from other languages (primarily Vladich
and Taonese), and colorful uses of swear words that, when used in the
right way, completely obscures everything that the speaker says. However,
unlike a foreign language, the words in the Cant are a part of the common
tongue, so anyone overhearing the conversation won’t have their attention
drawn by foreign sounds. Of course, if ordinary citizens attempt to
eavesdrop, they find that even though the words are familiar, they cannot
understand what is being said.
The Cant originated as a rough slang used by street urchins growing
up in the slums of the city. Needing a way to talk to each other when
agents of the Crown, marks, or potential witnesses were close enough to
hear, the Right Kind of People slowly picked up on this slang and made
a concerted effort to evolve it into a language with subtlety and shades
of meaning. As a result, the Right Kind of People can have complex
conversations within earshot of law-abiding citizens without any worry of
drawing attention or having their plans overheard.
The Cant at a Glance
Below are some common words and phrases that the Right Kind of People use as a part of the Cant.
• “Got a house full of company to entertain.”All of our people are in position and ready to
spring into action.
• “Can’t stay long, love; I’ve got a cake in the oven and I don’t want it to burn.”The mark is
primed for you to make your move.
• “Wrote a letter to my old uncle. Ya ken anyone who’ll carry it?”I have the contraband. If you
have the money, we can make the exchange.
• “Me mum and da was asking about you this morning.”The City Watch is onto us and
watching us right now.
• “I’ve got a barking dog what won’t let me sleep.”I have a firearm I want to get rid of.
• “They’ve gone on an extended holiday.”They’re dead.
• “We’ve got lunch at noon with the in-laws.”The plan is set for noon.
• “It’s a slim trick whistle I’m hearing.”On my signal, make a run for it.
• “Got yer bags packed for yer voyage yet?”Are you ready?
• “Give ‘em the old one-sided handshake, would you?”Pick that person’s pocket.
204
Hand Chatter
Sometimes the Right Kind of People need to communicate with one
another, but even speaking in the Cant would be too revealing. In this
situation, many crews use the language known as hand chatter, a sign
language that mimics the verbal contortion of the Cant. Hand chatter
is much more crude and lacks the subtlety in the turns of phrase present
in the Cant, yet in a pinch it works just fine to communicate over
long distances where a shout would draw too much attention, or for
communicating with a crew member across a crowded room without
blowing their cover. Hand chatter is also designed to be subtle and
blend in with a person’s natural movements. Hand chatter focuses on
the combinations of common movements than the motions and gestures
themselves; for example, running a finger across an eyelid, followed by
twirling a lock of hair behind the ear means “stay hidden,” where either
gesture means nothing on its own. To the untrained eye, a criminal
communicating in hand chatter would just look somewhat fidgety, more
like someone with a nervous tic than a con artist communicating with
fellow criminals.
Thief Signs: Fan Chatter
We have learned over the years that in some situations, even the subtle gestures of hand chatter draw too
much attention. Some time ago, one of our clever sirens adapted hand chatter to make use of one of the
most common accessories found in noble courts: the folding fan. No lady, and few gentlemen, go without
a hand fan even in the depths of winter; they are far too convenient for covering a pause or concealing a
blush. Vesper fan chatter works in the same way as hand chatter, but uses the common movements of the
handheld folding fan for its gestures. If you see a Vesper in a court setting snapping her fan open and shut
idly, she’s not just bored; she’s signaling to her fellow crew members some critical piece of information
about the Job at hand.
—Savan Silver, Vesper mole
Spider Trouble
Though the Cant and hand chatter allow the Right Kind of People
to chat about their crimes in public, one danger lingers: the Spiders.
The language of thieves has not changed since the Arrangement went
into place, and any Spiders lurking in the wings are almost certain
to overhear the Cant or see hand chatter and know exactly what the
criminals are saying.
205
Getting In and Out
Membership in a cartel has its privileges. Criminals cannot just declare
themselves to be a member of a cartel; membership is earned, and joining
a cartel involves a rite of passage. Once someone is in, it’s hard to get
out. The cartels don’t like letting go of people, especially those who have
proven themselves savvy enough to stay alive and keep out of jail.
Cartel Membership at a Glance
Here are the basics of joining and working as a member of one of the cartels.
• Cartels require a new member to be sponsored by an existing member.
• Once a trial period is complete, the cartel informs the agents of the Black Council of the new
member’s acceptance.
• No one can be a member of more than one cartel.
• Changing cartels is almost unheard of, and doing so requires the approval of both the new and the old
cartel, as well as the Black Council.
• Those wanting to get out of the game must seek the approval of both their cartel and the Black Council.
• Once the Black Council has given its blessing, a retiring criminal must abstain from nearly all illegal
activity lest they incur the displeasure of their former cartel.
Joining a Cartel
Though the Arrangement demands that criminals be members of a cartel,
joining one of the cartels can be a grueling process. When an enterprising
young criminal is first identified as a potential recruit, a member of the
cartel sponsors that recruit, taking responsibility for training the potential
new member and vouching for their competence and loyalty as they
endure a gauntlet of trials and difficult lessons in thievery.
Each cartel’s initiation practices are different, and the criteria for being
accepted as full members varies widely. The Family holds a high bar for
entry, and a young recruit might spend years under the tutelage of older
and wiser enforcers. For the Forgotten, getting in is as easy as convincing
one of the street gangs to take you on as a member. A recruit must
petition the Red Lotus Society, not only for entrance into the cartel but
also to join one of the cartel’s myriad schools, all of which have their own
requirements, training techniques, and rites of passage.
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Getting Out of the Game
Though it is a rare occurrence, sometimes criminals who have been in
the game for a long time choose to retire of their free will, usually when
a cartel member has amassed a fair amount of personal wealth or reaches
the point where their age is getting in the way of getting the Job done.
When one of the Right Kind of People wants to retire from the life of
crime, they must get the blessing of their cartel first. Some cartels allow
this more readily than others; the Forgotten, for example, could not care
less if one of their number retires. The Family is vastly more reticent to let
its members go, to the point where Family members technically out of the
game still find themselves entangled in cartel business from time to time.
Once they have the permission of their cartel to retire, the criminal
must petition the Black Council for permission to exit the life of crime.
Agents of the Black Council then verify that the potential retiree is
truly leaving the game and not defecting to the Blooded, the Spiders, or
some other group. Once they are satisfied (a process that involves a lot
of invasive questioning and intrusive investigation), assuming the Black
Council gives its blessing, the criminal is now free to step down from
their position in the cartel and go into retirement.
When someone is out of the game, they are out. They are not allowed
to take on Jobs, and even petty crime is frowned upon. Cartel members
distrust or at least look down on their retired former members, making
retirement more like exile from one’s own people.
Thief Signs: The Crown’s Retirement Plan
While we would all like to think that one day we can get out of the game and rest on our laurels, the
Crown has other ideas. A life sentence in the Castle will take you out of the game, just not in the way you
would wish. When one of the Right Kind of People is put away in the Castle for a long period of time,
they technically retain their cartel affiliation, though of course they can do little good for the cartels while
behind bars. For those of us who abide by the Arrangement, cartel membership means little in the Castle;
grudges are set aside, and the, how do you say, hatchet is buried, at least while on the inside. Of course,
this courtesy does not extend to the Blooded, whose numbers in the Castle match all the cartels combined.
I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have anyone to watch your back, and you go about your
business like a reckless bull, yes? The majority of fighting between inmates in the Castle is between Blooded
fools and cartel members, who band together to keep from being overwhelmed by their enemies.
—Ilya “the Claw” Alexandrov, Circle boss
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Turf
The cartels of the Arrangement divide the city up by districts, claiming
sections of the city as their turf. When a district is considered to be the
turf of one cartel, a designation quite formalized and recognized by the
Black Council, certain rules apply to that district. If another cartel wants
to run a Job that takes place in that district, they must seek the permission
of the controlling cartel. Usually this is handled by the broker, so that by
the time the crew is hired for the Job the controlling cartel has already
granted its permission and the crew can proceed. Cartels also reserve the
right to designate certain individuals, locations, and scores within their
turf as off-limits to the other cartels. Furthermore, if a cartel chooses
to do so, it can declare its turf off-limits to specific cartels, or specific
individuals or crews.
