The World of London Below

Agnes is a failed witch and one of many ‘mad old cat ladies’ who live within London Below doting on their charges. Agnes is very old and frail and she is slowly becoming more weak-minded and dotty in her dotage but when it comes to her garden she is
as sharp and knowledgeable as she has ever been dispensing advice and herbs with quiet expertise and occasionally giving them away for free. Agnes isn’t well regarded by the Seven Sisters or the Four Witches but to many Undersiders she’s a godsend with her mastery of herbalism and her practiced hand in the art of urban gardening. While an unsuccessful witch she’s still able to toss off a practiced curse or blessing if pressed.

The Baron: Once a force to be reckoned with, the Baron Chambers stood with Earl’s Court against White City. Since the defeat in that battle he has never regained his former
glory, suffering worse losses than the Earl, and prefers to remain a recluse, observing rather than participating in the politics of the Undercity. The Baron and his few men-at-arms stay within his house, the doors barred and receiving very few visitors. The Baron loathes the Marquis, blaming him for the fall of his house and expends what little resources he has left in pursuing vengeance. 

The Baron is tired of life and battle, tired of London Below.  The machinations of the fi efs have brought him nothing but pain and now he is a grim and embittered fi gure. Lean and strong still, his malaise is mental, his vengeful nature conflicting with his lack of power and eating a dark hole inside him. Once inspired, a leader of men, he is now a spent figure spending what remains of his wealthy treasury and his loyal men on his vendetta against the Marquis. A veteran of the blade and bow as well as a tactician of similar level the Baron once claimed dominion over the streets and back alleys, the hidden. Unable to protect his domain the court is losing more and more power to the other houses, the rot unstoppable.  However, The Baron still maintains dominion over all that is forgotten.

Big Ben:  A very imposing figure Ben is as large, as inhumanly strong, as supremely tough and as gifted with beard and hair as Hammersmith. With his truly deafening
voice and his charismatic and undeniable presence he brings news to the Underside by the time-honoured method of screaming it at the top of his lungs. Dressed in the manner of a town crier Ben is festooned with clocks, watches and other assorted timepieces all attached by chain, pin or string to his enormous, thick leather waistcoat. In his hand he carries a great bell which doubles as both club and ringer to draw heed to his announcements. Ben is a guardian of time and looks after the Time Lost while at the same time
dealing harshly with those who play ‘silly buggers’ with space and time too often. As such he is a veteran tracker and club user knowing his Underside navigation equally well. Ben has the knack of moving through time and space at will, though he has to follow rules nobody else quite understands. At this he is legendary. 

The Cygnets:  The Cygnets are three faerie swan-maidens who live on a barge in little Venice. As Swans they take mates and nest, producing a single egg each and every year. Each of these eggs can store someone’s life force and soul, enabling them to be restored after their body ‘dies’. Convincing one of the Cygnets to part with her child, or stealing it from her, is a daunting prospect.  The Cygnets are lithe and graceful, utterly beautiful and possessed of otherworldly charm. As faerie beings they are immortal and incorruptible, preferring to keep to themselves. In place of hair they have fine white feathers. Each of the Cygnets has a masterful singing voice and has a practiced ability to do minor illusory glamours. They also possess the knack of changing into the form of a swan.

The Earl:  The Earl of Earl’s court was once a respected, hawkish warrior and ladies man but time has not been kind to
the old fellow. Pottering about in his dressing gown and slippers and increasingly senile in his dotage, the final blow to the Earl was the loss of his eye repaying a debt to the Marquis by involving himself in the most recent revolt at the White City. The loss of his eye and a great deal of his men brought age crashing down on the Earl and he has collapsed inwardly. Still a broad and strong man of great endurance the Earl is nonetheless doddering and unsure of himself. Genial and friendly he compensates for his teetering health and lapsed mind by being a fine host and doing all he can to help the forces of good within the Underside. The Earl claims dominion over the lost and the underground he is a veteran swordsman and has a veteran’s knowledge of the lore of the Underside. He is a practiced leader who was once greater than he is now but those times
have passed.

The Four Witches:  The Old Witch, mistress of decay, the Green Witch, mistress of growth, the Dull Witch, mistress of erosion and the Wool Witch, mistress of creation, are some of the most potent conjurors in London Below and deal with most of the undesirables of below, including the Shepherds, without reservation or a second thought. It is dangerous to bargain with them but it can be very, very useful, if you’re willing to pay the price. 

