Blades in The Dark - City of Red Waters (2023-12-05)

A SETTING
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City of Red Waters

©2023 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Ash McAllan
City of Red Waters is based on Blades in the Dark, a trademark of John

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First published in 2023 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC.

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credits
Ash McAllan
Design and Writing
John Harper
Creator of Blades In The Dark, Layout, Graphic Design
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Editor
Cass Redfield, Jabari Weathers

Sensitivity Reading
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Cartography, Layout, Graphic Design
Emily McAllan
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Original pitch for Moon Over Bourbon Street by Chris Bennett
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contents
city of red waters
What is this?................................................................................. 1
Welcome to inverrouge............................................................... 1
CREWS......................................................................... 8
REGIONS.................................................................... 20
Highwater................................................................................... 20
Riverside..................................................................................... 22
Via Dolorosa.............................................................................. 23
Grocers Row............................................................................... 24
Docklands................................................................................... 26
Seafront....................................................................................... 27
Fraser Gardens........................................................................... 28
Compass Ranges........................................................................ 30
Lilybarrows................................................................................. 31
FACTIONS.................................................................. 32
Appendices................................................................................. 45
city of
red waters
what is this?
City of Red Waters is an alternative setting supplement for the Blades in the
Dark role-playing game. It includes all the additional material you need to run a
game of Blades in the Dark set in the city of Inverrouge (/invəɹuːʒ/, in-ver-rooj),
including three new types of crew to inhabit it.
To play Blades in the Dark with City of Red Waters, begin by taking a look through
the setting overview provided below (see Welcome to Inverrouge). Then, when
creating characters, choose their heritages, backgrounds, and vices from those
outlined in this supplement. For your crew, you can choose either one of the crew
types in Blades in the Dark or one of the new crew types here—the Emcees, River
of Blood, and Roots. The rest of the book fleshes out the locales and factions of
Inverrouge, ready for you to start playing straight away!
Inverrouge is a colonial city with a complex and unpleasant history. It is a
setting designed to reflect many of the conflicts of colonial history and explore
the tensions and horrors of colonialism in play. To maintain the illusion of
utopia, Inverrouge buries its sins and victims alike, keeping them apart from its
beneficiaries and the blessings they enjoy. It has those victims, in turn, victimize
others, making all complicit in the suffering that turns the city’s gears. Some are
more complicit than others, but no one escapes the bloody spiral untouched.
welcome to inverrouge
In the city of red waters, colonialism makes vampires of us all.
The land here is rich from a hundred thousand years of care and a hundred years of blood.
Inverrouge is a vibrant colonial city on the mouth of the river Sange (/sɑːnʐ/,
sahnzh). Its music, cuisine, and culture are the envy of the modern world. Among
dark trees courting still waters with a backdrop of green rolling hills, the city fills
1
itself with intoxicating local produce and drapes itself in finery from every corner
of the world. While the daylight hours present a facade of fashionable modesty
and businesslike propriety, at night, it erupts into a cacophony of lights and music
in a dozen clashing styles. Meanwhile, the beating of its dark heart echoes in the
swamps, in the shanty towns, in every bite of gluttonous pride. Here in the city
of red waters there are opportunities for decadence, ambition, and monstrosity
alike for those with the cunning, wealth, or brutality to seize them.
A Short History
The world is vast and full of many and varied peoples. Those who inhabited the
great landmass of Magna Mundus had largely assumed that it was the full extent
of the world. The kingdoms, nations, and empires of the Regnis region in the
northwest, having met and mapped their neighbors to the east and south, and
buoyed by a wave of prosperity, began to send explorers far over the horizon into
the far unknown seas. After explorers from the kingdom of Silvada discovered
the first “new world”, Terra Nova, the other kingdoms of Regnis raced to find
the next: Terra Tertia.

Much like the rest of the continent now known as Terra Tertia, the lands around
what later became Inverrouge have always been inhabited by many indigenous
peoples, complex societies with profound bonds to the land. This well-established
extant population, however, did not stop explorers from the kingdom of Calvier
from founding a colony on the mouth of the river they named the Sange. All
indigenous resistance was quickly slaughtered by Calvisse firearms and ruthlessness
and construction began on the city of Inverrouge. The settlement flourished due to
its important trading position on the mouth of the great river Sange, the fertility of
the land, and its abundant access to forced labor in the form of Calvisse convicts,
enslaved Ghalasi peoples, and captives taken from the indigenous River Peoples.
Half a century later, the prosperous colony was sold to fund war between Calvier and
Silvada on Regnese soil and purchased on behalf of the Ettish Empire by the Inverrouge
Company, an investment enterprise created with the intention of transforming
the colony into a new-world utopia. The terms of this transaction included the
emancipation of all chattel slaves, for which slave owners were compensated at near
market value. Be that as it may, sharecropping, the use of convict labor, and the violent
oppression of indigenous peoples, has continued under Ettish rule.
As the city ventures forward into a new technological age, under the guidance
of Lord Governor Fraser, attracting ever more prosperity thanks to the massive
steamships making port at the river mouth, its reputation for entertainment and
indulgence only grows.
Geography
The geography of the Inverrouge area is shaped by the depositing of silt at the
mouth of the River Sange where it is forced south into the sea by the Compass
Ranges to the west. These deposits have created a long sandbar peninsula along
the south and Lake Dawn behind it. The lake is traditionally considered to be
just another part of the Sange (known as the belly of the river among the River
Peoples). Along the western coast of Lake Dawn lie several islands. The largest
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of these, Carday Island, is surrounded by smaller islands: Government Isle at the
northeastern end and the twin islands of Riverside—Crowley’s Rock and Snake
Hill—to the south. The river flows southwesterly into the lake at its northernmost
point, with the newer suburb Fraser gardens on the western bank and the railroad
on the eastern bank. The railroad crosses onto Carday Island’s northwestern
shore at the Iron Bridge on the north end of the docklands, near grocer’s row
and makes station near the wharves at the southwestern end of the docklands
before crossing the Steel Bridge west back onto the mainland to continue into
the Compass Ranges. The docklands nestled at the south western side of Carday
Island make safe harbor for docking ships while leaving the main thoroughfare
to the river mouth clear. While most of the city is located on Carday Island,
spilling out into Fraser Gardens to the northwest, the hilly Compass ranges to
the west, the swampy Lilybarrows to the northeast, and the Seafront sandbar
are all scattered with various settlements and smaller populations feeding and
feeding off of the larger city.
the city of red waters

Technology
The city of Inverrouge is a bustling colonial metropolis reaping the benefits of
the Regnese industrial revolution. It is built not only on agriculture and labor but
also on the broad shoulders of modern technology. Steamships passing up and
down the Sange enable the commerce that makes Inverrouge the cosmopolitan
city that it is. Baudin University is a hive of research and experimentation. The
streets of Fraser Gardens are paved with bitumen, lit with electric street lights,
and home to a small number of electric and petroleum automobiles. All of this
and more is possible in Inverrouge thanks to the philanthropy of its wealthy
elite and investment from the Inverrouge Company, the directors of which seek
to transform Inverrouge into a city of the future. Access to the wonders of this
technological age are, unfortunately, limited to those with means enough to afford
them. The majority of folks in Inverrouge still dine by the light of candles and
lamps, and earn their daily bread by the sweat of their own brows in the field,
the workshop, or one of the great factories owned by the city’s industrialists.
The Essence of Life
You are in your blood.
All that is sacred, beautiful, mystical of you-your spirit, your soul, your essence-
runs through your veins, hot and red. Every adult and child, every priest and
sinner, lives in their heart, reaching out into the world with eyes and hands.
Blood is the essence of life and soul. The strongest of magics and mysticism are
centered on it, and it runs thick in the streets, swamps, and valleys of Inverrouge.
It seeps into the soil and fertilizes the famous produce of the area. It spills on
cobblestones and coagulates in the cracks between them. Blood left uncleansed
conjures Ghosts that walk as living smoke through alleys and swamps. Blood in
the water lures demons that hide in the murky depths of the Sange.
Whispers and leeches are well familiar with the scent of iron on the air and the
stain of red on skin. Cutters and hounds know its weight. Slides, spiders, and
lurks know to keep their hands clean.
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Spirits
In the night, as dawn approached, I saw the great stone on Barley Hill take the hand of
his brother, the creek, and go down to the graveyard behind the Briarson farm. There,
at the edge of the patch, the stone called out to the memory of a woman long dead.
Once, she had bathed often in the creek, and now the younger brother missed her. But
the graveyard’s chapel dismissed them, as the woman’s memory clung to the chapel’s
skirts and her spirit wished to bathe not in death, lest the waters wash her away.
More than mere man and beast walk the streets and waterways of Inverrouge.
Ghosts are the echoes of human lives. When blood is spilled or fouled, it
sublimates into a kind of smoke that carries some memory of the mind and form
of the person it was. These ghosts usually degrade physically and emotionally
with the passage of time, but particularly traumatic deaths or strong forces of
character can create more durable presences.
The natural world is also alive. The elements, flora, and fauna all watch the goings-
on of humanity in Inverrouge. One might, with the correct rituals, permissions,
or tools, speak with a field of barley, ask a favor of a species, or offer a gift to
the wind. In darker circumstances, one might try to bind the walking form of
a crime that was done against a family, or the anger of a god. Many call these
entities demons, unnatural and evil-the Eucharistian Church most of all-but
the truth is far simpler: they simply are and are alongside us.
Mechanics, items, or abilities in Blades in the Dark which refer to, or interact with,
the ghost field, including the Attune action, interact with this spiritual nature of
the natural world and all things in City of Red Waters. Anything that refers to,
or interacts with, life force, ghosts, or electroplasm in Blades in the Dark refers
instead to blood in City of Red Waters.
Law and Order
Governmental authority over Inverrouge is derived from the Ettish throne.
Receiving this authority from the Ettish monarch, King Victor III, Governor
Fraser is thus responsible for ruling in his stead. The governor is backed by the
might of the Royal Ettish Army, also known as the Redcoats.
Lawmaking and governance is also strongly influenced by the Inverrouge
Company, due to the sheer scale of its financial investment in the colony.
Legislation is typically drafted by the company and then forwarded to the
governor for enactment, following a lengthy, sometimes hostile, series of
redraftings between the two parties.
The company’s lobbying has recently led to the establishment of the Inverrouge
Foot Police, a civilian law enforcement body. There is growing tension between
the attempts of the Inverrouge Foot Police to enforce law where they can with
limited resources and the Redcoats’ broader mandate to enforce order across the
colony as a whole. When crews generate heat and run afoul of the law, the type
of law enforcement they encounter is largely dependent on where they are and
the kind of trouble they’ve been up to.
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Judgment of civil and criminal matters as well as sentencing falls upon the
shoulders of a small cadre of magistrates, men proven wise and honorable, chosen
from those of the legal profession, the political class, and the Ettish gentry. They
are appointed by Chief Magistrate William Pike who is the final word in all cases
of appeal and is, himself, appointed by the king.
Characters
When playing in the City Of Red Waters setting follow the standard rules for
creating characters from Blades In The Dark but when choosing your Heritage,
Background, and Vices, choose from those listed here in City Of Red Waters instead.
Heritage
Heritage, for most Inverrougers, is a complex and multifaceted topic. Choose
where your family is from and also how you came to be here. Are you indigenous,
connected to the land since before all time? Were your family settlers, claiming