Unclaimed Turf
Many districts in the city are considered to be “unclaimed turf.” This
means that no one cartel has definitively established control over it,
though it doesn’t indicate a complete lack of cartel presence. Unclaimed
turf is highly contested, and there might be two or three cartels actively
trying to establish themselves within a district at any given time. When
a thief hears that a district is unclaimed turf, that could mean that
there isn’t much action there, but it could also mean that it is one of the
most dangerous districts, where several cartels are vying for control and
undercutting each other at every step. Forgotten street gangs flock to
unclaimed turf, even if they never establish control.
Turf Within Turf
Some cartels, like the Forgotten and the Red Lotus Society, have within
their organization smaller groups at odds with one another. In turf
belonging to these cartels, the districts are sometimes divided up among
the smaller groups, creating a very different dynamic depending on which
group within the cartel controls it. For example, one district in Red
Lotus turf might be controlled by the Golden Hare school, while another
district might be the domain of the Shadow Rings school; even though
these are both Red Lotus Society districts, the schools that control them
run the streets very differently. The Black Council does not intervene in
the squabbles between groups within a cartel, meaning that rival schools
might be engaged in a turf war within their cartel’s domain, making the
streets of those districts more dangerous than usual.
208
On the Wrong Turf
Even if a cartel hasn’t technically declared its turf off-limits to the
members of the other cartels, certain realities come with being caught on
another cartel’s turf. Cartel members in a district controlled by another
cartel are subject to harassment and intimidation at the very least, and
sometimes physical altercations that leave trespassing criminals badly
injured. They might get shaken down for a “toll” to pass through the
district if they are lucky; if they are not, they might need to fight or run
for their lives. The Black Council turns a blind eye for anything short
of murder, and even then they have been known to let a cartel dispose
of someone who has made themselves a nuisance and defied the cartel
that runs that district. Mummers’ taverns and inns provide the only safe
havens for criminals who find themselves in a rival cartel’s turf.
The Thiefmoot
Once a year, the cartels of the Arrangement send representatives to the
Thiefmoot, a meeting that lasts for several days deep in the heart of
Longharbor Island. The cartels choose their representatives, who are
not informed of the exact location of the Thiefmoot until the day they
arrive for it. The representatives, as well as a number of Black Council
members, sequester themselves in this secret location for the duration of
the Thiefmoot, not emerging until it is over.
The Thiefmoot is a chance for the cartels to air grievances with one
another, make reparations or call in debts, and discuss sensitive matters
that might otherwise flare up into fighting between the cartels. Most
important, the cartels renegotiate the boundaries of their turf at the
Thiefmoot. Each year, the cartels argue for control of various contested
districts, some currently unclaimed, but others that belong to rival cartels.
Under the eyes of the Black Council agents, the cartels negotiate the
acquisition and surrender of individual districts as turf, redrawing the
lines of control for at least the next year. Cartels that have made great
gains in certain districts argue that they have a controlling interest in
those districts. Though it is uncommon for one cartel to outright take a
district from another cartel in the span of a single year, at the Thiefmoot
cartels frequently negotiate deals that sees control of a district being
traded for coin, resources, or even control of a different patch of turf.
Sometimes the price paid to a cartel for ceding control of a district is
substantial compared to the income the departing cartel would receive
from its criminal enterprises in that district.
209
Tattoos
In New Dunhaven, body art has something of a poor reputation. Though
tattoos are perfectly legal, only two kinds of people generally get tattoos:
the Right Kind of People, and sailors. To the general populace, tattoos are
a sign of weak morals, low breeding, and a complete disregard for polite
society. Unless you are on the deck of a ship, a tattoo is usually a sign
of criminal involvement, and though the City Watch does not question
someone just for having a tattoo, a visible tattoo would cause a law-
abiding citizen to think twice before interacting with that person.
That is not to say that everyone who has a tattoo is a criminal. Brash
and rebellious youths want tattoos because they are edgy, though the
stigma attached to the ink eventually causes them to regret it. No few
young nobles have gotten tattoos as signs of rebellion against their stodgy
elders, only to realize the social cost associated with doing so. For those
who regret their tattoos, costly alchemical removal is their only recourse.
Unlike law-abiding citizens, the Right Kind of People see tattoos as
a badge of honor, or a part of the rite of passage for being inducted into
the criminal world. They use their tattoos not only to signal friendliness
to others among the Right Kind of People, but as one of the few visible
signs of rebellion they can safely display against the norms of law-abiding
society. For some cartel members, especially those who deal with ordinary
citizens on a daily basis (like the Family or the Vespers), tattoos are placed
on parts of the body that can easily be covered up by clothing when
the need arises.
Alchemically Enhanced Tattoos
Certain tattoo artists, particularly those who cater to wealthier criminal
clients, specialize in alchemically enhanced tattoos. Using special inks
created through an alchemical process, these tattoos are capable of
startling effects. The simplest alchemical tattoos are simply brighter and
more vibrant, but other potential variations include:
✦✦ Ink that seems to shimmer or ripple under the skin
✦✦ Ink that changes color at random, or based on the bearer’s mood
✦✦ Ink that fades to invisibility in directly sunlight, or when an
alchemical oil is rubbed on the skin
✦✦ Ink that is luminescent and glows brightly in the dark
✦✦ Ink that fades or darkens to create shifting patterns
210
Where to Get a Tattoo
Given the stigmatized nature of tattoos, few tattoo artists practice their
craft openly. Those that do often have studios in the slums or on the
docks, since even the people of poorer commoners’ districts would run
such an artist out of the district if he or she tried to set up shop there. The
exception to this is in Little Taona, where the prevalence of Red Lotus
Society schools (each of which has its own tattoos) makes tattoo artists
marginally more acceptable.
Most tattoo artists’ studios are small, dimly lit shops that accommodate
no more than a few people at a time. Tattoo artists are at least friendly to
the Right Kind of People, if not members of the cartels themselves.
Prison Tattoos
In the Castle, tattoos can become more than just a marker for
membership in a cartel. Inmates in the prison give themselves and each
other rough, crudely inked tattoos to commemorate milestones in their
sentences or to memorialize fellow prisoners who died before making
it back to the outside world. Tattoos from the Castle are obviously
different from those gained on the outside, and many among the Circle
have such tattoos.
The Meaning Behind the Tattoo
Not every tattoo means something; some are just interesting pieces of art or designs that have a personal
meaning to the individual they adorn. However, among the Right Kind of People, tattoos can be used
to send a visual message, like Thief Signs painted in permanent ink on the skin. Some common tattoos
decorating the Right Kind of People include:
• A Fire-Breathing Dragoon Down the Arm: I know how to use firearms.
• A Snake Coiled Around the Wrist: I specialize in poisons.
• Barbed Wire Around the Neck: I have spent time in the Castle (usually one barb for each year of a
sentence served).
• A Coin on the Upper Arm or Shoulder: I deal in contraband and fence goods.
• A Raven on the Neck: I deal narcotics.
• A White Rose: I am a prostitute.
• A Red Knife: I am an assassin for hire.
• Vines Wrapped Around the Forearm: I don’t take Jobs for other cartels.
• A Black Candle Flame: I was a member of a cartel before the Arrangement.
• An Outline of a Fist Not Colored In: I was once a member of the Wraiths.
211
The Blooded
Enemies of the cartels and the Crown alike, the Blooded are a splinter
group of criminals that pays no heed to the Arrangement and refuses
to acknowledge the authority of the Black Council. They answer to no
masters but themselves and flout the law with reckless abandon and
complete disregard for arousing the ire of the Crown.
The Blooded at a Glance
• The Blooded are criminals who do not abide by the Arrangement, submit to the will of the Black Council,
or cooperate with the eight cartels.
• They are generally more violent, more reckless, more brutal, and more willing to accept collateral
damage than the cartels.
• The Blooded prey upon criminals as well as law-abiding citizens, and they try to meddle in the cartels’
Jobs and take the score themselves.
• The Blooded control large swaths of the turf in the southern reaches of the city.
• The Blooded are enemies to all the cartels that abide by the Arrangement, but the Family has the biggest
rivalry with them.
The Wrong Kind of People
In general, the cartels do their best to keep their criminal activities out of
sight from the law-abiding citizens of the city. Not so with the Blooded.
