DRYH: Shadow of the Raven King - Setting Details

In the time of the Raven King, the Mad City is divided into Quarters, and each Quarter is Ruled by a major Nightmare and its various lieutenants and minions. This page describes each Quarter and details those who might be encountered there, their suggested Pain ratings, and any special talents or attributes they might have.

Note: This page is information DENSE and is NOT required reading by any means. I've put this here as a reference, but it is unlikely even a tenth of the information below will get used during a single game. Nevertheless, I find frontloading my setting makes it easier to react on the fly when players do the Unexpected Thing. And players always, eventually, do the Unexpected Thing. As reliable as the Thirteenth Hour.

The Raven King - Pain 12 (15 when using Voice)

The Raven King confines himself to no Quarter. The whole of the Mad City is his domain, and he rules it with a ruthless passivity that is unfathomable. At a distance, the Raven King is seen as the silhouette of a tall, gaunt man swathed in robes of blackness and starlight, and from the vast cowl of his vestments the silhouette of a great black beak can be seen jutting forth. Until he approaches or allows himself to be approached. At that point the great black beak will pull away, revealing itself to be the dripping blade of a great scythe in scarred bone hands, his revealed face a bare human skull, bleached white within the black robes, with venomous green flames flickering in the empty eye sockets.

Only from his throne in the Iron Keep does he wear his full Raven visage where all can see. The gaunt fingers that clutch the arms of that throne are covered in black feathers and end in vicious black talons.

The Raven King only rarely approaches or allows the approach of the Awakened, and he never speaks with them directly. It is said his very voice is death to mortal ears [Pain 15]. Instead he watches from afar, typically interacting only through his lieutenants and minions and rarely bringing his full Pain rating to bear when there is a confrontation. If pressed, the Raven King can open portals anywhere within the Mad City that may lead to any other location(s) he chooses within the Mad City . . . or the City Slumbering.

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The Raven King's Court

The following Nightmares answer to the Raven King directly and faithfully and while they function as his lieutenants they should be treated as major Nightmares in their own right. If the Raven King is holding Court within the Iron Keep, they will typically all be present, but otherwise might be found anywhere within the Mad City unless their description indicates otherwise. Some of the Court have a different Pain rating within the Quarters and within the Iron Keep itself.

The Blood Queen - Pain 3/6/9 (by Watch)

The Blood Queen is perhaps first and foremost a Nightmare to Nightmares.

In the First Watch she manifests as a young girl in a short dress of crimson with red ribbons in her blonde hair. Her feet and legs and arms are bare to clap and kick and dance. The soles of her feet and the palms of her hands are gleefully wet with blood that never seems to rub off on anything. [Pain 3]

In the Middle watch she becomes a woman fully grown in a sheathed red gown, red slippers, and long gloves that move and flow on her arms like blood. Her lips are the color of blood as well and her hair is chestnut brown, worn loose with a thin pair of braids making a crown around her brow and bound in back with a simple cord of red leather. [Pain 6]

In the final watch she is a white haired crone, red bones pinning her coif up in a bun, her sagging breasts exposed, and a red woolen kilt covering her nether regions. Blood flows openly from her shoulders to her fingertips and from well above her knees to her clawlike toes, and her parched thin lips are black and cracked. [Pain 9]

In all her incarnations, her eyes are black as a night without stars. When attacked, the blood from her feet flows up to cover her even as the blood from her hands and arms sweeps out to smother whoever would dare her harm.

It is whispered that in the fist watch she is the Raven King's daughter, eager and full of life, while in the middle watch she is his bride, sensual and possessive, and in the last watch the mother who birthed him, demanding and cold as iron.

No one even whispers about what she might become in the Thirteenth Hour.

In court it is the Blood Queen who speaks openly while the Raven King stares sternly ahead, offering neither approval nor dissent, but it is rumored he speaks into her mind and that she does not gainsay his desires.

Special: The Pain Rating of Nightmares who come within sight of the Blood Queen drops two points and remains reduced while in her presence. Only the Raven King and Mistress When, (and perhaps the Keeper) are known to be immune to this effect. Inklings, for whatever reason, add one pain to their rating in her presence and tend to congregate near her unless ordered to do otherwise.

One Eyed Jack - Pain 4 (6 within the Iron Keep)

Said to be the Raven King's brother - somehow - One Eyed Jack is the all seeing layabout of the Raven King's Court. As his name implies, he is missing an eye, the absent orb replaced by a smooth globe of polished emerald that glows from within. Otherwise, the blonde rake wears a tunic and cloak of deepest black and keeps his lower face loosely covered, so his mouth - split wide and full of rows and rows of sharklike teeth - cannot be seen.

Below the waist, the Jack fades into restless black smoke that can stretch and contract to lift or lower him nearly any distance at virtually any speed. It is the rare soul that has time to react when One Eyed Jack wills it otherwise.

Though the Jack never openly opposes the Raven King, he delights immensely in disrupting the plans of other members of the Court and seems to spend little time on anything else. He has even been known to ally himself with individual Awake if it suits his need.

Special: The Jack's black smoke has the power to induce sleep. Mechanically, this means that in confrontations with the Jack, if Exhaustion dominates, the GM will virtually never spend Coins of Despair to make another pool dominate. If Exhaustion does NOT dominate and spending Coins of Despair can make it dominate, the GM will spend them to do so. If the character fails the confrontation, Exhaustion will always be the consequence if Exhaustion didn't already dominate. IOW, confronting the Jack is very likely to add an Exhaustion die to the character's pool.

Note: This is a guideline, not an absolute, if the Jack has an alliance with the character or sees potential for an alliance, it is in his power to withhold this effect.

The Fool - Pain 5 (7 within the Iron Keep)

The Fool is a thin androgynous figure in black and white motley and an oval mask, half black, half white with only a bare rectangular slit for each eye and the mouth. Like many of the Raven King's court the Fool does not speak, but can communicate quite fluidly through pantomime. In certain light, with certain movements, the observer would swear the Fool to be a lean young man under that mask, while in other light with certain other movements, the observer would be equally certain the mask hides a slim young girl.

The Fool is the Raven King's primary means of communicating directly with the Awake when he wishes, though the Fool will often set forth on its own agenda.

The Fool is often seen juggling fire, dancing, tumbling, performing pratfalls, and otherwise amusing the court, but by all accounts the Fool is the Raven King's chief adviser.

Inklings - Pain 1 (3 within the Iron Keep)

Made of shadow, inklings resemble children in form but with huge hands and feet and great grinning maws full of shadowy teeth. Inklings are three dimensional in form, but being made of the stuff of shadow they are somewhat translucent, except for the inside of their mouths beyond their shadowy teeth. That is black as never.

Silent as death, Inklings are never seen in the Iron Keep except when called for an execution, but they are everywhere, watching from the shadows and - via the Fool - acting as the Raven King's eyes throughout the Quarters.

It is without the Iron Keep that Inklings are most to be feared. Though weaker in the Quarters than they are within the Keep, they are utterly invisible in the shadows and when they attack they attack in swarms. They do have to leave the shadows to attack, however. Their hands have no grip and their teeth have no bite if their bodies are in shadow.

Only during the Thirteenth hour are Inklings truly vulnerable, taking on the form of mute children wandering derelict. During the Thirteenth Hour an Inkling's Pain rating drops to zero effectively turning them into mere denizens of the Mad City. For better or for worse, Inklings caught in this state within the confines of the Bizarre Bazaar do not revert back to their Nightmare form at the end of the Thirteenth Hour.

Special: If defeated, an Inkling's shadowy substance may be consumed by any of the Awake who then takes on the shadowy properties of the Inkling, unseen and unfelt until the chime of Thirteenth Hour. The Awake have no access to their Discipline dice while the Inkling effect remains in place.