the land for themselves with flags and guns? Were you or your people brought
here in chains? Were you simply migrants, lured across the sea by the promise of
work and opportunity? Are you the first of your family in Inverrouge? If so, do
your people have roots here now, or are you just passing through on the river tide?
Calvier
Calvier is the cultural heavyweight of Regnis, known for its artists, philosophers,
food, and fine wine, and recognised as the center of fashion and sophistication
on the continent. Its colonial forays into Terra Tertia were largely motivated
by a sense of competition with Silvada. In this light, Inverrouge was to be the
jewel in the crown of the Calvisse Empire. When the city and the rest of the
Calvisse claims in Terra Tertia were sold, much of the Inverrouge’s Calvisse
population chose to remain, accepting Ettish sovereignty to avoid returning
to a nation at war. The Calvisse aristocrats and bourgeois are now the “old
guard” of the city and expect to be treated with a certain level of respect and
deference because of it.
Etton
The nation of Etton resides on a peninsula in the cooler north of Regnis,
dominating the region’s frigid northern seas with a powerful navy and merchant
fleet. Its easy access to coal and labor have made it the master of the industrial
age. These boons have granted it the power to establish a powerful empire, and
the purchase of Inverrouge is only the latest expansion in its collection of colonies
across Terra Tertia and Ghalas. Indeed, it is considered by its peers to be the
dominant imperial power of Regnis and the wider world. As the seat of the
Eucharistian church, Ettish culture favors modesty and restraint, hiding the
bloodthirst and greed that powers Ettish expansion behind a mask of business
and civility. Such values have thus become at least nominally fashionable in
Inverrouge since the influx of settlers from Etton under the guidance of the
Inverrouge Company’s utopian vision.
5
Silvada
Silvada is a great waning power of the Regnese imperial age. It has brutally
extracted tremendous wealth from Terra Nova, wreathing its aristocracy in
luxury. Its reliance on military strength and fiscal power has, however, left it
stagnant and unstable in the new age of innovation, industry, and trade. Those
Silvado found in Inverrouge are typically part of the merchant community,
making port en route between the old and new worlds.
Ghalas
Ghalas is a large and diverse subcontinent occupying the south of Magna Mundus.
Almost all of the Ghalasi inhabitants of Inverrouge were formerly enslaved, or
the children of people who had been. The western nations of Ghalas offered easy
pickings for the wider chattel slave trade—war between the Oɲlon and Khabi
nations and vigorous Regnese interference had destabilized the area, and it is from
this region that most of Inverrouge’s Ghalasi population were first stolen away
into bondage. Although the purchase of Inverrouge by the Ettish Empire ended
several generations of chattel slavery, many of the Ghalasi peoples of Inverrouge

still find themselves caught in bonds of coercive labor such as sharecropping
and debt rackets. They have, however, built strong communities in the face of
their oppression—supporting each other and offering help to neighbors in other
oppressed communities in solidarity.
Egia
Egia is the largest region of Magna Mundus, occupying the continent’s eastern half
and separated from Regnis and Ghalas by great arid mountain ranges. Currently
dominated by the great central San Empire with many fiercely proud independent
nations surrounding it, Egia has traditionally considered its own affairs separate
from those of Regnis and Ghalas. Rather than competing for the distant lands
of Terra Nova and Terra Tertia, Egian powers are largely engaged in their own
races to find new lands to conquer over the eastern horizon. As such, those
Egians who find themselves in Inverrouge are usually migrants headed west
searching for opportunities to escape the lives they might otherwise be trapped
in at home. Although seen as alien and disposable by the Regnese population
that run the city, Egian migrants have collected into their own communities of
mutual support and found solidarity with their oppressed Ghalasi and Indigenous
brothers and sisters.
River Peoples
The River Peoples are a coalition of indigenous peoples whose traditional lands
have been usurped by the growth of the Inverrouge colony. These were made up of
several distinct-if closely related-independent nations sharing a language group
and access to the river. The Calvisse invasion quickly decimated these peoples
through a combination of direct violence and devastating plagues. Displaced from
their traditional lands, the surviving River Peoples have had to join together to
survive in the new city of Inverrouge and its surrounds.
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The cultures of the River Peoples have always held sacred the responsibility of
individuals to respect and care for the land and each other as both a part of that
land and the community of generations that belong to that land. They shared
a focus on the communal tending of the land for the benefit of all. Rather than
personal ownership, emphasis was placed on personal responsibility for specific
resources. To be separated from these lands and to observe their destruction as a
result of Regnese farming practices has been traumatic. Born into this conflict,
some among the younger generations have developed a thirst for violent revenge,
while their elders struggle to process the magnitude of the crimes committed
against them within the context of their traditional laws.
Terra Nova
The indigenous peoples of the first new world, Terra Nova, have suffered greatly
under the heel of Silvado colonization. A network of cultures lush with vibrant
arts, religious traditions, and innovation have been ravaged by disease and

the brutal violence of invading forces. In the wake of these horrors and the
civilizational destruction they have inflicted, many Terra Novans have fled to
Magna Mundus and Terra Tertia in search of peace. Those settling in Inverrouge,
however, have found that the Regnese settlers treat them with the same casual
cruelty they endured at home, though tempered and warped by Ettish distaste
for public violence. Some Terra Novans still feel some measure of respite in
Inverrouge and seek to build a life here, finding what peace they can. Others
refuse to accept ongoing suffering, making plans to either escape further into
Terra Tertia where the cruelty of Regnese culture has not yet been established,
or change Inverrouge itself.
Background
Academic: A scholar, researcher, professor or student from Baudin University,
a philosopher or journalist, etc.
Labor: A slave, a servant, a factory worker, a coach driver, a docker, a sailor, etc.
Law: An advocate or barrister, an officer or inspector of the Inverrouge Foot
Police, a prison guard from Stillwater prison, etc.
Trade: A shopkeeper, a merchant, a skilled craftsperson, a shipping agent, etc.
Military: A redcoat, a mercenary, an intelligence operative, a strategist, a training
instructor, etc.
Noble: A dilettante, a courtier, the scion of a fallen house, an heir to new
money, etc.
Underworld: A street urchin, a gang member, a sex worker, an outcast, etc.
Vice, Overindulgence and the Vampire
Everything in Inverrouge has the taint of blood and earth, especially those desires
that call to our most hedonistic and violent natures. When playing in City of Red
Waters, various vices have different tiers. When you create your character choose
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your first vice from the Tier 0 list on the Vices Table below, rather than the list
provided in Blades in the Dark. When you roll to indulge your vice, you clear
additional stress equal to the tier of the vice you are indulging.
Any time you overindulge your vice in City of Red Waters, you gain a new
vice from the next tier of the vice list. The tiers of the vice list describe your
increasingly specific and less socially palatable tastes. If you overindulge when
you already have a vice from Tier 3, you gain an unquenchable taste for blood
and must immediately transfer your character to the Vampire playbook (BitD,
p. 218) and replace all your vices with just one: Blood. Any reference to “Life
Essences” in the Vampire playbook should be treated as referring to blood in
City of Red Waters).
In City of Red Waters, vampires must drink blood as it alone is the essence of life.
Vices
0: Fruit, sweets, music, cheese, tobacco, hard liquor, sex, gambling, prayer.
1: Wine, meats, painting, sculpture, fortune-telling, bondage, song, self-flagellation.
2: Gold, jewels, fine cloth, blood sports, cocaine, domination.
crews
3: Cannibalism, torture, opiates, séances, tyranny.
crews
When creating a crew for City of Red Waters, the process is the same as that for
creating a crew in Blades in the Dark but with the additional option of three new
crew types to choose from:
Emcees: Partygoers, hosts, and socialites. They orchestrate social situations,
deals, and blackmail.
River Of Blood: The ready oppressed. They foment dissent, murder, and
overthrow their oppressors.
Roots: Bloody farmers. They grow and sell produce enriched with the essence of life.
Emcees
Partygoers, hosts, and socialites
This is a town filled with revelry. Most enjoy it. You climb it.
When you play Emcees, you earn xp when you rise in social standing or
notoriety.
As Emcees, your connections are your most important assets. For you, turf doesn’t
represent physical locations, but rather connections to influential NPCs, including
notables from Tier III+ factions or Wealth 2+ regions. Establishing and holding
this turf involves building a strong relationship with the NPC in question and
retaining it, whether through mutual respect, fear, or fiscal influence. If another
party gains a more influential relationship with that NPC then they have taken
the turf from the players’ crew.
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Starting Upgrades
Training: Resolve Quality Documents
Hunting Grounds
Choose a favored operation type:
Refined: The intellectual and the tasteful engage in the appreciation of the
finer things in life.
Debaucherous: Targets are engaged in the pleasures of the flesh.
Spectacular: All eyes are on entrancing performances and wondrous displays.
Clandestine: Hidden plots and passions play out in alleyways and behind
drawn curtains.
Contacts
Isadora Delatte, an exquisite caterer. Barthelemy Brown, a talkative valet.

Alexandre Lambert, an enigmatic Oscar Bloe, a drunken official.
magician. Catarina Laroche, a genial steamboat
Esther Hart, an adventurous heiress. captain.
Upgrades
Emcee Rigging: One carried item is concealed and has no load. For example,you
could carry a bundle of documents or a weapon, perfectly concealed, for zero load.
Full Pockets: You always have a little something on hand. You get +1d to any
action you sweeten with a gift or bribe.
Elite Rooks: All of your cohorts with the Rooks type get +1d to quality rolls for
Rook-related actions.
Elite Skulks: All of your cohorts with the Skulks type get +1d to quality rolls
for Skulk-related actions.
Calm & Collected: Each PC gets +1 stress box. This costs three upgrades to
unlock, not just one.
Claims
Informants: You get +1d to gather information for a score. Your eyes and ears
on the streets are always on the lookout for new opportunities.
Vice Den: Any time during downtime, roll dice equal to your Tier. You earn coin
equal to the highest result, minus your heat. You provide a place for your “very
good friends” to enjoy their earthly luxuries with discretion.
Personal Clothier: You get +1d to the engagement roll for social plans. You
always arrive on the scene in the most current and alluring fashion.
Envoy: You get +2 coin in payoff for scores that involve high-class clients. This
well-connected liaison will help move luxury goods and arrange for better payoffs
from rich clients.
9
Lookouts: You get +1d to Hunt or Survey against those you have an established
social connection with. Your friends in the street know who to keep an eye on.
Secret Pathways: You get +1d to the engagement roll for stealth plans. You
might have access to long-forgotten underground canals, rooftop walkways, or
some other route of your choice.
Luxury Venue: You get +1d to Consort and Sway rolls on-site. Silks, paintings,
and crystal impress the clientele.
Information Business: Any time during downtime, roll dice equal to your Tier.
You earn coin equal to the highest result, minus your heat. You keep secrets for
some high paying “clients.”
Cover Operation: You get –2 heat per score. The cover of a legitimate operation
helps deflect some of the heat from law enforcement.
Interrogation Chamber: You get +1d to Command and Sway on-site. Grisly
business, but effective.
Turf x 4
Special Abilities
Persuasive
crews
Each PC may add +1 action rating to Command, Consort, or Sway (up to a

max rating of 3).
Each player may choose the action they prefer (you don’t all have to choose the
same one). If you take this ability during initial character and crew creation,
it supersedes the normal starting limit for action ratings.
Troupe Performance
When creating a distraction, if you lead a group action or receive assistance,
take an additional +1d.
What kind of performance are you known for?
Hungry Friends
You have an agreement with the demons of the rivers and wilds. Bodies dumped
into their domains simply disappear. If there are no other witnesses, you don’t
take extra heat when killing is involved on a score and the bodies are disposed
of in this way.
What does this agreement look like? How did you strike it? What happens if
the bodies stop coming?
High Society
It’s all about who you know. Take –1 heat during downtime and +1d to gather
information about the city’s elite.
Professional Drunks
Your crew is acclimated to liquor. You get +1d to resistance rolls against poisons
and intoxication and +1d to Study, Sway, or Consort with intoxicated targets.
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Discerning Customers
You can spot quality when you see it and know how to negotiate a bargain. When
you roll to acquire an asset, take +1d.
Mere Magic
Your crew are proficient with sleight of hand, misdirection, and at least a few
occult tricks. You may expend special armor to increase the effect of Prowl or
Finesse when producing or hiding objects or people in an instant.
Opportunities
1. A masked figure will pay well to be in the same room as a contact of yours,
presumably with nefarious intent.
2. A rising family wants to marry off their favorite son to a wealthy heiress, and
want the crew to arrange a ”chance meeting” between them.
3. Seances are the latest craze spreading through the party scene of Inverrouge

