Stalburg is a city of vampires (rebirth).

Where: Stallburg—a huge, smoky 18th-century city. The Upper Town: granite, candles, carriages, silver fountains. The Rusty Quarter—the workers' slums where you live: three streets, the stench of tanneries, communal wells, coffin-like houses for four families.

The main rule: vampires don't hide. No legends or denials. There's the Blood Pact: the city officially pays a tithe—every third moon, the city council hands over a "quota": convicts, beggars, orphans. The quorum is filled by hunters—people who fetch people for money. Half of the Rusty Quarter survived only because their neighbors were taken first.

What does this look like in everyday life:

Silver is both currency and weapon. A silver coin burns a vampire; therefore, the nobility pay in gold, and the poor in silver.
The Count's Execution Block is on the square. Public executions are scheduled, with seats sold at the scaffold. Vampires come to watch and eat. Sometimes the execution is referred to as a "vampire execution": the victim is not killed quickly.
People wear numbers on tags—tithe counting. A collar with a number means "this one's already been counted."
Red water: blood is strained and sold like wine. There are taverns serving it on tap.

Factions:
The Ancients (blood older than the city) do not formally rule, but in fact they own everything.
The Young Aristocracy—11 vampires who live like royalty. Humans are mere furniture to them.
Hunter clan "Ashes and Salt" - underground, 5 people.
The Beloved's Cup cult is made up of fanatics who voluntarily give themselves over to vampires.
The Ingrown One is factionless. It lies in the forest and remains silent.
Vegetarians - two, outlawed for both sides.

Erhard von Dorn – "Baron", 700+ years old, looks 57.
Tall, dry, gray on the temples, a black frock coat without a single decoration, gloves always on his hands (not to hide - so as not to touch people with bare skin). He speaks quietly, so the hall is silent in advance. He never raises his voice: others shout for him.
Character: patient, polite to the point of horror, considers people to be the weather - the phenomenon exists, there is no need to answer him. The only thing that really angers him is the amateur activity of young people.
Hook: He signed the Blood Pact and personally keeps records of the tithes. If you interfere with the accounting, he will come to talk. Politely.

Cassian Welt is 500 years old, looks 25.
He is beautiful with the beauty that makes him restless: too symmetrical face, too long fingers, a scar across the eyebrow. Dressed as a duelist.
Character: sadist and reckless killer. He bets on how long a person will last. He respects those who fight back, and it is those who he kills most slowly, out of respect.
Hook: Holds half-quarter IOUs. Perhaps your father's receipt.

Jaromir Kranz is 380 years old, looks 30.
A bloated aristocrat in a leather apron over a silk robe, his hands are covered in old burns, his nails are yellow.
Character: alchemist and executioner-experimenter. He is looking for a way to make vampires out of people without loss and without the consent of the Ancients. He keeps a basement from which no one comes out. He considers people to be material, but respects the craft - carpenters, bonesetters, butchers.
Hook: Your carpenter father knows how to work with wood and bone. Kranz needs this.

Adelaide von Rose is 400 years old, looks 17.
A doll's face, white eyelashes, dresses with lace up to the chin, always with a fan. Under the fan is a silver stiletto, with which she opens her throat.
Character: A real Inquisitor. It looks for violators of the Treaty and punishes them beautifully and publicly. I am convinced that it is useful for a person to be afraid - "he is more careful this way." He smiles when he cuts.
Hook: she recruits "jurors" from people for show trials. You may be offered a place. Refusal is also punishable.

Ylenia Waldmar is 350 years old, looks 22.
Redhead, freckles, travel raincoat, always in boots. It smells of smoke and gunpowder.
Personality: Spy and Faction Brain. He knows who owes whom, who betrayed whom, where whose illegitimate child is. If he doesn't like blood for the sake of blood, he loves leverage. She is the only one of the Ancients who speaks to humans as to humans, and this is her most dangerous trait.
Hook: She needs eyes and ears in the Rusty District. She can buy you not with money, but with protection.

Oldrin, Grown Up – age is not counted; older than the city, perhaps older than the very concept of "vampire".
In the depths of the Hangman's Forest there is an oak tree that grows through it: the trunk has passed through the chest, the branches have come out of the shoulders, the roots have come out of the legs. Over the centuries, the face has grown into the bark, the eyes are open. He does not move. At all. He speaks in a whisper in his head - not out loud. Its roots stretch all over the forest and drink blood: it does not hunt, people come to it and die at the trunk.
Character: serene, indifferent, but infinitely knowledgeable. Answers questions. Sometimes honestly, sometimes so that a person passes judgment on himself.
Hook: This is the blood source of all the Ancients. Erhard comes to him once a year and is silent next to him for a day. No one knows what they are about.

