The Soot District

The Soot District is the former craft heart of the city: it was once known as "The Canvas", and it was lively and festive. It has become a ghetto where those with nothing left scrape by. Faces are sad and closed, coats dull, curtains drawn, and crying is heard more often than laughter.

Walter has launched a sweeping industrialization: factories have replaced the workshops, and their tall chimneys belch black clouds that tint the façades. Royal guards watch everything and hunt spies, and the curfew weighs 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. Beneath the district, Bruno's Ballroom is known only to its residents.