The Huntsman - Pain 5 (2 within the Iron Keep)

The Huntsman is the one member of the Raven King's Court who is considerably more powerful outside the keep than he is within. Inside the Iron Keep, the Huntsman is little more than a glorified kennel master. But out in the Quarters he Hunts with the Raven King's own authority.

Clad in tough fighting leathers and loose cowl, the scent of old blood clings to the Huntsman. His face jutting from the cowl is the bare white skull of a great wolf with an eerie blue flame dancing in the empty sockets - a flame that drifts closer to red as the Huntsman closes with his prey.

Despite his appearance, the Huntsman can and does speak, though usually only to his Hounds.

The Huntsman only hunts on the order of the Raven King, sending his Death Hounds out ahead of him, but keeping two at his flanks at all times outside the Keep.

Special: Out in the Quarters, the Huntsman has a terrible reputation. Minion level Nightmares, excepting his own Death Hounds, will avoid the Huntsman, fleeing from his presence for dear life. Lieutenant level Nightmares not of the Raven King's court will viciously and immediately attack him on sight. When being attacked by other Nightmares, the Huntsman's Pain increases by 2 + 1 for each additional Nightmare beyond the first to a maximum Pain rating of 12. If a major Nightmare attacks the Huntsman, he can blow his Horn to summon the Raven King.

The Huntsman's Horn: The Huntsman bears a great hollow ram's horn which he can blow to summon the Raven King. He will only do so under conditions set by the Raven King. It is rumored that his ability to add pain against other Nightmares comes from this Artifact.

Death Hounds - Pain 2 (4 when Tracking)

Large and lanky dogs, pale and furless with bare skulls for heads, the Death Hounds are usually found hunting at the Huntsman's behest, running ahead of him to bring his prey to ground (tracking Pain 4) or at his flanks as guardians (Pain 2). Like the Huntsman, their eye sockets glow a cold blue until they near their intended prey, then they begin to glow violet, and ultimately crimson as they close with their prey. Like the Huntsman, the scent of old blood clings to them.

When in sight of their prey the Death Hounds will howl, summoning the Huntsman.

Death Hounds don't always hunt with or for the Huntsman, however. Packs of feral Death Hounds can be found roaming the Quarters, their eye sockets empty of light, though the smell of old blood still clings to them.

Special: Feral Death Hounds (those not of the Huntsman's pack), when defeated, can be sent to interfere with any of the Huntsman's Hounds that are actively out on the hunt until the following chime of the Hour. They will not interfere with the Huntsman himself or the two Hounds he keeps near him.

The Headsman - Pain 6 (8 when performing a sanctioned Execution)

The Headsman is the Raven King's Executioner. When specifically fulfilling his office add 2 to his Pain rating.

Clad in black with a great halberd, the Headsman towers over the tallest men. but where his head should be is only a wispy swirl of white fire with empty pockets of blackness where his eyes should be. Like many of the Raven King's Court, the Executioner does not speak.

In the performance of his duties, the Headsman commands the Inklings of the Fool to be his hands in the dark, holding fast the sentenced and adding to the pain he is able to wield in that moment.

The Headsman is almost exclusively encountered at the Raven King's shoulder awaiting an order of execution.

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Quarter: Paradox Square

Surrounded by the Labyrinth on two sides and the Hammerwall on the third, Paradox Square lies at the very heart of the Mad City. Occupied by the massive tower of the Iron Keep, the demesne of the Raven King himself, Paradox Square is at once the focus of the Mad City and the black center from which all the Quarters strain away. Yet as solidly as it dominates the Square for the Twelve Hours of the Watch, the Keep fades at the first chime of the Thirteenth Hour and the Grove of the Slain God takes its place in the heart of Paradox.

Whatever the hour, however, the Menhir stand sentinel. Set in the center of each of the three sides of Paradox Square, the standing stones provide the only means to enter the open triangle, though no walls bar entrance on any side or corner. The smallest of the Quarters can only be accessed by passing beneath one of the three massive stone doorways - each of which marks the grave of one of the elder Nightmares that anchors the Mad City in the minds of men.

[tip o' the pen to Pandorym for providing the inspiration for this Quarter]

The Iron Keep

Windowless Iron with three perfect sides, the Iron Keep towers even above the Hammerwall. The points of the triangular based tower each face one of the Menhir on the three sides of Paradox Square, and each of the three walls of the Keep at ground level is set with a gigantic archway that opens to the interior.

The outer dimensions of the Iron Keep suggest that one should be able to look in through one archway and see across an open floor to the other two archways, but the inner space of the Keep is vaster and more convoluted and neither of the adjacent arches are visible glancing through the third from without.

Similarly, each archway enters into an entirely different aspect of the Iron Keep.

It is said that one could travel for days within the Raven King's home and not see all of it that there is to see.

During each hour of Twelve Hours of the Watch the Iron walls of the Keep reverberate with the sound of a distant gong as if heard from miles away, but the sounding Hour can be heard as clearly in any Quarter of the Mad City as from Paradox Square.

It is the chime of the Thirteenth Hour that rings out like judgement, causing the whole of the Iron Keep to shatter, its flying shards vanishing before they fly beyond the Square. Pain 7 for anyone caught within the triangle of Paradox Square when the Keep shatters.

The Gong of the Thirteenth Chime is a deafening shout over every Quarter of the Mad City.

The Grove of the Slain God

With the passing of the Iron Keep at the Chime of the Thirteenth Hour, the Grove of the Slain God appears in its place. A triangular iron pillar grows up where each corner of the keep once stood, stretching high above the Hammerwall with iron branches growing out of the two outer surfaces of each pillar starting about halfway up and copper and brass leaves growing from the branches.

The inner surface of each pillar remains smooth and flat, with no branches, making the inner space of the grove an open triangle.

Hung by chains from the high tops of the trees within that triangle is a massive circle of iron. It is this that chimes the Mad City's Hours. Clearly in the Thirteenth when it is present, from a distance when the Iron Keep occupies its space.

Suspended from the three trunks just below this disc by chains of adamant a great tentacled beast hangs, the ends of its long, long limbs bound high, its spearlike head hanging near to the ground, it's silver blood streaming endlessly into a seemingly bottomless pit bored into the earth at the center of the Grove.

The Menhir

Right in the middle of each of the three sides of Paradox Square is a set of massive Standing Stones. Each is made of a pair of rectangular monoliths capped by a massive rectangular lintel stone (much in appearance like those found at Stonehenge). It is said that each Menhir is the grave marker of an ancient elder Nightmare, and that the three Menhir, set in perfect symmetry around the triangle of Paradox Square anchors the Mad City in the minds of men.

Though there are no walls around the Square, passing under one of the stone Menhir is the only way to enter Paradox Square. It is simply impossible to step from the surrounding Quarters into the demesne of the Iron Keep and the Grove any other way.

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Nightmares: Paradox Square

Castellan of the Iron Keep - Pain 4

The Castellan is responsible for the Keeping of the Iron Keep itself, its running, its defense, its upkeep, and the needs of its Lord and its Guests.

The Castellan himself appears as a stocky man in a smart black uniform of military cut, practical and severe. His face is swarthy and dark. So is his other face. And the third one too. Each face is strong and severe and set side by side in a triangle around his head. He has no beards, nor hair, nor ears, though he seems able to hear just fine.

He controls access to the rooms and corridors of the Iron Keep absolutely.

Unlike many of the Nighmares that the Raven King surrounds himself with, the Castellan speaks just fine. Deferentially to his betters and special Guests. Barked orders to most others.

The Doorkeepers - Pain 3 (5 when encountered in Pairs)

The Doorkeepers of the Iron Keep always appear in pairs (Pain 5) and if defeated will vanish in pairs. Guests of the Keep will typically see only two Doorkeepers at any given time, standing one on each side of the nearest door, weaponless, their brown skin covered only by a crimson sarong, no shoes on their feet. Observers will perceive each Doorkeeper's face as identical to their own but with eyes as black and empty as the promise of death. Doorkeepers never move away from their doors. They do not traverse hallways or move into the rooms they guard. They can, however, use any doorway as a portal to any other doorway within the Iron Keep.

