Places in the Shanty Towns

Despite the way the shanty towns are treated by the city, there are people and places among the squalid buildings of interest and importance.

Mother Scarlet lives on the very edge of the northern shanty town. An old, bent woman, she has a reputation for being a witch and a wind caller. Nobody knows where she came from but her small shack, festooned with strings of bones that clatter in the almost constant wind that sweeps down from the north, is well known. For the local people she is a source of medicine and counselling; for people from within the city walls, especially women, she offers another service. Hers is the only place where an unwanted child can be discreetly got rid of, something she does through herbal tinctures and lotions.

This flies in the face of the orthodoxy handed down by the Church, which holds every life sacred whether born or not and hunts abortionists down. The Cult of Merida is less strict about the issue, but the other strands of the Church hold the act of abortion as something that only aids the Shadow Gods and therefore something that should be stamped out.

At present it is a mystery as to how Mother Scarlet has not been discovered and killed, frankly. Whilst her services are not widely advertised outside the shanty town even she has been surprised by the way her business has been ignored. There are rumours that a priest of Alchnor the Lord of Purity may be on his way east however and that could swing unwelcome light onto her practice.

The Smugglers operate from the eastern gate, though they have groups in all the towns and even within the city. Led by Markov the Gaunt they have become adept at spotting likely marks and exploiting them. Once stolen the goods are taken to a safe house near the central market, and stored in the cellar prior to being sold on the black market. Perhaps predictably this has led to the Roof Runners becoming aware of them and a number of shipments into the city have been disrupted as a consequence.

So far Markov has been able to deflect investigations into the smugglers' activities but knows that it is only a matter of time before something goes wrong. Unknown to his followers, he is also making secret plans to head south if the heat gets too much, hoping the presence of a dragon will mean he is not followed.

The southern shanty town is the home of a small, discreet still that brews a number of heady concoctions. Deprived of traditional brewing and distilling ingredients the brothers who run the still, Asha and Morr, use local alternatives, including moss, fern and nettle. The result will definitely get you drunk but you may regret the taste of the brew. Their whisky, which is sold in some of the inns in Sharoban itself, has a reputation for being a dangerous thing to drink. At least one person has gone blind from it and the brothers have had to fend off angry relatives on numerous occasions.

The still takes the form of a large shack just beyond the shanty town's official edge. The current version, the fourth, is a large, squat building with woven wicker walls. The brothers chose the design after the third, a stone outhouse, exploded. They reason wicker won't hurt as much as stone if this one goes the same way...

Anastasiy comes from a tribe that ranges in the eastern reaches of the steppes. A group of horsemen and raiders, their territory begins at the far edge of the  Red Vein Mountains and extends as far as the Dyrkan Ridge, where the Witch Lands begin. His presence in the shanty town is something of a mystery, as is his tendency to hide whenever eastern caravans come to Sharoban, especially if his kinsmen travel with them.

In truth Anastasiy was a prince among his people until he went against the marriage his family has arranged with a young enchantress of the Witch Lands. In an overly dramatic act he waited until the betrothal feast to let his feelings be known - smashing the betrothal cup to the ground and daring to draw his sabre in his father's presence. Exiled and disgraced he fled west and found sanctuary in the shanty towns. He is still working out what he wants to do with his life, and for the moment he is just trying to keep his head down and stay hidden.

The Shrine: tucked away within the western shanty town the shrine takes the form of a man with antlers. Most people do not know what it is, assuming it to be a work of art that has somehow made its way there. In truth it is a statue of the Hunter, a Chosen god of the shadow pantheon. A small group of hunters and trackers venerate it, asking for assistance with their kills. In return they offer blood and meat to the god. Rarely, they offer the life of a man they have hunted.

Next time we'll look at the gods in more detail and explore how the two pantheons came into existence.