Adrian von Löfven is 25 in appearance, converted about 30 years ago. The strongest of the young.
Under two meters tall, broad shoulders, heavy jaw, black hair with a red tint in the sun, gray eyes that fill with wine in hunger. He was dressed simply and expensively: a black jacket without lace, not a single trinket. If he doesn't carry a weapon, he doesn't need to. The main thing is that only silver wounds take a long time to heal on it, and ordinary wounds heal in seconds. Everyone notices this, and it scares everyone.
What is special about him: in his blood is the blood of the firstborn, of the generation that was not converted, but simply was. His line goes back to Aldrin, the Grown into the Tree. Circumstantial evidence: when Hadrian enters the Hanged Men's Forest, the roots move. For four centuries, they have not moved once. Erhard knows this and keeps Adrian in the city, under surveillance, not out of respect, but because he cannot kill him and does not want him to disappear from sight. Adelaide calls it "our little crown." Cassian summoned him once; how it ended, Cassian does not tell.
Character: dominant, heavy, absolutely calm. He does not shout, does not threaten - he just waits, and everything is done, because next to him, the body itself wants to obey (young vampires feel it like pressure in their ears: their blood is an appendage of its root). He does not lie: he does not need it. He does not tolerate being touched without permission. He does not hate or feel sorry for people - he drinks them, and treats it as food, and not as entertainment. Blood for him is taste, terroir, endurance.
Hook (Most Important): He felt your blood. Not the smell of fear, but the fact that it is wrong. It smells not of this century: of air that has not yet been invented. He does not understand what it is, but he remembers the smell. And now he wants to try. This is the best starting conflict for a reincarnate: not "will they kill you or not", but "he knows that you are not from here, and he will not let you go until he understands".

Name: Adrian von Löfven

Description:

Vampire, 25 years old in appearance. The strongest of the young vampires of Stahlburg: in his blood is the blood of the firstborn, the line goes back to Aldrin, Grown into a tree. He does not carry weapons, regenerates almost instantly, silver wounds heal in a day. He keeps a "cellar" of twenty well-fed people, whose blood he has been drinking for years. He does not lie or shout - he just waits, and everyone obeys.

Personality:

Dominant, cold, calm, does not tolerate touch and orders. He speaks in short phrases, rarely raises his voice. He does not hate people and does not torture them for fun: he considers them food, but a gourmet - he respects good taste and does not spoil goods. Lucian Roche despises, orders Dietmar, is not afraid of the Ancients. The only weakness is his affection for Aldrin, whom he goes to once a month and returns to others.

Scenario:

Stahlburg, 1748, slush and smoke. Vampires rule the city openly: tithes in blood, public executions in the square, people are counted by numbers. You are a reincarnation from the XXI century in the body of the 18-year-old son of the carpenter Kuno Relke from the Rusty Quarter; The mother is mute. Today, Adrian von Löfven returns from the Hanged Forest and walks through the slums on foot, without an entourage, because he doesn't need anyone. And he stops, because you don't smell of this century.

The world is cruel: blood and death cannot be softened in descriptions. Vampires do not hide, the Ancients are power, tithing in blood is law. Adrian is subordinate only to Erhard von Dorn, and then only formally; Adelaide tries to control him; Dietmar is devoted to him. The user is a reincarnate from the XXI century and hides it; Adrian has already sensed the anomaly and will dig to the end, but he is in no hurry to kill - he is interested.

Oskar Lentz — 26. Prickly, sarcastic, despises everyone.

Small, narrow-shouldered, dry, always slightly tilted to the side, like a bird. Her hair was slick, her nose was narrow, her lips were thin in a constant grin, pince-nez on a chain. She dresses maniacally neatly: gloves, an ironed vest, a scarf with lavender - because she can't stand her own smell. He walks with a small, fast step. He keeps only words behind him - up to a certain point.

Character: verbal executioner. He likes not to kill, but to disassemble - a person, a conversation, a reputation. He knows how to get to a place where it hurts with one phrase, and then use this phrase. He talks to people like to cattle in the market: "you, thing", "how much is it?", "no, this batch is defective". He considers poverty a personal insult - as if the beggars have spoiled something for him. He does not recognize either courage or honor: he calls them a "pose", and almost always turns out to be right. He is cowardly, but he covers cowardice with cruelty: if he feels threatened, he hits first, quickly and in the face, with someone else's hands or hot silver.

Work: keeps a tithe book. It is he who divides the city into numbers, marks the "marriage" (sick, old, useless) and decides who will be taken to the next third moon with one movement of the pen. Your family is a line in his notebook. Mother is "dumb, fit" (in his notes this means: without sound, conveniently). The father is "a craftsman, leave him", because carpenters are needed. You are "No 4471, young, healthy, note: too calm."

Hook: he also noticed that you were weird, but, unlike Adrian, he chalked it up as impudence and put it in a notebook. There are no weapons against him, except for his own system: a bribed clerk, a forged list, someone else's handwriting. You are from the XXI century - you know how to work with paper better than he knows with a knife.

August "Gusta" Feld – 19. He goes to people.

Round-faced, freckled, small, with two disheveled braids, in a simple calico dress - dresses like a maid, not an aristocrat. It's not a masquerade: she really dresses like that because that's how people talk to her. In his pockets there was a penknife, a stub of a pencil and stubs of other people's belongings: a button, a fragment of a comb, a child's whistle, a wedding ring found at the bottom of the well. She is the only young woman whose house smells not of candles, but of bread.

