The World of Malifaux

The World of Malifaux
Malifaux is a world set aside from our own. Located in another dimension, it is home to monsters and mankind alike. Far too often, the two become indistinguishable from each other.

Despite being a different world, Malifaux is similar to Earth in many ways. It has breathable air, discernible seasons, and a blue sky with a sun that rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The soil is suitable for growing crops, and Earth plants have been successfully transplanted to Malifaux (and vice versa) with little fuss.

There are differences, of course. The stars and constellations in the night sky are completely different from those of Earth, and two moons - the bright Illios and the darker Delios - hang overhead at night. Some people claim that the sun makes colors appear brighter and more vivid in Malifaux, as if the world had been painted onto glass, but the majority of people who travel to Malifaux don't notice that much of a change.

In short, Malifaux may seem strange to humans, and it's certainly dangerous in the way that untamed wildernesses always is, but it's rarely alien. Most natural laws, such as humanity understands them, continue to function on Malifaux just as they do on Earth.

The one notable difference that separates Earth from Malifaux is the abundance of magical energy. On Earth, spellcasters have always had to struggle to draw upon the magical energy; only the most powerful spellcasters, emboldened by mystical runes and arcane phrases passed down since ancient times, could even hope to harness this mystical power.

In contrast, Malifaux is saturated with magical energy. The same arcane words that could barely light a candle back on Earth are enough to summon up a whirlwind of flame in Malifaux, and even those with no talent for magic gradually find themselves developing strange abilities as the latent magic of the world seeps into their bodies and souls.


History

Human history unfolded similarly to our history, with one major difference: the inclusion of magic. Magic has always existed on Earth. Wizards waged war with mighty spells augmenting themselves. The art of medicine used magic to great effect, while advances in technology relied upon it. This improved life considerably... until, of course, the magic disappeared. Over time, magical energies began to wane. Eventually, the mightiest of sorcerers could only manage the simplest spells. Humanity was at a loss, and even though people tried to adjust, many problems arose.

In the year 1787, the remaining wizards of the world banned together to attempt an audacious ritual that would bring back magic to Earth. The desperate attempt seemingly failed, and it cost the lives of almost everyone involved. However, all was not truly lost. A large portal to another world was torn open. It was known as "The Breach of the Great Boundary" (or just "The Breach" for short), and it didn't take long before a few brave souls decided to ventured in. On the other side of the Breach, explorers found waiting for them an abandoned alien city of black stone and gothic architecture. Beyond the city's walls was a brand new frontier; a wilderness under a sky of twin moons and strange stars. The world, and the city itself, came to be called "Malifaux."

The City of Malifaux was completely uninhabited and rife with countless dark secrets and mysteries. Explorers discovered formulae for building powerful robotic constructs, spells not known to mankind, and magical relics, among many other things. Malifaux was a magic-rich place, and the city seemed absolutely filled with magic. Visitors found magic incredibly easy to cast. Even those without any arcane knowledge could sometimes spontaneously shoot fireballs or cast other magical effects. But all of those things paled in comparison to the greatest discovery of all: Soulstones.

Soulstones were rare crystals, each worth a small fortune, that seemed to gather arcane energy on their own. When harnessed, they enabled Wizards to cast spells more easily, and they could be used to power magical weapons or constructs. Best of all, Soulstones could be transported back to Earth, allowing for those on Earth to use magic, as well. The Soulstones were named for their most curious trait. When a Soulstone was depleted of energy, it would refill if it was placed near someone just as they died. While there were other ways to recharge Soulstones, this unique feature got them their moniker.

The Soulstone Trade became a booming global business. Tens of thousands of settlers flooded to Maulifaux looking for treasure, adventure, or just to escape their problems and start over on a new world. New settlements and boomtowns arose in the wilderness beyond Malifaux City in order to facilitate the mining and transport of Soulstones. Earth seemed to be heading into a new golden age of magic as Soulstone harvesting increased.

As settlers spread across the World of Malifaux, there began to be reports of encounters with strange creatures and horrific monsters. Some reports even told of monsters using intelligent language. Though the tales were initially laughed at and dismissed, this changed when a caravan of hundreds was slaughtered by demonic beings sporting wings and horns. It soon became clear that Malifaux was home to more than just dangerous animals but seemingly sapient beings. And these beings strongly disliked humanity. These natives of Malifaux became known as the "Neverborn" - roving nightmares with many forms and faces, and they would remain an ever-present threat to human existence on the alien world. Though no one knows for certain, it's presumed that the Neverborn are responsible for the fall of the Breach.

On that now infamous day, a decade after it was first opened, the Breach suddenly started to close. From Earthside, the sounds of combat and men dying could be gleaned as the Breach shrank down into nothing. Just before it shut for good, a dead body was thrown through the Breach, with the word "Ours" cut into it. The Earth's supply of Soulstones was cut off. Desperate attempts to re-open the Breach failed.

Humanity began the "Great Powder Wars". Nations fought once another for the small supply of Soulstones still circulating. Wizards hoarded their Soulstone stockpiles, and the fighting was bloody. As a result of the Wars came the rise of "The Guild of Mercantilers". The Guild was an extra-national organization that helped to curb further warfare by agreeing to manage the world's meager stockpiles of Soulstone. In time, the Guild developed into the sole practitioners of effective magic, and thus a global powerhouse.

The Breach stayed closed for nearly a century. Eventually though, to everyone's shock, the Breach re-opened. The Guild immediately sent explorer teams, and they reinforced the area near the Breach. The bodies of the original inhabitants were never found. There were signs of combat, but no signs of life. The City of Malifaux was empty once again. The Guild set about re-colonizing the city and the surrounding landscape. The Guild in Malifaux established itself as the primary governmental authority, and the Soulstone Trade began anew.


The Breach

Just about everyone that enters Malifaux has to go through the Breach to do so. It exists as a large blue shimmer, like the surface of a lake that has been suspended in the air.