Only when attacked by a Guest or summoned by the Castellan do they move into a room or hallway to fight. [It is in these instances that their Pain rating might be calculated at the individual level (Pain 3) or individually folded into the Castellan's rating]. Otherwise, their only function seems to be to stand aflank their particular doorway or in front of it, granting or barring entry.

Doorkeepers never speak.

The Willow Women - Pain 1 (6 during a Forced Gaze)

The Willow Women answer to the Castellan during the Twelve Hours of the Watch. They are the maids, cooks, and servants of the Iron Keep. But they serve the Slain God during the Thirteenth Hour.

Lithe and flexible and tall, the Willow Women are fair skinned with extremely long limbs and hands and feet and toes and fingers and their hair drops down all about them in a curtain of fine pale braids, like the hanging branches of the willow tree, hiding their faces and most of their form. The Willow Women will not willingly move aside their braids and look directly on a Guest of the Iron Keep or a Supplicant of the Grove and tend to keep their heads down and their faces hidden, but if someone were to part those pale braids, stark black eyes with no color or whites would stare back. Anyone caught in that naked gaze faces Pain 6 in a confrontation that cannot be avoided. In this special encounter all 6s rolled for Pain count towards Madness instead when determining dominance.

Not only do the Willow Women never speak, they have no mouths to do so.

Special: The Willow Women typically do not engage in conflict, but if defeated they (each) add one madness die to the character's next roll, whatever that roll may be, at which time the Willow Woman passes from existence forever. This die does not count against the total madness dice allowed to a character, but any madness dice that come up six during that roll count as two sixes for the purpose of determining strength. Further, any madness dice in the pool when the Willow Women were defeated do not fall off until the end of the next roll. These dice do count against the character's allowed total since they are his own dice, just hanging around for one more roll.

If other characters added dice to help the main protagonist defeat the Willow Women they share his fate on the subsequent roll as well.

The Chainforger - Pain 8 (2 when Communicating Telepathically)

Rarely seen, the Chainforger seems to double as the Iron Keep's Gaoler and Armorer. Fleshless, the Chainforger is made entirely of intermeshed and interlocking plates and chains of blackest iron. Human in shape, the Chainforger is faceless, but flesh and blood eyes of every shape and color wink from within every link of chain in and on his body.

Guests who catch a glimpse of the Chainforger are probably already bound for his special care.

Legend has it that if one were to peel back the great iron plate over his heart a pair of Raven eyes would stare back.

Though the Chainforger shares the Court's general moratorium against speech, when he wishes to communicate, he can make his voice heard in anyone's mind like rust being scraped off of old iron. Pain 2 to communicate in this fashion. It cannot be blocked out.

The Eyeless - Denizens

The Eyeless Occupy the cells beneath the Black Keep. They are denizens of the Mad City, rather than actual Nightmares, and so have no Pain rating, but in their own ways can cause trouble if they think it will inch them closer to freedom. As their name implies, these men and women have no eyes, but sallow amber flames flicker in their empty sockets.

The Slain God - Pain 9 (+ Special)

Hanging below the iron disk in his iron Grove, the Slain God stares out through three silver eyes set at equal intervals around his spearlike head, with intelligence, compassion, and no small amount of madness. Excepting the Willow Women (and, it is rumored, Inklings) no Nightmare may enter the Grove of the Slain God. They are physically hurled away if they assay to cross between any of the three iron trees. But Denizens of the Mad City and the Awakened are always able to enter.

What Denizens petition the Slain God for, no one knows, only that they drop a single item - it may be any item: a broken doll, a rock, a scrap of parchment with faded ink - into the well beneath the Slain God, stand still facing one of his eyes for a long moment, and then walk away.

Awakened who approach the Slain God as Supplicants have to offer more. It is said the Slain God is able to seek that which would remain unfound, but his price to pass this vision to one of the Awakened is a steep one. The Awakened must look into one of the Slain God's eyes; the eye of the Present, the eye of the Past, or the eye of the Future and see what is to be seen. One Madness die must be added to the roll (permanent madness is never enough), but the player can choose to add up to the full six. This roll is against a Pain rating of 9 if the character has no Exhaustion dice in his pool. Each Exhaustion die in the pool, however, represents one more Pain die added to the Slain God's rating.

Whether the character 'wins' or 'loses' this roll, they see the vision the Slain God imparts. If they win, a Coin of Hope is paid into the bowl without first going through the GM's bowl as a Coin of Despair, and they understand the vision immediately. If not, a Coin is paid into each bowl, one of Hope and one of Despair, and they must ponder the vision to prize its meaning free. The GM does not get to add a consequence to a failed roll.

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The Bizarre Bazaar

The Bizarre Bazaar is an Aladdinesque jumble of cloth booths and tents and spread carpets and blankets offering all manner of exotic things for trade. Nearly any goods or services can be found within the Bazaar if the Price can be paid. It is thought that the Bizarre Bazaar is the only constant feature throughout all the ages of the Mad City.

Rather than being it's own Quarter, pieces of the Bazaar can be found in every Quarter of the Mad City (except Paradox Square).

Once a character is in the Bazaar, however, it springs whole, its jumbled pieces coming together in a cohesive, if still utterly chaotic realm unto itself. Characters within the confines of the Bazaar will not wander out of those confines until they actively decide to do so. Though it is still anybody's guess which Quarter they will find themselves in upon exiting - unless they have a means of choosing their destination - such things are available at a price. [If determining randomly, roll 1d12 in your roller and compare to the Quarters Table on the Main page of this wiki to determine where your character ends up. Characters deliberately keeping hold of one another all come out in the same Quarter, so in that case only one player - or the GM - should roll to determine].

Note: There is no guarantee that a character can re-enter the Bazaar at the point they left it, nor is it likely they will find portions of Bazaar in the same place twice within the Quarters. That's just part of how the Bizarre Bazaar keeps itself safe.

The Bazaar is busiest during the Thirteenth Hour and more pockets of itself will bleed out into the Quarters to attract custom in that Hour than any other.

[For more information on common details of the Bazaar, see pp 49-50 of Don't Rest Your Head ignoring any reference to the Wax King and his coins as he has not yet manifested as a Power in the Mad City during the time of the Raven King].

Old Scratch - Pain ?

Old Scratch appears as a shrewd, dark haired fellow with amber eyes, perfectly white teeth, and a finely groomed goatee. He is always seen in an impeccable white shirt, and matching vest and trousers of dark worsted wool and a fobbed pocket watch at his belly. His black leather shoes shine like glass.

Old Scratch can only be found in the Bazaar during the Thirteenth Hour and he will only talk Deals. He wastes time on nothing else. He offers no goods or services, only asks what is desired, then names a price to obtain it. Scratch never fails to fulfill a bargain. But he also never fails to collect its price.

Old Scratch's Pain rating is not known.

The Haggler King

The Haggler King is an Awakened cum Denizen who rules the Bazaar, lets out Places for trade, and keeps the peace. He has no Pain rating, but he has protectors and enforcers enough that this has never mattered. Nothing remains of the Haggler King's exhaustion talent and little of madness, but he has the ability to take on any physical appearance he chooses, constrained only by his own personal mass.

Bookies - Pain 1 (+ Varies)

Throughout the Bazaar, leatherbound tomes can be found lying open on small Persian style rugs. The books do not speak, but can communicate via writing that scrawls delicately across their blank pages. Bookies offer bets on nearly any occurrence within the Mad City. It offers a Pain rating as Stakes based on the Payout of the bet. If the bettor accepts the stakes, a drop of his blood is required to lock in the bet and the player sets the dice pool and makes the roll.

