Macnifex

## General Climate

An idiosyncratic, nearly tropical climate, in sharp contrast to the surrounding countryside outside the corrupted zone.

## Wealth

Very high; The city has a thriving trade industry due to a combination of its sheer amount of valuable exports, its extremely lax nature in regards of what can be bought and sold there (i.e, basically anything you can think of, including slaves, drugs, and all manner of vice) as well as generally functioning as a sort of magical item bank for the rest of the continent.

## Culture

The tarrasque and its endless butchering pervades every walk and part of life in the city, the city quite literally having been built around it. While still revered and feared in equal measure, most of the denizens of the city hold no doubts about its integrity to the continuing prosperity of the city as a whole.

## Military

Little to no proper military, the potential threat of the Tarrasque being released in an act of mutually assured destruction dissuading most would be attackers. However each Meridian House essentially has their own private guard militias, capable of administering judicial punishments.

## Important Information

**-**Food is generally cheap or sometimes even free, but (clean) water is expensive.

**-**Horrifying drugs, mutations, monsters, crime, and torture are all common; law enforcement is not (outside of the manor districts at least) but when crimes *are* punished, they're punished very severely. (more info further down)

**-**Most “normal” water drinking animals are considered luxuries—Axebeaks (flightless, horse sized birds) and other birds or lizards take their place amongst most.

**-**Ghoulification is legal and ghouls are citizens (generally in return for an extended term of service to the 5th house after death, eating a prodigious amount of rotting Tarrasque flesh to stay sane).

**-**Paladins, rangers, and druids are generally unwelcome in the city, often having to operate covertly.

## Prominent Factions

### **-**Meridian Houses

* Decadent aristocrats who control the city and constantly vie for power.

### **-**House Militias

* “Law Enforcement” broken up into 13 distinct groups each loyal to a different aristocratic house and frequently in conflict with one another.

### -The Blood Merchants

* The licensed monopoly for any merchant selling Tarrasque-based products directly to the public.

### **-**Enders

* A considered mostly extinct faction who still intends to kill the beast.

### **-**Marrow Miners

* A relatively new organization that works on the Tarrasque, founded after the 12th Meridian Crisis in exchange for the empire assisting in reconstruction and building an aqueduct for the city, rivalry with God-Butchers.

### **-**God-Butchers

* Ceremonial order of knight-butchers who carve up the Tarrasque

### **-**Circle of Release

* Druidic insurgency attempting to free the Tarrasque.

### **-**Church of the Monad

* Academics and alchemists who believe in the supreme unity of all things through scientific advancement.

## Prominent Locations

### -Beast Crown

* The posh district located in the northwest corner of the city is the Beast Crown, bound to the north by Macnifex’s walls, to the south by Salzinwuun, in the southwest by the Throat and the south east by the Tail Stones. This part of the metropolis is further divided into “house neighborhoods'' populated by members and those favored by the Meridian Houses. Each neighborhood is presided over by a manor-tower, a looming structure intended by its owners to display the wealth and power of their respective noble owners. Most of these towers, intentionally or not, also reflect the character of its house in addition to featuring repeated instances of the house number. Even those unfamiliar with the district can fairly easily find their way around.

### -Sage’s Row

* A series of interlocking streets famed for its preponderance of alchemists and other researchers of the arcane and mundane alike. The district is found south of Salzinwuun between the Tail Stones and the Throat. By city edict, every other building sports tall smoke stacks, venting clouds of colored fog and ash of variable toxicity, keeping the majority of the smog and its (often-unpredictable) magical effects out of the city. Alchemical innovations pioneered in Sage's Row are exported the world over.

### -The Throat

* Home to merchants, shops, and much of the economic activity that sustains Macnifex, the Throat is the name for the (mainly commercial) district extending roughly from the outer portcullis of the fortress Salzinwuun to the main gate of Macnifex proper (though of course commerce extends and pushes ever outward into the spillway).

### -Tail Stones

* The Tail Stones District is the area northeast of the fortress Salzinwuun, the central core of Macnifex. Massively damaged during the 12th Meridian Crisis, the Hind Quarter (its formal name) was the stage for the death of thousands and saw many more wounded. The underfunded repair efforts for the homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure in this area is still underway (where it has not been completely abandoned). By far the poorest district of the city, the Tail Stones is only marginally patrolled by the House Militias with control largely ceded to half a dozen gangs that pay dues to the Binder-Lords and their militia captains.

### -Salzinwuun

* While still referred to as a fortress, Salzinwuun dwarfs most of the continent's castles. Where one would normally expect a keep lays the living, howling Tarrasque. Whereas most similar structures have defensive options aimed outward, Salzinwuun has numerous offensive emplacements aimed both in as well as out: arrow slits and parapets to keep the rest of the city and any would be invaders out, massive ballistas (their bolts affixed to massive chains sunk into the foundation) pointed towards the Tarrasque to keep it in.
* First time visitors often confuse the emergency weaponry (of which the wall mounted ballistas are the most prominent) with the weapon-like cutting tools, belly lifts, extraction screws, scalpel-rams, that the God-Butchers and Marrow Miners utilize to run their operations.

