The Hollow Worlds

[arcanus]

Diremouth, Black Haigh Country - Fumis
Black Haigh Country was a great swathe of godless land estimated to be the size of Terra Austrailis, located quite close to the Pendle Gate in Lancashire.
Property of the British Crown, but in truth controlled by the Northern Consortium, a powerful group of Industrialists from Runcorn, Liverpool and Manchester, the Consortium being the British answer to the American Unions Northern Alliance who controlled the New World territories adjacent to the Nether Worlds only horizontal gateway heading out from Pilot Mountain, in North Carolina.
In a typically derisive attitude toward the London elites the consortium had proceeded to name most of the British Fumis territory after places in the North of England and a few from Scotland or Wales.

Diremouth like many mining towns sat below the Choke, the toxic, acidic fog that covered all of Fumis lowlands, its sat upon a river mouth as its name suggested where steamers would head upstream to collect cargo and yield tonnage to ship to ports in the New world Territories, then via rail back to earth.
It had a rail head and port, curiously away from settlements and closer to the coast the rivers waters were completely clean and pure once you got down a few feet, the laws of science worked differently close to the elemental planes, Fumis ocean and therefore its rivers flowed straight from the planes of water, so oddly despite flora and fauna being being inedible on its foul lands fish and drinkable water were plentiful.
The other thing Diremouth shared with most mining towns was it was a den of filth, vice and violence.

Moody sat hidden in a back stall in the Hull Arms, a squalid pub beneath ground level, full of a diggers, bruisers, panners, haulers, navys and whores, the place dug into the stone of the ground and lined with thick metal walls, there was less worry about naked flames, that or no-one rightly cared.
He puffed on his pipe and listened, although it was a mighty din, if you listened carefully enough you could hear the loudmouths, and as the famous saying went 'Loose lips sank!'
One of the serving girls, wearing barely any clothes, arms covered in bruises and the Churchs forever marking her pretty fae blood face, brought him over a frothing tankard, he caught her eye as she leant over him and she winked, he nodded in return.

After a while of listening some more to the roudy game of poker and the loudmouth, a cut throat by the name of Leys staggered to his feet, called the table a bunch of whorin cheatin fuckers and staggered for the arched doorway.
For such a big creature Moody slipped from the pub unnoticed and shadowed Leys along the black metal passages, eventually he'd staggered far enough from the well travelled tunnels, Moody stepped from the shadows and silently walked up behind the stumbling man.
"Strong stuff"
"Wah" exclaimed Leys clumsily swinging about "What the fuck to do wid you" he slurred
"Fer a man used to his drink, must have been strong, think yer only had a few, funny thing that" said the Snark ominously
"I know yu toother" spat Leys
"Nah, you ain't ne'er seen me an you haven't even seen me now"
"What the fuck......" Moody moved like a cat standing a head and some taller, his large fist hammered down, Ley's nose turned to pulp and his jaw shattered, gagging he stumbled back, the fact he'd stayed on his feet impressed the Snark.
"See I know you didn't tap the prospector out on the East Boundary of the Hades MIne, few nights back, but I know you run with who did, shame that" the jab cracked the mans sternum as he caught Ley's flailing arm, effortlessly twisting it around illiciting a scream, the net jab popped the shoulder from its socket with an unpleasant sucking sound.
"Still if you live by the blade"
"Hey what the fuck are you doing" Moody turned to see two heavy set men, he knew them and he knew they knew Ley's
Moody smiled exposing his fangs, his slate grey skin making the visage all the more fearsome "Blood for blood, inch fer inch' he replied

The tunnel was just wide enough to swing Ley's by his arm, nearly tore it from its socket as he sent his first victim crashing into the nearest man, the second man turned and fled "BE SURE TO TELL THEM WHAT YER SAW" Moody shouted
The first man pushed Leys bloodied form off him, realising he had no time to run he attacked his sliver gun whipping up and a hiss, the big Snark felt its needles catch his shoulder but the thick wool snagged them, his right hand shot out grabbing the mans gunhand whilst smashing his left elbow into the mans face "One shots all you get" he spat
The man sagged concussed, Moody grabbed both men and dargged them to the tunnel wall, he loifted the slivergun and non-chalantly shot both in their stomachs, the pistol was a little small so he improvised with his little finger to pull the trigger, emptying the remaining flechette cartridges into their guts, before tossing
Taking his fine blade out, he unceremoniously sliced both mens wrists down their arms, letting their blood pool out, like carving pieces of meat
"Blood fer Blood" he repeated spitting on the dying men before heading back to the pub for to finish his tankard

[arcanus]

Fumis - Nether World - July 1879
Celestial Navigators and arcane scholars characterised Fumis as being the centre piece in a celestial wheel, beyond the wheels spokes lay emense apertures to the Elemental planes themselves, as well as the Etheric and possibly even the Deeper Astral planes.
The realm much like Earth had layer upon layer of Hollow fissures and cracks across the membrane between its planes, except unlike Earth its mirror was filled with elemental energies that seeped and permeated its material layer.

As it slowly rotated it occasionally came into a stronger alignment with one plane or another, and as the month of July 1879 moved into its latter weeks its alignment moved away from the Etheric Plane, for those upon the hostile world this was akin to a several days long eclipse, where they lost contact with Earth.

Work continued, industry and profits allowed for no cessation of activities, indeed due to the celestial mechanics involved Earth and Fumis lost communication every 22 to 34 hours, but the Devil Days, so named as fearing the worst some folks on Fumis were inclined to suffer a spell of bedlam, closed the gates and sealed the etheric boundary, nothing or no-one in or out.

Wheal Wheeler MIne - July 18th Three Days before The Devil Days
The three figures stood looking at the blast damage to the squat tubular bunker like warehouse, former owner and manager Thosk Bibel stomped around in her Gas Suit, its broad squat frame and elongated helmet denoting her Lizard Beastfolk heritage.
Moody was crouched before the four yard high crater, the blast having punched through four feet of sandstone wall, whilst VarrCore BE mines General Manager Odis Roak stood behind him.

"Ferromite?" said Roak by way of a question
Moody shook his head "They'd ave had to get a real big charge past the perimeter sensors an sentry guns, ta do this, na this is Red Ether" he said standing and pointing to the remnants of a silver wire barely visible in the dust and rocks.
"Thought you said things would get better!" snapped Thosk
Roak turned "Can't say I recall ever sayin that, this bein Fumis, said it would be harder for them with the defences, there's a difference"
He turned back to Moody who had stood up to his full height, this suit clanking as he did so and looked at the wire questioningly
"Blastin wire?"
Moody shook his head again "Etheric rocket, reaches the end of the line and the wire arms the primer, flies a bit further an bang, nice big explosion"
"An no coincidence few days afore Devil Days" said Roak thoughtfully looking around the terrain "That'd be wishful thinkin!"
"Well lets get it patched, folks will have to wear full suits til then" he looked meaningfully at Moody
The big Snark nodded "Yer gettin a shadow" he said to Thosk "Whilst we gear everything up for the dance"