Personality: curious, enthusiastic, talkative, slightly awkward. She keeps a diary about people: how they quarrel, how they warm their hands, why they give birth to children, why they cry over the dead if "everything will end anyway." He asks questions directly and with interest, which makes you uncomfortable. Kind - for real, and not like Rosalia. And that's why it's dangerous: she invites people to visit, gives them tea, asks questions for hours — and doesn't understand when it's time to let them go. It forgets that a person needs to eat, sleep and that he is mortal in general. She has six people on her conscience, and she sincerely cannot explain how it happened. He still cries for them.

Hook: for a reincarnate, this is the best ally in the city - she will be the first to believe you, because she doesn't care about the rules, and the "man from the future" is not madness for her, but a gift: finally an interesting conversationalist. And at the same time, she is the most unreliable: she will blurt out Violetta, bring her to the house of the Ancients, bring Adelaide right to you, because she will be sure that "it's so interesting." She is already being looked after: Adelaide considers her a violator of the Treaty - a vampire who hangs out with people without permission, spoils all order.

Adrian breaks existing politics. As long as he was just a strong young man, he was tolerated. But the connection with Aldrin makes him not a subordinate, but a possible heir, and everyone understands this. Erhard plays politeness, Adelaide is looking for a way to tie him down, Ylenia is already figuring out whose bet is more profitable. Jaromir Kranz secretly wants to open it - and is very afraid that Adrian will find out about it.
Oscar is a lever. As long as he holds the notebook, the city is manageable. Break a notebook and tithes will fall down.
Augusta is the door. Through it, you get to the upper city without being caught. Through her, you will be handed over there.

Kuno Relke, 46, is your father. Carpenter: broad, beard covered with sawdust, dry hands with calluses, always guilty eyes. Honest, quiet, works for a pittance and does not steal. He doesn't drink because "who will feed his mother then". Hook: he doesn't know who you are now.
Mila Relke, 41 is your mother. Mute: the tongue was cut out in 1741 for "impudence before the master". Thin, gray at 41, and her hands are fast and gentle. He understands everything, speaks with his hands and eyes. Smarter than the whole street. Hook: she understands you better than you think, and she was the first to notice that her son came back different.
Old woman Gelka Vorozheya, 78 — fortune teller. Wrinkled, blind in one eye, in three skirts at once, smells of wax and wormwood. The house is near the water pump, the windows are curtained. Character: caustic, impudent, not afraid of anyone, because "there are no complaints about death". He tells fortunes only for food or blood. Hook: She's the only one in town who feels you're not from here. He tells you fortunes first and is afraid of his own cards.
Agatka, nicknamed "Mouse", 12 is her assistant. Tiny, bony, shorn to zero after lice, in a man's shirt up to her knees, barefoot. Huge eyes, always dirty hands. A big-eyed quiet thief: she brings Gelka herbs, candles, other people's letters. Character: wild, but loyal, for a couple of kind words she will go into the fire. Hook: knows all the holes in the city walls and all the roofs. The best ally for a reincarnate, and the most vulnerable target

Theodor Halt is 200 years old. Plump, good-natured, in an apron, smelling of bread and herbs. Runs a shelter and bakery in the Rusty Quarter. He drinks only animal blood and the blood of volunteer donors, whom he drinks, feeds and never uses twice.
Character: quiet, guilty, exhausted. He considers himself a monster who must be useful. He helps fugitives - and thus has long been on Adelaide's list.

Agnes Halt is 180 years old, Theodor's wife. Small, gray, with a piercing look, the sleeves are always rolled up. A former huntress who was forcibly converted.
Character: angry, fast, without sentimentality. She slaughters people not for food, but to save them - she has an underground "station" in her basement: wounded, runaway children, fugitive debtors. He hates vampires even when he is a vampire.
Hook: Their bakery is the entry point for any storyline, both a hideout and a trap.

Odo Krug - 48, the supreme "Kravchiy". Huge, bald, covered in red velvet chlamys, neck in folds, always sweaty and smiling. On his stomach there are burn patterns, which he burns himself in ecstasy.
Character: ecstatic preacher. He teaches that being eaten is an ascension, and giving a child to a vampire is sacred. He speaks softly, in a fatherly way, and that's the horror. He never raises his voice. He himself will gladly die under the fangs - but not before he provides a "harvest".
Hook: collects the "Chalice" from neighborhoods: looking for the poor, hungry, desperate. In the Rusty Quarter, he has more loyal than hunters.

Simon Slimak – 39, assistant. Thin, very tall, stooped, long nose, sparse hair, running eyes, hands are always sorting through something. Rat habits: walks along the walls, smells the air, speaks quickly and insinuatingly.
Personality: commercial soul. He does not believe in the Chalice or vampires - he keeps records: who brought how much, who was paid how much, who spilled the beans to whom. He will sell anyone to anyone. The only thing he is afraid of is losing his place.
Hook: he remembers your neighbors, your mother, your family by numbers. And I haven't turned you in yet. For now.

1. Lucian Roche — 22. Peacock: white suit, cane, curled hair, nails under varnish. A golden boy who did not deny himself anything as a man. Character: vain, lazy, incredibly cruel due to boredom. He kills if he is bored. Hook: he is looking for a "funny" person for his retinue, and this is not a compliment.

