The Updates

The Slums

The one exception to this official indifference is the Ghoul community. Thanks to the restrictions of tradition and the Mayor's Compact they actually live in this area, and carry out their duties among its human inhabitants just as they do elsewhere. The Ghouls' quarter is a rare oasis of calm. It is marked by wooden arches over the streets; on the human sides, these are typically carved and painted with lurid scenes of nightmare creatures devouring their still-screaming victims. On the Ghoul sides they are kept clean and sanded down. The buildings here are noticably sturdier and less closely packed than in the rest of the slums, and the inhabitants are generally quiet, sober and hard working. A human walking here can expect to get odd, almost hostile looks, but will not be interefered with except to be dealt with if causing trouble in some way. The human inhabitants of the slums, more superstitious even than their fellow citizens regarding the Ghouls, stay well clear of the Quarter.

Of course, the people forced to live in the slums are the poorest in Horizon. They include many immigrant families who came to Horizon during and immediately after the War, having been evicted from their old homes by victorious Four Kingdoms forces. Such immigrants are often distrusted by 'native' Horizon folk. Typically the slums act as a source of unskilled and semi-skilled workers for the rest of the city, although a few skilled workers of the Docks and the Steam who have fallen upon hard times also live here. Both underworld and overworld use the area as a source of dumb labour in this way. The Slums also have a few industries of their own. Horizon's stockyards and abattoirs are located here, where animals are driven in through the Vegdarbarra gate and through the streets from the station. The stench of the animals and their deaths permeates the entire district, combining with the factory fumes spilling over from the Steam and the reek of sewage from the Docks to give the Slums a legendary perfume. A number of cottage industries produce cheap, badly made copies of goods that the inhabitants can't afford otherwise. Notoriously, the Clockworker's Guild is forever launching crusades of variable violence against shoddy rip-offs of their devices from this area. Such goods get sold at the numerous small street markets in this area, alongside various illegal goods that are too low quality or too stolen to sell in the commercial district. Fences often make use of these markets. The Slums also have a lively market in various entertainments, usually illegal; this is the place to come to spectate on knife fighting or mass cruelty to animals (bear-baiting, and so on), and also for extremely cheap drink and brothels.

Anyone wanting to do business in the slums should be warned that they are dominated by the Three Families. Out in the depths of the slums, one can suddenly stumble upon areas where the buildings become clean and well kept, the street gangs abruptly become well organised and polite, and dirt and refuse are less in evidence. These are the areas in which the Three Families mobs are the strongest; here, they have formed an alternate government that keeps its own order. In fact the Three Families are the dominant mob throughout the slums, but it is beyond even them to keep order throughout the whole huge district. Nonetheless you can be sure that all but the smallest doings in the slums will soon become known to the Families, and like other governments they like to assert their right to rule, by letting outsiders know their place and asserting the right to taxation. They can also be fiercely protective of the slums and their inhabitants. In return, the locals give the Families their support and often their loyalty. Concealed among the assenting populace, the Families are also said to control much of the entertainment industry in this area.

Rumours

The slums are rife with cults of the worst kind. The priests of the Intercessor try to keep them down, but the indifference of the city authorities is hampering them.

Years ago, during the War, the then head of the Daynann family lead an abortive revolution. The Imperial Legions burnt a huge swathe of the slums in retribution.

Just as the Three Families are hardly one unified mob, so the slums are hardly unified supporters of them. Immigrants tend to support the Kellor, while old-time slum families back the Daynann. The two groups almost have descended into open warfare on numerous occasions. The Columna instruct their tenants to keep the peace, but it can only hold together so long.

If you've got a 'guest' from outside the city... or maybe several 'guests'...? and you don't want the city authorities to know about them, the slums are a good place for them to stay.

The slums are a good place to get dumb muscle cheap, but anyone hired from this area reports right back to one or the other of the Families.

Several of the little street gangs are controlled by the Four Embassies. They use this district to play out games of power and death safely. Safely, that is, unless you're one of the poor sods involved.

Various of the nobles come to this area for some rough and dirty amusement. Sometimes just to partake of the entertainments industry, sometimes to make some fun out of a few locals. The Columna keep score, but they aren't doing anything, yet.

Slowly, this district is absorbing the Imperial Government Ruins.