New Corvus Scavengers

The flickering gas lamp casts long, dancing shadows across the cobblestone street. A chill wind whips through the narrow alleyway, carrying with it the scent of salt, brine, and something… metallic. You cough, pulling your threadbare coat tighter around you. Your stomach rumbles, a hollow echo in the pre-dawn quiet of New Corvus. You are Ariadne "Ari" Thorne, a Scavenger. Not the glamorous kind that explorers ruins in far-flung lands, no. You scour the forgotten corners of New Corvus, picking through the scraps left behind by the city's gilded elite. Tonight, you're looking for something specific: a discarded chronometer promised to you by a jittery informant named Finch. Finch swore it was worth a king's ransom, salvaged from the wreck of the Skylark, a dirigible that mysteriously crashed into the Whispering Peaks a decade ago. Finding Finch, however, might be the trickiest part. He was supposed to meet you by the dilapidated clock tower, but all you find is a smear of crimson on the damp stones and a single raven feather caught in the grime. Panic claws at your throat. Finch was your only lead, your only hope of escaping the crushing poverty that has clung to you like a second skin since your parents… vanished. The rhythmic clang of the clock tower strikes four, its mournful toll echoing through the deserted streets. You clutch the rusty pipe you carry for protection. New Corvus is a city of secrets, a breeding ground for smugglers, inventors, and worse. You've learned to trust no one. The air crackles with an unsettling energy. Something is watching you. Suddenly, a guttural growl rips through the silence. From the shadows, a hulking figure emerges, its eyes gleaming with predatory hunger. It's one of the Strays, genetically modified laborers abandoned when the mines beneath the city dried up. Desperate and driven to madness by experimental enhancements, they are a constant danger in the underbelly of New Corvus. Your heart pounds in your chest. You have two choices: fight, or flee. Either way, survival tonight depends on your wits, your grit, and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of luck. Welcome to the Scavenger's life, Ariadne Thorne. Your hunt begins now.