Districts of Skull: The North Gallery and the Kennel

Map of Skull

The North Gallery:

This neighborhood occupies the north central area of the city, north of the Canal of the Moon and roughly bounded by the Lesser Ziggurat in the east and the Kennel in the west. Streets and tenements in this area tend to have poetic names, which sometimes seem ironic given their generally dilapidated state; the vegetation in the North Gallery, while kept from completely overwhelming the avenues, is otherwise largely allowed to grow unchecked. Creepers crawl up the sides of nearly every building and weeds of every variety trust up through cracks in the ancient pavement.

This Gallery is the most densely populated section of the city, with most of its residents crammed into over-crowded multi story tenements., or, as is the case with the slaves, kept below ground in the green shaft.  Despite the ubiquity of coster mongers selling various kinds of food (mostly a dubious sort of sausage served on algae bread) the majority of the population subsists for the most part on pap and water. There is a little money here though, as the Kennel employs grooms from amongst the laborer caste and skilled workers from the artisan class. With the exception of the lanes and streets surrounding the Kennel and the Lesser Ziggurat, nymphs are in abundance, although, unlike their counterparts in forecourt the nymphs are named and attached to families. Priest tend to move through this neighborhood in force. 

 

The Kennel

This is large long building belongs to the Dogmen and their charges the Nuerohounds.  The Dogmen are males of the mixed humanoid type generally known as the blend, although there are a few other types in the corps as well.

Priests, regardless of their ministry, stay away as the predilection of the neurohounds to snatch and kill nymphs without warning or provocation has resulted in the deaths of many of their number. Of course unaffiliated and family nymphs do not approach the Kennel or its immediate vicinity.

The taverns frequented by the Dogmen and their servitors are among the most relaxed places in the city. Regular citizens and visitors must be wary, however, as more than the occasional visit to these places will attract the interest of the Ministry of Control. This interest is more than just bureaucratic interference however, as this section of the city conceals the heart of the city’s underworld/black market.