Session stuff.

*They called this place 'Bedlam'.*

*Supposedly a meeting ground for the mundane and the arcane, you find that this place does indeed teem with examples of both. Men, women and children walk alongside demons, devils, spirits and other such beings. The moon and the stars cast their light on this mix of mortals and unnaturals, spotlighting a world that could already draw attention to itself in the dark.*

*This is where you'll be making your new start? But where to begin? Which roads will you travel first?*

*Life in Bedlam, as it turns out, is both very similar and completely different from life elsewhere.*

*Buildings made of unknown materials stand in the night, eventually revealing themselves as shopfronts, houses and other businesses of every kind. Pedestrians walk the streets towards their own separate destinations, going to jobs, visiting stores (of which there are so, so many in the areas you manage to explore) and in some cases finding other, less savory things to do with themselves when the night falls. Strange carriages made of metal travel the roads alongside the more familiar ones. Some of the carriages even appear to be alive.*

*But new dangers lurk around all corners as well. Where normal life had bandits, thieves and killers in the dark, this place has rampaging monsters, invisible kidnappers and other such scum wielding strange weapons and stranger abilities. Giants walk along roads with no regard for the small, insignificant things and people below them. Battles rage at different parts of the city, some over artifacts, others over territory, and other still for the sole purpose of one party running afoul of another.*

*Surveying the city provides many reasons for why your Apostle would send you here. The place has good things in it, but they are mixed in with no small amount of destructive and chaotic forces. Truly, for one to thrive in this place, they must be able to fight for what they want. And from what you have seen thus far, not everyone is up to the task.*

*Which begs the question; are you?*

*Upon entering this "pub & inn", you find all of the city's variety condensed into one place.*

*The atmosphere is alive with revelry and conversation, and the patrons run a very large gamut. Humans and the human-like converse with animals, spirits and creatures of all shapes and sizes. Three demonoid beings play some sort of table game involving multicolored orbs and a set of wooden sticks. A man with wooden arm, marked in strange and unknown symbols, talks animatedly with three people whose eyes appear completely black. A large thing with the head of a ram lounges on some foreign piece of furniture, smoking out of something you eventually recognize as some kind of pipe. Two ghosts drink an unknown wine at the far corner, and you can see the liquid disappear as it goes down their translucent, nonexistent throats.*

*The place might actually be inviting if parts of it weren't so startling. Still, you're here for a reason. You want information. How will you go about getting it?*

*After some time, during which the sights of the place only get stranger, you finally hear something that catches your interest.*

*A shirtless man with overgrown mutton chops and wild, almost dangerous-looking hair sits with a short-haired blonde woman in a large white coat that appears to be made from fur, playing some sort of game involving unfamiliar coins and what appear to be human teeth. Two demonoids similar to the ones playing that table game you saw earlier sit alongside them, watching as they play. The woman speaks calmly of a recent matter she settled involving a small-time gang that 'needed taking care of', and a certain person (or entity) that helped her do so.*

"His name is Tristan Rathbone. I go to him for all of my information needs. He claims he can find out about anything and anyone, and from what I've seen thus far, I don't have a reason to doubt him."

The man's reaction is nothing short of incredulous. "Hold on. You're saying *one guy* helped you find those guys' hideout when a whole heaping shitload of people working together couldn't do it themselves?"

"Speaks for itself, doesn't it?"

"I don't believe you." the man says. He picks up the one of the coins and spins it on the table as he speaks. "This is the first I'm hearing of a 'Tristan Rathbone'. If this guy were so good at finding things, he'd have a reputation all over the damn city."

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" the woman remarks with a faint smirk, "No, you've never heard of him because he hasn't *let* you hear of him. Give it some thought for a moment; a being that can find out anything, about any*one*, in a city such as ours? Do you really think he would benefit from having his name spoken so widely that everyone and their grandfathers know about it? If people knew about him, and all of the things that have been brought down as a result of his work, he would have more enemies in this city than anyone you'll ever meet."

The man snorts derisively. "So why are you saying his name out in the open, then?"

"Because we have an eavesdropper. Someone new to the city who doesn't know his way yet. Don't worry. I've made sure he's the only one who can hear us."

*And then the woman turns to look right at you. Soon enough, the man and the two demonoids do the same. Looks like you've been found out.*