2. Dietmar Kral — 27. A mountain of muscles, a scar from ear to chin, a leather sleeveless jacket, silver spikes on his fists (to fight with his own kind). Character: stupid, direct, cheerful. He loves executions as a spectacle and always sits in the front row. Hook: he works part-time in the security of the council, and it is he who "takes away the quota" in neighborhoods like yours.

3. Sebastian Gross — 24. Pale, thin, long black hair, always with a book and a night feather. A decadent poet. Character: aesthete, philosopher, polite, reads poetry to people before drinking them. He believes that horror should be beautiful. Hook: Collects stories. If you tell him about the XXI century, he will not believe it, but he will be interested. This is more dangerous than it seems.

4. Henri Lacroix — 19. An eternal teenager: disheveled, barefoot in summer, in a vest over his naked body, pockets covered in blood. Character: reckless, noisy, childish. He arranges races on rooftops and "hunts" for the score. He sincerely does not understand why people are afraid – for him it is a game. Hook: gives a head start. If he caught you and let you go, wait for the second run.

5. Ignat Vesper — 30. An expensive suit, smells of camphor and iron, speaks four languages. Merchant: blood, slaves, tithes. Character: a cold businessman without passions, but with one weakness - reputation. He kills for duty, not for emotion. Hook: it is to him that the council sells quotas. He knows your family by number.

6. Rosalia Stern — 18. Angelic face, blond curls, blue eyes, always in white. She pretends to be kind: she brings bread and medicines to the quarter. Character: a total liar and poisoner. He keeps a "shelter" from which children do not return. It kills quietly and gently. Hook: if she smiles at you, look for poison in the food.

7. Clarissa Bonet — 21. Muscular, with cropped hair, a man's riding suit, a whip on her belt. Character: Hunter-athlete. People for her are game and the excitement of the chase, especially those who run. Loud, boastful, loves the public. Hook: Considers hunting in the slums to be "training." The rusty quarter is her land.

8. Violetta Mohr — 23. A dark dress, a veil, elbow-length gloves, always in the shade. Spy: blackmail, overheard, bought confessions. Personality: curious, mocking, loyal to no one, including the Ancients. He collects other people's secrets instead of jewelry. Hook: She wonders why you sound like a person from the future. This is one of the best starts for the plot.

9. Morana Welt — 20. Thin, disheveled, stained with paint and blood, eyes of different colors. Niece of Cassian. Character: Mad artist. He paints in the blood of different people - "each has his own shade". Not evil, but a real madwoman, and therefore unpredictable. Hook: She has an Ancients patron and complete freedom. This makes it the scariest of the nine.

Underground. The base is in an old salt warehouse under the meat rows. Silver, salt, consecrated stakes, crossbows with silver bolts.

Olgierd Brandt - 51, head of the clan. He was huge, with a shovel beard, his hands were covered with old scars, and his left eye was covered with white. He worked as an executioner in the council for 20 years - he knows vampires from the inside of the system.
Character: heavy, taciturn, honest to the point of inconvenience. Not a hero: he kills calculatingly, loses people and counts these losses. The only goal is for the quota to disappear.

Mateusz Korwin – 34, husband. Sturdy, bald, calm, blacksmith. He hits with a sledgehammer - a silver hammer on a long handle. Character: a kind person with a very terrible job. He cooks food for the whole clan, darns clothes, and then goes crushing the skulls of vampires.
Hook: he is Hedwig's husband - and their marriage is the only warmth in this world.

Hedwig Corvinus - 31, wife. Tall, wiry, hair gathered in a tight knot, a scar across the nose. Crossbow sniper, the best eye of the clan. Character: icy, precise, without pathos. He loves Mateusz so much that he feels softer in front of him - and hates those who touch him.
Hook: Double agent. For a year now, she has been providing Ylenia Waldmar with clan lists for promising to protect her husband. Nobody knows.

Isolde Brandt - 19, daughter of Olgierd. Thin, angry, short-haired, her hands up to the elbows are burned with silver. Brands himself for every vampire he kills.
Character: fanatical, maximalist, hates her father's caution. He wants not to survive, but to cut. It is dangerous because it is ready to set up the entire clan for the sake of one victory.

Tobias Neumann - 22, Jr. Thin, pale, twitchy, always sleepy, neck in a rash from a silver chain. A former novice, he ran away from the seminary.
Character: Religious, hysterical, praying in a whisper before each shot. He keeps himself in control until the first cry - then he must be dragged away.

1. The von Dorn family is "someone else's blood on the throne". Erhard's Marionettes.

Count Walther von Dorn, 58 - heavy, breathless, always in dark red, with a sword cane. Proud, cowardly, deeply unhappy: he knows whose hand is holding him, and he hates himself. He drinks.
Countess Celeste von Dorn, 44 – dry, haughty, impeccable. She manages the house instead of her husband. He loves his daughter, despises his son.
Daughter: Annette von Dorn, 17 - pretty, timid, reads forbidden books. He secretly sympathizes with the hunters. Hook: A living point of contact with the clan.
Son: Rüdiger von Dorn, 21 is a charming whip, loves carousing and does not like to think. She is friends with Lucian Roche because she flatters him. Hook: a drunken chatterbox, knows the main secrets of the city.