Approaching the Breach on foot is one of the easiest ways for someone on either side of the portal to commit suicide. The Guild keeps soldiers stationed on both sides, and the threat of Soulstone smuggling (or worse, sabotage) has led to a "shoot first and ask questions later" policy when it comes to unauthorized people approaching the rift. Thus, most rely on the train to travel between Earth and Malifaux.

Permanent rail lines have been erected through the Breach. The only safe way to cross is aboard the Iron Ram, a heavily armored train that makes frequent trips between the two dimensions. The first few cars of the train are designated for first class passengers, and they're followed by roughly three to four times as many coach cars that ferry everyone else through the portal. After that, the cars generally depend on which direction the train is traveling.

If it's headed to Malifaux, the train typically features an armored guard car, behind which are fortified cars carrying convicts bound for the mines. For trips back to Earth, the convict cars are replaced with heavily guarded cars containing the Guild's Soulstone shipments.

Once one is Breachside, the City of Malifaux is several miles to the south.



The City of Malifaux
Malifaux City is an immense walled metropolis of mostly black stone. The city is absolutely massive, spanning over eight-hundred and fifty square miles (2,201 sq km) and housing, by some estimates, around a million people. This makes it comparable in size and population to some of the largest cities on Earth during the start of the 20th century. Only about a third of its real estate is considered safe and secure, however, as the forbidden Quarantine Zone makes up a significant portion of the city's land area.

Aesthetically, the place is a sprawling hodgepodge of architectural styles from seemingly every human culture. The city's features are oft described as both familiar and strange, as if all the great cities of Earth history have been stacked and shuffled together. The buildings lean and loom over the cobblestone streets, which range from wide boulevards to narrow, claustrophic paths and alleyways. Writing from an unknown language is everywhere - carved into stone walls and painted on doors - serving as a constant reminder that the city once had other inhabitants.

The Fortune River flows eastward through the Knotwoods forest and bisects Malifaux City. The current is strong but not unmanageable, and a number of riverboat captains make their living sailing up and down its muddy depths, ferrying goods and people back and forth between the city and the northern mining settlements. The river's length is crisscrossed by numerous bridges, though they tend to be high enough that most boats can pass beneath them without much concern.

The city is divided into a number of districts:


Downtown

The northern gate leads visitors directly into Malifaux's Downtown district, the wealthy core of the city. Unlike the other districts of the city, the cobblestone streets here are clean, gas lamps keep the lanes and avenues well-lit, and a patrol of Guild guardsmen is never far away. Some of these patrols are accompanied by the Guild's combat constructs, most commonly shield-bearing Guardians, lithe Hunters, or burley Wardens.

Living space in Downtown is at a premium, and when there's an opening, it tends to get snatched up quickly. Most of the residents of Downtown are wealthy to middle class families who can afford the Guild's rent, though the district is also where most of the Guild's employees reside. In many ways, Downtown is the safest place in all of Malifaux, provided that a resident has not run afoul of the Guild: the sewers are gated and barred to prevent creatures from wandering in from other districts, the streets are heavily patrolled, and any attack upon the district is quickly and brutally put down. The Guild even pays the Brotherhood of the Rat, the local ratcatcher's group, to keep the rats that infest other parts of the city out of Downtown.

Upper Downtown is most famously home to the Guild Enclave, the walled compound that serves as the Guild's main offices and fortress within Malifaux. The Enclave is not a single building, however, but rather a sprawling collection of multiple fortified buildings that are spread out over roughly one-anda-half square miles. Radiating outward from the Enclave and its wealthy supporters are upper-class private residences, many of them almost mansion-like in their size and construction, as well as a number of taverns, saloons, restaurants, cabarets, shops, and other businesses. The most prosperous of Malifaux's entrepreneurial luminaries make this area their home, and it's not uncommon to find the city's most popular artists, musicians, and singers living together under a single shared roof.

As one heads south, Downtown gradually transitions from wealthy homes and businesses into middle-class neighborhoods. This decrease is primarily due to the presence of the city's Miners and Steamfitters Union Hall, which is surrounded by the homes of the Union's workers and the businesses that cater to them. This has led to a high number of taverns and saloons in the area, and it's not uncommon to see the well-dressed residents of northern Downtown wander further south to enjoy some of the "local color."


The Industrial Zone

While Downtown may be Malifaux City's wealthiest district, the Industrial Zone is the pumping heart that keeps the city alive. The furnaces of the factories here burn day and night, ensuring that the city will have all the bullets, constructs, firearms, and locomotives that it needs to survive.

The Industrial Zone is dominated by large, blockwide warehouses and factories, the latter of which spew clouds of ash and soot into the air at a constant rate. Most of the buildings here are covered in soot and grime, as are the factory workers who have chosen to live in this district in order to be close to their place of employment. The most prominent factories belong to Geissel Metalworks, the manufacturer responsible for producing most of the parts for the Guild's constructs and locomotives.

Near the south part of the district are the offices and printing presses of the Malifaux Daily Record, the city's oldest newspaper. It and the newer Malifaux Tattler are the only newspapers tolerated by the Guild, primarily because they both serve as blatant propaganda machines to spread its version of reality across the entire city.


The New Construction Zones

Malifaux City has two New Construction Zones, so named because they were built by settlers from Earth instead of merely adapted for use like most of the city's buildings. Despite their similar names and origins, however, the districts are vastly different from each other.

Northern New Construction Zone
To the north of the Industrial Zone lies the Northern New Construction Zone, or the "Northern NCZ," as the locals call it. The district is the result of a petition to the Guild on the behalf of a number of small corporations who were not large or important enough to demand space in the Industrial Zone as it was being settled. These corporations were granted permission to build their homes and offices along the northern wall, resulting in the only part of the city that exists beyond the protection of the city walls.