Raggle Taggle Gypsies - Pain 1

Mischievous denizens of the Bazaar, the Raggle Taggle Gypsies flit about the crowds in scraps of colorful billowing silks and sashes, never stopping long in any one place, and are ubiquitous simply by virtue of the fact that they are literally everywhere. Though newcomers to the Bazaar might be tempted to worry about thievery, the actual purpose of the Raggle Taggle Gypsies is more subtle, and often more dangerous. Anyone entering the Bazaar with any permanent madness dice are subject to become a target for their antics.

Converging on their mark in packs to gain the cumulative affect of their Pain, the bulk of the Gypsies act as a whirling distraction while one of their number places a stolen item on the protagonist's person. Infused with the bizarre madness unique to the Raggle Taggle Gypsies the rightful owner of the stolen item immediately knows who has it and believes that they stole it.

Special: The First Rule of the Raggle Taggle Gypsies is Do Not Talk About the Raggle Taggle Gypsies. Any attempt to describe these ubiquitous denizens of the Bazaar will be met with amused disbelief and appreciation for a fine tale that might earn a mug in a friendlier place than the Mad City. Despite the fact that they seem to be everywhere, apparently only the Awake are aware of them.

Hagglers - Denizens

More self aware and independent than most of the Denizens of the Mad City because of their lack of a major Nightmare directing the form and direction of the Bazaar, Hagglers are probably the most adept vendors of information and resources available to the Awakened. There is still a price. Always there is a price. But there is little that cannot be had here, and the Hagglers are the ones to provide it.

Clockwork Insects

Delicately wrought of copper, brass, and iron to perfectly resemble and mimic actual insects - flies, roaches, locusts, centipedes - Clockwork Insects can be found in abundance everywhere within the Bizarre Bazaar, flitting about, examining everything, suddenly there and suddenly gone. But it is when they are spotted in the Quarters outside the Bazaar that they are most valuable. If a Clockwork Insect is seen outside the Bizarre Bazaar it means that a hidden entrance to the Bazaar is close at hand. The Awake can use these sightings to escape the Quarter they are in and enter the Bazaar. This does not require a dice roll, merely a willingness to follow the Clockwork Insect where it leads.

Special: Just as they always seem to know a way into the Bazaar from the Quarters, Clockwork Insects always know to which Quarter an exit from the Bazaar leads and are generally willing to lead anyone to a specific Quarter if their price is met. To get their cooperation, each character must give up one Discipline die for the remainder of the Twelve Hours of the Watch, however many hours remain, until the Iron Disc of the Grove again chimes the Thirteenth Hour.

Note: No point of the Bizarre Bazaar exits into Paradox Square, and Clockwork Insects are unable to lead characters into the City Slumbering, even though it is an option for characters to stumble into when randomly exiting the Bazaar.

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Quarter: Rattown Wharf

Rattown Wharf is a jumbled shanty town of taverns, shipwright shops, and low slung warehouses clustered on the edge of the black sluggish harbor upon which the Mad City is built. Ships of questionable seaworthiness come and go, loading and unloading even more questionable cargo in the hours of eternal night.

Just beyond the docks and piers and jetties the bones of sunken vessels make passage out into the deep all but impossible, but somehow the tattered ships make it in and out of that jagged labyrinth, though only their captains and crew might have any idea how.

Not even for the Thirteenth Hour does activity in Rattown abate.

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Nightmares: Rattown Wharf

Cat O'Nine - Pain 9 (- Special)

Cat O'Nine is the leader of the Catspaw [see below]. Towering head and shoulders over his Paws, Cat O'Nine is a monster of red fur and mangling scars, his left ear and eye long ago ripped away and his tail bobbed. He wields a roman style scourge of nine braided whips of human skin tipped and studded with bone and iron hooks.

Nine Lives: Defeating Cat O'Nine doesn't necessarily take him out of the fight. When defeated, subtract 1 from his total Pain rating for each character who had a hand in his defeat. He can immediately force another confrontation at his new Pain rating if he chooses, but he will never willingly risk dropping to Pain 0.

Special: In any confrontation with Cat O'Nine where the character loses the confrontation, the GM can introduce the consequence of Cat Scratch Fever instead of adding exhaustion or forcing a response. This has the mechanical effect of making only 1s and 2s successful on the character's discipline dice on their next roll.

The Catspaw - Pain 4

Slinking humanoid figures with feline heads, tails, and claws, the Catspaw serve as both the law and the chief gang of Rattown. They collect protection from the locals and hassle transients from other Quarters for tolls of passage through their tattered fiefdom. On the other hand, they mercilessly root out any other criminal element in the Wharf and will fight off encroaching Nightmares and Awake alike if they feel they are a threat.

The Catspaw can leap great distances and always land on their feet.

The Barnacle Boys - Pain 2 (6 when being Skinned)

Vaguely shaped like small boys but covered head to toe in thousands of living barnacles, the Barnacle Boys hang out on the docks and piers and jetties collecting information for the Catspaw and the Night Callers alike, as well as for any Awake that can pay their price.

When crouched down against a piling or the base of a dock or storefront, Barnacle Boys all but look like a bit of crumbling foundation. They are also very agile and adept, able to use their bony growths to quickly shimmy up pilings and walls to the rooftops of the Wharf and even up to the Spires.

Barnacle Boys have a vicious unreasoning hatred for Plague Rats and will attack them on sight.

Special: The barnacled hides of Barnacle Boys are worth much in trade to certain factions within the Bizarre Bazaar. It should be noted, that removing a Barnacle Boy's hide is the only way to actually kill it, so they tend to be alive and screaming throughout the process. Pain 6 to skin one.

Plague Rats - Pain 2

Smaller than the Catspaw, Plague Rats are even more ratlike than the Paws are catlike, but still move mostly upright and have some humanoid characteristics. Though they do not actively provoke the Catspaw, Plague Rats have no interest in order, shakedowns, or protections. They simply do as they wish and slink away into the shadows.

The Rats are not terribly brave unless they know they have numbers or their prey is otherwise helpless.

Special: Should Pain dominate in an encounter with Plague Rats, one Pain die lingers with any characters involved in the encounter. That pain die is added to the Pain rating the characters face in their next confrontation.

The Drowned - Denizens

The dripping, salt crusted forms of those lost at sea, the Drowned serve as stevedores and longshoremen on the Wharf, mindlessly ignoring everything but their given tasks. At need, however, they will immediately take orders from any Catspaw, and will even follow the directions of Barnacle Boys if there are enough of them to physically herd the Drowned in the requested task.

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Treacher's Deep

Out beyond Rattown Wharf, out past the bones of broken vessels that clutter the harbor, stretches the vast expanse of Treacher's Deep. The Deep is endless. It is the swish of blood in the Mad City's veins. It is the vast country beyond - alien and other.

The Maelstrom - Pain 5

Out in the Deep lies an endless vortex, a funneling whirlpool of devouring greed that sucks in anything that approaches. This is the Maelstrom. It is said that it's violent surface touches all points of the Mad City at once, offering passage anywhere within the various quarters, even the roots of the Slain God's well. It is also said that this first saying is a lie. That the maelstrom is a portal only to the bottom of the Deep.

The Siren - Pain 3

Singing her hauntingly beautiful melodies, soft and lost in the fog until the Thirteenth Hour when they drift clear and compelling into the Mad City the Siren waits. Taking on the appearance of a ghostly white figure of mist in the shape of a slim young girl, she will invariably be found hovering over the Maelstrom, waiting, and can only be approached during the Thirteenth Hour when she drifts from the center to the near edge of the great whirlpool's swirling maw. If the Siren is given the gift she names, she will grant safe passage through the Maelstrom to one of three locations: The basement of the Tower of the Moon, the bottom of the Raven's Eye, or the dungeon passages of the Iron Keep.

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Quarter: The Canals

The Canals are a labyrinth of waterways that crisscross the seaward side of the Mad City beneath the towering stern facade of the Mad City's Guild Halls and the crazed skyground of the Spires. Walkways flank the waterways and arched bridges frequently span them even as dark stone stairs lead down to the flat inky surface of the Canals themselves.