The Gap: A mist-like and tentacled force that exists along the train tracks and in the tunnels, the Gap are rumoured to make their homes in the Underside line and
Blackheath. Wispy looking, like shadows, they are solid enough when they grab you, burning your skin and trying to drag you down onto the track to feast on you. The Gap is endlessly patient and extremely powerful, able to drag even strong Bravos down onto the tracks. It is greatly feared by all Undersiders and is one of the chief reasons so few use the Underground trains save in emergencies or to get an audience with the Earl. The Gap is sinister, dark and cold, its wispy form extremely resistant to harm. The Gap is practiced at grabbing people off the platform to feed its hunger. 

Mornington Crescent:  Felix Mornington Crescent is both poet and musician; some would argue the best in all London. He is equally at home entertaining the Earl and Baron in their courts as he is playing to the Darkling Children of Camden.  It is noteworthy that he is one of the few outsiders welcome in Sister Saturday’s domain, although it has been commented that his visits there have not
left him unscathed. By all accounts he has become somewhat… particular. Yet all are in agreement that his mania has not lessened his musical or poetic talent in the least.  Mornington is somewhat effete and nervous dressing in the manner of a rumpled seventeenth century gentleman. Cautious and careful he is able to ingratiate himself with others thanks to his humble and honest nature. Truly talented and creative, most of the enemies he has made have vowed not to kill him, not wishing to destroy such an irreplaceable artist.  Were they to think he truly knew of their secrets there would be hell to pay. Mornington is a legendary poet and musician and a master of Underside lore. He has the unwanted knack of receiving visions in the form of dreams that tell him of great story-worthy events or villainies and he is compelled to chronicle them in song or doggerel. 

Old Bailey:  Old Bailey is a rooftop hermit who makes a living selling rooks and starlings for the stew pot or for use as pets as well as trading information. Old Bailey is an eccentric, kind and friendly old man who dresses in heavy woollen clothes and a cloak of bird feathers.  Very hospitable in his home he is forever offering his guests a bit of stew. In spite of his habit of eating birds he is not actively hated or disliked by them or by Raven’s Court, many birds regard him as a philosopher of the human condition and will risk the stew pot in an attempt to get more information. Absentminded Old Bailey is fond of long shaggy dog stories ending in terrible puns though he tells them poorly.  Claustrophobic he only ventures below with his birds for market time. A veteran at the language of the birds and practiced in the tongue of rats Old Bailey is a mine of information with his veteran’s knowledge of Underside Lore and navigation. Since running his stall he has become practiced at barter. His true claim to fame is his legendary knowledge of London’s rooftops.

Old Bexley:  As Old Bailey is the hermit of the rooftops, Old Bexley is the hermit of the streets. Dressed in rags and wearing an unzipped sleeping bag like a cloak Old Bexley wraps his head in foil and wears a folded tricorne hat made of newspaper. Raving mad Old Bexley occupies a tiny dead end passage at the end of which he has constructed a cardboard and plastic fort, which is much bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside. Old Bexley is an eccentric and lonely old man but has a fear of crowds that keeps him away from the main streets and from crowds. Any who are granted an audience with him are subjected to tirades about lizard men and mind control though his ravings do often contain nuggets of truth. Insightful, perhaps as a result of his madness, Old Bexley can be very empathetic and sensitive, often turning up in the dead of night to offer aid, comfort and advice to Half-Lifers.  Old Bexley has a legendary knowledge of the streets of London and veteran level knowledge of Underside lore.  He is practiced at medicine and a veteran of street survival.

Old Brentford:  Bailey claims the rooftop world. Bexley claims the streets. The third famous hermit of the ‘three Bs’ is Brentford. Old Brentford lives below the ground in the tunnels and the dark and suffers from acute agoraphobia. Pale as milk he dresses in a moleskin suit that has seen better days and has been patched with cat fur. Milky eyes peer from behind thick glasses at the world trying to compensate for his myopic vision.  Gifted with acute smell and fine hearing to compensate for his lack of sight Old Brentford makes his hovels on the abandoned tube stations, nesting with his friends the tube mice and living on the bounty that they both cull from the platforms and tunnels. Many people lose things over the side of the platforms and it is Brentford, brave enough to risk electrocution and the Gap, who gains these rich spoils. Hardy and with good strong
hands Brentford is allied to the Earl and helps maintain the security of the tube lines that form the Earl’s dominion.

Pinner:  The leader of the Velvets Pinner forsakes her name preferring to dress head to toe in leather. Her hair is
scraped back harshly on her head and held in place with wickedly sharp needles and she has a savage and very domineering beauty that some find seductive.  Strong and tough of body, graceful in movement and iron willed she rules the Velvets with complete ruthlessness brooking no argument of challenge from any up and coming harpy that might try to seize her position. She likes to collect moths, freezing them with a touch and adding them to her collection of pinned specimens. She regards all other life in a similar
way. Legendary in her heat draining ability and her appetite Pinner is also a master of torture, feeding well and indulging her taste for cruelty on the all too willing attendees of BDSM clubs in the above world. Also a master of intimidation the only person she’s never managed to sway with a harsh look is the Marquis, which infuriates her. 