Much like the city's slums, the Northern New Construction Zone soon gained a reputation as a place that the Guild generally ignored. Unlike the slums, however, the corporations that had settled in the area hired mercenary guards to protect them, their workers, and their families. This provided just enough security to make the district's businesses safe and prosperous, which in turn attracted other settlers. Within a few years the Northern NCZ was a thriving and prosperous part of the city.

The buildings of the Northern New Construction Zone are primarily wooden in nature, with a smattering of brick and stone. When combined with the dirt roads, hitching posts, and rolling tumbleweeds, it's difficult to visit the district and not feel as if one has just stepped into a frontier town. Saloons are plentiful, and the mercenary guards that once patrolled the area have since transitioned into a militia constabulary that is supported by the (generally low) property taxes of the residents. For the most part, the militia enforces the Guild's laws without much complaint, though they defer to the Guild whenever the city's rulers deign to pay attention to the rugged little settlement.

The Northern NCZ has a reputation for being home to a great deal of mercenaries, and that reputation has only served to attract more mercenaries who have little choice but to go where the jobs are. A few of the mercenary groups have even opened up offices in the district, providing them with increased legitimacy over their rivals.

The high number of sellswords and soldiers of fortune has resulted in a somewhat rough and tumble atmosphere, but without the edge of lethality that one might find elsewhere. It's entirely possible that a saloon might erupt into a bar fight over a game of poker or an unpopular comment, but those fights are fought with fists and feet rather than pistols and swords.

Besides its brisk business in "independent contractors," the Northern New Construction Zone also serves as the hub for most of the city's stagecoaches. The district's general stores are stocked with plenty of horse feed and supplies for life on the frontier, and many travelers simply passing through the city find it easier to stop and resupply in the Northern NCZ instead of entering the city proper.

Southern New Construction Zone
The Southern New Construction Zone, or Dockside, as it is frequently called, is a stretch of the city sandwiched between the Industrial Zone and the Fortune River. This district was little more than a collection of burnt and collapsed buildings when the Guild arrived in Malifaux, and after determining that there were no Neverborn hiding amongst the charred wreckage, they continued deeper into the city without so much as a second thought.

When settlers began arriving in the city, some of them saw the potential of a district positioned along the river and set to work building neighborhoods from the ground up. The result of their labors was a haphazard collection of densely packed buildings that came right up to the edge of the river... and in many cases, further still. Many of the district's homes and buildings have spilled out onto the mazework of docks that lunge desperately out across the water, while others simply hang over the water at angles that no responsible architect or carpenter would ever approve.

Dockside is the destination point for most of the goods that come in from the river. This includes shipments of ore and raw materials from the Northern Hills as well as the logs that some enterprising lumberjacks choose to float down the river in order to bypass the Guild's rail-based loading fees. Fishing is also a popular business in the district, and during the day, it's not uncommon to see dozens of small boats perched out on the water and twice as many people fishing from the docks. The fish that are pulled out of the river generally tend to be edible, though there are a few poisonous species unique to Malifaux that have only been discovered through tragic accident.


The Slums

The slums make up the majority of the inhabited portions of Malifaux City. Each is a sprawling, ramshackle collection of crumbling tenements, dingy bars, seedy brothels, empty warehouses, illicit gambling dens, and collapsed ruins. Within these dangerous neighborhoods, the majority of the city's residents go about their difficult lives.

There are eight distinct districts that can be considered slums, each of which contains a dozen (or more) different neighborhoods. The level of safety and prosperity available in the slums varies greatly from one district to another (and sometimes, even between different neighborhoods of the same district). Some are relative pockets of stability due to the presence of Guild checkpoints or Union neighborhoods, while others are no safer than the nearby Quarantine Zone.

The Easterly Slums
Situated just to the west of Downtown, the Easterly slums are the oldest and least dangerous of the city's slum districts. The slums are named after Rachael Easterly, a Guild officer who was brutally murdered in the district shortly after the Guild opened the city to private citizens. Though a fitting tribute to Ms. Easterly, the district's location on the western side of the city is a frequent point of confusion for new travelers, who assume that the name refers to the easternmost slums (which, confusing the matter further, are actually known as the Central slums).

The Easterly slums are home to a number of low-ranking Guild guardsmen as well as the servants for the wealthier residents of Downtown. The presence of the city's ratcatcher's guild, the Brotherhood of the Rat, has prevented Malifaux's vermin population from getting a foothold in these slums. The relative scarcity of bars and taverns offers few reasons for the rougher residents of the city to spend much time in the Easterly slums, and that, in turn, ensures that crime remains comparatively uncommon in the district.

The Riverfront Slums
Stretching across the southern shore of the Fortune River are the Riverfront slums. This district is home to some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Malifaux City, in part because the river separates it from the holdings of the Guild. To make matters worse, the slums share a border with one of the most dangerous stretches of Quarantine Zone.

In the early days of the second Breach, the Guild patrolled these streets, but when the undead and Neverborn slipping over, through, or beneath the Quarantine Zone barricades became a serious issue, the Guild simply withdrew from the slums and set up defensive checkpoints along the district's three bridges. These checkpoints ensure that anything coming out of the Quarantine Zone and into the slums will not be able to cross the river to bother the citizens of Downtown or the Southern New Construction Zone. The guardsmen manning these checkpoints don't stop residents from traveling in or out of the district, but neither will they intercede if they witness a crime taking place a few hundred feet away. The residents of this district are, as they say, on their own.

The Howling Slums
Located next to the Riverfront slums are the Howling slums, which are so named because of the loud groaning sounds that periodically echo upwards through the sewers, causing the entire district to softly reverberate. The groaning was most frequent in the years before the Event, and it has only been heard two or three times a month since then. Nobody in the Howling slums seems to know where the sound comes from, nor are very many people willing to brave the maze of sewers under the district to find out the truth.