### -Heartsblood Jungle

* The name given to the area of red corruption surrounding Macnifex, a mutated, almost swamp-like jungle created by the Tarrasque’s ever-spreading corruption, processing the blood run off like it was chemical waste and producing all manner of extremely dangerous creatures. This area is, predictably, where the province's current name comes from.

## Faction Details

### -Meridian Houses

#### House of the 1st Meridian

*Conservative diplomats who believe they’re holding the city together*

The 1st House, founded by human soldier and diplomat Hyberean Timult, is known to be extremely conservative. The house is notoriously risk averse and only invests in “sure things” with an eye towards maintaining as much diversification as possible; they seek to have a finger in every pie which means that they have direct business interests in nearly everything that happens in Macnifex. In addition to their business interests they often serve openly as brokers and negotiators for other houses, claiming that having something to gain on both sides of a commercial dispute makes them impartial.

##### 1st House Binder Lord

* Amanthia Timult: a handsome human woman in her forties usually dressed well but not ostentatiously.

#### -House of the 2nd Meridian

*Eclectic pragmatists inducting hyper-competitive members on merit*

Founded by Quinnay Fredding, 2nd House is unique in that its membership (and succession) are not a matter of blood, but competence and honor. These traditions have proved to be a double-edged sword for the house as its members tend to be competent, confident, and extremely ready to sabotage their rivals, both without and more commonly within their house, even by the standards of the notoriously intrigue-prone Meridian Houses.

Rank is generally determined by the amount of value one has added to 2nd House (which is usually but not always measured in gold) and is proudly worn as medals by its members (counting down from 10; 1st Rank is Binder-Lord). As a secondary effect of this practice the house is incredibly diverse, and current gnomish Binder-Lord Hatarang Indleprompt-Fredding presides over annual house entrance exams (summed up in the challenge “Impress Us'') to admit new members with entrants that include the recently matured children of current members.

##### 2nd House Binder Lord

* Hatarang Indleprompt-Fredding: a devilishly clever gnome who enjoys prospecting and developing talent while ensuring the ambitions of his underlings ultimately thwart each other.

#### -House of the 3rd Meridian

*Shrewd lords of spice and water*

Founded by Roman DuFaine, a human commoner and cook turned valet and eventually a noted warlord, 3rd House has a reputation as shrewd, sensible lords of food, spice, and water. DuFaine was notable for his focus on practical education for his descendants and early investments in the spice trade, but his infrastructure around the transport of water has seen 3rd House fortunes rise steadily since implementation.

##### 3rd House Binder Lord

* Gerard DuFaine: a male human in his early thirties known for his energy and head for business, wielding the wealth and power of 3rd House in ways that only increase its capacity.

#### -House of the 4th Meridian

*Indebted former adventuring house yearning for the glory days*

Founding Binder-Lord Attaxia Ginderhold was a famed human adventurer beloved by many who died still doing her utmost to find a way to kill the Tarrasque. Unfortunately, her legacy, the House of the 4th Meridian, is known today as a house in decline and largely agreed to be the least of the houses. Throughout its history adventuring parties sponsored by the house were a source of wealth and prestige, shifting from their original purpose of uncovering a weapon or process to kill the Tarrasque to bringing in funds and artifacts that led to 4th House’s expansion and establishment of its famed museum. Unfortunately the last few decades have seen multiple extremely costly failures. Coupled with the lavish lifestyle of a large (and largely wasteful) clan, rumors now swirl of outstanding debts to Blood Merchants now in default and rampant mismanagement.

##### 4th House Binder Lord

* Trundle Ginderhold: a handsome fellow in his late forties with a reputation as a decadent hedonist, appearing to be supremely confident as he brushes away any and all concerns in the wake of the lavish parties he is known to regularly host.

#### -House of the 5th Meridian

*Powerful alchemist house with control of rare reagents and ghoulification*

Founder Anton Dolfen was a mysterious human (though some suspect him of being a tiefling) in the Army of the 13, able to wield great magic but cagey about his own background and history. After binding, the aged human drew up a number of seemingly innocuous long-term contracts with the other houses that granted a near monopoly on important alchemical reagents which in time became incredibly valuable, coupled with control of the ghoulification process, 5th House’s rise has been meteoric.

##### 5th House Binder Lord

* Kuolemita Dolfen: a tall middle aged human usually dressed in incredible finery. She is viewed as being extremely shrewd, unfailingly polite, and fair enough (albeit with the edge of ruthlessness to be expected as one of Macnifex's oligarchs).