The Canals interconnect or run adjacent to multiple Quarters.

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Nighmares: The Canals

The Guildmaster - Pain 7 (9 when enforcing Guild Contracts)

The Guildmaster is a tall, skeletal Nightmare in the finest grey suit and top hat that Pain can buy (rumor says that his attire is pure Barnacle Boy hide). Severe in the extreme, the Guildmaster manages Trade and Manufacture in the Mad City - well not the Bazaar, but don't bring that up in his hearing. The Guildmaster is more apt to deal exclusively with other nightmares than with the Awake, but if it is important enough, he might stir himself if one of the Awake threatens (or can be leveraged into an advantage for) a Guild Asset.

Special: The Guildmaster is unable to step foot into the Bizarre Bazaar. It is rumored he is unable to even see the bits of that realm that creep openly into the Quarters.

The Journey Men - Pain 5

Bare wisps of lean, tall, man-shaped shadows in shadowy finery, the Journey Men are the emissaries of the Guildmaster. Nine in number, the Journey Men travel the Quarters on Guild Business and, much like the Raven King's Court, treat whatever Quarter they are in as Home Turf [particularly in the matter of the Call of the Awakened and Parting the Veil]. Nightmares who gain an increase in Pain for being in their own Quarter (including the Court of the Raven King while in the Iron Keep) do not gain this advantage when dealing with the Journey Men. The Huntsman is the only Nightmare known to be immune to this effect.

Special: Physical barriers are no obstacle to the Journey Men. They are able to flow up and over and through cracks to get where they are going. They are, however, still unable to enter the triangle of Paradox Square except via the Menhir, and the power of the Slain God will still cast them back should they try to enter the Grove. Like their Master, the Journey Men are also unable to enter the Bizarre Bazaar.

Guilders - Denizens

In the Guildhalls above the Canals the denizens of that Quarter live and work their crafts under the watchful eyes of minor Nightmares, providing goods and services for the whole of the Mad City.

The Gondolier - Pain 3

Gondola is the preferred conveyance for passengers and cargo through the Canals, a task usually handled by the Drowned of Rattown. Nevertheless, a single towering Nightmare can be seen sliding through the mists in an ethereal Gondola of intricately carved bone. Clad in heavy robes and broad brimmed hat the color of ash, his face is a mask of crisscrossed scars and his mouth has been stitched shut, but he can speak in whispers in the minds of those he encounters, and for a price take passengers to any Quarter touched by the Canals - even if the Canals do not normally offer access to the Quarter they touch. Passengers of the Gondolier step from his vessel into the new Quarter seamlessly.

Though the Gondolier has a relatively moderate Pain rating and has never been known to enter into conflict with any of the Awakened, it is said he is the only Nightmare that the Huntsman (and his Hounds) will openly flee.

The Bone Blade Oar: The long steering oar the Gondolier uses to propel his vessel is as pale as the craft itself, a tapered flange flaring out into a sharp flat blade of bone at the end. In a confrontation the Gondolier wields it as a kind of bardiche. The oar adds no Pain to his base rating, but it is said to be able to shatter exposed bone and stone alike - even in a failed confrontation.

Wisps

Drifting above the pitch black water tiny greenish wisps of light bob about, slowly following the brackish currents of the Canals. Wisps always remain below the level of the walkways and follow no discernible pattern in their travels. Wisps can be harnessed by the Call of the Awakened [no dice roll required] and will go for a time in the direction(s) indicated by the Awakened who Parted the Veil - within the Wisps' self imposed boundaries within the Canals. [Forcing a Wisp beyond these boundaries snuffs it out].

Special: The waters of the Canals ground the Call of the Awakened. When Parting the Veil, their exact location is revealed only to the Wisps (and perhaps the Gondolier). Other Nightmares will only sense the Awakened as somewhere within the Canals.

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Quarter: The Spires

Towering above the Canals and the Labyrinth both, the broken, jagged skyline stabs at the night. There are few flat surfaces among the Spires, but they are nearly as heavily populated as the City Below and shadowy figures can be seen everywhere scrambling and hanging from the sharply slanted roofs, canted chimneys, and twisted balconies, hurling themselves across ways that would be impossibly broad below, but are narrow and easily crossed above.

During the time of the Raven King, portals to the main city are rare and most have not yet gained sentience or the ability to eat things, but they do exist. Anywhere there is a window, a balcony, or even missing shingles, there might be a portal to the City Below.

[The Rooftop Jungle pp 57-58 of Don't Rest Your Head is good background reading for this Quarter].

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Nightmares: The Spires

The High-Way Man - Pain 3 (5 when Playing)

Master of the Spires, the High-Way Man is a lithe rogue clad in close fitting leathers with a long, long hood pulled up on his head and trailing down his back that flares out behind him as he runs. His lean face is rough with stubble and a wicked slash of a smile, but his eyes and nose and brow are covered by a stark mask of black boiled leather portraying the visage of a raven in open mockery of the Raven King.

On his back he carries a fine lute of black wood worked with silver and a great black sword.

The High-Way Man is a Nightmare of Nostalgia and Dreams. With a word or a song or the thrust of his sword, he can cause anyone to recall something precious from their past, whether real or in a dream, and he can steal it. The High-Way Man's Pain rating goes up if he gets a chance to play his Lute while he sings.

Special: All the memories stolen by the High-Way Man collect in his Lute. If defeated the High-Way Man can be forced to return a single specific memory - an Awakened's own, or another's. The one who defeats him must demand the memory to receive it and must allow the High-Way Man to play the lute as the means of retrieving that memory. Once imparted the memory is indistinguishable from the character's own memories, as if they lived it themselves.

If the High-Way Man steals a memory with the tip of his great black sword instead of his lute, that memory is destroyed forever and cannot be retrieved.

The Night Callers - Pain 1

The Night Callers crowd the rooftops of the Spires, leaping from one to another, shouting to one another as they go through their constant game of motion. They are of a size and shape with little children but have the faces of birds and beasts and might have fur or feathers or tails to match the face, though their main limbs remain more human than beast. For instance while one might have feathers on it's arms that hang down like wings, they are still arms, not actual wings. Not that that makes them any less mobile as they flit about from spire to spire.

In particular, when the Night Callers spot one of the Awake in their domain, or other surface dwellers climb up, they let out an odd warbling cry that brings more of their kind and - perhaps more importantly - alerts the High-Way Man.

The Nightling Gale - Pain 7

With the chiming of the Thirteenth Hour, the Spires become a particularly uninviting place as the Nightling Gale rushes among the rooftops, sweeping away anything not properly anchored as it rages through the hour. The Nightling Gale has no sentience or thought. It will not attack with malice or tactics, but when it arrives it is an unrelenting force of madness.

Awake who find themselves in the Spires at the striking of the Thirteenth hour are well advised to find a portal or descend quickly. Those caught in the Gale must roll against Pain 7 or be swept to a random Quarter selected by the GM. In a successful encounter, the character selects the Quarter they land in. Only if discipline dominates on a successful roll can the character elect to remain in the Spires.

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Quarter: The Hammerwall

Arching in a stark curve through the center of the Mad City, its concave face staring down the Deep, the Hammerwall divides the smaller Quarters of the Canals and Rattown from the much more vast expanse covered by the Labyrinth and the Catacombs and stands guard against the incursion of the sea. Taller than the Spires and broad enough for four chariots to drive abreast atop it's span, the Hammewall is a massive edifice of cut bedrock embracing the lower city with each end touching the sands of the Sea.

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Nightmares: The Hammerwall

Captain of the Watch - Pain 6 (8 during the Thirteenth Hour)

The Captain of the watch is a towering figure of black armor and black gears. Plates of iron and a greathelm hide his form and features, but where the joints move aside it is plain that there is no flesh underneath. Gears of copper and brass and iron mesh and turn, giving this Nighmare terrifying life.