Other than the infrequent sounds that emanate upwards from the ground, these slums are similar in appearance to the nearby Riverfront slums. Poverty and desperation are the coin of the realm, and the businesses scattered throughout the cramped streets are shoddy and in poor repair. On the other hand, their prices tend to be cheap (mostly out of necessity), so thrifty residents of other districts sometimes make trips into the Howling slums in order to purchase discount furniture, dry goods, and mysterious meats.

The Howling slums are ruled over by a handful of gangs that wage a sporadic battle over the district. For the most part, the gangs subsist on protection money and the occasional mugging, much to the detriment of the district's other residents.

The Central Slums
Located to the east of the Industrial Zone and the Southern New Construction Zone, the Central slums are the largest and most varied of the city's slum districts. They're comprised of dozens of different neighborhoods, from the steelworker housing bordering the Industrial Zone to the abandoned and decrepit mansions along the eastern Quarantine Zone.

The Central slums are most heavily occupied along its western borders and in a narrow strip alongside the central railroad. In these neighborhoods, life is relatively safe, and there are the typical general stores, taverns, and social gatherings that one could expect to find elsewhere in the city. There are public dances, rugby and cricket leagues, budget theaters, and public dances, each of which tends to draw large crowds.

As one moves further east, away from Downtown and the comforting presence of the central railroad line, the district's residents become more furtive and less respectable. The businesses become shadier and more ramshackle, the homes take on a distinct air of neglect, and it's not uncommon to randomly come across a dead body in the street, the results of an argument that reached its final conclusion.

The Little Kingdom
Whether or not the district known as the Little Kingdom can truly be considered a slum is a matter of debate. The Guild doesn't set foot in the district, at least, not officially, but despite this, the crime rate is roughly on par with Downtown or the Industrial Zone, rather than the other slum districts. For most people, the Little Kingdom is a surprisingly safe place to live... provided that one follows the (often unspoken) rules of the district.

The Little Kingdom is a district built and populated by expatriates from the Three Kingdoms: China, Japan, and Vietnam. In a way, entering the Little Kingdom is like stepping into another world entirely: the buildings bear the stylings of eastern architecture, paper lanterns hang overhead, and the streets are cluttered with carts selling broth, rice, and noodles. The buildings are labeled in bewildering array of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese dialects, and the amount of bath houses, herbalists, and curio shops that can be found nestled along its narrow streets is almost staggering.

The residents of the Little Kingdom are primarily of Asian descent, and most dress in the manner of their homeland. Flowing kimono, exotic robes, elaborate tattoos, and top knots are commonplace. Many of the westerners who live in the district have chosen to adopt elements of their neighbors' aesthetics into their own wardrobes, even if it's just a gradual transition from wearing blacks and browns into the brighter colors that flourish in the district. Others fully embrace the culture of the Three Kingdoms, donning kimono, changshan, qipao, or ao dai.

Opium dens are also common in the district. A visitor does not have to look hard to find a smokefilled flophouse that is more than happy to peddle its drugs for a few coins. These dens of iniquity prey upon the desperate and addicted, and it's not uncommon for the addicted to find themselves cut off from their drugs until they perform a "small favor" for the owners.

More often than not, these owners are the Ten Thunders, a crime syndicate that has all but taken over control of the Little Kingdom. Though they present themselves as a simple street gang, the residents of the district know that the Thunders are far more powerful than they appear. Much of the money that flows through the district eventually passes through the hands of the Ten Thunders, and they take just enough of a cut to ensure that everyone remembers they are in control.

The Southgate Slums
The Southgate slums are located to the south of the Central slums and primarily consist of the area adjacent to the river and central railroad line. Despite being the slums located furthest from Downtown and the Guild Enclave, this district is surprisingly well defended by the Guild. Southgate Station is more of a military fortress than a railroad station, though the guardsmen stationed there treat it more like the latter than the former.

This relaxed atmosphere permeates the entire district. The presence of the Guild discourages criminal activity (or at the very least, encourages criminals to keep to the shadows), and the surrounding areas of the Quarantine Zone are generally abandoned and quiet. Many of the residents here are miners and railworkers who use the railway to commute back and forth between their meager homes and their tiring jobs. The M&SU has a few smaller outposts here that help Union members with their day-to-day lives, offering services such as schools for their children and dining halls that offer cheap, warm meals for tired workers who don't want to cook their own dinner.

The Southern Slums
The Southern slums are a slapdash pocket of civilization that is all but cut off from the rest of the city. Its residents can still visit the more populated districts by exiting the city and walking around the outer walls until one reaches the gates of the Southgate slums, but it's enough of a walk that most people only make the journey once or twice a week. This seclusion works both ways, however, and as a result, the Southern slums tend to avoid many of the problems that are common in the city proper.

That isn't to say that the Southern slums are entirely free of strife. There are always a handful of gangs fighting for control over the district, and extortion and bribery are unfortunately a part of life here that simply cannot be avoided. So long as the conflict between the gangs remains low-key, the Guild is content to let them fight over the district without becoming involved. The only exception is the two block area surrounding the Aircar pylon, which the Guild aggressively defends against anyone foolish enough to challenge their claim.

The buildings in the Southern slums are the typical eclectic mix of architectural styles common to Malifaux City, but in general, they tend towards five story Victorian row houses. Most of the buildings have been subdivided out by their inhabitants, using methods that range from "blanket draped over a length of clothesline" to "structurally dubious wooden wall." Few people bother to put much work into fixing up their homes, as such improvements just draw the attention of gangs who will most likely claim the improved home for their own.

Despite this, life in the Southern slums carries on in a relatively normal fashion. There are saloons, grocery stores, doctors' offices, and other necessary businesses scattered throughout the district, providing the trappings of civilization. Most of these buildings are a bit run-down and grimy, but that's just the sort of life that one expects in the Southern slums.