#### -House of the 6th Meridian

*Militant warriors with expansionist dreams and internal schisms*

Founded by Dradeth Bolgath, a renowned dwarven fighter considered a hero of the War of Binding, 6th House is known as the war house. Dradeth died extremely young for a dwarf and his successor Duradin has done his utmost to honor the martial traditions of his progenitor (though without nearly as much success) and regularly (unsuccessfully) lobbies for Macnifex to expand its territory. The house guards and house militia members of 6th House have a reputation for being incredible sticklers for the laws right down to the letter, utilizing taxes and fines whenever possible to help fund ever more recruitment.

##### 6th House Binder Lord

* Duradin Bolgath: an older dwarf grown too fat, often dressed in an ill-fitting suit of armor or uniform and considered to be a poor imitation of his legendary father. Has done his utmost to honor the martial traditions of his progenitor (though without nearly as much success) and regularly (unsuccessfully) lobbies for Macnifex to expand its territory.

#### -House of the 7th Meridian

*Religiously devout house invested in the church*

Founding Binder-Lady Genevo Thrice-Blessed was once a cleric devoted to the God of Healing, converted to the worship of Amarinthinos after the binding. Since then 7th House has become near synonymous with the church of Amarinthinos with four generations of Binder-Lords and ladies all serving as high ranking clergy in addition to their official duties. House finances have been frayed of late as 7th House is deeply invested in relief and rebuilding the Tail Stones, a project that’s been ongoing for years but yet to show any profit, a situation current Binder-Lord Harken Knife-Beloved blames on his predecessor.

##### 7th House Binder Lord

* Harken Knife-Beloved: a weathered man in his fifties with a nigh permanent scowl on his face, an extremely high ranking clergy amongst the Church of Amarinthinos.

#### -House of the 8th Meridian

*Bardic inheritors with interests in entertainment and story*

Founded and still led by half-elven bard-adventurer Virtan Berkuyin, 8th House is known for its innumerable half-elf members and as a patron of the arts, sponsoring various entertainers, and eventually building the Macnifex Opera and gladiatorial arena.

While now of advanced years, Virtan sponsors ongoing competitions to see who will be her next paramour, she takes the winner of such competitions as a lover who she lavishes attention, praise, and the utmost fidelity upon until she conceives and births children by them. At that point, her former lover is respectfully told to leave at which point she initiates a new competition and begins the cycle again. The city is littered with former lovers, heartbroken from the loss of love and the sensuous decadence of 8th House.

##### 8th House Binder Lord

* Virtan Berkutin: an older elvish woman known for her love of the arts and as the mother of a significant portion of the city’s half elf population. (is also one of the few binder lords who would likely personally bone the emperor)

#### -House of the 9th Meridian

*Hereditary sorcerers with an interest in ancient power*

Founded by the human sorcerer Xantha Eldurach, 9th House is remarkable for its high degree of sorcerous blood as many of its founding members were born with powers and through the years they have sought to broker marriages with aristocracy able to access similar magics. The house espouses a view that “blood will tell” and believe that the lauded nobility come first amongst the people of macnifex (and 9th House first amongst them). They’ve sponsored innumerable attempts at archeology and adventuring (though they no longer do so in partnership with 4th House) with particular interest to justify and expand their sense of lineage.

##### 9th House Binder Lord

* Garberlin Terratark: a human sorcerer known for her command over flames.

#### -House of the 10th Meridian

*Secretive house growing rich from brokering information and deals*

Of all the houses, 10th House induces perhaps the most awe, wonder, and speculation. Its members are divided between low ranking fuori (numerous and usually younger members known for bawdiness, dueling, and revelry) or high ranking elder presci who are rarely seen outside their Manor-Tower district (and then only to conduct high level business or political maneuvering) and never known without their robes of offices and ornate masks.

Like all Meridian Houses, House Impertabo has its fingers in many a Tarrasque meat pie but 10th House has made its future by serving as advisors and legal consultants, heavy investments in Water Dens, and (the not secret but also not commonly known) production of a variety of medical and vanity drugs. Whereas 1st House acts as negotiators by making their connections known, 10th House’s businesses (and sources of information) are as secretive and labyrinthine as they can make them. Everyone who is anyone has attended a 10th House party, though their memories of the events (and distinct flavor of revelry) can be a little hazy.

##### 10th House Binder Lord

* Primi Precisi Baldomero Impertabo: known as a rake in his younger days, he is now commonly held to be the master of secrets for much of the city though he hasn’t been seen in public in years.

#### -House of the 11th Meridian

*Eccentric wizards trying to change the world with magic*

11th House is an enigma to outsiders and even sometimes to those within, their eccentric nature leading to some of the most innovative spells and devices the world has ever seen in countless iterations of a development process that ranges from intriguing to useless. The house of the 11th Meridian has only the scantest formalized militia but is protected and flexes its muscle by magically-empowered members; in order to have formal status within the house relatives must prove their ability to cast spells. Most of the other houses are dependent on the magical creations of the 11th House. Currently, four factions (each led by a different apprentice of Founding Binder-Lord Olgorn) vie for dominance within the house, with Kaphressk Arcafor being the latest apprentice to elevate herself to the position of binder-lord via ruthless displays of raw magical might.