Their only qualm about operating too openly is that too much exposure
brings the City Watch down onto their heads. The Blooded resort to
violence more quickly than the cartels (except, perhaps, the Circle), and
their schemes frequently involve kicking in the door, shooting anyone that
gets in their way, and smashing any obstacles in their path.
Subtlety is not a forte of the Blooded. When the City Watch inevitably
responds to whatever spectacle their activities produce, the Blooded
show no compunctions about putting innocent citizens in harm’s way
when they attempt to make their escape. It is not an infrequent sight in
Blooded turf to see riders on horseback barreling recklessly down the
street, firing hand crossbows back at the pursuing watch officers, veering
near crowds of people or leaving a swath of destruction in their wake in
their efforts to evade capture. Every warning the Black Council issues
to the cartels—not attracting too much attention, not inviting too much
scrutiny, not provoking retaliation from the Crown or the City Watch—is
flouted by the Blooded on a daily basis.
212
The Crown and the Blooded
While the Spiders and experienced Crown investigators know of the rift
between the cartels and the Blooded, the vast majority of City Watch
see the Blooded and the cartels as all being one big group of criminals.
They react to the Blooded in the same way they react to the cartels,
because in their eyes there truly is no difference. This causes problems
when Blooded thugs and members of the cartels end up sharing a cell
in a district jail or, worse, the Castle. The combination of the animosity
between the Blooded and the cartels with being in a confined space and
denied freedom is a recipe for an outbreak of prison violence.
Hierarchy
Though more anarchic than the cartels of the Arrangement, the Blooded
do share a similar organization to the cartels. At the
top of the pecking order are the capos and capas,
the most powerful members of the gang. There
are no more than a dozen of these individuals
at a time, since they fight jealously to safeguard
their power and rarely let anyone else rise to the
top. Each capo or capa is served by one to five
Underbosses, depending on the strength
of that branch of the Blooded
gang. Underbosses have
lieutenants, who are
just a step above the sea
of Blooded goons that
they oversee. Where the
Underbosses have an
entire district to watch
over, the lieutenants
manage smaller gangs,
not dissimilar from the
street gangs that make
up the bulk of the
Forgotten. Promotion
is a cutthroat affair,
involving seizing
power violently rather
than earning it through
excellence or competence.
213
New Blood
Joining up with the Blooded is a dangerous proposition. The Blooded
initiate their new recruits with daylight robberies and other crimes more
like suicide missions than well-crafted schemes. The Underbosses believe
that this makes sure that the recruit is truly dedicated to joining up with
the gang, and the capos and capas allow it because it enables the gang
to attempt risky and dangerous scores without jeopardizing valuable
members of the group. This dissuades the Black Council and the Crown
alike from organized efforts to infiltrate the Blooded, and few cartel
members are foolhardy enough to risk it on their own. Recruits assigned
such potentially lethal jobs approach them with reckless zeal, relying on
adrenaline and audacity to see them through to the other side.
Ex-Blooded
Though rare, in a few instances of the Black Council has granted amnesty
to a member of the Blooded who no longer wished to be associated with
such brutality. Such clemency comes only at the end of a lengthy process
by which the criminal seeking to escape from the Blooded proves their
dedication to adhering to the Arrangement by spilling every secret they
know about their former compatriots. The Blooded do not take kindly
to such betrayals and sends entire groups of assassins to kill the traitor
before he or she reveals too much, so the Black Council has to assign
crews of cartel members to hide or protect the ex-Blooded against lethal
retribution. Once the Black Council is convinced and the intelligence
on the Blooded verified, the traitor must then seek admittance into
one of the eight cartels; the Forgotten and the Circle accept the largest
number of ex-Blooded.
Blooded Turf
Unlike the cartels that abide by the Arrangement, the Blooded don’t
split their turf up by district types; they seize control anywhere they can
get a good grip. Their penchant for violence and generally more vicious
appearance makes it tough for them to get a strong hold on merchant
and noble districts, so instead they focus their efforts on the parts of the
city they can control: slums, commoners’ districts, and portions of the
docks far along the southern parts of the coast. They work to surround
any districts they don’t have an iron grip on with those they do, so while
pockets of technically unclaimed turf exist on the south side of the city,
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you have to go through Blooded territory to reach them. The only reliable
way to do so is through the canals, which the Family still manages to
control, however tenuously, even in Blooded territory.
Sorcery
The Blooded seek sorcerous knowledge related to one type of sorcery:
blood magic. Some speculate that the entire gang takes its name from
the dark sorcery its members practice, though that is merely one rumor
among many. The sorcery used by select members of the Blooded
focuses on causing direct physical harm to a person from the inside.
This type of sorcery causes incredible pain, opens wounds on otherwise
unmarred flesh, forces bones to snap, induces fevers and illnesses, and
kills. Perhaps more unnervingly, extremely powerful Blooded sorcerers
make their victims prisoners in their own bodies, forcing them to move
and act at the sorcerer’s discretion, like a puppeteer tugging on the strings
of a marionette.
Fortunately for the Blooded’s enemies, blood sorcery is somewhat
more difficult to use than other forms of dark magic. It usually requires
a sample of the victim’s blood as a focus, a component of the profane
rituals that the sorcerers must use to enact their baleful magics. The blood
is consumed in the process, and the longer the desired effect, the more
blood is needed. For this reason, when facing off against the Blooded,
the Right Kind of People take extreme care to not leave behind even the
tiniest sample of their blood on a knife or crossbow bolt.
Thief Signs: Traitor’s Blood
You wanna know why the Family hates the Blooded so much? It’s because they used to be a part of the
Family. They were our brothers and sisters, our cousins and aunts and uncles. We were tight, like family
should be. But when all the heads of the Family came down on the side of the Arrangement, some folks
couldn’t handle it, and they did the one thing you never do to a member of your own family: they betrayed
us. It wasn’t no amicable parting, neither; blood got spilled that day, and the canals ran red. They say they’re
called the Blooded because they stay true to the blood of our ancestors that founded this city, but that ain’t
it. We call them the Blooded because they’ve got the blood of their own family on their hands, may it damn
them in the eyes of the Silver Judge forever.
—Garrus Sinclair, Family sharpshooter
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The Wraiths
Before the Arrangement went into place, the Wraiths were one of the
largest and most successful cartels, rivaling the Family for strength,
influence, and turf. In many ways, the Wraiths embodied many of the
principles that the Black Council tried to impose with the Arrangement:
they always operated in the shadows, favored subtlety over flash, and
left no traces behind that any crime had been committed. They were
the model cartel for what the Arrangement hoped to achieve, and two
of the founding members of the Black Council were Wraiths who had
demonstrated the value of keeping to the shadows.
The Arrangement had been in place less than a month when the
Spiders enacted their betrayal. For those few weeks, eleven cartels
abided by the Arrangement, carving the city up to be plundered at will.
The Spiders, one of the smallest cartels in the city at the time, nearly
shattered the Arrangement by turning Crown, bringing with them all the
knowledge they had hoarded about the Arrangement, the Black Council,
and the other cartels. Perhaps because the Wraiths had been pushing
the hardest for the Arrangement to go into place and thus had been the
most open with the other cartels, the Spiders were able to turn over to
the Crown mountains of evidence of crimes committed by the Wraiths,
some of which solved case files that had been open for decades. The City
Watch, under cover of night and with the help of the Spiders, arrested or
executed on the spot the overwhelming majority of Wraiths. The cartel
collapsed in one catastrophic night.
Thief Signs: Wraith Sorcery
Yes. I have seen them, the Wraiths who did the sorcery. These Wraiths that dabbled in the darkness? They
could vanish. Poof. Gone, like a puff of smoke. Oh, they were still there; you just could not see them. I know,
I know, it sounds like madness, like I have been drinking a little bit too much of my own cactus water. It’s
true, though. When I was a young horsemaster, I was waiting outside a bodega for my compatriots to get
outside so we could make our escape. Just then, this Wraith runs around the corner, City Watch hot on her
heels. She presses herself up against the wall, and then she is just gone. Of course, the Watch officers run
in just in time to catch my companions dashing outside with their stolen prize, and I did a short stint in the
Castle for robbery. As they are hauling us away, I see this girl just fade back in. She gives me this wink, and
then just walks away, pretty as you please. I wasn’t even angry, it was a good trick after all.
