Urban Shadows Ashes of The Archmage

The landing page for the Urban Shadows game, ashes of the Archmage.

The sudden, violent death of the city’s most powerful sorcerer, the Archmage Ambrose Finch, has left the supernatural factions scrambling for power. Leylines are unstable, old alliances are crumbling, and every faction—from vampires to werewolves to fae and beyond—is maneuvering in the chaos. The streets are alive with danger, intrigue, and the lingering echoes of the Archmage’s last spell.

The City

An Overview

London is a city of old magic, deep shadows, and whispered pacts. The streets thrum with power, hidden just beneath the surface—among the bustling tourists, in the smoky backrooms of pubs older than nations, and in the whispered Latin of a back-alley exorcism. Here, in the heart of the supernatural underground, the balance between factions is delicate, and a single death can tip the scales.

Archwizard Ambrose Finch was more than just a mage; he was a keystone of London's magical order, the guardian of a thousand secrets, the silent broker of uneasy peace. Now he's dead.

Some say his heart simply stopped—an old man finally brought low by time. Others whisper of darker causes. A power struggle. A vendetta centuries in the making. A prophecy fulfilled.

Regardless of the cause, Finch's death has left a vacuum, and nature abhors a vacuum. The city teeters on the edge. The wizards of the Circle scramble to hold onto their dominion. Vampires smell blood in the water. The Fae of the Hidden Courts stir, eager to reclaim old debts. The hunters and exorcists sharpen their blades. And in the darkest corners of the city, something old and forgotten stirs, drawn to the chaos like carrion to a feast.

You are part of this world. Maybe you were one of Finch's allies—or one of his rivals. Maybe you want justice, vengeance, or just a chance to carve out your own piece of London's underworld. One thing is certain: the city won't wait. The factions are moving, and the shadows are deepening.

What will you do when the city calls?

Hub moves

It's My Shout

When you go out drinking in the hopes of meeting with someone in the know, roll with Heart. On a hit, you meet just the person—someone connected to an NPC of your choice; the MC will tell you who they are. On a 10+, you get along famously; you can count them among your friends and they (drunkenly) agree to one favour you ask. On a 7-9, they are a bit more cautious, only scratching your back if you scratch theirs; take a +1 ongoing to persuade them to help you out if you agree to a small favour before you roll. On a miss, you overindulge in whatever vice plagues you most; the MC will tell you how your foolish needs get you in over your head.

A Well Placed Word

When you blackmail a powerful NPC with proof of their dirty deeds, roll with your Status in their Circle. On a hit, hold 2. On a 10+ hold 3. Spend your hold—1 for 1—as if spending a Debt (asking for a moderate favour, adding +3 to your roll when persuading them, etc.) when interacting with your target. Once you've used the last of your hold, take -1 ongoing to moves targeting them until time passes. On a miss, they call your bluff and make you, or your source, pay.

Points of Interest

Madam Jojo's

A currently closed and derelict bar that used to be a real community hub in Soho. The Moonrise Group, a development syndicate, are currently exploring their options in terms of development.

The Blackbird

A late-night bar, with many dark nooks for secret conversations, or secret trysts. It is run by Dante Slade, a vampire of some renown, though rumours abound that he serves a darker master.

The Cauldron

A rooftop pub that serves the fringes of both moral and supernatural society. It's seen as a good place to meet, as everyone is so distrusting of one another that no-one could get away with a double-cross.The one thing everybody knows about Seattle, besides the coffee and Bill Gates. Built for the '62 World's Fair to collect and harness the psychic energy of Seattle's mortals. Forget I said that. It has a nice rotating restaurant on top, too.

Factions

Mortalis

The Waking Network

A loose coalition of survivors, mystics, and hunters that aim to help give people newly ingratiated into the supernatural underground transition into their new life. They have no rivals, per se, but many within the underground see their methods as soft, inadequately preparing neophytes for the reality of their new lives.

Aeternum Solutions

A mercenary outfit who deal with occult issues for silver; a modern-day incarnation of the Knights Templar—a secretive, militarized order loyal to its own ancient codes. They protected relics, guarded bloodlines, enforced pacts, and—when necessary—cleansed corruption with fire and steel.

Night

The Howling Collective

The Howling Collective consider their territory people, rather than places; an unconventional take for an unconventional pack.

Power

The Shrouded Choir

A group of wizards who do magic with souls, are willing to do things others aren't and gain the power from doing so. They have irritated, upset, or angered almost every other faction in the city, but are good enough at hiding their presence that these feuds haven't developed far.

The Order of Saint Martin

A group of immortals who control the mortal art scene from the shadows. They believe that they are the arbiters of what beauty is, and that they are the epitome of that beauty. They have an ongoing feud with The Penumbra Society.

The Circle of Fog

A group of reality hopping mages who seek to control and maintain London's leylines. They use nodes in those leylines to open portals to other realities. Many fey dislike this monopoly on London's magical fonts.

The Westminster Society

A group of mages that see themselves as the natural leaders of the supernatural underground. They seek to arbitrate disputes between factions and put down monsters that can't be reasoned with. Unfortunately with Ambrose Finch's death the society is leaderless, and may fracture into half a dozen sub-sects.

Wild

The Court of Tradewinds

A fae court that has a very limited presence in the city. They back the underdog, the immigrant, and the fringe, though they largely do so through subtle magics, given their limited presence.