The Burns
If the Southern slums are cut off from the rest of the city, then the Burns are all but exiled from it. In 1900, the Witch Hunters attempted to arrest an eight-year-old girl who had manifested magical powers upon her arrival in Malifaux. The district's residents came to her defense, and in their desperation, the Witch Hunters put a bullet in the girl's head and beat a hasty retreat from the district. The resulting riots led to the destruction of the pylon that connected the Burns to the rest of the city, and the Guild decided not to rebuild it.

In the seven years since, the Burns have more or less been left to their own devices. A number of merchants act as go-betweens for the district, supplying its businesses with materials purchased elsewhere in the city. This leads to higher prices across the district, which in turn ensures that few people have much of a reason to ever visit the Burns.


The Quarantine Zone

The Quarantine Zone is the name given to the portions of the city that the Guild has declared off limits. Officially, anyone who is spotted in the Quarantine Zone without Guild authorization is shot on sight. In practice, there are a lot of gray areas, especially when it comes to Quarantine districts like Cold Street or Scapetown, which either contain too many people to make such a plan feasible or whose residents still serve a purpose in the Guild's eyes.

Nearly half of the city consists of Quarantine Zones. They press against the barricades that separate them from the "inhabited" parts of the city like living things, a constant reminder to the residents of the city that their foothold in Malifaux is more tenuous than they will ever admit. It looms large in the city's imagination, a crumbling stage onto which the darkest fears of humanity are projected.

The Guild's official maps show the Quarantine Zone as a featureless expanse safely encapsulated inside the bounds of the city's barricades and outer walls. All formal documentation is carefully worded in such a way as to give the impression that the Quarantine Zone is an inconvenient but otherwise inconsequential stretch of wilderness.

Informally, of course, anyone can peek over the barricades to see that the Quarantine Zone is populated by buildings and people not much different from themselves. The Guild holds that the Quarantine Zone is filled with monsters, criminals, and Resurrectionists which are only kept at bay by constant vigilance. To some point, that generalization is true: the Quarantine Zone does hold monsters, and the Resurrectionists have more or less claimed entire districts of the forbidden area for themselves. Mixed in with these villains, however, are plenty of people who fell on hard times or were forced to flee into the one place the Guild won't look for them.

While it's easy to see why a criminal or necromancer would choose to hide from sight in the Quarantine Zone, few people realize that the greatest reason for flight is due to simple sickness. The Guild's typical response to any sort of highly contagious disease is a bullet to the back of the head, lest it spread through the city or, potentially, all across Earth. Those suffering from Tuberculosis - or the parents or spouses of those suffering from the disease - have little choice but to flee into the Quarantine Zone or get put down by the first Guild guardsman to notice their sickness.


The Sewers

A complicated network of drainage channels runs underneath Malifaux City. They were built to withstand storm drainage of unimaginable intensity, and even in the worst storms witnessed by humanity, when the Bayou swelled with water and the river spilled over its banks, the streets of the city remained relatively dry and clear.

The labyrinthine network of pipes and tunnels defies any sort of logical design, often twisting back upon itself in ways that no sane architect would ever commit to a blueprint. These tunnels are built upon older tunnels, which are in turn built upon even older tunnels, creating a layered maze of crumbling passages and iron grates. Some passages are completely submerged, while others are dry and wide enough for four men to walk down them side by side. If one can look past the muck and grime, some of the architecture is even inspired, with broad, high-ceilinged chambers and elaborate vaulted roofs.

It is considered to be common knowledge in the city that terrible things lurk in the sewers. There are entrances all over the city, in the most unlikely of places, and the Resurrectionists make frequent use of the tunnels to move back and forth between the inhabited parts of the city and the Quarantine Zone. Smugglers of all stripes also make use of the sewers, as do the rat catchers who toil constantly, fighting to keep the city's plague-ridden rat population under control.



Beyond the City

The lands beyond the walls of Malifaux City are commonly split up into five main areas: the rolling lands of the Northern Hills, the distant Ten Peaks, the swampy marshes of the eastern Bayou, the desolate wasteland of the southern Badlands, and the mysterious Knotwoods forest that presses up against the city's western borders. Humanity has spent the past decade spreading across this wild and untamed wilderness, scraping out small patches of civilization wherever it can.


The Northern Hills

The Northern Hills make up most of the land north of Malifaux City. These hills are rich in Soulstones and precious ores, and as such, they have been the primary focus of the Guild ever since the re-opening of the Breach. Not surprisingly, a sizeable number of boomtowns and contract towns have sprung up in the region. The area is also littered with the century-old ruins of previous settlements from before the Breach's closing.

Once the Breach was re-opened, the Guild wasted no time in building rail lines to connect Malifaux City to the northern mines. The most difficult portion of the railway line was the series of bridges that crossed the Footprints, the scattered chasms located north of the city. From the Footprints, the Northern Hills transition into a wide expanse of the gently rolling, reddishbrown hills that give the region its name. The endless rise and fall of the land makes it difficult to get one's bearings, and the region's vegetation consists of the occasional patch of twisted knotwood trees and the much-more-frequent shrubs and bushes which grow in dense clusters on certain hillsides. When it rains, the water accumulates into flash floods that thunder through the valleys between hills, sweeping away anything in their way.


The Ten Peaks

The Ten Peaks mountain range marks the northernmost boundaries of explored Malifaux. Their snowcapped peaks and year-round arctic winds make scaling them nearly impassible, and every expedition that has tried to conquer the mountains has met with defeat.

The meltwater from the top of the mountains feeds the Blackrill and Frostrun Rivers, ultimately supplying most of the water that makes up the wetlands of the Bayou. It is bordered on the west by the Far Peaks, a smaller mountain range that intersects and eventually joins with its monstrous cousin. Further east, an offshoot of the mountains known as Slate Ridge juts downward into the Northern Hills. These low mountains don't have year-round snowcapped peaks but they nevertheless always seem to be surrounded by cool winds, even in the summer months.