—Ezekiel Salazar, Hanged runner
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Where are they Now?
Most of those who were once Wraiths are dead, the evidence brought
against them by the Crown sufficient to warrant execution for their
crimes. Yet not every Wraith met final justice as a result of the Spiders’
betrayal, and some still remain in the city to this day.
In the Castle
Those criminals arrested in the wake of the Spiders’ betrayal but who
escaped the hangman’s noose can now be found deep in the dark cells of
the Castle. The Crown’s magistrates were not kind to any cartel-affiliated
criminals apprehended during this time, and most were left to rot in
the city’s notorious fortress-prison, locked away and forgotten by polite
society. Though some people get out of the Castle when their time is up,
the Crown tried to make an example of the Wraiths, and any Wraiths
incarcerated in the Castle are serving life sentences.
In the Other Cartels
The collapse of the Wraiths as a cartel led to a diaspora of its members
into the other cartels. The Black Council issued an edict in the chaotic
days following the installation of the Arrangement, declaring that any
members of non-Arrangement cartels (the Wraiths and the Hanged
among them) must be admitted into another cartel if they made the
request. Though the eight other cartels grumbled about being forced
to admit new members at the time, the ex-Wraiths soon integrated
themselves into the cartels, and those who survive and continue to
live a life of crime are now indistinguishable from the other members
of their cartels.
A very small number of Wraiths blamed the Black Council and the
Arrangement for instigating the Spiders’ betrayal. These angry, embittered
few chose to join the Blooded instead, thumbing their noses at the Black
Council and nursing their grudges with violence and cruelty.
Independent Criminals
Their cartel disbanded and their allies dead, imprisoned, or scattered
through the other cartels, some Wraiths chose to stay in the game,
but refused to make themselves vulnerable to betrayal again by joining
another cartel. Though the cartels generally frown upon independent
criminals operating inside their turf, these Wraiths were given special
dispensation to continue with their criminal schemes without joining
a cartel. Though allowed to conduct business only in districts that are
unclaimed turf, most manage to eke out a meager life.
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The Hanged
Before the Arrangement went into place, the Hanged were a loose
gang of criminals who specialized in horse theft and banditry. After
seeing what happened to the Wraiths during the turmoil surrounding
the installation of the Black Council, the Hanged collectively decided
to leave the city, fearing that the Spiders would betray them in the
same fashion. The gang’s leaders made their way to Westport, the
city across the continent from New Dunhaven, and now their bandit
members prey upon travelers on the roads between the two cities. The
Hanged also periodically raid the frontier towns and small villages out
in the wilderness, but the pickings are slim, and the group would much
rather focus on wealthy travelers whose valuables keep the Hanged fed
for months on end.
Though not the most tightly organized group, the Hanged cluster into
smaller bands that roam the countryside between cities. Each such band
has a single leader, who communicates (by messenger or by carrier raven,
when necessary) with the Hanged’s leaders in Westport. These leaders try
to ensure that the bands remain spread out across the land (not a difficult
task, given the wide-open spaces between the cities) and that each has
roads and highways considered to be their “turf.” Each band is responsible
for planning its robberies, seeing to its food and supply needs, and making
sure that the authorities, rare as they are, don’t trace the bandits back
to their fellows.
The Hanged at a Glance
The Hanged are a loose affiliation of criminals that operate outside the city.
Core Desire: Freedom. The Hanged want to live their lives free of the rules and restrictions of a powerful
government like the Crown, or ruling body like the Black Council.
Primary Business: Smuggling, banditry, mercenary work
Typical Appearance: The Hanged dress like outriders and bandits, sometimes painting their faces with a
mask of warpaint.
Valued on Jobs For: Independence, sharpshooting, horsemanship, clean getaways
Play a Hanged if you want to . . .
• Play a rare character who is not a part of the Arrangement
• Play a character inspired by bandits and gunfighting outlaws
• Play an outsider, even among the Right Kind of People
• Play a character who knows a lot about the land between New Dunhaven and Westport
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Ties to the Black Council
The Hanged maintain an uneasy peace with the cartels of the
Arrangement, though they do have something of an alliance with the
Wardens of the Night. The Black Council is aware of this relationship
and largely remains silent on it. On the rare occasion that members of the
Hanged make their way to New Dunhaven, the Black Council issues a
warning to them: while you are in the city, you abide by our rules, and if
you fail to do so you risk the wrath of all eight of the cartels.
Superstition
The original founders of the Hanged are said to be three highway robbers
who were captured, tried, and sentenced to death by hanging. Yet when
the nooses were placed around their necks and the trap doors opened,
they did not die, and went on to found the Hanged. The Hanged believe
that the Silver Judge protects their gang, and that allegiance to the
Hanged means walking in the shadow of death’s reprieve. As such, the
Hanged have many superstitions tied in some way to death, and they use
skeletal iconography in decorating their outfits.
Attitudes Toward the Cartels of the Arrangement
The Hanged have the following attitudes toward the cartels or the Arrangement.
The Circle: Distrust. The Circle and the Hanged clashed when the Circle tried to extend its reach beyond
the city. Wounds from that conflict have not yet healed.
The Family: Respect. The Family was powerful well before the Arrangement went into place, and the
Hanged remember those days.
The Forgotten: Pity. The Hanged see the wretched lives many Forgotten lead, and would invite them
to join the Hanged in the wilds beyond the city to escape it.
The Gravediggers: Solemnity. Superstitions surrounding death make the Gravediggers more akin to
priests than to fellow criminals in the eyes of the Hanged.
The Mummers: Suspicion. The Hanged are wary of the Mummers precisely because they claim to be
allies to all the cartels. Trust led to betrayal when the Arrangement came about.
The Red Lotus Society: Business. Half of the firearms carried by Hanged bandits were purchased
from the Society, and they continue to have an amicable, if cool, relationship.
The Vespers: Scorn. The Hanged have little need for the creature comforts that wealth provides, and
they look down upon the Vespers as being too soft.
The Wardens of the Night: Camaraderie. If the Hanged were to move their operation into the
city, they would join together with the Wardens. They both love freedom and choose to live in more
natural surroundings.
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The Endless Dawn
Few groups manage to cover the spectrum from “mild annoyance” to
“potentially life-threatening malcontents” more cohesively than the
Endless Dawn. Ostensibly a grassroots organization of law-abiding
citizens seeking to take a stand against the ever-growing presence of
crime in their communities, the Endless Dawn also serves as a breeding
ground for vigilantes and self-righteous militants who think they know
how to handle criminals better than the City Watch.
The Endless Dawn began as a coalition of individual concerned
citizens, and for a while they responsibly pursued their reasonable core
goals. Over time, as the organization grew in numbers and reach, angrier
and more aggressive members started taking control and transforming the
organization from a group of citizens watching out for one another to a
group of provocateurs who stir up mobs, start riots, and generally make
themselves a thorn in the sides of the City Watch and the Right Kind
of People alike.
Most dangerously, while the members of the Endless Dawn think they
know better than the Crown what it takes to deal with crime in the city,
they lack the training or restraint of the City Watch. As a result, they try
to take the law into their own hands, engaging in vigilante justice out of
proportion with the severity of crimes. Worse, they frequently make the
wrong determination about who is responsible for a crime, resulting in
innocent people being bullied, beaten, or (in rare but tragic circumstances)
killed due to the zeal of the mob.
The Typical Endless Dawn Member
Though of course each member is unique, a certain stereotype of the
Endless Dawn accurately describes a large number of its most prominent
members. They are usually commoners, frequently from nicer commoners’
districts, those where the people can afford just enough comforts to have
idle time. They see the City Watch as incompetent and believe that the
Crown is oppressing them by not allowing them to take the law into
their own hands. They are bullies or insecure blowhards, who would be
described as busybodies if they weren’t so dangerous. They view every
scenario in absolutes and believe anyone who doesn’t fervently support
their mob justice must be guilty and hiding something. Many are cruel,
and they delight in pushing people around because it makes them feel
more powerful in a system where they are legally seen as a lesser class.