socialites but only most of them are fake.
4. A stuffy politician wishes to rebrand herself as more personable; make her
next fundraiser “a little more fun” (her words) while keeping any potential
scandals at bay.
5. Several members of your social circles have come to you, each individually, for
help, they are being blackmailed by some unknown third party over secrets
you thought only you kept.
6. The governor has imposed a curfew.
7. A wedding between two Calvisse nobles has brought hundreds of guests from
across the world to Inverrouge, along with new gossip, potential contacts,
oceans of wine, and a king’s ransom in wedding gifts.
8. Your crew appears to have a devoted fan, following your every move and
attending all your events. A new contact? A potential cohort? A stalker?
9. Someone wishes to fake their death, and to alleviate all doubt they want it
done with as many witnesses as possible.
10. A group of young socialites have formed a dance troupe and suddenly
“modern dance” is the only fashionable entertainment in town.
11. A wealthy dowager of the Calvisse royal family is offering a grand reward for
the return of her long lost granddaughter.
12. Carnival season is fast approaching.
13. The wealthy heir of a foreign fortune will pay handsomely to be introduced
to the right people around town.
14. An acquaintance wants to unload a large shipment of small, colorful bottles
onto your crew as there is no market demand for them.
15. An entertainer from Via Dolorosa would like help blackmailing her former
lover, an important politician. The politician will pay handsomely to make
her disappear.
11
16. Spooky swamp tours are suddenly the most fashionable entertainment activity
around.
17. A group of rival socialites are throwing a large party on a river barge.
18. High rollers from out of town are willing to pay good money for the “authentic”
experience of the city.
River of Blood
The ready oppressed
These pasty, rich bastards have built a life of luxury on your suffering and you
will not let that stand.
When you play a River Of Blood, you earn xp when you successfully foment
dissent against, murder, or overthrow your oppressors.
Instead of claims, you have a river of names. Each name on the list gives your
crew a penalty until it is washed away with blood. Whenever one of the people
named in the river dies (or appears to die, from the perspective of the public,
if your crew deems such to be “enough”), color over them and their associated
penalty in red-they no longer exist. (The names on the list belong to the holders
of various positions and can be updated accordingly if those positions change
hands or become irrelevant.)
crews
The River of Blood offers a more difficult experience for groups looking for a challenge.
Additionally, it focuses on political violence. To be removed from the river of names
they must be killed (or publicly perceived as having been killed) so that others will not
fill their place. Part of playing this crew type is buying into this violence and accepting
that some of these targets may present morally gray situations.
Starting Upgrades
Training: Prowess Cohort: Thugs
Hunting Grounds
Murder: Take the life of a single Sabotage: Hurt an opponent by
enemy or target. destroying something.
Battle: Defeat an enemy with over- Redistribution: Snatch goods or
whelming force. people by force.s
Contacts
Jacques Baillie, a patient arms dealer. Augustin Pomet, a soulful priest.
Benedict Hero, an adventurous ship Nkechi Ijeawele, a harried nurse.
captain. Nanette Lalande, a mother of many.
Egret, a privileged servant.
River Of Blood Upgrades
Improvized Load: Two load worth of your carried items are common items,
improvized for your purposes. For example, you might have two weapons , which
appear perfectly innocent to inspection.
12
Jailbird Contacts: Your Tier is effectively +1 higher in prison. This counts for
any Tier-related element in prison, including the incarceration roll (see Blades in
the Dark, page 148).
Elite Thugs: All of your cohorts with the Thugs type get +1d to quality rolls for
Thug-related actions.
Elite Skulks: All of your cohorts with the Skulks type get +1d to quality rolls
for Skulk-related actions.
Hardened: Each PC gets +1 trauma box. This costs three upgrades to unlock,
not just one. This may bring a PC with 4 trauma back into play if you wish.
River of Names
Surgeon General (Dr Mary Marshall, p. 29): Never roll more than 1d for healing
treatment rolls.

Chief Legislator (George Atkinson, p. 39): Never roll more than 1d for long-
term project rolls.
Detective Inspector (James Connelly, p. 40): Never roll more than 1d for rolls
to reduce heat.
Chief Magistrate (William Pike, p. 21): You get +1 heat per score.
Editor-in-Chief (Julien Doll, p. 25): You gain a max of 1 rep per score.
State Treasurer (Morgan Hardy, p. 37): You get a max of 2 coin in payoff.
Financier (Madison Lean, p. 38): PCs are limited to holding 2 coin on hand each.
Landowner (Madame Isobelle De Barbary, p. 21): Take –1 to Command,
Consort, and Sway when interacting with members of the middle or upper class.
Cartel Leader (Erasme Decourmant, p. 35): Acquire asset rolls are always rolled
with 0d.
General (William Kelly, p. 43): Your cohorts are always considered Tier 0.
Mayor (Austen Cheval, p. 21): Take +1d to entanglement rolls.
Governor (Gordon Fraser, p. 37): Take –1d to engagement rolls.
Special Abilities
Saboteurs
Each PC may add +1 action rating to Hunt, Prowl, or Wreck (up to a max rating of 3).
Fight with Tools
You are experts in jury-rigging and repurposing everyday items. When you
acquire an asset, it gains +1 quality.
13
Together we Rise
You perform group actions with increased effect.
Nobodies
Take –1 heat during downtime. You get +1d to deceive people when passing
yourselves off as servants, laborers, or members of the lower classes.
Forged in the Fire
Each PC has grown used to harsh punishment. You get +1d to resistance rolls.
This ability applies to PCs in the crew. It doesn’t confer any special toughness
to your cohorts.
Deadly Focus
When you set out to murder someone listed in the river of names, take +1d to
the engagement roll.
This ability only applies when your goal is to murder one of your targets. It
doesn’t apply to other operations that involve that target.
Red Wave
Fear is as good as respect. Every three names you cross off the river of names
count as 1 turf.
crews
Regardless of how much turf you hold, the minimum rep cost to advance your
Tier is always 6.
Community
Each PC gains an additional vice: Companionship. When you indulge this vice
and perform an act of service for your companions, you don’t overindulge if
you clear excess stress.
Who holds your humanity in their hands?
Opportunities
1. The ghosts of your targets’ victims’ start coalescing at your hideout, en masse.
2. A large shipment of arms is due to be delivered to the Redcoats under the cover
of darkness, disguised as a simple cargo delivery with only a handful of guards.
3. You are approached by someone named on your list. They would like to pay and
assist you to dispose of the targets on your list that advance their own ends.
4. Two rival noble houses are offering money for the heads of any members of
the other house.
5. A spirit of the land demands the death of a specific government clerk but
won’t explain why.
6. A wealthy noble, not on your list, has been murdered and all evidence points
toward members of your crew. As far as you know none of you were involved
in this killing.
14
1. A member of your crew is named heir to a highly profitable sugar plantation.
2. The members of a river-demon cult approach you, promising to enhance your
bodies with supernatural strength and power.
3. The Governor’s Jubilee celebrations will include a very large, very fancy party.
Many of the names on your list will be in attendance.
4. One of your former victims, a name firmly blotted out in red, returns to
town very much alive.
5. Rumors say one of your targets is guarded by a demonic power with which
they have a deal.
6. A group of abused dockhands approaches you, wanting their foreman dead.
1. Someone else is killing your targets before you.

2. A contact who has visited your hideout has been bragging that they know your

crew and that you will kill anyone who messes with them.
3. A set of keys to the Redcoats’ munitions store is now available on the black
market to the highest bidder.
4. One of your targets has publicly disavowed his mistress. Her fury may be to
your advantage.
5. A train has derailed in the Compass Ranges. Its cargo could feed dozens
of families for months. The Redcoats are being deployed to ensure nothing
is stolen.
6. A vampire-hunter from Silvado has come to Inverrouge and needs assistance.
Roots
Bloody farmers
The people of Inverrouge live a life of decadence, but only you know the true cost.
Through sacrifices to the land, you produce the most exquisite crops.
When you play Roots, you earn xp when you grow your farm, execute
clandestine or covert sales, or secure new buyers.
Instead of hunting grounds, you have specialties that you use for your operations.
Instead of claims, your farm has plots in which you grow your produce.
To produce their crops, these plots require blood. Sacrificing to the earth brings
forth their bounty, but they must also be tended regularly. If a plot is neglected
for too long, it requires a new sacrifice.
Each plot starts with an empty 6-segment clock and requires a certain type of
sacrifice. When you make a sacrifice to the earth of your farm that meets the
requirement listed for a plot, completely fill in that plot’s clock. While a plot’s
clock is full, it confers its bonus to the crew. At the start of each downtime, reduce
all non-empty clocks by one segment each. PCs can work on long-term projects
during downtime to tend to the plots. For each clock tick earned as part of that
action, reset one non-empty plot clock to full.
15
What kind of crops do you produce?
Meat: Beef, pork, chicken, fish, offal, Flora: Fruits, vegetables, sugar, flowers,
smallgoods. tobacco, cotton.
Alcohol: Wine, beer, distilled spirits. Animal Products: Milk, cheese, eggs,
leather, wool, silk.
Starting Upgrades
Training: Resolve
Quarters
Specialty
Acquisition: Procure a sacrifice, Show of Force: Damage or destroy
equipment, or supplies. enemy or rival operations.
Sale: Conduct a significant transaction Farm Work: Do what you must to
with a special buyer. keep your farm stable and secret.
Contacts
Baptiste Villemont, an ecstatic preacher. Marie Cable, an experimental doctor.
Rosette Lawson, a gregarious grocer. Alexander Morel, a corrupt alderman.
crews
Gustave Cienfuegos, an unscrupulous Ester Bedeau, a reclusive Farmer.

butcher.
Roots Upgrades
Root Rigging
One carried item is concealed and has no load. For example, you could carry a
load of drugs or a weapon, perfectly concealed, for zero load.
Rituals of Earth and Blood
Your farm counts as a sacred and arcane workshop for occult practices and rituals.
Elite Thugs
All of your cohorts with the Thugs type get +1d to quality rolls for Thug-
related actions.
Elite Rovers
All of your cohorts with the Rovers type get +1d to quality rolls for Rover-
related actions.
Sustained
Each PC gets +1 trauma box. This costs three upgrades to unlock, not just one.
This may bring a PC with 4 trauma back into play if you wish.
16
Plots
A Simple Fare An Invigorating Sample
An Innocent A Lively Youth
You get –1 heat per score. When you push yourself for +1d, you
A Staple may spend an additional 1 stress to
A Hardened Worker also increase your effect.
You get +1d to resistance rolls to A Foreign Delicacy

endure exhaustion. A Traveler
A Bounty You get +1d to gather information

One Who Made Themself Wealthy rolls.
You get +1 coin per score. A Religious Meal

A True Believer
A Companion Product
You get +1d to reduce heat if you call

A Supporting Spouse
on religious contacts.
When you assist, you can either add
+1d or increase the effect. A Poison
Someone Terminally Ill
A Luxury
One Who Was Born into Wealth Each PC adds fine poison to their items.
You get +1d for rolls to acquire an asset. A Filling Portion

A Glutton
An Addiction
A Vice Purveyor Each PC may carry up to 6 coin on
their person.
When you roll to indulge your vice,
roll twice and choose your preferred A Beautiful Dish
result. A Preternatural Beauty
A Morish Delight You get +1d to Sway when entrancing

A Thrall or deceiving.
When you roll entanglements, roll A Well Aged Treat

twice and choose your preferred result. A Mentor
A Seasonal Treat You get +1 xp when training.