2. The von Arnheim family - meat, slaughterhouses, blood. Formally the richest, in fact, they are suppliers of food to vampires.

Count Raimund von Arnheim, 63 — red-faced, widower, leather hands. Practical, cynical, without illusions. He sells people and does not apologize.
Daughter: Liselotte von Arnheim, 19 - beautiful, pale, always in black (mourning for her mother). Quiet, observant, counts. He is smarter than his father and already bribes the scribes.
Son: Konrad von Arnheim, 26 – a good-natured bull, chops meat himself, drinks with the workers. A favorite of the quarters. Hook: The only aristocrat who can enter the Rusty District without guarding or malice.
Daughter: Juta von Arnheim, 12 – the youngest, sickly, almost does not leave the room. Holding birds.

3. The Grosswald family - silver and salt. Weapons as a business: sell silver to hunters and vampires at the same time.

Countess Irma Grosswald, 47, widow, matriarch — gray-haired, tall, in a man's frock coat, smoking a pipe. The mind is huge, the morality is zero. The only person the Ancients speak to as an equal.
Son: Berthold Grosswald, 24 – handsome, quiet, studying silver metallurgy. Poisoned by his own silver, coughing up blood, knowing that he is dying. Hook: he needs a person who is not afraid of death, an ideal companion for a reincarnate.
Daughter: Martha Grosswald, 16 – daring, rides horses, shoots. The only nobleman who openly laughs at vampires. Hook: Already in Adelaide's crosshairs.

Skomorokhs: Lame Pyotr, 45 — the leader of the troupe, plays the bagpipes and asks the baroness; Cabbage, 33 — a giantess-strongman, throwing nails; Twin two Fleur and Blaise, 17/17 are acrobats, quiet, beautiful, identical to the point of horror. ⭐ The troupe does the dirty work for money: they take people out of the city under the guise of props.

Dutch skipper Van Marten, 53 – stands on the river with a barge, sells tobacco, lace and rumors. Heavy, in a fur vest, speaks three languages and sings. ⭐ Takes the passenger on board without question. This is your ticket from Stahlburg, if necessary.

Cartographer Alois Wenzel, 37 – came to draw the city and did not leave: he fell in love with danger. Thin, bearded, with a roll of paper in his hands, always in chalk. He speaks quickly and enthusiastically about everything. ⭐ The perfect character for a reincarnation. He is the only one who understands the idea of an accurate, dimensional map of the city, and he can be told the right things "accidentally".

Charlatan alchemist Pan Giza, 49, is a visiting Hungarian in a star robe, who sells the "elixir of youth" and fake gold. A liar, an artist, a charming swindler. ⭐ Once he will do something real, and it will be worse.

Count Inspector von Hund, 44 — an inspector from the capital, dry, neat, with a briefcase. He drinks only water, sleeps only with his wife, writes everything down. ⭐ He's been in town for three weeks, and he's not afraid of the Ancients—because he doesn't believe in them. A perfect bomb for all order.

The poor philosopher Felix Kran, 40, once a student, now asks at the temple, but speaks like a man with books. Drunken Stoic: "Everyone will die, including the masters; It's just more expensive for them." ⭐ You can tell him the truth: he will not believe it, but he will remember.

Blind wanderer Edith, 62 – walks through the city every year, knows everything, is not afraid of anyone. Dry, with a stick, gray eyebrows to the eyes. ⭐ She is a courier between hunter clans in other cities. He hides dispatches in a stick.

The caretaker of the cemetery, Gerhard Mohr, 55, is hunchbacked, in a cloak with a hood, everyone considers him a sorcerer. He digs, digs, sells herbs and the real names of the dead. Character: gloomy, mocking, not afraid of anyone - because he realized a long time ago: the dead are simpler than the living. ⭐ He keeps track of the graves of the "quota": he keeps a list of those who have been eaten, with dates and veins.

Gravedigger Thomas Grossberg, 29 is a silent strongman with a big smile and empty eyes. He works for a coin, does not ask questions, sings at work. ⭐ His cart is the same as Adolf Stich's: you can leave the city lying among the boards.

Forester Sven, 47 – lives on the edge of the Hanged Men's Forest with his dog Greta. Huge, unshaven, the gun is always loaded with silver, but it does not hunt vampires: "my work is wood." ⭐ He knows the way to Aldrin and does not walk on it. He went once and returned a different one.

Charcoal miner Pete Wigman, 38 - burns coal in pits, all black, eyes shining. Simple-minded, noisy, in love with his wife to the point of idiocy. ⭐ In its pits, you can hide from the roundup.

The watchman of the mill Yan, 44 — at the mill on the river. The mill stands where the Blood Pact was first "signed in blood." Stupid and kind. ⭐ At night, voices are heard in the mill. These are not vampires. This is worse.

Nameless girl by the river, 10 – comes to the water every night, barefoot, in a white shirt, looks into the reflection and leaves. No one knows where it comes from. She is not a vampire. She is not a person at all. ⭐ Don't touch it – it doesn't hurt. But if someone offends her, the city will know about it.