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Neighborhood Watches
The original impetus for the formation of the Endless Dawn remains
one of its most prevalent traditions. The Endless Dawn organizes
neighborhood watches, composed of private citizens who volunteer
their time to patrol their districts simply looking for signs of crime in
progress. In their original form, they were intended to simply increase the
likelihood of a crime being witnessed, passing information on the crime
on to the City Watch.
At present, the Endless Dawn organizes neighborhood watches in
almost every commoners’ district and many of the slums, though the
latter districts’ residents are reticent to stand up to the criminals who
live next door to them. Neighborhood watch patrols consist of four
citizens who walk the streets looking for anything suspicious. They all
carry loud whistles, which they are supposed to blow if they see a crime
in progress, summoning the City Watch. In reality, most Endless Dawn
neighborhood watch patrols carry cudgels, clubs, and other simple but
effective weapons, and if they outnumber the criminals involved will
sometimes attempt to dole out violent justice on their own.
Provocateurs
Perhaps the most chilling aspect of the Endless Dawn is its ability to
attract demagogues and petty tyrants to its ranks. Much to the City
Watch’s chagrin, provocateurs among the Endless Dawn have the
charisma to incite riots, drum up mobs, and create panic in the streets.
These firebrands prey upon the fears of the citizenry, and they stoke the
flames of paranoia and insecurity to achieve their ends. They convince
even the most mild-mannered citizens that they are in imminent danger
and provoke otherwise level-headed individuals into violent action,
all supposedly in the name of “self-defense” against the ever-present
criminal element.
The Crown has taken steps to prevent these provocateurs from causing
too much damage, with little success. By the time the City Watch arrives
to find a crowd gathered around an Endless Dawn provocateur, it’s
already too late, and the crowd might turn violent well before the Watch
officers gather enough strength of numbers to intervene. The Black
Council considers the Endless Dawn to be as much of a threat as the
Blooded. They warn crews not to run afoul of the Endless Dawn and
reiterate the importance of covert work and careful planning. One never
knows when a witness might be a member of the Endless Dawn.
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Arturus Lynch
A ghost story to tell thieves, a rumor whispered only in dark corners,
and a convenient name on which to pin anything that goes wrong for
the Right Kind of People: all these describe Arturus Lynch, the most
notorious criminal mastermind in New Dunhaven. The trouble with
Arturus Lynch is that no one is really sure whether he exists or not.
The cartels tells stories about Arturus Lynch like barflies tell stories
about the New Moon Rider. According to these stories, Arturus Lynch
is the most powerful independent criminal in the city, a mastermind who
has managed to avoid both the wrath of the Black Council and the long
reach of the Crown and still build himself up as the single wealthiest
criminal in the entire city. Tales of Lynch’s exploits are always grandiose
and elaborate, and never short on ruthlessness, bloodshed, and details
meant to spook even the most hardened criminal. No one ever claims to
have worked directly for him, but lots of the Right Kind of People know
someone who knows someone who did a Job for Arturus Lynch, or has
a cousin whose uncle’s sister-in-law was on one of Lynch’s crews, and so
forth. Moreover, Lynch never acts as the broker for these Jobs; he always
sends a proxy, a representative who supposedly speaks on his behalf.
One thing remains the same in every story about Arturus Lynch: the
Jobs are dangerous, bloody, and just as likely to end in the whole crew
dead as they are to end in success. Though these Jobs are supposedly
lucrative, getting in with Arturus Lynch is like bargaining with a demon.
The deal might sound good at the outset, but he’s just as likely to decide
to dispose of you to tie up your loose end as he is to pay out your share.
Thief Signs: Indirect Connections
I’m not saying that I believe that Arturus Lynch even exists, but one of the most disturbing elements of his
mythos is the fact that many people claim they have worked for him but did not learn this until after the
fact. True, woe be to those who do not do their research before accepting a Job from an unknown broker,
but the whispers I’ve heard say that some among the Right Kind of People secretly owe allegiance to
Arturus Lynch, and that sometimes a Job that seems to be brokered by one cartel or another is in actuality
being put together by this notorious mastermind.
—Guinevere Morrill, Vesper boss
222
Prevailing Theories
Even if one doesn’t take the tall tales of Arturus Lynch at face value, those
legends come from somewhere. The savvier and more skeptical of the
Right Kind of People entertain a number of theories as to the true nature
of this mysterious mastermind.
The Lord of the Blooded
The most persistent and credible theory claims that Arturus Lynch is
actually the highest leader of the Blooded, and that he remains in the
shadows not only to tempt the cartels with dangerous work that gets their
members killed, but also to hide his identity from the ambitious capos
and capas who might seek to overthrow him. A slightly more outlandish
version of this theory says that Lynch is an immortal who drinks the
blood of his enemies and possesses myriad supernatural powers as a result.
Pawn of the Black Council
The more paranoid members of the cartels favor a theory that someone
goes by the name of Arturus Lynch, but he is not an independent
mastermind but instead an agent of the Black Council. According to this
theory, Lynch acts as the source for Jobs that the Black Council wishes to
be done but must disavow knowledge of, especially those that result in the
deaths of the Right Kind of People. An alternative version of this theory
claims that the agents of “Arturus Lynch” form a secret society within the
cartels who operate in defiance of the Black Council.
An Agent of the Crown
Some thieves believe that Arturus Lynch is a deep cover agent of the
Crown. His wealth is drawn from the deep coffers of the Regent, and he
appears to be a powerful and untouchable crime lord because the City
Watch has been instructed not to pursue him. This version sees Lynch
as a force that corrodes the cartels from the inside. Curiously, this theory
does not connect him with the Spiders.
A Torch to be Passed
Even among those who believe that Arturus Lynch is an independent
criminal mastermind, many believe that he is not one man, but rather
a mantle passed from one person to the next. This explains why no one
knows who he is, why the Crown cannot seem to catch up with him, and
why so many Jobs brokered by Lynch end in the death of the entire crew
(an obvious way of making sure that no one reveals that the next Arturus
Lynch is not the same person as the previous Arturus Lynch).
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Places of
Interest
New Dunhaven is a city of vast possibilities and infinite variety, and while
certain general truths describe the city, countless instances of uniqueness,
beauty, and eclectic design stand out even in the minds of the citizens
that see them every day. These landmarks are not just interesting quirks
in a vast city, but play an integral role in the work of the Right Kind of
People. They provide the cover for criminal acts, allow for public meetings
without a chance of being overheard, and give the thieves of the city a
place to convene and engage in skullduggery.
These locales are well known to all the Right Kind of People, and most
law-abiding Dunhaveners have at least heard of them, if not visited them
personally. Traveling Elderlanders visit these world-famous sites as a part
of sightseeing tours. They provide the perfect cover for doing legwork to
put a criminal scheme into action.
Thief Signs: Hiding in Plain Sight
I say, sneaking around is all fine, well, and good, but it certainly seems like an awful lot of unnecessary
effort. Let me tell you something, there’s nothing easier than operating right out in the open, at least if
you’re smart about it like me. First, you pick a place that has a lot of people in it. Somewhere public, where
no one’s going to think twice about seeing you and your comrades-in-crime sitting around. Ideally, you’ve
chosen somewhere where people spend a lot of time sitting around, waiting, and generally loitering, so
that as you and your companions drift in no one thinks twice about you being there. The best places have a
lot of people around talking, so that when you and your fellows are chatting in the Cant the sound of your
words is covered by the general chatter. That lets your conversation blend into the noise, and believe you me
there’s nothing sweeter than talking about your dark deeds out where anyone can hear. If anyone in your
crew needs to nick something off of someone else, make sure to choose a place where the crowd is dense,
somewhere where folks are rubbing up against one another like fish in the net, like a market or a theater.
It’s all just that easy.
—Lucius Begbie, Mummer grifter
224
225
The Diamond Room
One of the trendiest private clubs in the city, the Diamond Room is an
entertainment venue that caters exclusively to the nobility. What sets the
Diamond Room apart from other noble venues is its location: deep within
the heart of the Rustmarket district, one of the oldest slums. If its location
seems incongruous with its clientele, it is, and that makes it so appealing;
the danger of patronizing a venue in the slums makes the excitement of
the night all the richer.