A Witch or Priest
You get +1d to engagement rolls when
your job involves attending a seasonal
event.
17
Special Abilities
Shadows
Each PC may add +1 action rating to Finesse, Prowl, or Sway (up to a max
rating of 3).
Anointed
You gain +1d to resistance rolls against supernatural threats and +1d to healing
treatment rolls when you have supernatural harm.
Locals
Take –1 heat during downtime. While you have 4 heat or less, you get +1d to
deceive people when you pass yourselves off as ordinary citizens.
Exquisite Delights
Your produce is exquisite. The product quality is equal to your Tier +2.
When you deal with a crew or faction, the GM will tell you who among them
indulges in the pleasures of your product (one, a few, many, or all).
crews
The quality of your product might be used for a fortune roll to find out how
impressed a potential client is, to find out how enthralled or incapacitated a user
is in their indulgence of it, to discover if a strange variation has side-effects, etc.
As One
When you do violence or perform a ritual alongside your cohorts, they get +1d
for teamwork rolls (setup and group actions).
Ritual of Bleeding
Each PC gains an additional vice: Bleeding. This vice is indulged at your farm
in secret and you take minor harm when you do so. One cohort may be present
for the ritual and gains +1 quality (max rating of 4) until the start of the next
downtime.
Dark Clientele
Through arcane ritual or hard-won experience, you have discovered how to
prepare your product for sale to ghosts and/or demons. They do not pay in coin.
What do they pay with?
All Hands
During downtime, one of your cohorts may perform a downtime activity for
the crew to acquire an asset, reduce heat, or work on a long-term project,
including tending to plots on your farm.
18
Opportunities
1. Student botanists from the University are offering to pay well to see how you
produce such exceptional crops.
2. Rival farms have been inundated with a plague of spiders encasing their crops
in webbing and sucking them dry.
3. Multiple outbreaks of liverstrife have been reported in the city, apparently
at random. Only you know each outbreak is in the area of a market where
your crops are sold.
4. Some people in your community are starving. You have the crops to help them,
but they’re worth much more to your rich buyers.
5. What first seemed to be the work of thieves appears more likely to be the result
of your crops walking away on their own.
6. You’re having trouble gathering sacrifices; a nearby orphanage is having trouble

finding food.
7. One of your products is being undercut by a strange new product imported
from foreign lands.
8. The plough driver rushes in: your most productive field has just started
bleeding from the soil.
9. Since your last sacrifice there appears to be a child amid the shadowy leaves
and branches of one of your oldest fruit trees. When you try to approach,
the branches shift protectively around them.
10. The boll weevils are back.
11. The blood isn’t staying in the ground and some of your victims are returning
as ghosts.
12. Your distributors are starting to demand an ever-increasing cut of your profits
in return for their secrecy about the details of your operation.
13. There are reports of food turning to ash in the mouths of some consumers
throughout the city.
14. A self-styled “investigator” threatens to reveal your secret to the press, unless
you pay her off.
15. After feeding in your fields, a swarm of locusts has acquired a taste for
human flesh.
16. A rival farm is turning out huge yields after investing in a new mechanical
tractor.
17. The closure of a factory in town means there is an abundance of laborers
looking for work.
18. The captain of a merchant ship wants to introduce your produce to new
markets far beyond the shores of Inverrouge.
19
regions
regions
highwater traits
Highwater is the wealthiest district in Wealth 
Inverrouge. Built on the highest part of
Carday Island, the streets are wide and the Security & Safety 
grand stone buildings dressed in pale colors Criminal Influence 
and elegant filigree. Fashion dominates
the streets, where the wealthy flaunt Occult Influence 
their status and ostracize those without.
Specialty stores line High Street down to
Grocers’ Row selling expensive, bespoke
goods to those who can afford them.
20
Landmarks
1 Cathedral of St. Peter. Grandiose, elaborate, and placed at the Carday Island’s
highest point for all to witness the glory of God and the Eucharistian Church.
Burials in the graveyard regularly turn up bones from those already resting in this
holy place.
2 Government Isle. A small grassy island just off the Carday Island housing the
governor’s mansion as well as several official buildings and the colonial treasury.
3 The Marina. Stowed in the calm between Government Isle and Highwater proper,
the Marina houses the yachts, skiffs, and catamarans of the city’s elite.
4 Charity Hall. The city’s grandest ballroom and social venue. Utilized often by
the Inverrouge Philanthropic Society, Charity Hall is the site of the city’s most
prominent occasions—excepting those held at the governor’s own mansion.
5 Gallette’s Tea Rooms. Monsieur Gallette’s tea rooms are a bastion of propriety—
the place to be for good manners and fine blends of tea. They are frequented by

socialites, bankers, and politicians alike. The conversation is modest and the flavors
refined. Here gossip, politics, and business are shared like the finest sweets.
Notables
Lord Mayor Austen Cheval. Mayor and popular society figure who throws
huge public parties and events at his own expense. These extravagances allow
him to mask his vampirism and prey on victims while remaining unsullied by
the rumors that trail him. (Grinning, Flamboyant, Meticulous)
Madame Isobelle De Barbary. A landowner, widow, socialite, and heir to a
sizable collection of sugar plantations. Madame De Barbary attends all of the
most important parties and gatherings in and around Highwater. She is said
to know the right person to solve any problem presented to her. (Graceful,
Perceptive, Disarming)
Chief Magistrate William Pike. The highest voice of justice in Inverrouge, Chief
Magistrate Pike has become weary after one too many hangings; his position,
however, demands that he hang yet many more. (Weathered, Mournful, Resigned)
Details
Buildings: Grand stone edifices. Pale colors and elegant filigree. Balconies and
porticos lure bypassers into shopfronts. Mansions loom over the streets like
distant disapproving fathers in fine pastel suits.
Streets: Wide streets paved with large, smooth flagstones and populated by
statues, topiaries, and pedestrian gentry.
Scene: The hum of conversation and clattering porcelain rolls out from tearooms.
Wealthy women inspect fine silks and latest Regnese fashions in shopfront
windows. Horse-drawn carriages and high-heeled shoes clatter across the cobbles.
21
riverside traits
Riverside is a shantytown on the water’s edge. Wealth 
Many of the city’s poorest live here, packed
tightly together in communities that sprawl Security & Safety 
out onto the river itself on stilts and pontoons.
Criminal Influence 
Largely ignored by the city’s government as an
embarrassment, Riverside is almost entirely Occult Influence 
run by the Brackish Mob and the Unbroken
Bond, and only occasionally interfered with
by the Inverrouge Foot Police when its troubles spill northward.
Landmarks
1 Grave Street. A long street built through the site of Inverrouge’s first graveyard,
its headstones sunk into the mud, bodies emerging from the earth in bones
and pieces. Spiritualists, healers, and fortune tellers all speckle the streets among
the homes of the poor.
2 Wetrot. A neighborhood of improvized shacks stretching out on stilts and
regions
buoys over the open water. Over time, barges and small boats have been
woven into the fabric of the streets and walkways.
3 Common Home. A collection of houses all grown together and now providing
shelter to the homeless outside of the city’s institutions The residents share
meals and care together. Frequently raided by the Redcoats for harboring
fugitives.
4 Crowley’s Rock & Snake Hill. Two tiny islands, only 10 and 20 yards across,
connected to the rest of Wetrot and Riverside by the sprawling waterborne
neighborhoods, and acting as a stable mooring point for larger floating structures.
Notables
Ogechi Laronde. A traveling pharmacist who checks in on families
throughout Riverside, providing what medicines and aid she can. (Harried,
Concerned, Direct)
Cane and Able. Scavengers and fishermen who sell goods they find washed up
and tangled on the banks of the Sange. Occasionally willing to go scavenging
deeper into private property if the prize is worth it. (Opportunistic, Sniggering,
Principled)
Wolf & Cub. A small trader and fence, Wolf ’s shop on Crowley’s Rock is a pawnshop,
general store, and kitchen for the floating parts of Riverside. Wolf trades in general
goods and trinkets while his partner, Cub, prepares meals for hungry patrons from
whatever edibles come through the door. (Sturdy, Shrewd, Maternal)
22
Details
Streets: Black mud underfoot. Wooden walkways over still water. Tree fronds
hang into walkways and litter the ground with leaves. Mosquitos and croaking
on the night air.
Buildings: Flaking paint on damp wood walls. Greasy windows and creaking
doors. Grand porches on tiny cottages. Lean-tos and shanties tangled together
in alleys.
Scene: A crowd gathers around a large pot, contributing ingredients to a shared
meal. A soothsayer ruefully casts cards on a rug for a pregnant young woman.
via dolorosa
A rotten lean-to creaks and continues its slow collapse into the water.
traits

Lying in the lee of Carday Island, the Via Wealth 
Dolorosa is Inverrouge’s red-light and
Security & Safety    
entertainment district, named for Sorrow
Street which runs through the area from Criminal Influence    
Grocer’s Row to the shore. Charitable homes
for destitute women have been reclaimed by Occult Influence 
their wards as venues for stores, theaters,
drug dens, and brothels. Bars and clubs have sprung up from abandoned
townhouses, while paddleboats line the waterfront, hosting parties and gatherings
through lazy days and drunken nights.
Landmarks
1 Grand Innocents Theater. A playhouse and burlesque venue famed for its
grandiose sets, costumes, and melodrama. Lavish afterparties and lazy salons
with adoring fans are frequent occurrences, but the players often retreat into
their tight knit and secretive clique when the festivities are done.
2 The Prodigal Bride. A paddle steamer and party vessel, often filled with
raucous laughter and music as it idles around the swampy waters of the Sange.
3 The Olive Garden. A rocky garden of olive trees that languishes quietly during
the day but fills with street performers and food vendors as the sun sets.
4 Sorrow Street. One of the city’s wider roads and primary thoroughfares,
Sorrow Street runs through the heart of the district named after it. It is the
main drag for street markets, pageants, and festivals. On the western end it carries
out onto a rapidly sinking wharf where party boats dock during the day.
23
Notables
Mr. Delicious. A street magician and entertainer who delivers wonder to the
crowds he gathers. He has a reputation for being less kind behind closed doors
than other practitioners of magic. (Carnivalesque, Entrancing, Shadowy)
Queenie. A dilettante, sycophant, and perpetual hanger-on, trading up on
attention to establish herself as a minor celebrity among the arts crowd. (Painted,
Alluring, Saccharine)
Gaston. An acrobat and performer who appears in dozens of shows, both on
the street and at various theaters throughout town. He would be one of the city’s
most recognized faces if he weren’t so plain. (Genuine, Sturdy, Tireless)
Details
Buildings: Elaborate, gothic decorations and rich, deep colors. Heavy curtains of
velvet and silk guard moodily lit dens of entertainment in every form. Haphazard
ornamentations and coats of fresh paint make each establishment an entrancing
feast for the eyes.
Streets: Half-sunken cobbles and broken stones litter muddy gravel roads. Posters
and fliers for burlesque shows, séances, and brothels are plastered on walls and
windows alike.
regions
Scene: Colorful lanterns and large fires paint stooped trees and drunken buildings
in dancing lights as the young and the foolish make merry in the darkest hours
grocers row
of the morning.
traits
Sprawling out from the Central Market Wealth 
building, Grocers Row is a market district,
filled with stalls selling fruits and vegetables, Security & Safety 
cheeses and smallgoods, fish and wines.
Criminal Influence    
Hawkers call out to passersby, tempting
them with sweet and savory morsels for Occult Influence 
every taste.
landmarks
1 The Zoo. An underground arcade packed with merchants peddling gaudy
trinkets, fake antiques, and a range of caged animals from blanket stalls set
upon grimy cobbles.
2 Central Market. Filled with noise, activity, and the aromas of every kind of
local produce. The ever-spinning dance of crates and pallets moving to and
fro provides ample opportunities for the exchange of other goods to go unnoticed.
24
3 The Old Slave Markets. An expansive brickwork market hall once built for
the sale of human lives now lies mostly dormant. During festivals and public
gatherings, however, it swells again with the press of bodies and a cacophony of
voices.
4 Wellstreets. Many of the merchants who have made their fortunes in
Inverrouge have opted to keep their family homes, coating them in opulence.
The narrow streets and dense compounds these merchants call home are filled
with luxury furniture and bustle with servants despite the potholes and plaster
fallen from the crumbling facades of forgotten buildings.
5 Canary General Hospital. Originally simply known as “The Hospital” in the
early days of the colony, it later gained its current name for the way the city’s
miasma turns the white lime walls yellow. The hospital is charged by the
Eucharistian Church with treating Inverrouge’s sick and injured, one and all.
This tends to leave it overcrowded, understaffed, and festering with disease.