Very few people live in the mountains. Those who do are primarily exiles with nowhere else to go, such as heinous criminals who have come together for mutual protection or the infamous Cult of December. The Cult worships the mountains, the cold, and a supernatural being called December, and that reverence has given them the strength to thrive in their frozen home. Its members are all cannibals, and their scouts constantly prowl the mountains and foothills in search of animals or people to harpoon and drag back to their hungry companions.


The Bayou

To the east of the city is the vast, murky wilderness known as the Bayou. The thick vegetation and teeming wildlife of the Bayou stands in sharp contrast to the desolation of the Badlands and the arid emptiness of the Northern Hills. The eastern edges of the Bayou are raised hills that form the edges of the basin containing the swamp, and beyond them lies the ocean.

The primary residents of the Bayou are Gremlins. Though uncivilized and barely intelligent during the days of the first Breach, the Gremlins have advanced rapidly over the past century. They have taken to mimicking human behavior, particularly the human habits of wearing clothes and using firearms. Gremlins have a strong love for alcohol, and one of the first things they learned from humans was how to brew up moonshine in whatever ramshackle distilleries they could cobble together from traded or stolen machinery parts. The Gremlin families closest to human settlements often trade their surplus moonshine to human smugglers who turn around and sell the high-proof alcohol to Malifaux's human residents.


The Badlands

The dry, cracked dirt of the Badlands stretches far to the south; just endless dust and small outcroppings of rock as far as the eye can see. There are few landmarks here and no easy way to get one's bearings. Dust and lightning storms are both common, and any rain that falls seems to soak into the ground almost instantly.

The Badlands to the south of Malifaux City are scattered with small homesteads, the product of the Guild's various resettlement campaigns. After a few years of hard work and shared profits, the Guild grants these settlers ownership of the land they worked. This program has allowed a great number of oppressed and impoverished people from across Earth to start new lives in Malifaux, and as a result, these settlers tend to be devoted supporters of the Guild and its policies.

The extent of the Guild's influence in the Badlands is Debtor's Delve, a long canyon that is part prison and part work camp. Unlike Bedlam Quarry in the Northern Hills, which is used to break the spirits of incoming convicts before they are shipped out to other mines, Debtor's Delve is a low security site that relies more upon the desolation of the Badlands than the pistols of the guardsmen to keep its prisoners in place. Most of the "convicts" sent to Debtor's Delve are, as the name implies, those who have defaulted on Guild loans. After a period of forced labor spent digging iron and stone out of the quarry, the prisoners are placed on a train and shipped back to Earth.

To the southeast is the sleepy town of Edge Point, which is perched on the borders of the Bayou, and Latigo Stronghold, the fortified ranch of the Ortega family. The Ortegas are famous for their proficiency with firearms and numerous battles against the Neverborn of the Badlands, and that legend attracts new recruits to their banner each year. The family patrols the various small homesteads and settlements of the Badlands on a regular basis, offering help where they can and murdering any Neverborn foolish enough to encroach upon what the Ortegas consider to be "their" territory.


The Knotwoods

The western edge of Malifaux City is dominated by the Knotwoods, a thick and overgrown forest that stretches westward to the Far Peaks. The forest is one of the primary strongholds of the Neverborn, and they punish any sort of trespass into its pinefilled depths with pain and violence.

The only human settlement in the entirety of the forest is Fortune Falls, a heavily fortified lumberjack camp that exists in a state of near constant siege. The loggers of Fortune Falls harvest the forest's trees and ship them back to the city, either on the Fortune River or the Green Cannonball, a highspeed locomotive that rockets through the forest with a speed that is intended to discourage the Neverborn from attacking the armored train.

The casualty rate in Fortune Falls is the highest of any human settlement in Malifaux. The loggers are paid well for the dangers of their profession, and many are trained combat veterans. It is a testament to their tenacity that the town still stands, especially when one considers the sheer breadth of strange magics and creatures that the Neverborn have used in their attempt to drive the encroaching humans out of their land.

The Factions

While the majority of Malifaux's residents are just normal people trying to get by in a strange and often unforgiving world, their lives are strongly influenced by the various factions that struggle to control the city and its surrounding settlements. Few people can live within the city without coming into contact with the Guild in some form or another, and in the Northern Hills, the Union is just as ubiquitous.

In many ways, life in Malifaux is viewed through the lenses of these factions. Being a member of the Guild or the Union isn't just a job in Malifaux; it's a statement of one's beliefs that colors their interactions with everyone around them. Malifaux is a hotbed of propaganda and conflict, and even those who try to stay out of the fighting rarely remain independent for very long.


The Guild

The Guild of Mercantilers is often seen as an omnipresent, ever-vigilant force that protects people against criminals and the monstrous Neverborn. It controls the most inhabited parts of Malifaux City, and with it, the Breach that links the world back to Earth. Back on Earth, the Guild's influence is impossible to ignore, and its agents can be found in courts and throne rooms all across the world. To a casual observer, the Guild appears to be a massive, world-spanning organization with access to near limitless power.

The Guild responds to threats against its authority with demonstrations of overwhelming force. On Earth, much of the Guild's power is political and economic in nature, forcing it to rely upon the troops of other nations to enforce its will. In Malifaux, the Guild's power is more direct. It rules over Malifaux City with an iron fist, presenting itself as the only thing standing between humanity and the new world's native monsters. In actuality, however, the Guild cares only for its own profits. Everything that passes through the Breach - whether people, food, supplies, firearms, or luxury supplies - is subject to an import fee, and many of the largest and most successful businesses are either owned by or affiliated with the Guild.

While these import fees ensure that the Guild makes a tidy profit on the people living in Malifaux, the majority of its interest lies in Soulstones. The magical gemstones are the primary reason for the Guild's interest in Malifaux, and just about everything the organization does revolves around Soulstones in one way or another. Each shipment of Soulstones that the Guild sends back to Earth helps to further cement its stranglehold over the world's most powerful nations, and as such, it values the rare gemstones far more than the people who are ostensibly under its protection.

