The Soot District

The Soot District, once lively and festive (it was then called "the Workbenches"), has become the ghetto where those who have nothing left scrape by. Faces are sad and closed, coats dull, curtains drawn. Crying is heard here more often than laughter. Walter has launched a sweeping industrialisation of his city: factories have replaced the small workshops, their tall chimneys spewing black clouds that now stain the façades. Royal guards, curfew and constant surveillance weigh on the workers and their families.

A few pockets hold out: the Smoking Cat Tavern welcomes everyone without distinction, and Old Man Chompy's Workshop stands firm against royal pressure. Crusty, an old one-eyed tomcat who has lost his mind, wanders from alley to alley, a familiar figure in the district.