At the start of the Thirteenth hour his metallic form resonates with the great iron chime of the Grove, enraging the Captain and increasing his Pain rating from six to eight for the duration of the Thirteenth Hour.

The Watch on the Wall - Pain 3 (4 during the Thirteenth Hour)

The Watch is Twelve in number, constructed on a smaller scale than their Captain, but otherwise exact replicas. Like their Captain, the Watch resonates with the great iron chime of the Grove at the start of the Thirteenth Hour, enraging them and increasing their base Pain rating from three to four for the duration of the Thirteenth Hour.

The Fallen Legion - Denizens

Many who meet their end in horrible circumstances find their way into the Mad City just before that last moment, escaping one horrifying end for another. The soldiers and killers among these escapees from Death tend to gravitate towards the Hammerwall.

No one knows why, but none of the Fallen Legion will approach the end of Hammerwall where the Tower of the Moon stands vigil over the Deep.

Special: No matter how hard you kill them to death, the Fallen always get back up.

The Smiths of Hammerwall - Pain 4

The great convex face of the Hammerwall that bulges into the Labyrinth is a hive of industry and metalwork. It is here that the Smiths of the Hammerwall ply their trade. Most of the mundane work done there is performed by Cogs, but the special workings, the mad workings, are forged by one of the five Smiths. Stout and bearded constructs of every known metal meshed together in clockwork perfection, the Smiths are fearless when wielding their great hammers.

In any conflict with one of the Smiths, should Pain dominate, regardless of success or failure and in addition to any other applicable complications, the Awake is considered Armorlocked. One or more limb (depending on the number of Smiths actively acting against them), is encased in a thick sleeve of iron by the Smiths' hammers and immobile.

Cogs - Denizens

Cogs are the shuffling workers in the shops and forges and laboratories of the Smiths. It is said that Cogs have the skills and tools to unlock the Armorlocked effect of the Smiths. Convincing them to undo the working of a Smith, however, is no mean task.

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Quarter: Guardians of the Deep

At either end of the Hammerwall, overlooking Treacher's Deep, stands a Tower - the Towers of the Moon and the Sun - collectively known as the Guardians of the Deep. The Tower of the Sun stands empty and broken, a haven or horror for lost denizens and Nightmares alike. The Tower of the Moon is a more . . . active place.

Though categorized as a single Quarter, the whole of the Canals and Rattown Wharf and the inner curve of the Hammerwall lie between them.

The Tower of the Moon

The Tower of the Moon is not a neutral place for Nightmares, but outside the Bazaar it is the most neutral-ish. It's Mistress has no laws against violence or duplicity in her Tower - so long as those things aren't turned against her - but the Nightmares who frequent the Tower of the Moon have, if not an actual truce, at least an understanding.

The Tower of the Sun

A broken and hateful place, the second of the Guardians has no Nightmare to command it or shape it. I is the refuge of Denizens who have become dispossessed and minor Nightmares with nowhere else to go.

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Nightmares: Guardians of the Deep

Mistress When - Pain 10

Mistress When is a striking beauty whose features match the expectations of whoever gazes upon her. Considering her position, most expect exquisite. And Mistress When is nothing if not exquisite. It is said her long war with the Raven King began with his visit to her Tower in the early days of his reign. Mistress When expected to gain influence and power at that visit, but when he entered, her beautiful body began to seep and sag, what was supple and soft turning into something flaccid and rough, a putrid bag of black and rotting flesh. Reportedly, she screamed blood, demanding if this was the form he expected.

To her horror, he simply replied that he had come without expectations. Then he turned and walked away, the implication hanging in the air like judgement.

It is rumored that Mistress When cursed his voice with the spectre of death that day in retribution.

The Menagerie - Pain 1

What happens to Nightmares who grow up? In the Mad City, where Time is sluggish with paradox and reluctance, they never should. But in Mother When's capable hands, they do. The Menagerie is what happens to the Night Callers who leap too close to her tower. The girls anyway. The broken remains of the few boys who do survive her malice can be found in the Sun Tower tormenting broken Denizens and wishing for death.

The girls are another story. They remain mostly young but grow tall and straight where they ought and plumply curved where she demands. Their animal faces become idealized porcelain masks of the same animal, but can never be removed. Tails and feathers and fur become part of a costume made more of skin than anything else.

This is Mistress When's Menagerie, traded, loaned, even gifted to Nightmares to do with as they will, to butcher and harm, to flay alive and subject to all manner of torture until the bell chimes the Thirteenth Hour, at which time the contract ends and the Menagerie returns to Mistress When, broken but terribly, terribly whole. Ready to be given to new Nightmares at the chiming of the first hour.

The Captive Raven - Pain 1

Only one of the Menagerie is not bartered or sold. The Captive Raven remains chained from the collar around her neck to Mistress When's divan. In the early days of any new member of the Menagerie, the Captive Raven is hated, but to the Menagerie who remain and survive for any length of time, the Captive is pitied.

Slim, with the dark porcelain mask of a raven for a face and artful smatterings of feathers at her shoulders, wrists, and ankles, the Captive Raven is Mistress When's personal toy and trophy.

The Faceless - Denizens

The Faceless look like Nightmares, with featureless, hairless heads: no nose, ears, mouth, eyes - not even eye sockets - just smooth skin. But that is just how Mistress When reshaped them when they came to her service. The Faceless are rarely seen buy guests of the Tower of the Moon, moving silently through corridors carved for their use alone, doing their service and ghosting away as they came.

The Broken Ones - Pain 2

Male Night Callers who survive Mistress When's tortures flee to the Tower of the Sun, broken in body and spirit, their animal flesh torn away, never to regrow, open wounds exposed to the air, faceless faces terrifying to behold. Beast shaped masks of blood. Gone are the nights leaping between the Spires. The Broken Ones live only to visit the same torture that was visited upon them on others, though they are often too weak to manage it effectively.

The Dispossessed - Denizens

Typically all denizens of the Mad City have some purpose to fulfill and tend to fulfill it continuously, almost mindlessly. But while change is rare in the Mad City, at length it comes, and sometimes when it does it leaves holes in its wake. Holes full of single minded folk whose focus is no longer called for. Some of these wander into similar situations as the ones from which they were taken, adapting over time to their new place until it is as if it was the only existence they ever knew.

The rest find themselves in the Tower of the Sun. These are the Dispossessed.

An enterprising few of these - usually those previously attached to criminal elements - manage to re-imagine themselves as a band of outlaws on the City's fringe, occupying the tower like a fortress, and selling their service to the Nightmares who bid on it. Others - nearly all of the Others - re-imagine themselves as eternal deserving victims and become easy prey for the Broken Ones.

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Quarter: The Labyrinth and The Catacombs

Technically two separate Quarters, the Labyrinth and the Catacombs are twisted mirrors of one another, the Labyrinth at and above street level, the Catacombs below.

On the surface, tall structures of stone and wood and daub cluster close and high, constructed canyons boxing in the mazelike cobblestone streets of the Labyrinth. Only the light of torch and lamp and candle makes it down here into the musty stifling damp.

Below the Labyrinth, through weird entrances via sewer grates, drain tunnels, and secret root cellar traps, lies the twisted wreckage of the Catacombs. Echoing the maze above in eerie silence, walls of brick give way to walls of hewn stone give way to walls of peet slabs which eventually give way to walls of skulls and bone fitted tight together with a mortar of rendered memories and fear. The deeper one travels into the Catacombs the more tomblike and macabre they become.

The Raven's Eye

In the center of the Labyrinth and Catacombs is an open circle that bores through every level of each from the lowest tombs of the Catacombs, up through the entirety of the Labyrinth, to the high reaches of the Spires. It is the only place in all the mad city besides Paradox Square where the rooftops do not crowd in close. All ways of the Catacombs and the Labyrinth lead to this center, but they don't always lead out.

