"..."
Kasper sits by the window side, giving Renee's party one last fleeting glance as they make for a shack at the roads end ...
Whatever ending he sought from his questioning, it definitely wasn't this.
Regardless, how poorly he handled the conversation with Renee has made one thing resoundingly clear to Ashgate's young lord.
As heir to the chained throne and future ruler of all demons he knows a little too little about the current state of affairs outside of Castle Ashgate...
"...Demetrius, stop here."
That needs to change.
"We'll walk the rest of the way, you're free to return to our scheduled lodgings." Kasper says in one exasperated breath just as the carriage turns on the first right from Renee's shack.
*Tat.Tat.
And he disembarks. His aide right by his side as the time dawn's for Ashgate's heir to learn of the tales the residents of Vita hold and the fabled 'Robed'.
"..."
-Later-
As Kasper and Sariel begin their tour of the Vita Slums it quickly becomes apparent to them just how the sewer systems and railways are segmented to form a community.
The idea behind this, is that every new turn in the railway tunnels or sewer line is a separation of two different streets.
These streets spread all across the width of the above Hatchett's city for metres on end. Before converging in the middle on a falls like drop where the sewer waste is discarded.
This particular area of the tunnel system has an extremely low drop with a singular slab of concrete in its midst.
The slab, houses an immensely tall building that connects to the ceiling with bridges spread around it connecting to all six intersecting tunnels of the slum.
... Perched in the slums centre, and clearly distinct in architectural design and beauty, the building housed on the slab acts as the slum's de facto town centre.
A place where the two 'Districts' of the Vita Slums converge.
The building in question, is called the 'Front Office'. And connects the surface to the slums, acting as an intermediary to the city.
...When one looks to the slums...
And how the system is organized around sewer lines. The expectation is that the residents of this place are most likely ill or on the verge of becoming ill. However, that is most certainly not the case.
Because Hatchett's city needs the slum, a 'yang' to it's 'ying', one of the duties of the 'Front Office' is to ensure the health of the slums residents.
That means providing safe drinking water and clearing the waste of any harmful substances or organisms.
This is done through the front office mages.
Who, in a brilliant combination of 'Water Magic' and 'Body arts', are able to separate the water from the waste.
Providing clean and safe drinking water to the residents of the Vita Slums... For a price.
Since the city wants to show no connection to the slums, despite being literally connected to them, There exists no such thing akin to 'law' in the slums.
Anyone and everyone is essentially free to do as they please.
That is, if they chose to...
The six pathways that intersect at the front office form something of a border for the two 'governing' factions of the slums.
The three to the left representing the 'Disciples of Vita' while the three to the right represent the 'Followers of Hatchett'.
{'Disciples of Vita'}
Made up mostly of demons and Humans who either just recently entered the city or were kicked out of it...
The Disciples of Vita faction is a group of people that believe the Healing Goddess Vita has yet to abandon them.
And that in time, she will remember them and their suffering.
Bringing them back up to the surface and fulfilling their dream of living in the luscious city, that was founded to worship her, becoming one with her mana.
...Generally very docile in nature, the members of this faction tend to focus solely on work that the front office gives to build up their coin in hopes of returning to the surface.
Taking on quests and jobs that fall in line with the teachings of the Goddess and shying away from any actions of the 'unethical' kind.
Due to their dream of returning to the surface to be one with Vita, members of the faction have continued to use the monetary system of Hatchett's city as a means of trade.
That being, gold, silver, bronze and the much rarer 'Aethereal'.
...Though the odds of finding 'that' particular precious ore in a place like this is one in ten million...
Either way, at the end of the day, if one was forced to pick between the two factions and choose where they'd rather live, most would likely choose the disciples of Vita's district twenty one. (The three pathways to the right are referred to as District twenty one.)
And that's not only because of their earnest and respectful way of life but also because it's generally safer.
For context, this is where Renee and the kids set up camp. Just on the edge of the tunnel system.
...As Kasper and Sariel came across the residents of this side of the slum, it became apparent to them that the majority of people here tended to have very strong personalities and work ethics.
Comprised mostly of workaholics whose sole focus' was on building up enough coin to take them and their loved ones to the surface.
But more than that, they also noted that the residents of district twenty one were actually nice people.
The kind to willing to share stories of how they wound up here and even offer the pair food, despite not being well stocked themselves.
The faction centred in District twenty one are model citizens.
And aside from their deluded fantasies of being one with Vita, they are generally harmless workaholics who've travelled the realms to find a meaning to their lives, hopefully through Vita.
Then what about the followers of Hatchett? Well...
{Followers of Hatchett}
To the left of the front office is the district, 'Twenty-Three'.
Three pathways that shoot deep into the tunnel systems and in an interesting contrast to district twenty one, appear to be a literal 'yang' to it's 'ying'.
Considerably darker in terms of lighting, due to the lack of care from it's residents, district twenty three is home to the 'Followers of Hatchett'.