The challenges of ruling a city the size of Malifaux have forced the Guild to reluctantly adopt a peacekeeping role, and so the organization has established a number of specialized branches to help in this regard. The Guild Guard are the street-level, rank-and-file soldiers; an oppressive constabulary force intended to ensure the safety of the city's residents while also protecting the Guild's interests. The Neverborn Hunters are less of an official branch and more a collection of bounty hunters with Guild support. These brave individuals specialize in dealing with the Neverborn, for which the Guild pays generously. The Death Marshals are an anti-Necromantic division that contends with the threat of the Resurrectionists and their undead. The Witch Hunters are tasked with stopping unlawful magic in Malifaux, which includes imprisoning or executing anyone who displays magical ability and isn't a Guild operative. Not surprisingly, they are by far the most hated of the branches.



Miners & Steamfitters Union

The Miners and Steamfitters Union (the M&SU for short) is the foremost organization in the Northern Hills. At its core, the Union represents the miners who work in the region's Soulstone mines and the engineers who build and maintain the digging constructs and mechanical devices used by those miners. Over the years, the Union has grown to include lawyers who battle against the Guild in the courts, captains and sailors who move mining equipment up the river from Malifaux City, washerwomen who clean entire heaps of dirty clothing at a time, and countless other non-miner personnel who nevertheless lend their talents to the Union's prosperity.

The mission of the M&SU is to improve worker conditions in Malifaux and allow its members to reap the rewards of their hard work. Guild oversight over mining concerns, transit, and trade means that there are plenty of places where the Guild is the final arbiter over people's lives, and the Union exerts pressure on these places to make sure that the concerns of its members are being met. The M&SU’s influence is such that it can sometimes get its way by strong arming the Guild with threats of a workers' strike. Since the Union's workers are indispensable to Malifaux's Soulstone industry, the Guild is unable to resort to its standard tactics of murder or imprisonment and is forced to the bargaining table.

Despite its lofty goals, the Union is not a benevolent organization. It will protect and support its members, but if someone who isn't a member of the Union gets into trouble (or if a member doesn't pay their dues), then the Union won't help. In order to remain strong enough to push back against the tyranny of the Guild, the M&SU has been forced to become cold and pragmatic with regards to those outside its ranks. This has served to convince people who are not actually miners or steamfitters to join the Union for their own protection.

Unbeknownst to most residents of Malifaux, the M&SU has a secretive branch that was already fighting for control of Malifaux when the Union was little more than a dream in anyone's mind. This group calls itself the Arcanists, and they believe that humans should be given free reign to embrace magic and revel in its power.

The Arcanists use the M&SU as a legal front in order to hide its activities. Using the Union as cover, the Arcanists are able to fund their more expensive research projects and endeavors, and its paperwork ensures that anyone captured by the Guild would have documented alibis that are backed by the threats of financial extortion: if the Guild pressed the Arcanists too hard, Union could bring the production of Soulstones in the north screeching to a halt.

Many of the Arcanists' activities in Malifaux revolve around trying to sabotage the Guild and seize control of the Breach (and with it, Malifaux). After being elected, Union President Victor Ramos ensured that the goals of the Arcanists were also the goals of the Union, and in the years since, the Northern Hills and Malifaux City have become the battleground across which these two organizations have fought. For the most part, this conflict has been political, but this simmering resentment has broken out into open conflict on more than one occasion.


The Resurrectionists

The loose cabal of necromancers, grave robbers, and serial killers that are today known as the Resurrectionists were given that title by former Governor-General Kitchener in a public aethervox speech in 1898. It was intended as an insult, an attempt to hobble the fear and mystery surrounding their dark powers by likening them to common body snatchers. The newly-minted Resurrectionists found the name amusing, however, and claimed it as their own.

Though they bear similarities to the Arcanists in that they are spellcasters who have come together to oppose the Guild (and anyone else who would stand in the way of their plans), that is about as far as the comparison goes. The Resurrectionists, often unknowingly, draw upon the foul, unnatural power of an hellish being known as the Grave Spirit to fuel their dark magic. It's through channeling that entity's corrupted essence that they are able to invoke such dark miracles as restoring the semblance of life to a corpse or enslaving hungry ghosts to their will.

Perhaps the most terrifying thing about the Resurrectionists is that nobody seems to fully understand where they come from. The lure of Necromancy is subtle, often starting as little more than a whispering voice in the back of one's mind or a glimpse of an open page in a dusty tome. If the person expresses curiosity, they find themselves encountering more and more dark secrets as the voices in their head grow louder.

As a group, the Resurrectionists are far less organized that the Arcanists. Most keep to themselves, working alone or with one or two loyal assistants. Due to the gruesome and illegal nature of their work, these necromancers are forced to ply their trade in secret. Each one develops their own particular way of harnessing the Grave Spirit's power, whether through science, magic, or some otherwordly pact. This haphazard learning process makes it difficult for a Resurrectionist to match the sheer power of an Arcanist (who has likely been tutored by more experienced spellcasters), but it also fosters creative resourcefulness as fresh corpses and privacy are often in short supply.

A combination of public hatred and the tenacity of the Death Marshals has forced many Resurrectionists into the abandoned Quarantine Zone of Malifaux City. There, these grim necromancers fortify the city's abandoned districts and populate them with shambling undead militias in order to fend off roving Neverborn (or other Resurrectionists).

Despite preferring their own company over that of other necromancers, Resurrectionists do not entirely ignore each other. Even the most solitary of their number likely knows one or two fellow practitioners of the dark arts, if only because they occasionally dig up corpses in the same graveyard. This familiarity lends itself to vaguely professional relationships, and it's not uncommon for that to lead to shared research or casual conversation. Some Resurrectionists even team up with each other to combat mutual threats, much to the dismay of the Guild, which often ends up being that mutual threat.