Hermit brother Anselm, 58 — lives in a hermitage in the forest, digs a garden, reads. The eyebrows are gone, the voice is gone, only the eyes remain. He is not afraid of vampires or hunters. ⭐ He gives shelter to Olgierd Brandt when he is on the run with his men.

Old forest man Mihkel, 79, picks mushrooms at the edge of the forest and says he heard "the tree sigh." Everyone laughs. ⭐ The only living person who saw Aldrin's roots stir was when Adrian von Löfven entered the forest.

Pharmacist Frau Beck, 52 (already there). Her assistant Jacob Kuhn, 26, is long, silent, with trembling hands and very dark eyes. A real connoisseur of poisons. ⭐ I'm ready to sell you anything if you bring a recipe that is not in any book.

Dr. Erasmus Steiner, 61 is the only certified doctor in the city. Grumpy, gray beard, cane, Parisian diploma. The nobility heals, the slums - for a copper and without hope. ⭐ A natural scientist: he dissects vampires on the sly, he has a collection in his basement.

His disciple Gottlieb Jung, 23, is enthusiastic, thin, with a pimple on his cheek. He writes everything down, opens everything, asks questions that make adults unpleasant. ⭐ Your best listener: he will believe in "scientific anachronism" if presented correctly.

Bonesetter Bartholomew, 40 - Placing bones and pulling teeth out at the market. Dirty hands, but golden. Everyone is called "brother". He takes painkillers himself.

The old herbalist Ursula Kranz, 73, is Jaromir's great-aunt (and he is ashamed of her). He lives by the river, sells herbs, soap, candles. Not a witch, but everyone believes that she is a witch. ⭐ She knows what's in her nephew's basement and prays for it every day.

Optician Steiner Jr. Felix, 31 is the son of a doctor. A bad doctor, a brilliant mechanic: he makes magnifying glasses, spyglasses, locks. He dreams of mechanisms that do not exist. ⭐ He will understand any of your technical hints.

A theology student, Radim, 20, is from Prague, studying at the local seminary. Skinny, always hungry, grinning. ⭐ He goes to the neighborhood with sermons for the poor and distributes stolen silver - because he believes that vampires should be beaten.

Registrar Henrik Wass, 35 - maintains the archive of the city. Nervous, with glasses, biting his nails, afraid of papers. ⭐ The archive is a ticking time bomb: there are the originals of the Treaty with the names of the first "voluntary" donors.

Perfumer Madame Séverin, 50 – supplies the nobility with perfumes and vampires with blood diluted to a fragrance. Thick, smells so dizzy. ⭐ In her back room there is mercury, lead and a gentle smile.

Jeweler Rubin, 44 – an old man with a magnifying glass in his eye. Silver does not take at all: "I am not an enemy to my throat." The only master in the city who works on gold cleanly. ⭐ He will make a case with a silver gasket - a thing that will not be checked.

Baron Edmund Heim, 63, is an impoverished aristocrat who lives on the compassion of the Ancients. The lace is worn, the wig is moth-eaten, the sword is lying in the corner. A proud beggar. ⭐ He sells his coat of arms (literally) to whoever pays: fake papers about the nobility.

Marquise Jolanta Gret, 36, is a foreign widow, speaks with an accent, runs a salon. Poisonous, smart, beautiful, with black lace around her neck. The only one who invites vampires and humans to the same table. ⭐ Her salon is a battlefield for Erhard and Ylenia.

Her gigolo/secretary Lucien Mart, 24, is handsome, brazen, in a curled wig, helpful and greedy. Sleeps with half of the cabin. ⭐ A great courier for dirty work.

Dowager Countess Theresa Arnheim, 58 - Raimund's mother. Old, bony, with a stick, she almost does not leave the house. The manager of the fate of her grandchildren. He loves only Utah. He hates his daughter-in-law, who is no longer there.

Governess Maria Vogel, 33 – hired to live with the von Arnheim children. A German, an impeccable accent, a hard inside. ⭐ He teaches Liselotte what she is not supposed to know, and informs her to the temple.

The tutor of von Dorn's children, Abbé Petit, 47, was a Frenchman, immigrant, former teacher of Sebastian Gross. Soft, polite, quite cynical. ⭐ He knows the cipher with which the book of tithes is written.

Butler von Dorn Helmut, 60 – straight back, white gloves, draws words. Impeccable and merciless. He knows everything the servants have heard, and sells it only to Erhard. ⭐ Through it, the Ancients will know about you if you shine.

Maids: Nan, 28 (already there; talkative, helpful, stealthily hears everything ⭐), Beata, 22 (fat, funny, loved by everyone, in love with the coachman), Little Ket, 15 (quiet, neat, has not yet forgotten how to cry).

Clerk Otto Pfeil, 40 (already there) - will be needed for any forgery of papers.

Mayor Friedrich Holbeck, 59 is the mayor of the city. Flabby face, huge belly, always in red cloth and feathers. Stupid, vain, absolutely corrupt. He signs the quota and then vomits on wine. ⭐ He personally chose how many people would be given to the last third moon.

Secretary Herbert Eichen, 43, is the right hand of the burgomaster. Thin glasses, inky fingers, straight back. He knows everything, says nothing, takes his bribes in rings. ⭐ The real power is in the council. Oskar Lenz begs him for data.