To enter the Raven's Eye is to come under the Scrutiny of the Raven King himself.

[tip o' the pen to Pandorym again, my Mad Cities have always had a Labyrinth, but it was fun to see the same feature spring up in your Mad City]

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Nightmares: The Labyrinth and The Catacombs

The Keeper of the Maze - Pain 7

One Nightmare claims rule over both Quarters, controlling more of the Mad City than any but the Raven King. The Keeper of the maze is a hulking black figure with eyes like embers and the skeletal head and horns and hooves of a great bull. Brands tattoo every inch of his hide, glowing and fading like red-orange coals, echoing the Keeper's every breath.

Piercing his bone nostrils is a ring of etched iron that allows him to determine his physical size. In the cobbled streets of the Labyrinth he towers over men and Nightmares alike. In the Catacombs he is smaller, at once denser and yet made of seeping mists.

For the Keeper of the Maze is also a Keeper of Secrets. He bears no weapons, and for all that his form takes on the vital aspects of a great bull, he has never been known to trample or gore. A confrontation with the Keeper is a confrontation of subtlety and magics. Whispers of the mind, a snort of breath, a flick of his fingers; the elements of earth and ice and fire are the Keeper's to command.

The Hartshorn - Pain 3

Three shadowy figures, the robed figures of tall men with the skulls of great stags hovering where their heads should be, wander the Labyrinth and Catacombs, doing the Keeper's bidding. No one knows if the Hartshorn are real Nightmares born from the souls of men or if they are creations of the Keeper, but their loyalty and devotion is uncanny and unquestioned. Tricks of the mind are the demesne of the Hartshorn, weaving the mists and damp into illusions of loss and pain in the minds of their prey.

Bully Boys - Pain 2

Dwarf Minotaurs, red of fur with the skeletal heads and horns and hooves of miniature bulls, the Bully Boys are an early failed experiment of the Keeper of the Maze, forgotten and set loose to prowl the Labyrinth, keeping its denizens in line and wielding whips of blood and fire to vicious effect. Within the Labyrinth the Bully Boys are mean and petty and unreasoning in their violence, but they will not enter the Catacombs or willingly leave the Labyrinth. It is rumored if they leave the shadow of the Keeper they will come undone.

Special: If forced out of their Quarter Bully Boys drop to Pain 1 and that is the most Pain they can muster no matter how many of them there are. Encountering ten Bully Boys outside the Labyrinth is the same as encountering one of them outside the Labyrinth - Pain 1.

Molly Rags - Pain 1

Molly Rags are pretty little girls with pock marked faces in tattered dresses made from scraps and old rags dragging a little rag doll in one hand as they skip and dance about chanting vile versions of Ring Around the Rosie that seems like it might be as much about various venereal diseases as plague. Otherwise they seem mostly harmless until they are right upon their marked prey, whom they will follow for blocks with no hint of threat. But when they draw nigh their rag dolls dissolve into wickedly sharp tools of rusted metal in their grubby little fists and their faces become something translucent that shows the sharp and empty outline of the skull beneath the skin.

[tip o' the pen to Pandorym again, again . . . these aren't yet the Little Sisters of the Labyrinth in the Mad City That Is . . . but they plainly one day will be]

The Kept - Denizens - Pain 1/2/3

The shopkeepers, craftsmen, lawyers, cooks, etc, of the Mad City's largest quarter simply refer to themselves as the Kept. The Kept fulfill their purposes within the Quarter, but they also have a strong attachment to the Keeper and are to be considered directly in his service at all times. The Kept are the only Denizens of the Mad City with a Pain rating [1-3 depending on whether it is a few, a gang, or a mob].

The Bone Bane - Pain 5

The Bone Bane prowls the Catacombs, a haphazard creature made of the interconnected bones of men and beasts that are constantly rearranging, reorganizing, and reconstructing themselves into different configurations as the creature moves. At any given time it will have the skulls of four or more different creatures, each one with eye sockets ablaze with white unholy light. Any bones the creature encounters become part of it, rolling up into the creature if already void of flesh or tearing from the flesh of their corpses if not.

Special: The Bone Bane cannot take bones from living creatures, and it cannot take bones set into the walls of the Catacombs.

Skulls of the Fallen - Pain 1

Deep in the Catacombs, where the walls are made of skeletal remains cleverly fitted together, can be found the Skulls of the Fallen. These Nightmares seek to confuse, distract, and mislead any who enter their domain. When first encountered they seem to be normal skulls, but when they begin to speak they glow with a sickly green light that pulses oddly.

Blood of the Slain God - Discipline 1

Deep in the Catacombs where everything is cold and wet, veins of silver drip down into the dark. The Blood of the Slain God. The Awake who sips of this potent vitae can use it to add one Discipline die in their next encounter. The Blood of the Slain God can only be partaken of once. Taking a second sip results in an immediate snap. Add one permanent madness die and clear all responses. Narrate your madness for the remainder of the scene.

Special: The Blood of the Slain God found in the Catacombs has been filtered by earth and stone and ash, and diluted by water and time. Drinking the Blood of the Slain God directly from or near the source at Paradox Square, instead of imparting temporary Discipline, results in an immediate snap. Add one permanent madness die and clear all responses. Narrate your madness for the remainder of the scene.

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The Nethers

Throughout the Quarters there are pocket regions known as the Nethers, tiny alcove Quarters carved out of the major Quarters and ruled over by median or even minion level Nightmares. The most famous of these is the Shadow Nether, populated entirely by Inklings. Inklings in the Shadow Nether at the Thirteenth Hour do not lose their Pain rating or turn to flesh during that Hour. The Straw Nether is likewise well known among Nightmares, but they never speak of it.

[Out in the Nowheres pp 62-64 of DRYH should provide good inspiration for how you might create and run Nethers in the Shadow of the Raven King setting].

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Quarterless Nightmares

Quarterless Nightmares have no Quarter that they can call home, shifting restlessly between Quarters as either nomads or refugees. The Quarterless are mostly low Pain rating Nightmares, but many have Specials that more than make up for the lack.

Scampers - Pain 1

No one has ever seen a Scamper, but many have heard them, their little feet skipping or dragging across the cobbles, childlike laughter or sobs ringing out from the gutter, the alley, the next street over, the alcove just passed. Investigation will never turn up a Scamper, but will instead lead to a toy set in the middle of a street or gutter or alleyway siting in the middle of its own little puddle of light all alone as if under a streetlamp that just isn't there.

The toy might be anything - a teddy bear, a doll, a jack in the box - battered and well loved and oddly compelling. Picking up the toy will have one of two effects; characters with Discipline equal to or exceeding their current Exhaustion dice are transported instantly to the City Slumbering. If, however, the character's current Exhaustion exceeds their Discipline, the toy summons an appropriate Lieutenant-level Nightmare from nearby. In fact, the toy will be physically replaced by that Nightmare in the Awake's grasp.

Night Render - Pain 2 (4 in the City Slumbering)

Night Renders are scaly black humanoids with lizardlike feartures, vicious claws, and razor sharp teeth. In the quarters they are child sized beings with dense scales and a tendency to bite and run. But then the Quarters aren't the only place Night Renders roam.

Special: Night Renders can enter and leave the City Slumbering as easily as they traverse the Quarters. Only, in the City Slumbering they change, not to something more subtle, but to ravening monsters taller than men, and their Pain rating doubles. Their skin stretches thin as scales pop and loosen to accommodate their new size and their claws and teeth perpetually drip blood. Night Renders stalk those who have recently experienced great loss. If they can, they devour their essence, leaving behind only mumbling husks.

Physical wounds inflicted in the City Slumbering do not heal. In fact, they continue to rot, eating away at the flesh until it blackens and atrophies. This effect is suspended if the one so scarred Awakens.