Of course, the noble patrons of the Diamond Room cannot simply
arrive in their finery or decked in jewels, nor can they use the expensive
coaches they usually ride in through the city. To do so would make them
obvious targets for muggings and kidnappings, so to avoid presenting an
inviting profile, the noble patrons approach the Diamond Room dressed
in tattered and stained clothing befitting the residents of the district.
Furthermore, most arrive on foot, accompanied by a cadre of private
security guards who doff their usual livery in favor of the leathers worn
by the dangerous toughs who lurk in the alleys of the Rustmarket. Once
inside, the visiting nobles are whisked away to private rooms where they
change into attire more appropriate to their station.
The Diamond Room is a four-story tenement building that has been
converted into this entertaining space. The windows have all been bricked
over, sealing the interior off from prying eyes on the street. Each room in
the building offers different delights: alcohol, gambling, music, tobacco,
poppy smoke, and even simple socializing all have dedicated rooms,
each one with decorations themed toward a precious jewel (emeralds,
sapphires, and so on). At the center of the building is the eponymous
Diamond Room, which resembles a large supper club with tabled, elegant
music, and food and drinks served all night long.
Invitation Only
The Diamond Room is, unsurprisingly, not open to the public; it is an
invitation-only club, and membership is considered to be a significant
status symbol among the younger members of the nobility. Though
it looks like a run-down and abandoned tenement from the outside,
over two dozen security guards are on duty around the premises at all
times, charged with keeping out the uninvited. Some surround the
exterior on the street, dressed as beggars or passersby, while others watch
from the rooftops.
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The Emperor’s Dial
The Emperor’s Dial is an enormous, uncannily accurate water clock built
in a plaza raised above a confluence of canals nearly in the center of the
Breakwater Barony district. Decades after its construction, it remains
a marvel of modern engineering, created without the use of sorcery or
alchemy. Both travelers and citizens turn out regularly to behold the Dial,
which is considered to be the definitive timepiece in New Dunhaven. A
miniature marketplace has sprung up around the Emperor’s Dial, with
various food stalls, guided tours, and souvenir stands doing solid business
in the daylight hours. Properties affording a view of the Dial have been
known to sell for over ten times the normal market value.
Because of its central location and crowds, the Forgotten and the
Family find rich pickings in the pockets of awestruck visitors. The
Forgotten exercise their pickpocketing skills, whereas the Family takes
a large cut from the souvenir stalls, charging premium prices for cheap,
mass-produced engravings and statuettes.
Once night falls, the Emperor’s Dial serves as a neutral meeting
location for the cartels, partially because the sound of the clock drowns
out conversations that might be carried to eavesdroppers’ ears. Wolves
of the Circle patrol the perimeter of the Dial during these meetings to
maintain order and to prevent potential vandalism. To the Circle, Ilya
Mikolaev’s creation is a symbol of pride, and a reminder of better times.
Ilya Mikolaev 227
In the last, dark days of the crumbling Vladov Empire, perhaps the
brightest point of light to be found was the renowned intellect of Ilya
Mikolaev. Modern clockwork design techniques used throughout the
civilized world were invented by Mikolaev during his short lifetime, but
to the common folk, the most easily grasped symbol of his genius was
exemplified in the Emperor’s Dial, an engineering masterpiece.
Ilya Mikolaev was among the first to leave for New Dunhaven once
the Emperor died. He found work redirecting the canals of the city, to
provide both potable water as well as improve the system of travel by
gondola. In his last days before he was struck by fatal illness, Mikolaev
designed and constructed the Emperor’s Dial as a memorial to his fallen
patron. Rumors persist among the Right Kind of People of a cache of
Mikolaev’s clockwork inventions hidden away somewhere in the Old
City, machines so dangerous that the inventor buried them to keep them
out of the Crown’s hands.
Fulton’s Saloon
One of the few locations in the Old City accessible to the Right Kind of
People without special guidance from the Forgotten, Fulton’s Saloon is a
secret tavern that caters exclusively to the city’s criminals. Hidden away
underground, Fulton’s is accessible by entering the Old City through a
largely obscured archway tucked away in a canal landing, then progressing
through a short distance of twists and turns through the subterranean
realm before approaching what appears to be a boarded-up shop front
from the original city of Dunhaven. Rapping on the door with a secret
knock summons the doorman, and then a few quick words in the Cant
earns admittance into the speakeasy.
Fulton’s Saloon is a dark, smoky establishment lit by far too few
flickering candles. Before the fire that destroyed Dunhaven, the building
housing Fulton’s was a seamstress’s shop, which has now been fully
converted into one of the most treasured watering holes for the city’s
criminals. Fulton’s serves ale and wine, has a variety of tobaccos for sale,
and contains many private alcoves with booths and tables built into them,
offering plenty of places for the Right Kind of People to enjoy a drink
and talk about the game without worrying about other people overhearing
them. Though the tavern doesn’t provide gambling accouterments, the
owner allows people to bring their own cards or dice for friendly, low-
stakes games. Any fighting over a game is quickly broken up by Fulton’s
muscle-bound bouncers.
Because Fulton’s Saloon allow grants admittance to members of the
cartels of the Arrangement, patrons can relax and unwind without having
to constantly look over their shoulders to see who just walked in the door.
It’s a wretched hive of scum and villainy, and one of the best places to
meet up with other like-minded criminals.
Obadiah Fulton
Fulton’s Saloon is owned by Obadiah Fulton, a sixty-year-old man who
has operated the establishment since well before the Arrangement went
into place. Fulton is not a member of any cartel, and other than operating
a secret tavern where criminals are welcomed, he partakes in no illegal
activity. In his youth, he was made penniless by unscrupulous merchants
with noble backing, and so he hides out in the Old City and gives the
Right Kind of People a safe place to meet as his form of revenge. Fulton
is one of those people who just seems to get tougher as he gets older, and
228 despite his white hair he is tall, muscular, and flinty.
[INSERT ART: THE OLD CITY FULL PAGE]
229
The Judge’s Torch
Perched upon the coastline and standing tall above the city’s skyline, the
Judge’s Torch is the tallest and brightest lighthouse in the world. Nearly
as tall as some of the Tines, the Judge’s Torch is a towering structure that
blazes with light almost as bright as the sun, the result of an alchemical
oil that burns in an enormous brazier at the top of the lighthouse. An
enormous mirror blocks a 180-degree arc on one side of the brazier,
projecting all of the bright white flame’s light in one direction; this mirror
is set onto a rail and rotates at a constant, even pace around the flame,
causing the beam from the lighthouse to sweep across the landscape.
The Judge’s Torch serves all the traditional functions of a lighthouse,
allowing ships approaching New Dunhaven to navigate safely even in
dense fog or stormy weather. Likewise, its size and the tremendous reach
of its light make it a landmark of historical significance, and during the
day many people (usually visitors from other nations or cities) flock to the
open, grassy areas surrounding the lighthouse. If one is looking to meet
up with someone from Taona, Elderland, or Westport, the area around
the Judge’s Torch is a safe bet.
History of the Judge’s Torch
Given its name, it should be no surprise that the Judge’s Torch has a
connection to the Church of the Silver Judge. During the years following
the fire that destroyed Dunhaven, the Church commissioned architects,
sculptors, and other artists, tasking them with producing works of art
and architecture that glorified the Silver Judge and using the rebuilding
of the city as a chance to spread images tied to the Church outside the
cathedrals. As the Crown was soliciting bids for the construction of a new
lighthouse, the Church stepped forward and, in an unprecedented move,
offered to pay for the construction of the grandest lighthouse the world
had ever seen. The architects delivered on that promise, and the detail
work on the lighthouse is covered in symbology and decorative flourishes
tied to the Church.
Few people know that the interior of the Judge’s Torch is a fully
furnished cathedral. This cathedral is not open to the public, and is in
fact used only by high-ranking members of the clergy for important
ceremonies, such as the installation of a new archpriest. Per an agreement
with the Crown, the City Watch turns away anyone not explicitly there
on important Church business.
230
The Regent’s Theater
Located just outside of the district that makes up the Royal Palace,
the Regent’s Theater is a massive amphitheater that holds over ten
thousand people at once. Originally, the theater was used as a place where
proclamations could be made, and where the Senate held its meetings
before the construction of the Dome of Commons. In modern times, it is
one of the most spectacular outdoor entertainment venues in the city.