##### 11th House Binder Lord

* Kaphressk: an arch-mage, gnome genius, former apprentice to Olgorn (who named her heir), and known to be first in power and standing. She has officially confirmed rumors that she is looking for apprentices—one of which she will (presumably) name her heir.

#### -House of the 12th Meridian

*An empire-run house that's currently on the rise*

Founded by Spenser Marcellun, 12th House never seemingly amounted to much (even failure) and was considered especially “middling” until the 12th Meridian Crisis, when they became synonymous with incompetence and were considered ruined. Following a coup and their subsequent re-management by empire representatives in exchange for assisting in construction of the city’s direly needed aqueduct, as well as their contribution to creating the Marrow Miners, 12th House’s fortunes and influence have been greatly on the rise; there even being whispers of the empire potentially planning to use it as a foothold to slowly usurp the other twelve houses and cement their control on the city.

##### 12th House Binder Lord

* Tolviko Marcellun: Formerly a minor cousin; the brash (still young) human fellow has been lifting 12th House from its reparation debts by seemingly doing the unthinkable, repeatedly.

#### -House of the 13th Meridian

*House of halflings focused on construction and city planning*

Indentured Servant Rexaney Bramblethumb (later Pelago) founded 13th House after having the mantle of leadership unexpectedly thrust upon her when the presiding general she served and most officers were slain by the Tarrasque, so she stepped up to fire the final harpoon. As Macnifex grew, Rexaney did her best to keep up with the politicking and machinations, carving out a niche for her people in construction, infrastructure, and housing; her engineers and craftspeople having been some of the first to utilize construction material composed of crushed Tarrasque scale. Each new wave of refugees brought a housing boom that fed the Pelago coffers. The barren Binder-Lady was succeeded by Voth Ikarian, an adopted son who leads as directly as possible (often going so far as to personally labor on house projects). 13th House throws huge block parties to which all of Macnifex is invited and is as beloved by the common people as much as it’s loathed by the aristocracy

##### 13th House Binder Lord

* Voth Ikarian: a blonde, tan, and wiry halfling who (much to the consternation of other Binder-Lords and his security staff) can often be found in public.

## The House Militias

The House Militias are the primary source of law and order within the city around the Tarrasque. Each Meridian House is charged with “paying, provisioning, and organizing no less than 250 soldiers to enforce the laws of the township and contribute to the general welfare of Macnifex” Interpretation and implementation of this edict varies greatly depending on house however, on one end of the spectrum there are houses who outfit their militia with the bare minimum and then leave these individuals to their own devices, usually acting like traditional city watches one might find in any large settlement. In the extreme opposite, 6th House outfits a militia of 7,000 armed and trained more for war than policing.

Complicating matters further, many Meridian Houses also run House Guards who are distinct from House Militias, with House Militias having a duty to enforce laws while House Guards do not. Despite this, House Militias, while technically serving the city as a whole as opposed to their respective house, still often act as an extension of their house and instrument of its machinations. Each Meridian House manages hiring, firing, and promotion within their militia.

Meanwhile House Militias are held to a code of behavior which includes (amongst other things) prohibitions against favoring one house over the law of the city with severe mutilation penalties doled out by the largely independent courts for failure to serve the law. These twin influences lead to rampant secretive conflict, intrigue, sabotage, and checks and balances between the House Militias which are in part an extension of and yet distinct from the power games played amongst the Meridian Houses themselves.

Typical armament for House Militia is a suit of studded leather armor, a round shield, hand-axes,

#### -The Blood Merchants

The Blood Merchants are the licensed monopoly for any merchant selling directly to the public (as opposed to the exclusively wholesale purchases made through the Process Guild) with a few exceptions for outsiders and also by profession (alchemists, smiths, and the like have different licensing boards and different regulations regarding their commercial activity). Usually only native born can be official Blood Merchants and any foreign merchant has strong limitations on how they can conduct commerce in the city. Technically every trader from humble jerky vendors with a single stall up to lords like sellers of thousands of slaves is a Blood Merchant if they have paid their licensing fee and submitted to the city’s rules of commerce, but the term is typically used to denote the very wealthy or those that sell Tarrasque-derived goods (which includes most everyone). In addition to providing licenses for retail buyers and sellers within the city, the organization of Blood Merchants advocates for member interests and even provides legal or other help for members in good standing when trouble rears.

The Blood Merchants are an incredibly diverse lot and few overarching statements can be made about the group as a whole. Generally however they advocate for more extraction, lower taxes, higher licensing fees (supposedly to ensure quality but mostly to discourage new competitors), and are generally interested in business as usual to continue unabated.

