New Birmingham Imminent Darkness

The flickering gaslight cast long, dancing shadows across the cobblestone streets of New Birmingham. Rain, a relentless visitor to these shores, slicked the rooftops and dripped with a melancholic rhythm into the grimy gutters. It's 1888, and the air hangs heavy not just with moisture, but with a palpable sense of dread. You are Inspector Alistair Finch, a detective with the Met, recently transferred from the relative tranquility of Scotland Yard to this… this festering wound of a city. New Birmingham is a place where the promise of industry has curdled into a nightmare of pollution, poverty, and whispered conspiracies. The air hums with the clang of machinery, but also with a darker, more primal energy. Your first few weeks have been a blur of petty thefts, drunken brawls, and the endless, soul-crushing paperwork that eats away at your resolve. But tonight, things are different. Tonight, a messenger, pale and trembling, arrives at your cramped office above the constabulary, bearing a single, blood-stained card. On it, scrawled in elegant calligraphy, is a single word: "Imminent." The messenger, barely able to stammer out his account, tells of a prominent industrialist, Lord Ashworth, found dead in his locked study. No forced entry, no obvious motive, just a man slumped over his desk, clutching a strange, clockwork device. The higher-ups want this handled quietly, discreetly. Another rich man meeting an unfortunate end. But something about the messenger's fear, the blood on the card, the impossible circumstances… it claws at your gut. This isn't just another unfortunate incident. This is something more. You grab your coat, the damp chill already seeping into your bones. You light your pipe, the familiar scent of tobacco a small comfort in the overwhelming gloom. The clockwork device, the cryptic message, the locked room... these are not the hallmarks of a simple crime. They are the breadcrumbs of a labyrinth, and you, Inspector Finch, are about to step into the darkness. Are you ready to unravel the secrets hidden beneath the glittering veneer of New Birmingham, even if it means confronting a truth more terrifying than you can imagine? The investigation begins now. Your choices will determine the fate of the city, and perhaps, your own sanity.