Puddles
It’s clear just a few squelchy steps into the Puddles that this district is distressed, impoverished, and drowning. Since an earthquake set off the slow sinking of the district below sea level, the Puddles has been abandoned to fester in the brackish water. At high tide, the ocean overwhelms the sunken land, rendering a boat the best means of travel. At low tide, calf-high waters make the district tedious to navigate. As the tide flows out, the salt-crusted, sewer-stained, molding infrastructure infuses the district with an overpowering stench.
Mundane life endures in the Puddles, regardless of sewer water levels. Inns, restaurants, shops, and homes all have their first floors flooded daily with the tides—and not all residents have higher ground to escape to—yet shops open and patrons slog through the waters to go about their business. The desperate residents have begun manufacturing shoddy flood barriers around their properties or frantically shoveling the land into tiny islands for some respite from the rancid water. The local Skiffers’ Guild offers passage in agile skiffs that weave through flooded alleys. They’re limited on where they can deliver their passengers, however, depending on which local resident or faction has claimed the makeshift islands.
The tragic living conditions and increasing mosquito populations around the Little Inner Sea have introduced a plethora of maladies among the despairing population, including skin conditions, malicious mold, parasites, and viruses. A lack of temples and doctors severely limits the residents’ access to treatments for these afflictions. Medicine and medical treatments are offered in inconsistent quantities from local missions: the Ivy District’s House of Healing is attempting to contribute soup pots and healing services to the district, and the Consulate of the Platinum Band is compelled to protect their community by reconstructing the damage done to local infrastructure. A floating market also brings in medicine and food from outside the district, although even their meager prices can be too steep for impoverished locals.
The district’s nomarch, Haigen Topkick, ruthlessly regulates the Puddles. As the sole member of the district council, Haigen rules as a dictator. His consolidation of power has led him to become the captain of the Muckruckers—the district watch—as well as the guildmaster of the Salvagers’ Guild. Haigen hopes to cement his power in coin, and he utilizes these many titles as a vehicle to personally enrich himself. He encourages the Muckruckers to enforce order selectively, squash rebellion, and extort local businesses. He forgives any of their crimes so long as a percentage makes its way into his pocket, effectively creating a thieves’ guild of his district watch. Haigen utilizes the Stilt House to trade in drugs and other illegal merchandise, and he harshly taxes the members of the Salvagers’ Guild.
Haigen’s primary competitor for power used to be Lady Seichya of House Tevineg, who owns a squalid private prison called the Brine—as well as an illegal slavery ring run out of the Brine called the Salt Cartel. Lady Seichya’s business in the district does not necessarily conflict with Haigen’s efforts to enrich himself, and so the two have a precarious agreement to leave each other’s affairs alone. However, Lady Seichya grows less satisfied with this arrangement as the worsening floodwaters threaten to devastate the Brine— and the supply to the Salt Cartel as a result.
Unfortunately for Haigen, his monopoly is now slipping as new players enter the soggy scene and conditions in the Puddles worsen and embolden his oppressed citizens. A self-proclaimed Goblin King of Absalom has established a kingdom in a local playhouse and brazenly proclaims his authority within Haigen’s domain. The new goblin citizens drawn into the Puddles by Zusgut’s arrival pay little heed to Haigen’s carefully constructed regime. Utilizing a freshly built skyway of catwalks, they run over rooftops and teach the youth of the district to rise from the downtrodden waters and trample right over Haigen’s head. To add to the district’s woes, a local chapter of the Skinsaw Cult has made its presence known through a series of gruesomely displayed bodies across the district. While larceny, extortion, and even murder have not been uncommon under Haigen’s rule, this bloodthirsty cult has shaken the district guard. Brazen murders, extending even beyond the district, have caused Haigen considerable trouble as he struggles to assure the Grand Council that he is able to maintain order in the Puddles in Lord Gyr’s absence.