#### -The Enders

The Enders are a rumored group of individuals interested in discovering or inventing a way to permanently kill the Tarrasque. While this was the stated goal of the original heroes that bound the monster, most modern citizens of Macnifex have no interest in doing so as it would effectively destroy the economy (and likely existence) of the city. In addition, the majority of those rare few who would be interested believe that the lasting death of the Tarrasque is impossible.

Occasionally individuals are prosecuted for the crime of being Enders under the official charge of conspiring against the sanctity of the Tarrasque's bounty. This has usually been seen as political theater, a baseless charge used to dispose of persons who've angered the powers that be. Most sent to their deaths or truncation in this way claim their innocence right up until the end while some name co-conspirators (who are then also tried and inevitably found guilty). The accepted wisdom of the cynical Macnifex populace is that the Enders don't exist beyond a few isolated madmen.

#### -The Process Guild

The Process Guild is the institutional organization that handles licensing and represents the interests of the various regular butchers, sorters, refiners, and others who receive raw Tarrasque viscera wholesale (from the God-Butchers and Marrow Miners) and process it into components for later commercial resale to the other dominant professional associations (the Sage's Council and Blood Merchants). The various members of the Process Guild are the second link in the supply chain connecting the Tarrasque to the citizens and visitors of the city of Macnifex. The general flow functioning something like:

God-Butchers and Marrow Miners → Process Guild → Blood Merchants and Sage's Council → everyone else.

#### -The Marrow Miners

The Marrow Miners are the guild with the extraction contract for the 12th Meridian of the Tarrasque. Other than the God-Butchers they are the only group with the legal authority to work directly on the creature and there is plenty of mutual antipathy between the two groups (though in recent years God-Butchers have been subcontracting to Marrow Miners for particularly dangerous and difficult work at the other Meridian sites).

Founded after the 12th Meridian Crisis and the empire’s takeover of the house, the Marrow Miners have distinguished themselves by taking any sentient creature willing to work and paying fair wages. Their recruitment efforts include gnomes, orcs, and many from the lower classes. The general goodwill this generates amongst most of the city is tempered somewhat by racial- and class-based antagonism towards many of the Marrow Miners.

Since their founding the price of much Tarrasque viscera has lowered precipitously, this including reagents and rare cuts which the Marrow Miners hypothetically can't access. The Marrow Miners (in addition to their 12th House Sponsors) are widely suspected to be major players in the organized crime of Macnifex, particularly in relation to smuggling. The guild however dismisses such rumors as God-Butcher lies meant to discredit the organization.

Even so the Marrow Miners have thrived, and rumor holds that they are close to winning the defection of other Meridian Houses.

#### -God butchers

Even amidst the city as bustling as Macnifex, the God-Butchers are hard to miss.

Hugely muscled men and women grown strong from a working life of toil and diet of some of the freshest, most choice cuts from the ever-providing body of the Tarrasque. Most carry their stylized greatswords nearly everywhere, but contrary to popular belief these weapons turned tools are not exclusively adamantine, many nowadays are forged of Tarrasque horn that better cuts through its armored carapace. Still, those who dismiss the butchers as dumb brutes wholly underestimate the order; these are hard-eyed resilient people who must be intelligent enough to understand the beast’s intricate and shifting anatomy, able to regularly deal with crafty merchants, domineering aristocrats, and suspicious laborers all to perform their duties.

While greatly connected to the economic flows of the city and perhaps not wholly immune to the influence of the coin, the God-Butchers (as a whole) nonetheless take their sacred charge of keeping the beast bound very seriously.  As an organization the Order of God-Butchers are fairly egalitarian although relative prestige can usually be determined by their Meridian assignment (1st-13th, with the exception 12th which is on assignment to the Marrow Miners). Additionally, while legally the 13 Binder-Lords each have the duty of keeping their Meridian bind functioning and overseeing the section of the Tarrasque assigned to their house, this, as a practical matter, has been contracted out to the God-Butchers and (recently) Marrow Miners.

The God-Butchers recruit heavily irrespective of class or station and most enrollees are drummed out within several months due to the intense rigors of the training regimen. They also promote based on a more or less functioning meritocracy with only a minimum amount of nepotism.The order selects recruits and advances those evaluated to be exemplary in the criterias of strength, intelligence, and the ability to lead and organize others.

Most members of the God-Butcher Order are not fully-fledged Master God-Butchers, around 95% of the order’s roster only complete their basic requirements, reaching no higher than Apprentice or Journeyman levels. Despite their lessened titles these members are nonetheless highly esteemed by the community and well compensated. Moreover for most city residents a God-Butcher is a God-Butcher and there is little distinction.

