They came, they said, just from next door. They say they come for the bright lights of the fairegrounds, the thrill of winning big at the casinos, the chance of seducing some fair person — but deep in your heart, you know it's not true. Their big smiles only ever serve to show the sharpness of their fangs, a fair warning to any and all who would deal with these amber-eyed denizens of that most infernal realm. Still, if you want something so much you're willing to sell most anything and everything, then it's well known throughout the city that the one you go to when all else fails is a demon.
They say another you walks under this earth, taking your place in the affections of your kith and kin. They talk of memories you do not share, activities you do not recall doing. When have you been so forgetful? they ask. Curiosity turns to worry turns to suspicion. Are you sure you're you? Rumours swirl in conversations held during the break of twilight, when polite conversation becomes most decidedly impolite: your own image walks, unbound, free to do whatever they wish with the mirror of your body — yet, they say, always inexplicably leaving behind drippings of black tar.
This deep beneath the earth, what once had been desert broke past aquifers and groundwater. Here, under the careful attentions of the Haunted Ones, the waters of the earth become the waters of the world — and whatever lost souls that once found themselves submerged in that profound abyss inevitably come washing up on the Oasis. They are strangers to the direct flow of time: their yesterdays, far different from the yesterday of Gulch City. What purpose might the Haunted Ones have in mind for the bringing back of these drowned folk? Like all other questions asked in the City, the answer yet remains to be seen.
Humans stand as ordinary mortals, without the strengths, traits, and abilities possessed by other supernatural entities. Devoid of special powers, they once navigated their daily lives, often unaware of the mystical entities that reside in their midst, concealing their true nature within the shadows.
Avatars & Nullifiers
Humans are susceptible to the sinister sway of strange entities that hide in the shadows. These entities possess extraordinary powers and incomprehensible motives. Their aim is to corrupt the souls of mortals, transforming them into horrifying distortions of their former selves.
Clockwork Automata
In order to stop the biological clock from running down their limited lives, humans opted to become clocks themselves: flesh and bone replaced with whirring gears and metal encasing, the miracles of science trumping the fragile biology of yesteryears. Perhaps there had been a time, early on in its flourishing, where people who opted for this procedure had been scorned and vilified by society at large, considered as affronts against the delicate ordering of society. Yet what order remains, when the City finds itself lodged under earth and mud? Now, clockwork automata wine and dine with the very best of them — and sometimes, as is the case with the Rubber Baroness, have found themselves to be one of them.