The Ten Thunders

The Ten Thunders are a crime syndicate that dabbles in a large variety of illicit activities, including assassination, blackmail, racketeering, burglary, gambling, kidnapping, smuggling, and drug trafficking. They are primarily based out of the Little Kingdom slum district, which is fitting for an organization that primarily draws its membership from the Japan, China, and Vietnam (known as "The Three Kingdoms" back on Earth).

Unlike the Guild or the M&SU, which are both led by public figures, the leaders of the Ten Thunders keep their identities a secret. At the center of the organization are the Katanaka, a disgraced Japanese family which embraced its shame to create one of the most influential criminal empires in the Three Kingdoms. The Ten Thunders are an extension of that empire; a lie that the Katanakas have wrapped around themselves to obscure their involvement in Malifaux from their enemies.

Beyond the Katanaka family are a core of trusted advisors and lieutenants who have willingly given their lives to the Ten Thunders. These fearsome warriors and spellcasters are typically believed to be the "true" leaders of the Ten Thunders, which suits the Katanaka family just fine.

From those who sit next to the Oyabun all the way down to the most common thug in the streets, all members of the Ten Thunders are sworn to secrecy and are expected to willingly give their lives for the organization rather than reveal its secrets. This expectation is reinforced with a great deal of internal monitoring, frequent tests of loyalty, and the brutal public execution of anyone who betrays their confidence.

The vast majority of the Ten Thunders' holdings are profitable ventures such as casinos, gambling houses, brothels, and opium dens. When combined with the protection money they charge the businesses of the Little Kingdom, this income allows the group to finance some of its more ambitious plans.

Within the Little Kingdom, the Ten Thunders are treated with a mixture of respect and fear. The members of the organization frequently wear masks when operating in public, as it ensures that none of the district's residents are able to identify the group's members. Though the benefits of a criminal shielding her identity is obvious, this also helps the Ten Thunders in another way: the residents of the Little Kingdom never know if the person they are speaking with might be a member of the crime syndicate. Despite the almost ubiquitous presence of the Ten Thunders in the district, few of its residents will speak about the organization or its many crimes, instead blaming the victims for their "bad fortune" or "poor decisions."


The Neverborn

When humans first stumbled through the raw, fresh Breach into Malifaux, they found themselves in a bizarre, surreal environment. Malifaux City is a vast agglomeration unlike anything humans had ever seen. Strangest of all, the city was empty. The first settlers assumed that was true of the whole of Malifaux. They were wrong.

The creatures that humanity has dubbed the Neverborn are the native inhabitants of Malifaux. They are not one uniform species, but rather, seem to be comprised of multiple sub-species of varying levels of sapience. Some are the corrupted and twisted descendants of Malifaux's original inhabitants, while others are nightmarish creatures that were created through bizarre magic or countless generations of magically-enhanced evolution. Though some Neverborn are monstrous in appearance, others are characterized by their inhuman beauty.

As a group, the Neverborn are fractious and disorganized. Even within a single race there are often different groups who have conflicting goals and ambitions. In this way, the Neverborn are not that much different from humanity. If there is one trait that ties the Neverborn together as a whole, it is that they are all, to a greater or less degree, creatures of mutable form and powerful magic. In some sub-species, this trait expresses itself as distinct life cycles. The Silurid, for example, are fish-like creatures that are born male and eventually become female as they reach the end of their life cycle. Nephilim, meanwhile, are born as small, purple-skinned creatures that resemble human toddlers. If a Nephilim consumes red blood, it grows progressively larger with each meal, eventually sprouting massive wings and curling horns that cause it to resemble a biblical demon.

Some Neverborn are true shapechangers who can shift effortlessly between one or more different forms. The most obvious example of this ability comes in the form of Mimics and Dopplegangers, two similar creatures who can both effortlessly duplicate the physical appearances of those they encounter. With the coming of humanity and their occupation of Malifaux City, some Neverborn have found it useful to assume human form.

A great many Neverborn believe that humanity is a scourge that must be cleansed from the world at any cost. They will not easily surrender their lands to what they see as foreign invaders. Some Neverborn deal with humans using brutality and violence, while others prefer to manipuate humans and toy with them. A handful of Neverborn have even insidiously infiltrated human society in order to study humanity and claim some measure of its comforts. However, there is a vocal minority of the creatures that think humans are destined to play an important part in Malifaux's future, and thus, should be allowed to coexist with the Neverborn.


The Outcasts

In between the plots and schemes of the city's various factions are countless men and women who have, for one reason or another, turned their back on a normal life in order to live a more roguish lifestyle. These scoundrels and mercenaries often eke out their meager existences as petty crooks or hired guns.

It’s difficult to categorize "Outcasts" because part of what defines the group is its sheer lack of coherence. The Guild all fight beneath one banner, the Arcanists and Neverborn share uneasy alliances of convenience, and even the Resurrectionists sometimes stick together (if only because everyone else hates them). But what makes an Outcast an Outcast is their sheer, bloody-minded individualism.

A small few of these desperate folk have managed to demonstrate talents or skills sufficient to pull themselves out of the gutter and become power players in the city's political landscape. Often, these skilled mercenaries and killers have their roots in the Guild, for the skills of a guardsmen translate surprisingly well to bounty hunting or freelance investigation. The most successful Outcasts are those who have banded together with others of their kind. The best example of this is the Freikorps, who are essentially a private army for hire, but there are dozens of other successful and discreet mercenary groups with proven track records.

Many others are convicts who have either finished their sentences or escaped custody and now have no way to return back to Earth. With few options other than crime or hard labor, these desperate people turn towards freelance work in an attempt to survive without drawing the Guild's attention.

No matter who they are, however, these tough men and women are each in control of their own fate, for better or worse. They've learned to survive by rubbing elbows with the worst that Malifaux and humanity has to offer, and those experiences have hardened them to the minor human terrors that frequently surprise others.