##### The Rite of Mutual Recognition

If a God-Butcher has distinguished themselves in strength, intellect, and leadership they are invited to take part in the most sacred rite of the order, that of Mutual-Recognition. The difficulty of doing so explains why the number of fully-fledged Master God-Butchers has remained fairly low (and perhaps why the order has remained largely effective and honorable in a city not known for such qualities).

An hour before the rite begins, all work on the beast stops. The Tarrasque is allowed to heal, regaining as much consciousness as the God-Butchers dare before the aspirant approaches the 1st Meridian: the creature’s head. As the workers, curious citizens, and their fellow God-Butchers watch, the aspirant must stare into the eye of the Tarrasque for a full minute. In so doing they are supposed to gain a fuller understanding of the beast they keep bound. Staring into the creature's eye as it roars and snaps, many a promising aspirant flees, perhaps leaving the order (or even the city) forever. The mindless destruction and hate they see within the beast’s eye can unman even those who have lived in Macnifex their entire life.

Those who manage to continue to gaze into the creature’s eye will note a change in the beast’s behavior. Gradually, its endless screaming and thrashing slows. Its vision changes, massive pupils focusing as, for a moment, it sees them, this man or woman who would keep it bound, who would cut it and serve up its strength to a hungry city. Then the Tarrasque ceases to roar and takes a single moment to inhale through its nostrils, wind whipping past the aspirant towards the Tarrasque’s maw as it truly marks the God-Butcher’s scent. The accepted wisdom is that the Tarrasque is committing these individuals to memory, should the monster ever gain freedom, the God-Butchers expect that it will hunt all such aspirants and their families, any of those who resemble the aspirant's smell, even unto the seventh generation descendants.

In turn, the God-Butcher takes in a long breath through his nose to mark the smell of the beast. As it roars, the endless thrashing against its bonds resumes, and to achieve Master rank the God-Butcher then ventures between its snapping jaws, timing a single strike to sever its tongue and heave the mass of flesh clear. The order then has a huge feast that evening from the hard-earned prize, welcoming another fully-fledged Master God-Butcher into the fold.

## Gangs & Organized Crime

Several dozen gangs, mafias, and thieves collectives operate in the city of Macnifex, all with a variable level of impunity, though none are powerful enough to enjoy any sort of preeminence beyond a few city blocks. By custom each organization develops a different specialty (extortion, theft, smuggling) and a specific area of control. Most of the major players are known, and the Militia Captains have no compunctions against hauling them in on real or imagined charges, especially if any criminal element seems to be gaining too much power. As such, an informal arrangement known as “the peace” holds where various criminal enterprises effectively if not literally pay taxes (via regularized bribes and official “civic reinvestment fees”), limit different types of activities to certain areas, and generally avoid open conflict with one another. Compliant groups are actually fairly competent (if brutal) at ensuring freebooting thieves, murderers, and other unaffiliated criminals do not operate in their areas of control (as part of their unspoken agreement holds them accountable for criminal behavior in their areas).

The large exception to “the peace” are swift gang wars known as Black Fox Bites which by convention must take place between sundown and sunrise on no more than three consecutive nights, no more than once a season as to stay the hand of the various militias. During these conflicts dozens of thugs may turn up dead and many scores are settled, regimes toppled, and areas of influence shifted or changed until a new equilibrium settles. While murder and violence, both against criminals and civilians alike, does happen from time to time, on nights claimed for a Bite of the Black Fox (the dates of which are usually cleared by the assorted militias) the rates of violence and disreputable acts soars.

Travelers and the unwary will often be caught off-guard by these as while not official, their times are usually known by the properly Salted who stay in behind bolted doors with as much extra security as they can afford (if not enjoying the relaxed policing to settle scores or acquire ill-gotten gold of their own).

## Appendix

### Judicial system and Points of Maiming

The city of Macnifex tends to have extremely harsh penalties for infractions, although imprisonment is almost unheard of. The most common punishments are fines (even for serious crimes for those who can afford it), forced labor, flogging, branding, a variable number of points maiming, execution, and finally truncation. Points of maiming follow a regular (cumulative) order and thus the relative disfigurement of an individual often provides information about the severity of their crimes. This maiming is in the following order:

* 1 point: The extraction of an eye.
* 2 points: the loss of five toes (across both feet).
* 3 points: the loss of five fingers (across both hands).
* 4 points: the loss of a hand.
* 5 points: the loss of an arm.
* 6 points: the loss of a foot.
* 7 points: the loss of a leg.

This order was selected as it was deemed to give the guilty the best chance to continue contributing economically.

If a criminal ever reaches eight points of maiming, they are given the choice between truncation (amputation of both legs, both arms, tongue, and gouging of both eyes) or execution (though the most serious offenders are usually truncated). Parts taken by these punishments are usually auctioned to alchemists constructing flesh (or Tarrasque flesh) golems. As an unfortunate corollary of the city’s legal practices, adventurers, veterans, and even laborers who have lost limbs are usually assumed to be former or current criminals.