Its construction is simple: a central stone platform surrounded by
concentric rings of stone benches rising up and away from the stage with
each row. However, as a former site of royal proclamations it possesses
classic ornate detail work, and its location (nestled into a hillside with
beautiful views of the city and the canal surrounding the Royal Palace)
makes it one of the most scenic venues in the city. With its proximity to
the Royal Palace, the Crown spends its own coin and resources to ensure
that the Regent’s Theater is always kept clean and in good repair, which
ensures that everyone who attends an event here sees the structure in
pristine condition.
Performances
A beautiful venue like the Regent’s Theater cannot be squandered on
street performers and amateur theater troupes. The performances at the
Regent’s Theater are notable for the fame of their performers or the
spectacle of the show. The price of admission is quite steep, ensuring that
only wealthy merchants and nobles stand a reasonable chance of gaining
admittance—though the Right Kind of People have a way of making
it inside without being troubled, especially the Family, Mummers, and
Vespers. Some of the most notable shows in recent years include:
✦✦ A performance of arias by Almaria Vanderhausen, one of the most
famous opera singers in all Elderland
✦✦ A performance of Embers of the Heart, a romance play set against
the backdrop of the fire that destroyed Dunhaven, featuring
impressive alchemical special effects on a grand scale
✦✦ A concert by Ichabod Skysong, a master violinist who came out of
a ten-year retirement for the performance
✦✦ A sermon given by His Holiness Eamon Scarabosa, one of the
highest-ranking archpriests in the world
231
Statue of Unity
Though its official name is the Statue of Unity, this city landmark is
actually two statues, joined together by a walking bridge that connects
one to the other. Located just on the edge of Little Taona, the Statue of
Unity is made up of a towering stone statue of a woman in flowing robes
extending her hand out toward a second statue of a man in common
laborer’s clothing, who in turn reaches back toward the statue of the
woman. Between the two statues flows a broad section of the city’s canal
system, and a covered walking bridge connects the two statues, arching
over the canal between the two statues’ outstretched hands.
The Statue of Unity is a symbol of pride for the people who have made
New Dunhaven their home. It represents the spirit of cooperation that
allowed the city to rebuild after the great fire, and the ability to work
hand-in-hand necessary for a city on New Dunhaven’s scale to function.
It also represents the willingness to welcome in people from outside the
city, since when the statue was first built, it was one of the first sights
that people on ships could see as they were arriving in the port. Over the
years, the Statue of Unity has become a symbol of inspiration, hope, and
cooperation to those who lay eyes on it.
The Founding Family Conspiracy
In addition to being an iconic landmark, the Statue of Unity is at the
center of what most people consider to be a crackpot conspiracy theory.
According to urban legend, the founding families that settled the original
city of Dunhaven secretly brought with them immense wealth from
Elderland (a direct contradiction of the accepted history that the settlers
spent their last coppers on the supplies needed for the journey). Fearing
that being so far from traditional authority would make their wealth
vulnerable to theft, they built secret vaults deep beneath the fortress
of Kalat Wadun (now the Royal Palace) and stored their wealth there,
waiting until the city was more established to retrieve it. Over the years
of rapid expansion, these vaults were forgotten except by a select few
keepers of knowledge in each of the elder families, and eventually even
they began to die out. Before the last heirs to the knowledge of these
secret treasures died, they left clues, puzzles, and ciphers hidden all over
the city that, when followed in the correct order, lead to the lost vaults.
Conspiracy theorists believe that the Statue of Unity contains a critical
clue of this treasure hunt.
232
The Tower of War
The Tower of War is the southernmost of the Tines, and
it lies in an area fully surrounded by Blooded turf. It is
the only one of the Tines located outside turf controlled
by a cartel of the Arrangement, and it is a subject of
great consternation to the Black Council.
The Tower of War houses offices tied to the city’s
military forces, with the bureaucracy of the Royal
Navy taking up four floors and that of the Regent’s
Army taking up another two. The tower also hosts
a number of private business offices (including a
branch of the Dunhaven Bay Trading Company).
Two reasons make the Tower of War so
remarkable to the cartels of the Arrangement:
first, many of the cartels’ experts on matters
of sorcery believe that an aficionado of the
occult was instrumental in its design; and
second, none of the Right Kind of People
sent into the tower have ever emerged
again. This latter detail is laid at the
feet of the Blooded, who must have a
tight grip on the Tower of War, yet even
the most skilled moles have failed to come
back out alive.
It is unclear to what purpose a sorcerer
would influence the engineering of a
building of the Tower of War’s size, but
it contains within its construction many
details based on the same principles used
in the drawing of runes and circles in
sorcerous rituals. Some cartel sorcerers
believe that it was intended to be used as
the focal point of an extremely powerful
ritual; others believe it to be little
more than design flourish made by an
architect with a love of esoteric lore.
233
The Rest of
the World
Though to most Dunhaveners the city is the center of the world, its
borders do not define the entirety of all creation. The city rests on a small
(by global standards) continent in the north and western hemispheres,
one that holds only two major cities (New Dunhaven and the city on
the opposite side of the continent, Westport), though it does support
countless thousands of towns, villages, and hamlets. One of the most
significant contributing factors to its rise in power and influence has been
that the city serves as a central stopover point for the fastest and safest
trade routes in the world, giving rise to a common saying among sailors:
“All ships make port in Dunhaven.”
New Dunhaven is a center of culture, commerce, and influence, but
foreign powers lurk in the wings that serve as both allies and rivals to the
independent city-state. To the Right Kind of People, these power games
matter only as far as they affect the peace and stability of the city; political
turmoil and the shadow of war put the citizenry on edge, making it more
difficult to run the same cons on unsuspecting marks.
Though the Crown maintains both a standing army and a robust
navy, most of the city’s interactions with foreign powers are financial or
political. This is partially due to the city’s relative isolation from the rest
of the world, and partially due to the fact that most foreign powers find
peaceful relations with such an affluent city to be far more beneficial than
direct conflict.
Influence and Intrigue
Despite their reticence to challenge New Dunhaven militarily, the
foreign powers of the world are far from complacent when it comes to
intervening in the city’s affairs. They simply employ intrigue, diplomacy,
subterfuge, and sabotage as their weapons of choice. Foreign powers
(governments, trade companies, nobles, wealthy merchants, and so on)
seek to weaken the city’s financial influence, corrupt its officials, and
destabilize its political power base to promote their own interests. Most
often this takes the form of the kinds of political games the nobility plays,
but in rare cases it raises the specter of sedition or treason.
234
235
Elderland
The first settlers who built the fortress of Kalat Wadun and grew the
settlement into the city of Dunhaven came from the nations across the
ocean to the east, collectively known as Elderland. Composed of dozens
of independent nations, some with histories (and even monarchies)
stretching back for thousands of years, the Elderland powers represent
ancient traditions, wealth, stagnation, and decline, all at the same time.
Elderland is the largest contiguous landmass in the entire world. The
continent stretches across both the northern and southern hemispheres of
the world, and includes every type of climate imaginable, from the frozen
tundras of its northern reaches to the burning deserts and tropical seas
of its equatorial regions. Its people and cultures are all equally diverse,
similar in many ways to the diversity within New Dunhaven, though far
more geographically segregated (and with far more lingering resentment
and national feuds).
Though these nations are collectively placed under the banner of
Elderland, they are a fractious, occasionally squabbling lot. Elderland
nations go to war with one another with a wearying frequency, stoking
old arguments or inventing new reasons to fight one another every few
decades. Though grand-scale conflict is still relatively rare, there have
been times when Elderland burned from one coast to the other in the
flames of war. In fact, it is the fatigue from the last such continent-wide
battles that led to the current period of relative peace, other than the
occasional flare-up from the embers of old conflicts between nations.
Elderland Meddling
The nations of Elderland resent the growth and rising fortunes of New
Dunhaven, though they would never be so crass as to let that resentment
show outwardly. Instead, they seek to undermine the Crown’s power,
influence, and financial reach whenever they can, either siphoning it off
for themselves or simply trying to weaken New Dunhaven’s position.
