Valdiras

The Weeping City

# *The Weeping City*

### **The Lady of Sorrow**

A large statue of a veiled woman on her knees with her hands out towards the sky. Spontaneously she will weep tears of blood, the townspeople believe that she cries for their loss and tragedies so they bring her various trinkets, flowers and gifts to thank her for carrying their sadness.

## Surrounding area

### El Camino des los Gorriones - The Way of Sparrows

The land route connecting Terias and Valdiras. Resthouses for travelers and merchants along the road are called Pajareras, or aviaries. Birdsong along the route is seen as a good omen.

### Tareq Kazr-Hadid - The Way of Iron

The land route connecting Garona and Valdiras. Resthouses for travelers and merchants along the road are called Beyt Alfan, or coalhouses. Several Carthese clans renowned for their crafting and mastery of the forge trace their lineage to the vicinity of the Kazr-Hadid.

### Rio Azul Brillante - Shimmering Blue River

The river running from Valdiras to Garona, which is the lifeline to vast agricultural lands relying on the river for freshwater as well as barge transportation of trade goods. Fast riverboats with armed guards or mercenaries are a common sight, usually flying colours of Valdiran merchant houses to deter would-be bandits.

## Ranks of The Valdiran City Guard

**Night Watch**

* Essentially Iron Rods in Training - No Access to Branding
* Generally looked down upon by full mark Arbitros

**Arbitros**

* Three classes of Arbitros. Base, Senior, Butcher
* Senior Arbitros tend to work as mentors influencing and teaching the next generation
* Senior Arbitros are in charge in a given situation if no higher rank is present
* Butchers are the riot breakers and heavy city guardsmen. You must obtain the rank of Senior Arbitro to be considered for a Butcher position.
* Lot of respect given to this position seeing as how many of the ranks above, made their way there through this assignment.
* Carry Rods that give Physical Brand

**Lancers**

* Lancers in Training as well as Retired Lancers work as the City’s prosecutors.
* The detectives of the Valdiran City Guard.
* To obtain this rank, one can either earn through working as Arbitro and displaying exceptional skill or work through lancer training for this particular rank.
* Must have magical skill.

**Captain**

* Arbitros that have earned the right to lead. Captain’s watch over small portions of the city’s districts.
* Typically the position is hand selected by the previous Captain or even District Commander. In recent times however, there has been some talk of the ability to purchase the commission outright.

**District Commander / Judges**

* Districts Commanders control entire districts of the city with a number of Captains under their command. Each district is different so one may have fewer or more under their command.
* District Commanders control the Districts Butcher Units and must give authority for their useage.
* Judges must be Senior Members of the Gilded Hand and have experience working with the City Guard as Lancers.
* Judges control the Districts Lancer Units and must give authority for their useage.

**Lord High Arbitro**

* High Arbitro over all within the city.
* Sits on the ruling council.
* Always a member of the Gilded hand.

## Gangs

#### The Branded

Three specialized gangs (The Vescoras, The Huskers, The Imago) who control various turfs and criminal activities, and the great unwashed (The Waste) who aspire to join them.

Those who are fully comitted to their lot as Branded can be recognized by their distinctive names which denote their particular skills or are indicative of a particular deed or event.

#### The Vescoras

Leader: Ironclaw Pulpex. Fetchling, champion, male. Heavy armour. Wields a two-handed sawsword. Rumours vary on whether he is a defector from the butchers, or whether he took it off a butcher he killed. Jolly. Bloodthirsty.

Second: The Gnat is not tiny. The Gnat bears a massive tower shield called Flyswatter, and an assortment of cleaving and crushing weapons. The Gnat refers to himself in the third person, and gets murderous when someone points out that he's the wrong kind of funny.

Roles: Muscle, enforcement, debt collection, underground arenas, black markets, Ransom and kidnapping

Notes: The Vescoras are the most physically imposing of the branded gangs, and while they're not known for big brains, they do have the hardest heads and the noisiest body counts. They've been the top dog of the three gangs for over a decade now.

#### The Tenebrum

Leader: Coaleye Isham. Some kind of tiefling, some kind of magician, gender unknown. Heavy robes, ornate cloak. Specializes in curse-magic, totems, and utilizes abhuman familiars. Notable for only speaking telepathically. Calm. Pragmatic.

Second(s): Mister Scissors and Mistress Razor are tall, slender humanoids of elvish build and ashen skin in immaculately tailored funeral suits. Mister Scissors wears a white mask and carries a pair of cold iron shears. Mistress Razor wears a red mask and carries a pair of silvered shaving razors. They communicate through a set of magical parchments, which illustrate their intent with stick figures and crude sketches of killing tools.

Roles: Graverobbing, "hunts", body disposal, occult and arcane artifacts purchase, organ trade, Brand Removal

Notes: The Huskers are creepy, even by branded standards, and they appear to be less interested in gaining or consolidating power than they are in the dead of Valdiras. Their preferred haunts are tombs and crypts, where they can perform their defilements in peace. They are rumoured to run - very rarely, with great security - snuff houses, or vole hunts, for those Valdirans of great means who seek terminal thrills in the hunting of their fellow people.

#### The Imago

Leader: Sandviper Lazar. Oread, ranger, female. Has extensive contacts with the desert tribes and clans, and is rumoured to have once sailed under The Thirteen. Dual wields carthese hookaxes. Mercurial. Mercenarial.

Second: Shaman Obed is a cheerful Vishkanya who is not a shaman, but something of a charlatan extraordinaire. A capable shot with a custom repeating crossbow, his real skill is in talking his way into high and low society alike, with nobody the wiser as he collects valuables and plunders secrets.

Role: Smuggling, burglaries and heists, night houses, gambling dens, blackmail

Notes: The Imago are about keeping people happy, keeping the booze flowing and good times rolling. And sure, with good times, there's secrets to be learned and marks to be fleeced, and that's just the way the world works. Most night houses in Valdiras are run by The Imago. Most gambling dens too. The word - whispered very, very quietly - is that since they have The Money, they wouldn't mind having The Power, too, and putting the Vescoras meatheads in their place. But best not to repeat that out loud, where someone can hear.

#### The Waste

The branded who are not part of the three gangs, usually because they lack the ability or skill or moral flexibility, or (rarely) because they choose not to be, despite possessing the skills.

Notable Figures: Medicant Kovach is an old man, who used to be an inkblot many, many moons ago. Now he grinds herbs with mortar and pestle, and keeps people from dying or losing limbs. Most of the time, he succeeds.

**Poet Sallow** is a recent arrival, given her renown - she has only been branded for five years, give or take, and she was a Lancer before her good fortunes took a turn for the calamitous. She can hold her own with the worst of The Vescoras, and she got her name of Poet because of an impromptu speech she gave decrying Corruption in the City of Laws (most branded rolled their eyes), but she appears to be biding her time, waiting for the right moment.

**The Bondsman** A legend of Valdiran lowborn society. Stories of this enigmatic figure have long circulated around the under classes. Indeed, the stories have persisted for centuries, suggesting the Bondsman is in fact a title passed between individuals. Some say the Bondsman is a fallen Member of the Order having faced The Writ of Breaking, others that they are a disgraced Inkblot who lost one case too many. Whatever the truth, the Bondsman purportedly offers deals to the desperate. Offering patronage to those with nothing else to give, the Bondsman will grant boons, for a price. But what do those who have nothing offer as payment? Some say the Bondsman demands secrets, others say service and some dark rumours suggest the Bondsman accepts the very years of one's existence to elongate their own lifespan. One thing is known, regardless of the truth of the matter. Never make a deal with the dark.