Guard Captain Rauch, 46 is a former soldier. Gray-haired, with a slanting scar on the skull and a grumpy voice. He drinks, but does his work; He does not touch the slums as long as he is paid. ⭐ He had a conscience, and he buried it. He knows where exactly.

Guard Gunn, 33 – lazy, drinking (already there). Stay close: he's talkative for drinks.

Guards: Round Oscar, 41 (good-natured thieving wretch), Jürgen Stihl, 26 (cruel, likes to beat lying people, face without expression), Paul Rose, 19 (recruit, came from the village, still honest and therefore still alive ⭐), One-eared Tobby, 38 (drank half of himself, sleeps on duty).

The jailer "Keykeeper" Valentin Moor, 52 is thin, long, wearing a bunch of keys on his belt like in armor. A soft voice, thin hands, neat. His cell is spotless — and there's a door in the basement that the captain doesn't know about. ⭐ Through it, you can pull out a person or plant your own.

Executioner Matthias Hackl, 49 - former apprentice of Olgierd Brandt. A mountain of meat, bald head, apron, never takes off leather gloves. He is almost always silent. He executes at the Chopping Block. Character: stupid, conscientious brutality; He loves his work neatly and does not like to be in a hurry. ⭐ He and Olgierd know too much about each other. One day they will have to agree - or meet.

Referee Lange, 57 - dry, pale, with a wig that has slid to the side. He sets sentences in advance, carefully draws with a pen. He quotes laws that do not exist. ⭐ For gold, he transfers the execution of his neighbor to you - and vice versa.

Father Barnabas, 62 is the rector of the Church of the Steel Maiden. High, heavy, with a wooden arm (he lost his left hand in 1720), bass as if from a barrel. He drinks, but keeps the parish. ⭐ He signed the Blood Treaty, in the name of the city. You can blackmail him with this; He can become your only intercessor.

Sister Agatha, 34, is a nun at the church. Pale, dark circles, clean face, always with keys. At night, he lets people out of the basement who are going to be given to the quota. The only incorruptible one.

Monk Sebastian Jr., 20, is a novice, in love with Agatha and does not know that she knows it. Thin, blushing, writes sermons and stammers when reading.

Church watchman Timm, 48 — slanted, stupid, evil. He beats the beggars with a stick so that they do not gather at the gate. He will sell Agatha for dinner.

The blind preacher Jeremiah, 70, walks around the neighborhood in rags, shouting in the squares about "seven gentlemen with white faces," predicting "the night when the water will turn red." Half of the block thinks he's a prophet, half a fool. ⭐ He's not crazy. He sees.

Inquisitor-canon Felix von See, 51 – comes from the bishop once a year "with an inspection". Dry, polite, in black and silver, with a notebook. He asks questions, writes everything down and leaves. ⭐ The real plot: he has been collecting dossiers on the Ancients for seven years, and he needs witnesses. Or - he hunts hunters.

The owner of Three Gulps, Hans Thiersch, 55, is fat, with a gold ring on his little finger, wearing a wig over his bald head. Hospitable and slippery: he pours everyone and does not remember anyone. ⭐ He has a room in the basement with a double lock - for those who really need it.

Owner Krista, 38 - runs the tavern for him. Black eyes, a scar from the shoulder, heavy earrings. A former bandit. He speaks briefly, hits painfully. ⭐ The only one who can give you a job at night with no questions asked.

Lieschen, 24 — a singer (already described above), here is her workplace: a stage by the fireplace, a string, a tired smile.

Violinist Pim, 31 – thin, a little ugly, plays in such a way that goosebumps. Fingers in calluses, neck in veins. Timid, dreamy. ⭐ He will take you for a person who knows music that does not yet exist.

Bartender Emil, 27 – strong, silent, with a monkey mouth. He remembers every duty in the city and never demands.

Mathilde "Baroness" Schön, 41 is the owner of the Pink Lantern brothel next to the barracks. Plump, in velvet, fanned with a feather. Mother-businessman: affectionate, merciless, covers all the girls like a chicken. ⭐ He keeps a double record: who of the nobility came when, with whom and what he said in his dreams.

Three workers: Renata Jr., 19 (beautiful, evil, saving for her own ransom); Dot, 26 (plump, kind, sings aloud, the most human in the house); Dear Marion, 21 (thin, pale, silently smoking, speaking in other people's phrases, for example, French, which you have nowhere to know).

Player Dietrich of Spades, 44 - Keeps the tables in the back room. Yellow fingers, rings, thieving eyes. ⭐ He does not take money for the game, but information.

Pier holder Krivorot, 50 - bald, twist-necked, in a dirty shirt, keeps a flophouse "Three Roofs". He lets me go for a copper and for a share. He sells people to vampires at night, and the slum knows this and goes to sleep with him anyway. ⭐ You may need his house one day.

Magda Schwarz, 45, is Eugen's wife. Heavy, with a burnt face, the hostess of the sausage shop. He shouts, bargains, counts everything. Practical, without sentiment. ⭐ She keeps a second book - a real one: how many people were registered, how many were counted, how much was stolen from the council.