A faction who's sole desire, forget dream, is to live a lavish lifestyle in Hatchett's bustling city!
To the residents of this literally dark district, not much matters above this goal.
And because of that, the monetary system that is used across the realms has next to no value here.
The district, instead opting for a 'Favour' system.
How this works is by offering someone a favour in return for a service or good.
The value placed on these 'favours' is decided solely by the offered party.
Their own preferences being used as a guide to any potential client who wishes to haggle for something.
Despite this being a very subjective form of trade, one favour is universally agreed to be far and above the rest.
The favour, of 'life'.
When one offers the 'Favour of Life', they offer themselves over to the person they wish to haggle with.
Giving up all their rights and freedoms in favour of attaining whatever it is they desire.
Remember, these people have no care at all for the Goddess Vita or what this great city's history means to the realm.
Their only infatuation is with what the city has become and what it now represents.
So the idea of offering up a life, to them atleast, is equivalent to giving them either an extra hand who will work with them night and day to find a way to get them into the city at whatever cost.
Or, a one way ticket to the 'city of their dreams!... if that life can be sold to the right 'dealer' of course...
...It's an absurd trade system in all honesty...
But perhaps it works as well as it does because of the emphasis on time.
An example of this is offering someone to cook their next three meals in exchange for a whole days worth of plumbing works.
So yes, the system works, and a little too well sometimes.
But it's clear at the end of the day that while time governs the favour system heavily, it is all, 'at the end of the day', at the discretion of the offered party.
That aside however, District twenty three is also the most dangerous section of the slums.
Due to their lack of ethical principles and faith in the teachings of Vita.
The followers of Hatchett operate on an 'anything goes type' of mentality.
Often stealing, killing and even kidnapping, when the opportunity presents itself.
And all to further their own selfish desires.
...Their morals and values are so disillusioned with the rest of the Land in fact, that when the devious woman who 'favoured' Kasper the information was done talking... She requested Sariel stay the night with her in return for the 'gracious' time she spent elaborating and explaining everything district twenty three to the heir of Ashgate.
This request was promptly declined of course, and the devious woman instead soon found herself frothing at the mouth the moment the young lord produced a singular 'Aethereal' coin.
...Nothing is too far for the residents of the twenty third district...
And its gotten to the point that even coming here is at your own risk.
The 'followers of Hatchett' faction is the sole reason the Vita Slums have as bad a name as they do.
But even though they lack a religious figure to delude and devote their lives to... The followers of Hatchett actually have a stronger faith and belief in their cause as opposed to the disciples of Vita.
And this is solely because they are willing to do whatever it takes to get them into the city.
...That being said, it's probably time the elephant in the room got it's fair share of spotlight.
So, what's the Front Office's role in all this? Well...
{Front Office}
At the centre of all this deluded chaos is Hatchett 'Cathedral's' front office.
Directly connected to the glass dome above, the front office is like a middle man.
Connecting the surface and the slum to form a perfect ecosystem.
Despite being under the church, in both a literal but also work sense, the idea that the front office is here to safe guard the lives of the slums residents is actually a guise for another objective.
...Essential to the war effort, the church needs the Vita Slums to not only continue to funnel coin throughout the city but also around the realm.
So presumably there needs to be a connection between the city and the slums.
That connection is the front office.
Offering up a 'costly' once in a lifetime experience to the residents in Hatchett's city while also giving quests... to the residents of the Vita Slums as an opportunity to prove their value to the church and be upgraded from their afflictions to the city above.
The front office basically manages the slums and the city without anyone even realizing it.
Consistently rejecting approval on any hardworking disciples who wish to upgrade to the upper dome, consequently driving them into obsessions about what they need to do to get in that turn them into followers of Hatchett...
And raising the stakes... time and again for the followers making them do all the work they'd rather not be associated with...
This forms a cycle of unending cash flow, work and torment.
An ecosystem, that exists solely to benefit the city above and the realm at large.
And the centre of this system is the front office.
...The Front Office's presence in the slums has long prevented leaders from ever being born in either of the factions...
And while some of the people Kasper asked claimed to have seen a white haired man, adorned in a purple robe and flanked by two other men in red robes, directly offer residents jobs that will catapult them into the imperial dome. The executive in charge of the front office remains unknown...
"..."
Kasper cups his chin curiously, as he ponders the system that governs his domain after talking to a homeless demon camped near the front office.
...Before his gaze is ultimately drawn behind him...
"..."
And to the shadowy figure that appears to have been tailing them since they left Renee's Shack!
"..."
"..."
-To Be Continued-
•Note•
The glass dome, the cathedral at the centre of Hatchett's city, houses a select few nobles and merchants and is known to be the most luxurious part of the city.
Referred to as the Imperial dome. One needs to first either acquire a ticket to spend anytime there or be directly referred in by one of its residents.