Details
Buildings. Deep red brickwork and heavy iron braces. Twisting hallways and
courtyards between walls knitted into great compounds.
Street. Streets and alleyways littered with crates and wagons. Stalls line the sides
of buildings under awnings, while lean-tos litter goods into the streets.
Scene. A spruiker calls out the accolades of their produce in an attempt to drown
out a neighbor. A cat is shooed away from a display of sausages. A woman haggles
loudly with a grocer over the price of a squash.
Notables
Bully and the Marquis. A pair of stray dogs, loved and respected by the
community. They make their home in Grocers Row so that they can receive
the adoration of fishmongers and butchers alike. (Grumbling, Crotchety, Dozy)
Julien Doll. Editor-Chief of the Inverrouge Herald, the city’s premier
newspaper. Built the newspaper from the ground up by cultivating a strong
network of influential connections throughout the city. (Hardened, Cynical,
Demanding)
Thomas Petherick. A traveling bookseller who appears at different markets and
alleyways each day of the week. Trades in rumors and gossip as much as the
written word. (Disheveled, Keen, Wry)
Euprosine Cole. Matriarch of the Cole farming family and well known for
the sound of her booming voice calling out across the Central Market. Always
knows what’s best for you and doesn’t take no for an answer. (Boisterous,
Coddling, Harsh)
25
Docklands traits
The Docklands are the industrial center Wealth 
of Inverrouge and the site of the original
Calvisse settlement. Steamers make port Security & Safety    
to load and unload cargo. Warehouses and
factories bustle with activity both in shipping
and various forms of production. Sailors and Occult Influence 
laborers alike stream between work and rest.
As industrial operations have expanded, most
of the area’s housing has been demolished to make way for warehouses and factories
forcing those populations into Grocers’ Row, Riverside, or homelessness littering the
streets and alleys of the area.
Landmarks
1 Waterfall Station. Inverrouge’s primary rail depot, named after the stormwater
canals that drain into the river nearby. Great iron bridges connect the station
to the mainland rail line.
regions
2 St. Alban’s. A formerly Polic church that now houses worship from a wide
variety of different faiths. These worshippers care for the space together as
a community.
3 Magdalene Home for Destitute Women. An institution founded by the
Inverrouge Company to house homeless and “fallen” women from across the
city. The praise it receives for rehabilitating its wards is overshadowed by rumors
of incarceration, forced labor, and torture within its walls.
4 The Stacks. The heart of mechanized industry in Inverrouge. The Stacks is a
complex of interconnected factories that share steam engines to power their
endeavors. Colloquially known as the Manglehouse for its rate of industrial
accidents.
Details
Buildings. Soot-cloaked factories and warehouses. Towers and smokestacks and
machinery, all piercing roofs and walls with no regards for presentation or sense.
Street. Bustling with bodies and overrun with carts hauling goods to and from
the waiting steamers. Pavers black with soot and tar, soft and sticky under foot,
staining boots and the hems of coats.
Scene. Dozens of men move across a docked steamer like ants in a storm as they
haul goods into carts and off to warehouses. Horses and livestock low and buck
in their pens as they wait to be transported.
26
Notables
Ellen Fraser. A fence and pawnbroker, addicted to several substances. Ellen is
always happy to take merchandise off someone’s hands or pass it on for cash. She
buys and sells almost anything as long as the seller isn’t fussy about the margins.
(Twitchy, Jocular, Avaricious)
Caory Nacaneau. Runs the Gilded Lily, a bar best known for providing strong
liquor to the sailors, dockhands, and workers of the area. She’s harder and meaner
than any of the river toughs that waltz through her door, but always offers a scar-
lipped smile to those that pay their tabs. (Mercantile, Accommodating, Brutal)
Joseph Levy. A hard-nosed inspector of the Inverrouge Foot Police with few
friends and who is in fewer pockets. Strict to the letter of the law except for a
bloody brutal streak when dealing with smugglers, for whom he has a particular
distaste. A few related “accidents” have seen him serve his own time behind bars.
seafront
(Restrained, Dogged, Unstable)

traits
The Seafront is a long sandbar that separates the
Sange and Lake Dawn from the ocean for several Wealth 
miles leading up to the mouth. The ground here Security & Safety    
is nothing but loose sand, making for poor
foundations, and the ocean winds buffet this Criminal Influence    
thin slice of land on a regular basis. Few make Occult Influence 
their homes in the rickety, cold, and haunted
shacks here apart from the fisherfolk and those
that can’t afford to eke out a life elsewhere. At night, however, deals are done between the
chills and shadows, with words whipped into the sea and prying eyes stung by salt and sand.
Landmarks
1 King’s Compound. The only real building on the sandbar, a cottage relocated
from elsewhere. Patrolled by a few dogs and thugs who guard a small stash
of tributes extorted from the various fisherfolk.
2 The River Mouth. A tumultuous mixing of waters, where shifting tides turn
up mud and silt. The detritus of life upriver catches and amasses on the shores,
attracting legions of seabirds to pick at the scraps, bones, weeds, and trash.
3 The Beaching Grounds. A stretch of sand littered with bones and bad smells,
where whales, manatees, and other sea creatures regularly beach themselves
and die. Butchering the bodies is forbidden by Anton King, but it happens all
the time anyway.
4 The Haul Yard. Littered with rusted machinery, bits of construction material,
and the shells of old boats. A collective storage pile for junk that might come
in handy later, located away from the waterline for safekeeping.
27
Details
Scene. Salt waves lash at the sandbar underfoot as trees and wooden huts
groan under the strain of the wind. Hermit crabs clad in broken bottles
scuttle between clumps of razor grass. The lines and pots scattered along
the shore are checked occasionally by the old and the old young. The smell
of fish over a smokey fire snakes its way through the she-oaks as the breeze
howls through their branches.
Street. Sand and razor grass underfoot. Sparse buildings, she-oaks and wild
cypresses at the waters’ edge. All roads lead to water.
Buildings. Driftwood and corrugated iron. Sand sings against walls in the wind.
Everything has been assembled in haste, strong enough to withstand some storms
and easy enough to rebuild after the others.
Notables
Anton King. Indigenous self-appointed authority of the sandbar. Uses his dogs
and thugs to keep military and police forces from snooping around in return for
small tributes and adherence to certain rules from the area’s small population of
River People, vagrants, and fugitives. (Weary, Sarcastic, Suspicious)
regions
Clip. A scout and scavenger who pulls wreckage from the beach for trade and
storage. Occasionally sets steamers up to founder or lose cargo while passing
fraser gardens
through the mouth. (Smiling, Inventive, Restless)
traits
Named after the current governor, Fraser
Wealth 
Gardens is a relatively young and affluent
suburb connected to Carday Island by the Security & Safety 
Victory Bridge from Grocers’ Row. Here
the members of an emerging middle class Criminal Influence 
struggle against one another in a silent battle Occult Influence 
for respectability. Each home in the rows of
terraced houses attempts to stand out (within
the bounds of conformity) as a beacon of refined and subtle taste.
Landmarks
1 Baudin University. Named after the Calvisse explorer Nicola Baudin, the
university is the recipient of numerous philanthropic grants. It prides itself
on being at the forefront of research in various highly experimental fields,
ensuring a rotating slate of new and quickly abandoned programs and buildings.
28
2 Sanatorium d’Air Pur. An old womens’ prison that has since been converted
into a home for the mentally ill and peculiar, funded by the Inverrouge
Company and philanthropic donors. Its administrators, however, in executing
their duty of care, have placed an emphasis on restraint, ostensibly for the safety
of their charges and the public at large.
3 Inverrouge First Armory Bank. Once a secondary storage site for munitions
and a treasury for the Calvisse colonial forces, this building has since been
converted into Inverrouge’s premier banking institution, replete with vaults,
barred windows, and brass doorknobs.
Details
Streets. Streets freshly paved with bitumen and traversed by horse-pulled
carriages and automobiles alike. Palm trees planted for the dead loom behind
rows of connected rooftops. Electric street lights hum throughout the night.

Buildings. Redbrick terraces lined with white marble cornerstones. Shale-
tiled roofs with sharp tin corners. Rows of houses all alike, windows like
eyes. Neat grass lawns ringed with fashionable decorative flowers imported
from Regnis.
Scene. A tea party is hosted in a community garden while employees of the
neighborhood association tend to pear trees nearby. A motorcar erupts into
cantankerous sputtering and rumbles off down the street to the disgruntled
stares of onlookers.
Notables
Edward Parry. Head of the neighborhood association, Parry is known for his
dedication to community standards and engagement. As a surveyor he has had
a significant, if subtle, influence over the development of Fraser Gardens as a
whole. (Pedantic, Miserable, Vicious)
Doctor Mary Marshall. Originally a midwife, Dr. Marshall studied under a
pioneering geneticist on the Regnese mainland and became a leading figure in the
field in her own right. Her theories on the genetic patterns of population groups
have been crucial to the development of universal healthcare in Inverrouge,
helping her rise to the position of surgeon general within the Inverrouge
Company. (Condescending, Sickly Sweet, Proper)
Professor Albin Temple. Chancellor of Baudin University. Imported specifically
for the position by the Inverrouge Company, Professor Temple is the world’s
leading expert on technopsychic futurology. His ideas and those of his rotating
cast of advisers guide the university in its constant search to break new intellectual
ground. (Idealistic, Fantastical, Muddled)
29
compass ranges traits
The Compass Ranges cradle the western Wealth 
flank of Inverrouge, wafting smoke and the
lowing of cattle on gully winds to the city Security & Safety 
below. Farms and fields form a patchwork
with uncleared bush, sewn together with
twisting roads and barbed wire fences. Steep Occult Influence 
slopes and rocky ground make for long echoes
and easy falls.
Landmarks
1 Judas Creek. Inverrouge’s oldest winery, famous for its full-bodied red wines.
The Moreau family that owns the winery are famously generous hosts,
regularly inviting guests to notorious parties at their remote hillside estate.
2 Carnegie Abattoir. The killing halls of Inverrouge’s meat industry, where
cows, sheep, and pigs are slaughtered and processed with little regard for
propriety or sanctity of any kind. Slurries of gore ooze from its wasteways into
regions
the local creek, attracting an unending audience of carrion crows and flies.
Details
Buildings. Trails of smoke curl from the chimneys of small stone cottages.
Fencing wire holds together sheds built from corrugated iron. Stone walls and
barbed wire fences trail off into the bush.
Streets. Narrow goat tracks and pothole-riddled dirt roads weave their way
between homesteads and under arbor arches. Ferns and bushes fill the scrub at
every corner. Views out over the valleys reveal cleared farmlands populated by
dairy cows and wine grapes down to the flats.
Scene. A farmer hunts wild pigs through the scrub, rifle at the ready. Cows graze
on steep cleared hillsides, their lowing carrying through the valleys. The remains
of a bicycle, tangled with human bones, rust in a creek at the bottom of a gorge.
Notables
Ol’ Annie. An elderly indigenous hunter who roams the bush and farmlands of
the ranges. Reputed to be the finest shot with a rifle in the region. Has deals with
local farmers not to take their livestock in return for permission to hunt feral
and wild animals on their properties. (Quiet, Sharp, Dessicated)
Margaret Hall. The longest-standing member of the Compass Ranges Womens’
Society and winner of their cake decorating competition for twelve years running.
Happy to listen to the problems and woes of those in her community and always
welcomes company with a cup of tea and a biscuit. (Stately, Tending, Sure)
30
lilybarrows traits
Swamp and farmland bleed into one another Wealth 
across the vastness of the Lilybarrows. While
the marshier areas are still filled with chaotic, Security & Safety 
muddy terrain, much of the wetlands have
been tamed for agricultural use. Fruit, wine,
sugar, and tobacco are all grown in different Occult Influence 
parts of the region and livestock graze in the
less cooperative areas.
Landmarks
1 De Barbary Plantation. The largest amalgamated sugar plantation in the
state, owned by a single family since the colony’s establishment and now