### Example crimes and their punishments

* **Conspiring to End the Tarrasque's Binding**: Truncation or Execution
* **Magical Creation or Unauthorized Import of Water**: Fines up to double the water's value and up to 3 Points Maiming
* **Maiming or Assault**: Branding and up to 2 Points Maiming
* **Murder**: Execution
* **Propagandizing**: Special Case - “propagandizing” is any speech deemed to “threaten the economic, social, or cultural well-being of the city” and is a charge which can only be brought by a Binder-Lord. After conviction, the accusing Binder-Lord determines punishment which can range from a single copper fine to truncation, depending on the Binder-Lord’s recommendation.
* **Runaway Slave**: Branding, Flogging, and 1 Point Maiming
* **Smuggling**: Fines up to five times value, Branding and/or up to 3 Points Maiming
* **Theft**: 1 point Maiming
* **Unlicensed Ghoulification**: Destruction of ghoul and 1 Point Maiming for the practitioner (if applicable)
* **Use of a Command Word by any Non Binder-Lord**: Truncation
* **Use of Magic or Alchemy to Remedy Court Ordered Maiming**: Maiming equal to what was healed or proposed to be healed.

#### Coins

While awash with empire and foreign currency, as a point of pride Macnifex mints their own coinage. The currency of the city features several distinct features. First, the copper, silver, gold and platinum tokens do not sport portraits but instead are pressed with famous phrases, maxims, and laws spouted by the aristocracy. Which phrase is selected for placement on this year’s platinum (and to a lesser degree other metals) is a source of much competition and political maneuvering by the Binder-Lords.

In addition, the center of each coin features a small conical point on one side with a tiny hollow that can accommodate another coin’s point on the reverse face. These are referred to as the “tip” and “divet” respectively. This construction makes Macnifexian coins easy to stack securely on top of one another (useful for quick counting and pushing stacks of coin back and forth across a table without risk of toppling). Coins are usually kept in neat rows within pouches with reinforced corners. Out of towners can often be identified by how they improperly shove coins into their pockets or bags where they are liable to jut uncomfortably into flesh (or poke out of fabric).

To “know the pain of their stack” refers to an individual with business acumen or is otherwise good with money. When discussing transactions or jobs commerce can be described as “tip” which means above board or legal and can be spoken of openly, or as “divet” dealings if secretive, under the table, and of dubious legality (if not wholly black market).

##### Slang Terms for Coin Denominations

* Copper: *Spike*
* Silver: *Scale*
* Gold: *Bone*
* Platinum: *Horn*

### Macnifex Slang

More or less any resident of Macnifex speaks Common and small enclaves of speakers of every language can be found within city limits. All the same, citizens are proud of their slang. Some of which is as follows:

* **Agogi in an Apothecary**: Used similarly to “bull in a china shop” but with more of an implication that someone made an incredibly stupid mistake, with agogi being a local term for lizardfolk.
* **Burke**: A hard man or woman well suited to life in Macnifex.
* **Bone Sap**: A term for success or ease.
* **By the 13 (Meridians)**: Curse akin to taking a god’s name in vain.
* **Divet Job**: Criminal (or at least dubiously legal) activity.
* **Know the Pain of One’s Stack**: Generally used to describe individuals with financial acumen or great wealth.
* **Last Cuts or Last Wednesday's Cuts**: Term for trash, garbage, shit; exceptionally low quality and undesirable; often used to sexually demean a person.
* **Salted**: An individual normalized to Macnifex peculiarities.
* **Scraper/Skav**: Slang for a low class person or scavenger, especially used for people who seem to have no regular employment and are most likely criminals.
* **Tip Job**: Legitimate business.
* **Tenderloin or Tender**: The opposite of a burke; a rube, out of towner, or the target of crime or a con.
* **Twelfey or Twelfth man**: Insult used to denote someone or something as idiotic.

### Morality

Macnifex is an evil place. While the binding of the Tarrasque is perhaps necessary, the city has been built upon its callous torture with no current legitimate efforts to minimize its suffering. The evils of slavery are regarded as commonplace with regular arguments as to the rightness of owning slaves or how it can even be better for them. Numerous historical and ongoing atrocities, the literal and cultural genocide of the local orcs and stone giants, the dictatorial powers of the Binder-Lords, incredible corruption at all levels of society, and the economic collusion and abuse by the various merchant organizations, are regularly excused when they are not actively celebrated. More or less everyone in the city is party to this and while that does not mean that every individual is evil, it does tend to engender a general disregard to inflicting pain and suffering. As such a significant minority (and most of the leadership of the city) can be considered to be evil. Like every population however the majority should be considered to be neutral, primarily motivated by their own self interests though usually disinterested in hurting others in the pursuit of their own ends, and when doing evil are typically acting out of a place of ignorance or cultural inertia rather than special malice. Macnifexs’ citizens are also largely inured to pain, death, and mutilation as a result of this; legal torture, bar fights that maim or even kill, and industrial maiming of workers are all seen as normal (if not desirable) by the majority of the city’s population.