More than the other foreign powers, Elderland nations are vastly more
likely to meddle in the affairs of New Dunhaven’s aristocracy, merchants,
and trade companies, sometimes playing them off of one another, and
sometimes targeting influential individuals or groups and trying to ruin
them. Elderlander nobles are talented manipulators, and the Crown
assigns investigators (or even Spiders) to keep watch over Elderland
nobles visiting New Dunhaven’s shores for any extended period of time.
236
Taona
Like Elderland, Taona refers not to a single unified nation, but to a
collection of nations in close geographic proximity to one another. The
nations of Taona are located far to the west of the continent on which
New Dunhaven rests, and reside upon island chains and small continents
with leagues of sea between them. Unlike Elderland, where overland
trade first connected the various nations, seafaring brought the powers
of Taona together, and some Taonan cultures still maintain a strong
maritime element.
Perhaps due to the relative sanctuary provided by being separated from
a neighboring nation by a stretch of water, the nations of Taona are far
less conflict-prone (at least with one another) than the Elderland powers.
There hasn’t been open warfare between two Taonan nations in centuries,
and though occasional naval skirmishes occur (involving disputes over
trade routes or feuds between individuals with the money and power to
bring a flotilla to bear on their enemies) for the most part the Taonan
nations spend more time fighting off the pirates that ply their waters than
squabbling with each other.
As another side effect of their separation, the cultures of the Taonan
nations did not undergo the same blending and alteration that happens
when cultures are in closer proximity. Each of the Taonan nations
exhibits distinct traditions and social norms unlike anything found on
the other island nations. This has led people in the rest of the world to
view Taonans as being completely incomprehensible and perpetually
strange, when in reality it is simply that those people encounter natives
from two different Taonan nations and fail to realize just how different
their cultures are.
Thief Signs: Taona vs. Little Taona
The biggest difference between Little Taona and the Old Countries is that we’re all smashed together here.
Sure, each district in Little Taona is dominated by one culture from way off in Taona, but it’s not the same
as being separated by thousands of leagues of ocean, and we are all a lot more comfortable with our
neighbors. Even our language is different. Sometimes when I talk to someone who just arrived from Taona,
I have a hard time understanding their Taonese, because it still has a lot of unique words and phrases that
got blended out of our dialect decades ago.
—Naomi Tam, Red Lotus Society fixer
237
The Vladov Empire
Almost exactly on the opposite side of the world from New Dunhaven,
the once-great and powerful Vladov Empire now lies in ruins. At its
height, it was the largest unified power in the world. Its military was
strong and ruthless, and Imperial control meant authoritarian governance
that brutally stamped out any resistance. The Empire ruled not only
its own sizable continent, but also held tightly to colonies in Elderland
and Taona, taken through conquest and fortified against reclamation.
For centuries, the Vladov Empire was the only force that could unite
the fractious nations of Elderland and the only threat to Taonan naval
superiority. Though its might was largely military in nature, the Empire
also boasted a robust economy, and its trade consortiums rivaled the
Dunhaven Bay Trading Company in size and reach.
Less than a half century ago, the mighty empire began to crumble.
The Empire first lost the ability to defend its colonies, returning them to
self-governance as the Vladov forces withdrew back to the motherland.
For long years, the sources of news from the Empire fell silent, and trade
all but ceased. The Vladov blockaded their continent against seafaring
travelers, and any ship that dared to run that blockade was not heard from
again. The land bridge between the Empire’s continent and Elderland
remained fortified against any overland travelers, its walls manned by
soldiers with orders to shoot without parley.
The blackout remained in place for nearly a decade. When news of
the state of the Empire finally began to trickle out into the rest of the
world, it came from the mouths of refugees fleeing the smoldering
ruins of the once-great Vladov Empire. Ships containing dozens, and
sometimes hundreds, of Vladov survivors were refused entry at ports
in Elderland and Taona, forcing them to sail nearly all the way around
the world to New Dunhaven before disgorging their malnourished and
haunted passengers.
What Yet Remains
Today, the Vladov Empire lies in literal ruins. Its cities all burned to the
ground, leaving behind smoldering husks and buildings collapsed into
rubble. Its walls are unmanned and crumbling. Its ports have washed out
into the sea, and scuttled ships make even attempting to dock at Imperial
seaports dangerous to the point of impossibility. Some small number of
Imperial citizens still live in the ruins, and in scattered villages.
238
Westport
The only other city on the same continent as New Dunhaven, Westport
is a relatively young city that exists largely due to New Dunhaven’s
prosperity. As trade between New Dunhaven and the nations of Taona
blossomed, trade vessels facing the long journey across the ocean sought
a stopover port where their ships could resupply before being at sea for
weeks at a time. This stopover point became Westport, and by virtue of
the amount of trade passing through it, the city grew and flourished.
Westport is still in many ways a frontier town. Its buildings are largely
made of wood and yellow brick, and the sprawl grows so continually
that the city’s government has deemed expanding the wooden palisades
around the city to be a futile effort. The environment around Westport is
arid and hot, and artificial aqueducts draw water away from the Vidario
River to provide the city with fresh water, with log runs bringing timber
down from the more temperate mountains to the east.
The speed of Westport’s growth has created a strange dichotomy in
its culture. It lacks many of the creature comforts of New Dunhaven,
and even its finest saloons and hotels are considered rustic at best and
unfit for prosperous commoners’ districts in New Dunhaven. Despite
this, a significant amount of wealth flows through Westport, and many
merchants and powerful criminals spend their coin to live as opulent a
lifestyle as the city allows. Unlike New Dunhaven, the difference between
the wealthy and the poor is much narrower, and the lack of a noble class
has granted its inhabitants with a greater sense of equality.
Thief Signs: The Hanged in Westport
The wealth of the Hanged comes not from milking the populace of their own city, but from lightening the
purses of travelers on the road, and Westporters fear not the Hanged to the degree one might expect. The
Hanged spend their coin in Westport, and spend it well. I visited the city in my youth and was invited to
the private villa of one Don Benjamin Ramirez for one of his regular celebrations. Beneath the shade of tall
palm trees, with the smell of the ocean on the breeze blowing over his private grotto, I saw such a display
of wealth that would make a Vesper blush, with every coin going into the pocket of Westporters. With men
and women lounging by the cool water in various states of undress, strong drinks and stronger cactus
flower water flowing, I must confess I considered defection more than once for the chance to remain in this
tropical paradise.
—Dante Cutter, Warden of the Night thief
239
Afterword
When I began working on Dusk City Outlaws, it was little more than a hodgepodge of ideas. I wanted to
make a game that was welcoming to players of all shapes and creeds and origins, a game that said that
roleplaying games can be bright and colorful and exciting. I wanted to make a roleplaying game that would
hit the table often, that could be brought out on the spur of the moment, a game that required no more
prep than most board games. I wanted to make a game that used simple components to set players up to
do fun, creative things using their own imaginations. I hope I’ve succeeded in these goals, and that you find
the fun and excitement in playing it that I have had in creating it.
This game couldn’t exist without the hard work and support of a lot of different people. Everyone who
contributed to this game, whether through art, design, development, brainstorming, or playtesting, made
their mark on the city of New Dunhaven. Everyone who supported the game’s crowdfunding efforts also
deserves a special thinks; all the great ideas in the world would still just be ideas without their support in
turning this into a real project. To every one of you, I thank you for helping me bring this idea to life.
Where do we go from here? This is where I turn to you to carry the torch. A roleplaying game isn’t just a
set of rules and setting materials and dice. It’s what happens at the table. It’s the stories you tell when you
play the game, the characters you make, the villains you vanquish and the scores you steal. I can think of no
better way for the game to continue than in the hands of the people actually playing it.
Create your own scenarios. Add your contributions to the urban tapestry of New Dunhaven. Share what
you create with other people. Take the game and hack it to work with other settings and other genres. This
game was created to be played, not to be preserved as some kind of specimen of game design. Make it your
own, and show other people what you have done with it. This is how Dusk City Outlaws will grow and
expand: by the hands of the people playing the game.
Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to share this idea of mine with the world. I hope you
enjoy it, and that it brings you and your friends (old and new) some hours of enjoyment together. There is
no greater reward for me than knowing that something I created helps bring people closer together and
form fond memories.
Rodney Thompson
Creator, Dusk City Outlaws
April 23rd, 2017
240
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