Ranger:  Ranger is to Guides what Hunter is to Bravos, a
legendary figure thought of by as a myth. Ranger is supposed to have been around since before any other Underdweller and knows the byways of London Below better than he knows his own mind. Cloaked in dark grey Ranger has piercing green eyes and a thick beard with curly dark hair falling to his shoulders. He carries a crossbow and a knife always at the ready and moves with supreme confidence along the paths of London Below. Blackwall won’t touch him; Night’s Bridge holds no fear for him. No door is barred to his passage and no power in London Below will trouble him or his charges as he guides them on their journey. Ranger moves very quickly, never staying still for long. His great strength is said to be enough to wrestle the Gap. His great toughness is what taught Night’s Bridge not to devour him. Ever alert and very
observant nothing escapes Ranger’s notice. He is a legendary shot with his crossbow and a master of the knife. He has a legendary knowledge of Underside navigation, London’s streets and the Thames and while his knowledge of Underside lore is of a similar level he never gives out information or secrets, saying that to be valued it must be learned. 

The Raven:  The undisputed ruler of Raven’s Court she is the eldest daughter of the late Lord Corvid who died, along with her brother Rook, in the siege of Crossharbour. The
battle was lost due to the treachery of Rotherhithe, but
Raven has long known it was Croup and Vandemar who were ultimately responsible. Young to be holding such power she has allayed her dominion’s fears by proving to be a canny and ruthless leader. Pale and striking in appearance she is calm and patient most times, only showing a crack in her façade when her familial loss is mentioned. While vengeful she knows how to wait and will wait as long as necessary. Raven dreams of reuniting the lost Ravenscar treasures and
goes to great pains to fi nd he resting places of what
once made up that hoard. Slender and graceful the Raven knows how to be charming, how to be regal and what buttons to push to get what she wants. A practiced leader she is equally skilled with the knife, at intimidation, at thievery and at seduction. It is said she and all her line can transform into corvids. At her neck she wears a silver pendant, the very last item of the Ravenscar treasure that remains with the family. She has a legendary ability to talk to the birds, a reflection of her upbringing and house. The Raven's Court claim dominion over all that is taken.

The Seven Sisters:  Including Olympia, Serpentine, Victoria, Maida, Stepney, Morden and Caledonia. Sorcerers and enchantresses all they have not been talking to each other for some time. Most of London Below have heard of them, are afraid of them, particularly Serpentine, and dread to think of them ever acting together. 

The Shepherd Queen:  The ruler of the Shepherd’s Bush slavers their queen is masked on all public occasions and is worshipped as a living goddess by her people. Tall and statuesque she towers over most of her followers resplendent in in dark leather and a long robe. Carried everywhere by liveried slaves and defended by a phalanx of bodyguards she nonetheless rarely ever leaves the Shepherds’ area of control. The Shepherd Queen rarely speaks but every word that does leave her mouth is carefully considered and usually an order or an insightful comment. She is sole and only leader of the Shepherds and her word is law. Somewhat
haughty and very privileged she is pampered and spoiled by her huge retinue of guards and slaves but seems fit and capable herself. When an assassination attempt got past her guard she moved with sudden speed and managed to disarm and kill her attacker without any need for aid. The Shepherd Queen is a master of rule and has the knack of dominating minds at the same level.

Skinner:  An agent of the Shepherds of Shepherds Bush Skinner is used to put the fear of god into runaway slaves. If one is not captured within a week Skinner is unleashed to look for them. Skinner hardly ever fails. A loose limbed and very fast man Skinner spends so long away from the Shepherds that his body hair starts to grow back in giving him a constant stubbly and unkempt appearance during the pursuit. His suit is made up of the tanned skins of those he has recaptured and all who are recaptured are dealt with in this way so that
they might serve as a warning to others. Deadly and grim faced Skinner seeks only to kill those he tracks with deadly force. Always alert for their presence it’s said he doesn’t sleep while in pursuit. Extremely
intimidating with his cold eyes and thousand-yard stare the presence of Skinner can be terrifying even to those who aren’t being pursued and has been known to punish those who harbour runaways. A master tracker and a master with the spear and knife Skinner has a veteran’s knowledge of Underside Navigation that allows him to catch up to or head off most of his prey.