### Food and culinary delicacies

Due to the Tarrasque’s widespread corruption of the water preventing the growing of crops (outside of isolated greenhouses) near the city, the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables available in Macnifex is extremely minimal and often costly. Most produce having to either be imported from the province's eastern farmland (hundreds of miles away from the city) or bought and traded for from neighboring provinces. Over time, Macnifex’s culinary culture has evolved to accommodate this fact, the city’s populace constantly devising innumerable ways to make the best of what they have at hand.
The following being just a few of these Macnifexian "Delicacies":

* **All-Color Pudding**
	+ There are very few orchards in Macnifex and fruit is generally an expensive imported item. Early on, merchants would disguise their rotten apples, pears, and more by mashing the barely edible fruit and boiling it into a pudding. Over time tastes evolved to the point that this is now the preferred way for citizens to consume this manner of foodstuff, even perfectly preserved fruit is usually mashed and boiled together.
	+ The traditional recipe for all-color pudding is one part grape to one part apple to one part pear to one part squash liberally seasoned with cloves and tributary leaf.
* **All-Color Pruno**
	+ Natives to Macnifex have also taken to making a similar alcoholic concoction known as "All-color pruno" made from the same fruit mash and spices being allowed to ferment in kegs, before being distilled and bottled. The end product being a excessively strong, almost black liqour akin to mulled wine, thats considered by most outsiders to "taste like something died in the keg".
* **Ambergris**
	+ Tarrasque ambergris is worth its weight in gold due to its use amongst perfumers and its reputation as being an aphrodisiac. The extremely wealthy eat it basted, sometimes served with eggs or thin slices of imported celery and rice.
* **Bladed Bake-up**
	+ A bake of Axebeak eggs, Tarrasque bacon, peppers, tomatoes, and (for those who can afford it) pig eye is traditional fair for a late, rest-day breakfast and is colloquially known as a superb hangover cure.
* **Bread**
	+ Unadorned bread is considered a delicacy within Macnifex as flour is four times the normal cost due to the city’s extreme distance from any fields and an endemic yeast quickly rots stores of the stuff. As such, bread is not a staple as it is for the rest of the world. The city’s bakers are rare and tend to be extremely skilled in their craft (so as not to waste flour) and visitors often describe the bread of Macnifex—which ranges from light, fluffy blanch bread to heart almost loamy black—as perfect.
* **Five-Roast**
	+ Five-roast is a stirge stuffed in a singing house-lizard stuffed in a hatchet beak stuffed in a juvenile ramora flea stuffed in an axe beak. Before encasing it in the next layer, each animal is cleaned, skinned, plucked, coated in an individualized rub meant to compliment its unique flavor, then wrapped in thin strips of Tarrasque flank. Five-roasts are then cooked on a spit for no less than 20 hours, the skin crackling and caramelizing, before being served as part of feast day celebrations.
* **Marsh Stew**
	+ Despite the unappetizing name, this hearty soup comprised of half a dozen varieties of mushroom and delicately seasoned has been all the culinary rage of late. The gastronomically adventurous search high and low through the Tail Stones for the best, most authentic gripple-run street stalls to cook this meal. Gathering ingredients for the stew has sent many adventurers into the jungle, not all of whom return.
* **Master’s Tongue**
	+ This rarefied cut of Tarrasque tongue is only ever served at the celebratory feast when a Journeyman God-Butcher completes their rite of mutual recognition to become a Master God-Butcher. It’s usually paired with pickled vegetables and brine soup. Being invited to such a feast is considered recognition of an individual’s status among the elite.
* **Rat Crunch**
	+ Rats are not a common pest in Macnifex (due to the general absence of water, singing house lizards seem to better serve that urban ecological niche) but are not wholly unknown and often stow away in caravans. Enterprising trappers obsessively seek to hunt for these creatures as their skeletons are considered an appetizing way to add a pleasant crunchy texture to casseroles of Tarrasque pseudo-liver and imported potato.
* **Sweatmeat Jerky**
	+ Tarrasque fat coated with honey and root spice then smoked for days, this chew is favored by workers who often gnaw on the taffy-like confection for hours. Sweatmeat jerky can hold its pleasant flavor for hours upon end and supposedly chewing on the substance can sustain one for days, making it a favorite alike for harried laborers without time to sit down for a meal and aristocratic dandies trying to watch their figure.
* **Tarrasque Sash**
	+ Custom and common sense hold that Tarrasque flesh should be served well-done, but raw or lightly-pickled Tarrasque flesh (called sash) can be served with vinegar and garlic paste. There are different notions about how to do this while minimizing the risk of being corrupted by the monstrosity’s meat, but Tarrasque Sash is usually only consumed by the extremely decadent or foolhardy.