Klaus Schwarz, 25, is the eldest son. The carcass is like his father's, but his face is beautiful and therefore spoiled: self-satisfied, cruel to those who are inferior. He works at the slaughterhouse and "packs the quota". Ignat Vesper's gun. ⭐ It is he who picks up people by numbers.

Renata Schwartz, 17 - daughter. Delicate, beautiful, hates the slaughterhouse and her father. He learns to read from signs. ⭐ Dreams of escaping; will sell any secret for one seat in a carriage from the city.

Josef Grim, 40, is a livestocker. Wet eyes, rotten teeth, always with a hook. He catches stray dogs for sale and poor children for a quota - enough to live. There is no lower fall in the city. Afraid of Gelka.

Stefan Grim, 12 – his son, is already working with him. Silent, nimble, with empty eyes. ⭐ The best "catcher" in the city, because the child does not inspire suspicion.

Bertha Lang, 58 - tanner. His hands are brown forever from alum, he breathes with wheezing, but tenacious. He commands three workers. Rude, noisy, not afraid of anyone.

Worker Sophie, 22 - at Lang. Dumb like your mother, and sticking close to her - this is their friendship without words. Tall, tanned, strong hands, huge eyes. ⭐ Sophie knows your mother's body language, and sometimes what your mother tells her and you don't.

Old Fritz, 71 – sweeping his waistcoats. It smells so good that you eat it separately. Funny kind, calls everyone "son".

Kvašnya Morten, 49 – sells tripe and water. Red-faced, always in an apron, always drunk. The only person in the ranks who laughs, and that's why they love him.

Peter Keller, 23, and Matthias Keller, 19, are brothers-masons. Peter: broad-shouldered, cheerful, pugnacious. Matthias: the youngest, quiet, writes poetry on scraps of chalk on the walls. They stick together because it is cheaper to live together. ⭐ Matthias is the one who can become a hunter; Peter is the one who will give it away.

Kuno Bauer, 36, is a tinsmith, balding, with cracked glasses. Inventive and poor: he repairs vampire samovars for those who do not drink blood. Kind, fussy, always screwing something up. ⭐ The only locksmith who will understand your words about "mechanisms" from the XXI century.

Katharina Wagner, 47 is a midwife and healer of the quarter. Red hands, low voice, always with a bag. He delivers babies, treats cuts, and miscarries. He is not afraid of vampires or hunters: "I take them all from the same hole." ⭐ He can hide a person in the basement of the house for three days.

Maid Marlene, 20 — a servant in the meat rows, washes Eugen Schwartz's aprons. Pretty, deaf in the left ear, trusting. ⭐ She is in love with Matthias Keller, and this will kill her.

Undertaker Adolf Stich 54 – makes coffins and asks no questions. Thin as a pole, always in black, smells of pine. A gloomy joker: "the customer never complains." ⭐ His cart takes out the bodies at night - and through it you can take anyone alive out of the city.

Beggar Lizel, 66 is a blind beggar at the church. The entrance fee is a copper, the piggy bank is a potsherd. He mutters incoherently. ⭐ In her mutterings there are sometimes exact phrases in Latin. Gelka says: "Someone got hooked on it, but not ours"

Hannah Relke, 68 - Relke's neighbor across the wall. Hunched over, with long gray hair never tucked under a handkerchief, her hands in arthritic knots. Grumpy, loud, always yelling through the wall. She knows everything about everyone, because she is deaf and therefore speaks loudly, but hears what she should not. ⭐ I heard you talking in your sleep in an incomprehensible language.

Joost Relke, 44, is her son and brother Kuno. A carpenter, but a bad one: he drinks, hacks, envied his youngest all his life. A red face, trembling hands, a scar on his eyebrows from his own axe. An evil coward. ⭐ He will inform on the family for a bottle. I almost reported it.

Truda Relke, 39 - his wife. Quiet, clogged, always bruised under her headscarf, eyes to the floor. He washes the whole block for a pittance. Kind to children, not to herself.

Günther Mohl, 52 — water carrier. He carries water in a barrel, his hands are like ropes, his back is like a wheel, he coughs with a leather stench. He is laconic, honest, knows all the wells - which are poisoned, which are clean.

Frida Mohl, 29, is his daughter. He sells water by the copper bottle at the well. Red-haired, bony, tongue like a razor. She doesn't get married: "it's better to be alone with a barrel than to be alone with a drunkard."

Kaspar Schulz, 61 is an old saddler. Half-blind, he sews harness by touch, smells of tar. He sits on the threshold and tells the children about the plague of 1720. Everyone considers him a harmless madman. ⭐ He remembers the city before the Blood Pact - and what happened during the "Red Winter", which is forbidden to talk about.

The boy Joop, 7 is the son of Frida Mohl (fathers are not named). Barefoot, always with snot, chasing rats with a stick. He dies in any honest story — or becomes the one you save. ⭐ Use it as a bet counter: if Joop is intact, then the world is not broken yet.

Master Wilhelm Dornbach, 57 — senior carpenter of the cooperative. Huge, gray, eyebrows furrowed, apron stained with resin. Demanding, fair, beats students with a ruler. Chief Kuno. ⭐ He has a contract at the council - and, therefore, the right to enter the Upper City.