The Unusual Suspects: Seattle Dominion

The Seattle Dominion is a final piece of dropped material from my Demon: the Descent game, at least for now. It was the third possible variation on one of the parallel worlds for the setting. Like Little Arcadia, this world would be a mirror of Seattle but run by another supernatural faction than the God-Machine.

In this case, that faction would be the denizens of the Underworld and the Sineaters that deal with them.

The Seattle Dominion

This gray purgatory lurks between the Underworld and the world of the living. The sun never reaches this city and between the rains a thick mist rises to cloud the streets. Even the geography is altered: the cemeteries spread farther, urban decline replaces gentrification, and the architecture tilts closer to the Gothic than the modern. Ghostly echoes of old buildings and neighborhoods replace much of the city. Where they don't the streets stand empty with cracked glass and graffiti decorating the asphalt.

Ghosts mingle with the living and those masquerading as the quick. Death is not the end. It’s just a stage of existence.

The edges of this Dead Dominion lie bound in iron chains and potent magics to resist the pull of the Underworld. The pact with the God-Machine forged these bound, bounds it can quickly release should its tithe of souls end.

Those souls typically come from those who have broken one of the many Old Laws of the realm. When one of these convoluted mandates is violated, the Sin Eaters and Geists hear the toll of the Iron Bell. They know who broke that law and where they are. And they feel compelled to catch the lawbreaker.

Some choose to run. Some stand and fight. Many simply surrender themselves. The result is the same in the end. They are captured, their soul ground down into Stygian iron and then added to the next shipment bound for the God-Machine.

Demons try especially hard to avoid notice, drifting in and out of the mists that shroud the city. Still they come to visit despite the danger. The great draw is the Midnight Train, a spectral locomotive that can take one anywhere. Tickets are elusive but can be the ultimate prize.