The Court of Moonlight

A group of cruel, fickle fae. They feed on fear, distrust, and panic, and are not above using the city's vampires, werewolves, and ghosts to get their fill.

Unknown

The Moonrise Group

A development syndicate currently exploring their options for Madame Jojo's

The Penumbra Society

???

NPCs

Mortality

Drishti

Works bar at the Blackbird

Night

Dante Slade

A vampire of some renown, though rumours abound that he serves a darker master

Big Tom Grady

Well known across Soho as the de-facto leader of the Soho Night Worker's Alliance, a secret labour organisation that protects bar staff, doormen, street cleaners, and after-dark vendors from predation or exploitation. They ensure that their members are paid, protected, and respected. Those that abuse members of the SNWC find their businesses trashed, at the very least, though rumours abound of much more violent conclusions. Everyone in Soho knows that Big T is a good guy, though he may have a slightly quick temper.

Algy knows Big T in an entirely different capacity. While on assignment for the Order of Saint Martin at the London Palladium, the two crossed paths. For reasons unknown, Algy was sent to ensure that an understudy took to the stage playing Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, but found that the theatre was under the protection of a werewolf pack called the Howling Collective. This was unexpected, as during his pre-mission recon he had identified the territories of local packs, and none should have considered this an intrusion on their territory. During the fracas it came out that the Howling Collective consider their territory people, rather than places; an unconventional take for an unconventional pack.

Power

Dame Corvina

Dame Corvina was the one who did the bulk of Algy's training (and is one of his contacts within the order) - a no-nonsense immortal with centuries (or maybe a millennia!) of combat prowess that she's more than eager to bestow upon those she deems worthy of her tutelage. She's definitely the one who has handled the training of all the Sworn the Order has had over time.

Despite Algy's feelings that she would kill him in a heartbeat for stepping a toe out of line (and he's right), I'm thinking she may have something of a soft-spot for him, which isn't something that happens often. Perhaps she may be willing to look the other way in some instances, though if he does something that directly harms the Order she'll take appropriate action.

Theodora "Theo" Rothwell

BA Fine Art Student at Central Saint Martins. Theo is sharp-tongued and cool-eyed, with a voice that rarely rises above conversational but still commands attention. Her family, the Rothwells, are archivists, interpreters, and the silent watchers of the Order's relic history. Thea's mother, Margot Rothwell, is high-ranking within the Order's curatorial wing—devout, severe, and quietly disappointed in her daughter's tendency to question doctrine. Theo and her entire family are mortals that have served the Order for a very long time and have proved themselves to be quite useful to the organization's goals. Theo was marked into service at age sixteen, tattooed with the family sigil beneath her left shoulder blade during a ritual she doesn't fully remember.

Algy is one of the few people Theo actually lets in. Their friendship formed not in lectures or society functions, but in the claustrophobic dark of the Order's archive annex, elbow-deep in cursed pigment analysis and poorly documented relics that whispered.

She finds Algy infuriating and essential in equal measure. His irreverence and aplomb nature cracks the shell the Order's bred into her. He, in turn, finds her unnervingly composed, frustratingly private, and utterly magnetic when she lets the mask slip. They've covered for each other more than once. Shared a flask on rooftops after long nights. Shared silence when it mattered more than words. And maybe—maybe—shared a look or two that lingered a moment too long.

Wild

Zdan

An ancient maalem, the leader of the band in gnawa rituals at the court of Amon, working in harmony with Amon's daughter Rayah, who led the sacred dancers.

Now, in exile, he is visited only by his old mentor Zdan, who never fails to share how disappointed he is in his old pupil for embracing profane modern music over the divinely ordained rhythms of the gnawa; and for forcing Zdan to play on long after he should have retired and passed down his Sintir. He had earned the rest, but without Ashja there are none good enough to take his place and lead the ritual. So he plays on.

Rayah

Amon's daughter, who led the sacred dancers. Ashja's rival and once-betrothed, she has not visited in the decades since Ashja's exile. A carved driftwood windcatcher – hand-painted by the King's own daughter, back when he was a favourite of her father, and of her besides – hangs limp in Ashja's kitchen. If he ever actually cracked a window and allowed in the wind, it might spin hypnotically and produce an low, droning note. It might call across the skies to the Other Realm, to its maker the Princess of the Wind... if you believe in that sort of thing. And if he ever.

Amon

Lord of the Court of Tradewinds

Unknown

Brynja, of the Valkyr

Leader of a bunch of Valkyries. May be acquainted of Ragna Fairhair, who Kayin did a favour once.

PCs

Summary Tables

Stats

Name	Archetype	Blood	Heart	Mind	Spirit	Harm	Corruption
Ashja, the Grand Vizier	The Fae	-1	1	1	1	0	1
JJ	The Aware
Algy	The Sworn	1	0	2	-1	0	0
Robin Bellamy	The Spectre
Kayin	The Wizard

Debts

Column owes Row the number in the cell. This is for PC by PC, but sufficiently entangled NPCs may be added later.

Ashja owes...	JJ owes...	Algy owes...	Robin owes...	Kayin owes...
N/A		3	2		...to Ashja
1	N/A				...to JJ
		N/A		1	...to Algy
	2	2	N/A	2	...to Robin
1	1	1		N/A	...to Kayin