producing 60 percent of all sugar exports. It was expanded dramatically with
emancipation compensation payments and still “employs” many of its former
captives and their families, paying them in scrip only redeemable at the plantation
store to keep them from leaving.
2 The Fairy Grove. There is an abandoned farm at the far reaches of the
Lilybarrows that once grew fruit and almonds when the colony was first
established and now stands silent. Its orchards have become tangles of wizened
trees and wild growth. The remote location and rumors of fairies and ghostly
possession keep most would-be investigators at a distance.
3 Stillwater Prison. Built to hold the criminal population of Inverrouge,
Stillwater Prison is a fortress of stone in the marshes of the Lilybarrows. Its
inmates are regularly exploited to assist with infrastructure projects and on nearby
farms when workloads are high. Its proximity to untamed swampland leads many
to escape, but most such fugitives are never heard from again.
4 Wreck of The Steadfast. The remains of a steamship that was mysteriously
wrecked while transporting Redcoat troops upriver. Outlandish horror stories
told by survivors keep looters and the curious at bay, leaving the twisted wreck
to the ghosts of the men that were lost.
Details
Buildings. Courts and lawns surround stately farmsteads. Scattered sheds are
filled with produce stored for transport. Shacks and cottages nestle on mounds
of stable earth among the twisted trees of the deep swamp.
Streets. Marshy riverside sugarcane plantations bleed into wide, rolling views of
vineyards and orchards. Dirt roads built up above the waterline pick their way
through swampy overgrowth.
Scene. Dozens of workers break their backs collecting the harvest in the heat.
Great wagons trundle through the marshes toward town, piled high with produce
bound for the warehouses and markets of Inverrouge.
31
Notables
Alphonse Roque. A foreman at the de Barbary estate. Known for his harsh temper
and wide reach. Laborers who speak or act up on the estate are often dismissed
from the only work available to them or taught heavy-handed lessons after dark.
Those who do leave to try and find work elsewhere find the influence of Roque
and his de Barbary coin an almost impassable barrier to future employment.
(Suspicious, Boot-Licking, Cruel)
Bellevue Brothers. Eugene, Nicholas, and Martin are hunters who roam the
wetlands putting down great wild beasts where they find them, claiming bounties
and selling bushmeat and souvenirs from some of the largest creatures the swamp
factions
has to offer. (Crass, Boasting, Reckless)
the agricultural union tier iii FACTION CLOCK
Those that till the soil and tend the herds.

Establish an independent trading
These hardworking and taciturn folk are 8
cartel with the Boatsmen
factions
responsible for the bountiful and succulent

produce of the region. A strong union of
independent farmers with the support of
the Inverrouge Company, wielding boycotts
and thuggery in equal measure to keep
their affairs in order.
Turf: Wide-open fields, rolling hills, swampy paddocks, and whatever dark
wilderness remains uncleared on their lands.
NPCs: Walter Burleigh, (union boss, stony, murky, fermenting). Sarah Partridge
(helpful volunteer, cheery, tireless, uncomplicated). Don (hunter, scarce,
unscrupulous, dark).
Notable Assets: Huge swathes of sparsely populated land, control of a large
proportion of Inverrouge’s agricultural production, gangs of grumpy farmers
with pitchforks and rifles.
Quirks: The Union is made up almost entirely of independent farmers who
maintain an air of hostility toward larger corporate farming enterprises, the
merchants they sell their produce to, and the government. Institutional
grumpiness is the hallmark of the Union.
Allies: Inverrouge Company, Fisherfolk, Captains of Infamy, Boatsmen.
Enemies: High Street, the Governor’s Office, Redcoats.
Situation: Larger estates and plantations owned by wealthy families and
companies have begun to take over the farming landscape of Inverrouge, buying
out many smaller farms. Those that refuse hold tightly to the Union to resist being
forced out of their livelihoods. Those at the edges of wilderness and swamps are
increasingly happy to seek deals with criminal or supernatural factions to keep
32
the march of capital at bay. Some have long-standing relationships with those
outside society, others will strike up deals with anyone happy to do a little dirty
work; however, these increased unsavory connections have not gone unnoticed
by the Union’s biggest supporter, the Inverrouge Company.
Boatsmen tier iv FACTION CLOCK
The hardworking muscle of the steam

Soule’s curse spreads from the
ships that bring trade and prosperity (of 6
Edith Victorious
varying legality) to the river and the city.
The bond of solidarity between the crews
and captains of various ships has proven
capable of bringing the city to its knees
more than once in Inverrouge’s history
both through striking, and skullduggery.

NPCs: Gabrio Valdez (industrious captain, quick to laugh, hardworking,
opportunistic). William “Peaches” Morrison (smuggler, hearty, peg-legged, wise),
Isadore Bic (docker and union rep, wiry, squinting, hopeful).
Notable Assets: Mighty steamships and hearty sailors.
Quirks: Superstitious and worldly, sailors of the Sange are familiar with the devils
that lurk beneath its waters. Many experienced crews have deals in place with
one or more of these entities.
Allies: Fisherfolk, High Street, Captains of Infamy.
Enemies: Inverrouge Foot Police, the Governor’s Office.
Situation: The SS Edith Victorious has been moored in port for supposed repairs
for over a year now. Its crew have mostly moved on to other vessels and no work
is being done on it. Deep in its bowels lies the body of Captain Benedict Soule,
slowly succumbing to the demonic curse he unleashed upon the ship, its crew,
and eventually all of Inverrouge.
the brackish mob tier ii FACTION CLOCK
An organized crime syndicate running

Take full control of the
extortion and protection rackets across the 8
Docklands
poorer districts of Inverrouge with eyes on
running the whole town.
Turf: Headquarters in a warehouse in the Docklands. Extortion rackets across

most of Riverside and the Docklands, and parts of Via Dolorosa and the
Lilybarrows.
NPCs: Innes “Silver Bullet” Lovine (convener of the mob, cynical, deadpan,
spark-eyed). “Ace” Santiago (hitman, quiet, languid, sadistic). Elizabeth
“Wrecker” Cole (bruiser, jovial, awkward, brash).
33
Notable Assets: An expansive set of protection rackets, a modest treasury, a
network of thugs.
Quirks: Self-styled as brotherhood of equals but kept in line by a rigid unspoken
hierarchy, members of the mob take poorly to anyone who thinks themselves
above others.
Allies: Boatsmen, Captains of Infamy, Club Fantôme, Smoke Churches.
Enemies: Redcoats, High Street, Dandymen.
Situation: A number of young indigenous folks have recently swelled the ranks
of the mob due to a sense of disconnection from their own communities. This
extra muscle has allowed the mob to claim large areas of new turf but lack of
cohesion among the new recruits makes it easy for other factions, especially the
Inverrouge Foot Police to push back.
captains of infamy tier ii FACTION CLOCK
An alliance of bushrangers, highwaymen, Gain control over the railway

and outlaws divvying up turf and marks routes through the Compass 8
between them. Ranges
factions
Turf: All the wilderness surrounding the Inverrouge area and the roads and train
lines that run through it.
NPCs: Captain Kidman (warlord, grizzled, imposing, drunk). Captain Reed
(crack shot, wild-eyed, transmasculine, deadly). Captain Hurricane (dealmaker,
seditious, calculating, ruthless).
Notable Assets: Secret paths and hideouts in the bush, supplies of arms and
ammunition, the goodwill of poor and country folks.
Quirks: Highly educated primarily through oral teaching among themselves,
even the simplest of brutes espouse a rudimentary anarchist philosophy.
Allies: Dandymen, Boatsmen, Unbroken Bond.
Enemies: Inverrouge Foot Police, Redcoats.
Situation: With an established reputation for brutality on the roads, the Captains
have begun to take protection money from merchants and organizations to ensure
the safe passage of their staff and goods through their territory. They now face
pressure from these groups to accept payments to actively attack shipments (and
even establishments in town) belonging to rival businesses or factions. Some of
these targets, however, are protected by either Redcoats or other criminal factions.
Faction Clock: (0/8) Gain control over the railway routes through the Compass
Ranges
34
club fanto^me tier ii FACTION CLOCK
A members club for gentleman thieves and

Steal items of exceptional value
assassins competing against one another to 4
(repeating)
perform the most outlandish crimes.
Turf: A secret clubhouse behind an upmarket bar. “Gentlemen’s crimes” against

the wealthy in the city’s more developed districts must be sanctioned by the club,
but they are unconcerned with common thuggery.
NPCs: The Shadow (burglar, eager, sportsmanly, primed). The Viper (assassin,
leather-clad, languid, piercing). The Mirror (art forger, pretentious, proletarian,
inspired). The Sommelier (inventor and arms dealer, ingenious, precise, annoyed).
Notable Assets: A treasure trove of trinkets, prizes, and trophies from a thousand
unsolved crimes. A storeroom full of equipment and weapons of every sort.
Immunity from investigation and prosecution provided by Mayor Cheval, who

is a non-practising member.
Quirks: When meeting, all members of the club wear opera masks to maintain
the pretense of anonymity, though most know the identity of the other members.
Allies: Captains of Infamy, High Street, Dandymen.
Enemies: Inverrouge Foot Police, Inverrouge Philanthropic Society.
Situation: An anonymous benefactor previously unknown to the club and
identified only as “Sir Lancelot” has proposed a competition, offering a large
sum of money to whichever member can acquire the governor’s portrait of the
king. The portrait is hung in Governor Fraser’s office in his private residence,
which is heavily guarded, and rumored to contain some kind of state secrets in
its details, frame, or canvas. The proposed competition contains no stipulations
concerning violence or any form of legality or fair play.
Dandymen tier ii FACTION CLOCK
Purveyors of fine pleasures in a variety

Acquire a reliable source of
of forms. Tobacco, cocaine, opiates, and 6
supernatural substances
liquor. The Dandymen cartel controls the
import and distribution of all substances
of vice throughout inverrouge, a position
they protect ruthlessly.
Turf: Pubs, bars, brothels, and opium dens throughout the city.
NPCs: Erasme Decourmant (cartel leader and entrepreneur, ambitious,
hedonistic, cold). Hugo Bachemin (well-connected dealer, social, businesslike,
chipper, vampire). Lang Leau (experimental mixologist, studious, reclusive, cocky).
Notable Assets: Supply chains for various pleasurable substances. Influential
individuals under the sway of their product.
35
Quirks: Many of the Dandymen are caught in their own webs of addiction, either
spiraling toward vampirism or already something other than human.
Allies: High Street, Brackish Mob, Boatsmen, Captains of Infamy.
Enemies: Eucharistian Church, Inverrouge Foot Police, Inverrouge Company.
Situation: Under pressure from High Street and the Eucharistian Church, the
governor has placed increasingly tight restrictions (or outright bans) on many
of the products that make up the Dandymen’s trade. To keep business running
and cash flowing they’ve made connections with some of the less legal factions
around the city and are trying to work out how to meet their demands.
the eucharistian church tier iv FACTION CLOCK
The dominant organized religion in

