New Umbra Retriever

The flickering gas lamp casts dancing shadows on the cobblestones. Rain slicks the alleyway, mirroring the grime that coats every surface of New Umbra. You take a drag from your cheroot, the cherry glowing a malevolent red in the dim light. The acrid smoke stings your lungs, but it's a comfort, a familiar companion in this city of secrets and sorrow. You are Silas Blackwood, a Retriever. Not a bounty hunter, not precisely. You retrieve things. Things people have lost, things people have had stolen, things people desperately want back and can't get themselves. Sometimes it's a misplaced locket, sometimes a purloined manuscript, sometimes… something far more dangerous. Tonight, it's a girl. Lady Beatrice Worthington, daughter of the esteemed Professor Alistair Worthington, has vanished. Vanished without a trace from her locked bedroom in Worthington Manor, a fortress of intellect and eccentricity perched on the cliffs overlooking the churning sea. The Professor, a man more comfortable with ancient tomes than human interaction, is… distraught. He's offered a king's ransom for her safe return, a sum that could pull you out of the gutter and maybe, just maybe, buy you a future. But New Umbra doesn't give up its secrets easily. Already, the whispers are circulating. Whispers of forbidden rituals, of ancient pacts, of things that slither and crawl beneath the city's elegant facade. Whispers that Lady Beatrice's disappearance is no mere kidnapping, but something far more sinister. The Worthington Manor is shrouded in an unsettling silence, broken only by the mournful cry of seagulls. The air hangs heavy with the scent of salt and something else… something sickly sweet and metallic. You clench your jaw, the taste of stale coffee and desperation bitter on your tongue. You have a lead, a greasy informant with eyes that dart like trapped mice, who mumbled something about "The Serpent's Kiss" and a meeting at the docks. It's a long shot, but in New Umbra, every clue is a lifeline in a drowning city. So, Retriever, where do you begin? The clock is ticking, and the darkness is closing in. The fate of Lady Beatrice, and perhaps your own, rests in your hands. Sharpen your wit, load your pistol, and prepare to delve into the heart of New Umbra's darkest secrets. The hunt begins now.