The Puddles’ desperate pleas are steadily catching the attention of neighboring districts. Young activists hope to convince the Grand Council that the Puddles warrants saving, if not for the sake of its upstanding citizens, then at least to prevent the crime and corruption therein from spreading throughout Absalom.
Mundane life endures in the Puddles, regardless of sewer water levels. Inns, restaurants, shops, and homes all have their first floors flooded daily with the tides—and not all residents have higher ground to escape to—yet shops open and patrons slog through the waters to go about their business. The desperate residents have begun manufacturing shoddy flood barriers around their properties or frantically shoveling the land into tiny islands for some respite from the rancid water. The local Skiffers’ Guild offers passage in agile skiffs that weave through flooded alleys. They’re limited on where they can deliver their passengers, however, depending on which local resident or faction has claimed the makeshift islands.
The tragic living conditions and increasing mosquito populations around the Little Inner Sea have introduced a plethora of maladies among the despairing population, including skin conditions, malicious mold, parasites, and viruses. A lack of temples and doctors severely limits the residents’ access to treatments for these afflictions. Medicine and medical treatments are offered in inconsistent quantities from local missions: the Ivy District’s House of Healing is attempting to contribute soup pots and healing services to the district, and the Consulate of the Platinum Band is compelled to protect their community by reconstructing the damage done to local infrastructure. A floating market also brings in medicine and food from outside the district, although even their meager prices can be too steep for impoverished locals.
The district’s nomarch, Haigen Topkick, ruthlessly regulates the Puddles. As the sole member of the district council, Haigen rules as a dictator. His consolidation of power has led him to become the captain of the Muckruckers—the district watch—as well as the guildmaster of the Salvagers’ Guild. Haigen hopes to cement his power in coin, and he utilizes these many titles as a vehicle to personally enrich himself. He encourages the Muckruckers to enforce order selectively, squash rebellion, and extort local businesses. He forgives any of their crimes so long as a percentage makes its way into his pocket, effectively creating a thieves’ guild of his district watch. Haigen utilizes the Stilt House to trade in drugs and other illegal merchandise, and he harshly taxes the members of the Salvagers’ Guild.
Haigen’s primary competitor for power used to be Lady Seichya of House Tevineg, who owns a squalid private prison called the Brine—as well as an illegal slavery ring run out of the Brine called the Salt Cartel. Lady Seichya’s business in the district does not necessarily conflict with Haigen’s efforts to enrich himself, and so the two have a precarious agreement to leave each other’s affairs alone. However, Lady Seichya grows less satisfied with this arrangement as the worsening floodwaters threaten to devastate the Brine— and the supply to the Salt Cartel as a result.
Unfortunately for Haigen, his monopoly is now slipping as new players enter the soggy scene and conditions in the Puddles worsen and embolden his oppressed citizens. A self-proclaimed Goblin King of Absalom has established a kingdom in a local playhouse and brazenly proclaims his authority within Haigen’s domain. The new goblin citizens drawn into the Puddles by Zusgut’s arrival pay little heed to Haigen’s carefully constructed regime. Utilizing a freshly built skyway of catwalks, they run over rooftops and teach the youth of the district to rise from the downtrodden waters and trample right over Haigen’s head. To add to the district’s woes, a local chapter of the Skinsaw Cult has made its presence known through a series of gruesomely displayed bodies across the district. While larceny, extortion, and even murder have not been uncommon under Haigen’s rule, this bloodthirsty cult has shaken the district guard. Brazen murders, extending even beyond the district, have caused Haigen considerable trouble as he struggles to assure the Grand Council that he is able to maintain order in the Puddles in Lord Gyr’s absence.
The Puddles’ desperate pleas are steadily catching the attention of neighboring districts. Young activists hope to convince the Grand Council that the Puddles warrants saving, if not for the sake of its upstanding citizens, then at least to prevent the crime and corruption therein from spreading throughout Absalom.
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