Establish an inquisitorial force 8
Inverrouge, imported from Etton. Teaches
the sanctity of discretion, temperance, and
the holy sacrament. Eliminate the Smoke Churches 10
Turf: The Cathedral of St. Peter and many other churches throughout the city.
factions
NPCs: Valentin Illuminé (archbishop, demagogic, inspired, steadfast). Manette

Perraulta (community paragon, concerned, fastidious, generous). Emily Redwood
(inquisitor and exorcist, scarred, dark, dangerous).
Notable Assets: A treasury of tithes, a large number of clergy, church-owned
vineyards.
Quirks: The Church’s teachings focus on modesty, temperance, and discretion. Its
clergy, however, are famous for their indulgence in fine foods and wines, and for
commissioning and collecting exquisite art, lavish furnishings, and rare artifacts.
Allies: The Governor’s Office, Inverrouge Company, Inverrouge Philanthropic
Society.
Enemies: Smoke Churches, Inverrouge Lantern Club, Captains of Infamy.
Situation: The longer the Church remains in Inverrouge, the more its clergy must
come to terms with the supernatural realities of the city, which are beginning to
put dents in the Church’s facade of pleasant normality. In light of this situation,
several bishops have proposed establishing an arm of the church for exorcists,
inquisitors, and demon hunters to protect the city from the supernatural.
36
Fisherfolk tier i FACTION CLOCK
Those who dredge a living from the Gain the protection of a patron
waters of the Sange and the coast. 8
river spirit
Desperate and cutthroat, the Fisherfolk
are deeply defensive of their turf and
take poorly to any who endanger their
livelihood or brethren.
Turf: The entirety of the Seafront and the river’s edge. Meeting places under
bridges and deep in the swamp.
NPCs: Batley (the fisher-king, bellicose, massive, exaggerating). Free Dan (river
diver, scar-covered, formerly enslaved, aqueous). Maria (remembers the good old
days, sagacious, drunk, armed).
Notable Assets: A network of eyes and ears all along the river.

Quirks: The Fisherfolk include a large contingent of the city’s homeless. Together,
they share and rotate between sleeping spots and guard each others’ stashes of
personal belongings with some small measure of honor, though spats and feuds
among individuals are common.
Allies: Boatsmen, Unbroken Bond, Lake Elders.
Enemies: Brackish Mob, Redcoats, Inverrouge Foot Police.
Situation: The Fisherfolk have customs and rituals to keep themselves safe from
the demons of the river. In recent months, however, their nets and lines have
started turning up more and more horrifying creatures. Fish and shellfish emerge
with twisted, monstrous forms and otherworldly properties, defying the laws
of nature and sending men mad. Some Fisherfolk have fled, some have died,
others seek to dedicate themselves to whatever dark forces lurk beneath the
surface of the river.
the governor’s office tier v FACTION CLOCK
The official government of Inverrouge. Acquire royal assent for

The governor and his ministers oversee 12
autonomous rule
all aspects of the functioning of the city.
Turf: Government Isle, The governor’s mansion, clerks’ offices, everywhere the
light of civilization shines.
NPCs: Governor Gordon Fraser (proper, jolly, capricious), Adeline Price
(executive secretary, old, efficient, ambitious). Morgan Hardy (state treasurer
and minister for industry & trade, aring, honest, exhausted).
Notable Assets: Authority over the Redcoats, the Foot Police, and the colony.
The backing of the Ettish Crown.
37
Quirks: Although he is technically responsible for the management of the
entire colony, many of Governor Fraser’s responsibilities are delegated to
the city’s institutions. This, combined with the infrequency and vagueness
of communications with the imperial government in Etton, means that the
administration is often occupied with pretenses and busywork. Nevertheless
the Governor’s office is fully capable of tightening the reins swiftly and forcefully
in the face of any threat to the city’s careful balance of power.
Allies: Redcoats, High Street, Eucharistian Church, Inverrouge Philanthropic
Society
Enemies: Captains of Infamy, Brackish Mob, Agricultural Union, The Lake Elders
Situation: The colonial charter for Inverrouge permits the governor to pass
temporary declarations, which must then be ratified by the Ettish throne to pass
into law, leaving the city suspended in a complicated web of provisional legal
rulings that could be overturned at a later date. This has prompted a range of
mercantile and criminal groups to take advantage of this hesitance from the city’s
official institutions which, in turn, reduces the tax revenue delivered to the crown.
high street tier ii FACTION CLOCK

factions
An association of merchants with high-

Destroy emerging competitors
status stores along the main drag of town. 6
(repeating)
They exert control over the rest of the city’s
business.
Turf: Shopping and trade districts throughout the city, tendrils in every cash
register and lockbox.
NPCs: Madison Lean (financier and investor, austere, sickly, wooden). Jean Duval
(finest tailor in the city, measured, androgynous, sharp). William Eggleton (baker
extraordinaire, dismissive, flowery, self-raising).
Notable Assets: High Street itself, from Grocers Row to Highwater, and dozens
of other businesses throughout the city.
Quirks: The shops and dealers of High Street do a swift trade on fads and fashions.
As a result, they often themselves end up caught up in trends like high pants,
flowered hats, or musical door chimes.
Allies: The Inverrouge Company, Inverrouge Foot Police, Boatsmen, The
Inverrouge Philanthropic Society
Enemies: The Brackish Mob, The Unbroken Bond, The Agricultural Union.
Situation: While the oldest and wealthiest families in Inverrouge are heirs to
mercantile legacies from Regnis, the prosperity of the city has allowed newer
businesses to flourish and compete with old money. Many of the newer families
have started to open stores on High Street despite the distaste of its more
established residents. Others lure traffic away to Grocers Row, gentrifying the
common market district.
38
the inverrouge company tier v FACTION CLOCK
The financial backbone of power in

Oust the imperial forces and
Inverrouge, seeking to build a colonial 12
establish a corporate dictatorshi
utopia in the new world. Encourages
enterprise, propriety, and investment in
the public good.
The Inverrouge Company (V)

The financial backbone of power in Inverrouge, seeking to build a colonial utopia in
the new world. Encourages enterprise, propriety, and investment in the public good.
Turf: Charitable institutions and infrastructure across the city, company offices
in Highwater (HQ).
NPCs: George Atkinson (chief legislator, grand, stony, measured). Elizabeth

Needham (strategist and diplomat, sardonic, sharp, watchful). Henry Humphreys
(company treasurer, sedentary, boring, flustered).
Notable Assets: Sanatoriums for the destitute and insane across the city, used
to hide unsightly members of society behind closed doors. Some degree of
investment in almost all public and legal private enterprises.
Quirks: The board members of the Inverrouge Company are deeply invested in
a utopian vision of the city. Most willfully ignore reality and hide any problems
in order to make that vision come true.
Allies: Inverrouge Foot Police, Redcoats, Eucharistian Church, High Street.
Enemies: The Governor’s Office, Boatsmen, Smoke Churches, Captains of Infamy.
Situation: The Inverrouge Company was founded with the intention of
creating a utopian city of the future by purchasing the colony on behalf of
the Ettish Empire and developing its economy and society for the benefit of
all. As reality sets in, however, the illusion becomes increasingly difficult to
maintain as ever more news of mismanagement and scandals reach investors
in Etton. Internally these problems are blamed on interference and ineptitude
from the Governor’s Office and support grows among investors for removing
this impedance.
39
inverrouge foot police tier iii FACTION CLOCK
The city’s police force. Bastards, pariahs,

and spare sons of the wealthy, those Gain control of Riverside 8
unwanted by their own, all given new
purpose enforcing the law according to
Eliminate the Brackish Mob 10
their fine judgment.
Turf: Technically imbued with authority over the whole city, their current
resources only allow regular patrols of Grocers Row, Highwater, Fraser Gardens,
& the Docklands.
NPCs: Captain Marie Boisseau (captain of the force, steely, wry, compassionate).
James Connelly (detective inspector, pompous, ruthless, moneyed). Elizabeth
Flynn (former cutthroat, cocky, fidgety, sly).
Notable Assets: Headquarters (“Iron Lane”) in Grocers Row including offices
and gaol.
Quirks: The Inverrouge Slave Patrols originally recruited well-behaved convicts
desperate for parole and the free sons of enslaved fathers desperate for legitimate
work and assembled them to hunt down escaped slaves and convicts under the
factions
command of Calvisse officers. After the transfer of the city to Ettish rule, the
Inverrouge Company funded the conversion of the force into a modern police
force, responsible for the enforcement of the law throughout the city.
Allies: Inverrouge Company, the Governor’s Office, Fisherfolk.
Enemies: Redcoats, High Street, Brackish Mob, Unbroken Bond, Club Fantôme.
Situation: The Foot Police have only recently been formally enshrined as enforcers
of the law in the city, a duty previously belonging to the Redcoats. Although well
funded and enthusiastically embraced by some, they are struggling to gain the
respect of most in the city, especially in poorer neighborhoods where beat cops
are seen as bootlicking turncoats.
the inverrouge lantern club tier ii FACTION CLOCK
A members’ society of wealthy business Members of the Club summon

owners and aristocrats obsessed with and bind a powerful spirit for 8
novelty and spiritualism. their entertainment
Turf: The club building in Highwater, and the distribution area of the Lantern
Club newsletter.
NPCs: Madame Bouchant (seer, frazzled, eclectic, ominous). Annie Williams
(enthusiastic hostess, bright, musical, tireless). Martin Blatherhorn (scholar,
scrawny, sheltered, well-read).
Notable Assets: Members with plenty of disposable income. A treasury of collected
occult artifacts. Connections to the trade and business networks of the city.
40
Quirks: The Club has recently started publishing a newsletter about spiritualism.
Allies: High Street, Smoke Churches, Dandymen, Club Fantôme.
Enemies: Inverrouge Philanthropic Society, Eucharistian Church, Inverrouge
Company, the Governor’s Office.
Situation: As séances and other occult practices have become popular among
members of the Lantern Club, some have begun to compete in their spiritual
expertise. Seeking the adoration of their peers, several members have banded
together to practice summoning spirits for entertainment.
Faction Clock: (0/8) Members of the Club summon and bind a powerful spirit
for their entertainment
the inverrouge philanthropic society tier iii FACTION CLOCK