Leaping Lepers - Pain 2

It is equally likely that Leaping Lepers will be encountered singly or in small groups. Wrapped in scraps of soiled and rotting cloth and leather, the Lepers reek of infection and decay. They walk hunched over with heads up and mouths split huge and filled with black tongues and rotting teeth. Their knees cant inwards even as their feet and ankles splay wide. Their skeletal arms are awkwardly bent and their fingers are impossibly long bone claws, reaching and scraping as they shuffle along.

Despite their scraping, shuffling gait, however, the Leaping Lepers earn their name. When they are within range they can hurl themselves at their prey with ferocious savagery that is brutal to behold. If one can see a Leaping Leper it is a fair bet that the creature is close enough to pounce.

Special: If pain dominates in an encounter with the Lepers, the character is treated as if they Parted the Veil. If the character loses the confrontation, the GM can skip adding Exhaustion or forcing a Response to choose the complication Veil is Torn, which is treated like Parting the Veil except that the character does not have the power to immediately close it. Until they manage to Mend the Tear they are a screaming beacon to whatever Nightmares are near.

The following things can Mend the Veil:

• Plunging into one of the Canals, Rattown Harbor, or Treacher's Deep
• Entering the Bizarre Bazaar
• Entering the Catacombs
• Consuming an Inkling
• Entering the City Slumbering
• The Chime of the Thirteenth Hour

The Hermit - Pain 1 (+ Special)

The Hermit is an old balding man in a simple robe with bushy mustaches and liver spotted scalp and hands. Those huge, impossibly bony hands clutch a gnarled staff crooked at the top like a shepherd's staff, from which crook hangs a simple bronze lantern. In any confrontation, the Hermit may dash his lantern to the ground encircling himself and one other in a ring of fire. Other characters are unable to add their discipline to the character in the ring of fire and the Hermit's Pain rating increases by whatever Exhaustion dice are in the character's pool before the encounter (if the character adds an exhaustion die for the encounter itself, that die does not count towards the Hermit's Pain rating).

Special: Speaking the Hermit's secret name banishes him.

Gibbering Prophet - Denizen

Gibbering prophets are broken denizens who wander the Quarters aimlessly, endlessly, shouting out broken truths that may or may not be truths for the ones being shouted at. Gibbering Prophets know neither fear nor bravery, neither hesitation nor resolve. They approach beings as their madness demands and scream what they see out of some desperate instinct.

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The Thirteenth Hour [pp 49]

During the Twelve Hours of the Watch the Mad City is in sync with the City Slumbering and Nightmares and the Awake both can cross between the two realms if they have the means or know the Ways. But during the Thirteenth Hour the gateways between the worlds remain fast. During this time the Awake are trapped within the Mad City.

Even the Raven King is subject to the Rules of the Thirteenth Hour. It is rumored, however, that Mistress When may not be.

Mists of Time

During the Thirteenth Hour, pockets of Mist drift about the Quarters, particularly the Canals, Rattown, the Labyrinth, and the Catacombs. Perhaps the Catacombs more than any other. These Mists are slow and easily avoided, but if the Awake become trapped in them, their own Madness will twist time sideways. The Awake will not be aware of the passage of time. For them the touch of the Mists is but a moment, but in reality they are trapped there for the entirety of the Thirteenth Hour.

The good news is no Denizen or Nighmare will attempt to interact with the Awake in any fashion while the Mists hold sway lest they be drawn in, so in that respect the Awake is "safe" - from outside forces, in any case.

At the end of the Thirteenth Hour the mists drift away and are gone but the Awake has no immediate way to determine When they are. The Mists may take them backwards or forwards in Time. It may move them moments or hours or days or decades or millennia. Conceivably the Mists could take the awake to the birth of the First Nightmare - or to the death of the Last Awake.

No Pain rating is given for the Mists because no conflict or struggle is possible.

Rumor has it that the Mists are the minion of the One Eyed Jack.

Note: GMs are advised to use the Mists sparingly and specifically, as a way to introduce new story elements or to change what version of the Mad City the characters are in altogether. It is not inappropriate to rule that the time in the Mists is equivalent to - or even the trigger for - a flashback or other opportunity for a break from the stress of Exhaustion and Madness.

Other Aspects of the Thirteenth Hour

These are discussed in the descriptions of individual Quarters and Nightmares but are recapped here for convenience.

The Iron Keep: The Iron Keep vanishes during the Thirteenth Hour.

The Grove of the Slain God: The Grove appears in the place of the Iron Keep during the Thirteenth Hour.

The Iron Chime: The Iron Chime of the Grove chimes the hours of the watch from beyond the Mad City and can be heard by their echoes off the walls of the Iron Keep within the Mad City. It chimes the Thirteenth Hour clearly within the Mad City. The Chime can be heard in all the Quarters.

The Raven King: Is rumored to be trapped outside the Mad City with the Iron Keep during the Thirteenth Hour

Inklings: These minor Nightmares take on flesh and lose their Pain rating during the Thirteenth Hour. [Inklings in the Nether of Shadow are immune to this effect]. Inklings can become trapped in this form of flesh if they are caught in the Bazaar at the end of the Thirteenth Hour. Awakened who consume the substance of Inklings gain their Shadow power until the Thirteenth Hour.

The Bizarre Bazaar: Is busiest during the Thirteenth Hour and has more ways to enter more visibly displayed in the Quarters.

The Siren: Is only approachable during the Thirteenth Hour.

The Nightling Gale: Scours the Spires during the Thirteenth Hour.

The Captain and the Watch of Hammerwall: Resonate with the Iron Chime at the start of the Thirteenth Hour. Captain gains 2 Pain for the duration of the Hour; Watch gains 1 Pain for the duration of the Hour.

The Menagerie: The Menagerie's contracts end at the Thirteenth Hour, and their flesh is restored from whatever torture they endured during the Hours of the Watch (including the Captive Raven, though she is never under contract).

The Torn Veil: The Chime of the Thirteenth Hour ends the Torn Veil effect.

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Weighing the Odds

I found this helpful when I encountered the forum discussion (which included DRYH author Fred Hicks) about Pain ratings back in like 2008 and was recently reminded of it by an oblique comment from Pandorym, who is currently running a traditional DRYH PBP that I am in. Without adding exhaustion, a player can whip out 9 dice in any given confrontation, with a max of 15 if they're on the verge of crashing (6 Exhaustion), but a more reasonable cap of 12 (assuming 3 Exhaustion).

So for many - maybe even most - Nightmares, the players tend to have at least a small advantage, success-wise, and the GM virtually always has the advantage strength-wise, since all his dice are in one pool and the players are divided.

I bring that up as a means of evaluating odds. Any player can match or exceed a Nightmare of Pain 9 or less, but is unlikely to see one of their pools consistently dominate against a Nightmare with Pain 6 or higher. And Discipline will generally only dominate against small pain Nightmares where the player hasn't started adding in too much exhaustion.

Note: This will always be a ballpark guess. GMs will not always use the suggested Pain rating. Where appropriate, which will usually be always, I personally prefer to explain in the OOC block containing my dice roll any applicable reasons I might have for moving Pain up or down based on situational conditions, etc.

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Unique Terms

There are some places where the terms used in the DRYH rulebook don't quite carry the feel I'm looking for in the Shadow of the Raven King setting, and I have substituted my own terms for flavor.

• Major Nightmare - Replaces Boss Nighmare

• Median Nightmare: More than Minion level, less than Lieutenant. Usually not affiliated with a specific Major Nightmare.

• Denizen - Replaces Local

• Quarter - Is a term I've coined to indicate specific regions of the Mad City. I don't know that they are given a collective generic name in the original.

• Watch, the - The twelve hours that sync up with the City Slumbering are called the Twelve Hours of the Watch. This is further divided into three four hour periods known as First Watch, Middle Watch, and Last Watch.

I've included these terms at the start of the House Rules page and the end of the Setting Details page for convenience.

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