The Slums

If you end up here you've taken a wrong turn. Possibly while you were walking around the city, in which case you can hope to find your way out again. Possibly in the whole course of your life, in which case you'll be around for a long, long time. The slums of Horizon are huge, a city within a city; they border on the Imperial Government Ruins, the Docks, and the Steam, but also huddle up to great stretches of the Wall and the city boundaries. Sometimes people joke that the Faculty of Cartography are sending in armed expeditions in an attempt to map the district; sometimes they just report it as news. Rows upon rows of tottering, crumbling buildings line the narrow streets. Inside the buildings the inhabitants are crammed into rooms that have been divided ever more closely by the landlords. The Ghouls keep the streets reasonably clean and the sewage systems working but the insides of the buildings are typically shabby, dirty, and reek of rot and damp. Every so often the inhabitants are shaken down for rent by thugs in the employ of the landlords; often these thugs are dressed in the livery of one or another of the noble houses of Horizon. The streets are ruled by a patchwork of small gangs, many of which have some connection to the larger mobs of Horizon, and a few of which associate themselves with the god - cults that spring up like mushrooms after rain in this district. The eternal feuding of these groups, and the lack of clout of the other inhabitants, means that many services taken for granted in other parts of the city are not found in the slums - the Ghouls are still allowed to go about their work unmolested, but the taxis (for example) will probably never extend their routes to this area. The area is a traditonal source of anti-governmental feeling; numerous riots and revolts have begun here, and people obliged to wear government uniforms only enter the area armed and in large groups. The city authorities repay this antipathy with interest; the Watchdogs and the Streetcleaners are largely disinterested in the problems of the area's inhabitants. Apart from the gangs, darker threats that are rarely spoken of aloud are found here; the city's embryonic Kraeling community live here for the most part, where the more... traditional members can indulge their dietery habits almost unnoticed. Some of the cults are also a big problem in their own right, particularly those of Versinya and Verachtlich.

Of course, the people forced to live in this area are the poorest in Horizon. They include many immigrant families who came to Horizon during and immediately after the War after being 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 abatoirs are located here, where animals are driven in through the [?] 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 (but not the sort of thing that would be mass-produced, obviously the factories of the Steam take care of those). 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. Some of the nobles like to come here to make their own fun with the inhabitants in imaginative ways.

For the mobs of Horizon, this district is of interest for four reasons: cheap casual labour, hiding things, and selling things, and religion. As to the first, many people in the Slums are desperate and willing to undertake any job for a bit of cash. As to the second; both deeds and people can readily be concealed in the Slums, where the Watchdogs rarely tread, and people generally don't inquire after the business of others. The Imperial Government Ruins can be used to hide something where no-one will look; the Slums can be used to hide things in plain sight. Apart from Kraelings, other visitors from beyond the Wall are often housed here. As to the third, the small markets and petty crooks and trader of the slums can be used to unload goods that couldn't be sold in the commercial district. Finally, if a mobster wants to deal with cults of the various gods, the slums are the most likely place to make contact within the city.

However, there are complications to carrying out business - even illegal business - in the slums. The bewildering quantity of petty crime and random violence is part of this; the other part is the Three Families. Out in the depths of the slums, one can suddenly stumble upon large regions where the buildings become clean and well kept, the street gangs abruptly become well organised and polite, and the cult graffiti is nowhere in evidence. These are the areas in which the 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. Nevertheless, they keep a sharp eye on the other large mobs when they operate here, and often demand a cut of the profits in return for protection. The Families are also responsible for much of the entertainment industry here.

The other oasis of calm in the Slums is the Ghouls' quarter, the area reserved by the Mayors' Compact for the housing of the Ghouls (and the area to which the Compact restricts Ghoul dwellings). 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 gently restrained if causing trouble in some way. The human inhabitants of the slums share some customs with the rest of the city, and they leave the Ghouls free of trouble for the most part.