A social club for the city’s wealthiest to The Society votes to withdraw
display their opulence and charity at funding from prisons, 6
fundraisers and fetes. sanatoriums, and poorhouses
Turf: A large estate for members, including a golf course and swimming pools.
Most of Highwater.
NPCs: Hubert Droswell (bulbous, mustachioed man, jolly, proud, wrathful).
Andrew Essox (ambitious dilettante, polite, aloof, fretful). Pollyanna Burgess
(gracelessly aging spinster, gossipy, cruel, astringent).
Notable Assets: Vast treasuries of charitable donations held in reserve.
Quirks: Membership in the Philanthropic Society is a status symbol among
the city’s wealthy and many haven’t any idea about how much money they are
contributing or what causes it supports.
Allies: Inverrouge Company, Eucharistian Church.
Enemies: Inverrouge Lantern Club, Unbroken Bond, Smoke Churches.
Situation: Alongside the Inverrouge Company, the Philanthropic Society is
a benefactor of several homes and institutes for the destitute and mad across
the city. The company’s larger share in these charitable investments, however
allows it to have more say over the way these establishments are run. As a
result of the company’s thrift and focus on simple maintenance, many of
these establishments are, in the eyes of the Philanthropic Society, allowing
disorder, amorality, and sedition to fester and run rampant within their walls.
Many of the Society’s members perceive negative sentiments toward the rich
as evidence of ungratefulness and an indication that their support should be
withdrawn and the money redirected back into charity balls, dinners, and
other fundraising activities.
41
the lake elders tier i FACTION CLOCK
The assembled council of elders of the Restore seasonal flooding to

indigenous River Peoples, providing 12
Lilybarrows and Fraser Gardens
wisdom and leadership to the indigenous
community as they struggle to keep their
peoples and cultures alive.
Turf: The lands on which Inverrouge is built belong to different groups of River
Peoples, but they have been dispossessed from them all. Many live in small
communities out on the Seafront and meet at the mouth of the Sange to do
business.
NPCs: Jean “Heron” Black (elder with nothing left to lose, whispy, clear-eyed,
steady). Issi “Willow” Walker (has mouths to feed, respectful, pragmatic, fierce).
Eddie “Barracuda” Unaipon (mostly just watches, measured, quick, sharp-
toothed. Kite (young traditionalist, anxious, impatient, ruthless).
Notable Assets: Secrets of the land and its processes, and the ancient supernatural
entities of the area.
Quirks: Although the River Peoples are made up of different language groups,
factions
they share a pidgin language made up of parts of their own languages, Ettish,
and Calvisse.
Allies: Unbroken Bond, Fisherfolk, Captains of Infamy.
Enemies: Eucharistian Church, Redcoats, Brackish Mob.
Situation: The pre-colonial society of the River Peoples was one that worked
closely with natural cycles to ensure the ongoing stability and prosperity of the
land. Those remaining now find themselves in the role of Cassandras, warning
of natural disasters caused by the destruction wrought upon the landscape by its
invaders. The river itself has visited Kite to complain that the levees and dams
built around the island and Fraser Gardens bind it like chains, preventing it from
visiting its old friends the mourning gums. Kite has not had the courage to tell it
that the mourning gums were cut down long ago to make way for Ettish roads.
42
redcoats tier iv FACTION CLOCK
The Inverrouge Standing Forces, known Take full control of the

as the Redcoats, are the military force 8
Lilybarrows
of the Ettish Empire in Inverrouge and
the hand of the governor. Loyal and
Take full control of the Compass
armed, ready to enforce order wherever 10
Ranges
it is needed.
Turf: Charged with the protection of the larger Inverrouge area but less active
in the more densely populated parts of the city. Barracks in Fraser Gardens,
Command and Armory on Government Isle in Highwater.
NPCs: General William Kelly (general of the Inverrouge Standing Forces,
boisterous, relaxed, despotic). Major Victor Laveau (quartermaster, ink-stained,
irritable, impeccable). Sergeant George Irons (patrol sergeant, piercing, dreadful,

superstitious).
Notable Assets: A well-stocked armory and a few regiments of professional
soldiers.
Quirks: Almost all of the Redcoats have been brought to Terra Tertia from Etton
and platoons are regularly rotated between various colonies. Although they may
form bonds with locals, most have learned to avoid getting too attached to anyone.
Allies: The Governor’s Office, Agricultural Union, Boatsmen.
Enemies: Inverrouge Foot Police, Captains of Infamy, Brackish Mob, Fisherfolk,
Lake Elders, Unbroken Bond.
Situation: The limited resources of the Inverouge Foot Police leaves the Redcoats
responsible for policing the larger swathes of the city and surrounds while citizens
routinely question their authority. In response many troops and officers have
become more brutal, with some patrols starting to extort bribes and protection
money especially from more rural communities away from the eyes of the
Government Isle.
smoke churches tier i FACTION CLOCK
A loose group of syncretic churches that Acquire spiritually powerful

invoke Ghalasi spirits, Eucharistian 4
items (repeating)
saints, magical forces, and the ghosts of
the dead.
Turf: Scattered churches in converted houses. Basement shrines and private

altars. The covert spiritual and occult traditions of the city.
NPCs: Lisette Soulie (witch queen, reserved, enigmatic, compassionate). Michael
Bellows (faith healer, ruddy, suspicious, sudden). Benita Cienfuegos (crone,
hopeful, gnarly, quick).
43
Notable Assets: Secrets, sacred texts, and enchanted objects of every kind, spread
among disparate churches and practitioners.
Quirks: Every church and every practitioner has their own combination of beliefs
and practices, but they are united by bonds of mutual respect and support.
Allies: Eucharistian Church, Fisherfolk, Brackish Mob, Captains of Infamy.
Enemies: Inverrouge Foot Police, Inverrouge Lantern Club, Dandymen.
Situation: Over the last few decades, members of the various communities
associated with the Smoke Churches have been reporting more and more
possessions, apparitions, and other foul omens. Recently, however, even
consecrated places and practices have been infringed upon by the dark forces
coalescing in the city, making the Smoke Churches the front line against whatever
is rising up with the damp.
the unbroken bond tier ii FACTION CLOCK
An underground railroad helping Establish an independent free

free the enslaved, turned community 10
commune
support network of the formerly enslaved
factions
supporting each other against ongoing

oppression after emancipation.
Turf: Riverside and a range of Ghalasi neighborhoods throughout the city.

NPCs: Jacob Freeman (warrior and guardian, stalwart, looming, kind). Amelie
Llorens (people-smuggler, quiet, crafty, short-tempered). Rami (young incendiary,
pugnacious, righteous, vampire).
Notable Assets: A secret stockpile of weapons and ammunition.
Quirks: The name “The Unbroken Bond” originates from a speech given by
Freeman during the days of slavery in Inverrouge.
Allies: Eucharistian Church, Smoke Churches, Lake Elders, Fisherfolk, Boatsmen.
Enemies: Redcoats, Dandymen, Inverrouge Foot Police, Agricultural Union,
Inverrouge Philanthropic Society.
Situation: Over years of slavery, the Unbroken Bond stockpiled weapons in
preparation for a violent revolution. After the peaceful emancipation that occurred
when the colony was handed over to the Ettish, debate began over whether the
weapons should be sold off to buy land and resources for the community or used
to take those things by force.
44
appendices
Some Names
Honore Sigur Clarence Walker Victor Chevalier
Theodule Kofi Laurent Roy Reginald Haynes
Jacoby Dubois Isadore Cole Helena Sinclair
Tobias Broussard Ann Courmand Rupert Nunn
Herbert Kilby Elizabeth Bales William Eggleton
Angelique Lasalle Isadora Davidson Hannah Kimura
Lucy Allen Prosper Montreuil Euprosine Valentin
Eugene Haines Vincent Dixon Manuel Carlyle

Armand Forneret Celia Windsor Oswald Barnes
Stephen Lefer Maximilian Delacroix Martha Baker
Seraphina Lancaster Sophia Fairchild Erasme Chretien
Lawrence Spencer Joseph Wright Hubert Wilson
Gregory Montclair Ishmael Colman Darette Jacques
Susannah King Julia Hero Ingrid Desmarais
Quentin Beauvais Felix Montague Charles Rillieux
Elijah Chin Jacques Ortis Suzanne Tinchant
Simon Warbourg Marcelle Bonnet Rosalind Sterling
Manon Foucher Benedict Martinez Theodore Fontenot
James Price Felicie Beaumond Camilla Blackwood
Odette Landry Charlotte Griffin Marceline Hamilton
Thomas Jones Eloise Barthelemy Cedric Fontaine
Amara Leclerc Colette Spalding Jeanette Villemont
George List Pascal Ferrer Monique Pomet
Clara Thorne Ferdinand Palms Nicolas Cleace
Cato Brighton Edward Barrow Cornelius Teague
Eulalie Cazelar Louisa Beaumont John Knowler
Mary Brion Yvette Blackburn Julian Ashford
Phillipe Burel Echene St.Armand Dominique Fuselier
Endiddy Brown Mauntine Griffiths Felicity Brouillard
45
Carmelite Granca Olivia Faulkner Virgine Passebon
Augustin Dumas Aoman Cavenaze Gustave Llaire
Rowan Fitzroy Xavier Decourmant Ayhona Sarasse
Charlle Bason Bernard Denison Vivienne Mayhew
Henriette St.Hours Lila Rodriguez Alcee Brown
Hypolite Croque Celine Whitmore Christian Boudreau
Danes Bon Benjamin Dupont Marianne Dupuoy
Hector Walbourne Raphael St.Claire Frederick Payne
Ursula Hastings Celeste Arlington Robert Morgan
Valentina Roich Ernest Sands Antoine Morel
Ignace Junon Augustus Davenport Sebastian Gautier
Poupon Howard Leticia Duval Charlot Questi
Nathalie Bagneris Nicholas Todd Adele Fressineau
Naomi Durand Nico Gomez Silas Munroe
appendices
Yury Waung Cyril Bird Samuel Wilcocks

Virgil Dumois Jane Dundass Delphine Baillie
Francois St.Cyr Francoise Hart Vernon Gardner
Ayodele Harris Heloise Luison Tomas Delart
Martin Broin Walter Ashby Percival Belgrave
Clemence Ray Serafine Legney Marcel Tiocou
Christophe Dusau Nathaniel Rousseau Maya Singh
Alastair Hall Seraphine Devlin Lucien Waverly
Francis Fondall Michael Bryant Evangeline Hargreaves
Jasper Peyton Marisol Castillo
Adelaide Harrington Eleanor McCabe
46

Blades in The Dark - City of Red Waters (2023-12-05)

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A SETTING

An Evil Hat Productions Publication

In association with One Seven Design

City of Red Waters

City of Red Waters is based on Blades in the Dark, a trademark of John

First published in 2023 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC.

Evil Hat product number: EHP0065E

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

This book was produced using Adobe Creative Suite.

Cass Redfield, Jabari Weathers

Original pitch for Moon Over Bourbon Street by Chris Bennett

Cover Art Interior Art

the next: Terra Tertia.

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

several generations of chattel slavery, many of the Ghalasi peoples of Inverrouge

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

Each PC may add +1 action rating to Command, Consort, or Sway (up to a

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

1. Someone else is killing your targets before you.

the city of red waters

 Gustave Cienfuegos, an unscrupulous  Ester Bedeau, a reclusive Farmer.

You get +1d to resistance rolls to A Foreign Delicacy

A Bounty You get +1d to gather information

You get +1 coin per score. A Religious Meal

the city of red waters

You get +1d for rolls to acquire an asset. A Filling Portion

A Morish Delight You get +1d to Sway when entrancing

When you roll entanglements, roll A Well Aged Treat

A Seasonal Treat You get +1 xp when training.

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

the city of red waters

the agricultural union tier iii FACTION CLOCK

Those that till the soil and tend the herds.

responsible for the bountiful and succulent

Boatsmen tier iv FACTION CLOCK

The hardworking muscle of the steam

the city of red waters

the brackish mob tier ii FACTION CLOCK

An organized crime syndicate running

Turf: Headquarters in a warehouse in the Docklands. Extortion rackets across

captains of infamy tier ii FACTION CLOCK

An alliance of bushrangers, highwaymen, Gain control over the railway

A members club for gentleman thieves and

Turf: A secret clubhouse behind an upmarket bar. “Gentlemen’s crimes” against

the city of red waters

Dandymen tier ii FACTION CLOCK

Purveyors of fine pleasures in a variety

the eucharistian church tier iv FACTION CLOCK

The dominant organized religion in

NPCs: Valentin Illuminé (archbishop, demagogic, inspired, steadfast). Manette

the city of red waters

the governor’s office tier v FACTION CLOCK

The official government of Inverrouge. Acquire royal assent for

high street tier ii FACTION CLOCK

Gustave Cienfuegos, an unscrupulous Ester Bedeau, a reclusive Farmer.